Baby you can drive my car … Robert Pattinson at the Cosmopolis press conference. Photograph: Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images Cannes ends for me as it began, in the abiding darkness of the morning screening. Two rows down a man is snoring; across the aisle a woman is coughing. From time to time, the cougher wakes the snorer and there follows a few minutes of relative peace before he resumes his gentle buzz-saw rhythm. This festival has grown sick and tired and ready for bed. Cosmopolis Production year: 2012 Directors: David Cronenberg Cast: Jay Baruchel, Paul Giamatti, Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton More on this film But wait. Wake up, don't die just yet. A film is playing and it might be a winner. Up on the screen, ... Continue reading →

Les Négresses Vertes, formed in 1987, are a French music group who are best described as a fusion of world music and some aspects of alternative rock. Their particular musical influences were Algerian raï, Mediterranean and South American music and French café music.Their tracks often feature accoustic guitar and accordion, as well as some tracks containing many other 'traditional' instruments such as piano and brass. Their style is fairly upbeat and energetic on the majority of their tracks, with unusual rhythms, vocals delivered with a generous dose of zeal and vibrant energy, and accompaniment melodies ranging from lilting and distant to eccentric and fast-paced. These two factors give many of their pieces a strong sense of direction.HISTORYLes Négresses Vertes arose from the alternative music scene ... Continue reading →

Tangy gothic pantomime … Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron in The Paperboy. Photograph: Anne Marie Fox The Cannes film festival rolls clear through the weekend: it's not over until the fat lady sings. This morning, with the sun out and the sea brightly lapping, the guests down to watch Nicole Kidman piss on Zac Efron's face. I'm seeing this as a warm-up of sorts.My but The Paperboy is calamitous, a howling-yowling dog of a movie; far and away the worst in show. Lee Daniels does not so much direct as distract, grabbing hold of Pete Dexter's splendidly lean and lethal source novel and gorging it on so much junk-food that the plot plays out as a series of cardiac arrests. We get slow-motion, split-screen and ... Continue reading →