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| Michael Douglas wants to surprise audiences with Marvel's 'Ant-Man' Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:12 PM PST  By Mary Milliken LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After throwing audiences a curveball by playing flamboyant pianist Liberace, leading man Michael Douglas is ready to make another unconventional career choice, this time playing scientist Hank Pym in Marvel superhero film "Ant-Man." Disney-owned Marvel said on Monday that Douglas, 69, will play Henry 'Hank' Pym, the creator of the technology to shrink a human to the size of an insect and thus become Ant-Man. "Anchorman" star Paul Rudd, 44, will play Scott Lang, the alter-ego of the diminutive Marvel superhero. "I've been dying to do a Marvel picture for so long," Douglas told Reuters on Monday. He'll have a picture he can see." Pym's character first appeared in the 27th issue of Marvel Comics series "Tales to Astonish" in January 1962. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said in a statement posted on Marvel.com that Douglas will play Pym with "charm and fortitude." Douglas, who won a Best Actor Oscar in 1988 for Oliver Stone's financial drama "Wall Street" and picked up a Golden Globe award on Sunday for his turn as Liberace in HBO movie "Behind the Candelabra," is taking a rare step into the world of big-budget franchise action films. Full Story | Top |
| Charter takes rejected Time Warner Cable bid to investors Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:56 PM PST  By Liana B. Baker and Nicola Leske NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc on Monday formally offered to acquire larger rival Time Warner Cable for $37.3 billion, sparking what is likely to be a contentious battle for control of the No. 2 U.S. cable operator. Charter, the No. 4 cable operator, proposed paying $132.50 per share - barely higher than where Time Warner Cable shares closed on Monday - consisting of around $83 per share in cash and its own stock. Malone's Liberty Media Corp owns 27 percent of Charter. Time Warner Cable shareholders would get 45 percent ownership in the combined company. Full Story | Top |
| New 'Idol' highlights harmony among judges to freshen U.S. Fox show Monday, Jan 13, 2014 05:02 PM PST  By Lisa Richwine PASADENA, California (Reuters) - The Fox broadcast TV network promises camaraderie among its judges and a focus on the contestants when "American Idol" returns on Wednesday, seeking to reinvigorate the pioneer singing competition after a ratings slump in recent years. Appearing before TV critics on Monday, this season's judges - pop superstar Jennifer Lopez, country singer Keith Urban and crooner Harry Connick Jr. - emphasized their chemistry and a shared commitment to focusing on the young singers competing for a chance at stardom. "I think that's what's going to make it sparkly and fresh and new again." "Idol" erupted in 2001 as a broadcast TV powerhouse with the biting commentary of one of its original judges, Simon Cowell. Last season, tension between judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj made headlines, taking attention away from the talent. Full Story | Top |
| Judge denies Michael Jackson's family bid for new wrongful death trial Monday, Jan 13, 2014 04:27 PM PST  The family of late pop star Michael Jackson on Monday lost its bid for a new trial against concert promoter AEG Live, which had been cleared of liability in the singer's death. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled that Jackson's mother and children did not have standing for a re-trial after their attorneys argued last month that jury instructions were confusing and not wide enough in scope. A jury in October cleared privately held AEG Live, the organizer of Jackson's ill-fated 50 "This Is It" comeback shows in London, of negligently hiring cardiologist Conrad Murray as Jackson's personal physician. The verdict came after a sensational five-month trial that offered a glimpse into the private life and final days of the "King of Pop." Jackson family attorneys could send their appeal to a higher state court. Full Story | Top |
| Charter offers to buy Time Warner Cable in public appeal to shareholders Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:37 PM PST By Liana B. Baker and Nicola Leske NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc formally offered on Monday to acquire larger rival Time Warner Cable for $37.3 billion, signaling the start of what is likely to be a contentious battle for control of the No. 2 U.S. cable operator. Charter, the No. 4 cable operator, proposed paying $132.50 per share - barely higher than where Time Warner Cable shares closed on Monday - consisting of around $83 per share in cash and its own stock. Time Warner Cable shareholders would get 45 percent ownership in the combined company. Charter said on Monday that it held discussions with Time Warner Cable, which is led by Chief Executive Officer Rob Marcus, but the company wanted a higher bid and talks have not been constructive. Full Story | Top |
| HBO political drama 'The Newsroom' to end after third season Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:40 PM PST  Aaron Sorkin's drama series "The Newsroom" about a chaotic cable TV newsroom will end after its upcoming third season, Time Warner Inc-owned HBO said on Monday. Unlike Sorkin's Emmy-winning White House drama "The West Wing," "The Newsroom" failed to earn high praise and was targeted by critics for its sanctimonious portrayal of news. Star Jeff Daniels, who plays gruff news anchor Will McAvoy, won an Emmy this year for best actor in a drama series, but the series' first season received only three Emmy nominations in total, including Jane Fonda for best guest actress in a drama series and best main title design. Full Story | Top |
| Northern Ireland's Morrissey wins Eliot poetry prize Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:33 PM PST By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) - Northern Irish poet Sinead Morrissey won Britain's prestigious T.S. Eliot prize on Monday for "Parallax", a collection that explores the nature of reality and includes a poem inspired by watching a film while giving birth. Morrissey, who is the first poet laureate of Belfast and had been shortlisted for the prize on three previous occasions, will receive an award of 15,000 pounds ($24,600). "I'm so delighted, it's a dream come true," she told Reuters after the prize was announced at a ceremony held at London's Hertford House, the home of the Wallace Collection of art. Morrissey, whose winning collection examines the difference between perception and reality, said she had no explanation for why Northern Ireland, also the birthplace of late Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, was a fertile breeding ground for poets. Full Story | Top |
| Michael Douglas joins Paul Rudd in Disney-Marvel's 'Ant-Man' film Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:32 PM PST Actor Michael Douglas will take on the role of scientist Hank Pym opposite Paul Rudd in the upcoming Disney-Marvel superhero film "Ant-Man," the movie studio said on Monday. Douglas, 69, will play Pym, creator of the technology to shrink to the size of an insect and thus become Ant-Man. "Anchorman" star Rudd, 44, will play Scott Lang, the alter-ego of the diminutive Marvel superhero. Pym's character first appeared in the 27th issue of Marvel Comics series "Tales to Astonish" in January 1962. "We knew we needed an actor capable of bringing the weight and stature to the role that the character deserves," Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said in a statement posted on Marvel.com. Full Story | Top |
| Emotional Ronaldo ends Messi run Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:11 PM PST  By Brian Homewood ZURICH (Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo was overcome with emotion after being voted the world's best player for 2013 on Monday, ending his great rival Lionel Messi's dominance of the award. Although he failed to win any major titles with Real Madrid last season, Ronaldo was rewarded for his immense goal-scoring prowess as he swept aside Messi, winner for the last four years, and Frenchman Franck Ribery. "Thank you to everyone, my team mates, the national team and my family, to everyone here," the Portugal and Real Madrid forward said, choking with emotion after accepting the trophy. "I can't speak," added Ronaldo, runner-up for three of the last four years, before breaking down. Full Story | Top |
| '12 Years a Slave, 'American Hustle' take top Golden Globes Monday, Jan 13, 2014 12:10 PM PST  By Mary Milliken BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - The film "12 Years a Slave" took the coveted Golden Globe for best drama and "American Hustle" won best musical or comedy on Sunday in a kick-off to the Hollywood awards season that foreshadows a wide scattering of honors for a year crowded with high-quality movies. Only two films garnered more than one award at the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards, an important but not entirely accurate barometer for the industry's highest honors, the Academy Awards to be held on March 2. "American Hustle," a romp through corruption in the 1970s directed by David O. Russell, was the top winner with three Globes for its seven nominations, while modest AIDS film "Dallas Buyers Club" starring Matthew McConaughey, took home two acting awards for him and co-star Jared Leto. British director Steve McQueen's brutal depiction of pre-Civil war American slavery in "12 Years a Slave," based on a true story of free black man Solomon Northup who was sold into slavery, only won one award out of its seven nominations. Full Story | Top |
| Golden Globe Awards draws best TV audience in 10 years Monday, Jan 13, 2014 12:10 PM PST Sunday's telecast of the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards drew its best audience in the past decade as 20.9 million people tuned in to watch the Hollywood awards show, Comcast Corp-owned network NBC said on Monday. The show hosted for a second consecutive year by comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler paid dividends again for NBC as the Golden Globe Awards beat other televised ceremonies such as the Emmys and People's Choice Awards for viewers. The duo have already signed on to host next year's Golden Globes. Big film winners at the Golden Globes, which are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, were historical slavery drama "12 Years a Slave" and 1970s corruption romp "American Hustle." (Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Full Story | Top |
| 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' star wins critical praise Monday, Jan 13, 2014 11:28 AM PST  By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jessie Mueller, the star of "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical," may not be a household name yet, but some critics predicted on Monday that she could be after her performance in the new Broadway musical. The New York Post described the casting of Mueller, 31, in the lead role of the show that charts the rise of the songwriter from her early days penning hits with her first husband Gerry Goffin to a solo career and her 1971 multiple Grammy-winning album "Tapestry" as "inspired." "Mueller's hardly a household name," the newspaper said after the show's opening night on Sunday. "But her engaging, moving performance here should make her one." USA Today praised Mueller's voice, range and comic sensibility and described her as "one of our best young musical actresses." The New York Times said Mueller, a Tony nominee for her role opposite Harry Connick Jr. in 2011's "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," has been a Broadway star in the waiting for several years but with "Beautiful" she became one. Full Story | Top |
| Stolen art sale gets Imelda Marcos ex-aide six years in New York prison Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:59 AM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imelda Marcos' former secretary was sentenced on Monday to up to six years in a New York prison for a scheme to sell art that once belonged to the former Philippine first lady, including a Claude Monet water-lily painting that netted $32 million. Vilma Bautista, 75, was convicted in November of conspiracy and tax fraud charges related to the sale or attempted sale of four museum-quality paintings acquired by Marcos during the two decades that her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, was president of the Philippines. A New York state judge sentenced Bautista to between two and six years in prison for the count of tax fraud and between one and three years for the conspiracy charge. Bautista, who had faced up to 25 years in prison, was also ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution to the state of New York. Full Story | Top |
| Philanthropists pledge over $330 million to help Detroit art museum Monday, Jan 13, 2014 08:34 AM PST  (Reuters) - U.S. philanthropic foundations have pledged more than $330 million to help preserve the Detroit Institute of Art's collection and assist in shoring up the cash-strapped city's employee pensions, the mediators overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy negotiations said on Monday. "As the mediators attempt to achieve a settlement of all claims, it bears emphasis that the foundations' agreement to participate is specifically conditioned upon all of their funds being committed to the twin goals of helping the city's recovery from bankruptcy by assisting the funding of the retirees' pensions and preserving the DIA's art collection as part of an overall balanced settlement of disputes in the bankruptcy," the mediators said. That collection, which accounts for only around 5 percent of the museum's 66,000 works, includes paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Rembrandt. The city hired Christie's after Kevyn Orr, Detroit's state-appointed emergency manager, opened the door to possibly monetizing some of the artwork to help deal with more than $18 billion of debt and other obligations that led to the city's July 18 municipal bankruptcy filing. Full Story | Top |
| 'Superhobo' flies to the rescue for Berlin's down-and-outs Monday, Jan 13, 2014 07:21 AM PST  "His muscles are firm but he has no fixed abode" proclaims the slogan of "Superhobo" comic ("Superpenner" in the original German), which hit the streets of Berlin on Monday in an attempt to boost sales of a newspaper sold by down-and-outs. But the homeless, the unemployed and the poor immigrants who picked up an armful of the "Strassenfeger" newspapers to sell around Berlin, with the comic as a free supplement, did not seem to find the idea offensive. "It's just a bit of fun," said Daniela, a 40-year-old who has been touting the "Strassenfeger" (Street Sweeper) at a central Berlin train station for the past two years. Lots of people shook their heads when Daniela approached but Frank Henseler, a 56-year-old in a tie and scarf visiting Berlin on business, leafed through the Superpenner, his cigarette smoke billowing in the cold air, and bought a copy. Full Story | Top |
| EU probes licensing pacts between US film studios, pay-TV firms Monday, Jan 13, 2014 06:03 AM PST  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union opened an investigation into licensing agreements between major U.S. film studios and European pay-TV broadcasters on Monday, saying they may break EU anti-trust rules. The probe by the European Commission, the EU's anti-trust watchdog, will focus on agreements requiring films licensed by U.S. studios to be shown exclusively in the EU member state where each broadcaster operates via satellite and the Internet. The Commission, in principle, is against services being offered in one of the EU's 28 member states without people in other member states being able to access them. It will focus on agreements between studios including Twenty-First Century Fox, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and Paramount Pictures and European pay-TV broadcasters such as Britain's BSkyB, France's Canal Plus, Germany's Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia of Italy and DTS, which operates under the Canal Plus brand in Spain. Full Story | Top |
| Filipina caregiver is surprise star of Israel's X-Factor Monday, Jan 13, 2014 03:41 AM PST  By Rami Amichai TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Once part of a faceless crowd of foreign workers who clean homes and tend to Israel's sick and elderly, a Filipina caregiver has shot to stardom on a popular TV singing contest. Rose Fostanes, 47, surprised viewers of Israel's X-Factor talent show and swept its judges off their feet with soulful renditions of pop songs by the likes of Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera. Fostanes hopes her popularity on the show will shine a spotlight on Israel's low-paid foreign workers, who include about 20,000 Filipinos. For many Israelis, the word "Filipino" has become synonymous with caregiver, and Fostanes' appearance and success on X-Factor could help break the stereotype. Full Story | Top |
| Picasso, Magritte feature in Christie's February auctions Monday, Jan 13, 2014 01:10 AM PST  By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) - A Picasso portrait of his lover and eventual wife Jacqueline Roque and a canvas by Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte are among the star attractions of February auctions that Christie's said on Monday could net almost $380 million. Christie's estimated that those works and others to be sold in four auctions on February 4-5 and a fifth on February 7 in London could raise between 156.7 million and 228.3 million pounds ($260 million-$376 million). The Picasso, entitled "Femme au costume turc dans un fauteuil" (Woman in a Turkish costume seated in a chair), 1955, is valued at 15-20 million pounds and is on sale for the first time in 55 years, Christie's said in a press release. The painting is one of a small group of portraits by Pablo Picasso showing Roque in the costume of an "odalisque", a woman of the harem. Full Story | Top |
| Discovery, Scripps Networks end merger talks: WSJ Monday, Jan 13, 2014 12:13 AM PST  (Reuters) - Discovery Communications Inc and Scripps Networks Interactive Inc abandoned talks for a merger last week, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the matter. The discussions did not go beyond the early, exploratory stage and Discovery had not made a formal offer for Scripps, the newspaper reported. (http://link.reuters.com/zez85v) A report in Variety had said in December that Discovery was considering a bid for Scripps, home to the Food Network and HGTV. The Scripps family did not appear ready to sell the cable company, Wall Street Journal said. Full Story | Top |
| 'Breaking Bad,' 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' clinch top TV Golden Globes Sunday, Jan 12, 2014 09:49 PM PST By Nichola Groom BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - The Golden Globes honored the old and the new with its top television awards on Sunday, with long-running series "Breaking Bad" taking home best drama while newcomer police show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" earned best comedy honors. "Breaking Bad," which told the gritty tale of a chemistry teacher turned meth cook, won the Golden Globe for best television drama series for the first time after having been nominated in three previous years. Its star, Bryan Cranston, also picked up his first Golden Globe for best actor in a TV drama. He, too, had received three previous nominations for his role as unlikely drug kingpin Walter White. Full Story | Top |
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