Lily Huchence Under Pressure From Bob Geldof To Change Her Name

Bob Geldof is trying to erase the memory of Michael Hutchence by forcing the late rock star's only daughter to change her surname, Hutchence's sister says.

Geldof has taken care of Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily Hutchence since her mother, Paula Yates, died in 2000.

The former INXS frontman's sister Tina has told New Idea magazine in its latest issue that Geldof intends to change Tiger Lily's name to Geldof and formally adopt her.

It's not enough that he should have Tiger Lily, but he thinks he should adopt her and change her name," she told the magazine.

Tiger Lily was born in 1996, a year after Yates ended her 10-year marriage to Geldof to be with Hutchence.

November 22 marks the 10th anniversary of Hutchence's death.

The Hutchence family has received a letter from Geldof's lawyers informing them of his intention to change Tiger Lily's name, Ms Hutchence said.

"In seven years, he's given my mother just four days of supervised visits," she said.

"None of the rest of us have seen Tiger, only my mother, and that was with the nanny."

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Ang Lee film Dropped From Oscar For Insufficient Taiwanese Touch

Some of the most talked-about foreign films have been disqualified from a shot at the Oscars, infuriating film-makers and critics.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, has just disqualified Ang Lee's Golden Lion Award-winning controversial romance Lust, Caution, saying it was not made with enough Taiwanese talent to warrant being Taiwan's official entry.

The Taiwanese had to hurriedly pick another film or forfeit a shot at an Oscar altogether - they chose a movie called Island Etude.

Ang Lee's producing partner James Schamus, furious at the exclusion, told The Hollywood Reporter: "I dare you to tell me how Lust, Caution is not eligible while Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [2001] not only was eligible but also won as best foreign film. We shot them in China, with almost the exact same crew. The whole thing is patently absurd."

Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - a biopic about a former editor of Elle magazine who suffered a stroke so debilitating he could move only his left eye - will also be missing, despite winning the best director prize in Cannes.

The movie version of The Kite Runner will not be contending, either, because its distributor, Paramount Pictures, knew it could never qualify as an Afghan movie, despite its setting and use of Dari dialogue.

The money and crew were American, and the director, Marc Forster, grew up in Germany and Switzerland.

The foreign-language Oscar category is notorious for overlooking foreign films that earn lavish critical and audience attention.

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Today Is November 11th 2007

Today is Sunday, Nov. 11, the 315th day of 2007. There are 50 days left in the year. This is Veterans Day in the United States, Remembrance Day in Canada.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 11, 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

On this date:

In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick."

In 1778, British redcoats, Tory rangers and Seneca Indians in central New York state killed more than 40 people in the Cherry Valley Massacre.

In 1831, former slave Nat Turner, who had led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Va.

In 1889, Washington became the 42nd state.

In 1921, President Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1942, during World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France.

In 1966, Gemini 12 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. aboard.

In 1987, following the failure of two Supreme Court nominations, President Ronald Reagan announced his choice of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, who went on to win confirmation.

In 1987, Boris Yeltsin, who had criticized the slow pace of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, was dismissed as Moscow Communist Party chief.

In 2004, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died at a military hospital in Paris at age 75.

Ten years ago: Retired Gen. Colin Powell announced he would not seek the Republican presidential nomination or any other office in 2000, saying he lacked "the passion" for political life. Photography giant Eastman Kodak announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs because of fierce competition from Japan's Fuji Photo Film Co.

Five years ago: Iraqi lawmakers denounced a tough, new U.N. resolution on weapons inspections as dishonest, provocative and worthy of rejection. But the Iraqi parliament said it ultimately would trust whatever President Saddam Hussein decided.

One year ago: President Bush marked Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery by praising U.S. troops who had fought oppression around the world, yet spoke only briefly about Iraq, where U.S. commanders were re-evaluating strategy. The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution seeking to condemn an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Today's Birthdays: Dancer-choreographer Nicholas Royce is 82. Comedian Jonathan Winters is 82. Jazz singer-musician Mose Allison is 80. Author Carlos Fuentes is 79. Country singer Narvel Felts is 69. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is 67. Rock singer-musician Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge) is 62. Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller is 56. Pop singer-musician Paul Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 55. Rock singer-musician Andy Partridge (XTC) is 54. Singer Marshall Crenshaw is 54. Rock singer Dave Alvin is 52. Rock musician Ian Craig Marsh (Human League; Heaven 17) is 51. Actor Stanley Tucci is 47. Actress Demi Moore is 45. Actress Calista Flockhart is 43. Actor Philip McKeon is 43. Rock musician Scott Mercado is 43. TV personality Carson Kressley is 38. Actor David DeLuise is 36. Actor Adam Beach is 35. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is 33.

Thought for Today: "Whom God would sorely vex, He endows with abundant good sense." — Yiddish proverb.

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Cruise film opens in third place, behind Jerry Seinfeld, Russell Crowe

Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie had plenty of sting left during its second weekend, replacing American Gangster as the No. 1 choice for North American moviegoers.

As ticket sales returned to their unusually lackluster routine, Bee Movie, the cartoon Seinfeld originated and stars in, rose to the top with a three-day haul of US$26 million during its second weekend of North American release, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The DreamWorks Animation SKG production, traded places with Universal Pictures' Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe crime saga American Gangster, which slipped to No. 2 with US$24.3 million, also in its second round.

The last movie to rise through the rankings and hit No. 1 for the first time was Wedding Crashers in July 2005. (Former champ The Chronicles of Narnia gained the No. 1 slot in January 2006.)

The comedy Fred Claus, featuring Wedding Crashers star Vince Vaughn, opened at No. 3 with a respectable US$19.2 million. Tom Cruise's rare foray into low-budget drama, Lions for Lambs, opened at No. 4 with US$6.7 million, which was in line with modest industry expectations.

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Lions for Lambs marks the first United Artists release since Cruise and production partner Paula Wagner took control of MGM's dormant art-house division a year ago.

After ending a six-week losing streak last weekend, overall year-on-year sales fell once again. The top-12 films earned US$99 million, down 11 per cent from the year-ago period, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers.

Some industry pundits had forecast Fred Claus could hit No. 1 if Bee and Gangster lost more than half of their opening-weekend audiences. In fact the duo held up remarkably well, off just 32 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively. The 10-day tally for Bee Movie stands at US$72.2 million, while American Gangster has earned US$80.7 million.

Vaughn headlines the Warner Bros. release as Santa's bitter older brother. It fell far short of his 2006 comedy The Break Up, which started with US$39 million, but the studio said Fred Claus was being positioned for the holiday crowd.

These Christmas-themed movies aren't about the opening weekend, said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' general sales manager of domestic distribution.

The opening for Lions for Lambs did not exactly come close to such Cruise blockbusters as War of the Worlds or the Mission: Impossible series. But distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer said that was never the intention. In fact, the closely held studio is promoting it as a Robert Redford vehicle rather than a Cruise vehicle, since the Hollywood veteran directed and co-stars.

The critically maligned political commentary on contemporary US mores, drew an older audience, and feedback was a little disappointing, said Clark Woods, president of distribution at MGM.

The only other new release in the top 10 was the indie woman-in-distress thriller P2, which came in at No. 8 with US$2.2 million. Rachel Nichols stars as a young executive pursued in an underground garage by a sadistic security guard.

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