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cafeman wrote:Just looking at lineup, it will be a crime if Aki doesn`t win. If they give it to Dumont, I will lose the last 1% speck of faith I still have in Cannes after the last two years especially.

You've got to be kidding me. L'Enfant is one of the greatest films to win the Palm D'or.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:Looks like Summer Palace might be out of the festival, although the Cannes website still has it premiering tomorrow (the 18th). I think the last paragraph ("...it may be that China has narrowly dodged a bullet here - sending anything but a slick, polished exhibition piece to Cannes could betray the spirit of the festival and tarnish China's image in the process") is sarcasm. I sure hope so, anyway.

Nope. Already premiered and reviews:

http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr ... 1002538538

Summer Palace

By Kirk Honeycutt

Bottom line: A mesmerizing, wonderfully acted though protracted love story set against social unrest in China.

http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr ... 1002538547

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

By Ray Bennett

A Ken Loach film about the British in Ireland always has the potential for controversy, but his historical drama "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" is unlikely to inflame passions on either side.

Grimfarrow wrote:http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr ... 1002538547

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

By Ray Bennett

A Ken Loach film about the British in Ireland always has the potential for controversy, but his historical drama "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" is unlikely to inflame passions on either side.

I like how this reviewer decides that English subtitles for thick Irish brogues are part of the reason the film isn't very good:

The film looks handsomely authentic and the familiar characters are engaging, but the story is predictable and the Irish accents are so thick that even English subtitles are required.

Oh my God, foreign people speaking in foreign ways...in movies, even. I wonder if the HR reviewer knows that Riff-Raff and Sweet Sixteen had subtitles too. I think Sweet Sixteen was subtitled even in the UK.

Here's another URL for the Hollywood Reporter review. I link this mainly (okay, entirely) because of the second link from the top under the "Companies" heading on the right-hand sidebar. Also, Ken Loach has apparently evolved beyond his human form and now exists as a pure "Concept."

Took him long enough.

cafeman wrote:Just looking at lineup, it will be a crime if Aki doesn`t win. If they give it to Dumont, I will lose the last 1% speck of faith I still have in Cannes after the last two years especially.

Dumont is the sole genius In Competition this year, it will be a travesty if he doesn't win.

Nb. He was apparently pressured to trim the violent ending of FLANDRES in exchange for his Competition place, that's a travesty right there. Nevertheless, expect the annual procession of feigned outrage come May 23rd.

> Luckily, the jury actually watches the films before making their decisions.

Excepting Salma Hayek last year.

> L'Enfant is one of the greatest films to win the Palme D'or.

L'Enfant is a dire film, Pickpocket for primetime TV, an insult.

ugetsu wrote:L'Enfant is a dire film, Pickpocket for primetime TV, an insult.

...says the guy who called Bruno Dumont a genius.

ugetsu wrote: Dumont is the sole genius In Competition this year, it will be a travesty if he doesn't win.

Duh. That Almodovar guy, what a hack. And don't even get me started on Richard Linklater, when I found out Dazed and Confused was going to be in the Criterion Collection it made me want to go on a message board and rant about how some foreign film should have been released by them instead, just so I could seem all sophisticated and such.

Noir of the Night wrote:

ugetsu wrote: Dumont is the sole genius In Competition this year, it will be a travesty if he doesn't win.

Duh. That Almodovar guy, what a hack. And don't even get me started on Richard Linklater, when I found out Dazed and Confused was going to be in the Criterion Collection it made me want to go on a message board and rant about how some foreign film should have been released by them instead, just so I could seem all sophisticated and such.

The force is strong in this one....

That Almodovar guy, what a hack.

Excuse me! Now who's being the real hack?

Michael wrote:That Almodovar guy, what a hack.

Excuse me! Now who's being the real hack?

Uh, I think it's that Alanis Morissette thing, called "irony."

Interested parties may PM me to sign up for my costly online sarcasm clinics. Irony is using a Criterion messageboard to fund my crippling DVD habit.

Oh, and thanks for the heads-up on Palace, Grimfarrow.

Well the rest of the line-up consists of Hollywood darlings (eg. Del Toro), second-rate auteurs (eg. Almodovar) and a couple of wild cards.

Michael wrote:That Almodovar guy, what a hack.

Excuse me! Now who's being the real hack?

Don't worry, I love Almodovar. I even did a 5-page report on him for my Spanish AP class.

ugetsu wrote:He was apparently pressured to trim the violent ending of FLANDRES in exchange for his Competition place

Where did you hear this?

Noir of the Night wrote:Where did you hear this?

hmm, can't tell you that... anyway, I expect the story will come out after the premiere on Tuesday.

Noir of the Night wrote:

Michael wrote:That Almodovar guy, what a hack.

Excuse me! Now who's being the real hack?

Don't worry, I love Almodovar.

DID YOU NOT READ THE POST CARL?

Yikes, early word is that SOUTHLAND TALES is getting ripped by critics.

Mike D'Angelo reports that despite its otherwise lukewarm reception critics such as Hoberman, Dargis and Taubin are said to consider Southland a masterpiece. We'll have to wait for the reviews to see if this is actually true.

Hollywood Reporter weighs in on Southland:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/aw ... 1002465051

Bottom Line: Shambolic.

However, their assessments of Red Road and Selon Charlie are quite positive:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/aw ... 1002465058

Bottom line: A tense and provocative thriller revolving around a past tragedy.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/aw ... 1002465052

Bottom line: The title of Nicole Garcia's complex and rewarding story of intertwined lives is "Charlie Says," but it is really about what observant 11-year-old Charlie sees

The Variety and Reporter reviews for SOUTHLAND and SHORTBUS are up on their respective sites, and oddly enough they are almost identical. Both pan SOUTHLAND as a huge ridiculous mess, and both claim SHORTBUS is only interesting when it deals with the sex, and rather boring otherwise.

SHORTBUS' review seems more positive than you portray it, rs98762001. Todd McCarthy ends his review with:

So it's fun while the fun lasts, which will vary for different viewers. But despite the variable outcome, Mitchell earns major points for daring such a project, finding a cast willing and able to carry it off, developing the story with the thesps so the sex integrates with the general flow of events (while remaining dominant), achieving a smooth and nimble visual style, and suffusing everything with an intense curiosity and generous spirit.

So it seems he likes it despite its flaws.

I saw Aki's new film again today, and now I'm beginning to think it's definitely one of his finest works. In a way, it continues the themes of Man Without a Past, but on this second viewing, it seemed more like Aki's going back to his older material, as the film reminded me very much of his work in 80s, notably Ariel and Shadows In Paradise.

Having not seen any of the other films in competition this year, I can't judge on whether or not it deserves to win, but I strongly disagree with the people who call it a mediocre rehash of Man Without a Past. It really is much more, but as a film, it's not as easy to enjoy as the earlier parts of his Finland "trilogy" were.

Grimfarrow wrote:SHORTBUS' review seems more positive than you portray it, rs98762001.

Right you are.