For a festival that too often programs films about young white boys sensitively coming of age or middle-class families dealing with grief, Push (not to be confused with the telekinetic Dakota Fanning movie) is almost bracingly exotic. It's the story of an overweight black teenager in Harlem named Precious (newcomer Gabourey Sidibe) who's already pregnant with her second child as a result of her father's sexual abuse, a predicament her vicious mother (Mo'Nique) has done nothing to put a stop to and may even be jealous of.

In short, Push has nothing in common with some of the twee indie films that often break out here—except that it has broken out, quickly becoming one of the festival's most buzzed-about movies. It's wild, comedic, and audacious, and it's directed by Lee Daniels, whose previous film Shadowboxer featured a full-frontal Stephen Dorff (not to mention Cuba Gooding Jr. graphically screwing stepmom Helen Mirren). Daniels is clearly no shrinking violet and neither is his film, but Sapphire's source novel provides a dramatic underpinning that keeps the camp from spinning out of control.

Need an example? The shadowy upper-lipped Carey gives one of the film's least campy performances as a weary, makeup-free social worker. For someone who regularly bathes in Cristal, who even knew that Carey still had it in her to play a real person? Daniels delights in taking glammed-up stars and toning them way, way down—we may have recognized the near-unrecognizable Carey and Lenny Kravitz before the audience started whispering, "Is that them?" but we were stymied when Sherri Shepherd still hadn't appeared by the end of the film. Then, with a shock, we realized that she'd been playing one of the small supporting characters the whole time and we hadn't realized it—and we study her for a living!

We'll see what the festival (and hopefully America) will make of Push soon—though we can't wait for the sure-to-be-clueless reception it will get from the older, straight white men who make up the critical fleet here. "I don't know whether anyone will say this out loud, but this is a very, very Black movie," wrote a tentative David Poland. It doesn't need to be said; the film sings like a Harlem gospel choir on LSD.

While split talk had jammed the tabloids essentially since the day they were married in 2000, with Madonna publicly grumbling for years now about her unfulfilled sex needs, the gossip was all so much noise until the fantastic Madgerod Cynthavitz controversy that exploded over the summer. The scandal placed Madonna in Yankees slugger/"fucking soulmate, dude" Alex Rodriguez's comforting, Kabbalah-friendly arms, while A-Rod's wife Cynthia retreated to Paris for an extended stay in an apartment owned by Lenny Kravitz. "Nothing to see here," said Kravitz, who urged calm while Madonna's flack denied that A-Rod had ever charged her client's mound.

Fine, then. Except the Rodriguezes divorced soon after, and as recently as two weeks ago Madonna and A-Rod were reportedly spotted dining together again in New York. This while Ritchie fled the spotlight, tapering off press for his new film RockNRolla and jetting back to England to commence shooting Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr.. So last night's announcement seems ideally timed for both him and Madge, who is five shows into her Sticky & Sweet world tour, where nearly half of her 25 American dates have yet to sell out. Oh — and her new own directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, opens in New York and LA this Friday. Convenient!

Not so convenient: The economy of Splitsville. The London Times reports today that the couple didn't have a pre-nup, thus encouraging Madonna to file for divorce in the States, where she'd likely earn a more favorable take from her and Ritchie's $600 million fortune. If Ritchie fights for a London divorce, the legal saga could play out for upward of a year. We don't buy for a second that these details aren't already arranged between the two, but the Times adds that still doesn't guarantee an official split by Christmas, as Madge reportedly hopes for.

Certainly there's more to follow, which we'll report as it happens. In the meantime, don't look so down! We'll always have Swept Away.

· A day after his wife filed for divorce, A-Rod sat down with Rabbi Michael Berg, the Kabbalah Centre director, who prescribed inhaling the fumes from one Kabbalah™ brand God-scented incense stick and the uttering of four Hail Moseses for his philandering sins. [People]
· As far back as six months ago, Rodriguez was sitting at a restaurant exchanging text messages with Madonna, telling his anonymous dining companion, that he was "in love with her." A couple months later, he told the same friend, "'She's my f—king soulmate, dude.'" The friend couldn't recall any other things he might have said, but that "another $50,000 might jog my memory." [usmagazine.com]

Sigh. So what does it all mean for you, the weary, woebegone gossip consumer? Join us after the jump for a bit of scorecard updating.

First off, A-Rod's estranged wife was at the courthouse when it opened this morning — and we thought we had Fourth of July hangovers:

"The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband's extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct," according to Cynthia Rodriguez's petition for dissolution of marriage, filed in the family division of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. ...

"The petitioner has exhausted every effort to salvage the marriage of the parties," Cynthia Rodriguez said in the filing. "However, Alex has emotionally abandoned his wife and children and has left her with no choice but to divorce him."

The couple's 2002 prenup apparently protects Rodriguez's fortune (his current 10-year contract is worth up to $305 million), but we're hearing he's evidently got nothing on the investment planners at Madonna/Ritchie Inc.:

Well-placed sources tell us the Ritchies plan to officially split in November or December — after the Mrs.' upcoming Sticky and Sweet world tour. Why? Big bucks. The concerts are expected to earn close to $300 mil worldwide, and they've decided to ear mark that to provide for their three children's future. ...

There is a whole PR strategy that has been in place for some time. We're told the Material Girl will be "very visible" in the months leading up to the tour to "generate a lot of publicity." That's when "news" of the marriage's demise would slowly leak out, causing tongues to wag — and Madonna to be on the cover of papers and mags around the world.

Ritchie has his latest B-thriller, Rocknrolla, on the way as well — for what that's worth. And as for rumored C-Rod love interest Kravitz? His pre-holiday denial stands: He's still just hosting her in Paris. Sigh again. But Kravitz has been out of the spotlight since Baptism, we guess; we'd charge her extra for the big room if we were him.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

• A-Rod's wife files for divorce, alleges infidelity, 'other marital misconduct' [ESPN]
• Madonna and Guy Want You to Buy the Hype [TMZ]

And with that, we are out. Have a happy and safe Fourth Of July, we'll see you on Monday!

· Towards the end of June, reports started surfacing that Madonna and Guy Ritchie were getting a divorce.

· Soon after, it came out that Madonna was having an affair with A-Rod, a married baseball player on the much-hated Yankees. Madonna's publicist issued a denial, which means that it's totally true.

· Then, it was reported that A-Rod's wife, Cynthia Rodriguez, was "spending a lot of time" with Lenny Kravitz, who, coincidentally, has also banged Madonna.

· And to top it all off, today, announcements surfaced that A-Rod and his wife were separating, thereby adding credence to both the Madonna rumors and the Lenny Kravitz rumors.

See, it's not that complicated after all. And it looks like everybody's getting what they want in the end. Madonna's got A-Rod, C-Rod's got Lenny Kravitz, and Guy Ritchie... well, he's got his mildly successful film career. Hooray!