The Tomato Report - Cannes 2009
Haneke's The White Ribbon Scoops Palme dOr
Michael Haneke took Cannes' top honour tonight as his film, The White Ribbon, won the prestigious Palme d'Or. It's Haneke's third major Cannes prize but his first Palme d'Or. The director took to the stage to be presented with the award by jury president Isabelle Huppert, who starred in his 2001 film La Pianiste. Set in a small German town on the eve of the First World War, The White Ribbon is a tragic tale of life as conflict approaches. "Happiness is a rare thing, but this is a moment in my life when I am truly happy," Haneke told the Cannes audience.
Cannes Film Festival 2009 Highlights
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Carrey Brings Snow to CannesLatest Cannes Film Festival 2009 Headlines
Cannes 2009: RT's 10 Must-See Movies
The 62nd Cannes Film Festival has officially wrapped, with most commentators agreeing that this year's selection was a cut above. There were some disappointments, but plenty of movies to get excited about, and RT was there for the whole festival checking out the best Cannes had to offer. So what's worth keeping an eye on? From Almodovar to von Trier, from Mariah Carey to Jim Carrey, this year's festival has thrown up a handful of auteurs and a full calendar of stars. Join us as we take a visual journey through the 10 Cannes films you absolutely have to see.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Haneke's The White Ribbon Scoops Palme dOr
Michael Haneke took Cannes' top honour tonight as his film, The White Ribbon, won the prestigious Palme d'Or. It's Haneke's third major Cannes prize but his first Palme d'Or. The director took to the stage to be presented with the award by jury president Isabelle Huppert, who starred in his 2001 film La Pianiste. Set in a small German town on the eve of the First World War, The White Ribbon is a tragic tale of life as conflict approaches. "Happiness is a rare thing, but this is a moment in my life when I am truly happy," Haneke told the Cannes audience.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Critics Pick Their Awards Favourites
With the Cannes Film Festival winding down this weekend, talk is now turning to who will win the Palme d'Or this evening. We tracked down several journalists covering the fest to gauge their opinion, and it seems there are two very definite front-runners at present - Michael Hanenke's The White Ribbon, a taut period drama about a German village pre-WWI, and Jacques Audiard's A Prophet, a prison film about a young man's efforts to survive incarceration in a French jail. "I am rooting for A Prophet to win," says Heat's Charles Gant. "It's the Gomorrah of this year's festival, but thanks to its linear storyline it's arguably more accessible and satisfying than last year's Mafia drama."
Cannes 2009: Sidebar Awards Round-up
It's the final day of the Cannes Film Festival today, and following yesterday's announcement of the Director's Fortnight awards, now we have word from Critics Week and FIPRESCI ahead of tonight's official competition ceremony. Meanwhile, the festival's official sidebar, Un Certain Regard (UCR), has also announced its results. UCR, which presented 20 films from 20 different countries, has given its top prize to Greek repression drama Kynodontas (Dogtooth). Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, it's a tale of three teenage children who are completely cut off from the outside world by their parents. This year's selection featured works by named auteurs like Bong Joon-ho and Hirokazu Kore-eda who went home empty-handed.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Gilliam Fails to Impress with Parnassus
Critics in Cannes were amongst the first, yesterday, to see Heath Ledger's final performance in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the fantasy flick that was long-delayed due to his death, played at the festival. Reviews have been mixed at best. "Ledger's performance provides an adequate swansong for loyal fans on pilgrimages to the multiplexes this autumn" Charles Gant writes for The Independent. "But many will exit scratching their heads." The film is a fantastical morality tale, revolving around the ancient Doctor and his magical mirror which allows punters to explore the darkest realms of their imagination. Christopher Plummer plays the Doctor, while Ledger stars as a suicidal soul he meets along the way.
Cannes 2009: I Killed My Mother Owns Fortnight Awards
Cannes' Director's Fortnight sidebar has announced its prizes for this year's festival, honouring Canadian director Xavier Dolan's J'ai tue ma mere (I Killed My Mother) in all but two of its five categories. The film is the tale of a complicated relationship between a mother (Anne Dorval) and her 16-year-old gay son, played by Dolan himself. It had been attracting buzz for its quality and for the story behind the film. Though not 16, Dolan wrote, directed, produced and starred in the film aged just 20. The film won the Art Cinema Award, the Regards Jeunes Prize and the SACD Prize.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - The White Ribbon Stuns Critics
Wednesday night's screening of The White Ribbon left the Cannes crowds shocked and stunned, and seems to have impressed every critic in attendance, with the film achieving 100% on the Tomatometer after nine reviews. Directed by festival favourite Michael Haneke, the film follows the trials and tribulations of a Protestant village in northern Germany on the eve of World War I. Shot in beautiful black and white and performed by an incredible ensemble cast, the film has been roundly praised for is sensitive portrayal of some pretty shocking material. Variety's Todd McCarthy is certainly a fan, writing that the film has "an absolute confidence and mastery of its own cinematic language, and the performances Haneke elicits from his first-rate cast, particularly the children, are eerily perfect."
Cannes 2009: Cantona Continues Cinematic Outings
Former Manchester United soccer superstar Eric Cantona is carving a name for himself as an actor after Ken Loach's Looking for Eric, in which he stars, opened to critical acclaim at Cannes earlier in the week. He's been tapped by Herve P. Gustave, who goes by the moniker HPG, to star in Les mouvements du basin (The Pelvis Moves) in which he'll take the lead role. HPG has previously brought On ne devrait pas existir (We Should Not Exist) to Cannes' Director's Fortnight in 2006. According to Variety, the film will explore the relationship between two characters, Thierry (played by Cantona), a student of self-defense martial arts, and Marion who longs to have a child.
Cannes 2009: Stephen Fry Brings His Liar to the Big Screen
Stephen Fry will bring his novel, The Liar to the big screen with himself in a starring role, Screen International reports. One of Britain's most beloved comedians, Fry wrote The Liar in 1991 and will executive produce the big-screen adaptation. The titular "liar" is Adrian Healey, who narrates the book and is responsible for several erroneous passages in it -- we learn that he's lying to the reader as well as other characters. It's a tale of the unrequited love of his life and meanders from his days in public school through his life as an adult. Fry will play Healey's uncle, while Skins star Nicholas Hoult will lie in the lead. Sir Ian McKellen will also star.
Cannes 2009: UFOs Approach
Veteran producer Robert Evans is getting into the alien business, teaming with ITV Global to create a feature based on cult TV series UFO. The British show, which ran from 1970 to 1973, was created by Gerry Anderson, best known for his work on the hugely popular Thunderbirds series. According to Variety, the plot "revolves around Shado (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a covert military organization that thwarts an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades, then using the body parts. Shado headquarters is hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, and the studio mogul is actually the Shado commander."
Cannes 2009: Alchemist News
Bestselling author Paulo Coelho has been talking to Variety about the long-gestating movie version of his hugely successful novel The Alchemist. The project, announced in Cannes in 2008, will apparently shoot before the year's end, although Laurence Fishburne is now no longer attached as director due to his CSI commitments. The Weinstein Co. will oversee the project, and Coelho said "If there is one person in the world who can make a movie out of the 'Alchemist' it's Harvey Weinstein. We had a very long conversation about how it should be, how it should not be. It's my book, but it's his movie."
Cannes 2009: Tarantino Talks Basterds
The stars were out in full force to support Inglorious Basterds in Cannes this morning, with writer/director Quentin Tarantino and cast members Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger and Michael Fassbender (amongst others) facing the press on the Croisette. The film follows the efforts of a team of Jewish-American soldiers, nicknamed 'The Basterds', to venture behind enemy lines to capture, maim and kill as many Nazis as possible, and is Tarantino's tribute to the 'men on a mission' movies popularised in the 1960s and '70s. Eli Roth, who plays the baseball bat-wielding Basterd Donnie Donowitz in the movie, called it "kosher porn" for Jews, claiming that murdering Nazis, "is something that I've fantasised about since I was a kid."
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Inglourious Splits Critics
Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds got its long-awaited first screening this morning at the Cannes Film festival, with critics giving it a round of applause at its conclusion, but opinions gathered so far have been mixed. The film follows a titular group of Allied soliders renowned for their skill, their ability to move within enemy lines and their astonishing brutality. They're the stuff of nightmares amongst the ranks of their victims and they like nothing more than scalping Nazis and bringing justice to occupied France. Loosely based on Enzo Castellari's 1978 exploitation classic, it's a deliciously revisionist twist on World War II cinema.
Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
The Golden Globe seems to have done Sally Hawkins well. After winning the award for her part in Mike Leigh's hilarious Happy-Go-Lucky, having her name attached to any project seems to have become an instant arbiter of interest. As we meet with Hawkins in Cannes, where she's announcing her role in new film We Want Sex, due to start shooting soon, she's fielding interest from all the glossies as well as the usual selection of film mags and broadsheets -- a sure sign of a star in the making. The film, which is being directed by Calendar Girls' Nigel Cole (an RT fan, he tells us) and Brit producing favourite Stephen Woolley, is the tale of female workers in the Ford Dagenham plant in the late 60s.
Cannes 2009: Hollywood has Thirst for Park Remake
Director Park Chan-wook has a habit of attracting Hollywood to remake his movies. OId boy is an active project at DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg attached to direct and Will Smith starring. Lady Vengeance is set up as a vehicle for Charlize Theron while Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has uber-producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura attached. Now, Variety reports, rumours on a US remake are already circling his latest, Thirst, which premiered at Cannes last week. The film, the tale of a priest killed in a medical experiment who is brought back to life as a vampire and returns home to a congregation holding him up as a miracle, opened to mostly positive reviews.
Cannes 2009: Pattinson Confirms Twilight 4
As if there was ever any doubt, Robert Pattinson -- currently filming the second and third instalments of Twilight back-to-back - confirmed at Cannes today that, yes, they'll make the fourth movie as well. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he's committed to the adaptation of Breaking Dawn, but isn't sure when it will film yet because of his extensive list of other commitments. This includes the likes of Unbound Captives -- with Hugh Jackman -- and romantic drama Remember me. The swoon-inducing star is just finishing up shooting New Moon in Italy, and plans to head back to Vancouver in October to wrap Eclispe.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Almodovar's Broken Embraces a Comfortable Favourite
Pedro Almodovar is a firm favourite in Cannes, so it's no surprise to see his new film Broken Embraces receiving largely positive reviews from the assembled critics. The director's first foray into film noir territory since Bad Education half a decade ago, the movie stars long-time collaborator Penelope Cruz as a beautiful actress who owes her career to her elderly millionaire lover, and Screen Daily's Barry Byrne calls it "a sleek post-Oscar vehicle" for the star. Byrne also writes that it will satisfy admirers of the director's work. "Fans of Almodovar will get plenty of what they expect here - rich saturated colours, hyper plotting, stylistic pyrotechnics and off-centre comedy."
Cannes 2009: Bridget Jones Becomes a Musical
Bridget Jones's Diary is set to be a musical according to Variety. Working Title are producing the show, and will be hoping to replicate the success of the live-action Billy Elliot stage show - which has just been nominated for a ton of Tony Awards. Helen Fielding, who wrote the ridiculously successful books, will apparently contribute to the lyrics. Expect to see this heart-warming tale of the slightly overweight singleton sometime in 2011. Renee Zellweger played the character in two big screen adaptations -- Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
Cannes 2009: George Clooney to Play Assassin
There's a double dose of George Clooney news that's emerged at Cannes yesterday. Firstly, Variety reports that the greying star has signed on to topline A Very Private Gentleman -- an adaptation of the Martin Booth novel -- which will be directed by Control helmer Anton Corbijn. The Cloon will play an assassin who hides out in a rustic Italian town before carrying out a final, murderous assignment. Against his better judgement, the cold-hearted killer starts to make friends and becomes entangled in a romantic relationship.
Cannes 2009: Carrey and co. Present A Christmas Carol
Big, fat flakes of white snow suddenly began tumbling down in the roasting afternoon heat of the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. It wasn't global warming. It was just Cannes. Because here, you can do that. The festival is its own Field Of Dreams: if you pay for it, it will come. You want Christmas in May? You got it. You want Jim Carrey throwing snowballs after being brought in on a horse-drawn carriage? You got that too. Striding up a frosty red carpet between a set of pumping snow-machines, Carrey, Jenny McCarthy, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn arrived in style for this scene of meteorological madness to introduce the world's first look at Robert Zemeckis' upcoming 3D 'toon A Christmas Carol.
Cannes 2009: A Prophet Director Goes Dark for Next Project
The Cannes Film Festival is only halfway through, but an early favourite for the coveted Palme d'Or is Jacques Audiard's astonishing A Prophet, a tale of a young offender whose route into more serious crime is assured when he's sent to a prison run by organized criminals. Audiard announced yesterday that he was planning to follow up with an adaptation of Craig Davidson's Rust and Bone a collection of short stories Audiard describes as "dark and tragic with despairing characters." The stories, according to a report by Screen International, feature fighting dogs, boxing, sex addicts and gamblers and the film promises to be just as darkly dramatic as A Prophet.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Antichrist Shocks, Eric Delights
Say what you like about Lars von Trier, the director never fails to find controversy. To one degree or another, most of his films have provoked comment for their themes and for von Trier's passion for breaking taboos. Antichrist, which premiered at Cannes yesterday, for all that has come before, may well be Von Trier's most controversial film yet. The story of a husband and wife (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) who retreat to their woodland paradise "Eden" in the wake of the accidental death of their young child. There they hope to heal their grief and repair the fractures within their marriage, but as emotions heighten and nature closes in, things, as the press notes declare, go from bad to worse.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Johnnie To Takes Vengeance in Cannes
Cannes is not usually known as a grand supporter of genre cinema, which is why you can count those sorts of movies in this year's selection on one hand. So it's an odd setting to premiere Johnnie To's Vengeance, a film so relentlessly planted in genre that the tough-to-please audience of cineaste critics at yesterday's press screening seemed to balk at its ropey dialogue, unlikely plotting and increasingly silly tone. The tale of a man (Johnny Hallyday) whose daughter and young family are massacred by a trio of triads, he hires another three of the organized criminals to take them out.
Cannes 2009: RT Chats to Ang Lee and team Taking Woodstock
It's not every day you get to have lunch with Ang Lee, so when RT were invited to do just that today in Cannes we couldn't refuse. Also joining us, James Schamus, Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch and Imelda Staunton, and over a three-course meal at the Carlton Hotel on the Croisette we talked cinema, music and, of course, Woodstock. Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock, which premiered Last Night at the festival, is the tale of Elliot Tibor, the man with the permit that made Woodstock happen, and of his experience of the event coming to terms with his own identity while trying to hold onto his roots.
Cannes 2009: RT Hits the Exclusive Soho House Party
Champagne and cocktails flowed, stars arrived en masse and perhaps the most impressive display of food at any party this Cannes greeted guests who arrived last night for the exclusive Soho House party in a glamorous setting amidst a castle just away from the Croisette. Thanks to our new friends at Grey Goose, who ensured a constant supply of vodka was on hand all night, we were added to the VIP guest list and found it very hard to refuse the invite. So we didn't. Our tickets were delivered ahead of the party, accompanied by a bottle of Grey Goose, and we piled into our chauffeur-driven Mercedes and were brought straight to the front of the queue of Cannes glitterati waiting patiently outside...
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Critics Cool on Ang Lees Taking Woodstock
As Ang Lee's latest, Taking Woodstock, received its premiere last night at the Cannes Film Festival, critics were intrigued to point out a number of similarities between it and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. They both involve young men on the cusp of adulthood finding themselves through seminal rock music while trying to piece together a relationship with their difficult parents. No surprise that Almost Famous has become the film used as a yardstick to Ang Lee's latest, as critics struggle to wonder what it is Lee brings to the table. Taking Woodstock is the tale of Elliot Tiber, president of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce, who held the only permit for a music festival in the area and invited Woodstock's organisers to the town when they were denied a permit in the nearby town of Wallkill.
Cannes 2009: Gambit and Silk Spectre Go Bang Bang
This morning's press reception for The Bang Bang Club in Cannes was rather affected by the conspicuous absence of the film's main star, Ryan Phillippe, who pulled out at the last minute due to illness, making it a slightly quieter affair than many had expected. But what the press who didn't attend missed out on were co-stars Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch, who introduced the film with director Steven Silver and sat down with Rotten Tomatoes to tell us more. The project, which has just wrapped principal photography, is the tale of a group of photojournalists in post-Apartheid South Africa who risked their lives to take some of the most iconic warzone imagery in severely troubled times.
Cannes 2009: Exclusive Taylor Kitsch Takes Gambit Forward for Wolverine 2
Taylor Kitsch sat down with RT today on the beach in Cannes to share details of his latest project, The Bang Bang Club, in which he plays a photojournalist in post-Apartheid South Africa alongside Ryan Phillippe and Malin Ackerman. While we talked, of course, we couldn't help but ask about his next steps with Gambit, who he played in this year's Wolverine: Origins. Fox wasted no time announcing a movie based on Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool character in the film, but Kitsch seemed unaware that a Wolverine sequel had been given the go-ahead too and he shared his excitement with RT.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Thirsts Vampires Descend on the Croisette
Park Chan-wook is best known for his exceptional Vengeance Trilogy -- Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance -- three blood-soaked, expertly drawn films that seemed to challenge all that had come before. When he announced plans to explore vampire mythology, he set genre hearts aflutter and the result of those plans is Thirst, which screened yesterday at the Cannes Film Festival.Korean mainstay Song Kang-ho plays Father Sang-hyun, a man conflicted by carnal feelings for his friend's wife and sent to Africa to participate in a medical experiment designed to eradicate a virus which causes painful boils on the skin and, eventually, death by blood loss. The antidote they're developing is ineffective; he dies and is brought back to life symptom-free.
Cannes 2009: Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz Get Precious
Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, is the story of a young black girl from Harlem abused by her parents, struggling to get through high school and break out of the welfare cycle she's been born into. Playing as part of Cannes' official sidebar, Un Certain Regard, the film is directed by Lee Daniels and he was joined in Cannes today by stars Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey to welcome the premiere. Of course, they invited RT to lunch at the exclusive La Plage Vitaminwater on a beach front on the Croisette in Cannes.
Cannes 2009: Don Quixote Rides Again
Terry Gilliam's seemingly cursed adaptation of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is set to be revived, nearly 10 years after his first crack at the material was abandoned. The announcement was made in Cannes this week, where Gilliam is presenting latest film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and means we may finally get to see the director's vision for Miguel de Cervantes' 17th century tome. Gilliam has apparently been working with original co-screenwriter Tony Grisoni on a new script, which substitutes a filmmaker for an ad executive as the lead character. According to Variety, said character is charmed into joining Don Quixote's eternal quest for his lady love, becoming an unwitting Sancho Panza.
Cannes 2009: Primeval Movie Announced
Warner Bros. has bought the rights to produce a movie based on the ITV series Primeval, according to Variety.The show, which airs on BBC America in the US, is to be adapted by Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, Angels & Demons), who is penning the first draft of a script. Primeval - co-created by Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges - revolves around a team of five scientist bought together to investigate prehistoric and futuristic creatures that travel through wormholes and appear in present-day Britain.
Cannes 2009: Sharks in a Mall!
We've already had Snakes on a Plane, so why not Sharks in a Mall? That's the premise for a new 3-D action adventure that was announced in Cannes this morning. Highlander helmer Russell Mulcahy will write and direct the film, which has the most outlandish concept we've heard at the festival thus far. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be set in a coastal town where a freak tsunami floods and traps shoppers in a supermarket with an armed maniac and a pack of hungry tiger sharks that have been washed into the building.
Cannes 2009: More Jekyll and Hyde
Jekyll and Hyde adaptations are like buses -- you wait years for one and then three come along at once. First Guillermo del Toro announced plans to adapt Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novella, then Nicolas Winding Refn revealed his intention to shoot a modern-day version with Keanu Reeves in the dual roles. Now Abel Ferrara is getting in on the act.The Bad Lieutenant helmer will also contemporise the story, but instead cast two actors as Jekyll and Hyde, with Forest Whitaker and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson landing the schizophrenic gig.
Cannes 2009: Bubblegum Crisis - The Movie
The hugely popular Japanese anime Bubblegum Crisis is set to get a celluloid makeover, with six countries partnering to craft a truly international feature. Production houses from Singapore, Japan, Australia, Canada, China and the UK will work together on the $30m movie, with a 2012 release planned. For a bit of background, the Bubblegum Crisis anime began as an eight-part series for the straight-to-video market in 1987 and its golbal popularity inspired cartoons, games, toys and other spin-offs.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report Andrea Arnold Hits with Fish Tank
Returning to the Cannes Film Festival after a massive success there with your last film is a challenge for any filmmaker -- critics are quick to pounce on falls from form here. Andrea Arnold received an Oscar for her short film Wasp in 2004 and saw her debut feature as a director, Red Road get a competition spot and, ultimately, the jury prize when it played at Cannes in 2006. The tale of Mia (newcomer Katie Jarvis), a 15-year-old whose penchant for trouble has seen her excluded from school and alienated from her friends, Fish Tank joins her on a hot summer's day. Playing to rapturous applause at yesterday morning's press screening, critics wasted no time in praising Fish Tank for its immaculately-drawn characters.
Cannes 2009: IFC Go Red Riding
The Red Riding Trilogy, a triptych of films from directors Julian Jarold, James Marsh and Anand Tucker, has been picked up for US distribution by IFC Films who plan to release the trilogy in theatres and on demand after a whip around film festivals, it was announced today in Cannes. Produced by Michael Winterbottom and Andrew Eaton, the trilogy, which is based on the fictional noir novels by David Pearce, is made up of three self-contained dramas revolving around the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper case.
Cannes 2009: Wolverine Star Unbound
Wolverine star Hugh Jackman is set to star opposite Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattison in period drama Unbound Captives, it was announced today. According to Variety, the plot revolves around a woman whose is rescued to a frontiersman following the murder of her husband and the kidnapping of her children at the hands of a Comanche war party. Jackman will play the frontiersman and Pattinson one of the children, while Rachel Weisz has been cast as the mother in question. Madeline Stowe will make her directorial debut with the project, which she wrote 16 years ago with husband Brian Benben.
Cannes 2009: The Battle for Terminator 5
The Terminator franchise faces a potentially rocky future, according to a report published by Variety that predicts a bidding war for the rights to future installments. Terminator Salvation - which hits our screens in the coming weeks - is distributed by Warner Bros. in the US and Sony for international territories. However production company Halcyon owns the rights themselves and, according to the trades, they have a deal in place with rival studio MGM that gives them a 30-day right to first refusal to finance and distribute a Salvation sequel.
Cannes 2009: Keanu Battles Drug Dealers
Keanu Reeves has signed up to star in an action thriller about the drug trade entitled Cartagena, according to reports coming out of Cannes today. Described by Screen Daily as a cross between The French Connection and Michael Clayton, the film will be set in Columbia and feature Reeves as an undercover agent who becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving drug dealers and international agents. When Cartagena was previously announced in December, Clive Owen was cast in the lead, so today's news suggests he has left the project.
Cannes 2009: Up Takes Flight at After-party
It's not every day you see a house, held aloft by thousands of helium balloons, floating peacefully at the end of a pier, but last night's premiere after-party for Up was just such an occasion. A giant recreation of Carl Fredricksen's flying house (albeit still a scale model) flew like a beacon over the Carlton Beach on Cannes' infamous Croisette. Ticket in hand, RT strolled in to soak up the atmosphere, as the 2009 Cannes Film Festival got underway. Of course, fresh from the red carpet premiere and dressed in tux as opposed to his trademark custom Hawaiian shirt, John Lasseter led the charge for Team Pixar with Ed Catmull, while Up director Pete Docter seemed to spend most of the night receiving praise from an increasing-inebriated crowd of festival-goers.
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Up Soars With Cannes Critics
It's opening night tonight in Cannes, as Pixar's latest, Up, receives its world premiere at the Grand Theatre Lumiere -- the main stage, as it were, for all films playing in the main competition - and marks the start of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film screened for press first thing this morning and Rotten Tomatoes was on hand to gauge reactions from critics on the ground. Renowned a studio focussed on quality cinema, every one of Pixar's nine films have received generally exceptional reviews, and all eyes are on Up to see if it could make the tally 10. Fortunately, things seemed to go well as this morning's press screening.
Cannes 2009: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
The Cannes Film Festival will screen nearly 100 films as part of its Official Selection and associated sidebars when it kicks off next week in the Southern France town. The festival runs from 13-24th May and there are plenty of exciting new movies to keep an eye out for as they premiere on Cannes' infamous Croisette. To save you the hassle of having to research the whole programme, RT has helpfully chosen ten films we're most excited to see. Join us as we take a journey through the Cannes Film Festival 2009, kicking off with our daily coverage on Wednesday.
Cannes 2009: The Full Programme
The Cannes Film Festival kicks off this coming Wednesday and, as always, RT will be there, soaking in the sights and sounds and reporting our findings. Two weeks of life by the beach in the South of France. It's a tough job. Of course, the real thrill of the festival is in its programme of films which, including all the official sidebars, numbers nearly 100 titles. So what's playing? Here's our handy list of all the films in the Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings, Special Screenings, Critics' Week and Director's Fortnight strands of the festival.
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