The lions wake tonight ... Statues of Golden Lions are readied for the opening of the Venice film festival. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty
I can't make the Venice film festival this year, since I'm staying in London to look after my 11-month-old son, writes Peter Bradshaw. Not that looking after my son isn't delightful, you understand, but it's a shame to miss Venice: it's always an enjoyable and distinctively laid-back occasion.
As I push the baby's buggy down the Holloway Road, tripping over loose paving slabs, my mind carries back to St Mark's square; I hear the lapping of canal water against crumbling stone, and a lone gondolier distantly screeching his derision of tourists. Hmm.
Anyway, in advance of this evening's opening ceremony, here's a wistful list of five movies showing at Venice that will undoubtedly make their presence felt here soon. Keep an eye out.
The Brothers Grimm (dir. Terry Gilliam) Surrealism maestro Gilliam unveils what promises to be a kaleidoscopic tale of the legendary Grimm brothers, played by Heath Ledger and Matt Damon. Mischievous masters of illusion, they meet their match when encountering a real curse.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (dir. Park Chan-Wook) For those (like me) who were well and truly freaked out by the Korean thriller Oldboy, Park's ultra-violent nightmare of imprisonment and revenge, this will be a must-see. It's a continuation of his earlier film Sympathy for Mr Vengeance. The violence this time happens largely off-camera, but is still supposed to be pretty hair-raising.
Romance and Cigarettes (dir. John Turturro) Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini and Susan Sarandon star in what's billed as a dark and disturbing musical about one man's emotional journey between monogamy and infidelity. It's produced by the Coen Brothers, and is expected to bear their singular stamp.
Drawing Restraint 9 (dir. Matthew Barney) American conceptual artist Matthew Barney's bizarre and gigantic Cremaster cycle of five films was an awe-inspiringly crazy crossover project - part-movie, part-art installation. This probably has similar ambition. One's heart sinks at the news that Björk is in it, but it has to be worth a look all the same.
Heading South (dir. Laurent Cantet) French director Cantet made the superb study of self-delusion, L'Emploi du Temps. This is expected to be an uncompromisingly difficult and powerful piece about sex tourism in Haiti, but the buyer is a woman - Charlotte Rampling plays someone looking for a dangerous adventure.
