Depp Does Spongebob

The rumor mill says that Johnny Depp has reportedly agreed to  do a voicefor one of the animated characters in a forthcoming SpongeBob SquarePants special.According to the New York Daily News, Johnny will be playing a surf guru called Jack Kahuna Laguna in the episode entitled SpongeBob vs. The Big One.

The story will offer up SpongeBob and his friends stranded on a tropical island with Laguna, whohelps them get home by telling them  that the only way  is to surf a legendary wave known as ‘The Big One’.

The episode will be released later this year to DVD

Party Girl Paris Loses Camera

Party  girl Paris Hilton has, according to the News.com.au,  lost a camera that is full of literally hundreds of personal photographs she snapped during her tour of Australia. She’s somewhat fearful, and rightfully so, that the finer may be spending his time  pawning those photos to the bidder with the best price.

Promoters of the New Year’s Eve party Hilton attended at Sydney nightclub Trademark say she misplaced the camera at the event.

“She lost it in the chaos. It must have fallen out of her bag,” Karen Griffin, a publicist said.

“She is disappointed as it has her personal photos of her visit on it.”
Here’s hoping it doesn’t have anything REALLY personal on it.

KT by-election: EC distributes 1,302 postal ballots

KT by-election: EC distributes 1,302 postal ballots

KUALA TERENGGANU, Sat.:

The Election Commission today distributed 1,302 ballot papers for postal voting in the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

Terengganu election director Mohd Noor Daud said of the total, 1,001 ballot papers were issued to the police, 27 for military personnel, seven for students studying overseas and 267 for election staffers.

He said police personnel would vote at the Terengganu police headquarters and military personnel at the 23rd Squadron base of the Royal Engineers Regiment in Jalan Pusara here.

“The balloting process will be held on Monday (Jan 12) for them. The police and military have collected the ballot papers meant for them while the rest have been posted according to the addresses of the voters concerned,” he said when contacted here today.

He added that the ballot papers must be returned to the EC by 5pm on Saturday (Jan 17).
Polling is on Jan 17 in the Kuala Terengganu by-election, necessitated by the death of Member of Parliament Datuk Razali Ismail, who was deputy education minister, on Nov 28 last year.

The by-election is a three-cornered fight among former deputy home minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh of the Barisan Nasional, Wakaf Mempelam state assemblyman Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut of PAS and independent candidate Azharudin Mamat alias Adam.

Heidi Montag sports bikini in Cabo.

Josh Duhamel has officially transformed Fergie into a wife.

Introducing the Ferghamels! Fergie and Josh Duhamel Wed

Denise Truscello/WireImage.com

Josh Duhamel has officially transformed Fergie into a wife.

The 33-year-old pop star, whose real name is Stacy Ferguson, and the Transformers/Las Vegas hunk, 36, exchanged vows in a celebrity-packed ceremony Saturday in Malibu, E! News has confirmed.

The "Glamorous" singer looked appropriately, well, glamorous in Dolce & Gabbana.

Guests included the bride's fellow Black-Eyed Peas, including will.i.am, as well as Kate Hudson, Mario Lopez, Slash, Kid Rock, Stacy Keibler and brand-new parents Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell.

Attendees began arriving at the private Church Estate Vineyards near Zuma Beach around 3:30 p.m., shuttled from a parking lot near Malibu's City Hall up to the hillside mansion. The sunset ceremony began about 4 p.m. and lasted about an hour.

Lindsay Lohan: Buffalo Club Cutie

Lindsay Lohan: Buffalo Club Cutie



Stepping out to mingle with Tinseltown’s finest, Lindsay Lohan was spotted at the Buffalo Club in Santa Monica, California, where the Creative Artists Agency party was held on Friday night (January 9).

The “Mean Girls” starlet showed up to the swanky pre-Golden Globes shindig sans DJ lover Samantha Ronson, who currently is in Washington DC for work obligations.




Meanwhile, Lindsay has also been busy blogging away on her celebrity MySpace, talking about media head games and a song that she likes.

LiLo writes, “head games- that’s what the tabloids and pap’s play with everyone .... don’t they? everyone plays games, but it gets to the point sometimes when you just want to know why.. well, i couldn’t sleep and am watching ‘Without a Trace’ for a bit. Oh and yes, i love this show!!! Jack Malone is boss.. well-have a good one. sweet dreams.. all my love always, Lindsay Lo xoxo”

In another entry titled “sunday,” the 22-year-old tells, “tried to find the song ‘sunday’ by Sia… but i’m not so quick with myspace sometimes.. but this song is pretty and i thought it would be nice for people to go and download if i mentioned it.. have a lovely evening.. xoxo love always and truly, Lindsay”


Gossip Girls

Enjoy the pictures of Lindsay Lohan at the Buffalo Club (January 9).

Article Pictures (Click to enlarge):

Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe - naked pics

Trends and Buzz


Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe - naked pics; hypersensitive ranting
Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn, September 23, 2005 7:21 AM
zzy_ken.jpg
Furthering the cause of Sino-Japanese friendship

The picture on the left is one of a series posted to the Chinese Internet forum Tianya Club, labelled "Zhang Ziyi's nude performance as Japanese geisha (including totally nude movie stills)".

The Tianya posting includes several poor quality images which purport to be Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe performing a sex scene from the film Memoirs of a Geisha, due for release in U.S. theaters in December this 2005. Danwei has no source to verify the authenticity of the images.

The pictures are accompanied by a nationalist rant, castigating Zhang Ziyi for dropping her pants (脱裤) with a Japanese man and acting as a Japanese prostitute.

Ho hum.

Other sensitive types getting their knickers in a twist about Zhang Ziyi can be found at the International Movie Database (IMDB) discussion board about Memoirs of a Geisha linked below, where some withering flower has written a post titled Chinese Playing Japanese... Similar to 'Black Face.

The withering flower thinks that it is racist and Euro-centric to cast Chinese actors as Japanese because only dumb Europeans think that Japanese and Chinese look the same. Perhaps the withering flower has not visited the web site All Look Same and tried to identify the origins of 18 people from Korea, China and Japan. Good luck sucker!

UPDATE: Variety's Asian film blog Kaiju Shakedown says:

The screenshots with fire in the background are from Kinji Fukasaku's HOUSE OF FIRE, and another eagle-eyed reader says that the screenshot without fire in the background is from a Hong Kong softcore flick called HIDDEN DESIRE.

Links and Sources

* Tianya Club Media Discussion Board (Chinese): Zhang Ziyi's nude performance as Japanese geisha (including totally nude movie stills)
* IMDB Memoirs of a Geisha discussion board: Chinese Playing Japanese... Similar to 'Black Face'
* IMDB: Memoirs of a Geisha
* All Look Same: Test: Can you tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Koreans
* Sony Pictures: Memoirs of a Geisha official site
* Kaiju Shakedown: Zhang Ziyi definitely not naked (use this link in China)

Ziyi goes topless

Ziyi caught topless


Online photos appear as China cracks down on Internet pornography
By Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief

Zhang and Nevo on the beach in St Barts,

BEIJING: More than 80 pictures of well-known Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi sunbathing topless and frolicking on a beach have appeared online, sending netizens here wild yesterday.

What some blogs are saying
Although Zhang Ziyi's photos are very tame compared to Edison Chen?s collection, given that she is a much bigger star than all the victims in the Edison Chen saga, I am quite curious how big this is going to develop online. -- from 'Alvinology' blog

You are right. Anyway breast-revealing is a shame for women. Zhang Ziyi looks like a streetwoman. -- loststar (Mr.Lobster) on the Chinadaily.com forum
... more
The photos first appeared on the Internet on Monday - the same day that the Chinese government sent out stern warnings to 19 top websites over issues of pornography and vulgarity.

The photos, taken by a Los Angeles-based paparazzi agency, showed Zhang on the Caribbean island of St Barts with her fiance, Israeli investor Vivi Nevo, last Friday.

The star of the Hollywood film Memoirs Of A Geisha was shown taking off her red bikini and lying face down, with her buttocks exposed.

Nevo was shown stroking and nuzzling her buttocks. Zhang was also shot lying on her back, with her breasts clearly revealed.

There were also less revealing pictures of her strolling along the beach with Nevo, who reportedly has a private beach on the island.

The pictures were posted on numerous Chinese websites, attracting a flood of comments from netizens on the star, who was recently named by The Beijing News as China's most beautiful person in 2008 - edging out fellow celebrities Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Zhou Xun.

The website operators quickly deleted many of the revealing pictures and, in a sign of caution amid the official crackdown on pornography, some forums even took down comments left by netizens on the issue. But as of yesterday evening, some of the photos could still be found on less popular websites, an indication of the government's difficulties as it attempts to get tough on adult content in cyberspace.

Sichuan province's Huaxi City newspaper said its reporter had exchanged text messages with Zhang's representatives and the actress was shocked and furious when she learnt of the pictures. The Beijing-born star is in the United States.

Zhang's manager did not dispute the authenticity of the pictures in her statement to the media. She said: 'Ziyi and her fiance were holidaying on a beach as a part of normal life and as a matter of personal privacy.

'I sympathise with all celebrities whose privacy is invaded. It is difficult for them to enjoy vacations and ordinary, everyday life.'

While mainland actresses have appeared nude in films - including Joan Chen, Bai Ling and Tang Wei recently in Lee Ang's Lust, Caution - Zhang is believed to be the first major star to be caught undressed by the paparazzi.

Her expose comes a year after the Edison Chen photo scandal, when the Hong Kong-based actor's collection of intimate shots with various female stars shook the Chinese entertainment industry last January.

Chinese netizens were not sympathetic towards Zhang, slamming her for her modest assets and for being a shameless exhibitionist.

Some even accused her of bringing shame to China and staging the shoot to generate publicity for herself.

'Her figure is really poor and she really showed off her weaknesses. She should be more considerate towards the sentiments of the public,' said one netizen.

'What a disgrace to the Chinese people,' said another.

But there were a few who spoke up on behalf of the actress, whose recent film Forever Enthralled banked more than 100 million yuan (S$22 million) in China.

'It is very normal for Western magazines to shoot actresses sunbathing nude on beaches. Zhang is not the first. She is just the first Chinese actress,' said one.

Zhang Ziyi new spy picture

'Flying Daggers': A dream brought to life
By Claudia Puig, USA OTDAY
House of Flying Daggers is an orgy of spellbinding visuals: dazzling acrobatics, mesmerizing martial arts, sumptuous settings and resplendent costumes. With its high drama and historical setting, it is more like an opera than a movie.
Intrigue in China: Takeshi Kaneshiro is a government agent who uses a blind courtesan, Ziyi Zhang.
Sony Pictures

The film takes place in ninth-century China during the waning days of the corrupt Tang Dynasty. Mei, a lovely, blind courtesan (Ziyi Zhang), early on is revealed to be a spy for the most powerful rebel underground army, a group called the House of Flying Daggers. Two agents of the Tang government (Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) hatch a plot to use Mei to lead them to the location of the mysterious group and its leader. A perilous journey follows.

A grove of bamboo trees is a favorite setting in martial arts films, but Daggers director Zhang Yimou has made that tradition his own. At one point, Mei is alone in the woods when a band of villains attacks her from the swaying treetops. She fights valiantly but is ultimately saved by the Flying Daggers revolutionaries.
About the movie

House of Flying Daggers
* * ^ (out of four)
Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau
Directors: Zhang Yimou
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence and some sexuality.
Opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles

Ziyi, who played the strong-willed and courageous young warrior in the unforgettable Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has an even more powerful and luminous presence. She performs a bewitching and elaborate dance that gives way to masterful swordfighting.

House of Flying Daggers is both a love story and an action epic. Mei and Jin (Takeshi) fall in love during their three-day journey, but nothing is simple about their romance. Though there is an underlying sense of impending doom in Zhang's film, audiences will go along willingly for the breathtaking ride. This martial arts extravaganza is suffused with a painterly production design and seasonal touches, such as a field of wildflowers and vivid autumn foliage, which contribute to its magical aura.

Though the ending feels too drawn-out and melodramatic, taking away from the near-perfection of what preceded, House of Flying Daggers is the rare film that inspires audiences to suspend a sense of reality and allow themselves to be transported, as if under a spell, to an alternate, fantastic world.

Katie Holmes blows €10 million in six months!

Katie Holmes blows €10 million in six months!

Hollywood actress Katie Holmes went on a recent extravagant spending spree – and shelled out a whopping €10 million in just six months!
Tom Cruise talks to BILD
Tom Cruise's new film a hit with fans: VIPs out in force for 'Valkyrie' premiere in New York
Valkyrie premiere
VIPs out in force for
new Tom Cruise film

The 30-year-old wife of megastar Tom Cruise (46) moved to New York with her husband and their daughter Suri (2) half a year ago and has since bought three apartments in that time.

Then there are the clothing costs - even little Suri has an enviable designer wardrobe! Mummy Katie spends thousands each month making sure that she and her daughter stay chic.

An insider told ‘The Sun’: “She has been valiantly doing her bit to boost our economy.”

Katie is currently starring in the Broadway play ‘All My Sons’, but will be flashing her cash in Los Angeles as of next week as the Cruise family will be heading back to the West Coast.

Will Angelina Jolie scrap new baby plans?

Will Angelina Jolie scrap new baby plans?

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie wants another child to add to her six-strong brood - but doctors have told her it may be to dangerous to get pregnant again!
Angelina Jolie
Brad Pitt only has eyes for Angelina Jolie: Hollywood stars shine at 'Benjamin Button' premiere
Brad Pitt film premiere
He only has eyes
for Angelina Jolie

The actress and her husband Brad Pitt already have three biological and three adopted kids, and reportedly want more.

But Angelina has suffered medical problems during both of her pregnancies.

She hit the headlines in 2008 when she fainted whilst pregnant with her twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline (born on July 12). Friends, family and fans were seriously worried about the star’s health.

“Her pregnancies always ended with a Caesarean,” an insider told ‘OK’ magazine. “She was told that she should wait at least half a year after giving birth before she gets pregnant again. The safest thing would be if she never got pregnant again.”

A new pregnancy could hold serious risks: “Angelina could suffer a heart attack or an infarct,” American doctor Larrian Gillespie warned, although he has never treated Angelina himself.

“Because she developed pregnancy diabetes last time, the risk that both she and the child could get ill are very high.”

It must be a difficult blow for the actress, who says she loves being pregnant: “I feel like a real woman then. My husband also finds pregnancy very sexy.”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (45) are said to definitely want a seventh baby and are considering another adoption.