Yves Saint Laurent, France's shy genius of fashion, came to the big screen at Cannes on Saturday with a biopic delving into the darker side of the celebrated designer and his struggles with depression, drink and drugs.

The high priest of fashion who pioneered tuxedos for women and ready-to-wear is shown cruising for sex, taking cocaine and pills and indulging in casual cruelty to women in Bertrand Bonello's film "Saint Laurent".

Mexican film star Salma Hayek and French actress Julie Gayet branded signs saying #BringBackOurGirls on Cannes' red carpet Saturday, joining global calls to free 223 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militants in Nigeria.

Hayek and Gayet posed with the signs for a long time before climbing up the steps to the festival hall in the French Riviera resort.

"Wild Tales", a pitch-black comedy from Argentina produced by art-house superstar Pedro Almodovar, delighted critics at Cannes on Saturday with an uproarious take on the thin line between civilization and savagery.

One of 18 contenders in competition at the world's biggest film festival, the movie by 38-year-old Damian Szifron plays out in six absurdly violent episodes.

In French Cognac country, locals know the fungus as "black velvet", fed by the fumes of the famed spirit they lovingly call the "angel's share". But along Kentucky's Bourbon Trail, it has sparked bitter lawsuits.

The byproduct of the distilled drinks' aging process was discovered a decade ago by Canadian mycologist James Scott, who called it Baudoinia compniacensis in honor of pharmacist Antonin Baudoin, a Frenchman who probed a similar mold in the 1870s. 

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Billboard Music Awards can use a hologram of deceased pop icon Michael Jackson at this weekend's show, rejecting efforts from tech companies seeking to block the digital performance.

Judge Kent Dawson said there wasn't enough evidence to show the planned 3-D image would violate patents held by Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd.

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett on Friday hit out at multi-million-dollar planned cuts to Australia's television and film funding body, slamming the move as "short-sighted."

The Australian government unveiled a tough budget this week that saw huge cuts to health and education spending, as well as slashed spending for arts and cultural activities, including Screen Australia.

A Los Angeles court has vacated Mel Gibson's misdemeanor domestic violence battery conviction in a case filed after a highly publicized fight with his ex-girlfriend.

The dismissal was finalized Monday by Superior Court Judge Deborah Brazil, and her order was released Friday.

A Syrian woman whose horrifying footage of the siege of Homs was turned into a film by an exiled director was on Friday given a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, a few hours after the pair met for the first time.

Documentary maker Wiam Simav Bedirxan, dressed in a long black dress and red shawl, bent forward, put her head in her hands and had to be comforted by director Ossama Mohammed as the Cannes audience applauded her arrival at the start of the film they made together, "Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait".

Oprah Winfrey and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton surprised Barbara Walters on Thursday as the legendary newswoman taped her final edition of "The View" to end a five-decade career on television.

Actor Michael Douglas, a longtime friend and frequent subject for Walters' interviews, also dropped by for the tribute, which airs Friday on ABC at 11 a.m. EDT.

Authorities said ailing radio host Casey Kasem was on vacation — and not in danger — when they found him in Washington state this week.

A Los Angeles judge on Monday expressed concerns about his whereabouts and safety amid a dispute between his wife and children from another marriage.