Cannes 2014 Rundown: 5 Noteworthy Stories

#1: The Young and the Bold

The oldest and the youngest competitors at the fest were awarded third place. At 83-years-old, influential French New Wave pioneer, Jean-Luc Godard won for “Goodbye to Language” and 25-year-old relative newcomer Xavier Dolan for “Mommy” tied for the Jury Prize (third place). It was Quebec native, Dolan's 2nd appearance at Cannes and his sixth feature film. Can you say rising star?

#2: "Foxcatcher"

The Oscars were practically yesterday and buzz for next year's kudos-fest is already building. The film at the forefront of excitement is "Foxcatcher", which tells the true crime story of John du Pont. It had originally been slated for release last winter before being pushed back at the last minute, thus ending its bid for the 2013 race.

Despite the typical concern surrounding a delayed release, anticipation has only continued to mount for the dark drama. Finally screened, it lived up to the hype as Bennett Miller took home Best Director and critics hailed Steve Carrell's performance as the one to beat come the 2014 awards season.

#3: "Grace of Monaco"

The controversial film drew the ire of Princess Grace's family and critics alike. It’s another film that's release fell into a holding pattern last year. This time because word on the project had fizzled and behind-the-scenes infighting reached critical mass, just weeks before its shaky Cannes debut.

Nicole Kidman dressed to impress and put her best foot forward but it wasn't enough to save the film from the critical onslaught. For those wondering if this sounds at all familiar, the royal drama "Diana" faced similar complaints last year and we know how that turned out.

#4: Failing to Capture - "The Captive"

Atom Egoyan once a prominent star amongst the international directing circuit, hit his second career speed bump following the poorly received "Devil's Knot". The source of the sour reaction at this juncture was "The Captive" starring Ryan Reynolds. The crime mystery got hit on all ends.

Egoyan and Reynolds definitely didn't need another miss to fill their repertoire. Reynolds has been in a career struggle since "The Green Lantern" and needed a critical hit to solidify his status in the indie community and the acting world. Not to pile on but it's hard to imagine "The Captive" being less entertaining and more pointless than Egoyan's "Exotica".

#5 DOA Debut: "The Lost River"

Ryan Gosling's directorial/script-writing debut, the fantasy “Lost River” drew the wrath of critics, marking Gosling’s second straight year of an ill-received Cannes debut, “Only God Forgives” being last year’s recipient.

It was a bold move for Gosling to step away from his burgeoning acting career to focus on the untested frontier of directing, unfortunately for him it doesn’t seem to have panned out.

List of Winners:

Palme d’Or: “Winter Sleep” directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Grand Prize: “Le Meraviglie (The Wonders)” directed by Alice Rohrwacher

Jury Prize - Tie: “Mommy” directed by Xavier Dolan and “Goodbye to Language” directed by Jean-Luc Godard

Camera d’Or: “Party Girl” directed by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis

Short Film: “Leidi”, directed by Simón Mesa Soto with Special Mention to “Aïssa” directed by Clément Trehin-Lalanne and “Ja Vi Elsker” directed by Hallvar Witzo

Best Director: Bennett Miller for “Foxcatcher”

Best Screenplay: Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin for “Leviathan”

Best Actor: Timothy Spall for “Mr. Turner”

Best Actress: Julianne Moore for “Maps to the Stars”

[Image by Cannes Film Festival]