Venice diary: Desperately seeking George

Some of the world's biggest film stars are descending on Venice for the city's film festival - and the BBC News website's Victoria Lindrea is on their trail, not least so she can try to track down George Clooney.

GOOD LUCK GEORGE. 5 September, 1530 BST

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4198550.stm

US arts honour for Robert Redford

Robert Redford has worked in Hollywood for several decades

Actor Robert Redford and singers Tony Bennett and Tina Turner are among the stars to receive honours from America's Kennedy Center in December.

Actress Julie Harris and ballerina Suzanne Farrell will also be honoured at the ceremony, attended by US President George W Bush.

Centre head Stephen A Schwarzman said their "contributions to our culture have transformed our lives".

Last year musician Sir Elton John and actor Warren Beatty received the award.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4222202.stm

Actor Crowe's message for America

Zellweger and Crowe play husband and wife in Cinderella Man

Russell Crowe has launched his Depression-era film Cinderella Man at the Venice Film Festival saying the US cannot take its wealth for granted.

Crowe, 41, who plays boxer Jim Braddock and Renee Zellweger who plays his wife, both attended the European premiere.

He said: "A really important part of making this film is to remind America that the current abundance they are experiencing is not an absolute right."

The film got a lukewarm reception when it was released in the US in June.

It was also overshadowed by the Gladiator star's arrest after he allegedly threw a telephone at a porter in a New York hotel.

https://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/wam/msg.jsp?msgid=56&folder=articles&x=-956987301

Oscar hopefuls descend on Toronto

Gwyneth Paltrow, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from "Proof," one
of the films to be shown at the Toronto Film Festival.

International Film Festival kicked off its 30th edition Thursday with movies
about violence, sexuality and the stress of a post-9/11 world set to share a
stage with some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

The 10-day event, which film critic Roger Ebert calls the start of
Hollywood's "Oscar season", will screen more than 250 features on subjects
as diverse as female miners, gay cowboys, would-be suicide bombers, child
brides and Japanese emperor Hirohito.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/08/toronto.film.fest.reut/index.html

Iranian directors hope to make a splash at Pusan film festival

Tehran Times Art Desk
TEHRAN -- Seven Iranian films will be screened at the 10th Pusan International Film Festival, while the titan of Iranian cinema, Abbas Kiarostami, will preside over the jury of the festival.

The event is being held from October 6 to 14 in the southeastern Korean seaport.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s “Sex and Philosophy”, Mohammad Rasulof’s “Iron Island”, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s “Gilaneh”, Majid Majidi’s “The Weeping Willow”, and Abolfazl Jalili’s “Full or Empty” are the Iranian films that will be screened in this year's A Window on Asian Cinema section.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=9/8/2005&Cat=10&Num=2

Summer slump hits US box office

Sir Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven had been tipped to do well

The number of people visiting US cinemas during the summer months was the lowest since 1997, figures suggest.

Box office sales for the 18 weeks from early May through to September, reached an estimated $3.6bn (£1.9bn).

The figures - from box office tracker Exhibitor Relations - are down 9% on last summer.

Among this year's high-profile flops were The Island, starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor, and the historical epic Kingdom of Heaven.

https://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/wam/msg.jsp?msgid=52&folder=articles&x=-154348138

King Arthur wins box office fight

Ioan Gruffudd (left) plays the loyal Lancelot to Clive Owen's Arthur

King Arthur battled a host of movies to land the number one spot in the UK box office chart.

The Disney film, starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley, took £1.9m in its opening weekend.

The comic-book hero Spider-Man sequel fell to second place, with weekend receipts of £1.5m taking its total UK takings to £20.8m.

Live action movie Garfield, featuring the voice of Bill Murray, took third place followed by Shrek 2.

Garfield, which has not enjoyed great reviews, took £1.1m in its first weekend of business.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3531008.stm

Superman is back

Steely Man

It's taken Warner Bros. 11 years to get 'Superman Returns' off the ground. Not exactly faster than a speeding bullet. Now 'X-Men' director Bryan Singer's at the helm in Australia. An exclusive visit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9189573/site/newsweek/