Cannes 2007

[Tayzlor]

In Competition
"My Blueberry Nights," directed by Wong Kar-Wai
opening film

"Auf Der Anderen Siete," directed by Fatih Akin
"Un Veille Maitresse," directed by Catherine Breillat
"No Country For Old Men," directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
"Zodiac," directed by David Fincher
"We Own The Night," directed by James Gray
"Les Chansons D'Amour," directed by Christophe Honore
"Mogari No Mori," directed by Naomi Kawase
"Breath," directed by Kim Ki Duk
"Promise Me This," directed by Emir Kusturica
"Secret Sunshine," directed by Lee Chang-dong
"4 Luni, 3 Saptamini Si 2 Zile," directed by Christian Mungiu
"Tehilim," directed by Raphael Nadjari
"Stellet Licht," directed by Carlos Reygadas
"Persepolis," directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Le Scaphandre et le Papillon," directed by Julian Schnabel
"Import Export," directed by Ulrich Seidl
"Alexandra," directed by Alexandre Sokourov
"Death Proof," directed by Quentin Tarantino
"The Man From London," directed by Bela Tarr
"Paranoid Park," directed by Gus Van Sant
"Izgnanie" (The Banishment), directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev


Out of Competition
"Sicko," directed by Michael Moore
"Ocean's Thirteen," directed by Steven Soderbergh
"A Mighty Heart," directed by Michael Winterbottom

Midnight Screenings
"Boarding Gate," directed Olivier Assayas
"Go Go Tales," directed by Abel Ferrara
"U2 3D," directed by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington

Special Screenings
"11th Hour," directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners
"The War," directed by Lynn Novick and Ken Burns
"Retour en Normandie," directed by Nicolas Philibert
"He Fengming," directed by Wang Bing

Un Certain Regard
"Le Reve de la Nuit d'Avant," directed by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
"Calle Santa Fe," directed by Carmen Castillo (first film)
"Munyurangabo," directed by Chung Lee Isaac (first film)
"Et Toi T'Es Sur Qui?" directed by Lola Doillon (first film)
"El Bano del Papa," directed by Enrique Fernandes and Cesar Charlone (first film)
"Bikur Hatizmoret," directedd by Eran Kolirin (first film)
"Mister Lonely," directed by Harmony Korine
"Magnus," directed by Kadri Kousaar (first film)
"Mang Shan," directed by Li Yang
"Mio Fratello E Figlio Unico," directed by Daniele Luchetti
"California Dreamin' (Nesfarsit)," directed by Christian Nemescu (first film)
"La Soledad," directed by Jaime Rosales
"L'Avocat de la Terreur," directed by Barbet Schroeder
"Les Pieuvres," directed by Celine Sciamma (first film)
"Am Ende Kommen Touristen," directed by Robert Thalheim
"Kuaile Gongchang," directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham

[DrJellyfingers]

Originally posted by Tayzlor

"No Country For Old Men," directed by Joel & Ethan Coen


can't wait to see this.

[JCPhoenix]

I'm so pumped for My Blueberry Nights...I wonder if WKW is going to get the movie to Cannes on time this year. :p

Also nice to see a new Coen Bros movie and a new Kim Ki Duk film (though Time still hasn't been released here yet other than at the TIFF) and I'm excited for Tarantino's extended Death Proof.

Surprised Fincher's Zodiac is in competition after having been released already...still, it's a great movie so...

[Tayzlor]

I was certain Hou Hsiao-hsien's "Ballon Rouge" and Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" would make an appearance here.

Otherwise, the lineup looks decent. Those two would have elevated it but that doesn't matter considering their lack of an appearance here won't diminish their existence any...

How does James Gray manage to sneak two titles into Canes competition?


I've Netflixed several titles by directors I'm not familiar with in anticipation of the fest..

Catherine Breillat's "Fat Girl"
James Gray's "The Yards"
Christophe Honore's "Ma Mere" (Huppert and Garrell..yowza)
Kim Ki-duk's "Spring, Summer, Winter"
Emir Kusturica's "Underground (DVD supposed to be battered though)
Lee Chang Dong's "Oasis"
Julian Schnabel's "Basquiat"
Andrey Zvyagintsev's "The Return"

[dman476]

Originally posted by Tayzlor
I've Netflixed several titles by directors I'm not familiar with in anticipation of the fest..
You're planning on attending?

These would be my highlights:

"My Blueberry Nights," directed by Wong Kar-Wai
"Un Veille Maitresse," directed by Catherine Breillat
"No Country For Old Men," directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
"Les Chansons D'Amour," directed by Christophe Honore
"Breath," directed by Kim Ki Duk
"Death Proof," directed by Quentin Tarantino

[Tayzlor]

Originally posted by dman476
You're planning on attending?



No, I'm just fairly nerdy about the festival. Primarily because at this one spot in France, for two weeks, a good chunk of the yearly movie viewing is displayed.

I do look forward to waking up and reading the GreenCine notices about the critical receptions of each film though, the only substitute for not attending.

The new Gus Van Sant is what I'm looking forward the most from the proceedings...still, cannot shake the fear that he's returning to his "GWH" and "Forrester" days. I really hope the one's in the vein of his previous three.

Say what you will about Michael Moore, his Cuba stunt makes "Sicko" worth viewing..

I cannot shake the wasted a competition slot on Quentin Tarantino. I also cannot shake the thought of blowhard Weinstein finagling Tarantino in there to try to regain something from Grindhouse...he definitely had no plans of inserting it into competition before the bigger movie's tanking.

[arto_j]

That is a pretty impressive list. No Anderson, Allen or Haynes, but I suppose that was to be expected (for the first two at least).

Nearly all of those directors in competition have very impressive track records and I can't wait to see how these films turn out.

And a new Ferrara? Where did that come from?

[dman476]

Originally posted by Tayzlor
No, I'm just fairly nerdy about the festival. Primarily because at this one spot in France, for two weeks, a good chunk of the yearly movie viewing is displayed.

I do look forward to waking up and reading the GreenCine notices about the critical receptions of each film though, the only substitute for not attending.

The new Gus Van Sant is what I'm looking forward the most from the proceedings...still, cannot shake the fear that he's returning to his "GWH" and "Forrester" days. I really hope the one's in the vein of his previous three.

Say what you will about Michael Moore, his Cuba stunt makes "Sicko" worth viewing..

I cannot shake the wasted a competition slot on Quentin Tarantino. I also cannot shake the thought of blowhard Weinstein finagling Tarantino in there to try to regain something from Grindhouse...he definitely had no plans of inserting it into competition before the bigger movie's tanking.
Sometimes Cannes has most of the films I want to see in the year, but this time around it has only 2 films that are in my top 20 anticipated features. Needless to say, I'm not that excited.
They could have thrown in PTA's new feature for good measure.

And I was never a Van Sant guy, but Paranoid Park sounds like ti coudl be okay.

About Tarantino and Grindhouse, I'm pretty sure he was taking that to Cannes before the film even came out (or so I remember reading about it). It'd be funny if he won.

[Tayzlor]

I'm not sure PTA even submitted his film for consideration. Same goes for Francis Ford Coppola. And Hou. And Todd Haynes.

[arto_j]

Originally posted by dman476
Sometimes Cannes has most of the films I want to see in the year, but this time around it has only 2 films that are in my top 20 anticipated features. Needless to say, I'm not that excited.
They could have thrown in PTA's new feature for good measure.


Word is PTA hasn't finished it yet, so there's a pretty simple reason for that omission.

[BananaDancer]

Originally posted by Tayzlor
Say what you will about Michael Moore, his Cuba stunt makes "Sicko" worth viewing..


Agreed, I hope the govt leaves the guy alone, he was just making a point.

I can't wait to see this

[JCPhoenix]

My Blueberry Nights reviews are starting to float in...most of them seem to find Norah Jones to be not so good :S though one review from The Hollywood Reporter seemed to dig her...and reviews for Portman's performance are apparently excellent. But it looks like overall, My Blueberry Nights is not getting a very good reaction (I've scanned through a few more reviews than posted here and I saw a lot more mixed/slightly negative than anything)

And an observation of the reaction:

Judging the immediate reactions of Cannes press screening attendees can be tough, unless a film is met with overwhelming applause or loud catcalls, both of which sometimes emerge from the 4,000 festival journalists. In the case of "My Blueberry Nights," the post screening reaction as the credits rolled was warm, although did not seem to equal the warmth shown to the filmmaker when he screened "2046" a day late in Cannes three years ago.
http://www.indiewire.com/ots/2007/05/cannes_07_daily.html

POSITIVE
Working from a script he wrote with Lawrence Block, Wong and his crew maintain a dreamlike atmosphere throughout the woman's journey. Much of this film was made in the editing room and lab as Wong manipulates time, space and colors to render these melancholy tales into fleeting memories culled from a vague past. Did this really happen or was it a dream? A character wonders.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=9204

MOSTLY POSITIVE
"My Blueberry Nights may be a bit more interested in look than feel -- it conveys blue as a color far more effectively than it conveys blue as an emotional state -- but it's a feast of beauty while it gracefully unfolds on-screen."
http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/16/cannes-review-my-blueberry-nights/

MIXED
"Blueberry" echoes the director's biggest hit, "In the Mood for Love," in its moody melancholy, claustrophic settings and highly decorative shooting style. But while the actors' dialogue delivery is perfectly natural, the aphoristic philosophical nuggets Wong favors sound banal and clunky in this context, leaving the film thematically in the shallow end of the pool. Additionally, the road movie potential of the film's second half feel significantly under-realized.
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117933646&cs=1

And the Festival likes Wong enough to have chosen his new film, My Blueberry Nights, as the opening night film at a black-tie ceremony later this evening. He'll be there with his star, Norah Jones, the pop singer making her acting debut in his first American movie — a very mixed bag, with some fine scenes and characters to enliven a mostly disappointing endeavor.
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1621755,00.html

If this intimate noirish tale of love and self-discovery is ultimately disappointing, it's due to our familiarity with the saga and its characters. None of the persona is eccentric, fresh, or colorful enough to sustain our attention, let alone arouse our emotions. Straining to be cool, "My Blueberry Nights" comes across as an overbaked picture that lacks narrative pull.
http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=5612

NEGATIVE
Co-scripted by Wong with crime writer Lawrence Block, “Blueberry” is essentially a road movie, and therein lies the problem. The hard-bitten babes (Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman) Jones encounters are cliche'd creatures from a novelist's overheated imagination, who do nothing to advance the central story, except promote the heroine's, ugh, “growth.” It couldn't, in its way, be more Hollywood. And seasoned actors, such as David Straitharn, point up the girlie vapidity of Jones's non-acting.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/blog/2007/05/cannes-at-60-60-th-cannes-film-festival.php

[arto_j]

Even the people who liked Blueberry Nights don't seem to be digging the screenplay, definitely not the dialogue. As you said, the reaction isn't all that good. But at least it sounds as if it'll be nice to look at...big surprise there.

[JCPhoenix]

CONTROL, the Ian Curtis biopic got a great reception at Cannes...I was somewhat interested with Anton Corbijn directing before and cause I dig Joy Division a lot but the critical buzz on this is getting me pretty pumped to see this...

[Fisting Ackbar]

Originally posted by JCPhoenix
CONTROL, the Ian Curtis biopic got a great reception at Cannes...I was somewhat interested with Anton Corbijn directing before and cause I dig Joy Division a lot but the critical buzz on this is getting me pretty pumped to see this...

Apparently the entire film is in black and white... I saw clips of the movie combined with an interview with Corbijn. Looks interesting.

[dman476]

No Country for Old Men is getting RAVE reviews. :)

I'm so happy because I love the Coen Brothers' films when they're at the top of their game. I'm mortified that I'll most likely have to wait till November to see it though. :(