| MUSIC AND LUBITSCH
In the years after a rigid Production Code imposed morality on American cinema, occasionally a studio would go begging to the Production Code Administration. The studio would say, "Hey, we have this movie that was made before the Code. Please, please can we rerelease it?" Often the PCA would say no, but sometimes it would say, "OK, sure, but only if you make these cuts." Paramount went to the PCA in 1936 with such a request concerning director Ernst Lubitsch's "The Smiling Lieutenant" (1931) - one of the four films included in the Criterion Collection's new Eclipse series DVD package "Lubitsch Musicals." PCA chief Joseph Breen screened the movie and came back suggesting not one or two or three cuts - but 27. Basically, he suggested turning the movie into a short subject. But he was really saying something else.
'Om Shanti Om' has global premiere in London
I have always thought that we should be taking the first steps to bring out India's economy and culture to the world,' he added. Lulla said: 'This is one of the most awaited films of the year and we are excited to be leveraging Eros's global distribution in promoting the film.'
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
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Famed Director Pollack Humbled By AFI Award
The stars will be shining bright in Dallas come Thursday and for an appropriate reason: The American Film Institute is kicking off its first-ever AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Running for 11 days, the festival will showcase more than 190 features and short films, and fete actress Lauren Bacall, late actor Gregory Peck, filmmaker David Lynch, former Motion Picture Association of America chief Jack Valenti, composer Marvin Hamlisch, actress Laura Dern, actress-director Sarah Polley and songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman with AFI Dallas Star awards for their major roles in shaping the face of modern cinema. Also being honored with an AFI Dallas Star is director-producer Sydney Pollack -- that is, if you can get the humbled filmmaker to accept it. .
The Lesson 'Smash Bros.' And 'Halo 3' Could Teach Other Video Games ...
Late last year I had dinner with a publicist for a major video game company and offered him what I thought was a terrifically modern suggestion about how to enhance gaming consoles. It was a solution, I thought, to the widespread neglect many video games suffer. And my idea, offered between bites of my gourmet burger, was shot down, for a reason I still have trouble accepting. I suggested that video game consoles should no longer just support the playing and purchasing of games. They should support sharing. Just so the publicist didn't think I meant that his company should let their customers upload and download their games for free, I clarified the kind of sharing I meant: showing off stuff that's in the games. I was talking about the kind of thing that "Halo 3" has been letting me do since September.
The Nashville sound takes off in full flight
It took all of history just to make you mine," he warbles from under a dark cowboy hat. Bontempi is among the 90 or so professional musicians who perform at the airport in its push to add "local flavor," a break from the chain gift shops and restaurants in airports from Miami to Seattle. "We're the best gig in town," proclaimed Cathy Holland, the airport's director of community affairs and customer service. The musicians tend to agree, even if the audience is antsy and the overhead announcements -- "The local time is 2:30 p.m." -- get annoying. "It's a lot of fun. You get a lot of different people coming through," says Bontempi, a singer-songwriter who plays all original material at his monthly two-hour airport shows. "I've had people on their cell Advertisement .
ORU alumni support sought
Uncertainty remained Saturday about what effect Richard Roberts' resignation as president will have on Oral Roberts University, but some observers said it was a step toward improvement.
"I think people are going to be waiting and watching: OK, can it survive without a Roberts at the helm?" said Donald R. Vance, professor of biblical languages and literature.
Vance said he thinks alumni need to support ORU as it undergoes this transition, after being led for 42 years by a Roberts. ORU professors are committed to the school's evangelical Christian mission, but that might not be obvious without a TV minister as president, he said. Christian colleges across the country are led by non-ministers -- "it will just be different for us."
ORU leaders have not addressed what role, if any, Roberts will have at the university.
White Wins; Silver Fades
WHITE has nudged out silver as the most popular automobile color in North America, ending silver's seven-year run at the top. According to DuPont's annual color survey, released last month, 19 percent of the cars and trucks sold in North America in 2007 were white and 18 percent were silver. .
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