Troops to get Oscar fix

Los Angeles Battle-weary troops in Afghanistan are getting a morale boost from Hollywood.

USO showman Johnny Grant, Hollywood’s honorary mayor, is sending this year’s best picture Oscar nominees to Afghanistan for U.S. soldiers to see. The videos were scheduled to leave Wednesday afternoon aboard a military plane.

Videos from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and a special collection of Bob Hope’s classic comedies and Christmas specials from the Vietnam era, also are being sent.

‘Soprano’ hits low note

New York James Gandolfini has filed for divorce from his wife, Marcy Wudarski, after three years of marriage.

A spokesman for the star of the HBO mob drama “The Sopranos” confirmed Wednesday that Gandolfini filed divorce papers in New York the previous day, but declined to give a reason.

The 40-year-old Emmy winner and his wife have a son, Michael, who’s almost 3. They have homes in Greenwich Village and New Jersey.

‘Wings’ actor in director’s seat

Austin, Tex. Tony Shalhoub’s directorial debut, “Made-Up,” won the audience award as the best narrative first film at the South by Southwest film festival.

The movie from the actor best known for his role as the cabbie on TV’s “Wings” is about a teen-age daughter who gives her baby boomer mom a makeover. Shalhoub, Brooke Adams and Gary Sinise co-star.

The film screenings and awards wrapped up this week, while the music portion of the popular annual festival continues through Sunday.

Ford takes gritty role

Munich, Germany Harrison Ford will appear in the role of American aid worker Fred Cuny, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Chechnya in 1995, German film company Internationalmedia said.

Ford, 59, will co-produce the film with David Fanning, whose 1997 documentary, “The Lost American,” forms the basis for the movie.

Cuny, who had worked in Nigeria, Guatemala and Bosnia, vanished in April 1995 in Chechnya, where separatist rebels have been fighting Russian government forces for years.

Work on the film will begin next year.