You CANNESnot Improve On Perfection

Cannes has rightly come under fire for their official poster artwork for the annual Film Festival next month. The image they use is an archive photograph of the legendary and beautiful actress Claudia Cardinale. Can you see what they've done?

That's right - they've airbrushed Cardinale's thighs and legs to make them appear thinner as well as bringing in her waist to be more in keeping with what is ludicrously considered attractive today.

Don't they know its impossible to improve upon perfection? This is like trying to photoshop the Mona Lisa.

The silly CANNEsts

Specs Appeal

Diana Dors at Cannes, 1956

Bikini Day

Apparently, it's National Bikini Day. Well, I couldn't let that one pass so to celebrate here's some iconic shots of Brigitte Bardot, bikini clad on the beach at Cannes, 1953

Cannes '65

As alluded to yesterday with those stunning photos off Karen Gillan (Batting Well Above Your Average) it's the Cannes Film Festival again this week. But here's a nice photo from Cannes past (1965 to be exact) and the then new British talent Ray Brooks and Charlotte Rampling, both looking rather gorgeous

Ray was there for Richard Lester's The Knack which gives me an excuse to show an old pencil drawing I did of him and Jane Birkin (in a non speaking dollybird part on the back of his scooter) in it

Batting Well Above Your Average

You're 'batting well above your average' when you look like this....

And you find yourself dating this vision of loveliness....

Karen Gillan photographed yesterday at the Cannes Film Festival.

Andrew Brooke may be a talented actor, but he's a lucky bugger first and foremost!

More Jon Finch - Macbeth

Because he always goes down well (and because I want to prove I can post blokes as well as dollybirds!) some snaps of him at Cannes in 1972 promoting Macbeth, with his co-star Francesca Annis and their director Roman Polanski

What threads huh? Finch would ditch the beard before filming The Final Programme without telling the director Robert Fuest, which took him by surprise, but on the whole he preferred him clean shaven.

I do like Polanski's Macbeth it's grimy, gloomy and gory and totally in keeping with the brooding brutality of The Bard (alliteration central here) I have fond memories of watching it in 4th year English at school as we were doing Macbeth for GCSE. Mr Wells (legend of a teacher) also showed us Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet complete with the then 15 year old Olivia Hussey's topless scene...but that's another story!

One other thing that strikes me about the film is the music, from the prog group The Third Ear Band. Here's just one of the tracks...