Andrei Nakrul

Terrence Malick's The Tree Of Life has won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which just handed out its awards on Sunday night. The director did not attend the ceremony, and the award was picked up by producers Bill Pohlad and Dede Gardner.

His meditative drama starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn received a mixed reaction when it had its world premiere in competition this week, a year after it was supposed to appear at the festival.

The race for the big prizes was seen as wide open this year, considered a strong one for the world's biggest cinema showcase. Some eight movies were named as possible Palme d'Or winners, and Malick's movie sharply divided critics.

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On 10 May 1899 one of the greatest musical actors was born.

Astaire studied dancing from the age of four. In 1906 he formed an act with his sister, Adele, that became a popular vaudeville attraction. The two appeared briefly in

the Mary Pickford film Fanchon the Cricket (1915) and made their Broadway debut in Over the Top (1917). They achieved international fame with stage hits that included

For Goodness Sake (1922), Funny Face (1927), and The Band Wagon (1931). When Adele retired after marrying Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932, Astaire made a screen test,

receiving the verdict from executives, "Can't act, can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little." He was nevertheless cast as a featured dancer in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

production Dancing Lady (1933), which starred Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and the Three Stooges.Also in 1933 Astaire was paired with Ginger Rogers in the RKO Radio

Pictures production Flying Down to Rio. They were a sensation, stealing the picture from stars Delores del Rio and Gene Raymond, and public demand compelled RKO to

feature the pair in a classic series of starring vehicles throughout the 1930s, with The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936) often cited as the

best of the lot. Although Astaire worked well with several leading ladies throughout his career, his partnership with Rogers had a special chemistry. Their respective

elegance (Astaire) and earthiness (Rogers) rubbed off on one another, and it has often been said that he gave her class and she gave him sex appeal. Their dance

routines, often in the midst of sumptuous Art Deco settings, were intricate tap or graceful ballroom numbers that served as sophisticated statements of romantic love.

Only once-in Carefree (1938)-did Astaire and Rogers share an on-screen kiss, and then only in a dream sequence.Astaire's immensely popular dancing style appeared

relaxed, light, effortless, and largely improvised. In reality, he was a hard-working perfectionist who tirelessly rehearsed routines for hours on end.

I'm gonna rent a "Shall We Dance?"and it will probably be a great relaxing movie night.

I've read so many interesting facts about Fred Astaire:
http://www.browsebiography.com/bio-fred_astaire.html