1st Queer Palm (Off) Cannes Winner

No surprises for me as it was obvious that a more gay interest film had to win the first Queer Palm (LOL!), so here is the winner that comes from the Midnight Screenings.

Queer Palm: Kaboom, Gregg Araki, USA and France, 2010

Still, the good news are that the film 'hero' is bisexual and his best friend is lesbian, so I'm giving the film the benefit of doubt. Here is a copy and paste of what Franck Finance-Madureira mentions about Jury reasons to select this film.

"Kaboom est un film complètement queer: le héros est bisexuel et sa meilleure amie est lesbienne, tout cela ne pose absolument aucun problème et la sexualité est au centre même du film, une sexualité fluide et libre qui a beaucoup séduit les membres du jury. Les jurés ont beaucoup échangé sur les quatre très bons films qui se dégageaient des sélections cannoises: Kaboom, Les Amours imaginaires, Cuchillo de Palo, et Tournée que nous avons trouvé aussi vraiment queer."

So finally we learned the films they considered for the award and I'm surprised not to find in this list Picco, so maybe is not gay interest but maybe it is under different criteria (I'll find out when I'm able to watch it).

Read the official announcement at Yagg, available only in French.

63rd Festival de Cannes Un Certain Regard Award Winners

Not long ago the section had its award ceremony and here are the winners that really excited me and perhaps starts to make the awards more interesting.

Prize of Un Certain Regard - Fondation Groupama Gan Pour Le Cinema: 하하하 Ha Ha Ha, Hong Sangsoo, South Korea, 2010

Jury Prize: Octubre (October), Daniel Vega and Diego Vega, Peru, Venezuela and Spain, 2010

Prize for Best Performance: Adela Sanchez, Eva Bianco and Victoria Raposo in Los Labios (The Lips), Ivan Fund and Santiago Loza, Argentina, 2010

The jury presided by Claire Denis did not disappointed (me) by honoring films that at least seem intriguing (to me). Congratulations to South Korea, Peru and Argentina! To read the official announcement go here.

Collateral Awards

FIPRESCI Award: Pál Adrienn (Adrienn Pal), Ágnes Kocsis, Hungary, Netherlands, France and Austria, 2010

Prix du Regard Jeune: Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats), Xavier Dolan, Canada, 2010

This is it for this year.

Cheers!!!

Day 11 Cannes News

Tomorrow the fest will be over… sigh.

Today @ Cannes

Official Competition: Not really excited to watch the second installment of Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun 2 – The Exodus, but I know will watch when comes to DVD. More interesting A Frankenstein Terv by Kornel Mundruczo (remember Delta?) and definitively will watch Route Irish by Ken Loach. With these films the competition is over, tomorrow we will learn who won and reactions to the closing film that I’m curious about mostly because I enjoy Charlotte Gainsbourg performances, Julie Bertuccelli’s The Tree.

Un Certain Regard: Today this section of the Official Selection has the award ceremony around 8:00pm local time.

Short Films: Today the only two screenings of the nine (9) short films in competition.

Cinema de la Plage: Today 1956 Le Monde du Silence (The Silent World) by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle

Quinzaine: Today reprise of Pied Nus Sur Les Limaces and Cleveland contre Wall Street. Later in the afternoon the few awards will be announced in this non-competitive section

Serious Notes

So what’s the buzz about the possible Palm d’Or winner?

According to French press:
1. Another Year, Mike Leigh
2. Of Gods and Men, Xavier Beauvois
3. Biutiful, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu
4. On Tour, Mathieu Amalric
5. Poetry, Lee Chang Dong

If you feel like watching UK’s Guardian Cannes roundup go here that’s more than the headline “Comfortably the worst competition that I can remember”. Panel gives their opinions of the (possibly) Palm d’Or winner.

This is new for me, the Cannes Independent Film Festival (not related to the official festival) that honors the best of (ultra) low-budget filmmaking. The winner this year is Lovelorn from UK (budget: Euros 200,000), best documentary Daddy I Do (budget: 20,000 Euros). Check the news here.

Not So Serious Notes

Maybe not all fashion designers should go behind cameras as this Karl Lagerfeld short film lacks many filmmaker skills, but if you’re into watching gorgeous model-alike women, how youth have fun at Saint-Tropez (not much different than many years ago when I had fun there, lol!) and excellent production values (even if they’re wasted in a showing a not interesting story) then watch the film here. The film was screened in Cannes at a Chanel soiree.

Well, according to Canal+ the longest applause at a Cannes premiere was for Biutiful with 8+ minutes; the best of the clip is watching Javier Bardem dancing and ending his quirky dance by kissing Penelope… (lol!).

No photo today as honestly couldn’t find one worth putting here. Sigh.

Finally a great Milla Jovovich photo from Cannes Burnt by the Sun 2 red carpet.

A Look At What May Be In The New Nintendo 3DS!!

Wow - could it be what I think it is? Judging by this recent FCC filing photo (entitled: "Nintendo CTR Target Board") Nintendo has given us a look at a testing board that is potentially used for their upcoming 3DS. It seems the company is trying to get approval for use of the Wi-Fi card in the US.

Things to note:
- It seems to be a DS with its two screens stretched out to facilitate testing.
- The top screen is now a widescreen with the lower one still being a 4:3 ratio.
- Sharp's autostereoscopic 3D technology (that's right - no glasses) seems to be included with the top widescreen (and not the bottom screen).
- Stereo speakers, DS cartridge slot and SD card port are still present. Yes - it will have full backwards compatibility with existing DS games.
- Mark June 15 on your calendars - Nintendo is expected to reveal the unit to the masses along with its official name.
- I have been hearing about a release window between October 2010 and March 2011. The former seems most likely as no manufacturer wants to miss the holiday gift giving season.

I know this will be on our family's wish list this year if it is available so, yes, I am very interested to learn more! This product will be a sure fire barn burner especially with NO 3D glasses required. No doubt about it!! :-)

Gaming Giant Ubisoft Forsees a 50% Marketshare For 3D By 2012!!

You read that right! Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, spoke the company line during a conference call this week and said that he expects 15-20% of gaming titles will adopt 3D in 2011 and 50% in 2012!

Personally I believe he is bang on. With Sony's Playstation going 3D (looks like KILLZONE 3 will be S3D!), Nintendo coming out with their "no 3D glasses required" 3DS by March 2011 (more info here) and NVIDIA excelling with their 3D Vision technology for the PC, we are witnessing a 3D gaming renaissance.

I can't get enough of it really. I run NVIDIA's setup here in my office and it rocks! Every new title seems to better the previous one as developers master new techniques and start to envision in 3D what will happen on screen for gamers. You have got to try it!!

New DESPICABLE ME Featurette!

Got the new DESPICABLE ME featurette for you, courtesy of Universal and GRU-Tube :-)

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden deep beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by an army of tireless, little yellow minions, we discover Gru (Steve Carell) planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universals new 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me.

Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.

One of the worlds greatest super-villains has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.

Sounds like fun for the family - although I must admit I have not been very excited about this project. Something is missing and I am not sure what just yet. So far the quality seems to be on par though. We'll see!

DESPICABLE ME opens July 9.

42nd Quinzaine des Réalisateurs - Directors Fortnight Award Winners

As posted at the official site here are the award winners in this non-competitive parallel section of the festival

Feature Films

Art Cinema Award: Pieds nus sur les Limaces (Lily Sometimes), Fabienne Berthaud, France

SACD Award: Illégal, Olivier Masset-Depasse, Belgium, Luxemmbourg, and France

Label Europa Cinemas: Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times), Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland

FIPRESCI Award: Todos vós sodes capitáns, Oliver Laxe, Spain

Palm Dog Award, a Special Jury award this year goes to Vuk, the goatherd's dog in Le Quattro Volte by Michelangelo Frammartino.

Short Films

SFR Award: (tie)
Cautare (Quest), Ionut Piturescu, Romania
Mary Last Seen, Sean Durkin, USA

To check the official announcement go here. So it's over for this year and my impression is that this parallel section of the fest had very little coverage in general press. Maybe is due to a Selection that has nothing really outstanding, new, breakthrough and/or at least, news worthy. The art cinema award winner is a film with well-known great stars (more Ludivine Sagnier than Diane Kruger) that obviously will be must be seen by many -award or no award-, so there are no exceptional news here. Let's hope that next year this section could me more news worthy.

Sigh.