The Washington Times stories: Entertainment

Adoption groups decry horror film with evil orphan

David Crary ASSOCIATED PRESS — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:45:23 -0400

NEW YORK -- Often divided over policy and practice, America's adoption community has unified in dismay over "Orphan," a horror movie that its critics say will fuel negative attitudes toward real-life orphans. Some adoption advocates are urging a boycott of the movie, which opens Friday. A coalition of prominent national adoption and foster care groups, while not joining the boycott call, has asked for a meeting with Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer to discuss their concerns. "We are concerned that in addition to its intended entertainment value, this film will have the unintended effect of skewing public opinion against children ...

OPERA: 'Herring' sparks festival

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

Highlighted by a sparkling production of Benjamin Britten's comic opera "Albert Herring," Lorin Maazel's first Castleton Festival wrapped up its three-week run in rural Virginia during the weekend. The opera's sets were serviceable but effective. The orchestral accompaniment, provided by musicians from London's Royal College of Music, was spot-on throughout. And the singing of the young cast ranged from decent to outstanding. Rarely heard in the U.S., like the other Britten chamber operas on the festival's bill of fare, "Albert Herring" is a lighthearted satirical romp focusing on the virtues and foibles of life in a small English town. Conducting ...

All-star toast for Mandela

John Carucci ASSOCIATED PRESS — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

NEW YORK A flock of global entertainment notables and politicos, including France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, celebrated Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday with an all-star concert at Radio City Music Hall. The tribute, held Saturday night, celebrated the anti-apartheid icon's birthday with a diverse collection of musical collaborations that ranged from pop to disco to gospel. Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy made her American stage debut at the show paired with Eurythmics founder Dave Stewart as her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, sat cheering in the audience. She paid homage to Mr. Mandela's social activism by covering Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," calling it ...

Tuning In to TV

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from Web and wire reports — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

'Idol' sans Paula? On the heels of Ryan Seacrest inking a $45 million, three-year contract to continue hosting "American Idol," comes word that his colleague Paula Abdul has been less than thrilled with her future on the show. As such, Miss Abdul may not return to judge the ninth season of "American Idol," the New York Daily News said Sunday, citing a report in the Los Angeles Times. "She's not a happy camper as a result of what's going on. She's hurt. She's angry," said manager David Sonenberg, who began working with Miss Abdul at the end of June. Mr. ...

Top 10 films

Associated Press — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

The top 10 movies at North Amer ican theaters for the weekend, as compiled Sunday, are: 1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, $79.5 million. 2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, $17.7 million. 3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, $13.8 million. 4. Bruno, $8.4 million. 5. The Hangover, $8.32 million. 6. The Proposal, $8.3 million. 7. Public Enemies, $7.6 million. 8. Up, $3.1 million. 9. My Sister's Keeper, $2.8 million. 10. I Love You, Beth Cooper, $2.7 million. ASSOCIATED PRESS

GREEN & GLOVER: Like McEnroe of old

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

Hot night on court John McEnroe's influence may have rubbed off on his New York Sportimes teammates. During a recent World Team Tennis match between his squad and D.C.'s own Washington Kastles, a men's doubles match almost turned into a men's cage match. Our colleague Sonny Bunch was courtside and has the details. It all started when McEnroe's doubles partner, Robert Kendrick, took a volley off the shin from Kastles doubles specialist Leander Paes. When Paes failed to show the customary -- and typically bogus -- contrition in the wake of the play, Kendrick and McEnroe started jawing at Paes ...

Taking Names

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from Web and wire reports — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

'Bruno' banned Ukraine has banned the hit comedy "Bruno" on the grounds that its "unjustified" showing of genitals and homosexual sex could have a damaging effect on Ukrainians' moral health, Agence France-Presse reports. The ban is not the first time "Bruno" star Sacha Baron Cohen has run into trouble in the former Soviet Union. His previous creation, the Kazakh journalist Borat, caused controversy in the Central Asian state. "Bruno," which stars Mr. Baron Cohen as a gay Austrian fashionista with a habit of making outrageous remarks, scored the top spot at the North American box office its opening weekend of ...

'Angela's Ashes' author dies at 78

Hillel Italie ASSOCIATED PRESS — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

NEW YORK | Frank McCourt, the beloved raconteur and former public school teacher who enjoyed post-retirement fame as the author of "Angela's Ashes," the Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of woe about his impoverished Irish childhood, died Sunday of cancer. He was 78. Mr. McCourt had been gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. He died at a Manhattan hospice, his brother Malachy McCourt said. Until his mid-60s, Frank McCourt was known primarily in New York as a creative writing teacher and as a local character - the kind who might turn up ...

VAULTS: Risk pays off for 'Nun's Story'

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

Singularity is described as an ironic character defect within the cloistered society that expects unquestioning loyalty and obedience from Sister Luke, the protagonist of "The Nun's Story." This curiously admirable, self-critical, uncompromising misfit, derived from a Belgian nun named Marie-Louise Habets and memorably portrayed by Audrey Hepburn in Fred Zinnemann's 1959 movie version of Kathryn C. Hulme's biographical novel — a somewhat astonishing best-seller of 1956 — regards herself as a failure after 17 years of emotional struggle with her faith and vocation. Unable to suppress or transcend manifestations of her own impassioned individuality — independence of mind, pride in ...

ARTS: Dreamy portraits in marble from Venetian Renaissance sculptors

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

During the Italian Renaissance, Venice enjoyed a golden era of painting. Artists such as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione and Titian combined secular subject matter with atmospheric effects and vivid colors to innovate in the new medium of oils. Their brilliant canvases have long overshadowed the City of Water's three-dimensional art during the early 1500s. A tiny but provocative exhibit at the National Gallery of Art challenges this conventional view through the work of inventive Venetian sculptors who may have influenced their more famous painter colleagues. "An Antiquity of Imagination" shows how these Renaissance artists combined the look of ancient Roman statuary ...

BOOKS: 'What's Next: Dispatches on the Future of Science'

Julie Robison — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0400

WHAT'S NEXT: DISPATCHES ON THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE Edited by Max Brockman Vintage, $15, 256 pages REVIEWED BY JULIE ROBISON People's exposure to the world of science is too often limited to watching the Discovery Channel or "reading" National Geographic. But the essence of science is not only what is happening today, but what could happen tomorrow. "What's Next? Dispatches on the Future of Science" is a book of science essays collected and edited by Max Brockman. It boasts that the authors of the 18 original essays that make up this book come from a "new generation of scientists" and ...

EDGE: 'Bruno' getting lifeline from right?

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:17:24 -0400

Comic prankster Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to his surprise 2006 hit "Borat" looked like a surefire hit at the box office, a low-budget, high-ceiling treat for its studio, Universal. But a funny thing happened on the way to box-office glory: The public didn't seem willing to play along, and bad word-of-mouth about the filthy flick sent its box office into a tailspin. "Bruno" opened July 10 to huge numbers, pulling in $14.4 million for the day. Studio executives saw those numbers and rejoiced: Visions of a $45 million, $50 million, maybe even $55 million weekend danced through their heads. This ...

Emmys' populist turn