Emma Watson: I Wasn't Bullied at Brown

Contrary to what some have suggested, no one yelled “10 points for Gryffindor” when Emma Watson answered questions at Brown. Indeed, her decision to leave for the semester had “nothing to do with bullying,” she writes on her website in a note picked up by the Leaky Cauldron. “I have never been bullied in my life and certainly never at Brown. This '10 points to Gryffindor' incident never even happened.”

“I feel the need to say this because accusing Brown students of something as serious as bullying and this causing me to leave seems beyond unfair,” she continues. As for next year, “Please don't try and speculate about what I might do in September—no one can possibly know because I don't even know yet!”

Gamers Lose Big in Massive Online Poker Bust

The online poker world is reeling after this weekend’s massive US government crackdown on online poker sites. The Department of Justice indicted the owners of the three largest sites—Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker—for bank fraud, illegal gambling, and money laundering on Friday, shutting down all three sites, the Wall Street Journal reports. The indictment said the defendants used fraudulent methods to trick financial institutions into processing payments on their behalf following a 2006 law that made such payments illegal.
It said they sometimes arranged for money from US gamblers to be disguised as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls. The government also seized 76 bank accounts, many of which contained players’ money. The government knew exactly where to strike, because it persuaded the “boy genius” who helped invent the sites’ e-commerce systems to help them, the Courier-Mail reports. Daniel Tzvetkoff had already fallen out with the sites, who were suing him for $100 million, when the government arrested him in April. He was released on bail in August—after a secret meeting with prosecutors, in which he gave them everything they needed to take down the sites.

Predicting Tornados Still a "Crapshoot"

Even with 21st-century technology, predicting tornadoes is still largely a matter of guesswork, reports the New York Times. Scientists know the weather conditions that create tornadoes, but can't accurately say when those conditions will be just right. "There’s a large crapshoot aspect," says a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "A little quirky thing can set one off at one time, and another time not."

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is trying a different approach to improve forecasting, notes the Times in a separate story. The region will set up a network of small radar devices—like "many pairs of eyes," says one official—in cities and suburbs to better track and monitor fast-moving storms. In theory, that will be an improvement over having one large system trying to do the same job in slower sweeps. Tornadoes often form so quickly, they don't show up on Doppler.

Oh look, it’s yet another The Fast and the Furious sequel. Surely critics will summarily lambaste it and move on. Wait, what’s this? They like it? It has a 77% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes? It’s all true. Here’s what they’re saying:

•“Bless me father of all critic gods for I have sinned: I liked Fast Five,” confesses Peter Travers in Rolling Stone. “I watched the cars smashing in IMAX and smiled.” Sure the acting is terrible, but “the cast has relaxed into their own ineptitude. They're enjoying the whole crazy business. And you will too.”
•“Fast Five is, so far, the most honest Hollywood movie of the year,” and the most fun to boot, writes Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe. Vin Diesel and the Rock “are the Pacino and De Niro of absurdly muscled, totally bald, racially mixed action heroes.”


•“The movie is made of sheer, preposterous, and nonstop impossible action, muscular macho guys, hot chicks,” and inept bad guys, writes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. “That can be amusing for some people, not so much for me. What I missed were laughs.” The only really funny part was at the end, when they urged people not to try these stunts at home.
•Kyle Smith of the New York Post has one teensy little complaint: “Until the finale, it has no car chases to speak of,” just a lot of dull caper-plotting. It’s only two hours long “because it takes that long to read every item in the cliché dictionary.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The film that Harry Potter fans have been waiting for - and dreading - is approaching fast.

On July 15, the final instalment in the Harry Potter series will be released, bringing an end to the action-packed saga that has gripped the world for over 15 years since J.K. Rowling's first novel was released.

A sneak peek at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has been released, with a teaser trailer and the film's stars talking about what we can expect from the climactic film.

Scroll down to watch the video


The end is near: Harry, Hermione and Ron are back for the final gripping instalment Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

The first Deathly Hallows film broke an incredible five box office records in the UK when it was released in November.

It took in £18.3 million on its opening weekend in the UK and $125 million at the US box office. To date it has taken an estimated £404 million worldwide.

The final film will the see the much-anticipated battle between Harry Potter and his nemesis Lord Voldermort.

In the featurette, Daniel Radcliffe says: 'Something's got to give. Harry is aware that the floodgates are open and that he is going to have to be the one that deals with Voldermort.

Pirates of Carribean 4

Bust out the rum and wake up the parrot, mateys; the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has emerged!

Check out the clip below, featuring Johnny Depp reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow. (The film also co-stars franchise newcomer Penelope Cruz).

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides hits the big screen on May 20, 2011. Will you be excited to have Captain Jack back? Let us know in the comments section!

Coming Soon: Terminator 5?

Terminator 5, starring the Governator? It's a possibility: CAA, which represents Arnold Schwarzenegger, is shopping around a package that includes rights to a new sequel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The movie would be the fifth in the franchise and, in addition to starring Schwarzenegger, would be directed by Justin Lin (who has directed The Fast and the Furious sequels) and produced by Robert Cort (everything from Cocktail to Runaway Bride).