Exclusive! Dev Patel celebrates 21st with Freida Pinto in Montreal

PopGoesTheNews.com • British actor Dev Patel celebrated his 21st birthday with his girlfriend and Slumdog Millionaire co-star Freida Pinto – and PopGoesTheNews.com has all the details.

Patel arrived at Montreal's Pierre E. Trudeau airport on Friday night aboard a British Airways flight from London. Asked how he expected to mark his birthday, he replied: "I don't know, it's a bit of a mystery right now."

The star reconnected with Pinto, 26, at the Westin hotel on the edge of Old Montreal. She was in the city to do re-shoots for Immortals, an epic fantasy flick that was shot in Montreal last summer. The couple spent Saturday – Patel's birthday – in their suite and only emerged shortly after 6:30 pm to take a cab ride to the Outremont area, where they stopped to pick up a few items at a Rachelle-Bery health food store.

Patel and Pinto then enjoyed a romantic dinner on the lower level of busy Milos, a popular restaurant on Avenue du parc that specializes in Greek cuisine and seafood. "It was cool," a smiling Patel said of his birthday dinner as the couple climbed into a cab for the ride back to their hotel.

The Slumdog stars were up early on Easter Sunday to catch a morning flight to Los Angeles. (The couple rushed past actress Kelly Rowan and her three-year-old daughter on their way to the screening area.)

Last summer Patel shot down engagement rumors and said he's still trying to deal with being in the spotlight. “It’s a bit tricky,” he told Access Hollywood. “I don’t know what to tell everyone because it’s my private thing. But it’s part and parcel of the industry so you just learn to get over the awkwardness and just play with it.”

• To see another pic of Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in Montreal go to CanadianTabloid.com.

Photo by Todd G/John K / SplashNewsOnline.com. Click on image to see full size.

'NCIS' star to play a cop in Toronto

PopGoesTheNews.com • Mark Harmon is using his NCIS hiatus to solve crime in Toronto.

The actor will spend about a month in the city starting mid-May to shoot Prey, a TV movie based on Certain Prey, the 10th in a series of books by John Sandford. If it's a ratings hit, USA Network plans to make more movies with Harmon as Deputy Police Chief Lucas Davenport.

Toronto is standing in for Minneapolis in Prey, which follows Davenport as he hunts for a hit woman while the target of a killer.

Harmon, who has starred on the hit CBS series NCIS since 2003, is also an executive producer of the two-hour movie.

Ryan Gosling comes home for a break

Ryan Gosling talks on the phone inside Flash Back.

PopGoesTheNews.com • Actor Ryan Gosling turned heads Monday afternoon in Toronto when he strolled along Dundas St. West and up Kensington Ave. to visit a pal at vintage clothing store Flash Back. The handsome Oscar nominee spent several hours in the store (and its sister store down the block) and left with two bags of clothing.

Photos of the star's excursion soon appeared on celebrity blogs like JustJared and RadarOnline, the websites of People and US Magazine, and the front page of Toronto's 24h – evidence of the rising popularity of the low-key 30-year-old.

Gosling was back home just days after wrapping up work on The Ides of March, a political drama co-starring (and directed by) George Clooney. He arrived Sunday at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles and, after renting an SUV, drove himself to Burlington, Ont. – a city about 60 km southeast of Toronto where the star, who was born in London, Ont., spent part of his teens.

Gosling stopped at a Starbucks to pick up hot beverages and treats before arriving at the home of his mother Donna. A few hours later, the two drove to a cosmetic surgery clinic and entered through a rear door. The clinic specializes in surgical procedures including breast augmentation, liposuction and facelifts, but also offers skin care treatments and Botox injections. (In 2007, Gosling's rep flatly denied online speculation that the actor had work done on his nose.) It's not known why Gosling and his mom were there but they left after about 90 minutes and stopped to buy lunch from a nearby Lick's Homeburgers drive-thru.

Gosling on April 18, left, and when he was a teenager.

Gosling has three movies coming out this year – this summer's romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love and fall's Drive and The Ides of March – and will soon start work on a remake of the sci-fi flick Logan's Run. His reps have denied reports that Gosling will also play the Lone Ranger.

Though he returns to Ontario frequently to visit his family and friends (and he spent time here while dating Rachel McAdams – his co-star in The Notebook) Gosling hasn't worked in the province since the late '90s.

Gosling's early success was as a child star on The Mickey Mouse Club with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. As a teen, Gosling filmed the Young Hercules series in New Zealand and the Canadian series Breaker High in B.C.

Top photo by Todd G/John K / SplashNewsOnline.com. Bottom photo (left) by Todd G/John K / SplashNewsOnline.com; (right) by John R. Kennedy. Click on images to see full-size.

Exclusive! Bob Barker optimistic Toronto Zoo will send pachyderms packing

PopGoesTheNews.com • The former host of The Price is Right says the time is right to shut down the elephant exhibit at the Toronto Zoo.

Bob Barker arrived in Toronto tonight and spoke exclusively to PopGoesTheNews.com about his mission to save Toka, Thika and Iringa – the zoo's three remaining elephants.

"We're going to try to get those elephants into a nice warm sanctuary in California," he said. "The Toronto Zoo people are reasonable. They realize the elephants are in an area that's too small, both indoors and outdoors. The city doesn't have the money to build a habitat that's large enough. So they are seriously considering moving the elephants and I'm here to try to help them make up their minds."

Barker said he will contribute to the cost of moving the elephants out. Zoos in Scotland and the U.S. have closed their elephant habitats in recent years.

The Toronto Zoo – where  four elephants have died in the last five years – will vote on May 12 whether to close the elephant exhibit or to spend as much as $40 million to upgrade it. Activists have proposed building an educational elephant exhibit that doesn't include real animals.

Barker said he doesn't have the same optimism for Lucy, the lone elephant at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. He offered the city $100,000 to allow experts to give Lucy a full medical evaluation but was turned down.

"The Edmonton people are just so... I don't know what's the matter with them," said Barker. "They don't listen to reason. They absolutely are virtually impossible.

"They're torturing an elephant there and have been for years. They're going to sit there and let it die rather than send it down to some place warmer."

• Go to CanadianTabloid.com to see Bob Barker meeting a neutered pooch!

Photo by Todd G/John K / SplashNewsOnline.com.

Review: 'Ghost Stories' is creepy

This post has been revised.

Review by John R. Kennedy / PopGoesTheNews.com • It's hard to review Ghost Stories without giving too much away but suffice to say the show consists of three creepy tales acted out in between monologues by professor of parapsychology Philip Goodman (Jason Blicker) that play on our greatest fears: guilt, isolation and death.

Jack Langedijk is a cranky night watchman who's not alone in an abandoned building; David Reale is a motorist on a remote road with a big problem; and Darrin Baker is a busy businessman with a family issue. Reale is a little over-the-top but the other two men (and Blicker) deliver strong performances. The problem is that none of the characters are the least bit likeable so you actually hope something horrible happens to them.

Written for a London audience by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, the script has been localized with references to the Yorkville and Rosedale neighborhoods and to companies like Holt Renfrew and Canadian Tire (as well as an arguably well-deserved shot at Rogers).

Ghost Stories has frightfully good performances, spot-on staging and an interesting twist. You'll hold your breath wondering what's going to happen next.

But does Ghost Stories offer enough to frighten audiences jaded by a plethora of cinematic jump-cuts and supernatural special effects? Not quite, but it's a stage show, not a big-screen blockbuster. With this in mind, it's well done and will surely hold your attention – and you'll be talking about it on the ride home.

Ghost Stories is now playing at the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto. For more information, go to ghoststoriestoronto.com. Tickets, priced from $25 to $79, are on sale now by calling 416.872.1212 or at mirvish.com.

LeAnn Rimes to work in Canada

LeAnn Rimes in Oct. 2010.

PopGoesTheNews.com • Country music star LeAnn Rimes is coming to Canada – but it's to act, not sing.

Rimes, who is currently making tabloid headlines for her apparent weight loss, will be in the Toronto area from May 2 to 22 to make Reel Love for the U.S. cable channel CMT. The 28-year-old will play “a successful big-city girl who returns to her small-town roots after a family emergency. She then embarks on a soulful, comedic journey to reconnect with family and friends and find meaningful romance along the way."

Rimes added fuel to speculation about her health on April 4 when she appeared gaunt while singing the national anthem at an NCAA basketball game in Texas. The following day she took to Twitter to defend herself. "I do not workout too much nor do I starve myself. I'm so over this and moving on," she wrote.

The last time the singer made a TV movie in Canada – the Calgary-shot Northern Lights in 2009 – she fell in love with co-star Eddie Cibrian, 37. Both left their spouses to be together and were engaged in December.

Photo by John R. Kennedy/SplashNewsOnline.com.

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Casino hosting anti-Muslim, anti-gay comic Victoria Jackson

Victoria Jackson

PopGoesTheNews.com • An Ontario casino will play host this summer to comic Victoria Jackson despite her public attacks on Muslims and gays.

Jackson is featured in the Joe Piscopo & Stars of Saturday Night Live show scheduled for July 22 and 23 at the Avalon Ballroom in the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ont.

According to a spokesman, the casino didn't specifically invite Jackson. “The contractual arrangement for the show is between Fallsview Casino and Mr. Piscopo only,” explains Greg Medulun, director of communications for the resort, which is owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and operated by Toronto-based consortium Falls Management Company.

Jackson sparked a fury of criticism with a March 18 posting on WorldNetDaily.com in which she wrote: “Frankly, I'm afraid to say anything about Muslims. Why? Because they kill people. Maybe that's why the liberals kiss up to them – fear … Progressives, communists, liberals, globalists and Muslims want to destroy America. When that goal is reached, they will fight for top billing. It will be bloody.”

She went on to criticize Muslims for resisting new screening techniques at airports. “Heaven forbid they be treated like the rest of us! This is ridiculous! How many bombs do you think you can hide under one of those big, black sheets?”

Jackson concluded: “Not only are they plotting our demise, but laughing at our stupidity, mocking our open arms and freedom, demanding rights above our own and soon the transformation of our churches and synagogues into mosques.”

Princess Diana's gowns to be auctioned this summer in Toronto

PopGoesTheNews.com • Some of the most famous frocks in the world will be up for grabs this summer in Toronto, PopGoesTheNews.com has learned. Fourteen gowns worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, are set to be auctioned at Waddington's in June – exactly 14 years after the beloved princess sold them for charity.

The auction – taking place just days before the start of a royal visit to Canada by Prince William and Kate Middleton and what would have been Diana's 50th birthday – is expected to attract worldwide attention and net millions.

The seller is Florida entrepreneur Maureen Rorech Dunkel, who paid $700,000 (all figures U.S.) for 14 of 79 gowns that went under the gavel at a Christie's charity auction in 1997 – only two months before Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris. The collection includes dresses Diana selected or commissioned between 1985 and 1994 from designers Catherine Walker, Bruce Oldfield and Zandra Rhodes. Also included is the midnight blue silk velvet Victor Edelstein gown Diana wore at a 1985 White House dinner when she danced with John Travolta.

Princess Diana dances with John Travolta in 1985.

Among the 10 Walker designs are the austere taffeta and silk-velvet dress Diana wore for Scottish dancing at Balmoral Castle in 1990; an off-the-shoulder cream silk crepe dress she wore at a 1993 banquet for the King and Queen of Malaysia; and the elegantly embroidered and sequined pink dress and bolero jacket Diana wore during a visit to India in 1992.

Also in the collection is the Oldfield-designed silk velvet dress worn to a gala performance of Les Misérables in London in 1985 and the silk chiffon dress with glass beads, pearls and sequins that Rhodes designed for the princess in 1987.

After Diana's death, Dunkel founded the People's Princess Charitable Foundation and created the Dresses for Humanity exhibition tour, showcasing the gowns around the world. The dresses also spent a decade on loan to Kensington Palace, where the Princess lived from 1981 to 1997, for its Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.

The gowns haven't always been exhibited in such prestigious venues, though. They've been displayed at a Hard Rock hotel and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and at the Branson Exhibition Center in Missouri.

News of the June 23 auction leaked after organizers starting scouting venues – including the Royal Ontario Museum and The Bay's flagship Queen Street store – for a final exhibition of the collection prior to the sale.