August has whizzed by, and with September upon us, so are the television specials on one of the most horrible and shocking events in modern history, September 11.

For U.S viewers, the shows titled “Inside 9/11,” The Final Report: Osama’s Escape” and “Triple Cross: Bin Laden’s Spy in America,” will be airing next week from Sunday and again on the 11th.

In “Inside 9/11,” they’ve added the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, the secret Able Danger Osama hunters, etc. “Final Report” charts the generally stumbling pursuit of bin Laden. There’s a misnomer here because there’s no final report. Don’t get your hopes up.

The stunning episode is “Triple Cross,” which the network likens to a Tom Clancy plot. Of course we tend to think of how big intrigues will play on a big screen — and this one is continually fascinating, start to finish.

Ali Mohammed has had his fingers in many if not most of the terrorism gambits all over the world on behalf of radical Islam. He has worked tightly with bin Laden himself — and at the same time he has consulted with the FBI, CIA, the Army, etc.

Not to spoil the ending for you — but after 14 years as a mole for everybody (so it seems), he now is hidden away in America’s federal prisons.

Although the eagerly-anticipated Bond film ?Casino Royale? wont be making its debut until November 17th (several other countries like Japan and Italy will not get to see the film until early 2007), UK tabloids have reported that the new 007 Daniel Craig has been given another licence to kill for the next installment. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, franchise producers of the famous James Bond name backed this up, saying that Daniel Craig will indeed be returning as the indomitable James Bond for the 22nd Bond film, which has yet to be titled, and is set to be released on May 2, 2008 by Columbia Pictures.

Does this mean that the execs are confident that Craig as the new OO7 will be hit with Bond fans? According to the UK tabloid News of The World, ?? Broccoli is so sure he’ll (Craig) be a box-office hit, she got him to sign on the dotted line for months before the release of his debut film.”

Born in 1968, English actor Daniel Craig was proclaimed to be the 6th actor to play the role of the debonair spy in April 2006 (replacing Pierce Brosnan). Brought up in Prescot in Cheshire (near Liverpool), Craig moved to London when he was 16 to pursue his theatre education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

His career took off in the UK through the BBC drama ?Our Friends in the North?, and internationally with Angelina Jolie in ?Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2?, Gwyneth Paltrow in ?Sylvia? , Tom Hanks in ?Road to Perdition?, and most recently Steven Spielberg?s Oscar-nominated ?Munich?.

And more on the falling popularity of Tom Cruise, and this time its in the likeability stakes. A poll in the U.K asked which celebrity they would want as their best friend, and the 44-year old fist-pumper came last.

Yahoo! Entertainment spokeswoman Jayne Cherrington said: “Everyone has heard of Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson but obviously they’re not viewed as ideal ‘friend material’ by people in the UK.”

“Jack Black seems to be an all round favorite - someone who fans believe they can have a few beers and a great night out with as well as a guy who would be a good listener and a shoulder to cry on,” she added.

“Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp stepped into the second place, followed by Will Smith and Samuel L Jackson.

Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt, and Mel Gibson shared fifth place in the survey which was conducted before Gibson made anti-Semitic remarks and was caught drink-driving.

Jack Nicholson was placed the sixth, followed by “Miami Vice” stars Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in joint seventh.

In the poll, where a total of 2,373 people were surveyed nationally, Cruise limped into eighth place with just 3 percent of the votes.

Its no surprise that the recent news about Tom Cruise’s weird behaviour has sent many of us shaking our heads in disbelief or even disgust. From being your typical, ego-centric Hollywood actor, Tom has morphed into a fanatical madman.

It all began with his jumping on Oprah’s couch like a loon (a cheesy one at that) with the fist-pumping declarations of love. Then came the argument with Matt Lauer on mental health. Then another argument with poor old Brooke Shields when he claimed that her post-partum depression did not exist (the gall!). And finally all this very strange paranoid hiding of Katie and the baby.

So when Paramount announced that they were dumping him, I was rather glad. And the reason why, confirmed by the spokesman of Paramount’s Chairman Sumner Redstone is because of Cruise’s conduct. Good on you!

Here’s the official report:

Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures won’t renew its film-production contract with Tom Cruise, a spokesman for Chairman Sumner Redstone said. Redstone, who is chairman of Viacom and CBS Corp., told the Wall Street Journal the contract wasn’t renewed because of the actor’s conduct. ”As much as we like him personally,” Redstone is quoted as saying, ”we thought it was wrong to renew his deal.” He cited Cruise’s ”recent conduct” as the reason.

There isn?t a little black dress more famous (and more iconic) than the gorgeous Hubert de Givenchy creation worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany?s.

The Blake Edwards film ?Breakfast at Tiffany?s?, adapted from the Truman Capote novella, was a certified hit when it was released and continues to be a well-loved film classic today, introducing to women of all generations the delightful character of Holly Golightly, played to perfection by Audrey Hepburn.

The famous dress which came out in the film?s opening scene was designed by Givenchy to fit Hepburn?s ?impossible? 34A-20-34 measurements like a glove. The famous opening scene sees Hepburn, wearing the iconic dress, emerge from a taxi onto a deserted Fifth Avenue in New York during the early morning, peering through the window of jewelry store Tiffany’s while munching on her breakfast out of a brown paper bag.

Needless to say, the dress (and the role) catapulted Hepburn into stellar fame. One of the world?s best-loved actresses, she spent her later years traveling as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, passing away in January 1993 from colon cancer at the age of 63.

But the good news today is that ?that dress? is now to go on sale, and for a good cause too. On December 5th, Holly Golightly?s black dress will be part of Christie?s annual film and entertainment sale in London.

Proceeds from the auction will go to an Indian charity organisation, City Of Joy Aid, which helps underprivileged children in Kolkata.

The dress is expected to fetch between ?50,000 and ?70,000.

“Stargate” began life as a feature film starring Kurt Russell and James Spader, which was released in October of 1994, to pretty good but not stellar reviews.

The Egyptian/alien twist and the gate?s propensity to unleash new exciting worlds ad infinitum, gave some producers the idea to turn it to a tv show ? just think of all those thrilling alien vs human battles to be had.

Wright and Glassner got a two-season commitment from network Showtime, and in February 1996, they filmed the pilot of ?SG-1? on a Vancouver soundstage.

Richard Dean Anderson (”MacGyver”) replaced Kurt Russell as Col. Jack O’Neill, with Amanda Tapping and Christopher Judge joining the Stargate team.

The first season went well, but not without a hitch. The writing was on the shaky side, and Showtime actually wanted the show to have full-frontal nudity. Richard Dean Anderson?s dry humour was a hit with viewers though, and the show?s ratings shot up.

By season 5, Showtime decided to ax the show despite its good performance, claiming to need fresh material and new shows. Luckily, Stargate- SG 1 was found a new home at the Sci-Fi channel which proved to be an even better fit with its audience base.

In 2004, a spin-off was launched, called ?Atlantis?. To save on costs, two-thirds of “SG-1’s” $2.2 million-per-episode budget was covered by MGM, with the remainder picked up by Sci Fi network. “Atlantis” and “SG-1″ also share soundstages and production crew.

In spite of this, “Stargate Atlantis” was a roaring success garnering
2.9 million viewers. The producers of SG-1 prepared themselves for the mothership?s demise with Anderson leaving the show in season 9.

But again, the Stargate fans kept coming, and the show is still alive and kicking, and according to the execs, still making money. SG-1?s 200th episode aired on the Sci Fi Channel yesterday, on the 18th of August.

A lot has changed since Britney donned her now-famous school girl uniform, and pigtails ablazing strutted around the high school halls. Now, you’re more likely to see Brit-the-parent at a trendy baby boutique, or worse letting her baby go behind the wheel….but thats another story.

Well, the news is that Britney is now expecting baby No. 2, which she and husband Kevin Federline say was an unplanned event.

“It just kind of happened,” the 24-year-old singer reveals in an interview in the latest issue of People magazine, on newsstands Friday. She adds, laughing: “I’m going to wait a while for the next (one)!” At eight months pregnant, Spears is mom to 11-month old son Sean Preston, the couple’s first child. “I feel like I’ve been pregnant for 10 years!” she says.

Having back-to-back babies can be stressful, she says, but she adheres to her mom’s advice to take it “one day at a time.” “It is now starting to get a little tiring, holding (Sean Preston), but the whole pregnancy I’ve done it a lot because he’s very attached, it makes me feel needed and wanted, so I like it too.”

Spears says she and Federline, 28, don’t know the gender of their baby-to-be. The little one and its big brother “are going to be so close together, it’s going to be weird. But I love it,” she says. She is not ignoring her cravings at this point. “Crunching ice and chocolate, oh my God,” she says. “I’ll get up in the middle of the night and I’ll get a Hershey’s bar, the real big ones, and I’ll put it in the microwave and melt it and eat it. It sounds disgusting, but it’s so satisfying.”

Despite glaring tabloid headlines depicting Angelina leaving Brad, more reputable news sources have said that the Brangelina union is still very much together, only that the family is leaving their beachfront compound in Malibu, Calif., for Los Angeles’ trendy Los Feliz neighborhood.

The couple and their three children — Maddox, 5, Zahara, 19 months, and Shiloh, 3 months — have only been back in the U.S. for a short time following their extended stay in Namibia, but are already moving on.

Pitt has spent more than a decade buying and renovating in Los Feliz and has amassed a three-property compound.

The brood is currently splitting their time between the two homes, but sources report Pitt intends to make Los Feliz the family’s primary residence.

The architecture buff has reportedly invested an estimated $4 million in the properties, which include a stone house once occupied by Elvira actress Cassandra Peterson, a California Craftsman and a post-and-beam property built in the 1950s.

Pitt purchased the first of the three properties in 1994 and has been renovating ever since. The doting parents have turned a ballroom into a massive playroom and there is a pool and a large fountain in the center of the main house.
According to sources, the new property is meant to be a kids’ paradise, where they can just run wild.

More and more stars are getting in on the action of coming out with their own signature scents.

In fact, celebrity fragrances are considered as the fastest growing segment of the $2.9 billion perfume industry in a report made by market researcher NPD Group. And it looks like more staid and established brands are beginning to see the money that can be made here. Brands like Chanel and Guerlain are now turning to Hollywood stars to endorse their flagship scents.

The perfume industry has a lot thank for these celebrities. The trend has actually revived the long dormant industry and is also bringing in a whole new customer base from the under 40 demographic who are now visiting fragrance counters in order to get themselves a bottle of their favorite celebrities? scents.

These celebrity scents and celebrity endorsed fragrances now comprise 23 per cent of the top 100 women?s fragrances in the United States for the year 2005. This figure is significantly up by 10 per cent from 2003 figures.

Some of the scents that are scheduled to be debuted in the coming months are from New Yankees Derek Jeter, Hilary Duff, and Mariah Carey.

The first celebrity to really use her status to launch her own fragrance line was Elizabeth Taylor. Up to now, White Diamonds remains a top seller.

This was widely regarded as a fluke in the industry until 2002 when Jennifer Lopez banked on her sizzling career in both movies and music to launch Glow.

But according to some experts, the perfume market may be entering a period of saturation because more and more celebrities are getting in on the action.

Experts say that this trend has grown so much at such a fast rate that it may be inevitable that it will soon hit a breaking point.

Following his arrest last Friday in Malibu, California, actor-director Mel Gibson has apologized to the Jewish community for the rude remarks he made to a police officer. “I want to apologize specifically to the Jewish community for the words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested,” he said in an official statement released by his publicist Tuesday. He further said that he is not an “anti-Semite” and that “hatred goes against my faith.”

The 50-year old actor also pleaded the Jews to help him recover from his alcoholism. His statement not only asked for forgiveness but also expressed hope for a personal discussion with the Jewish leaders to talk about his efforts toward healing. Meanwhile, Rabbi Marvin Hier, who founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said that Gibson should correct his anti-Semitism behavior through a sincere, private process. Hier said “a press release, no matter how well-written, is not a vaccine that wipes away anti-Semitism.”

A legal case against Gibson is said to be “being reviewed” at the moment at the District Attorney’s Office. Should the case be filed, he is set to be arraigned on September 28 at the Malibu Superior Court. The actor was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol but was released later after posting a $5,000 bail.

Reports have it that Gibson’s future is now at stake, more so as he is about to promote his next film “Apocalypto” under Walt Disney Productions and which is set to be released on December 8. Gibson has been more active in directing films lately than acting in movies.

[tags]Mel Gibson, Jews, Apocalypto, Movies[/tags]