LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – There’s a lot to like about “Phantom” – from a terrific ensemble cast of notable character actors to several genuine moments of claustrophobic tension – but the movie, like the [...]

A spider crawls up the leg of 18-year-old India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) early in Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut, “Stoker,” and she regards it passively, intrigued. There’s a creepy intruder in the Stokers’ [...]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been four years — almost a generation in video game years — since Lara Croft embarked on a “Tomb Raider” expedition. The unenviable task of rebooting the well-known and well-worn series seemed [...]

A big-budget, effects-laden, 3-D retelling of the Jack and the Beanstalk legend may seem like the unlikeliest pairing yet of director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie, but “Jack the Giant Slayer” ends up being smart, [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Humans, we’re told, have an ingrained flight-or-fight impulse. We either flee stress or stay and put up our mitts. The hero of Liz Flahive‘s new play is definitely in the first group. Martha, a kindergarten teacher [...]

C2C, “Tetra” (Universal Republic Records) Get ready to dance. A lot. “Tetra,” the debut album from French foursome C2C, is a multi-genre, beat-driven adventure that feels good throughout all 14 tracks. C2C is a turntable [...]

Amanda Brecker, “Blossom” (Decca) This collection of James Taylor and Carole King songs marks Amanda Brecker’s U.S. recording debut, but the singer has a rich musical pedigree. She’s the daughter of noted jazz trumpeter [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — A “wild” young woman in 1936 Ireland was one who didn’t conform to rigid societal expectations. Just being alone in a room with a young man would subject her to gossipy suspicions about her character. The [...]

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Would it shock you to learn that this year’s Oscars producers also produced “Chicago“? Not at all? OK. Self-referencing was the order of the evening Sunday at an overstuffed Oscars [...]

Michael Bolton, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville U.S.A.” (Montaigne Records) In his nearly four decade career, Michael Bolton has released some two dozen albums and has tackled various musical genres, [...]

Etana, “Better Tomorrow” (VP Records) Etana delivers a mature and confident sound with top-notch lyrical content and unique vocals on her third studio album, “Better Tomorrow.” The Jamaican singer‘s soulful roots [...]

Emmylou Harris Rodney Crowell, “Old Yellow Moon” (Nonesuch) “Old Yellow Moon” is a reunion album of sorts that explores musical paths Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell first traveled on their initial recordings in the [...]

The Mavericks, “In Time” (Valory) One of country music‘s most enduring bands, the Mavericks return with “In Time,” their first new album in a decade. Their mix of Latin horns and rhythms, crisp telecaster leads [...]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Oscars rolled out the red carpet on Sunday for the movie industry’s biggest night, with Iran hostage drama “Argo” and presidential drama “Lincoln” in a tight race for Best Picture. [...]

(Adds quotes, new detail) Feb 23 (Reuters) – At least 28 fans and one driver were injured after a multi-car crash at the Daytona speedway on Saturday when car debris flew into the crowd near the end of the Nationwide NASCAR race. Race [...]

“Crysis 3″ (Electronic Arts, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, $59.99) is a gorgeous game. Its creator, the German studio Crytek, has lived up to its promises that it will set a new benchmark for computer graphics. On a state-of-the-art [...]

“The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More” (William Morrow), by Bruce Feiler Many parents claim they’re too busy raising their kids to stop and [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Caro has won yet another literary prize, this one worth $50,000. The New-York Historical Society announced Thursday that Caro had won its American History Book Prize for the fourth volume of his Lyndon Johnson series, [...]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Although it sometimes accompanies fine films such as “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo,” the phrase “inspired by a true story” tacked onto the front of a movie too often warns you that you’re [...]

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – You know a horror film is effective when it remains creepy even after they explain the unexplained phenomena. On that front, and on many others, “Dark Skies” emerges as a smart little chiller, one [...]

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – It’s one thing to be an action or horror movie that slides silently into theaters on Oscar weekend in the hopes of appealing to a demographic that has little interest in whether “Life of Pi” [...]

LONDON (Reuters) – A new James Bond novel will be released in September with the latest exploits of the British spy written by novelist William Boyd, the estate of Bond‘s creator Ian Fleming said on Monday. Fleming [...]

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) – Born in Pakistan and raised in Britain, Nadeem Aslam‘s writing, drawn from a life lived with one foot in the war on terror in his birthplace and neighboring Afghanistan, has made him one of South Asia’s [...]

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – In a recent interview in New York magazine, director Steven Soderbergh lambasted critics for praising movies he felt weren’t, as he sniffed, “up to snuff.” “I don’t [...]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Just three months ago, “Zero Dark Thirty” looked like a strong contender for the movie industry’s biggest prize. But when the Oscar for Best Picture is handed out on Sunday, the thriller [...]

“Bless Me, Ultima,” the book, is a widely read and critically acclaimed piece of Chicano literature that also has been quite divisive since its publication in 1972. Some critics and parents have decried Rudolfo Anaya‘s novel [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Let’s just hope that all the members of so-called Generation Me are not as selfish, opportunistic and venal as some of the characters in Paul Downs Colaizzo‘s deeply cynical play, “Really Really.” The [...]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Sunday’s Oscar ceremony is set for a cliffhanger ending after a topsy-turvy awards season that has left the two top prizes – Best Picture and Best Director – too close to call. With [...]

It’s been seven years since ring-tailed master thief Sly Cooper has headlined a video game — about three times the lifespan of a typical wild raccoon. The guy’s been on Sony‘s bench since his creators, Sucker Punch Productions, [...]

Nick Cave the Bad Seeds, “Push the Sky Away” (Bad Seed Ltd) After the furious “Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!” and a pair of swaggering records from primal side project Grinderman, fans of Nick Cave may have expected another [...]