Penn Lights Up Jury Press Conference

At the opening day jury press conference, Sean Penn made a pitch for the first-ever jury prexy’s choice screening of the tsunami doc “The Third Wave;” called George W. Bush’s politics “evil,” and said, “film is about art, and art is about love. The brain has a purpose in connecting with the heart. When someone works without a brain or a heart they kill thousands of people around the world.” Admitting that he was “not comfortable in a group of people like this,” Penn asked one journo, “can you get me a drink?” For her part, actress Alexandra Maria Lara was “a little bit shaky”; Natalie Portman felt “big pressure”; and when helmer-scribe Marjane Satrapi lit up a cigarette, Penn and French actress Jeanne Balibar gratefully did the same. They still have 22 movies to go.
[photo above by AFP/Getty Images]

Comments

[Christian Toto]

It's one thing to hate a president's policies with every fiber of your being, but to call said person evil is, I think, beyond the pale. But Penn constantly does so ... his vitriol distracts from his brilliant career.

[Drew]

I really don't understand how someone as terminally unpleasant as Sean Penn managed to become the left's official celebrity spokesman. Surely we have thousands of more palatable candidates to choose from, no?

[Sergio]

I have to agree with the previous posters. Is there any celebrity more annoying than Penn? And considering all the truly annoying celebrities out there that's saying A LOT!

[Michael Heister]

Christian - Sean Penn called the president's politics evil, not the president. Penn was doing the good Christian thing - hating the sin, not the sinner.

Drew - Unpleasant to who? People who can't handle the truth? Penn's earned his place with amazing performances as an actor and more recently as a writer/director.

When I saw the headline, I was wondering whether it referred to Sean or Kal. Talented are both!