Juliette Binoche Joins 'The Wait'; Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano Find 'Youth' for Paolo Sorrentino

With Cannes about to get underway in a few days a number of films are already being shopped and sold around the Croisette. And now we have a couple of them, one directed by Paolo Sorrentino who debuted his Oscar-winner The Great Beauty at last year's Cannes, and another from one of Sorrentino's long-time assistants.

First up, Juliette Binoche is set to star in The Wait from debut director Piero Messina, an Italian filmmaker who worked with Sorrentino on This Must Be the Place and The Great Beauty. Binoche will be joined by Giorgio Colangeli (Il Divo) in what is described as a "female competition drama" set in the Sicilian countryside and centering on a mother and her son's fiancee sizing one another up while stuck together over Easter holiday. Filming begins in July. [Variety]

And as for Sorrentino himself, he's lined up Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, and Harvey Keitel to join the previously-cast Michael Caine in Youth. Penned by Sorrentino, the film centers on two friends, one a composer the other a movie director, who are nearing the end of their careers and decide to face the future together while vacationing in an elegant hotel in the Alps. [Variety]

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Head-spinning new trailer for Ari Folman's 'The Congress' with Robin Wright

After making a splash at Cannes in 2008 with the brilliant animated war film Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman is finally making his long-awaited return to the Croisette with The Congress. Drips of information have come out about it over the years, with the most recent update back in 2011 when some early imagery was released, suggesting a film that would look on the surface a lot like 'Bashir' had. But now that that the first trailer is here, it's clear The Congress is something entirely different.

Based loosely on Stanislaw Lem's The Futurological Congress, Robin Wright stars as a version of herself as her career is fading in the digital age. In a bid to stay relevant and secure a means of supporting her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), she allows her image to be copied and used infinitely, losing her identity in the process. The live-action part of the film features Danny Huston and Harvey Keitel cheesing it up pretty badly, while Wright appears to be on the top of her game. However, it's when the psychedelic animated aspects take over that it truly comes to life, blending 3D animation with what appear to be some wild black & white sci-fi elements.

The Congress will premier at Cannes during the Directors' Fortnight.

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Bad Lieutenant Takes Aim at Little Fockers

I'm convinced that the people behind the Meet the Parents franchise are trying to make this turd film...excuse me, third film the worst possible movie ever. In another bit of shameful casting, Harvey Keitel(Bad Lieutenant, Pulp Fiction) has signed on to the already overloaded comedy. Since there ain't room for him to be some long distant cousin of the Focker Clan, Keitel will be playing the exhilerating role of a contractor who works with Ben Stiller's character. Doesn't that sound exciting? No, not to me either.

I liked Meet the Parents well enough, but it wasn't anything special. I own it basically because....shit, why do I own it? Meet the Fockers was downright miserable. Same tired jokes from the first movie told by different people. Now this third one is a borderline "AVOID" when it hits theaters. The less I see of Streisand's nose the better.

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