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Cannes 2008 Review Index Spectacular!

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Cannes 2008 Review Index Spectacular!

Old 05-15-08, 03:22 AM
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Cannes 2008 Review Index Spectacular!




It's that time of the year again...when esteemed filmmakers, actors, and producers from all over the world gather in one place to fight it out for Palme-winning bragging rights when not soaking up the gorgeous French settings. Though the festival officially started yesterday, there's no reason we can't be a "better late than never" thread, is there?

2008 CANNES JURY

(l - r): Alfonso Cuaron, Sergio Castellitto, Alexandra Maria Lara, Sean Penn, unknown, unknown, Natalie Portman
Not Pictured: Rachid Bouchareb, Apichatpong Weerasethakul


Rachid Bouchareb
Sergio Castellitto
Alfonso Cuaron
Alexandra Maria Lara
Sean Penn
Natalie Portman
Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Films In Competition

ADORATION (Canada)
Dir: Atom Egoyan
Cast: Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard, Arsinee Khanjian
Plot: An adolescent, Simon, reinvents his life on the Internet. His story provokes strong reactions throughout the world. Cyberspace is a forum for victims. But is it a place for redemption?
Reviews
Cinematical (Positive)
Variety (Neutral)
Screen Daily (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

BLINDNESS (Brazil/Canada/Japan)
Dir: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, Don McKellar
Plot: A doctor's wife becomes the only person with the ability to see in a town where everyone is struck with a mysterious case of sudden blindness.
Reviews
Emmanuel Levy (Positive)
The Telegraph (Negative)
Time Out London (Neutral)
Variety (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)
Esquire (Positive)
Moving Pictures (Negative)
IGN (Negative)
MSN (Negative)
Glenn Kenny (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

CHANGELING (United States)
Dir: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Amy Ryan
Plot: A mother's prayer for her kidnapped son to return home is answered, though it doesn't take long for her to suspect the boy who comes back is not hers.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)
Emmanuel Levy (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
IGN (Positive)
The Telegraph (Negative)
IFC (Negative)
Time Out London (Neutral)

CHE (GUERRILLA and THE ARGENTINE) (United States)
Dir: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Benecio Del Toro, Franka Potente, Julia Ormond, Benjamin Bratt
Plot: In 1964, Argentine revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara travels to New York City to address the United Nations. (Will be publicly released as two separate films.)
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Cinematical (Positive)
Hollywood Elsewhere (Positive)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)
IGN (Positive)
IFC (Positive)
Times Online (Negative)
Emmanuel Levy (Neutral)
Telegraph (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)

A CHRISTMAS TALE (UN CONTE DE NOEL) (France)
Dir: Arnaud Desplechin
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Mathieu Amalric
Plot: Abel and Junon had two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. A victim of a rare genetic condition, Joseph's only hope was a bone marrow transplant. As they and Elizabeth were incompatible, his parents conceived a third child in the hope of saving their son. But little Henri too was unable to help his brother, and Joseph died at the age of seven. The Vuillard family has never recovered. Many years have passed, and family relationships are more strained than ever.
Reviews
Cinematical (Positive)
Variety (Neutral)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Moving Pictures (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)

THE CLASS (ENTRE LES MURS) (France)
Dir: Laurent Cantet
Plot: François and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighborhood. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics is put to the test when his students begin to challenge his teaching methods.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)

DELTA (Hungary)
Dir: Kornel Mondruczo
Cast: Felix Lajko, Orsolya Toth, Lili Monori
Plot: A quiet young man returns to the wild, isolated landscape of the Delta. It is a labyrinth of waterways, small islands and over-grown vegetation, where the villagers are cut off from the outside world.
Reviews
Variety (Neutral)

IL DIVO (Italy)
Dir: Paolo Sorrentino
Cast: Toni Servillo, Anna Bonaiuto, Piera Degli Esposti
Plot: The story of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who has been elected to Parliament seven times since is was established in 1946.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Hollywood Elsewhere (Positive)

FRONTIER OF DAWN (LA FRONTIERE DE L'AUBE) (France)
Dir: Phillipe Garrel
Cast: Louis Garrel, Clementine Poidatz, Laura Smet
Plot: Carole is a movie star, she lives alone. Her husband works in Hollywood and neglects her. A photographer comes to her place to do a reporting on her. They become lovers. They live in the hotel in which François settles his shootings during two weeks, stopping by Carole’s place once in a while.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Screen Daily (Neutral)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)

GOMORRAH (Italy)
Dir: Matteo Garrone
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale
Plot: An inside look at Italy's modern-day crime families.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

THE HEADLESS WOMAN (LA MUJER SIN CABEZA) (Argentina)
Dir: Lucrecia Martel
Cast: Maria Onetto, Claudia Cantero, Cesar Bordon
Plot: A woman is driving on the highway. She becomes distracted and runs over something. On the days following this incident, she fails to recognize the feelings that bond her to things and people. Everything returns to normal and the bad moment seems to be over until the news of a gruesome discovery again worries everyone.
Reviews
Variety (Neutral)
Glenn Kenny (Neutral)
Screen Daily (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

LINHA DE PASSE (Brazil)
Dir: Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas
Cast: Joao Baldasserini, Vinicus de Oliveira, Jose Geraldo Rodriguez
Plot: A story about four brothers from a poor family who need to fight to follow their dreams.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)
The Telegraph (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

THE LION'S DEN (LEONERA) (Argentina)
Dir: Pablo Trapero
Cast: Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Laura Garcia
Plot: An incarcerated woman struggles to raise her son from prison.
Reviews
Cinematical (Positive)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

LORNA'S SILENCE (LE SILENCE DE LORNA) (France)
Dir: The Dardenne Bros.
Cast: Arta Dobroshi, Olivier Gourmet, Jeremie Renier
Plot: In order to become the owner of a snack bar with her boyfriend, Lorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium becomes an accomplice to a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio; a sham marriage between her and Claudy. The marriage allows her to obtain Belgian citizenship and then marry a Russian Mafioso willing to pay a lot of money to acquire the same quickly. However, for this second marriage to be possible, Fabio has planned to kill Claudy. Will Lorna keep silent?
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
The Telegraph (Positive)
Hollywood Elsewhere (Negative)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
Screen Daily (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

MY MAGIC (Singapore)
Dir: Eric Khoo
Cast: Francis Bosco, Jathiswearan, Grace Vi
Plot: Since his wife left him, Francis is a broken man. He works as a bartender in a night club, and drowns his pain in alcohol. His ten year old son manages on his own, but he's angry at his father for not pulling himself together. Because he loves his child, Francis decides to go back to his old job: being a magician...
Reviews
Variety (Negative)

PALERMO SHOOTING (Germany)
Dir: Wim Wenders
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Gerhard Gutberlet, Lou Reed, Milla Jovivich, Patti Smith
Plot: As a successful photographer of world-wide renown, Finn leads a life that is as prominent as it is hectic. He gets by with very little sleep, his cell phone is never still, and the music from his headphones is his most constant companion. But when his life suddenly spins out of control, Finn takes off and leaves everything behind. His journey leads him from Düsseldorf to Palermo. There he finds himself persecuted by a mysterious shooter who’s after him with a vengeance.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Cinematical (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

SERVICE (SERBIS) (Philippines)
Dir: Brillante Mendoza
Cast: Gina Pareno, Dan Alvaro, Julio Diaz
Plot: The Pineda family operates a run-down movie house in a city in the province which shows dated sexy double-feature films. The family has taken up actual residence in the old building as well. As the members go about their daily activities, we get a glimpse of how they suffer and deal with each other’s sins and vices - relational, economic or sexual.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)
Screen Daily (Negative)
Glenn Kenny (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)
Telegraph (Positive)

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (United States)
Dir: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson
Plot: A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
IGN (Positive)
Variety (Neutral)
Cinematical (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)

THREE MONKEYS (Turkey)
Dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: TBA
Plot: A family is dislocated when small failings blow up into extravagant lies battles against the odds to stay together by covering up the truth.
Reviews
Hollywood Elsewhere (Positive)
Variety (Positive)
Glenn Kenny (Neutral)
Screen Daily (Positive)
MSN (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)

24 CITY (China)
Dir: Jia Zhangke
Cast: Joan Chen, Lu Liping, Zhao Tao
Plot: Three generations of characters in Chengdu (in the 1950s, the 1970s and the present day) as a state-owned factory gives way to a modern apartment complex.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

TWO LOVERS (United States)
Dir: James Gray
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Vinessa Shaw, Elias Koteas
Plot: A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Hollywood Elsewhere (Neutral)
Screen Daily (Negative)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
The Telegraph (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

WALTZ WITH BASHIR (Israel)
Dir: Ari Folmon
Plot: One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images.
Reviews
Telegraph (Positive)

Cinematical
(Positive)
Variety (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)
Moving Pictures (Positive)
IFC (Positive)
MSN (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

Last edited by GreenVulture; 05-26-08 at 05:05 AM.
Old 05-15-08, 03:22 AM
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Films Not In Competition

ASHES OF TIME REDUX (China)
Dir: War-Kong Wai
Cast: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin
Plot: Inspired by Louis Cha's novel The Eagle-Shooting Heroes, Ashes centers on a man named Ouyang Feng. Since the woman he loved rejected him, he has lived in the western desert, hiring skilled swordsmen to carry out contract killings. His wounded heart has made him pitiless and cynical, but his encounters with friends, clients and future enemies make him conscious of this solitude...
Reviews
Variety (Neutral)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

THE CHASER (Korea)
Dir: Jin-ah Hong
Cast: Yun-Seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Yeong-hie Seo
Plot: Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by a same client whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.
Reviews
Glenn Kenny (Negative)
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
IFC (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

CHELSEA ON THE ROCKS (United States)
Dir: Abel Ferrera
Cast: Milos Forman, Ethan Hawke, R. Crumb, Dennis Hopper
Plot: Celebrating the personalities and artistic voices that have emerged from New York's legendary Chelsea Hotel.
Reviews
Variety (Neutral)

FOUR NIGHTS WITH ANNA (France)
Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski
Cast: Artur Steranko, Kinga Preis
Plot: Leon Okrasa works a hospital in a small city in Poland. He once witnessed a brutal rape. The victim, Anna, is now a young nurse in the same hospital. Leon spends his time spying on Anna day and night. It becomes an obsession. One night, he climbs into her apartment through a window she has left open. Leon sits on her bed, watching her in her sleep, immersing himself in her world. How far will he go?
Reviews
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Neutral)
MSN (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD (Korea)
Dir: Ji-Woon Kim
Cast: Woo-sung Jung, Byung-hun Lee, Kang-ho Song
Plot: The 30ties in the Manchurian desert. The Weird steals a map from a Japanese official. The Bad is paid to get it back. The Good is a bounty hunter who tracks them down.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (United States)
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Harrison Ford, Shia Lebeouf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Emmanuel Levy (Positive)
Cinematical (Negative)
IGN (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)
Glenn Kenny (Positive)
The Guardian (Negative)
Time (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Time Out London (Negative)

KUNG FU PANDA (United States)
Dir: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogan, Jackie Chan
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Emmanuel Levy (Neutral)
Cinematical (Neutral)
IGN (Positive)
MSN (Negative)

MARADONA (Spain/France)
Dir: Emir Kusturica
Cast: Diego Maradona
Plot: Emir Kusturica directs a celebration of the extraordinary history and phoenix-like resurrection of Diego Maradona: sporting hero, people’s champion, fallen idol and inspiration to millions.
Reviews
Screen Daily (Negative)
Variety (Positive)
The Telegraph (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)
IGN (Negative)

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED (United States)
Dir: Marina Zenovich
Cast: Roman Polanski
Plot: Marina Zenovich's new documentary examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
IGN (Positive)
(Positive)

SURVEILLANCE (United States)
Dir: Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Cast: Bill Pullman, Julia Ormond, Pell James
Plot: When Federal Officers Elizabeth Anderson and Sam Hallaway arrive at Captain Billing’s office, they have three sets of stories to figure out and a string of vicious murders to consider. One zealot cop, a strung out junkie and a young girl all sit in testimony to the roadside rampage, but as the Feds begin to expose the fragile little details, each witness conceals so carefully with a well practiced lie, they soon discover that uncovering ‘the truth’ can come at a very big cost...
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
Variety (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)

TRANSSIBERIAN (UK/Spain/Germany)
Dir: Brad Anderson
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Ben Kingsley
Reviews
Variety (Neutral)

VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (United States/Spain)
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson
Plot: Two young American women, Vicky and Cristina come to Barcelona for a summer holiday. Vicky is sensible and engaged to be married; Cristina is emotionally and sexually adventurous. In Barcelona, they're drawn into a series of unconventional romantic entanglements with Juan Antonio, a charismatic painter, who is still involved with his tempestuous ex-wife Maria Elena.
Reviews
Hollywood Elsewhere (Negative)
Emmanuel Levy (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)
Variety (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)
IFC (Positive)
Glenn Kenny (Neutral)
Time (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? (United States)
Dir: Barry Levinson
Cast: Robert De Niro, John Turturro, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Stewart
Plot: The tale of a fading movie producer trying to revitalize his career while dealing with a teenage daughter who’s growing up too fast, a variety of ex-wives, and several Hollywood personalities who seem to want nothing more than to make his life difficult.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Emmanuel Levy (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Neutral)

Un Certain Regard
AFTERSCHOOL (United States)
Dir: Antonio Campos
Cast: Emory Cohen, Rosemarie Dewitt, Ezra Miller
Plot: Robert is a young American student at an elite East Coast preparatory school who accidentally captures on camera the tragic death of two classmates. Their lives become memorialized as part of an audio-visual assignment designed to speed up the campus-wide healing process. But the video memorial assignment results in an atmosphere of paranoia and unease among students and teachers.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Screen Daily (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

LOS BASTARDOS (Mexico/United States)
Dir: Amat Escalante
Cast: Jesus Moises Rodriguez, Ruben Sosa, Kenny Johnston
Plot: A 24 hour period in the lives of Fausto and Jesus, two undocumented Mexican day-labourers in L.A.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
The Telegraph (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

CLOUD 9
Dir: Andreas Dresen
Cast: Horst Rehberg, Steffi Kuhnert, Ursala Werner
Plot: Inge is in her mid-60s. She has been married for 30 years and loves her husband. But Inge is drawn to this older man Karl, already 76. It's passion. It's sex. And she suddenly feels like a young girl again...
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)

THE DEAD GIRL'S FEAST
Dir: Matheus Nachtergaele
Cast: Jackson Antunes, Conceiao Camarotti, Juliano Cazarre
Plot: The story of Santinho, a young man who has been exalted to the position of a saint in a remote riverine community of the upper Amazonas state, after performing a “miracle” upon the suicide of his own mother.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)

HUNGER (UK)
Dir: Steve McQueen
Cast: Liam Cunningha, Michael Fassbender
Plot: The last six weeks of the life of the Irish republican hunger striker Bobby Sands.
Reviews
Guardian (Positive)
Time Out London (Positive)
Cinematical (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)

INVOLUNTARY (DE OFRIVILLIGA) (Sweden)
Dir: Ruben Ostlund
Cast: Vilmar Bjorkman, Linnea Cart-Lamy, Leif Edlund
Plot: It’s almost summer in Sweden and minor indiscretions and misbehavior abound. A humorous look at lessons to learn, lectures to give and lines not to cross.
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
Variety (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

I WANT TO SEE (JE VEUX VOIR) (France/Lebanon)
Dir: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Rabih Mroue
Plot: July 2006. A war breaks out in Lebanon. A new war, but not just one more war. A war that crushes the hopes of peace and the dynamism of our generation. It is the beginning of an unpredictable, unexpected adventure.
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
Variety (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

JOHNNY MAD DOG (France/Belgium/Nigeria)
Dir: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire
Cast: Christopher Minie, Daisy Victoria Vandy
Plot: Johnny, 15, a kid-soldier armed to the hilt, is inhabited by the mad dog he dreams of becoming. With his small commando – No Good Advice, Small Devil, Young Major – he robs, pillages, and slays everything in his path. Childhoods cut short, an Africa ravaged by absurd wars, a people who are trying, in spite of it all, to survive and to save their humanity.
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

MODERN LIFE (France)
Dir: Raymond Depardon
Plot: Through a series of portraits, Raymond Depardon becomes a witness to farmers’ lives, values, and family stories: all that binds them to the land, and its legacy. He questions what will become of these people of the land.
Reviews
Variety (Positive)

OCEAN FLAME (Hong Kong)
Dir: Fen Dou Liu
Cast: Fan Liao, Monica Wang
Plot: Wong Yiu was a very shameless person and a blackmailer until one day he met a waitress named Ni Chen. He thought Ni Chen was like any other girls that could be controlled by him, but her stubbornness was way beyond his imagination.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)

O' HORTEN (Norway/Germany/France)
Dir: Bent Hamer
Cast: Jaochim Calmeyer, Bjorn Floberg
Plot: A train journey through the Norwegian countryside. In the driver’s cab Odd Horten, 67, is on his penultimate journey from Oslo to Bergen. Tomorrow he’ll make his last trip. But, for the first time in almost 40 years, Odd Horten will arrive too late and miss his last departure...
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)
Variety (Positive)

SALT OF THIS SEA (MILH HADHA AL-BAHR) (Palestine/France/Switzerland)
Dir: Annemarie Jacir
Cast: Saleh Bakri, Suheir Hammad
Plot: Soraya decides to return to live in Palestine, the country her family was exiled from in 1948. On arriving, Soraya tries to recover her grandparent’s money, frozen in an account in Jaffa, but is refused by the bank. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian; tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, Soraya and Emad know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even it means breaking the law.
Reviews
Variety (Negative)
Screen Daily (Negative)
Cinematical (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Negative)

SOI COWBOY (United States/Thailand)
Dir: Thomas Clay
Cast: Nicolas Bro, Petch Mekoh, Somluk Kuamsing
Plot: In Bangkok, a corpulent European man and a young, pregnant Thai woman live together in near silence. She is looking for security and he is the best way to stay out of Soi Cowboy, the red-light district where they met. Meanwhile, in the countryside, a teenage mafia enforcer is employed to deliver his older brother’s head.
Reviews
The Times Online (Negative)
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)

TING CHE (Taiwan)
Dir: Mong-Hong Chung
Cast: Chen Chang, Leon Dai, Jack Kao
Plot: Chen Mo makes a date for dinner with his wife, hoping to bring their estranged relationship back together. While buying a cake on his way home, a car unexpectedly double parks next to his car, preventing his exit. For the entire night, Chen Mo searches the floors of a nearby apartment building for the owner of the illegally parked car, and encounters a succession of strange events and eccentric characters

TOKYO! (Japan/France/Germany/South Korea)
Dir: Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-Ho
Cast: Yu Aoi, Ayako Fujitani, Denis Lavant
Plot: "Interior Design": the surreal fable of a young couple who moves to Tokyo in search of a future. "Merde": a mysterious man spreads confusion on the streets of Tokyo through a succession of irrational and provocative acts. "Shaking Tokyo": He is a hikikomori - like many others in Japan, he has withdrawn from all contact with the outside world; will he take the unimaginable step: leaving the dead security of his apartment for the streets of Tokyo?
Reviews
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Negative)
IFC (Neutral)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

TOKYO SONATA (Japan)
Dir: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Haruka Igawa, Kai Inowaki, Teruyuki Kagawa
Plot: The portrait of a seemingly ordinary Japanese family. The father who abruptly loses his job conceals the truth from his family; the eldest son in college hardly returns home; the youngest son furtively takes piano lessons without telling his parents; and the mother, who knows deep down that her role is to keep the family together, cannot find the will to do so. From the exterior, all is normal and the same. But somehow, a single, unforeseeable chasm has appeared within the family, only to spread ever so quietly and quickly to disintegrate them.
Reviews
Variety (Neutral)
Cinematical (Positive)
Screen Daily (Neutral)

TULPAN (Germany/Switzerland/Kazakstan)
Dir: Sergey Dvortsevoy
Cast: Tulepbergen Baisakaalov, Ondasyn Beshibasov
Plot: After completing his naval service, young Asa travels back to the Kazakh steppe where his sister and her shepherd husband live a nomadic life.

TYSON (United States)
Dir: James Toback
Cast: Mike Tyson
Plot: Dark, intimate, violent, comic, absurd, erotic, wounding, tragic and humane: the film ranges from Tyson's earliest memories to his present dilemmas.
Reviews
Cinematical (Positive)
IGN (Positive)
Variety (Positive)
Screen Daily (Positive)
The Times Online (Positive)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

VERSAILLES (France)
Dir: Pierre Schoeller
Cast:
Plot: A child and his young mother sleep on the streets. Nina is unemployed with no ties. Enzo is 5. Their drifting leads them to Versailles.
Reviews
Screen Daily (Positive)
Variety (Negative)
Hollywood Reporter (Positive)

WENDY AND LUCY (United States)
Dir: Kelly Reichardt
Cast: Michelle Williams, John Robinson, Will Oldham
Plot: Wendy is driving with her dog Lucy to Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the fish cannery. When her car breaks down in Oregon, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she faces a series of increasingly dire challenges.
Reviews
IFC (Positive)

Last edited by GreenVulture; 05-26-08 at 05:07 AM.
Old 05-15-08, 07:25 AM
  #3  
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Early word from both "sneak" audiences and critics seem to be a tad down on Blindness. It has a lot of "It's respectable, but just a bit insubstantial." mumblings on it.
Old 05-15-08, 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by RichC2
Early word from both "sneak" audiences and critics seem to be a tad down on Blindness. It has a lot of "It's respectable, but just a bit insubstantial." mumblings on it.
That's what it sounds like, based on what I've read so far. Looks like another My Blueberry Nights from last year's festival: great director, great cast, disappointing effort.

Speaking of connections to last year's Cannes, it looks like Waltz With Bashir will be the next Persepolis: an acclaimed, politically-tinged film with (judging by the pictures) striking animation.

Slowly but surely adding plots, movies and reviews. I'd also like to note that the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which premiered at Cannes, should be airing on HBO in a couple of weeks.
Old 05-18-08, 05:55 AM
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Late update. Biggest addition of interest to most DVDTalkers would be the Vicky Christina Barcelona reviews. Tomorrow will be sure to bring several Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull reviews.

Still working on updating with plots and whatnot.
Old 05-18-08, 08:50 AM
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According to a review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, "There's no nudity in the film; Allen relies instead on the talent of his actors to convey the film's underlying sexuality."

Old 05-18-08, 10:22 AM
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Great post, GreenVulture! Your Cannes thread last time was a favorite of mine.

As it's one my my most awaited movies, I'll be very interested in seeing more reviews of Blindness as they come in. La Mujer Sin Cabeza and Three Monkeys definitely have my attention (the trailer for Ceylan's film is quite striking), and, as always, I'm looking forward to seeing anything from Jia Zhangke and the Dardenne brothers.

Brad Anderson's Transsiberian is a nice surprise. I've been wondering recently what, if anything, he'd been working on.

The unfortunate thing about these film festivals, at least for someone like myself living in such a rural area, is that I'll be waiting for months (if not a year or more!) to see these pictures on DVD and will never be able to see any theatrically except possibly for Eastwood's. Let the waiting begin...
Old 05-18-08, 10:35 AM
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Also, you might add Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Tokyo Sonata to the listing of out-of-competition films. This is another that I'm VERY excited about and reviews are quite positive.
Old 05-18-08, 01:21 PM
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Greenvulture,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this thread!!! I've been looking to see where I can get review updates fm Cannes all over and seems like you've got it covered.
Old 05-18-08, 01:43 PM
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That's disappointing about Blindness and well I didn't expect any nudity from Woody Allen's film.

I'm now very interested in hearing about Soderbergh's epic Che. And of course anything from Brad Anderson.
Old 05-18-08, 03:51 PM
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Several new reviews (and many new sites), including more negative views on Blindness, more love for Waltz with Bashir and Vicky Christina Barcelona, some new views on other movies in competition for the Palme, and the first batch of Crystal Skull reviews, which are not as positive as one would imagine.

Tonight should bring a bigger update: more movie listings and reviews/info, including more out-of-competition films and the Un Certain Regard section, which I haven't gotten around to adding.

Originally Posted by Arpeggi
According to a review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, "There's no nudity in the film; Allen relies instead on the talent of his actors to convey the film's underlying sexuality."

I'm not exactly sure why you were expecting anything else. It's Woody Allen, and I can't even remember if he's even shot a nude scene. Penelope Cruz has gone topless in many films, so that would be old news (old news always worth revisiting, though), and if Johansson showed the goods, I guarantee you that would have been frontpage news on several entertainment sites, and some brave soul would have probably tried to sneak a camera into the screening.

I'm just happy Allen seems to be making another good film, which he hasn't done since Sweet and Lowdown (I was pretty underwhelmed with Match Point).
Old 05-18-08, 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by GreenVulture
ASHES OF TIME REDUX (China)
Dir: War-Kong Wai
Cast: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin
Hopefully this will finally push along a stateside DVD release that doesn't look like its been dragged through a mudpuddle. Can't wait to hear impressions on the redux.
Old 05-19-08, 04:59 AM
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More updates: added Un Certain Regard section, a bunch of reviews, plot descriptions, new sites (including Glenn Kenny's blog...screw you Premiere magazine for getting rid of him), plus I shifted some things around.

The 19th brings us James Gray's latest, Two Lovers and the Dardenne's newest effort, Lorna's Silence.

A note: if some of these plot descriptions sound oddly written, that's because I'm taking most of them straight from Cannes' website; the person in charge of translating them is clearly an "English as Second Language" kind of guy. I'll try to clear some of them up tomorrow when I have the time and add a few more films.

Another note: did you know this year's Cannes poster was co-designed by David Lynch? Well, now you do!

Originally Posted by gryffinmaster
Hopefully this will finally push along a stateside DVD release that doesn't look like its been dragged through a mudpuddle.
If they don't, it would essentially be a giant tease to 99% of the film's fans.

Last edited by GreenVulture; 05-19-08 at 05:08 AM.
Old 05-19-08, 12:06 PM
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Excellent thread, thanks GreenVulture!
Old 05-20-08, 08:03 AM
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Sony Pictures Classics picked up the domestic rights to Ashes of Time Redux, so there's little chance of it not getting a U.S. DVD release. Hell, maybe we'll get a Blu-ray version to boot. It's the less bankable names (Ceylan, Garrel, Khoo, McQueen, Jia, etc. etc.) that I'd be worried about -- even Tokyo Sonata is no sure thing (it's been five years since a Kurosawa film's been distributed here).

I should probably mention that Greencine has also been doing a respectable job of collating reviews from various sources. And some of you might want to check out the Directors' Fortnight, the "section parallèle" specializing in less established/more avant-garde directors that's celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. (One selection in particular, Tony Manero, has been getting quite a bit of attention.)
Old 05-20-08, 08:22 AM
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little upset about the negative reviews of BLINDNESS and still awaiting reviews of SURVEILLANCE
Old 05-20-08, 09:58 AM
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Looks like Clint Eastwood may have yet another Best Picture contender this year (The Changeling). The guy is on a hot streak.
Old 05-20-08, 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Dan Average
And some of you might want to check out the Directors' Fortnight, the "section parallèle" specializing in less established/more avant-garde directors that's celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. (One selection in particular, Tony Manero, has been getting quite a bit of attention.)
Thanks for bringing that up. I included a couple of those in the "Not in Competition" section last night and may add a couple more. It's not that I'm not including them to be a dick, it's simply a matter of space, as I found out last year that there is a character limit to posts. Guess next year I'll have to reserve more posts.

EDIT: More reviews are up. Changeling (which might be retitled The Exchange), Two Lovers, Versailles, Los Bastardos, Ashes of Time Redux and Involuntary get their first reviews, while there are updates for Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, Roman Polanski, Hunger, Four Nights with Anna and Waltz with Bashir.

Last edited by GreenVulture; 05-20-08 at 04:43 PM.
Old 05-21-08, 10:46 PM
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From /film.com
"Today, director Steven Soderbergh’s four hour subtitled Che Guevera biopic, Che (presented as two films entitled The Argentine and Guerilla) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Online, critical reception is already momentously loud and divided, in a “Here we go…” way. And as you might expect, the film(s)’s questionable commercial prospects and controversial depiction of the Argentine revolutionary, as played by an uncanny Benicio Del Toro, have some critics waiting it out and chatting about the terrible sandwiches given at intermission instead. However, Cinematical’s Kim Voyer is incredibly stoked on both films and believes that Soderbergh is a lock for the festival’s top prize, the Palm d’Or…

“Consensus among many of the very smart people I know here at Cannes (well, except for Variety, apparently) is that Che will almost definitely win the Palm d’Or, and if Benecio del Toro doesn’t win the Best Actor Oscar come January, there’s something wrong with the world.”

Stunned by Soderbergh’s DV auteurism, Cinematical’s James Rochhi observed in the first full-length review around, that the biopics’ style, tone, character study and story choices are all open for heavy debate (umm, that’s cool, I agree with him), but says that Oscar talk for Del Toro is also certain. In summation, he proclaims…

“Bold, beautiful, bleak and brilliant, Che’s not just the story of a revolutionary; in many ways, it’s a revolution in and of itself.”

Put that in your pipe, eh? Sounds sweet. In his own way, Jeffrey Wells has stepped out as one of the first supporters/gushers of both films, calling The Argentine “brilliant” and Guerilla “killer.”

“[The Argentine] is what I’d hoped for and more. The tale is the tale, and it’s told straight and true. Benicio del Toro’s Guevara portrayal is, as expected, a flat-immersion that can’t be a “performance” as much as…I don’t know, some kind of knock-down ass-kick inhabiting. Being, not “acting.” No sentimentality, very straight. Oh, God…the second half is starting right now…”

Note the phrase, “it’s told straight and true,” because many historians, college students, Cubans, critics and Slashfilm readers (I’m predicting…) will inevitably take issue with Soderbergh’s decision on what to leave out and what to include from the man’s combative, violent life and ethos. Another reason why these subtitled films are a hard sell. Variety’s Anne Thompson [no linkage] doesn’t dive into the films’ politics, but she was nonetheless underwhelmed and glum. She believes the majority of the press on hand reacted similarly…

“‘A folly.’ ‘A mess.’ ‘Great.’ These words came from some of the critics coming out of Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour 18 minute Spanish-language Che Wednesday night. At the end there was slight applause; no boos. My own description: noble failure.”

She adds that “Benecio [sic] del Toro gives a great performance…” but she’s particularly down on the direction of the second film, Guerilla, saying, “Soderbergh isn’t interested in the things that compel moviegoers to engage with characters: drama, psychology, motivation. He doesn’t dwell on the relationship between Che and Castro. He doesn’t tell you how ‘Ernesto’ turned into ‘Che.’” This works against the frenetic industry buzz that Spoutblog has thoroughly documented; that site points out that the films are being pitched to buyers separately…

“Rumor has it that the second half of the story is currently in better shape than the first; it remains to be seen what would be lost if half of Che was demoted to straight-to-DVD.”

Please, let’s hope this doesn’t happen. I don’t think the Interwebs (or Che) could survive the weight of so many blog tears and life-hating, unedited diatribes. We’ve posted a new video clip from Che (The Argentine half) below. It doesn’t reveal much, but it gives you an idea of the camera work and Soderbergh’s depiction of jungle warfare. One thing is for sure, Che’s t-shirt posse won’t be going away anytime soon (feh!).
Discuss: How do you think these films will be shown domestically? How does one sell four hours of Che? Honestly, who cares, it’s fantastic these films were even made (for $65 million) no matter how you feel (or don’t) about the man in question or how good they are."
Old 05-21-08, 11:29 PM
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Soderbergh FTW!
Old 05-21-08, 11:45 PM
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Had it been any other topic, I'm sure I'd be anticipating it, but I can do without another Che biography.
Old 05-22-08, 01:59 AM
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Che sounds interesting. The part about the critics being split has me a bit down. I don't like Che I have no interest in seeing the man glorified but I love Soderbergh's work and want to see it. There was a time when I truly respected the Palme D'Or but then Fahrenheit 9/11 won.

We'll see. Cannes isn't the best place to get reviews. Eastwood so far looks like the clear winner.
Old 05-22-08, 02:41 AM
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Changeling (recently retitled "The Exchange") is my most anticipated for a wider release - it's been getting excellent reviews and Clint's late-career work (2000's) has been incredibly consistent, subdued, and effective. But also very keen to see Blindness and Synecdoche, New York.
Old 05-22-08, 05:41 AM
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Debut Reviews: Che (5), The Headless Woman (3), Johnny Mad Dog (1), O' Horten (1), Surveillance (1)

Additional Reviews: Los Bastardos (1), Changeling (2), Gomorrah (2), The Lion's Den (1), Maradona (2), Salt of This Sea (1), Three Monkeys (1), Two Lovers (1), Tyson (1)

Call me crazy, but Gomorrah sounds like the front runner right now for the Palme; some of these reviews are making it sound like a combination of the best parts of The Godfather and The Wire.

Will try to add a couple more non-competing films tomorrow.

Last edited by GreenVulture; 05-22-08 at 05:43 AM.
Old 05-23-08, 03:29 PM
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More reviews!

Debut Reviews: Adoration (4), The Dead Girl's Feast (1), Frontier of Dawn (3), Ocean Flame (1) and Synecdoche, New York (4).

Additional Reviews: Afterschool, Ashes of Time: Redux, Los Bastardos, Blindness, Changeling, The Chaser, A Christmas Tale, 4 Nights with Anna, Gomorrah, The Headless Woman, Involuntary, I Want to See, Johnny Mad Dog, Linha de Passe, The Lion's Den, Maradona, O'Horten, Roman Polanski, Salt of This Sea, Service, Surveillance, Tokyo!, 24 City, Two Lovers, Tyson, Versailles, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Waltz with Bashir and What Just Happened?.

For those wondering about Synecdoche: while the reviews are positive, it's of the "it was good, BUT..." variety.

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