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Venice Festivals by Year: Prizes, Juries, Favorites Other Fests: Cannes / Chicago
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Jurors: Wim Wenders (president), Yuri Arabov, Valeria Golino, Douglas Gordon, John Landis, Lucrecia Martel, Johnnie To
 Competition Films I Have Seen:Ranked in order of preference My Golden Lion: The Hurt Locker (USA, dir. Kathryn Bigelow) - Combines ethical disquiet with bracing adrenaline, embodied by two expertly played leads. Marvel of technique and of risky, vivid realism. The Wrestler (USA, dir. Darren Aronofsky) - Clearly mimicking Dardennes but punched up with gutsy power of its own. Rourke a miracle. Grace notes throughout. Finale soars on emotion. Rachel Getting Married (USA, dir. Jonathan Demme) - Demme at last feels unhaunted by 90s fling with big budgets. Blends friskiness of 80s work with Mike Leigh's incisive scabbiness. Ponyo (Japan, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) - Hurrah for the art of hand-drawn animation but Ponyo's lines and palettes are off-puttingly weak. Story less dreamlike than muddled. Jerichow (Germany, dir. Christian Petzold) - Postman rings for umpteenth time. Despite glimmers of German-Turkish racial critique, this replay lacks urgency and weakens as it goes. The Burning Plain (USA/Mexico, dir. Guillermo Arriaga) - After major stride of Melquiades Estrada, Arriaga indulges worst tendencies of vague storytelling, overplotting.  Sidebar Films I Have Seen:Ranked in order of preference Burn After Reading (USA, dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen) - Coens cut loose, spilling black blood everywhere while earning lots of laughs. Precision-cut. Gems across cast. 35 Shots of Rum (France, dir. Claire Denis) - Fair to say Denis' tribute to Ozu might be too sedate, even for him? Still very moving. Last shot really seals it. Goodbye Solo (USA, dir. Ramin Bahrani) - Thought I'd seen all the cross-racial odd-couple dramedies I could stand but this one is savory and beautifully acted. Valentino: The Last Emperor (USA, dir. Matt Tyrnauer) - Limited, but proffers a vivid impression of the man and his monomaniacal focus on glamor at all costs. Un lac (France, dir. Philippe Grandrieux) - C'mon. Latest naked emperor of the Walter Reade crowd confuses exaggerated sound and dire underlighting with formal bravura. Competition Films I'm Curious to See: Ranked in order of interest; more on this year's lineup here (opens in a new window) Teza, Ethiopia, dir. Haile Gerima Süt (Milk), Turkey, dir. Semih Kaplanoglu Gabbla (Inland), Algeria/France, dir. Tarik Teguia This Night, Portugal/Germany, dir. Werner Schroeter Paper Soldier, Russia, dir. Aleksey German The Other, France, dir. Patrick-Mario Bernard & Pierre Trividic Inju: The Beast in the Shadow, France/Japan, dir. Barbet Schroeder The Sky Crawlers, Japan, dir. Mamoru Oshii A Perfect Day, Italy, dir. Ferzan Ozpetek Achilles and the Tortoise, Japan, dir. Takeshi Kitano Sidebar Films I'm Curious to See: Listed alphabetically The Beaches of Agnès, France, dir. Agnès Varda Below Sea Level, Italy, dir. Gianfranco Rosi In Paraguay, USA, dir. Ross McElwee Melancholia, Philippines, dir. Lav Diaz Mid-August Lunch, Italy, dir. Gianna Di Gregorio Parc, France, dir. Arnaud Des Pallières Shirin, Iran, dir. Abbas Kiarostami Vinyan, France, dir. Fabrice Du Welz |
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