Following is a summary of current entertainment news
briefs.
Barbra Streisand to receive Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barbra Streisand will add the Film
Society of Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award to her roster of
honors, in recognition of her achievement as a director,
writer, producer and film star, the group said on Friday.
Streisand, who shot to fame in the 1960s on Broadway and as a
major recording star, will receive the honor at the 40th Annual
Chaplin Award gala in New York on April 22 which will feature
celebrity guests and a host of film and interview clips.
"Django Unchained" producers order end to slavery
action-figures
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The producers of Quentin
Tarantino's "Django Unchained" on Friday ordered a halt to the
production of action figures based on the Oscar-nominated
slavery movie after criticism that they were offensive to
African-Americans. The eight-inch (20-cm) dolls, which were
intended for people 17 and older, included gun-slinging freed
slave Django, his wife and cruel, white plantation owner
Candie.
Bob Dylan considering Dylan Thomas centenary show in Wales
LONDON (Reuters) - American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan may
play a special concert in Wales to mark the centenary of the
birth of Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet after whom he may or may
not have named himself. The member of parliament for West
Swansea, Geraint Davies, said he had asked Dylan if he would
perform in the city as part of a series of commemorative events
next year.
Former New Jersey governor "falls to grace" in post-scandal
documentary
PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - When New Jersey Governor Jim
McGreevey stepped down from office in 2004 in a gay sex
scandal, he became another disgraced politician brought down by
his own actions. Since then, the former Democratic governor,
now 55, has tried to step out of the spotlight after a messy
divorce from his second wife by swapping politics for volunteer
work with jailed women.
Surgery scheduled to restore Bolshoi ballet director's
eyesight
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The artistic director of Russia's
Bolshoi Ballet will undergo surgery next week to try to save
his eyesight after an attacker threw acid in his face, the
theatre's chief said on Saturday. Sergei Filin, 42, spoke to
investigators in a Moscow hospital, Bolshoi director Anatoly
Iksanov said, adding that they also questioned his colleagues,
who said the attack was likely triggered by envy, rivalry or
competition for roles in Russia's most prestigious theatre.
Lance Armstrong biopic in the works from Paramount, J.J.
Abrams
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paramount Pictures and "Star Trek"
producer J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot company have purchased the film
rights to a forthcoming book about cyclist Lance Armstrong's
fall from grace, according to a person with knowledge of the
transaction. Armstrong, whose name and celebrity status helped
build a multimillion dollar cancer foundation, admitted on
Thursday that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win a
record seven consecutive Tour de France championships after
denying doping allegations for years.
Schwarzenegger takes a "Stand" in new film, with cue from
Eastwood
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger, taking
inspiration from his idol, Clint Eastwood, returns to the big
screen on Friday in the action film "The Last Stand," his first
starring role since he took a seven-year break from moviemaking
to serve as California governor. In a departure from his
typical superhuman roles, Schwarzenegger plays a retired Los
Angeles policeman forced to protect a tiny border town from a
notorious drug kingpin. The 65-year-old former bodybuilder
looks every bit his age and admits in the film feeling "old" as
he takes a ribbing from some of his significantly younger
deputies.
Eclectic opening for Sundance with films about Mideast,
Chile, U.S. Southwest
PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - The Sundance Film Festival
opens Thursday with movies and documentaries from around the
world, including a feature that examines the cultural divide
between the Middle East and the United States. The 10-day
Sundance Film Festival, founded by actor-director Robert
Redford and now in its 35th year, will showcase 119 films from
32 countries.
Stewart, Pattinson crowned top earning romantic film couple
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With three box office hits earning
$1.17 billion at the U.S. box office over the past three years,
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are Hollywood's
highest-grossing romantic film couple. The stars of the
"Twilight" vampire films easily surpassed all other film
twosomes in the Forbes list that looked at the top 10 grossing
romantic films of the last three years.