The Lil’ Mama Blog

We were so happy to hear today when it was announced that Australia’s nicest celebrity, and boy nextdoor will be awarded the ultimate Hollywood honour, joining Nicole Kidman and Cate Blancett with his very own Star on the Hollywood walk of fame!

Hugh was one of 25 stars selected to have their names engraved on a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s famous footpath next year.

Recipients joining Jackman in the motion picture category were: Tim Burton, Leslie Caron, Cameron Diaz, Robert Downey Jr, Charles Durning, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley and William H Macy.

Some of the TV stars getting their names on the footpath were: Felicity Huffman, John Stamos and Mark Burnett.

In the recording category, Kenny “Baby Face” Edmonds, Shakira and The Village People were among those chosen for the 2009 honour.

Bill Handel and Harry Shearer - who provide the voices for characters on The Simpsons including Mr Burns and Ned Flanders - will also receive stars.

The Walk of Fame, which lines both sides of Hollywood Boulevard, honours over 2000 entertainers and celebrities.

On Monday the 9th of June as part of the Sydney film festival, the State Theatre played host to the red carpet premier of Dreamwork’s latest offering Kun Fu Panda.

Sydney went into panda-monium as Jack Black, the voice of the pudgy panda Po shut down the streets signing autographs, jumping fences and showing off his own kung fu moves to screaming fans.

Other Aussie celebs graced the red carpet including Cate Blanchett, and despite the rain, the excited guests poured into the theatre.

Kung Fu Panda is about a panda stuck working for his dad in the their family noodle business, but really dreams of being a great warrior, featuring the voices of Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu it has taken $62.7 million in its first weekend in the US, the biggest non sequel opening for a Dreamworks film ever, and it looks like it will be just as big in Oz.

When asked about how he felt knowing this film knocked “Sex and the City” out of the top spot he said “…move over ladies, you’ve had your time in the sun, now it’s time for the panda to play!”

Kung Fu Panda opens in nationally in Australian theatres on June 26th.

Last night, the stars of Sydney were out in full force for the Australian premier of “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull”, one of the stars of the film, who plays a brilliant villainess Cate Blancett,  stepped off a plane from Cannes and straight on to the red carpet delighting fans and the A List guests.

She came into the 2 packed out newly refurbished George St cinemas and introduced the film… she summed it up perfectly by saying “…it was a lot of fun to make and just as fun to watch”, as the lights lowered and the projector started rolling she walked through the excited crowd, making little ghost like noises as the audience was plunged into darkness… there is nothing like a movie star with a sense of humour.

122 minutes later as the credits rolled, there was no doubt that this forth Indi movie was a hit.

I am going to refrain from giving away anything from the fairly predictable plot, however I will say this… if you go an see this movie as a fan of the last 3, you won’t be disappointed, Harrison Ford as the rogue adventurer has stayed true to the character, and humorously comes to terms with his age.

Shia LeBeouf left me wanting to see more, in his first scene he is very reminiscent of a young James Dean, Ray Winstone plays a great devils advocate, and the screen lit up when heroine Marion Ravenwood, played by Karen Allen came back into Indi’s life.

There is a real authenticity to the film, where not a second goes by when you forget you are in a Indiana Jones adventure, for 2 hours I felt like a kid again, it was pure, unadulterated movie magic.

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull opens in cinemas everywhere TODAY!

The anticipation has finally been broken as Indiana Jones clawed it’s way through it’s first barrage of snivelling critics at it’s world premier at the prestigious Cannes film festival.

After 19 years Harrison Ford returns as the whip happy, wise cracking adventurer, armed with a few new faces including Aussie beauty Cate Blanchett, that plays fearless Russian villain Agent Spalko complete with dominatrix style military uniform and angular black bowl cut, as well as Hollywood hot property Shia LaBeouf.

Warranting a quick mention, Cate looked stunning in a dusty lilac gown tightly belted at the waist to reveal her post bub bod, after giving birth to her third son, Ignatius, less than five weeks ago and Calista looked simple and chic in a azure blue floor length off the shoulder gown!

But getting back to brass tacks… let’s be honest how critical can we be of a 65 year old man in a hat with a whip, in a movie about a crystal skull? With just days from it’s opening in cinemas around the world, as a fan of the franchise I can only hope that when John Williams’s famous theme music comes pumping through those speakers, I will for the next 122 minutes find my inner child again, and be caught up in the fun, adventure and bravado of the Indiana Jones magic.

Update - Word from Cannes is that the end of the premiere of Indiana Jones on Sunday night was met with a three and a half minute standing ovation! Not an easy feat to achieve - critics at the Cannes Film Festival can be very picky and hard to please. Congrats Indy, you’ve still got it!

Day 2 at the Cannes Film Festival was complete panda-monium! Literally! Kung Fu Panda premiered on the evening of Day 2 and you know you can count on Jack Black to keep things interesting, like blabbing big news and doing the red carpet with a large panda - modelled on the characters from the film. Kung Fu Panda also features the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu & Seth Rogen and I must say it was refreshing to see Angelina not in her standard black today.

An interesting little tidbit for you - the Christian Louboutin heels that Angelina is wearing at the photo call were specially shortened just for her!

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