Festival de Cannes 2008 by Mandy_Rodgers

    Writer/director James Gray is absolutely loved and adored here at the Cannes Film Festival.
    His (only) second movie venture, the 2000 film The Yards, was nominated for the coveted Palm and starred Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg.
    Last year, his third film (quite a long break) premiered here as well to poor reviews. We Own the Night stars Phoenix (again) and Wahlberg (again!) as brothers on opposite sides of the law. Despite the good actors present, the film didn't rise above the negative aspects holding it down.
    Now, Gray is back with the new drama, Two Lovers, (still) starring Phoenix opposite Gwyneth Paltrow. This time Phoenix plays a man suffering from heartache and life confusion who falls for the crazed next-door neighbor (Paltrow).
    The acting is definitely above average with Phoenix and Paltrow doing well with their characters and each other, but the story is predictable and formulaic...not something to be seen at the Festival de Cannes.

    Two Lovers was the late-night premiere in Cannes on Day 6. The crowd was mild compared to the previous Indiana Jones near-fiasco, and the only unrelated celebrity who showed up was P.Diddy...Sean Combs...Puff Daddy. The announcer stumbled over his various names as he arrived too - not sure everything he was saying, but he called Mr. Combs by a couple of names.



    Then the low-key red carpet ended with Paltrow and Gray, leaving Phoenix the newest no show of the year, followed by the absence of Scarlett Johansson (reportedly she acted too spoiled and diva-esque) and Javier Bardem (citing personal issues), who both missed Vicky Cristina Barcelona.


    So far the fight for the Palm seems to be wide open. Nothing is exciting critics across the board (or me for that matter) like last year's No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days or Persepolis. As of right now, the highest rated film (according to the group in Screen Magazine) is Three Monkeys, one of my least favorites here. The only reason it's in the lead is due to lack of acclaim for the others in the race. We still have some major films to think of in the next few days: Che, The Exchange (previously called Changeling, but Eastwood changed the name this week) and Synecdoche New York. Hopefully much more to come other than rain here...