August 30, 2007

Alternative rock act Ween has set the date of a new release 'La Cucaracha', their first studio album in almost 4 years. The CD will be in shelves on October 23 via Rounder records, the band's new recording house.

Andrew Weiss once again employed to helm this piece. The album work has started since early last year when the band rented an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania and converted it into a studio.

The first destination "Lions for Lambs" will head for in the States appears to be Los Angeles for sure as the political drama has delightfully been announced to become the opening-night gala feature at this year's AFI Fest, which first took shape in 1971 under the name of Filmex.

Marking its North American debut there, the flick will unspool at ArcLight's Cinerama Dome as the event opens on November 1, 2007. To add, the screening will coincide with the first day on the job for AFI's incoming prexy-CEO Bob Gazzale, who will be the third person after Jean Picker Firstenberg to lead the 40-year-old National Endowment for the Arts, the organization holding the festival.

Looks like the name of Paul W.S. Anderson has been dropped completely from "Castlevania" despite previous reports stating he would still be with the project to revise the script he himself had written following his decision to not serve as the flick's director any longer.

Info coming from Bloody-Disgusting states that Rogue Pictures has replaced the filmmaker with Ian Jeffers by now for a total rewrite on the screenplay. A relative newcomer in the movie industry, the man made his screen-writing debut in the upcoming "Death Sentence" and recently got appointed to pen for indie drama "Living Conditions."

Lending their star status to highlight the project, Billy Bob Thornton and Kim Basinger have both landed deals to take part in an ensemble drama coming from Senator Entertainment titled "The Informers", Variety has reported.

Based on short stories by Bret Easton Ellis, project, set over the course of a week in 1983, features seven storylines that intersect, involving movie execs, rock stars, a vampire and other morally challenged characters. Other cast members include Brandon Routh, Ashley Olsen, Jon Foster, Austin Nichols, and Lou Taylor Pucci.

Looking for a possibility to work together on screen, Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. are both engaged in talks to join forces in highlighting a new film project to be produced by Gold Circle Films, of which "Because I Said So" was recently released in theaters nationwide via Universal Pictures.

Formerly titled "32 and Single" before changed into "Chilled in Miami", pic will be a fish-out-of-water comedy that follows a Miami businesswoman as she gets transferred to the sticks of Minnesota. It was originally set up at Universal, but since Gold Circle has a first-look deal at the giant studio, it is likely that the company will be the one to distribute the movie.

Nothing is impossible with us, even for a chance to meet soccer god David Beckham.

Interested? Join the contest. All you have to do is just buying something from the MOTO STORE between August 17th and September 30, 2007 and put the word 'Beckham' in the promotion code box. And there you go, you officially a contestant then.

Conducting probably the most biggest stunt by far in filming highly-anticipated flick "The Dark Knight", crew for the superhero movie on Wednesday afternoon (August 29) demolished a building as part of an action scene on the Chicago set of this "Batman Begins" follow-up.

The premise used for the shooting was an abandoned four-story building located at Cicero Avenue in west side Chicago that previously served as Brach's Candy Factory, which used to produce coconut nougat and marshmallow confections. For the film, the plant, empty since 2003, was dressed to look like "Gotham General Hospital", complete with a large red cross and pharmacy sign.

Santana has just premiered his first music video off 'Ultimate Santana'. 'Into the Night', a song penned and featuring Chad Kroeger from Nickelback has roamed file sharing websites.

'Into the Night' is the song that Santana described "kind of chant in a coliseum when your team is ahead, like 'We Will Rock You.' I am very grateful that Chad has shared it with me."

Krista Allen lands a new job. The actress is joining the cast of Comedy Central pilot "Held Up."

In the Sony Pictures TV production Allen will play opposite Jack Carpenter who's been billed to portray the main character, a bank teller whose life is turned upside down when two groups of wacky robbers, disguised as James Bond, Spider-Man, Batman and the Three Stooges, hold up his branch.

Despite its moderate success in U.K., Amerie's new album 'Because I Love It' is being stalled in its U.S. release. The label has just announced that the third studio album won't be on the market until 2008.

"It's not currently on Columbia Records' release schedule, though the label is aiming to issue it early next year," Billboard.com reported.

Despite her own words of getting back to work few weeks ago and her photo gracing the performers line of MTV Video Music Awards, Amy Winehouse has scrapped all of her U.S. bills. The British singer won't be playing any U.S. stages anytime soon and no new schedule has been listed.

Amy's U.S. label, Universal Republic Records has announced that she is not booked for any performance "in a continued effort to support Amy Winehouse's well-being". The label also spoke to Access last week saying, "Amy has been ordered to rest and is working with medical professionals to address her health."

Lil Wayne is facing a $1 million lawsuit brought by a teenage female fan who claimed she suffered injuries during one of the rapper's show.

In the suit she filed Tuesday August 28th in Baltimore Circuit Court, Tyrique Layne, 17, alleged she sustained injuries during Wayne's show at the Morgan State University last October after the star and his entourage threw a large sum of money; $1, $5, $10 and $20, into the audience of nearly 4000 people, causing the crowd to surge toward the stage.

Jennifer Lopez intends to get angry in her new music video for her new single 'Do It Well'. The singer plays a mother rescuing her son who is held captive washing dishes in the kitchen of a kinky club.

The video is directed by David LaChapelle and was shot in Los Angeles two weeks ago. Lopez who is bound in gold dress, black skirts and red outfit in several scenes will fight her way through the bizarre people crowding the club. At one point she has to face a woman dressed as a cat and a man holding whip and wearing mouse mask.

Jim Carrey has posted a video of public service announcement (PSA) message in the video-sharing website YouTube on Tuesday August 28th, in which the actor-comedian is urging Americans to join a global campaign for the freedom of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who has been confined by the Burmese government for 11 of the last 17 years.

Speaks out on behalf of the Human Rights Action Center and the U.S. Campaign for Burma, Carrey could be heard in the posted PSA saying, "Even though she's compared to a modern-day Ghandi or Nelson Mandela, most people in America still don't know about Aung San. And let's face it: the name's a little difficult to remember. Here's how I did it: Aung San sounds a lot like 'unsung,' as in unsung hero. Aung San Suu Kyi is truly an unsung hero."

The celebration on the world's oldest movie event for the sixtieth four times began yesterday, Wednesday, August 29, as British romantic drama feature "Atonement" marked the smooth opening of this year's Venice Film Festival at the historic Palazzo del Cinema.

Outside the building, red carpet was rolled out against the backdrop of a demolition ball smashing through the old Palazzo del Cinema to greet the arrivals of famous figures in movie industry, notably the film's cast Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Saoirse Ronan plus director Joe Wright.

After deciding to make Kiss Kiss as his second single, Chris Brown came up with a remix of his first single 'Wall to Wall'. The R&B heartthrob takes rapper Jadakiss to fill in the featured guest slot for the remix.

The video for the official remix also appeared online on Thursday, August 29. There's not much difference of the clip from the original one that adapted 1998 movie 'Blade', apart from the presence of Jadakiss.

New couple alert, Rihanna and Shia LaBeouf. The R&B sensation is dating the white man actor, it has been reported.

The twosome has been spotted together several times and is reported to have a romantic meal in Beverly Hills restaurant Kate Mantilini on Tuesday August 28th. And while none of them come out with official confirmation concerning the speculation, it is widely believed that they've been together for a few months and are taking it "slow."

In the wake of his success on "300", more and more directing stints are coming for Zack Snyder from Warner Bros. Pictures.

After that of "Watchmen", the Green Bay, Wisconsin born filmmaker now is reportedly attached to both direct and produce "The Illustrated Man", a remake of the studio's 1969 feature of the same name starring Rod Steiger in the title role. Based on Ray Bradbury's collection of short stories published in 1951, the original concerns a man almost completely covered in tattoos who is looking for the woman drawing all the intricate designs which each turns out to hide a futuristic story.

The contestants on this season's "Dancing with the Stars" is ranging from actress, supermodel, and singer to businessman, race-car driver and boxer. The official cast of the ABC's reality show has been revealed on Wednesday's "Good Morning America."

Among those to be doing the cha cha cha are Scary Spice aka Melanie Brown, actress-singer Sabrina Bryan, race-car driver Helio Castroneves, Mark Cuban, the owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks, "Beverly Hills, 90210" actress Jennie Garth, and supermodel Josie Maran just to name a few.

Forming a good pact with "The Office" star Rainn Wilson, Universal Pictures in on the way to develop a new comedy feature based on the script the funnyman is co-writing alongside fellow actor Matt Ross entitled "Renaissance Men", The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Project focuses on two down-and-out community theater actors who think they have accidentally killed a co-star and, in a panic, go on the lam and hide out in a Renaissance fair. Wilson is said to also set to topline as well as to produce with Jay Roach, known for his directing works in "Austin Powers" series.

Should we blame Steve Coogan for Owen Wilson's suicide attempt? The British comedian doesn't think so though, telling Access Hollywood he was not to blame for triggering the Hollywood actor's suicide bid.

Coogan's former lover Courtney Love seems to be in no doubt that Owen's alleged battle with drug addiction is a result of his friendship with Coogan whom she said having a hard-living party lifestyle. "Under normal circumstances I would not comment but I care too much about Owen. I went through it with Steve. I was just out of rehab and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy," The Daily Mail quoted Love as saying in an interview.

Let's cooking with Gwyneth Paltrow. The mother of two who has just jumped on the perfume bandwagon is now about to have her own cooking show. What a nice jump.

Paltrow, known as macrobiotic enthusiast, will take a two-month tour of Spain with chef Mario Batali, cooking and sampling the local delicacies as cameras following their every move.

Ricky Martin earns four nods in this year's Latin Grammy Awards, a number beaten by veteran Latin musician Juan Luis Guerra who captures five. Talking about numbers, the next artists in line who get 3 nominations are Miguel Bose and duo Calle 13.

Martin has the 'MTV Unplugged' album that he released in November 2006 to thank for the nominations. Both the singer and the record are running for Album of the Year, Best Long Form Music Video, Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Album.

Let the frenzy begins. The court battle over spousal support and custody issues between former couple Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston of their daughter, 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina, is getting worse in recent months.

In a new legal papers filed July 2nd, Brown says "Since Whitney has been awarded sole legal and physical custody of Bobbi Kris, she has attempted to eliminate me from Bobbi Kris' life." He then goes on stating, "I did all I could to see my daughter ... I also paid approximately $10,000 for Whitney and Bobbi Kris to live in a nice hotel while Whitney was going through rehab ... I basically lived out of my car."