November 30, 2012

Just in time for Christmas and the end-of-year holiday season, a number of high-profile feature films are ready to pamper movie lovers. Various genres and titles are available in cinemas to accompany audience in the very last month of 2012. To help cinema-goers choose which films to check out this holiday, AceShowbiz suggests ten must watch movies that are compiled in this list of "Holiday Movie Selections 2012".

The list is parted into two sections, "The Thrill Rides" and "The Tear Jerkers", which include five titles apiece. The first part consists of movies that will take audience on fantastical adventures or high-octane actions. They include the much-talked-about features such as "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", "Django Unchained" and "Zero Dark Thirty (2012)". The second section, meanwhile, comprises of gripping dramas namely "Les Miserables", "The Impossible" and "Promised Land", which boast heart-touching plots and powerful story.

Rihanna sparks more speculation about her reuniting with Chris Brown after posting a picture of her and Breezy canoodling with each other on Thursday, November 29 via Instagram. In the picture, RiRi wore a white T-shirt and matching shorts.

Turning their backs to the camera, RiRi held the "Don't Wake Me Up" hitmaker's neck passionately and kissed his head. Chris lied on a couch while the "Only Girl (In the World)" songstress crossed her legs and leaned on him.

Francesca Eastwood has been named Miss Golden Globe 2013 by Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The 19-year-old beauty was given the title after the committee considered her famous parents, Clint Eastwood and Frances Fisher, and her acting career.

"Francesca comes from a very talented family and we are delighted to have her be our Miss Golden Globe," the association's president, Dr. Aida Takla-O'Reilly, explained the reason HFPA chose Francesca to take the honor. "She is a budding actress and is a great addition as we celebrate the show's 70th anniversary!"

On Wednesday night, November 28, Trace Adkins sparked controversy as he's seen rocking a Confederate flag earpiece when performing at the live-televised Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lightning event. Quickly pouring cold water on the frenzy, the country singer took to his personal site to explain his decision in wearing the much-talked-about earpiece.

Claiming that he didn't mean to offend anyone, the 50-year-old artist stated, "As a proud American I object to oppression of any kind." He continued writing from Japan, "To me, the battle flag represents remembrance of my Southern lineage - I am a descendant of Confederate soldiers who followed that flag into battle."

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has set the date for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. The show will take place on Sunday, September 22, 2013 and air live on CBS from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Nominations for the upcoming Emmys will be announced Thursday, July 18 at the Academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood. Meanwhile, the winners of Primetime Creative Arts Emmys will be announced Sunday, September 15.

Megan Fox oozes her sex appeal in a brand new clip for "This Is 40". The sexy brunette bares her killer body in a skimpy bikini, while frolicking in the swimming pool of Paul Rudd's family house. Watching her from across the pool, Rudd and his male friend are seen adoring Fox's body before they realize that their wives are keeping their eyes on the two men.

From the director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Funny People", "This Is 40" is an original comedy that expands upon the story of Rudd's Pete and Leslie Mann's Debbie from the 2007 blockbuster hit "Knocked Up". The movie highlights how the twosome deal with their lives as they get older.

Joe Riccitelli, a veteran music promotion executive, has been officially promoted as executive vice president/GM of RCA Records. The label announced the move on Wednesday, November 28 and said that Riccitelli would oversee music licensing and brand partnership. He recently held the position of EVP for promotions at RCA.

In addition to leading the company's music licensing and brand partnership concerns, Riccitelli will still continue to head the company's pop promotion team. He was put on RCA's promo seat in 2011 and has helped catapult the careers of Pink, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and Ke$ha.

Matthew Perry claims to have been inspired by Angus T. Jones to skim the bible in a newly-released Funny or Die video. Spoofing the young actor's "Two and a Half Men" rant, Perry says he realizes his own show "Go On" is "a complete abomination with terrible morals."

"Don't watch my show. I want you to stop watching NBC's 'Go On'," the former "Friends" actor states. He goes on mocking the failure of his previous sitcom "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", claiming he made a similar video to urge people not to watch "Studio 60". He says, "Now that video was very successful. No one watched that show."

Singer and songwriter Sia Furler has her own rendition of Rihanna's new hit single "Diamonds". Her performance video of the chart topping song has surfaced online and presents a stripped-down version of the R'n'B track. It was performed at the 2012 Norwegian-American Achievement Awards in New York.

Sia's cover of "Diamonds" did not come as a surprise for many. It is a widely known thing that Sia co-wrote the song with writer Benny Blanco and produced it together with Norwegian music production team Stargate. Her performance at the awards night was accompanied by nothing more than a piano and her rich voice, which gave a whole new experience for the listeners who were only familiar with RiRi's popularized version.

Marvel Studios has debuted a set of new pictures from "Iron Man 3". Among the newly-released stills, there is one that uncovers a very first look at scientist Maya Hansen, who is portrayed by "Lay the Favorite" star Rebecca Hall.

In the image, Hall's Hansen is featured sporting wounded makeup with gash on her forehead. She appears to be avoiding a danger that seemingly threatens her life. Other clues of what scene the picture is taken from are relatively unclear.

Tyreese is indeed going to be introduced in the midseason finale of "The Walking Dead" and first look at the character can be found in Latino America Fox's promo for the said episode. The footage also confirms reports that "The Wire" alum Chad Coleman takes on the role.

In it, Tyreese and four other people are standing just outside the prison. A woman says, "This is a mistake," before they enter the prison through a broken gate. It appears that one of them is injured.

Gerard Depardieu was arrested by police in Paris for driving scooter while intoxicated on Thursday, November 29. According to Agence France-Presse, the French actor was brought to police station to have a test on his blood alcohol level.

The test result showed the alcohol level of 1.8 grams per litre in his blood, while the maximum limit allowed in France is 0.5. According to a source, the "Asterix & Obelix: On Her Majesty's Service" actor could face misdemeanor charges "after a period of sobering up".

Pop duo and real life lovers Karmin have premiered their eye-candy video for the holiday classic track "Sleigh Ride". The new fun and colorful clip landed on YouTube on Thursday, November 29 and shows Amy Heidemann and fiance Nick Louis Noonan in extreme holiday joy and merry-making while wearing high-fashion outfits from Coach's 2012 winter collection.

The video starts out with the duo arriving at an unassuming apartment. Once they open the door, viewers immediately enter a winter wonderland complete with a giant sleigh, a huge Christmas tree decorated with beautiful lights, bright red and white furniture, and some pretty cool graphics effects on the photo frames found inside the apartment.

First look at Ryan Phillippe's directorial debut, "Shreveport", has been uncovered in an on-set video released by ET Online. The site visited the set of the upcoming thriller recently and had a sit down with the former husband of Reese Witherspoon to discuss his new job as a filmmaker. Aside from the interview, glimpses at behind-the-scene footage from the movie are also revealed in the clip.

In it, Phillippe is featured sporting an awful look with wound and blood smeared on his forehead. He is seen rocking a dirty shirt which is tainted with blood. At one point, the 38-year-old actor is seen filming an intense scene where his hand is cuffed and tied to the floor, while another man is seen trying to break the cuff by smashing it with a hammer.

CNN has officially named Jeff Zucker as the new Worldwide President. He replaces Jim Walton who announced in July that he would leave the top position in CNN at the end of this year. Zucker will begin his duty in January 2013, reporting to chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting Phil Kent.

"Jeff's experience as a news executive is unmatched for its breadth and success," Kent stated on Thursday, November 29. "He built and sustained the number-one brand in morning news, and under his watch NBC's signature news programming set a standard for quality and professionalism... I couldn't be happier to welcome him or more excited about what he'll accomplish here."

AC/DC will be happy to know that their move to put their entire music catalog on the digital market was not in vain. According to reports from Billboard, the legendary rock group sold 48,000 digital albums and 696,000 song downloads via iTunes during their debut week.

The Australian band's classic 1980s work "Back in Black" still proved to be the most desired set and sold the most number of digital album downloads with 15,000. Their "Highway to Hell" album came in second but with lesser sales of just a little under 5,000 downloads. This was followed by the new set "Live at River Plate" with 4,000 downloads, "High Voltage" which sold just under 3,000 digital copies, and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" with 2,000.

Although Ke$ha denied she once had sex with Justin Bieber, she didn't rule out a possible hookup with the teen heartthrob. "Sure," she said when asked in an interview with Rolling Stone if she would consider it "now that he's single."

"Wait, is he even legal? Could I go to jail for this?" she asked, referring to Bieber's young age. After assured that the Biebs is 18 now, she said, "OK, then, I would. We could go out and buy lottery tickets, vote, play putt-putt golf. All the things that are legal at the age of 18."

Fresh off Bryan Singer's announcement that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are set to return to "X-Men: Days of Future Past", McKellen took time to comment on his reunion with the mutant hero franchise. Talking to The Huffington Post earlier on Thursday, November 29, the Gandalf of "The Hobbit" film series shared his excitement about reprising his role as Magneto for the upcoming film.

"What a gas! I mean, Patrick Stewart and I have been have just been playing 'Waiting for Godot' throughout England and in the West End of London. So, we've stayed in touch. We can't believe it [laughs]," the 73-year-old actor said of his feeling when Singer recast him as the alter ego of Erik Lehnsherr.

More music greats are confirmed to join the fashion event of the year as singer Kelly Clarkson and Latino rapper Pitbull were added to the list of performers for "VH1 Divas". The fashion and music TV special has also included Havana Brown, Melanie Fiona, and Metric to their lineup of performers on December 16.

All the newly-confirmed artists will perform at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium alongside previously announced musicians such as Demi Lovato, Ciara, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Rowland, and Jordin Sparks. "American Idol" season eight runner-up Adam Lambert, who will appear on the show for the first time, is set to take on the hosting role. He has recently released a couple of fun promo videos for the show as well.

Mayim Bialik has officially filed a legal request for dissolution of marriage to her husband of nine years, Michael Stone. "The Big Bang Theory" actress submitted her divorce papers in court on November 21, the same day she announced separation from the father of her two sons.

In the legal filings unveiled Thursday, November 29, Bialik cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason of their split. The actress asked for joint legal and physical custody of their minor children, 7-year-old Miles Roosevelt Bialik Stone and 4-year-old Frederick Heschel Bialik Stone.

Rapper and record producer Swizz Beatz is taking a different approach to his music. The hip-hop star says he intends to release a series of singles rather than dishing out a full album. The decision comes after Beatz observed a growing trend among top pop acts who sell millions from their singles but then do really bad on total album sales.

The "Everyday Birthday" hitmaker added that he would call the singles "memorable moments" and that they would basically fill the gap of a follow-up album to his 2007 release "One Man Band Man". The talented musician and better half of singer Alicia Keys also made it clear that he had material for a full album, but felt that people just did not want an album from him that bad yet.

Fred Savage and wife Jennifer Lynn Stone recently welcomed their third child. The proud father tweeted on Monday, November 26, "He's here," and posted a picture of his son's little hand on Instagram.

Sending the cute picture, he was congratulated by his fans. A fan said, "Such a beautiful picture." Meanwhile, another Instagram user commented on the image, saying, "Perfect little hand. Perfect little head. Well done."

It was a shocking double elimination in "The X Factor (US)" November 29 results show. The first jaw-dropping moment of the night was when Paige Thomas got the boot for getting the lowest number of votes.

Paige, whose performance of "Never Gonna Give You Up" earned rave reviews on Wednesday night, showed her positive attitude. She said, "I'm excited because I get to go home and work hard and get better. I got bigger things to do and better things, and I'm excited for what I have in the future."

Lindsay Lohan's divorced parents broke silence after she was arrested on suspicion of assault following a fight with another woman in a NYC nightclub on Thursday, November 29. Dina Lohan offered full support for her daughter, but Michael Lohan was not impressed.

"@dinalohan why is it that I have to go public to get her into rehab and you want to take credit when you are part of the cause?" Michael scoffed at his former wife. The Lohan patriarch added in an uppercase-letter tweet, "TOLD YOU!"

The Oscar race is getting even more exciting as it ticks closer to the Academy Awards 2013 nominations announcement on January 10. On Thursday, November 29, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed that the Visual Effects category had narrowed its contenders to just ten movies.

Among those in the short list are this year's biggest superhero movies, Joss Whedon's "The Avengers" and Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises". The two rivals are also set to compete with yet another comic book movie "The Amazing Spider-Man", which also scored massive box office result this summer.

Fans of Lady GaGa will definitely get their money's worth once the singer's new album, "ARTPOP", hits the stores. She has announced via a tweet that she has written around fifty songs for the multi-media masterpiece expected to go on sale early 2013.

The "Born This Way" hitmaker answered a question posted on her Twitter wall from a fan regarding the new album. She shared, "I have written like 50 songs, I don't know what will rise to top. But that's how I wrote the fame/the fame monster."

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival continues to reveal more of its lineups. A day after announcing the list of films for U.S. and world competition categories, the festival organizers unveil the out-of-competition lineups that include the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier categories.

Among the seven movies listed in the Spotlight lineup are Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon's dramedy "Mud", and Ben Wheatley-directed film "Sightseers". Meanwhile, horror pics "S-VHS" and "In Fear" are among those which are set to entertain audience at the Park City at Midnight showings.

Stephen King's "Under the Dome" is one step closer to come to the small screen. A TV adaptation based on the bestselling supernatural thriller novel has been given a 13-episode series order by CBS for a summer 2013 premiere.

"This is a great novel coming to the television screen with outstanding auspices and in-season production values to create a summer programming event," says Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment. "We're excited to transport audiences Under the Dome and into the extraordinary world that Stephen King has imagined."

VEVO is making a lot of musicians happy. According to the music video service, it has paid over $200 million to rights owners since the site was set up in 2009. VEVO President and CEO Rio Caraeff told in an announcement on Tuesday at the Business Insider conference in New York that the amount was more than any other music-video service.

The CEO also added that the company now "generates more money for the music industry than any other service focused on music video." He explained that this is due to the fact that VEVO has a high quality standard when it comes to content compared to other video sites which publish works from unofficial sources.

The Thanksgiving-fight drama surrounding Halle Berry, Gabriel Aubry and Olivier Martinez has been resolved. Lawyers for the parties involved in the case have met in court Thursday, November 29 to discuss their terms in front of the presiding judge for a win-win solution.

The settlement was announced by Halle's lawyer Blair Berk who held up a paper with a handwritten message to the press outside the court. "The parties have reached an amicable agreement. There will be no further statements regarding this matter," the note read.

Universal Pictures and Fifty Shades Ltd. are not happy when E.L. James' steamy novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" is "adapted" into a porn movie with the same title. The studio filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 27 against the makers of adult film called "Fifty Shades of Grey: a XXX Adaptation".

The original copyright holders of the bestselling novel accuse Smash Pictures and adult video director, James Lane, of violating the "Fifty Shades" copyright and trademark and causing confusion in the marketplace. Universal alleges Smash honcho Stuart Wall for engaging a "willful attempt to capitalize on the reputation of the book."

Joe Jackson sparked a health scare, just a few days after Thanksgiving. The father of late King of Pop Michael Jackson suffered a mild stroke on late Wednesday night, November 28, or early Thursday morning, November 29, and checked into a Las Vegas hospital.

A spokeswoman, Angel Howansky, revealed to the Associated Press that the 83-year-old Jackson patriarch was driven to the hospital by a friend. The former manager of Jackson 5 had trouble standing up and walking, and complained of suffering pain in his head.

PSY, Demi Lovato, and Diana Ross are among the celebrities who will perform for TNT's "Christmas in Washington" special. Meanwhile, talk show host Conan O'Brien will be back for the second consecutive year as the event's host.

The holiday telecast will be taped from Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum and aired on December 21. It also features "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery, "The Voice" finalist Chris Mann and "Smash" star Megan Hilty. Special guests of honor are President Barack Obama and wife Michelle.

Soon after the rumors spread that Jessica Simpson is pregnant again, the news of marriage follows. The singer/actress reportedly wants to tie the knot first before her second child with NFL fiance Eric Johnson is born.

Simpson had a December marriage in mind but the plan changed when she found out that her best friend Cacee Cobb will be getting married in the same month. "Jessica wanted to get married before Christmas and was thinking of a date in December," a source told Radar Online. "But then Cacee set a date with Donald (Faison) for December, her father was caught up in the gay scandal and then she found out she was pregnant."

Brooklyn Nets' Kris Humphries got into a physical fight with Rajon Rondo of Bolton Celtics during the Wednesday, November 28 game. The estranged husband of Kim Kardashian was then ejected from the game, so were his teammate Gerald Wallace, and Rondo.

The fight began as the first half was about to end. Humphries fouled Kevin Garnett with a forearm and caused Garnett to fall to the floor. Rondo then pushed Humphries and threw a few punches at him before more players got involved. Rondo and Humphries were quickly thrown out, followed by Wallace who did a second technical foul.

Bobbi Kristina Brown is not the only one who has to deal with the cops on Wednesday, November 28. Just hours after her car was totaled for traveling down an embankment, her boyfriend Nick Gordon was arrested for driving maniacally.

Gordon, according to TMZ, was taken into custody in Alpharetta, Georgia on Wednesday night. He was speeding at 82 miles an hour in a 35 mph zone on Northpoint Parkway, which was crowded with pedestrian. "We are fortunate because that's such a busy corridor with high end retail shopping retaurants and pedestrains at crosswalks," a law enforcement told TMZ, adding "At that speed, it's absolutely reckless."

Lindsay Lohan and trouble are found in the same sentence again. The actress was arrested on Thursday, November 29 around 4 A.M. in New York City on the allegation of punching a woman in the face. She has since been released from police custody.

Incident happened at NYC nightspot Club Avenue where Lohan got into some kind of argument with a female patron identified as 28-year-old Tiffany Eve Mitchell. They sat in separate booths but near each other, exchanging heated words. The argument turned physical when Lohan allegedly punched Mitchell on the left side of her face.