Cannes: "You Were Never Really Here" and Palme d'Or Predictions

Previously: Day 1, Days 2-4, Days 5-6, Days 7-8, and Days 9-10
Fashion: French Divas & Kidmanifestations 1, 2, 3

Joaquin Phoenix, an antihero saving girls from sex slavery, in Lynne Ramsay's thriller "You Were Never Really Here"

Cannes wraps up Sunday with the closing ceremony which means the Palme d'Or! The last competition film to premiere (tomorrow officially is Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here  and as is sometimes the case in the more dramatic Cannes festivals, many critics are proclaiming that the festival saved the best for last. Variety's Guy Lodge loved it calling it a "a stunning return," The Guardian compares it to Taxi Driver in its "nightmarish psychological drama" 

Does that mean it will win the Palme d'Or or that Joaquin Phoenix has Best Actor wrapped up? Not really. It's foolish with Cannes to ever assume you know what will win but let's make some tentative predictions for fun after the jump shall we? 

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120 Reasons to be excited about '120 Beats Per Minute'

by Murtada

Of all the movies that unspooled at this year’s ongoing Cannes Film Festival, the one that got this writer most excited is 120 Battements Par Minute (120 Beats Per Minute). The movie has gotten almost unanimous praise and is expected by many to nab a major prize at the festival. Update: And it won the Queer Palme award as expected. 

Campillo (center) and his cast at Cannes

Let’s count the reasons to be excited about it after the jump. I lied, not 120 reasons, but here are 9... 

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Cannes Day 9-10: A Gentle Creature, In The Fade, L'Amant Double

Cannes wraps this weekend. Only one competition film, Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here, is yet to screen before the jury makes their decisions for the history books (er, what do we say now that the history books aren't how you look up history?). 

Previously: Day 1, Days 2-4, Days 5-6, and Days 7-8
Fashion: French Divas and Kidmanifestations 1, 2, and 3

So let's check in with the four latest premieres including a new erotic thriller from François Ozon, a revenge drama from Fatih Akin, and a buzzy Robert Pattinson performance...

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Sean Baker's "The Florida Project" Rocks Cannes

Chris here. For films outside of the main competition, this year has been an unusually quiet Cannes. One film that has stuck out and stirred our immediate anticipation is Sean Baker's The Florida Project in the Director's Fortnight sidebar, as unanimously praised as anything on the Croisette thus far. Baker returns to 35MM after his iPhone experiment for a hopeful portrayal of a youth and poverty with Disney World in the background. Word is he has delivered something gorgeous and heartbreaking, with major breakthrough performances from Brooklynn Prince and Bria Vinaite. Whether or not Florida takes Baker to the next level stateside, I'd bank on his chances to enter the main competition should he return to Cannes for his next feature.

As if anything from Baker post-Tangerine wouldn't already have us foaming at the mouth, the high praise and comparisons to the likes of Beasts of the Southern Wild are making this one we'll be really dying to see once it comes stateside.

THE FLORIDA PROJECT is an absolute barn burner. Brimming with life & noise & neglect & humanity & an all-time Willem Dafoe. #cannes2017 🔥🔥🔥

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) May 22, 2017

So why has it not attracted a distributor since debuting a few days ago? With all of the rave reviews, you would think a indie outfit would want to snatch this one up while Baker's star is on the rise. Some are whispering at Oscar potential because of its emotional impact and strong vision, but the film needs a buyer to really support it first. Even though critics are calling it as joyful as it is tragic, are buyers just scared off by an apparently unflinching look at poverty? Do we have to send Sin-Dee out to drag their asses to the buyer's table?

UPDATE - A24 has picked up the film for US distribution.

Tweetweek: Alien Riffs, Huppert Meme, and Cannes Mania

Tweet of the Week...

"now you're in the sun-Cannes place." pic.twitter.com/jgYJNzwGb9

— Neil Young (@BohemiaStable) May 24, 2017

Get it? Oh reader, I LOL'ed and LOL'ed. Cannes fun follows after the jump but first some non-Cannes thoughts and amusements featuring Twin Peaks, Rooney Mara, Reservoir Dogs and more... 

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