Hollywood

The news hit hard. Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. "When I walked through those doors, that was the only place I wanted to be," said Gibson, 66, an actress who now lives in Los Angeles. She was 13, but lied about her age. American Bandstand only allowed dancers from 14 to 18. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson.

It was Thanksgiving 2010 when Steven Rea decided to do something with the pile of photographs of Hollywood movie stars riding bicycles that he'd collected over the years. That day, Rea, who has been an Inquirer movie critic since 1992 and a biking enthusiast for even longer, started to archive the pictures of silver-screen darlings on two wheels for a blog, which he named "Rides a Bike. " The response to the images came in fast and strong. By the end of the weekend, Rea says, more than 1,000 people "liked" "Rides a Bike" on Facebook.

Gowns in sparkling nudes and vibrant shades were the major red-carpet trends Saturday evening at the 155th Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball. Off-the-shoulder gowns seemed just as popular as strapless ones. And A-line silhouettes were preferred to ball gowns. In fact, Philadelphia's doyennes stepped up the glamour quotient to such heights that some of the dresses were dead ringers for gowns worn by celebrities on red carpets past. For example, first lady Lisa Nutter was particularly radiant sailing up the Academy of Music steps in a deep purple Nicole Miller gown.

WHEN THE Oscar nominations were released last week, the silence was deafening. Three actors were nominated for saying virtually nothing - two for the silent movie "The Artist," and Max Von Sydow, who was anything but extremely loud in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. " He plays a mute. Von Sydow was mum on the subject of his nomination, but issued a photostat of a handwritten note: "I don't know what to say. " Last year, everyone was talking about performers who didn't talk.

PARK CITY, Utah - Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, who met as Temple film students in the mid-1990s, last week prepared for the world premiere of their first feature, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, at the Sundance Film Festival. But just before Sundance began, terrible news broke: They'd been Rango 'ed. "Sundance gang," Heidecker posted on his Twitter feed, "B$M [Billion Dollar Movie] got Rango 'd (large portions of our movie replaced with Rango outtakes)

LOS ANGELES - Call it a forgotten paradise, a little brush-covered canyon pushed up against the majestic "Hollywood" sign. This week, everyone's been calling it a crime scene. The seclusion may have led a killer to think that it was the perfect spot to cut up a victim's body. And get rid of it, quick. A head. Feet. And hands. Whoever left the gruesome scene may be long gone now. That's one mystery, in a town that thrives on them and often rings up millions of dollars making up tales filled with gory scenes just like the one discovered Tuesday.

THE WINTER Classic was an appropriately theatrical and thrilling affair. From the underdog backup goalie starting in place of the highly paid but slumping starter to the Flyers' striking first then allowing the Rangers to score three unanswered goals to take the lead. Then finally, the dramatic, last-minute penalty shot that could have sent the game into overtime. That's how hockey games end in Hollywood movies, not in real life. Yet, with snow falling to create the perfect set, Danny Briere really did skate out to center ice and actually did take a penalty shot on Henrik Lundqvist with 19.6 seconds left.

NEW ORLEANS - Sitting near the New Orleans streetcar line aboard a van equipped with video screens and a speaker system, tourists watch actress Vivien Leigh ride the city's vintage electric rail vehicles in a scene from the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire. In the French Quarter, passengers look on as Bruce Willis escapes attackers outside a praline shop in the 2010 film Red. They also watch a young Kirsten Dunst bite into a woman's neck in Jackson Square in one of her early roles, as a bloodthirsty child vampire in 1994's Interview With the Vampire.

LOS ANGELES - The crew of NCIS: Los Angeles was in the middle of filming a scene on the Venice boardwalk when a man wearing only his underwear and a cape rode by on his bicycle shouting obscenities. On another occasion, a stranger wielding a plastic light saber showed up on the set and challenged one of the actors to a duel, temporarily halting production. "Those kind of things continually go on in Venice, but we love going down there because it's so colorful and captures the essence of what people think Southern California is - the beaches, the sunshine, the palms and the craziness," said Tony Salome, location manager for the crime drama starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Venice Beach, a storied cinematic backdrop since the silent film era, continues to play a starring role in Hollywood.

CHRIS PAUL IS headed to Los Angeles for real this time - to the Clippers, not the Lakers. The Hornets have traded Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman and a first-round draft choice. The deal required the approval of NBA commissioner David Stern because the Hornets are owned by the league. The move puts an end to a tortured week in which the Hornets' season sat in limbo while the NBA took a public relations beating over everything from potential conflicts of interest, to retarding the Hornets' pursuit of free agents, to disrespecting the New Orleans fan base.