Eighteen movies have been selected for the official competition for the Cannes Film Festival, and they are generating a lot of buzz.
The films, which will be competing for the main Palme d’Or award (the Golden Palm), were selected on April 17. This year’s movies feature a great number of talented actors like Meryl Streep, Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Robert Pattinson, Ryan Reynolds, Tommy Lee Jones and John Cusack, to name a few.
Each of the movie’s trailers is circulating around the Internet, and they collectively look really interesting and entertaining.
Some big storylines from the selection are standing out. Steve Carrell is starring in an intense wrestling drama, “Foxcatcher.” Robert Pattison has been busy starring in two featured movies, “The Rover” and “Maps to the Stars.” Tommy Lee Jones is still going strong, landing a leading role in the western “The Homesman.”
Looking back at the history of the festival, many of the movies selected aren’t the most popular or big blockbuster movies. They tend to be movies that tackle unique story ideas, as Cannes director Thierry Fremaux describes, “The state of film art.”
The festival is a good preview of potential Academy Award nominations for next year’s award season. Movies featured in the festival last year include “Blue is the Warmest Color,” “Nebraska,” ”Inside Llewyn David” and “Behind the Candelabra,” all of which were put up for multiple awards this past award season.
From watching the trailers, I am impressed with the overall selection. I think there is a wide variety of subject matter that is interesting to the viewer. “The Captives” trailer reminds me a lot of the 2013 thriller “Prisoners.” It is impressive to see Robert Pattison in both “The Rover” and “Maps to the Stars” trailer because he plays very different characters. Also, Tommy Lee Jones still brings a lot of energy to his roles including his role in “The Homesman”.
It will be great to see which of the 18 movies wins the main award in May. Despite who wins overall, there is no doubt that a lot of these movie titles will be around for the rest of the year and will surely pop up in the upcoming award season.
The 67th annual festival takes place this year from May 14-28 in Cannes, France.