The I Say 'Bank Holi-', You Say 'Memorial' Edition

- Want to preview the soundtrack to Ocean's 13, see some stills and read an interview with David Holmes? Sure you do.

- There's a rumour that Batman might be down at the London Eye today. On a bank holiday? Don't think so. Bet you a quid this was dreamt up by Red Ken's tourism elves.

- Yet another computer-generated Star Wars trailer... this time for an upcoming combo-edition of the Lego Star Wars games (fun but really very slight - no depth to them at all, really).

- Pirate copies of Hostel 2 have turned up, with the name S. Mooridian watermarked into the print. At least we know who is going to be fired/blacklisted/executed for their part in this. There's little point me telling you not to go near pirate DVDs and so on, but I will anyway. Don't.

- Cannes has closed up for a year, awards were given, reputations made.

- The murder of cricket coach Bob Woolmer looks set to inspire a new film from Mahesh Bhatt. Bizarrely, he plans to dramatise the real murder investigation in the context of a fictional love story.

- You can directly download the trailer for Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter. It looks truly great and apparently it is.

Movie Minesweeper - The I Have To Rush Off To Work Edition

- The Red Ballon is headed back to Cannes. Lovely.

- 5 full minutes of Hostel 2 are to play before Bug in American cinemas.

- Jon 'Duckie' Cryer is to star in Tortured, a thriller to be directed by Nolan Lebovitz.

- Scott McCloud is to speak at Siggraph this year. Understanding Comics is the one book I recommend without fail to each and every one of my film students.

- There's a nice Magicians featurette online now.

- Stuntman Mike's Death Proof car is for sale on e-bay.

- Time Out have some 28 Weeks Later clips. In case you were thinking of going to see it, these should put you off.

Momentum Open Up A Little About UK Grind House Release... At Last

Speaking to relatively minor minions at Momentum, I was assured twice that Grind House would be released as a double feature in the UK. According to The Times today, however, this may not be the case. It may, but it also may not. Here's the official line from Momentum:

We are reviewing the release date and the release plans in the UK. It will definitely be released here but we don’t know in what form.

So, the June 1st release seems to be off the calendar, at least. Worst case scenario? DVD only.

Going beyond the official statement, the article also quotes a journalist from Screen International who seems to have some inside info:

I can’t see them not releasing it but the size of the release will be interesting. The plan is to split it into two and hope that Cannes gives it a push. But they’re running into blockbuster season, have two films on their hands instead of one and no evidence that either is going to be more of a hit than the original.

If they know what they're doing, they'll get a decent mid-sized release out of the double bill. If that version is released to, say, smaller chains like City Screen - the pseudo-independent, pseudo-arthouse circuit - I think they'll do very well indeed. Maybe offering single features simultaneously at the multiplexes is an option?

I do think they may be keeping an eye on Death Proof's Cannes engagement, as the Screen International pundit said. If the film garners huge amounts of praise in a stand alone version, I think that will go someways to forcing a split. On the other hand, word from Cannes may be that the whole experience was missed, that the double feature release has something that the seperate films do not...

That makes sense with a release date roll-back, at least.

Jump For Joy

The official Cannes poster is below. Can you name all nine lords and ladies a-leaping?

The Lineup For Cannes' Un Certain Regard Selection

Here's the lineup of films for Cannes' Un Certain Regard selection, and at the bottom, the rather lurid poster to promote these films. Click on either for the necessary enlargement.

Out Of Competition At Cannes This Year

Here's the selection of films showing out of competition at Cannes this year. Click on it to make it big enough to read.

Cannes Competition Films

Here's the list of films in the official competition selection at Cannes this year:

My Blueberry Nights - opening night film.
Auf der Anderen Seite
Un Vielle Maitresse
No Country for Old Men
Zodiac
We Own the Night
Le Chansons D'Amour
Magori no Mori
Breath
Promise Me This
Secret Sunshine
4 Luni, 3 Saptamini si 2 Zille
Tehilim
Stellet Licht
Persepolis
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
Import Export
The Man from London
Paranoid Park
Izgnanie

This is the full list of films in competition. My early pick for the Palm? Bela Tarr's The Man from London. More Cannes to follow...

[EDIT: You can see the page from the press release below for more info. Click it to make it big enough to read]

Out Of The Cannes

Luc Besson has cooked up a scheme by which tenants of Paris' less well-off Banlieues will get to see films from this year's Cannes line up.

It was Hollywood Reported that a touring inflatable screen will be set up to show a new film every night. For some engagements, the screen will be laod out at the floor of large tenanment blocks for people to watch from their windows. Joking about the obvious shortcoming of this scheme, Besson said "We're hoping that those who live on the side with the screen will invite their neighbors from the other side of the building."

The Cannes Fest have blessed the project and lent their name but have not been involved in the planning at all. The films involved will not be announced until after the full Cannes line up is unveiled on April 19th.

Professor Scorsese

At the Cannes film festival this year, the latest in their venerable series of Cinema Lessons is to be given by... Martin Scorsese.

Previous lecturers have included Stephen Frears, Wong Kar Wai, Sydney Pollack and Nanni Moretti.

I'll let the facts speak for themselves.

This Year's Cannes 'Could Be' Roster

Ocean's 13, Earth and The Valley of Elah are reportedly battling it out for the opening night spot at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Earth is a feature length offshoot of the BBC's Planet Earth series (What?!? Is this a remix, deleted scenes or best of compilation? Sounds like it might be a bit of a swizz) and wouldn't have existed in this form at all if all that March of the Penguins ballyhoo hadn't happened, mark my words.

Other films expected to screen include Grind House, No Country for Old Men, Mr. Lonely, Into the Wild and Paranoid Park. At least two of those weren't directed by Harmony Korine, Sean Penn or Gus van Sant, so it's not all bad.

No news on Son of Rambow yet, but I'd love to see it in competition.