Alleged mistress keeps quiet, so does Tiger 
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — A potentially explosive news conference with an alleged mistress was canceled and more details trickled out about the car accident that started all the trouble for Tiger Woods.
The news conference in Los Angeles for Rachel Uchitel, the woman who denied a tabloid report about an affair with Woods, was canceled about an hour before it was to begin Thursday.
High-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who was to make a statement about Uchitel's relationship with golf's No. 1 player, said it was called off because of "unforeseen circumstances." Allred said she would have no further comment.
Roman Polanski released to Swiss chalet, greeted by family, media swarm
Roman Polanski was out of prison and at his Swiss chalet this morning after posting $4.5 million bail, the latest twist in the effort by L.A. prosecutors to extradite the director to the U.S. for sentencing in a three-decade old child sex case.
"Roman Polanski was today released from custody pending extradition and transferred to Gstaad, where he is under house arrest at his chalet. Polanski has undertaken not to leave his house and property at any time," the Swiss government said in a statement.
Polanski was greeted at his chalet in the resort town of Gstaad by his children, Elvis, 9, and Morgane, 16, and his wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner. There were also scores of reporters and camera crews outside to capture the moment.
Polanski Starts House Arrest in Ski Resort
GENEVA — The director Roman Polanski was released from custody on $4.5 million bail and transferred to house arrest in the upscale ski resort of Gstaad Friday pending a judicial ruling on an American request for his extradition.
Mr. Polanski is wanted in the United States on charges dating to 1978 that he fled the country to avoid sentencing for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
A crowd of some 200 journalists had gathered behind a police cordon in the resort to await Mr. Polanski’s arrival at his luxury chalet there. Reporters said he arrived and drove into an underground garage without commenting.
Tiger Woods: The end of the tabloid media virgin?
Whena big story breaks, turning a much-admired celebrity into fodder for the rapacioustabloid media, it's fascinating to watch how all sorts of eye-popping peripheral scoops surface, propelled by the momentum of the original explosion.
It's happened again with the Tiger Woods extramarital sex scandal. The New York Post has a doozy ofa story,claiming that the National Enquirer hadphotos of Woods"getting busy" with a woman in an SUV. But instead of publishing the scoop, the Enquirerkilled the story in return for the golfer agreeing to pose for a rare cover story for Men's Fitness, amagazine owned by the Enquirer's parent company, American Media.
Now that's what I call media synergy! The Postquotes Neal Boulton, former Men's Fitness editor in chief, saying he left the magazine as the deal was going down. "We weregoing to do a [quidpro quo] with America's favorite sports star,just to get his name on the cover of the magazine. That was too much for me. That's when I high-tailed it out of there."
'Brothers' walks the minefield of war, family drama
With a running time of slightly less than two hours, "Brothers" isn't an especially lengthy film. But it does take half the movie before the story -- about the relationship between a straight-arrow Marine serving in Afghanistan and his ne'er-do-well, ex-con brother back home -- really kicks in. When it does, it'll knock the air out of you.
The first part is all meticulous setup, but not a minute is ill spent.
In 2007, Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) leaves behind his beautiful wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and two adorable daughters (heartbreakers Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare) to fight the Taliban. Early in the film, Sam's helicopter is shot down in the mountains, and he's presumed dead, leaving Grace and the girls to seek solace with Sam's younger brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), an ice-blue-eyed charmer who's fresh out of prison for bank robbery, but who redeems himself with his sister-in-law -- who never liked him -- by slowly discovering a responsible side.
Tiger Woods saga does the improbable: silence Gloria Allred
The Tiger Woods saga has done something unusual: silence Gloria Allred.
Allred, the famed L.A. celebrity attorney who has been giving sound bites on cases as diverse asgay marriage andoctuplets mother Nadya Suleman said todayshe could not talk about the Woods case.
She is representing Rachel Uchitel, a woman whom tabloids have linked to an affair with Woods.Tales about Woods’ private life hit the headlines last week following an early-morning car accident outside his Florida home. He was issued a traffic citation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Movie review: George Clooney stars in 'Up in the Air'
George Clooney has been pretty busy lately, between "The Men Who Stare at Goats" and the animated feature "Fantastic Mr. Fox." Both of those are enjoyable enough larks, but "Up in the Air" finds Clooney in a role he seems to have been born for. There are fewer things more sublime than Clooney in his comfort zone -- think "Michael Clayton" -- and when it happens, the best advice is to sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.
In this case, literally: In "Up in the Air" Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer who spends most of his life in airplanes and likes it that way. When he's not busy firing people, he's giving inspirational lectures in which he strews such pearls of wisdom as "Moving is living" and "We're not swans, we're sharks." Director Jason Reitman ("Thank You for Smoking," "Juno") has adapted Walter Kirn's novel basically by throwing it out, keeping Bingham's character and inventing two more, a sexy fellow road warrior named Alex (Vera Farmiga) and a young whippersnapper named Natalie (Anna Kendrick), whose ideas about teleconferencing may do unto Ryan what he's been doing unto others all these years.
"Up in the Air" is a smart, alert, supremely entertaining movie, in which Reitman toggles between comedy and drama, satire and soul with the aplomb of hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger. For the most part, the film is a swiftly moving picaresque through corporate offices and hotel lobbies, but then Reitman slows things down for a lovely sequence set at a Midwestern wedding. Perhaps his best move -- as if perfect casting, brilliant writing and flawless tonal control weren't enough -- was beginning and ending the movie with interviews with the recently downsized, most of them real-life. These sequences give what could have been a pleasurable enough bagatelle a thoroughly unexpected air of gravitas and pathos. "Up in the Air" is a timeless movie that's utterly of its time -- a movie of humor, heart and mind.
"Up in the Air" wins first, key award in Oscar race
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Director Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air" was named best film of 2009 by the National Board of Review on Thursday in the first major award of Hollywood's Oscar season.
Clint Eastwood was named best director for "Invictus."
"Up in the Air" star George Clooney and "Invictus" star Morgan Freeman shared the prize for best actor, and Carey Mulligan won best actress for her role in "An Education."
De Niro Packs His Suitcase, Heading to Geezer Territory
Warning: A putatively heartwarming dramatic comedy like “Everybody’s Fine” can be hazardous to your health. The queasiness produced by this sentimental weepie builds into a wave of nausea during its interminable finale, in which a family with the usual array of problems and disappointments (I refuse to use the term “dysfunctional” anymore) reunites for Christmas, all lovey-dovey.
Written and directed by Kirk Jones (“Waking Ned Devine,” “Nanny McPhee”), “Everybody’s Fine” is an adaptation of a 1990 Italian film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, himself no slouch when it comes to pouring on the corn syrup. The original movie starred Marcello Mastroianni as a retired Sicilian widower who pays surprise visits to his grown children on the Italian mainland. His American counterpart, Frank Goode (Robert De Niro), is a retired worker (at a wire factory) and a father of four who suffers from an unspecified ailment brought on by the toxic coating applied to the wire.
Because his recently deceased wife, the children’s confidante and collaborator in deception, regaled him with rose-colored accounts of their achievements, a beaming Frank (and nobody beams like Mr. De Niro) boasts about their successes to one and all. Frank is mildly abashed when he invites them to a family reunion and excitedly purchases a grill and some fancy steaks, only to have them telephone, one by one, with terse excuses for why they can’t come. Although disappointed, Frank figures that they must have excellent reasons.
National Board of Review goes crazy for Clooney and Clint again
The National Board of Review continuedits love affair with George Clooney and Clint Eastwood when unveiling award winners today.
Clooney's "Up in the Air" reaped prizes for best picture, lead actor (Clooney), supporting actress (Anna Kendrick) and adapted screenplay (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner). Its helmer, Reitman, was cheated out of the director's award by NBR fave Clint Eastwood ("Invictus"). "Invictus" star Morgan Freeman tied Clooney for the lead actor's laurels.
Two years ago Clooney won best actor for "Michael Clayton." His "Good Night, and Good Luck" was voted best picture of 2005. Clint's "Letters From Iwo Jima" won best picture of 2006 and "Mystic River" best flick of 2003. Last year he won best actor for "Gran Torino." None of those wins repeated at the Oscars. Eastwood wasn't even nominated by academy members for his performance in "Gran Torino.".
