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There will be a strong French flavor at the Montreal World Film Festival this year, as the festival announced its lineup Tuesday. Many of the films in competition are French, including two well-known French actors’ directorial debuts. Sophie Marceau (Braveheart) will be attending the festival in support of her film Parlez-Moi D’amour (Speak to Me of Love) as will Vincent Perez (Indochine) for his film Peau D’ange, starring Guillaume Depardieu. Two American films–Blue Car starring David Strathairn and Igby Goes Down starring Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon and Ryan Phillippe–will also screen in competition. French producer/director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) will receive a lifetime achievement award. The festival runs from Aug. 22-Sept. 2.
Celebs
Actor Nicolas Cage is planning to sell his comic book collection at the Dallas ComiCon convention Oct. 11-13, The Associated Press reports. The collection of about 400 comic books includes Action Comics No. 1, Superman’s first appearance, as well as first appearances by Batman, Captain America and the Green Lantern. John Petty, the director of auctions for Heritage Comics Auctions, said the collection could “realize a value well into seven figures.”
Three weeks after Arnold Schwarzenegger left the William Morris Agency he has signed a deal with rival Creative Artists Agency, Variety reports. Even though his career is fading a little with bombs like Collateral Damage, Schwarzenegger hopes to come back big in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, currently in production.
Family members of Pauline Phillips, otherwise known as Dear Abby, revealed Tuesday that the advice columnist has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her twin sister, Esther Lederer, who wrote as Ann Landers for the Chicago Sun-Times, died in June. Phillips’ daughter Jeanne had been writing the column, which appears in roughly 1,300 newspapers, for a few years and now takes sole credit.
Movies
Director John McTiernan is looking to get a Booster shot. Variety reports he is in talks to direct The Booster, a film about two legendary thieves who reunite during a winter storm to rob the 91st floor of Chicago’s Sears Tower–from the outside. Sounds like fun.
Tube News
Before she leaves Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar wants to kill off her alter ego in style. The actress told the London Evening Standard, “It’s important for me to go out on top.” Her contract expires at the end of the next season, and producer Joss Whedon has stated he thinks the show is strong enough to go on without her.
Music News
Three members of the British band Oasis–Noel Gallagher, Andy Bell and Jay Darlington–were in a car accident in Indianapolis and are recovering from minor injuries, including facial bruises. The accident occurred Tuesday when the taxi they were traveling in was involved in a head-on collision. The band was to perform in the city Wednesday, but the concert has been postponed.
Rock legend Jimi Hendrix has been voted the greatest guitarist of all time in a poll by Total Guitar, a leading European guitar magazine. Jimmy Page of the band Led Zeppelin came in second place, with Eric Clapton claiming the third spot.
