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Ledger has the last laugh as 'Joker' (Go To Top)

      Washington: Academy award nominee Heath Ledger has reportedly signed on to portray 'The Joker' in the upcoming sequel to 'Batman Begins'. The sequel to Christopher Nolan's 'Batman Begins' will once again feature Christian Bale as Batman and has been titled "The Dark Knight". Ledger has recently earned Oscar Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Award nominations and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in the award- winning drama 'Brokeback Mountain'. The Australian actor's other credits include 'Casanova', 'Monster's Ball', 'Lords of Dogtown', 'The Brothers Grimm' and 'The Patriot'. "Chris' unique vision is what made Batman Begins such an outstanding film and we could not imagine anyone else at the helm of The Dark Knight. We also can't wait to see two such formidable actors as Christian and Heath face off with each other as Batman and The Joker," Moviehole quoted Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures as saying. "I'm excited to continue the story we started with Batman Begins," added Nolan. "Our challenge in casting The Joker was to find an actor who is not just extraordinarily talented but fearless. Watching Heath Ledger's interpretation of this iconic character taking on Christian Bale's Batman is going to be incredible." Production is set to begin on 'The Dark Knight' in early 2007.

Madonna's best body among 40 plus (Go To Top)

     London: Madonna, it seems, has the figure most women over 40 eulogize, with her topping a list of best body in the world for a woman over 40, according to a survey conducted by a health magazine. The trim 47-year-old 'Material Girl' has beat supermodel Elle Macpherson, 42, in the quiz of 2,000 women aged more than 40. The findings further revealed that while ninty per cent don't feel like wearing a bikini anymore, six out of ten don't take proper meals in a bid to lose weight. And half said they'd had cosmetic surgery or would have it, said health magazine Top Sante. "It shows the incredible pressure they feel under," The Sun quoted editor Lauren Libbert, as saying.

Depp to turn 'Fatty' for sex scandal film (Go To Top)

     Washington: After taking on the high seas in 'Pirates of the Caribbean', Johnny Depp is all set to tackle Hollywood's first sex scandal by snapping up the rights to make a movie about silent screen star Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle. BBC Radio London DJ Jono Coleman revealed that Depp had bought the rights to the film, and that the swashbuckling pirate was now planning to take on the lead role in the movie that tells the story of how Arbuckle was tried and acquitted for the horrific rape and murder of actress Virginia Rappe in 1921. However, one thing that may bring Depp's plans crashing to the ground is that he just isn't fat enough to play Fatty. "Johnny recommended I read I, Fatty, Arbuckle's fictional memoirs by Jerry Stahl. He told me he had bought the rights and I got the feeling he'd like to play the title role. But he hasn't got the figure," Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

Webber rues missing out on Potter musical (Go To Top)

     Washington: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's dreams of bringing the boy wizard Harry Potter to London's West End were dashed when he realised that Hollywood studio Warner Bros had managed to snap up the stage rights before him. The British composer, who has given the world musicals such as 'Cats', and will soon be bringing 'The Sound of Music' to stage, revealed that he has "really wanted" to make a musical about the boy wizard. Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted by Warner Bros, who manage to buy the stage rights before him. "I really wanted to stage a musical about Harry Potter. I thought the books were superb but when I made moves about a musical I was told that Warner Bros had already snapped up the rights," Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

Bundchen tops best hair poll (Go To Top)

     Washington: Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen has topped Elle magazine's poll for the best hair in Hollywood. The magazine bosses surveyed America's top salons and asked their stylists to name the star whose hair is a favourite for their clients. According to Contactmusic, more than half voted for the sexy supermodel, leaving actress Sienna Miller at number two position. Singer Lionel Richie's adopted daughter Nicole's short bob was voted number three while Natalie Portman's pixie cut came in fourth.

Ashanti joins the 'Nipplegate' bandwagon (Go To Top)

     London: She presumed that it was her stunning performance on stage which made audiences go wild, until singer Ashanti realised that the over-enthusiastic crowd was in fact enjoying her boob show. After Janet Jackson's accidental public boob flash, Ashanti is the latest celebrity who was left red-faced after realising that her shirt, which had holes in it had slipped down onto her boob during a concert performance. "I was on tour with R Kelly and I had on this really dope shirt. It was netted and knotted and had holes in it and there were large screens onstage", the Sun quoted her, as saying. "So I'm up there rockin' and singing and I'm getting extra applause. I'm like: 'I'm doing good! But where is this extra applause coming from?' "The hole had slipped its way onto my boob. I looked at the screen and I was like: 'Aaaahhhh!'" she added.

Cruise's charisma may be wearing off (Go To Top)

      Washington: Hollywood actor Tom Cruise's moolah making charisma may at last be wearing off. In yet another cost-cutting move by Hollywood, Paramount Pictures is not expected to renew the 10 million dollars-per-year deal with him and producing partner Paula Wagner to cover overhead, project development and other costs at their movie company. Paramount has now offered Cruise and Wagner a fraction of what they have been receiving; 2 million dollars plus a 500,000 dollars each year for two years. Bertram Fields, Cruise's attorney, said that his client is currently "digesting" those terms. "We will sit and talk about it. It is not the case that they said this is a take-it-or-leave-it offer. I don't think my friends at Paramount would ever talk that way," Eonline! quoted Fields as saying. Cruise-Wagner Productions has made Paramount hundreds of millions of dollars over the last two decades with such hits as "Top Gun," the "Mission: Impossible" series and "War of the Worlds." The duo have also helped Paramount rope in talents like 'Mission: Impossible III' director J.J. Abrams, who now has a multimillion- dollar deal with the studio.

Kidman to play villainous socialite   (Go To Top) 

      Washington: Oscar winning actress Nicole Kidman has landed the villainous role in the highly anticipated first adaptation of Phillip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy titled 'The Golden Compass'. The newly married actress has been lined up to play Mrs Coulter, described as a sinister scholar and who has a secret link to the lead character, Lyra Belacqua. 'About A Boy' movie-maker Chris Weitz will direct the 150 million dollars production at London's Shepperton Studios this autumn, reports Contactmusic. Dakota Blue Richards has already been cast as Lyra, a girl who discovers she is at the heart of a hideous conspiracy and that the fate of many children rests with her. She embarks on a journey to the far north to save her best friend and encounters shape-shifting creatures, witches and a variety of otherworldly characters.

Frank Sinatra was a 'functioning alcoholic' (Go To Top)

     Washington: Frank Sinatra's biographers Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan have revealed that the legendary singer was in fact a "functioning alcoholic", and that alcohol played a far greater role in his life than most people realise. Swan said that Sinatra's "use and abuse" of liquor started in the mid-40s, and that experts on alcoholism agree that the "Strangers in the Night" singer was a 'functioning alcohol'. "Sinatra's use and abuse of alcohol was much more important than anyone understood. We tracked that and we gathered information that, from the mid-40s on, he was really seriously abusing the booze, and, even in his later life, drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels a day. It was all well documented by close friends, who spoke lovingly about him. When we submitted that evidence to a couple of experts on alcoholism, they said, pretty conclusively, that this is a functioning alcoholic and I think that helped us to explain and I think will help the reader understand the explosive temper, the up-and-down relationship with women and his children, the depressions and the insomnia," Contactmusic quoted her, as saying. However, the biographers also learnt that Sinatra always went off booze and cigarettes when the time came to cut an album. "One of the strange anomalies is that a man, who not only drank so much but smoked so much - those untipped Camel cigarettes - for years and years and years, was still able to put out such a wonderful voice over such a long period. We learned that he went off the booze and off the cigarettes for a period before he made an album," Summers said. "The booze and the cigarettes and the sorrows in his life affected his voice. You hear him do One For My Baby in the late 50s, and then you hear the recording he did of the same song just before the 50s and they're as different as day is from night. The voice, by then, has been tempered, weathered by the booze, the cigarettes, the sadnesses and he's clearly living the song more the second time around," he added. Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swann are the authors of the book 'Sinatra: My Life'.

Liz Hurley to marry Arun Nayar (Go To Top)

     London: Liz Hurley, who had recently dismissed her wedding reports as 'fiction', has now admitted that she is indeed planning to tie the knot and make babies with long term millionaire beau Arun Nayar. Hurley announced her wedding plans in an interview with Italian magazine Vanity Fair. Though the actress didn't reveal a definite wedding date, it is however being speculated that the big day is scheduled for next month at the trendy Barnsley House Hotel, next to her 4 million pounds Gloucestershire mansion. "I cannot reveal to you the exact date but it is very close. We are even thinking of having a child", the Mirror quoted her, as saying. The 'Bewitched' star further said that she happy about the fact that Arun, and her son Damian, four, share a good relationship. "When I was on a photoshoot recently Arun and Damian went to St Tropez on their first holiday together without me". "They were on a mission to look at all the women in bikinis and make notes for market research. Damian adores Arun, they have a great relationship", she said. Hurley, who was earlier dating Hugh Grant, has been involved with Nayar since 2003.

Jolie back to flying two months after giving birth

     Washington: Two months after giving birth to daughter Shiloh, Angelina Jolie is flying highonce again . The mother of three resumed her flying lessons, her first since returning from Namibia in Santa Monica,California. Jolie has been slammed by aviation experts, for buying a 360,000 dollar Cirrus SR-22, which is capable of speeds of up to 300 miles (483 kilometres) per hour "Letting an inexperienced, novice pilot like Angelina Jolie fly it is like giving a Ferrari to a 16-year-old boy," California- based instructor Murray Scott was quoted by Femalfirst, as saying. "It's a recipe for disaster. It is the fastest plane in its class. It climbs like a missile. Miss Jolie should fly something more sedate for a while. This airplane is a thoroughbred that needs experience to control," he added. .

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