L.A. Times - Entertainment News

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• Microsoft uses Cirque du Soleil to introduce top-secret video game technology
• Activision's modern warfare
• Playing a single gal on TV isn't what it used to be
• Pick up those controllers: It's E3 time, here's what to expect
• Leonard Nimoy riffs on William Shatner, George Lucas and ... Jimi Hendrix?
• Drake looks to seize the moment — then make it last
• He's the guy who gets 'The A-Team' rolling
• The Sunday Conversation: Mark Feuerstein of 'Royal Pains'
• Broadway this season has been lined with famous faces, but they've been outshone

Microsoft uses Cirque du Soleil to introduce top-secret video game technology Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT Code-named Project Natal, Microsoft's attempt to one-up Nintendo's Wii will be launched at a mammoth Galen Center spectacle Sunday. Code-named Project Natal, Microsoft's attempt to one-up Nintendo's Wii will be launched at a mammoth Galen Center spectacle Sunday.

Activision's modern warfare Posted: 12 Jun 2010 09:11 PM PDT A dustup in the video game industry has cast a shadow over the company as it prepares for the E3 conference. But CEO Bobby Kotick is familiar with such brawls. On a warm Monday afternoon three months ago, the producers of the hit video game Call of Duty found their offices under invasion.

Playing a single gal on TV isn't what it used to be Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT The world has changed a lot from the time of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show' to the 'Sex and the City' era, and the unmarried women on TV aren't what they used to be either. "If there's anything worse than being single, it's sitting around talking about being single," said Mary Richards, the 30-year-old who had ditched a commitment-phobic swain and headed to Minneapolis to work as a single television news producer. That was in the first episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," which aired in 1970.

Pick up those controllers: It's E3 time, here's what to expect Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT First off, there will be new sorts of controllers (an actual guitar, for instance). Also, there will be more hard-core shooters, and 3-D will be more prevalent. E3 is back. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, now in its 16th year, shrank into the shadows in 2007, after some game companies sobered up from the wretched excesses of previous shows with their ear-splitting demos, scantily clad models and million-dollar parties.

Leonard Nimoy riffs on William Shatner, George Lucas and ... Jimi Hendrix? Posted: 12 Jun 2010 12:53 PM PDT I'm not sure who had more fun Friday night, Leonard Nimoy or the sold-audience that came to see him at the first night of the inaugural Hero Complex Film Festival.

Drake looks to seize the moment — then make it last Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT The subject of a major label bidding war, the Canadian rapper is releasing his first album Tuesday. He feels pressure to deliver. The crowd at downtown Los Angeles' Club Nokia arrived primed and pumped up. Not just to be entertained, but, more palpably, to witness a make-or-break moment.

He's the guy who gets 'The A-Team' rolling Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT Growing up, "The A-Team" car coordinator Rick Rasmussen had an enviable car collection and, luckily for him, he never tossed out his toys.

The Sunday Conversation: Mark Feuerstein of 'Royal Pains' Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT Looking for a caring doctor? Then look no further than his Dr. Hank Lawson. If it's summer, it must be time for "Royal Pains." The USA Network show set amid the Hamptons' summertime swarm recently returned for a second season after strong ratings last year. That's in no small part due to the nice-guy appeal of Mark Feuerstein, who plays a concierge doctor with integrity.

Broadway this season has been lined with famous faces, but they've been outshone Posted: 13 Jun 2010 12:00 AM PDT Sure, big names sell tickets. But often, the show ends up belonging to their theater-honed co-stars. Katie Finneran and Douglas Hodge proved that rule, but happily, Viola Davis, Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson broke it. The recent parade of Hollywood stars on Broadway has allowed theater critics to indulge in their two favorite pastimes — grousing and fawning. The hypocrisy is perfectly natural: Standards need to be upheld while luminaries are there to be adored. Yet pity the poor conflicted reviewer — committed to "The Theatuh" on the one hand, swept up in the tidal surge of celebrity charisma on the other.

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