cannes (12 posts)

Tony Barson/WireImage.com

Surprise, surprise. A panel headed up by Sean Penn had politics on the brain.

Benicio Del Toro was unanimously named Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday for his portrayal of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's four-hour biopic, Che.

The nine-member Cannes jury, which included Natalie Portman and director Alfonso Cuaron and was presided over by Penn, presented the awards Sunday, the final day of the festival.

"I'd like to dedicate this to the man himself, Che Guevara, as well as to Soderbergh, who got up every day, forced me to this," Del Toro said during the ceremony. "He was there pushing it, and he pushed all of us."

Soderbergh also directed the Puerto Rican actor's Oscar-winning turn in 2000's Traffic.

Meanwhile, the Palme d'Or—Cannes' prize for best movie—sidestepped Clint Eastwood's well-received thriller The Changeling and went to a French film for the first time since 1987. Laurent Cantet's The Class, about the lives of students and teachers at a tough Parisian junior high school that featured real students and teachers, took the top honor.

Gomorra, about the criminal underworld in Naples, won the second-place Grand Prize, while Il Divo, about former Italian Premier Giulio Andreotti, took home the third-place Jury Award.

Keep Reading

Ferdaus Shamim/WireImage.com

Down-low lovebirds Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong couldn't stifle their romance on the Riviera as they attended the Dolce & Gabbana bash in Cannes. A source tells E! News that Kate and Lance "were holding hands in their car and when photographers' flashes started going off, Kate kind of jumped up, startled."

"But inside the party they were smooching and looking very cozy," said our super snooper, adding that "they've been staying together on a yacht, which is moored in the bay of Cannes. They're very much an item. "

Hey, whatever floats your boat. Or yacht, as the case may be.

Tony Barson/WireImage.com

UPDATE: On the red carpet before the amfAR benefit auction Thursday night in Cannes, Madonna, with hubby Guy Ritchie by her side, told E! News that making I Am Because We Are, a documentary about the plight of children orphaned by AIDS in Malawi, "was the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. Ever.

"It's about people and every time I watch it I go on the journey I went on when I made it all over again and I cry. I'm thrilled that people have been touched by it."

I Am Because We Are, which boasts Madonna as an executive producer, screened Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival.

Asked how her Malawian son David, whom she's still in the process of adopting, is doing, the Material Mom replied, "Wonderful. I love him so much, he's incredible."

Keep Reading

Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson strut their stuff in glamorous Cannes, where LiLo will be deejaying Naomi Campbell's birthday party.

Sounds like a recipe for...fun! But let's hope DJ Sam's able to offer some professional guidance with the gig, because you wouldn't want to displease the birthday girl on her big day, right?

(That is not a rhetorical question.)

Anyway, don't worrry if your invite got lost in the mail—check out our all-access gallery of Cannes' comings and goings.

INFphoto.com

Once she confirmed her pregnancy, Angelina Jolie had no problem emphasizing her pregnant belly in all those billowing Earth Mother dresses she wore on the Cannes red carpet.

But the mom-to-be seems to have magically slimmed down today when snapped outside the Hotel du Cap, where she and Brad have been staying (sans brood) to be close to the film festival.

Funny what happens once people think the cameras are off them.

FAME

Lindsay Lohan is a regular fixture at best bud Samantha Ronson's DJ gigs. But now it's apparently time for LiLo to step up to the turntables, as she's expected to spin at Naomi Campbell's Dolce & Gabbana-hosted 38th birthday party in Cannes Friday.

Maybe Sam will give Lindsay some pointers before her big deejaying debut!

2008 Lucasfilm Ltd.

The fourth installment of Indiana Jones doesn’t hit theaters until Thursday, but there’s already buzz about making a fifth film without Harrison Ford in the lead role.

While walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of Kung Fu Panda, George Lucas hinted to reporters about the possibility of a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

"I haven't even told Steven [Spielberg] or Harrison this," he said. "But I have an idea to make Shia [LaBeouf] the lead character next time and have Harrison come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out."

Although it’s hard to imagine what Lucas has up his sleeve, passing the bullwhip to LaBeouf’s character, Mutt Williams, could make sense. Rumors have been swirling for months that Mutt is Indiana’s lovechild with Marion Ravenwood, played by Karen Allen.

But, for now, diehard Indy fans can breathe easy: Ford, 65, hasn’t hung up his fedora just yet. On Friday he told reporters, "Till they tell me otherwise, I will continue to be Indiana Jones."

Red carpet! Photographers! Brad and Angelina sporting a double-baby belly bump!

If you can't actually be in Cannes, then you can get a taste of the flashbulbs and French-language introductions in this clip of the couple at the Kung Fu Panda premiere. And be sure to check out our regularly updating Cannes photo gallery, as well.

Paul Morigi/WireImage.com

Angelina Jolie—finally!—confirmed Tinseltown's worst-kept secret: She's pregnant with twins.

According to NBC's Today, the actress was giving an interview to show host Natalie Morales in Cannes Wednesday to promote her new animated film Kung Fu Panda when the news slipped out, courtesy of costar Jack Black, who was sitting beside her.

Black: "You're gonna have as many as the Brady Bunch when you have these."

Morales: "So is that confirmed? Is it two?"

Angelina confirmed it was true, subsequently ending months of "speculation."

The twins will be Angie and Brad Pitt's fifth and sixth children—joining siblings Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh.

No word yet on baby names, but something tells us Jack is not going to be one of them.