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A brilliant academic and campaigner, Marilyn French will be best remembered for her life-changing feminist novel, The Women's Room. Kate Mosse pays tributeYesterday I was called by a friend at the Guardian, telling me that Marilyn French, author of the feminist classic, The Women's Room, had died. I was tramping the wet fields of Sussex, looking for a lost dog, worried that the roast I'd slung in the oven was probably burning. It seemed both a peculiarly domestic setting to hear of the death of so important, so radical, a writer - and, at the same time, strangely appropriate.Later I looked out my old Sphere edition of French's iconic novel of 1977. Battered and tatty, the silver mirror cover was still easy to find on my crowded bookshelves. The title, in bright yellow capital letters, against a black silhouette of a keyhole; the strap line - This Novel Changes Lives - in a bigger typeface than the author's name. I thumbed through it with affection, and an odd sadness for the passing of

Music superstar Christina Aguilera has signed on for her first big screen project -- read on for more details. The four-time Grammy Award winner will star in Screen Gem's 'Burlesque,' Variety reports. Aguilera will play a talented singer from a small town who finds success and love while performing at a burlesque club in Los Angeles, says the trade paper.

TV News: 'Australians,' 'Border' also take home awards -- Nine's crime drama 'Underbelly' was the big winner at the 51st Logies, Australia's annual TV awards.

Venerable US newspaper and its biggest union suspend talks over job guarantees that the management wants to endThe future of the Boston Globe hangs in the balance following tense round-the-clock negotiations aimed at achieving $20m (£13m) of cost cuts to save the 137-year-old US newspaper.One of the biggest names in US journalism, the Globe sells 323,000 daily copies, making it the highest selling paper in New England and the 14th largest in the US. But its owner, the new york Times Company, has threatened to shut the paper unless it can stem losses expected to reach $85m this year.The Globe's difficulties follow the failure of leading US titles, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Classified advertising has evaporated because of its dependance on jobs, cars and property - all of which have been badly hit by the recession.The NYT Company had set a deadline of last Friday to reach a deal with unions on sweeping cuts, and later ex

We've entered the summer schedule and this year there will be a small change. Instead of dealing with just the films that have reached $1 million or more on the international chart, we will be dealing with just the films that have reached $2 million or more. The reason for this change is simple; with the rise of many midlevel markets, reaching $1 million is just not that big of a feat anymore. The best of the rest of this week's selection was Hannah Montana the Movie, which placed a healthy second with $6.95 million on 1300 screens in 13 markets for a very early total of $8.96 million. This includes second place openings in the U.K. with $3.03 million on 415 screens in the U.K., which was as expected, and $1.44 million on 346 screens over the weekend in Italy and $1.64 million in total, which was better than expected. Also, it is about a week away from topping $1 million in Poland after earning $124,000 on 105 screens over the weekend giving it $932,000 after three. Combined with th

The first ever Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival seems to be getting bigger and bigger by the week. The latest show joining the lineup is 'Comedy Blowout Hits Chi-Town,' hosted...

The biggest knuckleball of the 2009 summer box office season opened this weekend in the form of Star Trek, the second huge, effects-laden prequel to launch in two consecutive frames. Could Kirk and company match Wolverine's impressive $85 million rocket launch?

TV Ratings: NBC ratings up 7% from last year -- The last hour of Saturday's Kentucky Derby coverage earned a 10.2 rating/22 share in household overnights for NBC, a 7% increase from last year and the best in 17 years.

The big trend this summer: movie titles with colons. This past Friday saw the debut of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Coming up is Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard and Final Destination: Death Trip 3-D.

ET was with iconic models Beverly Johnson, Iman, and Hilary Rhoda as they prepped for the MET Costume Institute Gala with designer dress fittings before the big event! Hilary, who is the face of Estée Lauder, goes to a fitting with Thai-born designer Thakoon -- and she reveals that "America's Most Smartest Model" host Mary Alice Stephenson brought the two together. Watch the video to see the talented designers do fittings with the models, including Donna Karan's session with Iman.