Gets it right meaning the choices agree with me? None. Out of the choices Berlin seems to have the least amount of politics involved, so they ‘get it right’ for me.
Cannes has had some amazingly on-target years, just not lately.
yea, Cannes and Berlin are pretty good
Venice is reliable too
but Oscars and Golden Globes?
come on
Cannes chose Uncle Boonmee, The Third Man, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, La Dolce Vita, Apocalypse Now, Paris, Texas, Barton Fink, Elephant and The White Ribbon for Palme d’Or
i will always love Cannes
The Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival.
Canne is probably the most reliable imo, but as Z Bart pointed out, not so much lately.
Another one that stands out is North Korea’s Pyongyang International Film Festival. Some of the past festival highlights were “Mass Gymnastics, 60th Birthday of Kim Jong Il” and “President Kim Il Sung Met Foreign Heads of State and Prominent Figures”.
Lately, Venice has been great… The Wrestler, Lust/Caution, Brokeback Mountain, Lebanon, The Magdalene Sisters, Somewhere, plus acting nods to Colin Firth for A Single Man.
But Cannes is probably the best… The Conversation, Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, Paris Texas, Barton Fink, sex lies and videotape, The Pianist, Elephant, 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The White Ribbon, Pulp Fiction; not to mention the Grand Prix going to films like Un Prophete and Oldboy.
The Oscars are still too political, and I don’t think anyone needs to argue that the Golden Globes can be just terrible with their selections. However, I have agreed somewhat with the Oscars lately… awarding films like No Country for Old Men and The Hurt Locker in lieu of “bigger,” more Hollywood productions of the past such as Gladiator and Titanic. Not that there haven’t been snubs like Fantastic Mr. Fox losing to Pixar and A Single Man not getting a Best Picture nom. And Dances with Wolves beating both Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a travesty I will never forget.
They all get it wrong at least 51% of the time.
Burlesque was nominated because the publicist for the film was murdered, it was a gift to her from the people she dealt with on a regular basis.
When some of you say Cannes, and then list the movies, you have to consider that many of those movies built an iconic reputation for themselves because they won the Palme d’or. 4 Months, 3 weeks, and Elephant? They are both good movies, but they would probably not be considered landmarks had they not won the award.
The Razzies.
Clever.
How are Sofia Coppola, Ang Lee and Darren Aronofsky great Venice choices? Out of all the acting awards of Venice, you simply remembered an Anglophone performance?
To revive this thread I want to post all of the highest prize winners from each of the “big three” film festivals and see which set people think is the best:
Cannes International Film Festival:
Union Pacific
Iris and the Lieutenant (Iris och löjtnantshjärta)
The Lost Weekend
The Red Meadows (De røde enge)
Brief Encounter
Portrait of Maria (María Candelaria (Xochimilco))
Neecha Nagar (नीचा नगर)
The Turning Point (Великий перелом, Velikiy perelom)
La symphonie pastorale
The Last Chance (Die Letzte Chance)
Men Without Wings (Muži bez křídel)
Rome, Open City (Roma, città aperta)
The Third Man
Miss Julie (Fröken Julie)
Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano)
The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice
Two Cents Worth of Hope (Due soldi di speranza)
The Wages of Fear (Le salaire de la peur)
Gate of Hell (地獄門, Jigokumon)
Marty
The Silent World (Le monde du silence)
Friendly Persuasion
The Cranes Are Flying (Летят журавли, Letyat zhuravli)
Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro)
La Dolce Vita
The Long Absence (Une aussi longue absence)
Viridiana
O Pagador de Promessas
The Leopard (Il gattopardo)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg)
The Knack …and How to Get It
A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme)
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (Signore e signori)
Blow-Up
if….
MASH
The Go-Between
The Working Class Goes to Heaven (La classe operaia va in paradiso)
The Mattei Affair (Il caso Mattei)
The Hireling
Scarecrow
The Conversation
Chronicle of the Years of Fire (Chronique des années de braise)
Taxi Driver
Padre Padrone
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L’albero degli zoccoli)
Apocalypse Now
The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel)
All That Jazz
Kagemusha (影武者)
Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza)
Missing
The Way (Yol)
The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考 / Narayama bushikō)
Paris, Texas [unanimously]
When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu) [unanimously]
The Mission
Under the Sun of Satan (Sous le soleil de Satan) [unanimously]
Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Wild at Heart
Barton Fink [unanimously]
The Best Intentions (Den goda viljan)
Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬 / Bàwáng bié jī)
The Piano
Pulp Fiction
Underground (Подземље, Podzemlje)
Secrets & Lies
Taste of Cherry (طعم گيلاس / Ta’m-e gīlās)
The Eel (うなぎ, Unagi)
Eternity and a Day (Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα / Mia aio̱nióti̱ta kai mia méra) [unanimously]
Rosetta [unanimously]
Dancer in the Dark
The Son’s Room (La stanza del figlio)
The Pianist (Pianista)
Elephant
Fahrenheit 9/11
L’enfant (The Child)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley [unanimously]
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile)
The Class (Entre les murs) [unanimously]
The White Ribbon (Das weiße Band, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ / Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat)
The Tree of Life
Berlin International Film Festival:
Film
Die Vier im Jeep
…Sans laisser d’adresse
In Beaver Valley
Justice est faite
Cinderella
One Summer of Happiness (Hon dansade en sommar)
The Wages of Fear (Le salaire de la peur)
Hobson’s Choice
The Rats (Die Ratten)
Invitation to the Dance
12 Angry Men
Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället)
The Cousins (Les cousins)
El Lazarillo de Tormes
The Night (La notte)
A Kind of Loving
The Devil (Il diavolo)
Bushidô zankoku monogatari
Reflections (Susuz yaz)
Alphaville
Cul-de-Sac
Le départ
Who Saw Him Die? (Ole dole doff)
Early Works (Rani radovi)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini)
The Canterbury Tales (I Racconti di Canterbury)
Distant Thunder (Ashani Sanket)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Adoption (Örökbefogadás)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson
The Ascent (Voskhozhdeniye)
Las truchas
Ascensor
Las palabras de Max
David
Heartland
Palermo or Wolfsburg (Palermo oder Wolfsburg)
Hurry, Hurry! (Deprisa, deprisa)
Veronika Voss (Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss)
Ascendancy
The Beehive (La colmena)
Love Streams
Die Frau und der Fremde
Wetherby
Stammheim
The Theme (Tema)
Red Sorghum (Hong gao liang)
Rain Man
Music Box
Larks on a String (Skrivánci na niti)
The House of Smiles (La casa del sorriso)
Grand Canyon
Woman Sesame Oil Maker (Xiang hun nu)
The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan)
In the Name of the Father
The Bait (L’appât)
Sense and Sensibility
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Central Station (Central do Brasil)
The Thin Red Line
Magnolia
Intimacy
Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi)
Bloody Sunday
In This World
Head-On (Gegen die Wand)
U-Carmen eKhayelitsha
Grbavica
Tuya’s Marriage (Tuya de hun shi)
The Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite)
The Milk of Sorrow (La teta asustada)
Honey (Bal)
A Separation
Venice International Film Festival:
Manon
Justice Is Done (Justice est faite)
Rashōmon
Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits)
Romeo and Juliet
The Word (Ordet)
The Unvanquished (Aparajito)
Rickshaw Man (Muhomatsu no issho)
General della Rovere (Il generale della Rovere) (tie)
The Great War (La grande guerra) (tie)
The Crossing of the Rhine (Le passage du Rhin)
Last Year in Marienbad (L’année dernière à Marienbad)
Family Diary (Cronaca familiare) (tie)
Ivan’s Childhood (Ivanovo detstvo) (tie)
Hands Over the City (Le mani sulla città)
Red Desert (Il deserto rosso)
Sandra of a Thousand Delights (Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa)
The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri)
Beauty of the Day (Belle de jour)
Artists under the Big Top: Perplexed (Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos)
Atlantic City (tie)
Gloria (tie)
Marianne and Juliane (Die Bleierne Zeit)
The State of Things (Der Stand der Dinge)
First Name: Carmen (Prénom Carmen)
The Year of the Quiet Sun (Rok spokojnego slonca)
Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi)
The Green Ray (Le rayon vert)
Au revoir, les enfants
The Legend of the Holy Drinker (La leggenda del santo bevitore)
A City of Sadness (Bei qing cheng shi)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Urga
The Story of Qiu Ju (Qiu Ju da guan si)
Short Cuts (tie)
Three Colours: Blue (Trois couleurs: Bleu) (tie)
Vive L’Amour (Ai qing wan sui) (tie)
Before the Rain (tie)
Cyclo (Xich lo)
Michael Collins
Fireworks (Hana-bi)
The Way We Laughed (Così ridevano)
Not One Less (Yi ge dou bu neng shao)
The Circle (Dayereh)
Monsoon Wedding
The Magdalene Sisters
The Return (Vozvrashcheniye)
Vera Drake
Brokeback Mountain
Still Life (Sanxia haoren)
Lust, Caution (Se, jie)
The Wrestler
Lebanon
Somewhere
Faust
Ashoka
Oscars? Cannes? Berlin? Golden Globes? Venice? Toronto? Sundance?
I’m going to have to go with Berlin: Golden Bears for Head-On, Elite Squad, The Thin Red Line, Tuya’s Marriage.
The worst is the Golden Globes: nominations for Burlesque, Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton), and The Tourist? What on earth? A best comedy win for The Hangover?