entertainment - latimes.com

Cannes 2013: Alexander Payne's 'Nebraska' draws strong notices

By John Horn — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:57:00 PDT

Alexander Payne’s new movie, “Nebraska,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to largely favorable yet occasionally qualified reviews.

Cannes 2013: Leonardo DiCaprio space flight goes for $1.5 million

By Rebecca Keegan — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:35:00 PDT

A guest at a charity auction at Cannes has paid 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) for a trip into space with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Cannes 2013: Jerry Lewis' awkward press conference

By Steven Zeitchik — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:27:00 PDT

CANNES, France — Jerry Lewis is premiering his new film — his first in 18 years — in Cannes on Thursday night, as the Daniel Noah-directed “Max Rose” plays for festgoers. But the octogenarian was creating a little in-person drama at the festival Thursday afternoon, when he let loose at a press conference with a barrage of hammy material that didn’t always land.

'The Bling Ring' comes full circle for Alexis Neiers

By Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:48:00 PDT

As the Sofia Coppola film starts getting buzz at Cannes and elsewhere, a real-life protagonist ponders her former chaotic life.

"Can you give mommy a cue? Are you hungry?" 21-year-old Alexis Neiers cooed to her crying newborn in the middle of a faux-upscale Calabasas restaurant last week. "When she puts her hands in her mouth, she's hungry. Right now, she's just tired. Maybe a little constipated."

In 'Touch of Sin,' Jia Zhangke changes his style but not themes

By Dennis Lim — Sat, 25 May 2013 07:00:00 PDT

An early favorite at Cannes, the martial arts movie of sorts bears the stamp of a director who has been on the side of China's have-nots.

CANNES, France — "A Touch of Sin," an early critical favorite among the films in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year, has been widely greeted as signifying a new direction for the Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. The claim is only partly true. A martial arts movie of sorts, this is the first genre picture by Jia, 43, known for such contemplative dramas and documentaries as "Still Life" (2006) and "24 City" (2008), which reveal how the forces of modernization and globalization have affected individual lives in 21st century China.

James Gray brings a film to Cannes five years after being booed

By Steven Zeitchik, Los Angeles Times — Fri, 24 May 2013 05:00:00 PDT

The writer-director's 'The Immigrant,' with Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard, is his first since 2008's 'Two Lovers,' which didn't fare well at the festival.

CANNES, France — For the better part of two decades, director James Gray has been making textured dramas about people, often immigrants and their children, who experience all manner of frustration and struggle. It prepared him well for the events of the last five years.

Cannes Film Festival: J.C. Chandor's 'All Is Lost' is unusual survival tale

By Steven Zeitchik, Los Angeles Times — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:25:00 PDT

The 'Margin Call' director's new film has one character, played by Robert Redford, who speaks little during a struggle to survive on a damaged sailboat.

CANNES, France — For his 2011 Wall Street drama "Margin Call," writer-director J.C. Chandor put an ensemble of stars including Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore and Zachary Quinto into corporate offices and had them talk furiously as a crisis at their characters' firm climbed up to the executive suites.

Weinstein Co. acquires Stephen Frears' latest, 'Philomena'

By Susan King — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:13:00 PDT

"Philomena," the latest film from Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Frears (“The Queen,” “The Grifters”), has been acquired by Weinstein Co. for distribution in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain after a bidding war with several studios.

Cannes 2013: Reviewers onboard for 'All Is Lost'

By John Horn — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:16:00 PDT

Some called it “Life of Pi” without the tiger.

Cannes Notebook 2013: A hotbed of criminal activity too?

By Kenneth Turan and Steven Zeitchik, Los Angeles Times — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 PDT

Plus, at Le Marche, movies from across the globe are for sale; and, dumpster-diving for festival-related trash.

CANNES, France — Visitors exiting the Carlton hotel's front door on this city's beachfront main street this week can't help but see a giant map of France with Cannes listed as being a "Safe Zone." "This Is the Safest Place to Be," one poster insists, though another implores the public, "Stay Off the Streets."