The lineup is in! In less than one month, actors, producers, financiers, and most importantly, Penn's finest cinema students will be flooding into France for the 65th annual Cannes Film Festival. The official film selections (chosen by festival general delegate and artistic director Thierry Frémau) were released today, putting my antiticipation at an all-time high. Accepted films helm from 26 countries around the world. Wes Anderson's highly anticipated Moonlight Kingdom will be the festival's opener, and it will be closed out by Claude Miller's Therese Désqueyroux (hopefully I can pronounce this by the time the festival is over), as a tribute to the late director who passed earlier this month.
According to Deadline Hollywood, a higher number of English language films are on the roster this year than in years past. While this is obviously exciting for me (foreign language= worst subject EVER), it's also important to realize we are witnessing an important shift in American cinema. Fremau noted that there is a "renewed presence of a certain type of American cinema that we no longer had... It's come back strong but I also hope it's a new existence for great American films on an international level." For the full film selection: see the official Cannes website here: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/58878.html.
But, a few of my personal highlights that if I don't see I will probably cry (kidding... but maybe not...):
-Dreamworks Animation's Madagascar 3 (obviously)
-Cosmopolis (Robert Pattinson, 'nuff said.)
-On the Road (Kristen Stewart, see above.)
-The Paperboy (all star celebrity lineup)
-Mud (see above.)
-Killing Them Softly (thank you for bringing Brad Pitt to Cannes)
-Amour (French film by esteemed director Michael Haneke)
P.S. For the official Brangelina guide to Cannes: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20588406,00.html
Safe to say you can find me here too.
