Michelle Williams, 27, made her first red carpet appearance since her daughter’s father, Heath Ledger, died of a prescription drug interaction on January 22. People Magazine reports that she made a last-minute decision to fly to Cannes to promote her film, Wendy and Lucy. She wore “vintage Chanel Haute Couture” to the premiere of the film last night, and appeared refreshed and happy at a photocall with her co-stars today.

“It was decided on Monday night that she could come to Cannes, and she got on the next plane to arrive just in time to get dressed and come to our premiere,” said a rep for Wendy and Lucy. “She came in and had a long nap and then came to the screening.”

Williams, 27, was radiant in a vintage Chanel Haute Couture dress. She will remain in Cannes at least through Friday night to promote another festival movie in which she appears, Synecdoche, New York, before flying back to the United States to resume filming a Martin Scorsese movie in Boston.

[From People]

Williams is the star of the film Wendy and Lucy, which IMDB describes as “a narrative feature about woman whose life is derailed en route to a potentially lucrative summer job. When her car breaks down, and her dog is taken to the pound, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she is lead through a series of increasingly dire economic decisions.” Williams’ performance has been well reviewed. Cinematical notes that she didn’t attend the screening for the film, and that it is thought that she attended the screening for Adoration next door.

I love her hair like that, it’s lovely in soft controlled waves. She looks beautiful and relaxed, and this seems like a good time for her to resume her career and start making public appearances again.

Also shown at the photocall are Samantha Morton, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener. Thanks to WENN.

Benicio del Toro, Franka Potente and Julia Ormond were among the stars representing the film Che at a photocall in Cannes today. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Che is actually two films in one, Argentine and Guerilla and lasts a whopping four hours and 18 minutes. Most critics are raving about the film and Del Toro’s performance, and say it’s a front-runner for the top prize at the festival. Che depicts the overthrow of Cuban dictator dictator Fulgencio Batista, and has plenty of battle scenes and action.

41 year-old Benicio del Toro is Che Guevera. German actress Franka Potente, 33, plays former Stasi operative Tamara “Tania” Bunke Bider, the only woman to fight with the rebels under Che. You may know Potente as Jason Bourne’s love interest, Marie, in the first two Bourne films or as Lola in the 1998 German film Run Lola Run. She’s a great actress and I’d love to see her in more Hollywood movies.

Also shown are Julia Ormond, Rodrigo Santoro, Catalina Sandino Moreno and director Steven Soderbergh. Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Sharon Stone showed up to support Madonna at the premiere of her vanity project charity documentary I am, Because in Cannes. Madonna wore a questionable v-neck striped sequin gown with cut out shoulders and an oversize black vinyl belt. Her dress changed from black to white and the ends of the sleeves and skirt were cut in icicle-like strips. It looked like a figure skating outfit adapted for evening wear.

According to IMDB, I am, Because is “A look into the lives of Malawi’s 1 million plus orphans in the wake of the AIDS pandemic.” Madonna chronicles the start of her “Raising Malawai” organization in the film, which has faced criticism for promoting and possibly being a front for the Kabbalah cult that she supports. She also covers her discovery and adoption of half-orphan, David Banda, in the film.

In an interview with Ann Curry about the film last month, Madonna said “I got to a point where I thought ‘I have so much and it’s a great tragedy if I don’t use what I have to make the world a better place’”

When Curry asked Madonna how she responded to critics who would call her charity work a “fad or trend,” she answered “My reinventions are part of my evolution, and my growth as a person. There are aspects of it that are frivolous and there are aspects of it that are real.”

Interesting that Madonna’s films are getting more attention now than her husband’s, director Guy Ritchie, whose career has floundered since they married in 2000.

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Cate Blanchett attended the Australian premiere of Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wearing a gold lame wrap dress with too much fabric gathered with a plain black belt. It was an astonishingly bad look for Cate, who often takes fashion risks but pulls it off. She topped off the look with a pair of chunky black t-strap shoes that would have been at home on Gwyneth Paltrow’s feet.

Blanchett didn’t look as bad as Ashanti, who attended the NY premiere which was hosted by BET’s show 106 and Park. Ashanti wore a dress with peacock sequin detail around the the neck and thick blue eyeshadow under her eyes as if she was about to play football. It got us to publish her photo, so her makeup strategy worked.

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is out in the US tomorrow, May 22. Initial reviews are mixed and praise the excellent fast-paced action but say that the dialog and plot are lacking.

Also shown at the NY premiere are Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen. I love Calista’s simple pale pink dress. Thanks to WENN and PRPhotos.

Angelina Jolie has really rocked the sexy pregnant mom fashion at Cannes up until now. She’s usually seen in cleavage-baring long dresses with exotic prints, looking effortlessly beautiful. Earlier today she wore a black pants suit that also exuded casual chic. But somehow she decided that the best look for her big premiere was a giant gray mumu with sequins at the bustline and her hair in a fussy puff. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I looked as good on my best non-pregnant day as Angelina does here, but it just doesn’t look like her and it’s slightly off. It’s as if she let someone else style her and kind of gave in to conventional fashion wisdom for pregnant women - hide the bump, elevate the hair - instead of letting her own look shine through. And Brad is also suffering from a bit of the too-stiff look. It’s kind of nice seeing them slightly miss on the red carpet for once. Despite being richer, skinnier, more attractive, and with better accessories than I ever hope to have, they don’t look perfect for every occasion.

Angelina plays a mother searching for her lost son in the film, and she may be going for a matronly look at the Cannes premiere in honor of her character. She said that the role reminded her of her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who died of ovarian cancer last January:

“My mother was very passive in many ways and very, very sweet, but when it came to her children, she was a lion.

“So in many ways, Christine reminded me of my mom, and it was a way to kind of revisit my mother after her passing and spend time with her.”

[From US Weekly]

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

The first reviews are in for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, which had its much-anticipated premiere at Cannes yesterday, and they’re mixed. A critic for Britain’s Telegraph calls it “creaky” with bad dialog but admits that it has rollicking good special effects. The overall consensus is that it’s a lot of fun, but that the plot leaves something to be desired.

The Pirates of the Caribbean films weren’t well reviewed either, but there was plenty of action and eye candy and they sure cleaned up at the box office. The fourthIndiana Jones movie is likely to do the same.

Here’s the latest trailer. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is out in the US and in most countries on May 22:

And here are pictures from the premiere yesterday, including Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Salma Hayek, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, Aishwarya Rai, Linda Evangelista, Billy Zane and Kelly Brook (who are probably back together) and Goldie Hawn. Cate Blanchett always looks gorgeous.

Sarah Jessica Parker looked a bit more refined and less Carrie-esque at the premiere of Sex and The City at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. She wore a nude-colored strapless gown with subtle ribbon detail at the top that looks familiar. (If a fashion-minded reader can remind me who wore a similar dress, probably in a darker color, I would appreciate it.) Cynthia Nixon stunned with sleek hair and a flowing black v-neck gown. Kristin Davis was in a deep green 40s style dress with a full knee-length skirt and Kim Cattrall wore a orange colored number with an odd patchwork of fabric pieces that didn’t flatter her.

Berlin’s Morgenpost (article is in German) noted that the four actress spent more then an hour on the pink carpet, and each arrived ten minutes apart. They are staying in four suites on different floors at the best hotel in Berlin, The Hotel Adlon, and arrived yesterday in ten white limos.

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

The stars of the Sex and The City movie were out for the London premiere tonight. People Magazine notes that the eye-catching contraption on Sarah Jessica Parker’s head is a Philip Treacy hat. Treacy is an Irish designer known for his hat sculptures. She is wearing an Alexander McQueen gown that’s a little too prom-looking, and what’s up with those shoes? The outfit might work with neutral shoes that draw the eyes up. She’s not going for subtlety.

I’m not really fond of any of the other dresses. Kim Catrall’s gown is a pretty cut, but the fabric is very thick and I don’t like the way it flares at the bottom. Cynthia Nixon’s gown is lovely but too low cut and Kristin Davis’ dress is a little matronly, but is probably my favorite.

The Sex and The City movie will be out in the US on May 30th.

The stars of the film Speed Racer were out for the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NY on Saturday night. Christina Ricci looked incredible in a one-shoulder black dress. I like the way she’s grown out her helmet hair or has added extensions, it’s hard to tell, and is now wearing it in loose waves. She did a silly pose and showed off her line-drawn lion tattoo on her shoulder. When you’re a celebrity it seems like you should be more judicious about getting tattoos since you rely on your body for work, but they’re so easily covered up it doesn’t matter. Tattoos are for you not other people.

Ricci explained that the lion is Aslan from “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” and explained that “It’s a symbol of my hellish childhood. I struggled through my oppressive teenage years and when I turned 18 I escaped. Like Aslan I was finally free.”

Ricci has plenty of other tattoos, including a bird on her left breast, praying hands on her lower stomach, the words “Move or Bleed” in script on her ribs, the name “Jack” on her thigh for her dead dog, and I could go on. I had a friend in college who loved tattoos and would get one whenever she had a momentous event or a hard time in her life, and it sounds like Ricci does that too.

Ricci’s costar Susan Saradon owes up to a couple of tattoos, including having her children’s initials on her back. She says that it hurt like a bitch, basically:

“I got my kids’ initials tattooed on my back,” Susan Sarandon, the 61-year-old Hollywood actress, disclosed at the premiere of Speed Racer, at the Empire, Leicester Square.

“It really hurt. It hurt so much more than I thought it would.”

“I got another tattoo on my wrist afterwards,” added the Oscar-winning star of Dead Man Walking.

“But I’m going to save the next one until I’m 70 or 80.”

[From Telegraph.co.uk]

And as for other needles, 61 year-old Sarandon says she’s not getting Botox either, and not just because it pricks. She says it makes you look like you’re wearing a mask and that she wants to get parts for her age group:

You can see I haven’t had Botox [or] these things would be gone,” she said, pointing to her frown lines. “I can’t afford to have my face not moving…”

In a few years, “I’ll have an advantage of being the only one who looks 60,” she said with a laugh. “Everyone else looks so much younger. [I’ll] probably get all those parts!”

[From People.com]

Sarandon doesn’t take hormone replacement therapy and relies on antioxidants, dermabrasion and exercise like Pilates to help maintain her beauty. She really is an example of how to age gracefully in Hollywood.

Sarandon has two three children, Eva Amurri, 23, with her ex, Italian director Franco Amurri, and Miles, 16, and Jack, 19, with longterm love Tim Robbins. She had Miles when she was 45 and he might help keep her young too. Or at least on her toes.

Speed Racer is in theaters in the US on May 9th, and is out around the world in most countries around that time or in early June. It’s getting mixed reviews and is said to be campy and visually appealing with a less than satisfying plot.

Cameron Diaz made a triumphant return to the red carpet last night to attend the LA premiere of her film What Happens in Vegas. It was her first public appearance after the death of her father at age 58. Diaz issued a statement after her father’s death and also wrote a longer letter to her fans explaining why she wouldn’t be able to do the press and some European premieres for her new film What Happens in Vegas. She wrote “Due to the loss of my father, I have chosen to be with my family this weekend. But it was important for me to convey to all of you how much I love this film.” She also thanks everyone for their support and said she was screening the film with her family because they needed a good laugh.

Cameron wore a tight short red dress with a flat bow around the stomach and black heels. It wasn’t my favorite outfit, but she gets a pass for what she’s gone through. She looks gorgeous. Her co-star Lake Bell wore a silver metallic dress that was just a tad too short along with tan platform heels. Ashton Kutcher was unshaven and messy in a plaid jacket and polka dot tie. Also shown at the premiere are Eva Longoria, who still looks pregnant to me, Diablo Cody, Brooke Burns, and Bai Ling in a spider outfit. Thanks to PRPhotos.

Here’s the trailer for What Happens in Vegas, which opens in the US on May 9. It looks funny and I love Rob Corddry.