The third day of Cannes is upon us, but before we set sail: Tilda Swinton, receiving rave reviews, of course, on “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” Tilda — and this is EXCLUSIVE to this column–is getting ready to make a vampire movie with the great director Jim Jarmusch. The announcement will come shortly, probably here at Cannes. And yes, Tilda herself will be putting the bite on unsuspecting strangers. Will all the vampire films and TV shows out there, you can bet that Jarmusch–whose resume includes such classics as “Broken Flowers” and “Down by Law” will have the most interesting and hip take of all. A very exciting move…
…Brian DePalma is back. Also EXCLUSIVE to this column, DePalma is on track to make an American version of a French film, “Crine d’Amour” that played at Cannes last year. DePalma’s thriller will be called “Passion.” It’s been a while since DePalma went to work. His last films were “Redacted” and “Femme Fatale.” His classics are numerous, from “Dressed to Kill” to “Body Double.” Hopefully, “Passion” will see return to his Hitchcockian best…
…”Cannes is slow,” say the cab drivers and our ever intrepid regular driver, Sebaastian. There’s worry that the crowds are not particularly thick, and that business may be off. It probably doesn’t help that the weekend schedule is lighter than usual, with all the big action starting on Monday. The Saturday night premiere of “Pirates of the Carribbean” should help, however. But at least Woody Allen’s group–Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen–have stuck around. And once Gus van Sant’s “Restless” screens some more, Mia Wasokowska and Henry Hopper are going to be very much in demand…