Disney's 'Brave' shows mettle with $66.7M debut

A new Disney princess has ascended to the box-office throne with a No. 1 debut for Pixar Animation's "Brave."
The latest from the makers of "WALL-E," ''Finding Nemo" and the "Toy Story" movies opened with $66.7 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Brave" added $13.5 million in 10 overseas markets for a worldwide start of $80.2 million.
Featuring a feisty Scottish princess, "Brave" was the first of Disney's Pixar animations with a female protagonist. And it left American hero Abraham Lincoln in the dust.

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Houston tribute, obscenities highlight BET Awards

With all the star power at the BET Awards — Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce and Samuel L. Jackson, to name a few — the most stirring moment came not from a superstar, but from the mother of one.
Whitney Houston's mother, Cissy, provided the emotional highlight of Sunday's ceremony as she sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in tribute to her late daughter, leaving audience members like Beyonce and Soulja Boy in tears.
Mariah Carey opened the tribute, and her voice wavered as she told stories about Houston. She recalled the last time she saw Houston last year, and how the two laughed and gossiped together.

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'Ted' outstrips 'Mike' in big box-office weekend

It's both a bear and bull market for Hollywood.
The bear is "Ted," Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane's comedy for Universal Pictures about a talking teddy bear, which opened as the No. 1 movie with $54.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
And the bulls are baring it in the Warner Bros. release "Magic Mike," Channing Tatum and Steven Soderbergh's male-stripper tale that debuted a strong No. 2 with $39.2 million.

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Griffith's generosity toward his castmates paid off richly for those fellow actors, particularly Knotts

"The second episode that we shot I knew Don should be funny and I should play straight for him," Griffith said. "That opened up the whole series because I could play straight for everybody else. And I didn't have to be funny. I just let them be funny."
Griffith's generosity toward his castmates paid off richly for those fellow actors, particularly Knotts.
Sheriff Taylor was ever-indulgent with the twitchy, bug-eyed Deputy Fife, and loved joshing with him just for good sport. The result was five supporting-actor Emmys for Knotts.

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Actor Andy Griffith Dies at 86

It was all too easy to confuse Andy Griffith the actor with Sheriff Andy Taylor, his most famous character from "The Andy Griffith Show."
After all, Griffith set his namesake show in a make-believe town based on his hometown of Mount Airy, N.C., and played his "aw, shucks" persona to such perfection that viewers easily believed the character and the man were one.
Griffith, 86, died Tuesday at his coastal home, Dare County Sheriff Doug Doughtie said in a statement.

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‘Spider-Man’ chemistry experiment works for Emma Stone

Since they’re a couple both in “The Amazing Spider-Man” and in real life, there must be some kind of connection between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

But don’t ask Stone what it is.

“Can one explain chemistry?” she says. “It’s hard to pin down exactly what it is and why we do have chemistry on screen.

“They do chemistry tests for movies. It just clicks or it doesn’t. I think it’s definitely some soul thing.”

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‘Do the right thing’ — Andy Griffith left lessons for the greater good

“Ahh . . . this is Andy Griffith. I’m looking for ah . . . Andrew Herrmann. Call me back?”

So went the voicemail Griffith left me back in the mid-1990s, when I was the religion reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. I kept it for years, squirreled away in my saved-messages bank until the company switched phone systems and, alas, it was lost.

I liked to play it for people in the newsroom. Nothing to it really, but folks got a kick out of hearing the voice of an American icon.

Covering faith matters, I had reached out to Griffith because he had put out a new CD

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