Cannes 2014

[Stay Puft]

No thread yet? You're slipping, Match Cut!

OPENING FILM

Grace Of Monaco, directed by Olivier Dahan

COMPETITION

Adieu Au Langage (Goodbye To Language), directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Captives, directed by Atom Egoyan
Deux Jours, Une Nuit (Two Days, One Night), directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Foxcatcher, directed by Bennett Miller
Futatsume No Mado (Still The Water), directed by Naomi Kawase
The Homesman, directed by Tommy Lee Jones
Jimmy’s Hall, directed by Ken Loach
Kis Uykusu (Winter Sleep), directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Leviathan, directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev
Maps To The Stars, directed by David Cronenberg
La Meraviglie, directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Mommy, directed by Xavier Dolan
Mr. Turner, directed by Mike Leigh
Relatos Salvajes (Wild Tales), directed by Damian Szifron
Saint Laurent, directed by Bertrand Bonello
Sils Maria, directed by Olivier Assayas
The Search, directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Timbuktu, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako

OUT OF COMPETITION

Coming Home, directed by Zhang Yimou
How To Train Your Dragon 2, directed by Dean DeBlois

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Amour Fou, directed by Jessica Hausner
Bird People, directed by Pascale Ferran
La Chambre Bleu (The Blue Room), directed by Mathieu Amalric
Charlie’s Country, directed by Rolf de Heer
Dohee-ya (A Girl At My Door), directed by July Jung
Eleanor Rigby, directed by Ned Benson
Fantasia, directed by Wang Chao
Harcheck Mi Headro (Away From His Absence), directed by Keren Yedaya
Hermosa Juventud (Beautiful Youth), directed by Jaime Rosales
Incompresa (Misunderstood), directed by Asia Argento
Jauja, directed by Lisandro Alonso
Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling
Party Girl, directed by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis
Run, directed by Philippe Lacote
The Salt Of The Earth, directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Snow In Paradise, directed by Andrew Hulme
Titli, directed by Kanu Behl
Turist, directed by Ruben Ostlund

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

Pyo Jeok (The Target), directed by Yoon Hong-seung (a.k.a. Chang)
The Rover, directed by David Michod
The Salvation, directed by Kristian Levring

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Caricaturistes – Fantassins De La Démocratie (Cartoonists - Foot Soldiers Of Democracy), directed by Stéphanie Valloatto
Eau Argentée, directed by Mohammed Ossama
Maidan, directed by Sergei Loznitsa
Les Ponts De Sarajevo (The Bridges Of Sarajevo), directed by Aida Begic, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Jean-Luc Godard, Kamen Kalev, Isild Le Besco, Sergei Loznitsa, Vincenzo Marra, Ursula Meier, Vladimir Perisic, Cristi Puiu, Marc Recha, Angela Schanelec, Teresa Villaverde
Red Army, directed by Gabe Polsky

[Stay Puft]

Also, there are rumblings that A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence might still be added to the lineup. Andersson had been preparing it for a spring release.

[Boner M]

Shockingly light on Asian cinema, and UCR looks kinda weak from the outset (apart from Hausner, Alonso, Ferran & De Heer), but comp looks pretty strong. Excited for Ceylan (196 mins, fwiw), Dardennes, Zvyagintsev, Bonello, Assayas, Cronenberg & Godard. Good to see the latter in comp; will at the very least be entertaining to find out the audience reactions.

[Boner M]

I hope the movie is good, so that I can justify putting its poster on my wall:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlfILZFCAAEwb-H.jpg

[Spinal]

Incompresa (Misunderstood), directed by Asia Argento

This.

[baby doll]

I hope the movie is good, so that I can justify putting its poster on my wall:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlfILZFCAAEwb-H.jpgRohrwacher's last movie (Corpo celeste) was okay, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. The fact that the director's a woman (Cannes is routinely criticized for not featuring enough chick directors, as if there were a surfeit of Claire Denises out there) and an Italian (there's always an Italian movie in the competition) suggests that the movie's only in the main competition because it hits all the affirmative action sweet spots.

[Dukefrukem]

I just saw a trailer to the Rover this morning and was wondering what the release would be.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChM2icbWo9w

[baby doll]

As for the other movies:

Grace of Monaco sounds like barf.

Godard is the best director ever. The haters can suck a bag of dicks.

Egoyan seems to have lost his way since the Calendar-Exotica-Sweet Hereafter heyday; I even like Ararat, Where the Truth Lies, and Adoration, but Chloe was majorly dispiriting and while I haven't seen his West Memphis Three movie, it doesn't sound promising.

The Dardennes are motherfucking rock stars. Le Gamin au vélo is the best movie of the decade.

Regarding Bennett Miller, I liked Capote but the direction was solid rather than inspired; never saw Moneyball and probably won't.

I haven't seen any of Kawase's films but neither have you. Either she's very very critically neglected or she's an affirmative action selection.

A Tommy Lee Jones western at Cannes? What is this, 2005?

I generally like Ken Loach's but there aren't many I'd volunteer to watch a second time.

I haven't really been on board with Ceylan since Distant, but as with Egoyan, I still keep wishing and hoping and thinking and praying that maybe he'll get it together. That this one is nearly three and a half hours isn't encouraging since his last one was at least an hour too long.

Zyfhghrufhghthth is one of those chilly Eastern European masters I know I should like but I've never really warmed to his work.

Cronenberg doing another film with Robert Pattinson reminds me of Scorsese in his late, decrepit "I'll just keep casting DiCapprio in everything I do because I can raise a lot of cash on his name" mode. I hope this is better than Cosmopolis (which sucked for reasons completely unrelated to the casting of a teen heartthrob in the lead role).

Dolan used to be cool but Laurence Anyways was dispiritingly and boringly PC rubbish that went on way too long.

Leigh always brings the goods.

Never heard of Szifron, but then neither have you. Maybe he's awesome.

Bonello's last movie, L'Apollonide, is a motherfucking masterpiece.

I can't imagine Assayas making a boring movie.

Michel Hazanavicius can go to hell.

Either you like Abderrahmane Sissako or you're a racist ass-hole.

Nobody wants to see a new Zhang Yimou movie, even in China.

In Un certain regard, the Lisandro Alonso and the Jaime Rosales are the only sure things. The other movies I'll actually have to watch to know if they're awesome.

Midnight movies are bullshit.

Portmanteau films are bullshit. If I get a DVD of Saravejo je t'aime, I'll just skip ahead to the Godard short and forget the rest.

[Boner M]

Why do you always hyphenate the word "asshole"??

Otherwise I agree with most of yr points.

[number8]

Do you think Xavier Dolan has mommy issues?

[baby doll]

Why do you always hyphenate the word "asshole"??I guess I've always thought of the hole as a separate entity from the ass around it.

[Bosco B Thug]

Dolan used to be cool but Laurence Anyways was dispiritingly and boringly PC rubbish that went on way too long. Heartbeats is lame, though.

Need to finally get around to watching Bonello's previous.

[Ezee E]

Who's the jury this year?

[Stay Puft]

Jane Campion is presiding over the jury this year. I don't know if they've announced who else is on it yet.

[baby doll]

Jane Campion is presiding over the jury this year. I don't know if they've announced who else is on it yet.Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Bryan Singer, and a couple other child rapists.

[Stay Puft]

The festival is underway.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is getting some damn good reviews. I still need to check out the first.

Read some pretty bad reviews for the new Egoyan, though. I guess the opening film, Grace of Monaco, is supposed to suck, too.

[Stay Puft]

Oh and because it didn't get answered, the jury this year is:

Jane Campion, president
Carole Bouquet
Sofia Coppola
Leila Hatami
Do-Yeon Jeon
Willen Dafoe
Gael Garcia Bernal
Zhangke Jia
Nicolas Winding Refn

[baby doll]

Oh and because it didn't get answered, the jury this year is:

Jane Campion, president
Carole Bouquet
Sofia Coppola
Leila Hatami
Do-Yeon Jeon
Willen Dafoe
Gael Garcia Bernal
Zhangke Jia
Nicolas Winding RefnMan, there are a lot of people in there I want to fuck.

[Henry Gale]

Wow, this is the first year in recent memory where the festival had started and I had next to no idea.

Only once the Grace of Monaco eviscerations and How To Train Your Dragon 2 praise started to trickle out did I clue in.

I guess I'll start paying attention.

[Ezee E]

Not going to lie, when How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the only movie after a few days getting big reviews, it's a bad year.

Still a week to go, but usually there's a few movies right out of the gate.

[Pop Trash]

Read a lot of praise for the new Mike Leigh.

[ledfloyd]

Yeah, the Leigh got good notices, and the Ceylan is being hailed as the front runner for the Palme.

[Pop Trash]

"The Dardenne Brothers and Marion Cotillard are talented" said nearly everyone ever.

[Boner M]

Following the reactions to Gosling's debut was very entertaining.

[Watashi]

Wait. Godard made a 3D film? Wut.

[Stay Puft]

Wait. Godard made a 3D film? Wut.

I have to admit I'm not the biggest Godard fan but I'm pretty excited to see this. The reactions have been incredible. Mike D'Angelo said it's the first 3D film to make 3D worthwhile, while another critic called it ocular torture. LOL.

[Stay Puft]

Oh and I don't want to judge a film based on a clip I happened to see on the Cannes website, but uh, yeah, I saw a clip from Lost River back before its eventual screening/thrashing and it looked like some fucking awful tripe. Look at my muscles.

The Michel Hazanavicius film is getting a pretty sound thrashing, too.

[Morris Schæffer]

Apparently, steve carell is an oscar lock

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/oscar-buzz-at-cannes-around-steve-carell-and-his-86250673257.html

[Grouchy]

Never heard of Szifron, but then neither have you. Maybe he's awesome.
He's a pretty good director and an excellent writer and this one seems a lot more ambitious than anything he's done so far, so I'm looking forward to it.

[Stay Puft]

I somehow missed this: John Boorman has a new film! It's a sequel to Hope and Glory, entitled Queen and Country, and it's playing in the Director's Fortnight. Some good reviews so far.

(I still haven't seen Hope and Glory, need to rectify that soon.)

[Grouchy]

I have a very good friend who's over there as Cannes as an actor because of Still Life, a film he's in.

Man, the envy. I saw the premiere pictures yesterday and he was in the background of Donald Sutherland.

[ledfloyd]

The new Assayas sounds lovely.

[dreamdead]

The new Assayas sounds lovely.

Yep. Seems like a cross between Irma Vep and Summer Hours. I am totally game after reading Mike D'Angelo's write-up. Surprised that he singles out Stewart as the best actress.

[baby doll]

Predictions:

- Campion's heading the jury so I guess there's no way Kawase and Rohrwacher are going home empty handed because feminism and shit. Also, Kawase already said she deserved the Palme, so there.

- Likewise, Ceylan and/or Sissako will get something to show that the jury's not racist. In fact, Ceylan usually gets one just for showing up and being Turkish.

- The Dardennes will definitely get something but I doubt it'll be the top prize (has anybody ever won three?). Cannes juries couldn't love these guys more if they were both Turkish.

- I'm gonna guess that Saint Laurent gets the prize for best actor over To Catch a Foxy Predator because Oscar buzz rarely translates into Prix d'interpretation masculine. The latter might get best screenplay though.

- There's usually one prize that no one understands (remember when Babel won best director?), so I'm gonna say best director for Michel Hazanavicius.

- The three Canadian films aren't getting anything because Canada sucks.

- Godard gets nothing. (Though wouldn't it be fun if he won the big one?)

- Palme d'or winner: Mr. Turner? If not, definitely Grand prix. Just a feeling, I don't know why.

[ledfloyd]

When are the awards?

[Stay Puft]

Competition awards are tomorrow, I think.

UCR awards just went out. White God got the top prize, Turist is the runner up, and The Salt of the Earth got the special prize.

The FIPRESCI prize for UCR went to Jauja, which Boner M is currently trying to convince Mike D'Angelo to see, via twitter. The FIPRESCI prize for Competition went to Winter Sleep.

[Ezee E]

PALME D'OR : Two Days, One Night (Dardennes go there with three. Considered justified)
GRAND PRIX: Leviathan
DIRECTOR : Xavier Dolan
SCREENPLAY : David Cronenberg (Maps to the Stars - because it seems like this movie HAS to win something at this festival)
ACTOR : Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner)
ACTRESS : Marion Cotillard (her FIRST Cannes award, seems weird?) or Anne Dourval (Mommy)
JURY AWARD: Wild Tales

Foxcatcher goes without an award.

[Gittes]

Tarantino is reliably entertaining and fascinating whenever he's given a venue to speak at length, so I'm glad this took place. He offered no unequivocal confirmation of what will become of The Hateful Eight (of course, it will eventually be released to the world in some format, as he is still working on a second draft), but he does specify a few possibilities at the 24:40 mark.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K32kOkXsnqM

[baby doll]

ACTRESS : Marion Cotillard (her FIRST Cannes award, seems weird?)It doesn't seem weird to me, since these prizes don't invariably go to mainstream French stars. That's what the Césars are for. Still, I'd say she's a pretty good bet to win it this year (weak competition, and they can't possibly give the Dardennes the top prize three times in fifteen years).

That said, French broads do have a pretty good track record at Cannes: the first best actress prize went to Michèle Morgan, Isabelle Huppert has two, and of the last ten winners, three have gone to French actresses (Bérénice Béjo, Juliette Binoche, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, though only the first of these was for a film primarily in the French language and it was directed by an Iranian guy), one went to a French Candian (Marie-Josée Croze, who subsequently appeared in a number of mainstream French releases), and a Chinese lady in a French-Canadian co-production filmed in English (Maggie Cheung).

EDIT: On second thought, I don't think they'll give it to Cotillard. She's already a major star, Cannes juries love ties (especially in this category), and Dolan usually gives showy roles to the women in his films.

Palme d'or: Mr. Turner
Grand prix: Deux jours, une nuit
Prix d'interprétation masculine: Gaspard Ulliel, Saint Laurent
Prix d'interprétation féminine: Suzanne Clément and Anne Dorval, Mommy
Prix de la mise en scène: Naomi Kawase, Still the Water
Prix du scénario: Damián Szifrón, Wild Tales
Prix du jury: Winter Sleep

[Stay Puft]

The closing ceremony is underway. I've got nothing better to do so I'm watching the livestream.

[Stay Puft]

Party Girl wins the Caméra d'Or.

Going by the bit of red carpet stuff I saw before the ceremony (jumped on the stream a little early), Timothy Spall probably has Best Actor (he was specifically invited back for the ceremony) and Naomi Kawase is getting something (she was also invited back, but I hope she's content settling for a Jury Prize or something, because I just can't see her getting the Palme d'Or).

edit - yup, first prize is Best Actor for Timothy Spall

[Stay Puft]

Plot twist: Best Actress goes to Julianne Moore for Maps to the Stars. Was anybody predicting that?

[Stay Puft]

Best Screenplay: Oleg Negin and Andrey Zvyagintsev for Leviathan.

[Stay Puft]

Another interesting plot twist: The Jury Prize goes to two films, Xavier Dolan's Mommy and Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language. That's a first for Godard, no? I always thought he asked to have his films screen out of competition.

[Stay Puft]

Best Director: Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher.

[Stay Puft]

The Grand Prix goes to Alice Rohrwacher's The Wonders.

Holy shit am I about to eat some crow?

edit: nooooope, sucks to be Kawase

Palme d'Or goes to Winter Sleep.

[ledfloyd]

Huh. Surprised to see the Dardennes go home empty handed, I thought for sure Cotillard would get Best Actress.

[Ezee E]

3 hour and 14 minute Turkish film is all I really saw as the context for Winter Sleep.

Seriously, bloggers just say, "Palme D'or goes to the three hour plus Winter Sleep. I think it's justified." Yet, NOBODY ever mentioned that movie days ago.

[Boner M]

Seriously, bloggers just say, "Palme D'or goes to the three hour plus Winter Sleep. I think it's justified." Yet, NOBODY ever mentioned that movie days ago.
Huh? Everyone was raving about it as Palme material when it played.