Hollywood legend Marlon Brando bequeathed Michael Jackson the right to lifelong sanctuary on one of the Pacific Islands he owned, the New York Post reported this week.
The report said that Brando made the gift on June 5, 2003 just as the controversial pop singer was facing investigation of allegations that he molested a then 13-year-old cancer victim. Jackson is currently on trial as a result of that investigation.
The paper speculated that Brandon intended Onetahi as a possible refuge for the embattled singer. Brando previously used the atoll as a refuge for an American Indian leader facing assault and riot charges. He also spirited his daughter, Cheyenne, to Tahiti after she witnessed his son, Christian, shoot her lover, Dag Drollet, in 1990.
PHOTO: AP
The paper said that Brando transferred use of a half-acre on the islet of Onetahi, in the French Polynesian atoll of Tetiaroa, "in consideration of gratitude and affection."
In a letter, Brando thanked the pop star for hosting a birthday party for Brando's daughter, Nina, now 15. Brando signed the letter "Love, Dad", the report said.
Disney is making a movie about the strictly regimented world of women gymnasts, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
PHOTO: AP
The movie will feature Missy Peregrym (Life as We Know It) as a rebellious gymnast who clashes repeatedly with her coach, played by Jeff Bridges, before eventually defeating her rival.
Hotel heiress Paris Hilton is advancing her movie career with an indie comedy called Bottoms Up, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The comedy-drama tells the story of a Midwestern bartender whose life is transformed when he hooks up with a Los Angeles glamour queen, fittingly played by Hilton. He finds love with Hilton's character as well as money and success in Hollywood.
Hilton's previous credits include Raising Helen, Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat and House of Wax. She was also the unwilling star of a home sex video that was an Internet bestseller. She recently completed shooting the independent comedy Pledge This!
King Kong director Peter Jackson fooled fans and critics alike when he announced that he will be making two back-to-back sequels to King Kong for Universal Pictures.
Jackson made the April Fools' Day announcement for Son of Kong and King Kong: Into the Wolf's Lair as part of the movie's video diary series on the Web site www.kongisking.net.
Jackson wasn't the only one who appeared onscreen in the April 1 entry, which marked shooting day on King Kong. Colin Hanks as well as Weta staff, art directors and even a Universal exec were involved.
The video April Fools' entry featured cast members Naomi Watts and Jack Black, shots of a Son of Kong script, monster designs, models and computer previsualized sequences.
One of the movies would see the giant ape help the allies defeat the Nazis, and showed the son of Kong with Browning machine guns strapped on his shoulders.
Broadcaster UPN said on Tuesday it will air a six-part series about Britney Spears' courtship and wedding, largely based on home videos shot by the pop singer herself. Spears and husband Kevin Federline's home videos, starting not long after the singer met the dancer in Los Angeles, will be augmented by footage shot by UPN.
Sopranos actor Vincent Pastore was told on Tuesday to stay away from his girlfriend after being charged with assaulting her on the weekend. Pastore, 58, who played Big Pussy in the hit HBO series about the Mob, was said by prosecutors to have punched his actress girlfriend Lisa Regina in the head, grabbed her hair, and yanked her out of his car with such force that she fell onto the pavement.
Lifestyle trendsetter Martha Stewart is asking a federal judge to relax the terms of her house arrest, contending that her confinement is hurting efforts to revive her namesake company.
Stewart should no longer be required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, according to a letter from her lawyers to US District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum late on Monday. She also wants permission to be away from her suburban New York estate for up to 80 hours a week -- up from the 48 hours a week currently allowed -- and to be able to go on overnight business trips for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located