'Beautiful Girls' remains No. 1
NEW YORK, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" didn't move from its No. 1 perch atop the Billboard Hot 100 of U.S. singles sales for the third straight week.
Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry," held on to the second spot for the second consecutive week, while Timbaland's "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson, moved up from No. 4 to No.3.
Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah" slipped from No. 3 to No. 4.
Maintaining their same 5-7 spots on the Hot 100 were Rihanna's "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z, Kanye West's "Stronger" and T-Pain's "Bartender" featuring Akon.
Fabolous' "Make Me Better" featuring Ne-Yo" rebounded from No. 9 to No. 8, swapping with Hurricane Chris' "A Bay Bay."
Plies' "Shawty" featuring T-Pain rounded out the top 10, moving up two from No. 12.
Censored films to be shown uncensored
LONDON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Films that would make a censor blush or cringe -- so audiences wouldn't -- will be included on the bill at a new film festival in London.
The 19 films that were banned or cut by the British Board of Film Classification over the past 100 years will be shown in their complete, original -- read uncut -- version during the "Seduced: Sex and Censorship in the Cinema" Oct. 18-24 at the Barbican, The Times of London reported Thursday.
For example, audiences can watch Gerard Depardieu mutilate his body with an electric knife in 1975's "The Last Woman," which was never officially released in Britain. Or, they can catch Hollywood siren Jean Harlow in "Red-Headed Woman," whose on-screen seduction of three men was deemed too steamy by Britain's official censor in 1933.
As with many films that raised eyebrows in their day, the material now seems innocent, said Robert Rider, head of cinema at the Barbican.
“They’ve got to be seen in terms of the moral climate of the period,” Rider said.
Vampire tale flies past Potter
MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A vampire fantasy aimed at teens has knocked "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" out of the top spot on USA Today's Best-Selling Books list.
"Eclipse" the third in Stephenie Meyer's series about a girl whose boyfriend is a vampire, entered the list Thursday at No. 1, bumping "Deathly Hallows" to No. 2, USA Today reported.
Publisher Little, Brown reported "Eclipse" sold nearly 250,000 copies its first week. The publisher is printing another 100,000 copies after a 1-million-copy first printing, USA Today said. "Deathly Hallows" sold a record 11.5 million copies in the 10 days after its July 21 release, according to Scholastic, which declined to release sales figures for the past week.
"Eclipse" is Meyer's first book to debut at No. 1 and is boosting recognition of her earlier books in the series: "Twilight," in paperback, is No. 10 and "New Moon," published in 2006, is No. 31, the newspaper said.
Bill would halt Calif. officials' leaks
SACRAMENTO, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- California lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it a crime for law enforcement or court employees to profit from celebrities' misfortunes.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who sought the legislation, said such a measure was needed to preserve the integrity of the justice system, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Opponents said it would provide cover for errant celebrities at the expense of press freedoms.
"It's the Paris Hilton and Mel Gibson Protection Act," said Tom Newton, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association. "Fundamentally, it attempts to regulate news-gathering and criminalize it."
In a statement to the Assembly, bill author Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, said traditional media obtained information and pictures through official channels and the Public Records Act but "new Internet media and others have recently been attempting to circumvent the system by offering law enforcement officials money for information and pictures of celebrities."
The bill would make it a misdemeanor for specified public employees to receive financial gain for confidential information gleaned from a criminal investigation or to solicit or offer financial compensation for such information. The ban also would include unauthorized photographs or video shot inside a secured area.
