"Tulips & Pansies: The Headdress Affair" - A Night of Flowers and Fashion to be Remembered

New York – If you hadn't yet become savvy to the fact that pollen season has begun in New York City, then the "Tulips & Pansies: The Headdress Affair" fashion show fundraiser thrown by Village Care New York on Thursday, May 14, was a true spring awakening, merging fashion and flowers for a good cause.

Fashion designers and florists, 17 duos in total, teamed up for the eighth annual VCNY event where there was more coming down the catwalk to look at than just a pretty dress. Each florist worked with a clothing designer to come up with an extravagantly decorative headpiece that models adorned, complementing the runway look. Lilies, orchids, poppies, roses and even palm leaves all served in the cast of foliage that stood high atop the models' crowns.

The event was hosted by James Aguiar from Full Frontal Fashion and Style Network and featured apparel designers including Tory Burch, Pamella Rowland, Ralph Rucci and Cynthia Steffe.

Winning accreditation from the judges for most entertaining design was Sara Jordan of Sara Claire and Esther, who paired fishnet stockings to her Bordeaux colored, man-tailored cropped jacket highlighting this season's special vintage embellishment - lace. "Lots of feathers," said Amy Wolk of Fleurs as she made final preparations backstage before the show, which proved to be essential to her winning top hat design that completed the cabaret inspired ensemble. The headdresses, each with their own themes, styles and inspirations, were floral masterpieces in height and length, some towering over four feet high and others spanning the same in width. Creativity was in full bloom with designs that included a fantasy bird's nest with eggs, a Greco-Roman Cleopatra hair style, a floppy "over the top" brim hat made of roses, and a Napoleon hat.

Fashion entrepreneur and founder of public relations firm People's Revolution, Kelly Cutrone chaired the event for Village Care New York along with Jack Curry. "This is the only place that helps people with HIV when they have no where else to go," said Cutrone. Having lived in the West Village area of Manhattan, she reaffirmed her loyalty to the cause, as well as her old neighborhood, shrugging her shoulders and saying, "What can I say. I'm a downtown girl."

'Angels & Demons' wins box office from 'Star Trek'

NEW YORK – "Angels & Demons" took the box office from "Star Trek" by earning $48 million in its first weekend of release.

The haul was far less than the earlier Dan Brown adaptation "The Da Vinci Code" — which earned $77.1 million when in opened in 2006 — but still enough to topple the popular "Star Trek," according to studio estimates Sunday.

In its second weekend, Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek" took in $43 million, a strong number after its $75.2 million opening last weekend, excluding its Thursday midnight screenings. The cumulative total for J.J. Abram's reboot of the sci-fi franchise is $147.6 million.

Sony's "Angels & Demons" reunites Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard for the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code." It opened without the benefit of the buzz and controversy that propelled "The Da Vinci Code" to a $753 million worldwide total.

Overseas business was again strong for "Angels & Demons," which earned $104.3 million internationally. Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony, said the studio expects the film will eventually take in half a billion altogether in theatrical release.

"That chemistry (of Hanks and Howard) worked incredibly well with 'Da Vinci' and it looks like it's absolutely headed in that same vein, certainly on a lesser scale," said Bruer. "We never expected anything to the phenomenon of `Da Vinci.'"

Like "The Da Vinci Code," reviews were not illustrious for "Angels & Demons," but they were mostly better. Bruer called Brown's action-packed best-seller "a far more cinematic story" than "Da Vinci." In it, Hanks again plays Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon who's trying to prevent a series of murders at the Vatican.

"Sony positioned it well," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "They didn't try to say, `This is going to be "The Da Vinci Code."' It was actually quite the contrary. They tried to say this was not `Da Vinci Code,' that it was a different kind of movie."

"Angels & Demons" was the only new wide-release film of the weekend. Coming in third was "X-Men Originals: Wolverine," which earned $14.8 million in its third week, bringing its total to $151.1 million. The prequel to the "X-Men" franchise, starring Hugh Jackman as the mutant with metal claws, had a step drop-off in its second week.

On the whole, it was another robust weekend of business at movie theaters, which have been drawing large crowds throughout the recession. Dergarabedian pegs the year-to-date box office at a 16 percent increase over last year.

"We're headed toward a record breaking summer," said Dergarabedian. "If you've got a blockbuster in the pipeline, you're very happy about all the strength of the box office right now. Momentum is key in this business."

That's good news for the two blockbusters opening next weekend: "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" and "Terminator Salvation."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Angels & Demons," $48 million.

2. "Star Trek," $43 million.

3. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," $14.8 million.

4. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," $6.9 million.

5. "Obsessed," $4.6 million.

6. "17 Again," $3.4 million.

7. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $3 million.

8. "The Soloist," $2.4 million.

9. "Next Day Air," $2.2 million.

10. "Earth," $1.7 million.

"Wolverine" slashes rivals in debut

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Comic book movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" slashed its rivals at box offices over the weekend with a $160 million worldwide debut, leaping to No. 1 on ticket charts in a solid start to Hollywood's summer.

The action adventure, starring Hugh Jackman as the heroic Wolverine who wields long claws as his weapons, raked in $87 million in the United States and Canada and helped push total ticket sales just slightly ahead of the same weekend last year, according to tracking service Hollywood.com Box Office.

Landing at No. 2 on domestic box office charts with $15.3 million was romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," starring Matthew McConaughey. Last week's No. 1, thriller "Obsessed," dropped to third place with a weekend haul of $12.2 million for a cumulative total of $47 million in two weeks.

But it was "Wolverine" that lured the vast majority of fans to theaters. It was widely watched as the first major film of the studio's summer movie season that runs through August and can account for 35 to 40 percent of the annual ticket sales.

The $87 million domestic box office for "Wolverine" was lower than the $98.6 million debut of last year's No. 1 film, "Iron Man,' and box office trackers had estimated an opening in a range of $85 million to $100 million.

But Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution at "Wolverine" backer Twentieth Century Fox, said the studio was guiding industry watchers lower for reasons that included the movie being the fourth in the "X-Men" series.

"I'd been telling people that at anything over $70 million, we were going to be very happy," he said.

Moreover, Aronson said "Wolverine" enjoyed the second biggest domestic opening for an "X-Men" movie behind "X-Men: The Last Stand," which posted a $102 million debut in May 2006 and eventually earned $459 million globally.

The four movies in the "X-Men" series have combined for more than $1.1 billion in ticket sales around the world.

SALES TOPPED PRODUCTION COSTS

The Fox executive said ticket sales of $73 million in 101 markets outside the United States and Canada brought the global haul to $160 million. He called that figure "fantastic," and noted it topped the movie's production cost of around $130 million.

Aronson said "Wolverine" may have been affected by other issues including the flu outbreak that shut theaters in Mexico, where "Last Stand" took in $6 million at its debut.

In the United States, Aronson said, a Saturday night professional basketball game between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls likely reduced moviegoing in those cities. In Boston, ticket sales were off around 21 percent and in Chicago, they were down about 30 percent.

Finally, an early and unfinished copy of "Wolverine" had leaked on the Internet and may have kept some fans away. But the true impact of Web watching is hard to calculate. "I don't know that we'll ever know" the effect, Aronson said.

Rounding out the top five movies were comedy "17 Again" with $6.4 million ($48.5 million cumulative) at No. 4, and animated "Monsters vs. Aliens" with $5.8 million ($182.4 million cumulative) at No. 5.

Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of News Corp. Warner Bros. is part of Time Warner Inc. "Obsessed" was distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment unit Screen Gems. "17 Again" was distributed by Warner Bros., and "Monsters vs. Aliens" by DreamWorks Animation.

"Angels & Demons" director sees Vatican meddling

ROME (Reuters) – Director Ron Howard accused the Vatican on Sunday of trying to hamper the filming and the Rome roll-out of his new movie "Angels & Demons," and challenged Catholic critics to see the film before condemning it.

The movie sequel to author Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" will premiere in Rome on Monday, with fictional symbologist Robert Langdon returning to the big screen to help the Vatican rescue kidnapped cardinals and find a ticking time-bomb.

The Vatican was outraged by "The Da Vinci Code" and the Rome archdiocese made no secret about denying Howard authorization to film parts of the follow-up inside its churches.

Howard said the Vatican also exerted its influence "through backchannels" to try to prevent him from shooting in areas around certain churches and got an event related to the film's premiere canceled, he said.

"There was supposed to be a reception or screening here in Rome that had been approved and I suppose that the Vatican had some influence over that," Howard told a news conference.

A Vatican spokesman declined to comment.

Fanning controversy, a 102-year-old Italian bishop was quoted in Italian media over the weekend calling the film "highly denigrating, defamatory and offensive to Church values and the reputation of the Holy See."

"My only frustration as a film-maker is that we actually reached out a couple of times, going back to March, to sort of offer opportunities for bishops and others just to see the film. And those opportunities have all been declined," Howard said.

"So far all the criticism, all of the complaints about the film have been coming from people who haven't seen it."

SECRET BLOODLINE

"The Da Vinci Code" upset the Vatican and some Catholics because of its storyline that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children, creating a royal bloodline that Church officials kept secret for centuries.

Christians are taught that Jesus never married, was crucified and rose from the dead.

The storyline of "Angels & Demons" does not raise questions about Jesus Christ. It is billed as a "science-vs-religion" thriller that deals with an attempt to hijack a papal election.

Despite some criticism in Italy and the United States, reaction so far by Catholics to "Angels & Demons" has not been as thunderous as it was with the release of "The Da Vinci Code."

Tom Hanks, who again stars as Langdon, acknowledged that films thrive on controversy.

"The marketing department of any studio would love to create controversy over their films, but they can't do it on their own. They need a shared partner," Hanks said.

Dan Brown refused to discuss his next novel about Langdon's adventures, which publisher Random House has said will be called "The Lost Symbol" and will be released in September.

But Brown suggested that Howard was the ideal director for a film adaptation of the new book. Howard's adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code," which was panned by critics, earned more than $750 million at the box office worldwide.

"I am very certain that someday, in the hands of Ron Howard, it is going to make an absolutely terrific movie," he said.

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.