ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

FILM/ WALLACE & GROMIT FEATURE ON HOLIDAY STAMPS: Academy-award winning characters Wallace & Gromit are to feature on the UK Royal Mail's 2010 Christmas stamps. The animation man and dog are shown posting cards on the 1st class stamp, carol singing on the 2nd class and dressing a tree on the 60p version. Gromit carries a big pudding on the 97p stamp and wears a jumper on the £1.46. Royal Mail designers worked closely with Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park on the scenes for the stamps. The stamps, which go on sale November 2, were created using the same approach as in the films featuring the clay models. A Royal Mail spokesman said the festive stamps were one of the finest sets ever produced.

FILM/ IRELAND BANS 1978 HORROR PIC: Irish film censors have banned the re-release of a controversial 1978 horror movie. The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) has blocked the sale of the DVD "I Spit on Your Grave," starring Buster Keaton's granddaughter Camille Keaton. The film was prohibited for depicting acts of gross violence and cruelty towards humans. Director Meir Zarchi said he was not surprised Ireland banned the film. It tells the story of an aspiring writer who is repeatedly gang-raped and left for dead by 4 men whom she systematically hunts down for revenge. "It has relentlessly continued to shock and offend audiences since 1978 when it was 1st released, and it still does to this date," he said. "However, with the level of graphic violence and horror available these days, it is surprising that IFCO sees this 1978 film as more offensive than some of the most daring and empty of content torture porn available today." The IFCO last made a prohibition order in 2007 when watchdogs banned the video game, "Manhunt 2". "I Spit On Your Grave" was regarded as one of the most graphic and violent films in cinema history. The cult film, originally released under the name "Day of the Woman" is still available in many countries around the world.  The movie has also been remade and will be in cinemas early next year.

MUSIC/ GAGA & PERRY LEAD MTV EUROPE NOMS: Katy Perry and Lady Gaga leadi the nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards with 5 nods each. The singers are up against each other in the best pop, female, song and video categories, with Gaga also up for best live act and Perry nominated for best world stage performance. Muse lead the British charge with 3 nods, including best rock, live act and world stage performance. Eminem is up for 4 awards including best hip hop, male, song and video for his collaboration with Rihanna on hit single "Love the Way You Lie". Usher has also picked up 3 nods in the best pop, male and song categories. Muse will compete against Thirty Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park and Kings of Leon and Ozzy Osbourne in the best rock category, while Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, B.o.B, Jason Derulo and British rapper Plan B will go head to head in competition for best new act. The ceremony will take place in Madrid on November 7. Full details on all the nominations can be found on the MTV Europe website.

TV/ ABC ORDERS PAN AM PILOT: ABC has ordered a new drama based on the Airline PAN AM. The show will reportedly focus on the Pilots and Flight Attendants working for the company in the 1960s. "ER" writer Jack Orman has signed up to direct the project, while Thomas Schlamme, who previously worked on "The West Wing," is expected to direct. The program will be based in New York, but will have some scenes set in Miami and other foreign cities. A Sony Pictures TV spokesman said that "Mad Men" made shows set in the 1960s "more acceptable" but added: "I don't think we'd go out and imitate what "Mad Men" does." The spokesman said that the project is the most viable drama they've seen in a long time.

THEATRE/ "CATCH ME" BOOKS BROADWAY: "Catch Me If You Can," the new musical by Tony Award winners Scott Wittman, Marc Shaiman and Terrence McNally, will begin Broadway previews March 7, 2011, at a Nederlander theatre to be announced. "Hairspray" songwriters Shaiman and Wittman wrote the score to the musical based on the DreamWorks film of the same name. "Catch Me If You Can" will officially open April 10, 2011. According to press notes, "Catch Me If You Can": "Captures the astonishing true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a world-class con artist who passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and a jet pilot—all before the age of 21. With straight-arrow FBI agent Carl Hanratty on Frank's trail, we're off on a jet-setting, cat-and-mouse chase, as a jazzy, swinging-sixties score keeps this adventure in constant motion. In the end, Agent Hanratty learns he and Frank aren't so very different after all, and Frank finds out what happens when love catches up to a man on the run."