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Choose a page number: 1 Entertaining RSS FeedsI Love My Wife - Legit Reviews: Michael Stewart and Cy Coleman's "I Love My Wife" is one of the least-often revived long-run tuners (857 Broadway perfs), largely because of its giddy attitudes toward wife swapping and drug use, which began to go sour shortly after its 1977 premiere and now seem offensive or quaint. Everything hinges on the personalities of the two Trenton, N.J., couples contemplating a walk on the wild side. Happily, the thesps tapped by Reprise invest a doggedly retro, toothless show with topnotch entertainment value. ...Feed Source: feeds.feedburner.com Vivendi set to 'Boogie' with Stokes - Exclusives: Film unit acquires rights to hip-hop dance film -- Vivendi Entertainment has nabbed all rights to Chris Stokes' hip-hop dance film "Boogie Town," currently lensing with Marques Houston in the lead. Vivendi will release theatrically in the summer.
... Amy Adams set for Fox's 'Ten Best' - Film News: Shawn Levy may direct adaptation of 'My Life' -- Twentieth Century Fox has acquired screen rights to Adena Halpern's novel "The Ten Best Days of My Life" and will develop it as a star vehicle for Amy Adams and potential directing vehicle for Shawn Levy.
... 'Smallville' creators fly to bigscreen - Exclusives: Gough, Millar to direct 'Salisbury' for Disney -- "Smallville" creators Al Gough and Miles Millar will make their feature directing debut for Disney on "Salisbury," a script the duo wrote as a spec.
... Len Wiseman discovers 'Atlantis' - Exclusives: DreamWorks, Platinum Studios to produce -- Len Wiseman has signed on to direct a bigscreen adaptation of the apocalyptic sci-fi comicbook "Atlantis Rising" for DreamWorks.
... TalentWorks snaps up Acme - Exclusives: Harry Gold completed deal with Adam Lieblein -- TalentWorks Los Angeles has acquired the adult commercial and dance departments of Acme Talent, with CEO Harry Gold completing a deal with Acme owner Adam Lieblein.
... Midway must come up with $150 mil - Videogames News: Company sale triggers debt repayment clause -- Midway has 50 days to come up with $150 million.
... Open Heart to shoot 'Buffalo' - Film News: Russell Schaumberg to adapt novel -- Open Heart Open Mind Prods. has launched development of Chris Bohjalian's "Buffalo Solider" and tapped Russell Schaumberg to adapt.
... 'Gossip Girl' spinoff in development - TV News: CW seeks tentpole project for next season -- The CW may utilize an episode of "Gossip Girl" later this year to test the spinoff waters.
... 'Bashir' waltzes into Hollywood - Web Exclusive: Variety screens the animated drama -- There was a sizeable gasp Tuesday night when director Ari Folman attributed the cause of war to ?small leaders with big egos? at the Variety Screening Series for his film, ?Waltz With Bashir.?
... 'Revolutionary' puts Yates in spotlight - Weekly: Kate Winslet, Sam Mendes heat up '61 novel -- Most Hollywood lit pics are based on well-known novels. One reason to adapt a book in the first place is to capitalize on an established brand, be it an author or title. The studios are always more interested in a property that has proved successful in another medium. That was never the case with Sam Mendes' "Revolutionary Road," based on the first novel by Richard Yates, published in 1961.
... Euro doc org elects new chairman - International News: EDN taps Danish producer Opstrup -- The European Documentary Network, which reps more than 1,000 filmmakers from 60 countries, has tapped Danish doc producer Mikael Opstrup as chairman.
... Fullerton to hold EA faculty chair - Web Exclusive: Ceremony to be held Dec. 9 -- Tracy Fullerton, director of Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab, has been tapped as holder of the EA Endowed Faculty Chair at a formal ceremony at 6 p.m. on Dec 9 at USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts.
... Hollywood Reporter cuts staff - Publishing News: Film department bears brunt of layoffs -- More than a dozen layoffs hit the editorial staff of the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.
... Warner to re-release 'Knight' Jan. 23 - The Dark Knight: Film could become fourth to gross over $1 bil -- Warner Bros. will re-release "The Dark Knight" on Jan. 23 in a nationwide launch, guaranteeing that it will become the fourth film to take in more than $1 billion in worldwide box office.
... Dust - Legit Reviews: A play as insignificant and untidy as its title, Billy Goda's "Dust" squanders its A-list cast and crew on an astonishingly lazy narrative that wouldn't fill out a "Law and Order" episode without padding. The wannabe screenplay, billed as "a thriller," lacks the craftsmanship and attention to detail that distinguish that genre's twists and turns -- the real puzzler is why such a lousy play got such a high-wattage production. With the combined powers of "Urinetown" star Hunter Foster, former Atlantic Theater Company a.d. Scott Zigler and magnetic newcomer Laura E. Campbell, "Dust" is very nearly worth sitting through.
... Improbable Frequency - Legit Reviews: Unheralded and unexpected comes Dublin's holiday gift to musical theater. "Improbable Frequency" is improbable, all right; one-half "Travesties," one-third "The Threepenny Opera" and one-quarter "Get Smart."
... The Black Monk - Legit Reviews: The Black Monk," Wendy Kesselman's dark and dainty musical about a young painter who goes gracefully mad in his little house by the sea, is just the ticket for small art venues with refined tastes.
... Topper: Piracy will scupper Brit pics - Web Exclusive: Industry forms initiative to combat counterfeits -- If the problem of film piracy is not met face on, the British film industry faces the prospect of collapsing "like a house of cards" warned Callum McDougall, exec producer of boffo Bond pic "Quantum of Solace."
... Amy Adams Spotlighted - Film Festivals: Palm Springs honors actress for 'Doubt' role -- Amy Adams will be honored with the Spotlight Award for her performance in "Doubt" at the 20th annual Palm Springs Film Festival.
... Korean Film Awards catch 'Chaser' - Award Central News: Film sweeps top prizes -- "The Chaser" swept the 7th Korean Film Awards on Thursday night in Seoul, South Korea, winning for best picture, best director and new director for Na Hong-jin, actor for Kim Yoon-suk plus taking the awards for screenplay, lighting and editing.
... Kennedy Center honors six - Award Central: D.C.'s annual celebration lauds legends -- Barbra Streisand is the first female director to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, but she's not the first actor-director.
... A Civil War Christmas - Legit Reviews: Move over Scrooge and make room for Abraham Lincoln -- and Walt Whitman, Clara Barton, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, to name but a few of the four-score-and-more characters in Paula Vogel's "A Civil War Christmas," a rich and moving play with music.
... Asia Television taps duo for Page post - Exec Shuffle: Execs to replace CEO -- Hong Kong's No. 2 commercial broadcaster Asia Television has tapped two execs with strong telco backgrounds to replace CEO Louis Page, who quit suddenly in October after a year in the job.
... 'Punisher' to hit box office zone - Front Page: Niche pics fish in big pond -- While Lionsgate's "Punisher: War Zone" shoots it out with several holdovers for the No. 1 spot in the traditionally slow post-Thanksgiving frame, most of the action will be in the specialty market.
... Gran Torino - Film Reviews: At 78, perhaps the only actor in the history of American cinema to convincingly kick the butt of a guy 60 years his junior, the hard-headed, snarly mouthed Clint Eastwood of the 1970s comes growling back to life in "Gran Torino."
... Prince of Persia - Videogames News: Normally, a shortage of player control is a debilitating flaw in an interactive medium, but when the experience is as drop-dead gorgeous and consistently exhilarating as Ubisoft's revamp of the 20-year-old "Prince of Persia" franchise, it's easy to overlook.
... Smashing Pumpkins - Music Reviews: There's probably not a rock star this side of Axl Rose that has as conflicted a relationship with his stardom as Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan.
... Secret Millionaire - TV Reviews: Fox?s two-episode launch of ?Secret Millionaire? didn?t prove quite as charitable ratings-wise as the network might have hoped, but a solid build in the second hour suggests there might be potential in this hankie-waving, wildly manipulative but undeniably emotional concept.
... House of Saddam - TV Reviews: Told in four hourlong chapters that HBO will air over two nights, this BBC production about Saddam Hussein's reign and eventual fall is best viewed as a gangster movie, with scenes that echo "The Godfather."
... Nothing Like the Holidays - Film Reviews: After getting past the awful title, which evokes images of madcap Christmas mayhem, "Nothing Like the Holidays" proves a mildly efficient holiday stocking-stuffer, albeit one whose one truly distinctive characteristic is its predominantly Hispanic cast.
... Liza's at the Palace - Legit Reviews: There's a standard set of questions to be asked about any Liza Minnelli show: 1. How did she look? 2. How did she sound? 3. Did she open wearing black, white or red? 4. How many superlatives did she spout? 5. Did she mention David Gest? 6. Was she fabulous? A trainwreck? A fabulous trainwreck? For the peace of mind of all the hardcore acolytes desperate to know about "Liza's at the Palace," let's get those answers out of the way immediately: 1. Terrific. 2: Pretty darn good. 3. White (vintage Halston). 4. Lost count. 5. Only obliquely, and not by name. 6. Kinda fabulous.
... Cadillac Records - Film Reviews: Approaching the blues with the enthusiasm of an overcaffeinated brass band, helmer Darnell Martin nonetheless makes some kind of music with the percolating '50s biopic "Cadillac Records" -- mostly because she mines a righteous, mythic sensibility out of the story of Leonard Chess, Muddy Waters and the birth of the Chicago blues.
... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Film Reviews: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" represents a richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling. This odd, epic tale of a man who ages backwards is presented in an impeccable classical manner, every detail tended to with fastidious devotion.
... Bolt - Film Reviews: An "Incredible Journey" or "Homeward Bound" updated for the superhero era, "Bolt" is an OK Disney animated entry enhanced by nifty 3-D projection. The first inhouse feature from Disney Animation since Pixar guru John Lasseter took over the studio's creative reins, this tale of a canine forced to overcome his superdog complex and learn to become a regular pooch bears some telltale signs of Pixar's trademark smarts, but still looks like a mutt compared to the younger company's customary purebreds. While punchy enough to keep parents amused, pic will probably play best to small fry and, especially with Disney star Miley Cyrus onboard, will have no trouble chasing down hefty biz through the holidays.
... City of Ember - Film Reviews: A fabulously designed underground metropolis proves more involving than the teenagers running through its streets in "City of Ember," a good-looking but no more than serviceable adaptation of Jeanne Duprau's 2003 novel.
... W. - Film Reviews: Oliver Stone?s unusual and inescapably interesting ?W.? feels like a rough draft of a film it might behoove him to remake in 10 or 15 years.
... Body of Lies - Film Reviews: Neither the location-based verisimilitude of Ridley Scott's shooting style nor the estimable Middle East expertise of source-material author David Ignatius can disguise "Body of Lies" as anything other than the contrived phony-baloney it is.
... Appaloosa - Film Reviews: ?Appaloosa? is a decent Western made in an era when a Western has to be pretty darn good to rope people into a theater to see it.
... The Wrestler - Film Reviews: Mickey Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances.
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