In this morning’s inaugural roundup of Cannes news ‘n’ notes from around the web, pundits and players arrive on the Croisette and wonder what it all means.
Eugene Hernandez kicks off indieWIRE’s extensive Cannes coverage with the usual question: “Does Cannes (still) Matter?” His answer is yes – or rather, in best movie-blurb fashion, “YES!” Of course, he pretty much has to say that, considering that his company has shipped a bunch of journalists to France, where they’re also sponsoring the American Pavilion and hosting a series of Q&As. (indieWIRE)
The Daily Beast picks “the 14 hottest films” at the fest. The truly remarkable thing (and the sad thing, in a way) is that 11 of the 14 are in English. It can’t have been easy to come up with that many English-language films among the festival entries, though the out-of-competition major-studio slots (“Robin Hood,” “Wall Street”) certainly made the job a little easier. (The Daily Beast)
Vadim Rizov peruses the complaints about how Cannes is old and out of touch, and rises to its defense. The festival, he says, has been getting better at showcasing relevant films: “[W]ithin the limits of what Cannes was pretty much born to do -- show the best films in the world first, which these days means ignoring a lot of mainstream product outright -- it's more on point than ever.” He makes his argument by linking to a list of every film shown in competition since 1946, a formidably exhaustive compilation that’ll tell you, for instance, that “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Easy Rider” were Cannes films. (IFC.com)
Scott Roxborough and Stuart Kemp survey the other side of Cannes, the Marche du Film market. The consensus: don’t expect many big deals for competition films; it might be a good year for Asian movies; and buyers are more selective, but sellers think enough deals will be made “to justify the still eyebrow-raising cost of doing business here.” (The Hollywood Reporter)
Steven Zeitchik wonders which 2010 Cannes movie will prompt that venerable Croisette tradition, the chorus of boos and catcalls that has greeted films like “The Brown Bunny” and “Marie Antoinette.” He focuses his attention on “Robin Hood,” not because the Ridley Scott film is inept but because, he says, it turns the French into the bad guys. He’s right, in a way, although the biggest baddie are probably Oscar Isaac’s (English) King John and Mark Strong’s Godfrey, who seems to be an Englishman with French sympathies. And when the French run amok, they do so at the direction of Godfrey … so maybe that’ll let Scott off the hook. Or maybe not. (24 Frames)
Anne Thompson flew to Cannes on a planeload of industry types, had pizza with a bunch of pals, and discussed the topics du jour: Bob Berney, assorted media moves, Casey Affleck’s Joaquin Phoenix “documentary” (“either a genius send-up or very sad”), etc. No real news yet, just a
