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Glasgow party band Franz Ferdinand's danceable third album,Tonight, tops our critics' list this week.

Shareholders of an ill-fated Stan Lee venture are seeking more than $750 million in profits from films based on Marvel comic ...

A televised appeal for victims of the humanitarian disasters in Gaza has been broadcast on all terrestrial channels except the BBC, which refused to back down on its decision not to show the film.It was the first time in the 46-year history of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) that one of its humanitarian appeals was broadcast without the backing of the BBC, which claimed that doing so would compromise its impartiality.The two-minute film, broadcast on ITV1 at 6.25pm last night just before the main evening news, began with images of Gaza's child victims. 'The children of Gaza are suffering. Many are struggling to survive. Homeless and in need of food and water,' the narrator said. 'Today, this is not about the rights and wrongs of the conflict. These people simply need your help.' Before the broadcast, the DEC had already raised £600,000.The appeal was shown later on Channel 4 and Five. It quoted UN reports that 40% of Gaza is without electricity, with thousands homeless. 'Aid wo

Oasis lead the pack with seven nominations for the 2009 NME awards, including best British band and best album.

Some months ago, Guardian columnist Mark Ravenhill came up with an intriguing idea. Why don't we, he said, harness the power of YouTube and direct it towards something a little more sophisticated than cats falling down the back of the sofa? We could ask our readers to make proper short films, no more than five minutes long, inspired by an original text that Ravenhill offered to write. Now that the tools of film-making are so widely available, we should be exploiting the internet as a clearing-house for imaginative new visual work. Could we not run a competition, Ravenhill asked, inviting aspiring film-makers to submit new work to us via YouTube?Hence the Guardian YouTube competition was born, designed to be as open-access as possible, and aiming to reward the most inventive work, no matter how low its production values. We rounded up some adventurous types to judge our final shortlist, including musician Natasha Khan (aka Bat for Lashes), artists Gillian Wearing and Isaac Julien, and o

Never mind the election of Barack Obama: the world will change 'overnight' if film director David Lynch can teach transcendental meditation to one million children.Known for his strange and atmospheric movies, the Hollywood director has announced a 'global benefit concert' in New York, featuring Paul McCartney, Moby, Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder and Donovan, to raise funds to teach meditative techniques to schoolchildren.If a further 1% can be persuaded to take up yogic flying in groups, world peace would follow, according to the Transcendental Meditation Movement, of which Lynch is the public face.'Every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence-bliss - the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us,' Lynch said in a message on his website.The director of Blue Velvet, Eraserhead and Twin Peaks has been 'diving within' himself on a daily basis for 34 years, ever since he was taught TM by a woman who

Marvel Animated Features premieres two all new action packed films together on one release: Hulk vs. Wolverine and Hulk vs. Thor. Release Date:Tue, 27 Jan 2009

FANS of the cult film Withnail & I have pledged to raise £145,000 to buy a cottage that appeared in the 1980s comedy.

Music and film star Hilary Duff has a new project in the works!The 21-year-old will star in 'The Story of Bonnie and Clyde' an adaptation of the story of infamous outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Variety reports.Duff will star alongside 24-year-old Kevin Zegers, and Tonya S. Holly will direct the film from her own script, the trade paper says.

Awards ceremonies, Meryl Streep joked on Sunday night in Los Angeles, 'mean nothing to me any more'. But she wasn't fooling anyone.At 59, she may be one of the most garlanded actors in history, with a record 15 Oscar nominations, but her surprise and delight, at securing an award at the Screen Actors Guild ceremony was infectious. Named as choice for outstanding performance by a female actor for her leading role in Doubt, she leapt to her feet and dashed to the stage, waving her arms in the air. 'I didn't even buy a dress!' she giggled, referring to her black trousers and blouse. 'Can I just say, there is no such thing as the best actress,' Streep told the audience, who gave her a delighted standing ovation. 'There is no such think as the greatest living actress. I am in a position where I have secret information that I know to be true.'Her idiosyncratic acceptance was one highlight of an evening which also saw an emotional speech from Anil Kapoor, a star of the British film Slumdog Mi