What a wonderful day to be a film geek.

If you head on over to the Cannes Film Festival website you will find the press release announcing the films that are set to be screened at the festival in May.  And I don't know about you, but it looks like this is going to be a very strong and unpredictable year.

As previously announced, Pixar's Up will be opening the festival (out of competition), while Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds will be gunning for the Palme d'Or.  Normally I would say that Tarantino has a shot, but with so many great filmmakers in the mix this year, I’m not sure.

Almodovar will be bringing Broken Embraces to the fest, which should be interesting because any new Almodovar picture is like a mini celebration of sorts.  Art house phenom Michael Haneke returns with The White Ribbon, a story revolving around ritualistic murder happening in a school in the early 1900s, so be prepared to hear about a lot of audience walkouts.  Haneke wouldn’t have it any other way.  Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, which looks quite good, will be having its world premiere at the festival, while the triple threat of Park Chan-Wook (Thirst), Johnnie To (Vengeance) and Bong Joon Ho (Mother) will undoubtedly impress audiences with their unique approach to storytelling.  And then there's the always eccentric Lars Von Trier, with his take on the horror film in the form of Antichrist, while Sam Raimi will bring his horror film Drag Me to Hell to the Midnight Screenings program.

While the films I mentioned were expected by insiders to premiere at the fest, there were some titles that caught me by surprise.  Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus will premiere out of competition, along with Alejandro Amenabar's Agora.  I've been waiting for something new from Amenabar since The Others, so needless to say I'll be paying very close attention to the status of this film.  The announcement that surprised me the most, however, was that the notorious Gaspar Noe (Irreversible) will be returning to the screen with Enter the Void.  I know nothing about the film, which, in this case, is probably for the best.  However, by reputation alone, color me intrigued.  By the way, keep an eye on Map of the Sounds of Tokyo.  I have a feeling it's going to surprise a lot of people. 

All in all, it looks like Cannes 2009 is going to be one for the record books.  Give the press release a gander to see what tickles your fancy, there’s sure to be something to your liking.  With such a wide array of talented and challenging filmmakers unveiling their films, it's going to be interesting to see what makes it out of the Riviera alive.