Elizabeth
Taylor owns a Van Gogh painting, but illegally (Go
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Washington:
Elizabeth Taylor has been caught in a legal tangle as
she is being sued for possessing a Vincent van Gogh painting
that was stolen by Nazis in the 1930s. According to Zap2it,
Andrew J. Orkin, the great-grandson of Margarete Mauthner,
a victim of Nazi persecution, has filed the suit. The painting
titled "View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint-Remy" was
lost among the other property left behind when Mauthner
and her family fled from Nazi persecution in 1939. Under
the 1998 U.S. Holocaust Victims Redress Act, her descendents
are entitled to reclaim the artwork. "We are asserting that
Ms. Taylor was negligent and careless when she bought the
Painting". Our complaint charges that she ignored numerous
conspicuous 'red flags' in 1963 that the painting had likely
been confiscated from a victim of Nazi persecution," Orkin
was quoted as saying.
George
Lucas honoured with AFI Life Achievement Award (Go
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New
York: 'Star Wars' director George Lucas certainly has
the forces with him, as he would be honoured with American
Film Institute's 33rd AFI Life Achievement Award. According
to E-Online, Lucas would recive the award, touted as the
highest honor for a career in films, at a grand ceremony
in Los Angeles in June next year.
Beckhams
seek a marriage counsellor (Go
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London:
David and Victoria Beckham, whose marriage has reportedly
been on the rocks ever since news of David's cheating on
Victoria with his secretary Rebecca Loos, came out in the
open, will reportedly visit a marriage counsellor to save
their tottering relationship. The couple, who are expecting
their third child early next year, have been given a list
of possible counsellors and are in the process of choosing
one, according to The Daily Mail. "She (Victoria) thinks
all the stress of the last few months is too much for her.
She has been advised that she needs to calm down and counselling
was one of the main suggestions," a source was quoted as
saying. "David was against it at first, but he has come
round to the idea because he can see how worried Victoria
is," he added.
Brad
Pitt in self denial over Angelina Jolie (Go
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London:
Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has rubbished rumours that
he is having an affair with his 'Mr and Mrs Smith', co star
Angelina Jolie. The 'Troy' actor has denied media reports
that his marriage to the 'Friends' star, Jennifer Aniston,
is in trouble due to his relationship with Jolie. "The rumours
are made up and stupid. The people who made up this story
have approached numerous other publications and it hasn't
been published," Brad's spokeswoman, Cindy Guagenti was
quoted by femalefirst as saying. "I spoke to Brad just last
week and was at his house as usual. He is not having an
affair with Angelina Jolie," she added.
'Harry
Potter for adults' to hit the big screen soon (Go
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London:
Kids might have the adventures of the bespectacled Harry
to rave about, but now it seems that adults will also be
able to enjoy similar thrills, for New Line, the Hollywood
studio behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has bought
the film rights to a novel touted as the "Harry Potter for
adults". According to The Telegraph, the book titled Jonathan
Strange and Mr. Norrell is written by Susanna Clarke. She
was reportedly paid a "high six-figure sum" for a three-year
option on the books film rights. It tells the story of two
magicians in Victorian England and is reportedly high on
the New York Times bestseller list.
Prince
Harry cleared of cheating charges (Go
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London:
An examination board, Edexcel, has cleared Prince Harry
of cheating charges, saying that the tape that had been
provided as evidence that he had been helped by a teacher
while taking his A-levels, was false. His former art teacher
at Eton, Sarah Forsyth, had alleged that the 20-year old
royal's entire AS report had been written by her on the
orders of a senior teacher. The report had helped him get
an A, which helped him to secure admission to the prestigious
Sandhurst Military Academy, reports The Sun. Although Eton
officials said that she was just using Harry as a pawn to
get back to the school, as she had been refused to a permanent
place, Forsyth had produced a tape which she had recorded
just before Harry sat for his A-Level exam, saying that
it had Harry's confession that he did not write the report.
Edexcel, however, said that the tape was extremely inaudible
and unclear, and it could not be taken as evidence. They
also said that the independent board had checked the paper
and found no sign of foul play, and added that Harry had
signed an affidavit saying that he did not cheat, which
proved his innocence. Hary is now all set to launch his
military career at Sandhurst.
Michael
Moore to sue TV channel for not airing 'Fahrenheit 9/11
(Go
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Washington:
Oscar winner Michael Moore is suing the television channel,
'In Demand,' after its bosses have reneged on their decision
to air his controversial documentary, 'Fahrenheit 9/11,'
on the eve of next month's presidential election. The documentary
was to be aired on November 1 as a part of a three-hour
election special. Moore, however, claims that they have
pulled back under pressure from "top Republican people,"
reports E-Online. Moore had earlier expressed his keenness
on showing the documentary, which has become the most successful
ever, on television due to which he had also pulled it out
from the Oscar race and offered to give it to 'In Demand'
for free. "Apparently people have put pressure on them and
they've broken a contract. We've informed them of their
legal responsibility and we all informed them that every
corporate executive that has attempted to prohibit Americans
from seeing this film has failed," the report quoted Moore
as saying. Officials at 'In Demand' have refused to comment
on why they are /not showing the film.
Chris
Rock to host Oscars next year (Go
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Sydney:
US comedian Chris Rock is all set to replace veteran
host Billy Crystal as the host of next year's Oscars. The
fast-talking cameo, famous for his biting social humour
was named as the host of the 77th annual Academy Awards
by the show's producer, Gil Cates. "Chris represents the
best of the new generation of comics.He always makes me
laugh and he always has something interesting to say. Having
him host the Oscars is terrific," Cates was quoted by the
Sydney Morning Herald, as saying. Rock wouold take over
the revolving role of host of Hollywood's biggest award
night from last year's master of ceremonies Crystal, who
hosted the show for the eighth time.
