Kidman in Cannes. Part 2.

Jose here. After abandoning us for what felt like years OK it was just one day Cannes jury member extraordinaire Nicole Kidman is back to show us how it's done!

Who She Wore: Calvin Klein (it was a CK party after all...)
Which Director She's Trying to Lure: why Lars of course. It's no coincidence that she came out as a dominatrix the day after that gorgeous publicity shot of Nymphomaniac was unleashed on the world. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't she supposed to play the part that went to Uma? Make up your mind Nicky!
What "Alice Harford" would think of this: "So, because I'm a beautiful woman, the only reason any man wants to talk to me is because he wants to fuck me? Is that what you're saying?"

Is it me or is she bringing her game back in a way she'd only been doing at the Grammys? Not only are these wider skirts a welcome refresher from her usual column gowns with feathers or studs, but she also looks SO happy to be there! 

...oh we're happy to see you too, Nic!

Which is yummier?

I wanted to share an epiphany I had in the momentary Kidman drought yesterday at Cannes. I finally realized why Kidman's Dior had me drooling, why it had such a physical effect on me. It reminds me of this:

poll by twiigs.com

Tough question.

Let the readers decide!

Kidman in Cannes. Part 1.

Jose here. The Cannes Film Festival starts today and I think we all can agree that the most important thing about it this year is the fact that Nicole Kidman is on the jury. Right?

This year's Competition Jury, as Nathaniel has already pointed out, might very well be the real life equivalent of The Avengers, with Nicole being reigning Queen of them all I know Spielberg's the President, shut up...  so during the next eleven days, we'll cover Nicole sightings, as we watch her fiercefully conquer the world of auteurship and wonder what some of her most beloved characters would think about what she's up to... 

The first Nicole sighting took place Tuesday evening as she showed up to the Jury dinner. 

Who She Wore: Dior (hmm is she trying to steal the spotlight from the damoiselles de Dior?)
Which Director She's Trying to Lure: When I first saw this, I immediately thought David Lynch, because I thought it was blue…turns out everyone else rightfully saw it as black and now I keep thinking Wong Kar-wai because this dress screams In the Mood for Love.
What Suzanne Stone-Maretto would think of this: "I'm on TV! Let me shine!"

Two more Kidman looks after the jump...

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Ladies and Gentlemen and Kidmaniacs, I Give You The Cannes Jury

Cannes is just three weeks away and the final jury lineup has been announced. We knew Steven Spielberg would head the jury but his team was still semi-secret. They are...

Just months after competing for an extra Oscar, they'll be discussing other people's movies

Competition Jury

• Daniel Auteuil (French actor/director)
• Vidya Balan (Indian actress)
• Naomi Kawase (Japanese director)
• Nicole Kidman (Australian actress/producer)
• Ang Lee (Taiwanese director/producer/scriptwriter)
• Cristian Mungiu (Romanian scriptwriter/director/producer)
• Lynne Ramsay (British scriptwriter/director/producer)
• Steven Spielberg (American director) PRESIDENT OF JURY
• Christoph Waltz (Austrian Actor)

Only one thing is certain about the outcome based on the composition of the team: By May 26th, Nicki's auteur lust will devour their collective imagination and they'll surely be competing for her hand in filmmaking. Which one of these directors will she work with next? (I mean, besides Steven Spielberg who Kate Capshaw aside, isn't particularly excited by actresses.) Can her first Romanian picture be far off? I'd most love to see what Lynne Ramsay could wrangle out of Kidman but I assume that Ramsay might have difficulty getting funding for her next picture given the ugly fallout from her sudden departure from Jane Got a Gun. 

Some years ago I made this visual and it still applies. But you just change the names as the years go by and Kidman recalibrates her attacks. Always plotting for legacy, that one!

Despite the media blitz that accompanies Cannes headliners, the competition jury is never the only jury at Cannes. It's just the one with all the headliners. There are multiple less glitzy but not necessarily less talented juries overseeing other prizes as well. 

Short Films Jury

• Maji-da Abdi (Ethiopian actress/producer)
• Jane Campion (New Zealand, director) PRESIDENT OF JURY
• Nandita Das (Indian actress/director)
• Semith Kaplanoglu (Turkey, writer/director/producer)

Un Certain Regard Jury
This jury decides who to spotlight in the realm of up-and-coming filmmakers (the ones Cannes isn't yet ready to include in the Competition lineup. Last year their prize went to the Mexican feature After Lucia which Amir wrote about here.) This jury lineup has not yet been announced but Thomas Vinterberg that handsome Dane who made the dogme masterpiece Festen (A Celebration) in the late 90s and whose current  feature The Hunt is winning him the best reviews he's seen since that startling debut will preside over this jury.

Can't wait to see which films they all embrace... and which auteurs win Nicole Kidman's hand. 

Cannes: The Official Slate

It's afternoon in Paris but bright and early here in NYC and the official Cannes lineup has been announced. In 28 days Baz Luhrmann and his undoubtedly enormous Bazmark posse will be hitting the Croisette for the opening night film The Great Gatsby.  Immediately following that debut reactions will explode chaotically all over the web with unvariably less art-directed beauty than the fireworks in the film. 

But here's what'll actually be competing for the Palme D'Or and assorted main jury prizes. 

IN COMPETITION

• Behind The Candelabra (Steven Soderbergh)
• Borgman (Alex Van Warmerdam)
• Un Chateau En Italie (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi)
• La Grande Bellezza (Paolo Sorrentino)
• Grisgris (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
• Heli (Amat Escalante)
• The Immigrant (James Gray)
• Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen)
• Jeune Et Jolie (Francois Ozon)
• Jimmy P (Arnaud Desplechin)
• Michael Kohlhaas (Arnaud Despallieres)
• Nebraska (Alexander Payne) 
• Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn)
• The Past (Asghar Farhadi)
• Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
• Tian Zhu Ding (Zhangke Jia)
• Venus In Fur (Roman Polanski)
• La Vie D'Adele (Abdellatif Kechiche)
• Wara No Tate (Takashi Miike) 

Which of those films are you bullish on for prizes and/or your own impending fandom? Out of competition and more after the jump...

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