For some comedy nerds, Monty Python's Flying Circus is still the pinnacle of the form: absurd, slapstick, satirical, smart, and impossibly British. The legendary troupe hasn't made a movie together since 1983's The Meaning of Life, but that could be about to change. Variety reports that members of the Flying Circus are set to reunite for Absolutely Anything, a sci-fi flick about a group of aliens who bestow the powers to do "absolutely anything" upon a clueless human being in the hopes that he'll screw it all up. Director Terry Jones, who took the camera for three of the Python films, confirmed that he's signed Terry Gilliam, John Cleese and Michael Palin to voice the aliens. The project's been in development for a very long time, but with such a nice promotional tag, some forward momentum could be coming.

Last night, the Cinema Society screened and celebrated the upcoming release of Terry Gilliam's latest film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which has garnered considerable buzz due to the tragic death of its male lead Heath Ledger. When Ledger passed away during production, Gilliam called on friends Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to finish the project, each of whom portray imagined variations of Ledger's ersatz philanthropist character. The event was as wonderfully absurd as one might hope and expect from a Gilliam premiere. Patti Smith sat near Olivia Palermo. The film began late because, as Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard quipped, "We've been waiting for Courtney's Love's car to arrive, but it doesn't look like that's happening." The film's female star, redhead supermodel Lily Cole, towered over Gilliam in short shorts and thigh-highs, a Brobdingnagian in Gilliam's Lilliput. I caught up with Gilliam for a few minutes after the film.

● Kristen Stewart refuses to answer questions about her relationship with Robert Pattinson because “There’s no answer that’s not going to tip you one way or the other. ‘Okay, we are. We aren’t. I’m a lesbian.'” [EW] ● Everyone’s favorite housewife of Atlanta, Kim Zolciak, says she’s a fan of Botox, but only because it helps her migraines, and she recommends it to everyone. [HuffingtonPost] ● Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke plans to take on the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago before Season 10 of the show. [People]

The mad 'Doctor' director and his ingenue

To the dismay of everyone within earshot of my desk, my excitement will not be quelled about how totally major this year's Cannes Film Festival is going to be. In addition to new awards-contenders from the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Michel Gondry (who didn't make the list, only because I couldn't find much on his latest film, L'epine Dans le Coeur), the sun-soaked Riviera festival will premiere Sam Raimi’s return to death and evil, as well as Jane Campion’s first major release since the Kiwi director tried, disastrously, to make Meg Ryan edgy in 2003’s In the Cut. Penelope Cruz hugs a lot of people in Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces, Ang Lee takes Woodstock and Brad Pitt screams, “Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps ... and I want my scalps!” Oh, and the late Heath Ledger might just get another Oscar. After the jump, the festival’s, if not the year’s, most anticipated films (with trailers).

● Queen Elizabeth is the latest recessionista. Word is she’s cutting back at the Buckingham Palace, asking staffers to reuse leftovers from banquets, among other things. [Page Six] ● Speaking of cutting back, Karl Lagerfeld has downsized his luxurious lifestyle ... almost. Lagerfeld ditched his Paris home but kept his chambermaid, chauffeur, and chef, who are all "musts." Oh, and he refuses to get rid of his Hummers. [Spiegel] ● Louis Vuitton announced today they're scrapping plans to build their 10-story Ginza flagship store amid a declining luxury market in Japan. This would have been the largest LV store in the world. [WWD]