The anticipation is building for the release of Tim Burton’s fantastical Alice in Wonderland and fans and of the movie and Radaronline.com were treated to a sneak preview of the film AND a special surprise appearance from Johnny Depp Friday night in Hollywood.

Looking dashing in his trademark tinted glasses and a scarf
, Johnny Depp was greeted by deafening screams as he stood on stage at the Alice in Wonderland Fan Event at the Hollywood and Highland complex.

Depp plays the Mad Hatter in the film and he was joined by director Tim Burton and fellow co-stars Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen, Matt Lucas and Anne Hathaway.

Sponsored by MySpace, the event featured performances from four featured artists who performed their songs from the soundtrack “Almost Alice.” Rocking out to a packed audience, 3OH!3, Metro Station, Kerli and Never Shout Never ramped up the anticipation for the appearance of the film’s stars.

The 3D fantasy adventure Alice in Wonderland hits theaters on March 5.

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U.S. actress Kristen Stewart, best known as Bella in the hit "Twilight" franchise, ditches her image as a wholesome, reserved teenager to play a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking prostitute in "Welcome to the Rileys."

The movie, which is at the Berlin film festival without its two biggest stars -- Stewart and "The Sopranos" lead James Gandolfini -- has found a distributor for the key U.S. market and will hit cinemas in the autumn.

Director Jake Scott, son of Ridley, said he first considered Stewart for the part of Mallory when Sean Penn recommended her on the strength of her performance in his movie "Into the Wild."

Stewart, 19, has become a teen idol for her part in the two Twilight movies released so far, and her involvement in Welcome to the Rileys is likely to be a major boost for a low-budget, independently produced film.

"We shot this in 2008, so Twilight came out when we'd wrapped," Scott told reporters in Berlin on Monday. "I saw her in 'Into the Wild'. We got lucky."

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Academy Award organizers have come up with a novel idea for avoiding those boring Oscar acceptance speeches filled with "thank yous." Their solution: have the winners give two speeches.

Contenders for the world's top film honors including George Clooney, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges gathered on Monday for the annual Oscar nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, and as is tradition, the show's producers offered tips on giving the 45-second acceptance speeches.

Typically, that advice is to keep them short and avoid a long list of "thank yous" to agents, directors, spouses and family. Oscar co-producer Bill Mechanic called those often teary-eyed thanks "the single most-hated thing on the show."

Instead, he and co-producer Adam Shankman will have winners give two speeches: one onstage telling audiences what winning an Oscar means to them, and a second backstage for a "Thank You Cam" where winners can say "Thanks" to whomever they want.

"Share your passion on what the Oscar means to you" with the audience, Shankman told nominees at the luncheon.

He said the backstage video would be posted on the Web and winners could use them however they liked -- e-mail them to their friends and even post them on their Facebook pages.

Of course, there were no guarantees the nominees would follow directions. So to illustrate their idea, the producers showed a videotape of past winners such as Renee Zellweger talking about what winning meant to them.

Organizers had one more surprise waiting. When Oscars are awarded, the statuettes given onstage do not have a nameplate because nobody knows the winners. After several weeks, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has nameplates engraved and fixed to the winners' statuettes.

This year, Oscar organizers will have the nameplates engraved at the gala Governor's Ball following the ceremony, so the winners can have their names put on after the show.

Doing so may keep the stars at the dinner longer before heading to one of the many post-Oscar parties in Hollywood.

Even if that fails, Shankman, director of movie musical "Hairspray," had one more clever idea. He said he and Bullock would be leading salsa lessons on the ballroom dance floor.

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Q: Much is made of "Avatar" passing "Titanic" at the box office. I think this is silliness. Ticket prices and attendance records make such comparisons impossible. Are you tiring of the so-called box office race?

A: The truth of the matter is that "Avatar" has won financially, and I absolutely enjoyed my experience watching "Avatar." I don't think about those types of numbers until you know until it's actually over with.

So now, in reaction to it, Godspeed to them. I hope they keep going and going. Because James Cameron has been able to tap into something that audience want to see worldwide. And he's intrigued them in such a unique way that he may do it again with whatever his next move is. He is that type of film maker.