Everything is turning up Tim Burton. Between his rapturously received showcase at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, his upcoming 3D juggernaut “Alice in Wonderland” opening in March (a friend of ours recently saw it and said it was “Tim Burton’s “Hook'” – ouch), and more potential movies with the Mouse House (in addition to his animated film “Frankenweenie,” which is gearing up to shoot in London, it’s been speculated he might have a new take on “Sleeping Beauty”), he’s kind of unstoppable. And now he has the added prestige of the Cannes Film Festival behind him.
Burton has been selected to be the head of Cannes’ Grand Jury, the eclectic body usually made up of international filmmakers that decide who should take the festival’s top honors. The head of the jury usually does have a fair amount of sway, as evidenced by Quentin Tarantino’s stint as head of the jury being the same year that bloody revenge flick “Oldboy” won the Grand Prix prize.
So expect this year’s top honors to go to films about misunderstood freaks, black-and-white horror movies or stop motion animated films or movies starring his wife. There’s obviously no announcement of a line-up yet, but we reckon that Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life,” Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Biutiful,” Mike Leigh’s “Another Year” and Julian Schnabel’s “Miral” are all strong contenders to appear this year.
Burton said “After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I’m finally ready for this. it’s a great honour and I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to watching some great films from around the world. When you think of Cannes you think of world cinema. And as films have always been like dreams to me, this is a dream come true.” Gilles Jacob, the Festival President, also commented “It’s the first time an artist whose origins are in animation will preside over the jury of the Festival de Cannes. A filmmaker with a heart of gold and silver hands, Tim Burton is first and foremost a poet. He’s a magician of visual delights who turns the screen into a faery wonder. We hope his sweet madness and gothic humour will pervade the Croisette, bringing Christmas to all. Christmas and Halloween…” – Drew Taylor