Buzz Briefs: Phil Spector, Mia Farrow
Live From The Red Carpet: Teen Choice Awards
For the first time, E! will take viewers behind the velvet ropes, when its series "Live from the Red Carpet" takes over the 2008 Teen Choice Awards from Universal Studios, Hollywood.
Hosts, Giuliana Rancic and Kim Kardashian will get the behind the scences scoop from celebrity favorites of film, television, music and sports.
The hour-long show airs Monday, August 4th at 7:00pm on E!.
LA Prosecutors Oppose Motions In Spector Retrial
Jurors in Phil Spector's upcoming murder retrial should be allowed to hear testimony about blood evidence and the autopsy of the actress he is accused of shooting, prosecutors argued in court documents.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office opposed a motion by Spector's lawyers to exclude testimony presented at the music producer's first trial by three forensics experts. They include Dr. Louis Pena, who testified that he conducted an autopsy and concluded Lana Clarkson's death was a homicide.
"The court never impliedly or otherwise factually acquitted the defendant of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter," the filing said.
Spector, famed for his "Wall of Sound" recording technique in the 1960s, is accused of shooting Clarkson at his Alhambra mansion on Feb. 3, 2003.
The defense has claimed Clarkson shot herself, either accidentally or on purpose. A jury deadlocked last year and Spector is facing a retrial in September.
Farrow Calls For Pressure At Olympics To End Chinese Support For Myanmar Junta
American actress Mia Farrow said Friday the world should use the upcoming Beijing Olympics as a platform for demanding that China end its support for Myanmar's military junta.
Farrow also said U.S. President George W. Bush missed an opportunity to take a strong stand against China's ties with Myanmar, also known as Burma, by agreeing to attend the opening ceremonies of the Aug. 8-24 games.
"I wish that Bush had not agreed to attend the Olympics, because that represents a missed opportunity for the United States to stand strong by its own principles," Farrow said. "A statement could have been made by skipping the opening ceremonies."
Farrow held a news conference in Bangkok after visiting the Myanmar-Thailand border with a delegation from the Nobel Women's Initiative, a group founded by female recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The actress urged the United Nations and the international community to take action to protect women in Myanmar from sexual exploitation and abuse in areas hit by a devastating cyclone in May, which killed more than 84,500 people and left 54,000 missing, according to the junta.
Rapper Lil Wayne Sued For Stones Copyright Breach
A musical publishing company that owns the rights to the Rolling Stones' song "Play With Fire" sued U.S. rapper Lil Wayne on Thursday, saying he released an altered version of the song without permission.
Maria Von Trapp Returns To "Sound of Music" Home
Maria von Trapp has taken a trip down memory lane to see her old family home just before it opens as a new hotel.
Staying in the house for the first time since the von Trapps fled the Nazi regime in the late 1930s has been a deeply moving experience for the second-eldest daughter of Baron von Trapp, whose story was made famous by the "Sound of Music" film.
Stan Lee To Make Cameo In new "X-Men" Movie
The creator of "X-Men" bumped into Wolverine at Comic-Con.
After happy introductions between Stan Lee and Hugh Jackman, the actor announced that Lee would make a cameo in the upcoming 20th Century Fox movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," due out next May.
"Don't tell anyone," Jackman joked about the accidental announcement. "It's always a big shock when people see him."
"I promise not to try and overshadow you," Lee said.
Jackman, who made an unannounced appearance Thursday at the convention to tout "Wolverine," later said that he and Lee had met before, at the opening of the first "X-Men" movie in 2000.
Jackman noted that one character Lee didn't create was Wolverine. However Lee says there is always room for more superheroes on screen. The success of superhero flicks will continue to inspire new and better big-screen stories, he said.
"Watchmen" Aims To Answer Typical Superhero Films
Zack Snyder is standing inside a 9,000 pound, tanklike metal pod in the center of the crowded Comic-Con floor. He nonchalantly points out the features of the Owl Ship, a real-life version of the flying vehicle from the award-winning graphic novel "Watchmen."
Snyder, whose adaptation of the graphic novel "300" grossed more than $200 million, says directing "Watchmen" isn't a job he would have sought, but it's one that suits him fine: Staying true to a beloved story that dismantles the superhero archetype.
"These modern superheroes, like Iron Man, Batman and Superman, they're our mythology and author Alan Moore sort of deconstructed that mythology and said no, they're us," Snyder says. "People sort of group 'Watchmen' with the "Batman" and "Iron Man" superhero movies, but those things don't have quintessential and set works of literature that support them. They do, but it's all spread out."
Snyder says his adaptation of Warner Bros. "Watchmen," slated for release next March, is more true to the source material than was the Oscar winning "No Country for Old Men."
He sticks to the story because of the complex concepts involved, he says, such as exploring superheroes' ethical and moral challenges.
The story "deconstructs heroes. ... It kind of takes it all the way," Snyder says. "How far do you take this superhero thing? Do you take a cat out of a tree or do you create world peace? That's really the dilemma that they face. Superman has the ability to go to all the world leaders and say, 'I will kill all of you if you don't behave.' He could do that, but why doesn't he?"