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SIN CITY actress DEVON AOKI is tangled in a court battle with her stepmot her over the control of her late father’s chain of Benihana steakhouse re staurants.
Rocky Aoki’s third wife Keiko is battling for control of the family tru st Benihana of Tokyo, which benefits founder Rocky’s children from his fi rst and second marriages, including actress and model Devon.
The children’s 38 per cent of common shares in the business is held in the trust - and is a crucial point of control over the company as Keiko f ights with Aoki’s kids over management changes.
Three board seats, including the one held by CEO Richard Stockinger, ar e up for election at the company’s 14 September (10) shareholder meeting.
However, Keiko opposes one of the two candidates nominated by her stepc hildren.
Keiko tells the New York Post she hopes to have a decision from New Yor k’s Surrogate Court on who controls the trust before the annual September meeting.

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KE$HA has learned to impress men by etching homemade tattoos on their ski n with sewing needles.
The TiK ToK hitmaker admits she shows off her creative skills to potent ial partners by offering to adorn them with her personalised body art, wh ich she creates with the ink of a pen.
She tells Paper magazine, "A friend of mine told me you can create a ta ttoo with pen ink and a safety pin and I was like, ‘That’s amazing. I cou ld give tattoos anywhere in the world at any hotel!’ "I saw this hot dude recently and I gave him a tattoo sitting in the lo bby of the hotel. I was just like, ‘Can I borrow a pen and a sewing kit?’ I think I got an admirer out of that one."

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Welsh rockers MANIC STREET PREACHERS have recruited a Hollywood star for their next music video - MICHAEL SHEEN has agreed to play chess champion GARRY KASPAROV in the new promo.
The Welsh actor, who has become well-known for his portrayals of real-l ife figures, will take on the role of the late Russian chess grandmaster in footage for the band’s upcoming track (It’s Not War) Just The End Of L ove.
Bassist Nicky Wire confirmed the news to NME.com and revealed the video will recreate the famous 1970s chess game between Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer.
Wire says, "It looks like Michael Sheen is gonna be in the video, which we’re really thrilled about. We’ve tried to recreate the classic ’70s ch ess match between Kasparov and Fischer. That’s the kind of vibe behind it .. It’s real ’70s Russia - just that idea of ‘it’s not war, just the end o f love’, I think a chess game really fits that." (It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love is released on 13 September (10). (

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Pop star-turned-actor JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE is preparing to step up his movie career with a lead role in a big budget sci-fi blockbuster, according to reports.
The singer has been focusing on film recently and his upcoming big scre en outings including The Social Network and Bad Teacher opposite his ex-g irlfriend Cameron Diaz.
But Timberlake is reportedly set to take his acting to the next level a fter being offered a high profile role in I’m.mortal opposite Amanda Seyf ried, according to Deadline.com.
The film, which will be directed by The Truman Show screen writer Andre w Niccol, is set in the future where humans no longer age and the rich ar e able to pay for immortality.
I’m.mortal is due for release in 2011.

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Soul star AL GOODMAN has died at the age of 63.
The singer, best known as one third of R&B group Ray, Goodman & Brown, passed away on Monday (26Jul10).
No more details about his death were available as WENN went to press, b ut the news was confirmed by Goodman’s close friend, The Chi-lites star M arshall Thompson.
He tells CNN.com, "My good friend of at least 40 years passed away yest erday. There’s mourning all over the world - in England, in Germany and i n Japan. We’re all mourning for Al Goodman." Goodman rose to fame when he joined soul singers The Moments in the 196 0s, and they scored a hit in 1970 with Love On A Two-Way Street, which fo und its way back into the charts last year (09) as a sample in Jay-Z’s Em pire State of Mind.
After a series of line-up changes, Goodman and his bandmate William ‘Bi lly’ Brown were joined by Harry Ray and after 10 years and 27 chart hits they switched record labels and changed their name to Ray, Goodman & Brow n.
Goodman went on to score more hits with the group, including Special La dy and Inside Of You throughout the 1980s, and he continued to record wit h them under different line-ups until 2008 - notably providing backing vo cals for Alicia Keys’ song You Don’t Know My Name in 2003.
The singer’s funeral will take place next week (beg02Aug10) in Englewoo d, New Jersey.

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JOE ELLIOTT’s first big London gig with his new band DOWN ‘N OUTZ ended i n chaos after festival organisers cut the group’s set short - leading to an onstage argument in front of thousands of fans.
The Def Leppard frontman is playing with his new group while the rock b and is on hiatus and they took to the stage in the British capital on Sun day (25Jul10) for the High Voltage festival in London’s Victoria Park.
The group welcomed Mott The Hoople star Ian Hunter onto the stage towar ds the end of their set, but the music came to an abrupt halt after they overran their allotted time slot - organisers cut the sound and announced the end of the show over the loudspeakers, much to the surprise of Ellio tt and his bandmates.
The visibly annoyed rockers congregated at the side of the stage and we re seen arguing with officials as they were forced off.
Fan video from the event captured the confrontation, and well-known roc k photographer Ross Halfin described the bizarre scenes in his online blo g - claiming the band was forced off by crews working for the headline ac t, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Halfin writes, "(I) shot the end of Joe’s set and was just getting into Ian Hunter when the power was pulled after two songs… Now if I was to say the situation was ugly that is an understatement. Joe Elliott and Ian Hunter got into an altercation with ELP’s crew, fists flying. It ruined the whole day, a real bad ’70s thug-like atmosphere. Jimmy (Page) and I w ent in to see Ian and offer our support and Joe was pragmatic, (he said) ‘F**k it, what can you do?’"

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British model-turned-actress KELLY BROOK has defended her bikini-clad tur n in PIRANHA 3D, insisting she’s happy to wear next-to-nothing on the big screen because she won’t always have her looks.
The brunette beauty plays a beach-loving woman who is terrorised by kil ler fish in the upcoming remake of the 1978 horror Piranha.
The 30 year old has come under fire from critics who’ve mocked her for donning a swimsuit in most of her scenes - but she’s brushed off their re marks, vowing to "embrace" any roles that showcase her toned figure.
She says, "If people want to cast me in roles for my body or how I look , I’m just going to embrace that because that’s not going to be the case forever.
"It doesn’t make me any less important than anyone else in the movie ju st because I’m in a bikini. That’s just the role I play. It’s as much a p art of the story as the piranhas and everything else."

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SETH ROGEN has heaped praise on EDWARD NORTON for creating a hip fundrais ing website - insisting the online organisation is popular with young peo ple because it’s "not lame and boring".
Norton launched Crowdrise.com to give individuals and organisations a p latform to raise money for various causes and Rogen is using the site to raise $50,000 (=C2=A333,000) to help fight Alzheimer’s disease.
And the funnyman, whose page features the headline, "Kick Alzheimer’s i n the a**", is delighted to have an "enjoyable" place to begin his fundra ising efforts.
He tells Variety.com, "I’m all for anything that makes the idea of char ity not lame and boring and very serious. Because I feel that that’s what keeps a lot of young people away. I’ve found that people are a lot more receptive if you make it fun and enjoyable no matter how serious what you ‘re trying to support is.
"Crowdrise is for people like me who are just beginning and not that sm art. I can go on and easily navigate a way of seeing what other causes I might like to get into. That’s the best thing about it - it’s not directe d at one specific cause. It’s every cause." Rogen’s Knocked Up co-star Paul Rudd is also logging on - despite being an internet novice.
He adds: "I am kind of dumb because I don’t have Facebook or Twitter or any of that stuff. And yet, I thought, ‘God, Crowdrise makes total sense !’ You can scroll around on Crowdrise and say, ‘Oh, this person is involv ed in this.’ It’s like playing around on YouTube. I was kind of messing a round and saw (singer) Glen Hansard is buying this truck for the Maasai. I’m learning about things that I would never know about." Rudd is supporting the Our Time Theater Company, a charity that helps k ids with speech problems.

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ZAC EFRON is convinced he doesn’t deserve to be the star of a huge blockb uster yet - because he’s still "paying his dues" in Hollywood after shoot ing to fame in Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.
The 22-year-old actor, who was previously vying for the lead in the Spi der-Man franchise, is desperate to sink his teeth into a meaty role but a dmits he has yet to earn the respect of movie fans.
He tells Movieline.com, "I have a self-awareness of what is out there: Right now, if I was looking at me from someone else’s eyes - like the eye s of the guys who are going to go watch a superhero movie - I can’t say t hat I’d be ‘two thumbs up’ for me to star in an action movie right now. W hy would I be? "I haven’t done anything to pay those dues yet, I haven’t made any movi es for those fans yet. I think you have to earn the right to hold a gun. You have to earn the right to shoot web." But he’s convinced newcomer Andrew Garfield, who has been cast as the n ew Spider-Man, is better suited for the part.
He adds, "He’s coming in as an unknown. Andrew Garfield is going to be amazing in that movie because he’s got a brand-new, fresh perspective, an d to be thrown into that character so quickly, he’s going to be able to r edefine that brand in a way that we’ve never seen before. It’ll be amazin g. You’ve sort of seen me before."

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COREY FELDMAN is dedicating his new movie LOST BOYS: THE THIRST to COREY HAIM, insisting his late pal "would love" the vampire horror.
The actor died in March (10) after suffering heart problems and pneumon ia, but his longtime friend Feldman insists his presence lives on in the upcoming third Lost Boys movie, spawned from the pair’s original 1987 hit ..
Feldman tells FoxNews.com, "Corey Haim would love it, he was very excit ed about the fact we were making (another) one. He did some interviews an d said that while he couldn’t be part of it, he was looking forward to se eing how his character would develop… This film is actually dedicated t o Corey." Feldman admits he had hoped his pal would eventually reappear in the fr anchise.
He adds, "When you see the film, there are scenes that pertain to his c haracter and most people, when they watch the film, will believe that we shot it after he was gone.
"We were actually discussing what we were going to do with his characte r. The idea was to introduce his character in a way in the third (movie) and bring him back for the fourth. So, it is very sad for the loss, both personally and as part of the franchise. It is sad, and a bit shocking wh en you watch the film. It is very eerie."

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SHARON STONE suffered a shameful onstage incident as she hosted a charity auction in New York on Saturday (24Jul10) - an insect flew up her dress and left the star writhing in embarrassment.
The Hollywood actress wore a flowing white frock to play auctioneer at the Watermill Center Benefit in Southampton, New York.
But her turn as host came to an abrupt halt when she shrieked, "Oh, my God, I think a bug just flew up my dress!" An onlooker tells New York Post gossip column Page Six that Stone then put her hand up her dress and "started to wiggle to let the bug fly free" ..
But the Basic Instinct star managed to see the funny side of the incide nt and drew laughs from the crowd by adding, "What an awkward moment for the bug!"

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CHRISTIE BRINKLEY is moving on from her divorce by selling off her New Yo rk home.
The former supermodel purchased the expansive Long Island estate in 200 4 during her marriage to Peter Cook.
The couple split in 2008 and their messy divorce was followed by a bitt er legal battle over custody of their children, which was finally resolve d last year (09).
Brinkley is now putting the past behind her by selling her five-bedroom Sag Harbor home, which was built in 1843.
She has put the house on the market for a massive $15.8 million (=C2=A3 10.5 million) - more than double what she paid for the property, accordin g to the Wall Street Journal.
Brinkley tells the publication she’s "decided to let someone else have this beautiful, charming home".

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LIAM NEESON has dropped out of playing former U.S. President ABRAHAM LINC OLN in a new biopic because he is past his "sell-by date" - but has accep ted a role as LYNDON B. JOHNSON instead.
The Schindler’s List star, 58, was set to renew his Oscar-winning partn ership with Steven Spielberg for a movie charting the life of the assassi nated American leader.
The project, which Spielberg first mentioned to Neeson in 2005, has tak en so long to prepare, the actor has now dropped out because he is too ol d for the role.
But he still has the chance to play a former leader of the free world - he’s accepted a role as 36th U.S. President Johnson in a biopic of murde red civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
Neeson tells British morning show GMTV, "I’m not actually (playing Linc oln now). I was attached to it for a while, but it’s now… I’m past my s ell-by date. But I am going to play L.B. Johnson in a movie about Martin Luther King."

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DUNCAN JONES turned down the chance to direct the upcoming JUDGE DREDD re boot - because he was convinced his ideas were too "weird and dark" for t he action antihero.
David Bowie’s filmmaker son admits he’s a huge fan of the comic book ch aracter and was approached to helm the adaptation before Pete Travis was eventually hired as director.
But he insists he had to pass on the dream job - because his quirky vis ion for Judge Dredd didn’t fit with the script.
He tells Man Made Movies, "I would have loved to do the Judge Dredd mov ie that is underway. I was in fact sent the script to look at. It’s a gre at script, and I hope I will not rue the decision of passing on it. Thing was, I had such a strong idea of what I wanted to do with a Dredd movie, I could not bring myself to take it on and not do it my way! "My Dredd would have been really weird, and dark and funny, but not you r traditional introduction to a hero character. I don’t even know if I co uld have made my version of the film pitch-able. It was maybe too off the wall." Production on the new project, which follows Sylvester Stallone’s 1995 original, is due to begin later this year (10).

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THE A-TEAM director JOE CARNAHAN has dismissed rumours a feud with MR. T forced producers to scrap plans for the star’s cameo appearance in the bi g screen remake.
Two actors from the original TV series, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schult z, make brief appearances in this year’s (10) all-new film version, which sees a new generation of stars take on the famous characters.
Mr. T is replaced by Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in the role of B. A. Bar acus, and the former wrestler admits he was "disappointed" the original a ctor didn’t make a cameo appearance.
He says, "It would have been cool if he could have been involved. I’m d isappointed (he was not)." But Carnahan is adamant Mr. T’s omission was not a snub - they made a m utual decision not to include him in the film.
He says, "I thought it was a nice nod to the history and I thought it w as nice for everybody… T and I have spoken and I’ve showed him a lot of the movie… I thought if we couldn’t use him in a really cool way it wa sn’t worth it and I think (in) his mind he is B. A. - who else is he goin g to play?"

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RUSSELL CROWE has vowed not to leave Australia for the whole of 2010 - he ’s determined to take a break from work for the sake of his young family.
The Hollywood actor lives Down Under with his wife Danielle Spencer and their two sons, Charlie, six, and Tennyson, four.
Crowe fears he has been spending too much time abroad making movies, so he has promised to remain at home until the end of the year (10).
He says, "I don’t want to get on a plane again this year. I want again to take a step back and put a normal rhythm back into the kids’ lives "I know what it is that turns me on in my job and I know if… somethin g comes up that I want to do then I’m usually allowed to do it. I do the things that drive me from a pure place."

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ANGELINA JOLIE used her promotional tour for new movie SALT to do some go od when the publicity whirlwind stopped in Korea on Wednesday (28Jul10) - she spent time highlighting the plight of North Korean refugees.
The Hollywood actress has been travelling the world plugging the new sp y movie, taking in Russia, Japan and Korea in the space of a few days.
But Jolie, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations (U.N.), took time out from her busy schedule to meet with officials at the U.N.’s refugee agency in the South Korean capital of Seoul.
The Oscar-winner reveals she learned a lot about the plight of migrants who flee the separate state of North Korea and are often persecuted when they are sent back there.
She tells the Yonhap news agency, "They spoke a lot about the concerns about people being persecuted when they are sent back to North Korea… I ‘m very concerned about the people… I know all of you are (concerned), as well, and you have been doing a great deal to help them… I’m just in solidarity with all of you. There’s a lot of news about tension between the North and the South, but there’s not much about how much care and sup port they continue to give to North Korea."

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LIAM NEESON is furious over the decision to abolish the UK Film Council, insisting the country desperately needs the institution because movies ar e the "lifeblood for any culture".
The organisation, which was established to develop and promote British cinema, has fallen victim to massive spending cuts as the new government attempts to stem the nation’s spiralling debt.
But Neeson, whose films Breakfast On Pluto and The Other Man were funde d by the Council, is urging politicians to slash costs in other areas of the budget - because the public needs entertainment.
He tells the BBC, "I think the decision is… the word ‘deplorable’ com es to mind. We have to do something about it. We need movies. It’s a powe rful industry that provides a credible entertainment for millions of peop le and I think it is wrong, I just think it is wrong for the government ( to do this).
"I know we need to tighten our belts but not with our movie council. Th ey can’t, we need it. It is a lifeblood for any culture."

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