5. Out Of The Furnace
Director: Scott Cooper Starring: Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana & Woody Harrelson. Another film centred on crime, about two brothers and starring Zoe Saldana. By the law of averages, surely one of them must be at Cannes in some capacity, and the presence of Christian Bale on this one could mean this gets the Killing Them Softly slot on the Competition list, if Cannes goes the same way as last year again. There's certainly enough implied violence and commentary on crime in the plot, which sees one brother imprisoned and the other become part of a highly violent crime ring. But will Cannes go crime again? In austerity Europe it's certainly a poignant issue, it's just a matter of whether Cannes will see the inclusion as a little too on-the-nose.
4. The Bling Ring
Director: Sofia Coppola Starring: Emma Watson, Leslie Mann & Taissa Farmiga Coppola has been as Cannes before with Marie Antionette, which received boos and a standing ovation - as if either is a real reflection of how people actually feel in those giant screens in France, and she might return this time out with The Bling Ring, a commentary on the culture of celebrity obsession, which might fit with last year's inclusion of Reality. Coppola skipped Cannes with Somewhere, and chose Venice instead, but the organisers might want to bring her back for a return seven years after Marie Antoinette.