Spain selects post-Pinochet film ‘El Baile de la Victoria’ to compete for Oscar

October 2nd, 2009 GEORGE CLOONEY's high-flying drama UP IN THE AIR has been pushed back to its original December (09) release so the film isn't competing for box office bucks with the actor's comedy THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. Movie executives at Paramount were so pleased with their Clooney film, in which the star plays a ruthless businessman accumulating air miles, they brought the release forward to 13 November (09) - a week after The Men Who Stare At Goats first hits cinemas.

September 16th, 2009 MADRID - The movies "Mapa de los Sonidos de Tokio" (Map of the Sounds of Tokyo) by Isabel Coixet, "El Baile de la Victoria" (Victory Dance) by Fernando Trueba, and "Gordos" (Fatties) by Daniel Sanchez-Arevalo are the finalists for the Spanish film academy's pick to be the country's Oscar candidate in Hollywood for the category of Best Foreign Language Film. The three productions are also candidates for the Ariel prizes awarded by the Mexican film academy.

September 12th, 2009 PENELOPE CRUZ has been forced to return baby gifts from family and friends in her native Spain - because she's not pregnant. Reports suggesting the Oscar winner is expecting boyfriend Javier Bardem's baby have been flying around the Internet for weeks, but she insists they're wrong and she's not with child.

September 2nd, 2009 BRAD PITT indulged in his love for architecture on Sunday (30Aug09) when he travelled to Spain to view the construction of Brazilian building mastermind OSCAR NIEMEYER's latest project. The Hollywood actor, who has been fascinated by building projects since he was a child, left his partner Angelina Jolie and their young family's retreat in the south of France and flew to Aviles, Spain for a special tour of the city's new International Cultural Center.

September 1st, 2009 OVIEDO - US actor Brad Pitt, who has created a foundation to promote rebuilding in hurricane-wracked New Orleans, has visited the northern Spanish town of Aviles to study the possibility of taking part in an urban development project there. Pitt, who Monday toured the works of the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center, said he was "enthusiastic" about the innovative Island of Innovation project and showed special interest in "everything that has to do with sustainability".

August 9th, 2009 Former SPICE GIRL VICTORIA BECKHAM has a new Hebrew tattoo on her left wrist to celebrate her marriage to soccer ace DAVID. The message reads "together forever, eternally" and is believed to mark the couple's 10-year wedding anniversary on 4 July (09).

August 7th, 2009 "I want to be nice to people. I know how it feels to be judged and when nerves really get the better of you.

August 6th, 2009 Victoria Beckham will be guest judge on 'Idol'NEW YORK — Victoria Beckham will be a guest judge on "American Idol." Her spokeswoman, Cheryl Maisel (May-ZEL'), says Beckham will appear on one episode of the top-rated Fox show, which begins its new season in January. Maisel didn't give further details on Beckham's appearance.

August 5th, 2009 Emily Blunt's 'Young Victoria' to end Toronto festTORONTO — Next month's Toronto International Film Festival is ending on a regal note. The closing-night film of the 10-day festival will be "The Young Victoria," starring Emily Blunt as the British queen in the early days of her nearly 64-year reign.

August 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Former glamour model Katie Price, aka Jordan, is said to have jetted off to Spain with her new cage-fighter lover Alex Reid. Jordan, 31, was spotted at a Spanish airport with Reid, 34, before they sped off to a private villa in Puerto Banus, near Marbella, where they stayed at the whole day.

July 30th, 2009 LONDON - American actress Bryce Dallas Howard is set to play evil character Victoria in the third 'Twilight' film, 'Eclipse'. Howard, 28, will be replacing Canadian actress Rachelle Lefevre, who took on the role in the first two instalments of the franchise, revealed its makers.

July 1st, 2009 Gwyneth Paltrow says Spain changed her lifeNEW YORK — Gwyneth Paltrow speaks almost perfect Spanish — and she does it with an Iberian accent. The Oscar-winning actress says she traveled to Spain as a teenager, fell in love with the country, and embraces the culture to the point that she visits at least once a year and makes sure her young children, Apple and Moses, also speak the language.

June 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds is all set to star in director Rodrigo Cortes' new flick 'Buried'. Reynolds, 32, will be playing the part of a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq, and who wakes buried in a coffin in the desert, armed only with a cell phone, a candle and a knife, reports Variety magazine.

June 1st, 2009 LONDON - Aussie pop princess Kylie Minogue and her model boyfriend Andres Velencoso are set to sign a contract on a beachside villa in Spain, it has emerged. Minogue, 41, and Velencoso are said to be in final negotiations for a property in the medieval village on the Costa Brava, where the model had grown up.

May 12th, 2009 NY appeals court OKs foreclosure on Gotti mansionNEW YORK — An appeals court has cleared the way for a lender to foreclose on Victoria Gotti's Long Island mansion — the same home once used in the "Growing Up Gotti" reality show. A lower court had found in 2007 that a foreclosure on the property by JPMorgan Chase was premature.