SHORE THING
Nearly a decade after Titanic smashed box office records and revived the cruise industry, Cannes attendees clearly now feel safe heading into deep water. Not only will George Lucas of Star Wars fame board the Queen Mary II to receive the prestigious Festival Trophy in honor of his filmmaking career, but the seafront Majestic Hotel has created a private bar moored offshore. Described by the hotel as a "floating marvel in teak," the 6m2 floating salon seats up to a dozen on overstuffed white pillows and can be anchored anywhere within reach of the hotel's boat-borne waiters.
UNDERGROUND
The Hollywood Reporter's "A-list" of the hottest flicks for sale at the film market held in the Palais basement during the festival include Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, a sequel to her 1992 sexual thriller; Copying Beethoven, in which Ed Harris plays the maestro falling in love with a woman hired to help him complete his string quartets; Little Fish, in which Cate Blanchett stars as a recovering drug addict driven to crime to support the launch of her Internet cafe; and The Tiger and the Snow by Roberto Benigni, creator of the tragicomic Holocaust movie Life Is Beautiful, who now addresses current affairs by playing a love-struck poet stuck in Iraq as the American-led invasion begins.
GRAB BAG
One was already received via special delivery by the sultry Mexican star Salma Hayek, but nobody knows who will get the remaining 50 goody bags said to be worth US$4,000 each and to be handed out at the festival's American Pavilion. Stuffed with high-end cosmetics and a bucketful of exfoliating bath products, the bags also have iPod speakers. "Wearing a black turtleneck is not enough to get these bags; you must truly be A-list," says their creator, Jane Ubell-Meyer.
ELITE CLUB
In bringing to the competition Three Funerals, a film he both directed and stars in, Tommy Lee Jones could enter an exclusive circle of actor-directors who have won the Palme d'Or. The club has had only two members in 58 festivals: Orson Welles in 1952 for Othello and Nanni Moretti in 2001 for The Son's Room.
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