Academy Award News Blog @newzblogz.com

AUSTIN Fans of Academy Award winner Robert De Niro can check out some of his most famous costumes -- without heading for Hollywood.Thirteen costumes worn by De Niro are on display -- through April first -- at the main entrance of the University of Texas Co-Op in Austin.De Niro last year donated his collection of film-related materials _ scripts, costumes and correspondence _ to the cultural archive at U-T's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.The current display is called: "Robert De Niro in...

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VALLEY VIEW, Ohio - Even in the rain, Halle Berry draws a crowd when she returns home to the Cleveland area.

About 800 people waited in drizzle Thursday night to catch a glimpse of the Academy Award-winning actress before she attended a screening of her new film, "Perfect Stranger," in this suburb.

Onlookers snapped photos with cameras and cell phones as Berry made her way from a sport utility vehicle to the movie theater.

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Leonard DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou earned Academy Award nominations for this action drama of savagery, greed, corruption and redemption set against the illicit gem trade and 1990s civil war in Sierra Leone. DiCaprio plays a mercenary adventurer who teams with a fisherman and family man (Hounsou) and a journalist (Jennifer Connelly) on a quest to find a rare pink diamond, whose recovery takes them on a bloody journey through the African countryside. The film comes in a single-disc DVD or a two-d...

Following in the footsteps of fellow Oscar winner Sean Connery, who was the voice of the beast in "Dragonheart," Rachel Weisz is the mouthpiece for the dragon in this sword-and-sorcery adventure based on the first installment of author Christopher Paolini's fantasy trilogy. The story follows Eragon (newcomer Ed Speleers), a farm boy who becomes the first of a new breed of dragon-riders, a near-extinct band of freedom fighters cruising around on the flying lizards battling for truth, justice and ...

"The Naked City"

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Award show season may be over, but the entertainment continues.

As spring approaches, the 2007 Academy Award nominees for Best Picture are coming to the smaller screen. While only one film got to take home the ultimate prize, all of the nominees this year have something to offer in the way of high-quality entertainment. Depicting a diverse array of subjects ? from pint-size pageant queens to the real-life queen of England ? at least one of the films is sure to capture your attention and maybe an emotion or two.

If you?re looking for some entertainment that doesn?t require going out on the town, consider staying in, popping up some popcorn and taking a look at the following films, listed here in order of recommendation, which are now on (or coming soon to) DVD.

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VALLEY VIEW -- Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry returned to Cleveland for the local premiere of her new movie.

The theater rolled out the red carpet and the Bedford native received a huge ovation.

"Really good," she said about the experience. "I'm a little bit surprised because you never know."

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MIDDLETOWN — Imagine that a woman wanting to make a point appears in a gorilla mask and tosses out bananas to the audience. Can she be taken seriously?

Apparently, she can if she's with the Guerrilla Girls, a founding member who spoke before a crowd of about 200 students and residents at Miami University Middletown Thursday.ExtrasPhotosGuerilla Girls co-founder, 'Frida Kahlo' — named for the 20th century Mexican painter — speaks to an audience Thursday night at Miami University Middletown. According to the group's Web site, 'We're a bunch of anonymous females who take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in publi...

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Who knew the Italian Stallion had any punch left in him? Sylvester Stallone knew, despite a previous string of declining sequels that reached a lowpoint with the cartoonish "Rocky?V," a flop that seemed certain to spell the end of the boxing franchise.

Yet 16 years later, Stallone returned in modest triumph with this solid commercial success that presents an older, sadder, and maybe a little wiser Rocky who decides that one more return to the ring is just what he needs to assuage the grief and anger that has taken over his life.

The DVD has seven deleted scenes and an alternate ending Stallone wisely shelved, as its boxing finale strains credibility even beyond the film's notion of a 60-year-old holding his own against the world heavyweight champ. The disc has a couple of featurettes, while Stallone, who also wrote and directed, provides commentary.

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The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club.

But what about The Lake Club?

Actor Edward Norton, star of such films as "Fight Club," "Primal Fear," "Death to Smoochy," and "The Italian Job," will be the guest of honor at the Sarasota Film Festival's first Lakewood Ranch event on April 14, festival executive director Jody Kielbasa announced Thursday.

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As many as 3,000 partying college students are expected to jam Singer Island starting today for the taping of Black Entertainment Television's Spring Bling '07.

But while some of the nation's top hip-hop acts are performing on the beach, nearby roads will have security checkpoints where cars will be forced to stop; some streets will be clogged with slow-moving traffic; and a beefed-up law enforcement presence will try to keep order, strictly controlling access to the east side of the island.

For Spring Bling attendees, island residents and business patrons, the event is shaping up to be much more than just a cable TV taping.

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Known for: Morita, an Isleton native, went from performing comedy for friends in living rooms to landing an Oscar nomination for his 1984 portrayal of the martial arts master Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid."

Background: Born to parents who had emigrated from Japan, Morita overcame childhood tuberculosis, internment during World War II and toiling in Delta pear orchards to become one of the most successful and prominent Asian American actors in Hollywood. His parents later owned a restaurant on Fourth Street in downtown Sacramento. There, Morita tested jokes on patrons. By his late 20s, Morita was working at Aerojet. But bitten by the performing bug, Morita hustled to book stand-up gigs at local club...

A highlight: Morita's performance in "The Karate Kid" remains a high point for Asian American actors who've struggled in an industry that has mostly offered them stereotypical roles. The role earned Morita his 1985 Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor.

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Middle East Series: Challenging Empire: U.S. Policy in the Middle East

Speaker: Phyllis Bennis, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C. (www.ips-dc.org) and the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam. She is a writer, analyst and activist on Middle East and UN issues, a co-chair of the U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation, and works closely with the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition.

For more information: 303-444-6981 or www.rmpjc.org

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"Boo, was our neighbor," Jean Louise Finch recalls wistfully near the end of Sacramento Theatre Company's emotionally fulfilling new production of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

"He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives," she says.

It's a specific list of almost random items until the last one. The line, like the new production that opened Saturday night, begins fairly innocuously but ultimately hits home.

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Whether your goal is to influence an election, display your creativity or just have some fun, creating and editing your own video is easier than ever.

If you?ve ever been tempted to create your own video: take heart. It?s not that hard, and if you have a PC or a Mac, chances are you have all the software you need. As far as a camera is concerned, all you need is a digital video (DV) camcorder, a webcam or even a cell phone or a digital still camera that takes video.

Recently, I?ve been using Movie Maker in Windows Vista to create videos for personal use and for CBSNews.com. Prior to that, I was using Movie Maker on Windows XP. My son Will uses iMovie, which is a highly acclaimed video editor for the Macintosh.

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WASHINGTON - Democratic California Sen. Barbara Boxer refereed a blistering verbal assault on Al Gore by the leading Republican skeptic on global warming Wednesday as the former vice president returned to Capitol Hill to call for immediate congressional action to save the planet.

Gore, whose documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" recently won an Academy Award, had a heated exchange with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who tried to paint the Tennessee Democrat as an overzealous hypocrite when Gore ducked a question about whether he would sign a pledge to have his household cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The testy exchange came in an otherwise laudatory hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer heads.

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It was one of the most bewildering experiences of my life.

On Sunday in Birmingham, there was a private red-carpet screening of Mike Binder's new Adam Sandler-led drama "Reign Over Me," which opens tomorrow in Ann Arbor. Binder, a native of Detroit's suburbs, recently found the success of his career with "The Upside of Anger," which was also set and partially filmed locally. Allow me to tell you the story of my night.

A photographer and I arrive in Birmingham. We have to get to the Palladium 12 theater for the Detroit premiere of "Reign Over Me." Why would a major studio drama, which touts heavy performances from Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle with a New York sensibility for post-Sept. 11 trauma, premiere here of all places?

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Martin Scorsese's whiz-bang crime thriller "The Departed" took four prizes at the 79th Academy Awards Sunday night, including best director and best picture.

In finally giving an Academy Award to Scorsese, 64, one of the world's greatest directors, after five previous nominations without a win, Oscar voters were essentially recognizing Scorsese not just for "The Departed" but for the master works for which he didn't win, such as "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas."

"Could you double-check the envelope?" Scorsese joked after taking the podium to a standing ovation from the crowd at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Attributing much of the success of "The Departed" to his all-star cast, Scorsese said he hoped the award would please all the friends and strangers who had wished it for him over the years.

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WASHINGTON — The doors swung open and he made his entrance with cameras clicking, the wooden politician denied the presidency and derided as "Ozone Man" was coming home to the Capitol. But this time they called him a movie star and likened him to a prophet.

Al Gore left Washington seven years ago bowed by the 2000 presidential election and a little disgraced in the eyes of his party — couldn't he at least have won his home state?

But he returned Wednesday reincarnated: the subject of an Academy Award-winning film, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, a 58-year-old guy who, slightly grayed and a little puffy, can share a stage with Leonardo DiCaprio and still manage to be the center of attention.

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? Grab your sandals and head to the Sandy Shoes Festival from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Veteran's Memorial Park, 600 N. Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce. Featuring arts and crafts, contests, live music and more. Free. (772) 466-3880.

? Learn about Native American history and culture at the Florida Indian Hobbyist Association Pow Wow today through Sunday, Savannas Recreation Area, 1400 E. Midway Road in Fort Pierce. Tickets $5 for adults, children under 12 free. Camps open at 10 a.m. daily. (800) 789-5776.

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Democratic California Sen. Barbara Boxer refereed a blistering verbal assault on Al Gore by the leading Republican skeptic on global warming Wednesday as the former vice president returned to Capitol Hill to call for immediate congressional action to save the planet.

Gore, whose documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" recently won an Academy Award, had a heated exchange with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who tried to paint the Tennessee Democrat as an overzealous hypocrite when Gore ducked a question about whether he would sign a pledge to have his household cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The testy exchange came in a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer heads.

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WASHINGTON - Democratic California Sen. Barbara Boxer refereed a blistering verbal assault on Al Gore by the leading Republican skeptic on global warming Wednesday as the former vice president returned to Capitol Hill to call for immediate congressional action to save the planet.

Gore, whose documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" recently won an Academy Award, had a heated exchange with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who tried to paint the Tennessee Democrat as an overzealous hypocrite when Gore ducked a question about whether he would sign a pledge to have his household cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The testy exchange came in an otherwise laudatory hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer heads.

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LOS ANGELES - Terrence Howard is more than a leading man.

He cemented that status with an Academy Award nomination last year for his performance as a pimp-turned-rapper in "Hustle & Flow." He takes the lead again in "Pride," opening Friday.

But his big-screen work represents only one of his passions. Howard, 38, is also a producer, honing his skills behind the camera with a credit on "Pride." He's a musician, currently at work on his debut album. He studies physics for fun, and he's a father of three trying to reunite with his wife (whom he has married twice). He also has a newfound community awareness, thanks to Jim Ellis, the real-life schoolteacher he portrays in "Pride." Ellis founded the first all-black swi...

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LODI An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award-winning documentary about global warming narrated by former Vice President Al Gore, will be shown free at 6 p.m. Monday at Crete Hall in Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St.The movie is being shown as part of the city electric utilitys Lodi Energy Smart Workshop series. The utility previously showed Who Killed the Electric Car? with a question-and-answer session about new auto technologies afterward.Each person who attends will be entered in ...

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WASHINGTON The doors swung open, and he made his entrance with cameras clicking, the wooden politician denied the presidency and derided as "Ozone Man" was coming home to the Capitol. But this time they called him a movie star and likened him to a prophet.

Al Gore left Washington seven years ago bowed by the 2000 election and a little disgraced in the eyes of his party "Couldn't he at least have won his home state?"

But he returned Wednesday reincarnated: the subject of an Academy Award-winning film, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, a 58-year-old guy who, slightly grayed and a little puffy, can share a stage with Leonardo DiCaprio and still be the center of attention.

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The film's focus on a brave man's clash with corrupt political power seems more like an exercise in overkill when the bullets stop flying.

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Uh-oh. The military-industrial complex is at it again. But a handsome, chiseled fellow pointedly named Bob Lee Swagger is around to launch his own World War III against the evil, lying government baddies with greed, power and pride at heart.

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Vilma Ebsen, a dance instructor and co-owner of the old Ebsen School of Dancing in Pacific Palisades, died March 12 at the Thousand Oaks Health Care Center, her son Robert Dolan said Tuesday.

As she grew up, she taught at her father's Orlando, Fla., dance school, then joined her brother in New York for the Broadway run of the musical "Whoopee."

They teamed up and Vilma and Buddy Ebsen were featured in the vaudeville revue "Broadway Stars of the Future." The song and dance team also appeared in the Broadway musical revue "Flying Colors," in which they introduced "A Shine on Your Shoes." They were featured in the 1934 edition of "Ziegfeld Follies," in which they sang "I Like the Likes of You."

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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Vilma Ebsen, who danced in the film ''Broadway Melody of 1936'' with her brother Buddy long before he became famous on ''The Beverly Hillbillies,'' has died. She was 96.

Vilma Ebsen, a dance instructor and co-owner of the old Ebsen School of Dancing in Pacific Palisades, died March 12 at the Thousand Oaks Health Care Center, her son Robert Dolan said Tuesday.

As she grew up, she taught at her father's Orlando, Fla., dance school, then joined her brother in New York for the Broadway run of the musical ''Whoopee.''

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CAPITOL HILL -- Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

His appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.

Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."

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WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill is accustomed to famous visitors, but its guest today is an especially hot ticket: Al Gore, who left Washington as a defeated presidential candidate and returns as the celebrity spokesman on the world's most crucial environmental issue.

The former vice president will be the star witness on hearings about global warming, a Gore passion that has moved center stage in the Democratic-controlled Congress and on the presidential campaign trail.

Interest in Gore's televised hearings before House and Senate committees is so high that a bigger hearing room has been reserved, extra rooms have been set aside for the anticipated crowd and photo opportunities have been added to the calendars of top Democrats.

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The Southeast Missouri Climate Protection Initiative will host a free screening of the Academy Award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" at 7 p.m. March 28 in the Hirsch Community Room of the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, e-mail Alan Journet at ajournet@semo.edu or Kathy Conway at kconway@semo.edu.

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CJ Jones, an actor-director who has appeared in such shows as Frasier and Lincoln Heights, races onto the screen at the beginning of the documentary Through Deaf Eyes. He animatedly tells an anecdote about a road-rage incident in which a honking driver pulls up alongside him and yells, "Are you deaf?" -- which Jones is.

Jones doesn't take that lying down. He catches up to the other driver and yells a rejoinder that sets the tone for much of Through Deaf Eyes: funny, defiant and lacking in self-pity.

Filmmakers Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey are out to illuminate viewers about deafness, not to elicit sympathy. They succeed, with a film that's entertaining when it could have been didactic. (Stockard Channing, who played deaf stuntwoman Kitty O'Neill in the 1979 TV movie Silent Heart, provides the narration.)

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CAPITOL HILL (AP)  --   Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill.

   His appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, ''An Inconvenient Truth,'' won an Academy Award.

   Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues ''the overriding world challenge of our time.''

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BERKELEY - More than 40 filmmakers, with 14 Academy Award nominations among them, on Tuesday begged the City Council to jawbone their new landlord into granting them a stay of execution.

The won a 30-day reprieve instead of the six months they sought.

The moviemakers are tenants in the Saul Zaentz Film Center on 10th Street in West Berkeley, where many have worked since 1985.

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The team of Tina Brown and Harry Evans has what passes for Manhattan's most interesting literary and entertainment salon. The other eve they drew a stellar crowd. Nobody said no when invited to meet the brand-new Oscar winner, Dame Helen Mirren, and her Oscar-winning American director husband, Taylor Hackford.

Writer Dominick Dunne, painter Peter Rogers and I had a dinner date with our longtime friend Happy Rockefeller, but instead of going out, we all went happily to Tina and Harry, eager to see Helen, the toast of at least two continents. She is the actress who, in a single year, portrayed two of England's queens, both named Elizabeth. (Not only did she win an Academy Award for being Elizabeth II; Helen won the Golden Globe for being Elizabeth I.)

Helen was her usual super-chic self, standing around on fabulous high platform shoes with ankle wrapping. On her wrist was a recent gift - one of those ivory bracelets on which sentiments may be inscribed.

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CAPITOL HILL Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill todayHis appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."His appearance comes a day after executives of some of the country's largest electric utilities discussed the possibility of mandatory carbon emission limits to a...

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Speaking to dozens of VSU Theatre students, Oscar winner and Valdosta State graduate Ray McKinnon shared some acting advice he received from actor Ed Harris.

“Be honest.”

McKinnon met with several dozen Valdosta State University Theatre students Tuesday afternoon prior to his scheduled public session that evening.

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Louisiana before, during and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina is on the big screen ? the really big screen ? this month at the Phipps IMAX Theater.

"Hurricane on the Bayou" presents "one of the few stories about Hurricane Katrina that is left to be told in detail ? the story of how the city of New Orleans might have been spared the wrath of the storm had the swamps and wetlands around the city not been devastated by years of environmental degradation," a news release about the movie states.

The film is narrated by Meryl Streep and directed by two-time Academy Award-nominated director Gary MacGillivray. The accompanying soundtrack includes music by Aaron Neville, Dr. John and Fats Domino. Proceeds from the CD will support the Audubon Nature Institute's educational programs, which focus on teaching people the importance of saving Louisiana's vanishing wetlands.

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CAPITOL HILL Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill todayHis appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."His appearance comes a day after executives of some of the country's largest electric utilities discussed the possibility of mandatory carbon emission limits to a...

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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Vilma Ebsen, who danced in the film "Broadway Melody of 1936" with her brother Buddy long before he became famous on "The Beverly Hillbillies," has died. She was 96.

Vilma Ebsen, a dance instructor and co-owner of the old Ebsen School of Dancing in Pacific Palisades, died March 12 at the Thousand Oaks Health Care Center, her son Robert Dolan said Tuesday.

As she grew up, she taught at her father's Orlando, Fla., dance school, then joined her brother in New York for the Broadway run of the musical "Whoopee."

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Washington ?- Is it a post-Oscar victory lap or a warm-up for another presidential campaign? That's what many in Washington will be asking as former Vice President Al Gore makes a highly publicized return to Capitol Hill today.

Never mind that the 2000 Democratic nominee has said he has no plans to run for his party's 2008 nomination. Gore's appearance before House and Senate committees to advocate for action on global warming is creating quite a political buzz.

"Who else could attract so much interest from Internet activists, faith-based stewards, environmental leaders, hedge-fund managers and Wall Street banks placing smart-money bets on America's future?" asked Democratic strategist Brent Budowsky. "It's quite extraordinary."

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CAPITOL HILL Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill todayHis appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."His appearance comes a day after executives of some of the country's largest electric utilities discussed the possibility of mandatory carbon emission limits to a...

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Vilma Ebsen, a dancer who, with her brother Buddy, performed on Broadway before appearing in MGM's "Broadway Melody of 1936," has died. She was 96.

Ebsen, a longtime dance teacher and co-owner of the Ebsen School of Dancing in Pacific Palisades, died in her sleep March 12 at the Thousand Oaks Health Care Center, said her son, Robert Dolan.

Ebsen was performing in a club in Atlantic City, N.J., in the summer of 1930 when she teamed on stage one night with her brother.

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Guest-star alert: Apparently Megan Mullally ("Will & Grace") has plenty of time on her hands since her talk show tanked. She drops by "Boston Legal" tonight and plays one of Alan's many exes -- a woman accused of killing her fiance on their wedding day.

| New on DVD |

Today's releases:

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Although she enjoys my columns, she said, she was never moved to write until I made her furious.

"I was so disheartened by your article," she wrote of a column in which I bragged about saving no energy on the first evening of Daylight Saving Time. Instead, I turned all my lights on early, in full daylight, so I wouldn't have to scurry around while we had dinner guests.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The chant began before the eighth round flickered onto the screen, an echo from a day long past. "Ali bomaye! Ali bomaye!" Muhammad Ali shook slightly as the chant - which means "Ali! Kill him!" - washed over him. He looked up from his seat and smiled.

The Champ was at the Muhammad Ali Center on Sunday, joined by several witnesses to the "The Rumble in the Jungle." They watched a film of the famed bout and told old stories about what some consider Ali's finest hour in the ring, when he chopped down mighty George Foreman with the "Rope A Dope" and took back the heavyweight championship on Oct. 30, 1974.

There was Angelo Dundee, the legendary trainer who never doubted that Ali, at 32, could handle the hard-hitting and hard-charging 25-year-old Foreman, the one who many experts predicted would destroy the former champion.

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"Up there," the seemingly ancient Ugandan boatman pointed a gnarly finger toward a dense vine-covered ridge rising a hundred feet or so into the jungle above the hippo-and-crocodile-filled Nile River.

"That's where Hemingway crashed his plane while on safari. And tomorrow, when you leave, you'll take off from the airstrip where he crashed the second time a few days later."

The boatman, whose name I never learned, then grinned mysteriously, his white teeth flashing and head bobbing up and down in amusement, almost as if he had just told some long-hoarded secret.

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Mark Wahlberg stars as an ex-Marine sniper in 'Shooter.'

Fresh from his Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations for "The Departed," Mark Wahlberg has certainly come full circle from his days as a rapper with his band "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch."After his breakout performance in "Boogie Nights," he's become one of Hollywood's most sought-after actors, starring with George Clooney in "Three Kings" and "The Perfect Storm," "The Italian Job" with Charlize Theron, and "Invincible" with Greg Kinnear.

In addition, Wahlberg is the executive producer of the HBO hit series "Entourage" which is loosely based on his experiences in Hollywood.In "Shooter," Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine scout sniper who finds himself in an unthinkable situation - framed as a Presidential assassin.After a devastating betrayal while on a mission in Ethiopia, Wahlberg was left to die but his training allowed him to survive, and walk away from the Marines and sequester himself in ...

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SARASOTA - The Sarasota Film Festival is reaching to the moon for this year's event.

"We're not only bringing in the stars, we're bringing people who have been to the stars," executive director Jody Kielbasa said Monday prior to the official announcement of the festival's lineup.

For the first time, the festival will open with a documentary: David Singleton's "In the Shadow of the Moon," about the 12 men who walked on the moon during NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s and '70s.

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Pamplin Media Group, Mar 13, 2007 (2 Reader comments)

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Wade remembering his roots, getting high school court upgraded

MIAMI (AP) -- Years after graduating, Dwyane Wade is still putting on quite a show at his old high school.

The Miami Heat guard and N-B-A finals M-V-P announced plans today to remodel the gym at his alma mater in a Chicago suburb.

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      OREM — A free premiere of a new film by the director of "Saints and Soldiers" will launch the Sixth Annual LDS Film Festival.

      Ryan Little's "The Outlaw Trail" will be shown in the newly remodeled 730-seat XanGo Grand Theatre. Festivities will include a meet-and-mingle at 6 p.m., opening night gala at 7 p.m. and the feature film at 8 p.m. Tickets are free, but required, and may be picked up at the SCERA Center main office. Actress Heather Beers ("Charly") will be master of ceremonies for the evening, which will also include musical guests and film clips. The dress is informal.

      The premiere is the kick-off celebration for the four-day festival. The festival offers a variety of of premieres, short and feature length films, workshops and presentations, displays, networking and the popular 24-hour filmmaking competition.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. The chant began before the eighth round flickered onto the screen, an echo from a day long past.

"Ali bomaye! Ali bomaye!"

Muhammad Ali shook slightly as the chant which means "Ali! Kill him!" washed over him. He looked up from his seat and smiled.

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It's Friday night and you're sitting with friends in a movie theater. The air buzzes with chatter, crunching popcorn and the squick squick of shoes sticking to the sugary floor. After several minutes, the lights begin to dim and loud company theme music starts to play. Then a thin, green, horizontal stripe appears on screen: the previews have begun.

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