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...

Read More..

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...

Read More..

Nine Inch Nails to go back on road after reinventing itself

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails is planning to hit the road again for a world tour after reinventing itself and adding new musicians.Founder Trent Reznor, who took a hiatus after the band’s “Wave Goodbye” tour in 2009, told music website Pitchfork.com on Monday that the band is “reinventing itself from scratch.”Reznor said in a statement that bass player Eric Avery, formerly...

Read More..

Oscar show promises music, megastars and James Bond

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bigger stars, more music and edgier comedy are on the menu for Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, when the most coveted awards in the movie industry are handed out during a glittering Academy Awards show.Producers of the three-hour Oscar telecast at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre are promising a faster-paced show and more face time with first-time host Seth MacFarlane, while honoring the...

Read More..

Jane Fonda, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Garner join list of Oscar presenters

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Oscar-winner Jane Fonda has been added to this year’s list of presenters at the Academy Awards ceremony, along with non-Oscar winners Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Garner and Kerry Washington, the show’s producers said on Thursday.Fonda took home her first Oscar statue in 1972 for her leading role in “Klute” and then won another in 1979 for her performance in Hal Ashby’s “Coming...

Read More..

Country singer Mindy McCready dead in apparent suicide

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) – Country music star Mindy McCready, whose albums include “Ten Thousand Angels” and “If I Don’t Stay the Night,” was found dead on Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Arkansas sheriff said. She was 37.McCready’s body was found on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon. She was pronounced dead at the scene “from what appears...

Read More..

TV show with Pistorius’ dead girlfriend airs

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Reeva Steenkamp‘s last wish for her family before she was shot dead at boyfriend Oscar Pistorius‘ home was for them to watch her in a reality TV show that went on air in South Africa on Saturday night, two days after her killing.Sharon Steenkamp, Reeva‘s cousin, told The Associated Press that the model and law graduate was “proud of being in the show” and reminded them in their...

Read More..

One year later, Grammys recall scramble over Whitney Houston death

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Grammy host LL Cool J called it a “death in our family” and it was he who suggested starting the Grammy Awards show last year with a prayer for Whitney Houston.Behind the scenes, Grammy Awards producers had worked all night to re-shape the music industry‘s biggest night just 24 hours after the drowning death of the troubled superstar in a Beverly Hills hotel.Producers and musicians...

Read More..

Court to probe singer Chris Brown’s community service records

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to find R&B singer Chris Brown in violation of his probation because they say community service records stemming from his 2009 assault on girlfriend Rihanna contain “significant discrepancies.”Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the “Don’t Wake Me Up” singer’s...

Read More..

Oscar night to have something for everyone, producers say

BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) – With a high five from 9-year-old actress Quvenzhane Wallis, and a pledge that Oscar night will have something for everyone, the Academy Awards kicked into high gear on Monday at a luncheon for more than 160 nominees.Jennifer Lawrence, Steven Spielberg, Jessica Chastain, Naomi Watts, Joaquin Phoenix, Kathryn Bigleow, Anne Hathaway and Denzel Washington were among the Oscar-nominated...

Read More..

The top films at the North American Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Following are the top 10 movies at North American box offices for the weekend starting February 1, led by Warm Bodies at No. 1, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters. 1 (*) Warm Bodies…………………………..$ 20.0 million 2 (1) Hansel and Gretel……………………..$ 9.2 million 3 (3) Silver Linings Playbook………………..$ 8.1 million 4 (2) Mama…………………………………$ 6.7 million 5 (4) Zero Dark Thirty………………………$...

Read More..

‘Girls,’ ‘Sugar Man’ earn Directors Guild honors

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Girls” star Lena Dunham has won the TV comedy directing prize from the Directors Guild of America, while the musical portrait “Searching for Sugar Man” earned the documentary award.Dunham won Saturday for directing the pilot of the show, which focuses on the lives of a group of girls in their 20s.“It is such an unbelievable honor to be in the company of the people in this room,...

Read More..

Schwarzenegger: Simple Austrian upbringing made me green

VIENNA (Reuters) – Arnold Schwarzenegger credited his simple upbringing amid the lakes and hills of Austria for a recent conversion to fully fledged green activism, the latest stage in his varied career.The former body-builder, star of the “Terminator” action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at...

Read More..

Whitney Houston anniversary to be marked with TV Grammy special

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Grammy organizers plan to mark the first anniversary of the sudden death of Whitney Houston with a behind-the-scenes TV show on how they scrambled to honor the singer just 24 hours after she died.The Recording Academy said on Thursday that the hour-long special entitled “The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family” will air on February 9, the day before the 2013 Grammy Awards...

Read More..

Patty Andrews of Andrews Sisters dead at 94

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the singing Andrews Sisters trio whose hits such as the rollicking “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” and the poignant “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” captured the home-front spirit of World War II, died Wednesday. She was 94.Andrews died of natural causes at her home in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge, said family spokesman Alan Eichler...

Read More..

Charlize Theron’s ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ Update Gets NBC Pickup

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – NBC has ordered the drama pilot “Hatfields & McCoys,” a modern-day tale of the famously warring families from a team that includes executive producer Charlize Theron.The series bears no relation to History’s hit miniseries of the same name, which aired last year. But it does trade on the same legend of feuding West Virginia families.In the new version, the families have...

Read More..

IFC Films acquires David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – IFC Films has acquired domestic distribution rights to David Lowery‘s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” which premiered Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival.The film stars Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck as married bandits in 1970s Texas who set their sights on a local sheriff, played by Ben Foster.IFC paid in the low seven figures for the rights, an individual with knowledge of the...

Read More..

Dick Van Dyke honored for lifetime achievement

LOS ANGELES (AP) — He’s acted, danced and sang his way through movies, television and the stage, making Dick Van Dyke an entertainment triple-threat long before Hollywood used such hyphenates.The 87-year-old actor, best known for the 1960s hit comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and Disney’s big-screen musical “Mary Poppins,” can now add lifetime achievement honoree. He picked up that honor at Sunday...

Read More..

‘Fruitvale,’ ‘Blood Brother’ win Sundance Awards

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The dramatic film “Fruitvale” and the documentary “Blood Brother” won over audiences and Sundance Film Festival judges.Both American films won audience awards and grand jury prizes Saturday at the Sundance Awards.“Fruitvale” tells the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 years old when he was shot and killed in a public transit station in Oakland, Calif. Twenty-six-year-old...

Read More..

ESPN’s Rachel Nichols jumps to CNN, Turner Sports

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols has made the leap to CNN.The former “SportsCenter” correspondent has been hired by CNN, where she will host a new weekend sports program. Nichols will also provide coverage for Turner Sports, and cover all major sporting events, including the Olympics, for CNN and Turner.Nichols’ first assignment in her new position will be the Super Bowl on...

Read More..