Cannes Film Festival preview

By Raymond Smalley (posted by Rick Morris)

The 65th Cannes Film Festival, which commences Wednesday, will showcase eighty-six films, ten of which are United States entrants. Below is an FDH Lounge\Generation Chatter Power 100 preview.

NOTE: The Power 100 Marquee Average divides the overall accumulated points of a particular project’s two lead participants.  These rankings are a proprietary system devised for measuring celebrities by Generation Chatter and they encompass such areas as nominations and awards, box office receipts, music chart statistics, TV ratings, magazine covers and more.

Killing Them Softly

United States Release Date: September 21

Power 100 Marquee Average: 1,307.5

Originally entitled Cogan’s Trade and an adaptation of George Higgins novel of the same name, Killing Them Softly is this analysis lead selection based solely upon the status of fifth ranked film actor Brad Pitt (39TH overall). James Gandolfini, appearing within his initial project since the independent Mint Julip (2010), will star opposite Pitt, who seeks his third Golden Globe nomination within four years.

Mud

Power 100 Marquee Average: 545

Matthew McConaughey’s initial of a pair of Festival projects is potentially Reese Witherspoon’s conclusive project of this calendar, even as the pregnant twenty-fourth ranked film actress is scheduled for roles within Big Eyes and Devil’s Knot. Mud is the only film included within this post which does not possess a United States release date.

 Lawless

United States Release Date: August 31

Power 100 Marquee Average: 440

The chronicle of a trio of Franklin County, Virginia brothers whose prohibition era bootlegging business is threatened is more notable for the supporting cast, which includes fourth overall ranked Jessica Chastain and ninety-eighth overall ranked Gary Oldman, than the pair who actually occupy the project’s principal roles, Shia LeBeaouf (560th overall) and Tom Hardy (244th overall). Lawless is the initial of consecutive ensemble projects for LeBeauof, who will appear either this winter or next spring within The Company You Keep, a picture whose cast includes Robert Redford, Susan Surandon, Terrence Howard, and Anna Kendrick.

The Paper Boy

United States Release Date: November 23

Power 100 Marquee Average: 120

Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron portray a reporter and his younger brother who concurrently investigate the circumstances of a murder with the hope of exonerating a condemned inmate (John Cusak). Nicole Kidman also appears and while she and McConaughey merit attention, Efron should garner seven of every eight words, as he seeks an evolution not possible within his projects, The Lorax and The Lucky One.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

United States Release Date: June 8

Power 100 Marquee Average: 70

Alex The Lion, Marty The Zebra, Melma The Giraffe, and Gloria The Hippopotamus seek entrance into New York as the conclusion of an adventure which traverses them through Africa, London, and Monte Carlo. Ben Stiller and Chris Rock, each reprising previous roles, spearhead an assemblage which includes Jessica Chastain, appearing within her second Cannes project, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bryan Cranston, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Frances McDormand, Andy Richter, and Martin Short.

Hemingway & Gellhorn

United States Release Date: May 28

Power 100 Marquee Average: 55

Nicole Kidman, appearing within her second film festival project, stars opposite Clive Owen, appearing within his initial exclusively United States project since Trust (2010), as the pair populate the sole television film this analysis includes. As is expected within an HBO picture, a phenomenal supporting cast is present, this occasion the lunch pail aggregation includes Parker Posey, Rodrigo Santoro, Peter Coyote, Robert Duvall, Tony Schalhoub, and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.

Moonrise Kingdom

United States Release Date: May 25

Power 100 Marquee Average: 40

With a turbulent decade which the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King scarred as their circumstance, a pair of young lovers (secondary participants Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman) escape their perceived New England confines as a sheriff, which Bruce Willis portrays, and the couple’s parents, which Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray, pursue them. Tilda Swinton (18th ranked film actress) also appears within the project which is one of a quintet of American pictures competing for the coveted Palme d’Or.