Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped...

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Quvenzhané Wallis to play title role in “Annie” movie

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis will play the title role in “Annie,” Sony’s Columbia Pictures announced on Sunday.“Annie” is due to hit theaters in 2014 during the winter holiday season, and is based on the stage play about an orphan’s adventures in finding her family and a better life while overcoming the schemes of orphanage mistress Miss Hannigan.President of...

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Jay-Z, Timberlake announce summer tour

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rapper Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake are teaming up for a 12-city summer stadium tour that will include concerts in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, music promoter Live Nation said on Friday.The “Legends of the Summer” tour will kick off at the Roger’s Center in Toronto on July 17, and finish on August 16 at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami.Venues in Boston, Detroit...

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At 80, Yoko Ono sees a world full of new activism

BERLIN (Reuters) – Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long “bed-in” for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism.Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.“When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with...

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Discovery bets on 2 dope series about pot growers

NEW YORK (AP) — Cupcake makers, pawnbrokers and storage container raiders have all had their moments in reality television’s spotlight. Now the time may be right for marijuana growers — and the people who chase them.The Discovery network debuts a six-episode series, “Weed Country,” at 10 p.m. Wednesday and will replace it with “Pot Cops” in April. Both examine the marijuana trade in northern California.It...

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Epic regrets Lil Wayne lyric about slain civil rights figure

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Epic Records has apologized to the family of Emmett Till, whose 1955 murder spurred the U.S. civil rights movement, over a graphic reference by rapper Lil Wayne and promised to delete the lyrics upon its release, the company said on Thursday.Epic Chairman L.A. Reid told the family it was regretful that a remix of the song “Karate Chop” by rapper Future, in which Lil Wayne likens...

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Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie venture into winemaking

(Reuters) – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have gone into the wine business, helping to produce a rose called Miraval from their French estate and putting their names on the label, wine website Decanter.com reported.The movie star couple have been working with French winemaker Marc Perrin starting with the 2012 harvest, the website said. The Miraval wine will be on the market in March, and white wines...

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Actor Steve Martin is first-time dad at age 67

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor, writer and comedian Steve Martin has become a dad for the first time at age 67 – and managed to keep it secret from the media for more than a month.Martin and his second wife, Anne Stringfield, 41, “are new parents and recently welcomed a child,” a spokeswoman for the actor said on Wednesday.The spokeswoman gave no details, including the sex of the child or the date...

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Fall Out Boy ends three-year break with new album, tour

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Fall Out Boy unveiled plans for a new album and world tour on Monday, three years after the pop punk band‘s four members announced a hiatus to pursue solo projects.“This isn’t a reunion,” the band said on its website, “because we never broke up.”The new album, “Save Rock and Roll,” will be available worldwide on May 6-7. A tour kicks off Monday night in Chicago.A new song,...

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Affleck’s ‘Argo’ wins Directors Guild top honor

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ben Affleck has won the top film honor from the Directors Guild of America for his CIA thriller “Argo,” further sealing its status as best-picture front-runner at the Academy Awards.Saturday’s prize also normally would make Affleck a near shoo-in to win best-director at the Feb. 24 Oscars, since the Directors Guild recipient nearly always goes on to claim the same prize at Hollywood’s...

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Last of 1940s hitmakers Andrews Sisters dies in California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of popular The Andrews Sisters singing trio of the 1940s and 1950s, has died in California at the age of 94, her spokesman said on Wednesday.Alan Eichler said Andrews died of natural causes at her home in the Northridge area of Los Angeles.Patty Andrews was the youngest of the threesome who made up The Andrews Sisters, whose tight harmonies...

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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis score unlikely hit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The rapper Macklemore thinks there’s a simple reason the hit “Thrift Shop” appears to be going viral: It dares to be different.“There’s a certain sound that has kind of flooded the mainstream airwaves as far as hip-hop music,” he said a few hours after taping a performance on “Late Show with David Letterman” on Thursday night with producing partner Ryan Lewis. “The beat doesn’t...

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Glut of R-rated movies putting Box Office on overload

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Bullet to the Head,” the guns-blazing, axe-swinging action film from Sylvester Stallone, arrives Friday and is the latest violent, R-rated movie to open in January. The month itself could be rated “R” – for Repetitious.Nine of the 11 movies released widely since the start of the year and Friday are rated “R.” Of last weekend’s top 10 films, eight carried the restricted...

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Musical comedy “The Sapphires” sparkles at Aussie Oscars

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Home-grown romantic musical comedy “The Sapphires” shone at Australia‘s film industry awards on Wednesday, picking up best film and lead acting trophies for Deborah Mailman and “Bridesmaids” star Chris O’Dowd.Awards host Russell Crowe, an Oscar winner for “Gladiator,” led a star-studded evening whose theme was pride in Australia’s outsized success on the international film stage.“The...

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Clinton coy about political future in joint interview with Obama

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sidestepped questions about whether she would run for president in 2016 in a CBS television interview done jointly with President Barack Obama, her rival in the 2008 race.Clinton, 65, denied there were any political tea leaves to read in the unusual joint interview for the CBS show “60 Minutes,” and acknowledged that she still...

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Barbara Walters, hospitalized after fall, recovering from chicken pox

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Celebrity newswoman Barbara Walters, who was hospitalized earlier this month after falling and injuring her head, is recovering from chicken pox, her co-host Whoopi Goldberg said Monday on “The View” talk show.Goldberg said Walters, 83, who is in a New York hospital, has been told to rest and is not receiving visitors.“You all know that she fell and cut her head 10 days ago and...

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Canada denies Randy Quaid’s request to stay

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian immigration officials have denied U.S. actor Randy Quaid‘s request for permanent resident status in Canada.A Canadian government official confirmed late Saturday his request for permanent status has been denied. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Quaid can appeal the decision to the federal court.U.S. officials last...

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Singer Barry Manilow ill, Broadway comeback delayed

(Reuters) – Singer Barry Manilow on Thursday canceled the opening night and three other performances of his Broadway comeback run after coming down with bronchitis, according to Manilow‘s website.The cancellations threaten to upend the “Could It Be Magic” singer’s return to Broadway following a more than two-decade absence.The concerts, which had been slated for Thursday through Sunday, will be made...

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Veteran showman Dick Van Dyke reflects on lifetime’s work

(Reuters) – From “Mary Poppins” to “Night at the Museum” and his own long-running TV comedy, Dick Van Dyke has done it all during a show business career spanning seven decades.On Sunday, Van Dyke, 87, gets a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles, just a year after his 1960s “Dick Van Dyke Show” co-star Mary Tyler Moore received the same honor.Reuters spoke to Van Dyke...

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Beyonce lets others do talking on lip-synch drama

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Beyonce‘s lips remained sealed on Wednesday over her headline-making rendition of the U.S. national anthem at President Barack Obama‘s inauguration, leaving others to do the talking over whether she lip-synched to a pre-recorded track.Celebrity magazine Us Weekly quoted a source saying the Grammy-winning artist was disappointed by the controversy she stirred by singing “The...

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