Crowe throws in a few phone jokes while hosting gig

Canberra, Australia – Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe now can laugh about throwing a telephone at a New York hotel concierge.

Hosting the Australian Film Industry Awards on Saturday night in Melbourne, the actor walked on stage carrying an old-fashioned telephone.

“If there are any problems and you do get up here and go on too long,” Crowe warned nominees in the audience before indicating the phone, “then ‘hello’ to my little friend.”

The 41-year-old actor pleaded guilty earlier this month to third-degree assault, admitting that he threw a phone that hit a concierge in June. He had to pay a $160 court charge and was sentenced to conditional discharge, which means he must not get arrested for one year.

Last week, Crowe berated reporters in Melbourne for blowing the incident out of proportion.

Madonna would like to follow in husband’s career footsteps

London – Madonna says she would like to follow the lead of her husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie, and direct a movie of her own.

The pop singer will appear in a documentary about her life, “I’m Going To Tell You A Secret,” which will air Tuesday on Britain’s Channel 4 television.

“I would love to direct a film. I felt very inspired by making this movie, and I learned a lot about filmmaking and storytelling. I would like to do it on my own next time,” she said in an interview broadcast Sunday with Channel 4.

Madonna said her 9-year-old daughter, Lourdes, was a good singer and dancer, and would one day follow in her footsteps.

Asked about her horse-riding accident this summer in England, which broke her collarbone and cracked three ribs, Madonna said: “I don’t want to go there. I get flashbacks. I’m just starting to feel better.”

Actress: Relationships better on screen than they are off

New York – Diane Keaton dated many of her leading men off screen, but she says she prefers to fall in love on screen.

“You know where it’s going, and you can just enjoy it for what it is,” Keaton tells Time magazine. “Real life is complicated. Onscreen you know what the lines are. Everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do. He’s not gonna surprise you.”

The 59-year-old actress credits her listening skills in making relationships with Woody Allen, Al Pacino and Warren Beatty work.

“I was a good listener. But then that wears off. They get bored,” she says.

Keaton plays a mother in the upcoming “The Family Stone,” about a Manhattan career woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) who gets a cold reception from her fiance’s family.

She’s not surprised by the lack of sexy roles for women over 50 despite the success of “Something’s Gotta Give,” for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

“It requires somebody who’s a good writer who wants to write about that subject,” she says. “Who is gonna do that? George Lucas? I don’t think so. I’d have to be an alien, a sexy, older alien.”

‘Laguna Beach’ star, Stewart call off their wedding plans

Los Angeles – Kimberly Stewart and “Laguna Beach” star Talan Torriero say their wedding plans are off.

“It was just too soon to enter into a lifelong commitment,” their representatives said in a joint statement. “It is better to have a brief engagement than a short marriage. The couple continue to share their time together and remain open to whatever the future may hold.”

Stewart, the 26-year-old daughter of singer Rod Stewart, and Torriero, a 19-year-old star of the MTV reality show, announced their engagement earlier this month.

Stewart’s representative, Elliot Mintz, said they “remain friends.”

Mintz said they began dating “a relatively short period of time” ago. “It would be in the category of weeks as opposed to months,” he said.

Stewart is a close friend of Paris Hilton and at one time was reported to be a possible replacement of Nicole Richie on the canceled Fox reality show “The Simple Life.”

Torriero has said he was attempting to start a music career.

Prince William finishes work experience in financial district

London – Prince William has finished three weeks of work experience in London’s financial district, his father’s office said Sunday.

The banking company HSBC organized and hosted the program, designed to provide a glimpse of the inner workings of the City, as London’s financial district is known.

“After a very busy three weeks spent in the City, I now have a much better understanding of how all the different financial institutions work and how they fit together,” William said in a statement released by Clarence House, his father Prince Charles’ office.

“Spending every day with people who contribute so much to this country’s economy gave me the chance to experience the atmosphere of the City and to see, as best as I could, what it’s really like to work there,” he said. “And I won the stock-picking competition!”

William, 23, graduated from Scotland’s St. Andrews University in June and plans to attend the elite Sandhurst military academy to train to become an army officer. His younger brother, Harry, also studies at Sandhurst.

William was based at HSBC’s Charities Investment Services team and helped with analyzing companies and preparing for client meetings.