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“Mad Men” Shockers: OMG Moments in a Game Changing Episode (SPOILERS)

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Sunday night’s “Mad Men” episode– “The Better Half” — was a game changer, especially if parts of it weren’t a dream. Let’s assume that what happened between Don and Betty was not imaginary. Yikes. And Peggy and Ted? Where did that go? At least Peggy gets out of that apartment house and ditches Abe after stabbing him– what a great way to write him out. Plus Megan is finally confronting Don.

Things are explicit instead of implied as “Mad Men” hit episode 9. If there are only four episodes left of this season, then starting back with number 5, “For Immediate Release,” a certain torpor has lifted. Betty was suddenly hot and sexy again in the episode 8, with no explanation of how she shed her weight or that storyline. That’s fine. It’s as if January Jones has been let out of purgatory. And in “The Better Half” we got Roger actually acknowledging his child with Joan. (Not like Pete and Peggy and their baby.)

“The Better Half” was plot driven for a change. It didn’t have the great metaphors of “The Crash,” with all the mother issues and Sally’s realization at age 13 that she knows nothing about her father. But “The Better Half” did have kind of a David Lynchian feel at the summer camp. That was intriguing. Still, we do know more about Don now, especially his pillow talk with Betty.

And Matthew Weiner is starting to show the crime element in New York circa 1968 that would go on for the next dozen or so years. How many times were there ambulance sirens in the background tonight? This was the New York pre-Ed Koch and during the financial decline that culminated in 1975.

Finally: what does Bob Benson want? And wasn’t it a hoot when Roger called him Bunson? There’s more there than meets the eye.

Great episode. Who wants to make a bet that Betty gets pregnant with Don’s baby? Hmmm…maybe it was just a dream…

Cannes Prizes Go to Lesbian Love Story, Coens, Bruce Dern, Berenice Bejo

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The 2013 Cannes jurors have spoken. “Blue is the Warmest Colour,” a lesbian love story nearly three hours long with scenes of graphic sex, won the Palme D’Or. “Inside Llewyn Davis,” from the Coen brothers, won the Grand Prix. Bruce Dern and Berenice Bejo won Best Actor and Actress respectively. “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Nebraska” are set up as major Oscar contenders now. This may knock out the chances for Robert Redford’s “All Is Lost” because just so many of these films are going to make it to the finish line. Cannes 2013 is hereby declared over.

MAIN JURY PRIZES

Palme d’Or: La Vie d’Adele

Grand Prix: Coens — “Inside Llewyn Davis”

Director: Amat Escalante “Heli”

Jury prize: Like Father Like Son

Actor:  Bruce Dern

Actress: Berenice Bejo

Screenplay: A Touch of Sin

Exclusive Cannes Awards: June Squibb in Mix; Coens ‘Yes’, ‘No’ on Michael Douglas, ‘Maybe’ for Berenice Bejo

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SECOND UPDATE: 11:55am EST: Crazy yes. But I am hearing June Squibb, the 78 year old actress who stars with Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” is in the mix strongly for Best Actress at Cannes. Is it possible? If so, it’s rockin’ news. Squibb appeared Jack Nicholson’s wife in Alexander Payne’s “About Schmidt” in 2002. She hadn’t worked much until then, but has been busy ever since. She’s lovely in “Nebraska.” The drama continues…

UPDATE: Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis” is winning something. Lead actor Oscar Isaac is flying back to Cannes right now from another stop in Europe. Also Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” is being talked about.

Keep refreshing for updates: It’s around 2:30pm in Cannes, and everyone is waiting for word from the Cannes jury about the award winners for the Palme D’Or. It’s a little like watching for smoke from the popes. The word this afternoon is that Michael Douglas has been told he did not win Best Actor for playing Liberace in “Behind the Candelabra.” The movie debuts tonight on HBO. Both Douglas and Matt Damon are superb in the Steven Soderbergh film. They will definitely be getting Emmy awards and Golden Globes. It’s s ahame the jurors didn’t choose him. Don’t miss this premiere tonight on HBO.

So: who will get Best Actor? Bruce Dern could nail it for “Nebraska” or Oscar Isaac for “Inside Llewyn Davis” if the jury wants an American. Otherwise, there are several solid choices among the non Americans including Matthieu Amalric in “Venus in Fur” and “Jimmy P.” The latter was a terribly uninteresting movie, but Amalric is a popular choice.

One movie that is probably getting some kind of award: “The Past” (“Le Passe”), an Iranian film directed by Asghar Farhadi. that had a lot of support. Star Berenice Bejo has been asked to come back to Cannes from Paris, according to my sources. Either the film or Bejo could be winners. Bejo, of course, starred in  “The Artist” and is married to that film’s director, Michel Hazanvicius.

Shamed French Politician DSK Hits Cannes Red Carpet with Girlfriend

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Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Aka DSK was alleged to have raped a New York hotel maid in 2011. The French politician and head of the IMF and his wealthy wife Anne Sinclair stayed in Tribeca and became a cause celebre. Eventually they returned to France and separated. In the last couple of months, director Abel Ferrara shot a movie about them starring Gerard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset.

So: DSK turned up on the red carpet in Cannes on Saturday night with his new girlfriend. The movie was Jim Jarmusch’s vampire flick, “Only Lovers Left Alive.” DSK and Myriam L’Aouffi, 45, who’s in public relations for French television, did the whole number. My friends still in Cannes say they created quite a buzz, and not in a good way.

DSK and Sinclair are not divorced, as far as anyone knows. And one of his former girlfriends is publishing a book about DSK. He’s the Anthony Weiner of France in that his story is not disappearing. Waltzing up the red carpet in front of press from a hundred countries doesn’t help either.

Cannes: Standing Ovation for Roman Polanski’s “Venus in Fur”

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The screening for Roman Polanski‘s “Venus in Fur” just finished in Cannes. Polanski’s French film adaptation of the Broadway hit received a 10 minute standing ovation. The entire jury, including Steven Spielberg and Nicole Kidman, were present. The jury is said to be divided on what will win the main prizes tomorrow (Sunday). They had to wait until “Venus in Fur” debuted tonight, bringing the voting to the last minute. Tonight they will  deliberate. Michael Douglas is the clear front runner for Best Actor in “Behind the Candelabra,” but you never know about these things. At the same time, 19 year old actress Adele may have jumped out ahead in the three hour steamy lesbian drama “Blue Ruin.” For the Palm D’Or Best Picture it’s a very tough race. My choice would be the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” but Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” is a gem. And there are several non English films held in high regard including “Blue Ruin.” So hold on for reports since yours truly has landed in New York to much the same weather we had in Cannes– rain, cold, wind. Sacre bleu!

Tom Cruise: “Oblivion” Is Latest to Fall Short of $100 Mil

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Tom Cruise is out of “The Man from UNCLE,” which is good news since he was entirely miscast as Napoleon Solo. But more pressing news for Cruise is that his latest, “Oblivion,” shows a trend for the man who rules “Mission Impossible.’

“Oblivion” will not make $100 million in the United States, even though it had a strong start when it opened. Right now “Oblivion” is at $86.5 million. This past week it fell into a decline from which it will not recover. The action thriller from Joseph Kosinski will tail off before $90 mil is reached.

Cruise is pretty much confined now to Mission Impossible as safety franchise. His non branded  movies– “Reacher,” “Valkyrie,” “Knight and Day” — have averaged around $75-$80 million. That’s a lot of money for some movies. But let’s not forget– Cruise films cost a fortune starting with his salary and perks.

Where Cruise is a hit still is abroad. “Oblivion” had made all its real money in South Korea, Russia, Australia and elsewhere. This is why Cruise’s movies open first around the world before they come here. And why he now limits his press in the U.S. after doing marathon photo calls at foreign locales.

Meantime, Paramount made a big deal of announcing that Cruise would be back for “Mission Impossible 5.” But so far there’s no word on Jeremy Renner, who energized ‘MI4″ and was supposed to be the heir apparent in that series.

 

Spielberg Skips amFAR, DiCaprio Refuses to Allow Pictures

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The annual amFAR rat-circus at the Eden Roc was notable for many things, none of which were conveyed by the press who attended. To wit: jury chief Steven Spielberg skipped the event as did most of the jury. Only Nicole Kidman and Christoph Waltz attended, and briefly. In past years, the jury leader–like Robert DeNiro–at least put in an appearance.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who’s been holed up at the Hotel du Cap since last Tuesday a week courtesy of Warner Bros., refused to allow anyone to photograph him. My sources say he was an Invisible Man. Later he took most of the celebrities and hosted an after party at a private villa–eschewing the official after party.

During the auction, DiCaprio let some sucker pledge $1.5 million to ride with him in outer space. I don’t know how the winner would ever collect on this prize. First of all, commercial space travel is like human cloning and the metric system. Second, DiCaprio if he were to go in space, would require several bodyguards, a velvet rope and a VIP room. At all “Gatsby” events he’s rhe efused to remain with the public, even if they’re already vetted and Id’D as important people. Good luck with that.

“Cinema Against AIDS” made a lot of money, but it was largely due to the return of Sharon Stone. She was banished in 2010, but needed desperately. And you can see it worked.

But party planners really goofed, I am told. The winds were so high and the temperatures so cold that guests were shoved into the Eden Roc later like sardines. Also, traffic in and out of the duCap-Eden Roc driveways tied up the Antibes roads like crazy. “There were riots inside and out and a lot of angry guests,” a source who was up there told me. I was graciously invited by Moncler to the after party, but the traffic was prohibitive. That was amFAR’s fault.

DiCaprio by the way is going next to the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. He’s been at least three times to the famed Michelangelo restaurant in Antibes. His mother told me he gave her and her boyfriend an all expenses paid stay at the duCap and at the Festival, which was pretty nice.

Meantime, while amFAR raged on in its oveheated tent, the real place to be was the very chic and famous Tetou, on the water in Antibes. This is where a bowl of bouillabaisse starts at $150 a bowl. It was packed on Thursday night with the rich and the famous who departed amFAR in search of something better. They found it.

 

Cannes Jewelry Heist: “We Have Insurance and it’s Great Publicity”

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This year’s Cannes Film Festival–from which I have now escaped–has been full of jewelry heists. And they are much publicized. First Chopard announced they’d lost a million dollars worth of baubles from a safe in a off the path hotel. Then De Grisogono, not to be left out, said they’d had a $2.6 million necklace stolen from them.

Are these people serious?

First of all, twice I asked Chopard’s much loved chief, Caroline Scheufle, if there had been any news of the jewels since the theft — in which a safe was allegedly cut of out of a hotel room and removed in whole–had occurred earlier in the week.

She said, each time: “We have plenty of insurance. It’s great publicity. It’s no big deal.”

And that’s true. A million dollars to Chopard is walking around money. And Caroline did say, “Everyone knows Chopard now.”

But then: De Griosogno, run by Caroline’s ex husband Fawaz Gruosi, had their theft on Wednesday night during their big soiree at the Eden Roc in the Hotel du Cap. Both Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio were in attendance. Somehow, with locks, alarms and security teams, someone knocked off a $2.6 mil diamond necklace.

What’s going on here? Chopard – the jewelry company that rules Cannes– may have felt that they were being overshadowed. Tiffany and Co, came in as a sponsor of all things Great Gatsby for opening night. They’d never done that before. The Chopard response to the burglary was bizarre enough to get Croisette tongues wagging. Cannes Film Festival is all about p.r. and hype.

And De Grisogono? Schuefle married Gruosi in 1985. In 1993 he started De Grisogono. Shortly after establishing that brand, the couple divorced. They are now rivals on the Croisette for attention, although Chopard is much better known. It’s not a shock that De Grisogono jumped on the burglary bandwagon.

Will these crimes ever be solved? Doubtful. Cannes has always been subject to crime. A few years ago, producer Graham King was burgled at the Hotel du Cap. It happens. Thieves follow drivers and expensive cars from the airport to hotels, and size them up.

Coming Home: Bruce Dern Film Gets 10 Minute-Plus Standing O in Cannes

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Bruce Dern’s long and complicated career in Hollywood got new wind and a major boost Thursday night in Cannes. Dern’s starring role in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” received a 10 minute or more standing ovation at its black tie premiere, with hoots, hollers, stomping and clapping. Unlike The Great Gatsby, “Nebraska” had a rare Cannes premiere– where they stop the credits and turn up the lights because the audience is going crazy.

Payne–director of “The Descendants,” “Sideways,” and “About Schmidt: among others–has made a unique drama of genuine Americana, a gem of a film in black and white that explores many serious themes but has just enough off beat laughs to lighten the mood.

Like all of Payne’s films, this is a road trip movie.  Dern’s Woody Grant maybe has onset dementia. He is a lifelong fucntioning alcoholic, still married to the same woman and father to two adult sons (Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk). He receives a scam letter from a contest company congratulating him on winning a million dollars. The result is a trip from Billings Montana to Omaha Nebraska– which Forte (from Saturday Night Live and McGruber) indulges to mollify his dad.

The movie becomes a meditation on fathers and sons, parents and adult children, reunited families, and the culture of the bleak mid west. There are times when it’s slow, but that may be because of the cadences of the speakers, and the look of the film. The screenplay is by Bob Nelson, and it’s his first feature after some work in television. He’s from South Dakota and this may autobiographical. (Who knows? There are no press notes.)

Some casting highlights: Rance Howard, father of director Ron Howard, plays Woody’s brother and has a substantial role. But June Squibb is a standout as Woody’s wife. She played Jack Nicholson’s wife in “About Schmidt.” Here Payne, with Nelson, gives her much more to do and she shines. Stacy Keach is Woody’s lifelong rival and local bully.

Kudos to Forte and Odenkirk. Forte is a surprise. But he and Dern are perfectly cast as father and son. Their scenes are sublime. Paramount Vantage is releasing “Nebraska,” obviously for Oscars. I hope they take care of it. This is a gentle little film that needs a lot of nurturing. But it’s also going to touch a lot of people and really hit home. Payne really knows how to make these films. My hat is off to him.

Dern’s famous actress daughter Laura was his date last night. (Her mother is Diane Ladd.) Dern has a robust CV: his peak was “Coming Home” in 1978. He played Tom Buchanan in the 1974 “Great Gatsby,” and had a great run in through the 70s. I always thought they should have made a movie of “Rabbit Run” with him. He’s 77 years old, and this is going to be the big moment of his career. Nice.

Who Will Play Stephen Hawking? Movie of Life Underway

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Exclusive: Genius physicist and Albert Einstein of our day, Stephen Hawking is best known for publishing “A Brief History of Time.” Now his life and theories are going to be put on the big screen for everyone a la “A Beautiful Mind.” I am told that James Marsh, who made “Man on Wire” and many other fine films, is scheduled to direct a film called “The Theory of Everything.” It will comprise Hawking’s life and teachings. The title is from his 2007 book of the same name that comprised four lectures. The word is that casting has begun and the producers– Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan– are looking for the  2013 version of Daniel Day Lewis. Hawking is only wheelchair free for the first ten pages of the script. After that, his physical life will be portrayed as he is today. There’s an Oscar in there for whoever plays him. Of course, as always, Robert Downey Jr. comes to mind.