Matt Damon tackles "fracking" issue in the "Promised Land"

1 of 4. Cast member Matt Damon poses for a portrait while promoting the upcoming film ''Promised Land'' in Los Angeles, California December 7, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:01pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The hot-button topic of "fracking" has finally made its way to Hollywood in the new movie "Promised Land," out in U.S. theaters on Friday, with actors Matt Damon and John Krasinski teaming up to further the debate on the energy drilling technique.

The film explores the social impact of hydraulic fracturing drilling technique, or "fracking," which has sparked nation-wide environmental and political battles over its impact on drinking water, U.S. energy use, seismic activity and other areas.

"Promised Land" will see Damon, 42, reunite with director Gus Van Sant for the third time, following their success with 1997 film "Good Will Hunting and 2002's "Gerry."

In their latest film, Damon plays a corporate salesman who goes to a rural U.S. town to buy or lease land on behalf of a gas company looking to drill for oil. He soon faces opposition from a slick environmentalist, played by Krasinski.

In real life, Damon hasn't shied away from getting involved in political and social issues, working with charities and organizations to eradicate AIDS in developing countries, bringing attention to atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region, providing safe drinking water and stopping trees from being chopped and used for junk mail.

Yet "Promised Land," which Damon also co-wrote and produced, doesn't take a noticeable stance on "fracking." The actor would not publicly state his own views, telling Reuters that he didn't think his opinion had "any bearing" on the film.

"The point is that the movie should start a conversation. It's certainly not a pro-fracking movie, but we didn't want to tell people what to think," Damon said.

The actor said he and Krasinski never set out to make a socially conscious film, and "fracking" was added in later, as a backdrop to the story.

"It wasn't that we said we wanted to make a movie about 'fracking' as much as we wanted to make a movie about American identity, about real people. We wanted to make a movie about the country today, where we came from, where we are and where we are headed," Damon said.

"'Fracking' was perfect because the stakes are so incredibly high and people are so divided. It asks all the questions about short-term thinking versus long-term thinking."

Hydraulic fracturing entails pumping water laced with chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale rock formations to break them up and unleash hydrocarbons. Critics worry that "fracking" fluids or hydrocarbons can still leak into water tables from wells, or above ground.

FROM 'ADJUSTMENT BUREAU' TO 'PROMISED LAND'

At first glance, the pairing of Damon with Krasinski may not come across as the perfect fit, as Damon has primarily been associated with longtime friend and collaborator Ben Affleck, both of whom won Oscars for writing "Good Will Hunting."

Damon later become a colleague and friend to a number of key Hollywood players, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt, with whom he co-starred in the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise.

Krasinski, 33, is best known for playing sardonic Jim Halpert on NBC's long-running television series, "The Office," and has had occasional supporting roles in films such as 2008's "Leatherheads."

Damon and Krasinski came together after meeting through Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt, who co-starred with Damon in the 2011 film "The Adjustment Bureau." Damon said he and his wife started double-dating with Krasinski and Blunt, through which their collaboration on "Promised Land" came about.

The duo's busy work schedules forced them to moonlight on weekends to make "Promised Land."

"John showed up at my house every Saturday at breakfast and we would write all day until dinner," Damon said. "Then we'd do it again on Sunday. I have four kids so he would come to me."

But Damon's determination to make the film his feature directorial debut fell through when his acting schedule changed, making it impossible to direct "Promised Land," so he turned to Van Sant.

"My first inclination was to send the script to somebody I'd worked with before," he said. "Gus seemed like the most obvious choice and I realized later that I'd never written anything that anyone else had directed, except Gus. I have a real comfort level with him."

Damon said he has not given up on his dream of directing movies and has his eye on a project at movie studio Warner Bros., which has a deal with Damon and Affleck's joint production company, Pearl Street Films.

With Affleck's third directorial effort "Argo" becoming an awards contender, Damon joked that the film's success can only be a good thing for his own budding directing career.

"I now happen to be partnered with the hottest director in Hollywood!" he said, laughing.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Paul Simao)

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Kim Kardashian pregnant with Kanye's baby

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian (L) and U.S. rapper Kanye West watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Denver Nuggets during Game 7 of their NBA Western Conference basketball playoff series in Los Angeles, California in this May 12, 2012 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson/Files

LOS ANGELES | Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:38pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Kanye West and reality TV star Kim Kardashian are expecting a child, Kardashian said on Monday shortly after West announced the pregnancy to fans at a concert.

"It's true!! Kanye and I are expecting a baby," Kardashian, 32, wrote on her personal blog.

"Looking forward to great new beginnings in 2013 and to starting a family," she added.

Kardashian began dating West in April, some six months after filing for divorce from basketball player Kris Humphries. The two were married for 72 days following a lavish, made-for-TV wedding. Their divorce has yet to be finalized.

Kardashian is about 12 weeks pregnant, according to U.S. media reports.

Fans and family took to Twitter to congratulate the celebrity power couple, and to speculate whether the new baby's name would begin with a K, in line with Kardashian family tradition.

"Been wanting to shout from the rooftops with joy and now I can!" wrote Kardashian's sister Kourtney. "Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!"

Kardashian's brother-in-law, basketball player Lamar Odom, who has been open about struggling to have a baby with wife and "The X Factor" host Khloe Kardashian also tweeted his congratulations.

"I'm excited for Kanye and my sister!" said Odom. "There's nothing like bringing life into this world! Let's keep God's blessings coming!"

West, 35, was first to announce the news from the stage at a concert in Atlantic City on Sunday, singing, "God brought us a whole new plan, baby. 'Cause now you're having my baby."

Kardashian, who rose to fame five years ago for her appearances in reality TV show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," was the most-searched person on the Yahoo! website in 2012.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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Ex-Times editor Rees-Mogg, who supported Mick Jagger, dies

LONDON | Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:33am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - William Rees-Mogg, a former editor of Britain's Times newspaper who famously backed Mick Jagger when the Rolling Stones singer was jailed for a drug offence, has died at the age of 84.

On its website, the Times said Rees-Mogg, a former chairman of the Arts Council and vice-chairman of the BBC, had been suffering from oesophageal cancer.

Rees-Mogg became editor of the paper in 1967 and, despite establishment credentials built up at independent school and Balliol College, Oxford, soon showed a rebellious streak.

In July of that year, he published a celebrated leading article criticizing the jailing of Jagger for a minor drugs offence, headlined: "Who Breaks a Butterfly on a Wheel?"

Later Rees-Mogg, in an article in the Times after he had stepped down as editor, described John Major, Conservative prime minister for most of the 1990s as "over-promoted, unfit to govern and lacking self-confidence".

"His ideal level of political competence would be deputy chief whip or something of that standing," he added, in a contemptuous reference to Britain's behind-the-scenes political party managers.

However Rees-Mogg stubbornly defended former U.S. President Richard Nixon against all the Watergate evidence filed by the Times' Washington staff as the scandal that led to Nixon's resignation in 1974 unfolded.

The Times was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in January 1981, at which point Rees-Mogg, who had backed the Murdoch purchase, resigned to make way for one of Britain's most celebrated editors, Harold Evans, who became Reuters editor-at-large in 2011.

The paper's website carried a tribute from Murdoch on Saturday.

"William Rees Mogg was a distinguished editor of the Times for 14 years, during which time he modernized the paper, reaching out to a younger readership with expanded coverage of news, sport and features," Murdoch wrote.

"It is to his great credit that he retained the intellectual integrity of the paper while attracting a broader based and markedly more female readership for the paper.

"He gave me invaluable support when I acquired Times Newspapers in 1981, and remained someone on whom I could always count for impartial counsel."

(Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Billy Crystal channels real-life role in "Parental Guidance"

Actor Billy Crystal speaks to the media backstage during the ''12-12-12'' benefit concert for victims of Superstorm Sandy at Madison Square Garden in New York, December 12, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:03am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After a decade away from the big screen, funnyman Billy Crystal has mined his real-life experiences as a grandfather and is back in the holiday season movie "Parental Guidance."

The film, which opened in U.S. theaters on Christmas, stars Crystal as a recently fired baseball announcer, who agrees to watch his three grandchildren with his wife (Bette Midler), while his daughter and her husband go on a business trip.

Crystal, 64, sat down with Reuters to talk about the film, being a grandparent and why he won't host the Oscars ceremony anymore.

Q: You have not been on the big screen in a starring role since 2002's "Analyze That." Did you miss making movies?

A: "I spent over four years doing my one-man Broadway show, '700 Sundays' and didn't care about doing movies. I just so love being in front of live audiences. The play is more satisfying than anything. I'm not interrupted by planes flying overhead, waiting for them to light and all those gruesome slow things on a movie. But really, the last five years were spent getting this movie made."

Q: How did "Parental Guidance" become your return to film?

A: "When I wrote the first story for this movie, my wife Janice and I babysat for our daughter Jenny while she went away with her husband. We had six days with their girls, all alone. It was an eye-opener. When you're not used to that energy, it's tough. On the 7th day I rested and came in to the office and said, 'Here's the idea for the movie.'"

Q: What was eye-opening about those six days?

A: "The eye-opener was the bible that we were given before they left town about what to say (to the kids), what to do, all the rules, don't do this, don't do that, this child has to be taken here. They have my respect of how they programmed their days and weeks. It's insane what they have to do nowadays for schooling and parenting. It's wild."

Q: Quite a difference between your childhood and the grandkids' childhood, right?

A: "When I was a kid growing up, it was basically 'Go outside and play and I'll see you at dinner.' There was no thought that there were bad people out there. There was such a carefree wonderful trust which forced you to use your imagination, which also bonded you with the best of you, and your friends. We didn't have that 'inside' thing like videogames. My only 'inside' thing was watching the Yankees. Otherwise everything was outside."

Q: Speaking of the Yankees, your well-documented lifelong love of baseball is incorporated in to the film with your character being a ball-game announcer. That must have been fun to do.

A: "I love the game and I thought it was a really interesting occupation we hadn't seen before. And a good one for me to play because I love it. I wanted my character to have something he loved doing where I didn't have to fake it."

Q: In being absent from the silver screen for a while, did you find that the movie-making business has changed much?

A: "The studios are so concerned with quadrants (capturing four major demographic groups of moviegoers - men, woman and those over and under 25). I'd never heard of these things when I was in my early years of making movies. You just did them. There was no interference. Now it's a whole different ball game. They're so worried: 'Who's going to come?' Well, there's 77 million American who are babyboomers. That's a huge audience who wants to laugh and have a story told to them that doesn't have bombs and spies and killing."

Q: Does "Parental Guidance" reflect where are you now at this stage of your life?

A: "I was fortunate to be in a great romantic comedy about falling in love (1989's 'When Harry Met Sally'). I wrote the original story for my turning 40, 'City Slickers' (in 1991), which became a huge hit and a very liked movie. And now 'Parental Guidance' happened at this point in my life. I relate to it as a parent and a grandparent."

Q: You will be a grandfather for the fourth time in March. What do you like best about that role?

A: "It's so hard to understand how you can love someone so much that's not yours, but extensions of you. I'm always so moved seeing my girls pregnant, and seeing them move on in their lives. I'm going to turn 65 on March 14. My wife's birthday is the 16th. The baby's due the 18th. So we've got maybe a straight flush happening here. That would be the greatest present of all - a healthy new baby."

Q: Last year you hosted the Oscar ceremony for the ninth time, making you the second most-used host after the late Bob Hope. Are you gunning for his title?

A: "I'm not even close. I've done 9, he's done 19 and neither one of us are doing it again. It's hard to say, 'Can't wait to do it again,' but I can wait."

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Cynthia Osterman)

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Quentin Tarantino unchains America's tormented past in "Django"

Director Quentin Tarantino poses for a portrait while promoting his movie ''Django Unchained'' in New York December 16, 2012

Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES | Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:08am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Twenty years after Quentin Tarantino unveiled his first film "Reservoir Dogs," the director has turned his eye to America's slavery history, spinning a blood-filled retribution tale in his trademark style for "Django Unchained."

Tarantino, 49, has become synonymous with violence and dark humor, taking on the Nazis in "Inglourious Basterds" and mobsters in "Pulp Fiction."

In "Django Unchained," to be released in U.S. theaters on Christmas Day, he fuses a spaghetti Western cowboy action adventure with a racially charged revenge tale set in the 19th century, before the abolition of slavery in the United States.

Jamie Foxx stars as a slave whose freedom is bought by a former dentist, played by Christoph Waltz. The two set off as bounty hunters, rounding up robbers and cattle rustlers before turning their attention to brutal plantation owners in America's Deep South.

Tarantino is well-versed in delivering violence. But the director said he faced "a lot of trepidation" about filming the slavery scenes. He has already come under fire from some critics for the frequent use in the film of the "N-word" - a racial slur directed at blacks.

The director said he was initially hesitant to ask black actors to play slaves who are shackled and whipped, and even considered filming outside of the United States.

But a dinner with veteran Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, whom Tarantino called a "father figure," changed his mind after Poitier urged him to not "be afraid" of his film.

"This movie is a deep, deep, deep American story, and it needed to be made by an American, and it needed to star Americans. ... Lots of the movies dealing with this issue have usually had Brits playing Southerners and it creates this arm's-distance quality," Tarantino said.

Much of the film's more graphic slavery scenes, such as gladiator-style fights to the death and being encased naked in a metal hot box in the heat of the Southern sun, are drawn from real accounts.

"We were shooting on hallowed ground. This was the ground of our ancestors. ... Their blood was in the grass, there's still bits of flesh embedded in the bark," Tarantino said.

The film has received good reviews from critics and is expected to add Oscar nominations in January to its five Golden Globe nods.

With the exception of Waltz, who plays eccentric German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, the majority of the main players are not only American but from the South.

"It seemed sacred to us, and we couldn't help but channel those emotions, everybody on the crew and on the set. ... Those were very moving days," Tarantino said.

'DESPICABLE' CHARACTERS

Tarantino reunited with Waltz, who won an Oscar in 2010 for his role as a menacing Nazi officer in "Inglourious Basterds," and long-time collaborator Samuel L. Jackson, who plays slave housekeeper Stephen, a character who Tarantino described as "the most despicable black (character)" in movie history.

"Stephen might be frankly the most fascinating character in the whole piece, and it was important to deal with that whole upstairs-downstairs aspect of the Antebellum South," he said.

The role that has people talking is Leonardo DiCaprio's first villainous turn as a racist plantation owner - a stark contrast from his Hollywood heartthrob "Titanic" days and roles as eccentric Americans in "The Aviator" and "J. Edgar."

Asked how he felt to be the first director to make DiCaprio a villain, Tarantino laughed, saying he felt "pretty darn good about it." He commended DiCaprio for turning into a "Southern-fried Caligula," referring to the tyrannical ancient Roman emperor.

"I saw him as a petulant boy emperor. ... He has nothing but hedonistic hobbies and vices to indulge him, and it's almost as if he's rotting from the inside," Tarantino said.

The film's female lead, Django's wife Broomhilda played by Kerry Washington, moves away from Tarantino's fierce screen women such as Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill" and Diane Kruger in "Inglourious Basterds."

Tarantino said Broomhilda was meant to be the "princess in exile." He said he was "annoyed" when he was asked by a friend why Broomhilda did not exact revenge on her abusers in the same way as Thurman's "Kill Bill" character. The film, he said, is "Django's story."

"It invokes ... that odyssey that Django goes on and gives the black slave narrative the romantic dimensions of great opera or great folklore tales," Tarantino said.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant, Patricia Reaney and Will Dunham)

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Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel and husband to separate

Actress Bethenny Frankel walks the runway during the Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2010 show during New York Fashion Week February 11, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson

By Andrea Burzynski

NEW YORK | Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:07pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel and her husband Jason Hoppy are separating, Frankel announced on Sunday.

"It brings me great sadness to say that Jason and I are separating. This was an extremely difficult decision that, as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family," Frankel said in a statement confirmed by her representative.

"We have love and respect for one another and will continue to amicably co-parent our daughter who is and will always remain our first priority. This is an immensely painful and heartbreaking time for us."

Frankel, 42, and Hoppy married in March of 2010. They have a daughter, Bryn, who was born in May of 2010.

On Sunday, Frankel tweeted, "I am heartbroken. I am sad. We will work through this as a family."

Frankel first attracted attention in 2008 on the reality show "The Real Housewives of New York City," which chronicles the exploits of wealthy New York women. She went on to star in two other reality TV shows, "Bethenny Getting Married?" and "Bethenny Ever After...," both of which centered on the couple's marriage and child-rearing.

Frankel also founded the Skinnygirl line of cocktails, and has written several diet and self-help books. In 2012 she launched a talk show, "Bethenny," which is set to air nationally in 2013.

(Reporting By Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

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Just A Minute With: Hugh Jackman on "Les Miserables"

Actor Hugh Jackman speaks during ceremonies honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, December 13, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK | Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:57am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Australian actor Hugh Jackman says his background in musical theater and action films made him feel "like all the stars were aligning" when he took on the starring role of Jean Valjean in the new movie version of "Les Miserables."

Jackman, 44, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Wolverine in the "X-Men" movie franchise, spoke to Reuters about the demands of the role in British director Tom Hooper's adaptation of the musical sensation that opened when Jackman was still a teenager.

Q. This role seemed tailor-made for you.

A. "It certainly for me felt like the biggest challenge I have had. I have never been on the front foot so much for a part. I was quite aggressive going for it.

"It felt like the right time. Once I got the part I will admit to you there were times when I went, 'Oh maybe I have bit off more than I can chew here,' because it is a pretty daunting role in every way - physically, vocally, emotionally."

Q. Has all your Broadway experience - and movies - led you to this role?

A. "I never expected this trajectory of having movies, action movies, which was such a weird thing for me, and musicals, which was also a weird thing for me. I was a theater graduate ... . So I have for a long time wanted to put the two together. And I waited for the right thing - and when this one came up I was like, 'Oh my God, I didn't have to think twice about it.' So, I suppose it does feel like all the stars were aligning, and thank God it took them 27 years to make it."

Q. Most actors downplay the Oscars, and this movie is getting some buzz. What do you think?

A. "Of course it is every actor's dream. In our business it is the highest currency there is. It is a dream.

"For me, I didn't grow up thinking I was going to be an actor, let alone hoping one day to win an Oscar - that was never part of my reality. I went to acting school when I was 22. I don't even remember thinking about being a professional actor until I was 30 and in drama school."

Q. What did you have to do to convince Tom Hooper to give you the part?

A. "What I needed to convince him (of) was that it is possible for the lyrics of the song to feel natural. I know he was skeptical of that whole feeling and was nervous, rightly, about whether a musical could really move people and make non-musical lovers feel things, and feel at home with the sung form, because it is highly unnatural right? ... . I knew I needed to convince him that the emotion and the story, the thoughts of the character, could feel natural."

Q. You had that much pressure while in rehearsals?

A. "Your voice had to be as good on the first as the ninth (take). Because, say he (Hooper) got the camera move, or the acting was right on the ninth. You can't pull the vocal from another, or cut to the second one, because the rhythm would be different. So I think he was testing stamina as well. And pitch I am sure, to see if people could sing in tune."

Q. Do you feel the responsibility to the 'Les Mis' fans?

A: "Completely. I am part of that musical theater world and I know there are some roles that are held up there. And there are people who play those roles who are right up there. It turned out I was acting opposite one of them, Colm Wilkinson, who originally created the role and was astonishing. It actually was really great having him there because there is probably, in terms of the ghosts of Valjean, no one more powerful ... than him."

Q. You are known as being one of the most sincere Hollywood stars. Who is your role model for this humble quality?

A. "My father has a lot of very humble qualities. He is more humble than I am. He is very quiet. If I think about it, there are many Jean Valjean qualities about my father. He has never said a bad word about anyone, he is a religious man in the more traditional sense, and yet he will never really talk about it. He is a man of action."

(Reporting By Christine Kearney; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Xavier Briand)

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Jessica Simpson's Christmas tweet seems to confirm pregnancy rumor

Actress and honoree Jessica Simpson is interviewed at the US Weekly Hot Hollywood Style issue party in Hollywood, California April 26, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

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Ex-U.S. President George H.W. Bush in intensive care

1 of 2. Former President George H.W. Bush smiles as he listens to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speak as he met with Bush to pick up his formal endorsement in Houston March 29, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Donna Carson

AUSTIN, Texas | Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:42am EST

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former President George H.W. Bush, who led a coalition that ejected Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, is in intensive care at a Houston hospital in "guarded condition," family spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday.

The 88-year-old was admitted to hospital November 23 for bronchitis.

"The president is alert and conversing with medical staff, and is surrounded by family," McGrath said in a statement.

"Following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, President Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday where he remains in guarded condition," McGrath said. "Doctors at Methodist continue to be cautiously optimistic about the current course of treatment."

A hospital spokesman said in mid-December that the former president was expected to be home in time for Christmas, but that spokesman later said doctors felt he should build up his strength before returning home.

Bush has lower-body parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and has used wheelchairs for more than a year, McGrath said in an email Wednesday.

Bush, the 41st U.S. president and a Republican, took office in 1989 and served one term in the White House.

The father of former President George W. Bush, he also served as a congressman, as ambassador to the United Nations, as envoy to China, as CIA director and as vice-president for two terms under Ronald Reagan.

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Phil Berlowitz and Andrew Osborn)

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Putin offers French tax row actor Depardieu a Russian passport

A pedestrian walks in the centre of Nechin, a town just across the border from France December 19, 2012. French actor Gerard Depardieu, accused by French government leaders of trying to dodge taxes by buying a house over the border in Nechin, Belgium, has retorted that he was leaving because ''success'' was now being punished in his homeland. A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old Depardieu is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country after tax increases by the Socialist government.

Credit: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol

MOSCOW | Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:28am EST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin offered French actor Gerard Depardieu a Russian passport on Thursday, saying he would welcome the 63-year-old celebrity who is embroiled in a bitter tax row with France's socialist government.

Weighing into a dispute over a hike in taxes, Putin heaped praise on Depardieu, making the offer of citizenship in response to a question during his annual televised press conference.

"If Gerard really wants to have either a residency permit in Russia or a Russian passport, we will assume that this matter is settled and settled positively," Putin said.

French daily Le Monde reported on Tuesday that Depardieu had told his close friends he was considering three options to escape France's new tax regime: moving to Belgium, where he owns a home, relocating to Montenegro, where he has a business, or fleeing to Russia.

"Putin has already sent me a passport," Le Monde quoted the actor as jokingly saying.

Depardieu is well-known in Russia where he has appeared in many advertising campaigns, and in 2012 he was one of several Western celebrities invited to celebrate the birthday of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader.

He also worked in Russia last year on a film about the life and times of the eccentric Russian monk Grigory Rasputin.

He has already inquired about how to obtain Belgian residency rights and said he plans to hand in his French passport and social security card.

In what has become an ugly public dispute, France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault criticized Depardieu's announcement as "pathetic" and unpatriotic. The actor hit back, accusing France of punishing success and talent.

But Putin said he thought the feud was the result of a "misunderstanding".

The 60-year-old former KGB spy said he was very friendly with Depardieu, saying he thought the actor considered himself a Frenchman who loved the culture and history of his homeland.

Belgian residents do not pay a wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million). Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales.

Hollande is also pressing ahead with plans to impose a 75-percent super tax on income over 1 million euros.

Russia has a flat income tax rate of 13 percent.

(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel and Andrew Osborn)

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Thousands mourn U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera

1 of 7. People watch a live broadcast of the memorial service for Mexican-American singer and Spanish language television personality Jenni Rivera at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California, December 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/David McNew

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES | Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:03am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of mourners on Wednesday packed a Los Angeles theater to pay their final respects to Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera more than a week after her death in a plane crash.

Rivera, 43, best known for her work in the Mexican folk Nortena and Banda genres, died after the small jet she was traveling in crashed in northern Mexico on December 9.

Rivera's family, dressed in white, led the memorial service eulogizing the singer. A bank of white roses was displayed in front of Rivera's bright red coffin and a brass band performed musical interludes.

More than 6,000 people crowded into the theater about 30 miles north of her childhood home in Long Beach, California. Tickets for the service at the Gibson Amphitheatre sold out within minutes, organizers said.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rivera was called the "Diva de la Banda." She sold about 15 million albums and earned a slew of Latin Grammy nominations during her 17-year career.

"Jenni made it OK for women to be who they are," her manager Pete Salgado said at the service. "Jenni also made it OK to be from nothing, with the hopes of being something."

Rivera had five children, the first at age 15, and was married three times. Her third husband was baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza. Rivera's private life influenced her songs, which often referenced living through hardship.

"She's a fighter and she knows it's in all of us," Rivera's son Michael said between video tributes.

In recent years, Rivera branched out into television, appearing on a reality television show and serving as a judge on the Mexican version of the singing competition "The Voice." Television broadcaster ABC was reported to be developing a comedy pilot for the singer.

Rivera's plane crashed in mountains south of Monterrey killing all seven on board.

The singer was to perform in the city of Toluca, 40 miles southwest of Mexico City, in central Mexico after a concert in Monterrey. It is not clear what caused the crash.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

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Thousands mourn U.S.-Mexican singer Jenni Rivera

People watch a live broadcast of the memorial service for Mexican-American singer and Spanish language television personality Jenni Rivera at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California, December 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/David McNew

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES | Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:14pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of mourners on Wednesday packed a Los Angeles theater to pay their final respects to Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera more than a week after her death in a plane crash.

Rivera, 43, best known for her work in the Mexican folk Nortena and Banda genres, died after the small jet she was traveling in crashed in northern Mexico on December 9.

Rivera's family, dressed in white, led the memorial service eulogizing the singer. A bank of white roses was displayed in front of Rivera's bright red coffin and a brass band performed musical interludes.

More than 6,000 people crowded into the theater about 30 miles north of her childhood home in Long Beach, California. Tickets for the service at the Gibson Amphitheatre sold out within minutes, organizers said.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rivera was called the "Diva de la Banda." She sold about 15 million albums and earned a slew of Latin Grammy nominations during her 17-year career.

"Jenni made it OK for women to be who they are," her manager Pete Salgado said at the service. "Jenni also made it OK to be from nothing, with the hopes of being something."

Rivera had five children, the first at age 15, and was married three times. Her third husband was baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza. Rivera's private life influenced her songs, which often referenced living through hardship.

"She's a fighter and she knows it's in all of us," Rivera's son Michael said between video tributes.

In recent years, Rivera branched out into television, appearing on a reality television show and serving as a judge on the Mexican version of the singing competition "The Voice." Television broadcaster ABC was reported to be developing a comedy pilot for the singer.

Rivera's plane crashed in mountains south of Monterrey killing all seven on board.

The singer was to perform in the city of Toluca, 40 miles southwest of Mexico City, in central Mexico after a concert in Monterrey. It is not clear what caused the crash.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

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Singer-songwriter Carole King to receive U.S. Gershwin prize

n">(Reuters) - American singer-songwriter Carole King will be awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the U.S. national library said on Thursday.

The multiple Grammy Award winner co-wrote her first No. 1 hit at age 17 with then-husband Gerry Goffin and was the first female solo artist to sell more than 10 million copies of a single album, with her 1971 release "Tapestry."

The prize honors individuals for lifetime achievement in popular music, the library said. It is named after songwriting brothers George and Ira Gershwin.

King, now 70, topped the charts with the song "It's Too Late" in 1971, but is best known for her work performed by others, including "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin.

"I was so pleased when the venerable Library of Congress began honoring writers of popular songs with the Gershwin Prize," King said in a statement. "I'm proud to be the fifth such honoree and the first woman among such distinguished company."

King and Goffin wrote some the biggest hits of the 1960s before their nine-year marriage ended in 1968. They rose to prominence in 1960 writing "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for the Shirelles.

The duo also scored hits with "Take Good Care of My Baby," performed by Bobby Vee in 1961, "The Loco-Motion," performed by Little Eva in 1962 and "Pleasant Valley Sunday," performed by The Monkees in 1967, among others.

New York-born King did not hit it big as a singer until 1971, when "Tapestry" topped the U.S. album charts for 15 weeks, then a record for a female solo artist.

Past recipients of the award include Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and songwriting tandem Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)

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Norman Woodland, co-inventor of bar code, dies at 91

By Chris Francescani

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:19am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Norman Woodland, co-inventor of the bar code, the inventory tracking tool that transformed global commerce in the 1970s and saved shoppers countless hours on the supermarket checkout line, has died, his daughter said.

Woodland, 91, died Saturday from complications related to Alzheimer's disease in Edgewater, New Jersey, said Susan Woodland of New York.

Today, five billion products a day are scanned optically using the bar code, or Universal Product Code, or UPC, according to GS1 US, the American arm of the global UPC standards body.

The handheld laser scanner inventories consumer products, speeds passengers through airline gates, tracks mail, encodes medical patient information, and is in near universal use across transportation, industrial and shipping industries worldwide.

Susan Woodland said her father and co-inventor Bernard "Bob" Silver were graduate students at an engineering school in Philadelphia when they devised the idea of the bar code.

Silver overheard a supermarket executive asking the dean of the school - now Drexel University - to assign engineering students the task of creating an efficient way to inventory products at the checkout counter.

"My dad really liked to think about interesting problems," Susan Woodland said.

Woodland devised a code based on Morse code - a series of dots and dashes - that he had learned as a Boy Scout, she said.

The pair applied for the world's first bar code patent in 1949. Woodland joined International Business Machines Corp in 1951, and in 1952 he and Silver received the patent.

But it would be more than two decades before laser technology would advance to the point where it could be applied to the bar code, IBM said in a statement.

Silver died in 1963, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which inducted the two men in 2011.

"In some ways it was a disappointment to my dad that it took so long for the technology to catch up," Susan Woodland said.

The first bar code scan took place on June 26, 1974, in Troy, Ohio, when a cashier scanned a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum for shopper Clyde Dawson, according to IBM. Cost: 67 cents. A revolutionary technology was born.

The late 1970s were heady times for Woodland, known to friends as 'Joe.'

"My dad was a really sweet, friendly guy and he just got the biggest thrill about having invented the bar code," Susan Woodland said.

"He loved talking to the checkers at the supermarket, seeing what they thought about the bar code scanner, what were the problems with it and what they'd like to see changed," she said, laughing. "They always got such a kick out of him."

Susan Woodland said her father was enthusiastic about perfecting the technology he had invented.

"He was involved in with the whole design of the station - from how the person stood and how high the laser stood to how to protect peoples' eyes from the lasers," she said. "He was totally a perfectionist."

Woodland also served as an historian on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to build the first atomic bomb.

But his bar code invention was closest to his heart, Susan Woodland said.

Woodland is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Woodland of New Jersey, daughters Susan Woodland and Betsy Karpenkopf, brother David Woodland and granddaughter Ella Karpenkopf, 16.

(This story was corrected in the last paragraph to fix the spellings of widow and daughter)

(Reporting By Chris Francescani; Editing by Dan Burns and Nick Zieminski)

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Actor Depardieu hits back at French PM over tax exile

French actor Gerard Depardieu delivers a speech during a campaign rally for France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate for the 2012 French presidential election, in Villepinte, northern Paris March 11, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Charles Platiau

By John Irish

PARIS | Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:21am EST

PARIS (Reuters) - Actor Gerard Depardieu, accused by French government leaders of trying to dodge taxes by buying a house over the border in Belgium, retorted that he was leaving because "success" was now being punished in his homeland.

A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old Depardieu is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country after tax increases by Socialist President Francois Hollande.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described Depardieu's behavior as "pathetic" and unpatriotic at a time when the French are being asked to pay higher taxes to reduce a bloated national debt.

"Pathetic, you said pathetic? How pathetic is that?" Depardieu said in a letter distributed to the media.

"I am leaving because you believe that success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned," he said.

An angry member of parliament has proposed that France adopt a U.S.-inspired law that would force Depardieu or anyone trying to escape full tax dues to forego their nationality.

The "Cyrano de Bergerac" star recently bought a house in Nechin, a Belgian village a short walk from the border with France, where 27 percent of residents are French nationals, and put up his sumptuous Parisian home up for sale.

Depardieu, who has also inquired about procedures for acquiring Belgian residency, said he was handing in his passport and social security card.

Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said she was outraged by Depardieu's letter, adding that he had for years been supported financially by public money for the film industry.

"When we abandon the ship and desert in the middle of an economic war, you don't then come back and give morality lessons," she told BFM-TV. "One can only regret that Gerard Depardieu doesn't make a comeback in silent movies."

He said he had paid 145 million euros ($190.08 million) in taxes since beginning work as a printer at the age of 14.

"People more illustrious than me have gone into (tax) exile. Of all those that have left none have been insulted as I have."

The actor's move comes three months after Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury giant LVMH and France's richest man, caused an uproar by seeking to establish residency in Belgium - a move he said was not for tax reasons.

Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million). Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales.

"We no longer have the same homeland," Depardieu said. "I sadly no longer have a reason to stay here. I'll continue to love the French and this public that I have shared so much emotion with."

Hollande is pressing ahead too with plans to impose a 75-percent supertax on income over 1 million euros.

"Who are you to judge me, I ask you Mr. Ayrault, prime minister of Mr. Hollande? Despite my excesses, my appetite and my love of life, I remain a free man."

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Florida man sentenced to 10 years in "hackerazzi" case

Christopher Chaney (L) arrives for a post-indictment arraignment at Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles in this November 1, 2011, file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni/Files

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES | Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:10pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Florida man who pleaded guilty to hacking into the email accounts of celebrities to gain access to nude photos and private information was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday.

Former office clerk Christopher Chaney, 36, said before the trial that he hacked into the accounts of film star Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities because he was addicted to spying on their personal lives.

Prosecutors said Chaney illegally gained access to email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry, including Johansson, actress Mila Kunis, and singers Christina Aguilera and Renee Olstead from November 2010 to October 2011.

Chaney, who was initially charged with 28 counts related to hacking, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in March to nine felony counts, including wiretapping and unauthorized access to protected computers.

"I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry," Chaney said during his sentencing. "This will never happen again."

Chaney was ordered to pay $66,179 in restitution to victims.

Prosecutors recommended a 71-month prison for Chaney, who faced a maximum sentence of 60 years.

TEARFUL JOHANSSON

Prosecutors said Chaney leaked some of the private photos to two celebrity gossip websites and a hacker.

Johansson said the photos, which show her topless, were taken for her then-husband, actor Ryan Reynolds.

In a video statement shown in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, a tearful Johansson said she was "truly humiliated and embarrassed" when the photos appeared online, asking Judge S. James Otero to come down hard on Chaney.

Prosecutors said Chaney also stalked two unnamed Florida women online, one since 1999 when she was 13 years old.

Chaney, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, was arrested in October 2011 after an 11-month FBI investigation dubbed "Operation Hackerazzi" and he continued hacking after investigators initially seized his personal computers.

Shortly after his arrest, Chaney told a Florida television station that his hacking of celebrity email accounts started as curiosity and later he became "addicted."

"I was almost relieved months ago when they came in and took my computer ... because I didn't know how to stop," he said.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Andrew Hay)

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Pop star Kelly Clarkson announces engagement

Kelly Clarkson performs a medley of songs at the 40th American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, November 18, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Danny Moloshok

LOS ANGELES | Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:04am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kelly Clarkson, who became the first contestant to win "American Idol" a decade ago and went on to several chart-topping successes, has gotten engaged to her boyfriend, the singer said in a Twitter message on Saturday.

Clarkson, 30, previously revealed she had been dating talent manager Brandon Blackstock since early this year. Blackstock is the stepson of country singer Reba McEntire.

"I'M ENGAGED!" Clarkson said on Twitter. "I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night!"

She then followed that by posting a link to a photo of her canary yellow diamond engagement ring on a website. She wrote that her boyfriend helped design it and that she "can't wait to make Brandon's ring."

Clarkson's album "Stronger" hit No. 2 last year on the Billboard 200 sales chart, and she in previous years topped pop charts with her songs "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "A Moment Like This."

The Texas-born singer won the Fox television singing contest "American Idol" in the show's debut year in 2002, and has had more success than many of the show's stars from following years.

Clarkson has burnished an image as an artist willing to speak her mind, even confessing to feelings of loneliness.

Last month, in an appearance on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show," Clarkson said she had been dating Blackstock since earlier this year and was thankful to have him.

"I am not alone for the first time for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I'm very happy," she said on the show.

In the same November appearance, Clarkson said she expected to get engaged to Blackstock. "We will totally, probably elope," she told DeGeneres.

(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by David Bailey)

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A Minute With: Director Peter Jackson on shooting "The Hobbit"

New Zealand director Peter Jackson emerges from a 'Hobbit Hole' to make an address at the world premiere of 'The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey' in Wellington November 28, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mark Coote

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:02am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy to life, filmmaker Peter Jackson is back in the world of Middle Earth with the author's prequel, "The Hobbit."

The three-film series is due to open in U.S. theaters on Friday with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

The Oscar-winning director, 51, told Reuters about the 3D film, including the 48 frames per second (fps) format he used, which was widely debated by fans and critics.

Q: You originally intended "The Hobbit" to only be two parts. Why stretch it out to three?

A: "Back in July, we were near the end of our shoot and we started to talk about the things that we had to leave out of the movies. There's material at the end of ‘The Return of the King' (the final part of 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy) in the appendices that takes place around the time of ‘The Hobbit.'

"We were thinking, this is our last chance because it's very unlikely we're ever going to come back to Middle Earth as filmmakers. So we talked to the studio and next year we're going to be doing another 10 to 12 weeks of shooting because we're now adapting more of Tolkien's material."

Q: At what point did you decide you would direct the film yourself after originally handing it to Guillermo del Toro?

A: "At the time (we wrote the script), I was worried about repeating myself and worried that I was competing with myself. I thought it would be interesting to have another director with a fresh eye coming in and telling the story. But after Guillermo left, having worked on script and the production for well over a year at that stage, I was very emotionally attached to it. I just thought, this is an opportunity I'm not going to say no to."

Q: You hired Gollum actor Andy Serkis to do second unit directing on the film, something he has never done before. What made you hand the task to a novice?

A: "I know how strongly Andy has been wanting to direct. One of the problems with second unit is that you tend to have conservative footage given to you by the director. They play it safe. I knew that I wouldn't get that from Andy because he's got such a ferocious energy. He goes for it and doesn't hold back. I knew that if Andy was the director I would be getting some interesting material, that it would have a life and energy to it."

Q: What inspired you to make a film in 48 fps?

A: "Four years ago I shot a six or seven minute King Kong ride for Universal Studios' tram ride in California. The reason we used the high frame rate was that we didn't want people to think it's a movie. You want that sense of reality, which you get from a high frame rate, of looking in to the real world. At the time, I thought it would be so cool to make a feature film with this process."

Q: Not everyone has embraced "The Hobbit" in 48 fps.

A: "For the last year and a half there's been speculation, largely negative, about it and I'm so relieved to have gotten to this point. I've been waiting for this moment when people can actually see it for themselves. Cinephiles and serious film critics who regard 24 fps as sacred are very negative and absolutely hate it. Anybody I've spoken to under the age of 20 thinks it's fantastic. I haven't heard a single negative thing from the young people, and these are the kids that are watching films on their iPads. These are the people I want to get back in the cinema."

Q: Why all the hoopla over a frame rate?

A: "Somehow as humans, we have a reaction to change that's partly fear driven. But there are so many ways to look at movies now and it's a choice that a filmmaker has. To me as a filmmaker, you've got to take the technology that's available in 2012, not the technology we've lived with since 1927, and say how can we enhance the experience in the cinema? How can we make it more immersive, more spectacular?"

Q: George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion. Do you think you will sell your New Zealand facility Weta someday?

A: "I would if I want to retire at some stage and want to have a nice easy life, which will hopefully happen one day. But in the foreseeable future, the fact that I'm an owner of my own digital effects facility is a fantastic advantage for me."

Q: How so?

A: "When we asked the studio if we could shoot ‘The Hobbit' at 48 fps, we promised the budget would be the same. But it actually does have a cost implication because you've got to render twice as many frames and the rendering takes more time. The fact that we owned Weta and could absorb that in-house was actually part of the reason we were able to do the 48 frames."

(Editing by Patricia Reaney)

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Media mogul and banker Allbritton dies at 87

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:14pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joe Lewis Allbritton, a media mogul and owner of the scandal-plagued Riggs National Bank, died on Wednesday at a hospital in Houston. He was 87.

Allbritton died of heart ailments, said Jerald Fritz, a senior vice president of Allbritton Communications.

Allbritton's media empire included newspapers throughout the U.S. Northeast and ABC network affiliates. Allbritton's son, Robert, recently founded the influential political publication Politico.

But Joe Allbritton, a Mississippi native, was famously known for owning and running Riggs, the Washington-based bank that had been a dominant force in diplomatic banking in the nation's capital.

Allbritton's banking career was tarnished when it was revealed that Riggs bank failed to report suspicious activity in the accounts held by former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Equatorial Guinea officials.

Riggs bank pleaded guilty in 2005 to violating anti-money laundering laws and was fined a total of $41 million.

Allbritton did not seek re-election to Riggs' board of directors and the storied bank was eventually acquired by PNC Financial Services.

Allbritton is survived by his wife, son and two grandchildren.

(Reporting By Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Gabby Douglas, Adele among brightest young stars -Forbes magazine

Gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas recites the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the second session of Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 5, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jim Young

By Patricia Reaney

NEW YORK | Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:11pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fashion designer Carly Cushnie, actress Kate McKinnon and videogame creator Kim Swift may not be household names yet, but they are destined to do great things and will be tomorrow's young stars, Forbes magazine said on Monday.

Along with Olympic Gold medalist gymnast Gabby Douglas, rapper Wiz Khalifa and researcher Josh Sommer, they have been chosen by the magazine for its "30 Under 30" list of top achievers under 30 years old in their fields.

They are considered the top 30 achievers in 15 categories ranging from education, energy, music, science and healthcare to sports, technology games and apps and marketing.

"This is a celebration of youthful ambition and success. These are really amazing people and they are doing amazing things. It makes you very hopeful about the world," Michael Noer, the executive editor of Forbes, said in an interview.

Many on the list, including singers Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber, as well as actresses Ashley and May Kate Olsen and fashion designer Alexander Wang, the newly appointed creative director at the French fashion house Balenciaga, are already well known.

Some are returnees to the list that was launched last year - like British singer and new mother Adele, the 24-year-old multiple Grammy Award winner, and American entrepreneur Kevin Systrom.

Noer said there has been a 60 percent turnover since 2011, so there are plenty of new faces on the list drawn up by Forbes staff and industry experts.

"I think there are a lot of interesting names on the list," he said.

In energy, it is 28-year-old Leslie Dewan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and co-founder and chief science officer of Transatomic Power.

"They are developing a new type of nuclear reactor that uses nuclear waste," said Noer.

In music, Pittsburgh-bred Khalifa, 25, topped the list. Swift, the 29-year-old creative director at Airtight Games, was noted for creating hit videogame Portal.

"Kate McKinnon, the actress from 'Saturday Night Live' who just joined in April is our Hollywood selection. She is being hailed as the next Tina Fey," Noer said.

Sommer, the executive director of the Chordoma Foundation which raises funds for research into chordoma, a rare, slow-growing bone cancer most commonly found in the spine, is another young achiever, according to Forbes.

Sommer created the foundation with his mother after being diagnosed with the disease while a student at Duke University in North Carolina.

"He was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer, dropped out of school to find a cure and he has made some progress," said Noer.

The full list will be published in the January 21 issue of Forbes and can also be found at www.forbes.com/under 30 .

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; editing by Paul Casciato and Mohammad Zargham)

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"Bennifer" buried as Ben Affleck's star soars

Director and cast member Ben Affleck is interviewed at the premiere of ''Argo'' at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California October 4, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Fri Dec 14, 2012 8:34am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It has taken 10 years of hard work and indie movies, but Ben Affleck finally has moved past his "Bennifer" nightmare.

Affleck, 40, once a tabloid staple who risked becoming a laughingstock during his romance with Jennifer Lopez and their movie flop "Gigli," is back on top in Hollywood, winning accolades for his work both in front of and behind the camera.

Fifteen years after Affleck shared an Oscar with Matt Damon for their first screenplay, "Good Will Hunting," buzz is building over a likely second Academy Award nomination next month. It would be Affleck's first since 1997.

"Finally, people now are ready to go, 'Wow! He's at the very top of the food chain,'" Damon told Reuters.

Affleck's latest film "Argo," a part-thriller, part-comedic tale of the real-life rescue of six American diplomats from Iran in 1980, this week picked up five Golden Globe nominations and a nod from the Screen Actors Guild for its top prize of best ensemble cast.

The film, which Affleck directed, produced and stars in, has also delighted critics and brought in some $160 million at the worldwide box office.

In "Argo," Affleck's clean-cut looks are hidden under a long, shaggy 1970s hair cut and beard as he plays CIA officer Tony Mendez, who devised a fake film project to spirit six hostages out of Tehran after the Islamic revolution.

The kudos Affleck is now receiving follows the embarrassing headlines he attracted over his 2002-2004 romance with Lopez.

"It was tough to watch him get kicked in the teeth for all those years because the perception of him was so not who he actually was," Damon said.

"It was upsetting for a lot of his friends because he's the smartest, funnest, nicest, kindest, incredibly talented guy. ... So that was tough. Now I'm just thrilled. ... He deserves everything that he's going to get," he added.

With a huge, pink diamond engagement ring for Lopez and gossip about matching Rolls Royces, the pair dubbed "Bennifer" starred in the 2003 comedy romance "Gigli," which earned multiple Razzie awards for the worst comedy of the year.

SELLING MAGAZINES NOT MOVIES

Damon, by contrast, was seeing his career surge with "The Bourne Identity," "Syriana" and "The Departed." But he recalls Affleck's pain.

"He said (to me), 'I am in the absolute worst place you can be. I sell magazines, not movie tickets.' I remember our agent called up the editor of Us Weekly, begging her not to put him on the cover any more. Please stop. Just stop," Damon said.

About a year after splitting with Lopez, Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner, had the first of three children with her, and started writing and directing small but admired movies like "Gone Baby Gone" in 2007 and 2010's gritty crime film "The Town."

Last month, Affleck was named Entertainment Weekly's entertainer of the year, largely on the back of "Argo."

The actor-turned-director said that managing the various tones of the film was his hardest challenge.

"I had to synthesize comedic elements and the political stuff and this true-life drama thriller story. ... It was scary and it was daunting," Affleck told Reuters, saying he powered through by "overworking it by a multiple of ten."

A trip to the Oscars ceremony in February is now considered a shoo-in by awards pundits, but Affleck is not convinced that success is sweeter the second time around.

"It's harder. On the one hand, coming from obscurity, you have a neutral starting place. Because of the tabloid press and over exposure, I was starting from a deficit," he said.

"It can be very unpleasant to be in the midst of a lot of ugliness. But I just put my head down and decided ... I was going to work as hard as I could, and I never let the possibility enter my mind that I might fail - at least consciously. Subconsciously, I knew I could fail and I was really scared, so it made me work harder."

(Additional reporting by Zorianna Kit; Editing by Will Dunham)

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