L.A. Times - Entertainment News

Product placement guru explains how it's done
Alison Krauss steps out of pain and onto 'Paper Airplane'
Heroism on the Coachella Ferris wheel: A lifeguard catches a jumper by the ankle
'Cinema Verite': A new look at 'An American Family'
Rick Dees gets morning gig at KHHT-FM
Seeing Chile through Patricio Guzmán's watchful eye
Filmmakers criticize plans to get movies into homes sooner
Fox's success with lighter fare paves the way for darker films like 'Water for Elephants'
Tim Hetherington, photojournalist and 'Restrepo' Oscar nominee, killed in Libya
TV on the Radio's Gerard Smith succumbs to cancer

Product placement guru explains how it's done

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'Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold' includes product placement expert Norm Marshall, who has navigated Hollywood for decades, quietly adding his clients' goods to movies whenever possible.

If you've seen Steve Carell drink a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee on "The Office," Zach Galifianakis strap on a Baby Bjorn in "The Hangover," Mike Myers takes a swig of Heineken in the "Austin Powers" movies or Lea Michele whip off Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses on "Glee," you may have wondered: Why did that product have to be there?

Alison Krauss steps out of pain and onto 'Paper Airplane'

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She and Union Station record an emotional 11-song cycle based on her life.

She and Union Station record an emotional 11-song cycle based on her life.

Heroism on the Coachella Ferris wheel: A lifeguard catches a jumper by the ankle

Posted: 21 Apr 2011 08:47 AM PDT

Early Saturday, a rumor was spreading around the Coachella grounds that a young woman had attempted to jump off the Ferris wheel.

'Cinema Verite': A new look at 'An American Family'

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The groundbreaking documentary series about the Loud family is the focus of a new HBO movie starring Diane Lane, Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini.

The groundbreaking documentary series about the Loud family is the focus of a new HBO movie starring Diane Lane, Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini.

Rick Dees gets morning gig at KHHT-FM

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Executives at the station, known as 'Hot 92.3,' decided the morning show was lagging behind the station's performance overall. A survey of listeners led to Dees.

Executives at the station, known as 'Hot 92.3,' decided the morning show was lagging behind the station's performance overall. A survey of listeners led to Dees.

Seeing Chile through Patricio Guzmán's watchful eye

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The documentary filmmaker's past works screen in a UCLA series as his latest, 'Nostalgia for the Light,' comes to the Landmark.

In Patricio Guzmán's films , several of which are being screened in Los Angeles this month, the date of infamy, Sept. 11, is shrouded in smoke and bloodshed. But the year was 1973, not 2001, and the place was Santiago, Chile, not Lower Manhattan.

Filmmakers criticize plans to get movies into homes sooner

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In a letter to Hollywood studios, 23 directors and producers say premium video on demand, which allows cable and satellite TV subscribers to rent movies just eight weeks after they're released, would 'irrevocably harm' the industry.

Nearly two dozen Hollywood directors and producers have collectively criticized initiatives by the major studios to release movies in the home closer to when they open in theaters.

Fox's success with lighter fare paves the way for darker films like 'Water for Elephants'

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The adaptation of Sara Gruen's novel, a tale of love in a Great Depression circus, seems risky, but studio boss Tom Rothman says films 'by grown-ups, for grown-ups' can do well if they're made on a limited budget.

At a time when studios are obsessed with sequels, "reboots" and family-friendly spectacles, 20th Century Fox is releasing precisely the kind of film that has largely fallen out of favor in Hollywood: a dark adult drama.