Who will win the Palme at Cannes? [2019 edition]

I'm sure I've seen predominately the wrong Ken Loach films (i.e. not Kes, yet).

Well, yeah, that's the other annoying thing. That his constant presence in Cannes since 1990 has meant his latest crap kinda overshadows the earlier, more interesting films. Kes, Poor Cow, Looks and Smiles, The Price of Coal. They're good? But it's The Angels Share which is shown on Danish television repeatedly.

Thanks Ward.

Land and Freedom and Kes are my favourite Loach films. A lot of his films suffer from telling people who are already sympathetic to his/our cause things they already know but when they work they do it well and I'm happy for him to keep making them. The best Dardennes' films wouldn't exist without Loach but Two Days, One Night, for example, is better written and acted than most of his late films.

I've only seen Kes and I, Daniel Blake but I liked the latter much more

The wind that shakes the barley winning the palme is a bit of a travesty

― findom haddie (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 2 May 2019 21:25 (one week ago) Permalink

No its not. Its one of the best movies he's ever made.

― . (Michael B), Saturday, May 11, 2019 1:07 AM (two days ago) Bookmark

it's very unsubtle. the action scenes are terribly shot, they look almost unbelievably-shoddy. but as a student of irish nationalist movements and the RA and all that the main issue for me is the strange politics of the piece. if you come in blind to the movie with no context you would assume that the anti-treaty side in the irish civil war were all james connolly loving socialists and that the main division between the two sides were social issues.

i, daniel blake is very good imo.

I still will never forget a friend of mine weighing in on The Wind That Shakes the Barley with the following synopsis:

To everyone who liked THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY:

OK so I've watched an hour of this thing now, and Jesus Christ is it one goddam monotonous scene after another. Is there any reason to watch the next hour?

Summary of the screenplay:

FADE IN

[Evil, rampaging English soldiers rush in with guns]

Soldier: You fucking Irish bastards!
Soldier: Get over here!
Soldier: Fucking Fenian fuckers!
Soldier: Irish scum!

[They hit innocent Irish lads in the face with guns, kill some]

FADE OUT

FADE IN

[Evil, rampaging English soldiers rush in with guns]

Soldier: What's your name you fucking Irish scum?!
Soldier: What's your name?
Irish lad: [sings a rousing traditional Gaelic song in defiance, gets shot]
Soldier: Fucking Irish fuckers!

FADE OUT

FADE IN

[Irish rebels fight back, silently kill some English soldiers, finish scene by singing rousing traditional Gaelic song in defiance, heads hung low]

FADE OUT

FADE IN

[English soldiers rush in with guns]

Soldier: Get the fuck down you fucking Irish fuckers!
Soldier: What's your name?!
Soldier: Fenian fucker!
Soldier: You bastards!

[Old Irish woman cries]

Soldier: Fucking move, you bitch! [Hits in face with gun]

[Irishmen are beaten up, English soldiers laugh menacingly]

FADE OUT

FADE IN

Repeat scene from RED DAWN when good guy turns traitor, has to get shot by another good guy, sadness. These are the true casualties of war, etc.

FADE OUT

ZOMG RINSE REPEAT, MORE MORE MORE OF THE SAME

Are you kidding Best Picture at Cannes? I liked it better when Charlie Sheen and Patrick Swayze were in it.

i've forgotten his weigh-in already

#Photocall of the Jury 📸#Cannes2019 pic.twitter.com/PoFRwY1HES

— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 14, 2019

LOL, I missed that the Kechiche is four hours long.

Oh boy!

#Cannes2019 jury president Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu: "I will not call it judgement. I don’t like to judge films. I like to be impregnated by them."

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 14, 2019

kelly reichardt so tiny!

the Jarmusch seems incredibly lame

https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/the-dead-dont-die-review-adam-driver-bill-murray-1203213609/

Reviews seem pretty lame across the board. I'm glad; the movie looked stupid.

kinda like 90% of zombie films

You're awfully generous this morning.

I like a number of them! The 10%.

ugh the Malick is 3 hours

An hour shorter than the Kechiche, tho.

oh god and it's a sequel to a movie that was already 3 hours. did anyone see it?

Nope, I'm waiting for the whole thing. There's going to be a third part, right? Otherwise, why call part two for 'Intermezzo'?

In a few weeks, the local cinemateque will show all three parts of Kobayashi's The Human Condition in one day, and I'll definitely go. And I imagine watching all of Mektoub My Love in one go will be just as good.

As much as I admired The Secret of the Grain, I want him to stop making movies now.

same

I was a little proud of coining the term Palme d'Homme, should he win again.

I really liked "Mektoub..." Part 1. Am looking forward to this second part.

Just listened to a little of the Film Comment podcast on Day 1 and sounds like Amy Taubin's a pretty big fan of the Jarmusch.

interesting what she said about it’s bleakness throwing cold water over the rest of the festival, also her comments about how beautiful it is on a big screen, that it looks radioactive

its

Yeah, seems kind of an early call on what the rest of the festival will bring, but maybe she's seen the rest of the slate.

So the Malick he claims is a self-conscious return to working with a tighter script? I kind of find it hard to believe he ever worked with a tight script. I guess he just means less improvised?

I don’t know about “tight” (would argue his 70s pics qualify as that), but yeah, he’s apparently using an actual script again which was more/less absent from the last three.

it's easy to forget how relatively straightforward The Tree of Life is

I want it to be The New World 2!

the Filho is apparently quite batty.

https://www.avclub.com/john-carpenter-looms-over-a-day-of-madness-and-violence-1834808856

His dedication to finding new ways of depicting arguments about real estate is kinda admirable.

Bacurau sounds like something I’d really like. Not sure what to make of Les Misérables, I’m skeptical about the concept of a traditional-but-updated Street Crime Unit Paris police drama, but I suppose it could be great. One of the most interesting-sounding films to me so far in the festival is Beanpole by Kantemir Balagov in UCR

can't wait to hear what The Lighthouse is like

Atlantics also sounds really good from early takes

wasn't expecting Atlantics (Atlantique) to be a ghost story

Peter Bradshaw thinks Sorry We Missed You is better than I, Daniel Blake, but says “and here is where my qualm arises. Many people will see this film as a portrayal of real issues facing people – not silly old Brexit, which only worries people in the London bubble. Does the director himself feel like this? I don’t know. But I can only say that the European Union is the modern-day nursery of employment rights, and outside it is where working people will find more cynicism, more cruelty, more exploitation, more economic isolation and more poverty.”

the #FBPEU is strong with this one

Also really curious about what Port Authority will be like

Disappointed by Jessica Hausner’s Science-Gone-Too-Far plant-anxiety drama LITTLE JOE - visually blooming but dramatically a wilting marigold. #Cannes2019

— Jonathan Romney (@JonathanRomney) May 17, 2019

:-(

seems like an unusual number of genre- and genre-leaning films in competition this year

http://i64.tinypic.com/2i0rjq0.png

Ramin Setoodeh's picture of Julianne Moore and Richard Madden watching Mariah Carey perform at Cannes

reading the reviews I don't think I care about what the critics say about Little Joe

the Almodovar sounds promising.

I haven't loved his films since Volver, but this one does seem like it could be pretty great

I really want to see the Dan Krauss/PaulHaggis documentary “5B” in special screenings at Cannes about the AIDS ward at SFGH in the early 80s

Review made to infuriate our Dane:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/may/16/sorry-we-missed-you-review-ken-loach