December 15, 2011

The 69th Golden Globes puts silent movie "The Artist" on the spotlight by giving it six nods including the category Best Film Comedy or Musical. Coming in second place with five nominations is "The Descendants", starring George Clooney who receives the Best Actor nomination for the Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama.

Clooney's mate, Brad Pitt, is going to give the actor a competition in the same category for his role as baseball general manager Billy Beane in "Moneyball", which is pocketing four nominations. Clooney has been nominated eight times before and won twice while Pitt has been nominated four times and won once.

The nominees for the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced on Thursday, December 15 morning by HFPA, assisted by Sofia Vergara, Gerard Butler, Rashida Jones and Woody Harrelson. First category announced was Best Supporting Actress in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie which went to Jessica Lange (American Horror Story), Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey), Vergara (Modern Family) and Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce).

Next, competing for the Lead Actress in a TV drama series are familiar names such as Julianna Margulies of "The Good Wife" and Claire Danes of "Homeland". Over at the comedy department, there's "New Girl" Zooey Deschanel competing against Tina Fey of "30 Rock" and last year's winner Laura Linney of "The Big C" among others.

Jimmy Fallon is bringing the spirit of Christmas in promos for the next episode of "Saturday Night Live". The 37-year-old comedian appears along with regular cast member Fred Armisen to remind viewers of his impending hosting gig on the variety show.

When Armisen plays a guitar and sings "Jingle Bells", Fallon interrupts him and tries to show the right tune. However, he also twists the melody halfway through the song. In another promo video launched on Facebook, the two even perform the Christmas song with some different versions although still maintain the lyrics.

Marvel Studios has launched the official website for "The Amazing Spider-Man". Along with it, the studio unleashed several brand new images of the highly anticipated superhero flick as well as revealed more details of the plot and the key characters.

There are some fresh photos that see Peter Parker wearing his casual jacket, with one picture featuring him talking to his girlfriend Gwen Stacy at the school corridor. In other stills, the lead character is seen embracing his alter ego and getting into action complete with his full costume.

Katy Perry tones down her sexual appeal when launching her new perfume in Los Angeles. Attending a press conference for "Meow!" at Nordstrom in The Grove on Wednesday, December 14, the "E.T." hitmaker opted to show off a more conservative look by wearing a knee-length pink dress.

The pale satin dress Katy donned covered the top half of her body since it features a high neck with a large black pussy bow. Though so, it still manages to put the 27-year-old's curves on display and flaunt a little bit of skin with a split to mid thigh. The singer herself paired up the number with ornate black open toe shoes and set her blond hair in a bobbed style.

Aaron Sorkin's upcoming drama series has just snatched a Hollywood movie veteran to be added to its cast ensemble. TVLine reports that two-time Academy Award winner Jane Fonda has been cast in a recurring role of Leona Lansing on the project, which has been unofficially referred to as "Newsroom".

Lansing is the CEO of cable news network's parent company. She is further described as "a titan and her corporate concerns often conflict with the reporting of the news outlet she owns." Although the company is fictional, her character sounds like a female version of Fonda's ex-husband, media tycoon and CNN founder Ted Turner.

After being eliminated from "The X Factor (US)", Rachel Crow has already been invited to do a series of interviews including the recently-aired one on "Live! with Kelly". On the show, the 13-year-old aspiring singer from Mead, Colorado revealed what her dream is.

"I hope to be very big," said the chubby girl who was mentored by Simon Cowell during her participation on the U.S. version of "The X Factor". She elaborated her statement to hosts Kelly Ripa and Bryant Gumble, "Well, I want to be huge. Like Justin Bieber huge."

Natalie Portman was reportedly furious with Marvel Studios over director Patty Jenkins' dismissal from "Thor 2". Multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the Oscar winner has previously planned to step back from acting to spend more time with her baby boy, but she re-engaged in the project and urged Marvel to hire Jenkins as the helmer for the sequel because she thinks it will be great to have a woman directing a big superhero film.

Words are, Portman was "deeply unhappy" with the studio after hearing that Jenkins was no longer attached to the sequel of 2011's "Thor". Nonetheless, the 30-year-old actress will not exit the sequel because she's contractually obligated with the project. It is said that Marvel is now "working overtime to smooth the situation by including her [Portman] in discussion about whom to hire as a replacement."

Clint Eastwood may have cameras following himself and some people closest to him like the Kardashians. It has been reported that the "Million Dollar Baby" star's family are shooting a family reality show which is intended to air on E! network.

Sources tell TMZ the show will explore what it's like to live in a family of "Hollywood royalty." The 81-year-old actor-turned-director himself is said to be only making a couple of cameos while the main focus of the show is the relationship between his wife Dina Eastwood, his 18-year-old daughter Francesca and their 15-year-old daughter Morgan.

Jessica Biel's brother recently launched a potty-mouthed tirade against Justin Timberlake and his 901 Tequila company, and all were documented in videos posted on his Facebook page. Soon after the videos made headlines, Justin Biel tried to backtrack his sarcastic remarks.

"For all you knuckleheads that haven't figured it out. This is just a joke. hahah. Got ya," the younger Biel, who reportedly left the liquor brand a few weeks ago on good terms, clarified on his Facebook page. He additionally posted another message that read, "Glad y'all watched, hope y'all liked. If you like it, share it. And pray that i don't get sued."

Like what's displayed on Billboard Hot 200, the crown of this week's Billboard Hot 100 also belongs to last week's champion. In the U.S. single chart, Rihanna is untouchable by grasping the top spot with her Calvin Harris-assisted single "We Found Love" from album "Talk That Talk".

This marks Riri's seventh week spending at the No. 1 position, which only means that she matches her longest command on the chart back in 2007. Four years ago, the Barbados singer ruled the list for a longest seven week for any artist with her smash hit "Umbrella" which features Jay-Z.

"The Dictator" has got its first trailer available for viewing pleasure. Opening with a scene where President Barrack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talk about a tyrant who controls the nation for decades, the promo video then sees Sacha Baron Cohen playing a luxuriantly bearded Middle Eastern billionaire who has an eccentric and annoying manner.

He then enters New York City by riding a camel while saying, "Ahh.. America, the birth place of AIDS." At one point, he is seen lying on a luxurious bed with Megan Fox, who plays a woman who gets paid to sleep with a man. When she receives some jewels as her payment, she asks, "What's this? A ruby? Is that a joke? What am I, a Kardashian?"

Barbara Walters has unveiled who's topping her list of 2011 Most Fascinating People. In a surprising and unpredicted move, she landed her choice on late Steve Jobs while she has always been picking people who are still alive to be named on the list.

Walters indeed chose Jobs as the Most Fascinating Person before his death, after he announced his retirement as CEO on Apple which he co-founded. When he lost his battle with cancer last October, the co-host of "The View" decided to keep him on the list because she believes "rules were meant to be broken."

Though he will not be seen reprising his iconic role as Jason Bourne in "The Bourne Legacy", Matt Damon recently sang praises to Jeremy Renner who will replace him in tackling the lead role in the fourth "Bourne" movie. Speaking to MTV News, Damon gushed that Renner is the "obvious choice" to star in the forthcoming action film.

The 41-year-old actor revealed that he and director Paul Greengrass, who helmed the second and third "Bourne" movies, thought that Renner was the right actor to carry on the franchise. He said, "When Paul Greengrass and I were talking about the character and maybe doing a fourth one a couple years ago and maybe passing it off to somebody, Renner was the guy we talked about."

Ashley Tisdale is back on the single market. The Disney songstress, who became known for her role as Sharpay Evans in the first three "High School Musical" movies, has called it quits with her boyfriend, music video director Scott Speer, after more than two years of dating.

The 26-year-old's split from Scott doesn't appear to be a shocking news for those close to them. "They had been on and off for a while," one source told Us Weekly. "They tried to work it out but realized their relationship ran its course." It was not explained though what might have caused the pair to end their romance.

Mindless Behavior spread holiday cheers in a music video for their single "Christmas With My Girl". The four young boys have a blast hanging out with their girlfriends by frolicking in the snow, chilling out in front of fireplace, hanging Christmas stockings, and roasting mashmellow at a campfire.

"It's our first Christmas song. ... There's snow everywhere. We're freezing," Princeton told MTV News on the set of the winter-themed video. "We don't go to the snow, the snow comes to us." Ray Ray additionally explained, "We don't have no choreography. We're just hanging out, having fun."

The aftermath of the birth on "American Horror Story" is not so good for Ben. Losing another member of his family and being left alone, the psychiatrist appears to be trying to kill himself by pointing a gun at his head and playing Russian Roulette with the loaded weapon.

In another moment, Ben is seen being involved in a heated argument with Constance and even threatening her safety. Meanwhile, the ghosts in the Murder House are still fighting over who will take care of the newborn baby/babies.

The champion on this week's Billboard Hot 200 remains the same as Michael Buble holds firmly his last week's position on the throne of the U.S. album chart. The Canadian singer secures the first position for a third consecutive week with his "Christmas" album.

After passing 1 million mark last week, Buble adds another 479,000 copies. The amount of the sold-out CDs becomes the largest sales number for a non-debuting album since Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" pulled in 510,000 units in its fifth week of release over the holiday season two years ago.

The new theatrical trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" has been leaked online. The bootleg video opens with a scene where Alfred promises to Bruce Wayne to always protect him. It then cuts to a gala dinner scene where Selina Kyle warns Wayne about an awaiting danger. It then gives a look at Bane getting into a brutal action as well as shows some brawl scenes on the street of Gotham city.

A day prior, a six-minute prologue of the much-awaited movie was also leaked out. The footage, which will be attached to the IMAX release of "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol", focuses on a scene where Bane shows off his mightiness by hijacking a highly-secured military plane.

Pop sensation Justin Bieber has another run-in with the law. The "Never Say Never" singer found himself being pulled over by a police officer when driving his customized Cadillac in Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 14 because of a traffic offense, TMZ reported.

According to the police, the 17-year-old boyfriend of Selena Gomez landed in hot water after making an "unsafe left turn" at an intersection. Fortunately, after promising to be more careful in the future, he was let off with only a warning.

After Rachel Crow's shocking elimination, "The X Factor (US)" moves on with its remaining four contestants on the semifinal round. Before the battle began on Wednesday, December 14, the show had already presented drama as Nicole Scherzinger got the boos from audience when she entered the stage.

Refusing to let haters make her down, Nicole said the boos only made her stronger. She later gave a shout out to last week's ouster, "Rachel, I have nothing but love for her," before adding, "and you know what? God is good, and I got nothing but love and light tonight! And it's rock 'n' roll time, and it's about these contestants!"

Adam Lambert is gearing up to release his brand new single titled "Better Than I Know Myself". To tide his fans over until the official release of the song, the "Whataya Want from Me" hitmaker has unveiled its cover art and short snippet on his official Twitter page.

In the artwork, Lambert is seen rocking his trademark edgy look. In the snippet, the 29-year-old singer who claimed his fame after finishing second on the eighth season of "American Idol" belts out the pop/rock tune in his signature powerful voice.

The Duggars have shared photos of Jubilee Shalom Duggar in memory of the miscarried baby. Reportedly distributed at Jubilee's memorial service on Wednesday, December 14, one of the pictures gives a look at the fetal corpse's tiny feet on the hand of "19 Kids and Counting" star Michelle Duggar.

The artistic shot is accompanied by a message that read, "There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world." Another black-and-white image, in the meantime, captures Michelle holding the tiny hand of baby Jubilee. According to TMZ, both photos were first posted on Twitter by a family member.

The first teaser trailer for "The Expendables II" has been debuted. Courtesy of Apple, this sneak peek opens with Bruce Willis' Mr. Church reminding his old pal Sylvester Stallone's Barney Ross that he owes him a favor. "I knew that one day would come when you were going to pay me back, and today's that day," Church tells Ross.

The teaser does not spoil any action scenes just yet, but it does give a quick glimpse at the all-star cast-members. Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth and Jean-Claude Van Damme are those getting highlighted before Arnold Schwarzenegger closes it with a bang.

Having just picked the winner of the 12th season, "The Biggest Loser" is gearing up for the next cycle. The show has unveiled the official cast line-up for the 13th season which is subtitled "No Excuses".

Featuring ten teams of two, the show will pit them up against their team mate in the race for the champion title and the $250,000 grand prize. While 18 of the 20 contestants come to the ranch with their loved ones, the other two cast members will initially be paired as strangers.

Kelly Clarkson has just debuted a music video for her second single "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)". The Texas-born singer rocks out with her band while footage of her fans busting their best moves to the pop/rock song flashes on screen. Inspired by her fans' high energy, she later comes out to lead a number of people to do a flash mob of her own.

In mid-November this year, the "Mr. Know It All" singer invited her devotees to join the flash mob for the music video. "Get your cameras ready to record you and your friends rocking these moves in a unique location that shows where you are in the world," she stated. "Remember to be creative, but keep it safe and legal! Thanks for participating!"

Giuliana Rancic is in great spirits the morning after she underwent successful double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Offering updates on the E! News co-host's post-surgery condition was husband Bill Rancic, who revealed on Wednesday, December 14 that she has already been "cracking jokes".

"G is doing really well," the 40-year-old informed E!. "Her surgery lasted about four hours and the doctors were very pleased with the result." He went on to share that his TV personality wife "had a little bit of pain through the night but is feeling much better this morning and was cracking jokes."

The race for the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards has officially begun with the announcement of its nominees on early Wednesday, December 14. Among the bunch, there are only a few of newbies which manage to put their actors/actresses in the run for the coveted titles.

In the Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series, for example, there is Jessica Lange of FX's new series "American Horror Story". She is pitted against Kathy Bates ("Harry's Law"), Glenn Close ("Damages"), Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife") and Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer").

The nominations for the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards have been revealed on Wednesday, December 14 at the Pacific Design Center's SilverScreen Theater in West Hollywood. This year, the association has picked "The Artist", "Bridesmaids", "The Descendants", "The Help" and "Midnight in Paris" as the qualified nominees for the coveted Outstanding Performance by a Cast award.

Demian Bichir, meanwhile, is nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor award for portraying a Latin gardener who lives illegally in the United States in "A Better Life". "Being Mexican myself and being in Los Angeles all these years, I know all these people, these are my friends," Bichir said of his role. "I'm doing this film about us."

Kim Kardashian turns out to be one of those involved in a bidding war for Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection during an auction at Christie's in New York. The estranged wife of Kris Humphries outbid others in securing the legendary actress' jade and diamond Lorraine Schwartz bracelets by shelling out a reported $65,000.

Lorraine told Forbes although Kim initially was going to buy the white, black and lavender bangles directly from her, she really wanted the ones owned by Liz. "She loved those bangles for a long time," said the Los Angeles jewelry designer. "She bought them because they're Elizabeth's."

Lady GaGa, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry might fall short of scoring top album and top single of the year in the year-end charts due to Adele's strong domination, but they redeem themselves when being declared the female biggest earners this year by Forbes. Those three ladies fill in the top 3 in a respective order, while the British popstar comes in at No. 9.

The Mother Monster leads the 2011 pack by cashing in a staggering total of $90 million. The outlandish singer collected the huge amount of money from the strong sales of her latest studio installment "Born This Way", a lucrative world tour for the album, and endorsements with major companies including Polaroid, Virgin Mobile and Viva Glam.

Though finding it weird having to wear a mask when she was younger, Paris Jackson credits it for giving her a regular childhood. The teen daughter of Michael Jackson opened up about life with the late King of Pop when making her first ever solo interview on a Thursday, December 15 episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".

During the chat, the 13-year-old told host Ellen DeGeneres she has a regular childhood despite her father's fame. "I mean, I'm treated the same. When I came to [my school,] they didn't know who I was. I was like, yes, I have a chance to be normal," she said before Ellen noted, "They didn't know who you were because you used to wear masks all the time."

Lindsay Lohan made it to the Los Angeles Superior Court hearing on Wednesday, December 14 morning and left with flying colors. Judge Stephanie Sautner, who sentenced the troubled star to 30 days behind bars for violating probation, gave her a glowing report on her probation which includes morgue duty.

"You have actually done the work and done it, not only on time, but early," Judge Saunter said. "You did the 12 days and you completed it early." Beside serving the community, Lindsay was also required to attend four therapy sessions between one-month deadlines set by the court.

This January 7, Brad Pitt would have to travel to the Palm Springs Convention Center to receive an honor for his last two films. The 47-year-old is set to receive 23rd Palm Springs International Film Festival's Desert Palm Achievement Actor Award for his lead role in "Moneyball" and supporting turn in "The Tree of Life".

"Brad Pitt consistently mesmerizes audiences with the depth and versatility of his performances. He has the rare ability to interpret and capture the most complicated facets of human nature, infusing his roles with strength and emotion," festival chairman Harold Matzner said. "In 'The Tree of Life', he portrays a father whose sensitive son tries to make sense of their relationship and understand the wrongs of a difficult childhood. In 'Moneyball', he faces failure head on and draws upon his dormant, though fierce competitive nature to become a standout in the world of major league baseball management."

Melissa Rivers, the host of E!'s "Fashion Police", has found herself a man who is an expert in sex tapes. The only daughter of Joan Rivers is reportedly dating Steven Hirsch who runs Vivid Entertainment, a company which has bought the copyrights to major celebrity sex tapes including Paris Hilton's, Kim Kardashian's and Shauna Sand's.

Melissa, 43, met the so-called Porn King through mutual friends and has been seeing him more for a couple of weeks now, TMZ reported. A "person with direct knowledge of the situation" told the site, "The relationship is going great."

Madonna has moved on from Warner Music Group and signed a deal with Universal Music Group's Interscope. According to NY Post, the pop queen will do three albums under the new flag after performing without new records for five years.

"It's just about keeping relevance so that she can tour," a source said, adding, "She is still in the demo phase, but the idea is to get the first album out early next year." Madonna will continue to tour with Live Nation which covers her road trip and merchandise. However, her records would be handled by the new label which reportedly paid $1 million per album.

Demi Moore is still going to be Mrs. Kutcher for a while. The actress, who is separating from her younger husband Ashton Kutcher, said changing her nickname on Twitter is not an important thing right now.

"Changing my twitter name isn't a top priority right now," Moore wrote in a post early Wednesday, December 14. "Sorry it bothers so many of u. should I not tweet until I do?does it really matter?" Moore has more than 4.3 million followers on the social site while Kutcher has over 8.75 million followers.