AP Arts Entertainment Digest
Posted by admin
(01-29) 10:47 PST , (AP) —
TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 2008
Questions to Josh Dickey at (212) 621-7882 or jdickey@ap.org. For photos, call Graham Morrison or Shoun Hill, both at (212) 621-1921. For graphics, call Scott Johnson at (212) 621-6900. For reruns of stories, call the Service Desk at (800) 838-4616.
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NEW %26 DEVELOPING:
HOLLYWOOD LABOR-GRAMMYS: Writers union gives OK for members to work on 50th anniversary Grammy Awards show. By Lynn Elber.
TV-NBC-WOLF: NBC Universal takes producer of ‘Law %26 Order’ series to court in dispute over pay.
TV-CRASH SERIES: Oscar-winning film ‘Crash’ coming to TV as a drama series on cable’s Starz network.
BOOKS-HIJUELOS: Oscar Hijuelos planning companion novel to `The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love’. AP Photo NY448.
EU-FILE SHARING: EU court: Record labels can’t demand telecoms firms share downloader details. By Aoife White.
OBIT-TRUMAN’S DAUGHTER: Margaret Truman Daniel, only child of President Harry Truman, dies at 83. By Margaret Stafford. AP Photos NY111, NY113.
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CELEBS:
PEOPLE-GARRISON KEILLOR: Garrison Keillor drops restraining order against zealous fan he accused of stalking him. AP Photo NY108.
PEOPLE-BRITNEY SPEARS-PAPARAZZI: Police head to Britney Spears’ neighborhood after report that paparazzi are trespassing.
PEOPLE-FOXY BROWN: New York judge denies Foxy Brown’s plea to get out of jail early for medical exam in Calif. AP Photo NYET188.
PEOPLE-FERGUSON: ‘Late Late Show’ host Craig Ferguson passes test to leave his ‘honorary citizen’ labels behind. AP Photo NY127.
BRITAIN-DIANA: Bodyguard tells inquest Princess Diana needed more protection.
PEOPLE-DIXIE CHICKS: Martie Maguire announces pregnancy, says latest Dixie Chick baby is a girl, due in late summer.
CHRISTIAN BRANDO-AUTOPSY: Family requests autopsy, including toxicology analysis, for Christian Brando. By Daisy Nguyen.
PEOPLE-MIKE WALLACE: Mike Wallace recovering from triple heart bypass surgery that doctors call a success. AP Photo NYET247.
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TOP STORIES:
EXPATRIATE ENTERTAINERS
LOS ANGELES Like hundreds of other entertainers before him, Heath Ledger had left his native Australia years before to carve out a career in the United States. With immigration a hot-button issue this election year, Ledger raises questions about why it’s easier for an actor to move to the United States than someone who washes dishes for a living. 900 words. By John Rogers.
AP Photos.
FILM-OSCARS-WHERE’S THE BUZZ?
LOS ANGELES Fewer people have seen this year’s best-picture Oscar nominees than in many recent years, which is translating into a lack of buzz among the moviegoing public about the year’s best movies. By Movie Writer Christy Lemire. 900 words. Moving Tuesday.
AP Photos.
THE BRITNEY ECONOMY
UNDATED When the Britney Spears saga hit a new level earlier this month on a police-escorted gurney, the inevitably mixed public reaction was only the half of it. From tabloid sales to TV ratings to overtime at the LAPD, every time Britney sinks to new lows, more money flows. By Business Writer Jeremy Herron. Moved Monday.
AP Photos NYET235-237.
CELEB-SUPER BOWL PARTIES
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. There’s a scuffle brewing in Arizona that has little to do with the Giants or the Patriots. In the days leading up to The Big Game, magazines such as Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Penthouse and Maxim will battle video game publisher Electronic Arts, trading card company Upper Deck and several others for the biggest, bestest, loudest and most celebrity-filled Super Bowl party. By Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang. 1,000 words. Moving Thursday.
AP Photos.
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FILM:
FILM-RATATOUILLE
NEW YORK Among the tales of depravity and violence that dominate this year’s Oscar race sits the bright and shining “Ratatouille.” The Pixar film landed five Oscar nominations and was ranked by many critics as one of the year’s best yet was never a serious contender for best picture. Is one of the year’s best movies being ghettoized by the best animated film category? By Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle. 900 words. Moving Thursday.
AP Photos.
FILM-Q%26A-ROGER DEAKINS
LOS ANGELES Roger Deakins, the veteran cinematographer who has shot every Coen brothers film since 1991’s “Barton Fink,” is competing against himself at the Oscars this year. These are his sixth and seventh nominations he’s never won. By Movie Writer Christy Lemire. 1,000 words. Moving Wednesday.
AP Photos.
FILM-ZOMBIE KING
George A. Romero invented the modern zombie movie. And he doesn’t like the way it’s been reinvented in flicks like “28 Days Later.” Gripe No. 1: “Dead people don’t move fast!” Romero exclaims in an interview. The filmmaker goes back to basics with his latest, “Diary of the Dead,” a tale of media saturation that uses the same subjective camera approach as the box office smash “Cloverfield.” By Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson. 900 words. Moving Thursday.
AP Photos.
FILM REVIEW-OVER HER DEAD BODY. Moving Tuesday. AP Photo NYET681.
FILM REVIEW-HANNAH MONTANA. Moving Wednesday. AP Photo NYET680.
FILM CAPSULES. Moving Wednesday.
NEW ON DVD. Moved Thursday, Jan. 24.
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TELEVISION:
AP ON TV-ALL AUSTEN
IVER HEATH, England It teemed with rain during much of the filming of the latest TV production of “Sense and Sensibility.” But that was a good thing, because soggy weather is an important plot element in Jane Austen novels. “Sense and Sensibility” is the final offering in PBS’s current Masterpiece Classic series “The Complete Jane Austen.” By Bridget Byrne. Moved Monday.
AP Photos NYET326-327.
TV-LOST-EMERSON Q%26A
NEW YORK After an eight-month hiatus, “Lost” returns Thursday with an episode titled, appropriately, “The Beginning of the End.” Michael Emerson, as the unforgettable villain and ‘Others’ leader Ben Linus, tells the AP that the show’s good-vs.-evil dichotomy is about to get a third element. By Lauri Neff. Moved Monday.
AP Photos. AP Video
BC-AP ON TV-LOST AND FOUND
NEW YORK For eight months, we had no contact with the island. But if any of us paused to wonder how they’re doing, we were right to be concerned. Sure, for a moment they think things are great. At the start of the new season of “Lost,” the castaways believe they’re about to be saved. Not so fast. 800 words. By Television Writer Frazier Moore. Moving Tuesday.
AP Photo NYET424
AP ON TV-VERSATILE BOB BALABAN
NEW YORK He played an NBC exec who romanced Elaine on “Seinfeld.” He produced the Robert Altman film “Gosford Park.” His early film performances include “Midnight Cowboy,”"Catch-22″ and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” In recent years he was in “Capote” and continues to appear in Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries. Now the multi-hyphenate Balaban has directed “Bernard and Doris,” a tender, evocative HBO film starring Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon as an Irish butler and the billionaire heiress he served. By Television Writer Frazier Moore. 800 words. Moving Thursday.
AP Photos NYMA105-109.
BC-TV-NIELSENS
NEW YORK Fox dominated the weekly ratings again behind “American Idol” and the debut of the lie detector series “The Moment of Truth.” Moving Tuesday.
With BC-TV-NIELSENS-LIST
TV-LOOKOUT
UNDATED Highlights (and lowlights) for the week ahead, Feb. 3-9. By Television Writer Frazier Moore. Moving Wednesday.
AP Photo planned.
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MUSIC:
MUSIC-JONAS BROTHERS:
LOS ANGELES If you’re not a tween/teenage girl or don’t live in proximity to one, you may not yet be in on the phenomenon created by the Jonas Brothers: 20-year-old Kevin, 18-year-old Joe and 15-year-old Nick. They opened for Miley Cyrus on her fall “Hannah Montana” tour to the delight of shrieking girls everywhere. Their song, “S.O.S.,” catapulted to No. 1 on iTunes. Their second album has sold more than 900,000 copies. And that’s just the beginning. By Melinda Newman. 1,000 words. Moving Tuesday.
AP Photos.
BC-MUSIC-HANNAH MONTANA
LOS ANGELES Hannah Montana mania has already conquered TV, the music industry and the touring world. Now it’s set to take over movies, too. The girl behind the release of Friday’s concert movie in 3D, no less spoke with The Associated Press about the film, the Hannah craze and being Miley. Moving Wednesday.
AP Photos. AP Video.
GRAMMYS-CHRIS BOTTI
NEW YORK Trumpet balladeer Chris Botti can’t quite figure out what his melodically romantic CD “Italia” is doing going up against the Beastie Boys’ funk-rock “The Mix-Up’” for best pop instrumental album, but Grammy nominations can be unpredicable for an artist who’s essentially created a musical genre all his own that defies categorization. By Charles J. Gans. 1,000 words. Moving Thursday.
AP Photos.
THE WRIGHTS
NASHVILLE No matter how talented Adam Wright and his wife, Shannon, are, some will wonder if the duo got an easy ride because of Adam’s famous uncle, Alan Jackson. By Entertainment Writer John Gerome. 600 words. Moving Thursday.
AP Photos.
BC-MUSIC-CARNEGIE SEASON
NEW YORK Jessye Norman is on a spiritual mission. The soprano will curate a 20-day festival celebrating the African-American cultural legacy next season at Carnegie Hall. Entitled “Honor!” it will include events at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
AP Photos.
MUSIC REVIEW-WILLIE NELSON. Moved.
MUSIC REVIEW-SHELBY LYNNE. Moved.
MUSIC REVIEW-THE MARS VOLTA. Moved.
MUSIC REVIEW-BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA. Moving Tuesday.
MUSIC REVIEW-RANDY THOMPSON. Moving Tuesday.
MUSIC REVIEW-JOE JACKSON. Moving Tuesday.
MUSIC REVIEW-DAILEY %26 VINCENT. Moving Tuesday.
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ON STAGE:
THEATER-CHRISTOPHER FITZGERALD
NEW YORK When Christopher Fitzgerald learned he’d be Igor in “Young Frankenstein,” the most most anticipated musical of the fall Broadway season, he was already deep in another role quite literally. Fitzgerald was trying to act from inside an enormous, marshmallowy Cabbage Patch costume, filming one of those offbeat Geico insurance commercials. By Mark Kennedy. 1,200 words. Moved Monday.
AP Photos.
BROADWAY TIX
NEW YORK Wanna hear what the next generation of musical-theater composers and lyricists is up to? Check out a new podcast series put together by the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. You can hear what its members, both current and past, have in their trunks, courtesy of a 20-episode podcast now being heard at www.bmi.com/fridayatfour. By Drama Writer Michael Kuchwara.
AP Photo NYET690.
OFF-BROADWAY TIX
NEW YORK What do you do for an encore after winning a 2007 Tony Award for best actress? If you are Julie White, the a deserving Tony winner for last season’s “The Little Dog Laughed,” you go off-Broadway to star in the Manhattan Theatre Club’s world premiere of “From Up Here,” a dark family comedy by Liz Flahive about high school, second marriages and more. By Drama Writer Michael Kuchwara.
AP Photo NYET691.
THEATER REVIEWS:
_ “Jerry Springer the Opera in Concert.” Harvey Keitel stars in a concert version of the London success for two performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Moving Wednesday.
_ “Deathbed.” Mark Schultz’s meditation on loss, suffering and compassion. Off-Broadway’s McGinn/Cazale Theatre. Moving Thursday.
_ “Hunting and Gathering.” Four New Yorkers try to find their place in the world. A play by Brooke Berman. Off-Broadway’s Primary Stages. Moving Sunday, Feb. 3.
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INTERNET:
ON THE NET
UNDATED The Sundance Film Festival has concluded, but the marketplace for independent movies isn’t just located in the snowy mountains of Utah: it’s online. By Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle. 700 words. Moving Wednesday.
AP Graphic ON THE NET LOGO.
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VIDEO GAMES:
GAMES-GTA IV PREVIEW
NEW YORK Niko Bellic, the lead character in “Grand Theft Auto IV,” will be able to do just about anything gamers want to him to do. That includes shooting pedestrians, meeting women online, blowing stuff up, visiting strip clubs and, of course, hijacking cars. Such choices will face players of Rockstar Games’ highly anticipated fourth entry in their controverisal but lucrative “Grand Theft Auto” gaming franchise. By Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang. 1,000 words. Moving Wednesday.
AP Photos.
GAMES-XBOX ARCADE: “Boogie Bunnies,”"Omega Five,”"Switchball.” By Lou Kesten. 700 words. Moving Wednesday. AP Photos NY386-388.
GAMES-NEWS BYTES: Week in video-game news: Electronic Arts’ free Battlefield; a video-game PAC. By Lou Kesten. 700 words. Moving Wednesday. AP Photo NY389.
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CELEBRITIES:
CELEB-NOW HEAR THIS-WRAPUP Quotes from AP Entertainment. Moving Thursday.
CELEB-BIRTHDAYS. Moved Monday.
CELEB-FLASHBACKS. Moved Monday.
CELEB-HIGHFIVE LISTS. Moved Monday. Will be updated.
The AP.
