January 13, 2006

"I'm sorry," said Cynthia Watros after entering her plea. The actress, best known for her portrayal of Libby on ABC's hit series "Lost," pleaded guilty to drunken driving Thursday January 12th.

Thus, she was ordered to pay $370 and had her driving license suspended for 90 days. In addition to that, she was also ordered by District Judge James Dannenberg to undergo an alcohol assessment and to submit to 14 hours of counseling.

Rock 'n' Roll group, The Beach Boys, filed a $20 million lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday Jan 11th, naming two California men Allan Gaba, the owner of a North Hollywood warehouse, his friend, Roy Sciacca, and Gem Systems Inc., a company Sciacca was involved in as those who stole a trove of photos, recordings and other band memorabilia from a warehouse with the intent to put the items up for auction.

As mentioned in the complaint, the Boys had been using Gaba's warehouse to store musical instruments, original sheet music, charts, photos, contracts and other items collected over the years from the early days of the popular '60s group. Apparently, by the year 1994, when they decided to clear out the warehouse, Gaba had removed between 13 and 25 boxes full of their memorabilia without permission.

The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday is dominated by rapper Nelly, whose new track "Grillz" ups four places to the very top position, becoming his 4th No. 1 single in U.S. Following him at 2nd is R&B singer Chris Brown's "Run It!" and at 3rd is Beyonce Knowles' "Check on It."

Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" ups from No. 7 to No. 4, ahead of rock band Nickelback's "Photograph" at No. 5 and last week's chart-topper D4L's "Laffy Taffy" at No. 6. Kanye West's "Gold Digger," in the meantime, downs three to No. 7 followed then by The Pussycat Dolls' "Stickwitu" at No. 8.

Numbers of names have been listed as the finalists for the inaugural New Pantheon Awards which replacing the Shortlist Prize in recognizing noteworthy albums that have sold fewer than 500,000 copies in the United States. Among the 10 names mentioned, there we have Fiona Apple, Antony and the Johnsons, and Arcade Fire.

Apple's "Extraordinary Machine", Arcade Fire's "Funeral", and Antony and the Johnsons' "I Am a Bird Now" will all vie for the award. The rest of the finalists among others include Animal Collective's "Feels," Bloc Party's "Silent Alarm," Death Cab for Cutie's "Plans," The Decemberists' "Picaresque," Kings of Leon's "Aha Shake Heartbreak," M.I.A.'s "Arular," and Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois."

Director David Fincher has agreed to helm the upcoming "Torso." Based on the graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, the drama action flick tells the true story of Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness' time spent after tracking infamous gangster Al Capone.

Screenwriter Ehren Kruger is in hand to adapt the flick, while Bill Mechanic, Don Murphy, Todd McFarlane and Terry Fitzgerald are producing.

Wednesday January 11th was a happy day for Melissa Joan Hart and her musician husband, Mark Wilkerson. That day at 4:19 p.m. in Los Angeles, the couple welcomed their first child, a baby boy, given the name of Mason Walter Wilkerson.

Weighed in at 9 lbs "He was a little stubborn, but all is well," Hart told People Magazine. "Everyone is well, and we are all relieved," she continued.

Macaulay Culkin won't be home alone again as he and longtime girlfriend Mila Kunis reportedly planning to wed. The couple is reported shopping for an engagement ring after decided to wed.

Per In Touch magazine, both Culkin and Kunis were spotted trying to find a suitable ring checking out some jewelry shops in Beverly Hills on January 4. Rumors on the street mentioned they planned for a wedding ceremony this year.

Jack Black, the actor of box office hit "King Kong," is reportedly going down the aisle. The star is reported to have asked his new girlfriend Tanya Haden to marry him.

Per In Touch magazine, Black reportedly proposed to Haden after Christmas with a $220,000 ring from Neil Lane jewelers. However, the report as-yet proven true. Just keep it here for more details.

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz has been honored by French government with a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters in a ceremony held in Paris, France on January 11th. France's cultural minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres called her a "great European actress" thanks to her international film career, which includes roles in French, English, Italian and her native Spanish.

The minister said "It's France's role to be the ardent defender of cultural diversity and to recognize those who extend, with their talent, the culture of their country. I'm happy to have honored this great European actress." Speaking on the honor she got, Cruz remarked earnestly "I'm not sure that I deserve it, but I'll do my best so that you won't regret."

While many stars have been tapped as the presenters of the 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards, here comes new names added to the long list. They are Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Tim McGraw, Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellweger.

All of them will join the already existed presenters slated to host the event to be telecast live on NBC Monday, January 16 (8 - 11:00 p.m. EST) at The Beverly Hilton.

In chain with many new releases, Avenue Pictures is teaming with Sandbar Pictures to produce and finance Daniel Waters' project "Sex and Death 101."

Of comedy drama genre, the flick concerns a man whose life is upended by an email containing the names of every woman he's had sex with and every woman he ever will have sex with.

No joke, Jamie Foxx surprisingly secures the very top position of the album charts with his sophomore effort, "Unpredictable," sold another 131,000 copies for the week ended Sunday. This is the second time the star leads the US album charts, beats Mary J. Blige to second with her album "The Breakthrough" sold 118,000 copies.

Following them is Eminem, whose "Curtain Call" wins the 3rd place sold more than 100,000 copies. The Strokes sold just 88,000 copies of their third album "First Impressions of Earth" to be at No. 4, just one place ahead of Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts" at 5th for the third week in a row, with 81,000 copies. Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi," meanwhile, ups two places to No. 6 with 78,000.

Sad to say that fans of music group The White Stripes, referring to those in Japan to be more specific, have to wait a bit longer to see their idol performs in the country. Due to "an acute vocal cord problem" afflicting singer-guitarist Jack White, the band unfortunately has to postpone scheduled tour dates there.

Explaining on the cancellation, a recent message on the band's Web site read "As part of his treatment, the doctors have instructed Jack not to speak or sing for the next two weeks. We sincerely apologize to our Japanese fans and friends and hope to reschedule dates as soon as we can."

The life of famous rapper Eminem will get whole again following his plan to get married again with ex-wife Kim Mathers. Originally had their divorce finalized in 2001 after getting married for merely 2 years, the couple reconciled in late 2004.

Shortly thereafter, Kim applied for a license to marry Em with the license was to be ready on Thursday January 12th. From that point on, the twosome will have 30 days to remarry. Despite the fact that there weren't details released on the wedding date, Star magazine has published what it claimed was a copy of the couple's wedding invitation, which says the ceremony is set for Saturday.

Hollywood beauty Julia Roberts is about to team up with fellow Tom Hanks to film an upcoming action drama flick entitled "Charlie Wilson's War." Per Variety, Roberts reportedly is still in talks to play the role of Joanne Herring, a big-haired and beautiful Texas socialite who influenced Wilson (Hank's part) to support the rebel cause.

Based on the book by George Crile, the film was written by Aaron Sorkin. In hand to produce is Hanks with Playtone partner Gary Goetzman. Production is slated for later this year.

The 32nd Annual People's Choice Awards held Tuesday night January 10th has chosen the final episode in the Stars Wars saga, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," as Favorite Movie Drama and all-around Favorite Movie. In two other film categories, "Wedding Crashers" was named Top Comedy and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was chosen as the Favorite Family Movie.

Named Favorite Male Movie Star was Johnny Depp, while Sandra Bullock won the Favorite Female Movie Star category. Favorite Leading Lady honor went to Reese Witherspoon, and the Favorite Leading Man was Brad Pitt. Jennifer Garner, in addition, brought home Favorite Female Action Star prize, whereas Matthew McConaughey won the Favorite Male Action Star.