Ferrell tops Forbes's overpaid star list
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Comic actor Will Ferrell tops Forbes's 2009 list of Hollywood's Most Overpaid Stars, the magazine has announced.
To compile the roster, Forbes staff compared the actors' salaries to how much their movies earned at the box office.
Ferrell's films "Elf" and "Talladega Nights" were enormous hits, but his more recent movies "Semi-Pro," "Step Brothers" and "Land of the Lost" didn't perform as well at the box office. Forbes said that for every dollar Ferrell was paid, his films earned an average $3.29.
Coming in at No. 2 on the overpaid star list is Ewan McGregor, followed by Billy Bob Thornton at No. 3, Eddie Murphy at No. 4, Ice Cube at No. 5, Tom Cruise at No. 6, Drew Barrymore at No. 7, Leonardo DiCaprio at No. 8, Samuel L. Jackson at No. 9 and Jim Carrey at No. 10.
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15 documentaries eligible for Oscar nods
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced 15 documentaries will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards.
Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the documentary category.
The Documentary Branch Screening Committee will now select five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations are to be announced Feb. 2 in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.
Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2009 are to be presented March 7 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.
The films eligible for Oscar nomination in the best documentary category are "The Beaches of Agnes," "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Every Little Step," "Facing Ali," "Food, Inc.," "Garbage Dreams," "Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders," "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Mugabe and the White African," "Sergio," "Soundtrack for a Revolution," "Under Our Skin," "Valentino the Last Emperor" and "Which Way Home."
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Pattinson explains baby 'biting' incident
NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- British actor Robert Pattinson, who plays a vampire in the "Twilight" movies, admits he was surprised a woman once asked him to pretend to bite her baby.
The incident came up on Wednesday's edition of "Late Show with David Letterman" when the host asked Pattinson about the phenomena of how fans request he bite them.
"Strictly speaking, that's not healthy, especially with the swine flu going around. And, I mean, the swine flu is the least of it, honest to God," Letterman said, asking the actor how he reacts when someone asks him to bite him or her.
"Well, it depends on your mood, really," Pattinson replied. "And it depends on what you want to get out of it at the end. There's variations of biting."
Letterman also asked him about the time a woman wanted him to bite her infant.
"That was before anyone had asked me to bite them at all," Pattinson remembered. "I mean, I just thought it was, you know -- I just thought it was hilarious that someone had handed me this child to do whatever with. I mean, initially, I just thought they were just giving it to me, and somehow I ended up biting a baby on the head, and there was a photo of it afterward."
"Well, that's illegal, you know, that whole thing, that whole, entire transaction you just described, that's illegal," Letterman quipped. "You can't just be giving away babies, and then you can't bite them."
Pressed to confirm his long-rumored romance with his "Twilight" co-star Kristen Stewart, Pattinson laughed, "I've been so kind of cryptically avoiding this question throughout the entire press tour."
The remark prompted Letterman to joke, "Oh, bite me!"
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Model confirms she dated Sean Penn
NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Model Jessica White has confirmed she had a brief relationship with Hollywood actor Sean Penn, whose wife filed for a divorce last summer.
Penn and Robin Wright were married in 1996 and have two children together. Wright filed for divorce in August.
Usmagazine.com said White discussed her romance with the double Oscar winner on Wednesday's edition of Tyra Banks's talk show."
"Is Sean Penn your boyfriend? I saw you with him," Banks asked White. "Can I say that? Is that OK, is that too much?"
"No, it's not too much," White replied.
Shown photos of her holding hands with Penn in September, the model remarked, "I hold hands with my friends."
"Ooooh, she's dating Sean Penn!" Banks exclaimed to the audience.
"No, I didn't say that," White said. "(We) used to. Past tense. ... He is a very sweet guy."
Penn won Academy Awards for his performances in "Mystic River" and "Milk."
