Heath Ledger’s family celebrates his Oscar nod

LOS ANGELES – A dozen members of Heath Ledger’s family have come to Hollywood, and though it’s still not known whether any of them will accept an Oscar on his behalf, they’re already celebrating the late actor’s legacy.

The twelve — Ledger’s parents, stepparents, siblings and cousins — were guests of honor at a party thrown by Australians in Film to recognize Aussie Oscar nominees and introduce the inaugural recipient of the Heath Ledger scholarship Thursday night at the Chateau Marmont.

Family members quietly greeted guests as they sipped sparkling wine in a corner, declining to talk to the press.

Scholarship winner Oliver Ackland, who cites Ledger among his role models, was humbled by the honor.

Disney cuts jobs at theme park division

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Disney Parks and Resortsissued pink slips Wednesday, with more are on the way, courtesy of a reorganization designed to eliminate redundancies at a unit that employs 80,000 workers.

Disney wouldn’t say how many people were laid off or how many more layoffs are expected.

The reorganization, said Parks and Resorts chairman Jay Rasulo, is not only a response to the weak economy but also a way to further the successful results of a shake-up four years ago.

Rasulo said a reorganization in 2005 led to speedier delivery of theme-park shows based on “High School Musical” and to the simultaneous openings of “Toy Story Mania” at parks in Florida and California, and he seeks more of the same.

Film world has capitalism and crisis in its sights

BERLIN (Reuters) – Communism and terrorism have long vied for the title of cinema’s favorite bad guy.

Now, it seems, capitalism looks set to challenge them, with globalization as its evil sidekick.

At least 11 dramas and documentaries at this year’s Berlin film festival cast a mostly critical eye on the world of banking, big business, the sometimes shocking gap between rich and poor and the harsh reality of economic migration.

By questioning the West’s long-held belief that free markets are the way forward and globalization is a force for good, the films resonated with increasingly skeptical audiences aware of the gathering economic storm in the real world.

The Berlin festival, an annual showcase of hundreds of new films, opened in 2009 with “The International,” a thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts.

Isla Fisher buys into comedy for "Shopaholic"

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Australian Isla Fisher was about to pack it in as an actress until her boyfriend, best known as Borat, said she should try comedy.

After 15 years acting in serious roles in two Australian soap operas, smaller parts in British and American television and movies, and one German horror film, she said Sacha Baron Cohen’s suggestion was a revelation. And it worked.

Fisher, 33, is now appearing in her first lead role in a major Hollywood film. The romantic comedy, “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” was released in the United States on Friday.

“I remember when I was auditioning for all these dramatic roles and getting rejected and really disheartened,” she said in an interview. “And I just thought ‘That’s it. I am done.’ And he (Baron Cohen) said to me, ‘You should be doing comedy, you are so funny.’ And I said, ‘What?’”

“And I thought ‘Well, if he is the funniest man in the world and he thinks I am funny, then maybe I should give it a go.’”

Nude photo of Madonna auctioned for $37,500 in NYC

NEW YORK – A full-frontal, nude photo of a 20-year-old Madonna fetched $37,500 at auction Thursday, an apparent record auction price for a photograph of the superstar singer.

An unnamed European buyer bought the picture, which had been expected to sell for up to $15,000, according to Christie’s auction house.

Madonna, then known as Madonna Louise Ciccone, was a dancer trying to make ends meet when she answered a newspaper ad seeking a nude model. She may have earned as little as $25 for the 1979 photo session.

Lee Friedlander’s raw, explicit black-and-white image appeared in Playboy in 1985. Friedlander has said of the photo session that Madonna “seemed very confident, a street-wise girl. She told me she was putting a band together but half the kids that age are doing that. She was a good professional model.”

Many local TV stations to go ahead with DTV switch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – About 40 percent of the nation’s hundreds of TV stations will be broadcasting completely in digital signals next week, even after regulators delayed a mandatory nationwide switch to “DTV” by months.

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday said 681 of the nearly 1,800 television broadcast stations will have already stopped broadcasting in older, analog signals, or will by next week.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week voted to delay the mandatory change by four months — to June 12 from February 17. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law shortly.

The switch is intended to free up spectrum for public safety and provide better television viewing.

But the delayed bill gave television stations, which say they’ve spent millions of dollars preparing and educating viewers for the switch-over, the option to transition to all digital on the original date, next Tuesday.

"Slumdog" takes on underdogs at Oscars

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Fire up the curry and vindaloo.

Anyone throwing a viewing party for the Academy Awards on February 22 would be smart to have plenty of Indian condiments on hand. Ever since its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado last August, “Slumdog Millionaire” has been climbing toward a best picture Oscar just as surely as its hero Jamal successfully answers questions in his quest to win 20 million rupees.

But don’t start dishing out the chutneys and naan just yet.

Sure, all signs point to a big Bollywood finish at this year’s Oscar show. Fox Searchlight’s “Slumdog” scored 10 nominations, second only to the 13 for Paramount’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” It picked up four Golden Globes, including best drama, and top honors from the directors, producers, screen actors and writers guilds.

Moviegoers ready for romance, snub Oscar pictures

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “He’s Just Not That Into You,” a comedy featuring Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore, romanced the North American box office on Sunday, as overall ticket sales defied the recessionary gloom.

The new champ earned $27.5 million during the three days beginning on Friday, with women accounting for 80 percent of the audience, said its distributor, Warner Bros. Pictures.

The movie — based on a book that was itself inspired by the TV show “Sex and the City” — revolves around the lives and loves of various couples. Despite the A-list lineup — which also included Ben Affleck and Scarlett Johannson — critics largely disapproved.

Its success marks an early birthday present for former “Friends” star Aniston, who turns 40 on Wednesday and is still riding high with her recent box office champ “Marley & Me.”

Steve Martin plucks another role with banjo album

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Made famous by his absurdist stand-up comedy and zany Hollywood films, Steve Martin has also exercised his creativity on a more serious plane, writing plays, novellas, articles and a memoir.

Now add to that some no-nonsense original plucking for his new bluegrass album, “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo.”

The Texas-born, California-raised Martin, whose off-kilter comedy made him an international success in 1980s films like “The Jerk” and “All Of Me,” last week released his first all-music album.

The launch came just before his latest movie, “Pink Panther 2,” hits U.S. cinemas on Friday and marks its European release next week with a release at the Berlin film festival.

Martin recently told reporters it was now or never for the banjo CD, which features performers including Dolly Parton.

Late comedy great receives bleepin’ superb tribute

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – George Carlin would have been greatly flattered and at least slightly embarrassed had he lived to see “George Carlin: The Mark Twain Prize.” Taped November 10 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, the event represents an honor that Carlin said meant a great deal to him. The comedian learned of it shortly before he died June 22 of a heart attack.

The much-deserved, clip-filled tribute features testimonials from such comic greats as Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, Garry Shandling, Lewis Black, Margaret Cho and Richard Belzer. The evening, taped for broadcast on PBS, strikes just the right balance of reverence and mirth in paying homage to one of the greatest, most ingenious and most revered (by his peers) comedian of the past half-century.