In brief: Eminem holds box office lead

The Eminem movie 8 Mile has topped the UK box office chart for the second week running.

Chicago is in second position followed by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at number three.

Oscar contender About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson, entered the chart in seventh position, taking a total of £756,000.

And The Pianist, another Oscar favourite, just scraped into 10th place, taking £195,000 in its first three days of release.

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Superman star makes cloning appeal

Paralysed Superman star Christopher Reeve has urged Australians to support stem cell research and the more contentious practice of therapeutic cloning.

Reeve, who was paralysed from the neck down in a 1995 horse riding accident, made his comments on Monday at a conference investigating ways to improve the treatment of spinal injuries.

The actor said a breakthrough in stem cell research, which could ultimately be used to help find cures for Alzheimer's, cancer and other illnesses, was not as far away as people thought.

The Australian government last year allowed limited stem cell research but imposed a three-year ban on all kinds of cloning.

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Comeback for controversial show

The late-night chat show on which the late actor Oliver Reed famously made a drunken lunge for a fellow guest is making a return to TV.

BBC Four is to revive the former Channel Four show After Dark from next month.

Reed appeared on the discussion programme in 1991, rowing with guests, then kissing feminist Kate Millett and refusing to leave the set.

After Dark is broadcast live and has no scheduled end time, with the discussion continuing until it runs it course.

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Berlin shows serious side

The Berlin Film Festival will have a sombre tone due to the changed political climate after 11 September, the festival's director has said.

More than 300 films will be screened during the 53rd Berlin Film Festival from 6-16 February, with 22 competing for the Golden Bear.

The festival plans to feature three films examining the plight of refugees, including In this World, by renowned British director Michael Winterbottom, which traces the journey of two Afghan refugees across Iran, Turkey, Italy and France to England.

"A film festival of these dimensions has to reflect the political realities," Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick told reporters at the launch of the festival schedule.

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Film pair to receive Pudding awards

Actress Anjelica Huston and director Martin Scorsese have been chosen to receive the annual Hasty Pudding awards from Harvard University.

The awards are given to performers who have made a "lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment."

Huston will lead a parade of students dressed in drag through the streets of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 6 February while Scorsese will attend a theatre production at the university on 13 February.

Last year's recipients were Sarah Jessica Parker and Bruce Willis.

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Fans turn out for Osbourne signing

Singer Kelly Osbourne signed copies of her new single at HMV in Oxford Street, London, on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old star of reality TV show The Osbournes is on a three-week tour of Europe to promote the second single from her debut album Shut Up, which is due for release on 10 February.

Dressed in a black hat, black and yellow striped tie and cropped trousers, Kelly posed at the music store in front of screaming fans who had travelled from all over the country to meet her.

Shut Up has already proved a hit. It sold five times more than any other CD single at the HMV store on Tuesday.

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Redgrave launches war charity

Actress Vanessa Redgrave met two amputee children at the launch of a charity for victims of the Chechen war on Monday.

Redgrave, 65, posed with nine-year-old Khamzat and Islam, 13, at a press conference in central London.

The boys, currently being treated at Roehampton Hospital, were flown to England courtesy of the new charity CCHARM - Children of Chechnya Action Relief Mission.

As the first casualties of the Chechen War to be cared for by the charity, both are being fitted with artificial limbs.

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