The movie rumor mills are are at work this morning and they’re talking about the possibility of Steven Soderbergh’s Che (which Blair blogged about back in May) opening this years New York Film Festival. Karina over at Spout Blog and New York Magazine both explore the possibility and share the fact that the Film Society of Lincoln Center may have have actually accidentally leaked the information themselves by posting a preview of their Sept/Oct issue of Film Comment. The preview promised a sneak peak of the 08 fest and then went on to list a Che cover story featuring Benicio Del Toro?! While we can’t be sure, it would suggest a connection between Che and the NYFF…

The preview was soon taken off of their website, but luckily some Karina saved the screenshot (see the link above). I for one am excited to see Che. Soderbergh is always interesting to watch, even when he fails and I have always had a soft spot for Del Toro. Plus it’s the story of Che and it it’ll be refreshing to have a new pop culture reference for the man beyond posters and t-shirts.

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Woody Harrelson apparently forgot his vegan shoes and belt as part of his Cannes Film Festival ensemble last week. When his assistants couldn’t find replacements for them, he had the accessories flown to France. Says Ecorazzi:

“Now, in the scheme of things, having an extra pair of shoes and a belt on an overnight FedEx plane that was bound for France anyways is not going to kill a polar bear. But it’s the environmentally insensitive request from someone who truly lives the green lifestyle that has us puzzled. And that’s a first coming from someone like Harrelson.”

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The Cannes Film Festival is underway! Which means I get to spend my time on the internet seeing how some of my most anticipated films of the year are received by critics and also that I get to look at pictures of some of my favorite people!

To the right is Jia Zhangke - director of 24 City with his muse Tao Zhao and Joan Chen. 24 City like much of Jia’s recent work looks at a China in transformation. And like his prior work it blurs the ever-changing line between fact and fiction, as he explained at the film’s press conference:

China is going through a huge transformation as it makes the transition from a planned economy to the free market. I really wanted to make a film about this reality, this new influence on people’s lives. I began by filming about a hundred interviews with workers. Then, I asked myself about the idea of combining the two genres: having a documentary part followed by a fiction part. Isn’t that the best way to get information full of the depth necessary to speak of History with a capital H?”

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Cinco de Mayo, May 5, is the official holiday which commemorates the history of the Mexican militia’s victory over the French army at the Battle Of Puebla in 1862. In Mexico, it is mainly celebrated in Puebla, the site of the battle. In the United States, however, it has taken on a life of its own and is actually celebrated more broadly, especially along the U.S.-Mexico border. Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. celebrates the Mexican and Mexican-American and history culture that enriched the United States. Cinco de Mayo is often confused with Mexican Independence Day, which is actually September 16th.

If you want to celebrate Mexican and Mexican-American cinematic culture on Cinco de Mayo, then check out these top cinco movies.

1. Ahí está el detalle (1940), directed by Juan Bustillo Oro, is considered the best film of the comic genius Cantinflas, and established him as the Charlie Chaplin of Mexico. In the film, which is filled with physical comedy and social satire, Cantinflas’s character assumes the identity of the master of a household where his girlfriend is actually a made. The results, which include killing a rabid dog, and blackmailing a gigolo, are hysterical.

2. Los Olvidados (1950), directed by Luis Buñuel is a both surrealistic and neo-realistic depiction of the empoverished and marginilaxized children living in the slums of Mexico City. This film was a success at Cannes where it won Best Director and Best Film and is part of UNESCO’s Memory Of The World Register.

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In keeping up with all things Cannes - I’m actually pretty excited to announce that Fernando Meirelles’s new film Blindness is going to open the festival. Meirelles’s is known for City of God and The Constant Gardener - the former looking at at the politics of a specific place and the latter looking at larger socio-economic and cultural issues.

Opening Cannes on May 14, and playing in Competition, “Blindness” stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal in a thriller about a city succumbing to an epidemic of blindness. [Variety]

to learn how you can help the blind today - since were not in an epidemic at the moment - and go below the fold to see the trailers for Meirelles’s older films.

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Here’s the main competition line-up - I’m personally most excited for the films by Jia Zhangke, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Arnaud Desplechin and Lucretia Martel. I’m least excited for the Clint Eastwood…

In Competition

Nuri Bilge Ceylan - Three Monkeys
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne - Le Silence De Lorna
Arnaud Desplechin - A Christmas Story
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
Atom Egoyan - Adoration
Ari Folman - Waltz With Bashir
Philippe Garrel - La Frontiere De L’Aube
Matteo Garrone - Gomorra

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The official Cannes film festival line-up is expected soon and it’s also expected to feature very few American films. The only one that is expected in competition of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director. Beyond that though the Cannes mix is keeping to other countries:

Unlike last year, when so many top directors had films in Cannes, the timing of the production cycle seems not to be working entirely to the festival’s benefit, at least where major American filmmakers are concerned. Very few Hollywood films due to be released over the next four months would seem remotely appropriate for a major artistic fest, and there are always further issues concerning European release dates. [Variety]

I can’t say this makes me too sad.. Cannes for me has always been a time to see what filmmakers across the world have made.

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One thing I’ve always had trouble with is my joint identity as a female and as a cinephile. Many films and directors I like, even love, often treat women in ways that either objectify them or seem to promote the mistreatment of them. But my anger at this is usually brought back down by the little voice inside my head screaming “but it’s such a good movie.”

On that note, yesterday, I noticed that Radar Online posted their take on the “decade’s most misogynistic movies.” Their picks ranged from Mona Lisa Smile and Wedding Crashers to She Hate Me and 13 Going on 30 and while in many cases I agree with their assessment, the list still troubles me. The fact is, despite their misogynistic nature, a lot of folks, women and men alike, went to see these films - and to me then, the questions becomes why? As long as people go to the theater, Hollywood will continue to make these films.

Of course, some might argue that people only see what’s put out there, what they have access to. With that, I present with an opposite list of sorts - “some of the decade’s more feminist movies” if you will - or to be less political about it all, films from this decade that portray real women, dealing with real issues, often showing how awesome, strong, complex and special women can be.

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When Spain’s Javier Bardem won the Academy Award for Best Supporting actor for his role in the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men, he responded by saying

Mamá, esto es para ti. Esto es para tus abuelos, para tus padres, Rafael y Matilde. Esto es para los cómicos de España que han traído la dignidad y el orgullo a nuestro oficio. Esto es para España. Y esto es para todos vosotros

which means

Mom, this is for you. This is for your grandparents, for your parents, Rafael and Matilde. This is for the Comics of Spain who brought so much pride and dignity to our profession. This is for Spain. This is for all of you.

OK. But what does that mean?

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Being in love with more than one person at the same time is risky business. Yet these 5 couples have it all: they are able to love more than one person without causing the broken hearts and dishes that often accompany polyamorous relationships. What’s their trick? They love each other AND the planet, human rights, and civil rights, and they take action to make the world a better place together. Because these lovebirds bring so much love to each other and the world, because their heart-felt hard work has won my heart, I’d like to give them a Valiant Valentine Award (VVA).

Today’s Valiant Valentine, which kicks off my 5-part Valentine’s week-long series, goes to a couple who has already received a few awards here and there, though none as prestigious as the VVA. She’s a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador who scored Academy Awards, and awards from Amnesty International and The Center for Constitutional Rights. He’s no small potatoes either, having won his own Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Best actor “Prix” at Cannes.

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