On Thursday morning, Thierry Fremaux, head of the Cannes Film Festival, revealed the films that will be playing at this year’s Festival de Cannes.

American entries include Doug Liman’s (The Bourne Identity) Fair Game, a political thriller starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, which will be competing for the Palm d’Or as well as Inside Job, Kaboom, Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Sundance winner Blue Valentine, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, which will open the festival, and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.

See the complete list of films below:

Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf in Wall Street 2

Opener
Robin Hood, U.S.-U.K., Ridley Scott

Competition
Another Year, U.K., Mike Leigh
Biutiful, Spain-Mexico, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Burnt by the Sun 2, Germany-France-Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov
Certified Copy, France-Italy-Iran, Abbas Kiarostami
Fair Game, U.S., Doug Liman
Hors-la-loi, France-Belgium-Algeria, Rachid Bouchareb
The Housemaid, South Korea, Im Sang-soo
La nostra vita, Italy-France, Daniele Luchetti
La Princesse de Montpensier, France, Bertrand Tavernier
Of Gods and Men, France, Xavier Beauvois
Outrage, Japan, Takeshi Kitano
Poetry, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong
A Screaming Man, France-Belgium-Chad, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Tournee, France, Mathieu Amalric
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Spain-Thailand-Germany-U.K.-France, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
You, My Joy, Ukraine-Germany, Sergey Loznitsa

Un Certain Regard
Adrienn Pal, Hungary-Netherlands-France-Austria, Agnes Kocsis
Aurora, Romania, Cristi Puiu
Blue Valentine, U.S., Derek Cianfrance
Chatroom, U.K., Hideo Nakata
Chongqing Blues, China, Wang Xiaoshuai
The City Below, Germany-France, Christoph Hochhausler
Film Socialisme, Switzerland-France, Jean-Luc Godard
Ha Ha Ha, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo
Les Amours imaginaires, Canada, Xavier Dolan
Life Above All, France, Oliver Schmitz
Los labios, Argentina, Ivan Fund, Santiago Loza
Octubre, Peru, Daniel Vega
Qu’est-il arrive a Simon Werner?, France, Fabrice Gobert
Rebecca H., France, Lodge Kerrigan
R U There, Netherlands, David Verbeek
The Strange Case of Angelica, Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira
Tuesday, After Christmas, Romania, Radu Muntean
Udaan, India, Vikramaditya Motwane

Out of Competition
Tamara Drewe, U.K., Stephen Frears
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, U.S., Oliver Stone
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, U.K.-Spain, Woody Allen

Midnight Screenings
Kaboom, U.S.-France, Gregg Araki
L’autre monde, France-Belgium, Gilles Marchand

Special Screenings
Abel, Mexico, Diego Luna
Chantrapas, France, Otar Iosseliani
Draquila — L’Italia che trema, Italy, Sabina Guzzanti
Inside Job, U.S., Charles Ferguson
Nostalgia de la luz, France, Patricio Guzman 
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, Netherlands, Sophie Fiennes

This year’s competition jury is presided over by director Tim Burton and also includes Benicio Del Toro and Kate Beckinsale. The prestigious festival’s 63rd competition will take place from May 12th until the 23rd.

Get ready, because like it or not, everyone’s favorite archaeologist is headed back to the big screen. Indy 5 is moving forward, albeit slowly.

Forget the fact that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull faced almost immediate fan backlash, or that Lucas and Spielberg haven’t exactly been wowing the masses with their recent attempts at blockbuster adventure. None of it seems to matter, because it looks like all three of the names needed to get this thing off the ground are approaching agreement.

 Harrison Ford was talking to the BBC recently and he confirmed what Shia LeBeouf was muttering over the summer; the trio have an basic story idea for the fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise. From Ford’s mouth, this is what they have got: “Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] and I are sort of agreed on a germ of an idea and we’re seeing what comes of it.”  There’s no scriptwriter in place as of yet, and literally nothing formal has transpired. From Harrison’s elaboration it looks like the ball is in George’s court for now:
 

“The process works like this… We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it. Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form. Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it’s ready and we do it.”

Considering how long it took to get Indy 4 moving, this news hardly means we will see another Indy anytime soon. Then again, there’s definitely a sell-by date for this franchise and its leading man–a date many think has long since passed– and Lucas can’t sit on this one all that long unless he’s gonna make Shia the star. At which point, the fans may actually stage a rebel assault on Skywalker Ranch.

Funny, though. What exactly is the creative process for Lucas pulling together a story? I get the feeling he writes the whole thing down breathlessly in crayon while he’s on the can, finishes it in twenty minutes, and then drops it in a desk drawer until Ford and Steven are desperate enough to settle for anything.

I’m not a hater of the fourth Indy movie, but to this day I have trouble remembering exactly what happened in it. There were a few good scenes, some worthwhile moments, but ultimately it felt out-of-practice and lazy and most of that blame goes to Spielberg and Lucas, who never seemed to defer to anybody else in regards to their over-the-top insane ideas, including Indy’s survival of a nuclear explosion by hiding in a refrigerator.

What do you fine people think about this? Would a fifth Indiana Jones be worth any-body’s time? After making box office bank with the last entry, what’s Lucas’ incentive for making a stronger product?

Probably doesn’t matter, because it’s far too early to suppose much. I will make this forecast: I bet we get an update announcing the film will be in 3-D long before we get an announcement regarding a screenwriter.

Last month, we got our first look at Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and the return of Gordon Gecko. Now there’s a longer, international trailer that sheds light on the film’s plot.

The first trailer very effectively showed us Douglas stepping back into the world, noting the changing times (hey! giant cell phone!), and taking on a protege. But it didn’t really tell us anything about the story.  Was Gecko a good guy now, as script rumors have suggested? Would the film have any of the same bite?

From the looks of this, I’d say that first question is still (thankfully) unanswered, and the answer to the second one is yes, it probably will. If that’s the case, you can thank Michael Douglas who shines brighter in these few minutes of footage than he has in any of his most recent films. I’ve missed the edge and bite of a malicious Douglas, and although Gecko might be a changed man, he doesn’t seem like he’s necessarily a ‘good’ one, which makes sense.

How will this go over in the current economic climate where corporate corruption is commonplace? Who knows, but the strength of this trailer is that it hints the film will be more of a thriller than the original, and that might indeed be a good thing.

I’m still not sold on Shia, but Carey Mulligan as Douglas’ daughter is promising, and Langella and Brolin are welcome in any movie.

Check it out below:

In 2006, I read about a film that was slightly different from anything I’d heard of before. Top directors such as the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant and Alfonso Cuaron were all making a series of shorts that would be threaded together into a feature. The short films all center around love in Paris. The film was appropriately titled Paris, je t’aime. Needless to say, the city of Poughkeepsie, where I went to school, was never even on the radar for Paris, je t’aime’s theatrical release. When I watched it on DVD, I was more than disappointed. I don’t know if something got lost in translation or if the short films were just lackluster. Three years later, the same concept has moved to a new city. New York, I Love You showcases the talents of top directors (Mira Nair, Allen Hughes and a surprise directorial effort from Natalie Portman). The subject for all the short films is love in the different boroughs of New York City. The filmmakers had two days each to shoot their respective shorts. This time, the results are a bit more rewarding. New York, I Love You is far from perfect but it is mostly enjoyable.

The different segments of the film all bleed into one another as most are, in some way, related to another. The short films are parts of a whole rather than their own entities. One of the challenges I found most rewarding was figuring out the overlap between stories. The film opens with Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper (of Hangover fame) awkwardly sharing a taxi. Both characters, despite sharing this scene, would be the focus of their own respective narratives. The film is full of moments like this. Drea De Matteo, a woman grappling with the fallout from a one-night stand in Allen Hughes’ segment, appears in Mr. Riccoli’s drugstore (which plays an integral part in Brett Ratner’s short). The overlaps make the entire film fun and engaging.

The shorts themselves are largely hit or miss. For example, Jiang Wen’s segment about a pickpocket (Hayden Christensen) attempting to woo a beautiful young girl (Rachel Bilson) only to be thwarted by her much older and strangely sinister boyfriend (Andy Garcia) leaves much to be desired. By the time the short finds some traction, its already time to move on. Christensen, as per usual, gives a flat and uninteresting performance. Garcia, even though he’s a veteran, can’t save this segment. On the opposite front, my favorite puzzle piece is actually the Brett Ratner directed story of a boy (a superb Anton Yelchin) dumped and left dateless right before the prom. His pharmacist, Mr. Riccoli (James Caan is genius in the role) lends his handicapped daughter, played by Olivia Thirbly, out for the prom. I won’t give too much away because the twist at the end of the short is brilliant. Seeing Yelchin and Thirbly, who, in my opinion are two very talented and very underrated young actors, sharing screen time is electric. Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively also appears, for a few appropriate seconds, as Yelchin’s ex. The segments either work or they don’t. Given that each is only a few minutes long, there’s not much room for middle ground.

Lets talk about Ethan Hawke. Hawke, the likeable actor and failed novelist, has been largely out of the spotlight for some time. He appears in Yvan Attal’s segment as a womanizing writer who hilariously pursues a high-end call girl (Maggie Q). Hawke, out of all the characters in New York, I Love You, has some of the wittiest and quickest dialogue to work with (Attal also co-wrote the script). Hawke makes the absolute most of the material as it plays to his exact off beat strengths. As he follows the beautiful Maggie Q around, his pickup lines are nothing short of literary and his delivery is spot on. I credit Hawke for bringing the words on the page to life in a performance that will certainly be classified as a comeback. So many times, good dialogue is wasted on poor acting. When good dialogue meets good acting, the results are a joy to behold to say the least. Hawke is one of the best parts of the entire film. Another surprise performance comes from somewhere I least expected it. Shia LaBeouf has rarely gotten to show any acting chops. He has been too busy running away from space robots or chasing down alien heads with Harrison Ford. In LaBeouf’s segment, directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by the late Anthony Minghella, he plays a crippled bellhop at a very ritzy hotel. He shares almost all his screen time with Julie Christie. The two play off each other extraordinarily well. LaBeouf nails a role that not only calls for him to use a believable accent but to also merely hint at the pain his hunched character must endure while carrying suitcases up numerous flights of stairs. Not only does he nail it, but he also holds his own with Julie Christie, who proves why she is nothing short of an icon. Hawke and LaBeouf are two of the film’s pleasant surprises.

I found Joshua Marston’s segement, centering around two senior citizens struggling, on their anniversary, to get back to the place they first met, dragging most of the time. Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach, who play the seniors, do a fine job but something about the story doesn’t fit. The only purpose it seems to serve is to offer some age-range variety to counteract the many stories centering on young and middle aged characters. I found myself wishing there was more to Shunji Iwai’s short about a composer (Orlando Bloom) and his mysterious over-the-phone muse (Christina Ricci). The premise is promising but, again given that each piece is only given a few minutes, the payoff seems abrupt and unsatisfactory. Bloom, in full on grungy artist mode, is excellent (especially considering he is playing off of a phone rather than another human being). When Ricci finally does show up, the chemistry just isn’t there.

Overall, New York, I Love You is worth checking out. I enjoyed seeing the work of directors I had heard of and some that I hadn’t. The myriad of actors and actresses that are given screen time gives the film a very particular pace that, at times, borders on manic. LaBeouf and Hawke are at their best. New York, I Love You, if for nothing else, is a welcome breath of fresh air in the oft-stale multiplex world.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Munching away on a pretzel in sleek business suits in the middle of New York City is common. What is not as common is when it’s Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf walking around like this, but for the newest Oliver Stone movie Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. The Twentieth Century Fox feature also stars Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella and An Education’s Carey Mulligan. Here are some exclusive pictures below from Splash News:

Wall Street 2 Pictures from Splash News

Oliver Stone was able to sit down with a reporter of the New York Times and divulges in some information regarding his latest film, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. Here’s an excerpt of some of that interview below:

The rest of the cast includes Shia LaBeouf as Jake Moore, a young trader who is the fiancé of Gekko’s daughter, played by Carey Mulligan; Josh Brolin as the head of an investment bank; Frank Langella as Jake’s mentor; and Susan Sarandon as Jake’s mother. Charlie Sheen, who played the central role of Bud Fox, a young trader, in the original, will make a cameo in the sequel. Shooting for the film, which will be released by 20th Century Fox next April, begins this week in New York.

“We sort of started over with the story of a young man who is at the center of it, and how he needs Gordon Gekko’s help to navigate those waters,” said Alex Young, co-president of production at 20th Century Fox.

The rest of the article can be read right here (special thanks to CS). The sequel will be released on April 23, 2010.

Famed actress Susan Sarandon is seeping her way into Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, directed by Oliver Stone. Sarandon is in talks to play the mother of young Wall Street trader Jacob (Shia LaBeouf) who falls under the seductive influence of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) (CS!). Also casted in the movie is Frank Langella who’s most recent works include Frost/Nixon and the upcoming fall picture called The Box.

The first film, Wall Street, also starred Michael Douglas along with Charlie Sheen Daryl Hannah and Martin Sheen. Emerging at that time when the economy was on everyone’s minds during that period within the eighties, Stone and others are taking advantage of it again a second time with this decade’s recession. Wall Street 2 is set for an April 23, 2010 release date from Twentieth Century Fox and Edward R. Pressman Films.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the film that just won’t die. Just when you think that the headiness of its debut was over, boom, the damn thing picks up steam and is closing in on becoming the biggest movie of the year.

Not bad for a film that can not find a friend in the press.

The critic/audience gap aside, our pals over at Moviemistakes.com alerted us to the obscene amount of blunders made during production. MM counted 40 mistakes, which makes the Michael Bay feature the “most mistake-ridden movie of the year”, surpassing the 19 goofs from Angels & Demons.

Any chance to post a pic of Megan Fox, I will take it.

My favorite mistake: When Sam is brought to the cemetery to meet Optimus, you can see the green mark on the grass where Sam is supposed to stand while talking to him.

Check out the site for more goodness.

While you’re here, how about you check out Atomic Popcorn’s review of the film from our crack staff of cinematic bloviators?

Matthew Snider – “Bay does know what he is doing whether you like him or not; he put together some of the cleanest actions shots around, if you ask me.”

Philip Barret – “As much as audiences believed a man could fly in 1978, they’ll certainly buy that Spielberg and Bay are keeping the Autobots hidden somewhere in an abandoned Hollywood lot.”

Erik Buckman – “One can have all the BOOM, hotness and amazing special effects they want but if the story is a mind-numbing waste of time, then the movie is an epic fail. Exhibit A: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”