February 15, 2010

Voltage Pictures has provided the first sneak peek to "Game of Death" by debuting an age-restricted trailer. Giving a preview to an agent who is double-crossed by his teammates, the snippet shares a lot of action scenes starting from the middle until the end of the video.

Secret Ops agent Marcus is sent to Detroit to take out an arms dealer and the head of the hedge fund that is financing him. His CIA backup has other plans and turns on him. The mission later becomes a fight to survive in a hospital.

The director of Madonna's Raising Malawi foundation has hit out at reports the star faces protests from locals over the construction of her school in the country - insisting the project has the "support of the village". Reports suggest residents of the government-owned land the star has leased to house a $13.5 million academy for 200 local girls are angry over the amount of compensation they have received to move home.

The villagers were warned they faced prosecution if they do not make way for the facility outside the capital Lilongwe after construction began in October 2009. But following reports that villagers feel they have been short-changed by Madonna over their $115,000 compensation, Phillip Van den Bosche - the director of Raising Malawi - insists the claims are "ridiculous" and locals are happy about the school.

Country legend Dolly Parton is eyeing a musical movie of her life - she's currently working on bringing her biopic to the big screen. The superstar, 64, is putting plans into place for the story of how she went from a poor girl living in the mountains of Tennessee to one of the biggest-selling country singers in history.

And Parton, who has previously hinted she'd like Scarlett Johansson to play her in a movie, is on the lookout for an actress with similar charms to hers. She says, "I'm working on my life story. I'm not decided if it's going to be a musical or a movie with music in it. I've not thought about who will play me - but we need someone little. And if they don't have enough up top we'll have to give them a big old boob job."

A duet between Florence and the Machine and Dizzee Rascal for 2010 BRIT Awards has been confirmed. "Florence is kinda wild, but so am I. It will be about putting smiles on people's faces, pure entertainment," the rapper said as quoted by The Daily Star.

"We're doing a mash-up of 'You've Got the Love' and 'Dirtee Cash', a kind of Nineties extravaganza," he continued. "We've only had three days of rehearsals but I'd have been happy to wing it." He even hopes to outshine Lady GaGa's performance.

Anne Hathaway was left shocked by the seedy world of phone sex hotlines as she researched her role in "Valentine's Day" after stumbling upon a bizarre fetish website detailing men's weirdest sexual fantasies. "The Devil Wears Prada" actress stars in the new romantic comedy as an office assistant by day and phone sex operator at night.

Hathaway turned to one of her friends, who used to moonlight in the industry, for advice but admits she was not prepared for some of the strange stories she read about sexual fetishes when she decided to look up the topic. She says, "I actually know someone who was an assistant, as my character is in the movie, and did moonlight as a phone sex operator, so I asked her a lot of questions."

Rachel Weisz and Jude Law are the toast of London's West End again after winning the top prizes at the British capital's only public-voted theater awards. The pair walked away with trophies from the Critics' Circle Theater Awards in January with Weisz winning Best Actress for her turn in "A Streetcar Named Desire", while Law was honored with the award for Best Shakespearean Performance for his leading role in "Hamlet".

And the two Brits have won the Best Actor and Best Actress prizes from dedicated theater website Whatsonstage.co.uk, which asks the theater-going public to vote for their top performers and shows. Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart's sold-out run in "Waiting for Godot" was named Theatre Event of the Year.

Hip-hop mogul Brian "Baby" Williams aka Birdman is seeking to join Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Stacy Ferguson and become a shareholder in the Miami Dolphins American football team. The Cash Money Records co-founder is a savvy businessman who recently set up his own oil and gas company, Bronald Oil & Gas, with his brother Ronald 'Slim' Williams.

Williams admits he is always looking to diversify and back new ventures in various industries to keep making money. He tells Ozone magazine, "Honestly, you gotta hustle and know how to flip money. And to flip money, you've got to always get new money. N***ers be trying to hold on to old money and they don't spend it, but you've gotta keep flipping that s**t."

Production of FOX's "24" is temporarily shut down until its leading star is well enough to get back on the set. Kiefer Sutherland, released a statement via his publicist on Sunday, February 14 that he regrets missing several days of work because he needs a surgery for a ruptured cyst near his kidney.

"While Kiefer Sutherland is frustrated to miss even one day of work, he and Fox decided together that it would be best to complete this minor elective procedure now," the actor's publicist said in a statement. The cyst actually ruptured last week but the production is only halted this week because the production went on without Sutherland until Friday, February 12.

Madonna has decided to give another shot to her directing career, Variety reported. After receiving mostly negative reviews with her first directed-film feature "Filth and Wisdom", the singer has signed on to helm "W.E." which revolves around the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that led the Brit royal to abdicate the throne to marry his two-time divorcee lover.

The pop star is likely to direct Vera Farmiga as the "Up in the Air" actress is reportedly eying the role of Simpson, who precipitated the most severe constitutional crisis in the English monarchy in the 20th century after Edward proposed to her, only months into his reign. The pair later lived the rest of their lives as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and became celebrities around the world.

Like Super Bowl which saw stage acts from Rihanna, Timbaland and Justin Bieber among others, this year's NBA All-Star game is also glittered with performances from established singers. Alicia Keys and Shakira performed during the halftime show of the basketball match on Sunday night, February 14 at Cowboys Stadium.

Alicia delivered a medley of "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" and "Empire State of Mind". She then finished her set with a more familiar tune "No One". Before she left, she bowed to the crowd and fireworks were shot from the back and sides of the stage.

Channing Tatum relished watching his father Glenn Tatum struggle to learn his line as an extra in new romantic drama "Dear John" - because the actor has been putting up with his dad's criticisms for years. The "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" star helped his father land a cameo in his new movie, but he soon realized his dad wasn't cut out for Hollywood when he had to spend hours training him to shoot one small scene.

Tatum says, "He had one line. I found it so gratifying because he's always giving me critiques. He's like, 'Son, you should be like the great actors, they don't blink'."

Simon Cowell's all-star remake of R.E.M.'s song "Everybody Hurts" has stormed to the top of the U.K. singles chart, making it the fastest-selling charity single this century. The music mogul called on artists including Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis and Kylie Minogue to feature on the cover track to raise money for Haiti's earthquake relief efforts.

More than 453,000 copies of "Everybody Hurts" have been sold since its release Sunday, February 7 to take it to number one and make history with the biggest first week sales of any charity song since 2000. R.E.M. have agreed to waive royalty fees, while all proceeds are being split between the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and British newspaper The Sun's Helping Haiti campaign.

British actress Emily Blunt has vowed never to join the celebrity social networking craze on Twitter.com - because she refuses to "bore" her fans with useless updates about her everyday life. "The Devil Wears Prada" star can't understand why anyone would want to know about her daily routine and insists the micro blogging site is simply "awful".

She tells People magazine, "Twitter (is) literally the most awful thing. It's mind-numbingly boring to hear about people's adventures at the gas station. I couldn't care less." Blunt recently admitted to maintaining a "dual existence" in a bid to keep details about her relationship with actor fiance John Krasinski out of the tabloids.

Fans of James Bond are facing a long wait for the next installment - Daniel Craig has reportedly delayed filming on the latest movie to concentrate on another movie project. Sam Mendes recently signed on to direct the as-yet-untitled "007" outing, but Craig's commitment to shooting "Dream House" in Florida has reportedly forced producers to push back production on the next Bond film.

A source tells Britain's Mail On Sunday, "The producers have been working on the script for nearly two years and hired Sam Mendes as the director. They're not even close to starting filming yet." The film is scheduled for release in 2011.

Another new version of "We Are the World" is in the works. Rumor has it, the 1985 song which is co-written by Michael Jackson will be re-recorded in Spanish with Jennifer Lopez and her singer husband Marc Anthony on the line-up.

Recording session will be held this coming Friday, February 19. Like the Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones' "We Are the World" project, it will also benefit Haitian relief effort. The Spanish version will be titled "Somos El Mundo" and is initiated by Gloria Estefan.

More pictures from "The Twilight Saga's Eclipse" have been found by robsessedpattinson.com, sharing other steamy scenes which involve Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Captured with the similar meadow background used in the previously released images, two of the new photos see the on-screen lovers holding hands and embracing each other.

Later, the twosome is pictured in more raunchy poses as they share kiss while standing as well as lying on bed. Among the batch of the fresh stills which expose the depicters of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, there is one photo which gives a look at the action scene from the film. This image features Pattinson being grabbed by Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuel.

Irish boyband Westlife are stunned by their long career - because record bosses predicted they'd split within five years. The "Flying Without Wings" stars found fame in 1999 as a five-piece before Brian McFadden left the group in 2004.

They've have released 11 albums to date, included a greatest hits compilation - far exceeding any expectations they ever had about their career. Singer Mark Feehily says, "There have been bits along our career - when Brian left we wondered (if we could carry on). Everyone had it drilled into our head that if someone left the band, we would fall apart and we'd be working in (fast food restaurant) Burger King."

Disney Channel gives another early look at the sequel of "Camp Rock" with "Road to Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam". Aired during Disney Channel Original Movie "Starstruck" premiere on Sunday, February 14, the second featurette of the TV movie is focused on the studio sessions.

Before the cast like Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Alyson Stoner get to work in front of the camera, they have to first record their voices for the singing scenes. "The recording process is really fun. You need to go to the studio and sing a lot of really great songs and have fun," Demi said. "You get really excited for singing a song and wondering what it's gonna sound like when everybody's voice are on it."

Making a name as a solo artist is apparently not enough for Lil Wayne as this rap mogul forms a supergroup with his labelmates. Under the moniker of Young Money, they released a studio album "We Are Young Money" in December 2009.

"BedRock", one of the singles in the effort, managed to reach the No. 3 position on Billboard Hot 100. The track is performed by Weezy, Gudda Gudda, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Tyga, Jae Millz and features R&B singer Lloyd.

Rap veteran Flavor Flav has played down reports he owes his ex-girlfriend more than $63,000 in child support payments, insisting he's been making frequent contributions to pay for their kids' education. Angie Parker, mum to three of Flav's seven children, won a court judgment in January to increase the Public Enemy star's monthly cheques from $117 to $837.72.

The ruling was made to include their third kid, who was born years after their original child support agreement in 1996. The new deal, which is expected to cover the youngsters' tuition at a private school, was retroactive to 2008, when Parker filed the appeal for an increase.

Danica Patrick has another chance to be named Favorite Female Athlete at the upcoming Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. The race car driver has been included in the nomination once again after winning the category in 2008 and losing it to basketball player Candance Parker last year.

Meanwhile, in the Favorite Male Athlete, Kobe Bryant is seen back on the list after the last time nominated in 2003. He will battle out the title with fellow basketballer LeBron James, skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, and snowboarder Shaun White. Golfer Tiger Woods who had consecutively been nominated in the past three years, is not included this year.

The nominees of the 23rd Annual Kids' Choice Awards have been unveiled. Leading the pack in movie category is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" which gets three nominations, one of which is Favorite Movie.

To get the coveted award, the follow-up to 2007 "Transformers" will compete with "The Twilight Saga's New Moon", "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Beside the best movie nom, "Transformers 2" also aids its lead stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox to land nomination for Best Favorite Movie Actor and Favorite Movie Actress respectively.

Those vying for music prizes at this year's Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards have been announced. In favorite group, Jonas Brothers are up against such contenders as Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay and Linkin Park.

Favorite Female Singer, meanwhile, has Beyonce Knowles, Miley Cyrus, Lady GaGa and Taylor Swift on the list. Last year, Miley successfully beat Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Rihanna in this category.

Smokey Robinson decided to keep his version of Jackson Five's classic "I Want You Back" as a secret track on his new album because he didn't want to be accused of exploiting the death of Michael Jackson. The soul legend re-recorded the 1969 song for "Time Flies When You're Having Fun" before Jackson died in June 2009, and Robinson wanted to keep it on the disc in honor of his late pal.

But the 69-year-old made sure the track was "hidden". He explains, "It's the first record the Jackson Five made when they came to Motown. I always loved that song and I always wanted to make an adult version. It was for Michael to hear. Then he died."

Emma Roberts worked double duty on the set of new romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" - the young actress turned babysitter for her aunt and co-star Julia Roberts in between her own scenes in the film. The Roberts are among a host of Hollywood actors starring in the film, including Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper.

But instead of hanging out with the star-studded cast when she wasn't needed for filming, Emma found herself looking after her little cousins, 5-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, and 2-year-old Henry.

Nickelodeon has unveiled its selection of Kids' Choice Awards nominees for the year 2010. In the TV category, the channel's very own "iCarly" is taking a nod in the Favorite TV show and another in Favorite TV Actress for Miranda Cosgrove.

Although "iCarly" is up for two, it is "The Suite Life on Deck" that nabs the biggest number of nominations with three. Beside going under Favorite TV Show, the show also has the chance of winning Favorite TV Actor through twin stars, Cole Sprouse and Dylan Sprouse.

Jessica Alba is happy she's made "lots of money" in her Hollywood career - because her bloated bank balance is proof of her success. The 28-year-old actress, who battled bullies in school, began acting as a teenager and has risen to fame in movies such as "Sin City" and "Fantastic Four".

And Alba admits the best part of life as a film star is the financial independence which she has secured for herself. She tells Britain's Scarlet magazine, "Making lots of money has made me happy. No one else helped me - I've done this all by myself, on my own terms."

Knowing that many people wonder why he preferred not to contribute to recent "We Are the World" remake project, Jay-Z shared his insight, stating he has an "interesting take on that [matter]." The rapper explained that nothing, even if it's filled with star-studded ensemble, could ever come close to the original song.

"I know everybody is gonna take this wrong: 'We Are the World,' I love it, and I understand the point and think it's great. But I think 'We Are the World' is like [Michael Jackson's] 'Thriller' to me," he told MTV at the annual "2 Kings" dinner during NBA All-Star weekend. "I don't ever wanna see it touched."

On Saturday, February 13, "Shutter Island" was screened for the first time at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. Being photographed coming to the event were some of the film's stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams.

Donning a formal outfit, the 35-year-old actor was seen taking picture with fans who eagerly waited for him in front of the building. Later, Williams was snapped gracefully hitting the red carpet by wearing a white and black dress. They additionally were joined by co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley as well as director Martin Scorsese.

"The Amazing Race" officially raised its flag of the 16th season on Sunday, February 14. The 11 teams began the race by taking a public transportation to the Los Angeles International airport. The first three teams to arrive got the privilege of taking the first flight which is one hour apart off the second one. Monique and Shawne, Jeff and Jordan and Dana and Adrian were early. Unfortunately the first flight was delayed and they all ended up on the same second flight.

They visited Santiago, Chile as the first stop. Taking a bus, teams had to travel 60 miles to the first clue box. Monique and Shawne, Jeff and Jordan, Brente and Caite, and Adrian and Dana were the first batch to depart followed by Carol and Brandy five minutes later and then the rest of the team.

Heather Mills is constantly guarded when questioned about her divorce from Paul McCartney - because the former model fears she will end up in jail if she reveals too much. The couple separated in 2006 after four years of marriage, leading to an ugly public divorce battle.

The Beatles' star was ordered to hand over $38.9 million of his fortune to Mills after their union was officially dissolved in 2008. Mills was banned from talking about the divorce proceedings - and now she's constantly wary of what she says as a result.

Trace Adkins decided to call off his gig in Florida after one of his tour buses collided with a pick-up truck, costing two people their lives. "This is a real tragedy," he says in a statement. "Two people have been killed and I don't even know their names. So out of respect for their families, I prefer not to comment too much at this time."

Two people who died were the ones who traveled in the truck which crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the bus. The deadly accident happened on Saturday, February 13 at about 9:30 A.M. when the band were on their way to Bossier City, Louisiana. The country music singer who was already in Louisiana immediately went to the scene in a van after learning about the crash.

Ronnie Wood has reportedly reconciled with Ekaterina Ivanova - two months after the ugly public-bust up which ended his relationship with the young Russian. The Rolling Stones' rocker split from wife Jo in 2008 after embarking on a whirlwind romance with the 21-year-old.

They split in December 2009 after he was cautioned for assault following a violent argument with the former waitress. Both subsequently stepped out with new partners, and Ivanova appeared on British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" in January.

Despite being photographed in between a lady's legs and literally beside a bathing lady, Robert Pattinson admits that he hates vaginas. The "Twilight" star is the latest headline of Details magazine which, through photographer Norman Jean Roy, captures him in a Helmut Newton-esque photo spread.

Speaking about the graphically provocative shoot, Robert says, "I really hate vaginas. I'm allergic to vagina." Although he's fully clothed, the female models are fully naked. "But I can't say I had no idea, because it was a 12-hour shoot, so you kind of get the picture that these women are going to stay naked after, like, five or six hours. But I wasn't exactly prepared. I had no idea what to say to these girls. Thank God I was hung over," he adds.

A voicemail tape featuring Dr. Conrad Murray, which could be a key piece of evidence in his trial over the death of Michael Jackson, has been leaked. The star's personal doctor is free on $75,000 bail after he pleaded not guilty to a count of involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles last Monday, February 8. He stands accused of administering the powerful anesthetic Propofol which killed Jackson in June 2009.

Editors at Britain's News of the World newspaper have obtained a recording of a message left by Murray on a patient's phone the morning, June 25 Jackson died - and both defense and prosecution teams are allegedly keen to use it to help their cases. Murray is heard talking calmly in the message, allegedly left at 11.54 A.M. local time - the same time Los Angeles police officials claim the doctor was attempting to resuscitate the King of Pop as he lay unconscious in his California home.

This weekend has really become the time for "Valentine's Day". During the long U.S. President's day weekend as well as Valentine's weekend, the Garry Marshall-directed film has attracted moviegoers to go to theaters, collecting $56.4 million from ticket sales. Thus, the romantic comedy has claimed itself as the winner at this weekend box office chart.

Similar to "Dear John" success, female audience once again had a big role in "Valentine's Day" great achievement. According to Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office division at Hollywood.com, 70% of the audience of the star-studded movie, which has just been released on Friday, February 12, were women.

Alec Baldwin's daughter called emergency services to attend to the "30 Rock" star on Thursday, February 11 when he refused to answer her calls following a heated argument, according to the teenager's uncle. Paramedics transported Baldwin from his New York City apartment to a nearby hospital after receiving a frantic 911 call from his 14-year-old daughter Ireland Eliesse, who was in Los Angeles.

And Ireland's uncle Skip, who is the brother of her mum Kim Basinger, has revealed an argument over the phone was behind the emergency call made by the teen. He tells People.com, "Ireland was talking to her dad and they got into an argument. He got upset. She tried to call him back and she couldn't reach him, so she called 911. It was a simple little thing."

Tiger Woods' wife Elin Nordegren was spotted out and about on Saturday, February 13 night without her wedding band. Woods himself is already in town post completing a program in a Hattiesburg, Mississippi facility on Friday.

While Elin was out with her female friends at Orlando's Dolphin hotel, Tiger was left home to babysit their two children, Sam, 2, and Charlie, 1. According to Radar Online, Elin made it clear that Tiger was simply not invited to the event instead of afraid to go out in public following his embarrassing affair stories.

Kate Jackson alleges she was banned from seeing her "Charlie's Angels" ' co-star Farrah Fawcett on her death bed - and constantly regrets not having the chance to say her final goodbyes to the actress. Fawcett fought a long battle with anal cancer before her death in June 2009, even filming her ongoing fight against the disease for a documentary, "Farrah's Story".

But as Fawcett's condition deteriorated, Jackson - a close friend of the actress after their time spent on the spy series - was told to stop visiting her pal. She tells RadarOnline.com, "I was shut out. I was prevented from saying goodbye to one of my best friends. I was walking across the lobby at her apartment, carrying a shopping bag with apples, grapes, green tea and as I got toward the elevator, the security guard yelled out 'Ms Jackson, no-one upstairs'."

Another teaser to Black Eyed Peas' "Rock That Body" music video has been put forward. Like the previous clip, this new one also features the four personnel of the Hip-Hop group in their robotic outfit. With weapons in their hands, they strut around the street.

Shot back to back with "Imma Be", "Rock That Boy" video was shot in a desert road in Lancaster, California and directed by Rich Lee. The filming process was once forced to be halted when a sudden gust of sand swept the set. Both videos will come out in full this coming Tuesday, February 16.