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Scott’s Robin Hood to open Cannes

March 27, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, has been selected as the opening-night film for the Cannes Film Festival.

The film will screen out of competition May 12, the opening day of the festival, which ends May 23.

The Universal Pictures feature was written by Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential, Mystic River) and portrays the beginnings of the Robin Hood legend.

Scott is a familiar face at the festival, having been to the Riviera in 1977 with prize winner The Duellists and in 1991 with Thelma And Louise.

Robin Hood, which also stars Max Von Sydow, Lea Seydoux and William Hurt, will be released in France on the day it screens at the festival and the rest of the world on May 14.

- Reuters

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Novelist Somerset Maugham exposed as cruel father in daughters’ lost tapes

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, August 30 (ANI): English novelist Somerset Maugham has been exposed as an unkind father who inflicted cruelty on his daughter, Liza, in newly discovered tapes.

The tapes that Liza made before her death in 1998 shed light on the harsh life she spent as a kid at the hands of her father and his gay lovers, including one incident in which her puppy was flung out of a moving car.

Liza’s tapes were intended for a memoir, but she never wrote one.

They remained hidden until transcripts were tracked down to the south of France by Selina Hastings, who has written Maugham’s first authorised biography.

The tapes paint a vivid picture of a childhood tormented by the dysfunctional relationship of her parents, Maugham and Syrie.

Although the couple married after Liza’s birth, Maugham remained very distant and was far more attached to two men, Gerald Haxton, whom he met while serving as a medic during the First World War, and Alan Searle, a later companion.

Searle even tried to supplant Liza in the author’s will by casting doubt on her legitimacy.

The tapes show Liza recalling how, as an eight-year-old, she went for a drive on the French Riviera, where her father spent much of his time with Haxton, a friend and her puppy.

“Suddenly, in an act of possibly drunken, seemingly inexplicable cruelty, Gerald at the wheel scooped up the dog and hurled it out of the window. I was hysterical and tried to throw myself out of the car after it, but was held back,” Times Online quoted her as saying in the tapes.

Miraculously, the dog survived, and turned up several months later.

Liza even reveals in the tapes that the “violent fights” between her parents sometimes left her feeling physically sick, and that she once covered her face in greasepaint to disguise her tears.

She admits: “I had quite the reverse of a happy childhood.” (ANI)

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Fake Internet stories claim Jeff Goldblum, Harrison Ford to be dead

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, June 26 (ANI): While news websites are constantly running stories of Michael Jackson’s and Farrah Fawcett’s death, internet pranksters have posted fake stories of the deaths of two more celebrities on the same day-’Jurassic Park’ actor Jeff Goldblum and ‘Indiana Jones’ star Harrison Ford.

However, the rumours of Goldblum and Ford’s untimely deaths actually turned out to be false, and were found to be well-known Internet pranks that once made similar claims of Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise.

“Reports that Jeff Goldblum has passed away are completely untrue. He is fine and in Los Angeles,” the New York Daily News quoted the actor’s publicist as saying in a statement Thursday night.

Snopes.com has reported that these stories are automatically generated with fake scenarios via prank websites, where users simply plug in any name – which in this case were Goldblum and Ford.

The fake stories suggested that Goldblum fell to his death while filming a movie in New Zealand.

On the other hand, Internet goons falsely claimed that Ford disappeared while on a boat in the French Riviera. (ANI)

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Paris Hilton misplaces her phone…again

May 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 22 (ANI): Paris Hilton is upset after misplacing her BlackBerry during her trip to France.

The 28-year-old hotel heiress, who’s currently in the French Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival, was spotted rushing through Antibes’ Hotel Du Cap in the early hours of Friday, searching for her missing gadget.

She’s desperate to find her phone before her personal emails, text messages and phone numbers of her celebrity friends are leaked.

“I don’t know where or when it went missing but I know I’ve got to find it,” Contactmusic quoted Hilton as telling Britain’s Daily Mail.

“It’s the worst thing that could have happened. It has all my contacts in it and the last thing I want is for it to fall into the wrong hands,” she added. (ANI)

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Cannes Film Festival goers get nude cyclists treat!

May 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 18 (ANI): Cannes Film Festival goers had their heads turned from the red carpet to a bunch of nude Belgian cyclists riding by.

Movie buffs, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars like Ang Lee and Mariah Carey, found themselves distracted by the naked riders heading down the Riviera seafront.

Director Felix can Groeningen spearheaded the exhibitionist ride, which also included four actors from his film La Merditude des Choses, reports the Daily Express.

The herd was looking to recreate a scene from the comedy, which translates to The Misfortunates.

The film had its premiere on May 16 at the Directors’ Fortnight. (ANI)

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Berlusconi offers own homes to quake survivors

April 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

L’AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) – Italy’s billionaire prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, Friday offered to put up in his own homes some of the thousands of people made homeless by this week’s earthquake.

“I will do what I can too, by offering some of my houses,” the 72-year-old media mogul told reporters after a state funeral for the victims in the mountain city of L’Aquila.

About 17,000 survivors are living in tents in L’Aquila and other towns in the central Abruzzo region, which was hit by the 6.3 magnitude quake Monday. Thousands more are being put up in hotels or have found refuge with family.

Berlusconi’s private homes include a mansion in Arcore near Milan, beach villas in Sardinia and Portofino on the Riviera, another on Lake Maggiore, an apartment in central Rome and many more. Forbes magazine rates him as Italy’s second richest man.

(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; writing by Stephen Brown)

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Giant sand worms roamed England 260 million years ago

March 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 16 (ANI): Scientists have come across evidence for the existence of giant sand worms that lived 260 million years ago, in Torbay, UK.

The worms, which grew up to 3ft long and 6in wide, are thought to have lived underground before dinosaurs roamed the earth.

According to a report in the Telegraph, proof of the creatures’ existence was found by experts at the English Riviera Geopark organization, who discovered large burrow holes that are said to have been made by the creatures as they traveled beneath the surface.

Geologist Dr Kevin Page said that the discovery of the underground holes is an unprecedented find in science and represents “life – but not as we know it”.

“It really is quite extraordinary. Nothing like this has ever been found before. The underground area is peppered with these burrows,” he said.

“There is no supporting evidence to suggest they were made by creatures we know about, so what we’re looking at is an entirely new life form,” he added.

“It is very, very strange. They were made at the end of the Paleozoic period before dinosaurs came along when the earth teemed with creatures which are now extinct,” said Dr Page.

“We have found the holes, but as yet, we haven’t found the animals which made them,” he added.

The large holes were found across an area of sediment at the bottom of what was a desert wadis – a valley or dry river bed that only contains water during times of heavy rain.

According to Dr Page, a lecturer at Plymouth University, the worms lived underground and only come to the surface to drink and feed.

“They would have looked like the worms from the film Dune. It is science fiction meeting science fact,” he said.

“We know about giant millipedes at the time but this is something quite different. They are unknown to science and a completely new species. It is life, but not as we know it,” he added. (ANI)

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Russia’s richest man scraps deal to buy world’s most expensive mansion

February 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb 19 (ANI): Hit by recession, Russia’s richest man Mikhail Prokhorov no longer wants to buy the world’s most expensive mansion on the French Riviera.rokhorovhas, 43, has cancelled his 500 million dollar contract to buy the Villa Leopolda, a Belle Epoque mansion on the heights of Villefrance, near Nice.

The deal made headlines last summer after it became by far the biggest price ever paid for a house.

Prokhorov, who is said to have lost half of his 10 billion pound fortune as a result of the global banking crisis, has decided to pull out as prices have collapsed on ultra-expensive property, built in 1902 for Belgian King Leopold II on the exclusive Cap Ferrat between Monaco and Nice.

He is now seeking the return of his 39 million pound deposit, but has run into resistance from Lily Safra, the heiress who agreed to sell it, according to a French daily newspaper.

Under French property law, any deposit paid up to a maximum of 10 per cent of the sale price does not have to be returned.

Safra is reported to have told Prokhorov’s estate agents: “The deal was agreed in principle so his deposit is mine.”

Prokhorov is now understood to be considering slashing his offer to buy the villa to 200 million pounds in a bid to claw back his deposit.

However, estate agents, who have been helping super-rich Russians acquire large properties at Cap Ferrat, Cap d’Antibes and Saint-Tropez, say he will have to come up with a better offer.

“Six months ago, (Mr Prokhorov] was ready to blow half a billion euros on the house. Now he’s quibbling about a measly 40 million pounds,” the Scotsman quoted one estate agent, as saying.

“The Villa Leopolda is the most stunning house in France and the most expensive private residence in the world. Property prices on the riviera may have fallen, but not by that much. If he wants it, he’ll need to pay a decent price,” the agent added. (ANI)

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