Cannes Film Festival

The Latest From France

The Cannes Film Festival is underway along the French Riviera. Washington Post staff writer William Booth is there, soaking in the sun as well as the scene, and finding out which movies are making waves amongst the cinema elite.

Booth was online Monday, May 19, at noon ET, live from Cannes, to discuss all the movie news from this glitzy film festival.

A transcript follows.

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William Booth: Hello sports fans, we're here at the Cannes Film Festival, where serious arthouse cinema and Kung Fu Pandas somehow co-exist. This year, Sean Penn is the head of the jury. Madonna is coming to show her documentary on Africa. There are some pretty excellent foreign language films -- and oh, that little thing about Indiana Jones. Lets go.

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Arlington, Va.: So I understand Indy 4 got a lukewarm reception?

(This was my greatest fear, that Indy 4 would be another "Godfather 3.")

William Booth: Indy got a polite but far from enthusiastic applause at the press screening for several thousand critics. Most of the reviews I've seen were lukewarm.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Inquiring minds need to know: if you saw Indy, how was he and is he worth dropping coin on this weekend?

William Booth: Well, it would be better to see it on a big screen than a DVD, which is hardly a rave. It was fine. Karen Allen is back. The new kid, Shia LeBeefcake, is fine. Harrison Ford actually looks younger in person than he does in Indy 4. Its got tons of jeep chases. There's temples and graves and blowguns and Cate Blanchett as a commie with a pageboy haircut. Its cute. Its ... been done? But there you are: a movie as nostalgia trip.

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Washington, D.C.: I thought Cannes was for indie films and not blockbusters. Was I incorrect in assuming that?

William Booth: You are incorrect on this one. Cannes is a show. It is also one of the biggest film markets (buying and selling). In the morning you might go see Gomorra, a powerful Italian take on the real (lowrent) mafia, in the afternoon, a film such Un Conte de Noel, about a dysfunctional (seriously) French family and then top it off with the world premiere of the Kung Fu Panda. So its a mix.

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New York, N.Y.: Have you seen anything that you really loved? And, more importantly, how glow-y is Angelina in person?

William Booth: Angie, as the entertainment press here calls her, is looking pretty ripe. Just ready to pop. And it suits here. Last year, when she was here for A Lonely Heart? She was a stick. Now? Mom curves.

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Fairfax, Va.: You mentioned in your Post article today about the importance of foreign box office and that that was why Indy was opening there. Can you explain further? Is the U.S. not the largest market for movies?

William Booth: The United States is the largest single market for movies but the rest of the world combined now represents about 60 percent of all the tickets sold for Hollywood movies.

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Silver Spring, Md.: In your article today, you mention "Da Vinci Code" was booed a few years back. Any booing this year? Are the films any better or are the audiences just more polite/bored?

William Booth: Haven't heard any real booing. They loathed the Da Vinci Code here, and they didn't like very much "Marie Antoinette" from Coppola, either. A theme this year? Good movies, but not great movies.

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Washington, D.C.: Have you seen the Roman Polanski documentary yet? It seems to be the most buzzed about of the festival. What have you seen and heard?

William Booth: The Polanski documentary first showed at Sundance, where it wowed em. HBO is going to air it in June. I'm interviewing its director Marina Zenovich on Wednesday. It is a strong doc -- it doesn't forgive or forget what Polanski did (have sex with a 13 year old) but it also addresses all the other players in the drama, especially Polanski's judge in the Los Angeles case.

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Reston, VA: How do they pick the jury? Is Eva Longoria on the jury this year? Did Aishwarya Rai register on anybody's radar?

William Booth: The French pick the jury. It includes past winners and Cannes veterans, and it always includes a couple of French actors or directors and then a smattering of artists and celebrities from US and around the globe. This year Natalie Portman is one of them. She is tiny.

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Washington, D.C.: This is related to your article today, about global releases, moreso than Cannes. But I am wondering: What are people saying about "Speed Racer" and why it has done so poorly at the box office? Warner Bros. cannot be pleased about that.

William Booth: I think the main problem with Speed Racer was that it stunk.

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Chicago, Ill.: This gig is old hat for you now, Mr. Booth, but have you been starstruck at all this trip to Cannes?

William Booth: I am capable of being starstriken, if thats the medical term. I could watch Penelope Cruz's mouth move all day. She reminds me of a Spanish Lucy Ball. She's pretty great in the new Woody Allen flick, which if you like Woody Allen flicks, you'll really like. Its called Vicky Christina Barcelona -- and we're writing about it now.

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You and Scarlett:"Woody Allen is back at Cannes with "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," starring Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson, who decided (last minute) not to come to Cannes. This is a pity. Cannes is made for an actress of Johansson's talents."

Why did I get the feeling the fur was sticking up on your neck when you wrote that?

William Booth: Fur as in cur? Or fur as in my back hair? Either way, no, she was scheduled to come to Cannes. Everyone was expecting her. She was on the cover of French magazines next to big letters screaming CANNES! She would have been hot on the red stairs and she is Woody Allen's muse, so this is her town. She is missed. Is what I meant.

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Denver, Col.: So I generally loathe and detest Woody Allen, but I have to admit to being somewhat intrigued by "Vicky Christina Barcelona." What's been the reaction in Cannes? Your thoughts, if you saw it?

William Booth: The critics are digging it. Its a light zany romantic comedy and another of Allen's mediations on love and lust, but not heavy. Barcelona, where it was shot, looks like a postcard, and Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz steal the show as crazy latin lovers.

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Chicago, Ill.: Do the people at Cannes actually watch movies like Indy 4 on a regular basis? I appreciate hearing about their lukewarm reaction to the film, but I'm wondering what their frame of reference is. Are they saying "it was better than 'Spiderman' but not as good as 'Empire Strikes Back,'" or are they comparing it unfavorably to some obscure 1967 Hungarian film shot in B&W with an 8mm camera? Thanks.

William Booth: Both. A lot of the attendees here either cover film or make movies themselves. They're pretty sophisticated. They know their Spidermans and their Pier Paolo Pasolinis (who I had to google last night).

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Washington, D.C.: Has anybody tripped on the red carpet yet?

William Booth: Yes! Catherine Deneuve! And she has walked a million miles of red carpet. But she made a quick recovery. And then laughed. So..

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Speed Racer: You are entitled to your opinion. "Speed Racer" is clearly the superior film to "Iron Man," which is an astonishingly simpleminded film (MIT doesn't do "summa cum laude" diplomas, for example). It's true parts of "Speed Racer" are little better than white noise but the film asked the audience to examine what their role is as the viewer. "Iron Man" asked me to sit there passively. I think you're going with the knee-jerk reaction.

William Booth: I confess I don't really have a strong opinion about Speed Racer. I think I was paraphrasing the general reaction. And good get about the MIT summa cums.

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Annapolis, Md.: What's the word on "Kung Fu Panda"? I can't believe that one's opening in Cannes. Jack Black ... Come On!

William Booth: Kung Fu Panda also stars Dustin Hoffman, who was asked at a press conference, wow, you started your career with The Graduate and now its Master Shifu in the panda pix? And Hoffman quipped, "it's the decline of culture..."

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McLean, Va.: What's Eva Longoria doing there? She's on "Desperate Housewives" and that's TV.

William Booth: Selling something I assume.

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Arlington, VA.: So any embarassing red carpet moments that we folks at home have missed?

William Booth: You raise an interesting point. At the red carpet in the good ole USA, we make em answer questions as they stroll past, which can be funny, depending. Here they ascend the Red Stairway and have their pictures taken. No questions. Thats for the press conferences, where the questions are about as embarrassing as the answers.

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Bethesda, Md.: So what is getting the biggest buzz at the festival right now? From what I have read, both "Blindness" and Indy were a bust.

William Booth: The buzz now is what will follow. There's a lot of interest in the new Soderbergh 4 hour and 28 minute "Che," starring Benicio del Toro as the revolutionary male model. That screens on Wednesday. Clint Eastwood is here tomorrow with "The Exchange," which stars Angelina Jolie. Charlie Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich") has his directorial debut late in the week. We're betting weird.

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Alexandria: Eva Longoria's hubby is French; I'm sure they asked her b/c she's so glam.

William Booth: Thank you. Smart group.

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William Booth: Well, Canners, chatters, this has just been a fantastic voyage of discovery. But I have to sign off a bit early to force my way aboard Ron Perelman's colossal yacht. Thanks for the good questions, as always.

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