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Reuters Entertainment Summary

Reuters - Monday, September 8

Madonna dedicates "Like a Virgin" to pope

ROME - Pop star Madonna, once accused by the Vatican of staging one of the most satanic shows in history, surprised fans by dedicating her hit "Like a Virgin" to the pope at a sold-out concert held in Rome. "I dedicate this song to the pope, because I'm a child of God. All of you are also children of God," the 50-year old "Queen of Pop" told the 60,000 fans that flocked to the Italian stop of her "Sticky & Sweet" world tour on Saturday.

Venice hails cinema's comeback king Mickey Rourke

VENICE - Eleven days of red carpet galas, 21 films in competition and countless interviews, photo calls and parties at the Venice film festival boiled down to just one man in the end -- Mickey Rourke. The festival, which unofficially kick-starts the awards season leading to the Oscars, will be remembered chiefly for Rourke's performance in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," which the actor and critics agree is his best yet.

Michael J. Fox, James Cameron on Canada's Walk of Fame

TORONTO - Step aside Tinsletown. Toronto, dubbed "Hollywood North" for its active film industry, has its own star-studded "Walk of Fame," and its biggest red carpet yet was rolled out on Saturday for this year's Canadian inductees. Actor Michael J. Fox and director James Cameron were among those honored in front of hundreds of reporters and fans in the city already flooded with celebrities for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Donny and Marie bring G-rated variety to Vegas

NASHVILLE - Veteran sibling performers Donny and Marie Osmond are about to begin a 26-week stand in Las Vegas, and Marie Osmond points out that they just might turn Sin City into Sincere City. The duo will fill the need for a family-friendly variety show in the entertainment mecca, which now is dominated by big production shows a la Cirque du Soleil or single-artist-focused extended runs by one-name stars from Celine to Cher to Elton to Bette.

Christina Applegate in telethon for cancer research

LOS ANGELES - Cancer survivors Christina Applegate, Patrick Swayze, Sheryl Crowe, cyclist Lance Armstrong and dozens of other celebrities "stood up" to battle the disease in a charity television fund-raiser on Friday. In a rare collaboration across three rival U.S. television networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- Hollywood stars came together to appeal for millions of dollars to speed up research and send cancer to the history books.

An Old West shootout at the Toronto film festival

TORONTO - Westerns have been around as long as moving pictures, and two movies at this week's Toronto film festival, including Ed Harris's "Appaloosa," show how the old standard has taken wildly different looks over a century. From 1903's "The Great Train Robbery," westerns have traditionally painted a black-and-white picture of good versus bad, but Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" in 1992 updated -- or to some critics, redefined -- them by stripping away romance from a tale of a cold-blooded killer struggling to change his ways.

Anne Hathaway lights up patchy Venice fest

VENICE - Mickey Rourke and Anne Hathaway are among the favorites to win top actor and actress prizes at the Venice film festival awards ceremony on Saturday, while the race for the coveted Golden Lion for best picture is wide open. The 11-day cinema showcase in the canal city has been under fire for what critics said was a generally weak selection of 21 films in the main competition, but three strong U.S. entries towards the end have helped lift spirits.

Two more "Spider-Man" films on the way

LOS ANGELES - Tobey Maguire and "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi plan to reunite for the fourth and fifth installments of Columia Pictures' comic book franchise, dispelling speculation that a new actor would play the crime-fighter. "The studio never considered any other actor. Tobey was our only choice and the only person we've discussed the role with," said studio spokesman Steve Elzer.

Mayhem reigns in Toronto's "Midnight Madness" films

TORONTO - Forget red carpets and polite Hollywood stars. Mayhem reigns at the Toronto film festival's "Midnight Madness" movies that kicked off, literally, with an early Friday morning screening of "JCVD" in which aging action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme pokes fun at his own career. The Toronto festival is one of the world's top movie gatherings and Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and even young Dakota Fanning will be in town walking up the glamorous red carpet at gala screenings.

Nicolas Cage on target in "Bangkok Dangerous"

LOS ANGELES - Everything is relative in the realm of hyperviolent movies, and compared to this summer's other assassination thriller, "Wanted," "Bangkok Dangerous" is a model of restraint and moral rectitude. It still has more than enough mayhem to excite young males, but it doesn't fetishize murder with the same loving sensuality that you saw in "Wanted." This remake of the Pang brothers' 1999 Thai film was not screened for critics ahead of its Friday release via Lionsgate, but it's a pretty nifty B-movie and should do well for a week or two.

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