Director Tim Burton planning new movie about President Lincoln and vampires

Alice In Wonderland director Tim Burton is reportedly planning a new movie about President Lincoln’s battle to wipe out vampires.

The 51-year-old is to team up with Timur Bekmambetov to produce a movie adaptation of the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with Jim Lemley, according to website Deadline.

The novel by Seth Grahame-Smith was recently released by Grand Central Publishing and tells the fictitious story of Lincoln’s desire to rid the world of vampires after his mother is killed by a supernatural creature.

The author has previously taken classic tales and changed its genre with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which mixes the well-known Jane Austen story with zombies.

This novel has also been signed up for a movie adaptation and is being adapted by Lionsgate and will star Natalie Portman.

2010.03.03 / no responses / Category: Movies

Benicio Del Toro turning into Brad Pitt

Forget werewolves – Benicio Del Toro is turning into Brad Pitt.

The Hollywood star was sporting Brad’s trademark flat cap and grey goatee as he appeared at a press conference for his new film The Wolfman in Tokyo last night.

In the film, set in England in 1891, Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot who returns to his family’s estate after the death of his brother only to be bitten by the same beast.

He then fears turning into the beast as he is nursed back to health by Emily Blunt.

2010.03.03 / no responses / Category: Actors, Brad Pitt, Hollywood

Alec Baldwin revealed he was surprised to be picked for the gig

Oscars co-host Alec Baldwin revealed he was surprised to be picked for the gig.

Baldwin, the 30 Rock star, comedian and on-screen lawyer in many movies, was chosen along with Steve Martin to guide the hallmark event through its well-worn paces on Sunday.

Baldwin said: “Adam Shankman called me to ask if I’d [host] with Steve Martin, and I had to make sure he had the right number. So I said, ‘You know who you’re calling, right? This is 212′.”

Baldwin was last year self-deprecating when he in effect called his acting career a shemozzle.

Digital Spy notes Baldwin’s comments when he was asked last month if he ever considered another career. Baldwin was honoured at a New York lawyer’s gathering for his many roles as a lawyer. He said: “I didn’t know if I wanted to join a field that was becoming as crowded and choked as law was.”

2010.03.02 / no responses / Category: Academy Award, Actors, Oscars Winner

Tiger Woods remains more popular than America’s other bad boys

Disgraced Tiger Woods may have taken a public beating over the last three months, but he is still more popular than America’s other celebrity bad boys.

A new poll commissioned by CBS’s 60 Minutes TV show and Vanity Fair magazine says that 22 per cent of people forgive Woods for cheating on his wife.

And it found that men are twice as likely than women to forgive Woods, according to pollsters.

But Woods can take some comfort that he is still receives more sympathy than Charlie Sheen at 12 per cent, John Edwards at five per cent, Chris Brown at three per cent and Roman Polanski at three per cent.

Jailed Wall Street swindler Bernie Madoff received zero sympathy in the poll of 1,216 adults.

2010.03.02 / no responses / Category: Marriage, Tiger Woods

Angelina Jolie’s movie character Lara Croft has street named after her

Angelina Jolie’s most famous movie character has been honoured.

Lara Croft, brought to life in two movies by the actress, has had a street named after her in the UK.

The town of Derby in England had a new road to name and it turns out that Core Design, the company that created the Tomb Raider video games featuring treasure-hunting Brit archaeologist Lara Croft, is based in Derby.

So, after a vote by the local residents, it was decided the street will now have the name Lara Croft Way.

There is no word yet if Jolie, who is currently in Paris filming her new movie The Tourist, will make the trip to the UK for the dedication ceremony.

2010.03.01 / no responses / Category: Angelina Jolie, Movies

Courtney Love’s Ed Norton business

If you want a good story, check out Courtney Love’s twitter page and you won’t be disappointed. It seems the singer has decided to share with the rest of the world how Ed Norton supposedly owes her three hundred-thousand dollars and how she plans to involved the FBI if he doesn’t pay up. Also, it looks like Brad Pitt is involved in Courtney Love’s interesting story of debt, drama and most likely drunkenness. The X Files probably have nothing on Courtney Love… somebody might consider getting her to write a new show, a sort of grunge-universe Twilight Zone. That kind of show would sell big time.

2010.03.01 / no responses / Category: Actors, Actress

Matt Damon disappointed with Obama

Matt Damon, up for the role of a Kennedy, is not satisfied with Barack Obama’s performance.

The actor said Obama’s health-care proposal and Afghanistan track record have left him disappointed.

Damon, who campaigned for the Democrat in 2008, said: “Politics is compromise. I’m disappointed in the health-care plan and in the troop build-up in Afghanistan.”

Damon, meanwhile, confirmed he was in talks for a role as Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, the brother of the late President John F Kennedy, in a yet-to-be-titled biopic. Robert was assassinated in 1968 in Los Angeles.

He added: “Everyone feels a little let-down because, on some level, people expected all their problems to go away.

“But real change comes from everyday people. You can’t wait for a leader.”

2010.03.01 / no responses / Category: Barack Obama, Movies

Gayle King not ready to see BFF Oprah depart

Oprah Winfrey’s BFF Gayle King opened up to say how much she will miss the Oprah show.

The show is slated to wind up in 2011, with Oprah making a shock announcement about her retirement from television after 25 years late last year.

King, who now works for Winfrey, said: “I said to Oprah, ‘I’m having a hard time. I’m not ready.’ But, you know, I am ready for her. She makes the best decision for herself. I totally understand why she’s doing it. That said, I can’t imagine daytime TV without her.”

King hosts on Oprah Radio that is broadcast daily on Sirius XM. The show was recently extended from one hour to two. King said: “I don’t believe you have to annoy people to get them to listen or for them to like you. I’m not sitting here trying to be liked – but I do like to engage in conversation with other people, and I think it’s OK to agree to disagree without being nasty to each other.”

King, who is known to all Oprah fans, makes appearances on the show and is editor-at-large for O magazine, said of her future: “I know I will do something with OWN [The Oprah Winfrey Network], but I don’t know what that is. We’re trying to figure that out.”

2010.02.27 / no responses / Category: Oprah Winfrey

Chelsea Handler mocks Kardashians – with their mother’s approval

Chelsea Handler has mocked the Kardashians – with the help of their own mother.

Kris Jenner appeared alongside the US chatshow host and took part in a hilarious spoof of their family reality show.

Donning a curly black wig and fake butt, 34-year-old Handler dressed up as Kim Kardashian for the skit.

Jenner, 54, was seen pretending to pump air into her daughter’s behind before a photoshoot to advertise their own brand of bottled water.

The sketch was shown on Handler’s chat show, Chelsea Lately.

2010.02.26 / no responses / Category: Actors, Kardashians

Kirstie Alley launches new diet ‘elixir’

Fat Actress star Kirstie Alley has launched her own weight-loss company.

The actress famously lost 75lbs on the Jenny Craig diet and appeared on Oprah in a bikini to show off her slimline figure.

But she later piled all the weight back on and was replaced as the diet company’s spokeswoman by Valerie Bertinelli.

But now she claims she has lost 20lbs since the beginning of this year by downing a new diet ‘elixir’ she helped create.

The former Cheers star has now founded Organic Liaison, a company to support dieters in the US, and she has developed a series of slimming remedies.

Alley said: “I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist – I’m a regular person like you who has been struggling with her weight and searching and praying for a weight-loss program to end that for ever.

“Now my dream is a reality. I’ve been afforded access to the best products in the world. I’ve been researching and developing Organic Liaison for the past two years with the help of the greatest scientific minds on the planet.

“I can promise you our certified weight-loss elixir, Rescue Me, takes on excess hunger and cravings. It will support your body and flood your body with the missing elements that make weight-loss an uphill battle.

“Join me on my own weight-loss journey – I’ve lost over twenty pounds since January 1… and I don’t crave or have my usual huge appetite.”

2010.02.26 / no responses / Category: Actress, Diet, Weight Loss

Ashley Jensen shows off baby son with hike in Hollywood Hills

Accidentally On Purpose star Ashley Jensen showed off her baby son Frankie as she took him for a hike in the Hollywood Hills.

Jensen, 40, and Brit hubby Terence Beesley took their four-month-old son Francis Jonathan up to the Hollywood Hills with their dog Barney.

With their son, whose nickname is Frankie Jack, safely strapped to his mother’s chest, the little boy made his first public appearance since he was born in LA in October.

Jensen, who took just four weeks off from work after his birth, was dressed in casualwear for the outing in grey tracksuit bottoms and a leopard-print cardigan.

2010.02.25 / no responses / Category: Actress, Hollywood, Selebs Kids

Angelina Jolie, in a Kay Scarpetta movie

The casting of Angelina Jolie, 34, in a Kay Scarpetta movie has reportedly got fans of the fictional medical examiner up in arms. Scarpetta’s creator Patricia Cornwell, however, favours the choice of Jolie for heroine. Some fans, according to the Daily Mail, believe Jolie’s exotic look is wrong for the petite, middle-aged Scarpetta with the short blonde hair. But Cornwell said: “When Angelina came out of the left field last year, I was floored.” Cornwell said Jodie Foster was her first choice for Dr Scarpetta, but Foster turned down the part, the paper reports. She added that she had talked to Jolie on the set of her last film, Salt, and was impressed by her concept for Scarpetta. Cornwell said:”Angelina had pithy things to say about what she wanted to do. She was direct and goal-oriented. She waited on everyone, getting them their lunch, while her own staff was seated. She was aware intuitively how other people were feeling and wanted to make them comfortable. It was not typical for people of her stature.” The Imdb website reports an untitled Scarpetta project with Jolie as its only cast member so far is in the works for 2012.

2010.02.25 / no responses / Category: Angelina Jolie

Kendra Wilkinson wants another boob job after giving birth to son Hank

Kendra Wilkinson says she wants another boob job to reduce the size of her breasts after giving birth to son Hank.

The 24-year-old first had her boobs boosted to a 34D when she was just 18 and worked two jobs to pay for them.

However, since giving birth to her little boy in December, the reality star now wants her chest downsized.

She told Life & Style: “I’d definitely consider getting my boobs redone after breastfeeding. They’re a little too big now. I’ve considered getting a breast reduction.”

Her hubby, Indianapolis Colts star Hank Baskett, is also supportive of his wife’s decision.

She added: “That’s a subject I bring up all the time. Hanks says, ‘If you want to do that, that’s cool with me’.”

2010.02.25 / no responses / Category: News

Up In The Air author tweets for seat at Oscars

The author of Up In The Air was left off the guest list for the upcoming Academy Awards, UPI reports.

Walter Kirn, who was eventually invited to the March 7 ceremony where his movie is one of those in the running for Best Picture, said he only received an invite after he complained online.

Kirn took to Twitter last week to complain that Paramount Pictures had not invited him to the Oscars. He tweeted: “Novelists are like oil in H’wood: they drill us, pipeline us, pump us and then burn us.”

Kirn’s off-beat, comic film starring George Clooney has played to much acclaim and has picked up other Oscar nods for its cast and director, Jason Reitman.

Of his belated Oscars ticket, Kirn tweeted: “Thanks to Paramount Pictures for coming through with Oscar tickets and proving true to its word, which I shouldn’t have doubted.”

2010.02.23 / no responses / Category: Academy Award, George Clooney

Oprah presents record-breakers’ show in chocolate studio

Oprah Winfrey presented her show entitled ‘Incredible Feats’ in a studio made entirely of chocolate.

As well as chocolate walls, a chocolate chandelier and a chocolate fireplace, the American talkshow host was even surrounded by chocolate books, chocolate artwork and a chocolate painting of Chicago’s skyline.

Luckily for her guests, the chocolate chairs were just for show, and they were able to sit on regular cushioned seats.

Oprah’s sweet transformation came as she hosted the programme featuring record-breakers and guests with special talents.

The chocolate studio came courtesy of Godiva and was designed by Larry Abel and Raymond McAllister, who work for the chocolate manufacturer.

“We’re going to eat this when the show’s over,” she said. “Everyone will be so high, we’ll be swinging from the chandelier.”

2010.02.23 / no responses / Category: Oprah Winfrey

Ronnie Wood took girlfriend out shopping

It seems the Rolling Stones guitarist has found just the thing to keep his mind off of his nasty old habits: a new girlfriend. And like the gallant man that he is, Ronnie Wood took her to a shopping spree recently, as a source related: “They were walking along like a couple of school kids holding hands and whispering to each other. They went into a cafe and sat at a cosy table for two for coffee – which Ronnie paid for. They were gazing into each other’s eyes and seemed to be having a lot of fun.” Certainly some might credit Ronnie Wood as being the discoverer of the fountain of youth from now on… although, it wasn’t that big a secret now was it? Maybe his partner in health, Keith Richards, will take his example in order to help himself in his own struggle.

2010.02.22 / no responses / Category: Dating, Shopping

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson super-size to beach mansion

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have sold their home in Los Angeles – and set an early record for 2010.

RadarOnline reports Hanks sold his 7000 square foot, four-bedroom, five-bathroom property for $26 million, making the sale the highest recorded in Los Angeles County so far in 2010. The veteran acting couple will move into a much bigger 14,500 square feet manse in Pacific Palisades, the super-luxe beach enclave for celebs and the wealthy.

Hanks, 53, and Wilson bought the estate from producing couple Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. The Da Vinci Code star and director Steven Spielberg are executive producers of the upcoming 10-part miniseries The Pacific, which premieres on March 14 on HBO.

2010.02.22 / no responses / Category: Actors, Actress, Marriage

Matt Damon and best buddy Ben Affleck to reportedly play wife-swappers in new movie

Hollywood actors and real-life best friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have reportedly signed up to play wife-swappers in a new movie, according to reports.

The best buddies are reportedly being lined up to play two baseball players, who caused a scandal in America in the 1970s by swapping their wives.

The State Of Play star and Damon have set up a deal with Warner Brothers to make the movie The Trade, which is based on two real-life New York Yankees players, according to US reports.

Team-mates Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich disclosed their secret in 1973, after Peterson fell in love with Kekich’s wife Susanne and Kekich fell for his wife Marilyn Peterson.

Affleck is said to be linked to directing the film and may also star as Peterson, while Damon could play Kekich, according to reports.

Seinfeld writer Dave Mandel is reportedly writing the script.

2010.02.22 / no responses / Category: Actors, Hollywood, Movies

Freeman still suffering from 2008 car crash

Oscar nominee Morgan Freeman still suffers the physical repercussions of a car accident that brought heartache to his life.

Freeman’s left hand was paralysed in a car accident a year-and-a-half ago in Mississippi. He had to be cut free from the vehicle using the jaws of life.

A woman who was in his passenger seat sued the actor, alleging negligence and a settlement was reached in the matter in 2009.

Nominated this year for best actor for his role as Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, Freeman said he never fully healed after the crash. He told People: “I suffered nerve damage and it hasn’t gotten better. I can’t move it.”

Freeman, 72, said in Los Angeles: “If you don’t move your hand, it will swell up. Do you know you move your hand about a million times a day?”

2010.02.19 / no responses / Category: Actors, Oscars Winner

Robert De Niro not planning to retire from acting

Hollywood actor Robert De Niro isn’t planning to retire despite the fact he was recently given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

De Niro, 66, recently attended AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards, where he picked up the prize.

He said: “I’ve only been doing this for about 40 years. It’s actually been longer, but what are they going to give me 40 years from now – the He Lived Too Long Award?”

De Niro added: “A couple of critics suggested it was maybe time for me to retire. I’m still a kid – always a kid. And like most kids, I’m very happy for the approval of grownups. Thank you and see you at the Kids Choice Awards.”

2010.02.18 / no responses / Category: Awards, VIP