LOS ANGELES (AP) — A broken-family melodrama with a minimum of histrionics, Scott McGehee’s and David Siegel‘s “What Maisie Knew” begins from scenes that will be familiar to most viewers who’ve witnessed a custody [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — British culture encompasses a governing body whose members regularly holler insults at one another, so it seems not unreasonable for edgy British playwright Mike Bartlett to transfer that heckling behavior from Parliament to [...]

“Arena,” a 1967 episode of “Star Trek,” features the original series’ most laughable fight scene, an epic duel between Capt. James T. Kirk and a rubbery lizard-man of the Gorn species. Now Canadian video-game developer [...]

May 1 (Reuters) – Post position for Saturday’s 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday’s draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne [...]

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) – Mystery shadows “A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea”, a novel about a girl growing up in rural post-revolutionary Iran while dreaming about her identical twin sister and the wonderful [...]

The message behind most romantic comedies is the simple-minded sentiment that love is all you need. So when Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier takes that title for a departure from somber drama to romance, you might expect her to deliver it with [...]

“The Devil in Her Way: a Novel” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), by Bill Loehfelm When we first met Maureen Coughlin in 2011′s “The Devil She Knows,” the petite Staten Island, N.Y., cocktail waitress was drifting through [...]

In the galaxy of big-screen superheros — a rather glum lot — Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man is the snappy one. He’s the sarcastic, motor-mouthed, preening, self-referential do-gooder, as opposed to all those self-serious crusaders. [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — The words “musical” and “Alzheimer’s disease” aren’t often used together. Yet Sara Cooper‘s new work, “The Memory Show,” turns out to be a poignant, sophisticated and often [...]

By Nick Olivari NEW YORK (Reuters) – Salesman or scammer, Jim makes and loses several fortunes in North America and the Brazilian jungle, but then loses himself as he runs over anyone who gets in his way. Old [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amanda Knox, the American student accused of the 2007 murder of her British roommate while both were students in Italy, paints herself in her new memoir as a naive young woman railroaded by a foreign justice system. [...]

Gitlo Lee, “Comin’ Out the Hole” (Chuckie Productions) Gitlo Lee sings with glee, whether the subject is beer, large women, collard greens, silk sheets, the Okefenokee Swamp or coffee in the morning — one of his euphemisms [...]

Daughter, “If You Leave” (Glassnote) Many of the tracks on Daughter’s debut album “If You Leave” are quite similar, with their monosyllabic titles and melancholy feel. It’s anything but a boring listen, though, [...]

!!! (Chk Chk Chk), “Thr!!!er” (Warp Records) Sometimes to appreciate a band you have to experience them live: hear the instruments in a raw form, immerse yourself in the energy onstage, smell the musty air, see the sweat dripping [...]

LL Cool J, “Authentic” (429 Records) LL Cool J knows how to play well with others. On his 13th studio album, “Authentic,” he delivers an eclectic mix of songs with a variety of guest singers that elevate the material [...]

“Life on a Rock,” Kenny Chesney (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) Kenny Chesney opens his new album “Life On A Rock” with the hit “Pirate Flag,” a rowdy beach-bum anthem reminiscent of his many fun-in-the-sun [...]

The Weeks, “Dear Bo Jackson” (Serpents and Snakes) Here’s more proof Nashville, Tenn., is saving rock ‘n’ roll one band at a time: The Weeks. The mostly Mississippi quintet moved to Nashville a few years ago after [...]

Iggy and the Stooges, “Ready to Die” (Fat Possum Records) Really, Iggy? Ready to die? Not possible. I always thought it would be you and cockroaches at the end of time, man. “Ready to Die” is the first album from Iggy [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — The last show to open this season on Broadway comes with plenty of bang, lots of flips and real value for money: A ticket buys you not just a musical but also a trip to the circus. The American Repertory Theatre‘s thrilling [...]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The story of a sympathetic fugitive who forges a bond with two teenage boys near a mighty river down South, “Mud” is shot through with traditional qualities of American literature and drama. Jeff Nichols‘ [...]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Norwegian directing team of Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, whose biopic of World War II resistance fighter Max Manus was a huge hit on home turf, have turned to another native hero for “Kon-Tiki.” One [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nora Roberts‘ “Whiskey Beach” debuted at the top of the Publishers Weekly’s bestseller list on Thursday. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, [...]

Zombie stories never have happy endings. So when the heroes of 2011′s “Dead Island” made it out alive, you knew there had to be a catch. The catch is that any video game that isn’t a complete flop gets a follow-up these [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Appearing on Broadway for the first time in 30 years, Bette Midler doesn’t stand up to greet her audience. She chooses to remain reclined. “I’m not getting up,” she says by way of warning. “It’s [...]

There’s a siege mentality about Michael Bay‘s movies, as though viewers are the enemy holed up in a bunker and he’s the guy ordering heavy-metal music around-the-clock to wear down our morale and force us to surrender. Bay’s [...]

The flowing Iowa cornfields of “At Any Price” have nothing on the amber waves of Zac Efron‘s hair. In “At Any Price,” Ramin Bahrani plants a sweeping Midwest tale of fathers and sons, fields and seed. His camera [...]

Jane Monheit, “The Heart of the Matter” (Emarcy/Decca) Jane Monheit sometimes seemed detached from the material on her earlier albums as she overemphasized her jazz chops to try to live up to the hype surrounding her. On her 11th [...]

“The Hit” (Grand Central Publishing), by David Baldacci Will Robie, a government assassin seen in last year’s “The Innocent,” returns in a bigger and bolder adventure in David Baldacci’s new novel, “The [...]

There’s a siege mentality about Michael Bay‘s movies, as though viewers are the enemy holed up in a bunker and he’s the guy ordering heavy-metal music around-the-clock to wear down our morale and force us to surrender. Bay’s [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Move over, you adorable scamps in “Annie.” Settle down, weird girls in “Matilda.” Broadway has a new unlikely heroine, a frail widow who hums hymns and has a bad heart. A first-rate revival of Horton [...]