California Rumor

Oscar-nominated actress Sandra Bullock has joked she will get liposuction ahead of the ceremony next month.

Bullock, 45, has been nominated for an Oscar for the first time this year and is up for the Best Actress gong at the ceremony on March 7.

Talking about her preparations for the show, she said: "I've never done this before! I do believe some liposuction is in order, a very strict diet regime, and I will acquire a very light English accent.

"I was going to say that I should start wearing glasses, but I already wear glasses, so I am already sort of there."

Celebrity Big Brother star Stephen Baldwin is hoping to be brother Alec's date to the upcoming Oscars.

Baldwin, 43, said he thinks he would be a great date for his brother, who will co-host the show on March 7 with actor Steve Martin.

He said: "Alec hosting the Oscars is a tremendous opportunity, and it's quite apparent from his perspective that his dream date would be... me!

"If he was ever nervous about what he was doing, I could give him a few laughs and keep him calmed down and let him have fun."

Sigourney Weaver will play a stripper in her next movie.

The 60-year-old actress said: "There's a project which sees me as an ageing stripper. But I can't say a lot about that one. It's going to be a surprise! I'm also playing the leading role in a film by Nicolas Roeg."

Weaver added: "I feel sexier than ever. I used to be really insecure. I hope I'll live up to 100 years. I never wanted to be like James Dean - die young and be famous afterwards."

Weaver explained that going with the flow was the best way to tackle age. "I don't try to look young at all costs. Why should you cast a 55-year-old looking like a 35-year-old, when you can cast a 35-year-old to begin with? If you look like 55 and feel comfortable with it, you will get casted [sic]. My roles have become more interesting with time."

The hottest director in Hollywood, James Cameron, will make his next film Down Under.

Cameron, who took out the Best Drama and Best Director awards at the Golden Globes for Avatar, will make an AUD $30million psychological thriller titled Sanctum.

The movie is already filming at the Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast in sun-drenched Queensland and will be 3D - just like Avatar.

Cameron, who told the Globes his was "the best job in the world", will be Sanctum's executive producer, while Alister Grierson, an Australian, will be its director.

Cameron said: "I'm actually coming down to the set in a couple of weeks and I'm going to stay there through the underwater shoot. Alister Grierson is a really talented director. His first film was Kokoda. I'd be proud if that was my third film."

Sanctum tells the story of an underwater cave expedition gone badly wrong and takes its plot from the real life of Andrew Wight, a co-producer on Cameron's aquatic documentaries.

"He [Wight] was on an ill-fated expedition in the Nullarbor caves and a freak storm caused the cave mouth to collapse and he and a bunch of other people were trapped inside for several days," the director said.

Jenna Fischer is in talks to star with Owen Wilson in the Farrelly brothers comedy Hall Pass.

Fischer would play Wilson's wife in the tale of a married couple where wife gives husband a "hall pass" - or ticket to open marriage.

Fischer, Peter and Bobby Farrelly will start shooting the film on February 23 in Atlanta, which will substitute for New England.

Fischer, 35, is best known as Pam Beesly on NBC's The Office. She also stars in Solitary Man with Michael Douglas and Susan Sarandon.

Sylvester Sly Stallone, 63, who recently broke his neck on a film set, released X-rays in answer to the charge he faked the extent of the injury.

Stallone, who earlier said he had very serious surgery, released an X-ray showing a three-pronged metal plate with six screws that straddled three cervical verterbrae. The image was carried in the UK Sun newspaper.

Stallone injured himself in an action scene with wrestler Steve Austin on the set of the upcoming movie, The Expendables, which also starred the late Brittany Murphy.

Sly posted the images on his StalloneZone site from California's Marina Spine Center with the note: "For the doubters and the haters, a picture is worth a thousand words. You walk the walk, you pay the price."

He explained: "As bad as it was, at least we have it on film. The reason I was never seen in a neck brace is because I stayed at home for three weeks to heal."

The Expendables is set for a late summer release and also features Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Denzel Washington's character in The Book Of Eli has managed to get hold of the last remaining bible on earth following a nuclear blitz.

Washington's character, Eli, quotes from the book of Genesis but also leaves villians in shreds.

Denzel, whose father was a preacher, admits he likes to read the Bible twice a day. He said: "Faith is important, to listen to that still, small voice inside you. Not to be intimidated or discouraged by others and follow your life mission, to the degree that you can. My mother says - it's interesting - it's one thing to do good, but you must do good the right way."

Denzel wanders a post-apocalyptic landscape and eventually meets up with an overlord in the form of Gary Oldman's character, Carnegie, who challenges him to hand over the world's last remaining bible.

Director Oliver Stone has urged that Adolph Hitler be cast in a new light - as a scapegoat in the march of time.

Stone said fully expects "ignorant attacks" over his appraisal of Hitler in the upcoming series The History of America.

Speaking at at the Television Critics Association's biannual press tour in Pasadena, California, he said:"We can't judge people as only 'bad' or 'good.' [Hitler] is the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect. People in America don't know the connection between World War I and World War II. Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply."

The director of films that once sought to recast historical events such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy also had another view for the story of Joseph Stalin.

He said Stalin had "a complete other story. Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation - he fought the German war machine more than any person. I've been able to walk in Stalin's shoes and Hitler's shoes, to understand their point of view. You cannot approach history unless you have empathy for the person you may hate."

The lead writer of the series, history professor Peter Kuznick, said Stone was not trying to whitewash Hitler. "But we're going to describe him as a historical phenomenon and not just somebody who appeared out of nowhere," he said.

Despite protests, inmates at a Mexican jail have been transferred to make way for a Mel Gibson movie.

A total 214 detainees were taken to Villa Aldama penitentiary, 50 kilometres from the eastern state of Veracruz. Some had fought with warders just before the transfer, AFP reported.

Ignacio Allende prison chief Victor Gerardo Hernandez said 1100 detainees remained. Hundreds of relatives of prisoners had protested against the move.

Governor Fidel Herrera Beltran earlier said Gibson slated several scenes to be shot at the prison after scouting the location in April. Gibson shot his 2006 Apocalypto in eastern Mexico. He donated $US1 million toward hurricane relief in the Gulf of Mexico region in 2005.

Actress Jenna Elfman has said she is tired and uncomfortable as she approaches the end of her pregnancy.

The 38-year-old is expecting her second baby early in March with husband Bodhi. The couple also have a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Story.

She said to Usmagazine.com: "I'm so busy working and raising a two-and-a-half-year-old. Which is good because otherwise I would think too much about how tired and uncomfortable I am. I also just recently pulled out the baby clothes from storage."

Elfman added that her son Story is looking forward to becoming a big brother.

She said: "He's already an amazing big brother. He talks to the baby and rubs my tummy and wants the baby to come play choo-choo."

In a surprise move, Sean Penn appears to be returning to work on a movie - The Three Stooges.

Penn bowed out of several film commitments in recent months as his marriage to Robin Wright Penn crumbled. At the time he said he needed to focus on his family but the couple has since filed for divorce.

Penn has taken up talks to co-star in the Farrelly Brothers' Three Stooges after earlier pulling out of the movie. Penn's stooge is reportedly Larry, said Bobby Farrelly.

Farrelly said: "We got him back. He always said he wanted to do it after, you know, taking care of his family."

New Moon star Taylor Lautner has reportedly become Hollywood's highest-paid teenage actor and will receive $7.5million for his next movie.

The 17-year-old shot to fame playing werewolf Jacob Black in the Twilight saga franchise and is well-known for his impressive abs.

He will be paid the staggering sum of $7.5million for his next movie Northern Lights, which Tom Cruise is behind and which will be directed by Max Payne's John Moore.

According to reports, the movie is about 'a gifted, young, aerobatics pilot who faces off with his controlling billionaire father and falls in love with a gifted, female pilot'.

The sum of money now makes him the highest-paid teen actor in Hollywood and it is claimed neither Zac Efron or Miley Cyrus have ever received a figure close to that for any of their movies.

French actress Marion Cotillard and director Quentin Tarantino are to receive top honours at the Palm Springs Film Festival in California.

Cotillard, who was previously feted at the event in 2008 for her role in La Vie En Rose, will take home the best actress prize for her performance in movie-musical Nine.

Tarantino will be handed the Sonny Bono Visionary Award, named after the festival's founder, for his contribution to film.

A statement from festival chairman Harold Matzner reads: "Following a distinguished career in French cinema, Marion Cotillard has firmly established herself as a major actress in American films. Her performance in Rob Marshall's Nine is nothing short of breathtaking.

"Quentin Tarantino is one of the most gifted, iconoclastic filmmakers of his generation, and with Inglourious Basterds, he's created a hugely entertaining, revisionist take on history as it might have been."

The title of a new cop action comedy starring Bruce Willis has undergone a name change.

A Couple of Dicks was deemed likely to bring marketing issues. But the move has left director Kevin Smith less of a man. He said: "Losing A Couple of Dicks was almost akin to losing my own dick. It was a perfect buddy-cop movie comedy title. You couldn't say that title to somebody without a f**king smile crossing their face. But what I had gone through with Zack and Miri Make a Porno - 'porno' had become very problematic - it became tough for us to advertise [the film]."

The movie's new title is Cop Out. Zack and Miri, made in 2008 with Seth Rogen, encountered censorship issues.

Smith said Warner Bros, although it fought to keep his vision alive, made the call after a round robin to major networks. "The top three networks - CBS, ABC, NBC - said we can't run one of your spots before 9 o'clock," he said.

He added: "But even my mum was like, 'I might go see Zack and Miri, but I would never go see Zack and Miri Make a Porno'."

Ben Affleck is reportedly the top choice at a sperm bank offering women the chance to pick celebrity look-a-like donors.

The California Cryobank gives single women and infertile couples the option to choose a donor who looks like their favourite actor, athlete, musician, television star or "anyone famous enough to be found on the web".

Scott Brown, a Cryobank spokesman, told a UK newspaper: "People want to make some connection to the donor and this gives them something tangible. It personalises and humanises the process.

"I don't think it's about designer babies, it's about communication. We're not suggesting your child will look like a celebrity. Genetics is a complicated business. I think the public perception is baby shopping and that couldn't be further from the truth."

Kevin Bacon will soon play an evil drug dealer in an upcoming action comedy titled Super.

The movie directed by James Gunn tells the story of an average man played by Rainn Wilson who takes on the role of a super hero.

Liv Tyler will play alongside Wilson and Bacon as the wife of the super hero named Crimson Bolt.

Screen Daily calls Bacon's character, Jacques, a smooth-talking criminal. Gunn said: "Kevin Bacon is one of the few actors nimble enough to give life to Jacques, our super-villain with a nice streak. We need to love Jacques even while he's doing horrible things - Kevin is one of the only actors I know who can pull that off."

Bacon's stellar acting credits include Mystic River with Sean Penn, The Woodsman and Loverboy.

Oscar-winning director James Cameron has received the 2,396th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The 55-year-old star was awarded his special star yesterday, which coincided with the release of his highly acclaimed new movie Avatar.

The sci-fi flick, which stars Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington, is Cameron's first feature film since his hit film, Titanic.

Weaver, 60, who played the lead role in Cameron's 1986 movie Aliens, joined the director at the ceremony in front of the world-famous Egyptian Theatre.

Special guest and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appeared in all three of Cameron's Terminator movies, also attended the ceremony and hailed him as “one of the greatest directors of all time”.

Actor Randy Quaid was arrested on Sunday in Marfa, Texas, RadarOnline reports.

His wife, Evi, was also taken into custody the day before. The pair has been absent from court hearings in Santa Barbara regarding fraud allegations they skipped out on a hotel bill.

Randy, brother of actor Dennis Quaid (pictured), was reportedly arrested a day later because the Marfa Police Department did not have an active warrant for him when they took in his wife.

Quaid has been moved to Hudspeth County jail for booking because Marfa does not have holding facilites.

A bench warrant was issued for Evi and Randy on December 15.

Hollywood actor Mel Gibson has signed up to star in a new action drama How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

The 53-year-old will topline the drama, which is based on a screenplay he wrote, but will not be directing the movie.

The story centres around a career criminal who gets caught by Mexican authorities and sent to a drug- and crime-filled prison where a nine-year-old boy helps him to survive.

Gibson's two previous screenplays that he wrote included Apocalypto and The Passion of the Christ, both of which he also directed.

However, Gibson is not directing Summer Vacation and has given the job to his protege Adrian Grunberg.

Dustin Hoffman tricked a girl into taking his virginity by pretending to be his older brother, he has revealed.

The Rain Man star said he was 15 when he was at a party on New Year's Eve.

He said: "It was a dark room. A 19-year-old mistook me for my brother, who was home from Korea.

"She said, 'That you, Ronnie?' In his voice, I said, 'Yeah.'

"It was over before it began. She screamed when she saw my face, and I ran out naked. Guys sitting around drinking beer applauded."

Oscar-winner Dustin, 72, said: "[It] must've signalled the beginning of my acting career because I liked the applause."

The late James Stewart is irreplaceable. That's the conclusion of director Steven Spielberg who has shelved plans to remake Harvey.

Spielberg, an Oscar-winning director, has not been able to find an actor to play the character made indelible by Stewart.

Spielberg thought Tom Hanks might fill the bill early on but Hanks was reportedly not enthusiastic about trying to ape the great Stewart.

Spielberg then was said to approach Robert Downey Jr, whose comedian turns are legend. But Downey Jr wanted script modifications. The genius of Spielberg did not apparently mesh with that of Downey Jr, leaving the pair out of "creative sync", according to trade daily Variety.

Even Brad Pitt is getting a stake in the blood-sucking craze as the latest vampire film project is announced.

On the back of teenage drama hit Twilight and TV shows such as True Blood and the Vampire Diaries, Pitt is taking it back to the most famous of the fanged: Dracula.

The actor, through his Plan B company, is producing Vlad, an action-oriented take on the classic character.

It centres on the story of Dracula as a young prince, known in the myth as Vlad the Impaler.

The film is set to be directed by Anthony Mandler, a music video helmsman who has worked with the likes of Rihanna, the Killers and Eminem.

He is said to have blown away executives with his visually-edgy take on the story.

Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg has reportedly pulled out of directing a remake of James Stewart movie Harvey.

The 62-year-old allegedly struggled with finding a lead actor for the movie after Tom Hanks reportedly turned down the part and Robert Downey Jr would not commit to the flick.

The original movie was based on the Broadway play by Mary Chase, and 20th Century Fox are expected to continue with the movie following Spielberg's pull-out.

Harvey is about a man who believes his best friend is a giant invisible rabbit and Stewart won a best actor nomination at the 1951 awards for his role in the flick.

It is not known what project Spielberg will be working on next as he recently wrapped production on The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.

Director Steven Soderbergh has said he may consider retirement after he finishes his current projects.

The 46-year-old star's credits include Erin Brockovich, Traffic and Ocean's Eleven and he said that he is 'winding down' as he feels 'it's time for a change'.

He told BBC Radio 4's The Film Programme: "I feel the need to recalibrate, just step away."

One of his upcoming projects includes a 3D musical adaptation of Cleopatra, which will star Catherine Zeta Jones.

He said: "I'll go away and come back with a different approach - or I won't."

His project Cleopatra is due for release in 2011 and he said it involves 'a great character, great story' and he hopes to use footage from the 1963 film starring Elizabeth Taylor.

He added: "Any film-maker who has got any interest in the visual side of movies is interested in the idea of a musical because it's such a visual genre."

Actor Nicolas Cage may be involved in a million-dollar legal battle with his accountant but he recently took time out to attend an art competition with his wife.

Cage, 45, and wife Alice entered a homemade sculpture in a spoof art competition called the Turnip Prize near their home in Bath, UK.

Artists have to produce a piece of work with the least amount of effort to win the top prize, which is a turnip nailed to a piece of wood.

The star couple reportedly entered a piece called Knickerless Cage, a collection of naked Barbie dolls wrapped in wire mesh.

The Turnip Prize organiser, Trevor Prideaux, said: "This entry was left at my front door - someone knocked and walked away. When I looked out to see who it was, I saw a very attractive Oriental lady walking down my drive.

"When I asked her name, she replied Alice. After making some inquiries, it turned out Alice is Nic Cage's partner."

Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock has said she has stopped doing rom-com movies because they're 'terrible' and 'not funny'.

The 45-year-old star recently appeared in the comedy The Proposal, which is out on DVD later this month, and said she doesn't think the movie is a typical rom-com.

She said to UK magazine Shortlist: "I don't call this a romantic comedy. I call it a motion picture.

"It reminds me of the films from the Thirties and Forties, where there was a landscape and a story, and drama was allowed to be in there. You can't have good comedy without drama in it."

Talking about romantic comedy movies, she added: "I stopped them six or seven years ago. I just stopped. They're terrible. They're bad.

"They're not funny, and they shouldn't be called romantic comedies because most of the time they're not romantic. And they don't generally write well for women in romantic comedies.

"I love my comedy too much... It wasn't being done in the way that I loved and could do it. It made me sad because I felt like it wasn't appreciated and no one was writing it, so I decided to abandon it."

New Moon star Michael Sheen has said he thinks his co-star Dakota Fanning looks 'more scary' than him in the upcoming flick.

The 40-year-old actor plays evil Volturi member Aro in the second chapter in the Twilight saga and said that Dakota, 15, who plays another Volturi member Jane, is evil in the flick.

He said to UK newspaper Daily Record: "I actually think Dakota looks more scary than me - so angelic, yet so weird - like an angelic Red Riding Hood. It's quite thrilling to have Dakota Fanning calling you 'master'.

"I think we can now reveal that we actually had to tone Dakota down. Her natural personality is too evil, so we had to tell her to turn the volume down on her wicked nature."

The business manager accused by Nicolas Cage of sending him “toward financial ruin” has hit back by claiming the star was already millions of dollars in debt when he hired him.

National Treasure star Cage is suing his former manager Samuel Levin for $20m to repair the alleged financial damage he caused by mismanaging his financial affairs.

But Levin has filed a countersuit, in which he claims Cage had “already squandered tens of millions of dollars” and owed millions more in income taxes, when he started working for him in 2001.

Levin details Cage's alleged extravagant spending and says that he warned the actor he needed to earn $30m a year just to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

He also claimed that in 2007 Cage spent $33m on three homes, bought 22 cars - including nine Rolls Royces - as well as expensive jewellery and 47 pieces of art.

Levin says Cage “also spent huge sums taking his sizeable entourage on costly vacations and threw enormous, Gatsby-scale parties at his residences”.

He claims Cage owes him $128,872.98 in unpaid business management services.

In his lawsuit, filed last month, Cage claims that Levin was so reckless and incompetent with his money that he has now been forced to sell off major assets and investments, and is faced with massive tax liabilities.

According to Forbes magazine, Cage earned $40m between June 2008 and June 2009.

Harry Potter actor Tom Felton has defended his co-star Daniel Radcliffe and said he is 'all right' following his recent drug allegations.

Radcliffe, 20, has denied recent reports that a picture showed him smoking cannabis at a party and his Harry Potter co-star Felton, 22, has said he is coping with the recent reports.

Felton said to UK show GMTV: "Yeah, very briefly. I haven't seen him over the weekend but I spoke to him to make sure he was OK and he seems to be dealing with it all right.

"He's just come to the terms with the fact that not always are the press on his side."

Talking about being the heroes of young children, he added: "Yeah, I think especially for Daniel more than anyone really. And it doesn't make it easier when people are publishing articles that aren't true.

"And obviously I feel for the guy. I know he's got a very strong head on him and I know he'll sail through this one easily. But yeah, it's not easy. No one can do it better than Daniel."

John Travolta beamed with pride as he brought his family of actors, who appear in Old Dogs, to its Los Angeles premiere.

Just months since the actor's tragic loss of son Jett, 16, Travolta, 55, stepped out in public with his daughter and strong likeness, Ella Bleu, and beautiful wife, Kelly Preston, 47.

Ella Bleu, nine, who Travolta refers to as his pup, appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show with her father. Travolta said: "I just want to take one moment to thank each and every one of you throughout this country, throughout the world, for all your support and all your love for our family. Thank you very much."

Travolta has recently returned from a heart-wrenching court trial in the Bahamas over an alleged extortion attempt by a paramedic and senator in the Bahamas. The star was accompanied by Preston when he testified in the trial - only to see a mistrial later declared.

"I'm holding back the tears," he noted.