George Lucas To Retire?
Says Red Tails is his final blockbuster

Take this with a pinch of salt, since we can't imagine we'll really be saying goodbye to the great man anytime in the near future. But a lengthy and fascinating profile in the New York Times sees George Lucas claiming he's planning his retirement, now that Red Tails is almost done and dusted.

"I'm moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff," he says.

"All this kind of stuff" refers to the battle he's had to get his long-cherished WWII epic before the cameras. Turned down by every major studio, he's been forced to finance and publicise the film himself. Now he says, barring possible future Indiana Jones films, that he's withdrawing from blockbusters, and that any future projects will be small, experimental, "esoteric and screened mostly in art-houses."

Lucas also says he's weary of constant criticisms of his tinkering with the Star Wars saga, making the point that he chose a path of independence, but has ended up trading studio interference for fanboy hectoring. "On the internet, all those same guys that are complaining I made changes are completely changing the movie,” he says. “Fine. But my movie, with my name on it, that says I did it, needs to be the way I want it.  Why would I make any more [Star Wars movies] when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”

Recent comments by Rick McCallum however, do suggest that Star Wars has a future in some form, and we can't imagine that Lucas wouldn't be pulling some of those strings...

Red Tails, actually directed by Anthony Hemingway, is out in the States on January 20. Lucas' equivalent of Institute Benjamenta is, we guess, in development...

Judge says Lindsay Lohan doing well on probation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lindsay Lohan received her second favorable probation report in a row and a judge told the actress that she appears to be on track to complete a strict program by the end of March.

Lohan appeared in court for less than five minutes Tuesday to update the judge on her progress in completing strict probation terms that were imposed in November after a series of missteps by the actress.

By all accounts, the rigid program has benefited Lohan, with Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner telling Lohan that she received favorable reports from probation officials and her community service program. Lohan is doing mandatory cleanup duty at the county morgue and attending frequent psychotherapy sessions, with Sautner requiring Lohan to appear in court monthly for updates.

"Just keep doing what you're doing, you appear to be doing it well," Sautner told Lohan.

The model and actress arrived early for Tuesday's hearing, wearing black slacks, a blue blouse and matching sweater.

The "Mean Girls" star will have to work at the morgue 15 times before she returns to court on Feb. 22.

Sautner said Lohan appears to be on track to complete morgue duty and court-mandated therapy by March 29, just shy of five years after the actress' problems began with a drunken driving arrest on Memorial Day weekend in 2007. After that, she will probably be placed on informal probation that won't require court appearances.

The Kardashians' Reign May Be Ending ... Finally

COMMENTARY | There's good news for the haters. It looks like the Kardashians' brush with fame may finally be ending. With promoters saying the brand is "tarnishing" and The New York Post reporting that anything featuring the family is turning "absolutely toxic," things are not looking good for this reality star-studded family.

So it may be back to reality for the Kardashians. Back to the reality that was theirs before they became divas of reality television, that is. It seems people no longer care to have an inside look at these people's lives. In fact, there are those who admit they would be willing to pay high sums of money to keep that family away from their business. One nightclub owner even put a $600,000 price tag on that sentiment.

There's also been a "Boycott Kardashians Petition" that has been extremely popular online. As of November 25, 2011 the number of people was had signed this request to E! begging the network to take the show off the air was up to 165,000.

It seems that the people have spoken. The public doesn't want this family to continue polluting the airwaves simply because they are "The Kardashians." Perhaps, now that promoters and business owners are jumping on the bandwagon, this reality will come to pass. That is, this reality show will finally pass away into that realm of television marked "canceled."

Adele Parties with Her New Beau in London

Adele and new beau Simon Konecki shared a date night together at pan-Asian restaurant Gilgamesh in London – along with some of the singer's friends. The group sat in the VIP section, chatting over a few glasses of champagne during a party for the long-running British soap opera EastEnders. Aware of the cameras and the attention on her, the six-time Grammy nominee kept the PDA with her date dialed down. Says a source at the party: "They were definitely together, and left together, although they didn't kiss on the dance floor or anything like that." Guests, meanwhile, enjoyed mini spring rolls and sushi at the bash, which went into the wee hours of the morning.