When it came to casting her feature debut Cold Souls, Paul Giamatti was writer-director Sophie Barthes' dream come true. Literally. Sort of.

What happens when Harper's applies the dry wit and statistically devastating precision of its famous index to the reign of George W. Bush?

Ewan McGregor seemed perfectly fine at last night's I Love You Phillip Morris after-party (when he wasn't accosted in the coat check room), but the juicy new Sundance rumor is that things went down afterwards.

In your Monday live-from-the-Chinatown-bus media column: Broke newspapers, Disney saved by Monkees, and Conde Nast's desperate peanut butter restrictions:

[Actors Pins Paisley and Chance Forward from the show "Gilmore Gossip" on set today; image via Splash]

Obama's inauguration being held on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. day? Historic! Moving! And, for corporate America, a great chance to get a two-for-one deal on its annual "We Love Diversity" ads.

Many of you have wondered if the eccentric douchebag featured recently in our Sundance quotes roundup was none other than newly minted faux-idiot Joaquin Phoenix. Let's examine the evidence!

Let's get this out of the way: Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor make just about the cutest, most gaga-in-love couple we'll likely see in any movie at Sundance.

Squawk Box anchor Becky Quick — we forget which dismissively sexist finance-bimbo sobriquet CNBC viewers have awarded her — recently married the show's executive producer, Matthew Quayle. Why is this not a problem?

Even though Barack Obama has won and American racism is over forever, the Today show still doesn't know how to talk about black people. To wit: today's "does Obama have enough street cred?" segment.

Not everyone is in DC right now. Gawker operative Stephen Kosloff is prowling the Sundance Film Festival and will be periodically sending us reports. Here is his first dispatch.

In the latest roundup of news from the frozen, overcaffeinated Park City frontier, Sony bets on black, Ashton Kutcher gets it on (and on) and Uma Thurman revolutionizes Sundance fitness.

Someone buy something, please. Our New York sighting of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock missed one: Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, who'd like to unload AOL.

1/17 — I was with a group of friends getting my karaoke on at Amagi in the Gower Gulch saturday night. In comes GIOVANNI RIBISI and his crew of beautiful people. Giovanni and crew were very supportive of the other singers, high-fiving and giving compliments. One of his friends sang an amazing version of "That's Life." Giovanni even sang "Oye Como Va." Couldn't help but think about The Other Sister, however. [Hollywood PrivacyWatch is written by and for Defamer readers; send your sightings to tips@defamer.com.]

Cosmetic surgery-enthusiast and grandstanding parent of a baby born through a surrogate Alex Kuczynski is with child. She's due in April. That ought to give her enough time to come up with a story angle.

In the space of ten minutes yesterday, we brushed past Joe Francis and Paris Hilton (and might have acquired a secondhand STD)? For our Overheard Comments feature, though, we're bypassing them for Ewan McGregor.

Sexy-yet-crazed stabber Rahm Emanuel says he disappointed his mom by not becoming a dancer. But this behind-the-scenes photo, from the New York Times Magazine photo shoot, shows he's still trying to make his mama proud.

Washington street preachers finally reveal those who will be damned in the Obama years: "Baby Killing Women, Porno Freaks, Sport Nuts, Drunks, Homos, Jesus Mockers, Mormons." Will Leitch and Mitt Romney are doomed! [WP]

Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan's The Greatest screened twice over the weekend at Sundance, and however overcooked the dead-son weepie feels, we can't argue with multiple standing ovations.

CNBC tech reporter Jim Goldman blew the biggest story on his beat by insisting his "sources inside the company" said Apple's Steve Jobs was in tip-top shape. Do these sources even exist?