By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
"The Great Gatsby” is the Hope Diamond of American cinema — priceless, enviable, impossibly tacky and bad, bad luck. Many filmmakers have stepped up to the challenge of capturing its quintessentially American story of self-invention, and just about all have whiffed memorably and expensively. Australian director Baz Luhrmann has broken the curse.
There aren't many winners in the current economic climate. Most companies are struggling against the burdens of higher taxes, red tape and uncertainty, and there's no opportunity to expand and prosper. Some companies, however, have found a shortcut through deep political connections to the Obama administration.
Sarah Jessica Parker loves her jewelry — but so do a pair of 3-year-old thieves.
The old hippies would be pleased. A new Pew Research Center survey heralds this headline: "For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana. A new national survey finds that 52 percent say that the use of marijuana should be made legal." And as the old hippies would say, "groovy."
The Cannes Film Festival has an American flavor this year, with a Hollywood icon heading the jury and a quintessential U.S. literary figure opening the event: The Great Gatsby.
Leonardo DiCaprio says filming violent scenes like in "Django Unchained" doesn't deter him from wanting his movies to be great art.
Leonardo DiCaprio wants Thailand to ban all ivory trade in the country as part of a global campaign to tackle illegal wildlife crimes.
Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has called on the Thai government to ban all ivory trade in the country as part of a global campaign to tackle the illegal wildlife crimes.
A few weeks ago, the Oscar race looked wide open. The stately, historical "Lincoln" seemed like the safe and likely choice, with the provocative "Zero Dark Thirty" and the quirky and inspiring "Silver Linings Playbook" very much in the mix for the Academy Award for best picture.
"Django Unchained" star Leonardo DiCaprio said he's tuckered out and taking "a long, long break" from acting to "fly around the world doing good for the environment."
Jennifer Lawrence has won a lead-actress Golden Globe for the oddball romance "Silver Linings Playbook," while supporting-acting prizes went to Christoph Waltz for the slave-revenge tale "Django Unchained" and Anne Hathaway for the musical "Les Miserables."
Christoph Waltz has won the supporting-actor Golden Globe for his role as a genteel bounty hunter who takes on an ex-slave as apprentice in "Django Unchained."
Highlights of Hollywood's 2013 schedule (release dates are subject to change):
For all his abilities as a pop artist, director Quentin Tarantino rarely seems to grasp that stories are about people, not just cinematic archetypes. He's a gifted formalist rather than a humanist, which is why his movies often carry substantial cinematic weight — but often seem to lack an equal moral substance.
A fairly predictable Golden Globes lineup has one thing that's become rarer in awards season: a solid presence of big studio favorites to balance the independent films that have come to dominate the competition in recent years.
"You do everything you possibly can, you give it your all, all of your focus, and hopefully you come out with, if all the elements mixed together correctly, you come out with a great piece of art," he said. "To me, cinema is the great modern art form."
Mobbed by fans snapping pictures of him on their phones, DiCaprio said it was an incredible welcome for his first trip to South Korea and he was sure to return.
