GUADALUPE, California (AP) ― Archaeologists working in the sand dunes along the Central California coast are digging up ancient sphinxes ― but these are made of plaster.More than 90 years ago, legendary filmmaker Cecile B. DeMille erected 21 giant sphinxes and a 240-meter-wide temple as a set for the silent, black-and-white classic movie “The Ten Commandments.”But in 1923, when filming was over, DeMille abandoned them there among the sands of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in Santa Barbara County.No

A scene from “Roaring Currents”A South Korean smash-hit movie about a 16th-century Korean naval hero will open in Chinese theaters this year, the film’s local distributor said Monday.“‘Roaring Currents’ will be shown in some 3,000 theaters throughout China within this year with China’s largest state-run movie distributor, China Film Group, in charge of the film’s distribution,” CJ E&M Corp. said.Released on July 30, “Roaring Currents” drew a cumulative 17.6 million viewers in South Korea. On Aug

Coming on like a fresh breeze amid the hot air that so often accompanies talk about race, “Dear White People” is both a conversation piece and a calling card, announcing writer-director Justin Simien, in his feature debut, as an invigorating voice, someone original from a new generation.From the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, to the media dust-up over an essay on television in the New York Times, the broad subject represents a minefield no matter the arena. The playfully incendiary satire

The Golden Era (China)Opened Oct. 16Drama. Directed by Ann HuiThe Chinese-Hong Kong film, “The Golden Era,” is a biopic of legendary Chinese writer Xiao Hong (Tang Wei), who lived through political turmoil in modern China from 1911 to 1942. Before the writer died at the young age of 32, she published many short stories and essays including “The Bridge” in 1933 and “Tales of Hulan River” in 1944. The film, which was screened during this year’s Busan International Film Festival, focuses not only o

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Seth Rogen let out a loud laugh when asked what he had done with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader who suddenly and inexplicably dropped out of sight about six weeks ago. “It’s all a marketing ploy,” joked Rogen, whose upcoming comedy “The Interview” mercilessly mocks the rotund ruler. “We’ve hid him somewhere, and he’ll be released one week before the movie.” Kim’s absence is at least a bit easier to laugh about now that he has finally resurfaced, appearing in images relea

NEW YORK (AP) ― When Michael Keaton met Barack Obama shortly before Obama would become president, the then-senator had a question for the actor.“Why don’t you make more movies?”It’s a quandary that has long bedeviled moviegoers just as it has, so it seems, heads of state. Why did the roundly beloved Keaton ― a manic comic actor, an intense live wire, a real-deal movie star ― become such an infrequent presence on the big screen? Even at the height of Keaton’s stardom in the 1980s and ’90s, he was

A rare feature-length animation film produced entirely in France, “Yellowbird” premiered on Sunday at the London Film Festival, a heartwarming tale of an orphaned bird leading a migration across the world.The story was inspired by airlines which flew thousands of swallows across the Mediterranean in 1974 after the birds began dying en masse before they could migrate due to an early winter.The main character, Yellowbird, is an orphaned chick who is forced to lead a migration to Africa after he is

Conglomerate-controlled scene churns out megahits, but stifles diversity

My Love My Bride (Korea)Opened Oct. 8Romance, Comedy. Directed by Im Chan-sangA remake of the popular 1990 movie of the same title, “My Love My Bride” centers on a newlywed couple, poet Young-min (Jo Jung-suk) and art teacher Mi-young (Shin Min-ah). The couple tied the knot after being madly in love for four years. The sweet honeymoon period is short-lived as the couple faces the reality of married life. Small troubles and misunderstandings pile up and they begin to wonder whether their marriage

We only hear about them if there’s video or audio ― coaches, mostly ― a Bobby Knight, grabbing and choking players, a Mike Rice, hurling basketballs and the foulest abuse at a recruit.We hear the rationalizations, shake our heads and watch the court of public opinion take them down.Terence Fletcher is Bobby Knight with a baton, the tyrant of the jazz band program at New York’s prestigious Shaffer Conservatory. A mercurial bully, he charms and flatters only so he can tear down those he charms and

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has spoken publicly for the first time after naked pictures of her were hacked and posted online, angrily slamming the leak as a “sex crime.”Speaking exclusively to Vanity Fair, the rising siren of the silver screen said she felt violated and was afraid how the hacked photographs would affect her career.“Just because I’m a public figure, just because I’m an actress, does not mean that I asked for this,” she told the November issue of the m