Italian director Paolo Sorrentino presented a lush portrait of decadence and excess in contemporary Rome at Cannes Tuesday in a film reviewers said echoed the classic "La Dolce Vita".

"The Great Beauty" (La Grande Bellezza) tells the story of ageing writer-dandy Jep Gambardella, played by the much-praised Toni Servillo.

The pants worn by actor Mark Hamill in the first Oscar-winning "Star Wars" film went under the hammer Tuesday for $36,100, according to auction house's website.

The young Jedi Knight wore the sand-colored regular Levi's pants throughout the 1977 movie, which launched the world-beating franchise by director George Lucas.

Justin Bieber's pet monkey, which was seized by German customs in March, officially became German property Tuesday after the Canadian pop sensation failed to claim the animal, officials said.

Mally, a capuchin monkey, is temporarily in an animal refuge in the southern city of Munich where he was visited Tuesday by Germany's environment minister.

Oscar winner Marion Cotillard and her partner, French actor and director Guillaume Canet, teamed up for the all-star "Blood Ties" premiering Monday in Cannes but faced audiences' stony silence after high hopes for the picture.

The film features one of the most high-wattage casts of the festival including Clive Owen, James Caan, Billy Crudup, Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis and Lili Taylor.

Actor and humanitarian Sean Penn called Monday for the Dakar Rally to cancel its debut run in Bolivia unless an ailing American businessman being held under house arrest there is released.

Organizers of the famed off-road rally announced in March that Bolivia for the first time is on the itinerary for the 2014 race, albeit just for the motorbikes class.

The pants worn by actor Mark Hamill in the first Oscar-winning "Star Wars" film are being sold at auction and could go for up to $100,000, auctioneers announced Monday.

The young Jedi Knight wore the sand-colored regular Levi's pants throughout the 1977 movie, which launched the world-beating franchise by director George Lucas.

One of the oddest moments for Todd Phillips, director of the "Hangover" movies, was meeting a Zach Galifianakis lookalike on the Vegas Strip who refused to have his picture taken if not paid.

Galifianakis' hilarious bearded misfit Alan -- who takes center stage in the final installment, out this week -- has become a staple image on T shirts and tourist trinkets in Vegas, where the first blockbuster film was set in 2009.

Pop diva Taylor Swift took home an armful of trophies, and Justin Bieber confronted a chorus of boos at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.

Swift, 23, in a figure-hugging blue Zuhair Murad mini-dress, collected eight awards including top artist, top female artist and top Billboard 200 album for her latest release "Red," which has sold more than 5.4 million copies worldwide.

The tensions of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation exploded onto the screen at Cannes on Monday, where a tale of love and betrayal won a five-minute standing ovation.

"Omar" is the new work by Hany Abu-Assad, who shot to prominence in 2006 with "Paradise Now," which won a Golden Globe and, in the race for best foreign-language film, became the first-ever Palestinian film to be tipped for an Oscar.

"Star Trek: Into Darkness" soared at warp speed to the top of the U.S. box office, ousting blockbuster sequel "Iron Man 3," industry estimates showed Sunday.

The latest installment of the cult science fiction phenomenon starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto took in $70.6 million on its debut weekend, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.