SCREEN PEOPLE | Last Show – David Letterman on retirement: it’s time, but he’s torn

You don’t think of David Letterman as a stop-and-smell-the-flowers type, but here he is, at a major turning point yet savoring his chocolate milkshake.
Perched on a stool in a fast-food restaurant beside the Ed Sullivan Theater, where he has hosted “Late Show” for two decades but will do so only a bit longer, Dave unwinds from that day’s taping while, more than once, he comments on his shake’s deliciousness.
He also thinks today’s show was excellent, a surprising appraisal from this famously self-critical star. Cher did a surprise walk-on. Martin Short brought down the house with his musical eulogy to Dave. Norah Jones sang “Don’t Know Why” and everyone got misty.
“I wish tonight’s show had been the last show,” says Letterman. “Tonight should have been the last show. I don’t know what we’re gonna do for the next two weeks.”
It isn’t hard to detect, or understand, the simmering ambivalence in Dave’s decision to take his leave after 33 years in late night and 22 years hosting CBS’ “Late Show,” on May 20.
But by now he’s done it all. Letterman has carved a place in cultural history with his pioneering brand of postmodern silliness that collared “Late Night” fans on his arrival in 1982 and subsequently was absorbed into the Age of Irony he played a major role in charting. This legacy-in-the-making was long ago coined “Lettermanesque.” But don’t talk legacy with Dave. He swiftly raises his deflector shield.
“The real credit goes to the writers,” he insists. “It was their show that I was doing, especially early on. And then I got to a point I knew how to do what they were wanting me to do.

Mad Max’s back – Amid male landscape, Charlize Theron dominates

The inhospitable desert landscape of “Mad Max: Fury Road” isn’t so different from today’s Hollywood: Low on water and overrun by men.
But amid the overflowing testosterone of “Fury Road,” George Miller’s sequel to his post-apocalyptic franchise, Charlize Theron dramatically stands out. While “Mad Max” may star Tom Hardy as the titular road warrior of “Fury Road,” it is effectively Theron’s film.
She plays Furiosa, a warrior with a shaved head and prosthetic arm, attempting to rescue a harem of wives held captive by a warlord.
“When people first started talking about this film, this loud whisper went around town that George was looking to create a female character that can stand next to Max and carry the journey with him,” Theron said in a recent interview. “For a female actress, that always sounds intriguing. Look, we hear it all the time and very few filmmakers see that through.”
“Fury Road,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday before opening in theaters today, is an atypical summer action movie — essentially a two-hour car chase — that’s literally and effectively driven by a strong woman.

d’oh! – Is ‘The Simpsons’ parting company with Harry Shearer?

An escalating contract dispute suggests that Harry Shearer may exit “The Simpsons,” where he has voiced several of its characters since the Fox cartoon series debuted in 1989.
In Twitter posts yesterday, Shearer said re-upping with the series would have denied him “what we’ve always had: the freedom to do other work.” In a tweet hours later, “Simpsons” executive producer Al Jean resolved to “recast if Harry does not return.”
Shearer voices characters including Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns and Smithers, while pursuing other projects outside the show. He was not immediately available for comment.
In a statement, the series’ executive producers said Shearer “was offered the same deal the rest of the cast accepted, and passed.” Fox has picked up “The Simpsons” for its 27th and 28th seasons.

Cosby Show – Roubled actor to advocate for education in rural Alabama

Embattled actor and comedian Bill Cosby will visit Alabama today for events aimed at highlighting schools in one of the poorest areas of the state.
Cosby, whose record of educational philanthropy has been overshadowed in recent months by sexual assault allegations from more than 25 women and two pending lawsuits, will speak in several cities across Alabama’s rural Black Belt. The region is named for its fertile black soil but stifled by low income and high unemployment. Cosby will speak with high school students as part of the nonprofit Black Belt Community Foundation’s new campaign to improve education in the south-central part of the state.
Foundation president Felecia Lucky said Cosby is volunteering his time to bring exposure to schools in the area.

Cannes – Festival kicks off with French drama, Coen brothers, ballet

The Cannes Film Festival unrolled its red carpet with a socially minded French drama as the usually glitzy festival began yesterday on a more serious note after January’s terror attacks in Paris.
“Standing Tall,” a film about a juvenile delinquent co-starring Catherine Deneuve, premiered as the festival got underway beneath hazy French Riviera skies. Joel and Ethan Coen, co-presidents of the Cannes jury this year, also presented their fellow jury members — including Jake Gyllenhaal, Guillermo del Toro and Sienna Miller — who will decide who gets Cannes’ prestigious Palme d’Or top prize.
Julianne Moore, the best actress winner at last year’s festival for her performance in David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars,” declared the festival open. The ceremony featured a ballet performance choreographed by France’s Benjamin Millepied that was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.”
Deneuve said the selection of “Standing Tall,” directed by French actress-filmmaker Emmanuelle Bercot, for the opening night at Cannes could be seen as “a way for the festival to respond to a difficult year in Europe and particularly in France.”
France has been grappling with questions of security and identity since the deadly attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket by three young men who were born and raised in France but motivated by radical Islam. MDT/Agencies