Cannes, 5/19.

By all accounts, Cannes is having a very strong year. The assessments coming in from, say, the Village Voice's J Hoberman are nearly as breathtaking as many of the films must be. Pedro Almodóvar's Bad Education seems in this context [of high expectations] to be the Spanish director's strongest film in two decades"; Emir Kusturica's Life Is a Miracle "appeared to be his most powerful movie in the 10 years since Underground"; Ousmane Sembène's Moolaadé (Protection ) has been "rapturously received"; Abbas Kiarostami's Five is "remarkably austere"; Jean-Luc Godard's Notre Musique is "another (and scarcely the least) of the filmmaker's elegies" (one hopes for a closer reading later); and the "must-see" movie? Not only is Fahrentheit 9/11 "the least grandstanding and most purposeful of Moore's career, it "could even be an intervention into Bush's campaign to finally get himself elected."

How "must-see" is it? For B Ruby Rich, the prospect of seeing it "as an American among the French was enough to send me halfway across the world on an unplanned trip into the maelstrom." And? "For nearly two hours, the audience was rapt." What followed, as you may have heard, was the longest standing ovation fest director Thierry Frémaux had ever seen, according to AO Scott in the New York Times. And as for Scott's take, the film is Moore's "most disciplined and powerful movie to date [and] suggests that he is also, arguably, a great filmmaker.... Is it partisan? Of course. But there are not many important films that haven't been."

Eugene Hernandez delivers what certainly seem to be well-founded raves for Tarnation, F-9/11 and Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (more news on this one from the cinetrix). Don't miss Brian Flemming's thoughts sparked indieWIRE's coverage of two of these. And meanwhile, Peter Brunette's found one he well and truly likes, Brian Brooks keeps snapping away and the news keeps on streaming in: Where is Wong Kar Wai and his 2046?

George the cyclist is proving himself to be a true trooper. 12 films in two days!

Mike D'Angelo is the stand-out critic amidst all the glee. He's so "disillusioned" by all he's seen, he stopped blurbing the films on Saturday; now, they just get numerical grades, from 1 to 100, and most are rated at around 50 or below.

Posted by dwhudson at May 19, 2004 4:27 PM