Wednesday

The Venice Film Festival is taking place as we speak. Apparently it, in turn, is now focusing more on celebrity rather than artistic endeavour - following the trend at Cannes. The news has all been about how thin Keira Knightley is, although admittedly I have seen some reports on the Oscar-worthy nature of the film she's starring in (with James McAvoy): Atonement. There are some other big names there too, though. Wes Andersen's new film, along with Ang Lee's, Ken Loach, Eric Rohmer, our old favourite Woody Allen, Kenneth Brannagh (in a remake of Sleuth), Paul Haggis, Miike Takashi, and Brian De Palma. Despite my reservations about the last director, his new film, Redacted, has interested me, centering as it does on the Iraq war (something I've been waiting for for some time). The next western, The Murder of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, is also premiering there. It seems the major companies have realised they can get good press from these festivals, and so are starting to send the big stars over there to start generating interest early. It's a good idea for them, although it's sad to lose the critical nature of these festivals - prizes are still awarded, but they mean little for the big studios compared to Oscars.