Madonna's bedtime stories!

Madonna is in the news yet again! This time it's not for her lip-locking session with pop sensations Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

The Material girl is hogging the headlines for her second children's book -- Mr Peabody's Apples -- mentions a report on newsday.com.

Her earlier book in the series, The English Rosesi was released in September amidst much hype.

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The pop diva read out from Mr Peabody's Apples before a crowd of over 300 kids at the Montclair Kimberley Academy, in New Jersey, USA.

The singer-actress and now children's author admitted this was her first reading before a live audience. The report quotes Madonna saying: 'I think it's easier singing for a stadium full of people than this.'

Cruise encounters of the sword kind

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise almost lost his head on the sets of his forthcoming war drama, The Last Samurai.

A snippet on imdb.com mentions how Cruise nearly hurt himself during a fight sequence with co-star Hiroyuki Sanada. The shot required Sanada to swing his sword while Cruise was on a mechanical horse off-camera.

A technical glitch resulted in the machine failing to function. Luckily for Cruise and his innumerable fans, the sword's sharp edge missed his neck by an inch.

Star attractions for Shrek sequel

Shrek created history by becoming the first ever film to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

The upcoming sequel to the same will include Zorro hunk Antonio Banderas and My Best Friend's Wedding star Rupert Everett will lend their voices in DreamWorks' much awaited animated comedy.

A news item in Guardian Unlimited says Banderas will play Puss-in-Boots suffering from a Zorro fixation, while Everett transforms into Prince Charming.
 
The original vocal cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy has been retained in Shrek 2 as well.

Photo: Getty Images

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