The Daily Caller combed through the offerings that premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival over the past 14 days so you don’t have to.
Mark these release dates on your calendar—you’ll thank us later.
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (December 3, 2013)
The film receiving the most buzz at Cannes is the latest from Joel and Ethan Coen, a dark comedy loosely based on the memoir of folk musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “The Mayor of McDougal Street.”
Newcomer Oscar Isaac plays the melancholy title character, along with Carey Mulligan as his one-time lover and Justin Timberlake as her oblivious husband. The cast’s motley crew also includes Adam Driver of “Girls” and British musician Marcus Mumford. And like the collaborators on “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” who took the film’s music on a national tour, producer T Bone Burnett has hinted at the possibility of a series of shows with the 1960s-inspired folk music.
“Behind the Candelabra” (May 26, 2013)
In what is supposedly his last film, Steven Soderbergh tells the story of lavish showman Liberace who embarks on a creepy love affair with a much younger man, played by Matt Damon. The HBO film may be more in line with his recent “Magic Mike” than his previous Palme d’Or winner, 1989’s “sex, lies, and videotape,” and it’s an unusual selection for Cannes, as the festival usually only rewards films for theatrical release. The star-studded cast also includes Rob Lowe, Dan Ackroyd, and Debbie Reynolds, friend to the real-life Liberace, as the performer’s mother.
“The Bling Ring” (June 14, 2013)
Sofia Coppola’s hotly anticipated film stars Emma Watson of “Harry Potter” fame as a real-life California teen who stole an estimated $3 million in goods from celebrity homes in 2009 as part of the teenage burglary group known as “The Bling Ring.” The film’s premiere got an unexpected extra boost of publicity when thieves stole approximately $1 million in Chopard jewels from a hotel safe across town. (RELATED: $1.4 million in Chopard jewels stolen at Cannes)
“Only God Forgives” (July 19, 2013)
Nicholas Winding Refn teams up once again with Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Gosling for a project that’s just as violent as the duo’s previous cult hit, 2011’s “Drive.” Gosling stars as Julian, the manager of a boxing club in Thailand that serves as a front for his family’s drug-smuggling operation. Kristin Scott Thomas plays his mother, who demands Julian hunt down and kill the man responsible for his brother’s death. It’s not for the faint of heart.
“Nebraska” (November 22, 2013)
Funnyman and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Will Forte stars in the latest from Alexander Payne, best known for the family comedy-dramas “Sideways” and “The Descendants.” “Nebraska” is another in this theme, as Forte plays a weary but dutiful son escorting his elderly father (Bruce Dern) from Montana to Nebraska to receive the winnings of a sweepstakes prize. Shot in black and white across four states of the father-son road trip, the film chronicles their journey as Dern’s character struggles to confront his past.
“As I Lay Dying” (TBD)
In the “this will never work” category, “persecuted intellectual” James Franco supplies his adaptation of Faulkner’s masterpiece, “As I Lay Dying.” Franco as Darl leads a talented cast, including Tim Blake Nelson as the patriarch Anse and Logan Marshall Green as Darl’s volatile brother Jewel. The film makes great use of split-screen to tell Faulkner’s fragmented narrative, and grows more erratic as the family breaks down under the stress of the family members’ grim mission to bury their mother.