Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped...

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped...

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Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped...

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Satire site The Onion apologizes for offensive Oscar tweet

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Onion, a source for online and printed satire that routinely skewers celebrities, apologized on Monday for a what it called a crude and offensive tweet directed at nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis.The Internet was abuzz with commentary after The Onion on Sunday night referred to the young Best Actress nominee using a four-letter term seen as perhaps the most offensive...

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Oscars have clear favorites, wild-card MacFarlane

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Some firsts and other rarities are possible at Sunday night’s Academy Awards. But if the Oscars could be just a little less predictable, the show might really be one for the record books.Ben Affleck‘s “Argo” looks like it will uniquely claim best picture without a directing nomination, while “Lincoln” filmmaker Steven Spielberg and star Daniel Day-Lewis are favored to join exclusive...

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Michael Imperioli to play tormented sensei on ‘The Office’

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – “Sopranos” veteran Michael Imperioli will join “The Office” for one of its final episodes, playing Dwight Schrute‘s tormented sensei.Imperioli‘s Sensei Billy will find his patience tested by his exasperating student, who has apparently maintained a love of karate first demonstrated in the second season of the show.He will go to unusual means to make Dwight (Rainn Wilson) go...

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Madonna crowned top music earner in 2012 due to world tour

(Reuters) – Madonna was named the biggest money maker in music in 2012 on Friday, with a world tour helping her take home up to $ 34.6 million and highlighting the earning power of live performances as the industry increasingly goes digital.The 54-year-old Material Girl topped Billboard Magazine’s annual list of 40 top money makers for the second time after earning an estimated $ 32 million – 93.5...

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Strange but true stories from Academy Awards past

(Reuters) – The Academy Awards are usually tightly scripted events, but sometimes even Oscar gets a taste of the unexpected. Here are some of the curious moments when things veered off course on the red carpet.REFUSING OSCARA few Oscar winners have felt compelled to turn down their prizes over the years. The first was screenwriter Dudley Nichols, who refused his Best Screenwriter award for “The Informer”...

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McCready’s ex: Anyone close could see it coming

HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — Mindy McCready threatened to kill herself after losing custody of her sons earlier this month, yet she was allowed to leave a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program days before she apparently killed herself, her ex-boyfriend said Monday.Billy McKnight, who was in a long, rocky relationship with McCready and who is the father of her oldest child, Zander, said the 37-year-old...

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Scott Brown joins Fox News

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fox News Channel has chosen another former politician to join its swelling ranks of contributors, and this one comes with TV-ready looks.The recently ousted Republican Massachusetts senator – who paid his way through law school with modeling gigs – has signed on as a contributor. Brown, who will offer political commentary on several programs, will make his debut Wednesday...

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Seth MacFarlane’s “Dads” series casts “Mindy Project” actor

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Tommy Dewey has been cast in the Fox comedy “Dads,” from “Ted” team Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.Dewey, who’s appeared in a handful of episodes of Fox’s “The Mindy Project,” will play Warner, the co-owner of a successful videogame company and stable family man whose otherwise perfect life is cast into chaos when his feckless father Crawford moves in with...

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Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock presenting at Oscars

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Four former Best Actress winners will converge on stage at this year’s Oscar telecast, the show’s producers said Wednesday.Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon will present an award, although the show’s producers were mum about whether or not they will take the stage together. If they do, it may mean a return to a format that was deployed and...

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Director Panahi defies Iran ban to make another film

BERLIN (Reuters) – Iran‘s Jafar Panahi has defied a 20-year ban on filmmaking to secretly co-direct “Closed Curtain“, a multi-layered portrayal of how restrictions on his work and movement have brought on depression and even thoughts of suicide.The movie, in competition at the Berlin film festival, has its premiere on Tuesday, but Panahi was not expected on the red carpet despite festival organizers...

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Average movie ticket price hits record high

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Movie-going got more expensive last year with ticket prices hitting record highs in 2012, the National Association of Theatre Owners said Monday.The average ticket price hit $ 7.96, a three-cent bump from last year, but still the biggest annual number when not adjusted for inflation.For the fourth quarter of 2012, 3D releases, such as “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”...

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All eyes on Frank Ocean as Grammy Awards kick off

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Everybody’s thinkin’ about Frank Ocean.Ocean is a cause celebre and the man with the momentum as Sunday’s Grammy Awards kicked off with pre-telecast wins by Rihanna and Mumford & Sons. One of six top nominees with six nominations apiece, the 25-year-old R&B singer turned cultural talking point will have the music world’s attention.It remains to be seen if it will be the...

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Mary J. Blige honored by Vibe at pre-Grammy party

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Babyface called her an icon; Diddy said she was like a sister; and Anita Baker credited her for helping secure her latest Grammy nomination.There was no shortage of superlatives bestowed on Mary J. Blige on Friday night as Vibe magazine celebrated the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s career, which has now spanned for more than two decades.“She’s a musical soulmate, she’s my sister, she’s...

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Kristen Wiig joins “Anchorman” sequel

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Kristen Wiig will contribute to the lunacy in “Anchorman: The Legend Continues.”Director Adam McKay announced on Facebook that the “Bridesmaids” star had joined the cast of the follow-up to the 2004 hit.“Kristen Wiig is officially on board for Anchorman 2,” McKay wrote. “Couldn’t be more excited.”TheWrap first reported that Wiig was eyeing the project in December. McKay...

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NFL says no indication Beyonce show caused Super Bowl outage

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – The National Football League was still working with New Orleans officials on Monday to determine what caused the power outage at Sunday’s Super Bowl at the Superdome, so far dismissing any connection with the Beyonce halftime show.With a record U.S. television audience watching along with viewers in 180 countries, about half the stadium lights went dark early in the second...

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Zombie love story “Warm Bodies” heats up Super Bowl weekend

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Warm Bodies,” a romantic comedy featuring a warm-hearted zombie, lured teenage girls to the theater, collecting $ 20 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada to take the box office title on a weekend dominated by Super Bowl parties and football watching.Playing in more than 3,000 theaters, the odd-pairing of a pale-faced zombie with his breathing girlfriend faced little...

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CNN Temporarily Blacked Out in China During Segment on NYT Hacking

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Chinese censors temporarily blocked CNN International’s broadcasting signal Thursday night, during a segment about Chinese hackers infiltrating the New York Times’ computer network, a CNN spokeswoman told TheWrap.On Wednesday night, the Times reported that it had suffered four months of persistent cyber attacks after publishing a front-page story about the wealth amassed...

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