Close to the flame
If you're going to make the first big movie about firefighters since
the World Trade Center attacks, you're going to make it very, very carefully.
And not just because "Ladder 49," starring Joaquin Phoenix and John
Travolta, used real fire on set rather than the safe, computer-generated
kind. Set in Baltimore and assisted every step of the way by members of
that city's fabled fire department, "Ladder" also boasts an ensemble that
went through fire academy training and clocked time in actual station houses.
But sensibility was as much on everyone's mind as physical safety, if not more so. ...[MORE]
• Ask a firefighter
• Filthy 'Dirty'
Twice the antiwar message
Filmmaker David O. Russell has found a distributor for an antiwar
documentary that was supposed to be featured on a new DVD of his George Clooney film "Three Kings" before Warner Bros.
rejected it.
Cinema Libre Studio announced Wednesday it plans to release Russell's
film, "Soldiers Pay," on a double bill with the documentary
"Uncovered: The War in Iraq." (It plays at the Academy 6, 1003 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.) ...[MORE]
• September 24 releases
• Under the hood with 'Star Wars'
MORE IN ON DVD / VIDEO >>
Bernhard's comedy keeps evolving
Comedian Sandra Bernhard's latest stage show is a mixture of many things, and the entertainer says she wouldn't have it any other way....[MORE]
• Fielder's choice
• Shalt thou make a killing?
• Joel, Tharp pack a winning punch
Theater Reviews | MORE IN STAGE >>
Hasselbeck of 'The View' pregnant
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's not free cars for everyone, but "The View" audience received a surprise Thursday. Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck announced her pregnancy.
The former "Survivor: The Australian Outback" contestant and "The View" co-host revealed the news during the ABC daytime chat fest's "Hot Topics" segment.
"I'm nauseous," said Hasselbeck, "but I'm fine with that because it's all for a good cause." ...[MORE]
Emails demand Dan Rather's resignation
NEW YORK (AP) -- Station managers at several CBS affiliates said Thursday they appear to be a target of a national e-mail campaign placing pressure on the network to oust Dan Rather as anchorman of the "CBS Evening News."
The anger stems from Rather's role in a "60 Minutes" report on President Bush's service in the National Guard. CBS has apologized for reporting on documents critical of Bush's service, widely assumed now as fakes, and appointed a panel to investigate what went wrong in the report.
Bob Lee, president and general manager of WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Va., and head of the CBS affiliate board, said many e-mailers offer the same message: I will not watch CBS News again until Rather is gone. ...[MORE]
• 'Origins' can tell us how we all came to be
• "Clubhouse"
• "Lost" episode of "Honeymooners" found
• Bill O'Reilly says Wallace inspired him
Watch-o-rama | TV Fall Season Preview | MORE IN TV >>
Battlefront lets players re-enact Star Wars battles
Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader may get all the glory, but a new Star Wars video game finally gives credit to the everyday grunts who couldn't summon the Force for help.
The aptly named "Star Wars Battlefront" takes you on a tour of duty through some of the fiercest fights in the movies, plus some you've never seen before.
You'll take charge in epic conflagrations ranging from Hoth and Tatooine from the original movies to Geonosis, scene of heated clashes during the Clone Wars, and Kashyyyk, home world of the oversized Wookies.
I've long wondered what it would be like to relive those silver screen moments.
Based on my experience with the PlayStation 2 version (it's also out for Xbox and PC), life in the trenches is apparently fraught with frequent dying. ...[MORE]
• Snoop Dogg to host Video Game Awards
• First person perspective brings terror closer to player
MORE IN VIDEO GAMES >>
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]
• Pacific Symphony's fireworks fizzle
• Concerts reaps rewards of higher education
CD Reviews | Music News | MORE IN MUSIC >>
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