latimes.com - Entertainment news

Opening day: 'Christmas Carol' debut not looking too jolly

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 11:19:59 -0800

Pre-release surveys had indicated the movie would open to at least $40 million domestically over its first three days.

Beatles catalog is temporarily banned from music website BlueBeat

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Capitol Records this week filed a suit against BlueBeat, which says that songs produced by digital regeneration are akin to songs performed by cover bands and do not run afoul of copyright law.

A federal court in Los Angeles this week issued a temporary restraining order against a music website that recently had been offering the entire Beatles catalog for downloading at 25 cents per song. The Santa Cruz-based BlueBeat earlier in the week was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by EMI's Capitol Records, the group's U.S. label.

Former chief negotiator Nick Counter dies

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:20:34 -0800

Nick Counter, the longstanding former negotiator for major studios who squared off against Hollywood's writers during a 100-day strike in 2008, has died. He was 69.

Judge OKs plea deal for 'Girls Gone Wild' founder Joe Francis

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0800

A judge sentenced "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis on Friday to 301 days already served and a year of probation for filing false income tax returns and bribing Nevada jail workers.

A&E announces premiere date for Jacksons' reality series

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 12:29:52 -0800

"The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty," a new six-hour reality series that will focus on the surviving members of The Jackson Five as they prepare for a reunion concert while coming to terms with the death of their brother Michael Jackson, will premiere Dec. 13 on A&E at 9 p.m.

Grant Heslov, George Clooney team up for 'The Men Who Stare at Goats.'

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The director and the star have been friends and colleagues since the 1980s.

It all started with an unlikely pairing of two unknowns. Back in the '80s, a couple of struggling actors named Grant Heslov and George Clooney were in Milton Katselas' famed acting class. Clooney asked Heslov, then a student at USC, if he wanted to do a scene from Neil Simon's Depression-era play " Brighton Beach Memoirs." Heslov agreed, playing the younger nerdy Eugene to Clooney's older sibling Stanley. Their chemistry worked, and shortly after, when Clooney was invited to audition for ABC, he brought Heslov along to repeat the scene.

Alessandro Nivola: Man of a thousand accents

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

American's ear for dialect makes him an in-demand character actor. He's Irish in the upcoming 'Turning Green.'

"I don't see myself as having any integrity at all," says Alessandro Nivola through his roguish, close-toothed smile, toying with a glass of red wine. It's 11 in the morning at the Chateau Marmont, which probably feels earlier than in most other places.

Acting the part is OK for Madeleine Martin of 'Californication'

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

But actually watching the show? The 16-year-old's mother won't let her see all of the racy Showtime series.

Here are the ups and downs of being a teenage actress on a television show with strong adult themes: Your training at a prestigious ballet school has to be dropped, bad. But you get to spend your summers on the beach in California, good.

Live review: R. Kelly at Nokia Theatre

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 17:07:41 -0800

The R&B singer performs a free-form, medley-style hit parade during his first tour since his 2008 court case.

Adam Lambert: Cool, calm and eclectic

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The singer's genre-busting major label debut, 'For Your Entertainment,' drops Nov. 23, and it just might make him an American idol all over again.

The singer's genre-busting major label debut, "For Your Entertainment," drops Nov. 23, and it just might make him an American idol all over again.