Saturday, January 15, 2011


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TV’s erstwhile Buffy Summers, Sarah Michelle Gellar, is poised for a return to the smaller screen as the star of a new CBS drama pilot.

Titled Ringer, the prospective new series revolves around a young woman on the run from the mob, Deadline reports. Hoping to elude her pursuers, she adopts the identity of her wealthy twin sister — but wouldn’t you know it, there’s a steep bounty on her sib’s life as well!

Gellar’s previous bid for a full-time TV return was The Wonderful Maladys, a pilot that HBO opted not to pick up in fall 2009. Since wrapping Buffy The Vampire Slayer in 2003, her film credits have included Scooby Doo 2, The Grudge and its sequel, and the indie Southland Tales.

Ringer was penned by Supernatural writer-producers Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder; ABC Studios, CBS TV Studios and Brillstein Entertainment Partners will coproduce.

Whether Mark Zuckerberg is ready or not, The Social Network has gone public.

The Story of Facebook was named Best Picture at the 16th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards tonight, one of four honors for the unequivocal smash hit (seriously, who thought a thriller about a website was going to be amazing?), making for a very promising start to the viva glam red carpet portion of the 2010-11 awards season.

Last year, the Broadcast Film Critics Association was six for six in the film, directing and acting categories as far as eventual Oscar winners were concerned (minus having Meryl Streep tie with Sandra Bullock for Best Actress), so who else's stock just skyrocketed?

Natalie Portman Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Numbers-wise, actually, Inception took home the biggest haul, but aside from being named Best Action Film, the rest of its six wins were all in technical categories. (It's still totally going to be up for Best Picture at the Oscars, though.)

Natalie Portman's descent into madness continued to be worth it, as she scored a Best Actress win to go along with the baby and fiancé she already snagged from starring in Black Swan.

"Thank you, Darren [Aronofsky]," Portman, clad in a bump-accommodating, one-shoulder gown, said . "I met you 10 years ago in a HoJo. You were classy then, you're keeping it classy now. I keep telling Darren, you made me very skinny, and now youre indirectly responsible for making me fat because you introduced me to my love, [Black Swan choreographer] Benjamin Millepied, and I am incredibly grateful for that most special of gifts."

VANDIPERIYAR, KERALA: At least 104 Sabarimala devotees were killed and over 40 injured in a stampede when a jeep crashed into homebound pilgrims at Pulmedu in Kerala's Idukki district, in the worst tragedy to strike the worshippers of the famed shrine in a decade.

Kerala home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the toll in the stampede that took place last night has climbed to 104.

"The pilgrims were coming to catch a bus when there was a stampede at Pulmedu. This resulted in the death of 104 people, while more than 40 were injured," Balakrishnan, who is in Kolkata for the CPI(M) politburo meeting, told reporters.

Out of the dead, only 54 have been identified so far and they belong to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said.

"The inquest and post-mortem will be done today of the identified bodies," the minister said.

State DGP Jacob Punnoose said over 50 bodies have been identified so far. They are mostly from the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, he said. Eighteen of the dead hailed from Tamil Nadu, 12 from Karnataka and two each from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the death of the pilgrims.

Ms Le Pen looks set to be a genuine contender in the
2012 presidential elections
France's far right National Front has chosen Marine Le Pen as its new leader, replacing her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, party officials say.

The results will be officially announced on Sunday, but party sources said she had secured about two-thirds of members' votes.

Mr Le Pen is stepping down after leading the ultra-nationalist party, which he founded, for almost 40 years.

In 2002 he came a shock second in the first round of presidential elections.

Mr Le Pen lost the second round to incumbent Jacques Chirac.

A count of votes cast ahead of the annual FN congress in the central city of Tours showed Ms Le Pen, 42, who had the backing of her father, had easily beaten her rival, Bruno Gollnisch.

The FN, with its anti-immigration agenda has been shunned by France's main parties.

But Ms Le Pen has said she wants to break with its xenophobic, anti-Islam image and is confident the FN can become part of mainstream politics.

A recent poll suggested the party could come third in the presidential elections to be held in 2012.

Bombshell McGee has standards ... and apparently, Charlie Sheen just couldn't live up to 'em.

McGee -- who hung in Sheen's hotel room during his Vegas bender this weekend -- was back in L.A. yesterday visiting Dr. Michael Niccole about a boob job (seriously) ... and strolling around with the same tattooed chick she brought to Sheen's "trainwreck" suite.

But when we asked if they'd be partying with the actor again anytime soon, Bombshell was crystal clear -- it ain't gonna happen.

As we first reported, Bombshell and her pal high-tailed it out of Sheen's place after a couple of hours ... still no word on what went down behind closed doors.