Basically, if the year overall has been stuffed to the gills with good movies then Cannes will have a great edition. But if the vintage is not a good one, it will show down on the riviera. On the other hand, Toronto and the Venice Film Festival (the "Mostra") have the perfect time slot. Because anything that's been done in the first half of the year will be scheduled for a Mostra or a Toronto premiere--once the large blockbusters have cleared the Summer pipeline, here come the indie and foreign heavy-hitters; but sales will go in a frenzy at Toronto, since the Mostra does not have a market.

Venice is gearing up for its 68th Mostra, scheduled to run from August 31 to September 10 and opening with George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” in competition. The film, based on the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon, is the timely story of a U.S. governor, the democrat Mike Morris, running for president.