tag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/18/Oz_conjures_more_America_office_3e19

Big-budget 3D fantasy adventure flick "Oz the Great and Powerful" topped the North American box office for a second straight weekend, earning $41.3 million, industry figures showed.

2013-03-19T01:26:33ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/18/Chinese_film_Mystery_wins_Asian_d97c

A Chinese drama that touches on sensitive topics including police corruption won the best picture at the Asian Film Awards, while Japan's Takeshi Kitano scooped the best director gong.

2013-03-19T00:16:58ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/14/Hirscher_wins_skiing_World_Golden_9a80

Marcel Hirscher of Austria won the overall World Cup title for a second straight year on Thursday when chief rival Aksel Lund Svindal withdrew from the slalom race.

2013-03-14T16:03:58ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/13/Iran_over_Hollywood_films_like_115b

Tehran plans to sue Hollywood production companies over anti-Iranian films, including the Oscar-winning "Argo", a French lawyer hired by the Islamic republic to make the case said on Wednesday.

2013-03-13T12:15:12ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/05/Wine_journal_awards_Australian_shiraz_c907

Influential journal Wine Advocate has awarded Australia's 2008 Penfolds Grange shiraz an unsurpassable 100 points, a score chief winemaker Peter Gago said Tuesday was like winning an Academy Award.

2013-03-05T06:06:36ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/04/Spielberg_make_mini-series_about_Napoleon_12b6

Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg is to make a television mini-series about Napoleon, based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, he told a French broadcaster.

2013-03-05T00:23:15ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/03/03/French_actor_Omar_joins_X-Men_f4ce

French actor Omar Sy, who won praise for his starring role in the film "The Intouchables," has been added to the star-studded cast of the next "X-Men movie," director Bryan Singer has said.

2013-03-03T20:20:54ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/28/Steven_Spielberg_Hollywood_legend_e98b

Steven Spielberg, named head of the Cannes Film Festival jury Wednesday, is a Hollywood legend and one of modern cinema's most influential filmmakers -- even if his awards glory has faded of late.

2013-02-28T19:48:04ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/28/Spielberg_head_Cannes_festival_jury_88ff

Award-winning director Steven Spielberg will head up this year's Cannes Film Festival jury, the organisers announced on Thursday, just days after he missed out on his third best-director Oscar.

2013-02-28T07:48:05ZAFP Global Editionby Dominique Ageorgestag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/26/Oscars_host_says_way_doing_1da4

Oscars host Seth MacFarlane said Tuesday there is "no way" he will do the show again, after his performance was widely criticized as offensive and dull.

2013-02-26T18:50:56ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Identity_Thief_regains_America_office_2026

The comedy "Identity Thief" topped the box office in the United States and Canada in its third week, bouncing back on Oscars weekend after slipping from the top spot, figures showed Monday.

2013-02-26T00:46:13ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Youngest_Oscar_nominee_Wallis_play_059c

Quvenzhane Wallis, fresh from the Oscars spotlight as the youngest ever best actress nominee, is to play "Annie" in a Tinseltown remake of the hit Broadway musical, filmmakers said.

2013-02-25T22:14:45ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Critics_blast_Oscars_off-color_jokes_63c9

Critics blasted Oscars host Seth MacFarlane on Monday for "crudely sexist antics" and peddling "offensive" Jewish stereotypes, as the Academy Awards post mortem got into full swing.

2013-02-25T21:23:11ZAFP Global Editionby Michael Thurstontag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/State_Dept_excited_Argo_Oscar_432f

The US State Department, still mourning the loss of its diplomats in a bloody attack on a mission in Libya, Monday cheered the Oscar win for "Argo" based on a true life tale of diplomatic bravery.

2013-02-25T19:57:54ZAFP American EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Jewish_group_slams_offensive_Oscars_d59d

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday blasted an Oscars sketch in which potty-mouthed film star bear Ted joked about Jews in Hollywood, calling it "offensive and not remotely funny."

2013-02-25T19:27:02ZAFP Global EditionBy Staff Reportertag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Iran_slams_Hollywood_over_Argo_5159

Iran on Monday criticised Hollywood for awarding its top honour to the Iran hostage drama "Argo", with a senior official saying it "lacks artistic value" and media poking fun at US first lady Michelle Obama's surprise appearance at the Oscar ceremony.

2013-02-25T18:28:49ZAFP Global Editionby Mohammad Davaritag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Oscar_star_Michelle_Obama_unleashed_1de3

Dishing out Oscars, dancing with the stars and hamming it up with Big Bird -- Michelle Obama is having all the fun.

2013-02-25T16:32:19ZAFP American Editionby Stephen Collinsontag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Argo_wins_best_picture_shared_c895

Ben Affleck's Iran hostage drama "Argo" won the coveted best film Oscar late Sunday, while Daniel Day-Lewis took a record third best actor prize at the 85th Academy Awards, Hollywood's biggest night.

2013-02-25T14:40:14ZAFP Global Editionby Michael Thurstontag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Anne_Hathaways_dream_comes_true_bde5

Anne Hathaway won an Oscar on her second nomination Sunday, confirming her status as one of Hollywood's brightest acting talents -- and an astonishingly powerful singer who "Dreamed a Dream."

2013-02-25T12:43:30ZAFP Global Editionby Michael Thurstontag:www.blnz.com,2009:2013/02/25/Oscars_show_love_Hanekes_Amour_62dc

Austrian director Michael Haneke finally got his due from Oscars voters when his "Amour" -- a searing tale of ageing, illness, death and dignity -- took home the award for best foreign film.

2013-02-25T11:52:35ZAFP Global Editionby Sim Sim Wissgott