Entertainment News, Celebrity News Online

Impossible-to-pronounce Swedish band Rymdreglage don’t do things by halves. For their third single, ’8-bit Trip’, the musical duo decided to create a tribute to retro gaming, in the form of a stop motion music video made entirely of LEGO. It’s been done before, I hear.

Anyway, it’s totally mental. This took over 1,500 hours to finish, and references an impressive array of characters and games, from Pong to Mario to Pac-Man to Yoshi to Mega Man. It also gets credibility points for its nod to International Karate+ from the Commodore 64.

Not a huge fan of the music myself, but this shows some serious patience:

[YouTube, via Design Boom]

Actress Vonetta McGee, known for roles in several “blaxploitation” films including Blacula and Shaft in Africa, has died at a Berkeley hospital.

McGee, 65, was a fixture at the height of the genre in the 1970s, as described by the Los Angeles Times both then and now:

McGee was described as “one of the busiest and most beautiful black actresses” by Times movie reviewer Kevin Thomas in 1972, the year she appeared opposite Fred Williamson in the black action movie “Hammer,” and had starring roles in the crime-drama “Melinda” and the horror film “Blacula.”

Williamson spoke of the difficulties faced by black actors at the time in breaking out of the “blaxploitation” genre:

“Vonetta McGee was like a lot of actors and actresses at that time, like myself, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, Billy Dee Williams and Pam Grier, in that we had more talent than we were allowed to show because everything was perceived as a black project. Once they categorize you, your marketability becomes limited.”

McGee was hospitalized after experiencing cardiac arrest last week. She was on life support for two days before she died Friday. McGee is survived by her mother and three brothers, as well as her husband and son.

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Kim Kardashian is “happy” with her new man.

Lamar Odom, who married Kim’s sister Khloe in September 2009, is delighted by the socialite’s romance with Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin, who she began dating in June.

Lamar told HollywoodLife.com, “I love Kim and Miles is my boy! They’re happy, so if my sister is happy, then I am happy. I wish them only the best.”

While Kim, 29 and Miles, 26, began dating in early June, they only officially came out as a couple during Serena Williams’ ESPY party on July 12.

The brunette beauty’s new romance comes just two months after splitting from her long-term boyfriend Reggie Bush.

Speaking shortly after they split, Kim – who was also romantically linked with soccer star Christiano Ronaldo – admitted she is looking for a husband.

She said, ‘I’m on the market. This is a new life for me. I haven’t been single in years. I never thought I would like being single. ‘I’m not the dating type. I’m a relationship kind of girl. The next one that comes into my life will be my husband.’ ”

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch could become a memorial park for the King of Pop.

The late ‘Bad’ hitmaker, who died of acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009, hadn’t lived at the address since he was cleared of child molestation charges in 2005, and handed over the estate to Colony Capital LLC, a private equity firm, amid financial worries in 2008.

But now, state assembly member Mike Davis has revealed he proposes to apply to the California State Senate for backing to turn the disused site into a Michael Jackson-style Graceland.

Owned partly by the Jackson estate, Neverland currently lies dormant, a far cry from its heyday when the singer wrote many of his greatest hits at the site – complete with zoo and Ferris wheel – and entertained hundreds of children with parties.

However, Mr. Davis suggested as California’s budget deficit currently stands at $19 billion, it would be difficult for the State Parks Department to purchase the property alone, and therefore proposes a public-private partnership to put the plan into action.

Meanwhile, several members of the Official Michael Jackson Fans of Southern California Group have offered to clean the pop legend’s vandalised Great Masoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, the singer’s final resting place, after other fans defaced the building with tributes written in permanent ink.

The group say they want cemetery officials to realize not all of the late star’s supporters are vandals.

Zac Efron thinks the reason his relationship with Vanessa Hudgens works is because they stay out of the limelight.

The 22-year-old actor, who began dating the brunette beauty after they met on the set of ‘High School Musical’ in 2005, revealed the couple “take pride” in keeping their five-year relationship private and try not to let attention bother them too much.

He said, “Not much of it is public to be honest. We don’t talk about it other than the fact that it exists. We just try to keep it to ourselves, which is what we take a sense of pride in because we don’t need to share that.

“During ‘High School Musical’ I didn’t know how to handle it, but if you just live your life and keep doing what you do and don’t care if they take pictures – they can’t slow you down.

“I sensed a pattern – if you do keep your head down and sneak in the back entrances or whatever then they inevitably stop coming because they’re not getting what they want.”

However, the Californian hunk, who recently starred alongside Kim Basinger in ‘Charlie St. Cloud’ – admitted Vanessa, 21, makes fun out of his emotional side.

Speaking to radio station Star 94 FM, he explained, “The other night I watched ‘A River Runs Through It’ starring Brad Pitt and I was fighting the tears back but Vanessa was just making fun of me!”

Cheryl Cole is having specially-made food brought to hospital.

The ‘Fight for This Love’ singer, who is battling potentially fatal tropical disease malaria, has asked her mother Joan Callaghan to prepare her favourite childhood meals because the meals served in her private London hospital were too “fancy”.

A source told Britain’s The Sun newspaper, “It’s definitely helping to cheer her up.
“There were things like quails eggs on the menu. But fancy foods aren’t Cheryl’s way.
“She’s from a real working-class background and the home-made meals are a nice reminder from her childhood days.”

The 27-year-old beauty has also been allowed to bend rules by keeping her leftover food, which has included pease pudding, Craster kippers from Northumberland smokehouses with scrambled eggs and Joan’s homemade ham and lentil soup, the staff fridge for when she gets hungry.

It was revealed yesterday that Cheryl has banned all visitors except Joan and dancer Derek Hough, who she is rumoured to be dating, from visiting her in hospital.

A source said, “Cheryl doesn’t want people to see her as she is.”

Cheryl is thought to have contracted malaria while holidaying with US dancer Derek, 25, in Tanzania, last month.

Mel Gibson could be banned from seeing his eight-month-old daughter.

The ‘Mad Max’ star’s ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva’s lawyers are going to court today, July 15, to ask a judge to strip the actor of all his parental rights, claiming he is a danger to little Lucia, reports gossip website TMZ.

Mel, who has seven other children with estranged wife Robyn, is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for domestic abuse and child endangerment, after tapes were released of Oksana claiming he hit her while she was holding Lucia.

While sources close to the 54-year-old actor say he has denied her claims, other tapes have been released which hear him being violent and abusive to his former lover.

It has now been alleged he pulled a handgun on Oksana as she tried to escape his home after a violent row, during which he allegedly broke her teeth and threatened her with a bat.

A source told website RadarOnline.com, “Oksana claims that after Mel hit her, she escaped outside and ran barefooted to the outdoor area at the home, near the pool.

“When Mel disappeared, Oksana said she ran back inside to find her car keys so she could leave the house. That’s when Mel re-emerged holding the gun and began waving it in front of Oksana’s face.

“Oksana said she was panicked and while searching for the keys, Mel came up to her and said, ‘I will show you how to get out of here fast,’ which she interpreted to be a death threat.”

On her way to her lawyer’s office on Wednesday, July 14, Oksana promised she would will reveal “everything” about Mel at some point.

Julia Roberts wanted to be a vet.

The ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ actress used to dream of spending her life helping animals, but fell into acting because all her family work in the business.

Julia, whose brother Eric Roberts and sister Lisa Roberts Gillan are actors and whose parents, Betty Lou and Walter Roberts, were at one-time actors and playwrights said, “I wanted to be a vet. I love animals, but then I discovered how hard science can be. My parents and siblings are all actors, so I grew up around it.”

Although she loves her career, the 42-year-old star admits she doesn’t think acting is a very difficult skill to master.

She explained, “It’s a great way to observe human behaviour and how people react to things. It’s like grown-up pretend. My daughter does it all day, I just get paid for it.”

As well as showing an interest in animals, Julia is also passionate about the environment.

She told Stylist magazine, “It’s probably my greatest concern, besides my babies. My husband and I spend most of the year away from Hollywood in California, where we support Heal The Bay, a non-profit organisation dedicated to keeping Southern California’s coastal waters clean. I also drive a biodiesel car and we compost everything. It’s a big commitment with three kids, but there’s so much valuable waste, you sort of have to.”

David and Victoria Beckham go on dates in their car.

The couple, who have been married for 11 years, spend a lot of time apart from one another because of their hectic work schedules but enjoy going on drives together as it reminds them of the early days of their romance.

David said, “We always make time for each other. We have date nights, of course. I think that’s important.

“We like going for a drive in the car – that’s our date sometimes – it’s what we always used to do when we lived in Manchester and spent weekends in London, we’d drive down together then just sit in a park and chat, that’s something we still do now. We make time for each other.”

David also revealed he and Victoria – with who he has three sons, Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, seven, and five-year-old Cruz – had their first kiss in a car park behind a pub near his parents’ home in Epson, Surrey.

Speaking about keeping their romance a secret for the first few months, he recalled, “It really was special then, hiding, driving around because I wasn’t as well known as Victoria and trying to hide ‘Posh Spice’ away in your car was difficult.

“On the way to my parents’ house in Epping, there’s a little pub and we had our first kiss in the car park there.

“I was with my sons the other day and I said, ‘See there, that’s where I first kissed mummy in the car park.’ ”

The 35-year-old sportsman also claimed he needed to get the 36-year-old singer-turned-designer drunk to make her fall for him on their second meeting in the players’ lounge at his former club Manchester United’s ground Old Trafford.

Speaking in a webchat for Yahoo!, he said, “She was in the players’ lounge and we started talking, she’d had a bit to drink and gave me her number, so I made her fall in love by giving her a little bit more wine.

“Years of marriage on, we’ve got three beautiful boys and the wine worked!”

Leonardo DiCaprio wants to direct.

The 35-year-old actor – who has been nominated for three Oscars in the last 16 years – confesses he is eager to move away from appearing in front of the camera and now wants to work behind it as a director.

He said: “Directing is something that will come down the line. It is something I am looking forward to doing – I just have to find the right vehicle. Someday I will get behind something; that would be fun.”

Although his best known work has been with filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Leonardo admits he has a great love of Christopher Nolan, who directed him in ‘Inception’.

He told HollywoodLife.com: “I chose this role because Chris Nolan is a visionary. He has been able to pull off some difficult plot structures with ‘Memento’ and his work with ‘The Dark Knight’. This will be his tour de force as far as directing is concerned.”

The Hollywood hunk previously confessed he believes his latest movie to be a “high concept” project which needs to be seen to be understood.

He said: “This is a high concept film, and it’s a film that’s working on a multitude of levels simultaneously. And it’s kind of a hard film to pitch. It’s more of a film that you really need to experience.