L.A. Times - Entertainment News

---

• Not quite hard times for Social Distortion and Mike Ness
• Aristocrats and servants face a changing world in 'Downton Abbey'
• 'Black Swan' theory: Watch movie. Drink tequila. Then what?
• Jane Krakowski of '30 Rock' is pregnant
• Big Picture: Disney still flogging away at 'Toy Story 3' best pic campaign
• Why is Helen Mirren the only over-50 lead actress Oscar winner in the last 15 years?
• Fun with year-end sales numbers: Death to the '80s, indies rule and rap takes a step forward
• Illustrator Drew Friedman rethinks the Oscars
• A new way to view award nominees: iPhone, iPads or iPod Touch
• Television review: 'Bob's Burgers'

Not quite hard times for Social Distortion and Mike Ness Posted: 09 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST Social Distortion's new album, 'Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,' makes clear frontman Mike Ness' creative evolution as a punk rocker trying to do right by his family. During his three decades at the helm of Social Distortion, singer, guitarist and songwriter Mike Ness has repeatedly turned to the rich vein of his own hardscrabble life as a hell-raising teen and then a heroin-addicted rock musician.

Aristocrats and servants face a changing world in 'Downton Abbey' Posted: 08 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST This excellent Masterpiece Classic series follows an aristocratic British family and its servants in a drama set in the early 20th century. Although the new year is just days old, we have a winner in the 2011 Worst Timing in Television Award: KCET, which dumped PBS mere months before Masterpiece Classic launched possibly the best show of the year. "Downton Abbey," which premieres Sunday, is this generation's "Upstairs, Downstairs," both in theme — the daily dramas of a titled British family and their many servants — and in stature. So popular in the U.K. that "Vanity Fair's" Graydon Carter felt obligated to mention a local run on velvet jackets in a recent editor's note, "Downton Abbey" is all that "Upstairs, Downstairs" was, and more.

'Black Swan' theory: Watch movie. Drink tequila. Then what? Posted: 07 Jan 2011 06:25 PM PST Marketers frequently piggyback on movies they have nothing to do with. Marketers frequently piggyback on movies they have nothing to do with.

Jane Krakowski of '30 Rock' is pregnant Posted: 07 Jan 2011 06:31 PM PST Krakowski, 42, revealed her new shape on a beach in the Caribbean on Thursday, walking in the surf in a one-piece swimsuit.

Big Picture: Disney still flogging away at 'Toy Story 3' best pic campaign Posted: 07 Jan 2011 05:08 PM PST Its chances of winning an Oscar for best picture are about as good as the Cubs winning the World Series.

Why is Helen Mirren the only over-50 lead actress Oscar winner in the last 15 years? Posted: 07 Jan 2011 06:36 PM PST While Annette Bening is a front-runner for the lead actress nomination, history is not working in her favor.

Fun with year-end sales numbers: Death to the '80s, indies rule and rap takes a step forward Posted: 07 Jan 2011 04:59 PM PST With the bigger industry picture having been covered earlier this week, Pop & Hiss can now further explore the seven-page bonanza of year-end SoundScan stats. With the bigger industry picture having been covered earlier this week, Pop & Hiss can now further explore the seven-page bonanza of year-end SoundScan stats.

Illustrator Drew Friedman rethinks the Oscars Posted: 07 Jan 2011 06:26 PM PST Drew Friedman ("Drew Friedman's Sideshow Freaks," Blast Books), a famous free thinker, recasts the Oscars in his own image.

A new way to view award nominees: iPhone, iPads or iPod Touch Posted: 07 Jan 2011 04:53 PM PST Twentieth Century Fox will allow SAG members to download contenders through iTunes, but the industry's technical professionals assail the move.

Television review: 'Bob's Burgers' Posted: 08 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST Fox's latest animated series revolves around a family that runs a struggling hamburger joint. Fox welcomes another animated family to its Sunday-night cartoon block this weekend, and for once it has not been thought up by Seth MacFarlane, the "Family Guy" guy. The less phenomenal but more interesting Loren Bouchard, who produced "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist," co-created "Home Movies" and created "Lucy: Daughter of the Devil," is the responsible party, working now, as before, with H. Jon Benjamin, who heads a cast of names familiar from the world of New York comedy, and New York-based comedies: Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, John Roberts and Dan Mintz, whom you will have seen hanging around "Flight of the Conchords," "The Daily Show" and "Important Things With Demetri Martin." Jim Dauterive ("King of the Hill") developed the series with Bouchard.

You are subscribed to email updates from L.A. Times - Entertainment News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610