Snoop Gets Aussie Visa...With Strings Attached
Looks like Down Under officials are going to put the Doggfather on a tight leash.
Barred from the country last year for what immigration authorities called "character issues," Snoop Dogg has just been granted a visa for a fall tour with Ice Cube—a move that has sparked controversy in certain kangaroo quarters.
Avril "Too Sexy" for Malaysia?
Avril Lavigne is getting under the skin of Malaysian censors.
A hard-line Islamic opposition party in the Southeast Asian country is calling on the government to scuttle an upcoming concert featuring the "Sk8er Boi" singer, calling her stage act way "too sexy" for local tastes.
Thunder Sparks Protest From Disabled
Not everyone is hot for Tropic Thunder.
A coalition of prominent groups that advocate for the disabled are calling for a nationwide boycott of Ben Stiller's Tinseltown spoof, saying a subplot unfairly takes potshots at the mentally impaired.
Chinese Artist Swipes at Kung Fu Panda
Nobody pokes fun at a panda in this town and gets away with it.
A Chinese artist known for invoking his country's bamboo-gnawing national symbol in nearly everything that he does has filed a complaint against DreamWorks over its treatment of Po, the initially inept bear voiced by Jack Black in Kung Fu Panda.
Zhao Bandi, who last month rallied for a boycott of the film, is demanding an apology from the studio for certain attributes it assigned to the title panda, including his green eyes and the fact that he has a duck for a father.
Beijing's Chaoyang District People's Court has formally accepted his suit, he says.
But Bandi is not asking for any money—just the apology.
The Valkyrie Flap That Wasn't
Sometimes a nose is just a nose. As Tom Cruise knows.
In what is some much-needed good news for the actor's beleaguered WWII flick Valkyrie, Slate has been forced to publish an embarrassing correction retracting its claim that Cruise's United Artists may have digitally altered a photo of the film's subject, German hero Claus von Stauffenberg, to look more like Cruise.
Imus Fumbles Footballer Race Remarks
[Editor's Note: Some viewers may find this video offensive.]
Foot, meet (big) mouth. Again.
Six months after returning to the airwaves following his "nappy-headed hos" no-no, Don Imus was on the defensive today after comments he made about troubled Dallas Cowboys defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones' race.
Ricki Lake Delivers Response to Birth Controversy
The American Medical Association has really rattled Ricki Lake.
The actress and producer of the recent documentary The Business of Being Born is firing back at the national group in light of its pointed criticism of the idea of employing midwives and having babies at home rather than in a hospital—an option that worked for Lake when she welcomed her second son in 2001.
"It feels like a personal attack," Lake told the New York Daily News Tuesday. "I can't imagine they are scared everyone will have a home birth because I did. The message of the film is about having all the choices in birth, it's about getting information and being empowered."
Vanity Fair to Gershon: Retract This
Whether or not Bill Clinton had sexual relations with that woman is apparently irrelevant. Vanity Fair is sticking by its story.
The glossy has shot down calls from Gina Gershon's reps to retract its bombshell July cover story that links the former president to the Bound star.
"We don't believe that any correction is warranted," Vanity Fair spokeswoman Beth Kseniak said in a statement.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Angry Communists
In a case of life immitating art, Indiana Jones really has pissed off the Russians.
Communist Party members in Russia want to ban Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from local theaters, calling it anti-Soviet propaganda that distorts history.
The action-adventure blockbuster is set in Cold War-era 1957 and finds everyone's favorite aging archaeologist (Harrison Ford) racing against an evil Russian KGB agent (Cate Blanchett) to track down a legendary skull with otherworldly powers.
"It's rubbish," said Sergei Malinkovich, a leader for the St. Peterburg Communist Party. "In 1957 the Communists did not run with crystal skulls throughout the U.S. Why should we agree to that sort of lie and let the West trick our youth?"
Another angry citizen even wants to ban the movie's stars from entering Russia.
"Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett [are] second-rate actors, serving as the running dogs of the CIA," the Party member wrote in a blog entry. "We need to deprive these people of the right of entering the country."
We'd laugh...but, seriously, we don't want Communists coming after us, too.
Moore Fires Up Fahrenheit Follow-Up
Michael Moore's got the mercury rising.
Appearing at Cannes, the Oscar winner unveiled plans to begin work on a sequel to 2004's blockbuster documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, sealing a deal with Paramount Vantage and Overture Films to cofinance and distribute the film.
The parties are tight-lipped about the specifics of Moore's new movie, only revealing that, unlike its predecessor, it won't be an attack on President George W. Bush but will instead examine America's status in the post-9/11 world.
The untitled doc is slated to open in spring 2009, well after the presidential election. Overture will release the film domestically, while Paramount Vantage will handle international distribution.
Debuting at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Fahrenheit 9/11 won the Palme d'Or and then went on to gross $220 million worldwide, making it the biggest documentary ever.
Moore's latest exposé, Sicko, targeted the U.S. health-care system and raked in $24 million last year.
















