83rd Academy awards: 41 songs in contention for nomination

FORTY-ONE songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nomination in the original song category for Hollywood's 83rd Academy Awards. The original songs, listed in alphabetical order, are: "Alice" from "Alice in Wonderland"; "Forever One Love" and "Freedom Song" from "Black Tulip"; "Bound to You," "Welcome to Burlesque" and "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from "Burlesque"; "There's a Place for Us" from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"; "Coming Home" and "Me and Tennessee" from "Country Strong."

Also eligible for Oscar consideration are "Despicable Me" and "Prettiest Girls" from "Despicable Me;" "Dear Laughing Doubters" from "Dinner for Schmucks"; "Better Days" from "Eat Pray Love"; "If You Run" from "Going the Distance"; "Darkness Before the Dawn" from "Holy Rollers"; "Sticks & Stones" from "How to Train Your Dragon"; "Le Gris" from "Idiots and Angels"; "Chanson Illusionist" from "The Illusionist"; "Never Say Never" from "The Karate Kid"; "To the Sky" from "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole"; and "What If" from "Letters to Juliet. "

The final songs eligible for nomination are "Life During Wartime" from "Life during Wartime"; "Made in Dagenham" from "Made in Dagenham"; "Little One" from "Mother and Child"; "Be the One" from "The Next Three Days"; "If I Rise" from "127 Hours"; "When You See Forever" from "The Perfect Game"; "I Remain" from "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"; "Dream Big" from "Pure Country 2: The Gift"; "How I Love You" from "Ramona and Beezus"; "Darling I Do" from "Shrek Forever After"; "Noka Oi" from "Six Days in Paradise"; "This Is a Low" from "Tamara Drewe"; "I See the Light" from "Tangled"; "Rise" from "3 Billion and Counting"; "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3"; "Eclipse: All Yours" from "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"; "Nothing" from "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too"; "A Better Life" from "Unbeaten"; "Shine" from "Waiting for Superman" and "The Reasons Why" from "Wretches & Jabberers."

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on January 25 in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. The Oscars are scheduled to go on stage on  February 27 next year. Reports from Hollywood suggest that the selected songs will be played before the voting panel of the Music Branch of the Oscars in Los Angeles on the 6th of January. The list, which has been announced by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, places three songs from the film Burlesque among the top five.

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2010 Round-up: Top 10 Bollywood movies of this year

THE YEAR 2010 came with unprecedented shocks and surprises as far as the entertainment sector is concerned. 2010 saw myriad directors trying to claim their share in the Box Office (BO) collections. However, many big banner movies tanked at the B.O while many small budget movies made a considerable impact at the collections. Brainless nutcrackers claimed the major portion of their treats while movies in which countless million rupees were invested failed to recover their money. Given below are the list of Top 10 Bollywood movies:

1. Dabanng: Dabanng marked the successful debut of director Abhinav Kashyap, producer Arbaaz Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. Despite of having an ensemble cast and a brainless comedy set in rural Uttar Pradesh, Salman Khan was seen playing the role of Robin Hood's desi version, Robin Hood Pandey aka Chulbul Pandey. The movie rocked at the box office and was finally bestowed with the title of highest ever grossing movie in the history of Indian cinema.

   
   
   
   

2. Golmaal 3: Director Rohit Shetty along with the enigmatic Ajay Devgn,  Arshad Warsi, Kareena Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade and Kunal Khemu delivered what is touted as one of the biggest hits of 2010. A sequel to the highly successful Golmaal series which was released in 2008, the movie gave new dimensions to comedy films in India.

3. Raajneeti: Raajneeti, a true blue political potboiler from the stable of ace director Prakash Jha partially uncovered the complex and unpredictable life of a politician and parties running for power. The film which at many places, carries an uncanny resemblance to the Mahabharata, also at places shares its story line with the Nehru-Gandhi family.
   
   

4. My Name is Khan: The trend was started by Aamir Khan to bring the life of differently abled people on the celluloid with his movie Taare Zameen Par.  After a few years, director Karan Johar teamed up with his best friends and actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol to showcase howsoever different they may be, humanity forms the root towards peaceful living and existence.

   
   
   

5. Housefull: Complementing its title, the movie stayed true with its running time as well. With a star cast of highly bankable stars, director Sajid Khan shot the film extensively across Italy and London. The movie is also said to be a remake of a Tamil film, Kaathala Kaathala.

   
   

6. Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai: History repeated itself and Mumbai once again came under the shadow of the dreaded gangster Haji Mastan on 30 July 2010. With their break neck performances of Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim respectively, Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi enchanted the cine goers with their performances.

7. Peepli Live: It is said that there are countless villages across India who bear the name Peepli. Débutante director Anusha Rizvi put her journalistic skills into a more creative use along with producer Aamir Khan and gave the nation Peepli Live, which took a satirical dig on the farmer suicides and the media covering the entire episode. With a cast of theatre actors, the movie emblazoned its name as one of the most noticeable movies ever made in Bollywood.

8. I Hate Luv Storys: Producer Karan Johar teamed up with first time director Punit Malhotra for I Hate Luv Storys. The romantic comedy movie saw Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor sharing the space and showcasing their respective perspective on the globally dreaded theme of commitment and love.

   
   

9. Raavan: The movie was surrounded by a lot of hype and expectations as ace director Mani Ratnam teamed up with A.R. Rahman, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan post their last super hit flick, Guru. Although Rahman's music was well received the movie failed to make an impact on the box office despite the presence of Tamil super star Vikram.

   
   

10. Kites: Kites saw the re-union of Hrithik Roshan along with daddy Rakesh Roshan. The movie  which was majorly shot across Sin City Las Vegas and Mexico. The movie also marked the debut of actress Barbara Mori. The movie tanked miserably at the box office.

Christmas 2010: Make Christmas 2010 Special

Christmas 2010 is on December 25th and is the last Christmas of the decade. At it’s heart the Christmas holidays is about family, friends and celebrating all good things.

It’s time to dust off the decorations, put up the Christmas tree and bring a sense of joy and warmth to your family and others around you. From tinsel to trees, ribbons to wreaths, and ornaments to gingerbread men, the holiday season is upon us.

We bring you fresh ideas, tips and the latest news about all things Christmas. We offer tips on planning a great Christmas party, reviews of the latest hot new gift ideas, food favorites, games and treats for the kids on Christmas Day and most of all, how to enjoy it stress free with your family and friends. So with Christmas dinner in the oven, its time to open the presents and have the best ever Christmas 2010.

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Christmas 2010: Last minute Christmas shopping boosts sales across U.S.

MORE LAST- minute shoppers flocked to stores this year on the final Saturday before Christmas than last year, but spending is expected to be even higher late this week.

U.S. retail sales on Saturday were up 15.1 percent from last year to $7.58 billion as many people wrapped up their gift buying, research firm ShopperTrak said on Tuesday. This year also benefited from its comparison to the weekend in 2009 when a blizzard hammered the East Coast.

That storm contributed to a 16.5 percent drop to $6.58 billion in so-called "Super Saturday" spending in 2009. This year's totals were below the $7.87 billion Americans spent for the day in 2008, said ShopperTrak, which analyzes the retail industry.

Yet with less than a week to go until Christmas, many shoppers are still procrastinating. Some eleventh-hour gift seekers will even be out on Christmas Eve - about 23 million, according to a separate survey on Tuesday from the International Council of Shopping Centers.

"Now that we are down to the wire, consumers have stepped up their shopping pace, as well as their purchases," ICSC chief economist Michael Niemira said in a statement. "All and all, retail shopping trends are shaping up to be very favorable for holiday sales, as well as December sales performance, for retailers."

Consumer spending makes up about 70 percent of the U.S. economy and analysts have said they expected the 2010 holiday season to show the biggest sales gains since 2007.

December 23 is likely to be the year's second biggest day in sales and third biggest in foot traffic, said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin.

"Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, saw $10.69 billion in sales, according to ShopperTrak, making it the biggest shopping day so far this year. It is called "Black Friday" because retailers hope it will put their accounts solidly in the black through strong sales.

Saturday's foot traffic was up 10.1 percent compared with last year, ShopperTrak said.

Nearly three quarters of Americans completed their shopping by the end of Super Saturday, according to the ICSC. The previous week, 56.6 percent had finished their holiday shopping.

The Saturday shopping binge boosted sales for the entire week, which rose 4.2 percent from a year ago, according to an ICSC-Goldman Sachs weekly chain store sales index.

As usual, the spending will not end on Christmas, the ICSC also found. Nineteen percent of consumers plan to go shopping the day after, and 47 percent said they would be out the week between Christmas 2010 and 2010 New Year's.

Read More >> Christmas 2010, 2010 Christmas

Children celebrate advent of Christmas 2010 in Kolkata

CHILDREN CELEBRATED the advent of Christmas by singing carols and various colourful events to spread the message of love and peace here during the weekend. Children gave various performances such as a magic show, puppet show, songs and games.

Ruth Crizzte, the organiser said the event was meant only for children but their parents came along, as well.

“It is basically children-oriented show, only for children. The purpose of Christmas is that Jesus is born on Christmas day and Santa Claus brings toys for children. So, we organised it only for children and their parents also came and enjoyed, because they want their children to see that their children are happy and enjoying themselves, and that is why we bring this event forward, one week before Christmas,” she said.

The children enthusiastically participated in the event.

“I have come here because ahead of Christmas, they are having this Christmas celebration and I came here to attend this event and I had a lot of fun and lot of happiness is there. I chatted with Santa, I saw the magic show, puppet show and it was very lovely and enjoyable,” said Akhil Ansar, a school boy.

Christmas 2010 will be celebrated across the world on December 25.

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Brangelina planning adventure trip for Christmas

HOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are looking for an exotic location to spend the Christmas holidays with their six children. Angelina Jolie told Ryan Seacrest on his 102.7 KIIS-FM radio show on Friday December 17, We're going to travel with the kids and go to a random part of the world. We're going to travel and have an adventure because...that's what we love to do."

The 35-year-old Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie is currently promoting her latest thriller film 'The Tourist' with Johnny Depp, which released on December 10. This film is remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer. Both Jolie and Johnny Deep are nominated for Golden Globes Award for their performances in film 'The Tourist'.

Angelina Jolie also said that she has finished her Christmas shopping and the family is preparing for an adventure. "I've got it all boxed and ready to go." Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the parent of six children including adopted children Pax, 7, Maddox, 8, and five-year-old Zahara, as well as their own children Shiloh, 4, and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

It is rumoured that the 35-year-old Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who turned 47 today, have planned to get married in an Indian wedding. According to reports, the actor couple can wed at the ashram of their spiritual guru Ram Lal Siyag in Jodhpur during Valentine's Day next year. Both the Hollywood superstars have been together since 2005.

Michelle Obama goes 'Vintage' for Christmas in Washington

Paris Hilton has released her Christmas Card for 2010 and it's really something to talk about.

Wearing not much, the heiress poses in a gold chair wearing a skimpy silver sparkling dress and rocking a stoic expression. She looks very sultry and seductive ,something everyone looks forward to on Christmas.

Hilton had an interview with Radar Online in which she said, "Christmas is my favorite times of year. We will be spending Christmas in Maui, then Cabo for New Year's. I can't wait!" There is nothing cheery or joyful about Hilton's photo and many are wondering who exactly she plans on sending it out to.

The photo looks more like a shot for a calendar or an upcoming album than a Christmas card.

 Also Check  >>  Christmas Photos , Christmas Greetings Cards