Entertainment News

LOS ANGELES - John Phillip Law, the strikingly handsome 1960s movie actor who portrayed an angel in the futuristic "Barbarella" and a lovesick Russian seaman in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," has died. He was 70.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Former "Las Vegas" actress Molly Sims has joined the cast of the indie drama "Hickory Nation."

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - When director Andrew Adamson began promoting "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," which opens in theaters Friday, he prepared for specific questions about the Christian audience that helped 2005's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" gross $292 million at the domestic box office.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Style trumps content in "Reprise," an audacious feature debut by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Waltz With Bashir," a self-styled "animated documentary" from Israeli television director Ari Folman, adds its voice to the maelstrom that has swarmed through Middle Eastern politics for decades.

BERLIN - A new staging of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" has been retooled for shock value, moving the setting to the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center and inserting liberal doses of flabby flesh and Hitler in drag.

NEW YORK - Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rocker Lou Reed is taking a walk on the wild side to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc, where he will host his own weekly show, the company said.

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - R&B singer Rihanna's "Take a Bow" soared 52 places to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, the second-biggest jump to the top in the chart's 50-year history.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Colombian pop singer Shakira is using her fame to help poor Latin American children, but she also has her heart set on a new role -- mother to her own offspring.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Kelly Preston has signed to star in HBO's pilot "Suburban Shootout," a dark comedy about a woman caught between two rival gangs of homicidal housewives.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee's aggressive plan to start its own cable network is moving forward, though officials are giving no indications that the network will be on the air before the Beijing Olympics, as the federation had once hoped.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox Broadcasting said Thursday it would drastically reduce the commercial levels of two upcoming action dramas -- "Fringe" and "Dollhouse" -- in an effort to reinvigorate broadcast television.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Bachelor" will be looking for love all over again on VH1. The lifestyle cable network said Thursday it acquired the full library of ABC's reality competition series.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rocker Lou Reed is taking a walk on the wild side to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc, where he will host his own weekly show, the company said.

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - R&B singer Rihanna's "Take a Bow" soared 52 places to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, the second-biggest jump to the top in the chart's 50-year history.

LONDON - A letter in which Albert Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish" has sold at auction for more than $400,000.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - When director Andrew Adamson began promoting "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," which opens in theaters Friday, he prepared for specific questions about the Christian audience that helped 2005's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" gross $292 million at the domestic box office.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee's aggressive plan to start its own cable network is moving forward, though officials are giving no indications that the network will be on the air before the Beijing Olympics, as the federation had once hoped.

BERLIN - A new staging of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" has been retooled for shock value, moving the setting to the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center and inserting liberal doses of flabby flesh and Hitler in drag.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Style trumps content in "Reprise," an audacious feature debut by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Waltz With Bashir," a self-styled "animated documentary" from Israeli television director Ari Folman, adds its voice to the maelstrom that has swarmed through Middle Eastern politics for decades.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Martial arts movies have always had a certain cartoonish element, so DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" makes perfect sense.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Big is not necessarily better for the highly anticipated "Sex and the City" movie, which reaches theaters on May 30.

NEW YORK - On the book tour for "A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father," Augusten Burroughs is ready for the skeptics.

1. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback

1. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

SALT LAKE CITY - A book and promotional tour by a woman who helped convict polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could taint the jury pool in a rape case against her cousin and former husband, the husband's attorney said.

The building that housed the real-life people who inspired the stage comedy, Over the Tavern, a snapshot of Catholic family life in Buffalo in the late '50s, has been immortalized in cement in the western New York city.

InterAct Theatre Company will unveil the world premiere of Philadelphia playwright Larry Loebell's House, Divided, about a rift between two Jewish brothers, May 23.

Complete casting has been announced for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's new production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, starring previously announced Tony Award nominee Robert Cuccioli as Salieri.

Andrew Polk is Oscar and John Scherer is Felix in the new Pittsburgh Public Theater production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, marking the first time a Simon play has been produced at the resident Pennsylvania theatre.

René Augesen and Tony Award nominee Michael Hayden will be the forbidden lovers of American Conservatory Theater's new production of John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, directed by A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff.

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors say they have charged former NBA star Dennis Rodman with domestic violence for allegedly hitting his girlfriend at a hotel last month.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Former "Las Vegas" actress Molly Sims has joined the cast of the indie drama "Hickory Nation."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Colombian pop singer Shakira is using her fame to help poor Latin American children, but she also has her heart set on a new role -- mother to her own offspring.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The nine-week trial of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano often had seamy plot lines and suspense worthy of a movie: death threats, offers of murder and extramarital affairs.

MILAN (Reuters Life!) - The models strutted past, the celebrities sized up the fashions and the prison guards kept a close eye on the catwalk.

BERLIN (AFP) - Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, the CEO of leading French fashion house Christian Dior Couture, was Thursday named head of German ready-to-wear company Hugo Boss, a statement from that company said.

New York - Supermodel Alek Wek and Mark Badgley and James Mischka of Badgley Mischka were among those honored by the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) at the 30th Annual American Image Awards on Wednesday evening, May 14, in New York.

New York - Now that Resort is a fully-fledged season of its own, with numerous designers staging special presentations or runway shows to give the between-season collection a stage of its own (even Paris-based Christian Dior brought their show to New York for the second year in a row), designers have followed suit with fully-fledged collections to match.

New York - For the fashion directors at Neiman Marcus, Fall 2008 marks a return to glamour, accessories-wise. Previewing some of the fall season's hottest trends, the Dallas-based department store has its pulse on what styles you can look forward to once your summer clothes are packed. Or, you can get a head start on things now and start hunting down these looks:

DEAR ABBY: I disagree with your reply to "Nicki in Maryland" (March 23), the retail saleswoman who is tired of being not only touched, but physically pulled about by customers.

DEAR ABBY: My fiance, "Keith," and I are being married at the end of June. We met at a fraternity party last fall and knew right away we were meant for each other. We're both in college in Hawaii. We don't live together -- and that has been lucky for me because Keith doesn't realize how inexperienced I am in the kitchen.

DEAR ABBY: I am in my sunset years and not well. I know my time is short, but I have one bright spot in my life -- my 5-year-old grandson, "Connor."

DEAR ABBY: As you know, most women invest a lot of time in addition to money so they can look and feel beautiful.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 38-year-old woman. My fiance of five years, "Troy," and I live together and are the parents of a 5-month-old baby girl.

05/16/2008 - DEAR MARGO: A friend of mine is struggling with her teenage daughter.

05/15/2008 - DEAR MARGO: I've had a very good girlfriend for about four years.

05/09/2008 - DEAR MARGO: For more than a year, I have been dating an emergency room doctor who works with her ex-fiance.

05/08/2008 - DEAR MARGO: My husband of a year, "Michael," is everything a partner should be: generous, caring, supportive, intelligent, easygoing and optimistic.

05/02/2008 - DEAR MARGO: Longtime reader, first-time writer.

Creators Syndicate - Just like everybody else, I've been feeling the pinch of a constrained economy, rising gas prices and a virtually stagnant career. (Oh, wait, that last one's just me.) I've been looking around for ways to cut back. Just this past week, in fact, I had to cancel the lawn service.

Creators Syndicate - McCain: Sunnis, Shiites "Trying to Confuse Me"

Creators Syndicate - Last week, I ran out to the supermarket in my wife's station wagon and noticed that the tank was empty. I stopped off to fill it up, and while the gas was running, washed all the windows with the little squeegee thing they have. When I heard the gas pump click off, I turned and glanced at the pump, and nearly had a heart attack right there in the self-serve lane. The little red numbers blinked at $57.

Creators Syndicate - Pronouncing himself "thrilled" with his recent spate of media appearances, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright announced today that he will launch his own 24-hour channel that will feature nothing but himself all day long.

Creators Syndicate - About a year and a half ago, I came up with a brilliant idea. My wife worked at home as a journalist, but her home office was located in a cramped little room at the back of our house. It was cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and too close to kids, distractions, and, as she pointed out, me.

LOS ANGELES - Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show.

TORONTO - Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details Thursday about the couple's breakup.

NEW YORK - Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors say they have charged former NBA star Dennis Rodman with domestic violence for allegedly hitting his girlfriend at a hotel last month.

NEW YORK - On the book tour for "A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father," Augusten Burroughs is ready for the skeptics.