Zimbabwe Fine Art

Phillip Noyce's highly anticipated spy thriller, "Salt," offers double the entertainment: adrenaline-pumping scenes and uber-celebrity Angelina Jolie.

The synergy between movie genre and daredevil actress is seamless, translating this movie into a box office success. On its opening weekend, the film grossed $36.5 million.

When CIA operative Evelyn Salt is declared a Russian spy by Russian defector Orlov, she goes underground. Years of training and dangerous missions have equipped her to outrun and outsmart the best.

But why is Salt running? Is she going to assassinate the Russian president who's visiting New York City? Or is she determined to uncover the truth behind an assassination plot and exonerate herself?

Is she a sleeper Russian spy, one who has spent a lifetime in the United States waiting to fulfill her mission?

Salt doesn't say much and her expression doesn't give away her intentions.

Neither the CIA nor the FBI can stop her in her tracks.  

The more Salt runs, the more the plot reveals a mission far more sinister than an  assassination. Ultimately, like in many spy films, the end is predictable. There are only so many sides a spy may take. But the action scenes develop deftly and decisively, keeping viewers guessing as to what will happen next.  

Liev Schreiber plays CIA agent Ted Winter, Salt's partner, who's mystified by her behavior.

But the film's main attraction is Jolie. The actress is no stranger to action films and she has her own signature in fight sequences and stunts.

"I've worked with the same stunt team for 10 years and they've become my family," says the actress.  "So I think they get more nervous. When I am climbing out the window to climb on a ledge, the first ones go, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!' I know that they are going to extra check my harness. They are going to check my safety rig and if they say you can go off that bridge, I'll trust them that it's okay."

Jolie also brings gravitas to this movie. Originally intended for  a man, the role of Salt went to Jolie, who infuses the super spy with feminine menace. She is beautiful but not sexual, almost androgynous. Her moves are unfailing, her focus single-minded.  

Phillip Noyce's expert hand is clearly behind the camera. The action scenes are reminiscent of Cold War-era spy movies with classic fistfights and kicks, thrilling and unpretentious. There's no space for empathy, sensitivity or forgiveness.

This shoot-to-kill summer flick takes no prisoners.

The ongoing Charles Taylor West African war crimes trial in The Hague will take a star turn next week when supermodel Naomi Campbell testifies. 

Officials at the Special Court for Sierra Leone say Campbell is due to appear August 5, after she asked for a postponement from a scheduled appearance this week.

They say they hoped there would be no more delays.

Earlier this month, the British supermodel was subpoenaed to testify about claims Charles Taylor gave her a large rough-cut diamond, allegedly linked to Sierra Leone's conflict, at a dinner party in South Africa in 1997.

Earlier this year, Campbell had told American television host Oprah Winfrey she did not want to be involved in the Taylor case.  She said she did not want to put her family in danger.

But after the court's subpoena, she said she would testify.

Lawyers for the former Liberian president have called the move a publicity stunt, and say the testimony will be a distraction.

Former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone David Crane, who indicted Mr. Taylor in 2003, disagrees.

"I think what the prosecutors there are doing, they are just showing everybody the fact that Charles Taylor was very much involved, moving about using diamonds as cash and guns for influence," he said.

Mr. Taylor, who has been on trial since 2008, has denied charges he backed rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for diamonds.  He says he is being blamed for situations he did not control.  

American actress Mia Farrow wrote a statement to the court saying Campbell had told her she had been given a large diamond from Charles Taylor after the 1997 dinner in South Africa, which they all attended.

Crane says the incident is revealing. "The fact that Charles Taylor was showing off and using the diamonds that he received from Sierra Leone, giving them allegedly to other people, famous people like Naomi Campbell, just shows the kind of a mindset," Crane says, "an evil-thinking mind of Charles Taylor, and what he was doing with the diamonds from Sierra Leone."

Yale University political anthropologist Mike McGovern, a West Africa expert, says besides the Campbell involvement there has been little awareness in the United States of the Taylor trial.

"Honestly, West Africa tends not to make the news unless there is some kind of horrible event taking place or famine or a visit by some American official," McGovern states.

But Mr. Taylor and his family have a long history with the United States.  The former Liberian president was a student in the Boston area in the 1970s.  

After fleeing Liberia in the 1980s, he was put in jail in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on a warrant for extradition to face embezzlement charges.  He allegedly escaped, but during his current trial he said he had received help from a prison guard and U.S. agents, claims that have not been independently confirmed.

His son, who was born in Boston, Emmanuel Chuckie Taylor, is serving a 97-year sentence in Florida, after being convicted of torturing or ordering the torture of dozens of his family's political opponents in Liberia.

His conviction marked the first time a U.S. law allowing prosecution for overseas torture was used.

McGovern says the Charles Taylor trial is also very significant, and deserves attention beyond the Naomi Campbell appearance.

"Heads of state who abuse their citizens may now find themselves in the dock later on, in the way that Taylor did," McGovern said. "It is really a precedent setting trial.  Presidents from any country in the world might one day find themselves in the same situation."

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was created jointly by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations.

It is also the first international criminal tribunal to be funded entirely from voluntary contributions.  The trial is taking place in the Hague because of security concerns.  

The world's largest gathering of comic book fans is taking place in California. But organizers of the annual Comic-Con say this convention is not just for comic book fans. Hollywood, TV Networks and videogame makers are all getting into the game - helping to fuel the growing consumer appetite for costumed heroes and fantasy.

Everyone loves a costume party.

And when it's the world's biggest comic book convention - some find it simply too hard to resist dressing up. "Since I was 14, I have liked comics, so of course by default, we started going to Comic Cons when he was young.  He kind of grew out on his own.  It was his idea to dress up," says Jon Graham.

For serious action fans, this convention is as close as some will get to meeting their real-life super heroes - or just acting like one. "Everybody wants to see their comic book hero put into film and flying and [being tough]," says Geri Sumabom. "Doing all the things that we read about. We want to see that come to life.  It's great!"

Comic-con marketing director David Glanzer says the once-fledgling event has grown in recent years, thanks in part to Hollywood's love affair with action heroes. "This is our 41st year.  Each year is different.  Whether it be comic book publishers, toy manufacturers, or whatever.  Everybody's working on new projects.  And Comic-Con is the place you can see those projects before anybody else," he says.

The convention has turned into a marketing bonanza with celebrity guests this year including mega stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

But regular convention goers complain the event has become too big. Milan Chakroboty says "I certainly do think that it has become a victim of itself in many ways, like getting into some of the events are almost impossible.  You have to get there hours and hours in advance."

But some say the convergence of popular culture into one giant venue is not such a bad thing. "You know it's great that Comic-Con has grown into this pop culture event.  This is the event!  In fact I was reading in Vanity Fair and they quoted that Comic-Con is the new Sundance, it is the new Cannes Film Festival," says J.J. Carwell

In recent years, Comic-Con has helped launch films such as Iron Man and Avatar to tremendous box office success.  This year, the number of new films being promoted has nearly doubled.

More surprised than most by the event's success is Stan Lee - the 87-year old co-creator of Spiderman and Iron Man comic books.  Lee is mobbed everywhere he goes. "I feel like a rock star in a way.  But the only bad thing about it - I don't get a chance to really enjoy the Con.   Because I can't just walk around and look at the exhibits," he says.

About 125,000 fans of comic books, movies and video games are expected to attend the 4-day event which runs through July 25.

Mention Hollywood, and most people think of glamour: beautiful women with smooth, flawless skin and perfectly aligned white teeth, men with trim athletic bodies.

But much of that look is artificial: breast implants, Botox-treated faces, collagen-injected lips and other surgically-enhanced body parts. Many filmmakers and casting directors are looking for actors with a more natural look, but they say that has become quite a challenge.

Many actors believe enhancing their looks with cosmetic surgery will give them an advantage when they audition for film and TV roles, according to Tony Nation, president of Actors Connection, which helps young actors and models get noticed. <!--IMAGE-->

"There are more actors now entering the entertainment market than any other time in America, which is a wonderful thing because actors are being really prepared as far as artists," he says. "But there are more actors entering the mainstream than there are jobs. So it's a very, very competitive, tough market."

Nation does believe there is too much reliance on plastic surgery.

"It's almost like sort of social pressure," he  explains. "Now it's like everything is being done. So you see women in their teens and twenties having plastic surgery. I think it's just a really dangerous mindset."

Cathryn Marlowe started her acting career more than 10 years ago and has appeared on a number of TV shows. "I'm not a big advocate of plastic surgery, [but] I'm not against it," says the 32-year old, who has also started a second career as a makeup artist.

"I've known other actresses who had it," she says. "I had a friend who had a little bump on her nose. It bothered her and she had it fixed, and her self-esteem went up 200 percent once that was fixed."

However, Marlowe says, the fact that cosmetic surgery has become more available and affordable doesn't mean actors have to change their unique natural look. <!--IMAGE-->

"I think with the plastic surgery, it's just gone so crazy that if you look at certain people, they don't look human anymore," she says. "And you need to look human. Sophia Loren had a great comment in an interview. When she first came to the U.S., they wanted her to have a nose job and she said to them, 'No,' she said, 'I am Italian. I have a Roman nose. I will look stupid with a little nose on my face.' Yet she's considered one of the great beauties of Hollywood of all times."

While many actors think plastic surgery will improve their chances of getting a part, Marlowe suggests it could actually hurt them.

"It actually distances the audience from you, because you don't look like they do," she says. "I think if you go to the excessiveness of plastic surgery, people don't relate to you. They look at you as if you're phony. I also think as an actor, you want to be able to play many parts, and if you have so much surgery done that you could only look a certain way, you're limiting the parts you're going to play."

"The puffy lips is the worst," says casting director Keith Wolfe. He doesn't like seeing actors whose skin is either too taut or swollen with filler as a result of the surgery.

"If an actress is getting older and you can tell by looking at her or him that they have had plastic surgery, then that takes away what people liked about that actor in the first place," he says. "If they can get the work done and walk into your casting office and you cannot tell by looking at them that they've had anything done, that's O.K."

Nor does Wolfe like when all the young actors showing up for an audition look the same.

"You don't want to fall into the cookie cutter syndrome," he says. "If you are an actress, you really don't need to go to a plastic surgeon and give a picture of a famous actor and say, 'I want to look like this.' That's not going to help them at all, because you have to start with your natural self and grow from that. You shouldn't ever try to copy someone else because you can never be that person."

After almost 20 years in the casting business, Wolfe says he knows what it takes to become a star. And it's not all about looks.

"I've had a lot of beautiful actresses coming into my office," he adds. "They are beautiful, but they are not prepared. They haven't learned the craft. So the first thing I tell an actor to do is learn your craft and be ready when you get the opportunity."

Actors Connection's Tony Nation agrees. He recommends that young actors take care of themselves and grow old gracefully.

"I had a voice teacher who I used to study with," he says. "He always would say, 'You have the face you're born with before 40, and you have the face that you deserve after 40.' I apply that to actors. Take care of their body. Take care of this instrument, because your look, your face and everything you have - that is what you're constantly selling. So it's really important to take care of your body."

Nation says as more and more casting directors and filmmakers choose more natural looking talent, actors and actresses will become more cautious about having plastic surgery if their goal is to survive in the highly competitive business.

Twenty-nine years after the death of reggae star Bob Marley, musicians around the world continue to celebrate his music.  A new tribute album to Bob Marley features performers from six different countries.



While the nine-member band Funkadesi is based in the U.S., there's no limit to their musical influences, including the Caribbean, Indian and Latin rhythms that flavor Bob Marley's "Real Situation."  Representing Europe, Africa, India, Jamaica and Latin America, Funkadesi was once praised by President Barack Obama, who commented, "I can't say enough [about] how energizing this band is."

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Of course, energizing crowds with his message of world peace and harmony was a Bob Marley trademark.  Born in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, Marley rose to fame as a member of the '60s reggae group The Wailers, and later, as the leader of Bob Marley and The Wailers.  The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and, earlier this year, The Wailers' album, "Catch A Fire," featuring the track "Concrete Jungle," entered the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Brazilian newcomer Ceu sings Bob Marley's "Concrete Jungle" on  the Tribute To A Reggae Legend album.

Also featured on the compilation are South Africa's "Freshlyground," Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, and acclaimed reggae, hip-hop and African beat star Rocky Dawuni, dubbed "Ghana's Bob Marley."

Dawuni turns to Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1978 album "Kaya" for "Sun Is Shining."

The global reach of the Marley tribute CD includes a pair of Canadian vocalists, two groups from Hawaii, and the veteran string band from the northeastern U.S. called Northern Lights, who perform the Bob Marley classic, "Waiting In Vain."

India's popular film industry, known as Bollywood, is trying its hand at producing films which will appeal to a global audience.  But the popular Mumbai-based movie industry's efforts to break into the international market have made an uncertain start.



The movie Kites, which released in May in more than 30 countries is an emotional love story of an Indian and a Mexican immigrant in the United States.  Set in Las Vegas, it stars a popular Bollywood actor, Hrithik Roshan and Mexican actress Barbara Mori.  

Its producer, Rakesh Roshan, called it "a truly Indian global film."  Kites was the first big-budget effort by the Hindi film industry to make a movie which would appeal to mainstream audiences in India and in Western countries.

Not impressed

However, the film failed to impress people on either side. Indians said they could not identify with the mix of Hindi, English and Spanish dialogues.  A shorter version, Kites: The Remix, released in countries like the United States, fared even worse. Edited by Hollywood director Brett Ratner, it was an attempt at a Hollywood-Bollywood crossover.    
Mumbai-based film trade analyst and critic Komal Nahata says Bollywood film producers have long been enthusiastic about trying their hand at crossover cinema.  But he says their efforts have not met with success, because audiences in India and Western countries are very different.   

"I think it is this urge to tap newer markets, to tap newer audiences," says Nahata.  "But our filmmakers don't realize is that what is lacking is cinema which they enjoy.  You cant jut tweak Bollywood cinema and say that 'I made it for the crossover audience'. Their tastes are completely different, plus their sensibilities are different."



Successful attempt

Bollywood has a massive fan following, not only in India, but in many Asian countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  It is also a huge hit with Indians staying in Western countries.  About seven percent of the revenues of the $2 billion industry come from overseas markets.    

The desire to woo Western audiences got a boost after the runaway success of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. The film was a British production, which used Bollywood talent and was shot in the slums of Mumbai fueled the desire among Bollywood production houses to make a similar hit.  

Of course, a typical Hindi movie is very different to Slumdog.  It is usually a predictable, melodramatic story of boy-meets-girl and overcomes all odds to be together. These films are replete with glitzy song and dance numbers.

Reason for optimism

Many people are optimistic that Bollywood movies have the potential to make their presence felt beyond the traditional markets in India and Asia.  Among them is Mumbai-based film critic Taran Adarsh.  

"That is what has attracted a lot of people from the Western world… our colors, our songs, our dances, the Bollywood masala," Adarsh says.  "I have had a lot of people coming up to me and telling me that they love Bollywood films.  They don't understand the language, but there is something about Bollywood films.  They find it very interesting."

In their quest to win international audiences, Indian film producers are trying to break the mold and explore more contemporary themes.

Bridging the gap

Several movie critics say the success in several countries of a recent Hindi film, My Name is Khan, shows that Bollywood is starting to tap a wider audience.  It is the story of an Indian in America who battles the double problems of fighting Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism) and being a Muslim in a post 9/11 world.     

However, trade analyst Nahata points out that crossover audiences are still "miniscule."  He feels the distance between a Bollywood and a Hollywood movie is too vast to be easily traversed.    

"It has to be a completely different film, which risk the Indian filmmakers won't take because then they fear that the Indian audience and the traditional audiences will be lost to that kind of film, notes Nahata. "The amount of crossover audiences which view our films is so small it hardly matters."

Some Bollywood producers are scaling down their ambitions for crossover projects.  But others are not giving up.  In September, one of India's best known filmmakers, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, will start shooting in the United States for an English language film called Broken Horses, also aimed at global audiences. Like him, many others hope that some day Bollywood -- which produces the most movies in the world -- will manage to make a mark internationally.

Music is a key part of film and television production, and in four decades in Hollywood, Patrick Williams has been a leading composer and arranger of musical themes and scores.  The Grammy-winning musician has also been active in the recording business, and he is taking his music online to explore new digital formats.

Williams has written themes and scores, the background music that dramatizes the action, for dozens of TV series, including Newhart, Lou Grant, and the Mary Tyler Moore and Tony Randall shows.

He has also done arrangements for the albums of top recording artists, including Natalie Cole's 2008 CD Still Unforgettable.

Williams has composed scores for about 70 feature films and even more television movies.  

One feature score brought him an Oscar nomination: the 1979 film Breaking Away is about a young man who hopes to become a cycling champion.  "You're a story-teller, and as a musician, you're almost a film psychiatrist because the music is dealing with the emotional underpinnings so often of what's actually going on in the story," he said.

Williams has won four Emmys for his television work and two Grammys for his recordings.

His composition Too Hip for the Room got a Grammy nomination in 1983.

Williams has worked as an arranger for some of the top names in the music business, including Frank Sinatra on two albums of duets with contemporary singers.

Working in so many different genres, Williams says his daily challenge is coming up with the right sound for a show, movie, or album. "In my experience, anyway, sometimes it just kind of pops into your head and you go with it.  Other times, it's much more of a struggle.  But I was always a great believer, and I learned this experientially, of trying to keep your mind open and receptive and not be judgmental too quickly because that shuts down creativity," he said.

Williams won a Grammy for this 1973 jazz release, called Threshold, and he says that since his college days, when he had his own student band, he has loved jazz and the big band swing sound with its brass, reed and rhythm sections. "It's an American invention.  We invented this thing.  And it's a great concoction.  And it's just wonderful to see, it's getting some rejuvenated time now," he said.

Williams will return to his musical roots for his next project, which will bring top big band musicians to Capitol Records in Hollywood for a recording of his compositions in late August.  He says the album will blend classical symphonic and big band jazz techniques, with a hint of Brazilian Samba.

He will distribute CDs and digital downloads through an online site called artistShare.com, providing yet another forum for his music.

At age 97, singer and pianist Pinetop Perkins proves you're never too old to play the blues.  Pinetop is still in top form on a new album with singer, drummer and harmonica player Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, titled Joined At The Hip.



When Pinetop Perkins celebrated his birthday July 7, retirement was the furthest thing from his mind.  In fact, Pinetop was too busy celebrating his latest release and planning his current tour to worry about the passing of another year.

It didn't take long to convince Pinetop to record an album with his close friend and collaborator Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.  After all, they've known each other for over 40 years, meeting for the first time in a band led by blues great Muddy Waters.  They played alongside Muddy Waters for 10 years, before launching The Legendary Blues Band with three other members of Muddy's backup group.

Willie, now 74, who wrote most of the tunes on Joined At The Hip, returns to his first instrument, the harmonica, while Willie shines on vocals and piano.

Pinetop's 80-year career makes him one of the oldest living Delta blues musicians still performing.  Born in Belzoni, Mississippi, Pinetop left home to work as a sideman across the Southern U.S., and eventually settled in Chicago.  In 2004, he earned a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Three years later, he was one of four recipients of the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, "Last Of The Great Mississippi Delta Bluesman: Live In Dallas."

In "Inception," director Christopher Nolan weaves a visual extravaganza about dreams. The much-anticipated science fiction thriller grossed over $60 million during the first weekend of its release, crowning it a blockbuster.

Dom Cobb is not your average hacker. He can travel into a person's subconscious and steal his innermost secrets. To do that he enters people's dreams.  

But Cobb is growing tired of corporate crime. He wants to live a normal life. To do that he must perform one last job for Saito, a mega tycoon who holds the key to Cobb's safe return to the United States.

Instead of extracting information, Saito wants to plant an idea into the mind of his corporate enemy. Once the idea is rooted, it would bring down his competitor. The technique is called inception.

"At the heart of "Inception," is the notion that an idea is indeed a resilient parasite. It's like a virus. It can be communicated to other people," says Nolan.

To make the film's dream world concrete, Nolan uses grand sets in six different countries. They provide a different texture for every dream and a layered dream world. He leads characters and the audience deeper and deeper into the subconscious, combining an elaborate heist with science fiction and psychological drama.

The cast adds complexity to the story. Leonardo DiCaprio plays master extractor Dom Cobb. Although he appears to maintain control in the midst of chaos, he actually crumbles under the weight of his own emotions and his regrets.  

French actress Marion Cotilliard plays Mal, which means "bad" in French. She is a malcontent, the dream-like projection of Cobb's dead wife.

Ellen Page is Ariadne. In Greek mythology, Ariadne was the princess who helped guide Theseus out of the Minotaur's deadly labyrinth.

Here, Ariadne is Cobb's architect of dreams. She is also his emotional and spiritual guide, the one who provides a reality check for him.

At its core, the film contains a heartbreaking love story and an existential dilemma

For the actors, it was demanding. They perform their own stunts, says DiCaprio.

"Well, there were a lot of situations throughout the entire course of the film whether we were all wrapped up in cables floating through an elevator shaft or whether we were being soaked by a massive water tank that was blasting around us."

By combining larger-than-life sets and a mind-bending plot, Nolan creates an intelligent, highly entertaining and dramatic film.

One may need to watch it more than once to penetrate the different layers of the human condition.

Unfortunately, too many action sequences overpower the story and its existential issues.

But like a recurring dream, this is a movie that's hard to forget.  

Lil Wayne's manager, Cortez Bryant, has announced his plan to release a new EP by the jailed rapper.  Bryant told Vibe.com, "I'm putting out an album called 'I'm Not A Human Being' and I'll probably drop it on his birthday, September 27."  He added that the collection would first be released online and possibly in stores in time for the Christmas holidays.  Lil Wayne is serving a one-year prison sentence for a 2007 weapons charge.

Michael Jackson's Tomb Defaced

Vandals recently defaced Michael Jackson's tomb at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.  Some fans wrote tributes with permanent ink markers.  Members of the Official Michael Jackson Fans of Southern California have offered to clean the markings so fans won't be banned from visiting his resting place.

Underwood Enjoys Tahitian Honeymoon

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Country star Carrie Underwood married professional hockey player Mike Fisher on July 10.  The ceremony took place at a plantation in Greensboro, Georgia.  The couple was later spotted honeymooning on the Pacific island of Tahiti.  Carrie is taking the next few months off from touring to spend time with her new husband.  Her fall concert tour begins on September 25.

Boyle Launches 'Susan's Search' Contest

Scottish singer Susan Boyle has launched the contest "Susan's Search" to give a newcomer the chance to record a duet with her.  The 2009 winner of "Britain's Got Talent" invited interested singers to upload a video of themselves performing "Silent Night" to her YouTube page.  The winner's duet with Boyle will appear on her upcoming second album.  In a video posted on her official website, Susan said, "When I did 'Britain's Got Talent,' I was given a chance by Simon Cowell to show what I could do.  'Susan's Search' is about giving other people an opportunity.  It's about letting them live the dream that they have always wanted to do."

Roy Rogers' Horse's Remains Fetch Over $200,000 at Auction

The preserved remains of Roy Rogers' horse Trigger sold for more than $266,000 at Christie's auction house in New York.  A television station in Omaha, Nebraska bought the stuffed horse.  Hundreds of other items from the now-closed Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri were also up for auction.  They included the late film cowboy's 1964 Bonneville convertible, the preserved remains of his dog Bullet, the Rogers family dining table, hand-drawn music for his signature song "Happy Trails," guitars and 60 pairs of cowboy boots.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Album to be Sold at Wal-Mart Exclusively

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Randy Houser, the Eli Young Band, Jamey Johnson and Uncle Kracker are among the artists featured on the new album, "Sweet Home Alabama - The Country Music Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd."  The tribute will be released on July 20 exclusively through Wal-Mart.  Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead singer, Johnny Van Zant, told Billboard.com, "It gives me great pleasure, because they're doing older stuff…my brother (Ronnie Van Zant) wrote while he was still alive.  People still love that stuff.  They did what he did.  He was a poet for the common people, and it's always great when other people are interested enough to re-do the songs."

New Album Releases July 20:

"Jonas L.A." by The Jonas Brothers
"Body" by Jamie Foxx
"100 Miles From Memphis" by Sheryl Crow
"Jazzmasters VI" by Paul Hardcastle
"Rocksteady" by Big Head Todd & The Monsters

Musical Events/Festivals/Benefits:

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Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's June 22 "Nashville Rising" benefit concert raised $2.2 million for flood relief in Tennessee.  Other performers at the event included Miley Cyrus and her father Billy Ray Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, ZZ Top, Luke Bryan, Michael W. Smith and Jason Aldean.  Nashville sustained over $2 billion in damage from the May floods.

Twin Lakes, Wisconsin will host the second 2010 Country Thunder festival July 22-25.  The first took place in Florence, Arizona April 14-17.  Appearing in Wisconsin are Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, Billy Currington, Jo Dee Messina, Jason Aldean, and Kevin Costner and his band Modern West, among others.

The 2010 HullabaLOU music festival will be held July 23-25 at the Louisville, Kentucky Churchill Downs racetrack.  Headliners include Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and the Dave Matthews Band.  More than 65 artists from pop, classic rock, bluegrass and Country music will perform at the three-day event.  

Hollywood is sometimes called "the dream factory" and the new film from The Dark Knight writer-director Christopher Nolan takes that idea to new levels, creating a world in which dreams can be shared and ideas stolen …but not without risk to both the thief and the dreamer. Here's a look at the thought-provoking new action-drama Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.


"I specialize in a very specific type of security: subconscious security."
"You're talking about dreams."

Dom Cobb operates in the shadowy world of other people's dreams. Using a combination of technology and pharmacology, he exploits a technique that brings Cobb and his team into a client's …or victim's… sleep to search out personal or business secrets.

It can be for industrial espionage to learn the plans of a competitor or for political purposes, to find 'dirt' on an opponent; but for his 'big score,' Cobb is trying something new: "Inception." Instead of taking secrets away, he and his team will plant an idea so that when the victim awakes, he will believe he thought of it himself.



"I'm just doing what I know and I'm doing what you taught me."

"I never taught you to be a thief."

"No, you taught me to navigate people's minds; but after what happened, there weren't a whole lot of legitimate ways for me to use that skill."

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Writer-director Christopher Nolan launched his career with Memento and Insomnia, mysteries that delve into how reality can be in the mind of the beholder. He also explored dark recesses of the subconscious in the action hits Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; and Nolan says Inception goes on an even deeper inner journey:

"I've been fascinated by dreams my whole life, since I was a kid. I think the relationship between movies and dreams is something that has always interested me and I've liked the idea of trying to portray dreams on film," Nolan explains. "For me the primary interest in dreams and in making this film is this notion that [in] your mind, while you are asleep, you can create an entire world that you are also experiencing without realizing that you're doing that. I think it says a lot about the potential of the human mind, particularly the creative potential. It's something I've found fascinating."

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Leonardo DiCaprio stars as mind thief Cobb and says Nolan's audacious mix of action and science demands the full attention of both actors and audience.

"I tried to take a traditional sort of approach to researching this project and doing preparation for it," DiCaprio says. "I read books like Freud's book on the analysis of dreams …but I realized this is Chris Nolan's dream world. It has its own structure and set of rules that apply in it."

"You create the world of the dream. We bring the subject into that dream and they fill it with their subconscious."

"How could I ever acquire enough detail to make them think that it's reality?"

"Well, dreams feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up we realize something was actually strange."

"This story structure was extremely ambitious in the fact that simultaneously you had four different states of the human subconscious that represented different dream states and each one affected the other," notes DiCaprio. "What was startling to me, considering how complicated the screenplay was, was seeing it in a visual format. That's the magic of movie making. It was a lot easier to understand than I ever thought it would be. That's a testament to how engaging movies are and the visual medium is.

"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."

Writer-director Nolan says the worldwide success of his Batman adventures, especially the 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight, gave him in the unique chance to make an unconventional studio film.

With the success of The Dark Knight we were in a position where the studio was prepared to put a lot of faith in us and trust us to really do something special," explains Nolan. "Those opportunities are very rare for filmmakers, so I felt a responsibility to try and do something memorable with it."

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Along with the many 'wow' action scenes and visually stunning dreamscapes, Inception does demand attention from the audience; but co-star Cillian Murphy says he believes it can be enjoyed on many levels.

"I think people really like to be challenged when they go to the cinema and you watch it and you want to go back again and take more from it," Murphy says, "because a film like this can appeal to people who want to go for their thrills and spills and their big action spectacular and it will appeal to people who want to go and be stimulated intellectually. That's rare too."

The international cast of Inception features Oscar-winners Michael Caine and Marion Cotillard, also Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Like the story's dreams, the locations hopscotch the globe from the snowy mountains of Canada to the coast of Morocco as well as the streets of Paris, New York and Los Angeles.

It has been more than 30 summers since Elvis Presley died. The singer would have been 75 in January and Washington is honoring him with, not one, but two different exhibits.   

Well-known face

Like his name and his music, his face - decades later - is still familiar.

"It is perhaps possible that Elvis is one of the most recognized human beings in all of history," says Warren Perry, curator of the exhibit "Echoes of Elvis" at the National Portrait Gallery.

The singer's face has appeared on everything from lunch boxes to postage stamps. Both are included in the exhibit.

The 1993 U.S. stamp featuring Elvis "is the greatest selling stamp in the history of the U.S. Postal Service," Perry says.  It sold 500 million copies. The original portrait by Mark Stutzman is among the works on display.  

Lasting legacy

All but one of the works were created after Elvis' death on August 16, 1977.  

"He is a constant source of inspiration, not only in visual art, but in cinema. We see Elvis referenced in movie after movie." Perry says. "Elvis is practically his own genre in fiction now, and there is a limitless supply of Elvis biographies available on the market." <!--IMAGE-->

But the focus here is on visual art. There are painted wooden cut-outs of Elvis as a soldier and a three-year-old boy with angel's wings by visionary artist Howard Finster.  

"After Elvis' death, Finster viewed Elvis as an emissary of God if you will," Perry says. "Since Elvis's death, people have taken Elvis and put him into a lot of motifs:  Elvis as a soldier, Elvis as a patriot, Elvis as a boy who loved his mom."

A lithograph by Tennessee artist Red Grooms shows Elvis in a gold lame suit, playing guitar with Graceland and one of his Cadillac automobiles behind him.

And a golden ceramic bust by Robert Arneson compares Elvis to Caesar. There is a small, brown "rock" on Elvis' shoulder stamped with the word "king." <!--IMAGE-->

"'King of Rock' is the implication," Perry says.   

There have certainly been mean-spirited portraits of Elvis since his death, but there are none in "Echoes of Elvis."  

"'What we have tried to do here at the National Portrait Gallery is pay tribute to Elvis on the occasion of his 75th birthday, with the more fun spirited, the encomium, like works of art."

Through a news lens

At the Newseum, TV broadcasts and newspaper headlines are at the core of the exhibit called, "Elvis! His Groundbreaking, Hip-Shaking, Newsmaking Story."  

"We look at this exhibit through how the news media played a role in Elvis's career," says Patty Ruhl, a writer who worked on the exhibit.

There are news headlines and reviews of performances. Rhul says the critics didn't always rave. Following his 1956 appearance on American television, "They called Elvis talent-free.  The New York Times said that he was vulgar. They said his movements belonged in a bordello."

And they weren't big fans of his movies, either she says. Elvis made 30 feature films. The exhibit includes some of the costumes he wore, and the famous, caped and bejeweled white suit he wore for his 1972 "Aloha from Hawaii" concert.

It "was the first concert broadcast live to more than 40 countries," Ruhl says. She notes that 1.5 billion people watched it on television. "That is more people than watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon."

Many of the objects are on loan from Graceland, Elvis's mansion. They document both his personal and professional life.  There is the uniform he wore as a soldier. Elvis was drafted into the army in 1957 and served for two years. During that time, he met his wife Priscilla.

The exhibit includes an empty champagne bottle from their Las Vegas wedding signed "Mr. and Mrs. Elvis Presley" and baby clothes worn by Lisa Marie, their only child. <!--IMAGE-->

Presidential meeting

A velvet jacket worn by Elvis in 1970 is on display. He wore it in a photo taken with President Richard Nixon. It is the most requested photo from the National Archives.

"He walked up to the Nixon White House and said he wanted to meet with the president and a stunned guard actually got him in to meet with President Nixon," Ruhl says. "He wanted to be enlisted in the war on drugs."

Following the visit, Elvis received a badge from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics with his name on it. Ironically, Elvis died of an overdose of prescription drugs.

And more than 30 years after his death, people of all ages are still interested in the King of Rock.  

"We were afraid that perhaps he would only appeal to a certain generation, the baby boomers who grew up with Elvis and loved his music so," says Ruhl. "But we are seeing young people come to the exhibit."

Some, she says, even listen to his music on their iPods.

Grammy-winning singer Marc Cohn is best known for "Walking In Memphis," a bluesy pop tune that honors some of that city's legendary musicians.  Now Cohn celebrates another milestone in pop history, the year 1970.   



Marc Cohn remembers 1970 like it was yesterday.  Only 11 years old at the time, he spent hours listening to stacks of records at a local shop near his home in Cleveland, Ohio.  There were new singles by Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, The Guess Who and Creedence Clearwater Revival, as well as the latest albums by Simon and Garfunkle, James Taylor and Van Morrison.  The store's soundproof listening booth, complete with a turntable, headphones and a chair, became Marc's "home away from home."

Marc says 1970 was the peak of the sing-songwriter era.  

"There was so much soul and poetry in the music being released that anyone predisposed to music like I was stood a pretty good chance of finding a piece of vinyl that just might change his life or seal his fate," he recalls.

His new album, Listening Booth: 1970, finds him in the role of interpreter rather than songwriter as he recreates a dozen personal favorites from pop's golden age.

From the listening booth to the recording studio, Marc Cohn updates Eric Clapton's hit version of "After Midnight."

Ultimately, Marc's goal was to make an album of classics that made people feel like they were hearing them for the first time.  

"In the end, this record is my humble attempt to repay a debt of gratitude to the artists that changed my life and bring something fresh to their work, which, 40 years later, sounds as vital and soulful as ever," he says.

Marc is also grateful for the outpouring of support he still receives following an attempted auto theft in 2005 that almost took his life.  He wrote about that experience, as well as other life-changing topics on his 2007 album, Join The Parade.

Traveling down memory lane on Listening Booth: 1970, Marc enlists the help of four special guest vocalists, including Aimee Mann, India.Aire, Jim Lauderdale, and newcomer Kristina Train on "The Tears Of A Clown."

In 2008, Jewel abandoned her career in pop music to record her first Country album.  The Alaska native is hoping to match its success with her new Nashville project, "Sweet and Wild."

"Stay Here Forever" was the debut single from Jewel's second Country album.  The track was also included on the soundtrack to the recent film, "Valentine's Day."

Jewel's first Country album, "Perfectly Clear," reached Number One on Billboard's Country chart.  Despite the Number 3 debut of "Sweet and Wild," the collection has received mixed reviews from music critics.  Most favor the deluxe edition, which includes the bonus disc, "Sweet and Mild."  That CD contains stripped-down acoustic versions of the 11 tracks.

Two years ago, Jewel married nine-time world champion rodeo star Ty Murray.  The couple lives on Ty's ranch in Texas, where Jewel has learned to prioritize what's important in her life.  

She says, "The theme of this album is finding what's true about you and your life, and defending it and valuing it above all else.  My newest country album will share so many of my personal feelings of love and happiness that I have written into the songs."

She says her latest single, the ballad "Satisfied," is her favorite on the album.

It's been six months since a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people, leaving one million homeless and shattering the nation's already fractured economy. 



Grammy Award-winning musician Wyclef Jean is using the six-month mark to release a new song called, "The Day After." The song is a call to action, as the humanitarian and economic conditions in Haiti worsen.

"I don't think he intended to write the song. The song sort of wrote itself," says Sam Jean, the musician's brother, who is also spokesperson for Yele Haiti, the non-profit group Wyclef Jean founded five years ago. <!--IMAGE-->

Sam Jean says his brother and members of his charitable organization flew to Port Au Prince just hours after the January earthquake to offer help. That, he adds, was the inspiration for the song, "The Day After."

"It details his experiences dealing with finding loved ones who had been killed, the rubble that hasn't been cleaned, the destruction," says Sam Jean. "To see the streets littered with dead bodies, orphans running around the streets...and he talks about holding his friend's daughter who lost his life in the earthquake. All of that contributed to essentially this song writing itself."

"The Day After" is the first track from Wyclef Jean's upcoming album, "The Haitian Experience."  

"It's going to talk about being a Haitian in America, all of Wyclef's experiences being Haitian, and (the experience of) Haitian people in the world."

More importantly, Sam Jean says, his brother wants his music to draw the world's attention to the situation on the ground in Haiti. <!--IMAGE-->

"Things are bad. They've gotten worse. He's asking for the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission to release $150 million of pledged fund to deal with some of the security concerns in Haiti. He's also asking them to release another $150 million to deal with rubble removal," he says. "Construction can't really happen, rebuilding can't really happen until Port Au Prince at least is cleared of debris and rubble."

Also, the international community has pledged millions of dollars in aid and Wyclef Jean would like the UN, the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission, and former presidents Bush and Clinton to commit to collecting these funds that have been earmarked for Haiti.

While Sam Jean spoke with the Voice of America from California, his brother was in Port Au Prince, where he continues to oversee the implementation of Yele Haiti's emergency relief programs.  

"In that regard, we've created Yele Corps, which is about 1,000 people a day given jobs by Yele Haiti. They go around the community, specifically now in Port Au Prince, and the area they live in. They aid with rubble removal and whatever the authorities need. They also distribute aid."

In the long run, he says, Yele Haiti is focused on building a more stable, thriving future for the country.

"What we'd like to address are the long term goals of rebuilding the country's infrastructure by creating jobs, reinstituting the educational system, providing vocational training to people and also having a sustainable community."

That's what Wyclef Jean hopes to achieve through his work on ground and, of course, through his music.

A concert as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup closing ceremonies took place on July 11 before the final match between the Netherlands and Spain.  International pop star Shakira and her special guest Freshlyground performed their hit "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.  "Waka Waka" is the official song of this year's World Cup.  Proceeds from sales of the single, which to-date top one million copies, benefit FIFA's Official Campaign of the World Cup, "20 Centers for 2010."

Eminem still dominating Billboard album chart

Eminem continues to dominate the Billboard 200 chart this week with his new album Recovery.  Second week sales totaled 313,000 copies.  According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has now passed the one million mark in total sales.

American Idol auditions begin

Auditions for season 10 of American Idol will begin on July 17 in Nashville, Tennessee.  Tryouts will also take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 21; New Orleans, Louisiana on July 26; East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 3; Austin, Texas on August 11; and San Francisco, California on August 19.  This year, the minimum age for contestants was lowered to 15.  The maximum age is 28.

Usher to release Two New CDs

R&B star Usher will release two CDs on August 24.  Versus contains eight new songs, including his collaboration with Pitbull, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love."  That track is slated to be the first single.  Also set for release on August 24 is Raymond V. Raymond (The Deluxe Edition), which is a double CD packaged with the original Raymond V. Raymond album and Versus.  "Raymond V. Raymond" debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 and has sold 898,000 copies since its release in March 2010.

Billboard issues list of top summer-themed songs

Billboard magazine has compiled a list of the Top 30 summer-themed songs.  Rankings were based on highest performance on the weekly Hot 100 chart.  The Top 10 in ascending order are "The Boys Of Summer" by Don Henley, "Summer Nights" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, "Surfin' U.S.A." by The Beach Boys, "Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly & The Family Stone, "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, "Endless Summer Nights" by Richard Marx, "Surf City" by Jan & Dean, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" by Bryan Hyland, "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris and "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful.

New Album Releases July 13:

"Symphonicities" by Sting
"Laziest Girl In The World" by Jane Krakowski
"Intriguer" by Crowded House
"Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury" by Jerrod Niemann
"I Am The West" by Ice Cube
"Don't Mess With A Big Band" by Brian Setzer
"Here Is My Song" by Kim Walker
"Knight and Day" original motion picture soundtrack

This year's additions cover everything from vintage jazz and rock, to Broadway, rap and a classic motion picture theme song

New musical comedy Glee followed with 19 nominations, including one in the outstanding comedy category

John Lennon's widow working with London's Abbey Road Studios engineers to digitally remix albums; David Archuleta sings national anthem

Popular Capital-area film fest showcases six documentaries about non-violent peacemaking efforts on four continents