Actress Annette Bening has become the latest celebrity to join the debate over US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin - insisting the politician "deserves our respect".

Movie star Annette Bening has pulled out of her first performance on the Broadway stage for 20 years, citing "personal reasons".

One of those films that ought to have been so much better, based as it is on the autobiographical novel by Agusten Burroughs.

Annett Bening and Cate Blanchett will join director Sofia Coppola and veteran actress Sally Field as honourees at the 13th annual Premiere Women in Hollywood extravaganza.

Hollywood legend Warren Beatty and his Oscar-winning wife Annette Bening caused a stir when they turned up at California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign rally in San Diego, California, on Saturday.

HOLLYWOOD veteran Clint Eastwood contemplated how deserving he was to come away with his second best director Oscar for boxing tale Million Dollar Baby, which also won best picture.

Five years ago, Annette Bening was the odds on favourite to win the Best Actress Oscar for her standout performance as Kevin Spacey’s uptight wife in American Beauty, but lost out to surprise winner Hilary Swank, who wowed voters with her cross-dressing role in Boys Don’t Cry.

Jamie Foxx’s uncanny re-creation of Ray Charles in Ray earned him the Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor, while Hilary Swank won the best-actress prize for Million Dollar Baby, playing a spirited boxer whose life takes a tragic turn.

The Howard Hughes epic The Aviator led Academy Awards contenders with 11 nominations today, best picture among them, plus acting honours for Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Alan Alda and a directing slot for Martin Scorsese.

THE Howard Hughes epic The Aviator was the big winner at the Golden Globes with three awards, including best dramatic picture, but Sunday night’s ceremony was a split decision for Martin Scorsese, who lost the directing prize to Clint Eastwood for his boxing saga Million Dollar Baby.

Bening - Mrs Warren Beatty - sets herself up for a possible Oscar nod with a gripping performance as a troubled, ageing actress who knows that the good times are coming to an end with the growing lines and lost pizzazz.

Annette Bening has joined the cast of Kevin Costner's new film.