Christopher Knight files for divorce from Adrianne Curry (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Attention, ladies; Peter Brady will officially be back on the market soon.

Former "Brady Bunch" actor Christopher Knight filed for divorce from his wife, Adrianne Curry, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, drawing their five-year marriage to its final chapter.

Knight, 53, cites "irreconcilable differences" in the divorce papers. The pair separated on May 30 -- the day after their fifth wedding anniversary.

Knight and "America's Next Top Model" season one winner Curry, 29, met while castmates on the fourth season of VH1's "The Surreal Life," and also had a reality series, "My Fair Brady," which ran on VH1 for three seasons from 2005-2008.

Curry took to her Twitter account Wednesday to set matters straight on the divorce, saying that Knight had filed at her request and suggesting that the split was amicable.

"Chris filed cause I TOLD him to. I even announced it the other day :P He paid the 400 fee," Curry wrote, later adding, "I feel like people can't fathom a couple divorcing nicely..we are even having our friends serve each other ... mine was on vid ... hahaha."

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Wine, blood and Christopher Lee at Slovenia fest (AFP)

LJUBLJANA (AFP) – Blood and gore mix well with fine wine, to judge by an unusual Slovenian festival that presented British veteran actor Christopher Lee this weekend with a lifetime achievement award.

The Grossmann Film and Wine Festival in Ljutomer, northeastern Slovenia, rewards every year the best horror and fantasy films from around the world as well as the country's finest vintages.

Guest-of-honour Lee -- best known for his Dracula portrayals as well as more recent roles in "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" -- and Oscar-nominated Israeli director Menahem Golan were both handed lifetime achievement awards at the festival's closing ceremony on Saturday.

Aside from the usual film screenings and talks with filmmakers, the highly unusual programme of the week-long event included: wine sampling, blood donations, a Vampire ball and a "Queen of the Scream" contest to determine the festival's most hair-raising shriek -- open only to women aged 16 and over.

Winners in the film and wine categories were awarded a Vicious Cat prize.

The Ljutomer event, first held in 2005, is part of the European Fantastic Film Festival Federation, which includes some 20 festivals from around the continent and selects every year the Golden Melies Award for best European fantastic film.

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Christopher Cross back with first album in years (AP)

CHICAGO – The Oscar-winning singer-songwriter recalled a recent trip to the airport where an official took his passport and noticed his name. As she looked at the document, she said: "Christopher Cross. There was a singer named that. I really liked his music. He passed away a few years ago."A A 

    Cross was so stunned, all he could say was, "Oh, really?"

    "I was afraid if I told her I was still alive, she'd have a heart attack or something," he added.

    Not only is Cross alive and well, he's also out with a new album this month. 

    "Dr. Faith" is his first studio album in 12 years (he put out a live album, "The Cafe Carlyle Sessions," in 2008, and a Christmas album last year). Cross, who is best known for early 1980s hits like "Sailing," "Ride Like the Wind," "Never Be the Same" and "Think of Laura," cited a divorce after 18 years of marriage and "some personal distractions" as the reasons behind not releasing any new material for so long.

But he said time away can sometimes benefit the creative process.

"Maybe what happens after all these years of writing, you just want to take a break, let the well build up, let the energy build up until I ... had something to say."

Cross describes "Dr. Faith" as sounding like a Crowded House record. It's more guitar-oriented than his earlier albums.

A A  A "Instead of transcribing the songs to keyboard, I just did them with guitar, and I really had a good time," he said. "I've always been a guitarist, but this was a real fun exploration of that medium."

    Releasing "Dr. Faith" means Cross can finally play those songs live. He refused to do so until the album came out.

A A  A "With all the downloading and YouTube and cellphone-taping and all that, it's just too risky. Once something's out there on the Web, it's out there and it's gone," he said.

    Sharp-eyed Cross fans will notice that the flamingo that's traditionally on his album covers can only be seen in his name. His original drummer had drawn a much bigger flamingo for Cross' first album cover, and Cross put a flamingo on nearly every cover since then as a good-luck charm.

    So where's the flamingo?

    "We shot him in the head a long time ago," Cross joked. "After a while it gets to be kind of an annoyance, like people putting them in their yard. With this album, we just really decided to purposely let it go."  

    Cross, who recently turned 60, won the 1981 best original song Oscar for "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)."

____

Online:

http://www.christophercross.com

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Christopher Nolan Snubbed! Does the Academy Hate the 'Inception' Director?

He has directed some of the most critically acclaimed, visually arresting movies of our time and has been celebrated by his colleagues, but this morning Christopher Nolan's name was a notable snub on the list of Best Director Oscar nominees.

Nolan -- a three-time Directors Guild of America nominee for 'Memento,' 'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception' -- has yet to be recognized in the director category by the Academy. Sure, his movies often score nominations galore; 'Inception,' for example, is up for eight awards this year, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. But for some reason, the Academy continues to ignore him as a directing contender. Now our friend from Moviefone, Sharon Knolle, dives deeper.

Could it be because his inventive movies are typically also enormous blockbusters? Doubtful. Enormous box-office success didn't prevent Steven Spielberg from joining the nominees' circle early in his career (for 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,' all popcorn flicks). And it certainly hasn't hurt two-time-winner James Cameron.

The Academy does have something of a history of snubbing commercial directors. After all, despite his early nominations, it took Spielberg until 1993's 'Schindler's List' to actually win a directing Oscar, and wildly popular director Alfred Hitchcock never won an award in the category. However, it's still surprising that Nolan got the shaft with 'Inception.' It's not like he hasn't been racking up the kudos for the Leonardo DiCaprio film. First came a Golden Globe nomination, then one from Directors Guild of America; back home, the London-born Nolan also reeled in his first BAFTA nomination for Achievement in Direction. Yet no love from the Academy.

The 'Dark Knight' slight moved Nolan's brother Jonathan (who co-wrote 'Memento' with him) to respond with an e-mail to fans: "Any nominations for a comic book movie is a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it, and that takes the sting out a bit. Besides, I've been to the big show before, and, like any of these things, it's a little disappointing. Did you know it's not even an open bar once the show starts? At least this time I would have remembered to bring a little cash so I could buy myself a drink after losing."

So, what will it take for Nolan to be recognized by the Academy for his directing skills? Does he need to make a movie about Facebook, World War II or blue aliens to stand a chance? Or does he simply have to hang in there for 20 or 30 more years until the Academy finally decides it's his time? Or could it be that the Academy just confused Nolan's 'Inception' with one of the many popular Internet memes relating to the movie?

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