Jean-Luc Godard: Honorary Oscar Meant 'Nothing' To Me

The legendary director says he skipped the Governors Awards because "I don't have a visa for the U.S. and I don't want to apply for one. And I don't want to fly for that long."

Famed director Jean-Luc Godard never intended to collect his honorary Oscar at the Governors Ball in person.

"I don't have a visa for the U.S. and I don't want to apply for one. And I don't want to fly for that long," the French filmmaker told NZZ.com (as translated by New York magazine). What does the award meant to him?


"Nothing. If the Academy likes to do it, let them do it. But I think it's strange," says Godard. "I asked myself: Which of my films have they seen? Do they actually know my films? The award is called The Governor's Award. Does this mean that Schwarzenegger gives me the award?"

At the Saturday show, Academy president Tom Sherak said of Godard, "I want you to know that this award is meaningful to him."

At the show, documentary filmmaker Lynn Littman addressed Godard's prior controversial statements.

“There is no question," Littman said. “Godard has been an irreverent provocateur for his entire career, but he never used his art to promote bigotry, and that's the key distinction that I had to understand so I could honor him tonight."

The Academy is arranging for the Oscar statuette to be delivered to Godard in Switzerland.

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Famed Producer Dino De Laurentiis Dies at 91

Famed film producer Dino De Laurentiis, who was behind Serpico, War and Peace and Dune, has died. He was 91.

De Laurentiis, who has been making movies for nearly 70 years, passed away inside his Beverly Hills home, where lived with his third wife, Martha. He has six daughters; his only son, Federico, died in a 1981 plane crash. His granddaughter, Giada, is a chef on the Food Network.

“Cinema has lost one of its greats," Rome Film Festival founder Walter Veltroni told the AFP. "The name of Dino De Laurentiis is tied to the history of cinema."

De Laurentiis was born to pasta-maker parents on Aug. 8, 1919 in Torre Annunziata, which is near Naples, but moved to the U.S. in the 1960s.

De Laurentiis entered the film industry at age 20, and went on to produce more than 500 movies, including those by Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini.

He won his first Oscar in 1956 for Fellini's La Strada, and another in 1957 for Nights of Cabiria. He was nominated at least 30 more times, and received the Irving G.Thalberg Memorial Award in 2001 at the Oscars for demonstrating a "consistently high quality of motion picture production," according to Bloomberg.

“I’ve been very lucky in my long life,” De Laurentiis said afterward. “On three continents, in diverse cultures, through happy moments, not-so-happy moments, and moments as marvelous as this one, I’ve had the privilege of working with the cinema’s greatest masters.”

The Venice Film Festival honored him with a lifetime achievement award in 2003.

Nephew Aurelio De Laurentiis, a film producer as well, and the chairman and a leading shareholder of the SSC Napoli soccer club, said: “Uncle Dino was a witness to the rebirth of Italy after the second world war and he told that’s story through film, making him of the architects of the Golden era of Italian film.” He lived in the U.S. so long, Aurelio said, that he was not completely Italian, but neither was he American. “He lived in his own way, someone who brought Italian style to the world capital of film.”

Fellow director and Turin Film festival artistic director Gianni Amelio said: “Dino De Laurentiis was probably the most important film producer Italy ever had, and he left his mark on two great nations, in Italy and the United States.”

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How Did Miley Cyrus' Success Lead to Divorce?

Miley Cyrus is a global sensation. She's a multi-millionaire, beloved by fans around the world and staring at a future full of record-selling albums and hit movies.

Such success has made parents Billy Ray and Tish very proud... but it's also made them grow apart, eventually leading to last month's divorce announcement, a family friend says.

"Both parents have been equally involved in making their daughter a superstar," a source tells Pop Eater "And now that they have achieved their goal, they have nothing to work towards anymore and nothing to keep them together."

The insider says Billy Ray and Tish forgot about their romance over the years, as they focused entirely on Miley's next album or television appearance.

"Tthey have forgotten to make time for each other," a music executive added. "It's heartbreaking. You would think that someone like Miley has everything in the world, but I guarantee she would give it all up in a second if it kept her family together. I'm sure when she blows out her birthday candles in a few weeks her wish will be for mom and dad, not her career."

It's true. Miley turns 18 on November 23 and has already said she would love to "take a vacation with my family" in honor of the occasion.

"[My family and I] need time to all be together," she told Us Weekly over the weekend. Let's hope they get it.

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http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/11/how-did-success-of-miley-cyrus-lead-to-divorce/

Clint Eastwood 'Not a Fan' of President Obama

Clint Eastwood told Katie Couric during a CBSNews.com interview that the president is doing what he can to stay in the position, but that he's not actually "governing."

The 20-minute interview posted Thursday was to push Eastwood's movie Hereafter, which opened today.

Eastwood supported Obama's Republican challenger John McCain two years ago, but the politically active actor is no right winger. He supported California Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, for example, during the recall campaign that eventually led to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger being elected.

Nevertheless, publicly coming out against Obama -- 11 days before mid-term elections, no less -- definitely puts Eastwood in the minority in famously liberal Hollywood.

Eastwood, though, is laying low compared to others in Hollywood who don't support Obama. Kelsey Grammer recently launched RightNetwork, for example, and Jon Voight has been speaking at Tea Party rallies.

And then there's Clint Howard, who stars in two online commercials: one that trashes Obama's tax policies, and a newer one from writer-director David Zucker that goofs on Sen. Barbara Boxer's famous "I-worked-so-hard-to get that-title" comment.

Harry Potter star played a vampire named Edmund on Sunday’s episode.

Daniel Radcliffe voiced a vampire character named Edmund – based off Twilight’s Robert Pattinson – on Sunday’s episode of the Simpsons. In the annual Treehouse of Horror episode (watch a clip above), Edmund tried to convince Lisa to become immortal. 

EXCLUSIVE: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, Ashton Kutcher Making 'New Year's Eve' Plans

The four actors are in talks to star in the ensemble love story, which marks Garry Marshall and New Line's follow-up to this year's 'Valentine's Day.'

Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer are in negotiations to star in New Year's Eve, New Line's ensemble love story follow-up to its Valentine's Day movie. Hilary Swank and Ashton Kutcher are circling lead roles as well.

Garry Marshall is directing, while Mike Karz and Wayne Rice are producing.

The movie tells intertwining stories of a group of New Yorkers as they navigate their way through romance over the course of New Year's Eve.

De Niro will play a bitter dying man in a hospital, while Pfeiffer will be a frustrated executive secretary who decides to tackle her unfulfilled resolutions. Swank would play a producer of the famed Times Square New Year's Eve show. Kutcher would play a guy who hates New Year's Eve.Lea Michele and Abigail Breslin are already on board the production, which is eyeing a mid-December shoot in New York.

CAA-repped De Niro, last seen in Machete, next stars in Little Fockers, the latest Meet the Parents sequel.Pfeiffer, repped by CAA and Management 360, last starred in Cheri and appeared in New Line's 2007 musical Hairspray.

Swank, repped by CAA and Untitled, is currently on screens in the courtroom drama Conviction.

CAA and Untitled-repped Kutcher worked with Marshall in Valentine's Day.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-de-niro-michelle-pfeiffer-42953

Howard K. Stern Convicted of Contributing to Death of Anna Nicole Smith

Howard K. Stern has been found guilty of contributing to the death of Anna Nicole Smith, his former client, confidant and longtime cash cow.

A Los Angeles Superior Court convicted Smith's ex-lover on two counts of conspiracy today - giving false names and acting by fraud to obtain prescriptions - determining that he helped fuel the late starlet's fatal drug habit.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich was also convicted of four charges; while another physician who treated her, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, was cleared on all counts.

Looks like Howard K. Stern is off to prison.

Sentencing for both parties is scheduled for January 6, but D.A. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said outside of court this afternoon that "both defendants are looking at possible maximum of at least three years in state prison."

The D.A's office still has the opportunity to reduce or limit sentencing to some of the misdemeanor charges. Whether that happens is another story.

Continue reading............

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/10/howard-k-stern-convicted-of-contributing-to-death-of-anna-nicole/#more

Tila Tequila Granted a Restraining Order Against Garry Sun

Tila Tequila has turned the tables on Garry Sun.

Late last week, a judge granted a restraining order for this sad sack of a celebrity blogger against the photographer who accused her of kidnapping his girlfriend, Shyla Jennings.The legal documents state that Sun must remain 10 yards away from Tequila at all times, which is a hilariously tiny figure. He could totally still toss rocks or something at Tila from that distance.

Following the issuing of this order of protection, Tila told TMZ she's set to file a lawsuit against Sun for "making such crazy allegations about me." But there's another twist that casts doubt on the validity of this story:

Jennings says she no clue who Garry Sun is. No way he and Tequila are working together to desperately extend the latter's 15 minutes of fame, right? That just doesn't sound like something Tila would do at all.

For more on this news visit

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/11/tila-tequila-granted-a-restraining-order-against-garry-sun/