Movies

And he couldn't be happier.

The shirts are the ones worn by the ill-fated lovers, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in Oscar front-runner "Brokeback Mountain." The shirts that represent their relationship. The shirts that, to Gregory, represent the ongoing plight of gays for acceptance in society.

"They really are the ruby slippers of our time," said Gregory, 45.

A longtime gay activist, Gregory plans to keep the shirts "as they were, on the hanger, entwined."

"I would never wear them, put them on, or separate them," he said.

Gregory collects signed celebrity photos from Hollywood's golden age, but this is his first foray into movie props. Focus Features, distributor of "Brokeback Mountain," donated the two shirts, which were sold on the auction Web site ebay.com to benefit Variety -- The Children's Charity of Southern California.

Gregory logged his winning bid -- $101,100.51 -- just 28 seconds before the 10-day auction came to a close on Monday.

Jason Kaminsky, UCLA campus events commissioner, made the announcement Tuesday. An awards ceremony is scheduled for March 7.

"It was said that Spencer Tracy's natural style set him apart from actors of his time and set performance standards for future generations," Kaminsky said. "We think that the same can be said for the acting of Mr. Freeman."

The film beat out a literary biopic "Capote," L.A. story "Crash," 1950s drama "Good Night, and Good Luck" and the British favorite "The Constant Gardener."

"The Constant Gardener," a spy thriller and love story, went into the ceremony with 10 nominations, but took only one award, for editing. "Memoirs of a Geisha" won three awards, for cinematography, music and costume design.

She's French actress Eva Green. She'll star in the new "Casino Royale" as the character of Vesper.

Green's film debut was a couple of years ago in the ultra-steamy movie "The Dreamers." The director of that N-C-17 film had once said Eva Green is "so beautiful it's indecent."

Now, Green will use that beauty opposite the new James Bond, Daniel Craig.

In other casting news, Jeffrey Wright, who's currently in "Syriana," will play a character named Felix Leiter in the new Bond film.

The Ang Lee-directed movie about a longtime affair between two cowboys is nominated for best director, best picture and best actor for Ledger.

Other nominations include best supporting actress for Ledger's fiancee, Michelle Williams, and best supporting actor for co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.

"The movie's already exceeded any expectations I had," Ledger told reporters Wednesday at the Berlin International Film Festival. "I think pleasing Annie Proulx, the writer, and getting her nod of approval was the biggest success for me, for us."

Ledger was in Berlin to promote "Candy," a film that saw him return to his native Australia and star as a man who joins his girlfriend on a downward spiral into heroin addiction.

Berry's performance in the 2004 action bomb earned her a worst actress award in last year's Razzies, a spoof of the Oscar's that trashes Hollywood's worst.

Berry also shook her hips in a faux-comic "dance competition" to prove her superpower skills and to "test" her abilities as an action star.

Before she was given the traditional brass pudding pot during a roast at Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theater, Berry danced suggestively with a Harvard student dressed like a French poodle, which Berry's presenter's dubbed Catwoman's "Dogman" nemesis, a character invented for the skit.

She also acted out scenes from "Monster's Ball," a film for which she won an Oscar and a SAG award in 2002.

The awards, announced Thursday, are given to performers who have made a "lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment," by Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe.

Berry will lead a parade through the streets of Harvard Square on Feb. 16, with students dressed in drag.

Berry, 39, won an Oscar and a SAG award for her performance in "Monster's Ball." She also earned an Emmy for her performance in the HBO film "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge."

Berry will reprise her role as Storm in "X3," the third installment in the "X-Men" series, due May 26.

Gere, 56, won a Golden Globe for best comedy-musical actor, for "Chicago." His other work includes "An Officer and a Gentleman," "American Gigolo," "Internal Affairs" and "Pretty Woman."

Gere is also the founder of the Gere Foundation, which contributes to health education and human rights projects and is dedicated to promoting awareness of Tibet's endangered culture.

"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)" may be the first gay cowboy song by a major recording artist. But it was written long before this year's Oscar-nominated "Brokeback Mountain" made gay cowboys a hot topic.

Available exclusively through iTunes, the song features choppy Tex-Mex style guitar runs and Nelson's deadpan delivery of lines like, "What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" and "Inside every cowboy there's a lady who'd love to slip out."

The song, which debuted Tuesday on Howard Stern's satellite radio show, was written by Texas-born singer-songwriter Ned Sublette in 1981. Sublette said he wrote it during the "Urban Cowboy" craze and always imagined Nelson singing it.

Someone passed a copy of the song to Nelson back in the late 1980s and, according to Nelson's record label, Lost Highway, he recorded it last year at his Pedernales studio in Texas.

Athletic Brandon -- whose known as 'BJ' to his family and friends -- beat out big names like Ashton Kutcher, Josh Hartnett and Nicolas Cage, to star in the new $100 million blockbuster 'Superman Returns.'

"BJ's thrilled to be picked to play Superman and I know he's up to the task of taking over from Christopher Reeve. My son is very comfortable in his own skin and he's up for the role of a lifetime," his father tells TMZ.

The 6'2" actor was raised in a modest home by his carpenter father Ron and school-teacher mom Katie with his two sisters and brother. Brandon's former drama teacher, Margo Murillo, knew his calling after his first school play. "Brandon is a naturally gifted actor," she says. "During our production of the Neil Simon play, 'Plaza Suite,' he brought the house down with his performance."

"He's not the kind of guy to go out partying every night but he has a good sense of humor," Murillo added. "One time he had the whole school in stitches after he dressed-up as a hunky male stripper to surprise a teacher."

Routh has had bit parts on 'The Gilmore Girls,' 'Will & Grace' and 'Cold Case.' His attention grabbing break came when Christina Aguilera hand-picked him for her video to the smash hit 'What A Girl Wants.'

Warner Brothers' 'Superman Returns' director Bryan Singer wanted an unknown actor for the part and when the Iowa native walked into their casting office they immediately knew they had their man.

Routh will be the second Iowa-born actor to play the Man Of Steel. George Reeves -- who played the superhero on television in the 1950's -- was also from the 'Hawkeye' State. Reeves was found shot dead in a mysterious suicide at his Hollywood home on June 19, 1959. He was 45.

McKellen, 66, was picking up an honorary Golden Bear the festival's top prize at a ceremony Saturday, accompanied by a screening of the 1995 film version of "Richard III."

"I still hope I've got a lot of life left on stage and making films," McKellen said.

After "Richard III," he picked up an Oscar nomination for his part in 1998's "Gods and Monsters" and gained worldwide fame by playing the wizard Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" movies and appearing in the "X-Men" films. Upcoming roles include the part of Sir Leagh Teabing in the movie of "The Da Vinci Code."

The actor, a prominent gay rights campaigner, was guarded as to what impact the success of the Oscar front-runner "Brokeback Mountain" might have.

It remains "very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality and even more difficult for a woman," he said. "The film industry is very old-fashioned in California."

Wendy Benchley, married to the author for 41 years, said he died Saturday night at their home in Princeton, N.J. The cause of death, she said, was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and a fatal scarring of the lungs.

New Line's horror sequel "Final Destination 3" ran a close second with $20.1 million, followed by Universal's animated "Curious George" at No. 3 with $15.3 million and the Warner Bros. thriller "Firewall" starring Harrison Ford in fourth with $13.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The overall box office rose slightly despite the Winter Olympics and a Northeast snowstorm, both of which kept many movie-goers at home. The top 12 movies took in $106.8 million, up 3 percent over the same weekend last year, when "Hitch" opened as the No. 1 movie with $43.2 million.

After a slump in which attendance dropped 7 percent in 2005, Hollywood is off to a better start this year. Revenues are at just over $1 billion, up 8 percent from last year's. Factoring in higher ticket prices, attendance has risen 5 percent, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"I don't think we're going to win any," a deadpan Clooney told reporters Friday, where "Syriana" was screened at Berlin's annual film festival. "There's been a lot of 'Brokeback Mountain' stuff."

His nomination in the screenplay category for "Good Night, and Good Luck" puts him up against Stephen Gaghan, who wrote and also directed "Syriana."

In "Syriana," Clooney plays a veteran CIA agent assigned to assassinate the heir to the throne in an oil-rich Persian Gulf country.

"Oscar nominations are as important as anything," he said. "The hope is that people will see this film I don't know about wins."

Clooney grew a beard and piled on weight for the role.

"It'll be such an important night," says the 61-year-old amateur cowboy and rodeo competitor, who feels that "Brokeback Mountain" tells the story of his own gay life and struggles in a strikingly personal way.

Gay activist groups are anticipating the March 5 Academy Awards, where "Brokeback Mountain" is favored to win as many as eight Oscars, as a rallying point and a crucial moment for their cause.

One group likens it to the April 1997 moment when Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian on her sitcom. Susanne Salkind of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay rights group, said Oscar night will be an opportunity to raise gay issues "to another level in American culture."

Last Friday, the group sent e-mails to 120,000 members, encouraging them to hold house parties on Oscar night -- just as it did the night DeGeneres came out. It's also sending out "Oscar party kits" to help in recruiting, and is offering prizes of T-shirts, bags and watches, depending on how many new members get signed up.

"We want to transform this social occasion into something much more important," Salkind said.