As much as I wish I was in Cannes right now, I’m not.  I’m stuck here in the States while everyone else gets to pose for the photographers, walk around topless on the beach, and see movies.  Oh well, there’s always next year.  Until then, I’m keeping up with Cannes via social media.

The festival opened last night with Grace of Monaco and guess what?  The reaction would appear to confirm that the film is just as much of a misfire as I think everyone assumed it would be.  It’s not so much that the film sounds terrible as much as it just sounds like it’s remarkably bland.

However, no sooner had everyone dismissed Grace than everyone started to rave about Mike Leigh’s latest film, Mr. Turner.  I’ve been intrigued by Mr. Turner ever since I first heard about it, largely because it’s a biopic of the great landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and I’ve got a degree in art history.  The enthusiastic reaction that both the film and star Timothy Spall have gotten at Cannes have only served to make me even more excited about seeing this film once it’s released here in December.  (My friends in the UK will get to see it in October.)

(Not to brag or anything — because you know I would never do that! — but quite a few of the reviews from Cannes are speculating that both the film and Spall could be Oscar contenders.  That’s something that I predicted way back in March.)

As the film premiered at Cannes, the official trailer was also released.

And here it is!