Dateline Hollywood, 463 words--
DATELINE HOLLYWOOD
By Linda A. Harris
IPS Features
HARRY POTTER TIMES TWO: Author J.K. Rowling released two new books in the Harry Potter series, Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The new stories were written to raise money for the BBC's charity Comic Relief, which helps end poverty and social inequity.
NATURAL
BORN LAW: A Louisiana judge tossed out a lawsuit against Oliver Stone claiming
Natural Born Killers motivated a real-life murder crime spree. The suit was cast
aside on a First Amendment ruling. The plaintiffs, whose family member was
disabled during one the crimes, say they may appeal.
SAG
AWARDS: Julia Roberts, Benicio Del Toro and the ensemble cast from Traffic took
"The Actor" statue home at the Seventh Annual Screen Actors Guild
Awards. NBC's The West Wing won for best Drama TV series.
Read all about it at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences website
at www.emmy.org.
THE
ACTING BUG: Producer Brian Grazer
tells Access Hollywood he has signed
Eminem to his first acting gig.
The sensational rapper will play a rapper!
NO TICKIE, NO AUCTION: The Academy of Motion Picture
Arts & Sciences demanded the auction website Taketoauction.com withdraw a
bid to auction a coveted seat to this year's Academy Awards.
HOLD
THE MAYO: Party animal Jack Nicholson told England's Daily Express that he actually is a "real sweetie and not the hellraiser everyone makes me
out to be." He claims all the
troubled movie characters he's played has seeped over into his "real
life." Let's ask Laura Flynn
Boyle what she thinks!
CROUCHING
TIGER, HIDDEN OSCAR?: Ang Lee garnered the top award at the
Director's
Guild Awards. The DGA winner has
won the Best Director Oscar all but four times since its inauguration in 1949.
POLITCAL
ANIMAL: Kevin Costner says he wants world leaders to see his film Thirteen Days
because he believes they are not taking the possibility of a nuclear war
earnestly.
AND
BABY MAKES FOUR!: Amy Grant gave birth to a baby girl. This is baby number four
for Grant and her first with husband, Vince
Gill.
MUSICAL
CHAIRS AT ALLY: Peter
MacNichol will now have the hots
for Bernadette
Peters instead of departing Anne Heche. Peters joins the cast when she hires
MacNichol's character to handle her divorce.
CAMPAIGN REFORM HOLLYWOOD STYLE: William Baldwin and
Ben Stiller, members of the Hollywood Creative Coalition, are saying they might
hold back political donations unless certain members of Congress start bills on
campaign finance reform.
CHIP
OFF THE OL' AUCTION BLOCK: Around 12,000 items
belonging to country singer BoxCar Willie are on the auction block. The
public sale has caused a family vendetta between the singer's widow, who placed
the items up for auction, and his son, who believes the items belong to the
family.
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