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AP Top Entertainment News At 4:05 p.m. EST
First lady plugs 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michelle Obama on Wednesday gushed over the Oscar-nominated film "Beasts of the Southern Wild," calling it one of the "most powerful and most important" movies in a long time in a ringing endorsement delivered less than two weeks before this month's Academy Awards ceremony....
New US covers commissioned for Harry Potter books
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Harry Potter books are getting a makeover....
Actress considers deal in NY Baldwin stalking case
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Canadian actress accused of stalking Alec Baldwin is considering a plea deal....
Eric Church leads ACM Awards nominations with 7
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- They don't call him Chief for nothing: Eric Church is the top nominee at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards....
Library of Congress has plan for saving recordings
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Library of Congress unveiled an extensive plan Wednesday to help libraries and archives nationwide preserve recorded sound to guard against losing historic recordings as has happened with those by George Gershwin, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland....
Eagles document their complicated history
NEW YORK (AP) -- Consider how unusual it is for the exact breaking point of a big-time rock band to be chronicled on film....
Wallis a natural actress, but is 9 too young?
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild" star Quvenzhane Wallis is an actress of talent, poise and maturity well beyond her years....
Capsule reviews of new movie releases
"Beautiful Creatures" - The genders have been reversed but the supernatural, star-crossed teen angst remains firmly intact in this drama that clearly aims to pick up where the "Twilight" franchise left off. Writer-director Richard LaGravenese's film, based on the first novel in the young adult series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, oozes Southern Gothic eccentricity and some amusing if inconsistent touches of camp. But a strong cast of likable and, yes, beautiful actors can only do so much with the formula in which they're forced to work. And, like the "Twilight" movies, the special effects are all too often distractingly cheesy. The setup breathes some new life into such familiar material, though, as co-stars Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert feel like actual awkward teens enjoying the fraught thrills of first love. Once the plot machinations start grinding in the second half, though, "Beautiful Creatures" as a whole grinds to a halt. Spells and scenery-chewing can be a hoot; watching other people sitting around scouring ancient tomes for clues, not so much. Ehrenreich plays a restless teen in small-town South Carolina who's smitten by Englert's mysterious new girl. Turns out she's a witch - and she's probably doomed - but could true love with a mortal save her? Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum and Viola Davis co-star. PG-13 for violence, scary images and some sexual material. 123 minutes. Two stars out of four....
Fox hires Scott Brown as contributor
NEW YORK (AP) -- Fox News Channel is hiring former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown as a contributor, and the Republican is making his debut in prime time on Wednesday....
MacFarlane gets Oscar-hosting advice from Crystal
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Despite getting advice from Billy Crystal and working as hard as he can to prepare to host the Academy Awards, Seth MacFarlane thinks his hosting gig is a "one-off" and that he'll be "flayed by the press" no matter what he does....
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