Events
Our coverage of worldwide events
When is a star a superstar?
Anyone compiling a Cannes survival guide for journalists may want to consider the following:
1. There are parties and there are parties. After I got an invite to a major Hollywood bash at this year’s festival it quickly became clear that while it may get you through the door, it won’t get you to where you want to go. Hoping to check out the magnificent building at the end of a large garden where most the guests had gathered, my path was barred by two burly security guards standing next to a sign saying “limited access” (or some such). So that must be where the great hang out, while the merely good, and the journalists, mill around on the lawn.
2. There are stars and there
are superstars. While the stars generally hold court in Cannes, more often than not on a swanky hotel balcony or the beach itself, the superstars have a habit of demanding much more of your time and effort. The really big productions, and those that feature top Hollywood actors, often hold their interviews at the exclusive Du Cap hotel located about 30 minutes’ drive from Cannes. So I travelled there to meet Angelina Jolie for “A Mighty Heart” while a colleague did the same to interview Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon et al for “Ocean’s Thirteen“. Although the surroundings are pleasant enough — manicured gardens, azure seas, towering palm trees plus the odd paparazzo bobbing up and down in a nearby boat with an ultra-along lens — the waiting can be tedious and the temperatures draining.
And for a five-star establishment, the coffee they serve needs some attention. The “Mighty Heart” interviews actually ran fairly smoothly, meaning a round trip of around four hours for six minutes of questions with Angelina (plus a similar time with three co-stars).
Can you help me become famous?
A young man in a black suit pokes his head around the corner of our little office at the Cannes film festival and asks whether I can help. Im an actor, he says. Im not well known at all. No-ones ever heard of me. Can you help me become famous?
He explains he is sleeping on the beach and bluffing his way into receptions by dressing like a security guard. Ill do anything, he says.
What is it with Dakotas?
Just a thought, but are dark forces at work in Hollywood to ensure young girls cast in major roles in blockbuster productions have to be called Dakota? Judging by the length of her career summary on the imdb movie Web site, Dakota Fanning is a film veteran at the tender age of 13. Then along comes Dakota Blue Richards, who at the same age has just landed her big screen debut with the central role of Lyra Belacqua in “The Golden Compass”, a $180 million adaptation of the first book in Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy. She was selected from around 10,000 young British girls who auditioned for the part.
As I watched the latter Dakota take questions from reporters in Cannes at a roundtable discussion to promote the film, I found myself pondering whether I would want my child going into movies. Sure, the money is good, but do the long days on set and the attention and fame mean that growing up into a balanced adult is more difficult? Any thoughts, readers?
Osage tribe keeps culture alive by dancing
Dancing is ”the glue that holds (the tribe) together, said Kathryn Red Corn (pictured left), director of the Osage Tribal Museum here.Â
Starting the first weekend of June, the Osage will hold a series of tribal dancing ceremonies called the In-lon-shka (the first n is virtually silent).Â
Osage American Indian tribe gives full democracy a try
AÂ century after the land on the Osage American Indian reservation was divided up among tribal members, this nation is trying something new: full democracy.
As of March 11, 2006, when the new Osage constitution was ratified, the nation became a fully participatory democracy.
Birthday milestone, Tulsa-style
Reuters Correspondent and Route 66 Team member James Kelleher, left, turned 44 years old on Monday, the day the team drove from Oklahoma City to Tulsa. He was in a funk about the milestone the whole day.
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To cheer him up, they joined the team’s hosts in Tulsa, Phil and Miranda, spent Monday night at two of the city’s hotspots: McNellie’s and the Soundpony, a tavern conveniently located alongside Cain’s Ballroom, a landmark musical venue in Tulsa.
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When the Soundpony’s bartender, right, learned James 
was celebrating a birthday (and after he corroborated the claim by scrutinizing James’ Illinois licence), he made James what he claimed was a traditional Soundpony birthday libation: blueberry liqueur served in a hollowed out hotdog.
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After donning the protective Soundpony hotdog headgear, James threw back one half of the hollowed-out hotdog. Nick was recording the whole event for posterity, so an anonymous fellow Soundpony patron stepped up to the plate and downed the other half. Both men then ate their hotdogs.Â
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James lived to blog another day, though he did wake up with what he claimed was a hotdog-induced headache. The anonymous patron, who did not have the benefit of the protective headgear, was not heard from again.
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All photos taken in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 21, 2007.
Snapshots from Oklahoma City to Tulsa
As we travel through America along the path of old Route 66, theres a lot we see that we dont have time to write about. We thought we could at least share some of what stands out, impresses or amuses us on our journey, so readers can see more than just the blogs we write at the end of each days traveling. Here’s a small selection of shots from our trip from Oklahoma City to Tulsa.
Clockwise from upper left, Bricktown is a revitalized neighborhood of restaurants and bars in downtown Oklahoma City; Hastan Blackshear, 62, has worked at a parking lot in Bricktown for 11 years and witnessed the neighborhoods transformation; the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is run by the National Park Service and David Albert, a 27-year-old from Rhode Island, is one of the employees; Cains Ballroom is a venerable and storied musical venue in Tulsa. First opened in 1924, it has had everyone from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys to Asleep at the Wheel to the Sex Pistols appear on its stage. Brad Harris, the ballrooms production manager, gave us a late night tour of the place; mementos attached to a fence outside the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, located on the former site Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The April 19, 1995 bomb attack on the building, which killed 168 people, including 19 children, remains one of the worst attacks on U.S. soil; A Tulsa home that our hosts in the city, Phil and Miranda, told us had been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Oklahoma Baptist leader confident of victory in latest abortion battle
Almost ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many individual state laws restricting abortion in 1973, in the Roe v. Wade case, Anthony Jordan says he has been fighting to have abortion on-demand overturned because it goes against his religious beliefs.
Now he says the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma – of which he is the leader – is close to scoring a major victory in that battle with a bill passed in the Oklahoma Senate last week that would restrict state funding for abortions.
Moore Baptists say Christian voices still not loud enough in U.S. politics
Much has been made of the fact that one of President George W. Bushs core constituencies in his election in 2000 and re-election in 2004 was the countrys Christian conservatives.
This group is seen as a key group for Republicans running for office in many states, particularly in the southern United States. And any potential Republican presidential nominee is expected to have to woo the Christian Right ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in 2008.
Hollywood vs world movies
   One great thing about the Cannes film festival is watching films made around the world.
 
   Later this week, Cannes rolls out the red carpet for Hollywood flick, “Ocean’s Thirteen.” The movie, about a group of con artists robbing a Las Vegas casino, is fast-paced, features expensive sets and has global stars like Brad Pitt and George Clooney. There is little doubt it will do huge numbers at box offices, but does that make it good?
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   Here at Cannes, Mexico’s “Stellet Licht” is exactly the opposite of “Ocean’s” with a slow tale of a Mennonite farmer in an adulterous affair, and it relies on few words to evoke complicated emotions. French musical “Les Chansons d’Amour” tells of a young man whose menage a trois ends disastrously but causes him to grow as a man.
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   It is unlikely “Stellet Licht” or “Chansons d’Amour” will reach theaters in many other countries. If they do, it is just as unlikely they will play outside small, arthouse cinemas. Their box office figures will pale next to “Ocean’s.” But does the fact few people see them make them bad movies?
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   In 2006, all of the top 20 films were released by a major Hollywood studio. But was “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which was 2006′s No. 1 box office draw with more than $1 billion in global ticket sales, good? Most critics did not think so. Some fans did; others did not.
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   Moviegoing is subjective. What one person likes, their best friend may hate. Not all box office hits are good. Not all small, arthouse films are bad. The opposite is just as true.
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   So, this week when the third “Pirates” film opens in theaters, think for a moment. Even though your best friend may be going, do you want to? There may be some foreign language flick playing down the street that has no queue outside, and it may be far more thought-provoking and entertaining. Or, maybe not. That would be up to you to decide.
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The Wall
