The Nation : Entertainment News

Barrymore turns journalist

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

DREW Barrymore will get to live like a journalist for her next movie role.
The He�s Not Just That Into You star will be spending a week in a real newsroom to shoot scenes for In Going The Distance.
In the flick, which is due to hit theaters in 2011, Barrymore and her ex-boyfriend Justin Long play long-distance lovers.
Drew�s character works at fictional newspaper the New York Sentinel, but will be filming the scenes at news agency Associated Press.
Meanwhile,

Kate Beckinsale accepts libel award

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LONDON (Reuters) - Actress Kate Beckinsale accepted 20,000 pounds ($32,000) in libel damages at the High Court on Thursday over a story in Britain�s Daily Express newspaper that she was set to miss out on her dream role as Barbarella.
The 35-year-old star of films like �Pearl Harbor�, �Underworld� and �Van Helsing� was not in court for the settlement of her action against Express Newspapers, the Press Association newsagency reported.
Her solicitor, Graham Atkins, told Mr

Jacksons silent on burial plans

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 31 million Americans watched Michael Jackson�s public memorial on television, but mystery surrounded the whereabouts of his body on Wednesday and plans for his burial. A day after Jackson�s casket was taken to a Los Angeles basketball arena for an emotional memorial for fans, friends and his family, attention returned to how Jackson got his hands on powerful prescription drugs reportedly found in his rented mansion after his sudden death on June 25.

Penelope always worried she will be fired from her films

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

PENELOPE Cruz always expects to be �fired� when starring in a film. The 35-year-old actress - who won this year�s Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Maria Elena in �Vicky Cristina Barcelona� - admits she lacks confidence in her abilities as an actress.
She told Britain�s Psychologies magazine: �Every time I make a film, I feel like it�s my first time. I always think they could fire me.�
�I�ve ruined my own happiness and created problems with my friends because of

Tests raise life extension hopes

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

A drug discovered in the soil of a South Pacific island may help to fight the ageing process, research suggests.
When US scientists treated old mice with rapamycin it extended their expected lifespan by up to 38%. The findings, published in the journal Nature, raise the prospect of being able to slow down the ageing process in older people.
However, a UK expert warned against using the drug to try to extend lifespan, as it can suppress immunity.
Rapamycin was first

Finding fear: neuroscientists locate where it is stored in brain

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

FEAR is a powerful emotion, and neuroscientists have for the first time located the neurons responsible for fear conditioning in the mammalian brain. Fear conditioning is a form of Pavlovian, or associative, learning and is considered to be a model system for understanding human phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.
Using an imaging technique that enabled them to trace the process of neural activation in the brains of rats, University of Washington

Grown-up Potter stars at premiere of 6th film

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LONDON (AFP) - The stars of the sixth Harry Potter film walked up the red carpet in London Tuesday to a rapturous welcome from thousands of fans who braved pouring rain for the world premiere of the new movie.
The pre-release buzz suggests �Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince� will add a sizeable chunk to the 4.5 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros) in box office receipts already earned by the Potter movie franchise.
The film opens to the public in Europe on July 15, and

Google to launch operating system

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

GOOGLE is developing an operating system (OS) for personal computers, in a direct challenge to market leader Microsoft and its Windows system. Google Chrome OS will be aimed initially at small, low-cost netbooks, but will eventually be used on PCs as well.
Google said netbooks with Chrome OS could be on sale by the middle of 2010.
�Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS,� the firm said in its official blog. The operating system, which will

Mystery surrounds Jackson burial location

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The location of Michael Jackson�s final resting place remained shrouded in mystery Tuesday hours after a glittering public memorial to the King of Pop. Jackson�s family had earlier surprised mourners after deciding to put the singer�s gold-plated coffin on view at the Staples Center memorial after a private ceremony at the Forest Lawn mortuary.
However as Jackson�s family headed to a five-star Beverly Hills hotel to gather for a post-memorial lunch, the

Lohan turned down role in The Hangover

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LINDSAY Lohan could have made a glorious comeback in smash hit film The Hangover - but the silly girl passed up the chance!
The Mean Girls star apparently turned down a role in the summer blockbuster because she said the screenplay �had no potential.�
According to Us Weekly, director Todd Phillips offered Lohan the role of Jade, a stripper played by Heather Graham.
A source claimed that Lohan�s agent �tried hard to get Phillips to consider her,� but �Lindsay said she

Roller-skating baby advert becomes YouTube sensation

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

A new television advert featuring roller-skating babies has become an internet sensation.
The video of babies in nappies performing skating stunts to a hip-hop beat has been watched 3.8 million times on YouTube alone in the past week. In the clip daredevil �roller-babies� leap over fences and railings as well as each other in a city park.
After pressing play on a giant ghetto blaster that is bigger than them, they execute all manner of flips and somersaults.
The

King �bore the burden� of early stardom: Clinton

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

GONAIVES (Haiti)(AFP) - Former US president Bill Clinton honoured Michael Jackson Tuesday as an �immensely gifted� artist and lamented that the King of Pop, who received a worldwide farewell Tuesday, bore the burden of superstardom at such a young age.
�I was very sad that he died and I was very sad also for all the troubles that he had in his life,� Clinton, now a United Nations special envoy, said as he took a few moments out of an aid mission to Haiti to recall his own

Thousands pay last respects to Jackson

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hundreds of millions of fans paid last respect to Michael Jackson on Tuesday.
Nearly two weeks after the death of the tragic �King of Pop,� America is expected to grind to a standstill as the tortured music superstar is finally laid to rest.
Jackson�s family and close friends attended a private funeral service for the iconic singer at 8:00 am (1500 GMT) at the picturesque Forest Lawn mortuary nestled in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles.
On

Elizabeth stays away from memorial

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

THE screen legend, a longtime Jackson pal, could not go to the Los Angeles event despite being asked to participate.
�I�ve been asked to speak at the Staples Centre,� she wrote on Twitter. �I could not be part of the public whoopla.�
�I just don�t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us,� she added. �Not a public event.�
A moment later, Taylor, 77, added, �I said I couldn�t go to the Staples Centre, and I

Radcliffe says he won�t date Emma

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0600

HARRY Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has revealed that he won�t date his co-star Emma Watson.
The 19-year-old actor has said that a relationship between him and Watson, 19, who plays Hermione Granger, would be �everything the fans ever wanted�, but it was just not happening. He said that there has been �something really incestuous� about the idea of him dating Watson.
�There was never anybody I fancied that much in the cast, though the conspiracy theorists always like to say