Displaying 4341 - 4350 of 6718
  • Friday, Apr. 14, 2017
In this April 16, 2016 file photo, South Korean actress Kim Hye-Kyo, front, walks with Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming, right, as they arrive for the 4th Beijing International Film Festival held in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
BEIJING (AP) -- 

The lack of South Korean films at this year's Beijing International Film Festival has nothing to do with politics, one of the organizers said Friday, as relations between China and South Korea continue to plummet over Seoul's deployment of an anti-missile system opposed by Beijing.

Yonhap news agency cited unidentified South Korean entertainment industry sources last month as saying that Chinese authorities had revoked invitations for some South Korean films to show during the festival.

Now in its seventh year, the Beijing festival starts Sunday and concludes April 23. Korean films have been shown in all previous years, and last year Korean actors appeared at the opening and closing ceremonies. This year, 15 films are competing for the Tiantan prize, and the festival says a further 500 "outstanding global films" from multiple countries will be screened. None is from South Korea.

When asked why, Ai Dongyun, vice secretary general of More

  • Friday, Apr. 14, 2017
In this April 16, 1979 file photo, Bill Rodgers of Melrose, Mass., is crowned winner of the Boston Marathon by Mayor Kevin H. White, left, as Massachusetts Gov. Edward J. King, right, observes. (AP Photo, File)
BOSTON (AP) -- 

What's the planet's most legendary marathon? Probably that fabled first one Pheidippides ran in 490 B.C., breathlessly proclaiming a great military victory before perishing from his effort.

Next in line? Surely the Boston Marathon, whose colorful 121-year history is captured in a movie premiering Saturday in its host city.

Narrated by Matt Damon, "Boston," the first feature-length documentary about the race, tells how it grew from 15 runners in 1897 to become the globe's most venerable footrace.

The world premiere at the Boch Center's Wang Theatre, where the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will conduct a live performance of Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal's score, comes two days before Monday's running of the marathon. The film will be screened at 450 theaters around the U.S. on Wednesday.

"The Boston Marathon is a truly iconic sporting event," said director Jon Dunham, a marathoner who calls it "the granddaddy of all More

  • Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017
"From the Ashes"
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- 

On the heels of President Trump’s executive order to undo Clean Power Plan regulations, National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe announced the acquisition of From the Ashes, a compelling feature documentary that explores one of the country’s most contentious topics — coal and the mining industry.

Produced by the Academy Award- and Emmy-winning production company RadicalMedia, directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michael Bonfiglio, produced by Sidney Beaumont, and executive produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger — as well as Jon Kamen, Katherine Oliver and Justin Wilkes, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies — From the Ashes captures Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry, and what its future should be under the Trump administration. 

From Appalachia to the West’s Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of More

  • Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017
Arturo Di Modica holds a model of his Charging Bull sculpture during a news conference Wednesday, April 12, 2017, in New York. Di Modica and his attorneys announced at the news conference that he's challenging city officials who issued a permit for "Fearless Girl," a bronze statue that faces the bull sculpture on the same cobble stone island in the street, and has drawn worldwide attention. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

The sculptor of Wall Street's "Charging Bull" statue on Wednesday demanded the removal of the "Fearless Girl" statue that's faced off against the bull since last month.

Arturo Di Modica said his 11-foot-tall bull is supposed to represent "freedom in the world, peace, strength, power and love" but "Fearless Girl" has turned his work's message into something negative.

"The girl is right in front doing this, 'Now I'm here, what are you going to do?'" Di Modica complained.

An attorney for Di Modica, Norman Siegel, said the 4-foot-tall bronze girl was created as part of an advertising campaign for Boston-based investment firm State Street Global Advisors and its placement opposite the bull exploits the earlier sculpture for commercial gain and negates its positive message.

"The placement of the statue of the young girl in opposition to 'Charging Bull' has undermined the integrity and modified the 'Charging Bull'" Siegel said. "The More

  • Thursday, Apr. 13, 2017
LOS ANGELES -- 

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today announced that the application period for the 23rd Annual DGA Student Film Awards for Women and Ethnic Minority Directors is now open. The awards are designed to honor, encourage and bring attention to exceptional direction by diverse student filmmakers in film schools and select universities across the country.
 
Over the years, the DGA Student Film Awards have highlighted dozens of African American, Asian American, Latino and Women filmmakers. Winners of the DGA Student Film Awards in each category will receive a $2,500 prize from the DGA and have their films screened in a special ceremony at the DGA Theater.  
 
A number of past winners have gone on to enjoy successful directing careers, including:

  • Jon M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation; Justin Bieber: Never Say Never; The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers; Step Up 3D)
  • Ryan More
  • Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017
In this combination photo, former Vice President Dick Cheney, left, appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, on Feb. 10, 2011, and actor Christian Bale appears at the 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, left, and Jordan Strauss, Files)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Christian Bale said Wednesday he will play Dick Cheney in Adam McKay's upcoming biopic of the former vice president.

Bale was last week reported as being in talks to join the film that will reteam him with McKay following 2015's Oscar-nominated "The Big Short." The Oscar winner confirmed he has signed up to star in the untitled film in an interview with The Associated Press.

"In the same way as it was a journey of discovery with 'The Big Short,' Adam was able to take a story that most people would go comatose listening to," said Bale of the script penned by McKay. "His ability to make it startling and entertaining and intelligent without compromising anything - he's masterful at doing that."

The film is also to star Steve Carell (who also co-starred in "The Big Short") as the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Amy Adams is set to play Lynne Cheney, the former vice president's wife.

Like "The Big Short," McKay's film, More

  • Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017
In this Feb. 18, 2016 file photo German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus shows the Honorary Golden Bear after being awarded for his lifetime achievement during the awarding ceremony at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt, file)
BERLIN (AP) -- 

The publisher of German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, who worked with Martin Scorsese on "Gangs of New York," ''Goodfellas" and "The Departed," says Ballhaus has died. He was 81.

Publishing house DVA, which cited Ballhaus' family, said in a statement Wednesday that he died overnight at his Berlin apartment after a short illness.

Ballhaus spent four decades behind the camera. Besides Scorsese, he worked with the late Rainer Werner Fassbinder and other German directors, including Volker Schloendorff.

His other credits included "The Fabulous Baker Boys," "Broadcast News," ''Working Girl" and "Quiz Show."

Publisher Thomas Rathnow described Ballhaus on Wednesday as "more than a cameraman."

Rathnow says: "He was an artist who created unforgettable pictures in numerous films and in cooperation with the best directors of our time."

More
  • Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2017
In this Jan. 14, 2017 file photo, Jude Law attends the "The Young Pope" panel at the HBO portion of the 2017 Winter Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Jude Law will play young Albus Dumbledore in the next "Fantastic Beasts" installment.

Warner Bros. announced the casting Tuesday. The iconic wizard was played by two actors in the "Harry Potter" films, beginning with Richard Harris. After his death in 2002, Michael Gambon inherited the role.

J.K. Rowling, who has said Dumbledore is gay, has previously teased that the five-part prequel franchise of "Fantastic Beasts" will explore a more "troubled" time in Dumbledore's life. The author said, "We'll see him at that formative period of his life. As far as his sexuality is concerned, watch this space."

Production on the next "Fantastic Beasts" film is to begin this summer, with a release scheduled for November next year. Last year's "Fantastic Beasts" grossed $813 worldwide.

  • Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017
This Oct. 20, 2015, file photo, shows a sign outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Google said it's "taken aback " by the government's claim that it doesn't compensate women fairly.

The company said it conducts "rigorous analyses" that its pay practices are gender-blind and found "no gender pay gap" in 52 major job categories it analyzed last year. Google added that analysts who calculate suggested pay don't have access to employees' gender data.

Google also said that beyond gender pay equity, the company recently expanded the analysis to cover race in the U.S. as well.

The U.S. Department of Labor had accused Google of shortchanging women doing similar work to men, saying it found "systemic compensation disparities" across the company's workforce.

Google responded in a blog post Tuesday that the department's assertion "came without any supporting data or methodology." The company said it had already produced hundreds of thousands of documents in response to 18 separate requests, and the government is More

  • Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017
The crew of movie "Trivisa" celebrate after winning the Best Actor and Best Film awards during the Hong Kong Film Awards in Hong Kong, Sunday, April 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
HONG KONG (AP) -- 

Crime thriller "Trivisa" was the big winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, taking home five awards including the prize for best film.

The movie, which takes place on the eve of the Hong Kong's 1997 handover from Britain, also took home awards for best director and best actor on Sunday evening.

News sites in mainland China downplayed their coverage, which Hong Kong media speculated was because one of its directors worked on 2016's "Ten Years," about Beijing's tightening grip on the semiautonomous city.

Best actress went to "Happiness" star Kara Hui. She won her fourth Hong Kong Film Award for playing a middle-aged recluse suffering from Alzheimer's.

Family-themed movie "Mad World" was another big winner, receiving trophies for best supporting actor and actress and best new director.

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