Star Wars creator George Lucas is so confident about his abilities as a filmmaker, he refuses to listen to movie-goers. The movies in the Star Wars series have attracted a massive worldwide audience, but Lucas insists he never listens to what fans say about his films. The 57-year-old director says, "I'm able to tell the story the way it's meant to be told, and I don't have to listen to what (studio) market research does. They would be listening to the fans - and these people think you should be doing this, and these people think you should have that character in there. These (stories) are not put together by a marketing department. They're purely sort of a creative act that was created to tell a great story."

Dionne Warwick faces a year in prison over marijuana charges, despite claims the drug was planted on her. Warwick was arrested in transit to Los Angeles at Miami airport on Sunday, when police allegedly discovered 11 cannabis cigarettes enclosed in a lipstick case Warwick was carrying in her hand luggage. However, Warwick's sister, Dee Dee, claims as she is sure Dionne does not use drugs, the marijuana was planted on her. Ruth Bowen, a friend of Warwick's who lives in Miami Beach, disagrees, saying the former TV pitchwoman for The Psychic Friends Network, uses the drug to combat glaucoma.

Rocker Lenny Kravitz has got engaged to a model 17 years his junior - despite meeting her for the first time only two months ago. The 37-year-old singer, who has dated a string of beautiful women, met lingerie model Adriana Lima, 20, at a photoshoot in March, and the pair instantly hit it off. A date for their wedding, which will be Kravitz's second following his six year marriage to actress Lisa Bonet, has not yet been arranged.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is reportedly dating Aaron Eckhart, the leading man in her new movie, Possession. Gwyneth, who has a history of dating her co-stars including Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck, was spotted in Los Angeles restaurant Moomba before she flew into Britain to perform on the London stage. Paltrow has recently split with her fellow The Royal Tenenbaums actor Luke Wilson.

Actor Kevin Costner refused to part with any cash after his teenage daughters picked out sexy outfits on a recent shopping trip. Annie, 18, and Lily, 15, picked out raunchy clothes and modelled them for their dad - but Costner vetoed them all. The girls ended up leaving top boutique Neiman Marcus with only frumpy blouses and skirts in line with their protective father's more conservative tastes. But they got the last laugh when they later returned to the store and exchanged their unwanted outfits for the sexy clothes they really wanted.

Kate Hudson proved she's no B-list in the wealth stakes by splashing more than $100,000 on a trip to Paris. Kate called up the top designers in France and asked for a series of private viewings - a luxury usually reserved only for royalty and billionaire socialites. The designers were reportedly a little shocked by the precocious request, but were more than happy to receive the Oscar-nominated beauty's cash.

Actor Bruce Willis would love to make his mark in American politics but realises his bad boy past might make his dream an unlikely one. Bruce is a staunch Republican and counts President George W. Bush and his father, former president Bush, among his close friends. That's despite his own political beliefs encompassing such issues as the plight of American Indians, environmental protection and reform of drug laws - none of which are traditionally Republican concerns. But Bruce, 47, feels it's not his political interests that would count against him so much as his drug-taking, alcohol-abusing past. He says, "I think the rules are going to have to change for me to ever run for public office. My chequered past will always keep me out of politics. If I ever did run I would run on the platform that I did all these bad things, but I no longer do them, and during the four years of being president or whatever office it might be, I would be good and serve my country. I want to serve my country."

Sean Connery has dealt a huge blow to the Scottish film industry by closing down his Los Angeles-based production company. Connery's Fountainbridge Films was a major supporter of Scottish movie projects and with its closing plans for a film about the life of Mary Queen Of Scots have been put on hold. Hollywood sources claimed Sir Sean's shock decision followed disputes with his business partner Rhona Tollefson. Fountainbridge Films was behind the hit flick Entrapment, which starred Sir Sean and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Connery's agent says, "Sean took the decision to shut down Fountainbridge Films because he just wants to concentrate on acting." Tollefson would only say, "Sean and I are no longer in business together."

Veteran bad guy Dennis Hopper was told almost 50 years ago he would make a career out of playing nasty characters. But it was no tarot card reader who predicted the young Hopper - then fresh from a debut as a tough punk in 1955's Rebel Without A Cause - would be a hit. The man who got it so right so many years ago was horror legend Vincent Price, who told Hopper, "You're going to make a great living playing bad guys." Hopper, whose credits include mean roles in Speed, Blue Velvet and Waterworld, is currently starring as yet another baddie - a sinister war criminal alongside Kiefer Sutherland in the TV series 24. He says, "I usually play some sort of nut. I'm very good at it."

Movie legend Dustin Hoffman has helped save a seal's life after spotting it stranded on the beach near his Malibu home. The Oscar-winning actor, 64, rushed down to the beach from his California condo and tried to haul the stricken creature back into the sea. He and daughter Alexandra, 15, tried for 40 minutes to return the seal to its natural environment before finally realizing he just wasn't strong enough. So he stopped passer-by Scott Cosman, 38, to lend a hand and between them the pair were successful. Cosman says, "All credit to Dustin, without his care and attention I doubt if it would have made it back into the ocean."