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Tag: Cannes

  • Kendall Jenner: Hit And Miss Fashion Choices

    This is not a good week to be Kendall Jenner. After the Billboard Music Awards debacle, the young model is now being blasted for her fashion choices at Cannes.

    Earlier this week Kendall, along with younger sister Kylie, took to the stage to introduce their brother-in-law Kanye West, who was slated to perform the finale of the awards show.

    The sisters were said to have been met with boos from the audience at the MGM Grand.

    But despite the less than warm reception, the Keeping up with the Kardashians stars appeared unfazed and continued with what they were tasked to do.

    A source close to the family admits that the sisters have more or less accepted that this is part of the game.

    “They expect people are going to hate on them at all times, so they are just going to be themselves and have their fans remain happy,” the source says.

    The two youngest Kardashians were escorted at the event by close family friend, designer Olivier Rousteing.

    The sisters cut very fashionable figures during Billboard’s big night, with Kendall wearing a piece from Rousteing’s new Balmain x H&M collection, a black and white top that was cut very low in front and paired with simple black jeans and boots. While Kendall was covered up during the awards night, it was a different scenario when she appeared on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

    The 19-year-old model wore a black crop top and full skirt that didn’t seem to sit well with a lot of people, maybe because the too long skirt had peek-a-boo panels that gave a glimpse of the youngster’s black underwear.

    Kendall rounded out her goth-glam look with a necklace and cuff that looked out of place with the outfit.

    Actually, the outfit isn’t as bad as some of the ones she and her sisters have been seen in, but it just doesn’t compare to what the more stylish ladies of Cannes have been wearing.

  • Emily Blunt Fires at Cannes for High Heels Policy

    Emily Blunt let her displeasure be known when reporters spoke to her at a Cannes event. The Cannes Film Festival event had caught flak for the lack of women filmmakers represented at the festival event. So they were making efforts to bring women into the foreground. Then came the bit of news that Emily Blunt responded to.

    According to Screen magazine, “a handful of women in their fifties were turned away from the screening of Todd Haynes’ competition entry Carol on Sunday night after being told the height of their smart footwear didn’t pass muster. Multiple guests, some older with medical conditions, were denied access to the anticipated world-premiere screening for wearing rhinestone flats.”

    Emily Blunt was handling her own press event for her film Sicario. When reporters asked her about the no-heels situation, she responded:

    “Yeah, that’s very disappointing. To think there are these waves of equality and waves of people discovering that women are so fascinating and interesting to watch and bankable.”

    Emily Blunt further opined that heels are not a good idea anyway, so requiring them as dress code is not smart.

    “Everyone should wear flats to be honest,” Emily Blunt said. “We shouldn’t be wearing high heels anyways. That’s my point of view. I just prefer wearing Converse sneakers.”

    Screen said that they had asked for an official comment from festival organizers about the mini-scandal.

    “The festival declined to comment on the matter, but did confirm that it is obligatory for all women to wear high-heels to red-carpet screenings.”

    They spoke to one person, only described as a “Cannes regular” who said that this is not a new thing.

    “I’ve heard this happening several times now, even to older women who can’t wear heels for medical reasons. It’s bullshit. Someone I know was turned away for wearing nice flats, nothing you would wear to the beach. They were in their 50’s. They told her she could go and buy appropriate shoes and come back.”

    Some men are expressing their displeasure with Cannes over this rule by threatening to wear high heels themselves.

  • Emily Blunt Speaks Out Against Cannes’ ‘Very Disappointing’ Policy

    It apparently doesn’t matter if you’re wearing diamond encrusted sandals. If a woman wants to attend a film screening in Cannes, then she better strap on her high heels.

    This surprising development has had people up in arms and prompted actress Emily Blunt to speak out against the festival’s “very disappointing” rule.

    The brouhaha on heels happened when the Screen Daily wrote that a “handful of women in their fifties were turned away from the screening of Todd Haynes’ competition entry Carol on Sunday night after being told the height of their smart footwear didn’t pass muster.”

    To make matters worse, some of the women turned away for wearing flats were older guests with medical conditions.

    That’s pretty ironic considering the movie, a 1950s lesbian romance, is geared towards audiences of the female persuasion.

    When asked about her thoughts on the incident, the Sicario star said that it was very disappointing, especially when you consider that “there’s these new waves of equality and waves of people realizing that women are so fascinating and interesting to watch, and bankable [on screen].”

    The Devil Wears Prada star also said that “Everyone should wear flats to be honest.”

    “We shouldn’t be wearing high heels anyways. That’s my point of view. I just prefer wearing Converse sneakers,” Blunt shared.

    The 32-year-old actress isn’t the only one who has spoken out against this rule. Several Cannes guests have also mentioned experiencing the same footwear discrimination.

    Festival director Thierry Fremaux has denied the report and called it “unfounded.”

    But Blunt’s Sicario teammates are taking a stand against the cheekily dubbed “flatgate” issue.

    Director Denis Villeneuve announced that “in a sign of protest, Benicio, Josh, and I will walk the stairs [of the Palais] in high heels tomorrow.”

    Now that is one event that the media should not miss.

  • Naomi Watts and Matthew McConaughey Booed Over New Film

    Naomi Watts and Matthew McConaughey are in a new film. And that film was booed at Cannes.

    That may sound like a nearly-unbelievable story. But those who were there say it is true. More than that, Matthew McConaughey says so.

    Naomi Watts and Matthew McConaughey star in Gus Van Sant’s The Sea of Trees, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

    “I just had to get my hands on the script,” Naomi Watts says of the film.” At the centre of it was this beautiful love story that was painful and tragic, but seemed to represent something that was really human and really universal to me.”

    Matthew McConaughey was very congenial about the entire experience.

    “I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be invited. I’m happy that the film got in. It was a great experience for me. I liked the experience of making it and I’m glad we got the opportunity to introduce it to the world. I’m working in the United States but it’s exciting for me to come here and support work that got I to do with these people. This is fun. I look at this as sort of [eating] dessert. No matter what, we’ve declared now: here it is! Thanks for having us, hope you enjoy it.”

    When asked about the negative reaction the film got, McCaonaughey replied, “Anyone has any right to either boo or ovate.”

    He drew a distinction between his role in Interstellar, which was well-received, and this film.

    “Interstellar was an exploration ‘out there.’ This was an exploration ‘in here’” and pointed to his chest.

    “In Interstellar there was a goal, to get there and get back home. This one was more moment-to-moment. With this guy I kept saying to myself: ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ and then I realized, ‘That’s perfect for Arthur.’”

  • Salma Hayek, Parker Posey Blast Hollywood for Marginalizing Women

    Salma Hayek was joined by actresses Parker Posey, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, as well as producers Christine Vachon and Elizabeth Karlsen at a Cannes event co-hosted by the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign. The topic of conversation centered on Women in Hollywood.

    Salma Hayek had fighting words for the way women are marginalized in Hollywood today, saying, “The only kind of movie where women make more than men is the porno industry. It’s simple ignorance.”

    Parker Posey joined in the fray, backing up Slma Hayek by saying, “We’re in very masculine times. We’re at war. The culture is eating nature, it’s overpowering storytelling.” She noted that movies in the 1940s were better at portraying strong women than Hollywood is now. She notes that female characters in those older films were witty and three-dimensional. “It’s so rare that I see that in movies now.”

    Hayek took on the stereotypes that Hollywood perpetuated about women in films.

    “For a long time they thought the only thing we were interested in seeing were romantic comedies,” said Hayek. “They don’t see us as a powerful economic force, which is an incredible ignorance.”

    “It’s pretty much the same everywhere across the globe,” Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said. “We keep coming back to reiterating preconceived ideas.”

    Salma Heyek points out that one of the biggest reasons that women are not represented in the film industry enough is that women are not writing and directing films that women want to see.

    “They don’t know what we want to see,” Hayek said. “When women don’t direct and women don’t write and tell our own stories, we stopped going to the movies and started watching them on television. I think to some degree it is because television, at least in the United States, has become a place where riskier stories are told, more character-driven stories are told and often those are female-driven.”

    Rather than playing a blame game, Salma Hayek takes this fact and derives a simple resolution from it.

    “Look, we cannot stand as victims and say they are not looking at us,” she said. “What gives me hopes is that we are in a position of power.”

  • Sophie Marceau: Sexy French Actress, Former ‘Bond’ Girl Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction at Cannes

    Sophie Marceau, the sexy French actress known for her role as the Bond girl in 1999’s The World is Not Enough, suffered a wardrobe malfunction at Cannes–revealing more than she hoped to share with those watching her stroll on the red carpet.

    Serving as a judge on this year’s festival jury at Cannes, Sophie Marceau was about to climb the infamous Cannes steps, when she gathered a rather large portion of her dress in her hands to avoid tripping. In trying to avert one sort of disaster, she inadvertently created another. She gathered too much of said dress in her hands and exposed her underwear–a full frontal view–to the cameras and the crowd.

    Marceau appeared oblivious to the wardrobe malfunction, and in perfect actress style didn’t even bat an eyelash. She continued her walk in her gorgeous low-cut white gown accessorized by a bronze choker on her neck.

    This wasn’t the first time Sophie Marceau experienced a wardrobe malfunction either, and it wasn’t the first time it happened to her at Cannes. Back in 2005, when the actress was walking the red carpet, a strap slipped off her gown and exposed an entire breast. At least this time around all private parts remained covered–if only by nude-colored panties.

    Wardrobe malfunctions are almost expected these days as stars at Cannes, including Hollywood’s elite, wear a variety of pieces that are held together with tape–and often don’t feature a great deal of fabric to begin with.

    Fortunately Sophie Marceau wasn’t terribly embarrassed by her wardrobe malfunction, and continued on her way without so much as a moderate blush.

  • Tommy Lee Jones Makes Directorial Return With “The Homesman”

    Tommy Lee Jones may just have made his own feminist take on the western. The western is an iconic genre that has been around since the early days of American cinema, and while it’s a genre that’s mostly peppered with hard-living cowboys and bounty hunters, it’s rare that we get to see the female perspective regarding the old west. The Homesman, Jones’ latest directorial effort, opts to shine the light on the plight of the average American female during the Wild West.

    The Homesman is about Mary Lee Cuddy (played by Hilary Swank) who takes it upon herself to transport three women who were driven mad by the harsh realities of frontier life to the care of a woman in Iowa who has offered to take the women in. Cuddy and the three women are escorted by a deserter named George (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and together they face Native American tribes, freighters, and many other threats.

    Jones claimed that he is not interested in the western as a genre. “What I do have an interest in is making movies about the history of my country, where I live. Anyone who wants to be an artist makes work about where he lives,” Jones said about the film’s style and subject matter. He added, “The Homesman isn’t a western movie, but a movie that is about the history of women in my family. I don’t think there is a woman around who hasn’t been objectified or trivialized because of her gender.”

    Ever since debuting at Cannes, The Homesman garnered mixed to positive reviews. The New York Post praised Jones’ direction and called the film “a rare 21st-century Western without shootouts or explosions”.  Film blog The Playlist, however, called it a flawed but enjoyable film that still has its merits. According to the review, “It’s an odd enough bird that it’s more than worth the watch”.

  • The Cannes Film Festival: Why All The Booing?

    The prestigious Cannes Film Festival has earned a reputation for being the place where people come to boo movies.

    That’s not an exaggeration or a joke.

    Every single year there are reports of movies, actors, and directors being roundly mocked and heckled.

    This year victim Ryan Reynolds was so embarrassed by the treatment of his film The Captive that he reportedly skipped an after party for the cast.

    Here’s the kicker: Not all the movies booed are terrible. In fact, some movies go on to be hits or even classics.

    There was one Martin Scorsese film starring Robert DeNiro that was loathed by the Cannes audience but is today quoted by practically everyone and their brother.

    It is a film that went on to be nominated for Four Academy Awards and is considered one of the best movies ever made. Here’s a trailer for that movie:

    Though Taxi Driver received the festival’s Palme d’Or award, the selection of the movie for the honor was booed by attendants at the time.

    Some movies are booed for being bad, but many agree that the hyper criticism of films and awful heckling often goes above and beyond what the actual film deserves.

    So what gives?

    Don Steinberg wrote in his Wall Street Journal article titled Why They Love To Boo At The Cannes Film Festival that “the French are passionate about film” and that “disagreeing with the Cannes jury is an ongoing form of French Resistance”.

    I suppose that’s a polite way of saying the attendants are rude and obnoxious because it’s fashionable to be so and that the entire festival is a tribute to pretentiousness.

    For all the fuss and fanfare, Cannes continues to court a reputation based on a love of tearing down cinema as the ultimate form of appreciating it.

    It sounds like the attendants wouldn’t have it any other way.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Leila Hatami In Hot Water Over Kiss At Cannes

    Leila Hatami, a popular Iranian actress, is in headlines today after cameras caught her giving the customary double-cheek kiss at Cannes to festival president Gilles Jacob.

    Iranian deputy culture minister Hossein Noushabadi is outraged that Hatami would kiss a man who isn’t her husband in public view, saying that it damages the reputation of Iranian women who are meant to be seen as chaste and innocent.

    “Those who attend international events should take heed of the credibility and chastity of Iranians so that a bad image of Iranian women will not be demonstrated to the world,” he said.

    Jacob responded to the backlash on Twitter, saying that a Western custom shouldn’t interfere with the way all Iranian women are viewed.

    “I kissed Mrs Hatami on the cheek. At that moment, for me she represented all Iranian cinema, then she became herself again. The controversy over a usual custom in the West has therefore no reason to be,” he wrote.

    Hatami is a judge on the Palme d’Or prize jury at Cannes this year and has also made waves with her mode of dress at the festival; although she was wearing a head scarf in the photo with Jacob, her neck was uncovered, which is considered improper in Iran.

    Hatami has not responded to the backlash, but Twitter has.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Lindsay Lohan Wins Lawsuit, Parties In Cannes

    Lindsay Lohan has been in several legal battles in recent years, but this week one of them came out in her favor.

    The 27-year old actress won a lawsuit against clothing line 6126, for which she was a spokesperson. The leggings company claimed Lohan didn’t live up to her end of their bargain promotion-wise, but she says she did her job and expects to be paid royalties. The judgement is for $150,000 in Lohan’s favor.

    Lohan prepared a written statement for the court, saying she was unable to respond to the lawsuit due to personal matters.

    “When I was in rehab, [my lawyer] was unable to contact me to discuss the case. After I completed my 90 day programme I moved back to New York. I have been overwhelmed since leaving rehab and dealing with my sobriety and a miscarriage,” she wrote.

    Lohan has been posting photos from the Cannes Film Festival on social media this week, showing off what looks like a topless pic–but is probably just her in a strapless dress–with a friend and one of herself in a private jet.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Steve Carell Earns High Praise For Dark Role

    Steve Carell has been making us laugh for a long time now; even when he took a dramatic turn in Little Miss Sunshine as a suicidal scholar, he was able to bring a bit of levity to the story and make us smile during a mostly sad situation. But now, with a role in a film that’s getting rave reviews at Cannes, Carell has channeled a deep, dark side of himself that is being called “creepy”.

    Foxcatcher director Bennett Miller–who also helmed Capote–said he really had no idea that Carell could bring such a twisted performance to the role, but knew something good would come of it after they spoke and Carell gave his ideas on the character.

    “It was so far outside of his comfort zone. I’ve never seen Steve do anything that would give any material evidence that he could do this. We just chatted and I heard how he thought and was thinking about the character, and I had a vision for it working,” Miller said.

    The movie is based on the true story of Olympic gold medalist wrestler Mark Schultz, played by Channing Tatum, and follows his attempt to separate himself from his brother and fellow Olympian, Dave (Mark Ruffalo). After moving to Pennsylvania to live on Foxcatcher Farm–owned by Carell’s character, John du Pont, who is a wealthy benefactor–to train, Schultz realizes that something isn’t right about du Pont. The film has been called a “dark psychological thriller”, and Carell’s performance is enhanced by prosthetics, which alter his appearance a great deal.

    “None of it felt like an acting exercise. It was a different experience altogether and I credit Bennett for that,” Carell said.

    Image via YouTube

  • Cannes Jewel Heist & Pink Panther Jailbreak Related?

    Previously we reported about daring broad-daylight prison escape wherein members of the infamous European jewel heist syndicate, The Pink Panther Gang, sprung one of their own from prison. The escape was more of an invasion, really, with gang members firing AK-47s at guards that were either unarmed or armed with only handguns. The whole thing was quite the stir unto itself, and you can and should read about it here to be up to date on all the principals that come into play in this installment of the story.

    The BBC reports that in Cannes, France – yes, that Cannes, the resort on the French Riviera that plays host to the famous annual film festival – there has been a daring jewelry heist Sunday morning.

    Starting to see where this could be going?

    Officials say a masked man entered the Carlton Hotel and made off with a briefcase full of jewels, it is not yet reported who the owner of the jewels was, but an exhibition of diamonds by the jeweler Leviev was being held in the lobby of the hotel.

    A Cannes police spokesman said: “A full and urgent operation is under way to catch the culprit and recover these jewels. Thieves see Cannes as rich pickings.”

    The deliciousness of the Carlton as the scene of a jewel heist is not lost authorities there. The Carlton Hotel is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed To Catch A Thief – his 1955 film about a jewel thief operating in the French Riviera.

    So the big question is: do these two stories – a prison break involving a ring of jewel thieves, and a jewel heist in Cannes – have anything to do with each other? While authorities certainly won’t speculate about that publicly, you can bet that reporters will be asking the question. And you can bet that investigators will at least have the possibility of it in the backs of their minds as they go about their work.

    Inspector Clouseau would be thrilled.

  • Johnny Depp: Whitey Bulger Film A No-Go After Pay Cut

    Johnny Depp is reportedly dropping out of “Black Mass”, a film about gangster Whitey Bulger, after the movie’s producers failed to get the financing they needed and asked him to cut his salary in half.

    Depp is used to pulling in about $20 million per picture and told producers he couldn’t do it for less than that after they didn’t get as much as they needed for the budget at Cannes this year. The film will be directed by Barry Levinson if it moves on without Depp.

    The star is about to see his pet project, “The Lone Ranger”, released this summer and is currently shooting a sci-fi film called “Transcendence”.

    Depp took inspiration from his Lone Ranger character, Tonto, from a painting of a warrior and based his costume and makeup on the image.

    “I looked at the face of this warrior and thought: That’s it,” Depp said. “The stripes down the face and across the eyes . . . it seemed to me like you could almost see the separate sections of the individual, if you know what I mean.”

    His portrayal of the iconic character might not go over well with some, but Depp says he put a lot of thought into what he could bring to the film. “The Lone Ranger” opens in July.

  • Bill Murray Acts Like a Boss at Cannes

    Bill Murray Acts Like a Boss at Cannes

    Bill Murray seems like the kind of guy that walks into a room and instantly draws the attention of everyone there. He could walk into a party with Albert Einstein, Jesus, and the Dos Equis guy and everyone would still want to talk to him. He proved that again with his red carpet entrance at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. Dressed in about ten different kinds of plaid, boat shoes, and a miniature camera, Murray looked like everyone’s kooky grandpa mixed with a little Rodney Dangerfield. That is, if your grandpa was the funniest man on earth.

    Murray stole the show. Striking poses and cavorting with his co-stars of the Wes Anderson flick Moonrise Kingdom. With all the other Hollywood stars there, even their gaze was fixed on the living legend.

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    [Photos: Buzzfeed]