AP - NEW YORK (AP) — A-Rod and the Material Girl? That's a lot of hits. Reports that Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez and Madonna have become close just as their marriages are disintegrating have both the celebrity gossip industry and the sporting world — each a chatty bunch — buzzing with questions about the two "friends."

AP - Lost scenes from the sci-fi classic "Metropolis," recently discovered in the archives of a Buenos Aires museum, were shown to journalists for the first time in decades on Thursday.

Reuters - Actor Josh Peck has spent much ofhis teenage and young adult life in front of television camerasportraying the chubby, goofy character Josh in the Nickelodeoncable TV series "Drake & Josh."

Reuters - Film historians had doubted they wouldever find the missing portions of "Metropolis" -- until threereels of the science fiction film made in Germany a long timeago, were discovered in a country far, far away.

AP - A foundation created by Steven Spielberg is giving $1 million to the National Museum of American Jewish History.

AP - Will Smith usually plays the hero in his summer blockbusters. But in "Hancock," he drinks, swears, mouths off — and goes to prison.

AP - Partially eclipsed by the glitterati of Cannes and the royal glare of Monaco, Nice is a place where even the brightest stars — like Brangelina — are greeted by little more than indifference.

AP - Christie Brinkley testified at her divorce trial Thursday that the day she learned her husband was having an affair with a teenager was the day "my life as I knew it had vanished."

Reuters - When Oscar-winning director AlexGibney began filming the story of drug-addled U.S. journalistHunter S. Thompson at the late author's funeral, he says it wasone of his "greatest failures" in making the documentary.

Reuters - The prehistoric epic"10,000 BC" scored a triple victory on the latest home videocharts, topping the national DVD sales and rental charts aswell as the Blu-ray Disc sales chart its first week in stores.

E! Online - Happy 232nd birthday, America! Along with baseball, Britney and oh so many flavors of Doritos, you've given the world an uncountable wealth of movies to enjoy. On this momentous holiday weekend, let's focus on nine films that most fully embody the American spirit, plus a 10th to be determined by E! Online readers. (See, that's some freedom of choice right there!)

E! Online - We've been keeping our eye on Matt Damon, and not just because he's the Sexiest Man Alive. For quite some time, Damon had seemed to be plumping up like Ball Park Frank.

E! Online - With the Fourth rapidly approaching, it's a relatively slow time for Hollywood dealmakers, but there is a little action on the Couch.

E! Online - Heading into the holiday weekend, there are no fireworks coming from the Screen Actors Guild.

E! Online - Daniel Craig's cover is about to be blown. He's the cool and suave new James Bond, but the dudes working on the Quantum of Solace video game revealed his true identity: game geek. And one who's not quite the killing machine he is onscreen. (If you haven't seen the movie's new trailer, by the way, do so now.)

Reuters - Elaborate DVD andBlu-ray Disc editions of "Batman Begins,""Casablanca" and "TheFlintstones" top this year's slate of pricey gift sets fromWarner Home Video, a category that experienced 26% growth inthe past year, according to the studio.

E! Online - Why do the papers write false stories in the tabloids about the stars like Denise Richards and Lindsay Lohan? Don't they know that it ruins their careers as well hurts their familes? The tabloids should print positive things about the stars.

Reuters - "Hancock," the new Will Smithaction movie opening ahead of the July Fourth holiday, seemssure to extend Hollywood's latest hot streak, keeping the U.S.box office on pace to exceed last year's record summer.

E! Online - All together now...it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

Reuters - Last weekend, like a lotof other moviegoers, Steve Martin's Inspector Clouseau lined upto buy a ticket to "WALL-E." He struggled several times topronounce "I would like a ticket for 'WALL-E"' only to learnthat the show was sold out.