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Cancer comedy "50/50" takes on lions, dolphins, Brad Pitt - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - If you loved Steven Soderbergh's thriller about a deadly encephalitis pandemic, then get to the multiplex this weekend for buddy dramedy "50/50" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young man dealing with terminal illness!

Yep, with new films about cops dealing with their estranged sons, evil houses driving their owners to murderous deeds, and young women ruminating over failed relationships, the domestic box office won't get any cheerier this weekend.

And predicting a winner won't get any easier, with "50/50" facing off against a competitive crop of holdovers that includes Disney's "Lion King" 3D re-release, Warner/Alcon feel-gooder "Dolphin Tale" and Brad Pitt baseball movie "Moneyball."

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Wall Street rises on U.S. data, German vote - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks erased early gains and the Nasdaq turned negative on Thursday as weakness in semiconductor shares weighed on the overall market and optimism over a German vote to beef up the euro zone's bailout fund faded.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 122.72 points, or 1.11 percent, to 11,133.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 6.10 points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,157.16. But the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 9.48 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,482.10.

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Michael Jackson's doctor on trial in singer's death - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than two years after Michael Jackson went into cardiac arrest at his mansion, the doctor accused of responsibility for his death went on trial on Tuesday.

Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine, his sisters, Janet and La Toya, and other family members arrived at the Los Angeles court, where dozens of media and fans holding pictures of the dead "Thriller" singer, sunflowers, and placards saying "Justice for Michael" gathered outside.

Dr. Conrad Murray's trial is expected to give the public a glimpse into the King of Pop's final days as he rehearsed for a series of concerts aimed at restoring a career shattered by a 2005 child molestation trial, despite his acquittal.

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"Lost" writer gives detailed account of show - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Damon Lindelof only wanted a gig writing for "Alias" when he agreed to meet with J.J. Abrams about "Lost" -- and the pair threw in lots of wild elements just because they never expected it to get on the air.

One of the main calling cards of the show -- the flashbacks to characters' lives before they crash landed on the island -- was simply a way to cut away from the same old tropical locale. And the out-of-sync storytelling was inspired by Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction."

If it seemed like the writers were making things up as they went along, by the way, they often were. And also? Lindelof tried to quit the show, again and again.

These were just a few of the admissions Lindelof shared about one of television's most beloved shows Thursday on the seventh anniversary of its first airing on ABC.

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"All My Children" finale not to be missed - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Four decades of love, death, returning from the dead, weddings, outings and Emmy wins (namely Susan Lucci's, finally) comes to an end today -- on TV, anyway -- as "All My Children" airs its series finale on ABC (1 p.m.; repeat at 8 p.m. on SOAPnet).

"All My Children" -- known affectionately as "All My Kids" to its devoted fans, some of whom have been watching the show since they were kids -- premiered on ABC on January 5, 1970.

Lucci, arguably the most popular actress in soap opera history, joined that same year, as a 22-year-old playing the then-15-year-old Erica Kane, a troublemaker who would go on to become the first TV character to get an abortion and to become one of the most married characters in daytime (nearly a dozen for the love-loving Erica).

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How Total Recall saved Toronto’s film industry... - Toronto.com

On an isolated soundstage in Toronto’s Port Lands, designers have created a dark, futuristic vision.

The bones of New Asia are being created out of brick, steel and Styrofoam in one of the most elaborate set designs ever constructed in the city.

In fact, Total Recall, a remake of the 1990 sci-fi action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is set to be the most expensive movie in Toronto history. With a budget estimated at anywhere from $130 million to as much as $200 million, once marketing costs are added, the production is a behemoth.

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Bob Hope's wife Dolores dies at age 102 - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dolores Hope, the wife of late entertainer Bob Hope, died on Monday of natural causes at the age of 102, a family spokesman said.

Hope, a singer who put her career on hold after her marriage, died in the Toluca Lake area of Los Angeles, said spokesman Harlan Boll. Bob Hope, her husband of almost 70 years, died in July 2003 at the age of 100.

Dolores Hope had a singing career in New York before she met her entertainer husband and married him. Together, they moved to Los Angeles so he could pursue a career in film and television.

The couple raised four children and Dolores often accompanied Hope on his many visits to entertain U.S. troops overseas.

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Princess Kate exploring UK charity work - Yahoo! News

LONDON (AP) — Newly-minted royal Kate Middleton is on the hunt — no, not for foxes but for her own charity gig.

St. James's Palace on Sunday confirmed that Kate — now formally known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — is spending the next few months exploring the charitable sector as she mulls what to make of her position at the top of British society. The move shows that Princess Kate is following a family tradition championed by the late Princess Diana, her mother-in-law.

The idea is "to get to know a number of charitable and other causes better, so she can make well-informed decisions about her future role," her spokesman said, declining to elaborate. "The duchess plans to meet a wide range of people and make private visits."

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Bluesman Willie "Big Eyes" Smith dies at age 75 - Yahoo! News

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grammy-winning blues musician Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, who was a longtime sideman for Muddy Waters, died of a stroke on Friday in Chicago at age 75, according to a statement on his website.

Smith's death comes less than six months after the passing at age 97 of blues master Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, with whom Smith shared a Grammy win this year in the best traditional blues album category for their 2010 release "Joined at the Hip."

Smith said backstage at the Grammy Awards that he first met Perkins as a boy and was glad to have found success recording with his elder. "To tell you the truth, right now I'm one of the happiest men on earth," he said at the February event.

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Wall Street opens on pace to extend rally - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened higher on Friday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 on track for its best weekly performance since early July as European policymakers gathered to discuss the region's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 48.85 points, or 0.43 percent, to 11,482.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 4.52 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,213.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 8.11 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,615.18.

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