Damn, Madge Looks Hot For Just Having Had Cataract Surgery

As Baby Brahim and Casper Smart had a toddler slap flight in the backstage daycare area at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, his sugar mami accepted an award for being the top touring act of 2012. Everybody bow downed to the zombie vampire queen...

Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio Near ‘X Factor’ Judging Deals

Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio are nearing the close of their deals to judge on Fox's "The X Factor," an individual with knowledge of the negotiations told TheWrap.

The official announcement is expected on Monday. Fox declined to comment.

The Destiny's Child member and Mexican actress and singer would replace Britney Spears and L.A. Reid on the judging panel.

The show has changed its strategy since Season 2, the insider told us. Instead of casting judges on merely name alone, it also looked at chemistry with returning judges Demi Lovato and judge and executive producer Simon Cowell.

Also read: 'X Factor' Brings Back Host Mario Lopez, Dropping Khloe Kardashian

Rowland would bring with her the experience she gained from judging on the eighth season of "The X Factor UK." She has also hosted Bravo's "The Fashion Show."  

In addition to the many hits as part of Destiny's Child, Rowland has sold more than 24 million albums worldwide as a solo artist. She has also been featured on top hits with rapper Nelly and DJ David Guetta.

Also read: Demi Lovato Returning as 'X Factor' Judge

Rubio has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. Rubio brings with her the experience of coaching "The Voice Mexico" and Telemundo's upcoming Spanish-language "The Voice Kids."

As we previously reported, Mario Lopez will return to host on Season 3 without co-host Khloe Kardashian.

Season 3 is set to begin shooting auditions on Tuesday in Charleston, S.C.

EW was the first to report the negotiations.

The New “Handmade”

Amid grumblings of a “general fatigue” when it comes to software-based startups, a potentially transformative technology called 3D printing is poised to reach critical mass and mainstream awareness. Today’s news headlines about the technology tend to focus on the extreme possibilities in being able to print objects on demand – from the terrors of things like a homemade 3D-printed gun to heartwarming tales of printed robotic hands for children born without fingers. But the innovation is also powering a revolution of a different kind. An emerging class of creatives are using 3D printing techniques, not to either save or destroy the world and the people in it, but simply create a little beauty along the way. These creatives, makers of the new “handmade” goods, are selling their art in online storefronts like Etsy and Shapeways, as well as within brick-and-mortar stores, and even museums. They range from technically adept programmers who never dabbled in hands-on art involving paint or clay or other materials, to formally trained artists and even do-it-yourselfers who taught themselves 3D modeling by watching tutorials on YouTube. Regardless of how they got there, the end result is an output of affordably priced, print-on-demand goods that reflect their own unique vision and inspirations, whether that’s a new kind of jewelry that couldn’t exist before the capabilities introduced by 3D printing, one-of-a-kind items used to decorate your home, or objects which buyers help craft themselves, using simple online tools. Here are some of their stories. This is part one of an ongoing series which will showcase some of the art that’s being fueled by the increasingly accessible 3D printing technology, and the artists behind the work. ~~~ Part One: The Formally Trained Artist Summer Powell has always been an artist. She has both undergrad and graduate degrees in graphic design, and has worked on a number of products involving mixed media, vacuum forming, and lenticular technology, while exploring the intersection of art and technology in years past. Along with a collaborator, she once produced a clock which used high-resolution animations to tell the time, for example. Powell says she first heard about 3D printing around ten years ago, and had been watching the space ever since, waiting for it to become viable for use in her art. “I had industrial designer friends in New York, and I’d go see their prototyping 3D printing machines,” she says. “They were making

Miguel Nearly Decapitated A Girl At The Billboard Music Awards

And today's Dumb Bitch of the Day award goes to Miguel for kicking a girl in the head and nearly decapitating another girl at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas tonight. It's a good thing those girls didn't die (I think), because there's nothing...

AP CEO Gary Pruitt On “Unconstitutional” Justice Dept. Seizures: Video

In his first TV interview since Monday’s revelation that the US government secretly seized phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors, AP president and CEO Gary Pruitt slammed the “unconstitutional” actions on CBS’s Face The Nation. He also claimed they’ve already had a chilling effect on media sources:

Cannes Diary: In The Downpour, the Coens Connect but Market Can’t Get Traction

Can someone please stop the rain? After two days of constant moisture, the misery quotient at the world's leading international film festival in Cannes – waterlogged feet, trampled gowns, canceled screenings, interrupted parties, fickle umbrellas and overcrowded lobbies – has hit a peak.

"I hope this isn't the new normal," commiserated one film executive, picking her way through the puddles on the rue d'Antibes after noting that this is the second year in a row of constant downpours.

The sun finally broke through on Sunday, leaving grumpy paparazzi and pushy police in its wake, part of the ritual Cannes experience. Still, when people travel this far to stay in $500/night hotel rooms for weather this bad, the movies had better be worth it.

Thus far? A mixed bag.

Enthusiasm has been strongest for "Inside Llewyn Davis," a delicate drama by the Coen brothers limned with their signature dark humor. The movie, which debuted on Saturday, stars the unknown Oscar Isaac as the folk singer of the title, who rubs elbows with success in the Village scene of the early 1960s. But he manages instead to veer back into obscurity, even as Bob Dylan began to haunt the same bar stools. 

The joy of the film is not only a deeply authentic performance by Isaac – playing guitar and singing complete songs soulfully – but a menagerie of supporting characters from the Coen brothers' delightful imagination. Those includes Justin Timberlake as a pro-forma folk singer; Carey Mulligan as his profane and generally furious girlfriend; John Goodman as a garrulous jazz musician; and Garrett Hedlund as the same character he played in "On the Road," a silent/sexy chauffeur channeling James Dean.

Isaac said the shoot was filled with laughter, despite his character's litany of failures. "The more in pain I would be, the more they would laugh," he said at the press conference. "There was a lot of laughter. It can be such a melancholy film. For me, in between takes I was smiling from ear to ear."

There was some discussion about where the movie came down on the question of why the main character couldn't break through as an artist. The movie is about "the character's tortured relationship with success," said Ethan. "It's an interesting question, one we weren't interested in answering."

Said Timberlake: "You could argue that Llewyn wants both -- success and to fail."

As for his own musical success, Timberlake said , "I've been in the right place and met the wrong people. I"ve been in the wrong place and met the right people. The second one is the thing that can catapult someone's career."

The Coen brothers won plaudits from the critics for their much-anticipated work, which was greeted with hoots of excitement as the lights came down at the press screening.

Two other films have strong buzz. One is the Japanese "Like Father Like Son," by Kore-Eda Hirokazu, about an architect who discovers his six-year-old son is not his son, that the hospital had given him the wrong baby years before.

Strong buzz also surrounds the masterful family drama "The Past" by Iranian director Asghad Farhadi, who won the Best Foreign Film Oscar last year for "A Separation."

Like his earlier work, "The Past" sneaks up on the viewer with an intensity that builds to a surprising wallop. "The Past," which Farhadi wrote and directed, tells a story filled with emotional subtlety of a blended family caught in generational and cultural cross-currents and riven by secrets. It stars Berenice Bejo (photo right, with Farhadi) the French actress previously known as the grinning silent actress in "The Artist," as an angry and at times unhinged mother and lover.

The buzz around the Croisette is that the film confirms Farhadi's status as a modern master cineaste. But without major stars and played in French and Farsi, it will be a worthy challenge for Sony Pictures Classics, which just picked up the film after also handling "A Separation."

Far from the water-logged and insanely crowded "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" party on Saturday night was a quieter and uniquely elegant affair at the Hotel du Cap to celebrate an upcoming film by the world-renowned photographer Michel Comte. The film is called "The Girl from Nagasaki," it's filmed in 3D and it features opera music along with a story about the aftermath of the nuclear attack.  

Japanese girls in full costume sat immobile at either end of a 100-foot long dining table, covered with crystal and boxed images in the middle of the table. The girls, in full costume, hairpieces and wearing masks, did not move a muscle throughout the dinner.

The evening was organized by Resolution CEO and longtime agent Jeff Berg, who in welcoming everyone heralded the film as a "revolutionary" experience.

The crowd was an unusual mix of journalists, distributors, friends – with the itinerant billionaire Nicolas Berggruen there (with two dates) to spice things up further.

The movie is finished, but it is not screening in Cannes. Comte said it will go to Berlin or another festival later in the year. "Every movie has a personal connection," he said, in explaining his desire to make a feature after a career in photography. His wife's grandfather survived Hiroshima. "Our movie starts with the bomb in Hiroshima. And then goes to the 1970s."

"It's a very engaging film," he promised.

Ke$ha’s Nalgas Made An Appearance At The Billboard Music Awards

The number one question asked at the Billboard Music Awards tonight was, "Why does it smell like a spoiled chunk of gouda marinating in a dirty diaper on top of a subway platform in the middle of August?" And that's because Ke$hit showed up with her as...

Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio In Talks To Join ‘X Factor’

Former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland and Mexican singer/actress Paulina Rubio are in negotiations to join Fox‘s X Factor alongside Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato. They’d be filling the judges’ seats vacated by exiting LA Reid and Britney Spears. Both have previous experience: Rowland served as a judge on the award-winning 8th season of the UK version in 2011, while Rubio was a coach on the second season of La Voz… México. In March she also signed on as a coach on Telemundo’s children’s singing competition show La Voz Kids, airing this spring. X Factor US is set to film auditions in Charleston this Tuesday and Wednesday. That leaves little time for the ink to dry ahead of an official announcement from the network, which Cowell Tweeted will be revealed on Monday. X Factor‘s third season will debut this fall.

BrandYourself Upgrades Its Online Reputation Tools With A Full-Service Concierge Feature

BrandYourself is expanding its efforts to take on the big names in the online reputation market (particularly Reputation.com) with the launch of a new version of its service. The company started out as a fairly simple self-service tool for trying to improve your presence online, for example by creating a website and other content to push down undesirable results when someone Googles your name. (It has become increasingly focused on Google results over time.) The basic service is free, but BrandYourself charges $10 a month for additional features and usage.

What Sets The Google Cloud Platform Apart From The Rest

There is a misperception about the new Google Cloud Platform that the company put into general availability last week at Google I/O. It's not a brand new platform. It's what Google has used for years. It is Google's foundation. It is what makes Google, Google. And now it's open for the first time to developers and businesses. Google Platform is new in the sense that anyone can now use it. But until now only a relative few number of people have had access to the platform.

Actress in Classic ‘Twilight Zone’ Episode Dies

Christine Lamson White's Hollywood career lasted more than two decades, but she'll be remembered most for her role in a classic episode of the TV series "Twilight Zone."

White died on April 14 at Brinton Woods Nursing Home in Washington, D.C., as her death notice in the Carroll County Times reports. She was 86

The actress starred alongside William Shatner in the iconic "Twilight Zone" episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," in which he believes he sees a gremlin tearing up the wing of the plane.

Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2013

A Washington, D.C. native, White was born in 1926 and acted in plays while studying English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also earned a Masters degree in speech and drama from Catholic University.

Also read: 'Young and Restless' Star Jeanne Cooper Dead at 84

By the 1950s she had relocated to Hollywood and appeared in series including "Perry Mason," "The Loretta Young Show" and "Bonanza." According to the New York Times, she appeared in more than 50 television shows and movies during her acting career.

Open Post: Hosted By Nayer (Whoever That Is)

The Billboard Music Awards are happening right now in Las Vegas and I don't even know why  they're bothering with this shit, because every awards show's premiere seat filler Phoebe Price is all the way in Cannes. How can that mess go on without th...

Charlie Rose Headed To PBS Primetime

The new Friday night show titled Charlie Rose Weekend will bring the 71-year-old host to primetime on PBS, where he’s hosted his syndicated late night Charlie Rose program since 1993. The half-hour show will air Fridays at 8:30 PM starting in July, reports the NYT’s Media Decoder. It will combine highlights from his late night show with new interviews and discussions of topics in politics, science, business, culture, media and sports and will replace the network’s Need to Know news mag. Meanwhile Rose still co-anchors CBS’s morning news show CBS This Morning.

Google Glass Year In Review

It’s been a little over a year since Google started teasing something it called “Project Glass.” The futuristic, wearable computer that would change the way that you interact with the world was nothing more than a series of rumors for months before it was “formally introduced” in April 2012. Not known for hardware and not having a current bonafide physical device that was popular among consumers, many opined that this was Google’s way of begging for attention. It might have been, and it definitely worked. In thirteen months, Glass has gone from Star Trek fantasy to reality. It’s been quite the whirlwind of activity. The “wearable computing” age is upon us, and it’s been widely reported that Apple was working on a watch, therefore many assumed that Google was working on a similar device to keep up. This was clearly not the case and Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin took special interest in the Glass project and has been leading the charge going back to when prototype weighed around eight pounds in August 2011. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, as a lot has happened over the past year in Glassland. It’s real(ish) The video from Google itself got sent people’s imaginations into overdrive. It was called “One day…” and gave us a glimpse into the life of a daily user of what Google had up its sleeve. We now know that the “One day…” reference had more to do with what the product could become, not what it would be in its first iteration: The user experience in this video is aspirational, at best, as the current iteration of Glass is more of a compliment and utility to your day, rather than the augmented reality “enhancer” as this video demonstrates. Still, the elements that make Glass handy are all there, taking calls, getting directions and taking pictures from a new point of view. Immediately after the video, and public admonishment that the project was real, the press wondered out loud if Apple should compete and that other companies should stand up and take notice. We also now know that the rumored final name for the device, Google Eye, isn’t likely. Good thing, because it sounds way creepier than Glass. We’ll get to more “creepiness” later. It was clear that Glass was getting a lot of attention, both positive and negative, from the start. Even Jon Stewart did a parody

Posh Beckham Shows Actual Human Emotion While Watching David Beckham Play His Last Home Game

Somewhere in Hell, Lucifer is crying out "NOOOOOOO!!!!" while huddled around a space heater with his Snuggie-wearing minions, because the Ninth Circle and all of the other Circles dropped below the freezing mark when the dark orb of darkness in Posh Be...

Ziff Davis Is Buying NetShelter/InPowered’s Display Ad Business

Digital media company and ad sales platform Ziff Davis is expanding its network of properties even further with the purchase of NetShelter's display advertising business, a well-placed source has informed us. The source couldn't share exact terms of the deal, but did reveal that InPowered, the product which NetShelter focused on and eventually essentially rebranded to last November, will be split into two teams, with half heading to Ziff Davis as part of the arrangement.

Hey, Hardware Hackers! There’s A WiFi-Enabled Arduino Now

Lets say you've come up with a brilliant idea for some shiny new piece of hardware. You brush up your coding chops, scratch out a design, and set out to build a prototype. First, you'll need a programmable chip to act as the brain. Because of the relatively gentle learning curve and friendly community, you go with the Arduino. The problem: your hardware idea requires WiFi. Until now, that's actually been a pretty complicated issue.

Bill Hader on ‘SNL’: Wacky, Tacky Wedding Farewell (Video)

Bill Hader, who is leaving "Saturday Night Live" after eight years, made his final appearance as Weekend Update's flamboyant club correspondent Stefon Saturday night. After he tipped the best club in New York – and the password – he was thrown a wild and wacky wedding party, complete with geishas, Smurfs and … you get the idea.

Here's the video:

Cannes: Magnolia Acquires Kurt Russell Western ‘Bone Tomahawk’

Magnolia Pictures had acquired U.S. rights to S. Craig Zahler's Western "Bone Tomahawk," which will be fully financed by 2929 Entertainment.

Kurt Russell, Peter Sarsgaard, Jennifer Carpenter and Timothy Olyphant are attached to star in the film, which Constantin has acquired for German-speaking European territories. Celluloid Dreams has also already pre-sold France (Wildside), Australia (Transmission), Russia (Luxor) and Thailand (IPA Asia).

"Bone Tomahawk" follows an outlaw who unknowingly leads a band of cannibalistic Troglodytes into the peaceful western town of Bright Hope. When the monsters kidnap several settlers, including a rancher's wife, a small rescue party consisting of the injured rancher, the sheriff, his aging deputy and a strong-willed gunslinger, journey into hell to try and rescue them. They soon find themselves in dark unknown territories where savage inbreeds armed with the ultimate weapon leave no hope of survival.

Caliber Media Co.'s Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller and Floren/Shieh Productions' Aimee Shieh and Clay Floren will produce alongside 2929's Ben Cosgrove and Shay Weiner. 

Production is scheduled to start in August in Utah.

The uConnect/Celluloid partnership has a number of films on its Cannes slate including Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Best Offer," Takashi Miike's competition title "Shield of Straw" and Katrin Gebbe's "Nothing Bad Can Happen."

R.I.P. William Miles

Documentarian William Miles, whose films include 1981′s I Remember Harlem and 1992′s Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II, died May 12 in New York, reports the NY Times. He was 82. In 1977 the Harlem native made his first documentary Men Of Bronze, about the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment sent to fight alongside the French in WWI, after himself serving in the National Guard. Liberators, co-directed with Nina Rosenblum, recounted the story of black soldiers who helped to liberate Nazi concentration camps and was nominated for an Oscar. He earned a CableACE nomination for 1993′s The Untold West and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers.

‘Fill the Void’ Fills the Romantic Void in the Dizzying ‘Great Gatsby’

  With all the hoopla about "The Great Gatsby" as the great American love story, let me suggest that the intimate Israeli foreign film "Fill the Void" goes a longer way to presenting romance to viewers. Instead of "Gatsby's" huge aerial shots ...

Google Believes Web Components Are The Future Of Web Development

While it was missing the skydiving antics of last year’s event, Google’s I/O keynote last week wasn’t short on product launches. In between the splashy updates to Google Maps, Search, Android and everything else Google announced, the company also briefly talked about Web Components for a few minutes. While Google’s Sundar Pichai noted that it’s still early days for this technology, he also said he believes that “the vision for it is clear” and that it will allow developers to build “elegant user interfaces that work across all form factors.” Web Components are clearly a topic that’s close to the heart of a number of Chrome developers. Many of them, for example, cited it as one of the Chrome features they are most excited about at a fireside chat later in the week. A number of Google engineers are also working on Project Polymer, which aims to write a web application framework that’s built upon the idea of Web Components and will allow developers to use the ideas behind Web Components on browsers that don’t even feature all of the necessary technologies yet. The fact that it made an appearance during the keynote, right next to WebGL and other more established web development techniques, makes it pretty obvious that this is a technology that Google believes has the potential to change how developers write web apps going forward. So what is this all about? Essentially, Web Components give developers an easier way to create web sites and recyclable widgets on these sites with the help of the HTML, CSS and JavaScript they already know. The ideas behind Web Components have been around for a while (and a few years back, Microsoft backed a similar initiative that never got any traction), but even today, this is still a topic that’s pretty foreign to most. Building large, single-page web apps with a smart component models isn’t easy today. Web Components help developer encapsulate they HTML, CSS and JavaScript so it doesn’t interfere with the rest of the page and the page doesn’t interfere with it. It’s worth noting that, for the time being, developers can’t rely on this to work in all browsers. Chrome Canary includes support for Web Components, but it’s hidden behind a number of flags. Mozilla will likely start adding support for it in Firefox soon, too. Most importantly, though, the Polymer project aims to bring the concept to

What Has Been Seen Can’t Be Unseen: Tan Mom’s Music Video

I don't know if this is some HIGH ART shit that belongs in the Whitney Biennial or just shit. You better lay your best church outfit on the bed before hitting play, because this mess will make you want to run to Sunday mass to cleanse your eyes and ea...

‘Great Gatsby’ Edges ‘Iron Man 3,’ ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ at Overseas Box Office

"The Great Gatsby" edged "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Iron Man 3" as the No. 1 movie at the international box office this weekend.

Warner Bros. opened Baz Luhrmann's take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel in 50 foreign markets and it took in $42.1 million, narrowly topping Disney's Marvel superhero sequel ($40.2 million from 56 territories) and Paramount's space epic sequel ($40 million from 41).

Also read: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Can't Hit Warp Speed at Box Office

Universal's "Fast & Furious 6," meanwhile, kicked off its worldwide release in the U.K. and Ireland with a record-breaking No. 1 opening in that territory.

The film grossed an estimated $13.8 million and is Universal's biggest three-day opening weekend of all time in that market, topping the $13.1 million taken in last year by "Les Miserables." It opens in North America on Friday.

Also read: 'Fast & Furious 6' Opening Day Universal's Best-Ever in U.K.

The "Gatsby" first-weekend haul is three times higher than the total "Moulin Rouge" managed when it opened in the same markets in 2001. In all, "Gatsby" has brought in $132 million at the worldwide box office.

Russia was the highest-grossing market for "Gatsby," which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, with $6.2 million. The U.K. ($6.1 million) and France ($4.7 million) were next.

Paramount was determined that "Star Trek Into Darkness" would find its footing overseas after more than a decade of the film not connecting with foreign audiences, and it has.
"Into Darkness" is ahead of its 2009 predecessor "Star Trek" by more than 80 percent.

Russia was the best opening market for the film with $8 million, four times better than "Star Trek." It has run up impressive two-week total in the U.K. ($24 million), Germany ($12.5 million) and Australia ($10.1 million, with China and Korea to come in two weeks.

Fox rolled out is animated "Epic," one week ahead of its U.S. debut. It brought in a strong $14.5 million from 16 markets. Mexico led the way with $3.5 million.

The studio's "The Croods" added another $10.6 million to raise its international total to $375.8 million and its worldwide haul to $552 million.

 

Cannes: Raft Of Buyers Target Studiocanal’s Sean Penn-Starrer ‘The Gunman’

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of its shooting start next month, Sean Penn-starrer The Gunman has virtually sold out for Studiocanal here in Cannes. This is the project from producers Joel Silver and Andrew Rona that Studiocanal is fully financing. Taken helmer Pierre Morel is directing the action film, which previously went by the title Prone Gunman. Silver and Rona are also in business with Studiocanal on the upcoming Jaume Collet-Serra-directed Non-Stop, which Universal is releasing Stateside. Footage from that film was screened for buyers in Cannes, which Studiocanal says helped fuel sales on The Gunman. Morel was also in town to enthuse buyers. The movie sees Penn as an ex-government contract killer whose past comes back to haunt him. Studiocanal closed deals this week in such territories as Scandinavia, Switzerland, China, Russia, Latin America, Benelux, Poland, the Middle East, Greece and Italy, where Rai acquired the pic in what is a rare direct buy for the company. Studiocanal is releasing in France, Germany, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. U.S. studios and indies are circling. I’m told the film is not part of Silver’s deal with Universal. “Our distributors were very impressed with the footage on Non-Stop and as a consequence we will do better on The Gunman internationally,” ... Read More »

‘Senna’ Director Asif Kapadia to Direct Love Story ‘Ali and Nino’

"Senna" director Asif Kapadia has signed on to direct "Ali and Nino," which Oscar winner Christopher Hampton is adapting from Kurban Said's bestselling romance novel.

PeaPie Films founds Kris Thykier will produce, while Leyla Aliyeva will executive produce. IM Global will handle worldwide sales for the film, which is scheduled to start production early next year.

First published in 1937, the epic novel follows the love story between the male descendant of a royal Muslim family and a beautiful, Christian, Georgian princess.

"'Ali and Nino' is such a poignant and timeless novel and I am thrilled to be collaborating with such a talented screenwriter as Christopher Hampton to bring it to life," said Kapadia, whose "Senna" is the highest-grossing UK documentary of all-time. 

Wrekin Hill Acquires U.S. Rights to John Malkovich Movie ‘Siberian Education’

Wrekin Hill Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Gabriele Salvatores' "Siberian Education" and will release the film around the end of the year.

John Malkovich stars alongside Arnas Feravicius, Vilius Tumalavicius, Eleanor Tomlinson, Peter Stormare, Jonas Trukanas and Vitalji Porsnev. 

Set in the ghetto of Soviet Russia, "Siberian Education" follows the path of two boys who are members of a gang of exiled Siberians. The best friends grow up together, mastering a unique education focused on illegal arts such as theft, banditry and weaponry.  Their clan has its very own stringent code of honor, which, while criminal, sometimes actually coincides with what is generally considered ethical and moral.  It is a code that must never be broken, no matter what.  As the boys turn to men, everything they have come to know and learn is tested.

Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Salvatores adapted the novel by Nicolai Lilin.

Catteya's Riccardo Tozzi, Giovanni Satabilini and Marco Chimenz produced "Siberian Education," while Gina Gardini executive produced.

Deal was negotiated by Rene Cogan and Alex Mandell for Wrekin Hill with WestEnd Films on behalf of the filmmakers. WestEnd is handling international sales for the film.

"Gabriele Salvatores has crafted a tense and disturbing drama about the Eastern European criminal underworld that we found completely fascinating," said Wrekin Hill's Cogan. "We are proud to be able to bring this film to audiences in the U.S."

"Siberian Education" has already been released in several territories including Italy, where it has already taken in more than $6 million at the box office.

The Weinstein Company Checks Into ‘Suite Francaise’ With Michelle Williams

The Weinstein Company has acquired U.S. rights to Saul Dibb's WWII drama "Suite Francaise," which will star Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts and Kristin Scott Thomas.

TF1 Droits Audiovisuels and Entertainment One are producing the film, which is based on the bestselling work of Irene Nemirovsky and starts shooting June 24 in Belgium and Paris.

Set in 1940s France, story follows Lucile Angellier (Williams), who leads a stifled existence with her mean, controlling mother-in-law (Thomas). Parisian refugees soon pour into their small town, followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers' homes. In the Angellier home, Lucile initially tries to ignore Bruno, the handsome and refined German officer staying with them. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and leads them into the tragedy of war.

"Suite Française" is a France/UK/Belgium co-production that TF1 will release in France, while eOne will handle direct distribution in the UK, Spain and Canada. Sales agent TF1 International is in advanced negotiations for other outstanding territories that will be announced later at Cannes.

Xavier Marchand will produce on behalf of eOne with Romain Brémond producing on behalf of TF1 DA. The film is also being produced by Qwerty Films' Michael Kuhn and Andrea Cornwell. Harvey Weinstein will serve as an executive producer, as the Weinstein Co. will also handle distribution rights in Latin America, Australia, Russia and Germany.

"Irene Nemirovsky thrilled the world when they discovered her novel," said Weinstein. "Having worked with Michelle Williams on a number of films including 'Blue Valentine' and 'My Week With Marilyn,' I am excited to partner with her once more. I enjoyed working with Xavier Marchand on 'The King's Speech' and Saul Dibb wrote an exceptional script and I am sure he'll direct a brilliant film."

"This inspired project has drawn a very talented team of partners together," added Marchand. "Harvey brings an unparalleled savoir-faire and we're absolutely delighted to join forces with The Weinstein Company on 'Suite Francaise.'"

Fifty years after her death in a concentration camp, Nemirovsky's unfinished novel, "Suite Francaise," was discovered by her daughter. TF1 DA acquired right to the book in 2007 from Denoel Editions and the novel has since been adapted for the screen by "The Duchess" director Dibb and co-writer Matt Charman.

An Interview With Dr. Joshua Pearce Of Printers For Peace

Joshua Pearce, PhD, is a researcher at Michigan Tech who rearches open source and low-impact solutions to engineering problems. He is also the founder of the Printers For Peace contest, an effort to bring together clever 3D-printed ideas that have loftier aims. You can win one of two 3D printers if you submit the winning project.

What is Jewish Humor? Justin Timberlake ‘Smells a Trap’ for Coen Brothers in Cannes

Justin Timberlake stepped in to save an awkward situation when directors Joel and Ethan Coen were asked at the Cannes Film Festival about Jewish humor by a German reporter on Sunday.

"I smell a trap," quipped Timberlake at a news conference (left) for Joel and Ethan Coen's sardonic drama about a folk singer, "Inside Llewyn Davis," where a German reporter asked about the nature of "Jewish humor."

See photos: The Scene at the Cannes Film Festival 2013 (Photos)

Timberlake has a supporting role in the movie as folk singer Jim.

"The Germans are not really known for humor," said the reporter, who suggested that the Second World War and the Holocaust might have robbed the German people of their humor and, perhaps, Jewish wit.

He then asked: "Jewish humor, does it exist? If so what does it consist of?"

After Timberlake stepped in to deflect the question for the (presumably Jewish) Coens, and music supervisor T Bone Burnett interjected a few remarks to make the question go away, Joel Coen stepped up.

Read also: Cannes Review: Coen Brothers' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Is a Breathtaking Ode to Failure

"There's nothing like the Holocaust to put the stake in a certain kind of humor," he deadpanned, before moving on to questions closer to the heart of his film, set in the 1960s in the Village.

"Inside Llewyn Davis," starring an unknown, Oscar Isaac, as the title character, debuted to raves at the festival on Saturday.  CBS Films is distributing the film in the United States in the fall.