"I could have chosen somebody else, but it was too good to pass up," says Steve Buscemi of acting reporter Pierre in "Interview." Later, he admits, "Of course, if I had chosen someone else that might have helped us get the financing faster!"   'INTERVIEW' - At the helm of 'Interview,' Steve Buscemi tried for a 'character study of two damaged souls working off each other.' Here he is in a scene with Sienna Miller. CNS ... [full story]

In the 18th century, portraits had flash. Just look at Thomas Gainsborough's popular "The Blue Boy" (circa 1770), not just for the suit, which is conspicuous enough. But there's the dramatic pose, with the haughty hand on hip and the big hat with feather in his other hand. Jump forward a couple of centuries. Annie Leibovitz is photographing Steve Martin, in a suit painted with swatches of black paint that match the Franz Kline painting ... [full story]

In the opening scene of "Cloverfield," the much-buzzed monster movie from "Lost" mastermind J.J. Abrams, a young man sticks a video camera in his mate's face as she emerges from under the bedcovers.   MONSTER BUZZ - Michael Stahl-David and Jessica Lucas slam the door on an uninvited beast in the monster flick 'Cloverfield.' CNS Photo courtesy of Sam Emerson.  "Oh, I can just see this ending up on the Internet," she groans. Actually, just about everything ... [full story]

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Hard-living faux music legend Dewey Cox, aka actor John C. Reilly, had already downed two shots of tequila on stage and wiped his sweaty face with towels that he then tossed to hooting fans. He'd also rocked the house with more than a dozen tunes, including his pro-midget ditty, "Let Me Hold You (Little Man)."  By encore time, the pompadoured, guitar-strumming, harmonica-blowing showboat was bare-chested and gyrating in the famed Sunset ... [full story]

America's #1 Album & #1 Soundtrack, 'Dreamgirls - Music From the Motion Picture,' on Music World /Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax, Is First Movie Musical Soundtrack to Hit #1 on Billboard Top 200 Since 1978's 'Grease'  "Dreamgirls," the acclaimed DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures film directed by Bill Condon, leads the pack for the 79th Academy Awards with a total of eight nominations including a phenomenal three in a single category: Best Original Song. Oscar nominations for “Dreamgirls” ... [full story]

Joseph Beuys, one of the most influential German artists to emerge after World War II, declared "Art that cannot shape society and therefore also cannot penetrate the heart ... is no art."   SOCIAL ENGINEERING - The face on the screen poses as a guide to the bookless library of the future, in a multimedia installation by Adrienne Jenik, 'SPECLIC: Welcum 2 the Infosphere' on display in San Diego. CNS Photo by Nelvin C. Cepeda.  But as ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES - "Juno" scribe Diablo Cody won the Oscar for best original screenplay at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles Sunday night.The film was also a contender for the best picture prize, which went to "No Country for Old Men.""What is happening?" a surprised Cody said as she collected her award for the popular teen pregnancy comedy. "This is for the writers. ... I especially want to thank all my fellow nominees ... [full story]

Try as you might, you won't find a painter who loved nature more than Asher Durand.   'KINDRED SPIRITS' - 'Kindred Spirits,' an icon of 19th-century American art, was in the recent Asher B. Durand exhibit at San Diego Museum of Art. CNS Photo courtesy of San Diego Museum of Art.  "All the fascination of treatment in light, and, dark and color, are seen in Nature," he wrote in a series of published letters offered as advice ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES - "No Country for Old Men," Joel and Ethan Coen's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, won four Oscars in Los Angeles Sunday, including best picture.The film, which co-starred Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, beat out "Atonement," "Juno," "Michael Clayton" and "There Will Be Blood" for the top prize.Moments before "No Country" was named best picture, the Coen brothers picked up the prize for best director. They also earned the award ... [full story]

Gandolfini: '[I would have Tony] whacked and fed to the ducks.' Bracco: 'Dr. Melfi deserves a hot boyfriend.' In an exclusive interview with DISH Entertainment Magazine, 10 main cast members of HBO's The Sopranos tell how they would end the series, which is coming to a close after a six-year run. The final nine episodes begin airing in April.  James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano), Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti), Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer ... [full story]

Principal photography has begun in London on "Sweeney Todd"; starring Johnny Depp in the Tim Burton directed screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical thriller. The DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. co-production presents Depp as Sweeney Todd, a man unjustly sent to prison, who vows revenge not only for that cruel punishment but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, he becomes ... [full story]

During its days as a British colony, much of India's art history remained hidden. The rediscovery of historical work at archaeological sites beginning in the 1850s was a spur to surging pride in Indian culture.   INDIAN ICON - In Nandalal Bose's 'New Clouds,' (1937) the girls moving through a grove established a subtle visual rhythm. CNS Photo courtesy of National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.  A young artist named Nandalal Bose was deeply affected by ... [full story]

Join Serpico Wolfgang Krugel as he shares his adventures working in the Los Angeles Police Department narcotics unit in his new book, "The K-9 Chronicles: Book One" This book is the first in a series of fictional books inspired by real- life dogs and events in their lives. Each book focuses on the story of a different law enforcement K-9 that is scheduled to be euthanized, but then saved by Jake, a former LAPD cop ... [full story]