Cannes Festivals by Year: Prizes, Juries, Favorites   Other Fests: Venice / Chicago Stay tuned for more yearly indexes!  Browse Films by Title / Year / Reviews Nick's Flick Picks Home / Blog / E-Mail The Idea: I can't afford to go to Cannes. Even if I could there'd be no way to get away from my job long enough to do it, and even if that were possible I'd never get press credentials of the level required to see the most prestigious fare. Rather than gripe about it, I decided to use local libraries, prize Chicago-area rental stores like Odd Obsession and Facets, and my ever-growing collection of DVDs to check in on one feature apiece that I've never seen by each of the directors in this year's Main Competition. Alice Rohrwacher has only made one previous full-length film, the impressive and moving Corpo celeste, and the only gap I have in Xavier Dolan's portfolio is his spanking-new Tom at the Farm, which hasn't played Chicago yet and isn't available anywhere for rental or streaming, as far as I know. Otherwise, here are my reactions to 16 pit stops in my make-it-work Cannes Staycation Festival. All new to me!   How To Have a 2014 Cannes Festival Staycation: Listed alphabetically; more on this year's actual lineup here (opens in a new window)   Competing This Year Director Unseen Film From Prior Body of Work Captives Atom Egoyan Clouds of Sils Maria Olivier Assayas Foxcatcher Bennett Miller Goodbye to Language Jean-Luc Godard The Homesman Tommy Lee Jones The Sunset Limited, 2011 Jimmy's Hall Ken Loach Leviafan Andrei Zvyagintsev The Banishment, 2007 Maps to the Stars David Cronenberg The Marvel Alice Rohrwacher Mommy Xavier Dolan Mr. Turner Mike Leigh Saint Laurent Bertrand Bonello The Search Michel Hazanavicius Still the Water Naomi Kawase Timbuktu Abderrahmane Sissako Two Days, One Night Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Wild Tales Damián Szifron The Bottom of the Sea, 2003 Winter Sleep Nuri Bilge Ceylan   Trackbacks: Permalink Cannes Page 2014 Home Blog E-Mail