Entertaining Posts: 05/11/11

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Bristol Palin says she had corrective jaw surgery

LOS ANGELES | Wed May 11, 2011 4:14pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bristol Palin denied rumors that she has had plastic surgery, but told a celebrity magazine she underwent corrective jaw surgery for medical reasons.

The former "Dancing with the Stars" finalist and daughter of Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin sparked a media buzz over her new and more angular jaw line, when she was photographed at recent public events.

"It's not plastic surgery," Bristol Palin told Us Weekly in an issue that hit newsstands on Wednesday.

Palin, 20, the single mother of a 2 year-old boy who this week landed her own reality TV show, said she had corrective jaw surgery in December.

"It improved the way I look, but this surgery was necessary for medical reasons ... so my jaw and teeth could properly realign," she said.

But Palin also said she is "thrilled with the results" of the surgery. "I look older, more mature, and don't have as much of a chubby little baby face!," she said.

Sarah Palin, who was the U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, is weighing a run for president in 2012 .

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Lindsay Lohan expected to serve jail term at home

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed May 11, 2011 3:04pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced on Wednesday to four months in jail after changing her plea and effectively admitting stealing a $2,500 gold necklace from a Los Angeles store.

But Lohan, who was not in court on Wednesday, will likely serve just 16-17 days of her sentence -- most likely under house arrest, officials said.

Lohan's lawyer entered a no contest plea on behalf of the actress to a reduced misdemeanor theft charge. Under California law, a no contest plea is an admission of guilt.

Lohan, 24, who has been in and out of jail and drug rehab for almost four years, had previously insisted she was not guilty of deliberately walking out of a store in January without paying for the necklace she was wearing.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner sentenced the "Mean Girls" actress to 120 days behind bars, 480 hours community service and ordered her to report to jail on or before June 17.

Sautner last month had imposed the same sentence on Lohan for violating her probation, and the two terms will run concurrently.

However, Lohan's lawyer said the actress had applied to serve her sentence at home under a house arrest or electronic monitoring program designed to combat overcrowding in Los Angeles jails.

"As they would with any other defendant with a similar sentence and a minimal criminal history, the Sheriff's Department will determine whether she is eligible for electronic monitoring and early release," attorney Shawn Holley told reporters after the hearing.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore, said that under programs for good behavior and because of overcrowding and budget constraints, Lohan would likely end up serving 16-17 days at home.

Whitmore denied that Lohan was getting special treatment because she was a celebrity. "Absolutely not. This is a lower level crime and it is certainly non-violent. It appears that a person like Ms Lohan would be eligible."

Lohan was also ordered to complete psychological counseling and an anti-shoplifting program. "I don't think the root of her problems is substance abuse. I think she has other problems for which she self medicates," Judge Sautner said.

Lohan started her community service last week by working at a women's prison in Los Angeles. But Sautner said she could not undertake her community service at the same time as being under house arrest.

"I only hope that she benefits from seeing how other people's lives can become when you lose a couple months pay check," Sautner added.

Lohan's once promising Hollywood career has been stalled since a 2007 drunk driving and cocaine possession arrest, five trips to rehab, and at least three brief stints in jail.

However last month, she landed her first part in a major movie for several years in an upcoming feature about the New York Gotti crime family, alongside actors John Travolta and Al Pacino. Filming is due to start later this year.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney)

Cannes honorary award goes to "Last Tango" director

By Nick Vinocur

CANNES, France | Wed May 11, 2011 11:25am EDT

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, best known for his controversial film "Last Tango in Paris," was honored by the Cannes film festival on Wednesday in recognition of his long career.

Wheelchair-bound at age 71, Bertolucci told journalists that he had briefly lost confidence in his ability to make movies, only to rediscover it after watching three-dimensional films like James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster "Avatar."

"I was convinced that I could no longer shoot (movies), but then I realized a year ago that I was still able to imagine the camera's movements," Bertolucci, who is working on a 3D movie titled "Me and You," told a news conference.

"I very much liked 'Avatar'... 3D is fascinating to me, but I don't understand why it should be reserved to science fiction or horror movies," he added.

Bertolucci was due to receive his Palme d'Or award -- which honors an influential filmmaker who has never received the top prize at Cannes -- from jury president Robert De Niro at the festival's opening ceremony later in the day.

"He is very laconic ... We'll see if he has a few words to say, that would be good," Bertolucci said referring to De Niro, who starred in his 1976 epic film "1900."

A poet and writer before turning to the silver screen, Bertolucci came of age as a director during the heyday of Italian cinema in the mid-1960s and went on to make over 20 films, from sweeping historical epics to intimate dramas.

His production budgets have grown with his reputation over the past half century, culminating with the 1987 biopic "The Last Emperor," which won nine Academy Awards including best picture.

Known by movie buffs for his rich treatment of color on-screen, Bertolucci also sealed his reputation as a fearless director and provocateur early in his career with the steamy 1972 classic, "Last Tango in Paris."

The film, which features graphic love scenes between Marlon Brando and a much younger Maria Schneider, shocked audiences in the United States, where censors rated it "X" as a pornographic film, but delighted critics and audiences alike in France.

In Italy, the movie garnered frenzied attention at the box office in the days after its release but was soon banned by an order of the Supreme Court. It was only allowed to be released officially 15 years later.

Woody Allen, Hollywood stars get Cannes buzzing

By Mike Collett-White and Nick Vinocur

CANNES, France | Wed May 11, 2011 5:00am EDT

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro and Jude Law fueled excitement on the French Riviera on Wednesday at the start of the Cannes film festival, which kicks off with Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris."

The world's biggest cinema showcase, which ends on May 22, boasts an impressive roll call of major screen stars, revered "auteur" directors and relative newcomers, raising expectations among a 4,000-strong press pack in the glamorous Riviera resort.

Gleaming luxury yachts pack the harbor around the giant cinema complex, five-star hotels are filling up with the rich and famous and Cannes organizers are hoping the 2011 edition lives up to its billing.

"What is exciting this year is ... this clash between established talent and young discoveries, and that is perhaps the heart of the Cannes mission," festival general delegate Thierry Fremaux told Reuters.

Allen's romantic comedy stars Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard as well as French first lady Carla Bruni.

On Tuesday, Bruni announced she had canceled an appearance in Cannes because of "personal reasons," feeding widespread rumors in the French press that she may be pregnant.

Nonetheless, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Penelope Cruz, De Niro, Mel Gibson and Johnny Depp are all likely to walk the red carpet, ensuring intense media interest and large crowds of fans keen to catch a glimpse of their screen idols.

Blockbusters "Kung Fu Panda 2" starring Jolie and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" with Depp and Cruz launch in Cannes, as studios return in force after avoiding the notoriously costly trip to France due to the financial crisis over the past couple of years.

De Niro heads this year's jury, which also includes Uma Thurman and Law, and underlining the pulling power of the festival, pop diva Lady Gaga is widely reported to be putting in a "surprise" appearance on the waterfront on Wednesday.

FESTIVAL FAVOURITES

The darlings of the European festival circuit have also put in a strong appearance -- Pedro Almodovar, Nanni Moretti, the Dardenne brothers, Aki Kaurismaki and Lars Von Trier, are all vying for the coveted Palme d'Or prize for best picture.

So is U.S. veteran Terrence Malick, back in the limelight with only his fifth feature, the eagerly anticipated "The Tree of Life" in which Pitt and Penn star in a family saga set in the American Midwest during the 1950s.

Women directors feature more prominently in the main competition than usual, although they still only account for four of 20 entries.

Scotland's Lynne Ramsay presents "We Need To Talk About Kevin" and Australian Julia Leigh directs "Sleeping Beauty," described as a "haunting erotic fairy tale."

French actress Maiwenn Le Besco brings "Polisse," about a photographer who has an affair with a policeman, and Japan's Naomi Kawase presents "Hanezu No Tsuki."

Belgium's Dardenne brothers have a chance to become the first directors to scoop the Palme d'Or three times with "The Kid With A Bike" and festival favorite Almodovar will aim to lift his first Golden Palm with "The Skin I Live In."

Denmark's Von Trier is in competition with "Melancholia," starring Kirsten Dunst as a bride celebrating her marriage as a planet threatens to collide with Earth.

And politics will also play its part in the festival, chiefly with "La Conquete" (The Conquest), a biopic about French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election win and the collapse of his previous marriage to Cecilia.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; additional reporting by Wilfrid Exbrayat, editing by Paul Casciato)