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...

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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...

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‘Identity Thief’ tops box office with $14 million

NEW YORK (AP) — A week after losing the box office title to Bruce Willis, Melissa McCarthy took it back again.McCarthy’s road trip comedy “Identity Thief” topped the box office in its third week of release on Oscar weekend with $ 14 million for Universal. 20th Century Fox‘s “A Good Day to Die Hard,” starring Willis, slid to fifth with $ 10.1 million.The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters...

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Barry Josephson signs on to produce Stan Lee’s “Annihilator”

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Stan Lee‘s newest superhero creation, “Annihilator,” is coming to the big screen with the help of producer Barry Josephson and Magic Storm Entertainment, the company announced on Thursday.Screenwriter Dan Gilroy (“The Bourne Legacy”) wrote the script for the film based on a treatment by Lee, which focuses on a Chinese expatriate named Ming who participates in a secret U.S....

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Mike Tyson sues Live Nation over embezzlement

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mike Tyson is suing a financial services firm affiliated with Live Nation, claiming it cost him more than $ 5 million due to a former employee’s embezzlement and mismanagement.The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles claims an adviser from SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises embezzled more than $ 300,000 from the former heavyweight boxing champ. The suit claims the losses...

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Singer Sande in line for big prize at BRIT awards

LONDON (Reuters) – Scottish singer Emeli Sande is favorite to win the coveted British album of the year honor later on Wednesday when the BRIT Awards are handed out in London.Sande, whose profile received a major boost when she took part in the opening and closing ceremonies at the London Olympics last year, has been nominated for three prizes on British pop’s biggest night.She was shortlisted for...

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Singer Fergie says she and actor Josh Duhamel expecting baby

(Reuters) – The Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie said on Monday that she and her husband, actor Josh Duhamel, are expecting a baby.“Josh & Me & BABY makes three!!!,” she tweeted. She also posted photos of herself and her husband as toddlers.It is the first child for the couple married in 2009.Duhamel, 40, appeared in the “Transformers” movies and stars this year in the film “Safe Haven.”Fergie,...

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“Die Hard” action beats love stories at box office

(Reuters) – The fifth movie in the Bruce Willis “Die Hard” franchise scored the biggest box-office action over the U.S. holiday weekend, beating out love story “Safe Haven,” which came in third for the Friday-through-Sunday period.“A Good Day to Die Hard,” with Willis returning as the tenacious, wisecracking hero John McClane, pulled in $ 25 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters over the three days,...

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Kate Upton says body shut down after Antarctic bikini shoot

(Reuters) – Swimsuit model Kate Upton said on Tuesday her body shut down after she posed in a skimpy bikini in Antarctica for Sports Illustrated magazine.Upton, wearing only a white bikini bottom and an unzipped white parka, was picked as the cover girl for the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, unveiled on Monday, for the second consecutive year.“It was freezing,” Upton, 20, told NBC’s morning...

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Oscar’s oldest nominee, Emmanuelle Riva, on “Amour”: it’s a gift in the last stage of my life

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The life of an artist is full of surprises, and none has been bigger for French actress Emanuelle Riva than the one that has come late in life. The response has been overwhelming to her performance in this year’s meditative “Amour,” which brought her the first Oscar nomination of her career – and makes her the oldest Best Actress nominee ever, at 85.Riva was best known...

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”Downton Abbey” star Maggie Smith never watches TV show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Maggie Smith‘s sarcastic dowager Countess may be the star of British period drama “Downton Abbey,” but the award-winning actress says she has never watched the TV series.Smith, 78, who has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her role as the acid-tongued Lady Grantham, tells CBS in an upcoming TV interview that she is amazed by the popularity of the show both in Britain...

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Kevin Spacey, Eva Longoria find starring roles online

(Reuters) – “Desperate Housewives” alum Eva Longoria‘s new project won’t bring her back to ABC, or any traditional U.S. television network. The actress will produce and lend her voice to “Mother Up!,” a 13-episode adult animated comedy available in the U.S. this fall only on the online video site Hulu.Longoria, Kevin Spacey, John Goodman and other top Hollywood actors are being wooed by the growing...

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Dave Clark Five bassist Rick Huxley dies aged 72

(Reuters) – Rick Huxley, the bassist for the 1960s British Invasion pop-rock group the Dave Clark Five, has died, the band’s leader said on Tuesday. He was 72.Huxley died unexpectedly at his home in the English countryside on Monday, Dave Clark told Reuters.The band scored No. 1 hits on both sides of the Atlantic during its decade-long run from 1960-1970.“Glad All Over” holds the honor of knocking...

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Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna hang at Roc Nation brunch

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jay-Z and Beyonce sat tightly with Solange. Kelly Rowland embraced Beyonce with a huge hug. And Rihanna spilled some of her drink laughing with Rowland.Music’s top stars attended the annual pre-Grammy Roc Nation brunch Saturday at the Soho House.Grammy nominee Miguel, Timbaland, Jill Scott and Kylie Mingoue also attended the exclusive event.Jay-Z is one of six acts nominated for...

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Britney Spears considers long-term Las Vegas deal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star and former “X Factor” judge Britney Spears is in talks to sign a long-term contract to headline a show at a Las Vegas resort, Caesars Entertainment Corp. said on Friday.“We can now confirm the company is actively engaged in discussions with Britney Spears‘ representatives regarding a potential headlining residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino,” the company...

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Martial arts drama kicks off Berlin film festival

BERLIN (Reuters) – The 2013 Berlin film festival kicks off on Thursday with the red carpet premiere of “The Grandmaster”, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai‘s martial arts period drama set in China at the time of the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.Starring regular collaborator Tony Leung Chiu Wai as kung fu master Ip Man and Zhang Ziyi as his rival and friend Gong Er, the heavily stylized picture is...

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Segregationist U.S. Senator Thurmond’s biracial daughter dies

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) – Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who in 2003 revealed she was the biracial daughter of segregationist U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, died on Monday at age 87, her attorney said.Washington-Williams, who had been in declining health in recent years, died of natural causes at a care home in Columbia, South Carolina, said lawyer Frank Wheaton.Washington-Williams was...

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Smooth-singing Josh Groban offers edgier sound on new album

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – After selling more than 22 million albums in the United States and becoming a staple in the classical music field, singer Josh Groban is embracing an edgier sound for his latest record, “All That Echoes,” out on Tuesday.Groban, 31, put together a collection of covers and original songs for the album, including a rendition of one of his personal favorites, “Falling Slowly” from...

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Ed Koch remembered as quintessential New York City mayor

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch was memorialized on Monday as an in-your-face, wisecracking leader who helped transform the city from a symbol of urban decay to the vital, glittering metropolis it is today.As Koch’s casket was led out of Temple Emanu-El, a soaring Fifth Ave. synagogue opposite Central Park, an organ played Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” while mourners...

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Keys sings national anthem on piano at Super Bowl

Alicia Keys performed a lounge-y, piano-tinged — and live — version of the national anthem ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday.The Grammy-winning singer played the piano as she sang “The Star Spangled Banner” in a long red dress with her eyes shut. Her publicist said the performance was live, days after halftime performer Beyonce admitted singing along to a prerecorded track at the Inauguration.Keys’...

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