Entertaining Posts: 02/09/11

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Lindsay Lohan pleads not guilty to necklace theft

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Feb 9, 2011 8:06pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to stealing a $2,500 necklace from a Los Angeles jewelry store, but was warned not to "push her luck" with any further slip-ups.

Dressed all in white for a brief court appearance, Lohan, 24, was charged with a single count of felony grand theft. If convicted, the "Mean Girls" star could be sent to prison for up to three years, prosecutors say.

Lohan is accused of walking out of a Los Angeles jewelry store without paying for a gold designer necklace in January -- just three weeks after ending her fifth stint in drug and alcohol rehab in three years.

Lohan lawyer entered the not guilty plea for the actress in front of a packed courtroom and cameras televising the hearing.

Friends have said Lohan believed the necklace, which has been returned to police, was on loan.

Lohan, who was dressed in a long-sleeved white dress and sat calmly during the hearing, later posted bail of $20,000 and left the courthouse by a side door, media reports said.

Wednesday's felony grand theft charge was the most serious allegation yet against the actress in more than three years of failed drug tests, brief spells in jail and missed court appearances.

"You are no different than anyone else, so please don't push your luck," judge Keith Schwartz told Lohan, saying the felony charge carried more severe punishment than her previous offenses.

Lohan is still on probation for a 2007 drunk driving and cocaine possession offense that has halted her once promising Hollywood movie career. If convicted of the theft charge, she would also be in violation of probation, which would mean even more jail time for the troubled actress.

In early January, she completed a court-ordered three month stint in rehab and appeared to have renounced a former lifestyle that revolved around night clubs and partying.

Lohan also faces possible criminal charges for an alleged attack on a worker while in her recent rehab at the Betty Ford Center in southern California. That case is under review by prosecutors.

The actress made her name as an 11-year-old in the Disney movie "The Parent Trap" and went on to have hits with "Freaky Friday" and "Herbie Fully Loaded".

But her seemingly constant legal troubles have prevented Lohan from reviving her career. Her latest stint in rehab cost her the lead role in a planned movie about 1970s porn star Linda Lovelace. Her last movie, the action comedy "Machete" released in September 2010, made just $26.6 million at U.S. box offices.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Jill Serjeant; editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Berlin film festival opens with "True Grit"

By Mike Collett-White

BERLIN | Wed Feb 9, 2011 6:20pm EST

BERLIN (Reuters) - The 2011 Berlin film festival opens on Thursday with Oscars darling "True Grit" kicking off the 10-day cinema showcase, where hundreds of movies vie for the attention of the world's media and industry buyers.

The Coen brothers' Western remake is already out in North America and so is not eligible for prizes at the closing ceremony on February 19, but it should ensure Hollywood glamour on the red carpet at Berlin's glitzy opening ceremony.

The story of a young girl's quest to track down her father's killer, starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, has garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, second only to "The King's Speech."

The 61st Berlin festival boasts its trademark mix of familiar faces and up-and-coming film makers, and, as usual, real world concerns are never far from the surface.

The spotlight on Thursday is likely to fall on the absent Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director who was invited to be on the jury but who was sentenced in December to six years in prison.

Panahi, whose film "Offside" won the festival's Silver Bear award in 2006, has been banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years.

"His conviction violates the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of art," the festival said. Five of his films, including Offside, will be screened during the event.

FINANCIAL CRISIS, REPRESSION, 3D

On Friday, "Margin Call," the debut feature of J.C. Chandor, promises to bring the drama of the 2008 financial crisis to the big screen, with Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore the big names performing in the Wall Street thriller. Also early on in the festival are two pictures focusing on the experiences of people living in dictatorships.

In competition, Paula Markovitch's directorial debut "The Prize" tells the story of seven-year-old Ceci who carries the burden of a "huge secret" in order to protect her family from repression under Argentina's military regime.

And outside the main competition lineup, "The Devil's Double" stars Dominic Cooper as the body double of Uday Hussein, the widely feared son of former Iraqi leader Saddam.

This year the festival aims to promote 3D, with the premieres of Wim Wender's 3D dance film about choreographer Pina Bausch and Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" about prehistoric paintings in France.

In competition is French director Michel Ocelot's "Tales of the Night," a 3D movie using silhouette animation introduced by Berlin director Lotte Reiniger almost a century ago.

British actor Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus" is also in competition. Fiennes, nominated for Oscars for his roles in "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List," plays the title role in the Shakespeare adaptation.

As well as premieres and showbusiness parties, Berlin runs a major film market where buyers and sellers meet on the sidelines of the festival in search of distribution and production deals.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Jude Law, Sienna Miller break up -- again

LOS ANGELES | Wed Feb 9, 2011 5:13pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The on-again, off-again affair of British actors Jude Law and Sienna Miller is off, again.

Law's spokesman on Wednesday confirmed reports that the couple had broken up, but declined any further comment.

The pair famously met on the set of 2004 movie "Alfie" and began dating. They became engaged, but were never married.

Two years later, in 2006, Law got caught in a sex scandal with his ex-nanny that made headlines around the world, and the couple broke up. In 2009, they got back together again and as recently as this past Christmas holiday, celebrity magazines were characterizing the couple as together and happy.

In a 2007 interview with Reuters, Miller said "it would be nice if the focus was on something other than my personal life." And since the breakup, she has been busy in a number of movies, including big-budget "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra."

Law also has been working in a number of movies, ranging from the major movie studio release "Sherlock Holmes" to "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Lindsay Lohan formally charged with grand theft

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Justin Bieber film opens early with $30 tickets

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Ricky Martin, Kristin Chenoweth honored by GLAAD

LOS ANGELES | Wed Feb 9, 2011 12:50pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Ricky Martin and Broadway singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth are being honored for their efforts to increase understanding of America's gay and lesbian community, the campaign group GLAAD said on Wednesday.

Martin, the Latin singer who came out as gay last year, will be given GLAAD's Vito Russo Award at a ceremony in March. The award is given annually to an openly gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual professional who is deemed to have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the community.

"Ricky coming out was a game changer for many gay and transgender Latino children, who for too long, did not have many out gay people to look up to," said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation(GLAAD), the nation's leading organization in promoting fair and accurate portrayals of gay people in the media.

Chenoweth, the original star of the stage musical "Wicked" and a guest star on TV show "Glee", will be presented with the Vanguard Award which is given annually to those who increase the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community.

Chenoweth was singled out for defending her gay Broadway co-star Sean Hayes in the musical "Promises, Promises" against comments in a 2010 Newsweek article which argued that openly gay actors were unconvincing in straight roles.

"When allies like Kristin take such powerful stands against anti-gay sentiments in the media, it sends an important message of equality," Barrios said in a statement,

Chenoweth said in Twitter message on Wednesday that she was "proud to be honored by GLAAD".

The honors to Chenoweth and Martin will be handed out at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York and Los Angeles, which recognize the best portrayals of the LGBT community on film, television, radio, music, newspapers and blogs.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing By Christine Kearney)