Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Manhattan Love Story Review: Quirky, Klutzy Comedy Relies On Weird Inner ... - Cinema Blend
When sweet girl next door Dana (Analeigh Tipton) meets Peter (Jake McDorman) it isn’t exactly a meet cute. Both were suckered into a date by mutual friends and to top off their disgruntled feelings about being set up, Dana’s also coming off a pretty piss poor first day on the job. There are boob stares, tears and not nearly enough wine to make either appropriate. It’s just awkward, which happens to be the key vocabulary word that can describe nearly every plot device and theme in Manhattan Love Story .
The story follows both Dana and Peter as they embark on a shaky romance, but more importantly, it follows the two individuals thoughts as they live and woo in New York City. Yes, this means the audience can literally hear the inside thoughts of each of the lead characters as they navigate a blossoming relationship. Because of this, the show has a bit of a What Women Want feeling, except in this case only the audience can hear Dana and Peter’s thoughts, and thus, only we know what the two individuals want.
Manhattan Love Story is definitely a forward-thinking comedy following a concept that is a little more outside-the-box than what we are used to from executive producer and creator Jeff Lowell. The man’s known for writing and producing on such laugh track shows as Just Shoot Me! and Two and a Half Men. Regardless, in the movie world, people have also let him write rom coms, including Must Love Dogs and John Tucker Must Die. Thus it comes as no shock when Manhattan Love Story’s first couple of episodes read like the beginning of a big screen romantic comedy; I’m just not sure where the series could possibly be going beyond the scope of a first season. Probably I’m just befuddled about the comedy’s reliance on its inner monologue.
There’s definitely a lot of telling rather than showing going on in Manhattan Love Story. On the bright side, the audience can’t hear the thoughts of the supporting cast, and it’s a welcome relief. Most of the characters we are introduced to in the first couple of episodes are Peter’s family members. Peter and his two siblings (Chloe Wepper and Nicolas Wright) work for a trophy-making company owned by his savvy father, William (Kurt Fuller), who pits them opposite one another to keep the competition levels high. Those scenes are a breath of fresh air against all of the wildly unromantic romantic moments that make up the bulk of Peter and Dana’s relationship so far.
While I appreciate that McDorman has a beard that allows him to pass for his mid-thirties, he’s an unlikeable but amusing jerk who at one point has the gall to admit he wishes he could have met Dana later in life. She’s no less cringe-inducing, although she’s a lot nicer and more accepting of Peter than he is of her. She, however, is a technology and real-life klutz, falling off stools, stepping in puddles and swiping the wrong way on Tinder.
McDorman and Tipton are both actors in their twenties, but Manhattan Love Story doesn’t feel youthful enough to be about two New Yorkers finding each other in their twenties. It is extremely quirky and unlike anything else ABC has to offer. Like the network’s former series Happy Endings, it will likely live or die by its quirkiness.
Rating:
ABC’s Manhattan Love Story stars Analeigh Tipton, Jake McDorman, Nicolas Wright, Jade Catta-Preta, Chloe Wepper and Kurt Fuller. The comedy premieres tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST following ABC's other new comedy, Selfie . You can take a look at the rest of the fall premiere schedule, here.
Blake Shelton releasing new album "Bringing Back the Sunshine" Tuesday ... - NewsOK.com
As previously reported, Shelton is releasing "Bringing Back the Sunshine," his 11th studio album, Tuesday on Warner Bros. Records, and he opted to feature the Ada water tower on the record's black-and-white cover.
The Ada native and Tishomingo resident is featured on the cover of the Oct. 6 issue of Country Weekly magazine, on sale now.
The magazine notes that Shelton has undergone a serious career evolution from country newcomer to national superstar. In a special section titled “The New Blake,” Country Weekly examines how the glorious transformation took place from his first single to his stint on NBC's “The Voice,” which started its seventh season last week and continues at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays.
As previously reported, Shelton’s hometown is planning Ada's Block Party for Black, a big free album release party at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The event is a collaboration of the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce, Chickasaw Nation, City of Ada and East Central University.
Although Shelton won't be in attendance, there will be plentiful entertainment, including mechanical bull rides, a Blake Shelton Look-A-Like contest, and a Best Mullet Contest. There will also be a free kid’s zone including bounce houses, face painting, and balloon animals. Several food vendors will be available and local establishments will remain open throughout the event. Ada PAWS (Pontotoc Animal Welfare Society) also will be hosting a pet adoption drive in connection with Shelton and wife Miranda Lambert’s love for animals.
Meanwhile, Shelton will perform Wednesday on the “Today” show and Thursday on “Live with Kelly and Michael.”
-BAM
Molly Sims expecting second child - CBS News
Producer Scott Stuber and actress Molly Sims attend the premiere of "A Million Ways To Die In The West" presented by Budweiser at Regency Village Theatre on May 15, 2014, in Los Angeles. Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Budweiser
Molly Sims just made a big announcement, with the help of her little guy.
The former model revealed on her website Tuesday that she's pregnant with her second child.
She and husband Scott Stuber are already parents to 2-year-old son Brooks, who made a cameo with Sims in a photo sharing the baby news.
Scott + Molly + Brooks + BABY makes 4! http://t.co/Kd84FuXJ25 pic.twitter.com/kyARjkUkxj
— Molly Sims (@MollyBSims) September 30, 2014 "I can't even being to explain just how excited we are for a new baby. We are so, so, so blessed as a family, and I'm speechless at the fact that we have the opportunity to bring a second bundle of joy into the world," she wrote.
17 Photos
Baby bumps
See the celebs seeing stars over their impending parenthood
"As a new mom to Brooks, an entire world of motherhood opened to me along with a thousand and one questions," she added. "I absolutely cannot wait to see what life will be like as a mother to a toddler and a newborn, and I really can't wait to see Brooks as an older brother to Baby #2! I just know that he's going to be preciously protective. If it's a girl, he'll be her biggest supporter and confident and if it's a boy, I know they'll be the best of friends, always getting into adventures together."
Sims, 41, finished her note with, "Scott, Brooks and I can't wait to welcome Baby #2 to the Sims-Stuber household!!"
© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Rosie O'Donnell And Whoopi Goldberg Got Into An Enormous Fight On 'The ... - Huffington Post
It used to be that fights on "The View" happened while the cameras were rolling. But hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg recently got into a vicious argument during a commercial break — and now it's leaked out into the open.
Goldberg and O'Donnell are unquestionably the big dogs on "The View," but apparently, O'Donnell doesn't like wearing an earpiece and so doesn't hear the producers shouting that they need to cut to commercial. As the Daily Mail reported, this led to a major conflagration after Goldberg wound up cutting O'Donnell off to go to a break:
"As soon as they went to commercial break, Rosie took the handheld microphone that they use to engage the audience," explains the tipster.
"Instead of talking to the crowd, Rosie spoke directly to Whoopi in the mic that she 'hurt my feelings,' and that she was 'very upset by it' and 'didn't appreciate' what Whoopi had done."
[...]
Not phased by the Oscar winner's petition to leave matters alone until after the show, the 52-year-old comedienne continued to vent about Whoopi's actions. The "View" moderator then fired back to Rosie: "F*** it, I told you to leave it alone and you just don't want to listen. If you want to go there Rosie, I will dammit. I'm really sick of your s***!"
A spokeperson for the show didn't deny that the fight had happened, unlike other rumors of feuds that have been played down. Speaking to the Daily News, the spokesperson said, “They had a misunderstanding and an exchange. They talked it out and they were back to business as usual."
H/T Jezebel
See Amal Alamuddin's Wedding Dress Fitting—Plus, Check Out Her Reception ... - E! Online
Courtesy VOGUE/Annie Leibovitz Not only did Anna Wintour get an invite to George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin 's nuptials in Venice over the weekend, but Vogue's editor in chief also scored her magazine an exclusive look at the final wedding dress fitting.
As was reported yesterday the bride selected designer Oscar de la Renta to create her custom gown and now we know why: "George and I wanted a wedding that was romantic and elegant, and I can't imagine anyone more able than Oscar to capture this mood in a dress," she says. "Meeting him made the design process all the more magical, as he is so warm and such a gentleman."
PHOTOS: All of Amal's looks from her wedding weekend
Together the pair decided on an off-the shoulder French lace gown with hand-embroidered pearls and crystals. The gown also featured a full train and the final touch was a cathedral veil, which was adorned with Chantilly lace and bead-and-crystal embellishments.
"It's the most important dress in the life of a woman," de la Renta told the publication. "Any girl from any walk of life dreams of that special dress, and I try to make that dream a reality for her."
PHOTOS: George & Amal's wedding weekend—see all the celeb guests!
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images And sometimes that dream includes not one, but two dresses. Which is why during the final fitting, which took place in late July, Amal also tried on a second look. This reception frock was a Gatsby-style party frock from de la Renta's Fall 2014 collection. And because she would be dancing in the dress it was shortened from ankle to mid-thigh. The new length also helped show off her beaded silver pumps, which had yet to make their debut at Oscar de la Renta's Spring 2015 fashion show.
As for the rest of her accessories, the human-rights lawyer kept it simple. She opted for natural pearl earrings with diamond accents, which were a gift from her parents, Baria and Ramzi Alamuddin. And, of course, her brand new platinum wedding band.
Amal's wedding dress fitting is featured in Vogue magazine's October 2014 issue.
VOGUE/Mikael Jansson PHOTOS: Celebrity wedding dresses
Sprint owner's pursuit of DreamWorks boosts stock 30 percent - Kansas City Star
Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose almost 30 percent on Monday after news of a proposed acquisition by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank, which controls Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. and recently dropped a bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., has offered to buy the studio for $32 a share, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The offer values DreamWorks — the studio behind box-office favorites such as “Shrek” and “Madagascar,” and recent misses such as “Turbo” and “Rise of the Guardians” — at $3.4 billion.
The company’s share price on Wall Street closed at $22.36 on Friday. Despite the sharp increase Monday, shares were still below the company’s 52-week high of $36.01, reflecting uncertainty among some investors about whether the sale will go through.
Several analysts said they view the deal as a good strategic move for DreamWorks, giving it the kind of financial stability it needs to weather box-office misfires and invest in digital media ventures. The company has recorded three write-downs in two years, causing a sharp slide in its share price, which has fallen nearly 40 percent this year.
SoftBank’s interest in DreamWorks almost certainly extends beyond Sprint, analysts said, though the wireless company could benefit from a connection.
“It’s a bigger play for SoftBank than just Sprint,” said Bill Ho, an industry analyst at 556 Ventures LLC. “They’ve got so many properties all over the place.”
Access to Dreamworks movies, Ho said, could become a promotional tactic for Sprint to help it keep subscribers or attract new ones to its wireless network. AT&T’s interest in acquiring satellite television operator DirecTV depends partly on video content to offer subscribers.
Sprint has struggled to hang on to customers as it has worked to update its network, which still lags the three other national carriers in delivering fast speeds needed to stream videos.
One analyst said Monday that Sprint probably has lagged in adding customers with the rollout of the iPhone 6. T-Mobile seems to be gaining the most ground in the new Apple Inc. device’s debut, said Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo Securities.
“While Sprint indicated it was its most successful launch ever — it seems to be in fourth of the Big 4,” Fritzsche wrote in a note to clients.
Shares in Sprint closed Monday at $6.35, down 1.1 percent.
For DreamWorks, the decision to weigh a sale highlights the challenges faced by chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg as he seeks to diversify beyond film. DreamWorks, which previously looked for a buyer, has expanded its TV business and acquired Awesomeness TV, an online video network, while forming a partnership in China that includes live entertainment. Those efforts haven’t grown large enough to offset film write-offs that hurt the stock.
“Most investors believe Katzenberg wants a deal with a bigger media company where he has a path to the CEO seat,” said Paul Sweeney, director of North American research at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This does not appear to be such a deal.”
SoftBank offered $32 per DreamWorks Animation share, according to the Hollywood Reporter, 43 percent more than the stock’s closing price last Friday. The DreamWorks board held an emergency meeting last week to weigh the bid, the publication said.
Dreamworks, taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, is open to other offers, the trade publication said.
21st Century Fox Inc.’s attempt to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion in August set off a wave of speculation about media-industry consolidation. Independent content companies are at a disadvantage negotiating distribution terms with larger pay-TV operators such as Comcast Corp., which is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $44 billion. AT&T Inc. is buying satellite service DirecTV for $48 billion. Starz, the movie channel controlled by John Malone, is seeking a buyer, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Son’s SoftBank has been looking for more U.S. media and technology investments. SoftBank can afford DreamWorks and a successful deal would make it the second Japanese company to currently own a Hollywood film studio. The company’s stake of more than 30 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company that went public this month, has a market value of more than $70 billion. Sony Corp. owns a film and TV studio in Culver City, Calif.
Just weeks after abandoning the T-Mobile takeover, SoftBank sold almost $4 billion in bonds. Alibaba’s initial public offering on Sept. 19, which led SoftBank to forecast a gain of about $4.6 billion, is a step toward global expansion, Son said at the time on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”
“The acquisition would benefit SoftBank in revenue, and also by offering content to its mobile carrier, it would benefit Sprint,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities Co Ltd.
Son, 57, laid out a 300-year plan in 2010 that included investing in 5,000 companies by 2040. Even as he forecast that 99.98 percent of companies would cease to exist in their current form over the next 30 years, he vowed that SoftBank would survive. Last year, he tried to buy Universal Music Group from France’s Vivendi.
Son is Japan’s most acquisitive executive, with SoftBank making $51 billion of deals in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was almost double the amount spent by Japan’s next-biggest buyer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
SoftBank is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, people with knowledge of the matter said last week, in what may be its first foray into the fast- growing Latin American market.
The Star’s Mark Davis contributed to this story along with the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News.
Blake Shelton releasing new album "Bringing Back the Sunshine" Tuesday ... - NewsOK.com
As previously reported, Shelton is releasing "Bringing Back the Sunshine," his 11th studio album, Tuesday on Warner Bros. Records, and he opted to feature the Ada water tower on the record's black-and-white cover.
The Ada native and Tishomingo resident is featured on the cover of the Oct. 6 issue of Country Weekly magazine, on sale now.
The magazine notes that Shelton has undergone a serious career evolution from country newcomer to national superstar. In a special section titled “The New Blake,” Country Weekly examines how the glorious transformation took place from his first single to his stint on NBC's “The Voice,” which started its seventh season last week and continues at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays.
As previously reported, Shelton’s hometown is planning Ada's Block Party for Black, a big free album release party at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The event is a collaboration of the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce, Chickasaw Nation, City of Ada and East Central University.
Although Shelton won't be in attendance, there will be plentiful entertainment, including mechanical bull rides, a Blake Shelton Look-A-Like contest, and a Best Mullet Contest. There will also be a free kid’s zone including bounce houses, face painting, and balloon animals. Several food vendors will be available and local establishments will remain open throughout the event. Ada PAWS (Pontotoc Animal Welfare Society) also will be hosting a pet adoption drive in connection with Shelton and wife Miranda Lambert’s love for animals.
Meanwhile, Shelton will perform Wednesday on the “Today” show and Thursday on “Live with Kelly and Michael.”
-BAM
Rosie O'Donnell And Whoopi Goldberg Got Into An Enormous Fight On 'The ... - Huffington Post
It used to be that fights on "The View" happened while the cameras were rolling. But hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg recently got into a vicious argument during a commercial break — and now it's leaked out into the open.
Goldberg and O'Donnell are unquestionably the big dogs on "The View," but apparently, O'Donnell doesn't like wearing an earpiece and so doesn't hear the producers shouting that they need to cut to commercial. As the Daily Mail reported, this led to a major conflagration after Goldberg wound up cutting O'Donnell off to go to a break:
"As soon as they went to commercial break, Rosie took the handheld microphone that they use to engage the audience," explains the tipster.
"Instead of talking to the crowd, Rosie spoke directly to Whoopi in the mic that she 'hurt my feelings,' and that she was 'very upset by it' and 'didn't appreciate' what Whoopi had done."
[...]
Not phased by the Oscar winner's petition to leave matters alone until after the show, the 52-year-old comedienne continued to vent about Whoopi's actions. The "View" moderator then fired back to Rosie: "F*** it, I told you to leave it alone and you just don't want to listen. If you want to go there Rosie, I will dammit. I'm really sick of your s***!"
A spokeperson for the show didn't deny that the fight had happened, unlike other rumors of feuds that have been played down. Speaking to the Daily News, the spokesperson said, “They had a misunderstanding and an exchange. They talked it out and they were back to business as usual."
H/T Jezebel
Sprint owner's pursuit of DreamWorks boosts stock 30 percent - Kansas City Star
Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose almost 30 percent on Monday after news of a proposed acquisition by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank, which controls Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. and recently dropped a bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., has offered to buy the studio for $32 a share, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The offer values DreamWorks — the studio behind box-office favorites such as “Shrek” and “Madagascar,” and recent misses such as “Turbo” and “Rise of the Guardians” — at $3.4 billion.
The company’s share price on Wall Street closed at $22.36 on Friday. Despite the sharp increase Monday, shares were still below the company’s 52-week high of $36.01, reflecting uncertainty among some investors about whether the sale will go through.
Several analysts said they view the deal as a good strategic move for DreamWorks, giving it the kind of financial stability it needs to weather box-office misfires and invest in digital media ventures. The company has recorded three write-downs in two years, causing a sharp slide in its share price, which has fallen nearly 40 percent this year.
SoftBank’s interest in DreamWorks almost certainly extends beyond Sprint, analysts said, though the wireless company could benefit from a connection.
“It’s a bigger play for SoftBank than just Sprint,” said Bill Ho, an industry analyst at 556 Ventures LLC. “They’ve got so many properties all over the place.”
Access to Dreamworks movies, Ho said, could become a promotional tactic for Sprint to help it keep subscribers or attract new ones to its wireless network. AT&T’s interest in acquiring satellite television operator DirecTV depends partly on video content to offer subscribers.
Sprint has struggled to hang on to customers as it has worked to update its network, which still lags the three other national carriers in delivering fast speeds needed to stream videos.
One analyst said Monday that Sprint probably has lagged in adding customers with the rollout of the iPhone 6. T-Mobile seems to be gaining the most ground in the new Apple Inc. device’s debut, said Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo Securities.
“While Sprint indicated it was its most successful launch ever — it seems to be in fourth of the Big 4,” Fritzsche wrote in a note to clients.
Shares in Sprint closed Monday at $6.35, down 1.1 percent.
For DreamWorks, the decision to weigh a sale highlights the challenges faced by chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg as he seeks to diversify beyond film. DreamWorks, which previously looked for a buyer, has expanded its TV business and acquired Awesomeness TV, an online video network, while forming a partnership in China that includes live entertainment. Those efforts haven’t grown large enough to offset film write-offs that hurt the stock.
“Most investors believe Katzenberg wants a deal with a bigger media company where he has a path to the CEO seat,” said Paul Sweeney, director of North American research at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This does not appear to be such a deal.”
SoftBank offered $32 per DreamWorks Animation share, according to the Hollywood Reporter, 43 percent more than the stock’s closing price last Friday. The DreamWorks board held an emergency meeting last week to weigh the bid, the publication said.
Dreamworks, taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, is open to other offers, the trade publication said.
21st Century Fox Inc.’s attempt to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion in August set off a wave of speculation about media-industry consolidation. Independent content companies are at a disadvantage negotiating distribution terms with larger pay-TV operators such as Comcast Corp., which is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $44 billion. AT&T Inc. is buying satellite service DirecTV for $48 billion. Starz, the movie channel controlled by John Malone, is seeking a buyer, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Son’s SoftBank has been looking for more U.S. media and technology investments. SoftBank can afford DreamWorks and a successful deal would make it the second Japanese company to currently own a Hollywood film studio. The company’s stake of more than 30 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company that went public this month, has a market value of more than $70 billion. Sony Corp. owns a film and TV studio in Culver City, Calif.
Just weeks after abandoning the T-Mobile takeover, SoftBank sold almost $4 billion in bonds. Alibaba’s initial public offering on Sept. 19, which led SoftBank to forecast a gain of about $4.6 billion, is a step toward global expansion, Son said at the time on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”
“The acquisition would benefit SoftBank in revenue, and also by offering content to its mobile carrier, it would benefit Sprint,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities Co Ltd.
Son, 57, laid out a 300-year plan in 2010 that included investing in 5,000 companies by 2040. Even as he forecast that 99.98 percent of companies would cease to exist in their current form over the next 30 years, he vowed that SoftBank would survive. Last year, he tried to buy Universal Music Group from France’s Vivendi.
Son is Japan’s most acquisitive executive, with SoftBank making $51 billion of deals in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was almost double the amount spent by Japan’s next-biggest buyer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
SoftBank is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, people with knowledge of the matter said last week, in what may be its first foray into the fast- growing Latin American market.
The Star’s Mark Davis contributed to this story along with the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News.
'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' sequel to debut on Netflix - New York Daily News
Rico Torres for Netflix Michelle Yeoh stars in Netflix's ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend,’ the sequel to the Oscar-winning 2000 film. Watch out Hollywood — Netflix is getting into the movie business.
The streaming service announced Tuesday that the sequel to the 2000 martial arts film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” will premiere exclusively on Netflix next year.
Described by the The New York Times as the “first deal of its kind,” the follow-up to the Oscar-winning blockbuster, starring Michelle Yeoh and directed by Ang Lee will debut simultaneously around the world on the streaming service as well as some IMAX theaters.
The Weinstein Company film, titled “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend,” will debut Aug. 28 on Netflix as part of the site’s movie offerings. (Subscribers will not have to pay an additional fee to watch the film.)
Rico Torres for Netflix Donnie Yen stars in Netflix's ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend.’ 
AP Zhang Ziyi (l.) and Michelle Yeoh battle in 2000’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’ Director Ang Lee did not return to helm the sequel, which will debut on Netflix.Previous Next
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As for the movie itself, “Green Legend” is set two decades after the events in the original film and once again stars Yeoh. But there has been a major change behind the scenes: Lee did not return to direct the sequel and was replaced by Chinese director Woo-ping Yuen.
Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, said the move reflected what movie fans’ wanted, in terms of changing the traditional model for film releases.
“What I am hoping is that it will be a proof point that the sky doesn’t fall,” he told the Times. “These are two different experiences, like going to a football game and watching a football game on TV.”
VIDEO: First Look - Joaquin Phoenix Stars in Trailer for INHERENT VICE - Broadway World
Below, check out Joaquin Phoenix in the new trailer for "Inherent Vice," the seventh feature from Paul Thomas Anderson and the first ever film adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel. The film hits December 2014.
When private eye Doc Sportello's ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a loony bin...well, easy for her to say.
It's the tail end of the psychedelic `60s and paranoia is running THE DAY and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," that's being way too overused-except this one usually leads to trouble.
With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists... Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp-all Thomas Pynchon.
The film stars Oscar nominees Joaquin Phoenix ("The Master," "Walk the Line"), Josh Brolin ("True Grit," "No Country For Old Men") and Owen Wilson ("The Royal Tennenbaums," "Midnight in Paris"); Katherine Waterston ("Michael Clayton," "Boardwalk Empire"); Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line") and Benicio Del Toro ("Traffic"); Martin Short ("Frankenweenie"); Jena Malone ("The Hunger Games" series); and musician Joanna Newsom.
Oscar nominee Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood," "The Master") directed "Inherent Vice" from a screenplay he wrote based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon. Anderson also produced the film, together with Oscar-nominated producers JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi ("There Will Be Blood"). Scott Rudin and Adam Somner served as executive producers.
Anderson's behind-the-scenes creative team included Oscar-winning director of photography Robert Elswit ("There Will Be Blood"), production designer David Crank ("The Master"), Oscar-nominated editor Leslie Jones ("The Thin Red Line"), and Oscar-winning costume designer Mark Bridges ("The Artist"). The music is by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with IAC Films, a JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company production, "Inherent Vice." Opening in limited release on December 12, 2014 and expanding on January 9, 2015, the film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
"Inherent Vice" has been rated R for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence.
http://inherentvicemovie.com
http://www.facebook.com/InherentViceM...
Listen to Aretha Franklin's Powerful Cover of Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' - TIME
On her upcoming album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics, the iconic songstress takes on 10 tracks originally written and performed by fellow female powerhouse vocalists. This week, Aretha shared the first single off the album. It’s a big, fiery, loud cover of a big, fiery, loud song: Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” (The song also manages to incorporate pieces of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”)
This is pretty exciting, yes, but some listeners have raised concerns about a possible use of Auto-Tune in this track. Auto-Tune, of course, is a device used to alter or enhance a singer’s pitch, and it’s understandable why people would be concerned about this, as Aretha Franklin is widely considered one of the greatest singers of all time. Many commenters were quick to point out that even if the track doesn’t include Auto-Tune itself, Aretha’s voice still sounds like it was enhanced in some way.
Either way, she’s still the Queen of Soul, and she still sings her heart out.
The album is out Oct 21, and we’ve heard that it includes a cover of Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” so get excited.
Lena Dunham Shares Her Struggles with Body Image and OCD - ABC News
It was a big day for “Girls” creator Lena Dunham, who stopped by “Good Morning America” to promote today’s release of her new book, “Not That Kind of Girl.”
Dunham opened up to Robin Roberts about the hardest chapter for her to write.
“You’d think it was the sexual humiliations, but for me it was being clear that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about food,” Dunham said. “I spend a lot of my career trying to break down the negative forces that the media exerts on women in trying to control their body image, so for me it’s all very sort of anathema to who I am to admit that I too have struggled with the concept of perfection.”
Dunham attributed her booming career as the reason she started to have a healthier outlook on food.
“When you love your job and love what you do, you feel like a tool being put to its proper use and you see food as fuel and a way to get where you need to go, and less to your demise,” she explained.
The book also dives into Dunham’s struggles with her obsessive compulsive disorder and why she decided to share that with her fans.
“There is a conversion about mental health that needs to happen in the country that we’re just at the beginning of, and all of us sharing the struggles in the world inside our heads whether big or small can help us normalize mental health problems,” she said. “I was very lucky to have parents who had a forward-thinking attitude about putting me in therapy and giving me the tools I need to move forward. They had the foresight to put me in therapy and encourage me to create, and the book is dedicated to them for that reason.”
Sprint owner's pursuit of DreamWorks boosts stock 30 percent - Kansas City Star
Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose almost 30 percent on Monday after news of a proposed acquisition by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank, which controls Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. and recently dropped a bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., has offered to buy the studio for $32 a share, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The offer values DreamWorks — the studio behind box-office favorites such as “Shrek” and “Madagascar,” and recent misses such as “Turbo” and “Rise of the Guardians” — at $3.4 billion.
The company’s share price on Wall Street closed at $22.36 on Friday. Despite the sharp increase Monday, shares were still below the company’s 52-week high of $36.01, reflecting uncertainty among some investors about whether the sale will go through.
Several analysts said they view the deal as a good strategic move for DreamWorks, giving it the kind of financial stability it needs to weather box-office misfires and invest in digital media ventures. The company has recorded three write-downs in two years, causing a sharp slide in its share price, which has fallen nearly 40 percent this year.
SoftBank’s interest in DreamWorks almost certainly extends beyond Sprint, analysts said, though the wireless company could benefit from a connection.
“It’s a bigger play for SoftBank than just Sprint,” said Bill Ho, an industry analyst at 556 Ventures LLC. “They’ve got so many properties all over the place.”
Access to Dreamworks movies, Ho said, could become a promotional tactic for Sprint to help it keep subscribers or attract new ones to its wireless network. AT&T’s interest in acquiring satellite television operator DirecTV depends partly on video content to offer subscribers.
Sprint has struggled to hang on to customers as it has worked to update its network, which still lags the three other national carriers in delivering fast speeds needed to stream videos.
One analyst said Monday that Sprint probably has lagged in adding customers with the rollout of the iPhone 6. T-Mobile seems to be gaining the most ground in the new Apple Inc. device’s debut, said Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo Securities.
“While Sprint indicated it was its most successful launch ever — it seems to be in fourth of the Big 4,” Fritzsche wrote in a note to clients.
Shares in Sprint closed Monday at $6.35, down 1.1 percent.
For DreamWorks, the decision to weigh a sale highlights the challenges faced by chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg as he seeks to diversify beyond film. DreamWorks, which previously looked for a buyer, has expanded its TV business and acquired Awesomeness TV, an online video network, while forming a partnership in China that includes live entertainment. Those efforts haven’t grown large enough to offset film write-offs that hurt the stock.
“Most investors believe Katzenberg wants a deal with a bigger media company where he has a path to the CEO seat,” said Paul Sweeney, director of North American research at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This does not appear to be such a deal.”
SoftBank offered $32 per DreamWorks Animation share, according to the Hollywood Reporter, 43 percent more than the stock’s closing price last Friday. The DreamWorks board held an emergency meeting last week to weigh the bid, the publication said.
Dreamworks, taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, is open to other offers, the trade publication said.
21st Century Fox Inc.’s attempt to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion in August set off a wave of speculation about media-industry consolidation. Independent content companies are at a disadvantage negotiating distribution terms with larger pay-TV operators such as Comcast Corp., which is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $44 billion. AT&T Inc. is buying satellite service DirecTV for $48 billion. Starz, the movie channel controlled by John Malone, is seeking a buyer, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Son’s SoftBank has been looking for more U.S. media and technology investments. SoftBank can afford DreamWorks and a successful deal would make it the second Japanese company to currently own a Hollywood film studio. The company’s stake of more than 30 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company that went public this month, has a market value of more than $70 billion. Sony Corp. owns a film and TV studio in Culver City, Calif.
Just weeks after abandoning the T-Mobile takeover, SoftBank sold almost $4 billion in bonds. Alibaba’s initial public offering on Sept. 19, which led SoftBank to forecast a gain of about $4.6 billion, is a step toward global expansion, Son said at the time on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”
“The acquisition would benefit SoftBank in revenue, and also by offering content to its mobile carrier, it would benefit Sprint,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities Co Ltd.
Son, 57, laid out a 300-year plan in 2010 that included investing in 5,000 companies by 2040. Even as he forecast that 99.98 percent of companies would cease to exist in their current form over the next 30 years, he vowed that SoftBank would survive. Last year, he tried to buy Universal Music Group from France’s Vivendi.
Son is Japan’s most acquisitive executive, with SoftBank making $51 billion of deals in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was almost double the amount spent by Japan’s next-biggest buyer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
SoftBank is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, people with knowledge of the matter said last week, in what may be its first foray into the fast- growing Latin American market.
The Star’s Mark Davis contributed to this story along with the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News.
Ben Affleck Says His Daughters Don't "Give a S--t About Batman" Because They ... - E! Online
Batman can't compete with Disney princesses.
Ben Affleck will star opposite Henry Cavill in the upcoming blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but his three children with wife Jennifer Garner are less than impressed by his role. "People always say, 'Are your kids into it?' No, they're not," he said on NBC's The Tonight Show Monday. "If I was doing the sequel to Frozen, I would be a hero. My two older daughters could give a s--t about Batman."
"They love Frozen. And the indignity is so great that they have now passed that affection onto my [son Samuel, 2]. He's like, 'Papa, can I watch Frozen?' and I'm like, 'No, dude! It's not on again!' So, I've been looking for different versions, like littler, compressed Frozen," Affleck, 42, continued. "Also, you know, Disney takes it off the web. So, evidently you did a bit of Frozen with Idina Menzel , who's got an incredible voice. It's great and it's also just two and a half minutes, so you don't do the whole movie."
"I started showing that to my son and he loved it. He goes crazy for it. And then he wants me to sing along. And you can't tell your son—because you're supposed to be his hero—that you can't sing," Affleck said. He tried singing the chorus to "Let It Go" quietly, but his son wasn't having it. "He's started being like, 'No, papa! Do it like the man!' I was like, 'First of all, I'm your father! Jimmy Fallon 's not the man! I'm the man! Let me tell you about the man. The man holds baby blocks and claps them together.' So there I am at home going, 'Let it go! Is this like the man? Let it go.' Thank you very much for that."
VIDEO: Ben Affleck dishes on his Gone Girl role
Earlier that day, Affleck talked about beefing up to play Batman on Live! With Kelly and Michael. "I have been working out. This isn't a role you can do and not exercise for," he said. "Audiences have an increasing expectation. Like in the '50s, you could just be Burt Lancaster and be, like, tall. That was OK. Now you see guys like Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans and all these guys whose bodies [make you] think, 'How is that even possible?' Exercising is as much of the job now in some ways as the rest of it."
VIDEO: Why Ben Affleck missed George Clooney's wedding
The costume was tailored to fit Affleck's body. "I asked them, 'So, how about maybe taking the suit home at the end of the thing?' And they were like, 'For $100,000 we could!' I was like, 'Maybe I'll just take a picture.' A lot goes into it...These movies have become a big deal so they spend a lot of money.'"
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
PHOTOS: Batman through the years
Couple Leaves Waiter $100 Tip for Bad Service: "We've Both Been in Your Shoes" - E! Online
Facebook Makenzie Schultz and her husband, Steven, didn't quite have the anniversary dinner they were hoping for.
The couple went for sushi in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, restaurant, but, as Makenzie said in a Facebook post Saturday, their service "sucked." Instead of being upset with their waiter, though, Makenzie and Steven generously tipped the waiter $100 on a $66.65 meal.
Yep, even though it took "20 minutes to get water, 40 minutes for an appetizer and over an hour four our entree," the Schultzes paid a 250 percent tip (!) to their overworked waiter.
NEWS: Charlie Sheen and 5 more amazing celeb tippers!
"People all around us were making fun of the restaurant & how bad the service was," explained Makenzie, admitting, "Yeah, it was pretty terrible. But, it was very obvious that the issue was being short staffed, not the server."
The waiter, who "was running around like crazy," had "12 tables plus the bar" at one point, wrote Makenzie. And even though this was "more than any one person could handle," the server "never acted annoyed with any table."
"As I sat there and watched him run back & forth and apologize for the wait, I said to Steven... Wow, this used to be us. Waiting tables. I don't miss it at all and I never loved that job. I did it for the tips," wrote Makenzie. "Steven and I agreed it would feel good to make this guys night when he would probably be getting minimal to no tips due to slow service."
NEWS: Charlize Theron gives Pinkberry employee $96 tip after leaving without paying her bill!
So the Schultzes left a hearty tip, writing on the receipt, "We've both been in your shoes. Paying it forward."
"This definitely was not the largest tip there ever was," Makenzie later told Today . "We thought it could make his night a little bit easier."
The couple "walked out before he saw this," she wrote, "and I'm not posting this for a pat on the back. I'm just sharing this as a friendly reminder to think of the entire situation, before you judge. And always always always remember where you came from."
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
Amanda Bynes arrested for DUI; starlet in more legal trouble for suspicion of ... - New York Daily News
Amanda Bynes has veered off the rails again.
The "Hairspray" actress was busted for suspicion of drugged driving early Sunday after a California Highway Patrol officer allegedly watched her blow through a red light and then stop in the middle of an intersection in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Bynes, 28, had been driving alone in a 2013 white Mercedes ML350 about 3:30 a.m. when she was popped, cops said.
"She ran a red light and stopped in the middle of (a) T-shaped intersection. Our officer observed her, and she appeared under the influence. She was unable to complete field sobriety tests, at which point she was taken to our station," CHP spokesman Leland Tang told the Daily News.
He said Bynes was given a drug evaluation and was unable to complete the series of hand-eye coordination tasks.
"She didn't make any spontaneous comments," he said when asked if she admitted taking anything.
An unidentified source told TMZ.com that cops suspect she was high on weed.
"We're waiting for toxicology tests that could take 30 to 60 days," he said.
It was last February that Bynes scored a no-jail plea deal in her prior southern California DUI case, capping a string of bizarre run-ins with the law that began more than two years ago.
Her lawyer appeared in court on her behalf and pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of alcohol-related reckless driving, the lawyer told The News.
Bynes received three years of probation and was ordered to attend three months of alcohol education classes, he said.
The more serious charge of DUI stemming from the 2012 incident was dropped.
The former child star was released from in-patient psychiatric treatment in November and was living with her parents in Thousand Oaks, Calif., until she reportedly moved out in recent months.
A mental health conservatorship that kept her on the straight and narrow recently ended.
She was formally diagnosed with schizophrenia after months of disturbing behavior that culminated with a makeshift fire set in a stranger's southern California driveway in July 2013, sources told The News.
The actress stripped her burning pants off during the wild fire and told a witness that her gasoline-drenched dog was hurt and needed help, the witness said.
Bynes fought her first misdemeanor DUI case for more than a year, previously denying she was drunk or high when she allegedly hit a Los Angeles County Sheriff's cruiser April 6, 2012.
A former Nickelodeon star, Bynes also was involved in two hit-and-run incidents in 2012 but got the misdemeanor cases dropped by reaching civil settlements with the victims.
She was later cited for driving without a license near Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., in September 2012.
The wig-wearing actress also won a conditional dismissal deal in January in her 2013 Manhattan bong-tossing case.
She agreed to see a counselor twice a week for six months as part of the New York deal.
She enrolled in classes at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in southern California and appeared to be on the mend.
"She's made great strides in her progress," her mom's lawyer previously told The News.
With Kirthana Ramisetti
On a mobile device? Click here to watch video.
Sprint owner's pursuit of DreamWorks boosts stock 30 percent - Kansas City Star
Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose almost 30 percent on Monday after news of a proposed acquisition by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank, which controls Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. and recently dropped a bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., has offered to buy the studio for $32 a share, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The offer values DreamWorks — the studio behind box-office favorites such as “Shrek” and “Madagascar,” and recent misses such as “Turbo” and “Rise of the Guardians” — at $3.4 billion.
The company’s share price on Wall Street closed at $22.36 on Friday. Despite the sharp increase Monday, shares were still below the company’s 52-week high of $36.01, reflecting uncertainty among some investors about whether the sale will go through.
Several analysts said they view the deal as a good strategic move for DreamWorks, giving it the kind of financial stability it needs to weather box-office misfires and invest in digital media ventures. The company has recorded three write-downs in two years, causing a sharp slide in its share price, which has fallen nearly 40 percent this year.
SoftBank’s interest in DreamWorks almost certainly extends beyond Sprint, analysts said, though the wireless company could benefit from a connection.
“It’s a bigger play for SoftBank than just Sprint,” said Bill Ho, an industry analyst at 556 Ventures LLC. “They’ve got so many properties all over the place.”
Access to Dreamworks movies, Ho said, could become a promotional tactic for Sprint to help it keep subscribers or attract new ones to its wireless network. AT&T’s interest in acquiring satellite television operator DirecTV depends partly on video content to offer subscribers.
Sprint has struggled to hang on to customers as it has worked to update its network, which still lags the three other national carriers in delivering fast speeds needed to stream videos.
One analyst said Monday that Sprint probably has lagged in adding customers with the rollout of the iPhone 6. T-Mobile seems to be gaining the most ground in the new Apple Inc. device’s debut, said Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo Securities.
“While Sprint indicated it was its most successful launch ever — it seems to be in fourth of the Big 4,” Fritzsche wrote in a note to clients.
Shares in Sprint closed Monday at $6.35, down 1.1 percent.
For DreamWorks, the decision to weigh a sale highlights the challenges faced by chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg as he seeks to diversify beyond film. DreamWorks, which previously looked for a buyer, has expanded its TV business and acquired Awesomeness TV, an online video network, while forming a partnership in China that includes live entertainment. Those efforts haven’t grown large enough to offset film write-offs that hurt the stock.
“Most investors believe Katzenberg wants a deal with a bigger media company where he has a path to the CEO seat,” said Paul Sweeney, director of North American research at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This does not appear to be such a deal.”
SoftBank offered $32 per DreamWorks Animation share, according to the Hollywood Reporter, 43 percent more than the stock’s closing price last Friday. The DreamWorks board held an emergency meeting last week to weigh the bid, the publication said.
Dreamworks, taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, is open to other offers, the trade publication said.
21st Century Fox Inc.’s attempt to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion in August set off a wave of speculation about media-industry consolidation. Independent content companies are at a disadvantage negotiating distribution terms with larger pay-TV operators such as Comcast Corp., which is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $44 billion. AT&T Inc. is buying satellite service DirecTV for $48 billion. Starz, the movie channel controlled by John Malone, is seeking a buyer, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Son’s SoftBank has been looking for more U.S. media and technology investments. SoftBank can afford DreamWorks and a successful deal would make it the second Japanese company to currently own a Hollywood film studio. The company’s stake of more than 30 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company that went public this month, has a market value of more than $70 billion. Sony Corp. owns a film and TV studio in Culver City, Calif.
Just weeks after abandoning the T-Mobile takeover, SoftBank sold almost $4 billion in bonds. Alibaba’s initial public offering on Sept. 19, which led SoftBank to forecast a gain of about $4.6 billion, is a step toward global expansion, Son said at the time on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”
“The acquisition would benefit SoftBank in revenue, and also by offering content to its mobile carrier, it would benefit Sprint,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities Co Ltd.
Son, 57, laid out a 300-year plan in 2010 that included investing in 5,000 companies by 2040. Even as he forecast that 99.98 percent of companies would cease to exist in their current form over the next 30 years, he vowed that SoftBank would survive. Last year, he tried to buy Universal Music Group from France’s Vivendi.
Son is Japan’s most acquisitive executive, with SoftBank making $51 billion of deals in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was almost double the amount spent by Japan’s next-biggest buyer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
SoftBank is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, people with knowledge of the matter said last week, in what may be its first foray into the fast- growing Latin American market.
The Star’s Mark Davis contributed to this story along with the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News.
Couple Leaves Waiter $100 Tip for Bad Service: "We've Both Been in Your Shoes" - E! Online
Facebook Makenzie Schultz and her husband, Steven, didn't quite have the anniversary dinner they were hoping for.
The couple went for sushi in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, restaurant, but, as Makenzie said in a Facebook post Saturday, their service "sucked." Instead of being upset with their waiter, though, Makenzie and Steven generously tipped the waiter $100 on a $66.65 meal.
Yep, even though it took "20 minutes to get water, 40 minutes for an appetizer and over an hour four our entree," the Schultzes paid a 250 percent tip (!) to their overworked waiter.
NEWS: Charlie Sheen and 5 more amazing celeb tippers!
"People all around us were making fun of the restaurant & how bad the service was," explained Makenzie, admitting, "Yeah, it was pretty terrible. But, it was very obvious that the issue was being short staffed, not the server."
The waiter, who "was running around like crazy," had "12 tables plus the bar" at one point, wrote Makenzie. And even though this was "more than any one person could handle," the server "never acted annoyed with any table."
"As I sat there and watched him run back & forth and apologize for the wait, I said to Steven... Wow, this used to be us. Waiting tables. I don't miss it at all and I never loved that job. I did it for the tips," wrote Makenzie. "Steven and I agreed it would feel good to make this guys night when he would probably be getting minimal to no tips due to slow service."
NEWS: Charlize Theron gives Pinkberry employee $96 tip after leaving without paying her bill!
So the Schultzes left a hearty tip, writing on the receipt, "We've both been in your shoes. Paying it forward."
"This definitely was not the largest tip there ever was," Makenzie later told Today . "We thought it could make his night a little bit easier."
The couple "walked out before he saw this," she wrote, "and I'm not posting this for a pat on the back. I'm just sharing this as a friendly reminder to think of the entire situation, before you judge. And always always always remember where you came from."
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
Book News: First-Ever Kirkus Prize Picks 18 Finalists - WPPB
The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.
Clear some space at this season's awards festivities: It's time to make room for 18 more writers. This morning, Kirkus Reviews shared with NPR the finalists for its first annual writing award, the Kirkus Prize — six writers each in fiction, nonfiction and young readers' literature.
Among the finalists in fiction, Ethiopian-American writer — and former MacArthur fellow — Dinaw Mengestu's All Our Names joins Welsh author Sarah Waters, whose novel The Paying Guests is "one of the most sensual you will ever read," according to NPR reviewer Julia Keller. Meanwhile, on the nonfiction side, finalists include Thomas Piketty, whose debate-stirring Capital in the Twenty-First Century has long stayed on the best-seller charts, and Roz Chast's illustrated memoir, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
The books recognized for achievement in young readers' literature range from picture books such as Kate Samworth's gorgeous and sardonic Aviary Wonders to Don Mitchell's civil rights history The Freedom Summer Murders.
Into a crowded awards season, Kirkus Reviews has tossed the heft of its 81-year history — and perhaps more notably, the weight of its wallet. With a purse of $50,000 for the winner of each category, the award joins the ranks of the Man Booker Prize and the Folio Fiction Prize — itself a recent arrival on the awards scene — as one of the richest literary prizes available to English-language writers.
To be considered, shortlisters first had to receive a starred review from one of Kirkus' reviewers, at which point the books were automatically brought before three separate groups of judges — judges such as author Sloane Crosley, who served on the nonfiction panel.
In an email exchange with NPR, Crosley explained that in the award's inaugural year, it was the judges' responsibility to "set the tenor" of what the annual prize would become.
"We looked for topical variety and stellar writing, books that were wall-to-wall with research, often groundbreaking research, that told their stories in a fascinating way," she said. "Or books that were heartfelt and human but also filled with all the information needed to make us feel like we got the fullest story and the best possible delivery of that story."
In addition to Mengestu and Waters, the full list of fiction finalists includes Siri Hustvedt's The Blazing World , Lily King's Euphoria , Brian Morton's Florence Gordon and Bill Roorbach's The Remedy for Love.
Beyond Piketty and Chast, the nonfiction list also recognizes Leo Damrosch's biography Jonathan Swift, Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction , Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy and Amanda Marie Leroi's The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science.
And joining Samworth and Mitchell are young readers' literature finalists Cece Bell's El Deafo, Jack Gantos' The Key that Swallowed Joey Pigza, Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet's The Right Word and E.K. Johnston's The Story of Owen, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Oct. 23, just before the start of the Texas Book Festival in Austin.
Remember These Folks ? Well, we have a winner of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize: Shawn Vestal's collection Godforsaken Idaho, which you can hear him reading here.
A Farewell In Wales: Welsh poet and novelist Dannie Abse died Sunday at the age of 91. In a remembrance in The Guardian, Vernon Scannell writes of Abse's poetry: "It offers entertainment, deep feeling and thought, and its own quirky and memorable music." And in The Telegraph, Charlotte Runcie reminds us of some of Abse's best-known lines. This, from "Anniversary," appears particularly fitting:
"What happens to a flame blown out?
What perishes? Only the view,
never my magnified hand in yours"
Sprint owner's pursuit of DreamWorks boosts stock 30 percent - Kansas City Star
Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose almost 30 percent on Monday after news of a proposed acquisition by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank, which controls Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. and recently dropped a bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., has offered to buy the studio for $32 a share, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The offer values DreamWorks — the studio behind box-office favorites such as “Shrek” and “Madagascar,” and recent misses such as “Turbo” and “Rise of the Guardians” — at $3.4 billion.
The company’s share price on Wall Street closed at $22.36 on Friday. Despite the sharp increase Monday, shares were still below the company’s 52-week high of $36.01, reflecting uncertainty among some investors about whether the sale will go through.
Several analysts said they view the deal as a good strategic move for DreamWorks, giving it the kind of financial stability it needs to weather box-office misfires and invest in digital media ventures. The company has recorded three write-downs in two years, causing a sharp slide in its share price, which has fallen nearly 40 percent this year.
SoftBank’s interest in DreamWorks almost certainly extends beyond Sprint, analysts said, though the wireless company could benefit from a connection.
“It’s a bigger play for SoftBank than just Sprint,” said Bill Ho, an industry analyst at 556 Ventures LLC. “They’ve got so many properties all over the place.”
Access to Dreamworks movies, Ho said, could become a promotional tactic for Sprint to help it keep subscribers or attract new ones to its wireless network. AT&T’s interest in acquiring satellite television operator DirecTV depends partly on video content to offer subscribers.
Sprint has struggled to hang on to customers as it has worked to update its network, which still lags the three other national carriers in delivering fast speeds needed to stream videos.
One analyst said Monday that Sprint probably has lagged in adding customers with the rollout of the iPhone 6. T-Mobile seems to be gaining the most ground in the new Apple Inc. device’s debut, said Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo Securities.
“While Sprint indicated it was its most successful launch ever — it seems to be in fourth of the Big 4,” Fritzsche wrote in a note to clients.
Shares in Sprint closed Monday at $6.35, down 1.1 percent.
For DreamWorks, the decision to weigh a sale highlights the challenges faced by chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg as he seeks to diversify beyond film. DreamWorks, which previously looked for a buyer, has expanded its TV business and acquired Awesomeness TV, an online video network, while forming a partnership in China that includes live entertainment. Those efforts haven’t grown large enough to offset film write-offs that hurt the stock.
“Most investors believe Katzenberg wants a deal with a bigger media company where he has a path to the CEO seat,” said Paul Sweeney, director of North American research at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This does not appear to be such a deal.”
SoftBank offered $32 per DreamWorks Animation share, according to the Hollywood Reporter, 43 percent more than the stock’s closing price last Friday. The DreamWorks board held an emergency meeting last week to weigh the bid, the publication said.
Dreamworks, taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, is open to other offers, the trade publication said.
21st Century Fox Inc.’s attempt to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion in August set off a wave of speculation about media-industry consolidation. Independent content companies are at a disadvantage negotiating distribution terms with larger pay-TV operators such as Comcast Corp., which is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $44 billion. AT&T Inc. is buying satellite service DirecTV for $48 billion. Starz, the movie channel controlled by John Malone, is seeking a buyer, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Son’s SoftBank has been looking for more U.S. media and technology investments. SoftBank can afford DreamWorks and a successful deal would make it the second Japanese company to currently own a Hollywood film studio. The company’s stake of more than 30 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company that went public this month, has a market value of more than $70 billion. Sony Corp. owns a film and TV studio in Culver City, Calif.
Just weeks after abandoning the T-Mobile takeover, SoftBank sold almost $4 billion in bonds. Alibaba’s initial public offering on Sept. 19, which led SoftBank to forecast a gain of about $4.6 billion, is a step toward global expansion, Son said at the time on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”
“The acquisition would benefit SoftBank in revenue, and also by offering content to its mobile carrier, it would benefit Sprint,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities Co Ltd.
Son, 57, laid out a 300-year plan in 2010 that included investing in 5,000 companies by 2040. Even as he forecast that 99.98 percent of companies would cease to exist in their current form over the next 30 years, he vowed that SoftBank would survive. Last year, he tried to buy Universal Music Group from France’s Vivendi.
Son is Japan’s most acquisitive executive, with SoftBank making $51 billion of deals in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was almost double the amount spent by Japan’s next-biggest buyer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
SoftBank is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, people with knowledge of the matter said last week, in what may be its first foray into the fast- growing Latin American market.
The Star’s Mark Davis contributed to this story along with the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News.
Couple Leaves Waiter $100 Tip for Bad Service: "We've Both Been in Your Shoes" - E! Online
Facebook Makenzie Schultz and her husband, Steven, didn't quite have the anniversary dinner they were hoping for.
The couple went for sushi in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, restaurant, but, as Makenzie said in a Facebook post Saturday, their service "sucked." Instead of being upset with their waiter, though, Makenzie and Steven generously tipped the waiter $100 on a $66.65 meal.
Yep, even though it took "20 minutes to get water, 40 minutes for an appetizer and over an hour four our entree," the Schultzes paid a 250 percent tip (!) to their overworked waiter.
NEWS: Charlie Sheen and 5 more amazing celeb tippers!
"People all around us were making fun of the restaurant & how bad the service was," explained Makenzie, admitting, "Yeah, it was pretty terrible. But, it was very obvious that the issue was being short staffed, not the server."
The waiter, who "was running around like crazy," had "12 tables plus the bar" at one point, wrote Makenzie. And even though this was "more than any one person could handle," the server "never acted annoyed with any table."
"As I sat there and watched him run back & forth and apologize for the wait, I said to Steven... Wow, this used to be us. Waiting tables. I don't miss it at all and I never loved that job. I did it for the tips," wrote Makenzie. "Steven and I agreed it would feel good to make this guys night when he would probably be getting minimal to no tips due to slow service."
NEWS: Charlize Theron gives Pinkberry employee $96 tip after leaving without paying her bill!
So the Schultzes left a hearty tip, writing on the receipt, "We've both been in your shoes. Paying it forward."
"This definitely was not the largest tip there ever was," Makenzie later told Today . "We thought it could make his night a little bit easier."
The couple "walked out before he saw this," she wrote, "and I'm not posting this for a pat on the back. I'm just sharing this as a friendly reminder to think of the entire situation, before you judge. And always always always remember where you came from."
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
Joanna Newsom Narrates 'Inherent Vice' Trailer - Empty Lighthouse Magazine
Three days ago, we learned that California Folk artist Joanna Newsom will play the role of Sortilege in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. Now, the official trailer has been released and it features narration from Newsom, a role she’ll reprise throughout the film. Watch below.
Inherent Vice is set to star Joaquin Phoenix as Doc Sportello, a “pothead” detective who unravels a conspiracy in 1970’s Southern California. The film will also feature Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, and Reese Witherspoon and a score from Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
Anderson, whose past credits include the fantastic There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights, has stirred up speculation that Thomas Pynchon himself might also have a cameo appearance. Pynchon is infamous for his reclusiveness, especially in light of his runaway success and influence in the realm of postmodern literature. Few known pictures of him exist. When pressed by The New York Times Book Review on Pynchon’s possible cameo, Anderson said, “I mean, even if he did [appear], how would I even know?”
Newsom’s latest (triple!) album Have One on Me was released February 23, 2010 via Drag City. Her sophomore album, YS, was rated by many publications as one of the best albums of 2006 and even of all time, ranking in Robert Dimery’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
'Manhattan Love Story' pilot spoilers: ABC's promising new rom-com airs tonight ... - Ecumenical News
Screen capture from ABC's official 'Manhattan Love Story' trailer.Credit: ABC Television Network / Manhattan Love Story
ABC's 'Manhattan Love Story' is the newest romantic comedy series to grace the small screen, and based on the reviews of the pilot episode it could be one of the most successful premieres this fall.
For frequent dreamers, New York City is the place for new beginnings, and that's exactly what will happen to Dana (played by Analeigh Tipton) and Peter (Jake McDorman) as they embark on a new relationship that will both test their limits and pride.
Tall, blonde, and beautiful, Dana is a New York City newcomer filled with infinite possibilities held on to the fact that she is "living the dream" in colorful New York. Peter has been living in New York for quite some time and finds himself ogling at ladies whenever he can. The two are introduced through a blind date that will ultimately set their fate as potential lovers.
Dana presents a list to Peter of all the things she wants to do in the city, and one by one, Peter laughs at Dana's choices. Dana cries and leaves the date, and before she knows it, Peter is at her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers. The two then goes to different dates and learns each other could be something they have wanted for a long time.
Peter and Dana's story might be "common," especially to the small screen, but what sets Manhattan Love Story apart is how Dana and Peter thoughts are verbally heard by the viewers, giving viewers a chance to peek inside what goes through in their heads.
The Manhattan Love Story pilot episode airs on September 30 on ABC at 8.30 p.m. ET/ 7.30 p.m. CT.
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Sprint owner's pursuit of DreamWorks boosts stock 30 percent - Kansas City Star
Shares of DreamWorks Animation rose almost 30 percent on Monday after news of a proposed acquisition by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank, which controls Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. and recently dropped a bid to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., has offered to buy the studio for $32 a share, according to a person familiar with the talks.
The offer values DreamWorks — the studio behind box-office favorites such as “Shrek” and “Madagascar,” and recent misses such as “Turbo” and “Rise of the Guardians” — at $3.4 billion.
The company’s share price on Wall Street closed at $22.36 on Friday. Despite the sharp increase Monday, shares were still below the company’s 52-week high of $36.01, reflecting uncertainty among some investors about whether the sale will go through.
Several analysts said they view the deal as a good strategic move for DreamWorks, giving it the kind of financial stability it needs to weather box-office misfires and invest in digital media ventures. The company has recorded three write-downs in two years, causing a sharp slide in its share price, which has fallen nearly 40 percent this year.
SoftBank’s interest in DreamWorks almost certainly extends beyond Sprint, analysts said, though the wireless company could benefit from a connection.
“It’s a bigger play for SoftBank than just Sprint,” said Bill Ho, an industry analyst at 556 Ventures LLC. “They’ve got so many properties all over the place.”
Access to Dreamworks movies, Ho said, could become a promotional tactic for Sprint to help it keep subscribers or attract new ones to its wireless network. AT&T’s interest in acquiring satellite television operator DirecTV depends partly on video content to offer subscribers.
Sprint has struggled to hang on to customers as it has worked to update its network, which still lags the three other national carriers in delivering fast speeds needed to stream videos.
One analyst said Monday that Sprint probably has lagged in adding customers with the rollout of the iPhone 6. T-Mobile seems to be gaining the most ground in the new Apple Inc. device’s debut, said Jennifer Fritzsche of Wells Fargo Securities.
“While Sprint indicated it was its most successful launch ever — it seems to be in fourth of the Big 4,” Fritzsche wrote in a note to clients.
Shares in Sprint closed Monday at $6.35, down 1.1 percent.
For DreamWorks, the decision to weigh a sale highlights the challenges faced by chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg as he seeks to diversify beyond film. DreamWorks, which previously looked for a buyer, has expanded its TV business and acquired Awesomeness TV, an online video network, while forming a partnership in China that includes live entertainment. Those efforts haven’t grown large enough to offset film write-offs that hurt the stock.
“Most investors believe Katzenberg wants a deal with a bigger media company where he has a path to the CEO seat,” said Paul Sweeney, director of North American research at Bloomberg Intelligence. “This does not appear to be such a deal.”
SoftBank offered $32 per DreamWorks Animation share, according to the Hollywood Reporter, 43 percent more than the stock’s closing price last Friday. The DreamWorks board held an emergency meeting last week to weigh the bid, the publication said.
Dreamworks, taken public by Katzenberg in 2004, is open to other offers, the trade publication said.
21st Century Fox Inc.’s attempt to buy Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion in August set off a wave of speculation about media-industry consolidation. Independent content companies are at a disadvantage negotiating distribution terms with larger pay-TV operators such as Comcast Corp., which is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $44 billion. AT&T Inc. is buying satellite service DirecTV for $48 billion. Starz, the movie channel controlled by John Malone, is seeking a buyer, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Son’s SoftBank has been looking for more U.S. media and technology investments. SoftBank can afford DreamWorks and a successful deal would make it the second Japanese company to currently own a Hollywood film studio. The company’s stake of more than 30 percent of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company that went public this month, has a market value of more than $70 billion. Sony Corp. owns a film and TV studio in Culver City, Calif.
Just weeks after abandoning the T-Mobile takeover, SoftBank sold almost $4 billion in bonds. Alibaba’s initial public offering on Sept. 19, which led SoftBank to forecast a gain of about $4.6 billion, is a step toward global expansion, Son said at the time on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”
“The acquisition would benefit SoftBank in revenue, and also by offering content to its mobile carrier, it would benefit Sprint,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, a Tokyo-based analyst with Iwai Cosmo Securities Co Ltd.
Son, 57, laid out a 300-year plan in 2010 that included investing in 5,000 companies by 2040. Even as he forecast that 99.98 percent of companies would cease to exist in their current form over the next 30 years, he vowed that SoftBank would survive. Last year, he tried to buy Universal Music Group from France’s Vivendi.
Son is Japan’s most acquisitive executive, with SoftBank making $51 billion of deals in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was almost double the amount spent by Japan’s next-biggest buyer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
SoftBank is considering an investment in Mexican wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell SA, people with knowledge of the matter said last week, in what may be its first foray into the fast- growing Latin American market.
The Star’s Mark Davis contributed to this story along with the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News.