Dark Cannes

Cannes doesn't seem like it's going to be a laugh-a-second festival this year, and there's nothing like last year's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to provide some light, relaxing entertainment. With rumors of marketing downsizing and some referring to it as theCannes Crunch, with fewer big deals expected, I would predict the mood to be quite somber, on and off the screen. And before you say it, don't be fooled by the opening night celebration of Pixar's animated movie Up (which I think won't be as light as it looks, and given Pixar's recent track record, will get some teary eyed come the third act), there's several horror and dark psychological movies at play here that are likely to be the cold black cloud hanging over the beautifully sunny resort. I must admit to being a little saddened this morning when the sucker punch finally hit that I won't be seeing Quentin Tarantino'sInglourious Basterds, a movie I have dreamed of seeing for about ten years. I know I made the right choice though it not attending when the Cannes press only offered us one pass for the two week gig. OWF's Simon Gallagher is a superb writer, his work ethic beats mine and I know he will do a tremendous job covering the festival. I'm basically telling him, that what he is doing at Cannes could be done five times a year at other beautiful cities across the world and he would be handsomely rewarded for it. It's the best job ever, and he knows it, so I'm expecting nothing but top quality work from him. I'm also arranging for someone to attend Comic Con for us in July, but these things are never easy to sort out (a trip from the U.K. to San Diego is no small feat). Maybe I will get to go on that one. So Quentin got his masterpiece finished, not that we doubted it too much really. Let's hope he hasn't compromised anything by doing so. Once I read the script, I was delighted with his casting choices (which were about half way through by then), and I truly think this could be his best work to date. It's his best script since Pulp Fiction, of that I have no doubt. Other "in competition" movies that really stand out are Oldboy director Chan-wook Park's vampire movie Thirst, which fills me with so much hope that the vamp genre could rule for another year. Really can't wait to hear about that one. Lars Von Trier is always a filmmaker whose work always raises eyebrows, and Anti-Christ has certainly done that so far. I'm curious as hell to see Michael Haenke's next movie The White Ribbon, his follow-up to the god damn awful remake of his own Funny Games. The movie is set in a rural school in Germany during WWI, with not much plot available online anywhere right now. I expect it to be very dark, sick and disturbing. I hope Simon knows Haenke before he goes into this one, otherwise I fear for what it might do to him. Penelope Cruz is working at a level so beyond her peers these days and her new movie reuniting her with Pedro Almodovar, titled Broken Embraces will probably win the festival, me thinks. I have no idea what to expect from Looking for Eric, Ken Loach's comedy movie with footballing legend Eric Cantona. That trailer that was attached to The Damned United was one of the strangest things I have ever witnessed with an audience in the theatre. Looked rancid. Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock is the movie I think Simon will come out most pleased with. It's the kind of thing he loves (he is a big fan of Almost Famous but then again, aren't we all?) and as soon as I saw this was going for the broad mainstream audience, I knew Lee was out to show us that he can make an audience pleaser. It's going to the American version of The Boat That Rocked, showing us Brits how this kind of thing should be done. Of course out of competition, I imagine huge press will surround The Imagnarium of Doctor Parnassus, the last movie from Heath Ledger. Emotional yes, but hopefully a celebration too for a great actor. Let's just hope the movie is good, Gilliam probably deserves a break by now. Agora is a movie I'm desperate to see also, not least because it's been too long since we've seen a huge budget, Egyptian epic, the kind that your grandad grew up with. But also because it's from Alejandro Amenabar, the director who gave us Open Your Eyes and The Others, two great movies. Everyone has gone crazily nuts for Sam Raimi'sDrag Me to Hell, including us here at OWF, and a midnight showing seems fitting. If you could only choose one movie out of all of them, which if given the choice would you like to see tomorrow?