Knight Ridder Newspapers

LONDON (AP) – British movie fans have voted Mickey Rourke “man of the year” for his portrayal of the swaggering down-on-his-luck Marv in “Sin City.”

“Batman Begins,” the most recent adventure of the comic superhero starring Christian Bale in the title role, was voted top film of 2005.

The movie fought off competition from “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” to land the No. 1 spot in the poll of 15,000 film fans by Total Film magazine. The poll was released Sunday.

Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid, who played Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in “Revenge of the Sith,” was named best movie villain; 11-year-old Dakota Fanning was named best child actor for her role in Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds”; and the nut-eating squirrels in Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” were named best movie animal.

“”Batman Begins’ was a smart but funny reinvention of an iconic figure and had fantastic performances. It was also excellently directed by Christopher Nolan,” said Total Film editor Nev Pierce.

“Film fans want more and “Batman Begins’ overcomes the horrible taste that previous outing “Batman & Robin’ left in people’s mouths,” Pierce said.

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On the Net:

http://www.totalfilm.com/

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PARIS (AP) – Gerard Depardieu told a newspaper that he’s ending his film career – and swears he wasn’t drunk when he said it.

“I’m in the process of stopping filming,” the Oscar-nominated actor was quoted as saying in weekly Le Parisien Dimanche. “I’m a guy who’s leaving! A guy who’s not drunk. For once.”

Depardieu, one of France’s most prolific actors, was speaking on the set of an upcoming French film and is scheduled to appear in a new installment of the “Asterix” series next year, the newspaper said.

But he insisted his career will soon be over.

“I have nothing to lose,” the 56-year-old star said. “I have done 170 films. I have nothing left to prove. I am not going to hang on like a jerk.”

Depardieu was a leading French actor of the 1980s and 1990s with hits such as “Green Card” and “Jean de Florette.” He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

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TOKYO (AP) – Helena Bonham Carter and Kichitaro Negishi were among the winners at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Negishi’s “What the Snow Brings,” which portrays the lives of two brothers in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, won the $100,000 Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix award Sunday for best film. Negishi and lead actor Koichi Sato also bagged top prizes.

“I wanted to portray the family, which is something of a tradition in Japanese film,” Negishi said in his acceptance speech.

Hou Hsiao Hsien, a Taiwanese director whose 1998 film, “Flowers of Shanghai,” depicts life in a 19th-century Shanghai brothel, was awarded a special prize named after Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa.

Jin Yaqin and Bonham Carter were named best actresses. The film “Conversations With Other Women,” which starred Bonham Carter, also received a special jury award.

Chinese director Zhang Yimou and “Memoirs of a Geisha” actress Kaori Momoi were among those who handed out the prizes in a glitzy finale held at Roppongi Hills, a futuristic entertainment complex in central Tokyo.

About 267,000 people attended the festival, organizers said.

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) – Ludacris finally performed for East Tennessee State University students after weeks of arguments with city officials.

The concert had been scheduled at city-owned Freedom Hall Civic Center, but City Manager Pete Peterson rejected the contract because he had security concerns.

School officials allowed the event to be held in the ETSU Memorial Center, where an estimated 5,000 people showed up for the performance.

“Ya heard it took a lot to get (me) here, right?” the 28-year-old rapper asked the crowd after his first song Thursday night.

Many students thought the city rejected the contract because Ludacris’ songs include profanity, references to drugs, violence and misogyny.

“I can understand where people are coming from, but at the same time, this is America and we have freedom of speech,” said ETSU senior Jennifer Davis. “I have the choice if I want to go see something like this or not.”

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On the Net:

http://www6.defjam.com/ludacris/home.php

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First Rocky Balboa. now Rambo?

Yes, it’s apparently a one-two punch of Sylvester Stallone reprising his much younger days. He’ll return to his role as gun-toting John Rambo in “Rambo IV,” says Ben Nedivi of Millennium Films, which is producing the project with Emmett/Furla Films. A Stallone spokeswoman said the actor wasn’t available for comment Friday.

The 59-year-old Stallone recently announced he’ll bring his boxer character out of retirement with “Rocky Balboa,” the sixth film in that franchise. Shooting is set to begin here next year. Nedivi said the $50 million “Rambo IV” would recapture the rawness of “First Blood,” which launched the franchise in 1982. Production is set to begin after “Balboa” wraps.