Entertainment News

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - A flurry of movie deals were struck as the Sundance Film Festival reached its midpoint on Tuesday, and the widely anticipated film "Hounddog" debuted, starring young Dakota Fanning as the victim of a child rape.

NEW YORK - Wa Wa Wee Wah? Borat Sagdiyev himself might have exclaimed that catch phrase upon hearing that the largely improvised "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" had been nominated Tuesday for a best adapted screenplay Oscar.

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - Musical drama "Dreamgirls" led the Oscar field with eight nominations on Tuesday, but its historic omission from the coveted best picture and directing categories instantly transformed the race for Hollywood's top honors into a wild guessing game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - AMC Entertainment Inc., the nation's second-largest theater chain, said Tuesday it will offer free tickets for teachers wanting to see the movie "Freedom Writers," starring Hilary Swank.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Clint Eastwood went to war twice last year, and moviegoers barely noticed.

LONDON - Babyshambles has signed a long-term deal with record label Parlophone, thanks to the songwriting talents of frontman Pete Doherty, the company said Tuesday. A spokesman for Parlophone's parent company, EMI Group PLC's EMI Records, refused to give further details.

AUSTIN, Texas - Ted Nugent says Gov. Rick Perry had no problem with his decision to wear a Confederate flag shirt during his appearance at last week's inaugural ball — and even complimented his performance.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - While most of Los Angeles was asleep early Tuesday, Sid Ganis was getting ready for the big show.

ATLANTA - Gospel singer Ricky Dillard said he was shocked into silence when his pastor called to tell him a fire early Tuesday had destroyed his suburban Atlanta home along with his awards and unreleased recordings.

LOS ANGELES - Rage Against the Machine, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bjork are among the artists set to perform at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Jan. 15-21. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.

LOS ANGELES - For those who haven't yet, somehow, had their fill of Paris Hilton, there's a new Web site that has posted a seemingly endless offering of the celebutante's belongings.

NEW YORK - Simon Cowell was impressive; Peyton Manning was even better.

NEW YORK - ABC news anchor Chris Cuomo was unhurt Tuesday after the convoy of military police he was riding with in Iraq was struck by a roadside bomb.

CHICAGO - Elizabeth Vargas told Oprah Winfrey that she wasn't forced out as co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight," but decided to step down when she became pregnant with her second child.

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Jan. 15-21. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.

NEW YORK - Simon Cowell was impressive; Peyton Manning was even better.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has joined the Chandler family in its bid to buy newspaper and television station owner Tribune Co., a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Two years after launching with a controversial bang, Saatchi & Saatchi breakaway shop oneseven ended with a whimper last week when Interpublic decided to pull the plug on the underachieving agency.

NEW YORK CBS Sports & News president Sean McManus confirmed last week that the advertising sellout level for Super Bowl XLI is "above 80 percent," with a little more than two weeks to go before the Feb. 4 telecast.

"Trouble" - Jesse Kellerman

Gipsy Kings, "Pasajero" (Nonesuch Records): The Gipsy Kings must be happy. "Pasajero," the new album from this 25-year-old band of flamenco artists from the south of France, brings a fresh combination of their signature sound — driving rhythms, skilled guitar work, and the unmistakable vocals of lead singer Nicolas Reyes.

PARK CITY, Utah (Hollywood Reporter) - You don't have be a fan of the Clash to enjoy Julien Temple's "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten," a visually exciting, high-octane, rock history of the U.K. punk rock band and its frontman, Joe Strummer. Simply said: It's terrific.

PARK CITY, Utah (Hollywood Reporter) - "Teeth" is the most alarming cautionary tale for men with wandering libidos since "Fatal Attraction." It might also be the first horror movie that women drag men to see rather than the reverse.

PARK CITY, Utah (Hollywood Reporter) - A hard-scrabble Northern community is darkly scoped in filmmaker David Gordon Green's flinty depiction of three interlinked relationships.

WARSAW (AFP) - Polish veteran journalist and author Ryszard Kapuscinski has died at the age of 74 in a Warsaw hospital, news television station TVN24 announced.

NEW YORK - A book by Pete Seeger about a young musician who loses his hearing and a wordless story about an underwater camera were among the winners of children's book prizes announced Monday by the American Library Association.

NEW YORK - Members of the imperiled Publishers Group West, a leading book distributor, would be offered financial compensation and distribution from the Perseus Books Group in an agreement announced Monday that would make Perseus a major force in independent distribution.

ROME (Reuters) - The late Pope John Paul's closest aide is convinced the former Soviet Union was behind the assassination attempt on the pontiff in 1981 because he was a threat to its power, according to the aide's memoirs.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Polish-born writer and philosopher Leszek Kolakowski has been awarded the 2007 Jerusalem Prize, the mayor's office has said.

WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters Life!) - After years of battling rheumatoid arthritis, U.S. actress Kathleen Turner is now on a U.S. tour with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" after successful runs in New York and London.

LONDON (Reuters) - A growing trend to mix pub culture with playhouse art is seeping into traditional drinking dens across London and beyond.

Adirondack Theatre Festival founders Martha Banta, artistic director, and David Turner, producing director, will depart the Glens Falls, NY, company they founded in 1993 following ATF's 13th summer season in 2007.

Curt Dempster, the founding artistic director of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and one of the seminal figures of New York's Off-Off-Broadway movement, was found dead at his home in New York City Jan. 19. The cause of death remained undetermined at press time. He was 71, and was running EST until his final days.

The 30-track cast recording of Loving Repeating, composer Stephen Flaherty and director-adaptor Frank Galati's musical about the world of writer Gertrude Stein, is in stores now, the composer confirmed to Playbill.com.

LOS ANGELES - For those who haven't yet, somehow, had their fill of Paris Hilton, there's a new Web site that has posted a seemingly endless offering of the celebutante's belongings.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Clint Eastwood went to war twice last year, and moviegoers barely noticed.

ATLANTA - Gospel singer Ricky Dillard said he was shocked into silence when his pastor called to tell him a fire early Tuesday had destroyed his suburban Atlanta home along with his awards and unreleased recordings.

NEW YORK - With her Academy Awards nomination for best supporting actress on Tuesday, Abigail Breslin, the joyful 10-year-old actress at the heart of "Little Miss Sunshine," entered a rich niche of trivia: Oscar-nominated child actors.

CHICAGO - Elizabeth Vargas told Oprah Winfrey that she wasn't forced out as co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight," but decided to step down when she became pregnant with her second child.

Paris - Is this as pale as it gets?

PARIS (Reuters) - What does a fashion designer do? Make stunning clothes -- among other things.

PARIS - Veteran designer Karl Lagerfeld on Tuesday defied predictions that Paris haute couture will soon die out with a display of feather-light gowns for Chanel destined to lure a new generation of clients.

Paris - Chanel easily won the star quotient front row this week at the Paris couture shows with grand dames, first ladies, rock royalty and film stars plus Hollywood and rock 'n roll scions sitting down to see a spring 2007 collection staged on a gray, not red, carpet.

Paris - Puccini would have dug this Christian Dior haute couture collection inspired by Madame Butterfly and packed with femme fatales worthy of a Kenji Mizoguchi tragedy.

DEAR ABBY: On Dec. 8, "Slightly Cluttered in Washington" wrote that, as a single dad, he is deeply involved with his children's activities. Then he described his relationship with his "ladyfriend" as "at a standstill" because he spends so much time with his children that his housekeeping isn't up to her standards.

DEAR ABBY: My roommate, "Jeff," and I got into a huge fight last week and he kicked me out. My mother took me in and said if I ever moved back in with him, she'd "disown" me.

DEAR ABBY: I have a 15-year-old nephew I have suspected is gay for a long time. I recently saw his profile on myspace.com because I search there often, checking on my daughter. I found that he is on there and has listed his sexual orientation as "Bi."

DEAR ABBY: I am a friendly, happy, well-rounded student. I am president of my class in medical school, currently a 4.0 student and top-ranked in my class. I have a wonderful life. I am artistic, intelligent, attractive, very successful in work and at school. I have a lovely apartment, a new car, fulfilling hobbies, great friendships, and a fiance who is kind, loving and supportive.

DEAR ABBY: I'm active-duty military but retiring within a year with no plans for future employment as yet. My wife is 38 and I am 39. We have three children, ages 20, 18 and 15.

01/19/2007 - DEAR MARGO: My husband's elderly mother died fairly recently. Her second husband, even older than she, was terribly distraught. He arranged the funeral and made no mention of her many decades-long marriage to my father-in-law. He also refused to give her children her jewelry or even a keepsake.

1/18/2007 - DEAR MARGO: My friend "Paul" repeatedly molested his niece when he was younger. It was never reported to the police, but he did pay for his sister's and his niece's therapy, and went for several years himself.

01/12/2007 - DEAR MARGO: My girlfriend and I started dating during our senior year in high school, and now we're both freshmen in college. Recently, my girlfriend went to a party with friends, and afterward expressed that she felt left out because her friends were dancing with other guys while she was unable to.

01/11/2007 - DEAR MARGO: When my daughter was 14 she met a boy who, by his own admission, belonged to a gang and had committed several crimes. She became totally enamored of him and "fell in love." I believed she was too young to have a boyfriend and forbade her to see him outside of school, where I had no control.

DEAR MARGO: I am a 35-year-old married mother of three and foster mom of two more. I recently received an inheritance from my grandfather. I want to take 25 percent of the money and have a breast lift and augmentation.

Creators Syndicate - The ongoing feud between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump could have deadly consequences for the world if either obtained nuclear weapons, a group of leading nuclear scientists announced today.

Creators Syndicate - In our house, my wife controls the remote.

Creators Syndicate - A furious Osama bin Laden appeared on the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera network last night to denounce his inclusion on the latest edition of Mr. Blackwell's infamous Worst Dressed List.

Creators Syndicate - Just days after the Rev. Pat Robertson claimed on his "700 Club" program that God warned him of "mass killings" in the United States late in 2007, God held a rare press conference today to deny having spoken to the controversial televangelist.

In an unprecedented televised address to the nation last night, President George W. Bush announced a list of his New Year's resolutions for 2007, telling the American people, "I am a big believer in abiding by resolutions, as long as they don't come from the United Nations."

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Crowded House, the Australian-New Zealand band that generated a series of hits in the late 1980s before they split up in 1996, looks set to regroup and go on a world tour this year, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

KAANAPALI, Hawaii - Some Maui residents are objecting to the latest MTV reality show, "Maui Fever," saying its sexual content and all-white cast gives viewers a skewed impression of their island.

LOS ANGELES - Rage Against the Machine, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bjork are among the artists set to perform at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Complete list of the 79th Annual Academy Award nominations announced Tuesday at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif.:

NEW YORK - Who says politics is show business for ugly people? "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's film on the perils of global warming, scored two Oscar nominations Tuesday — for best documentary feature and best original song. While he is not technically a nominee — the film's director, Davis Guggenheim, won the nod, as did singer Melissa Etheridge for the song "I Need to Wake Up" — Gore said he was "thrilled" that his movie was honored.