BEST MATES: Russell Crowe planning to tie the knot Down Under with fianc?e Danielle Spencer on April 7, according to the Sydney Sunday Telegraph

FULL HOUSE: Bringing Down the House again topped the weekend box office. The Queen Latifah-Steve Martin odd-couple comedy brought in another $22.4 million to push its overall gross to $61.6 million.

MISSING: World's Wildest Police Videos creator Paul Stojanovich, 47, feared dead after falling 300 feet from an Oregon cliff into the Pacific Ocean while hiking with his fianc?e. No body has been found. Stojanovich also worked as a field producer on COPS.

MOURNED: BAFTA-winning British actress Dame Thora Hird died on Saturday after having suffered a stroke last weekend. She was 91.

FREEDOM: Robert Blake released on $1.5 million bail Friday afternoon. The actor, accused of murdering wife Bonny Lee Bakley, had to turn in his passport and must wear an ankle bracelet. He's due back in court March 27.

TWO-STEP TROUBLE: Folks criticizing the Dixie Chicks after Natalie Maines told an English concert audience, "We're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." By late Friday, Maines had issued an apology calling her remarks "disrespectful."

DIXIE ADD: Country radio stations across the country dropping the Dixie Chicks music from their playlists after listeners objected to Maines' anti-Bush message.

FALCON FLIES THE COOP: Cold war spy Christopher Boyce, the inspiration for Timothy Hutton's character in the movie The Falcon and the Snowman, released from prison on Friday after serving 25 years for selling classified documents to the Russians.

SECOND GENERATION: Susan Sarandon starring in the sci-fi sequel The Children of Dune tonight on the Sci-Fi channel.

PRECIOUS CARGO: Justin Timberlake aboard a flight to Japan that was forced to return to Los Angeles after takeoff because of engine problems last week. The pop star made the trip a day later, traveling to promote Justified, and has since returned Stateside.

RAINCHECK: With the threat of war looming Liza Minnelli and David Gest postponing their anniversary bash April 15 for 1,200 friends and family members at New York's Marriott Marquee. Hard to believe it's already been a year.

IRISH EYES SMILING: Colin Farrell confirming he's expecting a child with an unamed model to British TV show host Paul Ross Friday morning.

MEOW! Halle Berry in talks with Warner Bros. to play the felonious feline in Catwoman, due to start shooting later this year.

WILD KINGDOM: The Humane Society handing out it's annual Genesis Awards today at the Beverly Hilton in los Angeles. Winners of the award, which honors celebs who bring a spotlight to animal rights issues, include AJ McLean, Shannon Elizabeth and Aisha Tyler.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Matthew Perry jumping to West Wing for two episodes, April 23 and 30, to play a Republican lawyer hoping to land a job as White House associate counsel, reports Variety.

WHO'S BAD? A California jury siding with a German concert promoter and awarding him $5.3 million in his $21 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against Michael Jackson. Promoter Marcel Avram claimed the Gloved One owed him for backing out of two millennium-eve concerts.

LOOK WHO'S TALKING: Two-time Oscar nominee John Travolta tapped to be a presenter at the 75th Annual Academy Awards airing March 23 on ABC--the ninth time Travolta has appeared as a presenter.

MORE OSCARS: U2 will shake, rattle and hum as performers for the Academy crowd come March 23, the first time the band has performed on the Oscar show.

MORE OSCAR GOLD: Forty-four Oscar statuettes were flown into Los Angeles on a specially marked plane from Chicago on Friday. The 24-carat gold trophies will be heavily guarded until the March 23 ceremony.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: Howard Stern suing ABC and the makers of Are You Hot for allegedly stealing the idea from his radio show. Two people on the ABC show used to work for Stern.

BAD PRESS: Miramax pulling newspaper ads that feature an Oscar endorsement for Martin Scorsese written by the former head of the Academy, breaching a rule that all votes must remain confidential.

DISSING OSCAR: Academy Awards producer Gil Cates confirming that Eminem won't attend next week's ceremonies, despite his "Lose Yourself" from 8 Miles being nominated for Best Song.

BREATHING EASIER: Doctors implanted electrodes in Christopher Reeve's diaphragm in an experimental procedure on February 28 designed to allow the paralyzed actor to breathe on his own and not using a respirator. Reeve will discuss the surgery at a news conference today in Cleveland.

MOB WAR: HBO has suspended filming of The Sopranos' fifth season due to a nasty contract dispute with the show's star, James Gandolfini. Shooting was set to begin on March 24.