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Witty and smart, 'In Her Shoes' is no chick flick
Rezaul H. Laskar, Indo-Asian News Service

Film: "In Her Shoes"; Cast: Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley MacLaine, Mark Feuerstein, Norman Lloyd, Jerry Adler, Brooke Smith, Richard Burgi; Director: Curtis Hanson; Released by 20th Century Fox; Run time: 130 min; Rating ***

Director Curtis Hanson has easily flitted between genres, going from the film noir of "L.A. Confidential" to the gritty urban drama of "8 Mile" with rapper Eminem. So it comes as no surprise to find him handling a family drama about the strained relationship between two sisters who are poles apart.

Cameron Diaz is Maggie Feller, the gorgeous, severely dyslexic party animal who can never hold down a job because she's too busy having a good time. Toni Collette is her elder sister Rose, the plain, Princeton-educated straight arrow lawyer with an almost non-existent love life.

Matters come to a head when Maggie is thrown out her father's home and moves in with Rose, only to end up bedding the man her sister is seeing.

Thrown out of Rose's home just after she becomes aware of the existence of long-lost grandmother Elle (Shirley MacLaine), Maggie heads off to Miami to touch base with her and maybe shake her down for some money.

Rose, disillusioned with her life, decides to give up her high-profile job with a law firm and become a "part-time dog walker" and errand runner while she discovers herself.

Oh yes, there are some other skeletons in the Feller family closet - turns out the sisters' mother committed suicide and their father never got along with Elle.

Thereafter, the movie settles into tracking the parallel lives of the two sisters - Rose as she finds romance with former colleague (Mark Feuerstein) and Maggie as she learns about real life from inhabitants of the retirement community that Elle is a part of.

If all of the above makes you think "chick flick", perish the thought. Curtis Hanson is far too smart a filmmaker to craft anything like that, and he is helped tremendously by Susannah Grant's smart and literate script.

Witty repartee and one-liners come thick and fast, especially from the two sisters.

There is also a good turn by veteran actor Norman Lloyd as a dying old man who helps Maggie learn to read.

But "In Her Shoes" is too languorously paced for its own good, and some of its relaxed moments meant to establish the characters could easily have been trimmed. There also isn't enough of MacLaine, who nails her role as the guilt-ridden grandmom perfectly.
 
Moss ordered to return to Britain
Indo-Asian News Service

New York, Jan 6 (IANS) Troubled supermodel Kate Moss has been ordered by Britain to return to the country or face arrest because police want to question her over cocaine allegations.

According to hollywood.com, Moss left Britain in September after pictures showing her snorting cocaine in a London recording studio were published in a British newspaper. Moss has finished a 30-day rehabilitation break in Arizona, but has still not retuned to Britain and is also considering a permanent move to Los Angeles.

The authorities in Britain are determined to interview her and are keen to know where she got the drugs from. 

London's Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur says: "I am appealing to Kate to come and give her side of the story. It is very important that she comes back to assist us with this investigation. We hope that Kate will give us her version of events. It is in her interests and everybody's interests that she does this as soon as possible. 

"If she does not, we will seek to see her by appointment. We will arrest and interview her under caution. There are others involved in the supply of the drugs. We anticipate being in the position to make arrests shortly."
  
'King Kong' star Serkis upsets gorilla 'girlfriend'
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) "King Kong" star Andy Serkis left a gorilla at the London Zoo heartbroken after he introduced her to his wife.

According to contactmusic.com, Serkis plays the giant ape in "King Kong" and studied gorilla Zaire to prepare for his role and the two became quite close. When he had to leave the zoo to work on the film, he decided to introduce his ape "girlfriend" to his wife. The meeting didn't go well. 

He says: "Lortaine came down with the kids... and, quite seriously, this relationship was pretty intense between me and Zaire and she saw Lorraine... and she had this water bottle... and she turned it round and she just sprayed Lorraine with this water. 

"I actually went to see her, like, a year and half later... about three weeks ago, and she came bounding up and she totally recognised me and she looked at me and was like, 'Where the f**k have you been?'"
 
Brosnan plans to shave off goatee
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Former "James Bond" star Pierce Brosnan wants to shave off the goatee he had to grow for his upcoming film "Seraphim Falls" because he was told he looks like Saddam Hussein.

Contactmusic.com reports Brosnan admits he grew fond of the beard even though his wife kept calling him a goat. It was only when friends started saying he looks like Saddam that he decided to get rid of it.

He says: "It's coming off in a few days. It seemed like a good choice about three months ago, but I've been living with it now and I look more like - so I've been told - Saddam Hussein... or Kentucky Fried Chicken (Colonel Sanders)."
 
Ashcroft says he feels like Jesus
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Former lead singer of The Verve, Richard Ashcroft, says he feels like Jesus.

According to ananova.com, he said: "I love the man, I feel like him. There's only Richard Ashcroft and Liam Gallagher who know what it feels like. We're the only ones who know how many people we have touched and how powerful that is. 

"I feel like I am on a one-man mission. I am here to use my tools and my gift to take them to a higher level."
 
Jackson drops court case over memorabilia
DPA

Los Angeles, Jan 6 (DPA) A California court has thrown out a lawsuit by pop star Michael Jackson seeking damages against a New Jersey man who had possession of his memorabilia, news reports said.

US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper dismissed the case because Jackson stopped pursuing it, according to court papers quoted by NBC4 news online Thursday. The decision was made earlier this week.

Jackson filed the suit more than three years ago and was trying to bar Henry Vaccaro from using his belongings. 

The singer has meanwhile moved to Bahrain after his acquittal last year on charges of child molestation in California. 

The judge had issued a court order barring Vaccaro from displaying or selling the items during the course of the case.

Vaccaro acquired the belongings for $25,000 during a bankruptcy proceeding that involved Jackson's parents and two of his siblings, NBC reported.

Jackson, who is in financial difficulty after funding defence lawyers and lavishing money on his home, was seeking $10 million from Vaccaro.

Indo-Asian News Service

   
Jon Stewart to host Oscars in March
Indo-Asian News Service

Washington, Jan 6 (DPA) Jon Stewart, the late night TV satirical news host, would host this year's Oscars organised by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

On the academy's website, Gil Cates, who will produce the televised presentations of the film industry's most prestigious awards, said he was a personal fan of Stewart's.

"My wife and I watch him every night," Cates said. "Jon is the epitome of a perfect host - smart, engaging, irreverent and funny."
 

"Brokeback Mountain" picks up steam from Actors Guild
DPA

Los Angeles, Jan 6 (DPA) "Brokeback Mountain", the tale of two gay cowboys tormented by lifelong love, picked up more steam on its way to the Oscars with four nominations from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

"Brokeback" already racked up popularity with the coveted Venice film festival Golden Lion award and has bagged seven nominations for Golden Globes that will be announced Jan 17.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) last month voted "Brokeback Mountain" best picture and its Chinese-American director Ang Lee as best director for 2005.

The SAG Awards, especially important because its members make up the largest part of Academy Award voters, will be presented Jan 29.

"Brokeback" star Heath Ledger was tapped by his guild colleagues for a best actor nomination, and his co-star, Jake Gyllenhaal, was nominated for best supporting actor Thursday.

The story portrays the lifelong passions that tear Ledger's character in two - his love for Gyllenhaal's character, whom he meets as a young cowboy herding sheep on Brokeback mountain, and his love and commitment to his wife played by Michelle Williams and two children.

Williams was nominated for best supporting actress.

The actors guild nominations for best ensemble - equivalent to best picture Oscar nominations - pits "Brokeback" against "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Hustle & Flow."

The high-cost films "King Kong" and Steven Spielberg's "Munich" went begging for any nominations, with more emphasis by the actors guild on acting rather than special effects.

In the best film actor category, Ledger was nominated along with Russell Crowe ("Cinderella Man"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote"), Joaquin Phoenix ("Walk the Line") and David Strathairn ("Good Night and Good Luck").

Nominees for best actress in a film are Judi Dench ("Mrs Henderson Presents"), Felicity Huffman ("Transamerica"), Charlize Theron ("North Country"), Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line") and Ziyi Zhang ("Memoirs of a Geisha").

In addition to Gyllenhall's nomination for best supporting actor, nods went to Don Cheadle ("Crash"), George Clooney ("Syriana"), Matt Dillon ("Crash") and Paul Giamatti ("Cinderella Man").

In addition to Williams' nomination for best supporting actress in a film, nods went to Amy Adams ("Junebug"), Catherine Keener ("Capote"), Frances McDormand ("North Country") and Rachel Weisz ("The Constant Gardener").

In the field of television, SAG nominated "Boston Legal" for best comedy ensemble and "Grey's Anatomy" for best drama, best actor and best actress.

Indo-Asian News Service

  
Nicholson's love child speaks out
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Movie legend Oscar winner Jack Nicholson supposedly has a secret Danish love child who is speaking out about her Hollywood lineage after keeping his secret for 24 years.

According to contactmusic.com, Honey Hollman claims that she is the product of a romance between Nicholson and one time super model Winnie Hollman. Hollman told the US tabloids she regularly visits her father in Los Angeles even though he has never revealed their father-daughter relationship.

She says: "My dad's never been a stranger. When I was a kid, my mom took me to see him and when I got older I went on my own. I think we have a regular father-daughter relationship. We have similar facial features and my mom says I have the same temper as him... I scream and shout a lot. 

"I think it would be too hard, being judged on my background all the time."
 
Federline laughs off talk of split with Britney
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Kevin Federline has finally spoken out about his reported split from wife Britney Spears, clarifying rumours that she kicked him out of their house are completely not true.

According to contactmusic.com, he spoke out in a radio interview and claimed everything was wonderful between the couple. When the host asked him if he was kicked out of the house, Federline said, "No way" and laughed when the host asked him, "What about the divorce reports?" 

He also revealed the Ferrari was not a gift from Spears and dismissed reports that he and his wife were planning to have a second child. 

He said: "Nah, not right now, we're gonna wait." He also said that he didn't think Spears was listening to the interview and added, "We've had a rough night with the baby, last night, she's probably catching some sleep."
  
Bana still hurting after Aussie cricket loss
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Aussie actor Eric Bana is still distraught after Australia's defeat against England in the Ashes last year.

According to contactmusic.com, Bana was horrified when England clinched the series after years of successive losses. 

He says: "I was very shocked. I really didn't think it was going to happen. We did have a few Brits on the 'Munich' set, so I did cop it. I was copping it from both ends, because my Australian Rules (football) team St. Kilda was getting knocked out of the finals. 

"Nothing, but heartbreak, nothing but heartbreak."
 
Spacey revealed as gay in British schools
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (IANS) Hollywood superstar Kevin Spacey has been named on a list of famous gays and lesbians being used to educate students in British schools.

According to contactmusic.com, Spacey has never discussed his sexuality despite rumours that he is gay. He is named alongside Oscar Wilde, and Tennessee Williams on documents offered to British schools by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender group, which is partly funded by the government. 

The organiser Paul Patrick says: "We double check our material carefully but Mr. Spacey's name got through. I don't know how, it will be withdrawn. It should not have happened and we apologise."
  
Glitter indicted on child molestation charge
DPA

Hanoi, Jan 6 (DPA) British former glam rock star Gary Glitter has been indicted by Vietnamese prosecutors on charges of "lewd acts with minors," a prosecutor said Friday.

Glitter, 61, has been held in the southern seaside town of Vung Tau, 50 km east of Ho Chi Minh City, on preliminary charges of molestation and was investigated for possible rape charges involving two girls, ages 11 and 12, according to Pham Dinh Cuc, an official with the Vung Tau People's Procuracy.

"We have completed the indictment and we will notify Gary Glitter of it today," Cuc said by telephone. "The charge is still the same, which is having lewd acts with children."

No trial date has been set, but Cuc said it could be scheduled for as early as the end of this month, ahead of the Tet lunar New Year holiday that begins Jan 28.

Prosecutors decided not to file child rape charges after physical evidence proved inconclusive and the girls' families, who each received $2,000 from Glitter before the investigation was complete, wrote letters to the court pleading for leniency.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, has been a pariah in his native Great Britain since he was arrested in 1997 after a computer technician found hard-core child pornography on his laptop computer. 

He was convicted of possession of pornography and served half of a four-month sentence in 1999.

Since his release, the aging singer of such 1970s hits as "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" has lived in Cuba, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Cambodia expelled him in 2002 after he was exposed living in Phnom Penh, allegedly with a young girl. He was never charged with a crime, and fought the expulsion order.

Glitter had been living off-and-on in Vietnam for about a year. He was arrested Nov 19 in Ho Chi Minh City after several young girls in the nearby seaside town of Vung Tau, where he had been living, said he molested them.

He has denied the charges, though his lawyer has admitted that he has already paid $2,000 to each of the two girls' families as "compensation" - an act the lawyer says does not admit guilt but is meant only to reduce the sentence if his client is found guilty.
 
Indo-Asian News Service

Controversial British MP on TV reality show
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Jan 6 (DPA) British anti-war MP George Galloway has joined 10 other contestants taking part in a celebrity version of the TV reality show "Big Brother".

Galloway, who was expelled from the ruling Labour Party over his alleged contacts with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, won a seat in parliament for his anti-war Respect party in elections in May last year.

Before entering the "Big Brother" house late Thursday, Galloway said his participation would give him a "chance to show a large and different audience what I'm really like."

"(Prime Minister) Tony Blair will be in a dilemma. One part of him will want me to be evicted early so I don't score another victory," he said.

"On the other hand, as long as I'm in there, I'm leaving him alone. That's going to be a dilemma for those that don't like me", said Galloway.

The "celebrities", including US basketball star Dennis Rodman and Faria Alam who had an affair with England football coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, will stay under the public gaze in a camera-filled house and gradually voted out by the public over the next three weeks.