Variety is reporting that Woody Allen “becomes the first and only director to have three opening night films selected for Cannes.” Ignoring the fact that Allen hasn’t made a decent film since “Match Point” in 2005, Thierry Fremaux (the festival’s director) seems content to feed the French public’s high regard for a director whose name is an anathema with many audiences in the states.
Allen’s film “Café Society” stars Kristen Stewart and everyone’s least favorite knee-jerk actor Jesse Eisenberg. Steve Carell, Parker Posey, Blake Lively, Carey Stoll, Jeannie Berlin, and Ken Scott also star.
In America Woody Allen has turned into someone’s creepy uncle who inexplicably sleeps over after the party is over. It looks like Allen has one more party left in him. Just don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out Mr. Allen.
Variety reports that Steven Spielberg will unveil his latest family-pleaser “The BFG,” an adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic.
Among the possible films in competition for the Palme d’Or are: Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle,” Sean Penn’s “The Last Face,” Pedro Almodovar’s “Julieta,” Xavier Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World, Jodie Foster’s “Money Monster,” and the Dardenne Brothers’ “The Unknown Girl.”
Terrence Malick’s “Voyage of Time” or “Weightless,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Paterson,” and “James Franco’s “Zeroville” (based on Steve Erickson’s book) are also up for possible competition candidacy.
Although Nicolas Winding Refn’s LA-set premier voyage into the horror genre (“The Neon Demon”) is rumored to not be ready in time to play at the festival, I’d put my money of Refn to make it happen. He wants to make a splash after his not-so-impressive last Cannes outing with “Only God Forgives” in 2013.
As always, high profile French films will populate the festival. Look for Alain Guiraudie’s “Staying Vertical,” Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Planetarium, Nicole Garcia’s “From the Land of the Moon,” and Bertrand Bonello’s “Paris is Happening.”
The official line-up of competition films will be announced on Thursday, April 14.
The 2016 Cannes Film Festival runs Wednesday, May 8 through Sunday, May 22.
