Nancy Meyers Comes Up With a Winner

A Romantic Comedy that Really Works

Christmas is coming soon and everybody is busy getting ready for another holiday season. A movie can be great comic relief. We want to be entertained and interested by a story that keeps us attentive and has a happy ending.

Nancy Meyers delivers what we need as the writer/director of "The Holiday", a romantic comedy with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black and Eli Wallach. Described by one viewer as the "Swiss Chocolate of Romantic Comedies", it certainly qualifies as its only winning award was the Teen Choice Award for Best Chick Flick.

Actually, I found The Holiday to be a tad more than just a chick flick. As a student of relationships it provided a happy ending to the dilemma of women who get involved in a relationship with men who almost appear interested but invariably cheat.

The premise of The Holiday is pretty simple. Stuck in impossible relationships with two-timing men, Los Angeles resident Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Londoner Iris (Kate Winslet) decide to swap homes over the Christmas holiday in an effort to forget their troubles.

Both Amanda and Iris find themselves in unusual circumstances and are forced to come to grips with who they are and what they want in a relationship. Amanda must look inward to find the emotion that escaped her in her youth, and Iris must look outward to get over being self-absorbed in her perfect relationship that does not exist.

Amanda, the owner and creative force of a movie-trailers editing firm in face-paced Tinseltown, dumps her cheat Ethan (Edward Burns) and finds herself even lonelier in a cottage in Surrey (near London) when she meets Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law), a widower with two daughters. She has not cried tears since the breakup of her parents when she was a teen.

Iris is a writer of some note with The Telegraph newspaper in London. She pines for Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell), who uses her for three years but then gets engaged to a co-worker at The Telegraph. Jasper is a self-centered, self-absorbed cad with no heart and no mind who satisfies his most needy body part. Iris is too in love to see straight.

Iris meets Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach), an accomplished movie writer in Beverly Hills who you would love to have as your great grandfather. Arthur tells Iris that "in the movies we have leading ladies and we have best friends. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend."

Eventually Iris meets Miles (Jack Black), a film composer who suffers from the same ill-fated relationship troubles as Iris, and the two form a gentle bond of assured happiness.

The chemistry between Amanda and Graham is excellent, and The Holiday benefits from some great Christmas music and good direction by Nancy Meyers.

Guys are not going to go mushy over this film but would do well to pay attention to what girls really want. The Holiday is a great film for the Christmas season, it will not stress your emotions but will fill you up with good feelings.

Lohan recreates Monroe last photo shoot

Lindsay Lohan is following in the footsteps of the most famous blond bombshell of them all, Marilyn Monroe. In the issue of New York magazine on sale on Monday, the 21-year-old star Mean Girls and Freaky Friday poses nude for photographer Bert Stern in a recreation of one of Monroe’s most famous photo shoots, done shortly before she died. Stern photographed Monroe in 1962 at the Hotel-Bel-Air in California, six weeks before sge was found dead of an overdose of barbiturates. Those images for Vogue magazine feature Monroe in next to nothing, posing nude with some scarves and jewelry as her accessories and sipping champagne.

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline

In yet another twist to the Britney Spears legal rollercoaster, Spears' legal team, Trope and Trope, has removed themselves from her ongoing custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Stacy Phillips, who represented Bobby Brown in his divorce from Whitney Houston, is now Spears' attorney in her custody case.

There was no change in the custody of Spears and Federline's children.

Judge Gordan also said, whether the conservatorship goes to Federal court has nothing to do with the ongoing custody case, and all of Spears' family law matters would proceed unchanged.

Earlier in the day, the two sides disagreed as to whether the court should impose a gag order on all those involved in the Spears-Federline case.

Kevin Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, argued against the gag order, saying that since the conservators have been put in place there are no "favored media outlets." He also argued that a gag order would infringe on first amendment rights, and therefore should not be used.

Britney's legal team, who is in favor of the gag order, argued it was necessary for the safety of Spears and her two children, Sean Preston and Jayden James. Spears' attorney, Anne Kiley, cited the Alec Baldwin & Kim Basinger divorce as an example.

"If Miss Spears is going to a concert, and paparazzi ask her how are the kids, and she replies 'great' are you going to hold her in contempt?" Kaplan asked the court.

The judge denied the request for a gag order, saying the public has a right to know what the court is doing. He went on to say the safety of those involved was a law enforcement and media issue, and not a court issue. The real concern is the "conduct of photographers," the judge added.

Kiley noted at the beginning of court, that her firm, Trope and Trope, is still asking to withdraw from Spears' legal team, but after today’s hearing.

Both Spears and Federline were not in court today, as they were not required to be present.

Eddie Murphy & Tracey Edmonds On Separate Roads

Just two weeks after their wedding, Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds have split, it has been confirmed.

Though their ceremony happened two weeks ago, the couple's marriage only lasted three days, according to sources.

Their relationship ended on January 4, 2008, in Bora Bora.

Days earlier the couple were married in a spiritual ceremony on the island. They planned on having a legally binding ceremony upon returning to the U.S. However, since that ceremony never took place, the couple was never officially married to begin with.

Edmonds and Murphy left the island separately, the source stated. The source added that the split had nothing to do with prenup issues.

Both parties are currently in Los Angeles.

Murphy and Edmonds released the following statement on Wednesday:

“After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forego having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further. While the recent symbolic union in Bora Bora was representative of our deep love, friendship and respect that we have for one another on a spiritual level, we have decided to remain friends.”

The two began dating fall 2006 and were engaged in July.

Murphy, 46, has five children from his previous marriage to Nicole Mitchell Murphy, who filed for divorce in 2005. He also has a daughter with Spice Girl and “Dancing With the Stars” alum Mel B.

Edmonds, a 40-year-old movie producer, has two sons from her 12-year marriage to R&B singer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. As head of Edmonds Entertainment, she has produced the film and television series “Soul Food.”

Murphy’s film credits include “Dreamgirls,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Shrek” and “The Beverly Hills Cop” franchise.

Hollywood Suffocates Keira

Keira Knightley has blasted Hollywood residents for leading a narrow-minded life. The Pirates of the Caribbean star says that she could never survive in such a suffocating environment.

Though Knightley, who bagged a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Atonement, has become a well-known name in Hollywood, she cannot bear to live amongst her movie-obsessed contemporaries. The British beauty had instead chosen to stay in London, as it offers so much variety. “It’s a funny place. I could never live in Hollywood, because there’s nowhere to escape to. You find yourself sitting around a lot and every conversation you have is about the movies,” she said.

“I think you have to be in a city that has different walks of life that you can observe and for me, that’s London.” She added.

Malawi lauds Madonna for helping country’s AIDS orphans

The Malawi government on Tuesday applauded Madonna’s efforts to put the plight of the country’s AIDS orphans on the global stage and raising money to support them. The American singer said last week she would work with luxury goods maker Gucci to raise at least $2 million for Malawi’s one million orphans.

Witherspoon highest paid actress

Even though her latest film Rendition was a flop, Resse Witherspoon is a moneymaker. The 31-yr-old Academy Award winner commands $15 million to $20 million a movie, placing her at the top of the Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the highest-paid actresses. Angelina Jolie comes in second with similar salary demands, though the animated Bewoulf earned the 32-yr-old actress far less – just $8 million.