• Tom Cruise is still riding the crazy train doing promotion for MI3 in Japan.  Or shall we say, the crazy boat? 
• Free Samples!!!!  Mr. Clean Extra Power Magic Erasers, Bounty Paper Towels, and Pantene Pro V Restore.
• Somebody needs to empty this litter box… The Pussycat Dolls: The She-Beasts? 
• Diddy gives Lindsay Lohan the boot.
• You already know I am beyond excited for Superman Returns.  Lotsa video clips and TV spots here.
• Is Brooke Shields trying out for a role in The Flinstones?
• Paris Hilton is starting a new fashion trend…  the half-glove.  Okay fine, trying to start one.
• Nicole Kidman can look hairy scary.
• Brittany Murphy greets fans at the The Late Show with David Letterman in NYC yesterday afternoon.  But no thank-you. One too many collagen injections. 
• Every hero needs a sidekick…  that’s why celebrities were out in high gear at the launch of the new T-Mobile Sidekick 3.  T-Mobile, I want one.  Please and thank-you!

• Natalie Portman and Eric Bana will star in historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl, a story that revolves around the ferociously ambitious Boleyn sisters, Mary and Anne (Portman), who are rivals for the bed and heart of 16th century English King Henry VIII (Bana).
• Matt Damon is rumored to star as a young Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrahm’s upcoming Star Trek movie, centering on Kirk and Spock‘s early days at a space academy.  "[William] Shatner gave his blessing," says one source. "J.J. got his approval. J.J. wants Damon as Capt. Kirk. He really loves the idea."
• Naomi Watts has arrived in Australia for Nicole Kidman’s hotly anticipated weekend nuptials to country star Keith Urban.

Munich is Steven Spielberg’s 2005 political thriller about Israel’s covert retaliation for the murder of its 11 athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. While audiences didn’t flock to see Munich in theaters (I did!), the gripping film appears to have scored big with DVD sales, topping national DVD sales and rental charts during the week ending May 14. Munich is a solid production and stars one of my favorite actors, Eric Bana, 37, who does a mighty fine job playing Avner, the assasination team leader.  Munich was nominated for a best-picture Oscar and also stars Daniel Craig (Casino Royale).  Prodctuion stills and DVD caps in the gallery!

HOW TO WIN A FREE COPY ::  To win a Munich DVD, simply leave a comment in this entry with a valid email address (not published) by May 19 @ 7PM EST and a winner will be chosen at random.  Good luck!

UPDATE :: Congratulations, P.A.!  Your Munich DVD is being shipped off!  Thanks to everyone else who entered!!

Los Angeles, California :: Presenters ran through rehearsal yesterday for the 78th Academy Awards – Jessica Alba, Eric Bana, Nicole Kidman, Terrence Howard, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Zhang Ziyi, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Lopez and Hilary Swank.   For the record, Eric Bana and Jessica Alba are going to the the hottest pair to walk the stage as presenters tonight. More pictures in the gallery including Uma Thurman, Jon Stewart, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Queen Latifah, Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman and Dolly Parton.

Around this time of year, acting in movies starts to feel like a kind of athletic event, with prizes awarded to the winners while the losers are reduced to being glamorous extras on televised award show after televised award show. By the time of the Academy Awards, which this year will take place on March 5, the spirit of the contest seems to take precedence over artistic achievement. This year, as in the previous two, The New York Times Magazine has tried to eschew this notion of competition by saluting the performances that moved, surprised and thrilled us, regardless of whether they were nominated for awards… Once again, the photography team of Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin has beautifully composed and captured the variety of characters who resonated with us this year and distilled the essence of what makes great movie acting great.

These are the portraits of 26 actors who made the films of 2005 so memorable including George Clooney (Syriana), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Amy Adams (Junebug), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Deep Roy (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Eric Bana (Munich), Shirley MacLaine (In Her Shoes), Ziyi Zhang (2046), William Hurt (A History of Violence), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), Birol Ünel and Sibel Kekilli (Head-On), Charlize Theron (North Country), Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence), Vera Farmiga (Down to the Bone), Bill Murray (Broken Flowers), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Mysterious Skin), Natalie Press and Emily Blunt (My Summer of Love), Penélope Cruz (Don’t Move), Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale), Daniel Day-Lewis (The Ballad of Jack and Rose).  Check out the gallery!