Cannes@64: The Films

Competition:
(Asterisk denotes first time in the main competition)

La Piel Que Habito (The Skin that I Live In), directed by Pedro Almodovar
L’Apollonide, directed by Bertrand Bonello
Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn *
Footnote, directed by Joseph Cedar *
Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai), directed by Takashi Miike *
Le Havre, directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Hanezu No Tsuki, directed by Naomi Kawase
The Kid With The Bike, directed by Dardenne Brothers
Melancholia, directed by Lars Von Trier
Michael, directed by Markus Schleinzer (first film) *
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Parter, directed by Alain Cavalier
Polisse, directed by Maiwenn *
Sleeping Beauty, directed by Julia Leigh *
La source des femmes, directed by Radu Mihaileanu *
This Must Be The Place, directed by Paolo Sorrentino
The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick
We Have a Pope, directed by Nanni Moretti
We Need To Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay *

Un Certain Regard:

“Bonsaï,” directed by Christian Jimenez
“The Day He Arrives,” directed by Hong Sang-Soo (2010 Un Certain Regard Grand Prize winner for "HaHaHa")
“Et maintenant, on va où ?,” directed by Nadine Labaki
“Halt auf freier Strecke,” directed Andreas Dresen
“Hors Satan,” directed by Bruno Dumont
“The Hunter,” Bakur Bakuradze
“Martha Marcy May Marlene,” directed by Sean Durkin (Best Director winner at Sundance)
“Les neiges du Kilimandjaro,” directed by Robert Guédiguian
“Restless,” directed by Gus Van Sant (opening film)
“Skoonheid,” directed by Oliver Hermanus
“Tatsumi,” directed by Eric Khoo
“Arirang,” directed by Kim Ki-Duk
“Toomelah,” directed by Ivan Sen
“Oslo,” August 31st,” directed by Joachim Trier
“L’Exercice de L’Etat,” directed by Pierre Schoeller
“Trabalhar Cansa,” directed by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra (first film)
“Miss Bala,” directed by Gerardo Naranjo
“Loverboy,” directed by Catalin Mitulescu
“Yellow Sea,” directed by Na Hong-jin

(Source: Indiewire.com)

"Cannes" happenings

At the 64th Cannes Film Festival, the following trends have emerged, to wit:

1. Four female filmmakers in the main competition (2007 Grand Prix winner Naomi Kawase; first time contenders Lynne Ramsay, Australian Julia Leigh, and French director Maiwenn).

2. Another suspense-drama from actress-friendly Pedro Almodovar (this time starring Antonio Banderas in his first film with the auteur after 1990's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!).

3. Cannes favorites and Danish provocateur Lars von Trier (with another "otherwordly" suspense movie), Dardenne brothers (it's about kids again!), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and Sean Penn (who stars in two movies: Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's first English language film This Must Be The Place and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life with Brad Pitt) are back after previous forays in the French Riviera in 2008 and 2009, respectively. (At last, Ken Loach is absent this year.)

A busy year (and a half)

Brushing my professorial duties aside (no pun intended), the past year (and a half) has been unusually toxic (given my multitasking career). However, my ardent supporters in the film world have alerted me recently into returning to blogging my film reviews and articles; it's an offer that I cannot refuse despite my busy jobs...
That's why Reel Reviews blog is alive and kicking again... Felicitations!

RR@12

Come December this year, ReelReviews will publish its second compilation of selected world cinema reviews and critiques. RR@12 will feature some of the critically-acclaimed (and scorned) movies as well as Hollywood, Bollywood, Asian, and film festival hits (and misses). The latter part of the book entitled "Film Criticism in the Philippines Today" will feature a critical appraisal of the author's graduate thesis. Along with interviews with several filmmakers (Brillante Mendoza, Adolf Alix, Jr., among others), industry practitioners and critics, a situational analysis of the country's fledgling industry will be discussed.

Snippets of previously published and unpublished reviews and articles will be available online next month.