After two grueling essays, hauling my stuff to the local thrift shop and stuffing the rest in my suitcases, I was ready to flee England for the summer. Unfortunately airport security didn’t agree. Apparently my suitcase exceeded the maximum weight allowed, but if I had brought ONE MORE SUITCASE I could’ve been on the flight that morning. Instead I had to buy another duffel bag to stuff my DVDs and socks in and stay one more night. On the bright side, there was a glamazon who showed up five minutes before boarding time only to be told that she couldn’t fly either.

Anyway, I finally made it home with all my ridiculous luggage. I don’t know why, but I think the stars aligned for me this summer. Either that or just incredibly dumb luck. During last year’s Cannes film festival, I was stuck in school studying for four exams. During breaks I would greedily look up whatever I could on what was going on and lament the fact that my family was already there (my sister goes to school in the South of France). This year, it has been the biggest treat in the world to be here right when the festival started.

I’ve been dying to see the films that were competing for the Palm d’Or. Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom has a stellar cast that looks promising. Amour, this year’s winner seems like a classic French drama. I swear, the entire time I was watching the trailer I couldn’t help remembering the short French film from 500 Days of Summer.

This year has also welcomed a few younger contestants, two of which are the leading characters from the Twilight Saga. Coincidence or conspiracy? Robert Pattinson is starring in David Cronenberg’s thriller Cosmopolis while Kristen Stewart is fronting On the Road alongside Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley. Zac Efron, who has been a teen heartthrob longer than Pattinson, is going to be in The Paperboy with longtime film veteran, Nicole Kidman. And that's only to name a few films that were in the running.

Another reason I LOVE Cannes: The competing films are released in theaters here first, albeit mostly dubbed in French. However it is only a matter of time until they just use subtitles, and when that time comes I will watch all of the ones on my list. My sister hates my taste in movies, but I’ve convinced her to watch at least one with me. I’m thinking Moonrise Kingdom, because that will hopefully be the least strange and offensive.

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