If you want to spot some big stars but start feeling hungry from all the sightseeing you might as well visit restaurants that are the favorites of your favorite celebs including:

Spago Beverly Hills – The original Spago used to be located in west Hollywood but after Wolfgang Puck opened the Beverly Hills branch he had to let the first one go. If you want a sure shot at seeing big names this is the place to go especially during peak hours (7-9pm). The problem with the place though is that it is that you would need to book reservations days or even weeks in advance. Unless you’re a celeb or going out with one you also wouldn’t be able to get a table during the peak hours. Still the food is really excellent and at the very least you can say you’ve dined in the place where Sir Elton John, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Robin Williams, Sydney Poitier, Tom Hanks, and so many more have dined.

Formosa Cafe – Fancy a drink? This is the place to go. Actually the place offers a lot more than drinks and has an excellent full menu everynight. Formosa Cafe is really frequented by the celebs though mostly just for cocktails. The great thing about Formosa Cafe is that the prices are relatively reasonable and the ambiance will make you fill at ease. Big names that have been spotted there include Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, James Dean, etc (although you surely wouldn’t see them coming again!). Among those alive and breathing big stars that have been seen there include Bono, Nicolas Cage, Britney Spears, Jodie Foster, Kevin Spacey, an more.

So who made the list? Here are some of them.

Oliver Stone
He’s cemented his outsider status with a rebellious nature and a penchant for high-minded, controversial films. His work has provocatively depicted American culture, politics and business with Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July and Natural Born Killers. But his latest film, W, grossed just $10 million during its opening weekend.

Michael Moore
He’s turned controversy into commerce, with documentaries that have explored American health care, the Iraq war, President Bush and gun ownership. But when his 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11 grossed over $200 million worldwide–though it had a production cost of $6 million–that’s when he became a Hollywood darling. He’ll earn a reported $20 million to do the sequel.

Mel Gibson
Besides being outspoken, they’re adept at manipulating publicity–both positive and negative–to boost their fame, allowing them to work on their own terms. “Celebrities are selling their own brands because it affords them more freedom and they can drive the machine,” Says Levine.

That last description was actually referring not only to Mel Gibson but to other personalities such as Madonna and Kanye West as well. We all know where these people are right now and I think that being mavericks is one big reason that they reached where they are.

This time, the museum is dedicated to the stars – the human kind, not the twinkly kind you see up in the night sky. The newest addition to Madame Tussauds’ museum is located right next to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, near the Kodak Theatre. If you follow the Walk of Fame, you will go by the new museum, which opened on the 1st of this month.

There are 115 celebrities immortalized in wax, and guess what? This is no stuffy museum where visitors have to stay behind the red ropes! Those who go inside Madame Tussauds can literally rub shoulders with the wax figures.

To add to the whole experience, the stars do not come as stand alone figures. Some of them actually have props, which they are most known for. Tom Hanks, for example, sits on a bench as Forrest Gump did. You can even put on some the available habits around Whoopi Goldberg’s figure to join her in Sister Act. Needless to say, the possibilities for fun are endless in this museum.

Tickets are sold online and at the door. Online, you can buy Priority Access or Flexi Tickets, both for a 10 percent discount. What are you waiting for? It’s the perfect trip to end the summer.

If I asked you right now who the most powerful women in Hollywood are, what would your answer be? When faced with this question earlier (my friend and I were talking about the very same topic), I named Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. According to The Hollywood Reporter – which is definitely a more reliable source than I am – I got one correctly.

They recently honored the most influential women in Hollywood and Oprah was right there at the top. AP has a write up on the recent event:

The chairwoman of Harpo Inc. tops the trade paper’s 17th annual Power 100 list “based on her dizzying array of Oprah-branded media and her immense cultural influence,” Guider said.

Honorees are chosen by a panel of reporters and editors who consider each woman’s corporate position, control of purse strings and power to greenlight content.

During the same Q-&-A session, Disney’s co-chairwoman, Anne Sweeney, who was second on the list, said she uses chocolate as a salve, while No. 3, Sony Chairwoman Amy Pascal, opts to hide under the covers when failure strikes. The list was published Friday.

Who else made the list? I only really recognized Oprah in the top 10. Angelina Jolie made it to number 24, Tyra Banks is at 36, Tina Fey at 56, Rachael Ray at 65, and Miley Cyrus at 100. I don’t know about you but I was a bit surprised at number 100. Then again, the Hannah Montana phenomenon is indeed quite remarkable. For the complete list, visit The Hollywood Reporter.

The King of Sting is the story of real life con men. Think Catch Me If You Can. It runs along the same lines. The protagonists of this story are Craig Glazer and Don Woodbeck. They operated all across the United States, posing as cops, and conducting drug stings. The caveat is that they kept all the money and drugs involved. Now you can just imagine how much they raked in!

In fact, they were so successful in their activities that they were hired by the Attorney General of Kansas. Unfortunately, Woodbeck lost his life in their final attempt. Glazer subsequently wrote a book about his colorful life, titled The King of Sting: The Amazing True Story of a Modern American Outlaw.

It seems that it was received warmly and is now targeted to be turned into a movie. Eric Eisner, a known producer, is said to have locked in the rights to the story. While there are no other details known as of yet, I am thinking we’ll get to see this movie by early next year.

To be honest, he was not the first person to come to mind. He is Leonardo di Caprio. Of Titanic fame, this guy has done a lot to bring environmental awareness to his part of the world. Even in private ways, he has been consistent in living a green life. Even international news agencies have taken notice. The Times Online (UK) ran a feature on him some time ago and noted that he has not always been this conscious of the environment:

The actor wasn’t always so planet-conscious: his first car, bought when he was 16, was a 1969 Ford Mustang, one of the original muscle cars. “It broke down on the freeway three times,” he says. “I nearly died [of embarrassment].”

So what made him change? He says that his role in the movie The Beach helped him become aware of our duty to conserve nature. His first act when he returned home after filming? He bought a Prius.

Seems to me we can learn something here.

Unfortunately that simply isn’t the case. Wealth and beauty do not automatically bring forth the fairy tale ending that many wish for. In fact, Hollywood has some of the shortest weddings.

Here are some of the shortest celebrity marriages Hollywood has ever seen:

Britney Spears takes home the prize for the shortest celebrity wedding. Her marriage to Jason Alexander barely lasted 48 hours. She said she just wanted to try being married. Did she think it was a dress?

After divorcing Sonny Bono, Cher seemed to have a hankering for the married state once again. So she up and married Greg Allman in Las Vegas. After a mere 9 days she called it quits saying that his drug and drinking problems were a bit too much for her.

Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley lasted longer. They made it to 3 months and fifteen days before saying I don’t want to anymore. Lisa Marie later married the former king of pop, Michael Jackson, which lasted 20 months.

The latest couple to file their divorce makes it to the list. After a mere four months, Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are giving up on wedded bliss. Just goes to show that multiple wedding ceremonies do not equal a more united couple.

Fred Allen

?A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.?

Lucy Liu

?I try to believe like I believed when I was five… when your heart tells you everything you need to know.?

Jennifer Aniston

“The best smell in the world is that man that you love.?

Madonna

?Listen, everyone is entitled to my opinion.?

“I wouldn’t have turned out the way I was if I didn’t have all those old-fashioned values to rebel against.?

?Everyone probably thinks that I’m a raving nymphomaniac, that I have an insatiable sexual appetite, when the truth is I’d rather read a book.?

Elvis Presley

?Look guys, if you’re just going to stare at me, I’m going to bed!?

But because of the almost instantaneous reporting of box office results once a movie is shown in theaters, studios and production outfits will immediately know (usually within a few hours) if the movie that took so long in making and cost so much is a box office bomb or a huge blockbuster.

This is in huge contrast to about thirty years or so ago when movie executives would actually drive to theaters and look at the opening day lines to the theaters ? a much more hands on approach compared to today?s very strategic juggling of advance polling techniques, demographic minded scheduling and usage of historical models.

With the level of accuracy of the agencies that report box office takes for the movies getting more and more accurate, studio executives are relying on them on an ever increasing basis to gauge if they are actually going to make money or not.

The bad thing though with an industry that has become more obsesses with math and the bottomline is that quality and artistic expression has fallen by the wayside. Movies are nothing more than products now that is marketed no differently from a hamburger.

Hopefully the movie studios will also realize that money is not the be all and end all in a place that fuels the imagination like no other.

Dennis Hopper’s career was full of ups and downs – much like many other personalities out there. One big difference is how this man handled the stuff that life threw at him. Despite all the discouragement he had met in his career, he was able to achieve a lot of things, including two Oscar nominations, his own Hollywood star (which he got this year, by the way), and a reputation for being one of the best bad boys in Hollywood.

He is probably best known for Easy Rider, which changed a lot of things for him and movies in general. Indeed, his co-star Peter Fonda says that they “rode the highways of America and changed the way movies were made in Hollywood.” In tribute to Hopper, he continues to say that he “was blessed by his passion and friendship.”

More than being an actor, Dennis Hopper was also an accomplished director. In fact, the last several years of his life could be described as nothing but frenetic. This is a guy who was filled with passion for his life and work, and for that, we cannot do anything but admire him.

So long, Dennis Hopper!