Ralph Fiennes

This morning brought a snowstorm to the Cannes Film Festival as Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn, Jim Carrey (along with Jenny McCarthy) promoted their new version of A Christmas Carol, with Jim getting into a "snowball" fight with photographers! Meanwhile over the weekend, there were plenty of red carpet premieres including Taking Woodstock, Agora and Vengeance with stars including Rachel Weisz, Michelle Yeoh, Evangeline Lilly, Max Minghella, Emile Hirsch, Demitri Martin, Monica Belluci, and Tilda Swinton. Meanwhile the weekend's parties and social events attracted Paris Hilton, Peaches Geldof, Ryan Phillippe and Abbie Cornish, VV Brown, Deborah Harry, Olivia Palermo and many more.

To check out a huge gallery of all the weekend's happenings at the Cannes Film Festival, just read more

• A Los Angeles jury has found music producer Phil Spector guilty of murdering actress Lana Clakson in 2003. He has been remanded in custody, pending sentencing on 29 May, and faces at least 15 years in prison for second degree murder, and three years for improper use of a firearm. — Telegraph
• Mel Gibson's wife Robyn has filed legal papers to divorce her husband of 28 years, citing "irreconcilable differences". There was no prenuptial agreement so Robyn could stand to receive 50 percent of Mel's $900million fortune. The couple has reportedly been separated for more than two and a half years. — TMZ
• Roger Federer married his girlfriend of nine years, Mirka Vavrinec, in Basle, Switzerland on Saturday. Their honeymoon is on hold as Roger is in France for the Monte Carlo Masters. — Independent
• Lost star Josh Holloway and wife Yessica have welcomed a daughter. Java Kumala Holloway was born on 9 April in Oahu. — People
• Ralph Fiennes will star in Ricky Gervais's first film as a director, which he has co-written with Stephen Merchant. Cemetery Junction, originally called The Men From The Pru, follows 20-somethings working at an insurance company in the 1970s. — Mirror
• Gary Barlow has denied that there are plans for Robbie Williams to rejoin Take That, saying: "We're a happy band right now. Robbie won't be joining". — BBC
• Scottish singer-songwriter Calvin Harris has knocked Lady GaGa off the top spot of the UK singles chart with "I'm Not Alone". Lady Gaga's The Fame kept the number one spot in the albums chart. — Reuters UK

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• Homegrown talent Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes have both earned two nominations each for Golden Globes. The ceremony takes place on January 11, and Brits Dame Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Kate's husband Sam Mendes, Stephen Daldry and Danny Boyle are also nominated. Meryl Streep has two nominations in the Best Actress category for Doubt and Mamma Mia, and the late Heath Ledger is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight. — BBC
• Simon Cowell has said he's "very embarassed", after the contracts for this year's The X Factor contestants were leaked yesterday. It includes a clause that states they may not say anything nasty about Simon, which he laughed at, saying "I wasn't aware I was one of the clauses. You can't be horrible about me? That's probably the most useless clause in the history of contracts, because everybody does talk horribly about me, and you know what? I don't care. It sounds ridiculously hypocritical for me to slate loads of people who come on the show and then say, 'You have to be nice about Simon.'" — Telegraph
• Mark Owen and Howard Donald both remained positive yet mysterious about the chances of a Take That reunion with Robbie Williams as they performed at the Royal Variety Show last night, with Howard saying, "Everyone loves a chance to remininsce." — PA
• Macaulay Culkin's sister Dakota was killed yesterday in Los Angeles. The 29 year old was hit by a car as she crossed the street. Our thoughts are with her family and friends. — The Sun

Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller stayed close at the British Independent Film Awards at London's Old Billingsgate Market yesterday. Having been spotted with Balthazar Getty in London last week, Sienna looked happy to enjoy a girls' night with her The Edge of Love costar. Reports suggest she's agreed to give Balthazar a second chance if he woos her the old-fashioned way with romantic dinner dates and flowers. Anna Friel looked gorgeous is her floor-length print dress, and James McAvoy looked happy next to wife Anne-Marie Duff. Slumdog Millionaire was the big winner with three awards, including Skins' Dev Patel's Most Promising Newcomer.

To see the full list of winners plus 25 more pictures from the ceremony, including Alfie Allen, Jamie Winstone, Eva Green, Meera Syal and Dev Patel, just read more

Keira Knightley's latest period offering, The Duchess, is finally released at cinemas across the UK today. We've seen the stars at the world premiere and attending radio interviews, and now it's time to see if the film lives up to all the hype. Although the poster carries the famous Diana quote — "there were three people in her marriage" — the film has nothing to do with her (as the cast and director told me when I met them recently) so that aspect of the trailer is for marketing and doesn't reflect the content of the film. As Keira said, the Duchess is a fascinating character in her own right.

Keira plays the part of Georgiana Spencer, who becomes Duchess of Devonshire when she marries the much older Duke (Ralph Fiennes). The Duchess was famous at the end of the eighteenth century for her beauty, fashion sense and appetite for gambling. She became a shrewd political operator and a doting mother, but it is her search for love that forms the heart of this story. The complexities of her relationship with her best friend and husband's mistress, Bess Foster (Hayley Atwell), and her affair with Prime Minister in training Earl Grey (Dominic Cooper), drive the plot as Georgiana faces heartbreaking decisions imposed on her by her powerful husband.

To find out why I gave The Duchess four stars, and to read the cast and director's thoughts on the film, just read more