L.A. Times - Entertainment News

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• The tao of Russell Crowe
• Quiz: Would you vote for 'Inception' for best picture?
• Celebrities hire philanthropy consultants to guide their giving
• Critic's notebook: Steve Buscemi is the surprise element that makes 'Boardwalk Empire' work
• Zsa Zsa Gabor returns home from hospital
• Oscar Watcher's Notebook: The zeitgeist edge
• A Second Look: 'The Night of the Hunter'
• A judgmental Randy Newman likes what he sees
• New on DVD: 'Kids Are All Right,' 'Avatar' and more
• British TV cops are a tormented lot

The tao of Russell Crowe Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST The actor really doesn't want to talk about himself or his new movie, 'The Next Three Days.' But then he opens up. A little. It's 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, and Russell Crowe is complaining.

Quiz: Would you vote for 'Inception' for best picture? Posted: 13 Nov 2010 05:04 PM PST Nolan's effects-laden mind-bender both confused and enthralled moviegoers. But does it have the makings of a best picture nominee?

Celebrities hire philanthropy consultants to guide their giving Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST An increasing number are paying charity experts for advice. Some want to help but aren't sure how. Some want to give more effectively. And, yes, some may just want some good PR. John Legend, the Grammy Award-winning musician, was in search of a charitable cause last year. An African village he supported was thriving, but the Ohio-born singer, fresh from volunteering in the Obama campaign, wanted to do something domestically — something, he recalled, "for people who don't have a voice."

Critic's notebook: Steve Buscemi is the surprise element that makes 'Boardwalk Empire' work Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST Lacking the traditional good looks and charm of gangsters in previous films in the genre, the character actor brings a fresh, low-key approach to the HBO series. "Boardwalk Empire" is one of those Big and Important shows, which means it came with a lot of baggage. Martin Scorsese baggage, "The Sopranos" baggage and general HBO-is-back-in-the-game baggage.

Zsa Zsa Gabor returns home from hospital Posted: 13 Nov 2010 01:20 PM PST Gabor was released from the hospital Saturday after being treated for infections in her leg and blood, according to her husband.

Oscar Watcher's Notebook: The zeitgeist edge Posted: 13 Nov 2010 05:54 PM PST Usually Oscar voters want their champs to have an of-the-moment message. That's a plus for 'The Social Network.'

A Second Look: 'The Night of the Hunter' Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST The only film directed by Charles Laughton gets the deluxe Criterion treatment. In 1955, when "The Night of the Hunter" opened to mixed reviews and poor box office, the film was already a throwback: steeped in the luxuriant gloom of German Expressionism and the heightened poetics of D.W. Griffith (and set to boot in rural Depression-era America). But in reaching back to the primordial enchantment and promise of silent-era cinema, director Charles Laughton created something timeless — "a nightmarish sort of Mother Goose tale," as he put it, but also an American Gothic variation on an Old Testament parable.

A judgmental Randy Newman likes what he sees Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST 'Harps and Angels,' a revue of his songs, is having its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum and he's 'happy on the inside.' In his songs, Randy Newman has invented enough characters to stock a season's worth of Broadway musicals. Regretful lovers. Scared school boys. Unreconstructed rednecks. Blissfully smug Angelenos. An oddly contemporary Karl Marx. And, of course, short people.

New on DVD: 'Kids Are All Right,' 'Avatar' and more Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST "Avatar," "A Christmas Carol" and "The Last Airbender" are also out this week.

British TV cops are a tormented lot Posted: 14 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST Tortured detectives in 'Luther' and 'Thorne,' among others, point to a wave of dark crime drama. Viewers can't seem to get enough. Channel-surf almost any night of the week in Britain and chances are you'll come across a gruesome crime drama featuring a dark and tortured soul whose brutal, morally repellent deeds make you recoil in horror.

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