The Other Half of Famous Twins

Both Charlie Sheen's wife and Jenna Jameson had twin boys recently; they join the growing ranks of celebrity parents with multiples, including Julia Roberts and Brangelina.

When these little twin bundles of joy grow up, will they be the next Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen? Or will one seek fame while the other chooses a quieter life? That's the path taken by a number of celebrities and their not-so-famous twins. In fact, we were surprised to find out how many stars have a twin sibling leading a very different life.

Kiefer Sutherland and his sister RachelMaybe it's because we think of him as the ultimate loner on the TV series "24," but we were shocked to find out that Kiefer Sutherland has a twin sister. Rachel is a post-production supervisor working in film and television in Toronto. But when her big brother, Kiefer, (he's seven minutes older) made his feature film directorial debut in 1997, Rachel was there for him. She acted as second assistant property master, grip, and costumer when Kiefer went behind the lens to shoot "Truth or Consequences, N.M."

Scarlett Johansson and her brother HunterScarlett Johansson might have been e-mail buddies with then-Senator Barack Obama, but her twin brother Hunter helped get him into the Oval Office. In June 2008 ScarJo's twin left his job as a community organizer at Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office and became a campaign organizer for Obama in Denver. As everyone knows, Obama became President, while Hunter received an honor of his own: People magazine named him a "Hot Bachelor" in their "Single and Sexy Men of 2008" feature.

Ashton Kutcher and his brother MichaelAshton Kutcher is a dashing (albeit goofy) leading man and the most famous cougar cub in history, but few people know that he has a fraternal twin. Michael Kutcher was born with cerebral palsy and had a life-saving heart transplant when he was 13-years-old. Always his twin's protector when the two were growing up, Ashton decided to move to Hollywood to pursue his acting career, while Michael stayed in Iowa and sells retirement plans.

Gisele Bündchen and her sister PatriciaIf Patricia Bündchen were the fraternal twin of anyone else on the planet, she would be the pretty sister. Unfortunately for Patricia, her twin is Gisele Bündchen: Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model, ex-girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio, the new Mrs. Tom Brady. So rather than live in her sister's perfectly curvaceous shadow, Patricia prefers to stay behind the camera, acting as Gisele's manager. She's good at it too: Gisele is the world's highest-paid supermodel, earning $35 million in 2008.

Giovanni Ribisi and his sister MarissaWhen future actors Giovanni and Marissa Ribisi were born, they were delivered by Bibbe Hansen. Giovanni grew up to play Phoebe's brother, Frank, Jr., on "Friends" and Scarlett Johansson's photographer-husband in "Lost in Translation." Marissa appeared in "Dazed and Confused," "The Brady Bunch Movie," and "Felicity" before launching her own clothing line, Whitley Kros. And Bibbe Hansen? She ended up becoming Marissa's mother-in-law, when Ribisi married Bibbe's son, Beck Hansen, who is better known as indie rock darling Beck.

Jon Heder and his brother DanielWhen identical twins Jon and Daniel Heder were kids, they would shoot home movies about books like "White Fang" rather than turn in traditional written book reports. Not surprisingly, they both decided to go into the film business when they grew up. After Jon became famous for his role in the 2004 film "Napoleon Dynamite," he and Daniel became partners in their own production company, "Greasy Entertainment." And while Jon was off shooting "Just Like Heaven" and "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang," Dan worked as an animator on the movie "Monster House."

Isabella Rossellini and her sister Isotta IngridThe daughters of silver screen icon Ingrid Bergman and legendary Italian director Robert Rossellini, fraternal twins Isabella and Isotta Ingrid Rossellini took very different paths. Isabella used her flawless beauty to launch a modeling career, act in such films as "Blue Velvet" and "Fearless," and land famous lovers, like Martin Scorsese (her husband from 1979 to 1982), David Lynch, and Gary Oldman. Ingrid, on the other hand, chose to stay out of the spotlight. After earning a PhD in Italian Literature at Columbia University, Ingrid became a professor and has taught at Harvard and Princeton. And, proving that twins don't always think alike, the sisters had a very public rift in 2006 when Isabella screened her short film "My Dad Is 100 Years Old" prior to a retrospective of his work at the Tribeca Film Festival. Ingrid felt the short made a joke of her father's illustrious career and was hurt that Isabella would link it directly to his film during the festival.

Jill Hennessy and her sister JacquelineIn the States, Jill Hennessy is famous for her role on the crime drama "Law and Order." But head North and you'll find that her identical twin sister, Jacqueline, is a Canadian TV star who hosts the current affairs show "Medical Intelligence." While Jacqueline is a journalist by trade, she has dabbled in acting. Back in 1988 Jacq and Jill played twin call girls in the movie "Dead Ringers," and when Jill was double-booked during a "Law and Order"/"Homicide: Life on the Streets" crossover extravaganza, Jacqueline played her sister's role in a few courtroom scenes.

Alanis Morissette and her brother WadeIsn't it ironic that Alanis Morissette has a twin? No, not really, but neither were any of the things that Morissette talked about in her 1996 hit song "Ironic." But we digress. Wade played piano and guitar growing up, but it wasn't until he combined his passion for yoga with his love of music that he found his true calling. As a spokesman for lululemon athletica apparel, Wade joined the Yoga Pilgrimage in 2005 and toured to promote his debut album, "Sargam Scales of Music." He's been rocking the yoga circuit ever since. Maybe if Wade had taught Alanis how to align her chakras, "Jagged Little Pill" might have been a kinder, gentler album.

Designer sues Courtney Love over Web rants

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Courtney Love faces a lawsuit over Internet insults the singer is accused of posting on Twitter, MySpace and online marketplace Etsy.

Fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir filed the libel lawsuit against the "Celebrity Skin" singer in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.

Love approached the designer last year to create clothing and apparel for her, but later refused to pay for the work and unleashed her verbal attacks, Simorangkir's lawsuit states.

A representative for Love had no immediate comment.

The fashion designer's lawsuit accuses Love, the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, of spreading false statements online that Simorangkir is a drug dealer, a racist, an unfit mother and a homophobe.

Simorangkir is from Austin, Texas, and sells her clothing under the name Boudoir Queen.

Her lawsuit accuses Love of libel, invasion of privacy, intentional interference with her business, infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract. She is seeking damages in an amount to be proven at trial.

Love, 44, was the lead singer of the rock band Hole and starred in movies "Man on the Moon" (1999) and "The People vs. Larry Flynt" (1996).

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Courtney Love's rants now in court

LOS ANGELES – Some of Courtney Love's online rants are now in a Los Angeles court.

A fashion designer's libel and breach of contract lawsuit against the singer includes what she calls several "menacing and disturbing" statements posted on the Internet.

Austin, Texas-based Dawn Simorangkir (Sim-or-AHNG-ker), also known as Boudoir Queen, says Love never paid her for work done. She filed the lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The suit cites remarks from Love's Twitter and MySpace pages, and in the feedback section of Etsy.com. It said Love called Simorangkir a "nasty lying hosebag thief" and accused her of being a drug addict and a prostitute.

Phone messages left for Love's publicist Thursday and Friday were not immediately returned.

Robert Pattinson's 'How To Be' To Make TV Debut

'Twilight' star's new film will be shown on IFC Festival Direct beginning April 29.

Robert Pattinson on the cover of the "How to Be" soundtrack (IFC Films)

Robert Pattinson is coming to a television set near you — not as the "Twilight" vampire we've all come to know, but as Art, a struggling singer/songwriter trying to get over a breakup in the indie comedy "How to Be." MTV News exclusively reports that IFC Festival Direct will be showing the film on demand beginning April 29.

The 22-year-old actor not only stars in the film but also performs three original songs on the soundtrack, which will be released on CD and as a digital download through iTunes and other online retailers on April 28.

"How to Be" follows Art as he moves back in with his parents post-breakup and hires a full-time self-help guru to help him work through the pain and become "more normal." The film was written and directed by newcomer Oliver Irving and also stars Rebecca Pidgeon. It premiered at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival.

The soundtrack is a 23-song collection. In addition to Pattinson's three tracks, the disc includes songs from Love, Captain Beefheart and the Roches. A 12-page booklet featuring song lyrics and never-before-seen "How to Be" photos will be included in both the CD and digital versions. The CD also comes with one of two movies posters.

But perhaps the best news of all for Edward Cullen fans is that 250 people who preorder the CD directly from Dreamboat Records before April 28 will be selected at random to receive a booklet poster personally signed by Pattinson.

All right, you "Twilight" diehards: On your mark, get set, go!

Robert Pattinson says 'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon' will be different and strange

New Delhi, Mar 27 : English actor Robert Pattinson has revealed to 'Twilight' movie fans that its sequel 'New Moon' is going to be something different and strange.

Pattinson, 22, also says that unlike "Twilight", which was about finding love, "New Moon" will be about loss, reports the China Daily.

"The book of 'New Moon,' the majority of it is incredibly depressing," Pattinson said.

"Obviously 'Twilight' was about finding first love and the difficulties of that, but 'New Moon' is really about loss and reconciliation, but the reconciliation isn't completely full.

"It's a strange story to have for a market that, I guess, wants to see a love story," he added.

Directed by Chris Weitz, "New Moon" is scheduled to open in theatres on November 20.

Robert Pattinson says 'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon' will be different and strange

New Delhi, Mar 27 : English actor Robert Pattinson has revealed to 'Twilight' movie fans that its sequel 'New Moon' is going to be something different and strange.

Pattinson, 22, also says that unlike "Twilight", which was about finding love, "New Moon" will be about loss, reports the China Daily.

"The book of 'New Moon,' the majority of it is incredibly depressing," Pattinson said.

"Obviously 'Twilight' was about finding first love and the difficulties of that, but 'New Moon' is really about loss and reconciliation, but the reconciliation isn't completely full.

"It's a strange story to have for a market that, I guess, wants to see a love story," he added.

Directed by Chris Weitz, "New Moon" is scheduled to open in theatres on November 20.

JJ Lin is just like Spiderman!

SINGAPORE: Everybody keeps saying what a nice guy JJ Lin is. And you know what? They’re intolerably right.

On my way to interview the local-boy-made-good, my taxi got into an accident, making me horrendously late for our appointment (it was Friday the 13th, after all). But JJ didn’t throw a diva fit.

In fact, he was nothing but concerned. “Oh, my goodness, I heard what happened,” he said after greeting me with a warm handshake. “Are you alright? You better have a drink.”

So, yes, he really is nice. Either that or someone should give the man an Oscar.

JJ will be back in town this weekend for his first concert here in three years. It also kick-starts his world tour.

Needless to say, he’s really excited about it. And it’s not just because he turns 28 this weekend, too.

“To have a show here... it’s my home,” he explained. “I was born here, I grew up here. Having a show in Singapore... I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels like family. It’s a warm thing for me.

“I hope that the fans feel the same way. It’s something that you cannot buy or create through words or anything. It’s just the knowing that I’m in Singapore — that beats everything else.”

Happy Friday the 13th! Are you a superstitious person?
I actually read up on this. It’s a very special year to have two Friday the 13ths one after another. I also found out that the most number of times you can have Friday the 13th in one year is three times. And it’s not a bad thing, although people associate the day with bad things because of what happened in the 12th century, when Black Friday came about because of the Crusades, where the king ordered the killing of the crusaders. That’s the history of it. I have no idea why I know all this!

So, you’re not put off by it?
For me, I’d put it to good use. If people say it’s not good to start a business on Friday the 13th, I’d do it just to challenge it because I don’t believe in superstition and I want to prove it wrong. A lot in life is what you make of it, not what other people make of it. You don’t have to follow the rules all the time.

So, what is the most important lesson that you have learned?
One thing is that I really have to watch what I say or do. Because the fans listen and they take your word for it. It’s important that I say the right things or do the right things but, of course, in a true way, as well. I want to show the fans who I am but I don’t want them to get the wrong idea, too. It’s like Spider-man — with power comes great responsibility.

Erm... Power?
Okay, it’s not power, but influence — the influence over my fans or people who listen to my music. I have to take that seriously because they take me seriously. As an artiste, whatever you do is amplified many times. I’m still not fully used to the limelight and attention today.

But, anyway, you shouldn’t get used to things. Otherwise you take it for granted. Being able to adapt and making the right use of it in a positive way is more important. That’s one thing about life I’ve learned.

Is there a new album coming up?
It’s on its way. I’m planning to release it in July or August. But I only have three songs. And I’m supposed to have a whole album’s worth by April. Which is almost impossible. So maybe half an album. That’s why I’m going to take a break in April just to write.

How long does it take you to write?
I write pretty fast. But sometimes I get writer’s block and I can’t do anything. That’s why I try to have a good balance. That’s why I’ll try to take a little break if time allows after this concert. It’s important for the next album.

You’re a couple of years shy, but what’s the one thing you would like to have accomplished by the time you reach 30?
I’d like to be able to regularly perform everywhere, not just Asia. I’d like my music to reach out to an international audience. I did my first concert in Las Vegas last December, so I hope to do that more often. Yeah, travelling and performing. That’s really what makes me happy.

JJ Lin performs on Saturday, 8pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Tickets at S$78 to S$148, available from Sistic.

Jang Ja Yun's ex-manager to meet police for questioning

SEOUL : The former manager of late Korean actress Jang Ja Yun who is alleged to have committed suicide due to a sexual exploitation scandal, said he will turn himself in for police questioning on Wednesday.

Yoo Jang-ho, who had made public documents left behind by the starlet naming several high-profile figures involved in the scandal, had been uncontactable since last week. He had also missed a police request to appear for questioning on Saturday.

Bundang police regard Yoo as a central figure in this case and announced on Tuesday that a warrant for arrest will be issued against Yoo if he doesn’t show up.

The handwritten notes by the “Boys Before Flowers" actress stated that she was pimped out by her management company and forced to entertain high-powered entertainment figures, and threatened with violence if she refused to perform sexual favours for them.

Police raided the management company of the late actress on Sunday and seized over 200 items including computers and contracts. The head of the management company, Kim Sung-hoon, who has fled to Japan, had used the building in Samseoung-dong as his office until October 2008.

Photos recovered from one of the computers showed Jang had accompanied Kim and an unidentified producer from a broadcast station on a golf trip to Thailand last May.

“We were able to prove the trip took place by checking the records at the immigration bureau at Incheon airport,” a police spokesman said.

The producer was summoned for police questioning on Monday but failed to show up as he was out of town. Kim has also been asked to return to South Korea to cooperate in the investigation.

Police said the documents left behind by Jang also stated she was mistreated after refusing to accompany another producer on a separate Thai golf trip.

Jamie Lynn Spears calls off wedding

LOS ANGELES : It looks like wedding bells will not be ringing for Britney Spears' little sister after all.

Jamie Lynn Spears called off the wedding to the father of her daughter, boyfriend Casey Aldridge, just months after she denied rumours of a split.

The "Zoe 101" star made headlines when she announced that she was expecting a child with her boyfriend and that they plan to walk down the aisle together. She was just 16.

The teen couple grabbed the attention of tabloids again shortly after the birth of their daughter, Maddie Briann, in June, when it was rumoured that the couple were living separately after Aldrige cheated on Spears.

In October, Spears vehemently denied infidelity rumours and insisted that they were going ahead with the wedding.

But now those plans are scrapped as she does not need an official ceremony to validate their love.

A source told OK! magazine, "The wedding's off. They are still in love, living together and very happy, but they have no plans to get married. Jamie Lynn has everything she wants and feels no need for a ring and piece of paper."

"She and Casey have weathered a lot in their young relationship already and don’t need the pressure of making wedding plans," another source was quoted as saying.

The young mum also appears to be enjoying motherhood and is ready to put aside her career in order to raise her daughter.

According to an insider, "She has told friends and family she's never coming back to Hollywood. She feels that part of her life is over. Jamie Lynn enjoyed every minute of doing 'Zoey', but since she's had Maddie, her life has changed completely.

"She's happy being a real hands-on Southern mother and hopes to continue that for years to come with Casey right by her side. Jamie Lynn knows she needs to make a living when she grows older, so she's already discussing her career options with advisers. She wants Maddie to grow up in comfort."

Shady? Moi?! Zooey Deschanel unveils sunglasses line for Oliver Peoples

Kambouris/WireImage

Zooey Deschanel's gearing up to launch her own line of sunglasses.

OliverPeoples.com

Zooey sunglasses, which come in five different colors, retail for $415.

Zooey Deschanel's got an eye for fashion. And she's ready to sell it.

The "Yes Man" star has partnered up with swanky sunglasses retailer Oliver Peoples to launch her own line in April.

Deschanel's sun blockers, appropriately dubbed "Zooey," come in just one style - a thick frame reminiscent of classic Ray-Bans.

And at $415 a pop, they'll cost you a whole lot more.

But the actress may be banking on a special hidden feature on her shades to one-up her established competition: Pouty red lips pop up on the lenses when the wearer (or a pal) breathes on them.

Deschanel was "intimately involved" with the creation of her mini-line, says a rep for the brand, from the glasses themselves to the special kiss logo cleaning cloth that comes with each pair.

Want one? Zooey - the shades, not the star - are available for pre-sale oneline through March 15 and are expected to hit stores in April.

Despite resistance, Madonna files adoption papers in Malawi for Mercy

Madonna is very close to adopting the Malawian orphan Mercy James.

Madonna, shown above with son David Banda and daughter Lourdes, is expected in Malawi on Saturday.

The Material Mom is headed back to Malawi, where she hopes to adopt a daughter next week - despite government worries over her oft-salacious past.

Pop superstar Madonna was due Saturday in the poverty-stricken African nation, intent on expanding her single-mom family to include a 3-year-old local girl.

"We are expected to be in court on Monday to file for a possible adoption," her lawyer, Alan Chinula, said Thursday.

Madonna's morals are under scrutiny by Malawi officials - not the best news after two divorces, l'affaire A-Rod, her soft-core "Sex" book and the Britney liplock.

Under Malawi law, adoptions are typically off-limits to single or divorced parents. Madonna is both; her 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, was born when the superstar singer was unmarried, and she split from British director Guy Ritchie last year.

The 50-year-old platinum-selling star still hopes to add 3-year-old Mercy to her growing brood. Last year, Madonna officially adopted another Malawian child: now 3-year-old David.

Madonna - recently linked to Brazilian boy toy model Jesus Luz, age 22 - is on a break from her "Sticky and Sweet" tour.

Her trip comes despite concerns among Malawi officials about Madonna's lifestyle - including her recent divorce and her reported liaison with Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez.

Simon Chisale, Malawi's child welfare chief, told the Daily News this week that morality was an issue.

"We do not only look at the material issues, but also the moral standing of prospective adoptive parents, because we do not want our children's morals to be corrupted," he said.

Last week, in an interview with Malawi's best-known newspaper, Madonna said she would only adopt another child with "the support of the Malawian people and government."

Her embrace of David caused controversy because Malawi typically does not allow foreign adoptions. Madonna is already raising three kids: Lourdes, 8-year-old son Rocco and David.

Before David's adoption was finalized last May, a Malawi welfare official twice visited Madonna's British home and described her as the "perfect mum."

Reese Witherspoon: mom as monster Actress' kids loved new film 'Monsters vs. Aliens'

Reese Witherspoon's kids are at that age - the one where they discover a movie they like and proceed to watch it over and over and over again.

Her daughter, Ava, 9, and son, Deacon, 5, don't get bored of their favorites and don't find themselves satisfied with a third viewing. They just get excited to watch it again.

So it's no surprise that the Oscar winner, 33, is particularly concerned with the quality of children's entertainment, choosing to work back to back on animated feature films.

"Obviously having two young children, it's nice to be able to go to the movie theater and have a film there that's OK for kids, but it also has some adult humor in it that kids won't necessarily catch," she says from her Los Angeles home. "It's great to do those movies, because I have to watch a lot of them."

The first of those movies to be released is Monsters vs. Aliens. In it, Witherspoon lends her voice to a would-be bride who is struck by an asteroid with radioactive material that turns her into a 49-foot woman renamed "Ginormica" by her government captors.

The film is intended to evoke early sci-fi flicks of the 1950s and '60s.

"I thought it was really cool because I had always liked those movies," she recalls. "My dad and I always used to sit up late watching them."

Witherspoon signed on to that movie and soon agreed to The Bear and the Bow, a Pixar film set for a 2011 release in which she gives voice to a mythical Scottish princess. The actress says she was attracted not only to the content of the films, but to the endeavor itself.

"It's a very different process," Witherspoon recalls. "I got into a sound booth probably once every couple months for three or four hours." And though it takes less time, she adds, it requires much more imagination. "There is nothing visually in front of you to inform the scene. And you don't have a full script in front of you, so you don't even know what's going to happen next. They kind of talk you through everything, and then you just go in there and play around with it."

"It's really difficult; you don't have a lot of actors around you to bounce off of," says Conrad Vernon, the film's co-director. Witherspoon "was great at ad-libbing and coming up with different things, but when you're in that booth and you're doing something funny and you don't hear anything but silence, it can be daunting."

Vernon says she was right for the part because she "has this very, very adorable voice. And to put that voice into a 49-foot, 11-inch-tall giant was a great contrast and fun to do."

Witherspoon did have a couple of hours in the sound studio with Paul Rudd, who plays her narcissistic fiance. The two will be reunited for her next project, a comedy directed by James. L. Brooks.

She saw Monsters vs. Aliens recently in a theater full of kids wearing 3-D glasses, her two among them. "They loved it," she reports.

So in that regard, at least, it's a Mom-mission accomplished.

Reese stands tall in 3-D

Reese Witherspoon voices Susan Murphy, aka Ginormica, in DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens.


Reese Witherspoon can’t be pigeonholed. In Freeway, her 1996 breakthrough film, she played a resourceful 15-year-old who’s been described as a “nearly illiterate firebug and serial shoplifter.” She was a bouncy but brainy sorority girl turned lawyer in two Legally Blonde films. And she won an Oscar as country singer June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. But she’s never before tried her hand at a character who’s 49 feet tall and strong enough to go head-to-head with a mountain-size alien invader. That’s the role she voices in the new DreamWorks animated 3-D extravaganza Monsters vs. Aliens. Witherspoon talked about fame, her Oscar and playing a character five-stories tall.

Q : You once said you would feel famous when you became a question on Jeopardy. You’ve now been a question on Jeopardy. So what do you think of fame?

A: It is all it’s cracked up to be. It’s fantastic. I highly recommend it. No (laughs), it has its drawbacks, but the positives outweigh the negatives. It’s better than digging a big ditch.

Q: Monsters vs. Aliens has a girl-power theme. Who are the women who’ve influenced you?

A: Diane Keaton. She’s done great things. Goldie Hawn is amazing. Judi Dench. Personally, my mother and my grandmother were really strong female influences in my life. I went to an all-girls high school and had a lot of great teachers. (There were) lots of great, strong Southern women around when I was growing up.

Q: Your production company is called Type A Films. And a few years ago, you said, “I spend a lot of time considering and planning my life and career.” Is that still the case?

A: Probably not as much so. I had this notion that you could control everything in your life, which I’ve been sadly stripped of. It’s actually a good thing to realize that the universe is pointing you in different directions all the time. Great stuff comes out of the unknown.

Q: You play a giantess in Monsters vs. Aliens, and you’re going to do Alexander Payne’s Downsizing, a satire about miniature people. Coincidence or part of the plan?

A: (Laughs.) The two are not linked in any capacity.

Q: How did your career change after winning the Oscar for Walk the Line?

A: It definitely opened a lot of opportunities to work with great directors, meet great writers and producers.

It changes how people think about you. It’s been great for me.

Q: You’ve performed in dramas and comedies. Do you have a preference?

A: It’s usually just the character (I would play), more than the script, if I can really see myself as that person or see some part of that person in my life or maybe in a friend. That helps me make the decision.

Q: You said in your Oscar acceptance speech that it was your “lifelong dream” to be a country singer. When are we going to hear your first record?

A: (Laughs.) I think you’ve heard it. It was called Walk the Line, and that will probably be my last as well. It was a really difficult experience, challenging in a good way. You watch American Idol and you say, “Oh, I can sing.” But until you really have to do it and learn how much technique goes into it, you can’t even really appreciate it. So I had this unique opportunity to work with the best of the best, coaches-wise, producers. And it’s good to cut out when you’re on the top there.

Walter Addiego writes for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Extreme skier McConkey dies in jump in Italy

Extreme skier Shane McConkey was killed jumping off a cliff with a parachute while filming a movie in Italy. He was 39.

His sponsor Red Bull confirmed his death Thursday.

McConkey was in Corvara, Italy, on a ski-BASE jump when he had a mid-air malfunction, Red Bull said in a statement. Italian emergency responders arrived within minutes and pronounced him dead at the scene, according to the sponsor.

“Shane loved life and innovated both sport worlds he touched, skiing and B.A.S.E. Jumping,” Red Bull spokesman Patrice Radden said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the sport he pioneered also carries inherent risks.”

McConkey founded the International Free Skiing Association and had grown popular in recent years for his BASE jumping competitions and big-mountain film exploits.

During his career he won the IFSA world tour of freeskiing in 1996 and 1998, and finished second in the 1999 Winter X Games Skier X competition. In 2001, Skiing Mag listed him as the top skier in North America, and Powder magazine readers voted him skier of the year three times.

McConkey lived and trained at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village south of Truckee, Calif. He is survived by his wife, Sherry, and 3-year-old daughter, Ayla.

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

“Monsters vs. Aliens” cheerfully converts the two major sources of cinematic terror — invaders from outer space and inhuman, ungodly terrestrial creatures — into wacky, goofy, familiar figures. The movie, directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon from a many-authored script, comes out of DreamWorks Animation and offers the latest twist on the easygoing, parodic formula refined in the studio’s “Shrek” franchise and last year’s “Kung Fu Panda.”

Just as “Shrek” and its successors pushed aside the sweet enchantment of traditional fairy tale movies in favor of belching and winking (with a saving spoonful of sugar at the end), so does “Monsters vs. Aliens” turn fright and apocalypse into strenuous, noisy, 3-D fun.

The film, like “Coraline” and “Bolt,” tries to take 3-D technology beyond gimmickry and to make it the basis for a new kind of visual spectacle. Since not all theaters are equipped to show the movie this way, it has to work in its flat version as well, and perhaps partly as a result, the effects are often subtle, noticeable less when objects or characters jump off the screen than when they move laterally across it.

“Monsters vs. Aliens” is no better than most family-friendly animated entertainment, but there does seem to be more of it. Everything looks bigger and rounder. The environment is deeper and thicker. The blob of blue goo with one eye and Seth Rogen’s voice is more palpably, quiveringly slimy.

That blob, named B.O.B., is an entirely predictable supporting character in a movie like this: the dumb one whose off-the-wall observations and behind-the-beat non sequiturs provide a steady stream of mild and easy laughs. Somehow Mr. Rogen, whose next live-action vehicle opens in a few weeks, keeps postponing the moment when we tire of him. His affable stoner vibe is the best thing in “Monsters vs. Aliens.”

Though perhaps not in itself enough reason to see it. Don’t get me wrong: the movie is not terrible. On the contrary, it is a highly competent, smartly engineered delivery system for the very clichés it pretends to subvert.

The most surprising of these may be the romantic-comedy convention of an interrupted wedding, an apparent disaster that will of course turn out to be a blessing. This is because the would-be bride, Susan (Reese Witherspoon), is a charming young woman betrothed to a self-absorbed cad (Paul Rudd), whose eventual comeuppance provides a nice, sequel-enabling coda after the crazy action sequences are done.

These involve a battle between some monsters, including Susan — who, I should mention, has a mishap that makes her grotesquely gigantic, though since the movie’s sense of scale is wildly inconsistent, it’s hard to say just how gigantic — and what is technically only one alien, a many-legged, many-eyed intergalactic imperialist voiced by Rainn Wilson. San Francisco is destroyed, and a few other kind of cool things happen, but in spite of its striving for visual novelty, the movie is curiously unmemorable, partly because nearly all of its humor depends on your having seen something like it before, even if you haven’t.

So in addition to Mr. Rogen’s dumb blob, there is a brainy scientist-monster (Hugh Laurie), a vain, macho monster (Will Arnett) and a speechless, fuzzy, gigantic monster that provides the film’s gratuitous hat-tip to the Japanese anime tradition.

These earthbound monsters live in government-imposed quarantine, overseen by a general with a buzz cut and a drill sergeant’s bark, provided by Kiefer Sutherland. Everyone goes whirling through the air, fires off some wisecracks and generally has a good time. You probably will too, even if you feel a little cheated in the end.

“Monsters vs. Aliens” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It has some semiviolent action sequences with implied fatalities.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon; written by Mr. Letterman, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, based on a story by Mr. Letterman and Mr. Vernon; edited by Joyce Arrastia and Eric Dapkewicz; music by Henry Jackman; production designer, David James; produced by Lisa Stewart; released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes.

WITH THE VOICES OF: Reese Witherspoon (Susan/Ginormica), Seth Rogen (B.O.B.), Hugh Laurie (Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.), Will Arnett (the Missing Link), Kiefer Sutherland (General W. R. Monger), Rainn Wilson (Galaxhar), Paul Rudd (Derek Dietl) and Stephen Colbert (the President).

Sean Penn Signs On For 'Three Stooges' Role

It's no joke: Sean Penn is going slapstick.

The studio MGM says the double Oscar winner has signed on to play Larry in the Farrelly brothers' big-screen update of The Three Stooges.

Jim Carrey was "in negotiations" for the role of Curly, said MGM spokesman Grey Munford. The studio first featured the stooges in a series of shorts and features beginning in 1933.

Munford would not confirm reports that Benicio Del Toro will play Moe.

He said said filming begins this fall on the comedy, which is expected to be released in 2010.

The casting of a serious actor like Penn in the assuredly goofy comedy isn't such a stretch: The actor launched his storied career as goofball Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Jennifer Hudson Eying Several Big I's, Including Idol & I Do

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Jennifer Hudson has spent the past few months recovering from the tragic murder of her mother, brother and nephew. Now, both her personal life and her career are blossoming.

Wednesday night, the star returned to the place that first brought her into our living rooms, American Idol. Following the Motown-themed show, the season-three, seventh-place finisher—who famously went on to win a Grammy and an Oscar—taped a performance of her single "If This Isn't Love" to air on the show at a later date.

Following the performance, Hudson, whose tour alongside Robin Thicke kicks off on March 31, spilled a few beans to Ryan Seacrest. When asked about her engagement and upcoming nuptials to David Otunga, she admitted a date had been set.

"Yeah, but it's a secret," the 25-year-old singer said. "I can't tell anybody."

Hudson gushed a little further when she taped her Thursday-afternoon appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

After the two sang "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from DreamGirls as part of the show's Bathroom Concert Series, the host asked about the happy couple.

"We're like big kids, so we like to ride bikes, and one thing I like to do is I put my dog in her little basket and put her on my back and then we ride the bike to the dog park," Hudson told her.

DeGeneres, as usual, had an appropriate engagement gift: a romantic bicycle built for two.

Ellen DeGeneres Surprises Jennifer Hudson With Engagement Gift

Jennifer Hudson is in for quite a ride as she readies to wed fiance David Otunga.

On Thursday's Ellen DeGeneres Show, the talk show host presents Hudson with an engagement gift: A tandem bike.

"David is going to love this," Hudson says, adding that bike riding is one of their favorite activities.

"We're like big kids, so we like to ride bikes," she says.

"One thing I like to do is put my dog in her little basket and put her on my back and then we ride the bike to the dog park," says the singer, who has three Pomeranians.

Hudson also opens up to DeGeneres about her days working at a Burger King in her Chicago hometown. She says she quickly learned she could make more bucks belting out songs than flipping burgers.

"When I was 17-years-old, I worked at Burger King, and I found that I was making more money singing one show [for] $75," the Grammy winner says. "I thought it was a lot of money, so I decided, 'I'm quitting this Burger King - I'm going to make my living using my talents and gifts.' So my first option was to be, what I am now, a singer."

Before famously winning an Oscar, Hudson was a third season American Idol finalist. She taped a performance after the live broadcast for an Idol episode that will air at a later date.

She says if singing didn't work out, she always had a back-up plan.

"My second choice was to be a tattoo artist because I also draw," says Hudson.

Asked if she had any body art, Hudson cringes. "No," she tells DeGeneres,
"I don't have any."

Anna Kournikova Beats Jimmy Fallon at Beer Pong

Jimmy Fallon sucks and drinking games are for children-- if I want to drink myself into oblivion, I'll drink myself into oblivion, damn it. I don't need to harness my competitive spirit to get there, OK? That's bullshit.-- but there are a couple reasons why I'm posting this clip, and well... they're both underneath that short black dress Anna is wearing.

OK... well, that's fucked. I can view the video from NBC, but for some reason, when I embed it, the player doesn't show up. So us lepers get the shitty filmed from someone's TV version, I guess. Ugh.

Shawn Johnson Fan Charged With Stalking

Shawn Johnson's fan Robert O'Ryan has been charged with one felony count of stalking and two misdemeanor counts of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

O'Ryan, 34, of Florida, was arrested Tuesday after he jumped a fence at CBS Studios in Los Angeles where Dancing With the Stars was filming. Police later found two loaded guns in the man's car, as well as duct tape and love letters to Johnson, 17.

He is being held on $35,000 bail. Now that he has been charged, prosecutors will ask that bail be set at $220,000.

If convicted, O'Ryan faces up to four years in prison. (Inside Edition released his photo Thursday.)

A rep for Johnson tells Usmagazine: "It is currently an ongoing investigation and we are confident that it will be handled appropriately by
all involved."

Kardashian Caught Out By Cellulite Snap

Reality TV pin-up Kim Kardashian has defended her curvy figure once again, after a Web site accidentally posted a picture of her sporting cellulite.

A snap of the star was uploaded onto Complex magazine's Web site on Thursday before it had been airbrushed and retouched.

It was quickly removed and replaced with a shot of Kardashian looking slimmer and with smoother skin, but not before eagle-eyed bloggers grabbed the unauthorized photo and posted it elsewhere on the Internet.

But the 28-year-old insists she isn't embarrassed about the mishap.

Kardashian writes on her own blog, "So what: I have a little cellulite. What curvy girl doesn't!?

"How many people do you think are photoshopped? It happens all the time. I'm proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn't mean I'm perfect."

But Kardashian admits she will be spending more time working out to avoid any more awkward exposes: "This all motivates me to stay in the gym because my goal this year has been to get in better shape and tone up! Hard work pays off!"

Seth Rogen On Career Highs, Lindsay Lohan & 'Green Hornet'

Seth Rogen gives a goofy grin at the premiere of 'Monsters Vs. Aliens' in LA

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Seth Rogen is in high demand these days. The actor has three movies opening in 2009 - and even Lindsay Lohan is asking the "Monsters vs. Aliens" star to call her back.

Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson caught up with the actor at the junket for his new DreamWorks animated movie, where Seth talked about his career explosion.

"A lot of people would say your career right now is on fire," Shaun told Seth.

"Ya maybe. We'll see... It's going pretty good. I'm very thankful," he said.

Though he might be landing role after role, according to Seth, he can still lead a fairly normal life unlike a lot of Hollywood's elite.

"I can go everywhere without getting recognized," he explained. "You know, people don't really [recognize me.]"

And that is mainly due to his recent break up, which fans may not know about, the actor joked.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Apatow Gang -- Ferrell, Rogen & The Rest

"Ever since me and John Mayer stopped dating, the floods of paparazzi stopped following me around so," he laughed. "So, that was a good move I think."

Seth also cleared up a report that Lindsay Lohan had been calling him about a possible project together.

"I actually asked my agents and, no. No one [from Lindsay's camp] has tried to contact us." Seth told Access. "I would call her back. If it was a work-related thing then why not, you know?"

Seth might not be getting calls from Lindsay, but he's being called upon to play a super hero in the upcoming "Green Hornet" movie.

"Yeah it's happening. Were making it," Seth said. "Michel Gondry is directing it, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,' he's a great guy. He's a true visual genius. And it's exciting. We're going to make it. It's happening!"

Rep: Zac Efron Drops Out of Footloose Remake

Zac Efron arrives at the 81st Annual Academy Awards on February 22, 2009 in Hollywood, California.

Zac Efron has pulled out of the musical remake of Footloose -- nearly two years after he was in talks to reprise the role of Kevin Bacon from the 1984 film.



"Footloose is a project we've longed to see re-booted for a new generation. While Zac is no longer attached, we remain excited and committed to the collective brain trust of [director] Kenny Ortega, [producers] Neil Meron and Craig Zaden, who will reinvigorate the franchise," a Paramount Pictures rep told Usmagazine.com Monday. "Their fresh take on the film will undoubtedly be filled with the same kind of breakout performances that weve come to expect from them."



Although Efron has yet to publicly address his reasons for dropping out of the film, he is reportedly trying to take on more varied roles.

Efron -- who rose to fame by singing and dancing in all three of Disney's High School Musical movies -- signed on to star in the Paramount flick in July 2007, the same time as his feature debut, a revival of the 1988 musical movie Hairspray, hit theaters.

The actor, 21, is currently promoting his film, 17 Again, which opens in theaters this April. He is also set to star in the drama, Me and Orson Welles, opposite Claire Danes . The film, in which he plays a Broadway actor who has a chance meeting with Welles in 1937, has not yet been released.


Ortega helmed the High School Musical franchise and will direct and choreograph Footloose, which is slated for a 2010 release date. No replacement for Efron has been confirmed.

David Letterman Marries Longtime Girlfriend

David Letterman on 'The Late Show'
CBSAccess Hollywood

NEW YORK, New York -- David Letterman is a married man.

Letterman and longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko tied the knot last week in Montana, the "Late Show" host announced during the taping of Monday's show.

"On Thursday, at 3 PM, March 19, 2009, at the Teton County Courthouse in Choteau, Montana, I was married to Regina Lasko," he told the audience.

The couple began dating in 1986 and, as Letterman explained, he clearly wasn't in a rush to the altar.

"Regina and I began dating in February of 1986, and I said, 'Well, things are going pretty good, let's just see what happens in about ten years," he added. "I had avoided getting married pretty good for, like, 23 years, and I - honestly, whether this happened or not - I secretly felt that men who were married admired me...like I was the last of the real gunslingers, you know what I'm saying?"

Letterman, 61, and Lasko, 48, have a son, Harry, who was born in November 2003.

However, as the bride and groom made their way to the courthouse in Montana, things didn't go quite as planned.

"It's me, Regina and Harry in the pickup truck... we get two miles from the [court]house and we get stuck in the mud - I mean, turn the truck over, stuck in the mud. So now we think, 'Well, somebody will come' - no, nobody comes along," Letterman recounted. "So I get out of the truck and I walk two miles back to the house into a 50 mile an hour wind... And the whole way, I'm thinking, 'See, smart ass, see, see, you try to get married, this is what happens.'"

But luckily for the late night host, he made it back in time.

"So then we get in the car and Harry says, 'Are we still going into town?' and I said, 'Yes, we are,' and he gets very upset because mom had told him if I wasn't back in an hour, the deal was off."

M.I.A.'s Real Baby Name Revealed

M.I.A. poses in the audience at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 8, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- After media reports claimed that M.I.A. named her newborn boy "Ickitt", the British-born Sri Lanken rapper/singer has finally released her baby's full name.

M.I.A. named her son Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, according to the child's birth certificate obtained by Access Hollywood.

Ikhyd was welcomed into the world at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on February 11, 2009 by the "Paper Planes" singer, whose full name is Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam, and her fiance, Benjamin Bronfman, just days after her Grammy performance.

M.I.A. took to her blog to combat speculations of her son's name in early March.

"MY BABY IS NOT CALLED ICKITT, PICKIT OR LICKIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH," she said. "HES A BABY, HE DONT NEED PRESS!"

Son of poets Plath and Hughes commits suicide

LONDON (Reuters) - The son of poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes has committed suicide 46 years after his mother gassed herself, his sister and police said on Monday.

Nicholas Hughes, 47, hanged himself at his home in Alaska, Frieda Hughes, who is also a poet, told Britain's Times newspaper.

"It is with profound sorrow that I must announce the death of my brother, Nicholas Hughes, who died by his own hand on Monday, March 16 ... He had been battling depression for some time," Hughes said in a statement to the newspaper.

Frieda Hughes, who was reported to be flying to Alaska, could not be reached for comment.

Alaska State Troopers said in a statement they had gone to a house in Fairbanks on March 16 where a man had hanged himself. Emergency services took Hughes to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. No foul play was suspected, they said.

Hughes, who was unmarried, had until recently been professor of fisheries and ocean sciences at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

Plath, an American famous for her autobiographical novel "The Bell Jar" and the poetry collection "Ariel," has been at the center of a literary cult since she committed suicide in 1963 at the age of 30 in the London flat while her children, one-year-old Nicholas and two-year-old Frieda, slept.

She left bread and milk for the children and sealed their room against the gas. They were unharmed.

Critics blamed Ted Hughes for driving Plath to despair and their relationship has been a source of public fascination fanned by the 2003 film "Sylvia" starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig as the troubled couple.

Ted Hughes's lover Assia Wevill also committed suicide in 1969, at the same time killing her young daughter from her relationship with the poet.

He was one of Britain's most distinguished poets and was appointed poet laureate, but Plath's suicide cast a shadow over him until his death in 1998

David Letterman Ties the Knot!

David Letterman, his girlfriend Regina Lasko and son Harry Joseph have a vacation in Rome on April 14, 2007.

David Letterman and his longtime girlfriend, Regina Lasko, have gotten hitched, Usmagazine reported just before Letterman announced the news during the Monday taping of his CBS Late Show.



"On Thursday, at 3 p.m., March 19, 2009, at the Teton County Courthouse in Choteau, Montana, I was married to Regina Lasko," Letterman said about 20 minutes into the show, before he read the "Top 10" list.

"Regina and I began dating in February of 1986, and I said, 'Well, things are going pretty good, let's just see what happens in about ten years...'" he continued.



"I had avoided getting married pretty good for, like, 23 years, and I -- honestly, whether this happened or not -- I secretly felt that men who were married admired melike I was the last of the real gunslingers, you know what I'm saying?'" he joked.

The family's truck got stuck in the mud en route to the courthouse, he explained. Letterman "walked two miles back to the house in 50 mph wind," he said. "It's not Beverly Hills -- it's Montana.

"And the whole way, I'm thinking, 'See, smart ass, see you try to get married and this is what happens,'" he went on.

After getting his car from home, five-year-old son Harry says, "'Are we still going into town?'...he got very upset because mom had told him if I wasn't back in an hour, the deal was off."


Letterman and Lasko -- who began dating in 1986 when Lasko worked for him on his show -- welcomed Harry in November 2003.

In 2007, Letterman told Oprah Winfrey that his son has made a "huge difference" in his life -- but the boy doesn't always get his daddy's sense of humor.

Said Letterman, "Mommy has to tell him a lot that I'm just teasing."

Letterman was previously married for seven years to his college sweetheart Michelle Cook.

David Letterman secretly married

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Late-night TV comic David Letterman has quietly married his longtime girlfriend, telling audience members of his show on Monday that he almost missed the ceremony because his truck was stuck in mud.

Letterman, 61, and Regina Lasko tied the knot during a courthouse ceremony near their Montana ranch last Thursday. The couple, who have been dating since 1986, were accompanied by their 5-year-old son, Harry.

" ... I had avoided getting married pretty good for, like, 23 years, and I -- honestly, whether this happened or not -- I secretly felt that men who were married admired me ... like I was the last of the real gunslingers," Letterman said, according to a "Late Show" transcript provided by a spokesman.

But the afternoon ceremony at the Teton County Courthouse in Choteau (pop. 1,700) was delayed by an hour because the family's pickup truck was stuck in mud two miles from their house. Letterman was forced to walk back in a howling gale to get the car.

"So then we get in the car and Harry says, 'Are we still going into town?' and I said, 'Yes, we are,' and he gets very upset because Mom had told him if I wasn't back in an hour, the deal was off."

Letterman's spokesman declined to reveal any details about the ceremony, or to give Lasko's age. Letterman, who was married once before, is intensely private, and is rarely photographed with his family.

Robin Williams recovering from heart surgery

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar winner Robin Williams is expected to make a complete recovery from his recent heart surgery in the next two months and plans to resume his comedy tour afterward, his representatives said on Monday.

Williams, 57, one of Hollywood's leading comedians and known for his manic stand-up routine steeped in wacky accents and improvisation, had surgery on March 13 at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"His heart is strong and he will have normal heart function in the coming weeks with no limitations on what he'll be able to do," Dr. A. Marc Gillinov, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the clinic, said in a statement.

The operation was done to replace Williams' aortic valve, repair his mitral valve and correct an irregular heartbeat.

Williams postponed his "Weapons of Self-Destruction" comedy tour earlier this month to undergo the procedure after complaining of shortness of breath.

He was in Florida at the time and was first treated at the University of Miami Hospital.

Williams plans to resume his comedy tour in the fall but no specific date has been set.

"I got some great new material for the tour and can't wait to get back on the road," Williams said in a statement.

"I'm thinking the next leg of the tour will be 'Weapons of Self-Destruction and Reconstruction!'"

The actor's older brother, Robert Todd Williams, died in 2007 of complications from heart surgery.

Williams won an Oscar for his supporting role as a psychologist in the 1997 drama "Good Will Hunting." More recently, he starred in the movie "License to Wed" in 2007 and the 2006 release "Man of the Year."

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Nicole Richie Jokes About Twin Rumors

Joel Madden and Nicole Richie arrive to the Sony Cierge and The Richie-Madden Children's Foundation's private cocktail event to raise funds for UNICEF's Tap Project at My House in Los Angeles, CA on March 23, 2009.Us Magazine

Nicole Richie showed off a growing baby bump at a fundraiser for the Richie-Madden Children's Foundation Monday in Hollywood.

Asked about tabloid rumors that she is expecting twins, her beau's brother Benji Madden joked to Usmagazine.com, "She already has twins."

Richie, 27, then added, "I have twins. People popped out of me yesterday."


Richie and Joel Madden , 31 - who welcomed daughter Harlow last January - announced they were expecting their second child last month.


Asked by Ryan Seacrest Monday if the two are planning on having "a whole bunch" of kids, Joel Madden said, "I have no idea."

Richie recently said she has no idea if she'll ever wed Joel.

"I don't know about the future," she told Japanese ViVi magazine. "I make it a custom not to plan the future. I may plan to and I may not."

Miley Cyrus: "I Can't Be Hannah Montana Forever"

Miley Cyrus hopes Hannah Montana: The Movie (out April 10) won't be the last time people get to see her beloved Disney character.

"This movie was never meant to be the end of Hannah Montana," she tells April's Billboard magazine. "The thing is, a lot of people put where the show's future lays in my hands and it's not up to me. It's up to Disney and whether they want more episodes, and we hope that they do."


(A Disney Channel rep says the network is still considering the option to renew the show for a fourth season.)

Still, the 16-year-old -- who recently released the memoir Miles to Go -- says she has come to terms that her Hannah Montana days are winding down.


"It's just an honor for people to be able to relate to me and my music and not so much the character anymore," she says. "I can't be Hannah Montana forever. I have to have something after this. I can't do this when I'm 30."


Taking a break from the show has its plusses, she says.

"It's, like, the first time I've seen all my friends in seven months," says Cyrus, who is dating model Justin Gaston , 20. "It's hard, man. With all the stuff that goes on with this business, I only want to do something if I absolutely love it."

Britney Spears To Take 'Circus' Tour Down Under

Britney Spears performs onstage during the opening night of 'The Circus Starring Britney Spears' tour at the New Orleans
Getty ImagesAccess Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Britney Spears has already taken her "Circus" tour across America, into Canada and is scheduled to perform in England this summer - but the pop princess isn't limiting herself to cities just north of the equator - Brit is headed down under.

According to Australian News, the pop star will bring "The Circus Starring Britney Spears " to Australia later this year, in her first tour of the country.

"All the promoters are vying for it, but the bottom line is she really wants to come here and she really wants to come here this year," Denis Handlin of Sony Australia told the paper. "I think the promoters are battling it out at the moment."

As previously reported on AccessHollywood, the pop princess' first tour in five years kicked off earlier this month in New Orleans - and according to fans, the show was worth the wait.

"She was amazing and she looked like she was having a blast the entire time," one fan told Access. "I haven't seen the spark that she had last night in a very long time! The 'it factor' that she lost is totally back."

Brit will play Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night and Pittsburgh on Friday.

Octuplet Mother Fires Free Nurses: "It Was Really Bad"

Nadya Suleman seen going to the hospital to pick up two babies in Hollywood on March 16, 2009.

Octo Mom Nadya Suleman has confirmed to Usmagazine she has fired the free nursing staff provided to her by the non-profit charity organization Angels In Waiting.



"Yes, it's true. I released AIW," Suleman said in a statement to Us. "It was really bad. That's all I can say. I can't confirm, why, in particular. I will be releasing the details soon."


Her spokesman accused the non-profit charity group -- which announced their plans to assist Suleman in raising her 14 children during a March 14 taping of Dr. Phil -- of spying on her and reporting her to child welfare officials.

Suleman had several confrontations with the nurses, her attorney Jeff Czech said. Relations worsened Sunday when Suleman came to believe that Angels in Waiting founder Linda West-Conforti was allegedly filing a report against her with child welfare officials.

Said Czech, Nadya felt that she was being judged wrongfully, and she didn't need it."



Suleman -- who has custody of four infants so far -- says she'll rely on her own nannies -- whom she had planned to hire regardless of Angels in Waiting's assistance -- to care for the babies instead.

Attorney Gloria Allred who represents Angels in Waiting, told via e-mail Monday: "We have no comment at this time. We will respond tomorrow afternoon with the true facts."

According to RadarOnline, which first broke the story RadarOnline, members of Angels in Waiting are scheduled to tape an episode of Dr. Phil Tuesday. Suleman also hopes to appear on the show to defend herself.


Suleman turned down an earlier offer from Angels in Waiting because they wouldn't let her film a reality show, Allred said.

Horror film draws unwanted visitors to Conn. house

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. - A Hollywood horror film that depicts the alleged haunting of a former funeral parlor in central Connecticut is turning into a nightmare for the home's current owners and their neighbors.

The movie, "A Haunting in Connecticut," doesn't open until Friday, but curious fans are already making a beeline for the Southington home that inspired the movie.

"It's just been really, really stressful," said Susan Trotta-Smith, who bought the home 10 years ago with her husband. "It's been a total change from a very quiet house in a very quiet neighborhood to looking out the window and seeing cars stopping all the time. It's been very, very stressful, and sometimes worrisome."

The family has never seen anything unusual inside their five-bedroom, two-family white wood-frame house and does not believe the property was haunted.

"It's got beautiful woodwork, and there is a nice warm feeling to the house," Trotta-Smith said. "Because it was a funeral home , the upstairs apartment is much more spacious. It's like two full houses , and it has a beautiful yard, too."

The movie, starring Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner and released by Lionsgate, is loosely based on stories that revolved around the house in the 1980s.

The residents at the time, the Snedeker family , claimed their son would hear strange noises in his basement bedroom, which once held casket displays and was near the old embalming room. He also claimed to see shadows on the wall of people who were not there. A niece visiting the home said she felt hands on her body as she tried to sleep, and her covers levitated.

The family brought in Ed and Lorraine Warren , self-described paranormal researchers, who became famous for documenting the alleged " Amityville Horror " haunting of a home on Long Island.

Lorraine Warren says she felt an evil presence in the Southington home and experienced the haunting herself when she spent a night there.

"In the master bedroom, there was a trap door where the coffins were brought up," she said. "And during the night, you would hear that chain hoist, as if a coffin were being brought up. But when Ed went to check, there was nobody down there."

Warren, whose husband died in 2006, has nothing to do with the movie. She said the house was "cleared" of the evil presence after a seance in 1988. A book and a television documentary followed.

The current owners, who rent out part of the home to another family, have removed the street number from the house and posted "no trespassing" signs. Trotta-Smith says they are concerned about the four children who live there.

"Most people are respectful. They stay on the road. They might take a picture," Trotta-Smith said. "But we have had a few problems with people kind of rudely coming up to the door and scaring our kids, telling them the house is haunted."