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Shalt thou make a killing?
It's a big-budget musical spectacle based on a biblical tale. It
contains dialogue that's sung throughout the performance, making the entire
effort more like opera than Broadway, and it's having its American premiere
in Los Angeles.
Talk about your potential financial "thou shalt not ... "
No, a stage version of "The Ten Commandments' won't be an easy sell,
even with a glut of promotion and movie star Val Kilmer's bearded face
peering out from billboards and the sides of buses across the city. ...[MORE]
• Twyla Tharp challenges dancers and audiences alike with 'Movin' Out'
• It all fits perfectly in 'Ariadne'
• Big shot
Under the hood with 'Star Wars'
You get the feeling that George Lucas is like his hot-rodder John
in "American Graffiti" - always souping up his engine, looking for a little edge.
With the release for the first time on DVD of the "Star Wars
Trilogy" - the first films in the series, which we all know are
parts IV, V and VI - comes more tinkering. This after the 1997 re-release
of the remastered films, which had some new scenes added. The latest
tinkering is very minor (so keep your eyes open), but the films themselves - again remastered - look eye-popping and sound
spectacular. ...[MORE]
• September 17 releases
• 'Star Wars' debuts on DVD
MORE IN ON DVD / VIDEO >>
Gorgeous 'Sky' has limits
Dazzling to watch, difficult to give in to, "Sky Captain and the
World of Tomorrow" uses newfangled technology in the service of
old-fashioned Saturday-morning serials with decidedly mixed results. The
movie has no sets, no locations, just actors against blue screen, with
more than 2,000 effects shots simulating the fantastic worlds around
them. The sepia-toned fruits of this ambitious labor sometimes feel like
"Flash Gordon" by way of Guy Maddin - visually arresting, but also chilly and off-putting....[MORE]
• 'Mr. 3000' bats about .300
• 'Ghost in the Shell' a bit cracked
Features | Reviews | On DVD / Video | Video Games | FILM
New CD's this week
Green Day, "American Idiot' — The Berkeley punk trio breaks from the norm to create a 21-song punk rock opera. While never becoming overtly partisan, the group weighs in on our nation's current administration while stretching the boundaries of what a mainstream album should sound like....[MORE]
• U.K. singer Polly Paulusma cutting through on radio, in concert with 'Scissors'
• It's 19th century fireworks for Pacific Symphony
CD Reviews | Music News | MORE IN MUSIC >>
Bravo to air Bobby Brown reality TV show
ATLANTA (AP) -- "Being Bobby Brown," a reality show that will focus on Brown and his family as the singer seeks to distance himself from his legal troubles and revive his recording career, will air next year on the Bravo network.
Brown left the R&B group New Edition in the late 1980s for a solo career. His hits include "My Prerogative" and "Every Little Step," but he has also become famous for his numerous brushes with the law and his turbulent marriage to pop songtress Whitney Houston. ...[MORE]
Affleck set to host 'SNL' season opener
He's not former President Bill Clinton, but Ben Affleck will do.
Although Clinton was invited, Affleck will host the 30th season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" with musical guest Nelly on Oct. 2, NBC announced Wednesday.
Clinton had been invited to host the not-ready-for-prime-time show but turned down the offer, NBC said last month. No reason was given for Clinton rejecting the offer. ...[MORE]
• "Listen Up"
• Trump fires Bradford; Brook off 'Survivor'
• "Second Time Around"
• Barbara Walters leaves '20/20'
Watch-o-rama | TV Fall Season Preview | MORE IN TV >>
A new picture of Iran
For someone who didn't grow up with comic books, Marjane Satrapi has
proven a quick learn. Satrapi, who has followed up her best-selling,
critically acclaimed "Persepolis" with "Persepolis 2: The Story of a
Return" (Pantheon; $17.95), has essayed her youth in Iran - and, in her
latest book, her years of rudderless rebellion in Vienna, followed by a
return to an Iran that, despite the end of a revolution and a war against
Iraq, is no less oppressive - with two graphic novels that are by turns chilling, heartbreaking and caustically funny....[MORE]
• Book paints picture of Jimmy Hoffa's demise
• 'Supernumerary' describes life aboard a container ship
Books
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