In Japan, 3D films get kicked by new samurai flicks - Movies

TOKYO (Reuters) - Hollywood 3D movies may be huge in Japan, but a wave of new samurai films threatens to tarnish their image by dazzling audiences with old-school action and some clever new twists to the sword-and-kimono stories.
From the works of filmmaking legend Akira Kurosawa, such as "Seven Samurai," to dramas aired on public broadcaster NHK, samurai fare has long been a staple of Japanese entertainment.
But several films in the genre are hitting theaters in a big way this autumn, led by Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins," fresh from its Venice film festival world premiere last month, kicking off a run of six major releases over three months.
The boom highlights the growing importance of older audiences to Japan's film business as the population rapidly ages and retirees with ample time and money return to the multiplexes to take in the kind of movies they enjoyed back in the samurai cinema heyday of the 1950s and '60s.
"People are retiring, the kids have left home and it's just the husband and wife with time on their hands," said Masao Teshima, president of Asmik Ace Entertainment, the studio behind "The Lady Shogun and Her Men" and "Abacus and Sword."
"There's a market for samurai dramas made for such people," he told Reuters, noting that those aged 60-65 represent Japan's biggest population segment.
Indeed, Toho release "13 Assassins," a remake of a 1963 film about a band of samurai hired to bump off the cruel brother of a Shogun, opened at a solid No. 3 on the last weekend in September, despite tough competition in a crowded market from 3D holdovers "Umizaru: The Last Message" and "Resident Evil: Afterlife."
One weekend later, "Lady Shogun," which Asmik is co-distributing with Shochiku, swashbuckled to a No. 2 debut, according to box office tracker Kogyo Tsushinsha, boding well for the upcoming four samurai movie releases.

� Continued...
Watch Movies Online

Dark thriller Inhale exposes moral dilemmas - Documentary

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Director Baltasar Kormakur, the Icelandic filmmaker behind "101 Reykjavik" and "Jar City," essentially has crossed fiction with documentary filmmaking to expose the worldwide criminal conspiracy to sell body organs to patients in the West.
"Inhale," opening Friday through IFC Films, is a most visceral movie, and that includes a few unnecessary sequences in which you get close-ups of a dying child, a shattered leg, a wound being sutured and, finally, human lungs about to be extracted from a still-living being.
The thriller certainly works in a dark palette. Cinematographer Ottar Gudnason shoots the film's New Mexico landscapes -- from desert vistas in suburban Santa Fe to crummy, crime-ridden streets masquerading for Ciudad Juarez across the border -- so that most of the color drains away, leaving cool, ominous tones of black and gray. James Newton Howard's music often features a guitar not only to pick up a local flavor but, again, to establish a mood that is dark with foreboding.,
Enormous pressure is bearing down on Santa Fe D.A. Paul Chaney (Mulroney). He is going to court with a case hugely unpopular with the city's Latino community -- always bad for someone who might one day run for elected office, as his friend, gubernatorial candidate James Harrison (Sam Shepard), is quick to point out. Meanwhile, he and his wife, Diane (Diane Kruger), are running out of time in their search for a lung donor for their daughter, Chloe (Mia Stallard).
The screenplay by Walter Doty and John Clafin from a story by Christian Escario keeps twisting the vise that grips these three lives tighter and tighter as the story progresses. When Paul learns he might be able to save his daughter with an illegal transplant in Juarez, he risks his life to plunge into one of the world's most notorious, crime-infested cities.
Life is cheap here, but the organs of life come at a dear price. The scenes in Juarez, where the ante gets upped seemingly by the minute, have a nearly unbearable intensity. As Chloe's situation takes a turn for the worse, Paul meets people who are potentially life savers as well as monsters. A mythical Dr. Novarro might not exist or he might be a police chief named Aguilar (Jordi Molla) or compassionate ER doctor Martinez (Vincent Perez). There also are street gangs in two different age brackets -- street kids led by one (Kristyan Ferrer) who carries firearms and finds crafty ways to get money out of the gringo stranger and older, homicidal gangsters more than willing to beat anyone to death.
Watch Documentary Online

Josh Groban makes drastic changes for new album - Music

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Josh Groban is a rare commodity in the music business: a safe bet.
Classically trained, celestially voiced, the kind of sweet-faced, well-mannered, personable young man who probably gets hand-knit sweaters as gifts from fans in lieu of panties, Groban is virtually immune to the vagaries of pop-music trends.
His most recent album, the 2007 Christmas record "Noel," sold 5 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and topped the Billboard 200. All told, he has sold almost 20 million albums in the United States.
Because his material appeals to adults whose taste and preferences are stable, Groban can depend on their loyalty. No one would have batted an eye had he released another collection of holiday tracks every couple of years, toured theaters and arenas, dropped in again on Oprah and "Today" and "Glee," headlined public-TV pledge drives and generally reaped the quiet but lucrative rewards of mainstream, middle-of-the-road success.
Instead, Groban, 29, decided to make some drastic changes. He split from his former manager, Brian Avnet, and signed to Q Prime, known for managing guitar extremists Metallica and Muse. He also parted with longtime producer David Foster and teamed with Rick Rubin, the bearded Zen master behind the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash and Danzig.
On his new record, "Illuminations," due November 15 on Reprise, Groban co-wrote more of the material than he ever had on previous albums, and also recorded a song by an unlikely favorite: goth-rock cult star Nick Cave.
The new partners are especially head-scratching given that Groban's music is possibly the most un-rock stuff out there. With a voice ranging between tenor and baritone, Groban draws more comparisons to Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli than Eddie Vedder or James Hetfield. It's easy to imagine him singing on the radio in the 1940s; his music, which nods to Broadway, opera and European pop, typically finds its truest expression in the kind of swelling, inspirational ballads that accompany first dances at weddings.
Moreover, Groban's older audience still buys physical albums: His breakthrough song, "You Raise Me Up," has sold a relatively modest 977,000 downloads, despite being covered by artists around the world and by "American Idol" contestants who want to bludgeon the judges with their range.
"I was in such a cozy position," Groban says of the period after "Noel" blew up and soundtracked family Christmas dinners across the world. "I had the No. 1-selling album of the year and I could have just kept doing that. But then I started to have an itch."
RUBIN SANDWICH
Groban first appeared on the music scene when he was barely out of high school, working as a rehearsal singer for events like the Grammy Awards and performing at former California Gov. Grey Davis' inauguration. He studied drama at Carnegie Mellon for a few months but dropped out to focus on music.
He released a self-titled album in late 2001 that has so far sold 5.1 million copies, according to SoundScan. After a galvanizing star turn on the TV dramedy "Ally McBeal," he would perform for everyone from Oprah Winfrey to the Prince of Wales, and release three more studio albums ("Closer," "Awake" and "Noel") and three live sets ("Josh Groban in Concert," "Live at the Greek" and "Awake Live") during the next nine years. The success of "Noel" as 2007's best-selling album is doubly impressive since it came out in October of that year and only needed 10 weeks to claim the title.
Amid the post-"Noel" haze, Groban met Rubin while at lunch with Madonna's manager Guy Oseary. "I told Guy I wanted to meet Rick and he set it up, and it turned out we had a lot in common," Groban recalls. "I followed up with Rick to say that I enjoyed chatting with him and wanted to be friends, and then he heard some music and said he wanted to produce on the record."
Rubin says he wasn't apprehensive about working with Groban, despite the fact he had never tackled a project of this nature. "I like working with different kinds of artists," he says, "and working in Josh's medium seemed like an exciting challenge."
Watch Music Online

LVMH says to buy stake in Hermes for 1.45 billion euros - Fashion

PARIS (Reuters) - French luxury goods group LVMH (LVMH.PA) said on Saturday it was buying a minority stake worth 1.45 billion euros ($2 billion) in family-controlled handbag maker Hermes (HRMS.PA) but would not seek to take over the group nor influence its strategy.
The move will see LVMH, which owns champagne brand Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton, eventually hold a 17.1 percent stake in Hermes, which is known for its high-end leather handbags and silk scarves.
"The objective of LVMH is to be a long-term shareholder of Hermes and to contribute to the preservation of the family and French attributes, which are at the heart of the global success of this iconic brand," LVMH said in a statement on Saturday.
LVMH said it had bought 15,016,000 shares of Hermes, or a 14.2 percent stake. Once it converts certain derivative instruments of Hermes shares, LVMH said it would hold a total of 18,017,246 shares, or a 17.1 percent stake.
Hermes was not immediately available to comment.
LVMH has chosen to invest at a time when Hermes shares are at record highs after a 65 percent rally since July.
The company has long been the subject of market speculation over whether some family members would sell their shares, altering the capital structure of the group or even making it a takeover target.
Management have reiterated the founding family's devotion to Hermes, in which they own a 70 percent stake.
It was not immediately clear whether LVMH bought its shares on the open market or from family members.
"LVMH fully supports the strategy implemented by the founding family and the management team... LVMH has no intention of launching a tender offer, taking control of Hermes, nor seeking board representation," LVMH added in the statement.
Hermes is widely regarded as one of few luxury companies that has continued to grow throughout the consumer spending slump, and it is has also been one of the top beneficiaries of upturn in demand as the economy recovers.
LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group, also sounded an upbeat note in its third quarter results about the economic recovery boosting consumer demand.
Watch Fashion Online

Wynn Resorts files to sell more shares - Casino

NEW YORK Oct 22 (Reuters) - Casino operator Wynn Resorts
Ltd (WYNN.O) filed with U.S. regulators to sell additional
shares, capitalizing on a stock price that has more than
doubled in just under a year.
Wynn, which operates casinos in Las Vegas and Macau, filed
a shelf registration and prospectus with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission on Friday, allowing it to sell an
undisclosed number of shares at its discretion in one or more
offerings.
Shares in Wynn, which was founded by billionaire Steve
Wynn, closed at $104.42 on Friday, more than double their price
on Nov. 2, 2009, when they hit $51.73.
Watch Casino Online

INTERVIEW-Olympics-We learned our lessons, says French bid boss - Board Games

PARIS Oct 5 (Reuters) - France intend to get their strategy
right in Annecy's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics after failing
twice to secure the summer Games, the chief executive of Annecy
2018 Edgar Grospiron told Reuters in an interview.
Paris, the favourites for the 2012 Games, lost out to London
after failing in their bid for the 2008 Olympics which went to
Beijing.
Grospiron, 41, a popular figure in France since winning a
moguls gold medal at the 1992 Albertville Games, said the
lessons of the unsuccessful Paris bid had been taken on board.
London edged the French capital after benefiting from Prime
Minister Tony Blair's behind-the-scenes work and the leadership
of bid head Seb Coe.
The Paris bid was led by mayor Bertrand Delanoe, not a
figure with a reputation in the sports world, and the Annecy
submission will be backed instead by prominent French sports
personalities.
"The lessons from Paris have been learned and our strategy
is different," Grospiron said.
"We need a lot of people supporting us. It means we have to
work closely with Jean-Claude Killy and Guy Drut but also with
all the influential people at the international level."
Killy, a triple alpine ski champion at the 1968 Grenoble
Winter Games, and Drut. the 1976 Montreal Games high hurdles
champion, are both members of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC).
Marie-Jose Perec, who won three Olympic titles including the
200-400 double at the 1996 Atlanta Games, is also supporting the
bid.
Grospiron said Annecy would need the backing of politicians
plus International Rugby Board president Bernard Lapasset and
UEFA president Michel Platini.
Annecy, who were asked by the IOC to change their original
plan to build 10 venues, are in a three-way battle with Munich
and Pyeongchang in the vote on July 6 next year.
"We know that we have not won anything yet but morale is
going up," Grospiron said. "Clearly, we almost caught up and
Annecy's situation is more comfortable than a few months ago."
Perec told Reuters she would play an active role in the bid.
"I could not imagine myself not supporting a French bid,"
she told Reuters. "I will go to the international bodies to show
them that everything has been done in Annecy to host the Games."
Watch Board Games Online

- Longoria to host MTV show, not eyeing music career - Comedy

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria may be hosting next month's Europe Music Awards for MTV, but she has no ambition to pursue a career in pop.
The 35-year-old, best known for her portrayal of Gabrielle Solis in the hit comedy series, will be in Madrid on November 7 to take charge of the annual awards ceremony, one of the music world's biggest nights outside of the United States.
"No, I'll definitely leave the music to the professionals," she said, when asked whether she was considering a career in music.
Longoria has made a spoof rap video for the show, in which she wears a black swimsuit and at one point rhymes "host" with "French toast."
"They handed it (the script) to me the day of the recording," she told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"They said 'Here are you words' and I thought 'Oh my God, this is pretty terrifying."
The actress, married to basketball player Tony Parker, said her love of music, Spanish roots and previous experience at hosting shows meant she was suitably qualified to do the job.
Previous hosts of the MTV Europe Music Awards have included Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Katy Perry and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
"I have some tough competition," Longoria said, adding, "I'm excited about it and I love to be challenged in new ways.
"I love Shakira, Kings of Leon and Katy Perry and Linkin Park - the performers they have lined up are amazing."
Longoria added that part of the appeal was to "expect the unexpected and anything goes and that raises the stakes on the night."
Watch Comedy Online

Actor Josh Gad sells family comedy to CBS - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Back to You" and "Woke Up Dead" actor Josh Gad is near a deal for a comedy project at CBS.
The actor-comedian landed a script deal at the network for "Adopted Family." The premise: When a teenage girl shows up on his doorstep, a man discovers his new wife has a daughter he didn't know existed.
Watch Comedy Online

Fishing, kayaking Sarah Palin debuts TV show trailer - Tv Series

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hiking in the Alaskan snow, bear-watching, fishing, kayaking and family -- that apparently is what Sarah Palin loves best, according to a trailer for her new TV reality show released on Friday.
Better known for rallying conservatives and Tea Party followers at political meetings, the former U.S. vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor is the subject of an eight-part TV series making its debut on November 14.
"I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy, old political office. I'd rather be out here being free," Palin says in the trailer for "Sarah Palin's Alaska."
The brief clip shows Palin having fun in Alaska countryside with her husband Todd and five children, kayaking down rivers, watching wild bears playing, and trekking across snow-filled hills.
The TV show on channel TLC is the latest media venture for Palin, the polarizing Republican who is widely thought to be weighing a run for U.S. president in 2012. Her second book "America by Heart" is expected to be published in late November after her 2009 best-seller "Going Rogue".
Palin's eldest daughter Bristol, 19, a single mother and a paid speaker on the topic of abstinence before marriage, is currently a contestant on popular TV show "Dancing with the Stars."
Bristol Palin's former boyfriend Levi Johnston is also working on his own upcoming TV show which chronicles his bid to be elected mayor of Wasilla, Alaska -- a post once held by Sarah Palin.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney)
Watch Tv Series Online

Reality series Wipeout getting winter run - Tv Series

LOS Angeles (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC is moving its summer reality staple "Wipeout" to the big leagues, giving the obstacle-course competition series its first run during the regular TV season.
Beginning in January, "Wipeout" will return with a "winter wonderland"-themed course, complete with slippery ice and such new stunts as the Spanker Sleds, the Wipeout Ski Lift and the Polar Bear Run.
The network has ordered eight episodes, which will be considered part of the show's recent fourth season.
"Wipeout," produced by Endemol USA, averaged 9.2 million viewers and a 3.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic during its Tuesday run in the summer.
The move gives ABC additional hole-plugging ammo during midseason.
Watch Tv Series Online

Jason Alexander brings screwball comedy to Song - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "They're Playing Our Song" centers on a frank, sexy and neurotic relationship, circa late '80s, that is patterned loosely on its young creators Marvin Hamlisch (a.k.a. Vernon Gersch) and Carole Bayer Sager (a.k.a. Sonia Walsk).
We're talking a little bit spunky, a little bit brassy, a lot of poetry and oceans of heart. Oh, and music played by a backstage band that would have had boomers dancing in the aisles if Westwood's Freud Playhouse had any.
Stephanie J. Block captures Sonia's newly liberated woman unleashed at full force, dressed in a dazzling succession of Kate Bergh's posthippie fantasies. Block sings, dances and engages in sex with equal good nature and aplomb. Jason Alexander's power lies in his work as a consummate screwball comedy man; it even turns out he can dance and sing.
Although writer Neil Simon's obsession with Block's former lover Leon gets tired fast, nothing stops the madly careening love affair between Vernon and Sonia, despite the fact that they are as mismatched in physique and style as they are in neurotic dynamics and tone, leading to a nonstop barrage of good-natured humor that the audience responds to with split-second, laugh-track-quality precision.
Both stars are willing to share the play, to feed the straight lines as well as deliver the punches. They also ignite sexually in quiet, intimate ways that everyone will recognize.
Watch Comedy Online

Homer Simpson is Catholic, Vatican paper declares - Entertainment News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Simpsons" just got a blessing from the Vatican.
The official Vatican newspaper has declared that beer-swilling, doughnut-loving Homer Simpson and son Bart are Catholics -- and what's more, it says that parents should not be afraid to let their children watch "the adventures of the little guys in yellow."
"Few people know it, and he does everything to hide it. But it's true: Homer J. Simpson is Catholic", the Osservatore Romano newspaper said in an article on Sunday headlined "Homer and Bart are Catholics."
The newspaper cited a study by a Jesuit priest of a 2005 episode of the show called "The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star". That study concludes that "The Simpsons" is "among the few TV programs for kids in which Christian faith, religion and questions about God are recurrent themes."
The Simpsons pray before meals, and "in its own way, believes in the beyond," the newspaper quoted the Jesuit study as saying.
It's the second time the animated U.S. TV series, which is broadcast in 90 countries, has been praised by the Vatican.
But executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly on Monday he was in "shock and awe" at the latest assertion, adding that the Simpsons attend the "Presbylutheran" First Church of Springfield.
"We've pretty clearly shown that Homer is not Catholic," Jean said. "I really don't think he could go without eating meat on Fridays -- for even an hour."
In December 2009, the Osservatore Romano described the show as "tender and irreverent, scandalous and ironic, boisterous and profound, philosophical and sometimes even theological, nutty synthesis of pop culture and of the lukewarm and nihilistic American middle class."
"The Simpsons", which introduced the catch-phrase "D'oh", is the longest-running prime-time TV series in the United States and is now in its 22nd season.
Watch Entertainment News Online

Ed Asner returning to primetime TV in CMT sitcom - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Can Ed Asner do for CMT what Betty White did for TV Land?
A seven-time Emmy winner, Asner is returning to primetime television in CMT's first scripted sitcom, "Working Class."
The "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant" star is joining previously announced lead Melissa Peterman in the series about a blue-collar single mom who moves her family to a well-to-do suburb. Asner plays her misanthropic neighbor. The show will premiere in January.
The move marks the 80-year-old actor's first regular series commitment since NBC's short-lived "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in 2006. He also was recently cast as Warren Buffett in HBO's TV movie "Too Big to Fail."
Watch Comedy Online

Young voters pose skeptical questions to Obama - Magic

* Obama on end of skeptical questions
* Hopes for greater cooperation with Republicans
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama
faced some skeptical questions from young people and defended
his policies, from job creation to immigration, on Thursday in
an effort to rev up Democratic voter enthusiasm for the Nov. 2
midterm elections.
Obama appeared at a live television event in his latest
attempt to reach young people and recapture some of the magic
from his 2008 presidential victory as polls show the Democrats
trailing in the congressional vote.
One man peppered Obama with questions about his economic
policies and asked whether he would deserve re-election in
2012. "Why should we still support you going forward with your
monetary economic policies, and if the economy doesn't improve
over the next two years why should we put you back in?" he
asked.
Obama said he took office when the country was in the
throes of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression
and the $814 billion economic stimulus he pushed through
Congress "no doubt" saved or created 3 million jobs.
"While the economy was contracting when I came into office,
it's now growing," he said. "With respect to the private
sector, we've seen job growth nine consecutive months."

� Continued...
Watch Magic Online

Film simulates Afghan capture of Prince Harry - Documentary

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A documentary film to be aired on British television this month will examine what might happen if Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, were kidnapped while on military duty in Afghanistan.
"The Taking of Prince Harry," on public broadcaster Channel 4 on October 21, recreates a helicopter crash in the south of Afghanistan and the subsequent capture of the royal, who is third in line to the throne.
Harry served with British forces in Afghanistan in 2008, becoming the first member of the royal family to see action since his uncle Prince Andrew flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982.
Harry, 26, has spoken of his desire to return to Afghanistan, which he was forced to leave prematurely after news of his presence there was leaked.
"The Taking of Prince Harry raises questions about the far-reaching ramifications for Britain should Prince Harry be granted his wish to return to Afghanistan and be captured -- and asks if Britain is prepared for this potential ransom note," Channel 4 said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the broadcaster added that Channel 4 had contacted the royal family about the film, but had received no response.
The concept of the feature-length documentary has already come in for criticism.
"What these people forget is there is still a war going on," said tabloid newspaper The Sun's in-house security expert Andy McNab. "This comes at a bad time and is in bad taste.
"It's highly likely Harry will be going back to Afghanistan now they have spent so much money on his Apache (helicopter) training. But it's not just insensitive to Harry, it's insensitive to all the troops and the mums, dads, wives and kids with lads out there."
Watch Documentary Online

TV script puts gender spin on Three's Company - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox has picked up a script for a comedy series whose rather provocative name won't last beyond the development phase.
Now dubbed the untitled Liz Meriwether project, or "Chicks and Dicks," the script is described as a "reverse 'Three's Company,'"
The show is an ensemble comedy centering on an optimistic Midwestern woman who moves into a New York apartment with three juvenile guys.
Watch Comedy Online

Lebanese fashion designers reign supreme despite crisis - Fashion

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The top Western fashion designers suffered massively when purses around the globe snapped resoundingly shut during the financial crisis.
But Lebanese designers, who hail from a land where Fashion TV is the channel of choice at the swankiest bars, say they have managed to escape the brunt of the crisis because of two things -- affordable haute couture and rich Arab clients.
It's fair to say that Lebanon just doesn't do casual. High heels, form-fitting dresses and salon-styled hair are part of many Lebanese women's daily routine.
Renting a designer dress to wear at a wedding is far more acceptable, than, horror of horrors, opting to purchase a generic high-street gown.
So it's no surprise that the country's top designers became more famous for their elaborate, long, sequined and chiffoned collections than classical ready-to-wear lines. And their clientele keep coming back for more.
In fact Elie Saab, whose slinky, decidedly feminine dresses are a red-carpet favorite for many Hollywood A-listers, said his pret-a-porter lines suffered for a few months in the United States due to the crisis, and not his haute-couture lines.
"Lebanese designers have always been distinctive with their haute-couture, not pret-a-porter. What they present to the world is distinctive," Saab told Reuters.
Saab was speaking just before his first fashion show in Beirut in 18 years, where he showed his Autumn-Winter 2010/2011 ready-to-wear collection to mark the official opening of the opulent Beirut Souks shopping district in the city center.
But even that collection, already shown in Paris, was full of evening dresses frilled with lace, tulle and sequins in deep colours that he said were reminiscent of being in a "night-time forest."
Scarlett Johansson, Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt have already been spotted wearing some of the collection's designs on the red carpet.
"If you go to a French fashion house, (for haute couture), the price is unnatural, it's as if they're saying 'we don't want to sell'. That's why haute couture is successful in Lebanon."
"It's the beauty of the piece ... and the prices are appropriate for women of the world," Saab said.
HAUTE COUTURE LUXE
Abed Mahfouz, whose dresses have been worn by Beyonce and Victoria Beckham, agrees.
Watch Fashion Online

Avatar special edition set for November release - Sci Fi

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Avatar" fans will get new glimpses of Pandora next month, when special-edition discs of the sci-fi film hit store shelves.
The home-video sets arrive November 16 domestically and November 15 abroad, Fox Home Entertainment said Tuesday.
The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of the James Cameron film will include 45 minutes of footage that wasn't in the original theatrical version and 36 minutes more than included in an August re-release of the winter blockbuster. The special-edition discs also are the first to include bonus special features on the film.
But the movie is presented in 2D on the discs. "Avatar" won't be released in 3D Blu-ray until 2011.
Watch Sci Fi Online

UPDATE 2-MGM Resorts, Tracinda sell shares, price falls - Casino

* Offering priced at $12.65 per share
* MGM could raise close to $600 million
* Shares down 11.1 percent
(Adds stock downgrade, updates share price)
LOS ANGELES, Oct 13 (Reuters) - MGM Resorts International
(MGM.N) shares fell more than 11 percent on Wednesday as both
the largest casino operator on the Las Vegas Strip and its
biggest shareholder sell stock in the company.
MGM and Tracinda Corp, the investment vehicle of
billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, said late on Tuesday they would
sell up to 47 million and 32 million shares, respectively. The
offer price was set at $12.65 -- 7 percent below Tuesday's
close.
The new shares could raise close to $600 million for MGM --
which is focused on paying down $12.9 billion in debt -- but
will also dilute the holdings of current shareholders by around
10 percent.
The sale will also cut Tracinda's stake to about 30 percent
from the current 37 percent. Kerkorian once owned more than
half of MGM, but the holdings fell after a May 2009 stock
offering.
"This was unexpected, timing is curious, and reason(s)
unclear," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka said in a
research note, referring to the Tracinda sale. "MGM's offering
should bolster liquidity, but we believe some investors would
prefer to see a $1.5 to $2 billion-plus deal that more fully
addresses debt maturities through 2013."
MGM also reported on Wednesday that preliminary
third-quarter results were lackluster, but largely in line with
Wall Street expectations.
Soleil Securities downgraded MGM to "hold" from "buy,"
citing operating results that do not support the notion of an
accelerating recovery on the Las Vegas Strip, where yet another
new resort, the Cosmopolitan, is slated to open in December.
The casino industry has been hit hard by the recession and
global financial crisis, which led to a sharp drop in gambling
revenue and hotel room rates.
Investors in MGM, and other Vegas casino operators
including Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN.O) and Las Vegas Sands Corp
(LVS.N), were buoyed by Nevada's report last week that Strip
casinos won 21 percent more money in August than a year
earlier.
But MGM's write-offs for the quarter -- another $182
million for impairment to the CityCenter, the $8.5 billion
project that opened on the Las Vegas Strip in December, and $46
million for CityCenter condominiums -- were worse than
expected, according to Janet Brashear at Sanford Bernstein.
"Continued write-offs make the financial picture more
uncertain, especially as it relates to CityCenter liability;
however, the pending Borgata sales represents progress in
resolving loose ends," she said in a research note.
MGM said it found a buyer for its 50 percent stake in the
Borgata resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at a price that
would generate around $250 million.
MGM has been looking to sell its stake after New Jersey
regulators questioned the suitability of Pansy Ho, the
company's joint venture partner in China's Macau.
Barclays Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of
Barclays Plc (BARC.L), is the sole underwriter for MGM's stock
offering.
Watch Casino Online

Analysis: Crackdown on dissent risks stoking Thai crisis - Radio Stations

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Months after the Thai army forced an end to weeks of anti-government protests, the government says widespread restrictions on dissent are still essential for peace. But the risk is that they end up sparking more unrest.
From high-profile arrests to the shutting down and censoring of thousands of websites, the measures used by authorities to keep a lid on simmering tensions are threatening to worsen the conflict, alienate rivals and discredit the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
"Thailand is in uncharted territory and the government's response to dissent could lead to a bolder display of resistance," Jacob Ramsay, senior Southeast Asia analyst at Control Risks, a strategic consulting firm based in Britain.
"Once authorities start to react to that it has no choice but to do so with more force. It's a vicious cycle."
The tough line on dissent is also a public relations gamble for Abhisit, the seemingly progressive Oxford-educated premier who has to call an election by the end of 2011.
While the curbs will please his backers, they make it harder to convince voters he is serious about national reconciliation and close a social and political divide at the heart of five years of mass anti-government protests and civil unrest.
In the latest case, a director of prominent online newspaper Prachatai was arrested in September after arriving on an overseas flight at Bangkok's main airport over a comment posted two years ago deemed a breach of lese majeste and computer crime laws.
Lese majeste, or insults to the monarchy, are punishable by up to 15 years in prison in largely Buddhist Thailand where many regard King Bhumibol Adulyadej as almost divine. Critics say the military-backed government is using the law to silence opponents.
"It isn't clear where the line is. The law does not guarantee freedom of speech or give us protection," Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the director of the Prachatai website, told Reuters after she was released on bail.
Since a spasm of political violence killed 91 people in April and May, Bangkok and six province remain under emergency rule, which bans political gatherings and gives the government power to impose curfews, censor media and detain suspects without charge.
At least 185 protesters remain in detention and thousands of web-pages have been shut since April on top of over 100,000 blocked since 2007. Dozens of community radio stations and a cable television channel run by the "red shirt" movement were forced off air.
'DEMOCRATIC FACADE'
Recent action against dissidents also raised questions over who is calling the shots -- Abhisit, who has voiced concerns about the use of anti-crown law, for political purposes or the army and its establishment allies.
Political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak said the recent arrest "exposes Thailand's solidifying soft civil-military authoritarianism."
Watch Radio Stations Online