Sex, Bugs And, Er, More Sex

The movies currently buzzing at Cannes

Sex, Bugs And, Er, More Sex

by empire |
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After sinking their teeth into The Da Vinci Code's throat, the critics at Cannes were hungry for some real brainfood. Sadly, Richard Linklater's non-documentary adaptation of Eric Schosser's Fast Food Nation, starring Greg Kinnear as a man investigating a fictional burger chain's dodgy practices, didn't quite provide the nutritional value many hoped it would. It's far from a stinker, but did feel a bit first-course. One comment was "A sixth-form Syriana… about burgers"

The Cannes darling so far is indisputably Volver (place an accent on the last syllable to prevent conversational difficulties), the latest from arthouse poster-boy Pedro Almodóvar. Lauded as a delightful return to form for the Spanish director, Empire couldn't find a single critic with a bad word to say about it; indeed, Almodóvar should be particularly applauded for drawing a career-best turn out of Penelope Cruz (sure to win a gong come the festival's awards ceremony) as a young mother neglected by her husband, and reminding us how great she can be when not acting in English.

Another favourite is Shortbus the latest from John Cameron Mitchell, who had a culty little hit a few years back with Hedwig And The Angry Inch. With its gratuitious scenes of 'real' sex (including fisting and, mmm, rimming), you'd have thought it'd be coasting on the kind of shock value that surrounded Michael Winterbottom's Nine Songs, but surprisingly most have found it rather warm, engaging and likeable. Think Woody Allen with hardcore sex.

Also surprising us was William Friedkin's Bug, starring Ashley Judd as a waitress being harangued by her ex-con husband (Harry Connick, Jr), who forms a relationship with a troubled man (Michael Shannon) who believes he has bugs crawling around under his skin. Unlike pretty much all of Friedkin's recent output, it's an effective low-key drama, the director drawing a superb performance from Judd.

Meanwhile, Andrea Arnold's Red Road was keeping the Brit's end up, proving an astute study of obsession as CCTV operator Kate Dickie spots a disturbing figure from her past on one of her screens. And the extremity award goes to Danish animé (yes, you read that right) Princess, which rather graphically details a priests rampage of revenge after his porn-star sister becomes a drug addict.

Still to come, of course, though is Empire's most anticipated: Southland Tales. More on that tomorrow…

Click here for our Cannes 2006 Blog.

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