Cannes Chatter: Marion Cotillard Already Stirring Up Oscar Buzz

The 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival is officially in full swing, with nearly everyone in Hollywood transported to the prestigious French fest for a week and a half of wheeling and dealing. Catch up on all the goings-on with Cannes Chatter.

The Oscars are eight months away, but the race has officially begun. After the Cannes premiere ofRust and Bone, the latest film from Jacque Audiard (the Oscar-nominated A Prophet), critics are already pegging Marion Cotillard as a possible contender for the Best Actress award. The Guardian is blunt: "Rust and Bone has to be a real contender for prizes, and, the odds will be shortening to vanishing point for Cotillard getting the best actress award."AwardsDaily suggests Cotillard's given her "second best performance," (the actress previously won the Oscar for her work in the film La Vie en Rose), whileRopesOfSilicon describes her work as "one scene after another of sheer perfection to the point she turns Katy Perry's 'Firework' into an emotional epiphany." I don't know what that means, but it sounds amazing. Here's the first trailer from the film:

Sean Penn caused quite a stir during a fundraising dinner at the prestigious film festival when he lambasted the press, celebrities and "the whole f**king world" for their lack of support in Haiti. In 2010, the island nation was struck by a destructive earthquake. Penn, a vocal humanitarian, quickly leapt into action, starting the J/P Haitian Relief Organization in order to rebuild and fortify the country. Now, two years later, Penn believes most people vocal during the initial catastrophe have dropped the ball. "The reason we have Haiti fatigue is because there was never a commitment in the first place," Penn commented during his Cannes dinner. The cherry on top of the call to action was a comment directed at President Barack Obama. "It is time for our formidable and elegant president to stand by side with the new president of Haiti"." [THR]

Andy and Lana Wachowski, directors of the modern classic The Matrix, unveiled their latest project, a collaboration with Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer, to a lucky audience of Cannes-goers on Thursday.Cloud Atlas, based on the novel David Mitchell, has been shrouded in secrecy since it began its production in Berlin last year. Now a three-hour cut of the era-jumping epic has been unveiled to buyers at the French film fest. It's a hot property — the film sees Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and a handful of other name actors playing multiple roles across a variety of locations and time periods. Reactions are mum, but Cannes is a breeding ground for hype that could carry all the way to the film's assumed award season-friendly release. [Indiewire]

At the press conference for his latest film Chinese Zodiac, Jackie Chan dropped a major bomb for his fans. ""This will be my last action movie," the legendary martial arts actor told press at the Cannes Film Festival. "I will ask my body how long I can go…I tell you, I am not young any more." Action has always been Chan's bread and butter, but according to sources he now wants to be a "real actor." Wait, what wasThe Tuxedo then!? [E!]

Football (or as us boring Americans refer to as, soccer) isn't as popular in the U.S. as it is across the globe, but perhaps that'll change when Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass brings the compelling tale of the FC Barcelona team to the big screen. FilmNation is shopping a documentary film by the United 93director that producers claim this'll be "the singular film on football." With a style akin to documentary filmmaking, the project sounds right up Greengrass' alley, and in a press release, his enthusiasm for the film is loud and clear. "I’m excited to tell the extraordinary story of Barca and their magnificent achievements under Pep Guardiola on film. They have given the world a rare glimpse of sporting perfection, and memories that will last for as long as the game is played."