Plus ca change…

The Cannes film festival IS different from recent editions, but not radically. For me, the most noticeable difference between 2009 and 2005/6/7/8 is the absence of stars, be they genuine cinema greats or headline-grabbing celebrities who people care about, however fleetingly.

Sure, there are famous people here — Quentin Tarantino, Penelope Cruz, Mariah Carey, Brad Pitt, (a little later on) and Bill Clinton (in town soon for a charity dinner). But there are significantly fewer than we in the press are used to. In one sense that’s a good thing in that reporters can concentrate more on the film festival itself rather than the red carpets and celebrity-driven stunts. On the other hand, any major festival, and particularly the world’s biggest in Cannes, needs the glamour that star power brings to generate interest around the world.

So that’s what is different. But what is the same is the sunshine, the extortionate prices, the yachts in the harbour occupied by scantily-clad women and not-so-scantily-clad men, the parties (albeit fewer) and that “Cannes attitude”, in other words, “put-on-your-Sunday-best-even-if-it’s-Monday-because-you-never-know, someone-important-might-notice-you.”

The first film has been shown at Cannes and it is already a hit, which will come as welcome relief in the general climate of economic crisis that has surrounded the start of the festival.

Disney/Pixar’s “Up”, the story of retired balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, thrown together with a keen but clumsy boy scout called Russell, has been hailed as “arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever” by The Hollywood Reporter and as a “tremendous film” by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

Director Pete Docter said he was inspired by film-makers of an earlier era like Frank Capra and “Up’s” debt to old movies is obvious.

Three dimensional digital effects give a remarkable visual depth to the adventure of the gruff old widower and the zealous young stowaway who float away to South America in a house borne aloft under a string of balloons. As the pair swing precariously through the clouds above the jungle green or flee a bounding pack of dogs, the 3D effects add a dazzling dimension to the tale. But beneath it all, the film is an old fashioned story of love and redemption in the classic Hollywood manner that would have done the old master proud. “Walt Disney always said that for every laugh there has to be a tear,” said producer and Pixar boss John Lasseter. Many a tear certainly seemed to be creeping out from under the special 3D goggles at the press screening and it was faintly disconcerting to see so many hardened reporters blubbing silently away as the credits rolled.

None of that will hurt of course and amid all the gloomy talk of recession and cancelled parties, “Up” added an undoubted “feel good” element at Cannes that will doubtless translate into huge commercial success. “Boxoffice-wise, the sky’s the limit for ‘Up.’” , The Hollywood Reporter, for one, opined.
Four years in the making, “Up” was conceived well before subprime mortgages, a collapsing financial system and ever-mounting jobless rolls became the stuff of daily headlines.

But its echoes of the sentimental comedies that audiences turned to for comfort and entertainment in the troubled decades of the 1930s and 1940s, seem oddly appropriate in an economy facing its worst crisis since the Great Depression.

Remember the “Seinfeld” episode where Kramer retrieved the set of “The Merv Griffin Show” from the trash and miraculously installed it in his apartment? 
    
Fans of the late television impresario will also be able to salvage some of Griffin’s belongings when a California auction house puts them up for sale on Sunday. Griffin’s son Tony is unloading antiquities, fine furnishings and contemporary art from his father’s three homes in California.

From humble origins as a nightclub singer and bandleader, Merv Griffin built an entertainment empire around his game shows “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” He also hosted his own TV talk show and invested heavily in real estate. He died of prostate cancer in 2007, aged 82.
    

Oakland, Calif.-based Clars Auction Gallery estimates the total value of the 200 lots at a minimum of $282,000. The priciest item, estimated at between $30,000 and $50,000, is a 1926 oil painting of a California harbor by landscape artist Paul Starrett Sample. A chainsaw-carved plywood and acrylic diptych by contemporary abstract artist Charles Arnoldi is estimated to fetch between $10,000 and $20,000. 
    
For lesser-heeled fans, Clars has cleaned out Griffin’s closet. Dozens of tuxedos, suits, shirts, sweaters, pants and t-shirts are on the block, starting at $100 per lot. Griffin’s numerous Emmys are not included in the sale, but a Perspex statuette dubbed the Celanese Meridian Award did make the cut, priced at a mere $100-$200. Other tchotchkes include movie posters, a photo of one of Griffin’s horses, and a life-size chimpanzee prop.
    
Clars president Redge Martin said Griffin had “exquisite” taste, and that the auction was drawing interest from Griffin’s high-powered Hollywood friends.
    
Martin said the recession seems to have had little impact on auction sales of high-end furniture, jewelry and art. “There’s still a lot of money out there,” he said.

Dozens of the world's top movie, television and music stars showed off their green cred on Saturday night at a Hollywood-style fundraiser honoring the Natural Resource Defense Council's 20 years in Southern California.

The event at Beverly Hills' Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel was a who's who of Hollywood environmentalists, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Redford, and Laurie David, a global warming activist and producer of the Al Gore movie "An Inconvenient Truth." All three are trustees of the NRDC's Southern California office. In 2003, the group even dedicated its new building to Redford.

It's no secret that the environment and climate change is a hot cause in Hollywood, and it's hard to imagine another social issue drawing as much star power to one event. The party also raised a hefty $2 million.

"Mad Men" star Jon Hamm and designer Tom Ford also attended the party, which was hosted by "Seinfeld" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and included a musical performance by Grammy-winning rockers Maroon 5. Actress Rosanna Arquette deejayed the after party.

On stage, Redford recalled why he joined the NRDC in the 1970's, saying it was "because they had the power to sue."

Many attendees echoed that refrain throughout the night, with Louis-Dreyfus bluntly stating: "I love lawsuits."

The evening also included a list of the group's legal victories in the region, including helping to stop inadequately treated sewage from being dumped into the Santa Monica Bay and testing children for lead poisoning in the 1990s. More recently, NRDC and other environmental groups last year reached a deal with land holder Tejon Ranch to permanently protect 240,000 acres of California land from development.

But the group also suffered a setback in the region last year after the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. navy can conduct sonar training exercises off the southern California coast without restrictions to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the evening was as green as could be, with a vegetarian, locally sourced menu, organic wine, and trees and bushes as decoration. Even the table centerpieces didn't require watering, instead featuring asparagus and artichokes and tulips planted in stones.

Photocredit: Reuters (Maroon 5 performs at the NRDC's 20th Anniversary Celebration in Beverly Hills on April 25, 2009)

The Cannes film festival lineup just announced has a familiar ring to it, with several past winners vying for that nice gold-coloured leaf grandly called the Palme d’Or in 2009. Quentin Tarantino (who won in 1994) unveils the oddly spelled “Inglourious Basterds”, his World War Two caper starring Brad Pitt. Ken Loach (2006) and Jane Campion (1993) are also in the running in the main competition lineup as is Lars von Trier (2000).

Grabbing just as much limelight on the French Riviera, though, will be Terry Gilliam and his “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”, the late Heath Ledger’s last movie with stars Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepping in to complete his role.

Finally hoping to break his Cannes duck will be another favourite on the palm-lined Croisette waterfront, Spain’s Pedro Almodovar who once again teams up with Penelope Cruz in “Broken Embraces”. He was favourite to take the top prize in 2006 with “Volver”, and ended up calling the billing as frontrunner a “curse”. Could it be Pedro for Palme d’Or this time?

Swedish director Lukas Moodysson might not be the happiest of filmmakers at the moment. It’s hardly surprising, given that his latest movie “Mammoth“, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, was roundly booed by reporters and critics after a press screening at the Berlin film festival.

Critics have panned the examination of globalisation and economic migrants. The film’s average mark in Screen International’s informal poll of reviews is 0.9 out of four, or below a poor rating. Five out of eight critics deemed it plain “bad”.

It must be a crushing blow for someone who has invested so much time and effort in a project, only to have it dismissed with a few strokes of the critics’ pen.

Still, it could be worse. Sally Potter’s ultra-minimalist fashion send-up “Rage” scored even lower in the poll, notching just 0.8 on average. Not even the sight of Jude Law in drag was enough to stop dozens of audience members walking out of its press screening. At least Potter won’t be too badly out of pocket. The movie cost less than $1 million to make.

The overall quality Berlin’s main competition lineup in recent years has come under fire, but I can’t remember seeing two such low-scoring entries, and both premiered on the same day.

On a happier note, well-crafted low-budget dramas from Iran and Uruguay are faring better and are favourites – as we approach the festival’s halfway stage — to take the Golden Bear for best film.

It’s that time of year again. Right about now the British media is either wringing its hands in despair over the state of UK cinema or blowing its trumpet loudly in praise of its prodigious acting and directing talent as the movie awards season gets underway.

Kicking things off was the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, and, judging by reaction on this side of the pond, we could re-name it the “Golden Gloats”. True, Brits and their films did fare pretty well this year, but I wonder if it’s not better to hold off until the big one — the Oscars.

Kate Winslet grabbed most of the headlines, winning both best actress in a drama for “Revolutionary Road” and best supporting actress for “The Reader”. While British journalists were clearly happy at her success, she was not spared some acerbic asides for what was seen as a gushing, very un-stiff-upper-lippish performance on stage.

The 33-year-old, the Telegraph wrote, “turned on the Hollywood histrionics and delivered a masterclass in stealing the show, joining the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Sally Field in the annals of over-the-top thank yous.” It also noted how she briefly, but rather embarrassingly, forgot the name of co-nominee Angelina Jolie.

And then there was “Slumdog Millionaire”, directed by Brit Danny Boyle who picked up the best director prize. His film was the big winner on the night with four prizes, including best drama. Sally Hawkins was named best actress in a comedy or musical for “Happy-Go-Lucky”.

The world of entertainment, especially film, tends to benefit when times are tough, as people seek to escape worries about their job, mortgage, children’s education or heating bills. But 2009 is likely to be a tough one for movies, music, theatre, art, books and most other forms of diversion you can think of.

Hollywood has already seen studios downsized and movie projects ditched thanks to budgetary concerns, a trend which some experts expect to continue into the new year. Raising finances to fund new pictures has become more complicated, and despite major releases like Harry Potter, Watchmen, Wolverine, Transformers, Angels & Demons and Star Trek to name but a few, there is no guarantee that box office attendances will reverse this year’s decline.

2008 music sales are expected to show a double-digit percentage drop in the United States, and a smaller decline in the UK, and few executives would predict anything different for 2009. Irish rockers U2 bring out their delayed new album in March, and next year will (probably) also bring new releases from Bruce Springsteen, Eminem and Robbie Williams. Also worrying for pop stars is evidence that the boom in live touring, which has helped many make up for a shortfall in record sales, may be coming to an end. All but the very biggest acts may struggle to fill that stadium, arena, auditorium or pub.

Theatre attendances could be hit by the recession, and art galleries counting their pennies may be forced to focus on smaller exhibitions to replace the risky and more expensive “blockbuster” shows that have dominated in recent years. Auction houses are also braced for a tough 2009, as falling prices for oil, metals, stocks, property and other assets take their toll on the world’s rich and super-rich.

All in all it’s not a particularly rosy outlook for 2009, but the great thing about making gloomy predictions is that everyone’s happy when you’re proved spectacularly wrong.

Barack Obama’s first appointment as U.S. president-elect comes with an inside-Hollywood connection.  His newly chosen White House chief-of-staff-to-be, Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, is the older brother of Ari Emanuel, a founding partner of the A-list, Beverly Hills-based talent-management firm Endeavor.

So colorful and well-known a showbiz figure has he become that he inspired the character of the sly Hollywood agent Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven, on the HBO series “Entourage.” The role has earned Piven two Emmy Awards.

The younger Emanuel broke away from the talent agency ICM in 1995 to help start Endeavor, which has since grown into one of the leading deal-brokers in the entertainment industry with a client roster that includes Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Adam Sandler and Steve Carell. Among the stars he personally represents are Larry David, Michael Moore, Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Wahlberg.      

Having grown up in suburban Chicago, Ariel “Ari” Z. Emanuel is the youngest of three brothers — Ezekiel , an oncologist and bioethicist, and Rahm, a former aid to President Bill Clinton who later was elected to the House of Representatives from Illinois and became a confident of Obama. Ari Emanuel, too, has been active in Hollywood political circles, hosting fundraisers for Democratic candidates that included a $2,300-per-plate event for Obama during his presidential campaign.

Their father is a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was active in the pre-independence Israeli underground, and their mother was a social activist and onetime Chicago-area nightclub proprietor.

In 2006 Ari Emanuel made headlines when he publicly condemned actor-director Mel Gibson for making anti-Semitic remarks at the time of his arrest for drunken driving. Emanuel called then on others in Hollywood to show their outrage by ”professionally shunning” Gibson.

Gwyneth Paltrow might be wishing she had never ventured into the world of online lifestyle advice.

Her new site, goop.com, has irritated commentators on both sides of the Atlantic who say that the pearls of wisdom she shares with us are, at best, rather general, and at worst downright smug.

“My life is good because I am not passive about it,” writes the Hollywood star in her mission statement. “I want to nourish what is real, and I want to do it without wasting time.”

Elizabeth Renzetti wrote in the Globe and Mail: ”Why is it called Goop? Perhaps ‘Any Old Load of Rubbish’ and ‘Learn From Me, Ungrateful Peasant’ were both taken.

“In essence, Gwyneth would like to reach down from her aerie in north London and show you how to live, and shop, meaningfully,” she continues. ”Except that the point is completely moot: You and I will never be six-foot tall blonde goddesses constructed entirely of lentils and self-righteousness.”

Maria Russo of the Los Angeles Times criticizes not only the content, but the format of the new site, which is on the web in preview form. Click on the six sections (make, go, get, do, be, see) and you get the same statement from Ms. Paltrow.

“It’s not just that apparently no one wants to take life direction from the girl who has it all,” writes Russo. “There are also some more basic technical problems, starting with the layout of the two-page site. It’s not clear why she bothered to put it up with so little content. It feels like something that won an award for Web design in 1998.”

Perhaps Paltrow and her team should be given more time to develop the site before the critics weigh in. Trouble is, in this day and age noone seems willing to wait.