The eighth day of the Cannes Film Festival saw the premieres of the long awaited films "The Search" and "Mommy."

Michel Hazanavicius returned to the croisette with his wife Berenice Bejo for his latest film "The Search." The film is the director's first film since the 2011 Oscar best picture winner "The Artist." "The Search" generated a lot of buzz prior to the premiere as many pundits believed it could be a potential Oscar candidate and because the Weinstein Company and Fox Searchlight were interested in acquiring the movie. However, Hazanavicius' latest work disappointed, with most critics complaining about its length and for being generic. The film was also booed and became the second movie in a row to have the same reaction. Ryan Gosling's "Lost River" also opened to jeering, booing and terrible reviews. Hazanavicius' latest film currently has a 14 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes and it joins the ranks with "Grace of Monaco" "Lost River," and "The Captive" as one of the worst received films at Cannes this year. "The Search's" opening is the complete opposite from when "The Artist" competed at the famous festival as the silent film film premiered to universal praise. There is little to no chance that this film wins the Palme d'Or after the poor critical response.

On the other hand, Xavier Dolan's latest film "Mommy" premiered to universal praise. The movie was immediately hailed as the front-runner for the Palme d'Or. Critics clamored over the film's subtleness and for its incredible performances. The Playlist gave the movie an A and stated, "Undoubtedly a major contender for the Palme d'Or (it screened in the same slot as last year's winner, conspiracy fans), and undoubtedly one of our top films of the festival, nothing in Dolan's previous work, which we have liked to varying degrees, really warned us that he was going to so comprehensively slay us with a story this warm, human and humane."

Peter Bradshaw from the Guardian gave the movie four stars out of five and wrote, "the latest from the Canadian 25-year-old is a splashy, transgressive treat, from trailer-trash chat to unexpected sex and surprising emotional depth." Dolan has emerged as one of the most unique talents in years and has had three films in a row at major film festivals.

Dolan is competing for the Palme d'Or for the first time and this could very well be his chance to win. However, he will have to face off against "Winter Sleep" and "Mr. Turner," which many pundits are still considering as the two front-runners.

At the market, the Weinstein Company continued to acquire films. The Weinstein Company is in negotiations to acquire Russell Crowe's directorial debut "The Water Diviner." The negotiations began after the actor presented 12 minutes of footage from the film at the Majestic and Deadline is reporting that the company offered $4 million to release the movie in wide release. The company has been active at the festival and has purchased rights to "Lion," "The Coup," and "Sing Street."

Meanwhile, Gosling's directorial debut "Lost River" is about to lose its distributor. Warner Bros originally purchased the movie for $3 million but is currently in talks with specialty distributors to release the picture. This change of events is taking place after the movie opened to terrible reviews on May 20. The fact that Warner Bros plans to drop the film seem very appropriate given the experimental nature of the project which is something that the studio does not have experience releasing. While Warner Bros has released a number of art films including "Her" and "Argo," those have featured A-List actors and straightforward narratives. As the market wraps up, it will be interesting to see which company gets "Lost River."

After a bidding war for "The Salvation," IFC Films took rights to the film that stars Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The historical drama premiered out of competition in the Midnight slate and obtained rave reviews.

Meanwhile, Well Go USA acquired the rights for Zak Hilditch's directorial debut. The feature was handled by Paradigm and is now set to bow in NY and LA later this year. The movie was also acquired by Roadshow Films, which will release the dramatic thriller on July 31 in Australia.