LOS ANGELES ― Few events straddle the glitz and grit of world cinema quite like the Palm Springs International Film Festival. That’s thanks to the affair’s wildly divergent aims ― to be the U.S.’ definitive, highbrow showcase for international movies, and the Coachella Valley’s starry, hard-partying answer to the Golden Globes.Both objectives will be served at the 22nd annual festival, which opens

Film Jan. 6, 2011

MOSCOW (AFP) -- A ponytailed worker taps on a laptop and rosy-cheeked children sport baseball caps in a rare exhibition of contemporary North Korean art that is now on display at a trendy Moscow gallery.The exhibition, titled “Water Still Flows Under Ice,” addresses themes such as World Cup football, new technology and Western fashion. It is running at Winzavod, a brick-walled former factory that

Performance Jan. 5, 2011

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) ― Mark Twain wrote that “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter.” A new edition of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” will try to find out if that holds true by replacing a word considered a racial slur with the word “slave” in an effort not to offend readers.Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who is working with Ne

Books Jan. 5, 2011

INCHEON (Yonhap) ― The Incheon Metropolitan Government will send a team of experts to Russia to catalog Korean historic relics scattered across the Eurasian country and work toward having them exhibited in their home country, city officials said Wednesday.The move follows an agreement Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil signed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to South Korea in Nove

Performance Jan. 5, 2011

LOS ANGELES ― A few surprises made their way into the Writers Guild of America awards nominations Tuesday morning, which included nods for a surreal film about dreams, a comedy-drama about a modern-day family and a drama about the birth of an online social network.Nominations for original screenplay went to the psychological thriller “Black Swan” (screenplay by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John M

Film Jan. 5, 2011

ROME (AFP) ― The embarrassing collapse of buildings at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii has reignited debate in Italy over conservation, amid warnings that budget cuts could trigger fresh degradation of key sites.“Italian cultural heritage is at risk of falling apart,” said Pier Giovanni Guzzo, the former head of the archaeological site of Pompeii.Pompeii, which was entombed by the massive eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius volcano in AD 79, is one of the most visited sites in the world, rec

Performance Dec. 13, 2010

MOSCOW (AFP) ― A century ago, all of Russia mourned Leo Tolstoy’s death at a backwater train station. But today the novelist and pacifist, who abhorred any form of government, is more respected in the West than his home country.The centennial of Tolstoy’s death, 100 years ago Saturday, seems to be passing virtually unnoticed in Russia. No specials in state channels’ primetime schedules. No retrospectives in Russia’s main state museums. Facing the moral dilemmas posed by Russia’s most famous son

Books Nov. 21, 2010

Canadian model and former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson is to appear in reality television show “Bigg Boss”, the Indian version of “Big Brother”.Anderson, 43, was set to arrive in Mumbai late Monday and enter the live studio near the city on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Colors television channel said.The actress, who appeared nude in Playboy magazine earlier this year, will join other contestants on the show including a former bandit and the Great Khali, a popular World Wrestling Entertainment

Television Nov. 16, 2010