American actress Eva Mendes, who had jetted off to Australia for the 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty festival, was irked when her risque appearance in a Calvin Klein fragrance ad was cut off for showing too much skin.

In the ad, Mendes could be seen naked and rolling about on a bed, which revealed too much to suit the conservative US audiences.

“I”m completely American, I was born and raised in America and I love it but I think we are too quick to censor nudity,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her as telling fashion editor Jen Melocco.

“Meanwhile, it’’s OK to blow things up and our films are so violent and our television is so violent.

“I would rather see tasteful nudity than violence any day of the week,” she added.

The Hitch star will hit Sydney on August 27, before taking to the red carpet to launch the month of fashion and beauty events.

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American actress Anne Hathaway has revealed that when she was no longer able to cope with fame, she escaped the limelight by studying for a degree.

Hathaway, 25, had shot to fame in 2001 after she appeared in the Disney hit ‘The Princess Diaries’, which was followed by her role in Ella Enchanted in 2004.

However, the Get Smart star found all the attention that she was getting from the media difficult to handle at such a young age, and her personal life suffered because of it.

She was prompted to take time out from the spotlight to attend New York University.

“I was a mess in some ways and that had nothing to do with my choice of career,” Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

“I was the luckiest girl in the world when I got the Princess Diaries films, but all the driven behaviour that you need to be successful as a teenager didn”t help me when it came to my private life and social situations.

“So going to university helped me a lot. I used to worry too much and take myself too seriously,” she added.

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Filed under: Comedy, Casting

The first Demoted wave came in the form of Michael Vartan and David Cross. Both had signed onto the comedy that focuses on a jerky tire sales associate (Vartan) who torments his less-cool colleague (Cross) — until the downtrodden gets promoted and gives the cool guy a taste of his own medicine. But it looks like Vartan isn’t going to be the only jerky one; he’s going to revel in the jerkitude with one of our beloved Goonies members.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Sean Astin will team up with Vartan on the Cross torment, and also be demoted to secretary when Cross gets his revenge. Meanwhile, Sara Foster (D.E.B.S.) is signing on to play Astin’s wife, “who’s tricked into believing he was promoted,” while Celia Weston (Dead Man Walking) will pop up as the head secretary. As such, she “inspires the best friends to plot their revenge.” So, who will come out on top? Astin and Vartan? Cross? Foster?

Production begins this September in Michigan.

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Filed under: Video, Commercials, Celebrities, Retro Squad, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free

Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to take you into the world of how a writer of TV-related items thinks during his day. After reading about Jerry Seinfeld’s new role as pitchman for Microsoft’s Vista operating system my mind didn’t turn to thoughts of how Jerry has become a corporate shill and will do anything to get his mug back on television. Nor did I think about the many pluses and minuses of Microsoft Vista. No, what I reflected upon was the fact that Jerry is not the first high-profile television personality to promote a computer.

That, in turn, brought me to YouTube and its glorious library of video history, from which I was able to cull a few examples of those other big-time TV folks who expounded on the glories of those new-fangled personal computers. New-fangled, you question? Yes, because these examples all come from the 1980s: the dawn of the personal computer era. Here are five examples of our favorite stars promoting the dickens out of their Commodore, Atari, and Texas Instruments computers.

Continue reading Five more television personalities who have pitched computers - VIDEOS

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American actress Eva Mendes, who had jetted off to Australia for the 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty festival, was irked when her risque appearance in a Calvin Klein fragrance ad was cut off for showing too much skin.

In the ad, Mendes could be seen naked and rolling about on a bed, which revealed too much to suit the conservative US audiences.

“I”m completely American, I was born and raised in America and I love it but I think we are too quick to censor nudity,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her as telling fashion editor Jen Melocco.

“Meanwhile, it’’s OK to blow things up and our films are so violent and our television is so violent.

“I would rather see tasteful nudity than violence any day of the week,” she added.

The Hitch star will hit Sydney on August 27, before taking to the red carpet to launch the month of fashion and beauty events.

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Actress Hayden Panettiere has broken her silence about the alleged domestic incident which led to her father’s arrest earlier this month (Aug08).

The Heroes star’s father, Alan, was held on suspicion of felony spousal abuse on 11 August (08), after allegedly striking his wife, Lesley, three times.

The couple appeared on TV in America following the incident, in an effort to clear up what they called “a big misunderstanding”.

And 19-year-old Hayden is now echoing her parents’ claims, insisting Los Angeles authorities exaggerated the incident.

She tells U.S. TV news show Extra: “It was blown way out of proportion by a sheriff who wanted his 15 minutes of fame. My family is wonderful, so very happy. We’re all great.”

Reports suggest Lesley Panettiere called police after a fight with her husband. The incident is said to have followed a row at actress Eva Longoria Parker’s Los Angeles restaurant Beso late at night on Sunday 10 August (08).

Alan Panettiere, a fire department official, was released from jail on $50,000 (GBP25,000) bail on Monday 11 August (08).

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Filed under: Comedy, Casting

The first Demoted wave came in the form of Michael Vartan and David Cross. Both had signed onto the comedy that focuses on a jerky tire sales associate (Vartan) who torments his less-cool colleague (Cross) — until the downtrodden gets promoted and gives the cool guy a taste of his own medicine. But it looks like Vartan isn’t going to be the only jerky one; he’s going to revel in the jerkitude with one of our beloved Goonies members.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Sean Astin will team up with Vartan on the Cross torment, and also be demoted to secretary when Cross gets his revenge. Meanwhile, Sara Foster (D.E.B.S.) is signing on to play Astin’s wife, “who’s tricked into believing he was promoted,” while Celia Weston (Dead Man Walking) will pop up as the head secretary. As such, she “inspires the best friends to plot their revenge.” So, who will come out on top? Astin and Vartan? Cross? Foster?

Production begins this September in Michigan.

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Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Family Films, Comic/Superhero/Geek

Believe me, I struggled long and hard to come up with a catchy title like ‘From Mars to Metro City’ or something like that, but hey, sometimes a pun just isn’t going to happen and it’s best to move on. Variety reports that Kristen Bell has signed to voice the female lead in the feature film adaptation of Astro Boy. If you know your Astro Boy, you probably don’t remember many female leads in the story, but hey, count your blessings if this is the only change in store for the classic manga tale.

Astro Boy was written by Timothy Harris, and is the story of a boy robot who is abandoned by his creator and left to fend for himself in the wilds of Metro City. The robotic Pinocchio tale had it all, absent father figures, betrayal, and robot gladiators, you know, just your usual kid’s story. Bell will be joining Nicholas Cage, Freddie Highmore, Nathan Lane, and Bill Nighy in Imagi Studios 3-D update of the classic manga.

So while she may not be Harley Quinn (but I guess it doesn’t hurt to fantasize), Bell has three other projects in various stages of production. Unfortunately, they seem to be the usual run of the mill romantic comedies that all young actresses seem to have to make at some point in their career. Bell will also be making a reappearance on TV’s Heroes this season as the electrifying baddie, Elle Bishop. But none of these projects will get Bell fans hyped like the rumored Veronica Mars flick — no matter how misguided that idea might be.

Astro Boy is scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

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Actress Hayden Panettiere has broken her silence about the alleged domestic incident which led to her father’s arrest earlier this month (Aug08).

The Heroes star’s father, Alan, was held on suspicion of felony spousal abuse on 11 August (08), after allegedly striking his wife, Lesley, three times.

The couple appeared on TV in America following the incident, in an effort to clear up what they called “a big misunderstanding”.

And 19-year-old Hayden is now echoing her parents’ claims, insisting Los Angeles authorities exaggerated the incident.

She tells U.S. TV news show Extra: “It was blown way out of proportion by a sheriff who wanted his 15 minutes of fame. My family is wonderful, so very happy. We’re all great.”

Reports suggest Lesley Panettiere called police after a fight with her husband. The incident is said to have followed a row at actress Eva Longoria Parker’s Los Angeles restaurant Beso late at night on Sunday 10 August (08).

Alan Panettiere, a fire department official, was released from jail on $50,000 (GBP25,000) bail on Monday 11 August (08).

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Madonna secured her title as Queen of Pop by entering the stage on a throne for the first night of her world tour.

The 50-year-old, wearing a sparkly black one-piece outfit designed by Givenchy, was surrounded by dancers in top hats and tails as she kicked off the Sticky and Sweet tour at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

Appropriately enough, the first track - greeted by screams from thousands of fans - was Candy Shop.

The black sequinned outfit was accessorised with knee high boots, fishnet tights and a sparkly cane.

Madonna’s husband, film director Guy Ritchie, and children Lourdes, Rocco and David, were amongst those in the 40,000-strong audience.

The stadium turned into a sea of pink cowboy hats and feather boas as thousands of fans arrived. They came from across the world to see their heroine perform, with those from Wales itself proud the star had chosen their country to debut the show.

Maria Jones, 35, from Abercynon, South Wales, who was attending her third Madonna show with daughter Roxanne, 17, and niece Rosie Williams, 12, said: “This is great for Cardiff, and all of Wales.

“It’s marvellous she’s made it to 50 now and she’s still going. As long as she keeps on doing the shows, we’ll keep on coming.”

Emily Newell, 20, from Swansea, said: “I can’t believe that she’s only playing in Cardiff and London, out of everywhere in the UK - I’m really pleased about it. It’s good to have Wales recognised.”

Insurance worker Suzanne Alwan, 37, from Swansea, said: “I’ve been a fan since I was 13. This is the first time I’ve seen her live, so I’m really excited. I like her old stuff, but it’s Madonna - it doesn’t matter what she sings, it’s fabulous just to see her.”

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