France
Thai film 'Uncle Boonmee' wins top honors at Cannes festival
CANNES - The hypnotic Thai film "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" won the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, while Academy Award winners Juliette Binoche and Javier Bardem earned acting honors.
"Uncle Boonmee" traces the dreamlike final days of a man dying of kidney failure as the ghost of his wife returns to tend him and his long-lost son returns in the form of a furry jungle spirit.
Binoche, an Oscar winner for "The English Patient," won best actress for the cryptic love story "Certified Copy."
Bardem, an Oscar winner for "No Country for Old Men," shared the Cannes best-actor prize, earning his honor for "Biutiful," a grim portrait of a dying father supporting his family with a variety of criminal rackets.
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Critics generally were unimpressed with the lineup Cannes presented at the 12-day festival along the French Riviera. A handful of films stirred some buzz but most entries premiered to lukewarm receptions.
California
Former 'Survivor' producer back in US after wife's death in Mexico
LOS ANGELES - A former "Survivor" producer wanted for questioning in Mexico about his wife's death has returned to the United States, his lawyer said Sunday.
Bruce Beresford-Redman returned to Los Angeles County "to be with his children and attend to family and personal matters," attorney Richard Hirsch said in a statement.
Hirsch said Beresford-Redman, who has not been charged with a crime, had no legal obligation to remain in Mexico while authorities investigate the death of his wife, Monica, whose body was found in a sewer at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun in April.
Beresford-Redman's passport had been confiscated and police had described him as a suspect. However, the attorney general for Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located, said there was no court order barring Beresford-Redman from leaving Mexico.
'Shrek' opens No. 1 at box office; 'MacGruber' comes in 6th
LOS ANGELES - "Shrek Forever After" roared its way to the top of the box office, making $71.3 million in its opening weekend.
But the fourth film in the monster franchise had the weakest debut of all "Shrek" sequels, according to studio estimates. "Shrek 2," from 2004, opened with $108 million. "Shrek the Third," from 2007, took in $121.6 million in its first weekend.
And the latest installment was available for the first time in 3-D and IMAX 3-D, where ticket prices are higher - up to $19 in Manhattan.
Last week's No. 1 movie, "Iron Man 2," dropped to second place with $26.6 million. The superhero sequel has grossed more than $251 million in three weeks.
The other new wide release, "MacGruber," opened in sixth place with a disappointing $4.1 million. Based on the "Saturday Night Live" sketch, the comedy stars Will Forte as a bumbling version of the mulleted '80s television character MacGyver, who was famous for his makeshift method of defusing threats.
The Associated Press
