_{"C'mon shake yer body baby, do the Conga-you know you can't control yourself any longer…"}

Okay, so as promised, I'm back with your Gerard Butler Cannes Junket Wrap-Up. We've got some video and we've got a ton of pics from the various events that we haven't posted before. Of course my favorites are the bromantic ones with Adrien Brody but there are also pics with Ewan McGregor (Oh if only I could have heard their conversation! I'll bet their brogues got heavier the more they talked with each other.) and Robert DeNiro. Gah! Movies with Gary Oldman, pics with Robert DeNiro, manhandled by Sean Penn…what's next? Brunch with Tom Cruise? 

From the Haiti Carnival event on Fri. 5/18. G comes in at about 1:11 -

Here's a video bit from the interviews he was giving when he was "messing around on boats". Funny that it's from AP, the same source from which that quote came.

This video is from the Millennium bash for White House Taken (which by the way, imdb still lists as Olympus Has Fallen and G claims is "untitled". G is also listed as a producer. He who shall not be named lest the 3 Billy Goats Gruff come after me, is not.):

I hope you've enjoyed this virtual vicarious tour of Butler's Cannes adventure. If by some chance he's still in the south of France (and not in Manchester training) and more pics surface, you can be sure I'll bring them to you.

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source for featured pic

You have to love Cannes, especially if you’re a fan of old-school Hollywood glamour. Not even for a red carpet LA premiere do the stars, particularly the female stars, get as dolled up as they do for a gala premiere at Cannes. What I find especially amusing is the stars who cross the ocean and a couple of time zones just for the occasion. They have no movie to promote, they just want a chance to get dressed up. Lana del Ray in a simple black Alberta Ferretti is one such example this year, but there is never a greater example of this than Eva Longoria.

The diminutive perpetual starlet has shown up to Cannes for the last seven or eight years for the express purpose of having her picture taken in some over-the-top designer evening dress. And she did not disappoint.

The movie in question for tonight’s gala was the opening night presentation of Wes Anderson’s eagerly awaited Moonrise Kingdom and most of the stars of the film and certainly most in attendance are male. The lone distaff representative was Tilda Swinton but she was in Haider Ackerman, an edgy but appropriate choice for fashion forward Swinton, but no match for the organza, cotton candy lace puffery of Longoria’s Marchesa.

Jane Fonda looks AH-MAZ-BALLS.  That is all.

Chris Pine, looking stellar and Alec Baldwin,  are both in town to support Rise of the Guardians  As I mentioned earlier, Alec will also host Cannes biggest bash, the AmFar benefit.  He had his fiancé Hilaria in tow and she looked very old-Hollywood elegant and I don’t know anything about her other than she teaches yoga, but she’s obviously very good for Alec because he looks better than he has in years. Remember when he used to be HOT? 

Having a hot young wife is working for Bruce Willis too, one of the stars of Moonrise Kingdom. Love the tux Bruce.  Edward Norton showed up but, I wasn’t impressed with his suit. Make an effort. Even Bill Murray glammed up for the occasion. C'mon Ed, you don’t do this every day. You can continue saving the planet tomorrow.

God, aka Harvey Weinstein, made an appearance. I think I saw some people genuflecting in the background. Ewan McGregor cleaned up nicely. Not sure what’s up with that hair. Perhaps its an homage to David Lynch.

Hands down the best dressed for the second time today was his fellow juror Diane Kruger. Flawless.

So we’re off and running for eleven days of glitz, glamour, premieres and parties. And movie news. Lots and lots of movie news.  Apparently tonight’s, Moonrise Kingdom, was a hit with the audience at the Palais du Festival. More on that when it gets closer to home.

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First things first: How fierce does Diane Kruger look in that Gaultier dress?? Good thing, since she was standing next to the designer.

The occasion?

The 65^th Cannes Film Festival, the mack daddy of all film festivals, kicked off today in the south of France. The jury for the festival, or at least most of them, got things started with a photocall this morning.  The jury will decide, among other things, the winner of the fest’s most prestigious prize, the Palm d’Or (Golden Palm), which is essentially  a“Best Best Picture” (since there is also a Grand Jury Prize for Best Film).  Last year’s winner was Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life.

This year the multinational jury consists of Israeli actress Hiam Abbass (The Visitor), Italian writer/director Nanni Moretti (We Have a Pope), Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, German actress Diane Kruger, French actress Emmanuelle Devos (Coco Before Chanel), (Not pictured: American director Alexander Payne (The Descendents) and British director Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank)

Among the films in the running for the prestigious prize are David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, Walter Salles’ adaptation of the Beat Generation novel, On The Road, which features Kristen Stewart alongside Sam Riley and Kirsten Dunst, The Angels’ Share, British director Ken Loach’s new movie about a small-time criminal who is introduced to the world of high-end whisky distilleries in Glasgow, Lee Daniels’ The Paper Boy, which stars John Cusack, Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman, John Hillcoat’s Lawless starring Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Guy Pearce, Andrew Dominik’s  Killing Them Softly with Brad Pitt, Holly Motors with Eva Mendes, Jacques Audiard’s Rust & Bone with Marion Cotillard and Jeff Nichols’ Mud which stars Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon.

The festival, which runs from May 16 to 27, opens tonight with a gala screening of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which stars Tilda Swinton, Bruce Willis and Bill Murray and is set in New England in the summer of 1965.

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We have three charming new clips from Lasse Hallström’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen with the very charismatic Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. While technically a “romantic comedy”, it’s not your standard “rom-com”.  It’s of the kinder, gentler variety.

The synopsis:

From the beloved director of Chocolat and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire comes the inspirational comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. A visionary sheik (Amr Waked) has a big dream – to bring salmon fishing to the desert. Willing to spare no expense, he instructs his representative (Emily Blunt) to turn his dream into reality, an extraordinary feat that will require the involvement of Britain’s leading fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) who happens to think the project both absurd and unachievable. That is, until the Prime Minister’s overzealous press secretary (Kristin Scott Thomas) latches on for its potential as a ‘good will’ story. Now, this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.

The clips are basically expanded from some of the bits we’ve seen in the two trailers, we just get the full scenes.

The first clip features Kristin Scott Thomas as Patricia Maxwell, a press secretary with a problem on her hands: she needs to come up with a news item about the Middle East with a positive slant and she needs it pronto…

The second is very quiet and sweet. Ewan McGregor’s salmon expert, Dr. Fred Jones, has just invented a new fly…

The third is called “You Think I’m Mad” and it feature’s Amr Waked’s forward-thinking sheikh explaining his philosophy on the sport of fishing to Dr. Jones…

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen opens in the US on March 9 and 20th April in the UK.

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I meant to bring you this new UK trailer and the accompanying poster for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen way back on Valentine’s Day, but it somehow got lost in the shuffle. That I just got a ticket to a sneak preview jogged my memory, so I’m sharing them with you now.  Call me crazy, but as jaded and cynical as I consider myself to be, I have high hopes for this one. (Plus it's filmed partly in Scotland…with kilts…)

What this film has going for it is director Lasse Hallström. His films are almost always a quirky look at the human condition (My Life As  A Dog, Once Around, Cider House Rules) full of a lot of heart and he can even do all-out romance like Chocolate. (I’m not going to discuss Dear John). This film also has two charismatic leads in Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor (even if they are overly photoshopped in the posters). The supporting cast includes Kristin Scott Thomas (speaking English again. LOVE her reaction to the kilts!), Rachel Stirling (who appeared with Blunt in The Young Victoria) and Amr Waked as the visionary Sheikh who sets everything in motion. While technically a “romantic comedy”, it’s not your standard “rom-com”.  It’s of the kinder, gentler variety.

As I said this poster and trailer are aimed at the UK market and yet we, here in the US, get the film nearly a month and a half before they do on 20^th April.   I’ve seen nothing here and it opens in a little more than two weeks, on March 9.  What gives?  (I think I have to stop believing that the folks who make the decisions about how to market a film are inherently smarter than I am. Why would I assume that given how many times I’ve been left scratching my head this year alone? Pffft…)

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trailer from Yahoo

"Hey Fastbanger! My eyes are up here!"

"Just keep smiling and don't make me kick your ass again."

"You could try. I quite enjoyed it the last time. Especially the bit with your thighs wrapped around my head…'Oh the shark bites…with his teeth dear'…"

Your daily Fassbender today includes pics from the Haywire photocall held today February 15 at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin as part of the 62nd Berlinale. Haywire is screening out of competition at the festival but Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, director Steven Soderbergh and of course, star Gina Carano all came out in support of their film.

I have to say, these are the best pics I've seen of Carano. She certainly looks good in "the dress" (a reference to a line in the movie), even if she can't act her way out of a paper bag. Enjoy the pics!

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We have the first image from Eran Creevy’s Welcome to the Punch starring James McAvoy and Mark Strong. The story follows an ex-criminal (Strong) who is forced to return to London from his Icelandic hideaway when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives a dogged detective (McAvoy) one last chance to catch the man he’s always been after. It opens in September in the UK. No US date yet. You'd better believe I'll be keeping an eye on this one! (Thanks to ScreenDaily for the pic.)

We’ve got two new images from The Hunger Games! One of them shows Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman  with Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss and if I didn’t know that was Stanley Tucci, I would never guess. That is some wig.  The ‘interviewer’ or emcee of The Games, apparently Caesar is famous for changing the color of his lips, hair, and eyelids for each of the Hunger Games.  The other images shows Katniss in the crowd in District 12 at “the reaping” which is when participants in The Games are chosen.

Here’s a new look at Channing Tatum-tot and Academy*cough*Award*choke*nominee*pounds head on keyboard* Jonah Hill from 21 Jump Street. Dressed in their prom tuxes amid debris and hiding behind bullet-riddled furniture, I’m guessing they won’t be getting the deposit on the hotel room back.

Still not sure how I feel about The Five Year Engagement but the leads are pretty damn likeable. Emily Blunt and Jason Segel might be nearly as charming as Jason Segel and Amy Adams were in The Muppets. Hmm…I’m sensing a pattern here.

…But then again, Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor were charming together in the trailer for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

Here’s a new look at the Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) from The Pirates! Band of Misfits coming in March. The trailers for this are hilarious. Hopefully it will be available in 2D as well as the dreaded 3.

And finally, last (and certainly least) here’s another look at the master thespians of The Three Stooges, Will Sasso as Curley, Chris Diamantopolous as Moe and Sean Hayes as Larry. The movie’s out in April, though inexplicably not on the 1^st.

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Your daily Fassbender, doesn’t unfortunately include and ‘golf’ *cough* shots, but it does include a new image from Haywire plus  footage of that fight that we’ve been seeing in all of the clips and trailers for the film. You know the one, where former MMA fighter Gina Carano, who plays Mallory Kane, beats the living crap out of Michael Fassbender’s Paul. At least we can see how it was done so we know no Fassys were hurt in the process.

Haywire, an action thriller about a black ops soldier seeking revenge after being compromised during a mission, stars Carano, Fassbender, Ewan “My Heart is in the Highlands” McGregor *, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas and Bill Paxton. Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic") directed. It finally opens for all the world to see this Friday January 20. See it or Gina Carano will find you and kick your ass.

*another Golden Globes reference. I’ll forever hear McGregor’s name that way after hearing Christopher Plummer say it.

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