CANNES - All aboard for the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

"The Great Gatsby" by Baz Luhrmann unofficially opened the festivities this morning at 10 a.m. local time (fest kicks off tonight at 7:15 p.m. with the film's premiere).

No need to dwell on the artistic indulgence that befits the director of "Moulin Rouge," we've been down that road before. Luhrmann

France figures highly this year at the Cannes Festival. As Auréliano Tonet noted in his lead article in the special Cannes edition of Le Monde, out of the 75 or so films competing for various prizes across all official and parallel programs, 33 are French. And that’s a boon for cinephiles, indeed. Because as the American majors have been busy turning out a circus-styled sequel-and-3-D performance and some key indie-minded filmmakers

The Cannes Festival isn’t just the greatest film festival in the world: it’s also a major commercial player driving the local economy and ensuring the livelihood of thousands.

Here's a look at the arithmetic:

$25,000: that's the estimated value of the Palme D'Or; $50,000: poney up and you will the most expensive penthouse

The video clip for "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey was just released online. This is the first time the soundtrack for "The Great Gatsby" is heard. Film which stars Leonardo Di Caprio will open the Cannes Festival next week. In a sequence done with restraint and in a 1920s esthetic, the "Video games" singer wonders whether loves can resist the passage of time and not take away and a specific vision of beauty.

"Only Lovers Left Alive" by Jim Jarmusch will be vying for the 2013 Palme d'Or at Cannes. The film was added Friday to the official selection of the festival, which now runs twenty films deep. The festival has also decided to complete its official selection with "Le dernier des injustes" (the last of the unjusts) by Claude Lanzmann ("Shoah"), which will be screened out of competition. In addition, "My sweet Pepperland" by Kurdish director Hiner

This morning in Paris the official selection for the 66th edition of the Cannes Festival was announced during a press conference at the UGC theater. There's a strong French contingent this year, among others Francois Ozon and Roman Polanski, who will present "Venus in Fur" starring his spouse Emmanuelle Seigner as well as Matthieu Amalric. Actually Polanski claims the film to be Polish based on where the financing comes from. Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation") cast Berenice Bejo ("The Artist") and shot his latest film in Paris. That said, Americans have a strong showing this year, from the Coen Brothers who wil

With the unveiling of its 66th edition's official poster the Cannes Festival pays tribute to Hollywood's power to generate wonderment. This year's bill features a photograph of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman locked in a permanent kiss, as captured on set during the filming of "A new kind of love" (film was directed by Melville Shavelton; the year was 1963). The couple, who met during filming, would go on to perform in eleven