That Cannes-do spirit

The glitz, the glamour, the gratuitous spectacle; it's all happening at this year's Cannes film festival, currently underway in France. Despite the world medias' tendency to focus on Brangelina or the token blockbuster launch (it's the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie this year, by the way), there is also a handful of films from the world's greatest living filmmakers premiering. Woody Allen's latest Midnight in Paris opens the festival tonight, but the real attention is on the 20 films in competition for the festival's grand prize; the Palme d'Or. Here are my picks for the six most likely contenders:

Terrence Malick: The Tree of Life

Everyone loves a recluse, especially when they pop out of the woodwork with masterpieces such as Badlands and The New World every seven-years or so. Terrence Malick's latest, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, sets to be just as beautiful, poetic and complex as his previous films and early buzz has Malick tipped to take home the top prize, 32-years after his first Palme d'Or nomination for Days Of Heaven.

Julia Leigh: Sleeping Beauty

Oscar-winning director Jane Campion presents this erotic retelling of the classic fairytale. Australian beauty Emily Browning swaps the samurai sword and school girl outfit of Sucker Punch to play a college student drawn into a mysterious, hidden world of prostitution. Written and directed by Australian novelist Julia Leigh, this is a triumph of female filmmaking and the poignant, beautifully crafted story should appeal to the A-List jury.

Nicolas Winding Refn: Drive

The black sheep, or black Cadillac rather, of the finalists is Drive; an action movie with art house sensibilities. It stars international film festival favourite Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman and discovers a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. It doesn't sound like the usual Palme d'Or fare, which is exactly why it might work. It also stars Carey Mulligan, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston and Oscar Isaac.

Lars Von Trier: Melancholia

Von Trier blew everyone away with his sexually graphic and emotionally horrific film Antichrist at last year's Cannes, which divided critics and audiences alike. His latest and eighth Palme d'Or nominated film Melancholia looks to be a safer bet with Kristen Dunst and renowned French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg starring as sisters who find their relationship challenged as a nearby planet threatens to collide into the Earth.

Pedro Almodóvar: La Piel que Habito (The Skin that I Inhabit)

Bizarre. That's the first word that springs to mind when watching excerpts from acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's latest about a plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas) on the hunt for the men who raped his daughter. Part horror, part thriller, all parts dramatic, this is one of the more left-field, artistic offerings amongst the 20 finalists.

Takashi Miike: Ichemei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai)

The prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker's newbie will be the first 3D feature to compete in Cannes and is a re-imagining of Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 film Harakiri. With over 70 titles to his name, Miike's films range from violent and bizarre to dramatic and family-friendly, with this being his first to screen at the famous festival. It's an outside chance to take home any of the major prizes since its biggest coup was getting selected for competition in the first place.

Out of competition films to keep an eye on throughout the course of the festival are Australian serial-killer drama Snowtown, the controversial Princess Diana documentary Unlawful Killing and Oscar-winner Gus Van Sant's latest Restless, starring talented Aussie actress Mia Wasikowka. The Cannes film festival wraps on May 22. In the meantime, I suggest you check out the Restless trailer below because, put simply, it looks amazing.

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Reaching the Pinnacle

Richard Sheffield has a vision. The Head Of Film at Gold Coast-based Pinnacle Films wants to see the distribution company become a major force in the Australian independent film industry. And there's no reason it can't. With a Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts vehicle under its belt following highly talked about releases such as The Reef (above) and Drive, it's only a matter of time.
``The idea is to set up a major independent film distribution company on the Gold Coast,'' Sheffield said.
``Film distribution and exhibition is mainly controlled out of Sydney and Melbourne, but there's no reason why we can't do it here as well.
``This industry is about getting it right 51 per cent of the time and if you can do that, you're ahead of the game.
``You know that you're always going to buy films that won't work and films that will, but the wonderful thing about this business is you can have nine duds and then the 10th one comes along and makes up for it.''

A branch of All Interactive Distribution (AID) a DVD and games business, which unsuccessfully attempted to move into theatrical under its own name three years ago Pinnacle Films is Australia's newest name in distribution. Instead of only releasing DVD titles, Sheffield said the company is now aiming to release eight to 10 theatrical pictures a year. Since joining the company in June last year, Sheffield, a highly experienced distributor, has been busy attending the world's most prestigious film festivals, including Cannes and Berlin, to snap up new titles. They include Pinnacle's prize release for this year, Larry Crowne, starring, written and directed by Tom Hanks. The film also stars Julia Roberts and My Big Fat Greek Wedding's Nia Vardalos, who co-wrote the screenplay.Sheffield said Larry Crowne (above) will be the company's first title to secure a widespread studio release in both art-house cinemas and multiplexes nationwide. Pinnacle's slate also includes Chinese-American film Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, starring Hugh Jackman; underworld action flick Drive, starring Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan; The Hole 3D, directed by Gremlins filmmaker Joe Dante; and The Bang Bang Club, the true story of four photographers documenting the last days of apartheid, starring Ryan Phillippe, Taylor Kitsch and Malin Akerman. Pinncale will also distribute Australian films The Reef, starring Gyton Grantley; documentary Cane Toads: The Conquest 3D; and the animated family film Oakie's Outback Adventure.

After decades in the industry, Sheffield said he was yet to crack the secret to selecting a successful ``commercial picture''.
``It's all about the story the story has to work and we read lots of scripts,'' he said.
``We buy a lot of properties on scripts and if we believe in the script and we believe in the package that is, the director and the key cast we will take it on.''

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It's what all the cool kids are doing . . . edition #6

Seed ProductionsRun down:

Hugh Jackman formed this company a few years back with wife Deborra-Lee Furness and long time assistant John Palermo. The company has a deal with 20^th Century Fox and has head quarters at their studios in Los Angeles and Sydney. It’s great see Jackman and his Australian partners taking on Hollywood with their own concepts and big budget productions aimed at pulling in the revenue.

Released films:

Deception (2008)

Up and coming films:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – see the bottom of the `Avenge is Sweet’ post for a ridiculous amount of info on this film.

Drive (2009) – once again Jackman stars in this action drama about a Hollywood stuntman who discovers there’s a hit on him.

Wooden Spoon Productions

Run down:

The brainchild of Kirsten Dunst and her mother, the company names was inspired by her grandmother and symbolizes women and creativity. The company was only recently formed and hasn’t released any films as yet. Clearly Dunst’s rehabilitation for depression as taken priority.

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