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Critics bow to Helen Mirren as the 'Queen'

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Actress Helen Mirren has been added to the short lists for two more awards by the London Film Critics' Circle, fresh from her pair of Golden Globe nods.

The BBC reported Saturday that the new nominations are for best actress and best British actress, with the winners announced Feb. 8.

Riding a wave of popularity, Mirren was recently named Best Actress by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle, the San Francisco Critics Circle, the Washington D.C. Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review -- all for her role as Elizabeth II in "The Queen."

Meanwhile, in the race for The Golden Globe nominations, the precursor to the Oscars, Mirren was nominated earlier this week for playing both Queen Elizabeth I in a television miniseries and Elizabeth II, in the Stephen Frears-directed film, "The Queen"

The winners of the Golden Globe awards will be announced Jan. 15.

'Bumfights' creator no match for Dr. Phil

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The Web site TMZ.com wants to know if Los Angeles-based Dr. Phil was so disgusted by the creator of the "Bumfights" DVD series, why did he show clips?

TMZ reported Saturday that during the taping of a segment with Ty Beeson, Dr. Phil unceremoniously asked his guest to leave the set after viewing the footage of homeless types fighting for money.

"That's despicable. I don't want to talk to you. You can go. You can go," Dr. Phil said to Beeson, who responded in kind: "Every time you bring a guest on this show, you exploit them and spread whatever problems they have to the whole world. You think that's helping them?"

Security then hustled Beeson offstage.

Dr. Phil then turned to the audience and said he was sorry. "That is absolutely despicable, and I refuse to publicize that."

The episode, TMZ said, will air nationally on Tuesday, clips and all.

TMZ asked, "Our question: If Dr. Phil was really against publicizing the material, why didn't he edit it out of the show?"

Real and digital animals star in new films

NEW YORK, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Animals that are real and computer-generated get top billing in three major movies coming out in the United States in the run-up to Christmas.

"Charlotte's Web," "Night in the Museum" and "Eragon" required exhaustive work by trainers and animators and in some cases multiple critters sharing a single role, the New York Post noted Saturday.

The makers of "Charlotte's Web" used 47 real pigs to as well as state-of-the-art animation to nail down Wilbur, the talking hog of the venerable children's story.

"Eragon" stars the dragon Saphira, which was of course the creation of Industrial Light and Magic.

Dexter, the monkey who sticks it repeatedly to "Night in the Museum" star Ben Stiller, is the real deal, however. Trainers spent weeks teaching Crystal, a 13-year-old capuchin, how to bite, slap and generally make Stiller look silly in the story of a rookie night watchman at a magical museum.

Budding Boston DeMilles learn art of pitch

HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- In a twist on overseas study programs, film students at Boston University spent a semester learning the language and customs of Hollywood.

The New England university sends a handful of its cinematic scholars to Los Angeles where they spend a semester living in a Fairfax-district apartment house and spend more than three months taking part in internships that culminate with a "pitch festival," in which they try to convince genuine studio types that their ideas will work on the silver screen.

"You have to get used to the people and the mentality out here," student Nicole Adams told the Los Angeles Times. "I love it and then I hate it."

Despite Boston's tony reputation for culture and the arts, the Times noted a number of the projects were of the horror and science fiction genres that were in some instances seen by the Hollywood industry types as needing to be toned down a little.