September 07, 2005

Screen star Robert Redford will be one among some others to receive Kennedy Center honors this winter. "We honor five extraordinary American artists whose unique and abundant contributions to our culture have transformed our lives," said Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

As for the rest four slated to hand the honor are singers Tony Bennett and Tina Turner, actress Julie Harris and ballerina-teacher Suzanne Farrell. All those recipients of the 28th annual honors will be recognized at a gala performance at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 4, to be attended by President Bush and first lady Laura Bush. The gala, hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, would later on in December this year broadcast by CBS.

Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman is about releasing a charity book. His other pals, include Tom Hanks, Hilary Swank and Michael Douglas, all of whom happen to be Academy Award winners too, will give their contribution to the planned cookbook dubbed "Morgan Freeman and Friends: Caribbean Cooking for a Cause."

The book, published via Rodale, Inc., is scheduled for a 2006 release. Proceeds for the book will go to the Grenada Relief Fund, a charity Freeman helped set up after Hurricanes Ivan and Emily ravaged the small Caribbean island last year. The auction, which also includes corporate-donated items, opened last Friday on the Charity Folks Web site, an online auction spot, and will run until Sept. 16.

The King of Pop is fallen apart by the Hurricane Katrina that he has written a song specially dedicated for the sufferers. Michael Jackson, who was moved by the images of Katrina's destruction that he saw on television, had already composed the song, tentatively titled "From the Bottom of My Heart," and planned to record it within two weeks after enlisting other top performers, said the star's publicist Raymone Bain.

"It pains me to watch the human suffering taking place in the Gulf region of my country. My heart and prayers go out to every individual who has had to endure the pain and suffering caused by this tragedy," said Jacko in a written statement. Some musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder have been recruited for that charity single.

A little-known New York band, Antony and the Johnsons, surprisingly won the Mercury Prize, one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious music awards. The band's record, "I Am A Bird Now," beat out such heavy favorites, as Kaiser Chiefs and Coldplay for the £20,000 prize, which goes to the Best Album of the Year by a British or Irish act.

The band shock win actually has sparked controversy concerning the band's lead singer, Antony Hegarty, although born in Chichester, has spent most of his life in the US. However, the Mercury organizers said that eligibility for the prize is judged on nationality, not residency.

Jeffrey Blitz, the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Spellbound," has taken another new project, which is "Rocket Science." It tells about 15-year-old Hal Hefner, Reece Thompson's role, who despite his terrible stuttering joins a high school debate team. He soon finds himself immersed in the ultra competitive world of high school debating. The film is scheduled to shoot in the Baltimore area over the next several weeks.

Actor Matt Dillon, who began his film career as a teen star and has starred in the Los Angeles crime drama "Crash" earlier this year, will be handed a Gotham Award at the 15th annual Gotham Awards held on November 30. Gotham Awards, which celebrate independent and New York-set films, also will present six jury-decided awards, including Movie of the Year.

"We've all watched Matt grow up on camera, but I don't know how many of us have really stopped and taken a long look at the tremendously accomplished body of work that he continues to build," Michelle Byrd, executive director of the Independent Feature Project, which awards the Gothams, said. In related news, Dillon's new film "Factotum" will be released early next year.

"If you're alluding to whether Orlando and I got together then that's a no. No." So said actress Kirsten Dunst furiously denied recent rumors claiming she had a fling with movie heart-throb Orlando Bloom on the set of forthcoming movie "Elizabethtown."

Speaking about her relationship with Bloom, the beauty admits to get closer with him while filming Cameron Crowe's comedy-drama last year, yet insists their friendship never blossoms into romance. Though, Dunst understands why actors are tempted to romance their co-stars, commenting "There are a lot of charismatic people in this industry... and I can understand why people on location get together."