Zombie master Romero's film targets discrimination

VENICE (Reuters) – Zombie master George A. Romero had no particular conflict in mind when making "Survival of the Dead," the sixth installment in his long-running horror franchise, but rather discrimination in general.

More than 40 years after "Night of the Living Dead" launched Romero's career in 1968, the 69-year-old American is back to his independent movie making roots with a picture in competition at the Venice film festival.

The self-financed Survival of the Dead tells the story of a band of soldiers lured to an island that promises to be the one place on earth where they can escape from the living dead, who feed on human flesh and appear as if from nowhere.

But they become embroiled in a generations-old dispute between two families who have radically different ideas on how to contain the zombies.

Patrick O'Flynn wants to put a bullet through the head of every zombie he can find, while his arch rival, Shamus Muldoon, wants to keep the "dead" alive in the hope of finding a cure.

"I wasn't looking at Iraq and saying, well, lets make a movie about Iraq," Romero told reporters on Wednesday.

"It's much more about man's underlying inability to forget enmity, forget their enemies even long after they've forgotten what started the conflict in the first place.

"I think that part of the problem is that nobody looks at both sides of any issue, it's automatically: I'm on this side or I'm on that side."

RETURN TO INDEPENDENT ROOTS

According to production notes for the film, Survival of the Dead is the second movie in Romero's new cycle of independent pictures made outside the studio system.

"We've made a couple of studio films and it's just a very different process," Romero said.

"These last two films, it's really like going back to the very original films that I made where it was really private financing and real guerrilla-style film making."

Night of the Living Dead was reportedly made on a shoestring budget yet came to redefine the horror genre with its violence and satirical view of American society.

"I've had the flexibility in these films to do whatever I wanted to do. At least there's no policeman looking over your shoulder ... There's no committee. That's a wonderful freedom to be able to have."

Romero credited the zombie's lasting cultural impact more to video games, like the Resident Evil series, than to his movies. "It's really not the zombie films. I think ... it's much more video games that have kept them alive."

Variety's review on the movie from Venice was largely negative, saying it was "steeped in fan-pleasing gore but woefully thin on ideas, originality ... or directorial flair. This is easily the least frightening of all the Dead movies."

Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett dies aged 82

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett, who became a familiar figure on British television in the 1960s and most recently appeared in the big-budget movie "Australia," has died at the age of 82.

Barrett died in a hospital on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland after falling at his home and suffering a brain hemorrhage, his agent Jane Cameron told Australian media.

Barrett studied music, elocution and acting before moving to England, where the craggy-faced actor became a popular television star in the 1960s, appearing in a long list of shows.

He was the voice of some characters in the popular children's puppet series "Thunderbirds" and "Stingray," starred in the long-running BBC show "The Troubleshooters" and appeared in "Dr Who," "The Saint" and "Dixon of Dock Green," among others.

He moved back to Australia in the mid-1970s, appearing in various TV shows over the years as well as the screen adaptation of John Williamson's play "Don's Party" and the movie "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith."

His last major role was as the character Ramsden in Baz Luhrmann's epic "Australia," released last year.

"Ray Barrett was one of Australia's great leading men ... Few Australian actors were as capable of delivering understatement and highly crafted meaning," wrote actor/director Graeme Blundell, who appeared with Barrett in "Don's Party," in an obituary.

Barrett was awarded the Australian Film Institute's Longford Life Achievement Award in 2005 for his long and distinguished acting career.

Rapper Santana accused of threatening girlfriend

TEANECK, N.J. – Rapper Juelz Santana is accused of threatening his girlfriend with a knife in his New Jersey home.

Teaneck police charged Santana, whose real name is LaRon James, with making terroristic threats and possessing a weapon. He's free on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court on Sept. 9.

Capt. Dean Kazinci says Santana's girlfriend told police a verbal dispute became physical Tuesday.

Kazinci says the rapper told officers the woman was the aggressor and she had the knife.

Police say the girlfriend, whose name was not released, had minor injuries that did not require medical treatment.

Santana records for Def Jam Recordings. His song "There it Go" was a top ten single in 2005.

Completely Cool at the "Inglourious Basterds" Premiere

Los Angeles – They were the cool couple in black, he in a linen suit and she in a fabulous, form-fitting strapless leather dress. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stopped traffic on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles on Monday, Aug. 10, as they joined Quentin Tarantino at the premiere of "Inglourious Basterds."

That's Tarantino's quirky film foray into World War II, with Pitt in the starring role. As Tarantino told reporters earlier at a press day for the film, "we've been wanting to work with each other for a little while now, and when I was writing this script with Aldo as the main character, Brad has been in my mind for a long time and he's always just been Aldo. It was Brad Pitt and then there was nobody else. I'm usually happy about having a second and a third choice, but not this time."

Tarantino got Pitt to play "this hillbilly, part Indian, who would know a lot about war history and Geronimo's battle plan, who would take a bunch of Jewish American soldiers, go behind enemy lines and do an Apache resistance against the Nazis," which should tell audiences that this is a slightly wacky, very R-rated war film.

No one seemed to worry much about the graphic violence as the movie unspooled at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, especially not Brad's German-born co-star Diane Kruger, who wore a minidress made with black glass fringe and a daringly low-cut open back.

"People are always asking me, 'Well, how is it going to go down in Germany?' People were cheering when we screened it there, because the truth is they've wanted to get rid of Hitler if they could, for years, get it over with for years," she said.

Joining in the cheering at the premiere were Tarantino fans Bridget Fonda, Sarah Silverman, Carla Gugino, Samuel L. Jackson, Tia Carrere, Tony Hawk, Christina Ricci, Jeremy Renner, Cloris Leachman, Maria Menounos, and the other stars of "Basterds" - Eli Roth, Melanie Laurent, B. J. Novak, Christoph Waltz, and Michael Fassbender.

'Harry Potter' actor admits growing marijuana

LONDON – A teenage cast member of the "Harry Potter" movies has appeared in a London court and admitted to growing marijuana.

Jamie Waylett pleaded guilty to growing the drug during a hearing Thursday at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.

The 19-year-old Waylett plays school bully Vincent Crabbe in all six installments of the film franchise.

Police found eight bags of cannabis and a knife during a search of a car Waylett was riding in. They then searched his mother's house and found 10 marijuana plants.

Waylett pleaded guilty to producing cannabis, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence. His friend John Innis pleaded guilty to drug possession.

Judge Timothy Workman said the pair would be sentenced Tuesday.

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 19-25

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 19-25:

July 19: Country singer Sue Thompson is 83. Country singer George Hamilton IV is 72. Actor Dennis Cole is 69. Singer Vikki Carr is 69. Musician Commander Cody is 65. Actor George Dzundza is 64. Singer-bassist Alan Gorrie of Average White Band is 63. Guitarist Brian May of Queen is 62. Guitarist Bernie Leadon (Eagles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 62. Actress Beverly Archer ("Major Dad, "Mama's Family") is 61. Actor Peter Barton ("Sunset Boulevard," "Burke's Law") is 53. Drummer Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) is 49. Actor Campbell Scott is 48. Actor Anthony Edwards ("ER") is 47. Singer Country singer Kelly Shiver (Thrasher Shiver) is 46. Actress Clea Lewis ("Ellen") is 44. Singer Urs Buhler of Il Divo is 38. Drummer Jason McGerr of Death Cab For Cutie is 35. Actor Jared Padalecki ("Supernatural," "Gilmore Girls") is 27.

July 20: Rockabilly singer Sleepy LaBeef is 74. Actress Diana Rigg ("The Avengers") is 71. Bassist John Lodge of the Moody Blues is 66. Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 65. Singer Kim Carnes is 64. Guitarist Carlos Santana is 62. Drummer Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols is 53. Actress Donna Dixon ("Bosom Buddies") is 52. Keyboardist Mick McNeil of Simple Minds is 51. Country singer Radney Foster is 50. Singer Chris Cornell (of Audioslave and of Soundgarden) is 45. Guitarist Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam is 43. Actor Reed Diamond ("Judging Amy," "Homicide: Life on the Street") is 42. Actor Josh Holloway ("Lost") is 40. Singer Vitamin C is 40. Actor Simon Rex is 35. Actor Charlie Korsmo ("Can't Hardly Wait," "Hook") is 31. Singer Elliott Yamin ("American Idol") is 31. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is 29. Guitarist Mike Kennerty of All-American Rejects is 29. Actor John Francis Daley ("Freaks and Geeks") is 24. Dancer-country singer Julianne Hough ("Dancing with the Stars") is 21. Actress Billi Bruno ("According to Jim") is 13.

July 21: Singer Kay Starr is 87. Actor Paul Burke ("Dynasty," "Naked City") is 83. Movie director Norman Jewison is 83. Actress Patricia Elliott ("One Life To Live") is 67. Actor Edward Herrmann ("Gilmore Girls") is 66. Actor Leigh Lawson ("Tess") is 64. Singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) is 61. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau ("Doonesbury") is 61. Comedian-actor Robin Williams is 58. Singer-guitarist Eric Bazilian of The Hooters is 56. Comedian Jon Lovitz is 52. Actor Lance Guest ("Lou Grant") is 49. Singer Emerson Hart of Tonic is 40. Country singer Paul Brandt is 37. Actor Josh Hartnett is 31. Reggae singer Damian Marley is 31. "American Idol" runner-up Blake Lewis is 28. Keyboardist Johan Carlsson of Carolina Liar is 25. Actress Vanessa Lengies ("Stick It," "American Dreams") is 24.

July 22: Actor Orson Bean ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") is 81. Actress Louise Fletcher is 75. Singer Chuck Jackson is 72. Actor Terence Stamp is 71. Game show host Alex Trebek is 69. Singer George Clinton is 68. Singer-actor Bobby Sherman is 66. Writer-director Paul Schrader is 63. Singer Don Henley is 62. Actor Danny Glover is 62. Actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 62. Composer Alan Menken ("Little Mermaid," "Little Shop of Horrors") is 60. Musician Al Di Meola is 55. Actor Willem Dafoe is 54. Singer Keith Sweat is 48. Singer Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls is 46. Actor-comedian David Spade is 45. Actor John Leguizamo is 45. Bassist Pat Badger of Extreme is 42. Actor Rhys Ifans ("Notting Hill") is 42. Musician Daniel Jones (Savage Garden) is 36. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 36. Actress Franka Potente ("The Bourne Identity") is 35. Actress Selena Gomez ("The Wizards of Waverly Place") is 17.

July 23: Actress Gloria DeHaven is 84. Radio personality Don Imus is 69. Country singer Tony Joe White is 66. Actor Larry Manetti ("Magnum, P.I.") is 62. Singer David Essex is 62. Singer-turned-Congressman John Hall (Orleans) is 61. Guitarist Blair Thornton of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is 59. Actress Belinda Montgomery ("Doogie Howser, MD") is 59. Actor Woody Harrelson is 48. Guitarist Martin Gore of Depeche Mode is 48. Actor Eriq Lasalle ("ER") is 47. Drummer Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing) is 46. Guitarist Slash of Velvet Revolver (and Guns N' Roses) is 44. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is 42. Model Stephanie Seymour is 41. Singer Sam Watters of Color Me Badd is 39. Actress Charisma Carpenter is 39. Singer Dalvin DeGrate of Jodeci is 38. Country singer Alison Krauss is 38. Drummer Chad Gracey of Live is 38. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans ("The Wayans Brothers") is 37. Country singer Shannon Brown is 36. Actor Omar Epps is 36. Singer Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) is 29. Actor Daniel Radcliffe ("Harry Potter" movies) is 20.

July 24: Jazz pianist Billy Taylor is 88. Director Peter Yates is 80. Actor John Aniston ("Days of Our Lives") is 76. Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 73. Actor Mark Goddard ("Lost In Space") is 73. Actor Chris Sarandon is 67. Comedian Gallagher is 63. Actor Robert Hays ("Airplane!") is 62. Actor Michael Richards ("Seinfeld") is 60. Actress Lynda Carter is 58. Director Gus Van Sant is 57. Country singer Pam Tillis is 52. Actor Kadeem Hardison is 44. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 41. Actress Laura Leighton ("Melrose Place") is 41. Actor John P. Navin Jr. is 41. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is 40. Basketball player-turned-actor Rick Fox is 40. Actor Eric Szmanda ("CSI") is 34. Actress Rose Byrne is 30. Actress Summer Glau is 28. Actress Elisabeth Moss ("The West Wing") is 27. Actress Anna Paquin is 27. Actress Mara Wilson is 22. TV personality Bindi Irwin ("Bindi: The Jungle Girl") is 11.

July 25: Actress Barbara Harris is 74. Drummer Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds is 66. Bassist Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire is 58. Supermodel Iman is 54. Cartoonist Ray Billingsley ("Curtis") is 52. Guitarist Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth is 51. Country singer Marty Brown is 44. Actress Illeana Douglas is 44. Actor Matt LeBlanc ("Joey," "Friends") is 42. Cellist Paavo Lotjonen of Apocalyptica is 40. Actor D.B. Woodside ("24") is 40. Actress Miriam Shor ("Swingtown," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch") is 38. Actor James Lafferty ("One Tree Hill") is 24.

Jackson death revives interest in Twitchell mural

LOS ANGELES – When a Los Angeles gallery mounted a retrospective of Kent Twitchell's work earlier this year the acclaimed painter figured the one thing everyone would want to see was his "lost" Michael Jackson mural.

Twitchell's larger-than-life vision, showing the entertainer decked out in a white suit and matching fedora, stood 100 feet tall and 60 feet wide. Once planned for the entire side of a Hollywood building, it was so big it had to be mounted in sections across a two-story gallery wall, the bottom of it strung out along the floor.

When visitors arrived, they made a beeline straight past it, stopping instead to admire Twitchell's two-story portrait of Steve McQueen.

How things have changed.

"Since Michael died my phone is just ringing off the hook," said Look gallery owner Jerri Levi, who mounted the April exhibition. Collectors from around the world have inquired about buying the mural, she said, and others have asked whether it will be displayed again.

But for now Twitchell is keeping it safely rolled up and hidden away.

"It would be nice to see something happen with it eventually," he said this week. "But I don't want to just hawk it and I wouldn't want to get involved in something that might be seen as cheesy. I'm an artist, not an entrepreneur."

The mural was originally planned for the side of Hollywood's historic El Capitan Theatre building, and Twitchell, whose works dot the Los Angeles skyline, collaborated with Jackson on it for three years.

"The nicest guy in the world. Down to earth. Not pretentious at all," is how he remembers him.

The project, part of a Hollywood restoration taking place at the time, was shelved in 1993. Twitchell says he was never told why but suspects Jackson having become the target of a child molestation investigation that year played a role.

Originally Jackson wanted to dress in black leather for the mural, Twitchell said, but he told him he'd like to go for a classic 1930s Hollywood pose, outfitting him in something Cary Grant would have worn at the time.

"He said, 'Oh yes, I can see that,'" Twitchell recalled.

Nia Vardalos back in spotlight

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Seven years after being catapulted to fame and fortune with her hit comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", Nia Vardalos makes a long-awaited return to the big screen this month with another film that takes the Canadian-born actress back to her ancestral roots.

Vardalos, 46, became an overnight success in 2002, when the romantic comedy she wrote and starred in went on to become a monster hit, earning more than 350 million dollars worldwide after being made for only five million dollars.

The success of the film -- which also earned Vardalos a best original screenplay nomination at the Oscars -- allowed Vardalos to take her time deciding her next career move.

Although she starred in a short-lived television spin-off of "Greek Wedding", Vardalos has been largely inactive since 2002 preferring to focus on starting a family before relaunching her career with "My Life in Ruins."

Her new film, which goes on release in North America on June 5, sees her play a Greek-American history professor who returns to Greece to work as a tour guide in Athens.

Vardalos said the script for the film, which includes several scenes shot at the Acropolis and other historic sites, had fired her enthusiasm after years out of the spotlight as she attempted to start a family.

"When we got the permission to shoot this film, it was so exciting and it was the first that I had found something where I wanted to be on camera in for a long time," she told reporters in Beverly Hills.

"In 2004, I had come to the end of a 10-year infertility battle and I just chose to privately deal with it, so I stepped back out of acting," said Vardalos, who recently adopted a three-year-old girl with her husband.

"I was really happy to be offered a nice clean script that celebrates Greece and is a love letter to Greece," she adds.

Vardalos says that despite the commercial success of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", her business relationships with her producers, who include actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, have not changed.

"The good news is that you strive for what happened with my first movie for your whole life," Vardalos said. "And so it happened and its like, 'oh that's over, the rest is gravy.'

"The greater news is that my producers are the same producers. They treated me like gold before 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' made a dime. And they don't expect anything from me, except let's have fun and let's tell fun stories."

Vardalos, who did not write "My Life In Ruins," continues to pen screenplays.

But she says she has resisted the temptation to try and regurgitate the formula from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in an attempt to score another commercial bullseye.

"I write little movies and then the rest is up to the audience," she said. "It's the audience that made 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' a success.

"I think if you create with a financial goal in mind, artistically you are dead. Its best to tell fun stories and let the audience decide."

However Vardalos makes no apologies for the fact that "My Life In Ruins" and another upcoming film "I Hate Valentine's Day," which she wrote, directed and stars in, are both romantic comedies, like "Greek Wedding."

"I think that reviewers and the industry think that romance is dead," Vardalos said. "I think the audience wants it and needs it. I know I do.

"As I keep saying, as the average person, I like to escape into a movie. I like movies like 'Terminator' and 'Star Trek' as well."

Prince Harry plays polo on 1st official trip to US

NEW YORK – Prince Harry reminded New Yorkers on Saturday how much his mother had loved their city, then climbed onto a pony for a rousing game of polo to raise money for impoverished children in Africa.

On a brilliantly sunny day on Governors Island in New York Harbor, the 24-year-old prince drew a crowd that included stars like Madonna, actresses Kate Hudson and Chloe Sevigny, and rapper LL Cool J, but also lots of ordinary New Yorkers out for a rare sight: a polo game in the city.

"You see this out in the Hamptons, but not so much in the city," said Vincent Hodgins of Manhattan, who brought his two sons to watch the prince play.

The Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic was a fundraiser for Sentebale, the charity that Harry has set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help poor children and AIDS orphans in that small African nation surrounded by South Africa.

"Prince Seeiso and I both lost our mothers when we were very young," Harry said in brief remarks before the match. "We set up Sentebale in their memory, and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me."

His team, named after the charity, proceeded to defeat the opposing Black Watch team 6-5. Harry assisted on the winning goal in the last seconds, drawing the biggest cheer of the afternoon. Both teams included prominent polo stars like Argentine Nacho Figueras, also a Ralph Lauren model, who played for Black Watch.

It was the second and final day of Harry's first official visit to the United States, which began with a sober visit Friday to the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. On Saturday morning, the prince toured Harlem's Children Zone, a community organization that offers families social and educational services. He and Prince Seeiso chatted with students working preparing for a Regents Exam.

"Who's the best pupil?" Harry asked the ninth-graders. "I was always the worst!"

Harry, the son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, is third in line to the British throne, after his father and older brother, William. He's been dubbed the "party prince," and his New York trip seemed designed partly to counter that image with a focus on his charity work.

"I won't bore you with statistics, but please believe me when I say that Lesotho is a mere microcosm of what is so wonderful, but also so tragic about Africa today," he said before the match, reading from notes. "This beautiful kingdom has been ravaged by HIV/AIDS and poverty, leaving thousands of children without their parents."

The event was free to the public, but guests in the VIP tent on the opposite side of the field had paid from $50,000 a table down to $500 a head to picnic on the lawn. In true polo-watching fashion, there were more hats than at an Easter parade; for the women, they were topped by flowers, feathers and even butterflies climbing up a wire trellis.

Harry, though, was casual before the match in a navy blue blazer, open-collared shirt and white jeans, and loafers. And Madonna, accompanied by her sons, Rocco and David, was positively dressed down: She wore jeans and a denim jacket as she chatted with designer Marc Jacobs.

In the bleachers, Mike Hallman, visiting the city from North Carolina enjoyed the match with his family. "My kids have never seen polo before," he said. Added his 9-year-old son, Jason: "It's pretty exciting. I have never seen a prince."

Another spectator who'd never seen a polo match was LL Cool J.

"Hopefully, it'll be quite good," Harry told the singer during the reception.

"Are you going to win?" LL Cool J asked. "Mmmm. I don't know. Hopefully it's fixed," joked Harry.

The prince also said his visit had been "wonderful."

"It's been a whirlwind," he told The Associated Press. "I haven't had a chance to let the jet lag set in, and it's time to go already."

But his trip wasn't over after the match: Leaving Governors Island, the prince took a Coast Guard cutter up the Hudson River for an unannounced visit to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Manhattan's west side.

He inspected the World War II aircraft carrier and checked out the cockpit of a retired British Airways Concorde jet. Museum president Bill White said the staff presented the prince with a section of the 1943 carrier's original wooden flight deck. Also present was a British Marine commando, Joe Townsend, who lost both legs while on duty in Afghanistan.

The prince's visit began Friday morning with a prayerful stop at ground zero. There, he spent about 15 minutes quietly speaking to a half-dozen relatives of 9/11 victims.

Harry then attached a wreath to a chain-link fence overlooking the Sept. 11 memorial under construction, bowing his head in silence for a few minutes. He also visited the firehouse across the street that houses Engine 10 and Ladder 10, which lost five members on Sept. 11, talking and laughing with firefighters there.

Later Friday, Harry formally named the British Memorial Garden in Hanover Square downtown to honor the 67 British victims of the terrorist attack. He also visited Manhattan's Veterans Affairs Medical Center, touring a clinic that treats veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and the prosthetics facilities.

How Can Angelina Jolie Be Pregnant Every Week?

Los Angeles (E! Online) – How can mags get away with proclaiming Angie and Brad preggers and in love one week, breaking up the next, ready to adopt the week after? Are they really that volatile? Do mags just make s--t up?

—Carly, via Facebook

We're talking about a pair of bazillionaire mega-movie stars. Why wouldn't Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt be at least partially as volatile as the headlines claim? Sure, mags are responsible for their own drama-queen headlines. But in general, when it comes to this couple, I am told that the crazy Brangie reports are at least believed to be true by the people who gather and write them.

Still, let's dig a little deeper and take a look at a few of the rumors you mention, starting with the constant whisperings of pregnancy...

Of course many mags have just gotten this story wrong at one point or another; Angie has birthed one single baby and one set of twins, despite rumors of her being pregnant every second of every day. In fact, according to Star, Angelina is carrying a fourth messiah child right this very millisecond. This could be true or not—I really can't say I care.

But remember, reporters rely on sources, some of whom are more connected than others. When there's a very clear-cut story about a pregnancy, there's usually a source, or someone, who heard something that led someone to believe that Angie was preggers.

"There are a lot of reasons why someone could report a pregnancy," says CoverAwards founder and former Life & Style editor Mark Pasetsky. "They could have someone tell them they are pregnant, or just trying to get pregnant."

Many magazines say one thing on their covers and report something quite different on the inside.

A headline may scream something like the oh-so-fresh phrase "baby joy," but inside, the copy is all about some couple just talking about a baby. Remember that candy-colored headline from OK! magazine proclaiming Shiloh and Suri to be "best friends"? That was based on a report of some vague conversation between the parents about maybe arranging a play date.

Read the whole story—if you can stand it—and not just the cover.

But the most important point to remember here is that some celebrity couples really are that dramatic. Would you really be all that shocked if Brangelina were one of them?

Jackie Chan stages show at Beijing's Bird's Nest

BEIJING – Jackie Chan and a host of Chinese pop stars performed at Beijing's massive Bird's Nest stadium on Friday without a hint of the uproar caused by the veteran action star's recent comments about freedom and China.

The 55-year-old "Rush Hour" star told a business forum last month that freedom may not be a good thing for authoritarian mainland China. Critics called his comments an insult to the Chinese people.

Chan's spokesman, Solon So, later said Chan's comments were taken out of context and that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry and not Chinese society at large.

There were no signs of protests as Chan took the stage Friday at the site of the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, with the 91,000-capacity stadium about three-quarters full as the concert got under way.

Chan told the crowd that organizers sold 70,000 tickets. The controversy over Chan's remarks was widely reported in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but largely ignored in mainland China.

Chan sang the patriotic song "Descendants of the Dragon." Other performers included Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jonathan Lee and Hong Kong's Emil Chau, Alan Tam, Joey Yung and Hacken Lee.

South Korean singer Rain and the South Korean boy band Super Junior were to perform later.

The concert, timed to coincide with China's May 1-3 Labor Day national holiday, is the first major event to take place at the Bird's Nest since the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and Beijing Paralympics and came amid questions about the stadium's future.

Chan is known for his unique brand of action comedy, but has also dabbled in singing and sang with other stars at both the opening and closing ceremonies.

Madonna adoption case heard amid paternity dispute

BLANTYRE, Malawi – Malawi's highest court began deliberating on Madonna's bid to adopt a 3-year-old girl from the southern African country, as a dispute erupted over whether a man trying to stop the proceedings is the girl's father.

Madonna was not at Monday's closed-door hearing at the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, and a ruling may not be announced for several days.

The 50-year-old pop star is fighting a lower court's decision that she cannot adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James because she had not been screened over time by Malawi authorities. The court said the rules were bent when Madonna adopted her son David from Malawi last year.

Madonna's Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula said he was "hopeful" the appeal would succeed, and argued the lower court had relied on outdated law to block the girl's adoption.

Madonna found the girl in 2006 at Kondanani Children's Village, an orphanage in the southern town of Bvumbwe just south of the commercial capital of Blantyre. It was the same year she adopted David, whom she found at another orphanage in the central Mchinji district.

On Sunday, a man told The Associated Press he was the girl's father, and has sought help from the Malawi Law Society to stop the adoption.

James Kambewa, a 24-year-old a security guard, acknowledged he has never seen the child, who according to court documents was placed in the orphanage when her 14-year-old mother died a few weeks after giving birth to her.

But Kambewa said he now wanted to claim custody of Chifundo.

"I may be poor, but I think I have what it takes to raise a daughter," he said. "I will fight the adoption."

The brother of the girl's mother told the AP the family does not know Kambewa.

"How can he claim he is the father when he hasn't been around all this time?" said Peter Baneti, who explained that the girl was put in the orphanage because there was no one to breast-feed the baby.

Baneti said he had agreed to the adoption on behalf of the family, and that Kambewa was "just an opportunist."

Madonna spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said in an e-mail message she doesn't know if Kambewa is the father.

"All I know is that Mercy has been in an orphanage since the day she was born," Rosenberg said.

Kambewa, in an interview to be aired Monday on CBS' "The Early Show," said he has only seen the girl "in newspapers and TV — not face to face." But he told CBS the girl "is a Malawian — so (I) need her to grow as a Malawian as well with our culture."

On the show, Kambewa wore a necklace bearing the girl's name.

Madonna has founded a charity, Raising Malawi, that helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost parents to AIDS.

Amy Winehouse blocks paparazzi from London home

LONDON – Amy Winehouse has won a court order banning the paparazzi from pursuing her outside her London home, a source close to the singer's management team said Saturday.

The singer sought the order to ban photographers if they follow her or approach her within 100 meters (yards) of her home, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not directly involved in the case.

Winehouse posted the anti-harrassment injunction outside her home.

The 25-year-old's drug problems have been front page news in Britain, where she was pictured puffing on what appeared to be a crack pipe last year.

Winehouse sought the injunction last month after moving from the north London neighborhood of Camden — known for its music scene and drug culture — to the more sleepy Hadley Wood area of Enfield, further north.

Japanese pop star Kusanagi arrested for indecency

TOKYO (AFP) – A pop star with ageing Japanese boy band SMAP was arrested for public indecency, police said, amid reports he was naked, drunk and acting erratically in a central Tokyo park.

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, 34, was arrested early in the morning near the Roppongi nightclub district after a local resident alerted police, a police spokesman said.

Television stations reported the arrest by flashing bulletins usually reserved for earthquakes and other major events, while television helicopters filmed the park from the air after sunrise.

Public broadcaster NHK placed a breaking news headline over its live footage of a parliamentary session on Japan's measures to fight Somali pirates.

"What's wrong with being naked?" Kusanagi reportedly yelled at a police officer who approached him.

The incident infuriated Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama, whose ministry has featured Kusanagi in its campaign to promote the 2011 start of nationwide terrestrial digital broadcasting.

"If the report is true, I'm immensely angry... I'll drop him off everything related to terrestrial digital broadcasting," he told reporters. "I'll never forgive him."

Boy band SMAP gained fame from the early 1990s and became hugely popular in Japan and elsewhere in Asia with a string of chart-topping hits.

Its members have used their fame to get roles in television dramas and movies, and Kusanagi has starred in films and featured in many commercials.

In South Korea, he is better known as "Cho Nan Kang" and liked for his good command of the Korean language.

SMAP, one of many successful pop groups formed by Japanese talent agency Johnny and Associates, is an acronym for "Sports Music Assemble People."

Bai Ling cranks up moonstruck life for "High Voltage"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Chinese-American actress Bai Ling really thinks she is from the moon, and that her grandmother lives there. Really, truly.

The actress, who stars in the action movie "Crank High Voltage" that opened on Friday, has made the admission before, and she insists she is not crazy -- just inspired.

"I'm not really in reality. I'm in my own universe and my mind is a million miles somewhere else," said Bai, who won a Golden Horse award, a Chinese-language film honor, for her supporting role in 2004 movie "Dumplings."

"Why I feel like I come from the moon is because my mother told me I was found somewhere," she said, explaining that at night she often sees the grandmother who raised her in the celestial sphere.

During a stay at a mental hospital in China as a teenager, after a difficult spell in the army, Bai said she told the staff that she was of sound mind.

"I went to the nurse, I said, 'Nurse I'm not crazy. I'm an actress, I want to get out of here, I'm doing a movie,'" she told Reuters in a recent interview.

As improbable as it may have seemed at the time, Bai truly was a budding actress. Soon after her release from the hospital, she was cast in a stage play, then went on to win roles in a number of Chinese movies in the 1980s.

So, as impossible as it may seem that she's from the moon and no matter what some moviegoers may say about her sometimes odd fashion choices, she is, nonetheless, a solid actress.

GIRL, CRANKED

Her character in "Crank High Voltage," Ria, is rescued from Chinese thugs by hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham), who is on the run from a Mexican gang boss and the Chinese.

The movie is based on 2006 action flick "Crank," which also starred Statham and earned $45 million at global box offices.

Both films come from co-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Neveldine, who rolled around on Rollerblades while filming, said Bai was the perfect fit for Ria.

"We loved that she was off the wall, and she's out there," he said. "For us, directing her was about reigning her in, and that's a great thing."

Bai's breakthrough Hollywood role came in 1994 action movie "The Crow." In 1997, she starred in "Red Corner," a film about China's justice system that was banned in that country.

She said she had to apologize to Chinese government officials for "Red Corner," which allowed her to eventually return to the country for movie work.

But she said that one embarrassing mark on her career cannot be erased -- paparazzi photos of her in public wearing clothes that have sometimes left her nipples exposed.

"Sometimes my nipples just popped out, they want to see the sunlight maybe," she said, wearing a turtle-shaped ring.

The actress had to learn English as an adult to make it in Hollywood, a feat that has eluded many leading foreign actors. She attributes her quick study to "pillow talk."

A fan of the opera, she said that she does not prepare for her roles, drawing instead on her openness to life and sublime experiences, like the sight of rain falling from leaves.

"I don't know what's normal or not normal, I'm totally functional in society and I'm totally enjoying being alive in this place and giving my gift to my work," she said.

Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled

BOAO, China – Action star Jackie Chan said Saturday he's not sure if a free society is a good thing for China and that he's starting to think "we Chinese need to be controlled."

Chan's comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders in China's southern island province of Hainan.

The 55-year-old Hong Kong actor was participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China. He expanded his comments to include society.

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said. "I'm really confused now. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic."

Chan added: "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

The kung fu star has not been a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement in his hometown of Hong Kong. Since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, voters have not been allowed to directly elect their leader. Several massive street protests have been held to demand full democracy, but Beijing has repeatedly said Hong Kong isn't ready for it.

The theme at Saturday's panel discussion was "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," and Chan had several opinions about innovation in China.

He said that early in his career, he lived in the shadow of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee. He said that during his first foray into Hollywood, he struggled to establish his own identity, so he returned to Hong Kong. After spending 15 years building his reputation in Asia, Chan finally got rediscovered by Hollywood, he said.

Chan said the problem with Chinese youth is that "they like other people's things. They don't like their own things." Young people need to spend more time developing their own style, he added.

The action hero complained that Chinese goods still have too many quality problems. He became emotional when discussing contaminated milk powder that sickened tens of thousands of Chinese babies in the past year.

Speaking fast with his voice rising, Chan said, "If I need to buy a TV, I'll definitely buy a Japanese TV. A Chinese TV might explode."

Madonna still keen to adopt Malawian child: report

LILONGWE (Reuters) – U.S. pop star Madonna is still keen on adopting a second child from Malawi, despite a court ruling in the southern African country preventing her from doing so, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Madonna, who lost an appeal against a High Court decision refusing her bid to adopt a four-year-old girl named Mercy James, said she wants to provide education and a family environment for the young girl.

"I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and healthcare possible. And it's my hope that she like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country," Madonna told the Nation on Sunday newspaper in an emailed response to questions.

"Though I have been advised that I cannot publicly discuss the pending appeal regarding my desire to adopt Mercy, I do want to say how much I appreciate the level of support that I have received from the people of Malawi and my friends around the world."

Malawi's government came under fire after Madonna adopted a 13-month-old child, David Banda, in 2006, with critics accusing it of giving her special treatment by skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children.

Madonna's lawyer, Alan Chinula, has already lodged a notice of appeal against the decision earlier this month but by last week the courts had not yet granted a date for the hearing.

In her ruling, Judge Esimie Chombo warned against celebrity adoptions, saying they could lead to child trafficking.

"Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect," she said.

Madonna has entertained millions around the world with sexy high-energy performances and songs like "Material Girl" and "Papa Don't Preach," and created controversies along the way.

The star, who was divorced last year from British film director Guy Ritchie, is one of the music industry's most successful singers, with album sales of more than 200 million.

Michael Caine is not the retiring type

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AFP) – With more than 100 films under his belt and two Oscars nestling on his mantlepiece, Michael Caine could be forgiven for contemplating retirement after more than half a century on the silver screen.

Yet though the 76-year-old actor's latest role sees him playing an aging magician struggling to adjust to life as a reluctant resident of an old people's home, Caine says there is no chance of his life imitating art.

"(General Douglas) MacArthur said 'Old soldiers don't die they just fade away,' and maybe it's the same with old actors too," Caine told reporters ahead of the North American release of his film "Is Anybody There?" on April 17.

"I don't think you ever retire from films -- films retire you," Caine says. "Sometimes, if you're unfortunate, after your first film.

"What happens is you say 'I'm going to retire.' And then someone turns up and gives you this script. So you're not retiring."

"I don't have my next movie and I'm not looking for one. But someone will give me a script possibly and I'll work again. If someone doesn't give me a script that I want to do, I'll retire."

"But there' won't be a great announcement or fanfare of trumpets. I just won't do anything. I'll stay at home and do what I always do, which is cooking, gardening and writing."

Born Maurice Micklewhite in 1933, Caine grew up in southeast London, the Cockney son of a charlady and a fishmarket porter. He fell in love with Hollywood after seeing the "Lone Ranger" as a five-year-old.

After changing his name, Caine secured uncredited roles in a string of films during the 1950s before his big break came in the 1964 classic "Zulu."

One of the actor's best known films -- "The Ipcress File" -- followed before Caine shot to stardom as the morally bankrupt title character of 1966's "Alfie," which earned him the first of six career Academy Award nominations.

Since then Caine has appeared in dozens of beloved film roles, from the swaggering thief Charlie Croker in 1969's "The Italian Job" to Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth in the two most recent Batman blockbusters.

Caine is contracted to reprise the role of Alfred in any follow-up to "The Dark Knight," but he believes a sequel will not happen for some time as director Christopher Nolan is committed to other projects.

Most recently Caine has finished work on a British crime thriller "Harry Brown," where he plays an aging Royal Marine who turns vigilante after his friend is killed on a crime-ridden London estate.

For Caine, the film was a chance to reconnect with his London roots.

"It was weird for me because we went back to these estates which fortunately are being torn down," Caine said. "They were the estates where I came from and there is still a mural on a wall in this estate, of me and Charlie Chaplin, who also came from there."

While "Harry Brown" echoes Caine's role in the cult 1969 British gangster film "Get Carter," his latest movie, "Is Anybody There?" takes the audience on a touching story about the unlikely friendship between the elder conjurer Clarence and Edward, a small boy who lives at the home, played by young actor Bill Milner.

Caine said he agreed to do the film after reading only half of the script and being reduced to tears.

"No script had ever done that to me before and I don't cry easily, believe me," Caine revealed. "I just thought it was a wonderful thing to do."

While Caine insists he has little in common with the struggle against aging and dementia of his character Clarence, recent experiences in his personal life had helped him prepare for the role.

"The film did give me an insight into why other people age and not me," Caine said. "But there was a sad aspect to it. For the dementia and Alzheimer's I was technically perfect because my best friend had just died of it.

"I'd just spent five years watching somebody deal with it, so I knew exactly about Alzheimer's and the confusion it causes."

Caine said he had few reservations about working with a young co-star in "Is Anybody There?" Milner, whose other films include recent independent hit "Son of Rambow," was 12 when filming took place.

"I never got the sense that Bill was a child actor," Caine said. "I just looked at him as if he was the same as me. And we were just friends.

"One reporter asked me the other day 'Did you give him any advice?' And I said no, he didn't need any advice. He never looked like he needed any help. He was just wonderful."

Talk of co-stars brings Caine on to the subject of "The Dark Knight" colleague Christian Bale, who made unwanted headlines earlier this year after his lengthy rant at a crew member on the set of an upcoming "Terminator" film was leaked onto the Internet.

Caine said he was "stunned" by Bale's outburst, which he described as "totally out of character."

"I'm more like that than Christian is," Caine said. "You're liable to get a volley off me if you walk into one of my takes."

He recounted an exchange with the late author and director James Clavell during filming of "The Last Valley" in 1970.

Clavell, who had been taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II, had taken Caine aside after he had exploded in anger on set. ("I outdid Christian by about 30 minutes," Caine joked.)

"James Clavell told me that what he learned from watching the Japanese was they never lost their temper in front of strangers, because you expose too much of yourself," Caine said. "So he gave me this long lecture about anger. And since that day I have never lost my temper on a set. Now I go home and scream at the kids instead."

Miley Cyrus world's favourite teenage idol

Miley Cyrus is the world's favourite teenage idol.

The 'Hannah Montana' actress has topped an online poll about young celebrities, with almost a third of voters - 32 per cent - naming her the biggest rising star.

However, only 10 per cent of participants believe the 16-year-old singer-and-actress is a good role model.

Squeaky-clean band the Jonas Brothers finished second in the favourite idols poll with 27 per cent of votes, while former winner Britney Spears was demoted to third position.

According to the survey, fans are frustrated by the 'Womanizer' singer's turbulent personal life.

The pop princess received less than a quarter of votes and only four per cent of voters believe the mother-of-two is a positive influence.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old singer Taylor Swift - who starred alongside Miley in 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' - was named the celebrity with the most influence over adolescents.

The online questionnaire by PopEater.com - which was completed by 57,000 members - also saw the Backstreet Boys named as the greatest teen idols of the 90s, while Kirk Cameron won the award for the 80s and David Cassidy was the most popular star from the 70s.

Britney Bagaikan "Tahanan" di Dalam Kehidupannya Sendiri

Beijing (ANTARA News) - Bintang pop Britney Spears menjadi "tahanan" di dalam kehidupannya sendiri.

Kantor berita Xinhua melaporkan bahwa mantan manager Britney, Sam Lutfi, mengatakan kepada Pengadilan Tinggi Los Angeles bintang itu menderita "tekanan emosi" di bawah tindakan konservatif ketat ayahnya.

Ayah Britney, Jamie, diberi wewenang atas urusan keuangan dan pribadi putrinya tahun lalu dan dengan cepat mengeluarkan perintah pengekangan terhadap Lutfi.

Dalam proses pengadilan saat ini, Jamir berusaha memperpanjang perintahnya karena ia menyatakan Lutfi masih mengganggu putrinya dan bersekongkol untuk mengganggu wewenang hukumnya atas Britney.

Adik perempuan Lutfi, Christina, juga memberi bukti di pengadilan Kamis, yang menyatakan Britney meminta dia "membelikan telefon genggam dan menyelundupkannya ke Beverly Hills Hotel, tempat Britney tinggal.

Christina berkata, "Britney memberi tahu saya bahwa ia ingin memeluk Sam. Britney ingin Sam membantu dia mencarikan pengacara, dan memerlukan seseorang untuk membelikan dia telefon genggam pra-bayar."

"Ia ketakutan karena ayahnya memeras dia dengan hak kunjungan atas anak-anaknya," kata Christina.

Penyanyi yang berusia 27 tahun tersebut sudah memberi tahu Christina untuk menemui dia di tempat senam di Peninsula Hotel. Christina menyatakan ia memberi Britney telefon itu di tempat sauna, dan kemudian menyaksikan dia menyembunyikannya di lemari penyimpanan.

Christina menambahkan, "Ia bertanya kepada saya, `Apakakah Sam akan dapat membantu saya?`"

Telefon tersebut belakangan ditemukan oleh tim keamanan dan disita.

Rabu pagi, pengacara Jamie, Blair Berk, bersaksi bahwa Britney "sangat takut kepada Sam, sehingga ia bertanya apakah saya dapat membuat dia ditangkap, guna menjauhkan Sam darinya".

Berk membantah Britney tidak bahagia di bawah pengawasan ayahnya dan berkeras aktris itu tak meminta bantuan hukum dari luar.

Ia juga menyatakan klip suara di internet, yang diduga sebagai rekaman suara Britney, yang meminta bantuan seorang pengacara guna meloloskan dia dari pengawasan ayahnya, bukan dibuat oleh penyanyi tersebut.

Penutupan kasus perintah pengekangan akan diselenggarakan pada 21 April dan Lutfi dilarang mengadakan kontak dengan Britney sampai saat itu.

Sementara itu, Britney telah dilaporkan mendapatkan cinta dari agennya Jason Trawick.

Satu orang dalam mengatakan, "Britney dan Jason telah menjalin hubungan selama beberapa bulan sekarang. Mereka berusaha melakukannya secara diam-diam di Hollywood karena itu bukan reputasi bagus bagi seorang agen."

Jamie dilaporkan terkesan dengan hubungan baru putrinya. Seorang agen menambahkan, "Jamir benar-benar suka pada Jason. Ia telah melakukan apa saja yang dapat dilakukannya untuk membuat mereka bersama."

"Jamie benar-benar memantau siapa yang berada bersama Britney dan telah memberi Jason akses seratus persen ke Britney setiap waktu. Dalam lingkungan mereka, Jason dan Britney sangat terbuka dan berciuman di depan orang yang mereka percaya," katanya.(*)