Entertainment News

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Style trumps content in "Reprise," an audacious feature debut by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Waltz With Bashir," a self-styled "animated documentary" from Israeli television director Ari Folman, adds its voice to the maelstrom that has swarmed through Middle Eastern politics for decades.

CANNES, France (AP) — Fernando Meirelles did boys with guns in "City of God" and murderous corporations in "The Constant Gardener." With "Blindness," the opening night entry at the Cannes Film Festival, the Brazilian director exposes the world's ultimate savages: your friends and neighbors.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Martial arts movies have always had a certain cartoonish element, so DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" makes perfect sense.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Big is not necessarily better for the highly anticipated "Sex and the City" movie, which reaches theaters on May 30.

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - British rock band Radiohead's rain-drenched show near Washington D.C. last weekend has triggered an Internet-driven firestorm, with message boards and the blogosphere lighting up amid fan frustration.

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Metallica will launch a tour in October, a month after the rock titans release their first album in five years, drummer Lars Ulrich revealed during a rare club show in Los Angeles Wednesday.

TORONTO (AP) — Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details Thursday about the couple's breakup.

NEW YORK - Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."

PHOENIX - DMX has pleaded not guilty to felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee's aggressive plan to start its own cable network is moving forward, though officials are giving no indications that the network will be on the air before the Beijing Olympics, as the federation had once hoped.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox Broadcasting said Thursday it would drastically reduce the commercial levels of two upcoming action dramas -- "Fringe" and "Dollhouse" -- in an effort to reinvigorate broadcast television.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Bachelor" will be looking for love all over again on VH1. The lifestyle cable network said Thursday it acquired the full library of ABC's reality competition series.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Sci-fi action dramas and hourlong reality shows populate Fox's schedule for next season, which includes new shows from top producers J.J. Abrams ("Lost") and Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer").

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee's aggressive plan to start its own cable network is moving forward, though officials are giving no indications that the network will be on the air before the Beijing Olympics, as the federation had once hoped.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox Broadcasting said Thursday it would drastically reduce the commercial levels of two upcoming action dramas -- "Fringe" and "Dollhouse" -- in an effort to reinvigorate broadcast television.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Sci-fi action dramas and hourlong reality shows populate Fox's schedule for next season, which includes new shows from top producers J.J. Abrams ("Lost") and Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer").

SAN DIEGO (Hollywood Reporter) - Disney is bridging the gap between gaming and virtual worlds.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate voted on Thursday to overturn new, looser media ownership restrictions in the 20 biggest U.S. cities, defying a White House threat to veto the measure.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Style trumps content in "Reprise," an audacious feature debut by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Waltz With Bashir," a self-styled "animated documentary" from Israeli television director Ari Folman, adds its voice to the maelstrom that has swarmed through Middle Eastern politics for decades.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Martial arts movies have always had a certain cartoonish element, so DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" makes perfect sense.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Big is not necessarily better for the highly anticipated "Sex and the City" movie, which reaches theaters on May 30.

"But Didn't We Have Fun? An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870" (286 pages, Ivan R. Dee, $27.50) by Peter Morris: Any institution that endures in American culture passes through an interesting transitional period — the time when it straddles the line between an informal practice and a more structured, formal activity.

"But Didn't We Have Fun? An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870" (286 pages, Ivan R. Dee, $27.50) by Peter Morris: Any institution that endures in American culture passes through an interesting transitional period — the time when it straddles the line between an informal practice and a more structured, formal activity.

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback

1. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

SALT LAKE CITY - A book and promotional tour by a woman who helped convict polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could taint the jury pool in a rape case against her cousin and former husband, the husband's attorney said.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tommy Lee Jones is taking on the work of Ernest Hemingway, signing on to adapt, direct, produce and star in the writer's posthumously published novel "Islands in the Stream."

The building that housed the real-life people who inspired the stage comedy, Over the Tavern, a snapshot of Catholic family life in Buffalo in the late '50s, has been immortalized in cement in the western New York city.

InterAct Theatre Company will unveil the world premiere of Philadelphia playwright Larry Loebell's House, Divided, about a rift between two Jewish brothers, May 23.

Complete casting has been announced for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's new production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, starring previously announced Tony Award nominee Robert Cuccioli as Salieri.

Andrew Polk is Oscar and John Scherer is Felix in the new Pittsburgh Public Theater production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, marking the first time a Simon play has been produced at the resident Pennsylvania theatre.

René Augesen and Tony Award nominee Michael Hayden will be the forbidden lovers of American Conservatory Theater's new production of John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, directed by A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

CANNES, France (AP) — Fernando Meirelles did boys with guns in "City of God" and murderous corporations in "The Constant Gardener." With "Blindness," the opening night entry at the Cannes Film Festival, the Brazilian director exposes the world's ultimate savages: your friends and neighbors.

BEIJING (AFP) - Sporting idol Yao Ming has said that his sorrow over the earthquake in his native China is too deep for words as he and other elite athletes and sports teams swing behind relief efforts.

TORONTO (AP) — Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details Thursday about the couple's breakup.

NEW YORK - Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."

BERLIN (AFP) - Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, the CEO of leading French fashion house Christian Dior Couture, was Thursday named head of German ready-to-wear company Hugo Boss, a statement from that company said.

New York - Supermodel Alek Wek and Mark Badgley and James Mischka of Badgley Mischka were among those honored by the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) at the 30th Annual American Image Awards on Wednesday evening, May 14, in New York.

New York - Now that Resort is a fully-fledged season of its own, with numerous designers staging special presentations or runway shows to give the between-season collection a stage of its own (even Paris-based Christian Dior brought their show to New York for the second year in a row), designers have followed suit with fully-fledged collections to match.

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - The models strutted past, the celebrities sized up the fashions and the prison guards kept a close eye on the catwalk.

New York - For the fashion directors at Neiman Marcus, Fall 2008 marks a return to glamour, accessories-wise. Previewing some of the fall season's hottest trends, the Dallas-based department store has its pulse on what styles you can look forward to once your summer clothes are packed. Or, you can get a head start on things now and start hunting down these looks:

DEAR ABBY: I disagree with your reply to "Nicki in Maryland" (March 23), the retail saleswoman who is tired of being not only touched, but physically pulled about by customers.

DEAR ABBY: My fiance, "Keith," and I are being married at the end of June. We met at a fraternity party last fall and knew right away we were meant for each other. We're both in college in Hawaii. We don't live together -- and that has been lucky for me because Keith doesn't realize how inexperienced I am in the kitchen.

DEAR ABBY: I am in my sunset years and not well. I know my time is short, but I have one bright spot in my life -- my 5-year-old grandson, "Connor."

DEAR ABBY: As you know, most women invest a lot of time in addition to money so they can look and feel beautiful.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 38-year-old woman. My fiance of five years, "Troy," and I live together and are the parents of a 5-month-old baby girl.

05/16/2008 - DEAR MARGO: A friend of mine is struggling with her teenage daughter.

05/15/2008 - DEAR MARGO: I've had a very good girlfriend for about four years.

05/09/2008 - DEAR MARGO: For more than a year, I have been dating an emergency room doctor who works with her ex-fiance.

05/08/2008 - DEAR MARGO: My husband of a year, "Michael," is everything a partner should be: generous, caring, supportive, intelligent, easygoing and optimistic.

05/02/2008 - DEAR MARGO: Longtime reader, first-time writer.

Creators Syndicate - Just like everybody else, I've been feeling the pinch of a constrained economy, rising gas prices and a virtually stagnant career. (Oh, wait, that last one's just me.) I've been looking around for ways to cut back. Just this past week, in fact, I had to cancel the lawn service.

Creators Syndicate - McCain: Sunnis, Shiites "Trying to Confuse Me"

Creators Syndicate - Last week, I ran out to the supermarket in my wife's station wagon and noticed that the tank was empty. I stopped off to fill it up, and while the gas was running, washed all the windows with the little squeegee thing they have. When I heard the gas pump click off, I turned and glanced at the pump, and nearly had a heart attack right there in the self-serve lane. The little red numbers blinked at $57.

Creators Syndicate - Pronouncing himself "thrilled" with his recent spate of media appearances, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright announced today that he will launch his own 24-hour channel that will feature nothing but himself all day long.

Creators Syndicate - About a year and a half ago, I came up with a brilliant idea. My wife worked at home as a journalist, but her home office was located in a cramped little room at the back of our house. It was cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and too close to kids, distractions, and, as she pointed out, me.

TORONTO - Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details Thursday about the couple's breakup.

NEW YORK - Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."

LOS ANGELES - Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

LOS ANGELES - John Phillip Law, the strikingly handsome 1960s movie actor who portrayed an angel in the futuristic "Barbarella" and a lovesick Russian seaman in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," has died. He was 70.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The folks at Walt Disney Studios are out to change the way consumers view movies in the home. In October, Disney will release its first animated classic on Blu-ray Disc, "Sleeping Beauty," offering viewers a full palate of high-tech viewing options.