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Cannes is coming May 15th AKA Hollywood goes to France

The Red Carpet at CANNES

Is there anything more Hollywood than Cannes in May? This year especially with Steven Speilberg heading the jury panel; and plenty of American product at the table. Even Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra. I say "even" because it's a TV movie for HBO! Quelle surprise, no!
I tend to think of Cannes as one big red carpet event full of glitz and surface glamour but behind the uber hype it's the one place every Hollywood player would dearly love to be this month, building buzz for films in the pipeline, launching new projects, securing financing, distributors, the biz behind the biz.
Going with all the glitz, The Great Gatsby opens Cannes on May 15th; by which time all the mixed reviews will be sorted out and audiences in the states anyway, where the film opens May 10th, will have mostly made up their own minds. Got a bit bummed this morning skimming some of the reviews but I still can't wait to see the film for myself; I may not love everything about it - or I may - but I suspect there will be something in it to admire and take away.

Another book to movie making the journey to Cannes is James Franco's adaptation of As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.  I mentioned in my As I Lay Dying post on April 30th, my husband worked with James Franco on Tristan and Isolde, in which Franco co-starred with Sofia Myles. The actor/writer/director is incredibly bright, a huge reader and loves heaping his plate with projects - obviously. The As I Lay Dying project has been in the works for awhile; the general question is how has Franco handled the 15 character point of view??? Franco doesn't have a US distributor yet; there's no poster or trailer. But, here, for your viewing pleasure, some shots from the film via Playlist. Franco has loaded the film with some of his known associates; Danny McBride and Franco worked on Pineapple Express together, his trivia page claims "friend of James Franco";  likewise, Ahna O'Reilly is a former Franco girlfriend. Richard Jenkins is still rumored to be in the cast but there's no shot in this batch. Just saw him as a former Weather Underground member turned college professor in Redford's The Company You Keep; he always brings such natural authenticity. My take on that movie coming soon.

Logan Marshall-Green plays Jewel
Ahna O'Reilly is Dewey Dell

Dig Deep!James Franco /As I Lay Dying
Danny McBride was Red
in Pineapple Express
Tim Blake Nelson (Anse) is  Bukowski's
dad in James Franco's BUKOWSKI
Posted for Dreaming of France, the meme at An Accidental Blog that celebrates all things French, and for me, today, that means Cannes.