Jessica Alba and Cash Warren Shop For Baby Shoes

With rumors of an affair with a Russian model apparently going by the wayside, Jessica Alba and her on-and-off boyfriend Cash Warren are going strong after another short breakup.

The pair was spotted out enjoying a Malibu shopping excursion on Sunday, with the Sin City siren sizing up her man for some news shirts and shoes.

Meanwhile, onlookers at the store tell that Jess was also caught “sneaking a peek at a pair of very fashionable looking toddler shoes.”

Paparazzi on the scene proceeded to ask her who the toddler shoes were for, but got no answer from the Into the Blue babe. Soon after, Alba and Warren made a break for the exit and jumped into Jess’ Prius as Cash sped away from the growing crowd of onlookers and photographers.

Dismal Days For Britney Spears

As an update to the Fropki's Britney Spears hit and run report last night, it seems that the mother of two could be in for some rough weather.

The official story is that Britney is being charged with two misdemeanor offenses… the first one is “hit and run” and the second is “driving without a valid California license.” Both charges carry maximum sentences of $1000 in fines and six months in jail.

The incident in question occurred on August 6th, when the Lucky singer dinged a silver Mercedes with her black Benz. She got out to examine the damage, and determined it to be negligible. But the owner of the other car wasn’t very happy about Spears’ lack of interest in the situation.

Victim (if you can call her that) Kim Robard-Rifkin initially told press that she hoped Brit would do the right things and take responsibility for her actions. But three days later, an angry Kim filed charges. “It was simply like my car didn’t matter to her, my inconvenience didn’t matter to her.”

The good news (and boy does she need some these days) is that she won’t have to actually show up in court to defend herself. She’ll most likely have one of her high-priced lawyers do that. Arraignment has been set for October 10th in Van Nuys Superior Court.

Nicole Richie Gets Advice From Angelina Jolie

Just days after word that a wedding is on the way, soon-to-be mother Nicole Richie and her Good Charlotte rocker boyfriend Joel Madden were spotted yesterday catching a flight out of LAX airport.

With all of the excitement of marriage and a child, rumor has it that the Simple Life star is getting advice from parenting gurus Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

A source close to Angelina told Now magazine, “With Nicole finally getting her life of drugs, booze and wild partying under control, Brad and Angelina have offered her a list of common-sense tips they felt would help. Angelina was especially concerned about the effects Nicole’s years of partying could have on the baby.”

The insider added, “And knowing that Nicole has so much hanging over her, including a stressful court-ordered probation after her conviction for driving under the influence, Angelina felt she could use some help from another young mom.”

Supporting the story, according to a friend of Nicole’s, the former Simple Life star said: “Angelina is like a surrogate mother – albeit a beautiful one who’s nearer my age. But she has so much experience as a mom. She’s my guardian angel – and so is Brad.”

Dita Von Teese stars in PETA ad

Model and burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese shows off her curves in a racy new ad promoting spaying and neutering pets.

The ad unveiled Monday in Los Angeles by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals stars the former Marilyn Manson flame as a corset-wearing spokeswoman for the group's ABC animal birth control campaign.

Von Teese, whose real name is Heather Sweet, is shown standing in front of a blackboard in a pink and black corset, thigh high fishnet stockings and black stiletto heels.

In the ad, a seated bookish-looking older man stares up at her.

"Nearly 4 million dogs and cats are put to death in the U.S. every year because there are not enough good homes. You can help prevent this," she says in the ad, shown on PETA's Web site.

The ad also asks people considering dog or cat adoptions to adopt from local animal shelters.

Alicia Silverstone appeared naked in a PETA commercial promoting vegetarianism which was set to run in Houston last week. The ad never aired because of its nude content, Comcast Cable Communications Inc. spokeswoman Dana Runnells told the Los Angeles Times.

Von Teese, who has gained attention as a retro fashion muse, filed for divorce from goth rocker Manson last December after a year of marriage.

Britney Spears Ordered To Undergo Drug Testing

In the epic battle for the custody of Jayden James and Sean Preston, Britney Spears has been dealt another losing hand. Earlier this week, a judge ordered the “Gimme More” singer to submit to random drug and alcohol testing twice a week.

Both Spears and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, were directed to abstain from drugs and alcohol for twelve hours prior to taking custody of their sons. But the situation for Britney is far worse than for K-Fed.

Official court documents reveal that Superior Court Judge Scott M. Gordon is suspicious of Brit’s suitability as a parent. He said, “Based on the evidence presented, the court finds that there is a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol.”

In addition to her drug/alcohol testing, Gordon also ordered that Spears have weekly meetings with a “parenting coach.” He prescribed eight hours per week in order to help her become a more appropriate caregiver for her children. Also, both she and K-Fed must attend a “Parenting without conflict” course.

French mime artist Marcel Marceau dies

Marcel Marceau, the world's best-known mime artist who for decades moved audiences across the globe without uttering a single word, has died aged 84.

The Frenchman's extensive tours and appearances on camera brought his silent art to people around the world. His comic and tragic sketches appealed on a universal level, with each audience interpreting his performance in its own way.

"Mime, like music, knows neither borders nor nationalities," he once said. "If laughter and tears are the characteristics of humanity, all cultures are steeped in our discipline."

On stage, he charmed with his deft silent movements, a white-faced figure with a striped jersey and battered top hat.

Off stage, with the costume and the pancake makeup removed, Marceau was a slim, agile man whose eloquent description and explanation complemented his mute mastery of mime.

In mime, Marceau said, gestures express the essence of the soul's most secret aspiration. "To mime the wind, one becomes a tempest. To mime a fish, you throw yourself into the sea."

He created the figure of Bip, the melancholy, engaging clown with a limp red flower in his hat, 60 years ago this year.

"The mime Marceau will forever be the character of Bip," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in a statement confirming the performer's death.

"He became one of the best-known French artists in the world. His students and the showbusiness world will miss him."

The exact cause of his death was not immediately known.

Marceau traced his ancestry back through U.S. silent film greats Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to the clowns of the Commedia dell'Arte, a centuries-old European tradition, and to the stylised gestures of Chinese opera and Japan's Noh plays.

RESISTANCE

Marceau was born in the Alsatian town of Strasbourg on March 22, 1923. He was brought up in Lille, where his father was a butcher. When World War Two came, his father was taken hostage and later killed by the invading Nazis and in 1944 Marcel joined his elder brother in the Resistance.

He later joined the French Army and served with occupation forces in Germany at the end of the war.

He began to study acting in 1946 under Charles Dullin and the great mime teacher Etienne Decroux, who also taught Jean-Louis Barrault.

It was in Marcel Carne's famous 1947 film starring Barrault, "Les Enfants du Paradis," that Marceau, who played Arlequin, first became known as a mime artist.

He formed his own mime company in 1948, and the troupe was soon touring other European countries, presenting mime dramas. The company failed financially in 1959, but was revived as a school, the Ecole Internationale de Mimodrame, in 1984.

A veteran of dozens of films, one of his best remembered roles was a speaking cameo in "Silent Movie," made by American director Mel Brooks.

For Marceau, mime had a philosophical and political level.

One of his most famous sketches was "The Cage," in which he struggled to escape through an invisible ring of barriers, only to find that one cage succeeds another and there is no escape.

In Czechoslovakia before the Soviet-led invasion of 1968, he recalled that audiences understood it as an allegory about capitalism. After the invasion, they saw in it an image of themselves under Russian domination.

"I am a progressive, a man who deals for peace, and who has struggled for enlightenment in the world. I am not just an entertainer," he said.

"I want to be a man who will represent as an active witness my time, and who wants to say, without words, my feelings about the world."

Actress Alice Ghostley dies at 81

LOS ANGELES - Alice Ghostley, the Tony Award-winning actress best known on television for playing Esmeralda on "Bewitched" and Bernice on "Designing Women," has died. She was 81
Ghostley died Friday at her home in Studio City after a long battle with colon cancer and a series of strokes, longtime friend Jim Pinkston said.

Ghostley made her Broadway debut in "Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952." She received critical acclaim for singing "The Boston Beguine," which became her signature song.

Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, said part of Ghostley's charm was that she was not glamorous.

"She was rather plain and had a splendid singing voice, and the combination of the well-trained, splendid singing voice and this kind of dowdy homemaker character was so incongruous and so charming," Kreuger said.

In the 1960s, Ghostley received a Tony nomination for various characterizations in the Broadway comedy "The Beauty Part" and eventually won for best featured actress in "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window."

From 1969 to 1972, she played the good witch and ditzy housekeeper Esmeralda on TV's "Bewitched." She played Bernice Clifton on "Designing Women" from 1987 to 1993, for which she earned an Emmy nomination in 1992.

Ghostley's film credits include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "The Graduate," "Gator" and "Grease."

She was born on Aug. 14, 1926, in Eve, Mo., where her father worked as a telegraph operator. She grew up in Henryetta, Okla.

After graduating from high school, Ghostley attended the University of Oklahoma but dropped out and moved to New York with her sister to pursue theater.

"The best job I had then was as a theater usher," she said in a 1990 Boston Globe interview. "I saw the plays for free. What I saw before me was a visualization of what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be."

She was well aware of the types of roles she should pursue.

"I knew I didn't look like an ingenue," she told The Globe. "My nose was too long. I had crooked teeth. I wasn't blond. I knew I looked like a character actress.

Christina Aguilera and Tony Bennett Shine At Emmys

Taking center stage and knocking the crowd back on its feet, Christina Aguilera and Tony Bennett demonstrated why they both rank at the top of their profession, delivering a classy version of “Steppin’ Out (With My Baby)” at the 57th Annual Emmy Awards show.

Dressed in a stunning magenta dress and penguin suit respectively, Christina and Tony blended their voices to perfection as they performed the duet with the accompaniment of a classic pianist.

For Tony, this was a night of dreams, as in addition to partnering with one of America’s hottest stars, he also received an Emmy for his role in NBC’s An American Classic.

Earlier in the evening, Christina arrived like a princess for television’s biggest night. As she stepped out of her limo, she was swarmed by the paparazzi and fans waiting for a glimpse of the mother-to-be.

And her fans certainly did not leave disappointed, as she swept across the red carpet in a dazzling white dress that fit both her personality, as well as the beaming smile on her face.

Jessica Simpson’s Fabulous Fashion Week

What a month for celebrity sightings. The VMAs. The Venice Film Festival. And, of course, the New York City Fashion Week. Jessica Simpson was among the celebrities in Manhattan to see all there was to see.

At the Michael Kors spring collection show, the former Newlywed took in the joyous spirit and cutting edge designs, laden with bold colors. And to top it all off, the soundtrack for the show was from “Xanadu.”

And one witness had an insightful way to describe the event… “Charlie’s Angels meets Greenwich country club. It had the flavor of the ‘80s with it’s A-lines, ruffles and easiness, but it had the classic preppy colors.”

According to fashion guru Avril Graham, “Kors tapped into the bare shoulders and longer hemlines that fit with the 1970s and ‘80s retro moment we’re having, but he alone owned the skinny, body-hugging knits.”

"Mr. Skin" cashes in on obsession with naked women

Jim McBride has made it his life's work to know how much naked female flesh appears in movies -- an obsession apparently shared by millions of people.

So far McBride, a.k.a. Mr. Skin, and a staff that includes his mother, who works as a "skintern," have chronicled nude women in more than 25,000 movies and television shows.

It is all recorded on his Web site, www.mrskin.com, which has been running for eight years, and on Saturday McBride launched into print, publishing "Mr. Skin's Skintastic Video Guide" to "the 501 greatest movies for sex and nudity on DVD."

"It's the greatest job in the world," said McBride. "As a kid I used to tape as many movies as I could with nudity and then I'd save the nude scenes on separate tapes. I really amazed my friends with my nudity knowledge growing up."

Some experts say the Internet and more explicit television are fostering a more relaxed response by Americans to bare flesh, even if many people profess to be conservative.

Last week's opening episode of the HBO drama "Tell Me You Love Me," contained at least half-a-dozen sex acts featuring both women and men in the nude, an unprecedented level of sexual frankness for a U.S. cable television show.

But those looking for naked men on McBride's site will be disappointed.

"We have eight to 10 people who just go through movies and television shows ... for nudity, female nudity only," he said. "We don't do male nudity. I think it's mainly because this job is so fun I didn't want to make it work."

He said his Web site, which had a 35 percent boost to nearly 7 million hits a month after it featured in this year's hit movie "Knocked Up," was a celebration of female nudity that only chronicles mainstream movies, not pornography.

"There's plenty of porn sites on the Internet. I never wanted to compete with them. We're celebrating nudity in mainstream film," McBride said.

"The most prolific U.S. mainstream actress is Angelina Jolie," he said. "For an A-list actress, it's pretty incredible to be naked in 10 movies and still be in your early 30s."

The "Skintastic Video Guide" records how much female nudity there appears in a movie and names the nude stars and what body parts they showed. McBride has dedicated the book to his wife and thanks her for "never being naked in a movie."

Trio go "Haunting" with Madsen

Three actors have joined Virginia Madsen in the horror film "The Haunting in Connecticut," which began shooting this week in Winnipeg.

The Lionsgate project is based on one family's experience with supernatural forces after settling into a new home.

Martin Donovan will play Madsen's husband, and Kyle Gallner their cancer-ridden son, who becomes aware of the paranormal activity present around him. Elias Koteas will play a priest and fellow cancer patient to whom Madsen's character turns for help. Peter Cornwell directs.

Gallner has appeared on FX's "The Shield" and HBO's "Big Love," and Donovan in Showtime's "Weeds." Koteas recently completed work on David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Jessica Biel Hits Up Charity Pink Party

Jessica Biel spent Saturday night at the The Pink Party in Santa Monica. The occasion was set up to benefit the Cedar-Sinai Women’s Cancer Research Institute.

The Chuck and Larry actress kept it casual, showing up to the event in jeans and a black top. She also was without boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who’s set to perform at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

And in other Jessica Biel news, the Powder Blue babe has recently commented about nude photos she took at age 17 for a magazine shoot. With the Vanessa Hudgens nude photo scandal going on right now, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate.

Of the nude photo session, Jessica said, “It was horrible. I embarrassed my family, I embarrassed myself. I felt humiliated and taken advantage of.”

Despite these sentiments, Ms Biel does believe that some good came of the rueful moment, because it made her a stronger person.

Jessica claims, “Now I can look at the pictures and not be disgusted with myself. I don’t have to cry about it. I consider it to be a really good learning experience. I learned so much about being able to stand up for myself and being able to say ‘no’.”

Bach leaving former home with Hasselhoff

LOS ANGELES - David Hasselhoff's ex-wife has agreed to move out of the home she shared with the former "Baywatch" star while her lawyers work on a financial settlement in their divorce, the actor's lawyer said.

Melvin S. Goldsman said Pamela Bach notified his office Wednesday that she plans to move out of the San Fernando Valley home by Oct. 1.

The agreement came two days after Bach pleaded with Superior Court Judge Mark A. Juhas to delay the trial concerning her request for additional financial support from Hasselhoff.

She told the judge her lawyers needed more time to review Hasselhoff's financial documents.

Juhas said he could not find legal grounds to grant the request to delay the trial beyond Oct. 1, but agreed to do so if she left the home so Hasselhoff could move back in with the couple's two daughters.

Hasselhoff has sole legal and primary physical custody of the girls.

Goldsman had opposed delaying the trial, which he said has already cost Hasselhoff $1 million in attorneys' fees for himself and Bach.

Hasselhoff and Bach were married in December 1989. He filed for divorce in January 2006 and their divorce became final that August.

Fashion Rocks Brings Out Hollywood Elite

As part of New York City’s Fashion Week, Fashion Rocks took place last night at Radio City Music Hall. And there were plenty of performers to satisfy even the most eclectic tastes.

One of the coolest surprises of the night was when Aerosmith was performing “Walk This Way” and Fergie joined them onstage. With this song’s brilliant history of pairing Aerosmith with artists like Run DMC and Kid Rock, the performance delivered on it’s reputation.

Also at the show, Jennifer Lopez looked stunning while performing her disco hit “Waiting for Tonight.” Her choreography, bolstered by “ravenous paparazzi and strutting models,” added to the stunning spectacle.

And Avril Lavigne lent some estrogen to the show’s lineup, which was predominantly male. All in all, it was a good night. And you can see for yourself when Fashion Rocks airs tonight at 9pm EST on CBS.

White Stripes cancel Sept. tour dates

DETROIT - The White Stripes have canceled upcoming tour dates "due to health issues."

"Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time," the duo said Tuesday in a posting on their Web site. "We hate to let people down and are very sorry."

A representative for the White Stripes declined comment Wednesday.

Drummer White and singer-guitarist Jack White are touring to promote their latest album, "Icky Thump."

Shows set for this month in Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin, Texas; San Diego; Inglewood, Calif.; and Berkeley, Calif., have been canceled.

Ticket holders can get refunds at the point of purchase, the Web site said.

Jon Stewart will host Academy Awards

Jon Stewart will return as host of the Academy Awards.

The star of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will get his second shot at hosting Hollywood's premiere event, which will be held on Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. He hosted the 78th annual awards show in 2006.

Stewart was "a terrific host" for that event, Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates said Wednesday, announcing the selection in a statement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The academy didn't indicate why it decided to go with Stewart after using comedian Ellen DeGeneres this year.

"I'm thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time's a charm," Stewart joked.

Previous Cates-selected hosts include Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Billy Crystal and Stewart.

Stewart, a political satirist, injected some political humor into his 2006 performance, taking jabs at the war in Iraq and ribbing Hollywood's elite about their ties to the Democratic Party.

However, some jokes bombed and he got mixed reviews.

"His usually impeccable blend of puckishness and self-effacement fell flat," a review by The Associated Press said, adding he was "too deferential, too nice and too obvious in his targets."

The 44-year-old Stewart, who also hosted the Grammys in 2001 and 2002, noted the split decision on his own cable TV show the night after the Oscars, saying he had a great time but didn't know how he did until he saw the reviews.

"I sucked and was great!" he said. "I was a painfully smug and unfunny heir to Johnny Carson."

Hillary Clinton returns 850,000 dollars collected by fugitive

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is to return 850,000 dollars in campaign funds collected by a Hong Kong businessman detained on fraud charges, her office said Tuesday.

Norman Hsu surrendered to police on August 31 having been on the run from Californian authorities since 1992, after he failed to show up at a hearing into fraud charges against him.

Hsu, a naturalized US citizen who originates from Hong Kong, had helped to collect thousands of dollars at state and federal level for Clinton's campaign coffers since 2003.

His name recently appeared on the list of the Democratic Party's 20 top donors and several Democratic party politicians, including Clinton and her nearest rival for the 2008 nomination, Barack Obama, have said they would either return the money he collected or give it to charity.

"In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign," Clinton's spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement.

"Despite conducting a thorough review of public records, our campaign, like these others, were unaware of Mr. Hsu's decade-plus old warrant."

He added some 260 donors would receive refunds totaling about 850,000 dollars. The same donors could however choose to make out a new check for Clinton's campaign.

Toronto film festival turns gaze from war to love

A quirky teen-pregnancy yarn and a love story involving a life-sized sex doll have won over critics at the Toronto International Film Festival, stealing the spotlight from darker films on war and politics.

While films with themes wrought from the war in Iraq and global terrorism have drawn a generally positive response, lighter fare such as "Juno" and "Lars and the Real Girl" have also emerged from the pack.

"Lars," which starts 2007 Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling as a man obsessed with a sex doll, has been lauded for a clever script that turns an uncomfortable subject into a love story.

"Juno," directed by "Thank You For Smoking" director Jason Reitman, is about 16-year-old pregnant teen who decides to put her baby up for private adoption.

"They are both comedies, and they are both very, very broad, and yet very very sweet," said David Poland of MovieCityNews.com.

These smaller films have triumphed in the face of larger hype for Iraq-themed films such as Brian De Palma's "Redacted" and Paul Haggis's "In the Valley of Elah," as well as Gavin Hood's "Rendition," a tense look a the practice of detaining terrorism suspects in foreign prisons.

"We have plenty of Iraq and war and blood, but I think the truth is that a combination of films that were not as impactful as people were expecting has kind of made that a secondary issue in a weird way," Poland said.

The thematic bent recalls the flood of films beginning in the late 1970s critical of the Vietnam War, such as "The Deer Hunter" and "Coming Home."

But with the war in Iraq still going on, some say audiences may not be ready to step back and look objectively at its consequences, an argument that may become more apparent when these films hit the box office.

"It may be that they all cannibalize each other. It may be too much too soon, way too much," said Pete Hammond, film critic for Maxim magazine.

OSCAR RUN-UP

The festival, which will have screened 349 films from 55 countries by the time it wraps up on Saturday, is considered by many the kickoff to Oscar season, as it features the North American premieres of many films that will be considered for key awards.

Hammond said it's still too early to get a good sense of which films will be front-runners, but he said some performances have already been generating buzz.

He pointed to Cate Blanchett, though not for the heavily-hyped "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," in which she reprises her role as the 16th century English monarch.

While "Elizabeth" has thus far drawn a mixed reaction, Blanchett's turn as Bob Dylan" in "I'm Not There," has been praised.

"I think that's a slam dunk nomination for her as supporting (actress)," Hammond said.

Also garnering a positive response has been Casey Affleck's portrayal of Robert Ford alongside Brad Pitt in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," a film that has also been lauded by critics.

Critics have also warmed to the Sean Penn-directed "Into the Wild," and the Coen brothers' violent "No Country for Old Men," which was well received at the Cannes Film Festival.

Oscar-winner Jane Wyman dead at 93: reports

Jane Wyman, the Oscar-winning actress and former wife of Ronald Reagan, has died at the age of 93, media reports said Monday.

Wyman, who won a best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a deaf rape victim in "Johnny Belinda" and later appeared in the hit television soap "Falcon Crest," died in Palm Springs, California, CNN reported.

Wyman's representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

Although Wyman became familiar to millions during the 1980s as the scheming Angela Channing in "Falcon Crest," her heyday had come decades earlier with roles in a string of hit films during Hollywood's golden age.

A contract actress with Warner Brothers studio in the 1930s, Wyman's big break came in 1939 with her first lead role in "Torchy Plays With Dynamite."

She garnered critical acclaim for her performance in 1945's film noir classic "The Lost Weekend," before winning an Oscar nomination the following year for her role in the "The Yearling."

Although she missed out on an Academy Award to Olivia de Havilland, Wyman did not have long to wait before getting her hands on the famous golden statuette, scooping the prize in 1948 for "Johnny Belinda."

It was the first time that the prestigious acting award had been given for a role that did not require a single spoken word of dialogue.

Fittingly, Wyman kept her acceptance speech short and sweet.

"I won this by keeping my mouth shut, and that's what I'm going to do now," she said after collecting the prize.

The win paved the way for roles in several big-budget projects, and she went on to earn two more Oscar nods during her career for 1951's "The Blue Veil" and 1954's "The Magnificent Obsession" opposite Rock Hudson.

Britney Spears’ Bodyguard’s Battery Charges

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wondered how these “bodyguards” are allowed to carry weapons and push people around. And in the case of Julio Cesar Camera, it looks like he took his job a little too far while protecting his client Britney Spears.

Camera has been formally charged with battery due to his scuffle with a photographer outside of a Las Vegas hotel. The bodyguard physically handled the man, Andrew Deetz, as he tried to get close-up shots of Brit and her boys.

After a physical altercation, Camera and Spears allegedly shouted all kinds of pleasantries at the paparazzo. Brit was said to have threatened Deetz, shouting, “I am going to kill you!”

All in all, it’s really no biggie. The Toxic singer’s lawyers could easily bail this Camera guy out of the situation. If for some reason he gets convicted, Julio could face a six-month jail sentence or $1000 in fines. And by Nicole Richie standards, that’s only a few days in the slammer.

Malawian official visits Madonna

Malawi's chief social welfare official has paid a visit to Madonna's London home, part of a long-delayed assessment into whether the pop idol can adopt a little boy from the Southern African country.

Simon Chisale was spotted leaving the singer's home Wednesday afternoon clutching a blue binder, but he refused to comment and attempted to hide his face when approached by The Associated Press.

Chisale is due to file a report on the suitability of Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie as adoptive parents for toddler David Banda, who was plucked from a Malawian orphanage during a visit there by Madonna last autumn.

In October, Madonna and Ritchie were granted temporary custody of David, then 13 months old, but that could be revoked if it were found that David was being treated differently from their other children or if the toddler's rights were being violated in any way.

The assessment originally was to have been made by Penston Kilembe, the director of Malawi's Child Welfare Services. However, he was removed from the case following allegations that he had solicited money from the singer for his trip to London.

The removal sparked renewed concern that the singer had used her wealth and celebrity status to speed David's adoption.

Kilembe has denied any wrongdoing, and in a statement earlier this week Madonna said there had been no interference with government officials.

Dresses dominate BCBG's runway

NEW YORK - The success of the dress continues.

At the Wednesday morning preview of BCBG Max Azria's spring collection, the first womenswear line presented as part of New York Fashion Week, one delicate dress floated down the runway after another. The best part: many were wearable.

The femininity came from the fabrics, mostly organza and tulle, in a subtle dusty palette with only the occasional pop of a blush pink. Because some of the dresses would have been sheer on their own, the husband-wife design team of Max and Lubov Azria layered them, often with a silk slipdress under a wrap dress or one with panels.

"Hiding in the light you will find traditional tailoring and corsetry deconstructed to define a modern woman," said the Azrias in their notes explaining their inspiration.

One of the best looks was the first. They called it a trenchcoat — but most would probably consider the gravel-colored organza garment a coatdress — that was worn over a tulle slipdress and nipped at the waist with a leather wrap belt.

Other outstanding outfits were an off-white vest over an ivory bustier dress with pleat details worn over an ivory slipdress, and a seafoam-colored silk charmeuse panel dress with a pale gray slipdress with a lace hem. Any of the dresses that had oversized pleated pockets, though, would create too wide a silhouette for anyone other than the stick-thin models who continue to dominate the catwalk.

BCBG's young fans in the entertainment world turned out to the tents at Bryant Park, where Azria will also show his signature upscale collection Friday. Ashlee Simpson, Sophia Bush and Ciara were in the front row as was tennis star Martina Hingis, who people seemed surprised to see in a gold sequin top, black jumper and black booties.

"It was all very pretty," Hingis said after the show. "The satin — that was really nice."

Overall, dresses have been a strong trend the past three fashion cycles, but the shape has changed. It started with short, boxy shifts in the spring, which morphed into shirtdresses for fall. It seems as if next season's shape — at least for BCBG — is a loose sheath, one that glides over an hourglass shape without sticking to it.

New York Fashion Week runs eight days with Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. and Nicole Miller among those still to show on this kickoff day.

Halle Berry pregnant with first child

Halle Berry and her model boyfriend Gabriel Aubry are expecting their first child, the Oscar-winning actress told celebrity TV show "Access Hollywood" on Tuesday.

"Yes, I am three months pregnant," Berry wrote in an e-mail to the program. "Gabriel and I are beyond excited, and I've waited a long time for this moment in life. Now the next ... months will be the longest of my life!"

"Access Hollywood" said Berry, 41, met Aubry, 31, in 2005.

Celebrity news Web site TMZ.com reported that producers of an upcoming film starring Berry, "Tulia," have postponed production of the movie, which was scheduled to begin in October.

Representatives for the film's distributor, Lionsgate, were not immediately available for comment.

The film also was to feature actor Billy Bob Thornton, who co-starred with Berry in "Monster's Ball," the 2001 movie that earned Berry an Academy Award as best actress.

Berry's marriages to baseball star David Justice and Singer Eric Benet ended in divorce.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Cindy Crawford Age Gracefully

Let’s face it. Most women are hypersensitive about their age, especially as they grow older. But Michelle Pfeiffer is most certainly not most women.

The Dangerous Minds actress was recently named #1 in OK! Magazine’s poll of women who turn more beautiful with age, edging out Supermodel Cindy Crawford. And Michelle is revealing that there isn’t a lot of guesswork in her routine to stay fit and healthy.



Pfeiffer says the secret behind her timeless beauty lies in eating well, exercising appropriately and getting enough sleep. She doesn’t starve herself or kill herself in the gym. Surprised?

The list of over-the-hill hotties is as follows:

1 Michelle Pfeiffer, 49

2 Cindy Crawford, 41

3 Ellen Barkin, 53

4 Glenn Close, 60

5 Marcia Cross, 45

Gere, Theron bash Bush in Venice

Richard Gere and Charlize Theron added their voices to a chorus of stars taking swipes at the Bush administration at the Venice Film Festival.

"How did we elect Bush twice?" Gere asked rhetorically while promoting his new film, "The Hunting Party."

In the film, Gere plays a reporter determined to track down Radovan Karadizic — who has been hiding for more than a decade and is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity for his role as an alleged architect of the Bosnian war.

"What's interesting to me is how do the bad people among us end up our leaders?" the 58-year-old actor said at a news conference Monday.

In "The Valley of Elah," Theron plays a New Mexico detective drawn into the case of a U.S. soldier who disappears just days after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq.

"The decision-making process for going into Iraq was very hastily done, and I think the facts weren't there, and I just don't think you go to war for those reasons," Theron, 32, told Associated Press Television in an interview. "I think the thing that upset me most was the manipulation that our government did towards our people, manipulating them to believe that if they weren't for the war, they weren't patriotic."

George Clooney has said he made "Syriana" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" out of anger for being considered a traitor for questioning the decision to go to war. He told reporters at Venice last week that he believes Americans are now in the process of fixing the mistakes of the last few years.

The film festival ends Saturday with the awarding of the top Golden Lion prize.

Owen Wilson "doing very well," says director

Owen Wilson, the Hollywood actor hospitalized just over a week ago following a reported suicide attempt, is "doing very well," said Wes Anderson, who directed him in the new comedy "The Darjeeling Limited."

Wilson had been expected to join the cast and crew of the movie in Venice, where it is one of 22 entries in the main competition at the annual film festival. "The Darjeeling Limited" has its world premiere later on Monday.

"We all miss having him here very much right now," Anderson, who has worked with Wilson on several films, told a news conference following a press screening of the movie.

"Obviously he's been through quite a lot this week, but I can tell you that's he doing very well and making us laugh, and when he's ready he's going to speak for himself much better than any of us could. He's got a very good way with words."

Anderson urged reporters to restrict their questions to the film in order to protect Wilson's privacy.

The 38-year-old actor and writer, nominated for an Oscar along with Anderson for the screenplay to "The Royal Tenenbaums," was released from a clinic over the weekend, according to media reports.

Wilson's box-office record -- "Wedding Crashers" topped $200 million in U.S. box office sales -- and his onscreen image as an affable everyman who charms the ladies and boozes with the boys, has made him a favorite with filmmakers and filmgoers.

INDIAN JOURNEY

"Darjeeling" follows three troubled brothers who meet on a train in India and embark on an often hilarious spiritual journey they hope will heal family rifts.

Owen plays the oldest sibling Francis Whitman, a control freak whose head is wrapped in bandages and whose face is covered in plasters after a near-death motorcycle crash.

Adrien Brody plays the middle sibling Peter, deeply anxious about the impending birth of his child, and Jason Schwartzman rounds off the trio as Jack, a writer who obsessively monitors the messages on his girlfriend's answering machine back home.

Most of the action takes place on an Indian train called The Darjeeling Limited, which trundles across stunning landscapes between teeming towns, where the brothers alight to visit shrines they hope will bring answers to their problems.

But the real epiphany comes when they attempt to rescue three Indian boys whose raft overturns in a fast-running river.

Tragedy and absurdity blur as the boys' family and friends welcome the three bewildered Whitmans into their homes in a village in the middle of nowhere.

The ultimate quest is to find their mother, played by Anjelica Huston, who left them to be a nun on a remote Indian hilltop. When they finally reach her, she meets them briefly only to disappear the following morning.

Anderson and his team hired a real Indian train and 10 coaches for three months, stripped them down, rebuilt the interiors and painted them in vivid colors, negotiating what they called "Byzantine Indian bureaucracies" to get the job done.

Bill Murray has a fleeting cameo role, appearing near the beginning of the film chasing a train he does not catch and again briefly at the end.

Murray joked: "Finally in this film I have the role ... that I've always cherished," before he described working a handful of days while relaxing for weeks in India and Venice. "This is what I cherish about this man," he added, referring to Anderson.

French footballer Henry divorces in London court

French football star Thierry Henry divorced his wife of four years Claire Merry at London's High Court on Monday.

British reports speculated the big-earning striker, who plays for Spanish giants Barcelona, could face the biggest ever divorce payment by a footballer.

Merry is expected to be entitled to a large chunk of his wealth -- estimated at around 25 million pounds (50 million dollars, 35 million euros).

The couple shared a plush six-bedroomed house in the well-to-do north London suburb of Hampstead, which Henry bought for 5.95 million pounds in 2002.

Henry, 30, and Merry, 27, a British model and the mother of their two-year-old daughter Tea, met when they worked on car television advertisements.

The "quickie" divorce was granted by a judge at the Principal Registry of the High Court's Family Division, who granted the couple a decree nisi. The Sun daily said it will be rubber-stamped in a decree absolute in six weeks' time.

Henry announced he was splitting from Merry in June, shortly before his transfer from London's English Premier League side Arsenal to Barcelona.

A statement in July from law firm Mishcon de Reya on behalf of Henry read: "Thierry is extremely saddened by the breakdown of his marriage.

"He is anxious to move on with his life and maintain the best possible relationship he can with Claire for the benefit of their daughter Tea, whom he loves very much.

"Thierry would like to stress that contrary to reports... his move to Barcelona was entirely for footballing reasons."

2 Venice films look at Iraq war horrors

Two Hollywood films that take up the politics of the Iraq war grew out of the conviction that the American public was not getting the full picture of the violence.

Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah," starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, focuses on the psychological scars that haunt returning soldiers and provides a powerful commentary on how society is treating veterans and their families.

Brian De Palma says he wants to stop the war with his film, "Redacted" by exposing a wider audience to images of horror that he says are not being delivered by the mainstream media.

With Vietnam, "we saw pictures of the destruction and the sorrow of the people who were traumatized. We saw the soldiers ... being brought back in body bags. We see none of that in this war," De Palma told a news conference Friday. One of his previous films, "Casualties of War," dealt with the Vietnam war.

The title, "Redacted," is a term meaning edited that is often used when sensitive material is expunged, or blacked out, from a document.

De Palma's film, inspired by material he found on the Internet, is shot on video to present the film as though it were a series of clips that could be downloaded to your computer. Inspired by actual events, the movie tells the fictionalized story of a group of young soldiers who rape a 15-year-old Iraqi girl, kill her family and then shoot her.

De Palma said he wanted to examine how the soldiers had gone so wrong. The movie doesn't present the judicial resolution, but it does show one soldier who came forward being treated with hostility by the military, in contrast to the more comfortable interrogations of the two main perpetrators.

In reality, four soldiers have been convicted in the case that inspired the film and handed sentences of up to 110 years in prison. A fifth man, who left the Army before being charged, faces a federal death penalty trial. The case has received wide media coverage.

The filmmakers had to negotiate a "legal minefield" to present real events as fiction, De Palma said, and the film opens with a disclaimer, which is slowly blacked out. The final scene is a montage of real-life photographs of Iraqi war dead, including maimed and dead women and children, their eyes blacked out on the advice of lawyers because the film used actors and is not a documentary.

"The irony of 'Redacted' is that it was redacted," De Palma said.

While De Palma said he wants the film to help stop the war, Haggis said he tried to keep his own well-known anti-war politics off the screen.

"I felt I owed it to the audience to put that aside, to tell the story ... and let them decide," Haggis told reporters Saturday ahead of his movie's premiere.

Haggis said he also was driven by an absence from the Iraqi war of the sort of images that shocked the public into opposing the Vietnam war.

"I think that when that doesn't happen, it's the responsibility of the artist to ask those questions," said Haggis, who won an Oscar for 2002's "Crash."

In the film, Jones plays Hank Deerfield, the father of a U.S. soldier who disappears just days after returning from a tour in Iraq. A former soldier himself, he drives across the country to find out what happened to his son and learns hard truths about his son's Iraq tour, while challenging some of his own long-held ideals. Charlize Theron plays a New Mexico police detective drawn into the investigation.

Both movies explore how exposure to war — both its horrors and its endless tense hours of patrol and manning roadblocks — desensitizes soldiers to violence, and how that triggers even more tragedy.

Haggis' film takes a very hard look at how society is responding, including in a tight subplot. Early on, the wife of an Iraqi veteran reports to local police her husband's violent drowning of the family's Doberman in the bathtub. Theron's detective refers the woman to the local U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, saying "crimes against dogs are particularly hard to prosecute."

Later, she answers a call where the woman, too, has been drowned in the bathtub.

Inevitably, the film is political, acknowledged Haggis. "All films are political when your country is at war," he said.

"Redacted," which opens in the United States in December, premiered Friday here, and "In the Valley of Elah," making its U.S. opening in coming weeks, premiered Saturday.

CORRECTED: New Blade Runner cut is how it should have been

Twenty-five years after "Blade Runner" was panned by critics and pulled from theatres, British director Ridley Scott savors revenge with the final cut of the science-fiction film now considered a cult classic.

Presenting the new version of what he considers his most accomplished movie, Scott recalled the difficulties he had when he first pitched the work to Hollywood.

"I was a new kid on the block in Hollywood, so driving to those studios everyday was a magical mystery tour. But it was hard, the whole process of making the movie became quite difficult," he told reporters at the Venice film festival after a press screening.

"I wasn't used at that point in my career to having too many cooks in the kitchen, and I think there were many people who started to get involved.

"So out of it came a hybrid version of what I'd originally intended. Consequently ... we had a bad opening, bad previews, confused previews. I was killed by some critics ... then I thought it would be gone away for ever," Scott said.

The futuristic thriller is set in the year 2019 and follows policeman Deckard (Harrison Ford), a "blade runner" trying to catch and kill four human replicants who have escaped from a space-based colony.

The response at early sample screenings before the official release in June 1982 was so weak that the producers forced Scott to add voice-overs to the film and change the final scene to make it a more "happy ending."

Even then, bad reviews and the almost simultaneous release of Steven Spielberg's hugely popular "E.T." ended the theatre run of Blade Runner prematurely.

But the film eventually achieved cult status through re-issue on television and home video.

Scott, 69, said he had almost forgotten about it until he saw clips on music television channel MTV and realized that his film "was having a strong influence on younger generations."

Over the years, five versions of the film have been released, but Scott said the "Final Cut" -- which will be issued as a collector's DVD edition later in the winter -- was "really as it was intended to be."

"A good film is like good book, you might go to the shelf and take it off and revisit it. There are not a lot of films I can do that with from my collection of material," said Scott, whose other titles include international hits such as the first "Alien," "Thelma & Louise" and "Gladiator."

At present, Scott is working on "Body Of Lies," one of several American movies on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months. But he said he would like to make another science fiction film.

"I am continuously looking for that so if anyone has got a science fiction script in their briefcase, give it to me."