Next year's Oscar nominees will be announced on January 15, and the show itself held on February 22 -- back to its regular slot after being held in March this year due to the winter Olympics.

The timetable leading up to the Oscars, traditionally the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season, was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Oscar-winning actress, comedienne and talk-show host Whoopi Goldberg sang the praises of marijuana inhaled through a pocket vaporizer on Thursday as she made her debut as an online pot columnist.

"The vape pen has changed my life. No, I’m not exaggerating. In fact, her name is Sippy." wrote Goldberg, 58, about her pocket vaporizer on "The Cannabist," a pot-friendly website run by the Denver Post newspaper in Colorado.

“Transcendence” is the kind of movie that thinks it’s really smart, when in fact it’s actually quite dumb. To be fair, the film has impeccable production values, and that’s no surprise given that first time director Wally Pfister has collaborated with Christopher Nolan on numerous occasions, and even took home an Oscar for best cinematography for his work on “Inception.” This feels very Nolan-esque in that it tackles big ideas, has similar music, a similar cast, and everything is filmed on a grand scale. The problem is that many of the film’s ideas are very half-baked and come off as silly. For a movie that takes itself so seriously, it doesn’t have the logic to back it up. Oh, and Johnny Depp is pretty bad in it, too.

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is passionate about creating an omniscient AI that can help solve many of humanity’s problems, but his enthusiasm isn’t shared by everyone. When a radical anti-technology organization poisons Dr. Caster, leaving him with a few weeks to live, he and his longtime partner and wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), along with the help of Max Waters (Paul Bettany), successfully transfer his consciousness into a high-powered computer, giving him the ability to live on long after his physical body has perished. As Will becomes more powerful, his reach becomes limitless, which begins to pose a big threat to the rest of the world.

Today in important Nineties nostalgia news, the eminently watchable Mrs Doubtfire is to get a sequel, with Robin Williams reportedly stepping back into his apron as the irrepressible Euphegenia Doubtfire.

Chris Columbus will return to direct the film, according to The Wrap, with Elf writer David Berenbaum penning the script.

Egypt has suspended screenings of Lebanese film and pop star Haifa Wehbe's latest movie after criticism over scenes deemed sexually provocative.

Interim premier Ibrahim Mahlab ordered "Halawet Rooh" (Beauty of the Soul) off the screens until Egypt's censorship board reviews it again, the prime minister's office said late Wednesday.

The Budweiser Made in America music festival is coming to Los Angeles, but who is performing and how the city will manage the two-day concert are still mysteries.

Jay Z and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti held a news conference Wednesday to announce the music festival, which is planned for Labor Day weekend and will be held simultaneously with one in Philadelphia. They did not announce the lineup of performers or address residents' concerns about the venue — a park in downtown Los Angeles that is crossed by several streets and partially surrounded by residential buildings.

Court records show Will Arnett has filed for divorce from Amy Poehler more than 18 months after the comedians announced their separation.

Arnett filed a divorce petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on April 8 citing irreconcilable differences. His filing seeks joint custody of the pair's two sons, who are ages 3 and 5.

Cannes film festival organisers on Thursday unveil their pick of the A-listers and art house "auteurs" chosen to take part in this year's movie extravaganza on the French Riviera.

Of the hundreds of films submitted each year, only around 20 are rewarded with a coveted slot in the official line-up of films invited to compete for the top Palme d'Or prize.

Hatsune Miku, a computer-generated Japanese pop star who performs as a hologram, is to support some of Lady Gaga's tour of North America next month, the U.S. songstress has announced on Twitter.

The pixel-perfect pop princess, whose voice is also the product of digital code, will perform in 3D alongside a band made of real musicians at shows starting in Atlanta on May 6.

More than 50 Bollywood filmmakers, actors and writers on Wednesday urged Indians not to vote for the party of Hindu nationalist hardliner Narendra Modi in the ongoing general election.

The group signed an appeal calling on Indians to choose a "secular" party, without naming Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).