Wildcard. The Bling Ring
Possible categories: Best Picture, Best Director (Sofia Coppola), Best Actress (Emma Watson), Best Original Screenplay (Sofia Coppola)
Likely categories: None If I had to pick one wild card of this year's Cannes lineup, it would have to be Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring. Of the four films in Ms. Coppola's career, only one of them has achieved any significant level of Oscar success, Lost in Translation. There is no great reason then to expect The Bling Ring to do any serious level of damage in this year's up coming Oscar season, and while my brain agrees and understands this, there's something in my gut that wonders if this could be the surprise sensation of the year. I may just be biased because I found her last feature film, Somewhere, to be one of the better films of this still young decade, but I think it's key to remember why Lost in Translation became such a formidable awards player. The film made its debut in the fall festival circuit and quickly became the critic's cause celebre. The critics gushed over the film to the point that praise for the film became an epidemic, reaching all corners of the critics universe. At that point, it was pure formality for its announcement as a Best Picture nominee. The schematics are there for The Bling Ring to be an Oscar player, but the question will be, and this is a huge question mark, does the film actually have the goods? This is my argument (sight unseen) why I think the film may be good enough to be a serious awards contender. The Bling Ring tells the true story of a group of celebrity-obsessed Millennials living in Southern California who use the internet to find celebrity addresses in order to rob their houses. Some have compared the trailer to another youth-oriented morality tale that was released earlier this year, Spring Breakers, but the more appropriate comparison may be to The Social Network. I hate to be the ass that brings out the Z-word, but The Bling Ring looks like it may be a film that captures the zeitgeist of our times. Much like The Social Network, it appears the film will tackle a generation of youth who desire nothing more than to be known and recognized as someone of importance by their peers. If it can do this in an aesthetically intriguing way with enough stylistic aplomb to garner critical admiration, then this just might be a film that has some legs in the coming awards wise. Or it could be just another Sofia Coppola movie. Cannes will decide its fate, momentarily. Cannes debut: Thursday, May 26