Brad Pitt not starring in Sherlock Holmes

Washington, Aug 18 (ANI): Hollywood actor Brad Pitt isn’t joining the cast of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.

The Daily Mirror had earlier reported that Pitt is set to arrive in London this week to begin filming scenes as Holmes’ nemesis Moriarty.

However, a studio rep has denied reports insisting it is completely inaccurate.

“Brad Pitt is not joining the cast of Sherlock Holmes and we’re extremely pleased with the production of the film,” Usmagazine quoted studio rep as saying.

“As planned, it will be released on Christmas Day, 2009. In order to complete the movie, we’ve scheduled a few days on set to shoot a couple of additional scenes, obtain pick-up shots, and perfect some of the visual effects elements, all of which is standard filmmaking practice,” the rep added.

Pitt had last worked with Ritchie 2000 film Snatch. (ANI)

Jude Law talks about Sherlock Holmes

New Delhi, May 7 (ANI): According to Jude Law, foul language, homoerotic overtones and bare-knuckle fighting are Sherlock Holmes’ “quintessential parts.”

The 36-year-old actor plays Holmes’ faithful sidekick Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie’s new adaptation of the classic detective tale.

Law doesn’t believe writers sexed up the script, reports The China Daily.

He said: “The physicality, the bare-knuckle fighting, the martial arts are all hinted at in the books. We just hold a magnifying glass over them.

“A word that author Arthur Conan Doyle uses an awful lot is ‘apprehended’. As in, ‘Holmes and Watson apprehend the villain.’ We get to show the apprehension.”

He explained: “There are many duos we wanted to draw from. Something as eccentric as ‘The Odd Couple’ to ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, ‘Withnail and I’ and ‘Laurel and Hardy’.

“The friendship between Holmes and Watson is the kind of friendship you can only have with someone of the same sex, a person you adore but who infuriates you.”

Robert Downey Jr., who plays Holmes, found his inspiration in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original text.

He added to the USA Today newspaper: “Initially, we were just infusing the dialogue with Doyle-isms. Now we tend to speak a little more on his behalf. Truth be told, we have been working our butts off. We’ve been at it for a long, long, long time.” (ANI)

Robert Downey Jr. wants Chris Martin for Sherlock Holmes film music

Washington, Apr 7 (ANI): ‘Iron Man’ star Robert Downey Jr. hopes that British alternative rock band Coldplay’s lead vocalist Chris Martin will perform the soundtrack of his new Sherlock Holmes film.

Downey Jr., 44, believes that Martin, 32, will be the right person for the musical score, as the rocker is a huge fan of the super sleuth.

The actor also revealed that the singer has been offering him tips about playing Holmes on the big screen, and that he hopes Martin will be a part of Guy Ritchie’s much-anticipated movie.

“We are hoping Chris Martin of Coldplay will contribute to our score,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

“He’s a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. He told me you need to be really skinny, which is always the last thing you want to hear,” he added. (ANI)

World’s oldest person, 130, credits cottage cheese, sense of humour for longevity!

London, Mar 25 (ANI): A Kazakhstan lady, who mothered ten children, will be celebrating her 130th birthday this week, making her the world’s oldest person by 16 years.

Sakhan Dosova’s age was discovered during a census in Karaganda in northern Kazakhstan, when the date of birth on her passport showed as 1879, which was the same year Edison invented the light bulb and Stalin and Einstein were born.

Dosova’s age surprised demographers when they found that she had been on Stalin’s first census of the former Soviet region in 1926, when her age was given as 47, and they are now trying to confirm the record.

For the 129-year-old lady, she puts her longevity down to her love for cottage cheese and her sense of humour, and never visiting a doctor or eating sweets.

“I don’t have any special secret. I’ve never taken pills and if I was ill I took grannies’ remedies,” the Sun quoted her as saying.

“I’ve never eaten sweets. But I love kurt – a salty dried cottage cheese – and talkan, a ground wheat,” she stated.

Dosova lives in poor conditions in an overcrowded flat with a granddaughter, Gaukhar Kanieva, 42, and apart from hearing problems she is in good health.

“She is a very cheerful woman. We think laughter and her good mood help her live so long,” Kanieva said of her grandma.

The aged lady has been congratulated by the local mayor, and as of now, she is the oldest living person in the world followed by American Edna Parker who is 114.

Dosova was born on March 27, 1879, when Queen Victoria had 22 years left to rule, Benjamin Disraeli was Prime Minister and Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his first story. (ANI)

Exposure to family violence worsens physical, mental health of older women

Washington, Mar 6 (ANI): Older women exposed to high levels of family violence during lifetimes are likely to have poor health, according to a new study.

In the study involving African American women aged 50 years or older, the researchers found that exposure to family violence, be it intimate partner violence or elder maltreatment, worsens their physical and mental health.

The authors suggest that a holistic approach to caring for older women should include greater awareness by clinicians of current and past violence exposure and the negative effects it may have on the health status of these women.

For the study, the research team from Temple University School of Medicine and Emory University School of Medicine used a survey to assess lifetime family violence levels, including physical violence, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse, neglect, and coercion.

“This study provides further evidence of the enduring harmful effects that family violence can have on both mental and physical health, and in particular it highlights the association between such exposure and the health of older African American women,” said Dr Susan G. Kornstein, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, and Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA.

The research team included Dr Anuradha Paranjape, MPH, Nancy Sprauve-Holmes, MPH, John Gaughan, PhD, and Nadine Kaslow, PhD, from Temple University School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) and Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA).

The report appears in the Journal of Women’s Health. (ANI)

Exposure to family violence worsens physical, mental health of older women

Washington, Mar 6 (ANI): Older women exposed to high levels of family violence during lifetimes are likely to have poor health, according to a new study.

In the study involving African American women aged 50 years or older, the researchers found that exposure to family violence, be it intimate partner violence or elder maltreatment, worsens their physical and mental health.

The authors suggest that a holistic approach to caring for older women should include greater awareness by clinicians of current and past violence exposure and the negative effects it may have on the health status of these women.

For the study, the research team from Temple University School of Medicine and Emory University School of Medicine used a survey to assess lifetime family violence levels, including physical violence, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse, neglect, and coercion.

“This study provides further evidence of the enduring harmful effects that family violence can have on both mental and physical health, and in particular it highlights the association between such exposure and the health of older African American women,” said Dr Susan G. Kornstein, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, and Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA.

The research team included Dr Anuradha Paranjape, MPH, Nancy Sprauve-Holmes, MPH, John Gaughan, PhD, and Nadine Kaslow, PhD, from Temple University School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) and Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA).

The report appears in the Journal of Women’s Health. (ANI)

Exposure to family violence worsens physical, mental health of older women

Washington, Mar 6 (ANI): Older women exposed to high levels of family violence during lifetimes are likely to have poor health, according to a new study.

In the study involving African American women aged 50 years or older, the researchers found that exposure to family violence, be it intimate partner violence or elder maltreatment, worsens their physical and mental health.

The authors suggest that a holistic approach to caring for older women should include greater awareness by clinicians of current and past violence exposure and the negative effects it may have on the health status of these women.

For the study, the research team from Temple University School of Medicine and Emory University School of Medicine used a survey to assess lifetime family violence levels, including physical violence, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse, neglect, and coercion.

“This study provides further evidence of the enduring harmful effects that family violence can have on both mental and physical health, and in particular it highlights the association between such exposure and the health of older African American women,” said Dr Susan G. Kornstein, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women’s Health, and Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA.

The research team included Dr Anuradha Paranjape, MPH, Nancy Sprauve-Holmes, MPH, John Gaughan, PhD, and Nadine Kaslow, PhD, from Temple University School of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) and Emory University School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA).

The report appears in the Journal of Women’s Health. (ANI)

Robert Downey Jr. takes slimming tips from Coldplay’s Chris Martin

Washington, Feb 28 (ANI): American actor Robert Downey Jr. has given credit to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin for his recent weight loss in the upcoming movie Sherlock Holmes.

Downey Jr., 43, is currently filming scenes as the fictional detective in a new big-screen adaptation by director Guy Ritchie, and he has had to slim down considerably for the role.

The Iron Man star says that every time he is tempted to have a snack, he remembers Martin’s advice.

“He’s a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. He said to me before we began ‘You’ve got to be gaunt. You’ve got to be as skinny as you possibly can to play Holmes,’” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

“So every time I’m reaching for a muffin I just think about Chris Martin and skip the snack. That’s been tough,” he added. (ANI)

Guy Ritchie calls ex-wife Madonna ‘IT’

London, Feb 27 (ANI): Filmmaker Guy Ritchie calls his ex-wife Queen of Pop Madonna ‘IT’, if his pals are to be believed.

According to friends, the British director started making jibes at the ‘Material Girl’ hitmaker even before their divorce.

“Guy will say, ‘Oh, It’s in a bad mood today’,” the Sun quoted a pal, as saying.

“Even towards the end of their marriage, he would call her It. He told people, ‘We can’t make It angry’.

“There is absolutely no love lost between them,” the pal added.

Ritchie and the 50-year-old singer got divorced last year but are embroiled in a custody fight over sons Rocco, eight, and David Banda, three.

Ritchie wants to raise the kids in Britain, while Madonna says they should be in New York.

A US court hearing, open to the public, is scheduled next month.

Madonna has enrolled the kids in a New York school after winning temporary residency while Ritchie, filming Sherlock Holmes, is looking for a local pad. (ANI)

UN envoy concerned for civilians, Rajapaksa assures action

T V Sriram Colombo, (PTI) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today assured the UN’s humanitarian chief of all efforts to get the conflict-hit Tamil civilians in the north rehabilitated to safe areas, as the latter expressed concern over the plight of thousands of people trapped in war zone. Rajapaksa told the visiting UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sir John Holmes that his government would make all efforts to bring out the civilians trapped in the war zone in the Northern Wanni and rehabilitate them to safe areas.

The meeting followed Holmes’ visit to the camps of Internally Displaced People (IDP) at Vavuniya yesterday. The UN envoy said “tens of deaths and more injuries” of civilians are taking place daily inside the northern Wanni region.

Holmes told reporters that he was concerned over restrictions on freedom of movement of the displaced and the presence of military inside the camps. Wrapping up his three-day visit to the island, he asked the government to expedite registration process of refugees at the earliest to ameliorate the lot of the civilians.

Appealing to the government and LTTE to ensure civilians were spared from the war, Holmes said: “I urge both sides to do everything they can for a peaceful and orderly end to avoid a final bloddy battle”. PTI.
PTI

Paris Hilton ‘gushes over Hugh Hefner’

Washington, February 12 (ANI): Paris Hilton was recently spotted gushing over Hugh Hefner at a new Hollywood hotspot.

The millionaire-heiress seemed ecstatic in the company of the Playboy chief and his lot of twelve barely-clad busty young girls at MyHouse.

According to Pop Tarts spies, the party-loving socialite also turned her attention to Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes, reports Fox News.

She later was said to have congratulated the footie ace before posing for the cameras.

Paris is presently shooting for the second season of her MTV reality show “My BFF”. (ANI)

‘Tom and Jerry’ head to silver screen

Washington, Jan 22 (ANI): The popular Tom and Jerry cartoon is heading to the big screen.

Warner Bros are planning to bring the warring cat and mouse to life as computer graphic characters, who would be running around in live-action settings.

The film will track the story of how Tom and Jerry first meet and form their rivalry before getting lost in Chicago and reluctantly working together during an arduous journey home, reports Variety.

Dan Lin, currently producing the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes” and exec producer on “Terminator: Salvation,” will adapt the classic Hanna-Barbera property.

The studio had earlier successfully turned “Scooby-Doo” into a live-action franchise with two films that earned a combined 457 million dollars

It had also cast the Looney Tunes characters opposite Michael Jordan in “Space Jam”. (ANI)

Sherlock Holmes set for modern makeover

London, January 19 (ANI): Sherlock Holmes is being revamped to be presented as a modern, contemporary character for a BBC version of the tales.

The makeover, masterminded by ‘League Of Gentleman’ actor Mark Gatiss and ‘Doctor Who’ writer Steven Moffat, will see the genius in a milieu of computers, MP3 players and mobile phones, and minus his signature clothes.

The 60-minute film, titled ‘Sherlock’, already in production, will depict the pipe-clenching crime-fighter as an injured veteran from conflict in Afghanistan, the same starting point as in the original story created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Gatiss explained why a modern-day Holmes would not be suprising.

“When you read the stories, you realise Holmes is an extraordinary modern man in a modern metropolitan London,” the Scotsman quoted him as saying.

“They weren’t period stories to the people that were reading them, so we worked off exactly the same principle. We are not only keeping the essential character of Holmes, we are restoring it,” he added.

But David Stuart-Davies, who has authored books and plays based on the hero, expressed his fears that the character’s renowned powers of deduction might be compromised in the period of DNA and CCTV.

He said: “I suspect it may well work, but one thing that does concern me is that Holmes had to rely on his own brain power. Now, if Holmes were trapped in darkest Dartmoor with the hound of the Baskervilles coming towards him, he would simply be able to call for help on his mobile phone.” (ANI)

Guy Ritchie irks pal Robert Downey Jr with platform shoes

London, Jan 19 (ANI): American actor Robert Downey Jr is angry with director Guy Ritchie after he was made to wear four-inch platforms in his shoes during the filming of a new movie.

Downey Jr and Ritchie had become friends while filming Sherlock Holmes, but now their friendship is in peril because of the shoes.

The Iron Man star plays the role of the detective in the movie with Jude Law playing as Dr Watson.

Ritchie made him wear the shoes as he felt the two should be of the same height.

“Rob is stumbling around a lot and cursing Guy over the silly shoes,” the Sun quoted a source as saying. (ANI)

Tom Cruise giving potty training to daughter Suri!

Melbourne, Jan 9 (ANI): Tom Cruise along with wife Katie Holmes is giving potty training to daughter Suri.

Talking in a wide-ranging interview in Weekend Australian Magazine, the actor revealed that he sure knows his stuff.

Cruise revealed that he and Katie don’t use star charts and other reward systems for their 2-year-old daughter and instead prefer the potty-in-the-room technique, a popular approach that is relatively self-explanatory.

In fact, the couple find potty books, a class of toddler fiction where a happy ending is marked by both a conclusive fairytale romance and a successful bowel movement, quite helpful.

“The potty books are really good for getting them excited about it. You know, she’s taking the diaper off, getting ready,” The Australian quoted Cruise as saying in the interview with Christine Jackman.

And Cruise is hoping that, no matter how much time it takes, Suri would soon learn her potty-lessons.

“You can’t have that ‘it must happen now’ approach. Somehow that always ends up in wasting more time,” said Cruise has. (ANI)

Playing Tetris can help reduce trauma

London, Jan 7 (ANI): Playing the computer puzzle game “Tetris” can help reduce the symptoms of traumatic stress, claim scientists.

In the study, British researchers found that playing the popular video game shortly after the trauma helped wipe out the bad memories and reduce distressing flashbacks, reports the Telegraph.

Study participants were exposed to distressing images, with some given the game to play 30 minutes later, the PLoS One journal reported.

Players had fewer “flashbacks”, perhaps because it helped disrupt the laying down of memories, said the scientists.

The psychologists from Oxford University believe the discovery could lead to new treatments for accident victims in hospitals as well as those involved in war zones.

“This is only a first step in showing that this might be a viable approach to preventing post traumatic stress disorder,” said Dr Emily Holmes of the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University, who led the work.

“This was a pure science experiment about how the mind works from which we can try to understand the bigger picture.

“There is a lot to be done to translate this experimental science result into a potential treatment,” the expert added.

The research incorporated 40 healthy volunteers that included traumatic images of injury from a variety of sources, including adverts highlighting the dangers of drink driving.

After waiting for 30 minutes, 20 of the volunteers played “Tetris” for 10 minutes while the other half did nothing.

Those who had played the computer game experienced significantly fewer flashbacks over the next week, the study found.

The scientists reckon that the game helps block the brain from storing painful memories as long as it is played immediately after the event.

The Oxford team chose “Tetris” because it involves moving coloured building blocks around and uses a large part of the mind. They are unsure whether other computer games would be as effective.

Dr Holmes said: “Tetris may work by competing for the brain”s resources for sensory information. We suggest it specifically interferes with the way sensory memories are laid down in the period after trauma and thus reduces the number of flashbacks that are experienced afterwards.” (ANI)

Brit cafe boss discovers four-yolk egg

London, Jan 5 (ANI): Owner of a UK cafe was left gob smacked when he cracked open an egg, and found that it had four yolks.

Jane Holmes noticed the unusual egg as she cooked lunch for a customer.

And the lady was so excited to see the egg that she called her supplier, Daniel Brown, of Brown’s Eggs in Scarborough, North Yorks, to report the find.

“We’ve been delivering eggs 40 years and even my dad hasn’t seen one with four yolks before,” the Sun quoted Brown as saying.

“The odds of a double-yolk are about 1,000 to one, so odds of four yolks must be phenomenal.

“I would certainly be interested in hearing from anyone else who has seen this kind of thing,” he added. (ANI)

Katie Holmes can earn $3,000 an hour as hooker, says Spitzer scandal madam

New York, Jan 5 (ANI): Katie Holmes could have earned 3,000 dollars an hour if she was a hooker, says the infamous madam Kristin Davis.

In an interview with Steppin” Out, the Wicked Models boss arrested after the Eliot Spitzer scandal revealed how much the celebs like Britney Spears, Katie Holmes, Angelina Jolie and Paris Hilton would have earned if they were a hooker.

“Katie would be very popular because she has that All-American college girl look,” the New York Daily News quoted Davis as saying.

“I could probably get 2,500 dollars an hour for Katie. Maybe even 3,000 dollars,” she added.

‘Changeling’ star Angelina Jolie would be Davis’ top girl.

“She would be my top girl. I call it my ”Number One’. I would put her at 2,000 dollars an hour. But you couldn”t get her unless you booked her for four hours,” she said.

Since pop diva Britney Spears can cleaned up her act, she can get 2,000 dollars an hour, according to Davis

She added; “During her shaved-head period, she would have earned half that.”

Talking about former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Davis said that she would not have any market for her.

“I wouldn”t have any market for her. She”s cute, but not for my kind of clients … She could work for a cheaper agency – maybe a 300 dollars-an-hour type agency,” she said.

In her opinion, Paris Hilton and Melania Trump can also earn up to 2,000 dollars an hour in the oldest profession.

Davis, who served three months in jail, is about to publish a book, ‘The Real Sex in the City: True Tales of the Manhattan Madam’, which contains the names of powerful politicians, Wall Street bigwigs, celebrities, doctors and lawyers who patronized her call-girl ring. (ANI)

Katie Holmes has spent 10million pounds in 6 months

London, Jan 05 (ANI): Hollywood actress Katie Holmes has spent a whopping 10million pounds within 6 months, ever since she moved to New York.

The ‘Mad Money’ actress, who is married to heartthrob Tom Cruise, shifted base to the Big Apple last July to appear in Broadway play All My Sons.

She is said to have spent a lot of money ever since.

It is believed that Homes spent most of the amount on buying three apartments in the block where she is living.

Holmes, who has been spending money on gym gear for daughter Suri, along with childcare, clothes and socializing, has been named “Manhattan’s Most Valued Shopper” by the New York Post.

“She has been valiantly doing her bit to boost our economy,” The Sun quoted the paper as stating.

Holmes is expected to move back to the family’s L.A. home after the conclusion of the play. (ANI)

New York psychics predict an equally bad and good 2009

New York, Jan 2 (ANI): New York psychics have predicted, among other things, that 2009 will have its share of bad and good moments.

The one question on everybody’s mind right now is when will the economy rise up again.

But psychics, like the economists, cannot agree on the answer, with some predicting that it will get better in late spring or summer, while others say it won”t improve until 2010.

Serena Stanley, a Manhattan psychic, has predicted that the economy will worsen in 2009 by “five percent”.

Christina Ambrosino, another psychic from Manhattan, has her hopes on Barack Obama introducing a program to help people stay in their homes.

But whatever the outcome, Americans will be working hard to get themselves out of the crisis.

“Labour will be the key word of this year, symbolized by (2009”s) Chinese zodiac symbol of the ox,” the New York Daily News quoted upper West Side psychic Derek Calibre as saying.

For newly elected US president Barack Obama, psychics have predicted that he would be facing some minor problems in 2009, but he would not be affected by them and would come out fine.

“I think Obama is going to fare very well,” Calibre said.

But even though Obama may come out okay, his health could be affected by the stress.

“He has to be careful watching the health in his neck, arm, and shoulder area,” Ambrosino said.

Where celebrities are concerned, Wendy! the Psychic”s Psychic of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., has predicted that Britney Spears will get back with ex-hubby Kevin Federline briefly, have another breakdown, and gain back her weight.

She also said Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise will have another baby, and Scarlett Johansson will get pregnant and bask in the media attention – travelling around the world and wearing “lots of white.”

“Everything passes,” Calibre said.

“The universe seeks balance, basically, so we always come back to the middle place,” he added. (ANI)