Rolled $20 Found Near Ledger

Texas arrest for stiffing hotel bill is just the tip of the iceberg

(NEWSER) - The arrest of Randy and Evi Quaid in Texas for stiffing a California hotel is only the latest twist in a bizarre tale of unpaid bills and paranoid fantasies. A private investigator hired by the Quaids—she’s out $17,000—tells Diane Dimond the actor and his wife owe tens of thousands on hotel rooms and rental cars, and they may be dangerously unstable. Evi snorts Demerol to cure migraines and believes a murder plot is afoot. More»

Economic woes put the breaks on Croisette craziness

(NEWSER) - The Cannes Film Festival opens tomorrow with a screening of the new Pixar film Up, but this year the glitzy two-week movie fest on the French Riviera may be a low-key affair, writes the Hollywood Reporter. Yachts have gone unrented, Vanity Fair has canceled its annual party, and movie execs are anxious about the dealmaking that takes place around the festival. More»

(NEWSER) - The Cannes Film Festival unveiled this year’s roster today, and it’s packed with regulars like Ang Lee, Pedro Almodovar, and Terry Gilliam, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Among the most buzzed-about selections is Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s violent World War II pic. Anticipation is also high for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; Heath Ledger’s last film, directed by Gilliam, will screen out of competition. More»

Benjamin Button , Frost/Nixon lag as Oscars near

(NEWSER) - Kate Winslet and Slumdog Millionaire won big at last night's BAFTA ceremony—one more sign that the actress and film are steaming toward Oscar wins, reports the Independent. Here's the line up for the British awards:

• Winslet won Best Actress for The Reader, competing against her own second nomination for acting in Revolutionary Road.
• Danny Boyle's Slumdog clinched 7 BAFTAs, including awards for Best Film and Director.

Movies and viewers love to get miserable

(NEWSER) - Bleak is the new chic in Tinseltown, writes Dan Zak in the Washington Post. Cloverfield's crowd-trampling monster, the psycho serial killer of No Country for Old Men, and the twisted oil entrepreneur of There Will Be Blood (need we mention the Dark Knight?) highlight the "raw misery of the human condition," sniffs Zak. "Big movies have tent-poled 2008 with a tarp of cruelty." More»