PARK CITY, Utah ― It takes a lot of faith to make an independent film. This year, independent films are showing a lot of faith.Among the roughly 120 features playing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a surprisingly large number use faith ― and specifically Christianity ― as either a critical narrative fulcrum or a key expositional backdrop. And the dramas do not always take a neutral stance.K

Film Jan. 27, 2011

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― The familiar green logo of Starbucks will soon appear on Indian streets as the U.S. group bets on lifestyle changes that are turning the tea-drinking country into a booming market for cafes.India’s appetite for the bitter brew has never been stronger, with its overwhelmingly young population opting to while away time in shiny Western-style cafes instead of the traditional coffeeh

Food Jan. 26, 2011

PARIS (AP) ― Haute couture got tugged in opposite directions on Tuesday, as Chanel channeled the street ― embracing the mixed-up, casual-chic styles of today’s trendsetting It Girls ― while Givenchy sent out what can only be described as extreme haute couture ― breathtaking, Baroque garments that crossed the divide between clothes and art.Karl Lagerfeld said he had “Gossip Girl” star and new Chane

Arts & Design Jan. 26, 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas ― It was a frostbitten January day 50 years ago when the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art opened its doors to the public. Only 400 people braved the threat of an icy Camp Bowie Boulevard to visit the memorial to Fort Worth’s greatest champion.Before his death in 1955, as a final act of magnanimous boosterism, Amon G. Carter Sr., the self-made millionaire and publisher of the Sta

Performance Jan. 26, 2011

Comic strip journalist calls it quits after 70 years of reportingBrenda Starr was born June 30, 1940, full-grown into a big-city newspaper office where she was an oddity, a female reporter.Also gorgeous, a fiery redhead, as they say, with a glamorous if out-of-place wardrobe. Straight away Brenda Starr demanded respect in a man’s world, insisting on hard-hitting news assignments.Hers was a call to

Books Jan. 26, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Sir Elton John is “fed up” with being a treated like a “second-class citizen” in the U.S.That’s why the 63-year-old gay singer said he took a stand last week during a performance at a private Beverly Hills fundraiser for the ongoing legal challenge to California’s gay marriage ban. The outspoken British piano man, who became a parent to a baby boy on Christmas Day with partner D

People Jan. 24, 2011

EL TARTER, Andorra (AP) ― It is less than 32 kilometers from border to border. It has two heads of state, a bishop from Spain and the president of France, but its official language is Catalan. Its mountains rise higher than 2,745 meters, and they accommodate some 20 kilometers of ski slopes.This is Andorra, a tiny landlocked principality that is almost all vertical, tucked in the eastern Pyrenees

Travel Jan. 21, 2011

MADRID (AFP) ― A new hotel has opened in the heart of Madrid proudly declaring that it is complete rubbish.More of a wooden shack than a five-star establishment, the walls of the Beach Garbage Hotel are strewn with detritus dragged up by the tide, recovered from landfills or snapped up at flea markets.Among the wall decorations: plastic drums, wooden frames, musical instruments, striped socks, tir

Travel Jan. 21, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― For Natalie Portman, 2011 is already shaping up to be an unforgettable year.The actress is getting big awards buzz for her turn as a ballerina gone mad in “Black Swan.” She already won a Golden Globe, she is up for a Screen Actors Guild award and she is sure to hear her name when Oscar nominations are announced next week.Portman also has four other movies slated for release this

Film Jan. 21, 2011

BALTIMORE (AP) ― Telltale hearts beat with anticipation during a rainy, midnight dreary and beyond, hoping the mysterious visitor to Edgar Allan Poe’s grave would return after a one-year absence.Four impostors came and went. The real one never showed. Around 5 a.m., the dozen Poe fans who were left began to wonder if the eerie ritual is indeed nevermore, so they walked to Poe’s tombstone and perfo

Books Jan. 20, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Anne Hathaway has clawed her way into the latest Batman movie, nabbing the role of Selina Kyle and her alter ego, Catwoman.Warner Bros. announced the casting Wednesday for Christopher Nolan’s latest film in the superhero saga, “The Dark Knight Rises.” Hathaway will appear opposite Christian Bale, who is returning as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Anne Hathaway. (AP-Yonhap News)The stud

Film Jan. 20, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― Sting wants to help save dolphins still being brutally slaughtered in Japan, but says the best way is by starting a debate, not by forcing foreign opinion.The British music star met backstage at a Tokyo concert hall Wednesday with Ric O’Barry, the star of the “The Cove,” the Academy Award-winning documentary that depicts the dolphin hunt in the town of Taiji in southwestern Japan.The

Performance Jan. 20, 2011

It’s been quite a while since Korean fans last heard from K-pop singer Tim. After a hiatus of three years, Tim recently got back to the K-pop scene with his fifth album “New Beginnings.” It is his first album with Sony Music Entertainment Korea.The biggest change occurred inside his heart. He said he became more mature and serious in the search for “his” music, after realizing that he was born to

Performance Jan. 20, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS ― A Plymouth, Minnesota, family with a recording studio in their basement is giving entertainment giants Nickelodeon, Universal Studios and Radio Disney serious competition for iTunes listeners.“Kid Friday,” a weekly podcast by Dave Swerdlick and his daughters, Hannah, 12, and Zoe, “almost 10,” consistently makes the top-10 list in iTunes’ Kids & Family section.“Because you are a kid i

Television Jan. 19, 2011