Kathy Griffin will get her chance to laugh at Australia during the Just For Laughs festival along with Rob Schneider and Tommy Tiernan

American comedian Kathy Griffin loves Australian audiences. Source: Supplied

Jonathon Moran, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

Controversial American comedian Kathy Griffin will let it fly when she performs here next month, tackling subjects as diverse as Nicole Kidman's forehead to Mel Gibson's backyard church.

The star of reality series, Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List, will headline the annual Just For Laughs festival at the Sydney Opera House.

"I will not be censored in any way,'' Griffin tells Insider on the phone from her Los Angeles home.

"I will be making fun of people, places and things. I am going to just let it fly. There is so much we have to discuss, from the Kardashian baby I don't care about, to the royal baby I don't care about. I don't know why we have to care about everyone's baby.''

Griffin, 52, is one of America's most recognisable comedians, having won two Emmy Awards and been nominated for five Grammys.

As an actor she has appeared in Seinfeld, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The X Files, Ugly Betty and Ru Paul's Drag Race.

She's known for speaking her mind, most often about other celebrities, accompanied by her witty candid observations on popular culture.

Even Griffin is not immune from her acerbic tongue, poking fun at being single as well as all the plastic surgery she's undertaken.

"I fear the election that I will be arriving after,'' she says. "I don't want you to go far right. I enjoyed when you had the ranga (former Prime Minister Julia Gillard) because I could say ranga at every show. And who knows what will happen between now and the middle of October with any of Justin Bieber's cars. There is a lot we have to cover.''

Wasn't Griffin dating Justin Bieber for a nanosecond?

"He is a little old for me so I had to kick him to the curb,'' she laughs. "I had to call Selena Gomez and say, 'take him back, he's too needy'.''

Also playing the Just For Laughs festival, which runs from October 16-20 at the Opera House, is Deuce Bigalow star Rob Schneider and Irish funnyman Tommy Tiernan.

Rove McManus will host the event and Griffin has been brushing up on local current affairs ahead of the tour.

Perusing websites on Australia's most loved and loathed celebrities, Griffin found Kyle Sandilands tops the list of disliked celebs which also features Matthew Newton, Pauline Hanson and John Laws.

"What has he (Sandilands) done that makes him so loathed?'' she asks.

Hugh Jackman is at the other end of the list as our most loved.

"Now the gays want Hugh more than women. Women obviously find him attractive but they really want him and I will tell you why, they don't want Russell Crowe any more, he is too chubby.''

Mel Gibson didn't make the list but Griffin pleads for us to take him back. ``

"He walks around Malibu getting in fights with people, he looks like he's on steroids, he has a church in his backyard, you've got to take him back,'' she says.

Griffin's personal favourites include Simon Baker, Kylie Minogue and Nicole Kidman.

"Being someone who has had a face, I do love Nicole Kidman's old forehead,'' she says. "And I like that you can now divide Nicole Kidman into body parts or facial zones.''

Truthfully though, Griffin likes Australian audiences because they "allow me to take the piss out of things''.

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2 inspired Sam Worthington's acting career

Australian actor Sam Worthington pictured at a Tropfest event. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: The Sunday Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

Sam Worthington last night revealed the unlikely source that got him into showbiz while supporting the world's largest short film festival, Tropfest.

Walking the black carpet in Sydney's The Domain last night, the Hawaii-based actor told Confidential it was Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2 that first infected him with the acting bug.

"I remember seeing it and watching these two guys having so much fun and I just thought, wow, they're getting paid to do this. How can I get a job like that?" he said.

While the annual event was focused on finding film industry up-and-comers, the question we most wanted to know was when the cameras will start rolling on Avatar 2.

"Honestly your guess is as good as mine," Wortho shrugged. "All I know is that when (director James Cameron) is ready his guys will come and get me and we'll all get started."

"I am really looking forward to returning to that role though. Filming that was the most amazing two years of my life."

Autumn keeps wolf from Jarratt's door

John Jarrett on stage in TV program, The People Speak. Photo: Nick Wilson Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

Los Angeles is not only bracing for another Aussie invasion - the charge is being led by our most senior actors.

As Jacki Weaver, 65, adjusts to news she is nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, John Jarratt, 60, is preparing to walk the red carpet at Sydney's State Theatre on January 21 with director Quentin Tarantino at the Australian premiere of Django Unchained.

Jarratt has hit the big time late in life since his success with Wolf Creek in 2005, though he had already met Tarantino.

"He was a fan of Wolf Creek but also liked my previous work - I've been around a while," Jarratt said.

"I first had a drink with him at Circular Quay in 2003. It's been fantastic working with him. I've hit a couple of huge goals in my 50s. Wolf Creek has opened a lot of doors and sent a lot of things my way. I've hit my mark much later than Mel (Gibson) did."

He struggles to explain his success at this time in life.

"With Mel it was luck and talent - he shone in vehicles that did well as opposed to John Hargreaves who shone in vehicles that didn't do well. Hopefully talent wins out."

His role in Django, up for five Oscars including Best Picture, is at the end of the film in what he describes as the "penultimate scene before the climax".

"It's definitely great for my career," he said.

Jarratt joins a long list of Australians making an impact on Hollywood this year including Hugh Jackman, nominated for Best Actor, and Naomi Watts, up for the Best Actress for her role in The Impossible.

It's Aussie time to play at G'Day USA

Hugh Jackman, left, Deborra-Lee Furness, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban arrive at the G'Day USA Gala in Los Angeles. Picture: AP Source: AP

Kim Wilson and Ros Reines, The Daily Telegraph, report

He has hosted an Oscars and performed at a string of Hollywood galas but Hugh Jackman anointed the G'Day USA Awards as "one of the best nights of the year" despite ducking out early to attend a pre-Golden Globes event.

Before he left Jackman was on hand at the Los Angeles bash last night to present the Australian Icon award to Paul Hogan for his work introducing Australia to a generation of Americans.

"I grew up watching Hoges, he was the everyman," Jackman said of the Crocodile Dundee star who has seemingly put behind him his epic case with the Australian Tax Office.

"He's funny, honest, smart, ethical and an icon, for me a mentor," he said. Others honoured in the past by G'Day USA took the stage to be acknowledged again including Naomi Watts, Toni Collette, Luc Longley, Air Supply, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Simon Baker and Mel Gibson - the latter did not walk the red carpet but was still given a huge round of applause by the 1100 guests.

Hosted by Elle Macpherson and Richard Wilkins, the event also featured a few American cameos including honorary Australian John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, who made an eye-opening confession on the red carpet, surprising reporters when she admitted that she is still breast-feeding her two-year-old son Benjamin.

"I'm trying to wean him off," she said.

Meanwhile Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver was one of the favourites of the night, telling the crowd she jumped on her bed in her pyjamas when she heard she had been nominated for a second Oscar for her role in The Silver Linings Playbook.

Oy vey! Gibson and Sheen to share silver screen

With Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen set to star in the same film, it'll be a miracle if it even gets off the ground. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Hollywood hotheads Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson will be on the same movie set in Robert Rodriguez's movie Machete Kills.

Sheen was just cast to play the US president in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rodriguez announced Sheen's casting on Twitter, saying, "I just cast Charlie Sheen in #machetekills as the President of the United States! Who better? More soon..."

The ensemble movie, already filming in Austin, Texas, also co-stars one of Hollywood's other most legendarily unpredictable actors, Gibson, as well as sexy stars including Jessica Alba, Amber Heard, Sofia Vergara and Zoe Saldana.

It's unclear what role Gibson is taking on in the sequel to the pulpy 2010 movie Machete.

The move to cast Sheen adds to the actor's career rehabilitation after a very public meltdown last year which saw his exit from the hit show Two and a Half Men. Sheen said in a Playboy interview recently that the episode was a "psychotic break."

"I started to unravel," Sheen said. "I finally just said things I had always been thinking. But in the middle of a psychotic break."

He's making a comeback with a new comedy, F/X's Anger Management.

Mel Gibson's 93-year-old dad wants a divorce

Mel Gibson with former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Hollywood star Mel Gibson's 93-year-old father wants a divorce from his wife of ten years, citing irreconcilable differences.

According to TMZ, Hutton Gibson filed to divorce his wife, Teddy Joye Gibson, citing irreconcilable differences.

The pair have been married since 2002.

Hutton has reportedly requested spousal support and attorney fees from Teddy Joye, who is in her 70s.

Hutton Gibson is hardly the first Gibson to make divorce headlines. Mel Gibson's 2009 divorce from Robyn Gibson, his wife of 31 years, resulted in one of the priciest divorce settlements in Hollywood.

Robyn, who filed divorce docs after news broke that Gibson's now-estranged girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, was pregnant, reportedly walked away with half of his estimated $850 million dollar fortune when their divorce was finalised in December 2011.

The actor has yet to comment on the split

Star Tom Hardy says Mad Max: Fury Road start date still uncertain

Tom Hardy set tongues wagging at Cannes with rumours that his newly grown facial hair was for his role in Mad Max: Fury Road. Source: Getty Images

Maria Lewis, The Daily Telegraph, reports

It was supposed to begin filming last month, but Tom Hardy says a start date for the fourth Mad Max film is still uncertain.

The Inception star is taking over from Mel Gibson as the lead in Australian director George Miller's next Mad Max film, Fury Road.

At Cannes promoting Lawless, a film with another Australian director - John Hillcoat - Hardy spoke to Empire magazine about the troubled project.

“We keep moving that around, you know?" he said.

"I’ve been on stand-by for two years…"

Hardy went on to joke: “It was going to be a year of filming, then six months, and now we’re supposed to be doing it in six days. It’s a musical – we’re going to go around shopping centres in a little wagon and sing songs. People were expecting big, but we’re going to give them small. It’ll be a live, free-running musical and it’s coming to a place near you soon."

Mad Max: Fury Road was originally supposed to begin filming in Australia back in 2009 but had to shift locations due to flooding and budget issues.

The $130 million production was then moved to Africa where filming was to begin last month, but the project is yet to get underway with supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley even auditioning for a part in Sydney as late as this week.

Fellow model Abbey Lee Kershaw has also snagged a role in the project.

Teresa Palmer was attached to the film, but pulled out due to the delays.

Mel Gibson's new movie Get The Gringo won't hit theatres

Mel Gibson's new film Get The Gringo is trying to target his longtime audience. Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Mel Gibson's new film Get The Gringo won't be hitting theatres, at least not in the US.

Screen Rant reports the troubled actor will try releasing the movie through a new distribution model - Video On Demand.

The first trailer for the action/comedy has hit the net and shows Gibson back in Lethal Weapon-mode.

Get The Gringo follows a career criminal (Gibson) who is nabbed by Mexican authorities and placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a nine-year-old boy.

Given the several controversies surrounding Gibson, his box-office draw has taken a big blow.

His last starring role was in Jodie Foster's The Beaver which bombed. It cost $US21m but grossed only $US1.1m worldwide.

VoD may be a savvy move for the struggling star. From first-time director Adrian Grunberg and costing $US20m, Gibson still has enough fans for the film to make its money back digitally.

Get The Gringo could still be released theatrically in Australia and in other international territories.

Mel Gibson selling his Costa Rican retreat

Christie’s International Real Estate

 

ABC News reports

Actor-director Mel Gibson is putting his sprawling hilltop compound in Costa Rica up for sale with a $US29.75 million asking price.

The Oscar winner has suffered a series of public embarrassments in recent years after a decades-long reign as a top box office star.

He is reportedly selling the 500-acre compound to downsize his real estate portfolio.

Over the years Gibson has owned lavish properties in Malibu, Australia, Montana, Connecticut and even a private island in Fiji.

Gibson's Pacific coast compound, on Playa Barrigona on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula just south of the Nicaragua border, boasts three hilltop homes - the largest of which has seven bedrooms, with soaring ocean and jungle views.

Each villa on the former cattle ranch is outfitted with native Costa Rican woods and Italian and Spanish tiles and features multiple verandas and a private pool.

"The property is expansive, meticulously maintained and ultimately private," said Rick Moeser, a spokesman for Christie's real estate.

"With its multiple homes and outbuildings, this is the ideal family retreat."

Gibson, 56, has seven children from his long marriage which ended in divorce in 2009.

He also has one child with Russian star Oksana Grigorieva, with whom he had an acrimonious break-up.

Mel Gibson rumoured to have flown to Sydney to be at Braveheart producer Bruce Davey's wedding at Darling Point estate

Oscar winners and business partners ... (From left) actor and director Mel Gibson, producers Bruce Davey and Alan Ladd Jnr show the Oscars they received for the movie "Braveheart" named Best Picture during 68th Academy Awards in Los Angeles 25/03/96. Source: AP

The Daily Telegraph reports

Academy Award winner Bruce Davey tied the knot at his Darling Point estate on Saturday.

It is rumoured his long-time partner Mel Gibson made a secret flying visit.

Only the second Australian to win a Best Film Oscar (for Braveheart, which he produced) back in 1995, Davey began Icon Films with Gibson in 1989.

Not surprisingly he drew a few big names on Saturday.

Gibson finally splits from wife

Robyn and Mel Gibson.

The Age reports

Mel Gibson’s three-decade marriage is officially over.

A judge finalised the actor-director’s divorce on Friday from his wife Robyn, who was married to Gibson during his acting heyday and his more recent public downfall.

The judgment entered by Superior Court Judge Mark Juhas keeps virtually all details of the pair’s split confidential. Neither Gibson nor his ex-wife, whose name is being restored to Robyn Moore, attended Friday’s proceedings.

It does not indicate an official date for the former couple’s separation. Robyn Moore did not list a date in her April 2009 divorce filing, although Gibson indicated they had been living apart since 2006.

The former couple have seven children together, but only their 12-year-old son is a minor and subject to a custody agreement.

The Gibsons’ divorce has been dramatically more low-key than Gibson’s custody battle with Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva, who the Braveheart star agreed in August to pay $US750,000 ($A742,537) to settle a bitter dispute and split custody of their young daughter.

Recordings that sounded distinctly like the Oscar-winning director engaged in a racist and sexist tirade were leaked during the couple’s dispute.

Grigorieva accused Gibson of domestic violence and he pleaded no contest, although admitted no fault, to a misdemeanour battery count earlier in March.

Robyn Moore came to her estranged husband’s defence, filing a brief declaration in the Grigorieva case stating that Gibson had never physically abused her or their children.

Lawyers handling the divorce have worked for months to reach a settlement in the case and records show Robyn Moore signed the final judgment last week. Gibson signed it on Wednesday, records show.

It's Mad Max out of Africa - and Broken Hill isn't happy about it

Actor Mel Gibson in scene from film 'Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome'. Picture: Supplied

Joe Hildebrand, The Daily Telegraph, reports

NOW it's not just Max who's mad.

Filming of the fourth instalment in the Mad Max movie franchise - Mad Max 4: Fury Road - has been moved from outback NSW to the African nation of Namibia - and it's left a number of people fuming, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Due to be filmed in Broken Hill, it was to provide a shot in the arm for the local film industry - until heavy rain turned the barren desert in the area into a sea of blooming wild flowers. It was then decided to shift production to the African republic.

Former premier Nathan Rees, who said he fought tooth and nail to get it filmed in NSW, has demanded Arts Minister George Souris don the mantle of the Road Warrior and win back the blockbuster for Broken Hill.

Mr Rees said his government "moved heaven and earth" to make sure Mad Max 4 returned to the place that launched Max and Mel Gibson to international fame in 1981.

But to get it back, Mr Souris may have to also move heaven and earth - literally.

After a decade of drought that reduced the area around Broken Hill into an arid lifeless wasteland - precisely the kind of conditions that Max enjoys - some rains earlier this year have literally made the deserts bloom. Max, it seems, is yet another victim of climate change.

The sad news broke in the barrier country in August and last month it emerged the production was heading to Namibia. But, wouldn't you know it, now it has started raining there too.

In fact, Namibia has had its heaviest rainfall in 120 years. It seems like there's just never a post-apocalyptic wasteland around when you need one.

Displaying an eerie knowledge of the Mad Max series, Mr Rees took the news to heart and demanded Mr Souris get not just mad, but also even.

"It really is the last of the V8 Interceptors," he lamented.

"The Arts Minister's job isn't about going to opening nights - it's about making sure that there is actually something to open.

"As Commander Macaffee said: 'People want their heroes back, Max!'

"George Souris needs to be that hero and meet immediately with the producers of Fury Road to do whatever it takes to get this production back where it belongs, in NSW."

A spokesman for Mr Souris said: "We can't control the weather."

Hollywood tops up on sunburnt countrymen

Sandra Hall, The Age, reports


IS the Australian leading man becoming a marketable figure in Hollywood?


It's taken a while. A young Mel Gibson raised the possibility in the 1980s. Then came Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Sam Worthington, among others. At last, their efforts have achieved "an Aussie mystique of sorts", to quote Gavin O'Connor, the director of Warrior. More specifically, O'Connor sees Australian actors as being more intimate with life's rugged realities than their smoother American counterparts.


You can observe this effect in action in Joel Edgerton's performance in Warrior opposite the equally hot and sweaty British prospect Tom Hardy (Inception). They both play Americans - estranged brothers who take on cage fighting, a mixed martial arts sport involving boxing, wrestling, ju-jitsu and kickboxing. There are rules but if you're not already familiar with them, don't expect to get a handle on them here. All that is clear is the fact the brothers are going to wind up in the ring together.


The cause of their estrangement is Nick Nolte, who has never lost his ability to make trouble. He plays their father, Paddy, a former boxing trainer and alcoholic whom neither son has forgiven for knocking their mother about. But after an absence of 14 years, Tommy (Hardy) has come to his father with a demand - that he help him train for Sparta, an international mixed martial arts contest with a $US5 million purse.


Tommy's older brother, Brendan (Edgerton), knows nothing of this. An ex-boxer, he is a high school physics teacher with a wife, Tess (Jennifer Morrison), and two children. But he, too, is resuming his career in the ring because his teaching salary can't pay the mortgage and the medical bills.


With the help of the Aussie mystique, this is shaping up as Edgerton's year. He is also on show in the prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing but this is the movie that could propel him into the big time.


O'Connor is not the most sensitive of directors. Excitable is the word for him. He's heavy on big music, tight close-ups, large crowds, hyperactive editing and declamatory dialogue. His taste for the inspirational makes Rocky seem like a delicate exercise in social realism. But he's been astute enough to sign up actors who can somehow persuade you to overlook the triteness of their words.


Let's start with Nolte. His Paddy is a remorseful, exhausted-looking character whose world has contracted to the point where he's content to spend his days plugged into an audio recording of Moby Dick. With Herman Melville in his ear, he can try to forget the past and stave off thoughts of the future - until Tommy comes back.


Hardy's performance is essentially one long sulk yet he and Nolte pull off a couple of poignant scenes together. He's such a muscular bundle of concentrated energy that you can't look away for fear of missing something extraordinary. He'd be a wonderful Caliban.


In contrast, Edgerton makes deceptively light work of Brendan, who likes the kids he teaches and is happily immersed in family life. It's an attractively relaxed performance and O'Connor is right. While he looks as if he really can throw a punch, he's also unpretentious enough to seem at ease doing the washing up.


The film's settings, too, impart an air of authenticity. Much of it was shot in Pittsburgh with an excursion to seedy Atlantic City for the gung-ho finale. And while I found the fighting matches pretty incomprehensible, there's no denying O'Connor's ability to extract the maximum amount of suspense out of Brendan, the underdog, and his steady climb through the ranks.


This is a movie that defies analysis. Try to take it apart and it disintegrates into pure corn. I think it qualifies as a guilty pleasure - which probably won't hurt its chances at Oscar time. Its three leads certainly deserve consideration for their artfulness in being able to infuse it with intimations of quality.


For Edgerton it's good news. His Brendan looks as if he belongs in a much better film. He makes a great calling card for an actor who's been doing fine work for a long time.

Robert Downey Jr. implores Hollywood to 'forgive' Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson presents Robert Downey Jr. with his American Cinematheque Award on Friday night.
Photo: Getty

Story by Simone Mitchell, the Sydney Morning Herald

US actor Robert Downey Jr. came to the defence of Mel Gibson while picking up an American Cinematheque Award on Friday, calling for Hollywood to "forgive him and let him work".

The Iron Man star has known the troubled actor since the 1980s and has previously spoken out in favour of the Braveheart star following a string of personal woes played out in the press.

Gibson was invited onstage to present Downey Jr. with the prestigious award, since, in the words of Garry Shandling, “The Cinematheque was concerned a bit about Robert’s checkered past, so they chose someone to present the award who could help balance that out and the choice was so obvious, Mel Gibson.”

Downey Jr., who has battled drug and alcohol addiction throughout his career, took to the stage and thanked Gibson for hiring him when "no one else would" in the 1990s - and now he's calling for other movie directors to do the same for his friend.

A star-studded crowd flooded the Beverly Hilton to honour Downey Jr's career, and the actor told the audience, "Unless you are without sin - and if you are, you are in the wrong f**king industry - you should forgive him and let him work.

"He taught me many things, and I will use the 'C' word - courage. There's nothing so much wrong with him. Of course, you have to worry about the guy making the judgment here. He's a good dude with a good heart.

"Mel and I have the same lawyer, same publicist, and same shrink. I couldn't get hired and he cast me. He said if I accepted responsibility - he called it hugging the cactus - long enough, my life would take meaning. And if he helped me, I would help the next guy. But it was not reasonable to expect the next guy would be him."

Downey Jr.'s comments were met with applause in the auditorium, but the comments were met with a mixed reaction online.

Forbes columnist E.D. Kain applauded Downey Jr’s sentiments, stating "I say bravo to Robert Downey Jr. Someone has to appeal to our better angels. The gossip machine is brutal, and we’re too quick to topple those we raise up so high in the first place.

"Gibson’s struggle may not be a pretty one to witness, but it can’t be any better to have your own hardships and shortcomings broadcast for all the world to see."

Gossip columnist Perez Hilton had a different attitude and lashed out, writing on his blog "Of course, nobody is perfect, and while we agree with that sentiment, there's a big difference between being down and out because you're struggling with the disease of addiction and repeatedly expressing hatred and rage toward a group of people for their religious beliefs!"