Flower power: In Taking Woodstock (with Henry Goodman, Demetri Martin and Imelda Staunton), director Ang Lee explores the circumstances that led to the legendary '60's concert. Taking Woodstock was one of 20 films entered into competition at Cannes.
PlayJohn Powers, Fresh Air's critic at large and the movie critic for Vogue, returns with the second part of his report from this year's Cannes Film Festival.
On the conversational agenda: his impressions of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and the South Korean vampire flick Thirst — both due out in the United States later this summer.
Also: The festival's biggest disappointment. For Powers, it was Taking Woodstock, an Ang Lee comedy about the circumstances surrounding the legendary '60s concert. It's an amiable film and fun to watch, he says, but ultimately rather wan.
"You want a film about this great cultural event to have real oomph," Powers says. "But instead it winds up being this small, even kind of dinky film that doesn't make you feel anything — when of course what you want from Woodstock is something that makes you feel something, even if it's disapproval or nostalgia or regret." 
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