Charlize can't get a man

She may be one of the most beautiful women in the world but apparently Charlize Theron has a major problem: She can't find a man!

The 35-year-old Oscar-winning actress says she does not want to be single and would prefer to be seeing somebody.

After ending her nine-year relationship with Irish actor Stuart Townsend in January she has still not found the right person.

On the face of it, she should have no problem attracting suitors - she is the face of Christian Dior, is worth an estimated £18million and consistently been ranked as one of world’s sexiest women. But she told Piers Morgan on his CNN chatshow that relationships were a problem for her and blurted out: ‘I’m single and I need a man!’

Theron and Townsend broke up after their relationship reportedly turned from ‘husband and wife’ to ‘brother and sister’.

 

South African-born Theron denied being romantically linked to Prince Harry after they were seen chatting at a polo match recently. ‘I am not dating him. I'm dating his passion for the work that he does,’ she said at the time, referring to Harry’s charity fundraising.

Theron won an Oscar in 2003 for her role in the crime drama Monster.

Rare Chaplin film fails to sell

A rare Charlie Chaplin film bought for £3.20 on eBay has failed to sell at auction despite being expected to fetch "a significant six-figure sum".

Charlie Chaplin in Zepped, thought to be a propaganda film made in Britain during World War I, is the only known surviving copy.

But the seven-minute 35mm nitrate film reel only attracted one bid, a Bonham's spokesperson said.
It has not yet been decided if the film will be put up for sale again.

"Obviously we're disappointed the film didn't sell, but it's an unusual item and the nature of auctions means these things are always unpredictable," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

Collector Morace Park bought the reel in 2009 because he liked the look of the tin, and then discovered the film inside it. The footage, recorded in 1916, features a Zeppelin raid over London and is thought to feature some of the earliest-known animation.

Food for thought

Films like The King's Speech attracted loads more "mature" people to the cinema earlier this year and helped to boost box-office revenues at Britain's biggest cinema chain Cineworld by 1.1 per cent, the company reported today as it announced its first half accounts.

But the downside is that the oldies don't spend anything like as much on popcorn, sweets, Cokes, hot dogs and nachos as the young 'uns while they're at the flicks, so retail spending dropped by 0.7 per cent and other income, such as advertising and the sale of 3D glasses, was down 8.8 per cent.

Diana 'cover-up' documentary trailer launches

On what would have been Diana, Princess of Wales’ 50th birthday tomorrow (July 1), the filmmakers behind the controversial Cannes break-out documentary Unlawful Killing are unveiling of a  new trailer ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh in Eire on July 6.

The trailer goes  live at 10.00am on July 1 via the film’s official website www.unlawfulkilling.com and via the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/DDAPublicRelations.

The 90-second edit sets out to discredit many of the misconceptions that have surrounded the film since its screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The film mixes candid interviews with recreations of some of the key moments from the inquest into Diana’s death, which was not held until a decade after the accident. The questions the film asks, as it seeks to uncover the truth about the world’s most famous car crash, shakes perceptions of how Diana and her partner Dodi Fayed died and where responsibility ultimately lies for this apparent Establishment cover-up.

Actor Keith Allen (father of singer Lily Allen) was at the centre of the inquest, covertly observing proceedings in the courtroom and amongst the press. His documentary recreates key moments from the inquest, and demonstrates how the alleged cover-up was perpetrated. It claims vital evidence of foul play was hidden from public scrutiny, and shows how the Royal Family was exempted from giving evidence, and how journalists, particularly those working for the British media, systematically misreported what was happening.

Was John Lennon a right-winger?

John Lennon wasn’t quite as radical as Beatles fans may think, according to a new documentary film.
The Toronto Sun reports that Fred Seaman, Lennon's personal assistant from 1979 until the time of his death in 1980, heard the singer speak fondly of President-elect Ronald Reagan.
"John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on Jimmy Carter," Seaman told American director and songwriter Seth Swirsky in his new documentary Beatles Stories.
"He'd met Reagan back, I think, in the '70s at some sporting event ... Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that ... He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me."
Seaman also talks of Lennon’s “embarrassment” over the youthful resentment that pegged the singer as a liberal, not a conservative. "I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist ... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle ... Maybe he was being provocative ... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism."
Beatles Stories is a series of interviews with some of music's biggest players including Brian Wilson, Art Garfunkel and Smokey Robinson, speaking about the mop-toppers. There’s no date set yet for a UK release but you can see the US trailer, above

Chris Nolan's Schooldays

"[he] must learn to do what he is told. It is unfortunate that he is a year older than the other boys, but in time ... will turn out to be a good Melvill boy".

This is an old report card from his English public school - 'Melvill' was the name of his house - for perhaps the world's hottest movie director, as revealed in the latest issue of The Haileyburian, a stylish publication extolling the virtues and achievements of the boys and girls.

Christopher Nolan, described in the magazine as "arguably our most famous living OH" - a contention which could justifiably be challenged by the likes of Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Dom Joly and Stephen Mangan [or even, arguably, the Editor of Movies1.tv] - was said to have been a "reserved but generally nice person" in his Haileybury days.

Sadly, there are no further insights into the young man from those heady days in the Hertfordshire countryside. Did he shoot 'prentice videos in the surrounding woods or did he organise outré film screenings for his fellow students?

What is surely incontestable is that Nolan has to be the RICHEST LIVING OH thanks to his helming of the current Batman franchise not to mention another half billion dollar grosser, Inception.

The biter bit

Although still a year away from release in our cinemas, an interesting insight into the re-boot of the Spider-man franchise comes from its action director, Britain's own Vic Armstrong.

In his new autobiography, modestly titled The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman (Titan Books), Armstrong writes: "We're going right back to the beginning to when Peter Parker gets bitten, and even before that.

"I saw some of the previous Spider-man movies and I must admit I didn't particularly enjoy them, they looked ridiculous at times, and so much of it relied on CGI.

"On this, we're hoping to go about things in a more realistic way; we're going to do a lot of radical Parkour and Muay Thai-style fighting, and we're developing a way for the new Spider-man [played by Andrew Garfield] to swing and move and climb up buildings."

For a movie about a human arachnid, it surely can't hurt that the director is called Marc Webb!

Out of the past

There’s nothing quite like a fistful of awards to help breathe new life into past credits that seemed destined for commercial oblivion.

So with just a change of title from The Other Woman to the more indigestible Love And Other Impossible Pursuits – actually the title of the original novel – and a DVD sleeve bearing the legend

‘Academy Award Winner’, welcome back shortly a long-forgotten – and some critics wish it was – 2009 performance by Natalie Portman.

Since playing Emilia in this New York-set piece of apparently miserabilist melodrama, Ms Portman has gone on to even greater fame and fortune with the likes of her Oscar and BAFTA winning Black Swan and Thor. Now 30, she has also just become a mum by her relationship with Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Milliepied..

Intriguingly the DVD, released in August here, portrays, among many other trials and tribulations, Portman having to deal with the death of an infant child.

According to the prestigious Village Voice, “Portman, neither courageous nor complex enough to fully embody an often unlikable character [something she'd do triumphantly two years later in Black Swan - Ed], succeeds merely in enervating us.”

Pythons team up for 3D film

Four of the Monty Python cast have reunited to give their voices to a new animated 3D film based on the memoirs of their colleague Graham Chapman, who died of cancer in 1989 aged 48.
A Liar's Autobiography will feature recordings Chapman made of his book, which he wrote in 1980.
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones have all signed up but Eric Idle is not involved. The film is due out in spring next year.
Terry Jones joked he had "no idea" until recently that Chapman was dead and "thought he was just being lazy".
"However, I am now delighted to find myself working with him again on this exciting project," he added.
Co-director Jeff Simpson said the producers had worked closely with the Chapman estate and the Pythons to "get this exactly right" and Chapman would be pleased that "his work is being reimagined in glorious 3D - he always loved wearing silly glasses".

Taylor's jewels on world tour

Elizabeth Taylor's collection of jewellery, art and designer clothing will be exhibited around the world, the auctioneers Christie's announced today.
The three-month tour will start in September and include stops in Moscow, London and Dubai before the items are sold at an auction in New York.
Known for her love of diamonds, the actress owned some of the world's most expensive stones.
The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation will receive proceeds from the exhibit.

Film-makers take BT to court

Film-makers are going to court in a bid to block access to a site that links to pirated versions of popular movies.

In a British legal first, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) has applied for an injunction that would force BT to cut off customers' access to Newzbin, a members-only website which aggregates a large amount of the illegally copied material found on some discussion forums.
The MPA is the international arm of the Motion Picture Association of America - the industry body representing movie studios such as Warner, Sony, Fox, Disney and Paramount. It said it was targeting BT first as the largest internet service provider in the UK.It wants BT to block Newzbin with the same system that stops access to sites hosting child sex abuse images.
BT confirmed it would be in court later but did not make any further comment.

Emma's secret revealed

Harry Potter star Emma Watson has admitted in a new interview that she used to fancy co-star Tom Felton, who plays villainous Draco Malfoy.
Emma, 21, who first appeared as Hermione Granger in the first Potter film at the age of 11, told Seventeen magazine: "For the first two movies, I had a huge crush on Tom Felton. He was my first crush."
She said she had told Felton about her feelings. "He totally knows. We talked about it - we still laugh about it," she said. "We are really good friends now, and that's cool."
Emma also admitted to an inability to play it cool around boys, saying: "I'm a terrible game player. I'm so impatient, it's one of my worst traits! I'll pretty much say to a guy, 'I like you, let's go hang out.' But my friends are like, 'You can't do that! You have to string this guy along. And I'm just like, 'No! I won't! I just want to go on the date!' I definitely haven't figured it out yet."

Rosie the Rabbit?

Rosie

Jessica

Is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley a fan of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Well she certainly had a touch of Jessica Rabbit about her at the New York premiere of her new film Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Tuesday night.
Reports said the Victoria Secrets model looked stunning as a Jessica lookalike on the red carpet in a jaw-dropping floor-length, sparkly red gown accessorised with that Ms Rabbit pout.
Sadly the same can't be said for her performance in the film. Critics have slammed her acting debut, branding her an even worse actress than her predecessor, Megan Fox. Oh dear!

Bond girl deported

Michelle Yeoh, who will been seen this autumn as Burma detention heroine Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson’s biopic The Lady, has just been banished from … you’ve guessed it, Burma.

Yeoh, a former Bond girl (Tomorrow Never Dies) and martial arts wiz (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), had hoped to pop in and see Suu again, having first met her last year when the democracy champion was finally released from house arrest.

This time round, the authorities stepped in before these two formidable women could get together and Yeoh was summarily deported before she could even exit Rangoon airport. She is now on a ‘blacklist’.

Goodbye Harry

Farewell then Harry Redmond Jr. 

Harry who?

Harry, who has just died aged 101, was part of the trailblazing special effects team who turned an 18in  model of an ape into the 24ft tall King Kong back in 1933.

With his dad, another sfx wiz, he helped create eye-popping sequences for everything from musicals (Flying Down to Rio) and historical epics (Last Days of Pompeii) to the big ape sequel Son of Kong.

After Harry Junior went solo, the credits piled up including The Marx Bros’ A Night in Casablanca, which featured the memorable falling wall sequence. 

Much later, Redmond was prolific in TV co-producing popular shows like Flipper and Daktari as well as the cult sci-fi series The Outer Limits.

Congrats to Rachaig

If Brad Pitt and Ms Jolie merit the shorthand coupling ‘Brangelina’, then surely the latest high profile celebrity twosome must deserve ‘Daneisz’ or ‘Rachaig’ at the very least. OK, hands up who never saw the Daniel Craig/Rachel Weisz`wedding thing coming?

The last we heard, 007 was a contented singleton (after a long-ago busted first marriage) while the toothsome, brainy Oscar-winner with a ‘Cantab’ after her name – two years Craig’s junior at 41 - had just come out of an eight-year relationship with American director Darren (Black Swan, The Wrestler) Aronofsky.

So did love burgeon on their first film together, Dream House, which is due out later this year, in which they play a couple who discover the horrible truth about their new home’s past?

This new togetherness surely merits an addition to the cast of Bond 23, which is now in active pre-production.

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