Michelle Obama says it was “absolutely not surprising” to her that her satellite appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony provoked a national conversation about whether it was appropriate, after some conservative critics accused her of selfishly crashing the event in an attempt to upstage it.

She attributed the chatter to a culture shift that has spawned legions of bloggers, tweeters and others who talk about anything and everything all the time.

“Shoot, my bangs set off a national conversation. My shoes can set off a national conversation. That’s just sort of where we are. We’ve got a lot of talking going on,” the first lady said somewhat jokingly on Thursday before an appearance in Chicago, her hometown. “It’s like everybody’s kitchen-table conversation is now accessible to everybody else, so there’s a national conversation about anything.”

In what was not the first-ever Oscar appearance by a first lady, Mrs. Obama was beamed live from the White House into Sunday’s ceremony in Los Angeles to unseal the envelope and announce that the night’s final award, for Best Picture, would go to ‘Argo’. In 2002, Laura Bush appeared at the ceremony on videotape.

Americans have long been fascinated by their first ladies, scrutinising everything from their clothes and hair to the issues they promote and how they raise their children. Mrs. Obama acknowledged that she and President Barack Obama have added appeal, and perhaps sometimes are subject to extra scrutiny because they are the first black family in the White House but also a young couple with young children.

She said she doesn’t give a second thought to critical comments about what she does as first lady.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences plans to open the 17,000-square-foot amphitheatre next May as a venue to show classic films.The overseers of the Academy Awards are building an outdoor theatre and event space on a piece of land in Hollywood that had been intended for a film museum.

The academy bought the land in 2005 with plans to build a world-class film museum there.

Planners abandoned that idea after the economy went sour, making it impossible to raise the funds needed to build a whole new facility.In October, the academy announced plans to lease a former May Co. department store now owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and put the movie museum there.

Penelope Cruz  is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television. Spanish actress Penelope Cruz arrived in Rome on Thursday to start work on The Bop Decameron, a new Woody Allen comedy that will be set in the Eternal City and feature her as protagonist.

I'm really happy to be in Rome and to shoot a film with Woody Allen, said the actress who arrived with her six month old son, Leo, and two bodyguards.

Cruz won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn as an unstable artist in the 2008 Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. While filming that project, she began dating fellow Spaniard and Oscar winner Javier Bardem, and the two wed last year.

The American director and native New Yorker presented his work plan on Wednesday at the Rome city hall, telling Mayor Gianni Alemanno that Rome is the world's most romantic city, outdistancing even New York or Barcelona. Allen said he will turn the Italian capital into an immense cinematographic dish featuring 69 distinct film locations.

Other cast members of The Bop Decameron, Allen's 42nd film, include Italian actors Roberto Benigni, Antonio Albanese and Riccardo Scamarcio and Americans Alec Baldwin and Jesse Eisenberg. Filming is scheduled to start this week and conclude at the end of August.

Actress Natalie Portman and her fiance, Benjamin Millepied, named their son Aleph.The couple, who welcomed their first child last month, have named the child Aleph, which means the numeral "1" in Hebrew.Aleph is also the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The name can also be spelled "alef." The esoteric meaning in Judaic Kabbalah relates to the origin of the universe, the "primordial one that contains all numbers.Natalie Portman, who is originally from Israel, learned to speak Hebrew when she was growing up.Actress Natalie  met Millepied on the set of Black Swan, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress earlier this year. She most recently starred in Thor.

A Padama Shri recipient India's highest civilian award Aamir Khan was born on 14 March 1965 in Mumbai, India to a family of film directors. His father Tahir Hussain is a producer of Hindi movies.His younger brother Faisal Khan has tried his hand at acting, though without any success. Amir Khan began his acting career as a child actor in movies such as 'Yaadon Ki Baraat' in1973, and 'Madhosh' (1974). His first movie as an adult was the hard hitting and dark 'Holi' (1984) directed by well known director Ketan Mehta. Mehta was to direct Khan again in 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising' (2005).

But the year of reckoning for Khan has to be 1988, when he acted as the leading man for the first time in 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak'. Khan's performance in this movie not only earned him rave reviews and colossal female fan following in India, but also established him as a 'young heart throb'. Early 90's saw many of his movies receive mixed reactions at the box office. However, his most successful films after Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak include 'Dil' (1990), 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander' (1992), 'Rangeela' (1995) and 'Raja Hindustani' (1996). Khan has also acted in many critically acclaimed movies such as 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke' (1993), for which he wrote the screenplay as well, 'Ghulam' (1998) that was a huge commercial hit, as 'Ice Candy Man' in Deepa Mehta's offbeat movie 'Earth-1947' (1998) and in the quintessential cop drama 'Sarfarosh' (1999).

2001 was again a year of reckoning and hyperactive activity and global acclaim for Khan. Two of his best films  'Lagaan' that was also nominated for the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film besides other numerous awards, and 'Dil Chahta Hai' a story about three friends in Urban India were resounding successes. Khan proved that if he could act the role of a poor farmer to perfection, he could also perfect the act of a super cool dude! And for three years Khan did not act in any movies. He came back with a bang in 2005 with 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising' that was declared the biggest flop of the year, and in 2006 he acted in 'Rang De Basanti' a movie that takes a look at patriotism and corruption in Urban and growing India. The movie was the biggest hit of the year and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars though it failed to make the final five. But, it was short listed for the BAFTAs. His other film 'Fanaa' (2006) where he plays the role of a terrorist is also one of the highest grossing movies of the year.

Aishwarya Rai, a massive star in her native India, is expecting her first child with her husband, the actor/producer Abhishek Bachchan. Western audiences might recognize Rai from 2004's "Bride and Prejudice" or 2009's  "The Pink Panther 2."  Once dubbed "the most beautiful woman in the world," Rai won the 1994 Miss World  pageant. She's also the first Indian actress to be immortalized in wax at London's  Madame Tussaud's.

In India, Rai has won two Filmfare Awards, the equivalent of Oscars and in 2010 was included on TIME's list of 100 most influential people in the world.

It is celebration time in the Bachchan household. Aishwarya Rai's father-in-law has confirmed the Indian actress is pregnant with her first child. Amitabh broke the news via Twitter. Aishwarya Rai and her husband Abhishek Bachchan are expecting a baby! This will be the first child for Rai, 37, and actor Bachchan, 35. The couple wed on April 20, 2007 in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence, Prateeksha, in Juhu, Mumbai. Aishwarya is expecting! So happy and thrilled!"

American and Israeli actress Natalie Portman has a baby boy to go along with her Oscar.The actress gave birth to her first child with fiance Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer of Black Swan.A publicist for Portman did not return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.The 30-year-old actress and Millepied, a well-regarded ballet dancer and choreographer, met during the making of Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller that stars Portman as a ballet dancer.Portman won the best actress Academy Award in February for her performance in the movie.

American film actress,former child model and the Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly is a mother of three !On 31 May at their home in New York City,her husband and The Dilemma Star Paul Bettany welcomed a baby girl.Little Agnes was born via scheduled home water birth in a birthing pool,Everyone is healthy and doing well,The family is very excited.

Us first broke the news first back in December that the actress was expecting again.In January, Connelly opened up on the Late Show with David Letterman about extreme nausea -- and cravings! -- during her third pregnancy.

"The first three months were very sketchy," Connelly admitted. "You know how like you have your cell phone and you have to stand in one spot? It was like that with nausea. I had to stand in one spot, which happened to be in front of my refrigerator, which was open with me dipping pretzels in cream cheese and stuffing them in my mouth."After meeting on the set of 2001's A Beautiful Mind, Connelly and British actor Bettany, 40, wed in a small, intimate ceremony in Scotland in 2003.