US Godzilla gets thumbs down in Japan

US Godzilla 'no match' againstTokyo productions

Japan does not approve of Hollywood's first attempt at a Godzilla film.

The £75m blockbuster, which opens in Japan this weekend, is already being dismissed in cult circles as no match for the home-grown monster movies.

Aficionados feel Godzilla has lost something in its translation and do not like the computer graphics. Tokyo's Toho studios has made 20 low-tech Godzilla movies since 1954.

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Madonna undecided

Madonna undecided about London play

Reports that Madonna will make her London theatre debut next summer in a revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof could be premature.

Manager Caresse Norman says although the star has met the producer and director and is interested in the project, nothing has been confirmed as her schedule has not yet been decided.

Madonna has not appeared in a play since David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow on Broadway 10 years ago.

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Willis and Moore briefly reconciled

"No animosity" between Moore and Willis

Demi Moore and Bruce Willis were briefly reconciled at the funeral of Moore's mother, Virginia Guynes.

The couple, who announced their marital split two weeks ago, were both at the funeral in Roswell, New Mexico. A spokeswoman for Moore said, "There's no animosity. It's good they were together. It's important to the kids."

Moore is to take a break over the summer with her three young daughters, before filming Passion of the Mind in September.

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Whitney :" It's a pleasure to be in Manchester with old friends"

Whitney wows her fans in Manchester

Superstar Whitney Houston has enthralled British fans with her first show for more than four years. Her only UK date in a short European tour, at Manchester's Nynex Arena, had sold out within hours.

Wearing a sleek, black, sequinned floor length dress, Whitney launched into I'm Every Woman and So Emotional. "It's a pleasure to be in Manchester with old friends, very dear old friends," she said to wild applause.

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Francis Ford Coppola awarded ¿37.5m in damages

Coppola wins Pinocchio damages awards

A US court has awarded Francis Ford Coppola £37.5m in punitive damages against Warner Bros for blocking his proposed Pinocchio live action movie.

The Godfather director said he hoped the judgement would teach the studio a lesson they would never forget.

Earlier this week. Coppola was also awarded £12.5m in compensatory damages. The marathon case at Los Angeles County Court lasted a month.

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Steven Berkoff : "English theatregoers are philistines "

Berkoff attacks English theatre

Maverick actor and writer Steven Berkoff has taken a swipe at English theatre and dismissed theatre-goers as "philistines".

"The theatre of the West End is crap, writers write crap and people go to see it because it is something to do," said the film and theatre star.

Berkoff told an English-language paper in Cyprus where he is performing his one-man show: "The English basically are the most pretentious, hypocritical, cynical theatre-goers on the planet."

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Ben Affleck winning another good will gesture

Good Will Hunting wins another award

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have won another award for their Good Will Hunting script and a $25,000 cheque.

The hot young actor-authors received the American Humanitas Prize, which recognises film and TV scripts that illuminate life and foster compassion.

Good Will Hunting won the 1998 Oscar for the most original screenplay. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Robin Williams and Minnie Driver all starred in the box-office hit.

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Gerard Depardieu suffering from a bout of narcolepsy

Depardieu says sleep caused his crash

French actor Gerard Depardieu, who crashed his motorcycle after allegedly drinking too much, says he fell asleep over the handlebars on his way to work.

Depardieu's accident near Paris last May, put him in hospital for ten days and booked him a date in court.

The actor, currently making a film about comic hero Asterix, is thought to have drunk five times the French limit. "Things didn't quite happen as the press told it," said Depardieu.

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June Brown preparing for a face lift

Facelift for EastEnders actress

EastEnders actress June Brown wants to turn back the clock with some discreet cosmetic surgery to regain her youth.

She claims she was advised to lose some wrinkles by another soap favourite, the late Coronation Street star Pat Phoenix, who swore by her operation.

Mrs Brown, 71, who plays busybody Dot Cotton in the BBC soap, said she always wanted to have a face-lift but never had the time to get it done.

"I want my pure jawline back - I'd like my youth back again," said the actress.