Sometimes Hollywood lives up to its legend. Years ago, I was producing 2 entertainment weekly shows in L.A, and multi-talented French icon Thierry Lhermitte, was promoting "An Indian in the City" -- which went through an "extreme (re)make-over" by Disney later on... As we asked him if he pictured himself pursuing a career in Hollywood, he replied "No way, it's like the Cannes Film Festival 365 days a year!".

However, recently, the recession hit, and what reached an all time high in Hollywood, wasn't the box office, but the number of people laid off. Paramount, Warner, Sony, Fox, you name it; and in lieu of a movie ticket, most folks landed a pink slip.
Nonetheless, Hollywood seems to have resurfaced like the one and only capital of the "glitzy fabhulas celebs".

On Monday, the LAFF turned Westwood Village (home to the university of UCLA) into the Transformers, Revenge Of The Fallen's playground. The festivities were  followed on Wednesday by the Premiere of Public Enemies. French actress Marion Cotillard, who won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role as Édith Piaf in La Môme; and happens to be dating hunky uber hottie Guillaume Canet (The Beach), flew to L.A for the occasion.

As if, the fans still had some voice left to shriek like fowls in a slaughter house, fate gave them more opportunities to permanently damage their vocal cords and lacrimal cells: Ed Mc Mahon, Farrah Fawcett, and then Michael Jackson, the King of Pop passed away!
Tonight, needless to say that the traffic was insane, and for some reason the first thought that crossed my mind was "Boy!, Farrah Fawcett's publicity people must be super pissed right now!
Of course, the vultures who could benefit from this opportune publicity craze embraced the media frenzy all fangs out.
Not that anyone came to ask them anything, but hey, this is Hollywood, the only city where producers who don't produce, and actors who don't act get their 15 minutes of fame thanks to TMZ, Hollywood TV and people of that ilk. So here they were: former publicists, unknown best friends and so on flocked from nowhere to get interviewed by the news starved networks.

To top it off, there were parties all over the city tonight. A friend from Paramount called me to join him at the Bruno's Premiere. I was already torn apart because Midnight Cowboy (one of my favorite films) was screened at the LAFF and followed by a Q & A with : Dustin Hoffman and John Voight!!   Frankly my dear readers, I do give a damn!!!!
I really am craving to see the latest Baron Cohen's outta this world nut's flick. Yet, the parties at the Hammer, the beautiful people, the Paris Hiltons of the world, the wanna-be producers, directors, "over buffed Ahnolts" from Muscle Beach, the triple S (sea, sex and sun) the triple D's (wonderbras, silicones, etc),  and even the real stars, were not to prevail over the promise I made earlier to my friend Mark Castaldo who screened his documentary "My Run" that very same night.  A truly inspiring and emotional run both literally and figuratively. Check it out on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99jtkDWZ8E0

Bottom line, the old patina of Hollywood is shining again in a starry night. I'll go see Brüno in a theater, I'll go rubb elbows with Dustin in another Hollywood event, and I'll keep reading the hundreds of comments left on the most popular social networks in cyberspace. I see a lot of RIP MJ, mixed with an awful lot of celebrated pedophile died.

I guess it will then be a smarter move to leave the final word to Voltaire:  "To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth".

"L.A Snapshot" by Stephanie Ronnet