Behold the Red Band Trailer for Drive!

Take a look:

More Drive (2011) Videos

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm very excited for this one...thoughts?

Has Cannes been a boon to a few films at the Box Office?

Apparently so, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Did winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival do the trick for Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life?

Over the weekend, the Brad Pitt-Sean Penn starrer debuted in the U.S. to a per screen average of $93,320—a record for a Fox Searchlight title. Searchlight’s previous best was $80,000 for Black Swan.

Opening Friday in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, Tree of Life grossed an estimated $372,920 through Sunday. Including Monday--the Memorial Day holiday--the moody drama grossed an estimated $488,920 for a per screen average of $122,230.

Searchlight senior vice president for distribution Sheila DeLocahe said the film’s performance was all the more impressive considering its running time is two hours and eighteen minutes. And Searchlight relied almost entirely on publicity to generate interest in the drama, versus an expensive media campaign.

“Winning the Palme d’Or really pushed it forward,” said DeLoache, adding that Tree of Life has become a must-see event title.

The last American film to walk away with the top honor was Michael Moore’s documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 seven years ago.

Tree of Life isn’t the only film feeling the Cannes glow. Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, the festival’s opening night film, continued to do strong business in its second weekend at the domestic box office.

Here's a rundown of what films got picked up (and by whom) at Cannes...

...via Variety:

U.S. distribs sprang into action during Cannes, snapping up both festival specialty pics and pre-sales on big-budget commercial titles. The Weinstein Co. and Sundance Selects were the busiest buyers, while new players FilmDistrict and Open Road are starting to flex their pickup muscles.

Cannes festival films-

"The Conquest" - Music Box

"We Need to Talk About Kevin" -- Oscilloscope

"House of Tolerance" - Sundance Selects

"Kid with a Bike" - Sundance Selects

"Poliss" - Sundance Selects

"Sleeping Beauty" - Sundance Selects

"Footnote" - Sony Classics

"Dragon" - TWC

"The Artists" - TWC

Pre-sales

"Great Hope Springs" - Sony

"Snitch" - Summit

"Iron Lady" - TWC

"The Wettest County" - TWC

"Looper" - FilmDistrict

"Arabian Nights" - FilmDistrict

"Playing the Field" - FilmDistrict

Go figure...The Tree of Life wins the Palme d'Or!

Behold the prizes:

Official Competition Palme d'Or: The Tree Of Life (dir: Terrence Malick)

Grand Prix (Runner-up to main award): (tie) Kid With A Bike (dir: Dardenne brothers), Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Mise en Scene (Best Director): Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

Prix du Scenario (Screenplay): Joseph Cedar, Footnote (Israel) Prix Du Jury: Poliss (dir: Maiwenn)

Palme d'Or Court Metrage: Cross Country (dir: Maryna Vroda)

Camera d'Or (Best First Film): Las Acasias (dir: Pablo Giorgelli)

-Joey's Two Cents: The top prize going to The Tree of Life was mildly surprising, but it was always going to be an all or nothing endeavor (shame on me for predicting otherwise). Overall, I was right about the acting awards, which I'm kind of proud of, and counting my alternates, I hit on Director as well...thoughts?

While we wait for the Palme d'Or announcement...

Soon enough, we'll know the identities of the honorees, but first thing's first...here are my updated predictions for the big prizes, since they've been requested of me. Do note that I'm mixing in the buzz I've heard with some of my own theories and just a little bit of guesswork as well. Bombs away:

Palme d'Or: The Artist (Alternate: Drive)
Grand Prix: We Need to Talk About Kevin (Alternate: The Tree of Life)
Jury Prize: This Must Be The Place (Alternate: Sleeping Beauty)
Best Director: Lynne Ramsey for We Need to Talk About Kevin (Alternate: Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive)
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin for The Artist (Alternate: Ryan Gosling for Drive)
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia (Alternate: Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Best Screenplay: The Artist (Alternate: The Tree of Life)

Now, for the already announced winners, via Variety:

Aki Kaurismaki's ''Le Havre,'' Pierre Schoeller's ''The Minister'' and Jeff Nichols' ''Take Shelter'' shared awards Saturday at Cannes from the Fipresci Intl. Federation of Film Critics.
Also announced Saturday, Cannes' Ecumenical Jury awarded its main Prix to Italian Paolo Sorrentino's Sean Penn starrer ''This Must Be the Place.''

Fipresci plaudits go to one outstanding film in Cannes Competition and Un Certain Regard and a third in either Directors' Fortnight or Critics' Week.

Which 10 films have the strongest chances of walking away with the top prize at Cannes?

Well, everyone's got their opinions right now (and mine are certainly different from this), but Total Film has 10 flicks as the ones to look out for. Personally, I'm of the thinking that the jury could go in a strange direction and choose Drive or go classic and pick The Artist, but that's just me. Here's the list of 10, with elaborations after the cut:

The Tree of Life
Polisse
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Le Gamin Au Velo
Melancholia
Sleeping Beauty
The Artist
The Skin I Live In
Drive
This Must Be The Place

What's the early buzz on Drive after its first Cannes screening?

Well, /Film has the first reactions, and they're pretty positive:

The first Cannes screening of Drive, the new film from Nicolas Winding Refn that stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks, ended not long ago. Reviews aren’t up yet, but a sampling of Twitter reactions suggests the movie has one of the most positive consensus opinions of the Cannes premieres so far — I think only We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Artist rival it for near-unanimity of positive opinion.

Check out a few reactions after the break.

Lars von Tries gets himself bannes from the Cannes Film Festival?

From The Hollywood Reporter:

The Cannes Film Festival has officially declared Lars Von Trier a persona non grata, effective immediately, after the controversial Danish director called himself a Nazi and expressed sympathy for Hitler at a press conference on Wednesday.

Von Trier has since apologized for the remarks, claiming he was provoked by journalists. But on Thursday, the Cannes Festival's board of directors held a meeting and voted to ban von Trier from the Festival.

"The Festival de Cannes provides artists from around the world with an exceptional forum to present their works and defend freedom of expression and creation," the Festival said in a statement. "The board of directors profoundly regrets that this forum has been used by Lars von Trier to express comments that are unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the festival. The Board of Directors firmly condemns these comments and declares Lars von Trier a persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately."

Do we have any clue how Robert De Niro's jury at Cannes might vote?

Well, not really (and Lars von Trier's new film 'Melancholia' just debuted today to strong reviews, making this a somewhat stacked festival so far, which can only make the decisions harder), but The Wrap has some details on what's going on with the jury on Day 8 of the Cannes Film Festival:

Pundits have begun to speculate about which film might win this year's Palme d'Or – but there's always a wild card in this card of Cannes speculation, because the award is chosen by a small group of people whose tastes and working relationships aren't always easy to determine.

That's why a report from Jeff Wells is so fascinating. Wells says he's spoken to "a journalist friend with some inside knowledge of the character of this Cannes jury," and that his pal laid out the dynamic. Jury president Robert De Niro, his source says, is "not likely to try to lobby for personal choices or views" (which presumably means he won't carry the same clout as reportedly assertive past jury presidents like Robert Altman and Roman Polanski).
The most knowledgeable jury members, according to this report, are "Carlos" director Olivier Assayas and journalist Linn Ullmann, the daughter of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman, while the least knowledgeable might be Hong Kong director Johnnie To, who "has a somewhat myopic, know-nothing view of other films or filmmakers."

The other jury members – actors Jude Law, Uma Thurman and Martina Gusman, producer Nansun Shi and director Mahamat Saleh Haroun – are not mentioned in Wells' report. The big questions, of course, are whether this info is accurate – and if it is, whether it tells us anything about what film might win. And the answers might be who knows?and probably not, though it's fun to speculate.

Here's another clip from Drive, premiering tomorrow at Cannes!

Behold:

-Thoughts?

Terrence Malick's Tree of Life has been planted at Cannes...what now?

Well, the wait ended today...'Tree of Life' finally revealed itself. Terrence Malick's long delayed opus screened at the Cannes Film Festival as well as to select people in places like New York and Los Angeles. The verdict? Even more mixed than we expected, it seems. There will be more said about the film in the coming days (and even below in this article), but I wanted to just turn our attention to the possible Oscar implications of this. With the festival so far propelling Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris', Michel Hazanavicius's 'The Artist', and Lynne Ramsey's 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' to the forefront in terms of quality, there are some new contenders to consider in early predictions. Likewise, Julia Leigh's 'Sleeping Beauty' and Gus Van Sant's 'Restless' debuting to less than stellar reviews and seemingly being out of the race before it's even really began has shaped things as well.

Where does that leave Malick's 'Tree of Life'? Well, I think the end result is that it's probably not going to gain the traction necessary for a real shot at Oscar glory, though don't count it out of the tech categories. Could this change when the critical community en masse chimes in next week when the film opens in the US? Of course...and even more so when the precursors begin in the 4th quarter of the year.

Where this all leaves us is right back where we started, essentially. Anyone looking for the flick to burst on the scene and begin a long march to Best Picture is sorely disappointed today, but those of us still feeling out the race to come just saw the field widen considerably.

Personally, I'm going to be removing the film from a lot of my early predictions next time around, but that's just me...

Want more on 'Tree of Life'? Well, then hit the jump for more!

The Weinstein Company makes the first purchase of Cannes!

From Deadline:

In what shapes up as the first major acquisition of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, The Weinstein Company is near a deal to acquire U.S. and multiple international territories on The Artist, a black-and-white silent film that is written and produced by Michel Hazanavicius. The picture premieres in competition on Sunday, but I'm told several buyers chased the rights through Wild Bunch. The deal is low-seven-figure minimum guarantee, and the plan is to release the film later this year during the Oscar race.

The pic stars Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller. The pic takes place in 1927 Hollywood and focuses on a silent movie star whose career seems about to be ended because of the arrival of the talkies. At the same time, a pretty young extra sees the new format as an opportunity to launch her star. No official confirmation was forthcoming from The Weinstein Company. The film was a late entry to the Cannes competition but the first to make a sales splash.

-Joey's Two Cents: Here's to a lot more news like this during the month of May...thoughts?

Take a look at Sean Penn in the Oscar hopeful This Must Be the Place!

Here you go:

-Thoughts?

Why has Cannes turned to Big Stars and Edgy Auteurs this year?

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Cannes' 2011 slate seems designed to avoid the pitfalls of last year's competition, which failed to produce a single Oscar winner, crossover commercial success or grand cinema scandal --the three boxes any great film festival worthy of the name needs to tick.

For its 64th edition, Cannes appears intent on reasserting its claim to the title of world's best film festival, with an auteur-heavy lineup that includes such art house stalwarts as Pedro Almodovar, Lars von Trier and Terrence Malick. The fest is also putting the focus on youth with a generous sampling of the hottest up-and-comers in global film, from Nicolas Winding Refn, the Danish director of the Ryan Gosling starrer Drive, to Julia Leigh, the Aussie first-timer behind the edgy Sleeping Beauty.

On the star front, Cannes this year is an embarrassment of riches, playing it safe with big names: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Eva Longoria, Jodie Foster, Antonio Banderas and Owen Wilson are just a handful of the paparazzi targets expected to stroll the Croisette. Not to mention France President Nicolas Sarkozy and first lady Carla Bruni, who will likely hog the opening-night spotlight when they show up for the premiere of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, in which Bruni has a cameo.

But in Cannes, the films are the stars, and it's with this year's competition lineup that the festival really shines.

The hottest ticket is Malick's long-gestating The Tree of Life. The drama, starring Pitt and Penn, was originally set to bow last year in Cannes before perfectionist Malick withdrew it to tinker further. The delay has only heightened the film's enigmatic allure, and expectations are high.

"It was very important for Cannes to have this movie because we have been talking about it for a year now," says Xavier Leherpeur, a film critic for French movie magazine Studio CineLive. "I want it to be great."

Malick has been to Cannes only once before -- in 1979, when he won the director prize for Days of Heaven. But even sight unseen, Tree of Life, which screens May 16, is the odds-on favorite to win the Palme d'Or.

That said, Malick has some stiff competition.

Cannes announces their 50th annual Critics Week lineup!

Here's the slate:

Feature Films
• Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – ARG
• Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – BUL/FR
• 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – FR
• The Slut (Hanotenet), directed by Hagar Ben Asher – ISR/ALL
• Snowtown (Les Crimes de Snowtown), directed by Justin Kurzel – AUS
• Sauna on Moon, directed by Zou Peng – CHI
• Take Shelter, directed by Jeff Nichols - US

Short Films
• Alexis Ivanovitch vous êtes mon héros, directed by Guillaume Gouix - FR
• Black Moon, directed by Amie Siegel - US
• Blue, directed by Stephan Kang - NZ
• Boy, directed by Topaz Adizes - US
• Bul-Myul-Ui-Sa-Na-Ie, directed by Moon Byoung-gon - COR
• Dimanches, directed by Valérie Rosier - BEL
• In Front of the House, directed by Lee Tae-ho - COR
• La inviolabilidad del domicilio se basa en el hombre que aparece empunando un hacha, directed by Alex Piperno - URU/ARG
• Junior, directed by Julia Ducournau - FR
• Permanencias, directed by Ricardo Alves Junior - BRE

Special Screenings
• La Guerre est déclarée, directed by Valérie Donzelli – FR – Opening Film
• Pourquoi tu pleures?, directed by Katia Lewcowicz – FR – Closing Film
• Walk away Renée, directed by Jonathan Caouette – US/FR/BEL
• My Little Princess, directed by Eva Ionesco – FR

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm very interested in Take Shelter, but the lineup itself seems pretty good...thoughts?

Today's Trailers: Cowboys & Aliens, Sleeping Beauty, Passion Play, and Casa de mi Padre

First up is a new look at the summer blockbuster 'Cowboys & Aliens':

The rest after the jump...

Here are some of the films NOT playing at Cannes that we thought might...

...courtesy of The Playlist:

As one of the most highly anticipated film festivals on the planet—the Olympics of cinema as it were—each spring the looming arrival of the Cannes Film Festival line-up brings with it a near feeding frenzy of anticipation (except for those actually awaiting the summer tentpole season).

But the Cannes line-up is generally divided into two sections: 1) the pre-announcement speculation which always makes the festival sound like its going to have every titan of cinema on board and 2) the reality of the situation which is the slightly less awesome line-up announced this a.m. This generally leads to the thinking that “XYZ director/film got snubbed!” when its simply more of a case of the trades making much ado about nothing, and/or simply talking a certain film up too much.

Regardless, let’s look at some “awol” filmmakers and what may have happened to their selections. And lastly, let’s not forget that there are three remaining Cannes competition slots open, likely being saved for filmmakers that are trying to finish up on time. And while some of these could potentially snap up those few spots, most of them likely will not, here’s why.

Gus Van Sant's film Restless will open Canne's Un Certain Regard!

Via Variety:

Lending auteur heft to the section and to a certain extent confirming expectations, Gus Van Sant's "Restless" will open this year's Cannes Festival's Un Certain Regard on May 12.

Turning on the relationship between two teens, played by Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hooper, "Restless" is produced by Columbia Pics., Imagine Ent. and 360 Pics.

Pundits had talked up the Sony Classics pic "Restless" as a potential candidate for Competition, given Van Sant's Croisette pedigree: He received the Palme d'Or in 2003 for "Elephant" and the 60th Anniversary Award for "Paranoid Park" in 2007.

Van Sant's opener berth at Un Certain Regard reflects, however, Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux's strategy, which has paid dividends in recent years, of mixing in Un Certain Regard both regarded auteurs with a Cannes track-record and up-and-coming or near completely unknown directors.

The jury president, Emir Kusturica, will present the Un Certain Regard Prize May 21.

The Official Selection, including Competition titles, is announced Thursday in Paris.

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm very curious about this movie and eager to see the official selection list...thoughts?

What might be screening at the 64th Cannes Film Festival?

The Hollywood Reporter makes some educated guesses:

The official lineup for this year’s Festival de Cannes won’t be announced for another month, but already the 64th edition of the world’s pre-eminent film festival is shaping up as a potential battle of Palme d’Or winners.

As festival director Thierry Fremaux goes about making his selections — choices will be unveiled in mid-April for the fest, which kicks off May 11 — likely candidates include an array of such past Cannes victors as the Belgian filmmaking brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Danish provocateur Lars Von Trier, American auteur Gus Van Sant and possibly Italian actor-director Nanni Moretti.

Cannes 2011 is sure to have a whiff of deja vu about it. The one movie that has been announced is the opening-night film, Midnight in Paris, from Woody Allen, who was also tapped for opening-night honors in 2002 with Hollywood Ending. His latest movie, starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard, is not only set in the City of Lights, but Allen cast France’s first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, in a supporting role, virtually guaranteeing a presidential presence on the red carpet.

"Midnight in Paris is a wonderful love letter to Paris," Fremaux enthused as he revealed his choice for the festival’s curtain-raiser.

Today's Trailers: Hesher, Apollo 18, and Certified Copy

First off we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt's latest film that premiered at Sundance last year, the indie 'Hesher':

After the cut is a look at the other two trailers of the day...