February 09, 2008

"No Country for Old Men" was once again hailed as the best as the gritty crime drama was named the Best Film of the Year at the 28th London Critics' Circle Film Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday, February 8, 2008. Still though winning the best film prize, the movie didn't manage to present its helmer with best director kudo, which fell to the hands of Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of "There Will Be Blood".

At the event, Daniel Day-Lewis of "There Will Be Blood" and Marion Cotillard of "La Vie en Rose" brought home best actor and actress awards respectively. Supporting actor was picked up by Tom Wilkinson for his performance in "Michael Clayton", whereas the best supporting actress prize had to be shared by Vanessa Redgrave and Kelly Macdonald.

U.K.'s new act Natalia is set to launch her music career through a brand new single called "Pretty Like Me". The rock/soul singer will on February 25, release the debut single which is available for pre-order at HMV.

"Pretty Like Me" features mixes from Bimbo Jones who previously worked with Ciara and Usher. On her MySpace page, Natalia describes the song as "a reaction to the pressure forced on women to look a certain way and confronts how girls can be subject to bullying for not conforming to an ideal."

Nominated for 13 categories, the Disney-Pixar's animated film about a rat dreaming of being a gourmet chef "Ratatouille" brought home 10 kudos as the 35th Annual Annie Awards held on Friday night, February 8 at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. Among the 10 trophies the movie won, were awards for best animated feature as well as best directing and best screenwriting for helmer Brad Bird.

The movie which characters' voices were filled by Patton Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Janeane Garofalo and Brad Garrett were also presented prizes for character animation, character design, music, production design, storyboarding and voice acting by the International Animated Film Assossiation. It also nailed the animated short subject for "Your Friend the Rat", which only appeared on the DVD version.

"Atonement" star James McAvoy is said to be planning on starring in comedy thriller "Perrier's Bounty". According to Hollywood Reporter, the 28-year-old Scottish actor is in talks to play in the movie directed by Ian Fitzgibbon.

Joining McAvoy in the negotiation is his wife, the "Notes on a Scandal" actress Anne-Marie Duff. The pair are expected to display their acting talent in the movie which centers around three fugitives who try to escape a gangster known as Perrier.

Rapper Common has been set to portray John Steward or known also as Green Lantern in the superhero flick "Justice League of America". According to MTV News, the hip-hop artist who has long rumored to be joining the cast of the action film has confirmed that he is indeed signed to star in it.

To the music network, the 35-year-old singer confessed that he was honored by being chosen to portray the character. He said, "It's a blessing really, to know that I could potentially be this superhero. Justice League itself is an honor, and Green Lantern is an incredible character to play. It's a blessing to be associated with it." Talking about being the only black superhero in the flick, he humbly said, "Just being a black person, a black man, playing a superhero is an honor in itself."

Following a fresh confirmation issued by Kim Ledger about the private funeral for his late actor son Heath Ledger, a large memorial ceremony was being held Saturday afternoon, February 9 at Penrhos College, an exclusive girls' school in the southern Perth suburb of Como.

Per People, there were at least 300 people attended the service, which reportedly will be followed by a private funeral attended by only 10 of the actor's closest friends and relatives which among other will include Heath's parents and former fiancee Michelle Williams.

The official trailer of Ryan Reynolds' dark drama comedy "Chaos Theory" has been released online. The video footage that lasted for about two minutes picked up the "What if..." slogan to give the dramatic introduction to the film directed by Marcos Siega.

The trailer gives out background to the leading character who is an obsessively organized efficiency expert as well as people surrounding him. It let out glimpses of the stars playing in the movie, which include Emily Mortimer, Stuart Townsend and Milo Ventimiglia.

Despite mapping out extensive tour for May and June this year, KISS have thrown away the idea of showcasing a new material on stage. Frontman Gene Simmons have confirmed that there will be no new album from the rock band because he was disappointed at today's industry.

"There's no new Kiss material because there's no record industry," Simmons said. "Any band who tries to do new material is trying to climb a slippery mountain. Every day record companies are folding. It'd be nice to have new Kiss songs, but what's the business model? Do you just put songs on the Internet for free? Then what?�

Paris Hilton is hooking up with another Hollywood heartthrob. The hotel heiress has added one to her trail of men when she was caught on tape kissing with Simon Rex on Thursday night, February 7.

Paris and Rex, who's a former MTV VJ, were caught kissing in the back of Paris' SUV last night, "as another friend in the vehicle could only watch," TMZ.com reported.

With their lead singer Gwen Stefani carrying a bun in the oven, No Doubt have to throw back its plan to tour for their new album. Stefani reportedly is not keen on jumping on the stage while she is pregnant with her second child.

"She's going to write a record," an insider told OK Magazine. "But she has doubts about going onstage again while pregnant - too much can go wrong." The singer carried her 20-month-old son Kingston while touring for her latest effort, "The Sweet Escape" and reportedly is not wishing for the same condition with the second one.

Mind the one alphabet difference, Led Zeppelin will not headline Bonnaroo Festival this year but Lez Zeppelin will. The latter is an all-female band from New York City that perform the work of Led Zeppelin in tribute to the British band.

The mistake that was reported heavily on several media earlier this week was prompted by the rumors that had been circulating at the first place that Led Zeppelin will perform their reunion gig Stateside at the festival that is held June 12-15 in Manchester, Tennessee.

Facing downfall in her filming career following bad reports of her last year, Lindsay Lohan is reported to be eyeing on Tim Burton's upcoming adaptation "Alice in Wonderland". Many reports claimed that the actress is desperate to get the leading role in the part-animation fantasy film.

To Harper's Bazaar, Lohan revealed that her priority in this new year is meeting the acclaimed "Sweeney Todd" director and landing the role. On the occasion, she said, "I hope they don't want an unknown." Other reports stated that the actress believes that she is the perfect fit for portraying the titular character. Reports claimed that Lohan said, "I hope they don't give it to an unknown. I'm ideal. I could really do it justice. I've been down the role."

A private funeral for the late actor Heath Ledger will be held in Perth today, February 9, his father Kim Ledger has confirmed.

Revealing the funeral plans, Kim said the private event will take place at Penrhos College, a girls' boarding school in the nearby Perth suburb of Como, added that the funeral would be limited to only 10 people.

U.S. Embassy in London had reversed their decision to deny Amy Winehouse a visa to the States. The singer is now having an access to the country but still won't attend the 50th Grammys in Los Angeles where she is nominated for six nods, because it's too late.

On Thursday, February 7, the British act was denied a visa to U.S., prompting organizers for the Grammys ceremony which is held on February 10 to prepare an alternative that enables her to perform via satellite. The plan is kept even when the singer has been granted the visa 24 hours later.

Jesse Metcalfe is attacked outside an L.A nightclub.

The "Desperate Housewives" hunk was punched outside a Los Angeles club on Thursday night, February 7 by British rapper wannabe Mams Taylor, the boyfriend of actress and musician Taryn Manning.

More and more new ways are introduced to make it easier for music lovers to play their songs anywhere. A major deal between Timbaland and Verizon Wireless will enable subscribers of V Cast, Verizon's mobile entertainment service, to listen to the rapper's new songs through their mobile phone.

The producer slash rapper team up with Verizon to create the first ever "mobile album". Timbaland explained to Billboard.com "Every place don't get a CD (but) everybody has a mobile phone. Plus, there's history to be made. Just producing a mobile album has never been done. I'm the first to ever do it."

Kanye West announced that his video for "Flashing Light", the fourth single from "Graduation", is done and will be premiered on BET. He also posted a frame from the video on his blog, KanyeUniverseCity.com, showing a car on the go.

No news yet on the date of the video premiere but reports speculated that it may come as soon as this coming Monday (February 11). Earlier in January, the rapper had also posted another frame from the video that shows a woman running in a dark street.

While it has yet been officially confirmed on why Eva Mendes checked into rehab, new details have emerged about the movie beauty's drug abuse problem.

A source close to the actress told US Weekly, "She kept it all behind closed doors and wasn't really a mess in public. She has a lot of low self-esteem and body issues."

As previously reported, L.A. Reid held a listening session for Janet Jackson's new album, "Discipline", on Wednesday, February 6. Around 10 tracks including the first single "Feedback", ballad "Greatest X" and another up-tempo "Luv" were played in front of industry executives, fellow celebrities and some lucky fans.

The event that was held at Midtown NYC theater presented "Disciplinarians" who were clad in leather suit and holding leather whips in one hand in the front door. For beginning, there was a short reel that summarized Janet's accomplishments and concluded with "What will Janet do next? What can she do next?".

Is widely considered as one of Hollywood fashion icons, Paris Hilton turns her fashion sense into life by dressing up dolls, made based on her by Germany's Simba Toys.

The German company has confirmed it is creating toy dolls based on Paris with she herself helps styling the products. The new dolls do not look like Paris, but they reflect her dress sense. The real Paris chose three glitzy outfits, including silver streaked hair, jewelry and MP3 player, for the dolls: Party, Glam Summer and Shopping.