An Ideal Husband Closes Cannes Film Fest The 1999 Cannes Film Festival concluded Sunday evening with the Awards ceremony followed by the screening of An Ideal Husband. The red carpet entry at the Palais is such a nice contrast to the Academy Awards in that one star, or one film's entourage of stars, enter at a time, thereby, everyone's attention is focused on one solitary thing, and it seems so relaxed compared to the Oscar cattle call. What WAS noticeable was how few stars there were this year! Thank god for the An Ideal Husband cast!! They saved the day! Cate looked ravishing in a long, sparkling black number which she wore off-the-shoulder, with a small matching handbag. Her hair was worn up, and she seemed to wear a bit more makeup than usual with the overall effect being most glamorous. It's always so intriguing to watch the stars of a film walk en masse down the carpet like some miniature Rockettes chorus line. Director Oliver Parker was flanked by Jeremy Northam and Julianne Moore on the right and Rupert and Cate on the left. They all walked arm in arm and it was quite an impressive display!! Cate and Rupert together, arms around each other...well, the dreams THAT image will inspire. *laugh* But, Cate's work was not over with making a stunning entrance. She also presented the Grand Jury Award, along with Lambert (Rendezvous) Wilson. The announcers for the IFC broadcast were the articulate and multi-lingual Annette Insdorf, who is a film professor at Columbia, and film journalist Roger Ebert. Annette made mention of Cate's stunning performance in Elizabeth as Cate walked out to present the award, and Roger declared, "She's a REAL star!". Cate and Lambert walked to the podium and Cate said in French, "Sorry, I speak French like an Australian cow". *laugh*. She then continued in English before turning it over to Lambert. Jury President David Cronenberg then announced the Jury Prize winner as L'Humanite. Cate, Lambert and the director of L'Humanite then walked to the front of the stage after his acceptance and were photographed. At the end of the ceremony, all the winners and presenters came out for one last photo session. Cate was seen holding hands and talking with Geraldine Chaplin, Charlie's daughter. All in all, it was a VERY strange awards ceremony. None of the predicted winners won, Cronenberg's influence no doubt, and by the end there were catcalls and some booing. Lovely Sophie Marceau presented the Palme D'Or, but, not before giving a long, rambling, extemporaneous speech that brought widespread whistling and booing from the audience. Her free-association rant was reminiscent of Fiona Apple at the MTV Awards a couple of years back. Ultimately, lovely Kristen Scott Thomas, the beautiful and bi-lingually talented hostess of the evening, cut her off. The Palme D'Or was won by the Belgian film, Rosetta, from the makers of the terrific film, La Promesse of a few years back. So, all in all, it was definitely an off year for Cannes, but, an ON year for Cate lovers. A Banger Upton - Blanchett Short Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have a total scoop for you here! On June 23, the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles will be presenting an evening of "Down Under Shorts", which is just what it sounds like. Rachel Griffiths short, "Tulips", which just played the Seattle Film Festival will be screened, with hopes that that dag Rachel might be there in person, in that her feature, My Son, the Lunatic will be screened by the AC three days later. Also, a short with Hugo Weaving, a co-star from Cate's stage past and most recently seen as the strange talking heavy in The Matrix, will be screened. But, the BIG news will be the screening of "Bangers", a short film written and directed by Andrew Upton, Cate's husband. This seven minute film chronicles what occurs when a woman gets progressively drunker as she makes dinner. Guess who plays the woman? Yep!! Our Cate! Apparently, the cast consists of only two people, Cate and an older woman whom I believe plays her mother. A friend at the AC who has seen the film says it is a delight, with Cate doing yet another one of her chameleon turns in a role that renders her all but unrecognizable. There is also hope that Andrew might be accompanying the film to Los Angeles. We will keep you informed on the events as they are made known to us. Aussie News Alert! As far as movies are concerned..Cate's latest flick, Pushing Tin, will debut at theatres July 22nd. At last...Elizabeth will be released to video June 23rd. Here in Melbourne, video stores have posters up all over the place...which is a great sign for a film yet to be released in over a month. As for a "Yank News Alert", be reminded that An Ideal Husband will be released in Los Angeles and New York on June 18, with a nationwide opening on June 25.

Bridget Jones's Diary Update We've been following the BIG news of Cate being pegged to play the title role in Helen Fielding's phenomenally popular smash, "Bridget Jones's Diary". More details regarding the production are beginning to come to light. According to the Sunday Times UK, Colin Firth, who played Darcy in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, is expected to play Bridget's love interest, Mark Darcy. Sharon McGuire, a close friend of author Fielding and the model for Jones best friend, Shazza, has been picked to direct the film. And, in what is bound to set tongues wagging all over, Richard Curtis has apparently been called in by Working Title to act as script doctor. Dissatisfaction with Fielding's screenplay has resulted in this action, due to reports that Fielding's novel approach wasn't translating well to screen. It would be hard to go wrong with the brilliant Curtis, writer behind Four Weddings, Notting Hill, Mr. Bean, Blackadder, etc. What REALLY makes this story rich is the fact that Fielding and Curtis used to be a couple, going back to their Oxford days. The couple met there when Richard saw Helen in a school play. Friends have reported that Fielding once held out hope for wedding bells until Richard became involved with someone else. Yikes! To be a fly on the wall when those two get together. Talk about life imitating art. More details to come... Cate + DeNiro, Cate + Cher ? It seems Cate is being mentioned in connection with every film project on the horizon these days. A few, such as being affiliated with the new Emir Kusterica film, The White Hotel, seem very shaky, in that Cate is just one of about twenty actresses Emir is considering at this time. Much more concrete are the following stories reported this past week. According to the May 23 edition of The Daily Telegraph UK: Aussie Cate Blanchett's film star status is continuing to sparkle with reports she is soon to perform alongside screen legend Robert De Niro and Cher. The 30-year-old Oscar nominee was believed to be close to signing up for a role with De Niro in The Man Who Cried, The Daily Telegraph said. The $US25 million ($A38 million) movie, to be directed by Sally Porter, tells the tale of the romances of a Russian dancer in war-torn Europe. Blanchett, is also in talks to star in The Snow Queen ­ a movie based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale ­ with actor and international singing star Cher. The BBC's international sales arm Worldwide and its BBC Films business are to fund the film which will be produced by Nick O'Hagan. Our best guess to making all the pieces of this puzzle fit would have Cate filming Bridget Jones's Diary upon completion of her run in "Plenty" in London. That would free her to shoot the long-anticipated Dreamtime Alice in the fall, with the DeNiro film to shoot at the beginning of 2000. Kusterica's film is not expected to go before the cameras before the spring of 2000 at this point, so who knows. All the wild cards to upsetting this scenario may be found in our next story, "Chameleon Cate Preggers?". Chameleon Cate Preggers? On Saturday, Cate joined Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore and Jeremy Northam for the gala Sunday screening of Oscar Wilde's The Ideal Husband - the closing film at the 12-day Cannes Film Festival. According to both Brit and Aussie press sources, Ms Blanchett denied rumours that she was pregnant when she arrived in Cannes. The 30-year-old Australian, who won a Bafta earlier in the year for her starring role in Elizabeth, said: "According to the British newspapers I am supposed to be pregnant but I can safely say I am not." The stories began earlier in the week, along the lines of: "Earlier this week, the former NIDA graduate's desire to have a baby with her husband, script editor Andrew Upton, was reportedly hampering her decision on whether to star in a Broadway production of 'Plenty'. Blanchett is currently starring in the play in London's West End but friends have revealed she was seriously considering starting a family." For those in the States, Cate's mere contemplation of bringing "Plenty" to Broadway is extremely exciting. It is hard to imagine anyone being any hotter than Cate is right now, already with a full plate, and offers coming furiously from every direction. She is certainly in the richly deserved Captain's seat right now. Until next time, remember, when all else fails, "PLAY A VOLTA!".

Aussie Cate Online © 1999 Lin, Dean, Lance
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