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Saturday, May 24, 2008
Our Man in Cannes: Summer plans of the stars
CANNES, France — It looks like the heat wave and the summer lull are taking a toll on celebrities in Hollywood.
Scott Speedman and Rachel Blanchard, two of the principals in Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration,” say they’re going to spend the next month or so traveling Europe, rather than returning to L.A. “I’m sending my clothes back home, packing a knapsack for my travels, and I’m going solo,” said Speedman, who plays an uncle who raises a teenager whose parents were involved in a fatal traffic accident in “Adoration.”
Looking fit and tan, Speedman talked to reporters during a luncheon at the Carlton Beach. (The Carlton Hotel, fyi, is one of the most exclusive establishments on the Croisette and was the site where Cary Grant’s “To Catch a Thief” was filmed.)
Blanchard also showed up to meet the press and said she was planning to spend most of June traveling Europe with friends.
Both stars bemoaned the current state of the industry and said they were having to turn down numerous scripts because most of them were banal.
“You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff I’ve been sent,” Speedman said. “A lot of the scripts for indie productions are awful, and you typically have to go after scripts that you want,” he said. That was the case with Egoyan’s “Adoration,” which focuses on a teen who creates a false persona on the Internet to find out what happened to his parents.
Speedman said he read the script and lobbied Egoyan for a chance to play the uncle. “At first, I didn’t think Scott was right for the part,” Egoyan said. “I had an older man in mind for the uncle. But then I realized that putting someone as young as Scott in the role would make the character more interesting. Here’s a guy who gave up life in his 20s to raise a child.”
“Adoration” has been getting mixed buzz in Cannes, but some people think it has a chance at a major award.
The competition prizes will be announced Sunday.
The leading contenders for the Palme d’Or are: Arnaud Desplachin’s “A Christmas Tale”; Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling”; Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York”; Nuri Ceylan’s “Three Monkeys”; Steven Soderbergh’s “Che”; and the Dardennes brothers’ “Lorna’s Silence.”
I must, however, point out that I have never accurately predicted the Palme d’Or winner in the past decade. My pick this year is “Synecdoche.” Maybe I’m due.
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Our Man in Cannes: Madonna being Madonna
When there’s an event as big as Cannes, it’s a magnet for such publicity hounds as Madonna. This week, she trotted out her new documentary, “I Am Because We Are” to Cannes audiences, even though it wasn’t an official part of the festival.
Metro, the daily festival newspaper, gave the film a scathing review Friday.
The doc focuses on Malawi, the second poorest country in the world, according to “Metro.” Don’t ask me what the poorest country is. I don’t know the criteria for such judgments, and “Metro” didn’t say.
But Madonna adopted her child, David, from Malawi, and she has a heartfelt interest in the nation.
Said Metro: “The images of tearful, emaciated children are enough to convey the message but (director) Nathan Rissman reduces their plight to pathos with overwrought music, pointless slow motion sequences, and simplistic commentary on the order of ‘everybody needs love.’ “
Oh yeah. It should be pointed out that director Rissman is the gardener for Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie.
Ahem.
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