December 15, 2008

"Slumdog Millionaire" has been hailed as 2008 Best Motion Picture in Drama at the 13th Satellite Awards. On Sunday, December 14 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, the Danny Boyle-directed movie about a poor Indian boy getting a shot at winning millions in a television game show was revealed to be the winner on the coveted category, besting over "The Reader", "Revolutionary Road", "Frost/Nixon", "Milk" and "Frozen River".

Apart from taking home the top prize, the 2008 Best British Independent Film also nailed two other kudos. The first one was Best Director for Danny Boyle and the second was Best Score for A.R. Rahman. For the director prize, Boyle won over Thomas McCarthy of "The Visitor", Ron Howard of "Frost/Nixon", Gus Van Sant of "Milk", Christopher Nolan of "The Dark Knight" and Stephen Daldry of "The Reader".

The top ten TV programs that have won over the American Film Institute jury this year has been announced. The list ranges from TV series like AMC's "Mad Men" and ABC's "Lost" to made for TV movie "Recount" to mini series "John Adams", the latest two which were a production of HBO.

Another AMC-aired show "Breaking Bad" is also included along with other two by HBO, "The Wire" and "In Treatment". Beside the seven mentioned, there are NBC's productions "Life" and "The Office". The last slot is taken by FX network's "The Shield".

Joe Jonas has revealed the kind of girl whom he would love to date, openly stating "I like someone who doesn't try too hard, and someone who can understand my crazy schedule." He furthermore says, "I want to meet a girl who walks into a room and doesn't just greet the people who she thinks she should greet, but she greets everybody like they're all the same."

Besides, "I'm also looking for somebody who is fun and laughs at my jokes, even if they're not funny," he adds. "You know what? I love girls and I love to date and have a good time. What can a girl do to catch my eye? Just come up and say hi. Be yourself."

On Sunday, December 14, American Film Institute have announced their selections for the top ten of outstanding movies in 2008. Among those making it on the list are two of the summer's blockbuster comic book adaptations, "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man".

Joining the two are "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Frost/Nixon" "Frozen River", "Gran Torino", "Milk", "Wall-E", "Wendy and Lucy" and "The Wrestler". A 13-person jury, consisted of Leonard Maltin, Anne Thompson and Robert Towne among others, deliberated over the weekend before coming up with these movies.

Beyonce Knowles flew to U.K. to serve as a musical guest during the finale live show of "The X Factor". On the reality TV show, the R&B singer sang "If I Were a Boy" on Saturday night, December 13.

Beside singing "If I Were a Boy", she also appeared on-stage with one of the TV show's contestants Alexandra Burke, who was then named as the event's winner. Instead of performing "Irreplaceable" as it was rumored before, the two singers shared the stage delivering single "Listen".

The new season of "Flashpoint" will return on screen on January 9 at 9/8c through CBS. The promo of the second season has been made available, showing the thrill that the Strategic Response Unit (SRU) has to face in a situation like hostage and kidnapping.

Since the first season did not air the whole 13 episodes, the remaining four will serve as the first few episodes of the new season. It thus will begin with the chapter called "Eagle Two" where the team is going on duty after a bomb goes off during their routine VIP protection shift.

In contrary to director Zack Snyder's remark that forthcoming "300" prequel/sequel will be both prequel and sequel, comic book writer-director Frank Miller claimed that the possible follow-up movie won't be a prequel. Talking to Superhero Hype! on Saturday, December 13, the helmer of "The Spirit" fessed up, "I've written a story that's not a prequel."

Though explaining that the story he has written is a follow-up of the Greek warriors movie, the 51-year-old still played it coy. "It's definitely a further story in the Greco-Persian Wars," he said, "and it involves some of the same characters but I'm not sure exactly how far along it'll get and again, until it's on a marquee, I don't believe in it."

Chris Cornell has premiered a music video to promote the title track off his upcoming third studio LP "Scream". To get the video done, he worked with music director Alan Ferguson, the same man who helped Gym Class Heroes filming "Cupid's Chokehold" music video.

"The idea Alan had for the video, which is pretty ingenious, is sort of capturing the two moods of the music," Chris said. " ... My role in the video is performing the song in super-slow-motion, where I'm existing in this Zen-like world, singing these song lyrics and everything going on around me is super-fast, super-chaotic, and I'm just suspended in it. ... "

Over 100 shows and many laughters after, Amy Poehler took her last bow on "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) on December 13. Her final episode on the variety show, was cracked first with her appearance alongside fellow "Weekend Update" host, Seth Myers, in a skit of "Really?! With Seth and Amy".

Several other "SNL" stars also came by the studio to have some sketches, including Maya Rudolph who did a "Bronx Beat" with Poehler and Fred Armisen who appeared in the middle of Poehler's skit as the visually-impaired New York Government, David Patterson. The episode was hosted by "House M.D." star Hugh Laurie and featured a musical performance by Kanye West.

A small community in Grovetown has been hit with a series of suicides. While some believe that there is nothing to be feared about, others figure out the hard way that the fear does not lay only in their imagination. Instead, it is the real deal and it comes within themselves. Those are the base of "From Within" plot outed through the film's new trailer.

The less than two minutes video footage first displays that there is an oddity in the rising number of suicide death in a small town of Grovetown. Then, it is suggested that the rash of suicides may be caused by the town's secret which is a curse. The trailer continues to expose how some people in the town are haunted by their own selves.

"Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester reportedly is close to make public her engagement to actor boyfriend Sebastian Stan. According to New York gossip column PageSix, Leighton by far only announces the engagement on her social networking site Facebook.

Representative for Leighton declines to comment on the report. Sebastian, meanwhile, has not yet issued a single comment on that matter.

Three new clips from the "Supernatural" episodes that will air in January 2009 have been released and compiled in a single player below. The three chapters that will come back haunting are "Family Remains", "Criss Angel is a Douche Bag" and "Afterschool Special".

"Family Remains" will be aired on January 15. Sam and Dean investigate a farm house that seems to be haunted by a woman in the walls. In the clip for the episode, a boy discovers that 'somebody' hides in the closet and throws a ball at him. "Criss Angel is a Douche Bag" meanwhile, will be on screen the next week on January 22. A magician turns to black magic to revive his failing career, including transferring his fate when a trick goes wrong.

On-the-set video footage showing the filming process of Christina Milian's music video for new single "Us Against the World" has arrived. The footage features the R&B singer standing next to Ray Kay, the guy who directed the video, offering her comment regarding her work with the Norwegian director.

Beside providing Christina's comment, the footage also presents a sneak peek into the music video itself. Shot in a desert, it sees her "in sand dunes" with her love interest. "We probably are the last two people on Earth," she told MTV.

While "Terminator Salvation" is still months away from its theatrical release, "Terminator 5" could be well in the pipeline. Of it, Variety reported that Halcyon Co. toppers, Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, are developing the second movie from the proposed "Terminator" trilogy, with "Terminator Salvation" director McG.

Reportedly, the announcement was made at the Dubai International Film Festival where McG was in for. It is further noted that despite speculation on the using of the Middle East, decision for the filming location has yet to be taken, and that Christian Bale has signed on to reprise his John Connor role for all three films.

The last standing person to win "Survivor" Gabon edition has been revealed. Warning spoiler ahead. Beating Susie Smith from Charles City and Jessica "Sugar" Kiper is, 57-year-old physics teacher Robert "Bob" Crowley. He won a close call, receiving four out of the seven votes made by the jury.

At his age, Bob officially is the oldest contestant in the history of the show to have won the competition as well as one of the contestants with the most consecutive immunity challenges, five in total. He, therefore, won the one million dollar prize and crowned "the sole survivor" over Susie who got 3 votes. Sugar meanwhile, received none.

Winners of the 2008 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards have been named. At the organization's annual meeting on Sunday, December 14, "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Wall-E" have been hailed BSFC Awards' best picture. In tie for the best picture prize, both "Slumdog" and "Wall-E" collected one other prize, "Slumdog" received Best Film Editing kudo, whereas "Wall-E" was dubbed Best Animated Film.

Apart from those two movies, "Milk" has dominated the awards recipients' list with three awards. Bringing home Best Director recognition for its director Gus Van Sant, the biopic movie about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America, has nailed the Best Screenplay kudo and its leading actor Sean Penn was in tie with Mickey Rourke of "The Wrestler".

A music video aimed to support Miley Cyrus' "Let's Do This", which serves as theme song for "Hannah Montana: The Movie", has been debuted. The video features her on-stage performance singing the song with several backing dancers during a live event.

"Hannah Montana: The Movie" itself is due to be released in the U.S. theaters on April 10, 2009. This Walt Disney Pictures comedy movie revolves around the story Miley Stewart when she deals with an overwhelming success as pop superstar Hannah Montana and tries to find once again what is really important in life by going back to her hometown of Crowley Corners, Tennessee.

Touring with Jonas Brothers, The Veronicas told People at the Z100 Jingle Ball in New York City on Friday night, December 12 they "were definitely feeling the love from their fans." The duo, moreover, claimed every time they took the stage with the threesome they can feel their fans "are very dedicated and very enthusiastic", dubbing their love for their idols "was cool."

Talking about Jonas boys' many female fans, twins Jessica Origliasso and Lisa Origliasso even joked the brothers owe them thank for their high rising popularity. "We taught the Jonas Brothers everything they know," the sisters jokingly said.

After releasing "Move Along" in 2005 and experiencing a worldwide success through the album, The All-American Rejects challenge themselves in another studio effort "When the World Comes Down". Taking almost two years in the songwriting desk to craft new singles for the album, the rockers set to drop their next installment in the U.S. market on December 16.

Inspired by "a lot of good and bad going on right now", the band "wrote songs that showed the good and bad" they see while touring around the globe. In an exclusive interview with AceShowbiz.com, they revealed that they deal with "struggles, and how, with the right companion, you can take any punch the world throws at you" in one of the songs called "Mona Lisa".

At the same time Summit Entertainment released their official statement on the joining in of Chris Weitz to the "New Moon" project, Stephenie Meyer posted a message on her official website on Saturday, December 13, addressing the issues of the new project's director. On the message, the bestselling author wrote, "They've asked Chris Weitz, director of American Pie, About a Boy, and The Golden Compass, to join us, and I am very pleased to announce that he's agreed to be a part of our Twilight world."

"I've had the chance to talk to Chris, and I can tell you that he is excited by the story and eager to keep the movie as close to the book as possible," she further claimed. Adding more on her excitement of Summit's choice, she noted, "I'm excited to work with Chris and I think he brings a lot to the table, not the least of which for me is that he wrote the screenplay for and directed one of my favorite movies of all time, About a Boy. I'm really looking forward to seeing his vision for New Moon."

Alexandra Burke may have won the title of "The X-Factor" season five winner but she has not won every heart. Moments after she beat JLS and Eoghan Quigg with 58 per cent of the public voting for her, supporters of the runner-ups flooded the online world to protest against the privileges given to Burke that eventually contributed to her winning.

Complaints are directed to producer Simon Cowell, who was accused of giving Burke the favor to duet with international artist like Beyonce Knowles in the final round, and 'only' gave the runner-ups the chance to sing with old-time groups, Westlife and Boyzone. On this criticism, Burke responded, "Who you duet with doesn't determine whether you win, it's how you perform. Simple as that."

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" has led the North American box office race this weekend, which is ended on Sunday, December 14. Dethroning "Four Christmases", the remake of Robert Wise's 1951 sci-fi thriller has debuted #1 with $30.5 million after three-days of screening at 3,560 theaters across the U.S.

Though securing the revenue chart's top position, the Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly-starrer movie could not pass the best-ever-bow-for-a-December-weekend record made by Will Smith's "I Am Legend", which opened to $77.2 million. Nonetheless, it is still the 20th Century Fox's biggest opening since "Horton Hears a Who!" debuted with $45 million back in March.

Sam and Lola, the young daughters of divorced couple Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards, are said to be "fine" after being involved in a car smash in Malibu on Friday, December 12. The girls' nanny, who was driving them in a Mercedes SUV when the accident occurred, was unhurt too.

Sam, 4, and Lola, 3, were being driven around by their nanny in a Mercedes SUV on the Pacific Coast Highway at around 3:30 P.M. when a Honda made a sudden left turn, cut them off and hit two other vehicles, People reports. Though so, the three of them managed to escape injury.

Lily Allen has covered "Womanizer", a single which is performed by Britney Spears and taken from the sixth major studio album "Circus". With a favor from DJ and music producer Mark Ronson, she re-cycles the mid-tempo jam to a ballad song.

"As promised, Lily has a habit of making some great bootlegs, remember her '(Nan, You're A) Window Shopper' send up?" Mark says as quoted by The Sun when premiering the covered track in his weekly show on New York's East Village Radio on December 12. "Check me out, I have a Lily Allen song you've never heard."

A representative for Naomi Watts has confirmed to People, the actress gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday, December 13 in New York. The newborn infant is Naomi's second child with her longtime partner, actor Liev Schreiber.

"I can confirm Naomi and Liev had a baby boy yesterday," the representative simply told People. Details of the baby, including his name and weight, aren't made public though.

Playing in theaters in front of "The Day the Earth Stood Still", the trailer of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" has been leaked out. Previewing snippets of the dark past of the iconic superhero, the two minutes more video footage gives out first look on how Wolverine comes to life as he is being recruited for the Weapon X program.

The first half of the video presents the ordinary Logan, while the rest introduces him as Wolverine, a mutant with Adamantium skin, claws and healing ability. The trailer also displays his battle with Gambit and Sabretooth. While this video is a bootleg one, the official trailer has been reported to be making its official debut on the Internet through MySpace's Trailer Park on Monday, December 15.