| | |
| A Minute With: Vichit-Vadakan on her Thai prostitution docudrama Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 04:08 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand has racked up more clichés about prostitution than most countries. But in her film "Karaoke Girl", director Visra Vichit-Vadakan goes beyond the typically one-dimensional depictions of the women and lets the social message speak for itself. Born in the United States and raised in Thailand, she uses a part-reality, part-fiction style with a story based on the life of Sa Sittijun, who moved to Bangkok at age 15 and ended up working as a singer and an escort in a karaoke bar. "Karaoke Girl", Vichit-Vadakan's first feature film, won the Emerging International Filmmaker award at Britain's Open City Docs Fest in June, garnering praise for how its dream sequences and dramatized scenes are woven seamlessly with interviews with Sa and her family. Full Story | Top |
| New York Times CEO says Chinese language site under review Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 04:02 PM PST  By Jennifer Saba NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Times Co Chief Executive Officer Mark Thompson said the publisher is going to keep all its money losing operations under review - including those in China - as he seeks to negotiate the newspaper's increasing shift towards a digital landscape. The New York Times Chinese language website has been blocked in China ever since it published an article in October 2012 about the family wealth of Wen Jiabao, the former premier. Thompson said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday that the website, which was launched in a beta version in June 2012, got off to an encouraging start. "The fact that we can't be seen officially inside China means the revenue is not as large as we would have wished it to have been," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Popular Israeli singer Arik Einstein dies Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 02:53 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli entertainer Arik Einstein, whose crooning hit tunes and comedic turns on screen endeared him to generations of Israelis, died on Tuesday in a Tel Aviv hospital at the age of 74 after suffering a fatal hemorrhage. "The songs he composed and sang are the soundtrack for Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "With much sadness Israel parts with a cultural giant." Einstein started out in a military entertainment troupe before joining a pop band, and then went on to have a prolific solo career. ... Full Story | Top |
| '12 Years a Slave' and 'Nebraska' lead Spirit award nominees Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 02:29 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gritty historical drama "12 Years a Slave" and dark comedy "Nebraska" led the nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards on Tuesday, both scoring nods in the best feature, best director and best acting categories. "12 Years a Slave," a harrowing tale of a free black man sold into slavery, landed seven nominations including British-born filmmaker Steve McQueen for best director, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor for best male lead and newcomer actress Lupita Nyong'o for best supporting female. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit creditors push court to value art collection: filing Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 02:16 PM PST  A group of the largest creditors in Detroit's Chapter 9 bankruptcy case are pushing for an independent valuation of the Detroit Institute of Arts' 66,000-piece collection, according to a federal court filing on Tuesday. This is the first court filing addressing the hot-button issue of selling the DIA's artwork to repay the city's creditors. The creditors include Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, Syncora Guarantee Inc as well as the city's largest labor union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 25, according to the filing. Full Story | Top |
| Idris Elba mines Mandela's 'commanding presence' in biopic role Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 01:49 PM PST  By Mary Milliken LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British actor Idris Elba will be the first to say that he doesn't look like Nelson Mandela. But in playing the anti-apartheid leader and former president of South Africa in the biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," he figured that nailing his physical presence would go a long way to portraying the man. Elba, best known for his roles in the HBO television series "The Wire" and action films such as 2012's "Prometheus," had to look past the elder statesman Mandela that everyone knows and find physical clues to the younger man, a lawyer who inspired many to join the fight against South Africa's all-white rule. The film, based on Mandela's 1994 autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom," is an independent South African production directed by Britain's Justin Chadwick and distributed by The Weinstein Co. It opens in U.S. theaters on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| CBS News puts '60 Minutes' reporter Lara Logan on leave Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 01:40 PM PST  (Reuters) - CBS News has asked "60 Minutes" reporter Lara Logan to take a leave of absence following a flawed report on the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, according to a memo from the chairman of CBS News, Jeff Fager. Logan's producer, Max McClellan, was also put on leave, according to the memo, which was addressed to CBS News employees. Fager is also executive producer of "60 Minutes." "60 Minutes ... fell short by broadcasting a now discredited account of an important story, and did not take full advantage of the reporting abilities of CBS News that might have prevented it from happening," the memo said. On October 27, "60 Minutes" aired a segment about the Benghazi attack based on a security official who claimed he was at the scene during the assault, in which four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. Full Story | Top |
| New musical brings Carole King's life, music to Broadway stage Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 12:45 PM PST  By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - While most teenagers in the early 1960s were swooning over the pop stars, Carole King was busy writing songs for their idols that would send them to the top of the music charts. From "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" for The Shirelles and "Take Good Care of My Baby" for Bobby Vee to "The Loco-Motion" for Little Eva, King and her first husband Gerry Goffin penned a string of hits before she launched a solo career and produced her 1971 multiple Grammy Award-winning second album "Tapestry." "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical," a new play in previews that opens on January 12 on Broadway, charts the rise of the songwriter, born Carol Klein in Brooklyn, from her early days as a teenager working with Goffin and songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in New York's songwriting hub at 1650 Broadway through her divorce and move to California. "It's an embarrassment of riches," director Marc Bruni said in an interview about the catalog of music King, 71, produced. Full Story | Top |
| MSNBC cancels Alec Baldwin's late-night talk show Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 12:40 PM PST  Emmy-award winning actor Alec Baldwin's late-night talk show on cable TV news network MSNBC has been canceled, the network said on Tuesday. The talk show, "Up Late with Alec Baldwin," was suspended earlier this month after the actor apologized for comments he made to a New York photographer that a gay rights group described as homophobic. "We are jointly confirming that 'Up Late' will not continue on MSNBC," the network and Baldwin's representative Matthew Hiltzik in a joint statement. Full Story | Top |
| Malian music by moonlight seems far from country's woes Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 11:33 AM PST By Emma Farge LOMPOUL, Senegal (Reuters) - Encircled by moon-lit sand dunes, desert blues band Tamikrest from Mali's northern city of Kidal was the headline act at a Sahel music festival this weekend, held seemingly light years away from unrest in the group's native country. "Are you sleeping out there?," joked 28-year-old lead singer Ousmane Ag Mossa, his 6-inch (15-cm) tall afro silhouetted against the stage, before switching to more upbeat songs like "Aratan N Tinariwen" that had the bulk of the 1,500-person audience dancing on the sand and crying out for more. The Tuareg blues band and a West African "griot" storyteller were among the top acts at the fourth Sahel music festival which has gathered momentum as security concerns knocked a Timbuktu event off the calendar for the second year. Musically rich Mali, which is still struggling to find normality nearly two years after a coup which plunged the country into chaos, was not forgotten by the artists who came to perform in the Lompoul desert in neighbouring Senegal. Full Story | Top |
| 'Maltese Falcon' statuette sells for nearly $4.1 million in N.Y. auction Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 10:57 AM PST  The bird statuette that was the central prop in the classic 1941 detective thriller "The Maltese Falcon" sold for nearly $4.1 million at a New York auction, Bonhams auction house said. The statuette, a 45-pound (20-kg), 12-inch (30-cm) tall lead figurine featured in the Humphrey Bogart film, was the top lot in the Bonhams sale on Monday. "The spectacular price achieved reflects the statuette's tremendous significance. The Maltese falcon is arguably the most important movie prop ever and is central to the history of cinema," Catherine Williamson, director of entertainment memorabilia at Bonhams, said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Vivendi supervisory board backs demerger, Bollore Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 10:22 AM PST  Vivendi's supervisory board on Tuesday unanimously backed a plan to demerge the group's SFR business as it reduces exposure to telecoms and focuses on media. The French group named Hearst Magazines' Arnaud de Puyfontaine head of media and content activities to run the remaining businesses - Universal Music Group, pay-TV company Canal Plus and Brazilian telecom unit GVT. The supervisory board also confirmed top shareholder Vincent Bollore as chairman of the future Vivendi. The conglomerate is in the midst of a broad revamp to pay down debt and focus on media, selling its stakes in video games publisher Activision Blizzard and Maroc Telecom, as well as agreeing a deal to take full control of Canal+ France. Full Story | Top |
| Kremlin extends media grip through Gazprom deal Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 08:44 AM PST  By Denis Dyomkin and Douglas Busvine MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin extended its grip over radio and television broadcasting on Tuesday when the media arm of state-controlled Gazprom bought mining tycoon Vladimir Potanin's Profmedia. Through the deal, the former Soviet gas ministry that is now Russia's largest company by revenue, will add TV and radio stations, cinemas and film production and distribution assets to a sprawling portfolio that it has built up around commercial television channel NTV. Gazprom Media and Interros, Potanin's investment company, said the deal should be completed at the start of 2014, subject to regulatory approvals. Full Story | Top |
| UK court hears celebrity chef Nigella Lawson took drugs - reports Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 08:40 AM PST  Two kitchen assistants who used to work for British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson have alleged that she was a regular user of cocaine and other drugs, according to reports of a court hearing published by several national British media on Tuesday. Contacted by Reuters, Lawson's publicist Mark Hutchinson said: "As proceedings are live we can't comment at the moment." Under British law, it is legally risky to comment publicly about what is said during criminal court proceedings. Lawson attracts a lot of media attention in Britain and her recent divorce from millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi made front-page news. Lawson's two former assistants, Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, are accused of defrauding Saatchi out of more than 300,000 pounds during the period when they worked for Lawson and Saatchi was still living with her. Full Story | Top |
| Romania hands 6-1/2 year jail term to Dutch art theft boss Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 07:23 AM PST  By Radu Marinas BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A Romanian court sentenced the ringleader of a gang that stole paintings from a Dutch museum in one of the world's biggest art heists to six years and eight months in prison on Tuesday. Radu Dogaru and fellow gang member Eugen Darie, both Romanians, received the same sentence for stealing the masterpieces, including two Monets and a Picasso, in October 2012. The paintings have yet to be found. Darie's lawyer Maria Vasii told Reuters by telephone: "We plan to file an appeal. Full Story | Top |
| Favorite things get a twist in new U.S. TV version of 'Sound of Music' Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 05:05 AM PST  By Jill Serjeant NEW YORK (Reuters) - Producers of a new version of the Oscar-winning musical "The Sound of Music," set for U.S. television next week, knew it would be a sacrilege to try and re-make the beloved 1965 movie classic starring Julie Andrews. And American country singer Carrie Underwood, who will star as the aspiring nun who brings song into the home of a strict Austrian widower, says she cringes when she hears the word "re-make." So when the lights go up on the live, televised version of "The Sound of Music" on NBC on December 5, audiences will see a few twists to some of their favorite things, and a lonely goatherd or two in an unusual place. That's because producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have gone back to the stage show first seen in 1959 for their unique version that will be seen in a format, live television, not used for about 50 years. "You would never, ever contemplate doing a re-make of the movie of 'The Sound of Music' because it's a classic. Full Story | Top |
| Christmas musical 'Black Nativity' hits a new note on big screen Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 03:08 AM PST  By Eric Kelsey BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - While growing up in Massachusetts in the 1960s and 1970s, Kasi Lemmons' mother took her every year to see the Christmas musical "Black Nativity" in Boston. Now, the 52-year-old director of 2007 drama "Talk to Me" is bringing poet Langston Hughes' musical about family redemption to the big screen on Wednesday in a present-day adaptation starring Oscar winners Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker. "I wanted to write a story that could continue 'Black Nativity' that was a contemporary story, that was a very accessible story, that was something anyone could relate to," Lemmons said in an interview. In Lemmons' adaptation, the director said she wanted to tackle a modern, broken family's struggles against the backdrop of New York's historically black Harlem neighborhood. Full Story | Top |
| UK wins three International Emmy Awards, J.J. Abrams honored Monday, Nov 25, 2013 09:16 PM PST  By Chris Michaud NEW YORK (Reuters) - United Kingdom won three International Emmy Awards on Monday, including one for Sean Bean as best actor, and producer-director J.J. Abrams received a special honor for his work on television series and films such as "Lost," "Star Trek" and the upcoming "Star Wars" chapter. France and Brazil won two Emmys, while Australia, Germany and South Korea each won one. Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro won best performance by an actress for her role in "Sweet Mother," in which she plays an elderly woman determined to embrace life, while Bean won as actor for his role as a lonely literature teacher who trawls nightclubs as a transvestite in "Accused." "I've never actually really won anything before," Bean quipped as he accepted his award. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment