'Amour' takes U.S. film critics' top prize as best film

NEW YORK: "Amour," European director Michael Haneke's sensitive depiction of an aging couple's battle with declining health, was named the year's best film by the National Society of Film Critics on Saturday, with star Emmanuelle Riva winning best actress and Haneke taking the prize for best director.

The group, made up of 60 prominent movie critics from newspapers, magazines and other media outlets nationwide, chose Daniel Day-Lewis as best actor for his acclaimed performance in the title role in "Lincoln."

Best supporting actor went to Matthew McConaughey for the male stripper film "Magic Mike," while Amy Adams won best supporting actress for "The Master."

In choosing "Amour" for its top prize, the critics were more in line with European honors such as the Cannes Film Festival which awarded it the Palme D'Or, than with earlier U.S. awards, many of which went to presumed Oscar frontrunner "Zero Dark Thirty."

In the film, Riva plays a woman who suffers a stroke, challenging her and her husband, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, who becomes her caretaker. Isabelle Huppert plays the couple's daughter.

The stars are among France's most revered actors, while German-born Haneke has been honored for many previous films such as "The White Ribbon" and "The Piano Teacher," with a canon that often hews more towards the bleak, brutal and disturbing than the overtly sensitive.

In other awards, the critics gave the nonfiction, or documentary prize, to "The Gatekeepers," which looks at the Israeli security agency Shin Bet, while Tony Kushner won best screenplay for "Lincoln." Best cinematography went to "The Master."

"This Is Not a Film" took the experimental film prize, while the critics gave two special film heritage honors to Laurence Kardish, senior film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, and to Milestone Film and Video for its ongoing Shirley Clarke project.

The critics awards are among the last handed out in the run-up to the Oscar nominations, which will be announced on Thursday in Los Angeles, with the Academy Awards gala slated for February 24.

"Amour" is Austria's official submission for the best foreign language film category.

Adele tops US charts for second time

LONDON: Adele has topped the best-selling record chart in the US for the second year running —with the same album. She shifted 4.4 million copies of her follow-up hit 21 in 2012 after selling 5.8 million the year before, the Mirror reported.

The last time an artist had back-to-back best-sellers was in 1983 and 1984 with Michael Jackson’s Thriller. She has sold 4.6 million copies, making it the fourth biggest selling album ever.

Billboard magazine’s Keith Caulfield said that it’s sort of an once-in-a-lifetime album. Adele’s sales in the UK have continued to climb and last year 21 was the second-biggest seller according to data from the Official Charts Company, behind Emeli Sande’s Our Version of Events.

Despite being released nearly two years ago, 21 amassed a further 786,000 copies in 2012, bringing UK sales to 4.6 million. It has now overtaken Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? to become the fourth biggest-selling album of all time in the UK.

Retailer HMV reported that it sold its one millionth copy of the album during the Christmas period.

Jade Ewen makes a splash in Tom Daley show

LONDON: It's the show Tom Daley fans have been excited about for weeks.

But Sugababes star Jade Ewen, 24, gave her male fans a treat on the opening night of diving show Splash!, reported the Daily Mail on Saturday.

The singer stunned ahead of her dive by removing her red dressing gown to unveil her impressive figure in a gold bikini.

A series of celebrities are taking part in the series during which they will be mentored by Olympic diver Tom Daley, 18.

Five stars will leap from a diving board and into the pool over a series of nights in a bid to impress the judges, Team GB’s diving coach Andy Banks, comedienne Jo Brand and former Olympic diver Leon Taylor.

The phone lines are then opened to the public and the most popular competitor will automatically go through to the semi-final with the next two competing in a Splash!-off in a bid to impress the judges once more and go through to the next round.

Jade looked nervous but excited before taking to the diving board but jumped around and played to the crowd's cheers as she removed her satin red dressing gown to reveal a gold bikini as she climbed the stairs to Rihanna's Only Girl (In The World).

Justin Bieber speaks out amid Marijuana controversy

Justin Bieber is taking the high road. After TMZ posted pictures of him smoking what appears to be marijuana, the "Beauty and the Beat" singer took to Twitter to address his millions of fans.

"Everyday growing and learning. Trying to be better. U get knocked down, u get up," the 18-year-old pop star wrote on the micro-blogging site Jan. 5. "I see all of u. I hear all of u. I never want to let any of you down. I love u."

Bieber didn't address the pot-smoking pics directly, but he did allude to facing "new challenges" and "new doubters." 

"I'm ready. We are ready. See u all tomorrow and everyday after that," he tweeted. "Back on tour tomorrow. Ready to see u all smile. Time to do what I'm supposed to be doing. Performing."

It's been an interesting week for the teen idol, to say the least. Earlier, a paparazzo was killed while trying to photograph the singer's Ferrari in Los Angeles. Bieber was not in the vehicle at the time but expressed his condolences for the photographer's loved ones in a statement.

"While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident," he said, "my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim."

Hogan refiles $100M Lawsuit against website

The media website is feeling the pressure from the wrestler-turned-reality star after he refiled his $100 million lawsuit against them in a Florida state court, after dismissing it on a federal level last month. Hogan has been after Gawker since October 4 when it posted a 90-second clip (and believe us, that was enough!) of his sex tape with Heather Clem, the then-wife, now-ex of his best friend, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge.

According to Hogan’s lawyer David R. Houston, Hogan (real name: Terry Bolea) did so because he’s also suing Heather and Bubba in Florida, where they both reside, and he wants to consolidate both suits – which boils down to less paperwork … and attorney fees!

In his original lawsuit against Gawker, Hogan claimed the site made him look bad since the sex tape was filmed while he was still married to Linda Hogan. But in court papers, the site retorted back that his reputation was already tarnished, considering he admitted to infidelity in his 2009 book, My Life Outside the Ring. (Gawker had no comment on the legal matter when contacted by omg!.

In Hogan’s lawsuit against Heather and Bubba, he states he "had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his consensual, intimate activities in a private bedroom and reasonably believed that his privacy was safe and protected." His attorney adds that the defendants’ actions were “illegal, outrageous, and exceeded the bounds of human decency."

Bubba had adamantly denied he had any involvement in the taping or distribution of the sex tape between his best friend and his wife, which was recorded at his Florida home as he waited in his office. But in late October, he apologized, but didn’t exactly accept any wrongdoing. In a taped message that aired during his radio show, Bubba cleared Hogan of being the one who leaked the sex tape, saying, "It is my belief that Hulk is not involved, and has not ever been involved, in trying to release the video, or exploit it, or otherwise gain from the video’s release in any way."

After the sex tape made the rounds on the Internet, an embarrassed Hogan – who is now married to Jennifer McDaniels – told Howard Stern in an interview that Bubba allowed him to have sex with Heather because his relationship with first wife Linda was deteriorating. “I considered both people close friends,” he said of the couple. “There was ongoing dialogue over two years about this. I said, ‘Honestly, give me a break, stop, you’re joking.’ It was almost to a point of being funny. And then when I bottomed out, when my whole personal life was, you know, I was in a bad situation with … I knew my marriage was really screwed up bad … verbal and mental abuse.”

Charlie Sheen whisks new porn star lover off to Mexico

LONDON: It wouldn’t be like Charlie Sheen to start dating a shy, retiring librarian.

True to form, the actor has sparked up a new relationship...with a porn star, reported British daily The Sun on Sunday.

The 47-year old Anger Management star took adult actress Georgia Jones off to Mexico over the New Year and happily snogged her in the street.

Couples in the early throes of a romance normally can’t keep their hands of each other. But it’s just as well Charlie and 23-year old Georgia could — otherwise they would have set fire to each other.

He wielded a huge cigar in one hand while they snogged and had a lit cigarette in the other. She carried a bottle of beer and a ciggie in the other.

The pair are holidaying in Can San Lucas and realxing by spending the days drinking and smoking.

Georgia has had an ‘illustrious’ career. She has starred in over 100 films including high-brow classics Lesbian Riding School, Sexy Secretaries Struggle and Squeal and Hot and Mean 2.

It’s not the first time Charlie has found his love from within the adult movie industry, at the height of his meltdown he was double dating porn stars Bree Olsen and Natalie Kenly.