Periferica

Corey Haim dies

MSN Movies Blog: The Big Picture — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:20:48 +0000

Corey Haim has died aged 38 in Los Angeles.

The 1980s teen heartthrob, best known for his roles in Lucas and The Lost Boys, died in the early hours of Wednesday at Providence St Joseph Medical Centre in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner Cheryl MacWillie said.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death and there were no other details, she said.

Police said there was no evidence of foul play.

Haim had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, police said. The cause of death is unknown.

“He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs. Who knows?” police sergeant William Mann said. “He has had a drug problem in the past.”

Haim was taken by ambulance to the hospital from an apartment in Los Angeles near Burbank. The enormous complex is known as Oakwood and is popular with young actors, police sergeant Michael Kammert said.

Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to The Sun in 2004.

“I was working on Lost Boys when I smoked my first joint,” he told the newspaper. “I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack.”

Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took both stimulants and sedatives such as Valium.

“I started on the downers which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck,” he said. “But one led to two, two led to four, four led to eight, until at the end it was about 85 a day.”

In 2007, he told ABC’s Nightline that drugs hurt his career.

“I feel like with myself I ruined myself to the point where I wasn’t functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn’t working,” he said.

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Is Cheryl Cole house hunting?

MSN Celebrity Blog — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:34:22 +0000

The Mirror has reported that Cheryl Cole is to move out of the home she shares with husband Ashley, and is apparently already looking for a new place to live.

The singer is said to have ‘people’ who are looking at houses for her in Surrey, despite the fact she loves her marital home. However, it would be understandably difficult for her to stay living there after news of Ashley’s apparent indiscretions. The betrayed 26-year-old announced last month she would be separating from her husband of almost four years.

In case Cheryl does decide to leave Ashley, we thought we’d help her move on. We asked you, our devoted celebrity fans, who she should date next, and we had a whopping 60,000 votes! Peter Andre was the top choice, with 34% of the votes. We reckoned Dizzee Rascal would be a good choice for our Cheryl, but he only received 14% of the votes. Prince Harry, Wayne Bridge and John Terry were the least likely candidates for Cheryl’s heart at just 6% each.

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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: What you need to know

MSN Movies Blog: The Big Picture — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:06:45 +0000

A literary phenomenon that has created one of the the great female anti-heroes, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo deserves your attention. If you are not already in love with Lisbeth Salander, believe me, you soon will be.

For the as yet uninitiated still wondering what all the fuss is about, here’s a simple blaggers’ guide to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to ensure you won’t be caught short at the water fountain not knowing your Blomkvists from your Bergers. We’re good like that.

· Blomkvist is our male protagonist, a womanising, chain-smoking caffeine fiend – wrongly accused of slander and fighting the good fight to clear his name

· Lisbeth Salander is our female protagonist, a womanising, chain-smoking caffeine fiend – wrongly accused of being mentally incapable. The similarities end there…

· Lisbeth Salander is a hacker of extraordinary skill and ability – she’s a Mac, not a PC

· Millenium is a hard hitting, bad guy exposing magazine feared by soulless money grabbing corporations the world over – and co-owned by Blomkvist

· Henrik Vanger is the aging patriarch of the famous and rich Vanger family who has been haunted for the last 14 years by the mysterious disappearance of his niece – Harriet Vanger. He employs Blomkivist to discover and document his family’s many dark secrets

· Middle aged traditional journo Blomkvist and wild child hacker Salander team up personally and professionally to solve the great Vanger mystery. Opposites really do attract!

· The Vanger Family is a tangled web of Nazi supporters, sadists and emotionally stunted aristocrats. Christmas is a blast…

· Lisbeth is under legal guardianship after being declared mentally incompetent and spending a good proportion of her teenage years in a metal asylum. She DOES NOT like authority

· The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first in a three part trilogy – oh yes, there’s more

· The millennium trilogy has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. The book’s author died under mysterious circumstances and never lived to see the phenomenon his work would become

· Hell hath no fury like a Lisbeth Salander scorned

· The millennium trilogy has been known to cause extreme insomnia, eye strain, paranoia and the desire to thoroughly kick someone’s ass. You have been warned.

Check out the novel on Ciao!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hits UK cinemas on 12 March.

Simon Cowell confirms engagement

MSN Celebrity Blog — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:46:28 +0000

It seems Simon Cowell, a man sometimes so scary he can make X Factor contestants cry, has fallen head over heels in love and has even asked his lady to marry him. Who’d have thought it?

The TV judge appeared on US chat show The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and blushed when asked if the rumours about being engaged to girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy were true. He answered carefully, saying: "Are they true? Well, I do have somebody in my life now, Jay, yes. And I kinda made a decision this year to make somebody happy."

The music mogul also said he bought the ring for Mezhgan in ring in the UK. "It's quite a big one, yes... No, look, I bought her the ring in London.". The make-up artist has been spotted wearing the huge rock on her left hand recently.

Well, he’s certainly not denying the rumours of an impending wedding, and he even claimed he would like to get married in the “next 10 years”. He also talked about the possibility of having kids: "I'm kind of torn because I'm a bit too old to have kids, but then again I think it would be important to have a lot of me's around in the future."

Aww! Simon and Mezhgan, sitting in a tree…

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Oscars 2010: live!

MSN Movies Blog: The Big Picture — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:58:06 +0000

Weeeeeelcome to the MSN Movies Oscar blog 2010! Avatar vs The Hurt Locker. Cameron vs Bigelow. Bridges vs Firth. Bullock vs Mulligan. Madness vs Sanity. The biggest, shiniest ding-dong on the movie calendar is about to kick off. And we're stationed in The Groucho club in London, watching it in HD loveliness on Sky Movies Premiere, all ready to serve you a blow-by-blow account of all the action, upsets, tears, speeches, faux pas and air-punches as it unfolds over the early hours. Roll out the red carpet, slide into your tux, pour yourself a cocktail. It's about to begin...

How it ended

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo'Nique, Precious

How it happened

1.30am

We're off! But what's this? They're rolling out all the nominees on stage. That's a nice touch. And there's Neil Patrick Harris. Wait, really? "What am I doing here?" Good question, Harris. Answer: singing. Oh grief. Let's hope it's not another campy sing-a-long-Oscars like last year. Jokes please!

1.40am

Odd couple co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin step up. Meryl Streep holds the record for most nominations as an actress, says Martin. "Or as I like to think of it, Most Losses," he adds. Before making a Hitler joke. We're looking good so far.

1,45am

Hey, there's Woody Harrelson, nominated for The Messenger. "He's so high..." whispers Baldwins. M&B don 3D specs to mock Jim Cameron - about his former marriage to Kathryn Bigelow! Also: exciting possibility that George Clooney is hammered! Alsoalso: second Nazi joke in five minutes! Best Oscars ever already?

1.45am

Oh dear, oh dear! Clooney definitely off the chart. Amazing.

1.47am

Still struggling gamely with the English language, Penelope Cruz presents Best Supporting Actor. Will Christoph waltz away with it (sorry) for his awesome Basterds turn as The Jew Hunter? He better had...

1.50am

He does.

1.51am

Waltz takes Best Supporting Actor. But can he claim Best Beard, too? He faces stiff competition from Antonio Banderas, who's glued a dead animal to his chin. Lustrous.

1,58am

D'oh! Cameron Diaz fluffs her autocue. And makes co-presenting comedy legend Steve Carell look like a circus midget. Best Animation is next up... And surely, surely, it will be Up. (Although in any other year, Coraline should win.)

2am

Of course, it's Up. And Pixar's heartbreaking movie still has a Best Picture nom in the hat. Nice short speech. Well done that man.

2.01am

Jennifer's Body star Amanda Seyfried steps on stage wearing a dress that's as big as the stage itself. Miley Cyrus g-g-g-gets her lines wrong. Love it.

2.05am

Wow. Someone called "T-Bone" just won an Oscar. What's happening to this world? Acceptance speech as Crazy Heart walks away with Best Song: "I love you more than rainbows, baby." Entire Oscar audience is nearly sick in their own shoes.

2.14am

Looking' guuuud... Robert Downey Jr (weird shades, blue bow tie, um...) and Tiny Fey (nice dress, big hair) present Best Original Screenplay. For our money, it's Basterds versus Hurt Locker. Which means The Messenger will probably win.

2.16am

Boom! The Hurt Locker wins. Although scripter Mark Boal's neatly trimmed chin-rug fails to provide any contest in tonight's Best Beard melee.

2:20am

Jeez... Is that Molly Ringwald?? My word, it really is. Which means it's time for a John Hughes eugoogly. Great movies. Great man.

2.23am

Wow... Hughes alumnus pay homage. Everyone looks old. Except Macauley Culkin, who appears to be aging backwards, Benjamin Button-stylee. Suddenly feels like it's been a long time since someone's cracked a joke. Where's Steve Martin gone?

2.37am

Hotties du jour Carey Mulligan and Zoe Saldana are on stage. It can mean only one thing: some awards no one really cares about. Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Live Action Short... Director of the latter narrowly avoids crying. Hang on! There's Clooney, finally regaining consciousness...

2.42am

This is more like it... Ben Stiller presents Best Makeup dressed as a Na'vi. Points out the irony that Avatar wasn't nominated. "After I announce the winner I will stand as far away as possible so as not to demean their moment of triumph." And the winner is... Star Trek.

2.51am

Best Beard wannabe Jake Gyllenhaal and this writer's future wife Rachel McAdams present Best Adapted Screenplay. And the winner is... Oh, here we go. First award of the night for Precious. And some tears. From a man. "This is for precious boys and girls everywhere..." gasps the writer, thanking everyone as if he's just found the cure for AIDS.

2.52am

"I wrote that speech for him," deadpans Martin. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

2.55am

Lovely shoutout for legends Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman. EVeryone stands and applauds. Except Penelope Cruz. Who just looks confused. Probably because the video montage wasn't subtitled.

3am

Right. Let's do this. Best Supporting Actress. Mustmustmust go to Mo'Nique for her incredible performance as a monster-mother in Precious. It's the only award that film deserves to win tonight - and boy, does Mo'Nique deserve it. And the winner is...

3.02am

MO'NIQUE! Even better, she gets through her speech without having a good cry. Cut to Gabby Sidibe, who looks distracted and peckish.

3.08am

Some two hours into the ceremony, Avatar bags its first Oscar: Best Art Direction. They've broken the seal...

3.10am

Sarah Jessica Parker (spray-painted orange) and Tom Ford (beard: disappointing) present Best Costume Design to The Young Victoria. "Well, I already have two of these," sighs recipient Sandy Powell. Snipers on the balcony take aim. Hopefully.

3.20am

Well, they were always going to be shoehorned in somehow. Taylor Lautner and K-Stew intro an actually-quite-disturbing montage of Hollywood;s greatest horrors. R-Pattz must be gelling his hair backstage. Or desperately trying to grow a beard in time for next year's ceremony.

3.24am

Morgan Freeman tries to explain to everyone what sound editing means. Nobody really understands what he's on about. But he does have a very soothing voice. Avatar and The Hurt Locker are nominated. And the winner is...

3.28am

The Hurt Locker. Whose sound editor has lady's hair. Hurriedly on to Sound Mixing now (Freeman doesn't even bother explaining), but that goes to The Hurt Locker too. It is agreed, then, that The Hurt Locker has very good sound. And its sound editor has very silly hair.

3.37am

"Please welcome my longtime dear friend, and by that I mean, I've never met her, Sandra Bullock!" Martin sends on the Best Actress nominee to present Best Cinematography to... Avatar. Jim Cameron's groundbreaking sci-fi stunner is building momentum ahead of the Best Picture and Best Director showdown.

3.38am

Truly alarming cut to Avatar stars CCH Pounder and Stephen Lang sat next to each other. She's literally twice the size of him!

3.42pm

Dead-people montage: Crazy Swayze, Brittany Murphy, Jack Cardiff, Horton Foote, Natascha Richarson, Budd Schulberg... Jacko? Karl Malden probably gets the biggest hand. James Taylor plays them out. Impossible not to think of Funny People.

3.52am

Sam Worthington! Stop! Chewing! Gum! Honestly... Slouching next to an immaculate J-Lo, the Avatar and Terminator star helps intro Best Score. By "helps", we mean slouches next to J-Lo chewing gum. Up wins.

3.53am

Clooney hammered again. Or at the very least pretending to be. Which is good enough for us.

3,54am

Hurt Locker 3-2 Avatar, as we go into the Best Visual Effects smackdown, presented by lady-faves Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper.

3.56am

Make that 3-3. Avatar scoops up another one for its boundary-busting 3D magic.

4.01am

Matt Damon.

4.05am

YES! The Cove, that incredible documentary about the Japanese's horrific treatment of dolphins, wins Best Doc. If you haven't seen it, go out right now and buy it. Or wait till the shops are open. Whatever. Just buy it.

4.10am

Hurt Locker beats Avatar to Best Editing. But it's all just build-up... We're betting Hurt Locker to take Best Director and Avatar to take Best Picture.

4.17am

Best Foreign Film. Basically, it's Un Prophete (that;s "A Prophet" if you don't speak French) versus The White Ribbon...

4.18am

Only it's not! First proper upset of the night as The Secret Of Their Eyes gives Prophet and White Ribbon a good slap in face and scampers off with the Oscar. Critics everywhere nervously start googling so they can pretend they've seen it.

4.25am

Kim Basinger (Bridges). Vera Farminga (Clooney),. Julianne Moore (Firth). Tim Robbins (Freeman). Colin Farrell (Renner) Stars take the stage to pay lovely tribute to each of the Best Actor nominees...

4.31am

"Being a friend is getting the other a cup of coffee. Can you do that for me, Ted?" Robbins recalls how he knew than he and Morgan Freeman would be friends for life. Colin Farrell reveals he spooned with Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner when they made SWAT.

4.32am

And the Best Actor is....

4.33am

Jeff Bridges! Finally, in his fifth swing at Best Actor, the Dude abides. Emotional speech about his parents and his family. Then gives fellow Oscar-winner T-Bone a shout-out, too. Well, how could he not?

4.44am

It's Best Actress O'Clock... Forest Whitaker, Michael Sheen, Peter Sarsgaard, Oprah Winfrey, and Stanley Tucci butter up the leading ladies. Can Sandra Bullock snatch it? Her real challengers are Meryl Streep (taking it in her stride) and Carey Mulligan (looking visible nervous). Unless they give it to Big Ol' Gabby Sidibe. In which case, this blog is over. Over!

4.48am

And the Best Actress is...

4.50am

Gabby Sidi... Nah. It's Sandy Bullock! Doffing a graceful cap to her challengers (including "my lover, Meryl Streep!"), the star of Miss Congeniality lifts an unlikely Academy Award. We love her. Not least because she just told everyone that George Clooney chucked her in a swimming pool once. Well done, Sandy.

4.51am

Bullock also just became the first actress to win Worst Actress at the Razzies and Best Actress at the Oscars in the same year. Dominance.

4.55am

The winner...

4.55am

of Best Director...

4.55am

is...

4.56am

...the first woman ever to win Best Director. Congratulations, Kathryn Bigelow. Ex-husband James Cameron gives her some warm applause. Now his hopes hang on Best Picture.

4.57am

And here comes Tom Hanks...

4.58am

TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE HURT LOCKER IS HAS ALSO WON BEST PICTURE!

5am

James Cameron looks stunned. So do the Hurt Locker producers. Bigelow can hardly talk. Hanks barely let the Best Director cheers fade before announcing Hurt Lockers' incredible double-win. Suddenly, it's all over. The Hurt Locker rules! Cameron is left with nothing but a few technical awards. (Oh, and billions of dollars.)

Report: Cheryl and Ashley to have counselling

MSN Celebrity Blog — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:05:11 +0000

The Daily Mail has reported that Cheryl Cole has agreed to have counselling sessions with husband Ashley, despite his alleged infidelities.

Last week the distraught singer publicly announced she was separating from her husband of three and a half years. However, she has now reportedly ‘given in’ to Ashley’s pleads for another chance and will go with him to see a marriage counsellor.

Cheryl is said to be feeling partly to blame for the problems in their rocky marriage. Along with Ashley’s suspected four indiscretions with other women, Cheryl reportedly feels she has not been a good enough wife due to her busy career as an X Factor judge and singer, and that all of these factors have lead to the breakdown of their relationship.

In 2008, Cheryl went back to Ashley after it was reported he slept with hairdresser Aimee Walton. Will she really go back to him this time, or is it game over for the Coles?

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Pussycat Dolls lose two members

MSN Celebrity Blog — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:31:24 +0000

It has been reported that two members of girl group the Pussycat Dolls have quit.

Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Roberts both announced they were leaving the group within hours of each other. Kimberly said in an interview with Loaded magazine: "I've left the group. I am so thankful for everything the Pussycat Dolls has brought into my life. But I have to say there were just too many variables that I couldn't agree with and I had to follow my heart.”

Shortly after, Ashley told fans on her website that she was also leaving the group: “Yes, I have left the Pussycat Dolls… I love you all sooo much! I am so grateful to have the love and support of all of you. It was an amazing ride and I learned so much!”

Nicole Scherzinger and Melody Thornton are the only remaining members of the group.

Do you think they can carry on without Ashley and Kimberly?

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Lily Allen versus Courtney Love

MSN Celebrity Blog — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:46:16 +0000

Lily Allen is no stranger to celebrity feuds, and it seems the outspoken singer is now in a war of words with the one and only Courtney Love.

It was reported in The Mirror the pair clashed after the NME Awards on Wednesday. Courtney was allegedly rattled with Lily for ‘locking down’ some Chanel dresses, meaning she couldn’t wear them herself at the Brit Awards a week earlier, and had Tweeted her annoyance.

At their most recent meeting at the NME Awards, it was reported Courtney and Lily had to be separated after a furious screaming match. However, Lily has since denied these claims on her Twitter page:

“Just clearing a couple of things up. Courtney Love and I did NOT have a bust up at the NME's.”

She finished up her Twitter rant with cutting words: “I would never fight with her, as a rule I don't pick on crazy old ladies.”

Ouch! We wonder what Courtney has to say about that? We can’t wait for her reply.

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Ashley points finger at Cheryl’s mum

MSN Celebrity Blog — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:28:47 +0000

The Daily Mail has reported that Ashley Cole is blaming the breakdown of his marriage on Cheryl’s mum, Joan Callaghan.

Ashley has allegedly claimed their marriage couldn’t “stand a chance” due to the fact his mother-in-law moved into their £6 million Surrey home two years ago. Cheryl was famously close to her mum, and Joan was often seen out and about with the young married couple.

It has also been reported that Ashley, who allegedly cheated on Cheryl several times, begged her not to leave and that he offered to seek treatment for sex addition.

Yesterday Cheryl officially announced she would be separating from her husband of almost four years. Lawyers have said their divorce will be quick and easy. Family lawyer Julian Hawkhead said: "A case where it's young people and no children and both with lots of money, it should be an easy divorce."

The couple, who didn’t sign a pre-nuptial agreement before tying the knot, have a £22 million fortune between them.

Cheryl and Ashley’s relationship in pictures

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Cheryl announces split from Ashley

MSN Celebrity Blog — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:39:30 +0000

A spokesperson for Cheryl Cole has announced the star will be separating from Ashley, her husband of three and a half years:

“Cheryl Cole is separating from her husband Ashley Cole. Cheryl asks the media to respect her privacy during this difficult time. We have no further comment to make.”

The distraught singer arrived in the UK today after spending time in LA, hiding away from the media circus surrounding Ashley's alleged infidelities. There had been speculation she would split from the Chelsea defender, but it is now official.

In 2008 Ashley was accused of cheating on Cheryl with a hairdresser, and more of his indiscretions have been revealed over the past few weeks. Rumours of explicit text messages and hotel meetings with several women made the front pages of the tabloid newspapers.

Cheryl, who performed her hit Fight For This Love at the Brit Awards last week, flew out to LA directly after her performance without her wedding ring.

PR guru Max Clifford spoke to Sky News following the announcement. "There's a lot of sympathy for Cheryl... People will feel sorry for her, but just about everyone will say she had no choice because that's how he is, and you assume that's how he'll always be."

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