Besides being passionate about music, Hedi Slimane (featured image) is also fascinated with cinema. The artistic director of Celine has teamed up with Mubi to offer up his own selection of cult films and Hollywood gold, a welcome respite from the daily grind from the couch to the fridge and then to the washer-dryer.

Slimane's personal festival includes, "Pierrot Le Fou"

And  now, for the nearly-ritualistic Cannes Festival press release that announces little, leaves much to speculation and wraps up with a note of mystery while flirting with contradiction--and causes much collective eye-rolling in people, one would assume? It did in me, at least. I am rolling my eyes right now, at this strange bird of a message received in my inbox at 6 p.m. Paris time. It began thus: "Following the declaration

On January 29th, 1979, President Jimmy Carter and Chinese Deputy Premier Deng Xiaoping signed historic accords, reversing years of U.S. opposition to China. But now, on the forty-year anniversary of this normalization, the U.S. and China are at the threshold of what many fear is a new cold war.

“Better Angels,” a documentary directed by two-time Academy Award winner

Canceled, not canceled. And now--maybe--merely postponed? The Cannes Festival, in a PR pas-de-deux that has sowed confusion and let on few key details, has issued a press release last night. In its usual imperfect English (but their heart was in it), the Cannes communiqué went :

"Today, we have made the following decision : The Festival de Cannes cannot be held on the scheduled dates, from May 12

PARIS - "[with a view to] ... honor those involved in making cinema in 2019, to regain calm and to make the cinema festival [otherwise known as the ceremony “Les Césars”] a celebration, the board of directors of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema has made the decision to resign unanimously [...]”

So read part of the press release issued by the executive board of the César Awards last Thursday

Tonight in Hollywood, and across the globe, it's all about "Parasite." “Parasite” by the Korean director Bong Joon-Ho, netted four Academy Awards on Sunday, winning in the Best Film, Best Director (Bong Joon-ho), Best Foreign Film and Best Screenplay categories. What a winning streak! Joon-Ho made history, too, in the process. This is the first time that a non-English-language film won for Best Film at the Academy

Is Covid19, a.k.a. novel coronavirus, going to spell the death of the Cannes Festival this year? I say, I sure hope not. And, I really don't think so. But the signs, they're worrisome. According to the powers-that-be, France is currently in what is known as Phase Two. That's when a virus has entered the country and efforts are underway at containing it. Sibeth Ndiaye, President Macron's spokesperson, has hinted that a French coronavirus