Cannes, Breaking into N Korea, The Sith
May 2005 Movie News
Cannes News: It looks to be a very international judging panel, as usual, for this film festival in France. Newcomer American actors Salma Hayek (pictured left) and Javier Bardem join writer Toni Morrison, Indian actress Nandita Das, and directors John Woo, Agnes Varda, Benoit Jacquot and Fatih Akin, among others. Director Emir Kusturica heads the jury.
This year's festival will run May 11-22. Twenty movies from 13 countries have been selected to compete. The awards will be announced May 21. Looking at the films, it appears to be a French-heavy list. The English titles of the four top-runners are: Hide and Seek, Cold Showers, Work, You Know When It Starts, and The Mustache. American subjects include Keane and Room.
Rare Look Into North Korea: A documentary filmed by director Daniel Gordon called A State of Mind shows that yes, despite being one of the "Axis of Evil" countries, the regular folk are just people too. The film centers on two young gymnasts' grueling training for the Mass Games, a huge spectacle that pays homage to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. This is not to say things there are easy: even well-off families deal with food shortages and other woes in the capital city of Pyongyang. But images of a mother cooking, children playing and families picnicking jar the senses of those who don't know or understand this admittedly reclusive people.
Remake of The Birds: Perhaps hoping a second shot at this classic will do well, Universal Pictures will remake the classic 1963 drama/horror directed by the late, great Alfred Hitchcock. This isn't the only film taken from his library: Psycho was remade, shot by shot, by the director Gus Van Sant in 1998. The new version of The Birds is based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier, to which Universal owns the rights and which inspired Hitchcock's original movie.
Star Wars Fandom: Yeah, with the new film, Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, due out May 19, the fanatics are already gathering in front of Grauman's Chinese on Hollywood Boulevard. Weeks in advance! But will the film even play at that theater? That's the question of the day. "We are choosing to line up at the best theatre in the world where the first Star Wars film premiered and where the final Star Wars film should premiere," post one female fan on one of the popular web sites. In any case, in 1999 and 2002 the two other prequels were not "officially" booked at Grauman's, but the hundreds of fans parked outside seemed to change somebody's mind. The movies played. So maybe these folks have the right idea...
