CANNES OSCAR POSSIBILITIES

Winning Best Picture at Cannes rarely leads to an Academy Award. In fact last years Cannes winner was UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES.  We never heard from that movie after Cannes. THE TREE OF LIFE winning Best Picture this year does not mean much either. The Cannes jury is much different than the Academy voters. THE TREE OF LIFE doesn't have a typical storyline that the Academy prefers. It is more of a movie that makes the audience decide what the film is about. Not only that, but the reviews have been mixed. Only time will tell if TREE makes it all the way. It will be released wide on July 18th.

­ Oscilloscope Laboratories announced that they picked up the rights to LETS TALK ABOUT KEVIN. They are releasing it in the Winter with a full Oscar campaign. This is great news for Tilda Swinton who has a great shot at a Best Actress nomination. But only if the movie can get an audience.

DRIVE is another film getting a lot of good reviews from Cannes. Ryan Gosling plays Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheel man and discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. Gosling seems to never get the acting awards he deserves. Maybe this year?


TAKE SHELTER won the top critics prize at Cannes. it is about a family plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions.  A husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.

THE BEAVER was shown at Cannes. The reviews have been poor, but I hear that Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson are great in their roles. Gibson is hated too much now for the movie to get any recognition.

MELONCHOLIA starring Kirsten Dunst and directed by Lars von Trier may have lost its chances at any awards. This is due to Trier joking at a press conference that he was a Hitler sympathiser. He may have been trying to be funny, but he was censured from the rest of the festival. Much like Mel Gibson, if you are not liked its hard to win an Academy Award. Hopefully it won't ruin Kirsten Dunst's chances. She did win Best Actress at Cannes, but she may be hurt by the bad press.

SLEEPING BEAUTY was very much anticipated before Cannes, but once it was screened the reviews didn't hold up. It is about a university student drawn into being a prostitute and is not for everyone due to its graphic nature. It may not even get released in the US.


WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is one of the few films if any from Cannes that will make to the Academy Awards.