Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe CANES, CRUTCHES: STARS' FAVORITE ACCESSORIES Jennifer Aniston isn't the only celeb hobbling around Hollywood these days: George Clooney is using crutches while recovering from a recent basketball injury. Advertisement Word from the World Entertainment News Network is the "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" director tore his Achilles tendon while playing a little b-ball. "It is very painful," WENN quotes Clooney as saying. "It just snapped. I didn't hear it snap, but I cried like a little girl I'm not afraid to say that." The "Ocean's Eleven" star might need surgery to repair the damage. KIDMAN TO PLAY AVA GARDNER? Golden Globe winners Nicole Kidman and Martin Scorsese reportedly are in talks to work together on the upcoming Howard Hughes bio-pic, "The Aviator." According to IMDB.com, Scorsese would love to see Kidman play screen legend Ava Gardner in the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes and is set to start shooting this June. SUNDANCE THEATRICAL FILM SERIES Against the backdrop of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford announced the creation of a Sundance-branded theatrical film series. Advertisement The series, which will launch in the fall, will feature four films, each to be released theatrically in 10 markets in Loews Theater locations. Sundance Channel will oversee the launch and management of the series, including the process of film selection. "Inevitably there are many wonderful films of independent vision which struggle to reach audiences beyond the larger film festival circuit," Redford said in a statement. "It is our hope that this Sundance Channel program will draw a broader public to this type of work." CINEMATOGRAPHERS VIE FOR AWARDS Sixteen cinematographers are vying for honors in the annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards competition. CBS and NBC each have three nominated programs, and FOX and ABC each have two nominations. Seven other channels also aired programs earning ASC nominations. Winners will be named at the 17th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel on Feb. 16. Episodic category finalists are Michael Barrett for "Snuff"/"C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS), Michael Bonvillain for "Page 47"/"Alias" (ABC), Frank Byers for "Fight Night"/"C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS), Thomas Del Ruth for "Holy Night"/"The West Wing" (NBC), Billy Dickson for "Reality Bites"/"Ally McBeal" (FOX), Robert Primes for "Wing and a Prayer"/"MDs" (ABC), and Bill Roe for "Release"/"The X-Files" (FOX). Advertisement Cable movie/miniseries/pilot nominees are Jonathan Freeman for "John"/"Taken" (The Sci-Fi Channel), Jeffrey Jur, for "Last Call" (Showtime), Serge Ladouceur for "The Case of the White Chapel Vampire" (Hallmark Channel), Anthony Nakonechnyj for "Point of Origin" (HBO), and William Wages for "Miss Lettie and Me" (TNT). Broadcast movie/miniseries/pilot nominees are Barrett for "Cross Jurisdictions"/"C.S.I.: Miami" pilot (CBS), Victor Goss for "Carrie" (NBC), Clark Mathis for "Birds of Prey" pilot (WB), Brian J. Reynolds for "American Dreams" pilot (NBC), and Peter Wunstorf for "Haunted" pilot (UPN).
