August 16, 2008

After four years singing songs together in front of millions of people, Mexican pop group RBD announce that they will split up in a written statement, which is signed by their five members, Alfonso, Any, Christian, Christopher, Dulce Maria y Maite. As posted on their official website, the group wrote to all of their fans, "You, our fans, also left an unforgettable mark in our lives, and will never forget you, and keep you always close to our hearts."

This has then made some speculations, saying that the group's members are eying for solo careers. The rumor goes deeper with their statement, saying, "Every big Project needs to make changes in order to move on, and today we are initiating that process."

After fourteen years of start, work, delay, speculation and rumor, rock band Gun N' Roses have reportedly succeeded to bring their upcoming sixth studio album "Chinese Democracy" to the next level. According to several reports, their forthcoming effort is set to be launched anytime soon this year. Either Front Line management or Interscope have reportedly approached Wal-Mart and Best Buy executives. Recent news says that the agreement has been settled with one of the big-box retailers and shortly, "Chinese Democracy" will be out as an exclusive at one of the merchant chains.

Commenting on the issue, some say that it may be true as Gun N' Roses are now managed by Irving Azoff from Front Line, a management team who have earned a reputation for striking exclusive album deals with retails chains. Early this year, Irving has just released Eagles' reunion set "Long Road Out of Eden" through Wal-Mart.

Deciding to officially change his stage name to P. Miller as a way to reflect his manhood and mark him venturing into business other than music, Master P is wasting no time to announce his new project. Just days after announcing his name change, he's announcing plans to launch a family-friendly cable network, which is about to be called Better Black Television.

The station is set to start airing in 2009, with no precise date has been mentioned as of press time. Its content, according to reports, will include "drama and comedy series, movies, animation, reality, politics, sports and entertainment news, children's educational and teen programming, as well as 'responsible hip-hop music and videos'".

Following the footstep of Walt Disney Pictures' "Bolt" in filling the vacant slot left by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", Summit Entertainment's "Twilight" moved up its release date. Seizing the advantage of the empty fall release slot, the vampire romance movie pushed the date three weeks forward from December 12 to November 21.

Explaining about the changes of release date schedule, co-chairman and CEO of Summit Entertainment Rob Friedman stated that the bumping up offers them the chance to present the movie on more screens. He also noted, "When Warner Bros. decided to move 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' to the summer of 2009, we saw a unique opportunity to slot in our film which has been gaining tremendous awareness and momentum over the past several months."

Marilyn Manson Band suck in fresh blood to their clan with the addition of Wes Borland. The band, fronted by Marilyn Manson, announced earlier this week during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea that Borland will serve the duty as their new guitarist and that this format will be their most "indestructible" yet.

Some may recognize the guitarist's name from the past list of line-up that made up the metal band Limp Bizkit. With Borland on board, the band now become a five-piece, consisting of Manson, Borland, Twiggy Ramirez, Ginger Fish and Chris Vrenna. With the new line-up, the band hit the stage together for the first time at the ETP Festival in Seoul on Friday, August 15.

When Lupe Fiasco announced his retirement from music industry earlier this year, it was not intended for a full one. The rapper has told the press that he will quit spawning studio albums but will not give up performing on stage completely. In a statement, the hitmaker whose real name is Wasalu Muhammad Jaco said, "I'll keep performing but I doubt if I'll make any more albums."

The upcoming album "LupEnd" will be his third and last before he moves on becoming a literature figure. He announced in January, "I've been doing this music hustle for eights years and have more things I still want to do. There are other ways besides putting out an album that allow me to channel my creative energy and I'm writing a book about a window washer. I will have more than enough to keep me busy."

All what Henry Poole wants is simply to be alone and disappear. However, it seems that it is something extremely hard to do. Upon knowing that he is terminally ill, he leaves his fiancee, abandons his job and moves to a suburb to enjoy the last days of his life the way he desires, drowning himself with vodka and stuffing his stomach with junk food. Yet, settling in his new home doesn't mean that he gets the peace he dreams of. His nosy neighbor, Esperanza, believes that a mysterious stain on Henry's stucco wall has something to do with miracle and the young divorcee next door, Dawn, starts to grow on him.

Funny, poignant and uplifting, "Henry Poole Is Here" is a modern day story about miracle of everyday life. Having been screened for the first time at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, the Overture Films' flick hits limited theaters starting on Friday, August 15. Helmed by "U2 3D" director Mark Pellington, it features the likes of Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell, George Lopez Adriana Barraza, and Cheryl Hines among others as the cast ensemble.

Multi-selling band Gym Class Heroes have premiered a music video for their second single "Cookie Jar" which will be listed in their upcoming fourth studio album "The Quilt". The song features rapper The-Dream singing the chorus with the band's frontman Travis McCoy. Their brand new set is scheduled for release on September 9.

The music video has been shot by director Dale "Rage" Resteghini. It has The-Dream as a guest star and hip hop producer DJ Clinton Sparks as a cameo. They implicitly convey a peace message through the video by showing two-fingers peace sign to the camera.

The divorce is off and Shaquille O'Neal and his wife Shaunie Nelson are back on. The NBA player filed for divorce from his children's mother in early September last year. Shaunie was quick to response on his divorce filing, seeking to get details on his finance. But in a recent interview with Extra, she said she and O'Neal have reconciled, adding that getting back together was the right thing to do.

"Things are great and we're moving on to the good stuff," Extra quoted Shaunie as saying. "We've both learned a lot and know that our family comes first and that's the main thing for both of us."

Band 30 Seconds to Mars have been sued by their label Virgin Records and parent company Capitol Music Group for a contract violation. The company sent the lawsuit to Los Angeles County Superior court this Friday, August 15, claiming for a legal fine with a total number of $30 millions.

The legal document says that the band have refused to continue the agreement that both parties have signed in 1999. According to the document, the band have promised to deliver three more albums before they end the contract with Virgin. However, since their 2005 set "A Beautiful Lie", the group have avoided doing the duty. Instead of recording the promised albums, the group band decided to split up with Virgin. They used a section from California Labor Code which states that "a contract cannot be enforced against an employee beyond seven years" as an excuse.

Consoling for the earlier news stating that "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" has been pushed back to summer 2009, a batch of brand new pictures from the forthcoming sixth installment of the "Harry Potter" series has been dug out. The novel collections present a closer look into villainous Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy as well as other images.

The Lestrange's image posted on the news photo is focused on portraying the mad Death Eater raging in Hogwarts' Great Hall, while the picture exposing her sister, Malfoy, making a pact with Severus Snape can be seen below. Other photos exhibit Harry and Ginny in the Room of Requirement, Harry and Dumbledore on their way to Professor Slughorn's home, Ron and Lavender in the Gryffindor Common Room and the young Tom Riddle sitting on a bed in his orphanage room.

Rumors on their wedding have been all over the news media, with the latest claimed that Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are planning to tie the knot this weekend in a low key ceremony in California with only a few close friends and family being invited. Hot on the heels of the claim, E! News has just outed details of the pair's wedding preparation.

In a post on its site, dated August 15, E! News reported that the lesbian couple would likely to hold their wedding at the home they currently share in Beverly Hills. The activities have been hectic in the mansion, E! claimed.

Apparently Britney Spears' pop career did not die with her disastrous performance at MTV Video Music Awards last year. The awards event, instead, gives her another nomination, the third one for this year's competition. The pop singer has just earned the chance to win the coveted Video of the Year after voted by fans from twenty plus videos to enter the top 5.

For the new nomination, Britney owes it to the music video of her second "Blackout" single, "Piece of Me" that also delivers her another two nods for Best Pop Video and Best Female Video. Four other contenders for the Video of the Year category are filled by The Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up", The Ting Tings' "Shut Up and Let Me Go", Jonas Brothers' "Burnin' Up" and Chris Brown's "Forever".

Zac Efron turns speed racer. Yet he did it only one day. The movie heartthrob has his need for speed fulfilled when he got the chance to practice racing an Audi R8 at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., recently.

Taking part in the Audi Driving Experience event was a first for Zac who's an actor and so he was ordered to join a training session first. After the an-hour-long training session, he had some breaking and acceleration warm ups before at last could race the vehicle, which reportedly costs $118,000 on the market. He raced for four hours at speeds over 100 mph.

Providing a sneak peek into the upcoming comedy film from "Scary Movie 4" helmer David Zucker, Fox News has unveiled the trailer of political satire "An American Carol". It gives out glimpses to the original "Christmas Carol" spoof in which Ebenezer Scrooge is being replaced by Michael Malone, a cynical, anti-American documentary filmmaker.

Refusing to believe in the Fourth of July celebration, Malone is on a crusade to abolish the Independence Day holiday. But, he soon is forced to have his mind changed when he is visited by three ghosts of the past, including General George S. Patton and General George Washington, who are determined to make him realize the true meaning of America.

Overture Films have just delivered the red band trailer to their latest crime drama that pairs up Robert De Niro and Al Pacino for the first time, "Righteous Kill". Through it viewers can see the dynamic between the two Academy Award-winners as well as the acting of 50 Cent. Though it is not a bloodbath kind of trailer, the more than three minutes video footage is still filled with crude language and violence.

Taking one last case before they hang up their badges and enjoy their retirement days, NYPD detectives David Fisk and Thomas Cowan are faced with a murder of a notorious pimp. When they find the lifeless body of a suspected criminal with a four line poem, they realize that it can be linked to a case they had solved years ago. But, with this new murder crime, they question whether they put the wrong person behind bars while the real killer is still out there looking for a new target.

Having a number of movie projects in the pipeline, Sylvester Stallone is adding vodka endorser into his ever growing career resume. The action movie star has signed a one-year contract with Russian vodka producer Synergy to be its new celebrity endorser.

The Vodka producer announced the enlisting of Sylvester to help promote their product in print and TV ads Friday, August 15. He will specifically sell the company's Russian Ice, or Russkiy Liod, line beginning on September 1. He will advertise the product under the slogan: "There is a bit of Russian in all of us."

The Game has just made a full world premiere for a music video to promote his third single "My Life", a single which will appear in his upcoming third studio album titled "L.A.X.". Rapper Lil Wayne has lent his vocals to the single. This song started to be air played on July 22 but was leaked in early July. The full album will not be stored to the market until August 26.

The Game's video was filmed on July 23 and directed by motion picture director Bryan Barber, who has also directed Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" video. "My Life" video takes place in a graveyard of Compton. Lil Wayne is among the guest appearances, which also include Cool & Dre, Young Buck, and Birdman. The video mostly carries mournful themes, one of which is about losing someone.

Allegedly, rumors on the street are true. Lindsay Lohan is converting to Judaism, the Jewish religion of her lesbian lover Samantha Ronson and her family. She thus adds fuel to the speculation that she's taking her relationship with the DJ to the next level and may end it in a marriage.

Lindsay and Sam have been spending time together. The inseparable duo even were seen hitting the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, where Sam was on hand to serve as DJ. They then were reported to be heading for Miami for two days to hang out with Sam's family.

"Iron Man" will be getting its DVD version on September 30, but before that happens, a deleted scene from the summer blockbuster has popped out. Presented by Access Hollywood, the four-minutes clip exposes how Tony Stark prepares his cover up story to attack the terrorist in Middle East. There, it can be seen that he throws a lavish party in Dubai and lures three scantily-clad women to his bedroom.

Starring Robert Downey Jr. as the hero in the steel armor suit, "Iron Man" was released on May 2 to meet an amazing reception grossing $98.6 million from its first weekend showing only. Since then, the superhero flick supported also by Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow has collected $316.5 million domestically and $570 million worldwide.

Solange Knowles has just dropped a music video to support her second single "Sandcastle Disco". The tune, which features rapper Q-Tip, is confirmed to be listed on her second effort "Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams". The album is scheduled to be out on August 26 via Griffin Records.

Solange's music video for "Sandcastle" is directed by herself. The video is a departure from her "I Decided" video that sees her going back to the '70s fashion. The new one sees a colorful set with lots of animations. At several scenes Solange turns a tiny figure who plays around with giant music instruments such as the piano, guitar and the drum set. It also features her singing with the band and two backup singers.