Hollywood.com is on the scene at the 55th Cannes Film Festival, seeing the films and sipping with the stars. Check in every day to get the latest!
Day 2: All bets are not off as to who will be the grand winner of the coveted Palm D’Or award, but on the beach, all tops seem to be off! The smell of suntan oil wafts over the Croisette as the crowd settles in very early in the morning to get a bird’s-eye view of the stars and their escorts on the sand, including George Lucas, Natalie Portman, the Arquette sisters and many more.
Yachts are multiplying overnight. Beautiful ships are moored all along the rocky shores. Troma (famous for The Toxic Avenger series) is throwing their post-screening celebration at an antique ship docked in the Old Port. During the past two festivals the bodacious Troma team shot footage all over Cannes. The resulting film is All the Love You Cannes! – An Indie’s Guide to the Cannes Film Festival. One of Troma’s biggest claims to fame is turning Madonna down very early in her career. When she begged to be in one of their movies they told her, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you!”
Last night, into the wee hours, a moonlit dinner was served on the banks of the Mediterranean to 600 of Woody Allen‘s closest friends in honor of his latest flick Hollywood Ending opening the Cannes Film Festival.” Enjoying the French cuisine at the same table with his wife, Soon Yi, was Treat Williams and Debra Messing. (Tea Leoni couldn’t come. She’s so pregnant, it’s possible she’s delivering at this very moment!)
Maybe it was the pure temptation of the chocolate dessert, curled and imprinted to look like film, as well as a huge disc of chocolate carved like a film canister, but Messing left early.
This morning the ultra-thin comedienne was spotted sashaying through the Martinez hotel lobby on the way to her room. Messing wore a gorgeous tangerine dress that seemed better suited for a night of tango rather than an early morning stroll. Star etiquette must require that you wear a brand new ensemble every single time you leave your suite.
May 16th should just be declared George Lucas Day and let the force be with us all! As part of today’s worldwide opening, his Star Wars – Episode II: Attack of the Clones, will make its legendary debut tonight as Cannes’ first-ever digitally screened film. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda–I mean Ewan McGregor and Frank Oz, along with petite beauty Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen, will traverse those crimson stairs tonight.
And there is another force along the Croisette that is being taken seriously–and that is woman power! “We need to start a revolution,” smiled its wanna-be leader, Rosanna Arquette, who is making her directorial debut with Searching for Debra Winger. Flanked by her sister (and her movie’s star) Patricia Arquette, quite chic in her jewel-encrusted olive corduroy pants and a T-shirt painted with Rosanna’s film, a documentary featuring a series of candid and intimate conversations with such actresses as Whoopi Goldberg, Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan, Julianna Margulies, Teri Garr and Jane Fonda on how they balance art, career, family and issues of ageism in the entertainment industry.
Looking stunning in white bell-bottoms and a pink-and-white halter, Rosanna made clear, “I’m not here to say I’m a great filmmaker. That’s why I call it a Rosanna Arquette experience. And by the way, today is Debra‘s birthday!” The big news here is that the sisters were adamant that contrary to popular belief, this isn’t a bitchfest in any way and the actresses were all quite supportive of each other.
Sounds like a happy Hollywood Ending to this chapter…
