CANNES, France – The Cannes Film Festival got off to a blockbuster, if stormy start, as Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” opened on a soggy French Riviera.

Amid heavy rain, dancing flappers flocked down the Cannes red carpet Wednesday night, bringing a touch of the Jazz Age to the Croisette. “Gatsby” stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire helped give the festival’s opening day a strong dose of star power.

At the opening ceremony, DiCaprio, joined by his “Gatsby” co-star, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, declared the 66th Cannes officially begun.

Over the next 12 days, dozens of the world’s most artistically ambitious films will premiere on Cannes’ stage. But Wednesday was a day for blockbusters – the big-budget “Gatsby” and Hollywood’s most accomplished director of spectacle: Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg is serving as jury president at this year’s Cannes. His presence here is a rarity (he’s had films at Cannes before, including “E.T.” and “Sugarland Express,” but never had a movie in competition), and he was received like a visiting head of state, a king of cinema.

The “Lincoln” director received a standing ovation at the opening ceremony and was serenaded with a performance of “Miss Celie’s Blues” from his 1985 film, “The Color Purple.”

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He heads the jury that will decide the prestigious Palme d’Or, given to one of the 20 competing films, with entries ranging from the Coen brothers (“Llewyn Davis”), Alexander Payne (“Nebraska”) and Steven Soderbergh (“Behind the Candelabra”).

The jury also includes Nicole Kidman, Ang Lee and Christoph Waltz.

Latest ‘Star Trek’ out of this world

WASHINGTON – The crew of the International Space Station is boldly going where no one has gone before — to see the new “Star Trek” film.

The three astronauts were offered a sneak peek of “Star Trek Into Darkness” before it opened Thursday on Earth, seeing it not in 3-D, but Zero-G.

NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said the movie was beamed up to the outpost Monday and the two Russians and American on board had a day off Tuesday. That gave them a chance to view it on their laptops. It’s unclear if they watched it.

U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy is taking part Thursday in a Google+ hangout that’s bringing together two Earth-bound astronauts, film stars Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho, and its director and screenwriter.


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