The 66th annual Cannes Film Festival kicks off a week today, so it won't be long before we'll start hearing the first reviews coming in for The Coen Brothers' In Competition work, Inside Llewyn Davis, which is easily one of the most anticipated films of the festival. Regular punters won't be able to get their hands on it until December, making those who manage to see it at the Croisette all the more lucky. The first trailer dropped in rather unassuming fashion several months ago, and word has been pretty quiet ever since. Given that the picture is a whole 7 months away from playing the US (and another month on top of that for the UK), perhaps that's a smart strategy, especially as far as awards season goes - nobody wants to run out of steam on the road to Oscar glory. Here are 6 reasons to be excited for Inside Llewyn Davis...
6. It's In Competition
This is the Coen Brothers' 8th placement in contention for the prestigious Palme D'Or, which they won on their first time up to bat with 1991's Barton Fink. It's been 6 years since the Coens have last been nominated for the Palme - that's over double their second-longest gap without a nod - and given that their last nomination was for the Oscar triumph No Country for Old Men, it bodes very well that the Brothers have cooked up something very special for us this time indeed. That said, in my opinion A Serious Man and Burn After Reading would easily have been Palme nominees if they were ready at the right time, and you can't forget that the Brothers' remake of The Ladykillers - regarded by just about everyone as their worst film - was even nominated for the Palme in 2004. Still, it's great to see them competing for the grandest prize in all of Cannes once again.