Christian Bale should feel embarrassed for trying to visit an activist while he was in the country to promote a film which China has submitted for an Oscar, a Chinese government spokesman said today.

Christian Bale has signed up to star in Zhang Yimou's 'Nanjing Heroes'.

TIME magazine yesterday named US president-elect Barack Obama the Person of the Year in 2008 after he became the first African-American to win the White House.

ONCE-RECLUSIVE China commandeered the world stage yesterday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pageantry and pyrotechnics to open a Summer Games unrivalled for its mix of problems and promise.

The Olympic flame approached the final destination of its long and sometimes contentious global tour today, greeted by rapturous crowds in the Chinese capital two days before it officially launches the games.

Chinese state media says there is a 41% chance of rain during the opening ceremony at next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

Censors have cut scenes of Chow Yun-Fat as a bald, scarred pirate in the new Pirates of the Caribbean film, saying they insult China’s people, according to the Chinese state news agency today.

Steven Spielberg will join filmmaker Zhang Yimou in designing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Clint Eastwood is celebrating after his film Million Dollar Baby and star Hilary Swank picked up two accolades at the National Society of Film Critics Awards on Saturday.

British director Ken Loach is to be honoured for his outstanding contribution to cinema.

A beautifully-shot, stylish gem in the same mould as Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger.