Jessica Alba signs movie

Actress Jessica Alba, who stars in 'Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World', signed the movie as she believes it encourages children to participate in 'saving the world'.

Alba is a fan of director Robert Rodriguez's 'Spy Kids' movie series.

'I love how he empowers kids in his movies,' Alba said.

'It's not just the grown-ups that get to do all the cool action and take part in saving the world. It's the kids, and so I think that's really neat,' contactmusic.com quoted the 30-year-old as saying.

'And then he (Rodriguez) knew that I wanted to do a kid's movie after I had my daughter. So when he suggested it, I was cool,' she added.

Alba believes becoming mother to daughters Honor Marie and Haven Garner Warren, allowed her to sign up the movie.

'I don't know if I would have even done this movie if I wasn't a parent, so I actually brought my real life experience to work. It was more natural and I've been in a lot of those circumstances for sure,' she said.

Chris Tucker comeback

The 38-year-old recently began what he calls a "Back To Where I Came From" comedy tour, which is his first major series of stage shows in almost four years. He plans to perform at venues across the United States through November.

Tucker began his entertainment career as a comedian and appeared on the HBO stand-up comedy series "Def Comedy Jam" in the early 1990s, along with other comics such as Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle. In recent years, Tucker has performed on stage sporadically and also appeared at comedy shows in July in places such as North Carolina and Florida.

He moved from Georgia to Los Angeles in 1992. That year, Tucker had a small part on the comedy series "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper." He later landed his breakout role as the pot-smoking funnyman Smokey in the 1995 film "Friday."

Tucker is also known for playing Detective James Carter, partner of Jackie Chan's character, Chief Inspector Lee, in the "Rush Hour" films, which have made more than $850 million. The first installment hit theaters in 1998. Tucker earned more than $55 million himself for the final two movies, according to the New York Times.

Director Brett Ratner told the newspaper that he begged Tucker to film the final installment, the 2007 film "Rush Hour 3," and even cried trying to convince him to appear in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 movie "Jackie Brown."

"He goes, 'Stop crying, Jew boy,'" Radner told The New York Times, imitating Tucker. "He called me Jew boy, but he can call me whatever he wants, because we're friends."

Tucker has not appeared in a movie since "Rush Hour 3" was released. He told the New York Times that roles he was offered since then were too similar to "Rush Hour" and "frankly, just weren't good enough." Tucker told George Lopez on his talk show "Lopez Tonight," in July, weeks before it was canceled by TBS, that he wants to film "more classics."

Tucker, who lives in the Atlanta area and is the father of a 12-year-old son, says he often gets recognized by fans, who tend to confuse him with his pot-smoking "Friday" character.

"I walk down the street, people just yell out, 'Smokey'!" Tucker told Lopez. "I'm with my son, I'm a grown man. My name is Chris. My name is not Smokey - that was a character in a movie. They get mad at me, man."

The actor and comedian says that he does not drink or do drugs, even though fans often offer him some.

"People calling me all quiet - 'Hey, Chris, you want to go smoke one? Wanna smoke one?'" he said. "Whatcha talking about, man? No, I don't do drugs. That was a character. That was a movie. I'm a good actor. I don't want to smoke weed."

Tucker also says he keeps his comedy shows clean.

"When I was younger, I used to cuss a lot," he told Lopez. "I would always look at it and cringe when I watch myself. So I said, 'You know what, I want to be a great comedian. I want my material to speak first. So it made me a better comedian."

Among the topics Tucker addresses on stage - Charlie Sheen. Tucker told Jay Leno on NBC's "Tonight Show" last month that the actor, who made headlines earlier this year due to personal turmoil and his firing from the CBS series "Two and a Half Men," was the "nicest guy in the world." Sheen and Tucker starred together in the 1997 comedy "Money Talks."

"Charlie's my buddy," Tucker told Leno, adding: "He let me borrow his Ferrari as a kid. I kept it so long, he forgot I had it. Thank you, Charlie, I love you for that!"

Another issue Tucker talks about during his comedy show - Jackson, U.S. President Barack Obama and his money woes. Last year, it was reported that Tucker owes the Internal Revenue Service more than $11 million in back taxes. The New York Times quoted him as saying in a recent stage show: "That's the last time I let Wesley Snipes help me out with my taxes."

Check out Chris Tucker's tour dates below. You can buy tickets to his shows on his website.

Aug. 19, 2011 - Long Beach, CA, Long Beach Terrance Theatre
Aug. 20, 2011 - Phoenix, AZ, Comerica Theatre
Sept. 2, 2011 - Atlantic City, NJ, Borgota Events Center
Sept. 3, 2011 - Albany, NY, Palace Theatre
Sept. 4, 2011 - Westbury, NY, Theatre at Westbury
Sept. 9, 2011 - Buffalo, NY, Shea's Performing Arts Center
Sept. 10, 2011 - Boston, MA, Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre
Sept. 16, 2011 - Chicago, IL, Chicago Theatre
Sept. 23, 2011 - New Orleans, LA, Lakefront Arena
Sept. 24, 2011 - Miami, FL, Fillmore Miami Beach
Sept. 30, 2011 - Indianapolis, IN, Murat Theatre
Oct. 1, 2011 - Detroit, MI, Fox Theatre
Oct. 8, 2011 - Washington, DC, DAR Constitution Hall
Oct. 10, 2011 - Kansas City, MO, Kansas City Music Hall
Oct. 14, 2011 - Houston, TX, Verizon Wireless Theatre
Oct. 21, 2011 - Seattle, WA, Paramount Theatre
Oct. 22, 2011 - Sacramento, CA, Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
Nov. 25, 2011 - San Diego, CA, Civic Theatre
Nov. 26, 2011 - Oakland, CA, Paramount Theatre

tweaked after Armstrong suicide

 Reality show "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" is being re-edited following the suicide of Russell Armstrong, a Bravo cable channel source said on Friday, in an indication that the network plans to go ahead with the second season.

No decision has yet been made about whether the drama-filled show will premiere as planned on September 5, but the source said the process of re-editing has begun.

Bravo declined to say which parts of the show -- filmed earlier in the summer -- were being tweaked. But they are likely to involve appearances by Russell Armstrong, whose crumbling marriage to "Housewives" star Taylor Armstrong was expected to be a dominant theme of the upcoming season.

The 47 year-old venture capitalist was found hung by an electrical cord on Monday a month after his wife filed for divorce citing verbal and physical abuse.

Russell Taylor was also facing huge financial problems and his mother said this week that her son feared the new season was going to "crucify" him.

The original second season opener shown to TV journalists had Taylor Armstrong talking about being in marriage counseling and shopping for sexy underwear in a bid to improve their relationship.

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" features the lives of six wealthy women and is one of the most popular of the drama-filled "Real Housewives" franchises.

Armstrong's suicide stunned Hollywood, and claims by friends and family members that his suicide was prompted partly by the pressure of being on the show have only attracted more interest in the new season.

Rahat freed pending investigation

Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and two members of his troupe were released by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Monday pending probe, a day after they were detained for their undeclared $1.24 lakh (about Rs. 60 lakh).

As investigations continued to find out the source of the huge amount of foreign currency, the three men were freed after being asked by the DRI to surrender their passports and appear again for questioning after three days.

The DRI did not file any case against the detainees and let them go after vigorous questioning. They were also asked not to leave the country.

Pakistani diplomatic channels were also activated and High Commission officials in New Delhi tried to get a Consular access to him, sources said.

Three High Commission officials came to the zonal headquarters of the DRI where questioning of the singer was underway but left after about 30 minutes, sources said.

Mr. Khan (37) along with his manager Maaroof and event manager Chitresh Shrivastava were detained on Sunday from Indira Gandhi International Airport while they were on their way to Lahore via Dubai after an alleged undeclared $1.24 lakh were recovered from the three men who were part of a 16-member troupe.

The officials subjected the singer to the questioning throughout the day while searches were conducted simultaneously on the premises of “Eyeline Telefilm and Events” in Mumbai, owned by Chitresh, elder brother of Bollywood singer Aadesh Shrivastava.

Sources privy to the investigations claimed that the sleuths found Rs. 51 lakh in cash which was seized besides some documents.

When contacted Mr. Adesh Shrivastava said that he was not aware of any developments as he had been bed ridden for many days while another brother of Mr. Chitresh Shrivastava, Vishal Shrivastava disconnected the phone call made to him for his reaction about the search.

The sources said questioning of Mr. Chitresh Shrivastava, who was also been detained on Sunday, was being carried out on the alleged cash seizure made from his Mumbai premises.

“The DRI officers found altogether $1.24 lakh which is equivalent to about Rs. 60 lakh. $24,000 were found from the baggage carried by Rahat while the remaining $50,000 each were found from the baggage of two troupe members,” Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman S. Dutt Majumdar had said.

He said there were “clear violations of excise laws” and the currency carried by them was “much above” the allowed limit.

As per norms, no one can carry beyond $5,000 in cash and $5,000 worth instruments. The person has to declare the amount if he is carrying more than this to the Customs Department.

Charlie Sheen Blasts ‘Two and a Half Men' Execs, Says He’s Ready to Work

 "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen told a radio interviewer Monday that the show's producers are to blame for the show's hiatus because he is ready to get back to work, TMZ reported.

Production on the sitcom is on hiatus as Sheen undergoes drug rehab at his home in Los Angeles.

He elected to go through rehab after being hospitalized on Jan. 27 for severe abdominal pain following 36 hours of drinking, partying with porn actresses and receiving what a witness said was "a briefcase full of cocaine" at his home

Speaking to radio host Dan Patrick on Monday, Sheen said he had tried to go back to work and found no one there.

"[The executives] said, 'You get ready and we'll get ready' ... and I got ready and went back and nobody was there," Sheen said. "I don't know what to tell you."

He added, "I'm here and I'm ready. They're not. Bring it."

A source connected to "Two and a Half Men" said that producers are planning to resume production on Feb. 28.

Sheen, 45, and his estranged wife Brooke Mueller, 33, filed their final divorce papers in a Los Angeles court last Thursday, according to Us Weekly.

Source: TMZ

"The King's Speech" won top prizes over the
weekend from Hollywood actors and directors, securing its standing as the film
to beat at the Feb. 27 Oscars, whose winners mostly look like foregone
conclusions.

Front-runners coasted to victory at Sunday's Screen Actors
Guild Awards — lead performers Colin Firth as Queen Elizabeth II's stuttering
dad in "The King's Speech" and Natalie Portman as a ballerina going
off her rocker in "Black Swan," plus supporting players Christian
Bale as a boxer on the skids and Melissa Leo as his doting but domineering
mother in "The Fighter."

"The King's Speech" also won the SAG award for
overall acting ensemble. A day earlier, the film was an upset winner at the
Directors Guild of America Awards, where its filmmaker Tom Hooper triumphed
over David Fincher, who had been considered the favorite for "The Social
Network."

While Fincher's Facebook chronicle dominated at the Golden
Globes and critics' awards early in the season, momentum abruptly shifted to
"The King's Speech" in barely a week.

"I'd like to thank security for letting me into the
building," Firth said as he accepted his SAG trophy.

His joke points up how quickly "The King's Speech"
usurped front-runner status from "The Social Network," which appeared
to have a smooth ride toward a best-picture and director win at the Oscars.

The previous weekend, "The King's Speech" was a
surprise recipient for the top award from the Producers Guild of America. Last
Tuesday, the film led Oscar contenders with 12 nominations.