A wet and controversial Cannes has still produced some excellent films, says Geoffrey Macnab

I fear that someone has been having our Gallic friends across la Manche on. Somehow, they've come to believe that the pasty-faced, soap-dodging would-be troubadour that is Pete Doherty is not only cool, but that he is a sensible choice for the romantic lead in a period film.

Brad Pitt's role as a brutal mob enforcer is not just a gangster story but a commentary on modern living, he said today.

Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece The Shining is the director's take on the Holocaust. Or is it about the treatment of Native Americans? Or numerology? Or how Kubrick – fresh from filming 2001: A Space Odyssey – was behind the faked filming of the moon landings?

Doherty is perfectly cast as 19th-century dandy

The sunbaked Cannes Film Festival got under way with Wes Anderson's “Moonrise Kingdom,” whose carefully composed whimsy stood in stark contrast to the zoo-like atmosphere at the annual French Riviera extravaganza.

A glittering cast has been assembled for Cannes, take 65 – no wonder the world's most prestigious film festival is feeling bullish

'On the Road' will be keenly awaited as the first film adaptation of Kerouac's classic book

Now... Next Wednesday, depart for a week at the Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica Hotel for £778pp, just a few blocks from the beach. The deal with Hayes & Jarvis includes Delta flights from Heathrow via Minneapolis and room-only board. Hayesandjarvis.co.uk

Prime Minister's private guests all had one thing in common: wealth

What was clear last night is that the Oscars are now a surprise-free zone. By the time the statuettes are dished out on a Sunday night in late February, there have been so many other awards ceremonies already that it is already ordained what will win.

He directed some of the most memorable films of recent times, but he has had enough. He explains why to Tom Teodorczuk

Bérénice Bejo has until now been restricted to minor mainstream roles and sidekick parts in French farces. But Oscar buzz is growing thanks,somewhat oddly, to a black-and-white throwback to Hollywood's silent era.

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