Film

The 60th Cannes Film Festival drew more than 4,000 journalists, so it's possible you've heard a little something about the hits and misses there. Michael Moore screened a damning documentary about the U.S. health-care system, while singer Norah Jones made her acting debut in a film from Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-Wai. Critic-at-large John Powers reports on other high- and low-lights.

Actor-director Kevin Costner won the Oscar for Dances With Wolves, but he made his first movie splash as a corpse in The Big Chill: He played the friend whose suicide brings a group of old friends together, but all of his speaking scenes were cut from the film, so all we see of Costner is a shot of his hand peeking out from beneath a sheet.

Costner went on to star in Field of Dreams, Tin Cup, Waterworld, Bull Durham and The Upside of Anger; in his latest film, Mr. Brooks, he plays a loving family man who's also a serial killer.

The star of Friends and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is featured in the new film Numb; he plays a screenwriter plagued by feelings of anxiety, detachment and panic. The story is based on an autobiographical script by Harris Goldberg (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo), who also made his directing debut with the film.

Canadian actress Sarah Polley, who's perhaps best known in the United States as the injured Nicole in Atom Egoyan's wrenching The Sweet Hereafter and the drug-dealing Ronna in Doug Liman's Go, makes her directorial debut with the intimate indie drama Away from Her.

The new movie is based on a short story by Alice Munro; it stars Julie Christie as a woman with Alzheimer's, and features Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy and Gordon Pinsent. The movie has generated buzz on the film-festival circuit, and opens in the U.S. on May 4.

You may know Irish actor Gabriel Byrne from The Usual Suspects, or from Miller's Crossing, or from Into the West — a film he helped produce, as well as perform in. But before finding his way into acting in his late 20s, he tried his hand at archeology, teaching and even short-order cooking. His new movie is Jindabyne.

Mike White is the Hollywood screenwriter behind hit films including The School of Rock, The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck. Now he has directed Year of the Dog, a "not very funny" comedy about a woman grieving for her lost pet; it stars Peter Sarsgaard and Saturday Night Live veteran Molly Shannon.

With nearly 40 films to his credit, including Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Cotton Club, and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Richard Gere knows an iconic character when he sees one.

In his latest film, The Hoax, Gere plays a scam artist who lands a seven-figure book deal with a major publisher. It's based on the true story of Clifford Irving, who claimed to be an authorized biographer of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

Shes up for an academy award for her portrayal of the mother of a drug addict who is also an addict herself in the film –Requiem for a Dream.— This is her 5th nomination and could be her second win. She won the Academy Award for the 1974 film –Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore.— Burstyns other films include –The Last Picture Show,— –The Exorcist,— and –Same Time, Next Year— (she starred in the Broadway version too and won a Tony).

Filmmaker Mira Nair has just adapted Jhumpa Lahiri's 2003 novel The Namesake to the big screen. Her previous films include Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala.

Film director Marc Lawrence wrote and directed the new film Music and Lyrics, starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.

He also directed the film Two Weeks' Notice and co-wrote and produced the comedy Miss Congeniality. Previously Lawrence was a staff writer on the NBC sitcom Family Ties.