Reuters - The presence of two Japanese animation movies in competition at the Venice film festival this year has created a contest within a contest, and brought to the big screen two strikingly different pictures.

AP - SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Bill Melendez, the animator who gave life to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other "Peanuts" characters in scores of movies and TV specials, has died. He was 91.

Reuters - The Venice Film Festival might be on a fresh collision course with the rival event in Toronto.

AP - The Army, with a hand from Hollywood, has received a long-lost Oscar back into its ranks.

E! Online - Judgment day for Watchmen is nigh.

AP - The omnipresent baritone and gravely bass undertones of Don LaFontaine's distinctive voice had the unique ability to seamlessly embellish big-screen kisses, slice through over-the-top explosions, perfectly pair with robust musical scores, glide alongside car chases and effortlessly co-star with any A-list talent in Hollywood.

AP - Sundance is about new talent and small, personal films. Cannes is about highbrow cinema and celebrity-watching.

AP - Action movie star Jackie Chan said Wednesday he was not upset about his small role in the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies because he was happy to play any part in promoting the games.

Reuters - Actress Anne Hathaway takes on an unusually dark role as a former drug addict returning home for her sister's wedding in "Rachel Getting Married," a new film about a dysfunctional family haunted by the death of a child.

Reuters - Heath Ledger's chilling portrayal of the Joker in Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" easily surpassed rivals to be named the summer's best movie villain in a poll released on Wednesday.

AP - A judge in Los Angeles says a lawsuit filed by a celebrity reporter over a video that purportedly shows Heath Ledger doing drugs fails to adequately state legal claims.

E! Online - • Quentin Tarantino is swapping muses. Uma Thurman is out and Diane Kruger (Troy) is in as the femme fatale in the Pulpmeister's highly anticipated World War II drama, Inglorious Bastards.