Cannes Film Festival Fever

The glamour and glitz of Tinseltown hit the French Riviera this week as the 61st Cannes Film Festival began.

The next 12 days will be full of A-listers, wannabes and executives schmoozing, posing and partying at the film industry's most famous and prestigious event. There will also be a good deal of serious film viewing and reviewing.

This year's festival is showcasing South American film and promises something for everyone, from dark independent European tales and quirky animation to good old-fashioned blockbusting Hollywood adventure.

Over 33,000 industry professionals will be in Cannes to see 22 movies fight it out for the coveted Palme d'Or for best film which is awarded on the final day, 25 May. Other awards in the motion picture competition include the Grand Prix, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor.

The main competition opens with Brazilian entry Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles who also directed City of God. It stars Julianne Moore and Gael Garcia Bernal caught up in a global blindness epidemic.

More big names in the feature film competition include Angelina Jolie in Clint Eastwood's Changeling, Benicio del Toro in Steven Soderbergh's Che, Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix in James Gray's Two Lovers and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York.

Matteo Garrone, Paolo Sorrentino and Ari Folman are some of the less mainstream directors competing for the big awards.

There are also competition prizes for new talent (Un Certain Regard), film school entries (Cinefondation) and short films. In addition, the festival features special screenings and out of competition showings.

This year the return of the well-preserved Harrison Ford as archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones is grabbing the headlines in the latter category. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is directed, as ever, by Steven Spielberg. Jack Black, Woody Allen and Robert de Niro are all involved in Out of Competition films too.

Madonna, Diego Maradona and Mike Tyson are just a few of the celebrities expected to strut their stuff on the Croisette, Cannes' main thoroughfare, during the next two weeks.

Britain is represented at the festival by first-time director Steve McQueen who opens the Un Certain Regard competition with his portrayal of the last six weeks in the life of Bobby Sands. The IRA hunger striker died in 1981 after 66 days without food. The short film category features a film made by English artist Sam Taylor-Wood and executive-produced by the late Anthony Minghella.

The juries for each competition category include international film actors, directors, writers, technicians, critics and journalists depending on the award. This year's feature film jury is led by American actor-director Sean Penn and includes US actress Natalie Portman and Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron.

Last year Cristian Mungiu won the feature film Palme d'Or with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.

The Cannes Film Festival may be a private, invitation-only affair but even we mere mortals can enjoy the unique atmosphere of the resort. EasyJet flies to Nice from London and most regional airports. UK travellers based in the North can fly from Manchester with Air France and KLM.

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Outdoor Movies without your Car

Outdoor movies probably originated with the invention of the drive-in theater in 1933. Richard M. Hollingshead of New Jersey was the first person to open one of these venues, but his idea quickly spread to several other states. Even though the speakers and pictures weren't always high quality, drive-ins were popular because of the concession stands that accompanied them and because they provided an activity that the whole family could enjoy together.

In spite of their popularity among families and youth in earlier days, drive-in movies have become rare novelties now for several reasons. First of all, real estate is more expensive today than it was in the 1930's, and that makes owning enough space for cars to park a bit costly. And secondly, drive-in business is limited by several unalterable factors like weather conditions, colder seasons, and a set number of darkened hours that are suitable for showing outdoor movies.

Even though drive-ins are disappearing, if you still want to enjoy the outdoor ambiance and large crowds that come with outdoor movies, there are other options you can choose. One course of action you can take is to make your own outdoor movie system. It doesn't need to be a permanent structure or anything fancy. In fact, many of them can be set up and torn down in a couple of minutes. All you need is a computer, some speakers, a screen of some sort and a projector.

Or, if you don't want to deal with storing the tools and ironing out technical difficulties yourself, there are a lot of companies that will bring everything - including the equipment, movie and refreshments - right to your door. Hiring a company that caters to your needs is definitely more expensive than most home-made outdoor theaters, but the cost can be offset by selling concessions or charging for admission.

No matter what option you choose, you'll find that watching a movie outside is a completely different experience than going to an indoor theater. While the film rolls, you can sprawl out on the lawn and some air mattresses or curl up in blankets if the night air is a little cool. Anything you feel like cooking is allowed to come with you and the stars glittering overhead create a matchless backdrop for the whole event.

Outdoor movies are popular among people of all ages and can be used as pure entertainment, fundraisers, celebrations and fun activities for all kinds of social gatherings.

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The Movie 21: The Ultimate Scholarship Essay?

Have college money troubles, or just need money in general? You might like the movie 21. Big money betting, playing cards, spending time in casinos in Las Vegas - what's not to like?

Blackjack Versus College
21 stars Kevin Spacey as a slick, conniving college professor Micky Rosa who can beat the casinos at their own game: Blackjack. He recruits costar Jim Sturgess, who plays a white and nerdy student at MIT named Ben Campbell. Ben can do serious math on the fly, gets all A's at MIT, and plans to go to Harvard Medical School. But Ben needs money. He works at a men's clothing store for $8 an hour, and can't pay for med school.

To get a jump on his graduate school money needs, Ben wants to win the prestigious Robinson Scholarship, a large award big enough to pay for all of Harvard Med, or about $300,000. Big money. Unfortunately, he may not have a chance against his competition for the scholarship: last year, the scholarship went to an immigrant with one leg. Worried, he starts looking for other ways to make money.

Professor Rosa and a cute MIT student and blackjack spotter Jill Taylor, played by Kate Bosworth, pull Ben onto the team for his stellar math skills. He starts spending every spare moment learning the ways of the blackjack table.

What Happens in Vegas
Prof Rosa and Jill, along with the rest of the team, drill Ben on the finer points of card counting to beat the house in Blackjack. They show him how the team works to win at the tables. When to split your hand, when to leave, when the deck is hot and so on. They also play around with a few disguises and personalities, to keep the casino guessing and to keep winning. I enjoyed watching the team work, with signals, code, shuffles and all. In real life, this would take many weeks, and then the casinos carefully watch for it at their own pits on camera.

If a casino catches them card counting, the penalty could be severe. You can probably find easier ways to get money for college than staring at the fist of a security manager named Cole, played by Laurence Fishburn. Cole doesn't tolerate counting at his tables, while at the same time losing customers to new security measures at casinos across town. Ben finds out the hard way that casinos like to keep their money.

The plot moves around, Boston to Las Vegas, in school to the Blackjack pits. You'll find a few twists, and you'll see the team live it up in Vegas. Ben and Jill have a few moments together, for a little love story.

Ben also alienates a couple of his brainy friends during the movie, and ruins some of their plans for another project. He has to deal with the ethics - the lies - about having lots of money around, flying to Las Vegas for the weekend constantly, and keeping secrets about his other group of friends.

As he gambles on the team and blackjack to pay for med school, he finds his life in a spiral. His life starts to fall apart, and the fun gives way to pressure. He has to stop it before he loses control completely, and can't reclaim his future or the present.

The movie has a fun, Hollywood finish. The specifics I'll leave for you to see in the movie itself. 21 entertained, and I enjoyed it. It has a few typical Las Vegas show scenes inappropriate for younger viewers.

Remember, this is a movie. You'll find a few good twists and some nonlinear story telling. I don't recommend earning money for college like this, but the scholarship essay adds to the ending. Go see it.

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Use of DVD is quite easy

DVD is a nice invention of the 20th century that is used simply to watch your beloved movies in some perfect quality together with your family at home. Lots of online websites offer you to download dvd movie and choose the format that is needed. For your convenience, better sites propose DVD and compressed formats of the films such as DivX and iPod (PDA) formats.

Anyway having searched movie in the network you'll realize that they are a lot more films to select from then in any local shop. One more benefit of looking for a film by means of the Internet is that you can find both newest and quite rare films there. Certainly, you ought to avoid strange resources that propose pirated content as you might be sued for getting films illegally.

The great way to choose the film for your family is to download comedy movie that will be interesting for everybody. It is really not a problem to record the downloaded movie onto DVD disk and then watch it on the home theatre. Watching a comedy movie you will have rest and do not pound over any daily problems. When you watch the happy ending you will be glad.

Look through the list of comedies available. You can look through descriptions and view the acting staff. Some online resources propose film ratings that may be utilized to choose the appropriate film. Such analysis brings a chance to avoid the probability of getting of not interesting movie.

Action movie is a genre that is quite widespread today, try to get it. As it is quite popular you may find it in almost every online dvd movies resource. To download action movie simply enter a proper website and utilize the searching bar. To choose the best film you may use the recommendations of the people or see its ratings and other stuff related to that film.

Most of action films comprise some violence and horrible scenes so do not allow your kids to watch it. The main feature of action movies is that there is usually a hero or a band of heroes that you may sympathize even when they perform some illegal actions. Please do not try to do the stunts you see in the films in your neighborhood.

There are lots of other genres to experiment with. Drama films are perfect if you like to know more about persons' feelings. Drama is also a popular kind of movies.

Most of searching systems that are included into the film catalogues may execute the search not just be the name but also by a year of release. Often it is very hard to find the movie that was released even several years ago.

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Thought You'd Watched The Original Film About A Resourceful Archeology Professor Fighting Nazi Germany? You Might Want To Think Again!

The plot might sound familiar: an unassuming Archeologist struggles against the growing might of pre-war Nazi Germany. In a thrilling adventure with the future of the Western world on the line, our hero has a very common last name, and is known for his daring bravado. But this isn't a blockbuster from George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg - in fact, while it might have influenced the 1981 movie you're probably thinking of, this film came out forty years before that!

In 1941, English actor Leslie Howard released a picture he had directed and produced with his own money, earned from his appearance in the Hollywood blockbuster Gone With The Wind(1939). Howard had portrayed honor-bound intellectual Southern gentleman Ashley Wilkes. Howard was passionate about the British war effort, and was concerned with alerting a wider audience to the growing threat of the Third Reich. Howard also wanted to produce a movie that would update his famous role as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) from Revolutionary France to pre-World War II Europe. The result was an amazing movie entitled Pimpernel Smith (1941), known as Mister V in the United States of America.

Howard portrayed the title character of Professor Horatio Smith, who uses his cover as an foppish archeologist to rescue racially persecuted intellectuals out of Nazi Germany. During one such daring adventure, Smith is wounded, revealing his secret to his admiring students. They enthusiastically join him in his fight, but things are complicated when one of his students brings a mysterious woman into their inner circle. Smith engages in a game of cat-and-mouse with a ruthless Nazi adversary who has been assigned to track him down.

The film is even credited with inspiring Swedish humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg, who attended a private screening with his sister Nina in 1942. "On the way home," Nina recalled, "he told me this was the kind of thing he would like to do." Wallenberg went on to lead a rescue operation in Budapest that, conservatively estimated, saved 15,000 Hungarian Jews from Hitler's concentration camps. It is hard to imagine that any other film has ever inspired an act of heroism on quite this scale.

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Musicals, Operas, Westend Shows Dazzling and Mesmerizing

Musicals, Operas, Westend Shows - Dazzling and Mesmerizing

How many of you have enjoyed the heart thumping music of Andrew Webber and hummed with the live orchestra "The phantom of the Opera is here...inside your mind..."? If you are a lover of musicals and a connoisseur of operas, chances are you must have, at least once or if you haven't as yet you still plan to experience that sooner or later. The power of opera - dazzling and mesmerizing the audience with its sheer elegance is undeniable. You sit there listening to the most talented artists sing and express their emotions - live in front of an audience with no window to commit a mistake. They do it for days after days and we the audience leave the theatre with an experience to live and relive for days to come. If you haven't experienced an opera or a musical, you must - the experience is definitely one must-have in a lifetime.

However just as enriching an experience of watching an opera is, it is as difficult to get the tickets for a good show as getting the right seats. You have to plan way ahead and often you will end up without a ticket. Tickets for the best operas and musicals sell like hotcakes and the ones that are left are exorbitantly priced. However there is good news - you can get all the latest updates about the operas and the musicals touring your city beforehand, plan your ticket accordingly and in fact go ahead and buy the tickets - all from the comfort of your home. www.ticketshout.com brings to you the opportunity to savour the pleasure of an opera without running around for the tickets to it.

Get a comprehensive listing of all the operas and musicals, ballets and dance events from Billy Elliot to Moon Water right at your desk when you visit www.ticketshout.com. You can register for their email newsletter to get the latest updates on the events in town or use their search to find the touring schedule of your favourite opera. Get alphabetical listing of all the musicals and operas touring the United Kingdom or are scheduled to tour this year. Mark your calendar as you browse through the events calendar in the website and block your days.

If you already have a ticket and have to change your plans for some last minute emergencies then don't think that you'll loose out on your money for the ticket. Ticketshout.com can even help you sell your tickets and connect you to good buyers and you will not be at a loss. Whether you are a buyer or a seller ticketshout.com ensures that you will get a safe platform to do your business. You can call ticketshout.com or become a member to get regular updates. Remember ticketshout.com does not actually sell or buy the tickets but connects you to the right sources that are safe and secure.

So enter ticketshout.com and plan a special evening with your family or friends and enrich your cultural life with the best musicals, operas or Westend shows in town.

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Outdoor Movies and the Resurrection of the Drive-In

The death of the drive-in was inevitable. Some may blame it on the land prices going up for those huge parking lots over the years, or simply T.V. viewing taking away that old tradition. Maybe it's a combination of both, but still we still feel the charm going to see cinema outside. There's a magic there that can't be replaced, that I think Americans recognize best.

Some may find it a twist of coincidence that the technology which made society turn away from the drive-in, come back again with powerful new projectors and state of the art audio equipment and bring the scene back, albeit with a few differences.

The 21st century saw an upsurge of the do-it-yourselfer going outside and putting up their own "drive-in,"-- not really a car park event (although this could be as you'll read further) as a picnic blanket lay down-and-view event.

Outdoor Movies and the Inflatable Movie Screen

In the 60's man landed on the moon. The computers they used were silly by today's standards. The amount of computing capacity could be found in a nice graphing calculator bought today. So based on what we know today, the experience the drive-in died out with, was taken up again by the do-it-yourselfer using the technological access who wanted the outdoor movies experience back.

Around the turn of the 21st century a new trend began where digital projectors and large screens posted outside were put to use using a receiver type movie player. Electronics and powerful digital technology became cheaper and processed more quickly and powerful. The iPod even made it possible to play stored digital movies.

The scene was often done at private parties or events where a nice white wall backdrop was used and someone rigging extension cords to power everything up. Now, the do-it-yourselfer system has even moved on to full fledged business models that employ portable inflatable movie screens.

The industry of outdoor movies has moved on and distanced itself from the home hobbyist. The professional outdoor movie DJ is distinctly different because of quality of equipment, which yield higher quality of experience, and level of professionalism. The cost of high-end equipment and ease of screen movement have made the business venture much less costly and portable.

So now the drive-in business is not necessarily dead. Using the same system, drive-ins have been hosted by the same set up as described. Inflatable screens are as large as military hovercrafts, reaching heights as tall as a two-story building. Take a random parking lot, a FM radio transmitter and a colossal blow-up screen and it's not much of change from those Grease movie drive-in days.

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