When she’s not accepting awards or on the set of her latest movie, “The Visiting,” Hollywood hot shot Nicole Kidman is holed up in a secluded Ruxton home, where she’s staying with her children while filming scenes in Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Ruxton resident, Megan Brown tells WJZ’s reporter Kathryn Brown, “I know she’s living in the area and that she’s been down to Graul’s.”

Reports of Kidman sightings are rampant, from supermarkets and gyms to dining on sushi at a low-key Towson restaurant.

Emily Blaze’s children were treated to an up-close glimpse of the star when the production filmed at their downtown school.

“They had all the vans and everything there, the stars on the doors so it was fun for them to see her,” said Blaze.

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AUSTRALIAN mega-star couple actor Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban are officially engaged, according to friends of the pair.

Heavy speculation over recent weeks reached a climax last night when popular US TV program Entertainment Tonight announced the official engagement. The show said sources close to the stars had confirmed the engagement.

However, Kidman’s Australian publicist Wendy Day defused the sensational reports when she categorically rejected the TV program’s claims.

“I have nothing to confirm. I can’t comment on something I have no further knowledge about, and quite frankly Entertainment Tonight can’t either,” Ms Day said.

“There was no confirmation from any publicists, it’s speculation.”

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Country hunk and singer-songwriter Keith Urban is rumored to be engaged to fellow Australian Nicole Kidman. One report says that Keith’s mom loves Nicole, but the two are remaining very private in the unconfirmed relationship.

Now a small item in Life & Style says Keith has penned a tune inspired by Nicole.

The guitar playing Urban also reportedly has also written two other songs inspired by each of Nicole’s children.

The item does not give us the title of the tracks.

Urban is red hot right now, and is fresh off winning the ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award at the 2005 CMA’s that were held in New York this year.

So – a winter wedding?

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Charlize Theron’s Corset Creation Sold for Record Amount at Frederick’s of Hollywood’s Lingerie Art Auction

Hollywood’s leading ladies, including Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Jessica Alba, and Tea Leoni, joined Theron in designing corsets for the Third Annual Lingerie Art Auction

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ — Mix Charlize Theron with some satin and heavy beading and the result is an $18,000 corset. Designed for the Frederick’s of Hollywood Third Annual Lingerie Auction, the Oscar-winning actress’ corset sold for a record amount at the event’s live auction. The Lingerie Art Auction returns again after two hugely successful programs, for which more than 100 celebrities raised funds and awareness for life-changing causes.

Ms. Theron was in good company; her corset was auctioned live along with fellow Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman, whose white satin, floral and sequin design fetched $10,000. Designs by Jessica Alba (who hand-painted her creation), Tea Leoni, Sandra Bernhard and event chair, Julianne Moore were all auctioned at the Frederick’s event to benefit the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, held on October 27.

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The I Street mall by the Foggy Bottom Metro stop was host to a film set Monday, as the new sci-fi thriller “The Visiting” began filming in D.C. A remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “The Visiting” stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, and had been shooting in Baltimore until Monday, which marked the first day of shooting in Washington.

“A lot of scenes are being faked in Baltimore as a stand-in for D.C., but it takes place primarily in D.C.,” said John Latenser, the film’s location manager. “There’s a few shots that take place in Baltimore as well.”

The screenwriter, Dave Kajganich, has lived in the D.C. area for much of his life and wrote the script so the city would be prominently featured. Washington will be home to the film production until Nov.16, and it will be filmed all over the city, including in Dupont Circle.

Monday morning’s weather was fairly cold, with a chilling wind that brought temperatures down to the low 50s. Nevertheless, at 5:30 a.m. the entire crew of the film was busy setting up around the park area next to the hospital, unloading cameras and equipment in preparation for the shoot.

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Domestic box office champ “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” also led the field overseas, grossing an estimated $9.2 million from 13 territories last weekend.

The comedy generated paid previews of $5 million in Britain, ahead of its official bow on Friday. The film opened in Mexico with $1.3 million, Spain with $900,000 and Brazil with $361,000.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” collected an estimated $7.7 million, as the total for the Johnny Depp starrer rose to a stellar $233.3 million.

In Italy, the Tim Burton-helmed “Charlie” was No. 1 for a third consecutive weekend, taking in an estimated $2.2 million for a local total of $9.6 million. The film was expected to take first place in Japan in its fifth weekend with an estimated $2.4 million contribution to its $32.4 million total; because of a public holiday, final figures were not available.

“Bewitched” pulled in an estimated $3 million from 47 markets. The Nicole Kidman-Will Ferrell comedy has conjured up an international total of an estimated $62.2 million to date.

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IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Happy Feet, an animated musical comedy about a tap-dancing Emperor Penguin and his adventures in the Antarctic, will be released domestically in IMAX® 3D simultaneous with the film’s 2D premiere in conventional theatres on November 17, 2006. The film is directed by George Miller (the “Babe” films, Lorenzo’s Oil and the “Mad Max” trilogy) with an all-star ensemble cast, featuring the voices of Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman and Brittany Murphy. Happy Feet will be digitally converted into IMAX 3D and utilize proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to the growing worldwide IMAX® theatre network, as well as to conventional theaters worldwide.

Said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, “People who have seen footage of ‘Happy Feet’ have been tremendously entertained and IMAX 3D is going to amplify that experience. The IMAX network has become a valuable part of our release strategy, and we’re pleased to continue adding great films to the pipeline, which now includes three Warner Bros. Pictures – IMAX 3D releases for next year.”

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Oliver Hirschbiegel, who came into limelight with his film on Adolf Hitler’s last days, has now made the beginning in Hollywood, directing Nicole Kidman in a science-fiction thriller.

In the new film, “The Visiting”, Kidman plays a Washington psychiatrist who discovers that aliens are behind a mysterious disease outbreak. She then faces the daunting task of protecting her son – who holds the key to stopping the invasion.

Kidman appeared thrilled to be working with the director, saying she went to see his film “The Downfall”, which was nominated for a foreign-language film Oscar, as soon as it came out.

She termed Oliver’s work “a great piece of film-making”. “I am proud to be in his hands,” she added.

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Why is Tori Spelling one of Hollywood’s 50 hottest trendsetters?

“Because I’m so passionate about fashion and style that I wake up every day excited about putting together an intriguing new look,” Spelling said at a party last week honoring Life & Style magazine’s list of StyleMakers.

“But underneath the contemporary trends, I really love the old Hollywood era and the looks perfected by Veronica Lake, Elizabeth Taylor and Natalie Wood,” Spelling said.

[b]Joining her in the magazine’s June 6 issue are Fantasia Barrino, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Beyonce Knowles, Jude Law, Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Lopez, Jessie Metcalfe, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt and Renee Zellweger.[/b]

NICOLE KIDMAN has furiously slammed reports a knee injury sustained in 2000 almost ended her movie career, because it made her insurance too high for film bosses to cover.

The Hollywood beauty damaged her right knee while filming movie musical MOULIN ROUGE! and was forced to delay the film while she recovered, causing two claims for the postponements and a staggering $3 million (£1.65 million) insurance loss, according to movie industry guru EDWARD J EPSTEIN.

Epstein also alleges on website SLATE.COM that the Australian actress cost insurers an additional $7 million (£3.7 million) the following year (01) when her recurring injury forced her to quit thriller PANIC ROOM, after three weeks of shooting.

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