Un Certain Regard
- Heartbeats Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan (he's 21) directs this film about a youthful love triangle which is getting a bit of a mixed reaction, though most critics seem to agree, it's a film by someone who is, as The AV Club puts it "a born filmmaker, with the potential for greatness" though this film is more of a stepping stone. Eric Kohn at IndieWIRE says it's "as hip as he intends it" but "occasionally feels too entangled in its own cool maneuvers" Rounding out the mixed notices are Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net who declares "I'm in love with this film as much as I possibly can be" and Time Out Chicago who calls it, "a slight case of sophomore jinx."
- Chatroom Anyone waiting for the first stinker of the festival should note that this Hideo Nakata's thriller is getting a resounding "LOL" from critics. Over at In Contention, Guy Lodge doesn't appreciate the dated concept saying, "expect Nakata's equally brain-dead and cruddy-looking MySpace thriller to drop sometime around 2019." Rope of Silicon's Brad Brevet is equally unamused, calling the film "a disastrous effort."
- Kaboom Greg Araki's directs this film about a young slacker who thinks he's witnessed a murder while high. It's being called "a back-to-his-roots, candy-colored cult thriller" by Anthony Kaufman of IFC who also suggests "for all of Kaboom's silliness, it never transcends it." The Hollywood Reporter seems to agree calling the film "a case of a movie giving itself a little too much credit." But Mike D'Angelo of The AV Club likes it. "It’s the kind of movie that finds you massaging your jaw afterward because it hurts from 90 straight minutes of grinning like an idiot" says he.
