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Entertaining RSS FeedsOscar contenders move past racial labels - Diversity in Hollywood: Mixed couples no longer a hot topic for Academy -- As America prepares to inaugurate its first biracial president, some of this year's Oscar contenders are reflecting America's "new normal" -- a country that increasingly accepts interracial relationships and rejects traditional racial labels. ...Feed Source: feeds.feedburner.com Contenders go against the zeitgeist - Contenders: Screenplay: Some pics thrive despite arriving at the wrong time -- Considering the lead time it takes to make a movie, it's bound to happen: Films arrive at a time when their central concern -- or something of concern to the characters -- no longer seems to speak to the current moment.
... 'Doubt' smashes stereotype of black mother - Contenders: Screenplay: Writer John Patrick Shanley blows up presuppositions -- One of the year's most startling movie scenes comes in "Doubt," when the mother of a black teen refuses to take action to stop possible molestation of her son by a priest.
... Clint Eastwood - Eye on the Oscars: Song & Score: 'Changeling' -- In 1971, Clint Eastwood, actor, became Clint Eastwood, director. Then five years ago, with "Mystic River," Eastwood added "score composer" to his credit block.
... William Ross - Eye on the Oscars: Song & Score: 'The Tale of Despereaux' -- The eponymous hero in "The Tale of Despereaux" may be mouse-sized, but the film's score certainly isn't. Composed by toon-feature and fantasy veteran William Ross the "Despereaux" soundtrack boasts up to 90 instruments.
... HBO joins 'Shameless' team - TV News: WB, John Wells producing British adaptation -- HBO is teaming with Warner Bros. and writer-producer John Wells on a U.S. version of Blighty's iconic blue-collar TV drama "Shameless."
... 13 -- Fear Is Real - TV Reviews: To say that "13 -- Fear Is Real" is superior to "Estate of Panic" -- Sci Fi Channel's recent attempt to reshape the conventions of horror movies as a reality TV competition -- is the essence of damning with faint praise. Try as the producers (among them director Sam Raimi) might to gin up terror with grainy, shaky, "The Blair Witch Project"-style photography, it's hard to escape the pervasive sense that this is just a grown-up camping trip with handheld cameras and a $66,666 prize.
... John Williams - Eye on the Oscars: Song & Score: 'Indiana Jones (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)' -- If the Academy doesn't suffer from short memory, voters could deliver composer John Williams a record 46th Oscar nomination. He was nominated for all three previous Indy films, in 1981, 1984 and 1989, but didn't win for any of them.
... USA lets 'Psych' drive Kia ads - Business News: Commercial will star James Roday, Dule Hill -- While automotive sponsorship dollars are scarce these days, USA Network has forged a novel pact with Kia Motors, casting the stars of series "Psych" in a 30-second spot that will run when the skein returns with new episodes Jan. 9.
... Studio exec Ned Tanen dies at 77 - Obituary Spotlight: Served as president of Universal, Paramount -- Studio exec and producer Ned Tanen, who served as president of Universal and Paramount and produced three popular "Brat Pack" films in the 1980s, died Monday in Santa Monica. He was 77.
... Homevideo biz takes a hit in '08 - Business News: Overall sales drop 5% despite Blu-ray's rise -- Homevid execs don't have quite as much to cheer about at CES this year.
... Lionsgate to buy TV Guide Network - TV News: Studio cuts deal for station, Web site -- In a surprise move, Lionsgate has cut a deal to buy cabler TV Guide Network and TV Guide Online for $255 million.
... IDA taps Michael Lumpkin - Film News: Frameline veteran named executive director -- The Intl. Documentary Assn. has tapped Michael Lumpkin as its executive director.
... Fincher gives fans an earful - Film News: 'Benjamin' director pays visit to Lincoln Center -- What about a sequel to "Se7en," David Fincher? "I would be less interested in that than I would in having cigarettes put out in my eyes," the director confided to an inquisitive fan at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" talkback.
... Times gives in to front-page ads - Publishing News: Paper to run advertisements below the fold -- Bowing to economic pressure, the New York Times has decided to run display ads on its front page.
... Broadway reaps holiday bounty - Legit News: Last-chance sales help box office -- Broadway saw a second frame of holiday bounty last week, with a mid-week New Year's helping to keep biz on par with the Christmas sesh.
... Laura Bush sells book to Scribner - Business News: First Lady's memoirs set to publish in 2010 -- First lady Laura Bushhas sold her memoirs to Scribner.
... 'Aliens' makes Super Bowl play - Film News: DreamWorks Animation buys 90-second spot -- Any Super Bowl ad is a gamble, but DreamWorks Animation is betting a lot of chips on a 90-second spot in 3-D for March toon "Monsters vs. Aliens."
... Tokyo festival, mart set dates - Film Festivals: Event to unspool on Oct. 17 - 25 -- The 22nd Tokyo Film Festival will unspool Oct. 17-25.
... Perez Hilton takes on 'hiltons' - Publishing News: Lifetime pulls plug on 'Amazing Mrs. Novak' -- "NOW WE have 'hiltons people': No one even knows how they became famous or, more accurately, how they became famous for being famous."
... Israel targets Hamas TV broadcasts - TV News: Israeli Defense Forces attacks station -- Israel is taking its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas to the airwaves.
... La Rondine - Legit Reviews: Not seen at the Met since 1936, Puccini's "La Rondine" makes a welcome return bolstered by the star power of its real-life husband-and-wife leads Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna.
... DietTribe - TV Reviews: Hoping to demonstrate that misery loves company every bit as much as pizza does, "DietTribe" details the struggles of five real-life friends as they all try to shed 30 pounds before one of them marches down the aisle.
... Lost and Found Orchestra - Legit Reviews: Who'd have guessed? Barbra Streisand turns out to have been a revolutionary. In her 1973 TV special she sang "The World Is a Concerto" accompanied by everything her arrangers could find from a pop-up toaster and variable speed blenders to alarm clocks and vacuum cleaners.
... Seven Pounds - Film Reviews: "Seven Pounds" is an endlessly sentimental fable about sacrifice and redemption that aims only at the heart at the expense of the head.
... The Tale of Despereaux - Film Reviews: Kate DiCamillo's delectable novel about rodents, royals and the restorative properties of soup gets the star-laden, CG-animated bigscreen treatment in "The Tale of Despereaux."
... Cadillac Records - Film Reviews: Approaching the blues with the enthusiasm of an overcaffeinated brass band, helmer Darnell Martin nonetheless makes some kind of music with the percolating '50s biopic "Cadillac Records" -- mostly because she mines a righteous, mythic sensibility out of the story of Leonard Chess, Muddy Waters and the birth of the Chicago blues.
... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Film Reviews: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" represents a richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling. This odd, epic tale of a man who ages backwards is presented in an impeccable classical manner, every detail tended to with fastidious devotion.
... Bolt - Film Reviews: An "Incredible Journey" or "Homeward Bound" updated for the superhero era, "Bolt" is an OK Disney animated entry enhanced by nifty 3-D projection. The first inhouse feature from Disney Animation since Pixar guru John Lasseter took over the studio's creative reins, this tale of a canine forced to overcome his superdog complex and learn to become a regular pooch bears some telltale signs of Pixar's trademark smarts, but still looks like a mutt compared to the younger company's customary purebreds. While punchy enough to keep parents amused, pic will probably play best to small fry and, especially with Disney star Miley Cyrus onboard, will have no trouble chasing down hefty biz through the holidays.
... Last Chance Harvey - Film Reviews: There's never a doubt that the losers-at-love of British writer-director Joel Hopkins' "Last Chance Harvey" are on intersecting arcs, that they'll meet cute and stroll off into a sooty London sunset. But stars Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are so disarmingly charming that even the most treacly moments work an emotional magic.
... Frost/Nixon - Film Reviews: "Frost/Nixon" is an effective, straightforward bigscreen version of Peter Morgan's shrewd stage drama about the historic 1977 TV interview in which Richard Nixon brought himself down once again.
... City of Ember - Film Reviews: A fabulously designed underground metropolis proves more involving than the teenagers running through its streets in "City of Ember," a good-looking but no more than serviceable adaptation of Jeanne Duprau's 2003 novel.
... W. - Film Reviews: Oliver Stone?s unusual and inescapably interesting ?W.? feels like a rough draft of a film it might behoove him to remake in 10 or 15 years.
... Painted Skin (Hua pi) - Film Reviews: Dubiously billing itself as "the first Eastern supernatural movie from China" -- what about "The Promise," for starters? -- costumer "Painted Skin" weighs in as an off-the-shelf drama-actioner that would have seemed much better 20 years ago. Assembled by a largely Hong Kong tech crew, but starring mostly Mainland thesps, yarn about a mysterious femme who's actually a flesh-eating fox-devil is the third and weakest pic version of the famous classical short story in the past 40 years. Opening across East Asia in late September, film scored good opening numbers in China but likely will be an ancillary item in Western markets.
... Body of Lies - Film Reviews: Neither the location-based verisimilitude of Ridley Scott's shooting style nor the estimable Middle East expertise of source-material author David Ignatius can disguise "Body of Lies" as anything other than the contrived phony-baloney it is.
... The Baader Meinhof Complex
(Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) - Film Reviews: An explosive performance by Johanna Wokalek gives some relief to an otherwise long and humdrum series of characters, blow-'em-ups and prison locations in German terrorist drama "The Baader Meinhof Complex."
... Last Stop 174 - Film Reviews: Bruno Barreto?s "Last Stop 174" goes through the motions of depicting a deeply troubled and bereft life but adds little new to the many bigscreen portrayals of poverty and desperation at the bottom of Brazil?s society.
... Zift - Film Reviews: A widescreen black-and-white genre thrill ride navigating a stylized 1960s Sofia underworld, "Zift," from Bulgarian theater vet and first-time helmer Javor Gardev, stakes out a style somewhere between Aki Kaurismaki and Guy Ritchie, making it work through sheer chutzpah. This is an instant midnight fest fave that could see limited specialized action before finding true cult status on homevid.
... Appaloosa - Film Reviews: ?Appaloosa? is a decent Western made in an era when a Western has to be pretty darn good to rope people into a theater to see it.
... The Wrestler - Film Reviews: Mickey Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances.
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