Highlights of Reuters coverage of the second full day of the Cannes film festival.

Another new week for “American Idol;” another new controversy for the No. 1 rated U.S. TV talent contest. And again, the uproar centers on David Archuleta’s dad, Jeff.

Numerous media reports over the weekend said Jeff Archuleta has been told by the show’s producers that he can no longer help David prepare and has been banned from backstage. Fox, the network that airs “Idol,” has declined to comment on those reports.

Media stories speculated that Jeff Archuleta was admonished for insisting his son change the lyrics to “Stand by Me,” which David sang on the May 6 episode. The problem is, when he changed the song to add a verse from Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls,” it cost the show’s producers more money because they must pay for music rights when contestants sing songs. In effect, the producers had to pay for two songs, “Stand by Me” and “Beautiful Girls,” when David sang only one.

Various reports say that Jeff Archuleta had been told David could not use the verse from “Beautiful Girls,” but he told his son to go ahead, anyway. None of those reports could be confirmed. 

Still, Jeff has been in hot water before for apparently choosing David’s songs, and there was some speculation that Jeff drove his son so hard, he made David cry. Last month in Us Weekly magazine, Jeff Archuleta said accusations he was an overbearing “stage dad” were simply wrong. “There was absolutely no truth in any of the stories about me yelling at David, making him cry, or withholding water from him. That was crazy!,” Jeff Archuleta told the magazine.

With “Iron Man” out wide in theaters — and out in a huge, $101 million opening box office way — it’s time to reflect around the water cooler on what the movie means and what, if anything, its makers were trying to say.

The war question: Is ”Iron Man” anti-war? Does Tony Stark (aka comic book superhero Iron Man, played by Robert Downey, Jr.) create his suit of hi-tech armor to stop a military arms maker run amok and tame an evil-doer?

Or, is it pro-war? Does Stark create a new weapon that will undoubtedly be used by the military arms maker he created to build even more lethal high-tech weaponry?

“I’ve heard it’s pro-war and that it’s anti-war, which means that I did my job,” director Jon Favreau told Reuters in a pre-release interview.

Favreau said his goal was to make the movie neither, but to reflect the times. He said he has changed his own mind several times on the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here’s all of what Favreau said in reponse to a question about the movie’s story set in the context of current times, the wars and the U.S. election.

“It was an opportunity to reflect the times a little bit. I think it’s a good moment now. It’s an election year. We didn’t try to take a position strongly on it, but to present the world as we see it in, sort of, a comic book version. And, set this hero against the times, instead of making it in some non-descript moment in history with a non-descript political landscape. We didn’t but we did want to present it that way.

“I think what superhero movies have always offered are very simple solutions to complex problems. If there’s a sense of powerlessness that people feel or a culture feels or certainly kids, there’s always been Superman to stop the train or stop a bullet. That’s always been the metaphor of the superhero. In a more complicated landscape politically, here’s “Iron Man” who can step in and solve problems with the blink of an eye through ingenuity and through resolve of character,” Favreau said.

Director Jon Favreau, whose new movie “Iron Man” debuts in theaters this week as the first big-budget Hollywood movie of the summer season, has long championed low-budget and independent filmmaking. His career took off as an actor and writer of 1996 indie movie “Swingers.”

Indie movies generally are low-budget films confined to art houses. They are known for being “edgy,” which is another way of saying they push boundaries in terms of subject matter and creativity. “Iron Man,” starring Robert Downey, Jr.,  is anything but low-budget and indie. It was produced by Marvel Studios and is being distributed by major studio Paramount Pictures.

Still, a lot is being made about Favreau bringing an indie feel to “Iron Man.” We asked him how can he still claim to be “indie” after making movies with big stars such as Will Ferrell in “Elf” and huge special effects such as “Zathura: A Space Adventure.” Favreau’s answer: he can’t. But in the proper context, he can still be edgy.

“I think that you start off as an indie guy because your voice is very different from the mainstream and you’re young and you don’t have any money to make anything. So you’re forced into being an independent moviemaker. It’s your only way in the door,” Favreau told Reuters.

“I was an independent filmmaker because that was the only way in. It wasn’t like I felt like my point-of-view was so different. But what has happened over the last 10 years, as the audience has changed, we are now the mainstream … As a filmmaker, I don’t feel lilke I’m the edgy guy doing the edgy dialogue anymore.

“There are other people with fresher voices coming up. They are the ones who are leading the groundbreaking front on the periphery of the film industry. I’m a suburban dad now. I can make a movie that’s really cool that I know my 6-year-old would love and I also know that my friends and family would love. I can do an edgy, different version of a superhero movie, but if I were to make a small movie now, I don’t know if I have the chops to do something that groundbreaking.”

Who says ballroom dancing is not brutal on the body? Just ask Chilean film star Cristian de la Fuente, who injured his arm Monday night on the popular U.S. TV show “Dancing With the Stars.”

De la Fuente, who gained fame on Spanish-language television and has guest-starred on U.S. TV on progams such as “CSI: Miami” and “Ugly Betty,” was finishing a saucy latin spin around the dance floor Monday night when he could no longer hold his pose with professional ballroom dancer Cheryl Burke. His arm seemingly cramped up, and after an impromptu commercial break on the live TV show, de la Fuente returned to the stage  grimacing in pain with his arm bandaged.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the actor said he was seeing a doctor in Los Angeles, but would appear again on Tuesday’s episode of “Dancing With the Stars.” She said she did not know exactly what the medical problem was, adding that his condition would be fully revealed on the show Tuesday night.

It is not the first time a “Dancing With the Stars” contestant has been stricken on live TV. Last season, entertainer Marie Osmond fainted after one number, but popped back to her feet following a commercial break. Also this season, professional dancer Derek Hough, who is partnered with actress Shannon Elizabeth, hurt his neck in rehearsal and had to be taken to a hospital.

One lesson: If you gotta dance, get a medical check-up first. 

She delighted movie fans this past weekend playing a surrogate mother in comedy movie “Baby Mama,” and now it appears “Saturday Night Live” star Amy Poehler will get the chance to be a mom in real life.

Celebrity magazine People, on Monday, said Poehler is pregnant.

Citing Poehler’s representative Lewis Kay, People said Poehler, 36, and her husband Will Arnett, 37, will become first-time parents this fall.

This past weekend, “Baby Mama” opened No. 1 at U.S. and Canadian box offices, taking in more than $18 million in ticket sales. Poehler is paired with comic writer/actress Tina Fey in the comedy about a woman (Fey) who longs for a baby so she hires a surrogate (Poehler) to have the child.  

Who could forget it? Tom Cruise, jumping up on talk show queen Oprah Winfrey’s couch and proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes in 2005. Some thought Mr. Cool had lost his cool. Others thought it was a rare and tender display of human emotion from an A-list Hollywood celebrity whose personal life is shrouded in mystery.

Whatever the outcome, three years later Cruise is headed back to Winfrey’s couch. Cruise will be interviewed by Oprah on May 2 from his home in Telluride, Colorado. A statement from the “Oprah” show says he will discuss “his family, his life and the future.” Then, on Monday May 5, he is headed to Chicago and Oprah’s studio where he will tape a new show celebrating 25 years of his Hollywood films since his breakout role in “Risky Business.”

No doubt, millions of viewers will tune in to see if Cruise cooks up any wild displays of affection again. We’ll be watching, too. 

(Note: the picture above is not a photo of Cruise on Oprah’s couch but is a recreation Cruise jokingly displayed a few weeks later when he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”)

The media reports about Jeff Archuleta, in some cases, have been brutal.

Celebrity web site TMZ.com has said that the father of “American Idol” contestant David Archuleta has screamed at his son and brought him to tears in rehearsals while driving him to perform ever better on the top-rated TV talent show.

“Idol” judge Simon Cowell seemed to question Archuleta’s choice of a Beatles song, “We Can Work It Out,” that the 17-year-old messed up on the show back in March, implying that it might have been Jeff who chose the song for his son.

But Jeff Archuleta finally spoke out to hush his critics on Wednesday in an interview with celebrity magazine Us, calling accusations that he was an overbearing, hyper-competitve “stage dad” simply crazy.

“I’m definitely involved with my son, and I encourage him, but I think that’s a lot different from forcing and threatening and all that stuff. There was absolutely no truth in any of the stories about me yelling at David, making him cry, or withholding water from him. That was crazy!” Jeff Archuleta told the magazine.

Jeff also called his son “a reluctant singer,” saying that when David was young, the boy could not understand why anyone wanted to hear him sing. Then Jeff added, “I think (David) was blessed with a musical ear that was far beyond his years.”

And on that last quote, Jeff is probably right. The young singer has been a clear frontrunner in the race to crown the next “American Idol” this season.

The full interview can be read at Usmagazine.com.

Hollywood has long considered itself an eco-friendly community, so it’s only fitting to look closer at their green activities on Earth Day. Show business newspaper The Hollywood Reporter recently compiled a list of some of the environmental actions of media and other companies.  

–  1000 CDs and DVDs recycled each week by Willam Morris Agency’s Beverly Hills office.

–  50 film and television projects guided to more sustainable productions over the past three years by the Environmental Media Assn. 

–  6,596  trees saved by NBC Universal by preventing 404 tons of paper and other recyclables from going into a landfill in December and January.

– 50% growth in 2007 of online buzz relating to environmental sustainability, according to Nielsen Online.

– 15 productions currently serviced by CineGreen, a new LA-based outfit that provides free recycling services to film and TV sets.

– 1000 trees given away to 20th Century Fox employees at a recent Earth Day event on the Fox studio lot.

– 500,000 water bottles saved by using recycled plastic for the DVD trays on Lionsgate’s  initial production run of “Weeds” Season 3.

– 50 million DVDs recycled by the Walt Disney Studios’ home entertainment division in 2007. 

– 7 Full-time Warner Bros. employees charged with picking up and donating recyclable materials.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid recently sat down with Reuters to talk about their new movie “Smart People,” and along with discussing their approach to acting, the two stars gave us a wide range of comments on topics from movie reviews to their love – or not — of Red Bull.

– On reviews: “I don’t read them at all. So they matter, clearly,” said Parker wryly.  “I stopped really caring,” said Quaid, adding “The art of film review has passed.”

– box office: “I try my best to pay no attention because you just simply cannot control it,” Parker said. “It’s not like worrying about being good, which you can actively participate in.”

But a less-serious minded Quaid interjects: “It means EVerything!” And while he was clearly joking, he admitted “I’d be lying if I said it meant nothing. When you do something, you want people to go see it. I’m the kind of person who on the day the movie’s coming out, I’m checking the weather reports.”

– awards and honors: “I never thought about anything in my life but a Tony award,” Parker said, referring to Broadway’s highest honor. “That’s all I really wanted actually, if I was bold enough to say so, and anything else, all of this has, honestly, been a freakin’ cherry.” (She is holding a cherry.) 

“It’s nice to be nominated, but after the fact of getting one, they don’t mean as much as before you get them,” is Quaid’s take.

– politics: Quaid offers, “I’m one of those who kind of believes that it’s really not in a politician’s best interest to have actors speaking out for them.” Still he adds, “I like Obama, I really do. He could be what we need to really shake everything up.”

– on the merits of Red Bull: “You’re such a kid!” Parker exclaims with a mix of admiration and mock-horror as Quaid grabs and lustily drinks a can of the super-caffeinated beverage. “I cannot beLIEVE you’re drinking that, yuck,” she shudders, adding “I’ve never even tasted it. I’m scared of it!”

But as Quaid pours, hamming it up for her with “ahhhhs!” and groans of anticipatory pleasure, curiosity gets the best of Parker. “Can I just smell it?” she asks, then after taking a whiff: “Oh, it smells like bubble gum.”

A satisfied, and presumably energized Quaid, informs her authoritatively: “It works, though, oh yeah. It definitely does.”

“Oh, my God,” is all Parker can say.

–Reporting by Chris Michaud