Roundup: Pop Culture & the Arts ... Movies, Documentaries and Museum Exhibits

Series shows Henry VIII as you've never seen him

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Henry VIII is coming back to the throne. And this time, he's bloody gorgeous. Showtime's epic 10-part miniseries "The Tudors" holds court starting 10 p.m. EDT Sunday, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers cast as the unlikely lead. And much like Henry VIII, the show's producers can't disguise their ambitions -- to produce a show that finally gets Showtime an HBO-style hit, popular both with the Emmy nobility and peasants alike. They've invested an

Disney: 61 Years After Its Release, Fans of 'Song of the South' Hope for a DVD

Walt Disney Co.'s 1946 film "Song of the South" was historic. It was Disney's first big live-action picture, and it produced one of the company's most famous songs, the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It also provided the inspiration for the Splash Mountain rides at Disney's theme parks. But the movie remains hidden in the Disney archives -- never released on home video in the United States and criticized as racist for its depiction of Southern plantation blac

Author Tracy Chevalier finds inspiration in history

From the Dutch artist Vermeer, to British poet and artist William Blake, and now to a 19th century British fossil collector Mary Anning. Author Tracy Chevalier, who won international acclaim in 2000 with her novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring" that was made into a successful film, said she is intrigued by historical figures with story ideas coming to her instinctively. Her fifth book, "Burning Bright," tells the tale of Blake and the lives around him a

Anti-Hitler hero's family anti-Cruise

Tom Cruise's adherence to Scientology is causing angst among members of the family of a German World War II hero whom Cruise may portray in an upcoming movie. Last week, it was reported that Cruise was set to play Col. Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, who took part in a failed plot to assassinate Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, in a United Artists project. But von Stauffenberg's family, which is Catholic, is concerned that Cruise could somehow use the film to promote Scientology, The (Edi

They almost didn't have Paris, or Casablanca

A new biography of Ingrid Bergman casts fresh light on the making of the 1942 classic Casablanca, in which none of its three stars wanted to appear. They never suspected that their roles would become the best-remembered of their careers. In the newly published Ingrid, Charlotte Chandler tells of a lunch Bergman and Humphrey Bogart had before filming. She comments that “Ingrid remembered that the only subject they found in common was how much they both wanted to get out of Casablanc

Women's history blooms in pair of plays

I dare you to watch Sandra R. Hansen, actress-as-Amelia Bloomer (circa mid-1800s), and not feel the freedom she feels on stage at one particular moment. She pulls off her outer skirt, then layers of petticoats and frilly crinolines. She twirls in exhilaration, wearing an ankle-length, pants-like undergarment covered by a shorter skirt. "I have never been so free in my life!" she says, spirit soaring. "I could skip! I could run! I could climb mountains!&qu

The Spanish Civil War: Black and White in a Murky, Ambiguous World (Exhibt/NYC)

If there are any doubts about the deep longing we have to believe in heroes, to discover those with superior courage, vision and commitment, and then to celebrate their accomplishments, the new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York should put those doubts to rest. “Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War,” which opened yesterday, is in full celebration mode. And why not? According to the show’s interpretation of that bloody conflict of the mid-1930s, which pitt

The impact of Roots ... 30 years later

Thirty years ago I was an 11-year-old growing up in West London. One evening I sat down with my family to watch a new television programme called Roots. It was a moment that changed my life. By the end of the series I had told my mother that I would one day trace my heritage back to Africa and reclaim an ancestral name. Before I watched the programme I was called Ian Roberts but now my name is Kwame Kwei-Armah. Roots was a novel based on the writer Alex Haley's family

'Apocalypto' showdown in Northridge

Mel Gibson exchanged angry words with a university professor who challenged the accuracy of his film "Apocalypto" at an on-campus screening. Gibson was answering questions from the crowd at California State University, Northridge, Thursday night when Alicia Estrada, an assistant professor of Central American studies, accused the actor-director of misrepresenting the Mayan culture in the movie. Gibson directed an expletive at the woman, who was removed from the

China rediscovers magical world of Ming Dynasty's 'Monkey King'

"I suppose you want to fight me?" the Monkey King would say before spinning his magic staff, whipping up a magical pink cloud with his fingers and getting busy with the kung fu. So begins many an adventure for the Monkey King, a belligerent but lovable monkey spirit who has charmed millions of Chinese - and British audiences in the early 1980s -- with his exploits en route to India with Pigsy, Sandy and a monk to find Buddha's scrolls and, they hope, enlightenment.

Victor Davis Hanson says 300 gets the big ideas straight

Crowds are flocking to see the film 300 about the ancient Spartans' last stand at the pass at Thermopylae against an invading Persian army. Yet many critics, in panning 300, have alleged that the film is essentially historically inaccurate. Are they right? Here are some answers. But first two qualifiers. I wrote an introduction to a book about the making of 300 after being shown a rough cut of the movie in October. And, second, remember that 300 does not claim to follow exactly ancie

Is the latest blockbuster film an allegory for the war on terror

The new ultra-macho war movie, 300, continues to rack up box office victories, leaving the battered and bloodied bodies of liberal critics in its wake. The movie about the brave 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas who fought the Persian Empire of King Xerxes to a standstill for three days at Thermopylae Pass has fully animated audiences nationwide. But what has been interesting about much of the battle over 300 is not the negative reviews-- that’s been going on since Dirty Harr

Critics disappointed with skewing of historical events in '300'

WATERLOO, Ontario -- Caroline Falkner, a classics professor at Queen's University, did not dare brave the long queues at the movie theatre when the epic battle film 300 opened last weekend. But she plans to go with some colleagues very soon, because as it turns out, this ancient history expert considers the film required course material. "Oh, I have to see it because I know my students will want to know more about it in the fall," Falkner said. Falkner believe

'Iron Lady' movie planned, will focus on Falklands war

LONDON -- A screenplay has been commissioned for a movie about Margaret Thatcher, the strong-willed conservative former prime minister of Britain. Brian Fillis has been hired to develop the screenplay, which is expected to key on Thatcher's decision to take Britain to war against Argentina over the Falklands in 1982 at a time when her popularity was at its lowest, Daily Variety said Monday... The film project about Britain's so-called "Iron Lady" is being purs

Britain Confronts Legacy of Slave Trade (Exhibitions)

LONDON — The way history has long been taught here, Britain’s abolition of the slave trade on March 25, 1807, allowed it to claim the moral high ground in the struggle to end slavery in the New World. Two centuries later, if a series of exhibitions planned for this year leave their mark, perceptions may be about to change. Rather than dwelling on William Wilberforce, the feisty abolitionist who drove the reform through the British Parliament and is the subject of the film “Amazing G

The Cat in the Hat Turns 50

Tommy had a doughnut for his morning snack today. Tommy didn’t wash his hands after eating. Tommy’s hands are now covered in germs. Tommy is Typhoid Mary, and probably a Titoist too. The standard run of children’s literature, in America’s dawning Cold War era, was pretty dull stuff, full of portent about what would happen to Tommy and Betty and Mommy and Daddy if such rituals as washing one’s hands in intervals befitting Howard Hughes were not observed. (For one thing, I suppose, th

Film to be made about Mussolini's mistress

A film is to be made about a woman whom Italy's fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, tried to airbrush out of history. Ida Dalser and her son by Mussolini both died in mental institutions after she tried unsuccessfully to force the dictator to recognise their marriage and his son, also named Benito. "Not even Nero or Caligula would have done what you have done," she once wrote to him.The story has considerable relevance because of efforts by the Italian right to reh

Ancient Epic "300" Leads Worldwide Box Office

The brave Spartan soldiers of ``300'' enjoyed a one-sided victory at the North American box office for a second weekend, making light work of critically lambasted new challenges from Sandra Bullock and Chris Rock. According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, Warner Bros. Pictures' war epic sold $31.2 million worth of tickets in the three days beginning on March 16, taking its 10-day haul to $127.4 million. The Time Warner Inc.-owned studio expects the film to hit $200 million.

The Lives of Others, a powerful tale of life in East Germany--but how faithful to reality?

How can a smell become extinct? A country, yes. East Germany, the Communist state named 'the German Democratic Republic', vanished from the atlas in 1990. Created out of what had been the Soviet occupation zone of Germany after Hitler's defeat, it became a heavily armed dictatorship but never looked as if it could survive without Soviet backing. And yet it did have its own authentic scent, a spicy reek brewed out of People's Cleaning Fluid, two-stroke petrol, brown-coal briquettes and cheap pol

It's hardly Pocahontas: new exhibits portray Jamestown colonists as killers and rapists

England's first successful colonists in America have been branded as rapists and murderers who imported slavery and oppressed the local Indian population. The controversial portrait of pioneer life in 17th-century Jamestown has become a central part of this year's 400th anniversary of the colony, whose settlement led directly to the birth of the world's most powerful nation. When the Queen arrives in Virginia as guest of honour in early May, she will find that organiser