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05-02-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
ARE NICK AND MARIAH MARRIED?: And did Nick give Mimi the same engagement ring that he gave Selita?
*In just the past three days, rumors surrounding the relationship between Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon have gone from dating speculation, to engagement questions, to reports that the two are now husband and wife.
Latina magazine reported yesterday that the couple exchanged vows Wednesday in a small ceremony on an undisclosed island. An unnamed source called it a "very impulsive" ceremony. Guests reportedly included Carey's homegirl, Da Brat.
Meanwhile, there are also rumors that the ring Cannon reportedly bought for Carey is actually the exact same engagement ring that he gave to his ex-fiancé Selita Ebanks one year ago during a spectacle-of-a-proposal in Times Square.
Ebanks, a Victoria's Secret model, told Us Magazine that she had nothing to say about Cannon's alleged marriage. "I have no comment but wish them well," she told the magazine.
Nick and Mariah reportedly met in March when he directed the video for her new single, "Bye Bye," and Us reported that an unnamed "inside" source said the romance was "hot and heavy."
BARBARA WALTERS HAD AN INTERRACIAL AFFAIR: 'View' boss to tell the whole story on Tuesday's 'Oprah.'
*Barbara Walters just filmed an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
in which she revealed a past affair with an African American senator that lasted several years during the 1970s.
A moderate Republican from Massachusetts who took office in 1967, Senator Edward Brooke was the first African-American to be popularly elected to the Senate. At the time of their secret relationship, the twice-divorced Walters was building a career in TV news as co-host of NBC's "Today" show before moving to ABC News.
Her affair with Brooke, which never came to light, had ended before he lost his bid for a third term in 1978. Walters told Winfrey about a phone call from a friend who urged her to stop seeing the lawmaker.
"He said, 'This is going to come out. This is going to ruin your career,'" then reminded her that Brooke was up for re-election a year later.
"'This is going to ruin him. You've got to break this off.'"
Winfrey asks Walters if she was in love.
"I was certainly — I don't know — I was certainly infatuated."
"Infatuated."
"I was certainly involved," Walters says. "He was exciting. He was brilliant. It was exciting times in Washington."
Walters was on the "Oprah" show to plug her new memoir, "Audition,"
which covers her long career in television, as well as her off-camera life – including the affair.
LIL WAYNE ADDED TO TIM STORY'S 'PATRIOTS': New Orleans rapper to play high school basketball player post Katrina.
*"Lollipop" rapper Lil' Wayne has been added to the cast of director Tim Story's upcoming film "The Patriots."
Forest Whitaker stars as a high school basketball coach whose team consisted of players hailing from five different schools that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Lil' Wayne plays the character Lamont, a student at Al Collins High School who is a skeptic of the newly-assembled team.
The movie from the Weinstein Co. began filming in New Orleans this week.
RODMAN ARRESTED IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RAP: Former NBA star nabbed for allegedly hitting a woman.
*Dennis Rodman returned to the spotlight and the legal system yesterday with his arrest in Los Angeles for alleged domestic violence.
According to the Associated Press, the former NBA star was taken into custody Wednesday night after officers answered a report of a domestic dispute at a Century City hotel.
Officer Sara Fayden says the 46-year-old struck a woman who suffered "injuries to her arm."
Rodman's manager Darren Prince told TMZ.com that the one-time Detroit Piston and the woman in question, his girlfriend, had too much to drink, argued, and Rodman grabbed her arm and left a bruise. Prince said Rodman's nasty divorce has caused his drinking to worsen in recent weeks and he plans to enter rehab.
Rodman was thrown in jail for investigation of felony domestic violence and freed early Thursday on $50,000 bail.
DAMON WAYANS COMING BACK TO ABC: Actor cast in comedy pilot 'Never Better.'
*Damon Wayans will return to ABC as the executive producer and star of "Never Better," a comedy pilot from the network's production company, ABC Studios.
The show revolves around a recovering alcoholic who's determined to be a good husband and father despite his many missteps.
The single-camera project is based on a British series that recently made its debut on BBC2. The property had been given a cast-contingency order from ABC, but Wayans' commitment makes it a go pilot for the network, reports Variety.
Wayans previously starred on ABC in the comedy "My Wife and Kids,"
which was also produced through ABC Studios and lasted from 2001 through 2005.
BILL COSBY 'BLUNT, BUT NOT HARSH' IN JERSEY: Entertainer speaks to community groups in Newark.
*Bill Cosby brought his message of African American responsibility to Newark, NJ Thursday, urging several hundred people at a conference of community associations to "stop looking for somebody to blame" for ills in the black community.
"You've got these idiots who've got these degrees and some of them are ordained ministers and they say, 'Bill, you're picking on the poor,'" he said, according to the Associated Press. He then drew laughs by adding, "Well, so did Jesus then. Jesus was always telling someone, 'Go ye.' Jesus was always telling people to go somewhere. And 'don't do this again or don't do that again.'"
Characterizing his own words as "blunt, but not harsh," the 70-year-old comedian criticized a culture in which "babies are wearing $40 sneakers while their mothers are feeding them Oodles of Noodles."
Appearing with Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker, Cosby also took aim at radio stations that play music that he called "pro-murder and anti-women."
He said adults are just as at fault if they fail to speak up.
"I haven't seen the demonstrations saying, 'I'm not allowing my children to listen to this,'" he said. "It's killing us. We're not talking about it, and we're not beating it down."
Thursday's conference was hosted by Family Intervention Services and Newark Now, an organization formed by Booker. The mayor called Cosby "a critical voice right now in the American context" and praised his willingness to speak out on issues without bowing to political correctness.
"This is a time for candor — we can't beat around the bush," Booker said. "We've got large percentages of our population that are underachieving. He's speaking to the heart of the matter, and he speaks to the realities of what a lot of folks are experiencing."
TABLOIDS SAY BOBBY KRISTINA ATTEMPTED SUICIDE: Whitney and Bobby's daughter reportedly taken to a psych ward in Atlanta.
*The National Enquirer reported Thursday that Bobbi Kristina, the 15-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, tried to stab her mother during an argument - and then attempted to slash her own wrists.
The tabloid claims to have gotten the news from a family member named Ann Davis, who said the episode took place a few days before the teen's 15th birthday party. According to Davis, Bobbi Kristina "tried to stab Whitney"
with a razor before turning it on herself.
Davis said the girl has been troubled lately because she doesn't want to live with her mother, who just performed in Tobago last weekend and has been living in Los Angeles while recording a new album.
The Enquirer reported that Bobbi Kristina has been "running around and drinking and partying" in Atlanta while living with Whitney's brother Gary and his wife. When Whitney came to Atlanta to confront her daughter, they had a heated argument that resulted in BK's reported attempt to slice her mother before committing suicide.
She was immediately taken to a psychiatric ward for a three day stay, the Enquirer reported.
LAWSUIT AGAINT J.LO TOSSED: Judge throws out action from TV writer who claimed she stole idea for UPN series.
*A judge has thrown out a lawsuit against Jennifer Lopez brought by a TV writer who claimed that she stole his idea for her short-lived UPN series "South Beach."
Lopez served as the show's executive producer in 2006, but writer Jack Bunick said its plot – featuring two Brooklyn guys moving to South Beach – was too similar to a 1999 pitch for his pilot, called "South Beach Miami."
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman said there is not enough evidence to take the case to trial. The judge also noted that Bunick admits his scripts include generic ideas and commonplace elements and aspects of the South Beach club and modeling scene.
The judge said there was "in fact ... powerful evidence" that the defendants - Lopez, UPN, CBS Television and others - had independently created "South Beach."
A lawyer for Lopez had said in court papers that although she was executive producer, the entertainer was barely involved in the creation and development of "South Beach" and was only brought in at a later stage to "lend celebrity to the show."
ANGELOU SAYS CLINTON IS 'PRAYER' OF AMERICANS: Poet praises senator in Hillary's new campaign ad running in NC.
*Maya Angelou, a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter, refers to her friend and Democratic presidential hopeful as the "prayer of every American who really longs for fair play."
"She intends to help our country become what it can become. She dares to say human beings are more alike than we are unalike," said the 80-year-old author, poet and civil rights activist in Clinton's new campaign ad currently running in North Carolina.
Angelou, author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," delivered a poem at former president Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration, and the African American writer had previously expressed a loyalty to his wife for the long haul.
View campaign ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOjD7GrrpC0
COMMON TEASES NEW ALBUM 'INVINCIBLE': Set described as 'an electro-tinged departure' from previous lyric-driven albums.
*Common unveiled eight songs from his upcoming album "Invincible Summer" Tuesday night for Billboard magazine, which said the project is "shaping up to be an electro-tinged departure from the MC's previous lyric-driven albums."
"I created this music for the summer time, it's about feeling good,"
Common tells Billboard.com. "This is the type of music I felt was missing from my body of work."
The Chicago-born rapper has spent the last two months working on "Invincible Summer," which is tentatively due in mid-July led by the high-energy track "Universal Mind Control (U.M.C)."
The set was produced by The Neptunes and Outkast producer Mr. DJ.
Kanye West, who helmed the production on Common's last LP, 2007's "Finding Forever," did not contribute any tracks this time around.
"Kanye was focusing on his 'Glow in the Dark' show, so he hasn't been able to make it to the studio to weigh in," Common says. "But it worked out well, organically. The Neptunes & Mr. DJ came up with a fresh sound for me."
Cee-Lo and The Neptunes' pop group, Chester French, guest on the album, but Common says singer-MC Santogold is "one of my favorite artists right now" and adds that he's awaiting a verse from her for the track "Runaway," which samples its guitar riff from Pat Benatar's 'Love Is A Battlefield."
"Invincible" also features spongy futuristic chords on "Make My Day" featuring Cee-Lo, and fuzzy kazoos on "Punch Love," reports Billboard.
BYRON ALLEN PACTS WITH MYSPACE: TV vet's production company to provide video content.
*BlackEnterprise.com is reporting that Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Inc. has signed a deal with social networking behemoth MySpace.com to become the single largest provider of video content to the Web site's MySpaceTV portal.
Terms of the partnership call for Allen’s company to provide several hours per week of original video content that will be broadcast on 10 separate MySpaceTV Web channels.
Users will be able to receive regular updates from the channels, and share episodes by using blogs and adding videos to their profiles. Videos will begin streaming on MySpaceTV "within a few weeks," according to the company.
Allen's Entertainment Studios produces 15 television programs, including "Entertainers with Byron Allen"; "The American Athlete"; "Urban Style"; "Comics Unleashed"; and "Beautiful Homes & Great Estates," all of which will be updated regularly for the MySpaceTV channels.
"MySpace made a sizable commitment to promoting our channels to their users, which will generate a great deal of traffic and awareness of our channels on the MySpace platform," says Allen, a comedian and talk show host.
Allen says MySpaceTV was his first choice as an online partner because it is able to launch content on multiple channels simultaneously and it had the technology that could accommodate the bandwidth to handle Entertainment Studios content at one time.
LUDACRIS PREPARES ALBUM WHILE SHOOTING FILMS: Rapper has three films and one album in the pipeline.
*Ludacris says he's been preparing for the September release of his new album "Theater of the Mind" while filming the upcoming movie "Max Payne"
in Toronto, Canada.
Based on the popular Rockstar video game, "Max Payne" features Luda as NYPD Deputy Police Chief Jim Bravura opposite co-stars Mark Wahlberg.
His forthcoming Def Jam album will be another film-worthy project, he tells Billboard. "Expect the whole album [to be] theatrical," he explains.
Though he hasn't yet chosen a first single, he says that a track should drop by June or July.
Ludacris said one of his tracks, "Let's Stay Together," is produced by DJ Paul of Three6 Mafia. Other producers making contributions include Dre & Vidal, 9th wonder, Ice Drake and DJ Don Cannon.
In addition to "Max Payne," Ludacris will also star as a character named Roman in Guy Ritchie's upcoming film "RocknRolla," due Oct. 31. That film also stars Thandie Newton and Jeremy Piven.
"It's about how the Russian mob came to Europe and took over," says Ludacris. "Then there's another film at the Tribeca Film Festival called 'Balls Don't Lie' with myself and Isaiah Washington about a kid that goes to an orphanage but is very talented in basketball. It's about how foster kids go in and out of families."
TYRA, 'VIEW' LADIES NOMINATED FOR EMMYS: 'The Young and the Restless,' 'General Hospital' and 'Guiding Light' also up for awards.
*"The Tyra Banks Show" and co-hosts of ABC's "The View" were among the nominees for Daytime Emmys announced Wednesday morning on the latter program's New York set.
Banks appears in the newly-created category of best informative talk show against fellow nominees "Dr. Phil" and "A Place of Our Own."
"The View," meanwhile, will compete in the best talk show field alongside "Rachael Ray" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "The View" hosts Barbara Walters, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd are among the nominees for best talk show host — and get another a chance to break their 10-time losing streak in the category.
Nominations for best daytime serial went to "General Hospital,"
"Guiding Light," "One Life to Live" and "The Young and the Restless."
Winners will be announced June 20 in Los Angeles.
FORMER NBA STAR DRAWN INTO LOWE NANNY DRAMA: Dale Davis dated ex-employee who is now countersuing Lowes for sexual harassment.
*Former Indiana Pacers player Dale Davis has ended up in the current Rob Lowe legal drama involving the actor's former nanny.
Laura Boyce is one of three ex-employees sued last month by Rob Lowe and his wife Sheryl. The Lowes' lawsuit claims the former workers spread lies about the couple and broke confidentiality agreements.
Yesterday, Boyce countersued the Lowes for sexual harassment, claiming Sheryl made inappropriate sexual remarks around her, including racist comments about Sheryl's boyfriend and his genitals.
According to TMZ.com, the boyfriend in question is Dale Davis.
According to the Web site, Boyce claims Sheryl once said Boyce "got strep throat from sucking ni***r d**k. I mean black d**k."
Larry Stein, Sheryl's lawyer, tells TMZ the allegations are false and notes that the former nanny didn't make a single sexual harassment claim against Rob Lowe. Meanwhile, another of the three targets sued by the Lowes, Jessica Gibson, also has countersued, claiming Rob Lowe sexually harassed her.
ZAHARA AND HER DADDY GO SHOPPING: Brad Pitt takes daughter out for a day at The Grove in Los Angeles.
*Before the Jolie-Pitts took off to the South of France for an extended stay, Brad Pitt and their daughter Zahara went on a little shopping spree all by themselves.
The two were spotted at The Grove in Los Angeles visiting the American Girl store.
According to gossip maven Janet Charlton, "Brad took Zahara upstairs and had her pick out her first American Girl doll - a Bitty Baby doll that looked just like her with the same skin and hair color. It comes with a little book. Afterward he took Zahara out for her favorite ice cream."
The entire family arrived in Nice late Monday with her family, two nannies and three bodyguards. Jolie will stay with Pitt during the May 14-25 Cannes Film Festival to promote "Kung Fu Panda," and Clint Eastwood's "The Changeling."
Gossip columns say Jolie is pregnant with twins and plans to give birth in France.
ITTY BITTY BITS: Reynolds and Wright; Dourdan's drugs; Kelly still coy; Naomi plays baseball; 'beautiful' Mary J; Tina tour; Kim's Bentley.
*The Hillary Clinton supporter at the center of recent conspiracy rumors for organizing the Jeremiah Wright press conference at The Press Club in Washington was spotted hanging out with Rev. Wright Tuesday night at D.C.'s Mayflower Hotel. The New York Daily News' Rush & Malloy column stated that Barbara Reynolds, rumored to have arranged the Wright appearance to embarrass Clinton's rival Barack Obama, "shared a hug and a kiss and then huddled in a corner" with Wright, according to an unnamed source. "Then they went off to dinner."
*Staffers on the CBS series "CSI" say they were not surprised at the recent drug arrest of show star Gary Dourdan, who was popped this week for driving around with cocaine, heroin, Ecstacy and other illegal substances.
"We have been worried about Gary for some time," a "key member" of the production team tells the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's just a shame that he wasn't able to get the help he needs before this happened."
*A marriage license dated April 4 bearing the signatures of Shawn Carter and Beyonce Knowles was filed and confirmed by a village clerk in Scarsdale, NY, and still, Kelly Rowland is coy about whether or not the couple is really married. "How do you know there's been a wedding?" Rowland told People magazine Wednesday when asked how the newlyweds are doing. "This is something you need to ask Beyoncé and Jay."
*Naomi Campbell filmed a scene for the season finale of ABC's "Ugly Betty" this week. She was shot on a baseball diamond in full uniform running bases in a softball game between staffers from Elle magazine and the show's Mode magazine.
*Mary J. Blige has made People magazine's new World's Most Beautiful People list. Kate Hudson wears the crown on a tally that also includes Salma Hayek, Rumer Willis, Sarah Silverman, Christina Applegate, the cast of "Gossip Girl" and celebrity couples Jessica Alba and Cash Warren and Eva Longoria and Tony Parker.
*Tina Turner announced on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she's about to embark on her first U.S. tour since 2001, reports the AP. Tickets will go on sale May 12 for the outing, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 in Kansas City. The 68-year-old dynamo appeared with singer-actress Cher, 61, on an episode taped Saturday in Las Vegas before a crowd of 4,000 people. The broadcast is scheduled to air May 8.
*Lil Kim reportedly had her car repossessed recently, and the whole thing was caught on camera by New York's CW affiliate. The TV crew happened to be in the vicinity when the rapper's silver Bentley was taken by two repo men, reports CW11.
58 PERCENT OF BLACK CHILDREN CAN'T SWIM: Disparity dates back to segregated pools and 'buoyancy' myth.
*Nearly 60 percent of African-American children can't swim, almost twice the figure for white children, according to a first-of-its-kind survey which USA Swimming hopes will strengthen its efforts to lower minority drowning rates and draw more blacks into the sport.
Stark statistics underlie the initiative by the national governing body for swimming, reports the Associated Press's David Crary. Black children drown at a rate almost three times the overall rate. And less than
2 percent of USA Swimming's nearly 252,000 members who swim competitively year-round are black.
To alter the numbers, USA Swimming is teaming with an array of partners — local governments, corporations, youth and ethnic organizations_ to expand learn-to-swim programs nationwide, many of them targeted at inner-city minorities.
One of the key participants is black freestyle star Cullen Jones, who hopes to boost his role-model status by winning a medal this summer at the Beijing Olympics.
As part of the initiative, USA Swimming commissioned an ambitious study recently completed by five experts at the University of Memphis' Department of Health and Sports Sciences. They surveyed 1,772 children aged
6 to 16 in six cities — two-thirds of them black or Hispanic — to gauge what factors contributed most to the minority swimming gap.
The study found that 31 percent of the white respondents could not swim safely, compared to 58 percent of the blacks. The non-swimming rate for Hispanic children was almost as high — 56 percent — although more than twice as many Hispanics as blacks are now USA Swimming members.
The lead researcher, Professor Richard Irwin, said one key finding was the influence of parents' attitudes and abilities. If a parent couldn't swim, as was far more likely in minority families than white families, or if the parent felt swimming was dangerous, then the child was far less likely to learn how to swim.
Irwin said this means learn-to-swim programs in minority communities should reach out to parents.
Among black children, the study found that girls overall had weaker swimming skills than boys and were less comfortable at pools. Irwin said this might justify experimenting with single-sex swim programs, comparable to single-sex academic programs now spreading through some schools.
The minority swimming gap has deep roots in America's racial history. For decades during the 20th century, many pools were segregated, and relatively few were built to serve black communities. John Cruzat, USA Swimming's diversity specialist, said these inequalities were compounded by a widespread misperception — fueled by flawed academic studies — that blacks' swimming ability was compromised by an innate deficit of buoyancy.
"There are people who still give credence to these stereotypes, even in the black and Hispanic community," said Cruzat, who wants to break the cycle that passes negative attitudes about swimming from one black generation to another.
"These long-held beliefs are still so potent," he said. "If you don't teach your children to swim, you're putting your grandchildren at risk."
EUR FILM REVIEW: Constantine's Sword
Ex-Jesuit Priest Takes Critical Look at Violence Committed in the Name of Christianity
Film Review by Kam Williams
*There was a precedent to Vice President Cheney's remark made to Tim Russert on Meet the Press five days after September 11th that he would happily accept the head of Osama bin Laden on a platter.
For over the course of several centuries, starting in about 1095, legions of Catholics had ventured from Europe to the Middle East with the intention of conquering the Holy Land in the name of Christianity, and all with the blessing of the reigning pope.
It was not unusual for soldiers participating in the Crusades to consider themselves virtuous for returning home with the head of a Muslim or a Jew on the end of a stick.
Given that fanatical religious legacy, one can understand why someone might be inclined to examine America's involvement in the region in a new light.
And just such an inquiry is the focus of Constantine's Sword, an informative look at the violent side of Christianity. The picture is narrated by James Carroll, a former Catholic cleric who abandoned the priesthood when he found himself plagued by nagging doubts about the historical links of his Church to papal-sanctioned ethnic cleansing.
He asks, "How did the Cross become a rallying symbol for persecution?" "How does one man who loves the Church confront its history of crusade and conquest?" "Why are intolerance, violence and war so deeply ingrained in religion?" It seems that he didn't feel comfortable continuing to serve as a recruiter for a faith with so much blood on its hands.
Carroll, now married with two children, tackles these thorny issues by honestly reviewing the behavior of evangelical Christians from the time of Constantine all the way up to the present. He finds that proselytizing was popular not only in the Middle Ages but is still flourishing today in the U.S. Air Force Academy where pressure is being routinely applied to cadets to swear allegiance to both the United States and to Jesus.
With God as your co-pilot, especially "The right God," it's probably a lot easier to rationalize bombing godless heathen civilians back to the Stone Age without a second thought. A powerful documentary which makes the case that the faith-based fanaticism that has destabilize the planet has been fueled as much by the West as by radical Islam.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 96 minutes
Studi First Run Features
OPENING THIS WEEK: Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film
Fun
For movies opening May 2, 2008
by Kam Williams
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Iron Man (PG-13 for intense sci-fi violence and brief suggestive content) Screen adaptation of the Marvel Comics series features Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role as a billionaire industrialist/genius inventor turned crime-fighting superhero intent on saving the planet from evil villains bent on world domination. Cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Samuel L. Jackson and Hilary Swank, with a cameo by the character's creator, the legendary Stan Lee.
Made of Honor (PG-13 for profanity and sexuality) Romantic comedy about the predicament of a womanizing bachelor (Patrick Dempsey) who decides to propose to his platonic best friend and confidante (Michelle Monaghan) only to have her return from a European business trip already engaged to a rich Scotsman (Kevin McKidd). With Kelly Clarkson, Sydney Pollack and Kadeem Hardison.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
The Favor (Unrated) Bittersweet drama about a lonely photographer (Frank Wood) who rekindles a romance with the recently-divorced childhood sweetheart (Paige Turco) he hasn't seen in 25 years only to end up raising her troubled teenage son (Ryan Donowho) alone after she suddenly dies in a car accident.
Fugitive Pieces (R for sexuality) WWII flashback flick, adapted from Anne Michaels' novel of the same name, chronicles the harrowing tale of survival of a Polish boy (Stephen Dillane) who escapes to Canada by way of Greece after witnessing the slaughter of his parents at the hands of the Nazis.
Hollywood Chinese (Unrated) Documentary examines cinematic portrayals of Asian-Americans from the Silent Film era to the present, revealing Hollywood's disgraceful history of stereotypes and discrimination.
Mister Lonely (Unrated) Offbeat comedy about a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) working in Paris who is invited by a Marilyn Monroe look-alike (Samantha Morton) to move into a seaside Scottish castle with her and a host of other celebrity wannabes, including Charlie Chaplin, Madonna, the Pope, the Queen of England, Abraham Lincoln, James Dean, Shirley Temple, Sammy Davis, Jr., Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Stooges. Cast includes magician David Blaine and director Werner Herzog.
Redbelt (R for profanity) David Mamet directs this martial arts saga about an honorable jiu-jitsu master (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who finds himself losing face when forced by financial circumstances to go on the prize-fighting circuit reluctantly in order to pay off his debts. Ensemble cast includes Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen, Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon, Alice Braga and Ricky Jay.
Son of Rambow (PG-13 for violence and reckless behavior) Coming-of-age comedy, set in England in the Eighties, about a fatherless boy (Bill Wilner) raised in an Amish-like religious cult who decides to serve as a stunt man in a home movie made by a worldly-wise school bully (Lee Poulter) after
being exposed to a pirated copy of Rambo.
Viva (Unrated) Anna Biller wrote, directed and handles the title role of this salacious satire of soft porn, set in the Seventies, revolving around the kinky exploits a couple of bored suburban housewives who opt to join the Sexual Revolution by experimenting with an array of swinging bohemian lifestyles.
XXY (Unrated) Uruguayan melodrama about a sexually-ambiguous 15 year-old hermaphrodite (Ines Efron) who faces some serious psychological and medical questions with the help of her parents (Ricardo Darin and Valeria
Bertuchelli) and a plastic surgeon (German Palacio). (In Spanish with
subtitles)
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working 24 hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force." — Tom Blandi
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
May 2: R&B singer Angela Bofill is 54. Wrestler-actor The Rock is 36.
May 3: Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 62. Actor Dule' Hill ("The West Wing") is 33.
May 4: Singer-songwriter Nick Ashford of Ashford and Simpson is 66. Singer Jackie Jackson of The Jacksons is 57. Singer Oleta Adams is 55. Bassist Mike Dirnt of Green Day is 36.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
The new blog about the new book, "25 Things That Really Matter In Life" by Gary A. Johnson (http://25things.wordpress.com).
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
May 2, 1920: First game of the National Negro Baseball League is played in Indianapolis.
May 3, 1845: Macon B. Allen, first black lawyer admitted to the bar, passed examination at Worcester, Massachusetts.
May 4, 1897: J.W. Smith patents the lawn sprinkler. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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