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David Beckham Semi-Nude in Emporio Armani Magazine Photo Ads - David Beckham poses in semi-nude photos for the new Emporio Armani ad campaign. Will seeing David Beckham in the nude help Armani sell more stuff?

Dubai may be one of the wealthiest parts of the world, but it's never had a film industry - until now. Phil Hoad reports on the production of its first ever big budget movie'Are you fucking crazy?' A whole film crew looks aghast as its producer sprints alone up a section of empty motorway, waving his arms and screaming. It's 11pm, and someone is drooping. The crane arm of a cherry-picker platform tilts nonchalantlyover the road, in front of the 20-car motorcade poised to drive right over that spot. 'Raise that thing now!' The brand-new exit ramp has been borrowed for three February nights by the makers of City of Life, Dubai's first big-budget film. Part of the insane Scalextric frenzy of the Sheikh Zayed road, the highway that runs between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, this bit of tarmac is where the film's storylines wrap around each other in a multicultural pileup. Underneath the flyover, next to dormant piles of girders and wiring, are a huddle of Portakabins. This is nothing less than base

Not so fast, Sydney. It turns out Tuesday night's red-carpet affair at the Opera House was not the world premiere of the new Star Trek film. That honour went to a roomful of geeks in Texas.

The Great Depression ushered in American cinema's golden age for an escapism-hungry public. With the economy darkening again, is another renaissance on the cards?Everyone thinks numbers now: the Dow Jones has gone down by close to 3,000 points in about eight months; the US unemployment rate has gone over 8%, and every expert fears it will go higher before anything gets better. Even the suicide rate among financial experts has jumped. Actually, I made that up, but if they read this they may start jumping. And the American box office - that is to say, the amount of money exchanged for movie tickets - is up by a steady 15% over the last year. It's not that we don't study or respect history any longer - rather, it's that our patience is very short. And history, famously, takes its time. So the new generation of movie experts - the bloggers, the instant pundits - have jumped to the optimistic conclusion that the one good thing about this new depression (Our Depression, they call it) is tha

Tracey Ullman is back with a new array of characters for the second season of 'Tracey Ullman's State of the Union.' She'll be doing her own spin on Renee Zellweger, Seth Rogan, Laura Bush and J.K. Rowling.

Producers Stephen Eich and Don Foster announced casting today for the world premiere of Mark Roberts? Rantoul and Die, A Romantic Comedy Wrapped in Razor Wire at The Lillian Theater (1076 Lillian Way) in Hollywood. The new play stars Paul Dillon (originated the title role in Tracy Letts? Killer Joe) as Gary, Cynthia Ettinger (Actors? Gang?s I am not a racist, but . . .) as Debbie, Rich Hutchman (Buzzworks Theatre Company?s Invasion of the Minnesota Normals) as Rallis and Lisa Rothschiller (Chicago?s Defiant Theatre Company?s Action Movie: The Play) as Callie. Two-time Tony award-nominee Erin Quigley (costume designs for The Grapes of Wrath and The Songs of Jacob Zulu) is set to direct. Preview performances begin May 14, 2009.

A new reality TV show by US network Fox will ask workers at small businesses to vote on which of their colleagues should be fired to help the company survive, the network has announced.

Following an extremely successful off Broadway run and the sale of the film rights to New Line Cinema, ROCK OF AGES opened on Broadway, tonight, Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W. 47th Street). Previews began on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

International News: Czech Republic suffers from lack of tax incentives -- Competition for shoots in Eastern Europe has gotten fierce, with incentive plans in many U.S. states, not to mention bottom-line-loving deals in New Zealand and Australia, and Western European countries offering more attractive packages for producers.

In collaboration with 42nd Street Moon, a workshop production of a dramatic new musical Shadows of Pompeii debuts at the Eureka Theatre, April 16 - 26.