L.A. Times - Entertainment News

Black Eyed Peas go from 'E.N.D.' to 'The Beginning'
Thumbs down on movie rating system
Television review: 'Bridalplasty'
On the Media: After Bill Nye's collapse at USC, the Web speeds a blame-the-Internet pile-on
Movie review: 'Break Ke Baad'
Claire Denis returns to French colonial Africa with 'White Material'
Apple's iTunes billboards: Where did that Beatles photo come from?
Carl Icahn names five-person dissident slate for Lions Gate board
The sound of silence: Alexandre Desplat on the music that 'just floats' throughout 'The King's Speech'
Adrien Brody says he had 'no alternative' but to sue film producers

Black Eyed Peas go from 'E.N.D.' to 'The Beginning'

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The band goes deeper into dance music on its upcoming album. After that, it may be time for another reinvention.

Will.i.am didn't want to get inside the box.

Thumbs down on movie rating system

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Critics don't have time to reassess older films, while today's sophisticated audiences may scoff at films from yesteryear.

Say you're in the mood to watch an old movie you've never seen, let alone heard of — in this case, "Neptune's Daughter," a 1949 musical comedy featuring bathing beauty Esther Williams playing opposite buffoonish Red Skelton.

Television review: 'Bridalplasty'

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The new reality series preys on the insecurities of brides who compete in wedding-themed challenges in the hopes of winning a plastic-surgery procedure.

Premiering Sunday on E! (exclamation point theirs), "Bridalplasty" is a series in which, to steal a headline from a network press release, "Brides-to-Be Compete in Wedding-Themed Challenges Collecting Extreme Plastic Surgery Procedures While Trying to Win a Dream Celebrity-Style Wedding." I'm sure it's all the same to E! whether you are delighted or horrified by this idea, as long as you watch. But I would not encourage it.

On the Media: After Bill Nye's collapse at USC, the Web speeds a blame-the-Internet pile-on

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

A couple of students were concerned that not enough care was given. Were others too absorbed in tweeting about the incident? Then the Internet enabled commenters to quickly repeat and embellish the news.

USC students didn't move to help Bill Nye, the beloved science entertainer who collapsed right in front of them during a speech on campus. They just sat there, too busy texting and tweeting out news that "The Science Guy" had fainted to move a muscle to help.

Movie review: 'Break Ke Baad'

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Indian romcom has engaging performances. Too bad the script doesn't live up to them.

"Break Ke Baad" ("After the Break") is a slick, savvy Bollywood romantic comedy that comes across as downright Western — for better and for worse.

Claire Denis returns to French colonial Africa with 'White Material'

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Isabelle Huppert stars as a plantation owner intent on one last coffee crop as civil war looms.

Arms raised, hair streaming sensually as she glides on a motorbike down a dirt road, Isabelle Huppert looks as radiant as a Renaissance saint.

Apple's iTunes billboards: Where did that Beatles photo come from?

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 02:37 PM PST

The photo was taken on April 9, 1969, which would place it right at the beginning of the band's sessions for "Abbey Road," which came out later that year.

Carl Icahn names five-person dissident slate for Lions Gate board

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 03:21 PM PST

Dissident shareholder Carl Icahn nominated five members to the board of Lions Gate Entertainment, two short of a majority needed to seize control of the 12-member board but enough to give him a substantial say in management of the company.

The sound of silence: Alexandre Desplat on the music that 'just floats' throughout 'The King's Speech'

Posted: 26 Nov 2010 02:08 PM PST

The drama in "The King's Speech" stems from the inability to communicate. The challenge, then, for French composer Alexandre Desplat was to keep his score from saying too much.