Cannes 2013

The Cannes Film Festival of 2013 has just finished with the Palme d'or going to a French film called La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitre 1 & 2 (Blue is the Warmest Colour) by Abdellatif Kechiche. Seems to be a 3 hour lesbian romance starring Lea Seydoux. I'm on board.















The Grand Prix went to the Coen Brothers for Inside Llewyn Davis, which has garnered some pretty good reviews. I'll watch anything they do but the setting doesn't really grab me (1960's New York folk music scene).

Here are the other films that were vying for the top awards.

• BEHIND THE CANDELABRA directed by Steven SODERBERGH
• BORGMAN directed by Alex VAN WARMERDAM
• GRIGRIS directed by Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN
• HELI directed by Amat ESCALANTE
• INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS directed by Ethan COEN, Joel COEN
• JEUNE & JOLIE (YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL) directed by François OZON
• JIMMY P. (PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A PLAINS INDIAN) directed by Arnaud DESPLECHIN
• LA GRANDE BELLEZZA (THE GREAT BEAUTY) directed by Paolo SORRENTINO
• LA VÉNUS À LA FOURRURE (VENUS IN FUR) directed by Roman POLANSKI
• LA VIE D'ADÈLE - CHAPITRE 1 & 2 (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR) directed by Abdellatif KECHICHE
• LE PASSÉ (THE PAST) directed by Asghar FARHADI
• MICHAEL KOHLHAAS directed by Arnaud DES PALLIÈRES
• NEBRASKA directed by Alexander PAYNE
• ONLY GOD FORGIVES directed by Nicolas WINDING REFN
• ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE directed by Jim JARMUSCH
• SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU (Like Father, Like Son) directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu
• THE IMMIGRANT directed by James GRAY
• TIAN ZHU DING (A TOUCH OF SIN) directed by JIA Zhangke
• UN CHÂTEAU EN ITALIE (A CASTLE IN ITALY) directed by Valeria BRUNI TEDESCHI
• WARA NO TATE (Shield of Straw) directed by Takashi MIIKE

The films that I'm keen on from this list are Le Passe, La Grande Bellezza and maybe Michael Kohlhass and Only God Forgives.

Check out all the winners here.

Iron Man 3

This Japanese poster seems to suggest this will be the last outing for the titular Iron Man/Tony Stark character (さらば　- 　アイアンマン。= Farewell Iron Man) but as long as the box office continues to ching-ching, I'd say that's a premature assumption. Certainly, he'll reappear in the next Avengers movie at least. And I kind of hope he doesn't disappear. He's one of the most likeable 'superheroes' I've seen - a flawed smart-arse who runs like a 'suit' avoiding the rain and reacts to surprises with either a cocked eyebrow or a look of exasperated acceptance. All credit must go to Downey Jr. for this - he's good in other films but this is his Harry Potter or Alan Partridge, he may never be able to shake this role.

But the film itself? I'd have to say it's better than it's immediate predecessor but not quite as good as the original. Kind of what you'd expect from a third installment. The script has some gems but at the same time seems to play it a little safe, especially towards the end. I do like the fact that the thematic slant seems to be against 'big business' rather than any foreign foes, the whole series has been ostensibly set up this way. This is part of the reason I despised Captain America so much - that and the main character is a prime twat.

By far the highest card Iron Man 3 pulls is this fella below. Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin is immense and it sits just below Don Logan in Sexy Beast as his best creation. He really is fantastic, I can't think of a better comic book movie villain (X-Men's Magneto, maybe....). Guy Pearce is quite good too as a live action rendition of Syndrome from The Incredibles. You'll get the idea once you've seen the film - I don't think that's a spoiler. An enjoyably clever popcorn flick. Worth a look (if only for Kingsley).