CANNES, France, May 27 (Reuters) – The 2012 Cannes film
festival ends on Sunday evening with the award of the Palme d’Or
for best picture at a red carpet gala ceremony, the climax of a
12-day blur of screenings, photo shoots, parties and deal
making.

As thousands of journalists, critics, executives and stars
head home and luxury yachts weigh anchor for their next port of
call, the big question is who will walk away with one of the
most coveted film prizes after the Oscars.

CANNES, France, May 26 (Reuters) – “Mud”, a touching
coming-of-age tale set on the Mississippi River and starring
Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, brought the Cannes
film festival competition to a close on Saturday, earning warm
applause at a press screening.

The film, which echoes Mark Twain and his novel “The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, centres on Ellis – played by
up-and-coming actor Tye Sheridan, who was 14 at the time.

CANNES, France (Reuters) – The Cannes film festival enjoyed cheers and jeers in equal measure this year, leaving its famously passionate and picky audiences with plenty to love, loathe and laugh about.

With two days to go before the close of the 12-day movie marathon, it also pulled off a balancing act between championing independent films from around the world and luring enough stars to the red carpet to satisfy a thirst for glamour and celebrity.

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will
celebrate 60 years on the throne next month along with huge
crowds expected for a pop concert at Buckingham Palace, a grand
procession through the streets of London and a 1,000-strong
flotilla along the River Thames.

The Diamond Jubilee comes just over a year after the royal
wedding of Prince William, the queen’s grandson, to Kate
Middleton, a spectacular display of pomp and pageantry which has
boosted the monarchy’s popularity at home and abroad.

ANTIBES, France (Reuters) – At a time of economic uncertainty, the glitziest charity gala at the Cannes film festival got personal.

Each year at the luxurious Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, just along the coast from Cannes, amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, invites the famous and fabulously wealthy for a night of fine food, fine wine, dancing and giving.

CANNES, France, May 24 (Reuters) – Nicole Kidman plays an
“oversexed Barbie doll” in the hard-hitting murder drama “The
Paperboy”, premiering at the Cannes film festival on Thursday
and notable for arresting scenes of sex, violence and urination.

In the adaptation of a Pete Dexter novel, the Australian
Oscar winner plays trailer-trash bombshell Charlotte Bless, who
is obsessed with a man on death row with whom she exchanges
letters.

CANNES, France (Reuters) – Brad Pitt, in Cannes to promote his latest movie “Killing Them Softly”, has no intention of following fiancee Angelina Jolie into directing, he told Reuters on Wednesday.

The 48-year-old, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, hit the red carpet at the film’s world premiere on Tuesday, drawing noisy crowds and the world’s media to the glitzy ceremony.

CANNES, France (Reuters) – Cars talk, a man is married to a monkey and Kylie Minogue contemplates suicide in “Holy Motors”, easily the oddest movie in competition at the Cannes film festival screened so far this year.

Directed by French film maker Leos Carax, the story follows Mr. Oscar, a man who spends each day living 10 different lives, each mapped out for him in a dossier left in the back seat of the stretch white limousine he travels in.

CANNES, France, May 22 (Reuters) – “Don’t give up the day
job” was the critics’ blunt message to British rocker Pete
Doherty, whose debut film role in 19th century love story
“Confession of a Child of the Century” has had its premiere at
the Cannes festival.

Based on an autobiographical novel by Alfred de Musset about
his affair with writer George Sand, Doherty’s casting in the
lead role makes plenty of sense.

CANNES, France (Reuters) – Brad Pitt’s latest movie paints a bleak picture of the broken American dream, blending a violent but comic gangster story with overt criticism of politicians’ failure to address the economic crisis.

“Killing Them Softly” takes place in an unspecified U.S. city which has borne the brunt of the financial collapse — houses are abandoned, shops are shuttered and petty criminals and mobsters alike are struggling to get by.