CINEMA: ALL YOU NEED IS HYPE

TREND SPOTTING AT CANNES '96: STARS! MOVIES! NUDITY! CULTURAL IMPERIALISM!

Was that a pirate ship in the Mediterranean waters near the Cannes Film Festival? No, it was the PRIVATE ship. The word screams in huge red letters on the starboard side of an ocean-liner-size vessel off the Riviera beach. A Swedish porno company is providing a "Floating Erotic Expo '96"--replete with "body painting on the hour" and "go-go dancers on the half-hour"--to festival participants 18 and older. It's a classic coals-to-Newcastle scheme, since visitors to the world's largest moviefest can get all the virtual sex they'd want on the giant screens under a different name: film art.

Cannes has been selling...

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