Venice Lineup Includes Almodovar, Campion, Larrain, Schrader, Sorrentino — Coen and Dominik Rejected?

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can finally mention that the reason why Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” was not at Venice, and that I wasn’t including it in my predictions all these weeks, was due to the fact that it was rejected by the Venezia selection committee. There, I said it. This would better explain why the New York Film Festival jumped the gun last week and announced they nabbed the world premiere of ‘Macbeth.’ Sloppy seconds?

More surprising, the omission of Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” which was 100% in competition at Venice just a few weeks ago. Suffice to say, some sort of last-minute entangled miscommunication occurred between Netflix and Venice — which resulted in festival boss Alberto Barbera deciding to nix that film as well from the lineup.

I know, the balls on this man (Barbera). Can you imagine any other film festival rejecting Dominik and Coen world premieres?

Regardless, I really love the lineup the was announced. There’s a European feel to it that is very alluring. Also, isn’t it fantastic that the “Oscar Bait” is mostly relegated to trustworthy auteurs like Jane Campion, Paul Schrader and Pablo Larraín? The Out-of-Competition entries are more American-centric; “Dune,” “The Last Duel,” and “Last Night in Soho.” Those will do just fine.

Competition:

Madres Paralelas (Pedro Almodovar)
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Ana Lily Amirpour)
Un Autre Monde (Stephane Brize)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
America Latina (Damiano & Fabio D'Innocenzo)
L'evenement (Audrey Diwan)
Official Competition (Gaston Duprat, Mariano Cohn)
Il Buco (Michelangelo Frammartino)
Sundown (Michel Franco)
Illusions Perdues (Xavier Giannoli)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
Spencer (Pablo Larrain)
Freaks Out (Gabrielle Mainetti)
Qui Rido Io (Mario Martone)
On the Job: The Missing 8 (Erik Matti)
Leave No Traces (Jan P Matuszynski)
Captain Volkonogov Escaped (Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov)
The Card Counter (Paul Schrader)
The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino)
Reflection (Valentyn Vasyanovych)
La Caja (Lorenzo Vigas)

More to come …