Bonjour, cinephiles. I'll be covering the Cannes Film Festival for Huffington Post, the blog site Queersighted (I'll be covering the gay angle of Cannes for them), my awesome entertainment podcast Showbiz Sandbox and anyone who wants to send me money. (Yep, Cannes is expensive and freelance gigs are few and far between.) Robin Hood debuts on Wednesday, though in a rather deflating move, it's been screened for critics everywhere and already reviewed (poorly, for the most part) by the trades, major papers like the New York Daily News and others. You can't help feeling silly flying out to Cannes and then having the movies shown to journalists back home. But of course Cannes hates this and fights it whenever possible -- it's the constant tug between exclusivity and wanting stars from big Hollywood movies to walk the red carpet.
But enough griping. The festival looks very promising, with new works from major directors like Ken Loach (a late addition), Mike Leigh, Bertrand Tavernier, Doug Liman (the lone American in Competition), Woody Allen, Oliver Stone, a strong Asian contingent, Stephen Frears, rising talent Xavier Dolan (who hopes to capitalize on his major success last Cannes -- I Killed My Mother -- with his second film, Heartbeats aka Les Amours Imaginaires), Jean-Luc Godard, Rumanian Cristi Puiu, and many many others. The longest film at the fest is Carlos, a look at the assassin Carlos The Jackal directed by Olivier Assayas. I always insist on watching whatever random film happens to be the longest film screening at Cannes and it quite often pays huge dividends.
The Iceland volcano is STILL mucking with airplane travel but for the most part people are delayed, rather than frustrated entirely. So let me close with some video: this is a stroll along part of the main drag at Cannes and a look at the movie posters for upcoming films that wrap around the major hotels. This year's crop is decidedly mundane compared to years past, which is another sign of the economy. Please, help out a struggling, multi-billion dollar major film corporation and purchase a DVD.
VIDEO ONE: CANNES MOVIE POSTERS
VIDEO TWO: MORE CANNES POSTERS AND THE LUMIERE!
Thanks for reading. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his weekly music radio show at Popsurfing and enjoy the weekly pop culture podcast he co-hosts at Showbiz Sandbox. Both available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.