Odds: Thursday - Cannes, the rest o' the world.

By Alison Willmore on 05/25/2006

Roger Ebert (whose meandering festival reports we find ourselves enjoying much more than his reviews, which we of course scoff at: "What the hell do you know, you damn Pulitzer Prize winner?! Scoffscoffscoffscoff.") reflects not once, but twice, on Cannes booing:

One, re: the infamous "Marie Antoinette" press screening:

Variety, the showbiz bible, reported the booing was "Gallic-accented.”" As a test I have been trying to boo with a French accent. I think a Gallic boo sounds like BOOoo! starting strong and fading abruptly, while an American boo sounds like a prolonged booOOO!

In any event, I did not boo. But I sensed some discontent. "I wanted to see heads rolling," groused Baz Bamigboye, the famous Daily Mail columnist, and there seemed to be disappointment that the film ends well before the king and queen are beheaded.

And two, on the fervor caused by booing reports like the above:

But now let’s step back and be fair. Yes, there was booing. But I was present at the screening and would guess not more than five people, maybe 10, booed. Many others applauded. Booing is always shocking to North American critics; I am not sure I have heard booing more than once or twice in all my years at the Toronto, Sundance, Telluride, Chicago, Montreal or New York festivals. In Europe, they boo all the time, sometimes because they think a film is bad, sometimes because it is (according to them) politically incorrect.

Regarding darling "Marie," the New York Times' terrible twosome is split: Mme. Dargis says "meh"; M. Scott takes it as a Hollywood parable and likes it.

These images are everywhere, and who are we to part from the crowd? Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat hits the beach in a truly European bathing...apparatus. Via JustJared.com.

At indieWIRE, Eugene Hernandez, Brian Brooks and Tamara Schweitzer report that Sony Pictures Classics has picked up the North American rights to Luc Besson's "magical fantasy" "Angel-A," Roadside Attractions and Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the new feature film of "Lassie" and Picturehouse has acquired the U.S. rights to Edith Piaf biopic "La Vie En Rose."

In other biz news, Cate Blanchett has joined the cast of Todd Haynes' semi-experimental Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" as one of seven actors to play Dylan at various stages of his career. Via AP.

At the Guardian, Xan Brooks talks to Jane Campion about why she and other big names (including Gus Van Sant and the Coen brothers) chose to come to Cannes with a short (hers is "The Water Diary").

Elsewhere: The new issue of Wired turns to "Superman Returns": Neil Gaiman & Adam Rogers have an interesting piece deconstructing the myth of Superman and its appeal. Interesting if you're a nerd! Which, of course, we are. In the same issue, Thomas Goetz interviews director Bryan Singer.

Scott Kirsner at CinemaTech notes that "Paramount Pictures and Technorati announced a multi-picture deal today to add blogger comments to movie Web sites," beginning with "An Inconvenient Truth." The big question, of course, is how (and if) comments will be filtered.

Grady Hendrix at Kaiju Shakedown has some goood stuff on beef between Chris Doyle and Martin Scorsese regarding Scorsese's impending "Infernal Affairs" remake "The Departed" (Doyle was the cinematographer and visual consultant for "Infernal Affairs).

At Slate, Mac Rogers reflects on the art of mauling films to fit the stage.

And at the Guardian, Mark Lawson writes about "The Da Vinci Code" and wonders "Has our culture now created a sort of genetically modified turkey - the critic-proof product?"

+ Cannes #6: Palme d'Odds (RogerEbert.com)
+ Cannes #7: A real movie (RogerEbert)
+ 'Marie Antoinette': Best or Worst of Times? (NY Times)
+ Thongs On Hairy Men Are Sexy (Just Jared)
+ Fortissimo Coming to America; Sony Classics Grabs Besson's "Angel-A"; Picturehouse Goes For "La Vie En Rose"; and More (indieWIRE)
+ Cate Blanchett to play Bob Dylan in biopic (AP)
+ Get shorty (Guardian)
+ The Myth of Superman (Wired)
+ Bryan Singer & the Man of Steel (Wired)
+ Paramount + Technorati: Adding blogger comments to movie Web sites (CinemaTech)
+ THE DEPARTED GETS A DATE AND SOME WORDS (Kaiju Shakedown)
+ From Screen to Stage (Slate)
+ Who cares what the reviews say? (Guardian)