Tina Fey of 30 Rock fame is to reunite with fellow US comedy star Amy Poehler to host the 70th annual Golden Globes ceremony in 2013. The "magnetic duo" replace British comedian Ricky Gervais who has been the show's acerbic host since 2010. Fey and Poehler previously starred together in the film Mean Girls and on Saturday Night Live. The awards, voted for by Hollywood's foreign press, will air on January 13, less than two weeks before the Oscars. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and NBC, who organise the event were "thrilled" to have Fey and Poehler on board, with Paul Telegedy, of NBC describing their involvement as a "major coup". "Tina and Amy have a proven chemistry and comedic timing from their many years together on SNL to their successful co-starring roles in Baby Mama," he said. Poehler's show, Parks and Recreation is currently in its fifth season on NBC, while Fey's 30 Rock is airing its seventh and final season on the network. The comedic duo previously co-hosted Weekend Update, a satirical news sketch on SNL, from 2004 to 2006. More»

When horse and camel riders attacked protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square during last year's uprising, Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah was struck by one of the most vivid examples of how Egypt's huge class divide is exploited by powerful elites. Nasrallah's "After the Battle" tells the story of how one of the horsemen struggles to come to terms with his role in the aftermath of one of the most violent incidents of the 18-day-uprising which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Actor Bassem Samra portrays impoverished tour guide Mahmoud from Cairo's Pyramids area, who is coerced into taking part in the brutal attack on crowds of anti-government demonstrators packed into Cairo's streets that has since become known as "The Battle of the Camel". He is badly beaten by protesters and in the months afterwards he and his family are taunted and ridiculed for allowing himself to be duped into taking part in an attack that is widely thought to have been instigated by the agents of Mubarak's state apparatus. Nasrallah, who was born in Egypt in 1952 and whose other works include the 2009 film "Sheherazade, Tell me a Story" and "The City" which won the special jury prize in Locarno in 1999, said the men who took part, mostly tour guides from the Pyramids area, were easy targets for those who wanted to exploit them. "They were extremely worried about their livelihood. Revolution means no more tourists, it means famine. So they were easily manipulated in that sense and pushed into battles that were not theirs," Nasrallah told Reuters. More»

Liam Neeson thriller "Taken 2" won a battle between two hostage movies over the weekend, holding on to its top box office rankings for a second week with $22.5 million from ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters. Ben Affleck's highly praised Iran hostage thriller "Argo" was as close second, earning $20.1 million from Friday through Sunday. Low-budget horror movie "Sinister" came in third with $18.3 million, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters. Action sequel "Taken 2" stars Neeson as a former CIA agent who is captured while on vacation in Istanbul. The movie has pulled in $86.8 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters since its debut a week ago, plus $132.8 million from international markets. "We continue to play broadly across all demographics and it is a testament to the strength of Liam's character and the property," said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution at 20th Century Fox, which released the film. With a worldwide box office total already reaching nearly $220 million, he said the film was close to equaling the final box office total of the first "Taken" movie ($226.8 million), and therefore labeled the sequel as "a much bigger movie." More»

Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian daredevil, has achieved one of the most remarkable feats of modern human endeavour as he became the first man to break the sound barrier without mechanical help after a 24-mile skydive from the edge of space. The former military parachutist rose in a purpose-built capsule beneath a giant helium balloon to a height of more than 128,000ft – almost four times the height of a cruising passenger airliner. After a salute to the millions watching around the world, Baumgartner jumped from the capsule and plummeted toward earth, reaching a speed of 833mph - or Mach 1.24 - faster than the speed of sound, according to his spokesman. His remarkable feat came exactly 65 years to the day after Chuck Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier in an aeroplane, and it was one of three world records Baumgartner set with his jump. He also smashed the records for the highest manned balloon flight and the highest skydive. Minutes before his historic leap, which was broadcast on television around the world, the 43 year-old sat anxiously on the edge of his capsule, looking down at Earth. More»

James Bond is back and better than ever, according to early reviews on Friday, as the latest movie featuring Britain's smooth-talking, martini-drinking super-spy soared with critics and audiences after an advance screening in London. Newspaper critics rushed to print and celebrities took to Twitter after seeing "Skyfall," with many calling it the best Bond film in the franchise's 50-year history. Reviewer Robbie Collin at British newspaper The Telegraph said director Sam Mendes' Bond was comparable to Christopher Nolan's darker, grittier "Batman" from the "Dark Knight" franchise. "Mendes is unafraid to let the quieter dramatic moments breathe ... and ace cinematographer Roger Deakins makes the wildly ambitious action sequences the most beautiful in Bond's 50-year career," Collin said. Geoffrey McNab at the Independent gave "Skyfall" four out of five stars, criticizing the film for being "occasionally ... repetitive." But he praised Mendes for "throwing in far greater depth of characterization than we're accustomed to in a series of films that are often proudly superficial." More»

A host of celebrities have paid tribute to Whitney Houston as part of a special Grammy television show in Los Angeles. Britney Spears, Halle Berry and LL Cool J were among the presenters at the Nokia Theatre honouring the singer who died in February aged 48. There were also musical performances from Jennifer Hudson and Usher who sang some of Houston's hits. We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Salute to Whitney Houston will be broadcast in the US on 13 November. A number of stars shared their memories of the singer at the event. "She inspired a generation of little girls and women to believe in their own dream and to know that they had within themselves the greatest gift of all," Berry said on stage. More»

In a controversial move, Egyptian director Majdi Ahmad Ali has told reporters he is looking outside Egypt for an actress to play his nation's most famous singer in a new biopic. Majdi says he has set his sights on Tunisian actress, Hind Sabri, known for her work on Ramadan dramas and as a judge on international film festivals, to play legendary diva Umm Kulthum.So far Hind has refused to say one way or the other whether she'll be taking on the role of "the greatest female singer in Arabic history." It is quite a responsiblity for a non-Egyptian although despite Umm Kulthum's fame, Hind would not be the star of the show. Majdi's drama, 'Midah al Qamar' actually tells the story of another legendary Egyptian singer: Baligh Hamdi, who composed many songs for Umm Kulthum over the years. The story is said to shed light on his journey into the entertainment business, including his relationships with a number of divas from that time. More»

Rihanna and Nicki Minaj have picked up the most nominations for this year's American Music Awards. The pair are up for four awards and go up against each other in the favourite female pop/rock artist category. Justin Bieber and One Direction are in the running for three awards each, while Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry are among those up for two. The AMAs take place on 18 November in Los Angeles. Rihanna is also up for artist of the year, as well as favourite female soul/R&B and favourite soul/R&B album for Talk That Talk. The star will be hoping to do better than at the recent US MTV Video Music Awards, where she only won in one out of five categories. Nicki Minaj's other nods at the AMAs are for favourite rap/hip hop artist and for favourite pop/rock album and favourite rap/hip-hop album, both for Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. More»

Actress Mila Kunis has been dubbed "the sexiest woman alive" by Esquire magazine in its November issue out this week. Kunis, 29, a one-time star of the TV comedy "That '70s Show," was lauded by the men's magazine on its website as "the most beautiful, opinionated, talkative, and funny movie star that we've all known since she was nine." As a grown-up, the native of Ukraine electrified audiences with a solid performance opposite - and sometimes in bed with - Oscar-winner Natalie Portman in 2010 ballet movie "Black Swan." She recently showed her comic chops in the surprise summer hit, "Ted." Near year she will star in "Oz: The Great and Powerful," and she is the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated Fox comedy "Family Guy." Runners-up this year included Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe and newly divorced Katie Holmes. Kunis joins the ranks of past Esquire choices, including Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Halle Berry, and last year's winner, Rihanna. More»

A decade after The Killers' debut in the UK's indie-rock scene, the U.S. rock band has finally found its way back home to Las Vegas, drawing inspiration in the 'city of sin' for the album "Battle Born". The release, which topped the UK album chart and debuted at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 album chart last week, was named after the motto on Nevada's state flag. By contrast, the band's 2004 British debut album "Hot Fuss", produced by UK label Lizard King Records, was strongly inspired by lead singer Brandon Flowers' love for Manchester, England, home of the music that he admired such as New Order, Oasis, The Smiths and Joy Division. Flowers, 31, the primary song-writer and stylish frontman known for his clean-cut look, dapper outfits and use of "guyliner" in the band's earlier days, said that while he had "fantasized" about England as a teenager, he quickly found himself an outsider after the band's first UK trip a decade ago. "It was the first time any of us had left the country, we all had passports and we were excited, and we flew there, and very quickly I realized I don't really identify with these people," Flowers said in an interview. More»