Fancy meeting you here

Anne Hathaway has brought more Hollywood glamour to Venice than she did to Boston while filming "Bride Wars." The enchanting actress arrived at the Venice Film Festival by boat yesterday with Jonathan Demme, the director of her latest movie, "Rachel Getting Married." The 25-year-old Hathaway, who broke up with Raffaello Follieri earlier this summer, is rumored to be seeing actor Josh Lucas.

Despite her train-wreck performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last year, the network confirmed yesterday that Britney Spears will kick off the show again. But it won't be a performance. Instead, it'll be something "fun and unexpected" on Sunday night's show, said MTV Networks Music Group President Van Toffler. "Unexpected" is probably the kindest way to describe Spears's performance at last year's VMAs. In what was heavily promoted as the troubled singer's comeback, she instead gave an unfocused, almost unwatchable performance of "Gimme More," one of the many low points in her year of debacles. (AP)

Former teen star Mackenzie Phillips has been charged with felony possession of drugs after she was allegedly found carrying heroin and cocaine at Los Angeles International Airport last month. She also faces a misdemeanor count of unauthorized possession of a needle or syringe. Phillips, 48, is out on $20,000 bail. The daughter of John Phillips, founder of the Mamas and the Papas pop group, she was fired from "One Day at a Time" in 1982 for drug-related reasons. (AP)

A judge yesterday dealt a serious, but possibly temporary, blow to a lawsuit filed by a celebrity magazine reporter who has accused a paparazzi agency of secretly filming Heath Ledger doing drugs in her hotel room. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John S. Wiley Jr. tentatively dismissed 11 of 12 claims filed against the agency and two photographers. He allowed attorneys to file an amended complaint that could restore some of the claims. The woman, identified in court documents only as "Jane Doe," sued Splash News & Picture Agency and two of its photographers in April, alleging fraud, intrusion, unjust enrichment, and other claims over the filming in 2006. The woman was on assignment for People magazine. According to the lawsuit, the tape wasn't revealed until after Ledger's death from an accidental prescription drug overdose earlier this year. "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" had planned to air the footage but canceled those plans after feeling pressure from publicists and other Ledger supporters. The video later surfaced online. (AP)

Akon is headed to trial on criminal charges he tossed a fan offstage at a concert in upstate New York last summer. The 35-year-old singer (inset) is accused of tossing a teenager off the stage during a June 2007 concert at a minor league baseball stadium near Poughkeepsie. Another concertgoer said she suffered a concussion when the boy landed on her. Akon, whose real name is Aliaune Thiam, asked for the jury trial during a brief appearance with his lawyer in Fishkill Town Court yesterday. He's due back in court for trial Dec. 1 unless a deal is negotiated. (AP)

Christina Aguilera has become the latest musical act to release an album exclusively through one retailer. The multiplatinum singer announced yesterday that her greatest hits CD "Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits" will be released only at Target. The CD, out Nov. 11, will feature two new songs as well as rerecorded versions of two other hits, "Genie in a Bottle" and "Beautiful." (AP)

"I don't question my role. When the Beijing Organizing Committee beckons, I'm there." - Action movie star Jackie Chan, saying he was not upset about his small role in the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies