Entertaining Posts

Friday, March 25, 2011

Warren Beatty prevails in Dick Tracy lawsuit

LOS ANGELES | Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:32pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California judge has ruled in favor of actor Warren Beatty in a legal dispute with Tribune Media Services over the right to make movies and TV shows using the comic book crime fighter Dick Tracy.

U.S. District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson granted Beatty's request for a summary judgment on Thursday in the long-running dispute over the character Beatty portrayed in his 1990 film, "Dick Tracy," which earned more than $160 million at global box offices.

Beatty had sued Tribune Media, a unit of Tribune Co., back in 2008, claiming Tribune acted wrongly in trying to retrieve the character's rights, which it had assigned to Beatty.

Under the original 1985 agreement between Beatty and Tribune, the rights would revert to Tribune if "a certain period of time" lapsed without Beatty having produced another Dick Tracy movie, TV series or TV special.

Tribune sent Beatty a letter on November 17, 2006, that gave him two years to begin production on Dick Tracy programing. Beatty said he began a Dick Tracy TV special on November 8, 2008, and gave Tribune written notice.

But Tribune responded by asserting that it still had the right to terminate Beatty's rights, which sparked Beatty's lawsuit. Tribune later filed its own countersuit seeking summary judgment in his favor.

In his written order, Judge Pregerson writes that "Beatty's commencement of principal photography of his television special on November 8, 2008 was sufficient for him to retain the Dick Tracy rights."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

"South Park" creators score raves on Broadway

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK | Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:23pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A satirical Broadway show about Mormons who travel from Utah to Uganda by the creators of "South Park" scored rave reviews on Friday from critics who called it the best musical comedy since "The Producers."

"The Book of Mormon," which was seven years in the making for Trey Parker and Matt Stone, opened on the Great White Way on Thursday night to reviews that said it balanced clever, humorous songs and lyrics with heartfelt reflections on faith.

For Broadway doubters, "the ones who say that heaven on Broadway does not exist, that it's only some myth our ancestors dreamed up, I am here to report that a newborn, old-fashioned, pleasure-giving musical has arrived," the New York Times said.

The Times said it perfectly balanced a sharp, irreverent tone, which is "blasphemous, scurrilous and more foul-mouthed than David Mamet on a blue streak," with themes that test the ideals of faith and has a heart "as pure as that of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show."

The newspaper also highlighted several catchy numbers, including about repressed Mormons, some with gay longings, called "Turn It Off" and "Joseph Smith American Moses" about the church's founder, Joseph Smith Jr.

Showbiz trade publication Variety said "Book of Mormons" surpassed musical comedy Tony winners "Spamalot" and "Avenue Q" and applauded lead actors Andrew Rannells playing an uptight, overachieving Mormon and Josh Gad as his bumbling companion, as well as actress Nikki M. James as an African local.

"Broadway hasn't seen anything like it since Mel Brooks came to town with 'The Producers,' only 'Mormon' has better songs," Variety said. "

While the show sends up the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormon leaders have avoided returning fire, saying in a statement: "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever."

Creators Stone and Parker told Reuters recently that rather than setting out to "bash Mormons," they preferred to make a "very traditional, classic musical."

The New York Post seemed to agree, saying the show "is less about religion than (about) credulity and the need to believe, as well as the singular American gift for dreaming up great stories and enduring symbols -- and selling them to everyone on the planet."

The Wall Street Journal was among the few publications extending a sharp critique, saying while it had cheery songs, it was "slick and smutty" and "flabby, amateurish and very, very safe."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Just call me Lindsay. Not Lohan

LOS ANGELES | Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:39pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan is planning to join the ranks of Madonna, Prince and Bjork -- by dropping her last name, according to her mother.

"Lindsay is dropping the Lohan and just going by Lindsay," Dina Lohan told AOL celebrity news site Popeater.com on Friday.

The decision appears to be motivated by a desire to distance the "Mean Girls" actress from her estranged father Michael Lohan, who was charged earlier this week with assaulting his girlfriend and who has a history of run-ins with the law.

Dina Lohan told Popeater that she and her younger daughter Ali -- also an aspiring singer and actress -- are officially changing their last names to her maiden name, Sullivan.

Dina and Michael Lohan divorced in 2007 -- the year Lindsay was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession and starting a downward spiral of trips to rehab, failed drug tests and jail. The former "Parent Trap" child star is currently facing trial on a jewelry theft charge that could send her back behind bars if convicted.

Dina Lohan said her 24 year-old daughter had been thinking about dropping her last name for some time. But it was only after the infamous 2010 TV ad for online brokerage E*Trade, featuring a baby as "that milkaholic Lindsay", that the actress realized she no longer needed it.

Lindsay Lohan filed a $100 million lawsuit against E*Trade last year, saying the commercial violated her privacy, but the two sides later settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Lindsay's plans to go single with her name failed to impress many fans on the Popeater website. "Your name is not your problem Lindsay. It's your inflated ego, unwillingness to stay out of trouble that are," read a comment by Stephanie.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Madonna-backed group ends plans for Malawi school

LOS ANGELES | Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:48am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A charitable group backed by pop star Madonna has scrapped its plan to build a school for impoverished girls in Malawi due to mismanagement, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The organization, Raising Malawi, has ousted its board of directors and replaced its members with a new set of officials that includes Madonna and her manager, the Times reported.

"A thoughtful decision has been made to discontinue plans for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, as it was originally conceived," Michael Berg, co-founder of Raising Malawi, said Thursday in an e-mail to the center's members who had contributed to the project, according to the Times.

Berg, a co-director of the spiritual and educational organization Kabbalah Center International in Los Angeles, could not be reached for comment on Thursday night.

The Times said the effort to build the Malawi school had collapsed after spending $3.8 million on the project and its executive director left in October amid criticism of his management style and cost overruns.

Madonna lent $11 million of her money to the organization. She has been a frequent visitor to Malawi and has adopted two children from the country.

On Thursday, the singer issued a statement to the Times saying she was still intent on working with Raising Malawi.

"There's a real education crisis in Malawi," she said in the statement given to the Times. "Sixty-seven percent of girls don't go to secondary school, and this is simply unacceptable."

A spokeswoman for Madonna could not be reached on Thursday night.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte, editing by Anthony Boadle)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor laid to rest at private service

LOS ANGELES | Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:08am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor was given a small private funeral service attended by family and close friends in the Los Angeles area on Thursday, a day after she died of congestive heart failure.

The Oscar-winning actress, 79, was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, outside Los Angeles -- the same place where her close friend, singer Michael Jackson, was buried in 2009.

Taylor's service was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., but started 15 minutes later than planned at the actress' request.

Her spokeswoman said in a statement Taylor wanted the service to include the announcement: "She even wanted to be late to her own funeral."

The coffin for Taylor was draped by a blanket of gardenias, violets and lily of the valley, and the actress who was known for her violet eyes was interred at Forest Lawn's Great Mausoleum beneath a marble angel.

The service lasted about one hour and included a reading of Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo" by actor Colin Farrell, described as a "close friend" of Taylor.

Other poems were read by Taylor's son, Michael Wilding, grandson and daughter Liza Burton Tivey. Her grandson, Rhys Tivey performed "Amazing Grace" on a trumpet.

Taylor, who married eight times (twice to actor Richard Burton), is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Her representatives previously had said that a public memorial would be announced at a later date.

Forest Lawn is also the burial place of many Hollywood celebrities, including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Walt Disney.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)