The week’s “Mister Nice Guy” award goes to a security guard in Australia who took shopping mall wheelchairs from two brothers suffering from Muscular Dystrophy, forcing one to crawl to his car while the other had to be carried to the car by a sister. 

The saga brings to mind another meaner-than-mean story from down under a few years ago, when a man sued his former partner to recover more than $10,000 he had spent on a little girl, after discovering she was not his daughter.  At the time, the man was quoted as saying, “I want it all back — every cent for every toy, every blanket, every bit of food.” No word on whether that guy went on to become a shopping mall guard, but here is the wheelchair story:

Tom Cruise is among the contenders for this year’s Razzie Awards, which “honor” the worst movies, actors and actresses. To find out which Cruise performances left the Razzie folks so uninspired, and to find out who the not-so-hot competition is, check out the Reuters story.

And in other cruise news,  owner of the world’s biggest ocean liner caved in to demands by disgruntled passengers to give them a full refund after the cruise missed ports of call in the Caribbean because of mechanical problems.

Said one passenger, ”I’ve had probably the worst weeks of my life…” We can only hope he didn’t have to watch the Tom Cruise movie while he drifted. 

For more reasons to be happy you missed the boat, see our story:

Former Vice President Al Gore was full of anger and passion as he visited the festival for the screening of documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth”, Anne Thompson reports “The average person is ahead of politicians on this issue. People who care about it get disappointed by the lack of interest from the political system. We are beginning to see the critical formation of a mass movement in the public, which will make it impolitic for politicians to keep doing nothing.” The film’s first showings received standing ovations.

The Beastie Boys, (L-R) Mike Diamond, Adam Horowitz and Adam Yauch in Park City. The Beastie Boys’ documentary film ‘Awesome: I F***in’ Shot That’ is screening at the festival. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Neil Young (L) and his wife Pegi (R) at the premiere of “Neil Young: Heart of Gold” (Photo/Rick Wilking)

A wave of movies with messages have swept through the festival. “Audiences are getting a lot more smart about what they want to see,” Ricky Strauss, president of “Good Night” backer Participant Productions, told Reuters correspondent Bob Tourtellotte

Some say fans now demand more thoughtful films, which are vastly exceeding expectations at the box office. For example, the traditional Hollywood thriller “Stealth” bombed while independent movie “Crash,” about race relations, was a breakout hit.The trend also extends to the current Oscar season where movies with provocative themes like gay romance, “Brokeback Mountain” and free speech film “Good Night, and Good Luck” are winning awards and fans. Rosie O’Donnell (pictured right) came to this mountain town east of Salt Lake City with her documentary, “All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise,” an inside look at the lives of gay families while on vacation.

While not at Sundance, Brad Pitt made his presence felt with a film he executive produced, “God Grew Tired of Us,” about young Sudanese refugees in the United States. It quickly became one of the most talked about movies at the festival.

After their rockumentary debut “Fast Future Generation,” twin rock stars Benji and Joel Madden have teamed up the documentary’s director, Marvin Scott Jarrett, to form production company, Fast Future Films, the Hollywood Reporter said.

The first production, “Valley of the Damned,” is slated to begin production in the spring.

Combination image of publicists, PR people, fans, volunteers and stars, including John Waters (C) wearing sunglasses at the 25th annual Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah January 21, 2006. The ten-day festival will have more than 120 film screenings. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Over the past 25 years Sundance Film Festival’s founder Robert Redford has tried to focus attention on independent film making. But the festival has become about much more: star-studded parties, hollywood dealmaking and of course the high-end shopping on Main Street. As part of our mission to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening at the festival we’ll be hitting some of those parties this evening. Check back with us Sunday afternoon for more on what happens in Park City, Utah, when the sun goes down.

Getting the perfect photo or video of a celebrity who is walking the red carpet into a movie premiere can sometimes be a daunting task. The opening night of “Lucky Number Slevin” starring Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu and Sir Ben Kingsley was a much more civilized affair than Thursday night’s premiere of “Friends with Money” starring Jennifer Anniston. Anniston’s film kicked off the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.