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Exclusive: Neon is gearing up to begin production in May on Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, with Takashi Miike set to direct. The thriller will star Shun Oguri, Lily James, and WWE star Liv Morgan (Gionna Daddio).

The film will be a U.S.-Japan co-production, produced by Jeremy Thomas for Recorded Picture Company, Sam Pressman for Pressman Film, Naoaki Kitajima for Nippon TV and Misako Saka for Olm. Executive producers include Tom Quinn, Yuzo Kuwahara, Tetsu Fujimura, Paula Paizes, Alainée Kent, Peter Watson, Ivan Kelava, Max Loeb and Mike Apgar. The deal was negotiated by Neon’s Sarah Colvin, VP of Acquisitions, and Paula Paizes from Pressman Film and Recorded Picture Company’s Ivan Kelava on behalf of the filmmakers.

Neon will release the film theatrically in North America and represent the international sales rights in Cannes this month.

By Wally Adams

“So….What’s your favorite Takashi Miike movie?” Since Miike is one of the most prolific modern directors the world has ever seen as well as the fact he’s worked in and at different junctures of his career focused on different genres and even different mediums, one is very unlikely to find any smooth consensus for that question. But there are popular choices among different film demographics: the closest thing to a universal critical favorite is “Audition” though it still thoroughly turns more than a few off, or more recently “13 Assassins“. Even more acquired tastes are exploitation audience favorites “Ichi the Killer” and “Dead or Alive”. Mainstream audiences in Japan actually best remember mega-hit movies that capitalized on (then) big trends like the cell phone horror movie “One Missed Call” or the idol-fueled “Andromedia” marking the Digital Age. But art film and major festival audiences...

Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010s films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.Following Takashi Miike's progress over the 1990s and 2000s was one of the preeminent pleasures in world cinema of the past generation. Like a champion surfer, Miike rode the waves of modern moviemaking wherever they took him, making surprising turns, executing wild stunts, and maintaining remarkable stamina. He often released a half-dozen films a year, and his output was never predictable; Miike directed Yakuza movies, children's movies, art movies, outré cult hits, manga adaptations, and the occasional straight drama. He once said that he would accept any assignment that was offered to him, and it sounded like he wasn't exaggerating. Miike's movies weren't always good, but they were seldom boring; no matter the project, he usually exhibited flashes of impish wit,...

Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010 films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.After Lesson of the Evil in 2012 Takashi Miike was a different filmmaker, maybe a different man. He’d chased the ultimate in orgiastic pain and pleasure, the righteously profane with gusto unparalleled, and then suddenly he had said all he had to. When you not only murder children but do it simply because and have fun doing it, it’s because you hope never to have to again. Violence has recurred since—he wouldn’t be Miike without it—but his attitude changed. Ideas and symbols appear that are alien to his cinema and yet suddenly fit right into the new scheme. A man with a wooden sword throwing himself into combat against men with steel blades, a fight he knows...

Another Decade with Takashi Miike is a series of essays on the 2010s films of the Japanese maverick, following Notebook's earlier survey of Miike's first decade of the 21st century.Being in league with Takashi Miike, taking the sensually arrayed and flayed curtains of flesh in stride, has a way of making one think of Claude Rains in Lawrence of Arabia: “It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun.” When you make it your life’s work to decorate the insides of cinemas with the exploits of desperate, subhuman Yakuza, your idea of the business of law enforcement and especially your idea of heroism are bound to be just as warped as your sense of "fun". Miike’s cop movies are few and far between—he doesn’t get cops and he doesn’t much like them. There’s something about lying to people about the...

The film stars Tatsuya Fujiwara and is the third in the series.

Japan’s Nippon Television (Ntv) is launching sales at Asian Film Market on the third installment in its series based on the popular Kaiji manga, Kaiji: Final Game, again starring Tatsuya Fujiwara.

Created by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, the Kaiji manga about a consummate gambler and his misadventures has previously spawned an anime TV series and two live-action films: Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009) and Kaiji 2: Jinsei Dakkai Game (2011). The manga also inspired a Chinese live-action film, Animal World, released in June 2018.

Kaiji: Final Game, again directed by Toya Sato,...

“So….What’s your favorite Takashi Miike movie?” Since Miike is one of the most prolific modern directors the world has ever seen as well as the fact he’s worked in and at different junctures of his career focused on different genres and even different mediums, one is very unlikely to find any smooth consensus for that question. But there are popular choices among different film demographics: the closest thing to a universal critical favorite is “Audition” though it still thoroughly turns more than a few off, or more recently “13 Assassins“. Even more acquired tastes are exploitation audience favorites “Ichi the Killer” and “Dead or Alive”. Mainstream audiences in Japan actually best remember mega-hit movies that capitalized on (then) big trends like the cell phone horror movie “One Missed Call” or the idol-fueled “Andromedia” marking the Digital Age. But art film and major festival audiences showed a preference...

The company is partnering with All Nippon Entertainment Works (Anew), Nippon Television and Chris and Paul Weitz’s production company Depth Of Field.

EuropaCorp holds worldwide rights and will join its partners to develop, finance and produce the English-language remake of Takashi Miike’s Japanese thriller and 2013 Cannes competition selection.

Shield Of Straw centres on five police officers tasked with protecting a killer who has been targeted by his victim’s wealthy grandfather.

Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen screenwriters Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt are writing the screenplay.

The producer of the original work, Nippon TV’s Naoaki Kitazima, reprises his role alongside Depth Of Field’s Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen, and Anew CEO Sandy Climan and EuropaCorp.

“We are thrilled at the prospect of bringing the remake of the Japanese thriller Shield Of Straw to American audiences and the worldwide market,” said EuropaCorp president Lisa Ellzey, who made Monday...

Deadline is reporting that Chris and Paul Weitz are developing an English-language remake of Takashi Miike's Shield Of Straw (Wara No Tate) through their Depth of Field banner, with All Nippon Entertainment Works and Nippon Television. A director hasn't been announced yet, but the screenplay is being written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, the husband-and-wife team who penned the... Read More...

All Nippon Entertainment Works (Anew) and Japanese partner Nippon Television (Nippon TV) are teaming with Chris and Paul Weitz’s production company Depth Of Field on an English-language remake of the Takashi Miike’s thriller.

Original Shield Of Straw producer, Nippon TV’s Naoaki Kitajima, will reprise his role alongside Depth Of Field’s Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano and Dan Balgoyen.

Husband-and-wife team Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt are adapting the screenplay

This is Anew’s first action film and the third project in active development with Depth Of Field besides horror title Ghost Train and thriller Birthright.

Miike’s 2013 original (Wara No Tate) centres on a team of police officers tasked with protecting an accused killer who has been marked for death by the billionaire grandfather of his latest victim.

All Nippon Entertainment Works and Japanese partner Nippon TV are teaming with Chris and Paul Weitz's Depth of Field to develop and produce an English-language remake of Takashi Miike’s action thriller Shield Of Straw, which played in competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen husband-and-wife scribes Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt have been tapped to adapt the screenplay. No director has been set. The original…...

Exclusive: The Til Schweiger comedy led the way for Warner Bros as the studio’s local-language pipeline generated approximately $270m in the calendar year.

Kokowaah 2 (pictured) grossed $32m in Germany in 2013 and stars Schweiger opposite his daughter Emma. Schweiger co-directed with Torsten Kunstler.

Gary Alazraki’s comedy Nosotros Los Nobles took $28m from its run in Mexico, while Yukihiro Miyamoto and Akiyuki Shinbo’s anime release Madoka Magica led a trio of Japanese hits and finished the year on $20m.

Takashi Miike’s Crime thriller Shield Of Straw (Wara No Tate) took $18m with Hideaki Sorachi’s animation Gintama 2 close behind on $17m.

The Taiwanese gangster comedy David Loman amassed $14m and Giuseppe Tornatore’s crime mystery The Best Offer grossed $13m from Italy, Germany and Austria combined.

Rounding out the top local-language releases are Marcus Goller’s comedy Frau Ella starring Matthias Schweighofer on $12m from Germany and Chen Yu-Hsun’s Taiwanese comedy Zone Pro Site (Zon Po...

Karlovy Vary – Japanese director Takashi Miike’s Shield of Straw (Wara No Tate) is to open the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 18. Miike’s high school musical spoof movie For Love’s Sake last year opened the 2012 edition of the Canadian genre film festival. The Japanese director's latest film, a crime thriller about an elite police unit with 48 hours to transport a psychopath across Japan, bowed in competition in Cannes and will receive a North American premiere in Montreal. Story: Michel Gondry's 'Mood Indigo' Opens Karlovy Vary Fantasia has also booked world premieres for Joe Swanberg’s 24 Exposures,

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It’s rather difficult to assess the overall quality of the films playing at the Cannes Film Festival and compare it with previous years. With films playing In Competition, Out of Competition, in Un Certain Regard, as part of the Director’s Fortnight, Critic’s Week and also in the Market there are hundreds of films playing at the festival and up for discussion. Looking at the relatively limited number that I was able to see (29 films in total) and from speaking to many other critics at the festival it did seem as if 2013 was a stand-out year though, with a number of excellent films making their début at the festival.

In addition to my coverage of the festival at HeyUGuys, which you can find here and linked to below, I was also Tweeting throughout the festival @cskinner and I graded and reviewed each film I saw in a Tweet after the screening.

Around the midway point of the fest, all indications told us that Asghar Farhadi’s The Past and the Coen bros. Inside Llewyn Davis would be a part of what is traditionally a two to four-way horse race for the top of the leader-board position and films to beat in our daily temperature-taker, but when the other fifteen critics in our Cannes Critics’ Panel grid started flooding our inbox with jaw-dropping scores – we quickly understood that Blue Is The Warmest Colour (La Vie d’Adele, Chapitres 1 et 2) was the odds on favorite. Abdellatif Kechiche’s fifth feature film, generated a combined score of 4.4, beating out the Coens.’ (16 critics, combined score of 60 for an average of 3.75) and Farhadi’s Le Passe (The Past) (14 critics, combined score of 52 for an average of 3.71). Not surprisingly, all three were award with trophy-ware with Inside Llewyn Davis capturing the 2nd place (Grand Prix prize) and...

The Cannes Film Festival, arguably the most important showcase for international cinema of the year, just wrapped up on the Riviera with Blue is the Warmest Color winning the coveted Palme D'Or and Bruce Dern (Nebraska) and Berenice Bejo (The Past) winning Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. Typically heavy on dramatic fare, Cannes is never one of the best festival markets for horror premieres, although a lot of international sales do happen on and off the competition circuit of the fest. It's not like South by Southwest or even Sundance, where one can be assured that horror is going to play a prominent of the buzz coming out of the festival. However, all is not lost for horror fans looking for a sneak peek of what's lurching over the arthouse horizon. From names major (Jim Jarmusch, Takashi Miike) and minor (Ruairi Robinson, Jim Mickle), the 2013 Cannes audience were treated...

After hundreds of films have screened in competition slots, in special screenings and in sidebars, Cannes film festival is drawing to a close. There may be a few films yet to screen, but at this stage of the festival, the collected producers, hacks and cinephiles tend to make their way back home, so it seems an appropriate time to explore some of the highlights of the festival.

Inevitably, not all of Cannes’ chosen films are great – they are chosen on artistic merit or intrigue rather than quality quite often, and the festival programmers like to offer something new, as well as some provocative inclusions ever year. The performances in those sorts of films can be great, but with so many great casts on show this year on the Croisette, it shouldn’t be too much of a shock to see a strong representation of known names in this list.

Honourable...

Catch up with the last seven days in the world of film

The big story

This time last week the biggest story coming out of Cannes was The Great Gatsby – but oh, how quickly things change. Since then critics have been getting in a lather about all manner of things, but no film has been quite as divisive as Only God Forgives, Nicholas Winding Refn's follow-up to Drive.

Starring Ryan Gosling as Julian, a westerner submerged in Bangkok's criminal underworld, it's a creepy, ultraviolent revenge tale that provoked boos and walkouts when it screened at Cannes on Wednesday – although that didn't stop Peter Bradshaw awarding it five stars while declaring that "every scene, every frame, is executed with pure formal brilliance."

Xan Brooks offered more praise (albeit slightly more reserved), while our report from the press conference found the director confessing that he approaches filmmaking "like a pornographer: it's about...

Takashi Miike returns to Cannes with perhaps his most conventional film yet, an overblown but highly entertaining thriller about five cops transporting a despicable child murderer across Japan.

Tatsuya Fujiwara, who is perhaps best know in the West for his portrayal of the naive and sweet Nanahara in Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale, plays Kiyomaru, the child murderer whose life is in great danger. Kiyomaru was responsible for the death of the young granddaughter of a very wealthy and influential man, Ninagawa (Tsutomi Yamazaki), who decides to take matters of justice into his own hands and places an advertisement in a number of national newspapers offering a reward for Kiyomaru’s death.

Following an assignation attempt by Kiyomaru’s only friend he turns himself in at a police station and becomes their problem. A big problem. With 1 billion Yen up for grabs for anyone who kills Kiyomaru, rewards dished out...

Ninagawa (Yamazaki Tsutomu), a grandfather in his waning years, puts a one billion yen (about $9.75 million) bounty on Kunihide Kiyomaru (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the man that killed his 7-year-old granddaughter three months earlier. The bounty causes a frenzy among the citizens of Japan and even members of the police force. Attempting to save himself (I guess), Kiyomaru turns himself in to gain police protection, and as bad movie tropes would have it, he must be transported to Tokyo for sentencing. Of course he must! Takashi Miike's Shield of Straw (Wara No Tate) is an embarrassment of D-grade action movie tropes in which a villain must be transported from Point A to Point B and we all know there will be obstacles in the way to prevent that from happening. We saw something similar earlier this year in the Arnold Schwarzenegger dud The Last Stand, but at least The Last Stand...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Takeshi Miike is another name that seems to have become associated with Cannes a lot in the past few years. In many ways he has cut a familiar and reliable figure: you know what you’re getting with the barmpot director with a penchant for extreme violence and black humour. Or at least, that used to be the case.

2011′s Hara-Kiri wasn’t exactly the explosive affair we might have expected, offering an almost tender look at a post-Samurai world, effused with emotion and driven by human relationships, and there wasn’t the usual commitment to silliness that Miike usually slathers on his work. The reason that film springs to mind here is that Miike has once again been playing with expectations: rather than the zany action we’re used to, played against a backdrop of a smiling Miike, winking at the camera, the director has gone,...

Cannes – The cinephile purists who seemed perplexed when Cannes gave an official competition slot to Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive in 2011 will likely be indignant over the inclusion this year of Takashi Miike’s Shield of Straw (Wara No Tate). Sleek and engrossing, though awfully drawn out and short on psychological complexity, this is a straight-up police action thriller that adheres to a very familiar Hollywood template. In fact, its chief enticement outside Japan may be as remake fodder. Miike has traveled all over the genre map from horror to yakuza and samurai films, his work peppered with lurid violence,

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★☆☆☆☆ Cult Japanese director Takashi Miike is often forgiven for the hit-and-miss nature of his output due to the fact that he's so prolific - occasionally churning out multiple films in a single year. Hopes were high for his new Cannes competition entry after the sublime 13 Assassins (2010) slashed through Venice a couple of years ago. Sadly, Shield of Straw (Wara no tate, 2013) is a stone-cold dud which really has no place on the Croisette. When a little girl is raped and murdered, her super-rich grandfather offers a huge reward to anyone who kills the suspected killer, Kunihide Kiyomaru (a maniacal Tatsuya Fujiwara).

There are conditions, however. The killer has to be found guilty and the state must sanction the act. Two police officers from the State Security Service - the grieving Kazuki Mekari (Takao Osawa) and single mother Atsuko Shiraiwa (Nanako Matsushima) - are given the job of transporting Kiyomaru (who...

Shield of Straw Trailer, Photograph. Takashi Miike’s Shield of Straw (2013) movie trailer, movie image stars Nanako Matsushima, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takao Osawa, Gorô Kishitani, and Masatô Ibu. Shield of Straw‘s plot synopsis: based on Wara no Tate by Kazuhiro Kiuchi, “Ninagawa is a powerful man in Japanese politics and with top economic connections.His granddaughter is [...]

Continue reading: Shield Of Straw (2013) Movie Trailer: Cops Protect a Suspected Killer...

Shield of Straw (or if you prefer Wara no tate) is an upcoming police-thriller which comes from controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike, and is selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. We recommend you to check out official trailers and some great images from the movie, because this project definitely looks promising. Takashi Miike directed the movie from a script written by Tamio Hayashi, based on the novel of the same name by Kazuhiro Kiuchi. It revolves around two cops, played by Takao Osawa and Nanako Matsushima who are tasked with escorting a convicted killer across Japan. The whole...

Click to continue reading Takashi Miike’s Shield Of Straw, Cannes 2013 on www.filmofilia.com...

The full lineup for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled and three of my most anticipated films (Only God Forgives, Inside Llewyn Davis and Steven Soderbergh’s Behind The Candelabra) are all set to compete for the Palme d’Or. Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby will open this year’s festival and Roman Polanski, Alexander Payne and François Ozon are also in the hunt for the top honours. Take a look at the lineup below:

In Competition (Jury chair: Steven Spielberg)

Only God Forgives, dir Nicolas Winding Refn

Borgman, dir Alex Can Warmerdam

La Grande Bellezza, dir Paulo Sorrentino

Behind the Candelabra, dir Steven Soderbergh

La Venus a la Fourrure, dir Roman Polanski

Nebraska, dir Alexander Payne

Jeune et Jolie, dir François Ozon

La Vie d’Adele, dir Abdellatif Kechiche

Wara No Tate, dir Takashi Miike

Soshite Chichi Ni Naru, dir Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Tian Zhu Ding, dir Jia Zhangke

Grisgris,...

Cannes Film Festival announces 2013 Lineup. There were 1,858 submissions this year, according to festival chief Thierry Frémaux. Some titles will be added in the coming weeks: In Competition Opening Film Baz Luhrmann The Great Gatsby (H.C.) *** Valeria Bruni-tedeschi Un CHÂTEAU En Italie Ethan Coen, Joel Coen Inside Llewyn Davis Arnaud des PALLIÈRES Michael Kohlhaas Arnaud Desplechin Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian) Amat Escalante Heli Asghar Farhadi Le PASSÉ (The Past) James Gray The Immigrant Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Grigris Jia Zhangke Tian Zhu Ding (A Touch Of Sin) Kore-eda Hirokazu Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son) Abdellatif Kechiche La Vie D’ADЀLE (Blue Is The Warmest Color) Takashi Miike Wara No Tate (Shield Of Straw) François Ozon Jeune Et Jolie (Young And Beautiful) Alexander Payne Nebraska Roman Polanski La VÉNUS À La Fourrure Steven Soderbergh Behind The Candelabra Paolo Sorrentino La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) Alex Van Warmerdam...

This year, The Cannes International Film Festival opens on May 15th with a bombastically modern retelling of the Roaring Twenties and closes on May 26th with a South African-set crime thriller on the heels of apartheid. Everything in between looks amazing. The lineup boasts new Winding Refn, Chandor, Sofia Coppola, Miike, Denis, Coen Brothers and what looks like a nice symmetrical career send off for Steven Soderbergh, who’s bringing Behind the Candelabra there 24 years after winning the festival’s top prize with sex, lies and videotape. That means Soderbergh has an opportunity to join the elite group of multiple Palme d’Or winners, and the Coens and Roman Polanski have that potential as well. All others in competition have never won before. Plus, the non-competition films look equally fantastic. Read the full field, wipe that drool away and check to see what kind of deals you can get on plane tickets to France for May. In...

It's afternoon in Paris but bright and early here in NYC and the official Cannes lineup has been announced. In 28 days Baz Luhrmann and his undoubtedly enormous Bazmark posse will be hitting the Croisette for the opening night film The Great Gatsby.  Immediately following that debut reactions will explode chaotically all over the web with unvariably less art-directed beauty than the fireworks in the film. 

But here's what'll actually be competing for the Palme D'Or and assorted main jury prizes. 

In Competition

Behind The Candelabra (Steven Soderbergh) Borgman (Alex Van Warmerdam) Un Chateau En Italie (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) La Grande Bellezza (Paolo Sorrentino) Grisgris (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun) Heli (Amat Escalante) The Immigrant (James Gray) Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen) Jeune Et Jolie (Francois Ozon) Jimmy P (Arnaud Desplechin) Michael Kohlhaas (Arnaud Despallieres) Nebraska (Alexander Payne)  Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn) The Past (Asghar Farhadi) Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Hirokazu Kore-eda...

The full list of films at this year's Cannes film festival

Opening night film: The Great Gatsby, dir Baz Luhrmann

Closing night film: Zulu, dir Jérôme Salle

In competition

Jury chair: Steven Spielberg

Only God Forgives, dir Nicolas Winding Refn

Inside Llewyn Davis, dir Ethan and Joel Coen

Borgman, dir Alex Can Warmerdam

La Grande Bellezza, dir Paulo Sorrentino

Behind the Candelabra, dir Steven Soderbergh

La Venus a la Fourrure, dir Roman Polanski

Nebraska, dir Alexander Payne

Jeune et Jolie, dir François Ozon

La Vie d'Adele, dir Abdellatif Kechiche

Wara No Tate, dir Takashi Miike

Soshite Chichi Ni Naru, dir Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Tian Zhu Ding, dir Jia Zhangke

Grisgris, dir Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

The Immigrant, dir James Gray

Heli, dir Amat Escalante

Le Passe, dir Asghar Farhadi

Michael Kohlhaas, dir Arnaud Despallieres

Un Chateau en Italie, dir Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

Un Certain Regard

Jury chair: Thomas Vinterberg

The Bling Ring, dir Sofia Coppola

L'Inconnu Du La,...

The Official Selection for the 66th Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled and noticeable absentees in the list of 19 Main Comp films and the Un Certain Regard section include Terrence Malick, Ari Folman’s The Congress, Catherine Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness, Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Michael Rowe’s Manto Acuifero, Tsai Ming-Liang’s Diary of a Young Boy, Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye To Language 3D, Serge Bozon’s Tip Top, Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves, Corneliu Porumboiu’s Nine Minute Interval, Michel & Vicky Franco’s In the Eyes and not surprisingly, a film which might have become a colony instead in Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s Dau. All of these may trickle into the Directors’ Fortnight section, or might join Steve McQueen on the Lido in Venice.

In the Main Comp selection plenty that were targeted as likely candidates were included, and while we were thinking this was the year of the U.

This morning in Paris, the official competition lineup for the 66th Cannes Film Festival was announced. Steven Soderbergh ("Behind The Candelabra"), Paolo Sorrentino ("La Grande Bellezza"), James Gray ("The Immigrant"), Joel and Ethan Coen ("Inside Llewyn Davis"), Alexander Payne ("Nebraska"), Nicolas Winding Refn ("Only God Forgives"), Francois Ozon ("Jeune Et Jolie"), Asghar Farhadi ("The Past"), Roman Polanski ("Venus in Fur") and Takashi Miike ("Wara No Tate") will all have films screening in competition.  They make for a very male-centric group (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi is the only woman with a film in competition), despite all the criticism last year for an equally male-dominant lineup. Oddly, new films from Sofia Coppola and Claire Denis -- two of the most notable female directors living --  were both selected for the Un Certain Regard program instead of official competition (quite a few women are Un Certain Regard, including Flora Lau's "Bends," Rebecca Zlotowski's.

With less than a month to go before the festival kicks off out in France, the official line-up has finally been unveiled for this year’s 66th Cannes Film Festival.

The festival is, of course, one of the most prominent events of the year for the industry, with a handful of films launching their status as strong awards contenders out on the Croisette.

Last year, it was Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, Michael Haneke’s Amour, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. The year before that, it was Michael Hazanavicius’ The Artist, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.

This year, Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated The Great Gatsby has been chosen as the Opening Night Film for Cannes, following its theatrical release in the Us the previous weekend. And bookending...

The official lineup for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival was officially announced in Paris earlier today.

Here’s the line-up in full…

Competition

The Great Gatsby, dir: Baz Luhrmann (opening film)

Only God Forgives, dir: Nicolas Winding Refn

Borgman, dir: Alex Van Warmerdam

The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza), dir: Paolo Sorrentino

Behind the Candelabra, dir: Steven Soderbergh

Venus in Fur (La Venua a la Fourrure), dir: Roman Polanski

Nebraska, dir: Alexander Payne

Just 17 (Jeune & Jolie), dir: Francois Ozon

Straw Shield (Wara No Tate), dir: Takashi Miike

La Vie D’Adele by Abdellatif Kechiche

Soshite Chichi Ni Naru by Kore-eda Hirokazu

Tian Zhu Ding by Jia Zhangke

Grisgris by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

The Immigrant by James Gray

Le Passe by Asghar Farhadi

Heli by Amat Escalante

Jimmy P. by Arnaud Desplechin

Michael Kohlhaas by Arnaud Despallieres

Inside Llewyn Davis by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Un Chateau En Italie by Valeria Bruni-tedeschi

Zulu,...

66th Cannes Film Festival announced its complete lineup today. The selection includes two Indian Films: “Bombay Talkies” by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar and “Monsoon Shootout” by Amit Kumar. Actor Nandita Das is on the Cinefondation jury.

Here is the complete lineup:-

In Competition

Opening Film

Baz Luhrmann The Great Gatsby (H.C.) 1h45

***

Valeria Bruni-tedeschi Un CHÂTEAU En Italie 1h44

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen Inside Llewyn Davis 1h45

Arnaud DESPALLIÈRES Michael Kohlhaas 2h05

Arnaud Desplechin Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian) 2h

Amat Escalante Heli 1h45

Asghar Farhadi Le PASSÉ (The Past) 2h10

James Gray The Immigrant 2h

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Grigris 1h40

Jia Zhangke Tian Zhu Ding

(A Touch Of Sin) 2h15

Kore-eda Hirokazu Soshite Chichi Ni Naru

(Like Father, Like Son) 2h

Abdellatif Kechiche La Vie D’ADЀLE 3h07

Takashi Miike Wara No Tate

(Shield Of Straw) 2h05

François Ozon Jeune Et Jolie...

This morning the official 2013 Cannes Film Festival line-up was announced from Paris, France. The committee saw 1,858 films submitted this year and while additional titles will continue to be announced, this morning we got the full Competition and Un Certain Regard lineup and it looks amazing so far. Among the films announced In Competition so far, many were expected including Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives, Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra, Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur, Asghar Farhadi's The Past and Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis. Additionally James Gray's once titled Lowlife starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner will play, but under the name The Immigrant and Takashi Miike's cop thriller Wara No Tate (Straw Shield) has also made the competition list. However, the biggest "surprise" is the inclusion of Alexander Payne's black-and-white film Nebraska, which is sure to be a big attention getter,...

So this (most likely bogus) leaked, In Competition lineup for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival first appeared on IndieWire to my knowledge and everyone is pretty much calling "bullsh*t" on it, as there are too many big names, making it look more like a wishlist than an actual lineup. As I noted only a short time ago, the inclusion of Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis makes sense and same goes for Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives and, on top of that, many of the titles included here are among those previously rumored with what looks like a couple additions to throw off the scent. Here's the lineup this supposed leaked list suggests will be announced come 13 hours from now. The Great Gatsby (dir. Baz Luhrmann) Opening Night Film Abuse of Weakness (dir. Catherine Breillat) Attila Marcel (dir. Sylvain Chomet) Bastards (dir. Claire Denis) Blood Ties (dir.

Takashi Miike’s latest thriller 'Wara No Tate’ (aka Shield of Straw) hits Japan this month and the theatrical poster has just surfaced. As well as being helmed by one of the best directors (actually that goes without saying really) of all time, it stars Tatsuya Fujiwara one of the best actors of contemporary Japanese cinema. In Shield Fujiwara plays a child murderer on the run, after the wealthy Grandfather of one of his victims, puts a Huge bounty on his head. Miike plus Fujiwara - all in all it’s pretty much a must watch we reckon. Shield opens on April 26.

Ack! Takashi Miike has another movie coming out! I’m so behind as it is. Although my backlog of motion pictures is growing by leaps and bounds, I’ll always make room for a new Miike picture. The director’s latest offering is the upcoming thriller “Shield of Straw” (aka “Wara No Tate”). The icing on this particular cinematic cake is Tatsuya Fujiwara, and actor I’ve really grown to appreciate over the years. The guy is pretty versatile and always seems to give it his all. Is my interest piqued? Do you really have to ask? A lengthy synopsis? I happen to have one right here: Ninagawa is a powerful man in Japanese politics and with top economic connections. His granddaughter is then murdered. The suspect is Kunihide Kiyomaru. Kunihide Kiyomaru has a prior conviction for assaulting and killing a girl 8 years ago. The police could never apprehend the suspect in the prior killing.