AP - Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren said she used to love cocaine, but stopped taking the drug after learning that a Nazi war criminal profited from the trade, according to a magazine.
Reuters - A powerful new film chronicles the life
of an Ethiopian intellectual who flees his country during the
Marxist "red terror" in the 1980s, only to be viciously
attacked in Germany by racist youths.
Reuters - Actress Natalie Portman presented her
debut as a director at the Venice film festival on Tuesday with
a short movie about a young woman who is dragged along to her
grandmother's romantic date.
Reuters - Two years after the release of
Oscar-winning movie "The Lives of Others," communist East
Germany and its Stasi secret police are back in the spotlight
in a new film that examines the persecution of a top cyclist. -- read full article
Reuters - The Toronto film festival will provide
the unofficial kick start to Oscar season this week, with
distributors keen to give an early look at possible awards
contenders and perhaps uncover this year's sleeper hit.
AP - Jerry Reed, a singer who appeared in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies, has died of complications from emphysema at age 71, his longtime booking agent said Tuesday. -- read full article
AP - Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the now loved-catch phrase, "in a world where..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died. He was 68.
Reuters - Film fans, directors,
actors and industry executives mingled easily the past three
days in this mountain town for the Telluride Film Festival
where foreign films including director Danny Boyle's "Slumdog
Millionaire" gained strong buzz. -- read full article
AP - When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans three years ago, celebrities reacted with a mix of grief, outrage and generosity. All-star telethons raised millions for storm victims, Kanye West and others derided the government's response — even Sean Penn went to the region to personally assist in rescue efforts. -- read full article
Reuters - MySpace plans to launch a contest on
Tuesday to market the latest in Walt Disney Co's blockbuster
franchise "High School Musical 3" in what the News Corp
Internet social network called its biggest film campaign to
date.
