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| Sony Pictures executive: "Zero Dark Thirty" "does not advocate torture" Friday, Jan 11, 2013 07:56 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Pictures executive Amy Pascal lashed out on Friday at a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) who accused Osama bin Laden film "Zero Dark Thirty" of promoting torture and urged fellow Academy members not to vote for it in the Oscars race. In a strongly worded statement, Pascal said the "attempt to censure one of the great films of our time should be opposed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britney Spears calls off engagement, quits "X Factor" Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:45 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Britney Spears on Friday called it quits with both fiancé Jason Trawick and as a celebrity judge on "The X Factor" talent show. Spears, 31, and Trawick, 41 - her former agent - got engaged in December 2011. "Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement," Spears said in a statement. "I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends." The couple began dating in May 2010, following a turbulent few years in Spears' personal and professional life in which she lost custody of her children, entered rehab and shaved off her hair. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mike Tyson to punch up "Law & Order: SVU" with guest appearance Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:41 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Mike Tyson is stepping into the ring with "Law & Order: SVU." The former boxing champ will guest-star on the NBC procedural drama next month, a spokeswoman for the network told TheWrap on Friday. Tyson will play Reggie Rhodes, a murderer on death row who was victimized by a difficult childhood. The episode is currently scheduled to air on February 13, just in time for Valentine's Day. Tyson has acted before, though he's primarily played himself, perhaps most notably in "The Hangover" series of movies. ... Full Story | Top |
| NBC Sports Network will sponsor gun show despite Newtown School shootings Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:04 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The NBC Sports Network is staying on target with its sponsorship of a major gun show that will take place a little more than a month after the Newtown, Conn., school shootings that left dozens, most of them children, dead. A spokesman for NBC Sports told TheWrap on Friday that the cable outlet NBC Sports Network will continue to sponsor the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference, otherwise known as the SHOT Show. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Outraged" Amy Pascal: "Zero Dark Thirty" does not advocate torture Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:03 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Sony Chairman Amy Pascal refuted criticism of "Zero Dark Thirty" by a member of the Oscar voting academy on Friday, saying her studio's movie "does not advocate torture." "'Zero Dark Thirty' does not advocate torture," she said. "To not include that part of history would have been irresponsible and inaccurate. We fully support Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal and stand behind this extraordinary movie. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Jurassic Park 4" to arrive June 2014, Steven Spielberg to produce Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:02 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Jurassic Park 4" will arrive in theaters June 13, 2014, Universal announced on Friday. Steven Spielberg won't be directing this time around, but he is going to produce the project with Frank Marshall. Universal has yet to pick a director for the fourth installment of the dinosaur film franchise, which it plans to shoot and release in 3D. The studio and Spielberg have converted the original film to 3D and it will be a re-released in theaters on April 5. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Doctor Who" audio drama featuring five doctors due out in November Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:01 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Good news, "Doctor Who" fans; five actors who've played the Doctor in the long-running British sci-fi series are uniting for an audio drama to be released in November, in celebration of the series' 50th anniversary. Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann - aka, Doctors four through eight - are all participating in the 100-minute drama, dubbed "Doctor Who: The Light at the End. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Gangster Squad" takes $650K in midnight showings, battle with "Zero Dark Thirty" awaits Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:01 PM PST NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Warner Bros.' "Gangster Squad" grossed $650,000 in midnight showings Thursday night, a strong start to what should be a weekend-long fight for the box-office crown. Ruben Fleischer's tale of cops and organized crime in mid-20th century Los Angeles will duke it out with Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," the Oscar contender that expands to almost 3,000 screens this weekend. Box office experts projected "Zero Dark Thirty" would eke out the win before the weekend began, though it remains a close race with both movies looking at openings of about $20 million. ... Full Story | Top |
| How Newsweek made its first moving cover art Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:00 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Newsweek's provocative print covers of yesteryear may be gone from newsstands, but the now all-digital magazine is tinkering with ways to attract potential subscribers. The newsweekly released its first moving-image cover art - an eight-second video of a submersible descending into Hawaii's sapphire waters - which it tweeted Friday morning as a .gif. "This is something that we can do now without the boundaries of print," Andrew Kirk, a spokesman for Newsweek and the Daily Beast, told TheWrap. ... Full Story | Top |
| CBS orders untitled Jim Gaffigan project to pilot Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:59 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - CBS has ordered an untitled Jim Gaffigan project to pilot, the network announced on Friday. Much like FX's "Louie," the proposed single-camera series sounds as if it will be largely autobiographical on the stand-up comic's life. Executive produced and written by both Gaffigan and Peter Tolan ("Rescue Me"), Gaffigan will star as the happily married and harried father of five living in New York City. Gaffigan's manager, Alex Murray, will also serve as an executive producer on the Sony Television production, along with Michael Wimer of Tolan's Fedora Entertainment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Howie Mandel gets yet another reality show Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:58 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Ready to see even more Howie Mandel on the small screen? Yeah, we didn't think so, but it's coming your way, thanks to TBS. The cable network said Friday that it has greenlit a new series, tentatively titled "Deal With It," which will be executive-produced by Mandel. The network doesn't say whether Mandel will appear on camera; if so, it will follow on the heels of three other Mandel-hosted series, "Deal or No Deal," "Take It All" and "Mobbed." (Not to mention "America's Got Talent. ... Full Story | Top |
| "A Haunted House" review: Who needs ghosts when you're terrified of women and gays? Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:58 PM PST (Note: Strong language in first paragraph) LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It's well into "A Haunted House" before the cast of idiots finally reaches the foregone conclusion that the spirits and demons haunting the place were brought in by the hero's girlfriend - or, as jailhouse priest Father Williams (Cedric the Entertainer) notes, "It's in the bitch! … Sorry, the ho'. No disrespect." But disrespect is the name of the game for this flat, by-the-numbers "Paranormal Activity" spoof, which suggests that letting your girlfriend move in with you is pretty much tantamount to opening the gates of hell. ... Full Story | Top |
| Anthony Jeselnik: Defending rape jokes, pretending to be evil Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:57 PM PST NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Anthony Jeselnik opens his new Comedy Central special, "Caligula," with a rape joke - and it gets more offensive from there. The special gets its title from Jeselnik's answer to a question about what person, living or dead, he would most like to meet. The comedian, a former "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" writer famed for his flawlessly constructed jokes and brutal insults at Comedy Central roasts, knows he isn't for everyone. And that fellow Comedy Central star Daniel Tosh was excoriated last fall for an offhand rape joke during a standup set. ... Full Story | Top |
| TV anchorman Gregory won't face charges over gun clip Friday, Jan 11, 2013 02:33 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The District of Columbia has declined to prosecute NBC News anchor David Gregory for displaying an illegal high-capacity gun clip on a broadcast, a prosecutor said on Friday. District of Columbia Attorney General Irvin Nathan said his office would not seek to charge Gregory for showing the 30-round magazine on the December 23 broadcast of "Meet the Press" in part because it was an element of the renewed debate about firearms. His office "has determined to exercise its prosecutorial discretion to decline to bring criminal charges against Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alicia Keys, Katy Perry top bill at Obama inauguration parties Friday, Jan 11, 2013 02:14 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - R&B singer Alicia Keys, country guitar slinger Brad Paisley and pop star Katy Perry are some of the A-list performers who will entertain partygoers at President Barack Obama's inaugural celebration, organizers said on Friday. Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder, two prominent elder statesmen of American music, also will perform at one of the three official parties planned for the onset of Obama's second term in office, the inaugural committee said. Other performers include salsa singer Marc Anthony, rappers Far East Movement and Nick Cannon, pop band fun. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malik Bendjelloul searched the world to find "Sugar Man" tale Friday, Jan 11, 2013 02:05 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Malik Bendjelloul's journey to the Oscars with "Searching for Sugar Man" started with a journey around the world. The Swedish filmmaker had a mandate from Swedish television to make a half-dozen short films. So he bought the cheapest around-the-world flight he could find and headed out - to Ethiopia, Mexico, Argentina, Honduras - looking for stories. He found the tale of a lifetime in South Africa: An obscure '70s folk singer from Detroit named Rodriguez had become, without his knowledge, a cult figure to an entire generation of South Africans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sundance denies it's eyeing Brooklyn: No "Immediate" plans to expand Friday, Jan 11, 2013 02:04 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The Sundance Film Festival said it has no plans to expand to the Big Apple ... at least not any time soon. "There is no truth to rumors of plans for Sundance Institute to host a film festival in Brooklyn in the immediate future," a spokeswoman for the Sundance Institute, which runs the Park City, Utah, festival said. The denial came in response to a Page Six item in the New York Post that said the festival was looking at opportunities to host events in the Brooklyn neighborhood of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). ... Full Story | Top |
| Glenn Beck: "Badge of Honor" that I'm more loathsome to Al Gore than Al Jazeera Friday, Jan 11, 2013 02:03 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It took 15 minutes for former vice president Al Gore to reject Glenn Beck's offer to buy Current TV - a point of pride for the former Fox News host-turned-media entrepreneur. Beck told Fox News's Bill O'Reilly on Thursday that it was a "badge of honor" to not be "anywhere close to his agenda, to his values." "Did you really make an offer to buy this dopey network?" O'Reilly asked Beck, who has previously said he attempted to buy Gore's nascent cable network, sold recently to Qatar-based Al Jazeera. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Argo," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Les Miz" among Cinema Editors Noms Friday, Jan 11, 2013 02:02 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Argo," "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Les Miserables" may have been disappointed by the Directors Branch of the Academy on Thursday, but all three films received nominations for the top film editing award at the ACE Eddie Awards nominations were announced on Friday. In the rare case of guild nominations announced after the Oscar nominations, the American Cinema Editors also honored the dramas "Lincoln," "Life of Pi" and "Skyfall" and the comedies or musicals "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Ted. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Struck by Lightning" review: Chris Colfer's coming-of-age comedy not just for Gleeks Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:57 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Want to feel like a layabout and as if you're already way behind schedule in your life? At just 22 years of age, Chris Colfer has starred in a TV series, "Glee," for the past four seasons, winning a Golden Globe award and two Emmy nominations for his performance in the breakout role of gay high-school chorister Kurt Hummel. ... Full Story | Top |
| "The Middle" will gladly take longevity over awards Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:56 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - ABC's "The Middle" doesn't get the recognition, ratings or Emmy Awards that "Modern Family" does, but the cast and creators are fine with cruising under the radar if they can continue producing more episodes. "I say slow and steady wins the race," series star Neil Flynn rationalized at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour. Despite averaging a middling 2.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic this season - a feeble number compared to the 5.4 for "Modern Family" and the 6. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Storage Wars" porn lawsuit: alleged Brandi Passante video distributor found in contempt Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:55 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Storage Wars" star Brandi Passante has won a legal victory over the man accused of distributing a fake pornographic video of her on the Internet. Or, at least, the alleged porn-monger has suffered a legal setback. Federal judge James V. Selna of U.S. District Court in Central California found Hunter Moore, former operator of the website Is Anyone Up, in contempt of court on Tuesday. Selna ruled Moore failed to comply with a preliminary injunction ordering him to remove the images of Passante from the websites that he posted them to. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio leaving, John Cook to replace him Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:53 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Gawker editor-in-chief A.J. Daulerio is leaving the site and reporter John Cook will replace him, Cook told TheWrap on Thursday. Daulerio, who started at Gawker Media's sports site Deadspin, oversaw the network's flagship publication through a period of record growth. "A.J.'s tenure at Gawker has been much like him: bold, infuriating, unpredictable... and often brilliant," the site's founder Nick Denton said in a staff memo, obtained by New York magazine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Destiny's Child releasing first new song in 8 years Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:53 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - One of the biggest girl groups of the 21st century is making a comeback. Or, at least, some new music. Destiny's Child - a bootylicious R&B act consisting of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams - announced on Thursday that they will be releasing a compilation album later this month, which contains the first new song they've recorded since 2004. "We are so proud to announce the first original Destiny's Child music in eight years," a post on the group's Facebook page read. ... Full Story | Top |
| Justin Bieber pummeled his ex-bodyguard, lawsuit claims Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:52 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Justin Bieber is apparently as adept at delivering hits behind the scenes as well as on the music charts. That is, if the allegations in a new lawsuit are to be believed. In a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, Moshe Benabou, who claims to be Bieber's former bodyguard, claims that he was repeatedly punched by the "Boyfriend" singer, who then fired him. And then, to add insult to injury, Benabou was denied overtime pay, vacation pay and reimbursement for expenses, the suit also alleges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britney Spears says quitting Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:36 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Britney Spears confirmed on Friday she was leaving "The X Factor" talent show after just one year as a celebrity judge, saying it was time to get back to making music. Calling it a "very difficult decision," Spears said in a statement: "I had an incredible time doing the show and I love the other judges and I am so proud of my teens but it's time for me to get back in the studio. "Watching them all do their thing up on that stage every week made me miss performing so much! I can't wait to get back out there and do what I love most," the "Circus" singer said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Famed Hollywood movie house renamed TCL Chinese Theatre Friday, Jan 11, 2013 01:25 PM PST (Reuters) - Hollywood's landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre has a new name after a Chinese company purchased naming rights to the famous movie house and tourist destination. The one-time site of the Academy awards will now be called the TCL Chinese Theatre following a 10-year deal with Chinese TV maker TCL Corp, its owners said on Friday. Opened in 1927, the building had been named for Sid Grauman, a Hollywood showman who helped finance the theater's construction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singer Randy Travis charged with drunken driving in crash Friday, Jan 11, 2013 11:47 AM PST  DALLAS (Reuters) - Grammy-winning country music singer Randy Travis had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the state's legal limit when he was arrested last summer after a Texas state trooper found him lying naked on a road after crashing his car, authorities said. Travis, 53, was charged on Wednesday with driving while intoxicated for the August 7 incident near his hometown of Tioga, about 60 miles north of Dallas, in which he also threatened to shoot and kill state troopers while he was being transported to jail, Grayson County prosecutors said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Evan Rachel Wood expecting first child with actor Jamie Bell Friday, Jan 11, 2013 10:34 AM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Evan Rachel Wood said on Friday that she and her husband, British actor Jamie Bell, are expecting their first child. "Thanks for all your warm wishes," Wood, 25, wrote on her Twitter account. "We are very happy. I'm gonna be a mama!" Moments earlier, Wood posted a picture of the pregnancy book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" on the social media site. It will be the first child for both Wood and Bell, who wed in October. Wood rose to Hollywood stardom for her roles in 2008's "The Wrestler" and the 2003 coming-of-age drama "Thirteen. ... Full Story | Top |
| "$ellebrity" explores paparazzi influence in fame game Friday, Jan 11, 2013 10:32 AM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As one of the entertainment industry's most sought-after photographers, Kevin Mazur is training his lens on fellow photographers who traffic in the high-stakes game of capturing images of Hollywood stars as they go about their everyday lives. Mazur, a Rolling Stone magazine staffer who has shot bands including U2 and Bon Jovi and also is the co-founder of photo agency WireImage, makes his directorial debut with "$ellebrity," which opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Evan Connell, U.S. author of Custer history, dead at 88: publisher Friday, Jan 11, 2013 07:48 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. writer Evan S. Connell, a versatile author whose widely acclaimed non-fiction account of Custer's Last Stand, "Son of the Morning Star," became a best seller, has died at 88, his publisher said. Connell, who lived and worked in Santa Fe, New Mexico, died late on Wednesday after several years of declining health, Counterpoint Press of Berkeley, California, said on its website. A novelist, short-story writer and poet, Connell was the author of 17 books. His best-known novels were "Mrs. Bridge" (1959) and "Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prolific sex abuser Savile "groomed a nation": UK police Friday, Jan 11, 2013 05:58 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The late British TV presenter Jimmy Savile, honored by both the queen and the pope, sexually assaulted hundreds of people, mainly children, at BBC premises and hospitals over six decades of unparalleled abuse, a police-led report said on Friday. Savile, one of Britain's biggest TV stars in the 1970s and 1980s, abused youngsters at 13 hospitals where he did voluntary work as a porter and fundraiser, and even at a hospice treating terminally ill patients. ... Full Story | Top |
| Smile or grimace? Royal Kate portrait splits opinion Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:53 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The first official portrait of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, popularly known by her former name Kate Middleton, was unveiled in London on Friday, and opinion was sharply divided over an image many deemed unflattering. The 31-year-old, who as a glamorous future queen is one of the world's most photographed women, is portrayed in the large canvas with a faint smile, long, copper-tinted hair and shadow under her eyes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jazz world mourns Montreux founder "Funky Claude" Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:44 AM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - Claude Nobs, who founded the Montreux Jazz Festival nearly 50 years ago, has died after several weeks in a coma following a skiing accident, the festival said on Friday. The Swiss impresario immortalized by rock group Deep Purple as "Funky Claude" in the song "Smoke on the Water" and who lured the biggest stars of the music world to his festival on the shores of Lake Geneva died on Thursday at the age of 76. ... Full Story | Top |
| In spite of violent national tragedies, horror films endure Friday, Jan 11, 2013 04:02 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The unexpected turnout this month to see horror movie "Texas Chainsaw 3D" just weeks after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut underscores the enduring appeal of the genre to both filmgoers and studios. The lucrative return on such low-budget films, combined with studio success releasing them in January, means U.S. audiences will get their fill of horror in the weeks to come. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hugo Boss banks on U.S., China for 2013 growth Friday, Jan 11, 2013 12:57 AM PST  METZINGEN, Germany (Reuters) - German fashion house Hugo Boss is confident it will outperform the luxury market in 2013 thanks to a robust U.S. business and an expected uppick in China later in the year, its finance chief told Reuters. "What we expect is an improvement over the course of the year," Mark Langer told Reuters in an interview at the group's headquarters in the small German town of Metzingen near Stuttgart. "I'm more cautious for the first quarter. ... Full Story | Top |
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