News

May
26 2001

"Pearl Harbor" on track to break B.O. record

By: Leigh Johnson
10:40am EDT
While much of America is breaking out the barbecue, Pearl Harbor is on its way to breaking box office records this Memorial Day weekend, despite mediocre reviews and a rainy weekend forecast for much of the country. Preliminary estimates indicate...
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May
25 2001

The reality behind life on the catwalk

By: Guylaine Cadorette
2:10pm EDT
Stone Stanley Entertainment has etched a deal with Sportsworld Media Group and Ford Models to import a hit Australian reality TV show centered around the makings of a supermodel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Search for a Supermodel aired...
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May
25 2001

Actors resume bargaining talks

By: Guylaine Cadorette
1:29pm EDT
The Screen Actors Guild took an aggressive stance Wednesday in the latest round of talks with the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, placing salary demands much higher than the expected ceiling of $120 million salary hike over...
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May
25 2001

A satellite/cable price war?

By: Lew Irwin
1:28pm EDT
Analysts are speculating that if Rupert Murdoch succeeds in acquiring the DirecTV satellite service, he may cut prices of subscription services out of hand, thereby touching off a price war with rival satellite broadcaster EchoStar (DISH Network)...
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May
25 2001

TV's winners, losers

By: Kit Bowen
1:14pm EDT
As the networks' sitcoms, dramas, game shows and reality shows swept through May, they made their indelible impressions, while the media tracking firm Nielsen Media Research furiously tallied the numbers. So, who won the race? Or, more to the...
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May
25 2001

"Crouching Tiger" music wrangle

By: Lew Irwin
1:13pm EDT
Tan Dun, who composed the original score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has responded to protests by Chinese composer Ning Yong that his music was used in the film without his permission. Tan, who, along with other filmmakers connected with...
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May
25 2001

Movie reviews: "Pearl Harbor"

By: Lew Irwin
1:13pm EDT
Among the major U.S. newspapers, only the Los Angeles Times gives Pearl Harbor a snappy salute. Curiously, the Times' review is not written by lead critic Kenneth Turan but by the newspaper's veteran movie writer, Kevin Thomas, whose taste in films...
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May
25 2001

Eye on the prize

By: Lew Irwin
1:13pm EDT
CBS recovered from a chronic case of black eye to win both the May sweeps and the season for the first time since 1983. Lloyd Braun, president of the entertainment division of rival ABC, which won the ratings crown last year and narrowly lost out...
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May
25 2001

Animation pioneer noble dead at 91

By: Lew Irwin
1:13pm EDT
Maurice J. Noble, whose designs and background paintings were used in such Disney features as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and Dumbo and later in more than 60 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes Cartoons, died on May 18 at the age of 91, it was...
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May
25 2001

Jury replaced at Welsh film festival

By: Lew Irwin
1:12pm EDT
The jury for the Welsh film festival, the BAFTA Cymru Awards, has been replaced after deciding to withhold any presentation for Best Film this year on the grounds that the nominated films did not merit such an award. One, Solomon and Gaenor, was...
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May
25 2001

Say farewell to Keiko

By: Lew Irwin
1:12pm EDT
Keiko, the star of the Free Willy films, is about to be released into the Atlantic, the London Times reported Thursday. Calling him "the film world's most famous whale," the Times observed that it has taken nearly five years to "untame" the whale...
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May
25 2001
Commenting that John Travolta "seems to be the only person who hasn't noticed his recent career slump," the British movie site Popcorn reported Thursday that Travolta may have priced himself out of a sequel to his 1995 film, Get Shorty in which he...
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May
25 2001

Europe welcomes "Mummy" on his return

By: Lew Irwin
1:12pm EDT
The Mummy Returns turned out to be every bit as big of a box office surprise in Europe last weekend as it was earlier in the month when it debuted in the U.S., Screen Daily, the online site of the British trade magazine Screen International...
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