Etta James Condition Better, Removed Respirator

First Released: December 30, 2011 6:44 PM EST Credit: Getty Images Caption Etta James works at home of Blues in Chicago, Illinois on April 30, 2009RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Etta James manager states the crictally ill blues singer is breathing by herself after being removed a respirator. Lupe P Leon states Friday the alternation in her condition is excellent news which the performers bloodstream pressure is common. P Leon states James was placed on a respirator when she was put in the hospital in Los Angeles on 12 ,. 21 because she was getting trouble breathing. James continues to be identified with terminal leukemia and it is struggling with dementia. She's been receiving mostly at-home care. Earlier this year, a judge put aside $350,000 on her health care. James is better noted for the hit Finally. Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2012 Oscars Poster Unveiled!

First Published: December 28, 2011 1:29 PM EST Credit: A.M.P.A.S. LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption The poster for the 84th Academy AwardsThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the poster for the 84th Academy Awards on Wednesday morning a poster which pays homage to several great Best Picture winners of the classic gold statue. Under the line, Life, Camera, Action, the poster created by graphic designer Anthony Goldschmidt and Mark and Karen Crawford of the design firm Blood & Chocolate features the Oscar statue next to posters from Gone with the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1943), Giant (1956), The Sound of Music (1965), The Godfather (1972), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Forrest Gump (1994) and Gladiator (2000). Seven of the films won Best Picture, except for Giant, which earned George Stevens a Best Director statue. The tagline on the poster is, Celebrate the movies in all of us. Whether its a first date or a holiday gathering with friends or family, movies are a big part of our memory, Tom Sherka, Academy President, said in a statement released on Wednesday morning. The Academy Awards not only honor the excellence of these movies, but also celebrate what they mean to us as a culture and to each of us individually. The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 AM PST in the Academys Samuel Goldwyn Theater.T he Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, will air on Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 7 PM EST/4 PM PST on ABC. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jay Pharoah Wants to be in the New 'Friday' Movie

It didn't work for Donald Glover in his efforts to become Spider-Man (and too bad, since that would have been awesome), but that isn't stopping Jay Pharoah from trying his Twitter luck at getting cast in a big Hollywood sequel. The 'Saturday Night Live' featured player -- best known for his impersonations of Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Kanye West -- took to Twitter on the slowest news day of 2011 with eyes on getting fans to support his attempts at starring in the next 'Friday' film. "Jay Pharoah for the new 'Friday' movie tweet #Pharoah4friday #TeamPharoah," he wrote. "Let's get it trending!!!" As you may have read, Ice Cube's production process of getting the entire original cast back together for another 'Friday.' (Apparently, perhaps, even Chris Tucker.) What role Pharoah would play remains to be seen, obviously, but his involvement could happen -- provided you Tweet your hearts out. Worldwide, the three 'Friday' films have earned $122 million. Pencil in number four -- perhaps with Pharoah -- for sometime in 2013. Or 2014. Stoners and all. [via @jaypharoah] [Photo: Getty] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Scarlett Johansson hates her nickname

Inside a move that will likely ensure she will get known as it two times just as much, Scarlett Johansson has revealed she hates the most popular shortening of her title towards the contrived abbreviation "Scar-Jo"."It's idleness," she told USA Today. "People can't really the whole title? It is simply bizarre... Basically hear somebody state that, I understand I'm not sure them whatsoever."Typically, it's only been more youthful Hollywood starlets who've had their third and fourth names hyphened together, and Johansson continues to question why "serious stars" don't are available in for the similar treatment."So Cate Blanchett isn't, like, 'Ca-Bla'?" she queried. "Can you explain that? Why must i find yourself in trouble having a mangled moniker?" She continued to suggest Da-Day for Daniel Day-Lewis, which we should confess, we rather like.Anyway, we have received the warning noisy and obvious, and that's why poor Scarlett will be known to solely by her full title. Unless of course obviously she stars inside a film with Taylor Lautner and Billy Burke, by which situation the temptation may be an excessive amount of to face up to...

Critic's Guide to the Week in TV: Finales, Musical and Comedy Divas, and More!

Allison Miller 'Twas the week before Christmas, and I can't remember when so much was stirring on TV this late into the year. Here are some highlights from an unusually busy pre-Christmas week.MONDAYDINO-MIGHT? The biggest cliffhanger regarding the two-hour finale of Fox's time-tripping family sci-fi drama Terra Nova (8/7c) isn't so much what happens on the show, which is fairly standard action-adventure mayhem, but whether it will return for a second season next year. (That decision should be made fairly early in 2012.) If you can accept the fact that this lavishly produced exercise in escapist corn has more of the feel of an old-fashioned comic book than a newfangled graphic novel, it's not that hard to enjoy the melodrama. The finale gets off to a strong start when an invading mercenary army from 2149, acting on orders of the greedily rapacious Phoenix Group, explosively interrupts the arrival of the 11th Pilgrimage. Sheriff Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara) is violently sidelined in the skirmish, and wakes days later to a disorienting tableau of military occupation. With Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) MIA in the wilderness, Jim plays resistance leader from the inside, but eventually the entire Shannon family has to go into hiding, resembling the Von Trapps at the end of The Sound of Music. And at times, it's just as schmaltzy. It's not much of a spoiler alert to report that the Shannon kids, who make Cindy Lou Who look edgy, are never in any real danger. Except perhaps of a saccharine OD.The villains, meanwhile, are cartoonishly garish, starting with Taylor's psychotically vengeful physicist son Lucas (Ashley Zuckerman). When Lucas boasts to a tool named Weaver, the most odious of the Phoenix leaders, that they could strip half of this unspoiled continent of its natural resources in six months, Weaver actually cackles, "That's what I like to hear. ... Be one hell of a barbecue down here." Oh, Weaver, you're asking for it. In the course of the action, the source of Lucas' patricidal enmity is revealed, and Jim executes a drastic plan to stop Phoenix that will change the colony's and the series' future, if there is one. And should Fox decide Terra Nova is too costly an enterprise with too little return to keep going, there's just enough closure in this finale to keep the fans from going too T-Rex.TAKING A FALL: Having had luck in past Christmas weeks with weeklong programming stunts introducing Deal Or No Deal and The Sing-Off to sizable audiences, NBC is hoping the spectacle of quiz-show contestants falling through trap doors will be similarly appealing. That's the flimsy gimmick of Who's Still Standing? (8/7c), airing through Thursday, but even host Ben Bailey (of Cash Cab) can't seem to get too worked up about it. The premise: A contestant - in the opener, a genial Arkansas volleyball coach - faces off against 10 strangers in head-to-head trivia rounds. If the player outlasts five of his loudly taunting rivals, he or she can keep the money they've earned (each opponent is assigned a different and random money value). Beat all 10, and the prize is $1 million. Not much to it, but who would have guessed that the stupid show with the briefcases would catch on? ... If the trap doors led to a snake pit, you'd be in Fear Factor territory, and in this week's episode (9/8c), that's exactly what happens, as one team member is covered with hundreds of snakes while the other moves the snakes with his or her mouth. And the winner of this show only gets $50,000. Hardly seems enough.SOUL SISTERS: A tribute to the late Amy Winehouse is one of the highlights of this year's VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul concert special (9/8c), with Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine teaming with Wanda Jackson and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Other headliners include Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott and Jessie J, each saluting the cities that inspired their soulful styles, including Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia.GUEST ALERT: On the next-to-last episode of The Closer's winter season (TNT, 9/8c), Major Crimes looks into the hit-and-run of a young female bicyclist, with Desperate Housewives' Mark Moses and Weeds' Elizabeth Perkins appearing as L.A.'s police commissioner and his wife, who may be covering up a scandal. ... On Rizzoli & Isles (10/9c), Lolita Davidovich returns as Korsak's ex-wife, when the sarge's stepson is accused of shooting a cop.TUESDAYKATHY THE TIRELESS: Comedy diva Kathy Griffin bestows another gift on her snark-hungry fans with her fourth Bravo comedy special this year: Kathy Griffin: Tired Hooker (10/9c). It's not like she's ever lacking for material. Among her targets, skewered before a sold-out audience in Atlantic City: no-longer-newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, and no-longer-wed Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, with a salvo aimed at Nancy Grace for her Dancing With the Stars wardrobe malfunction. Bravo, Kathy!SANTA'S MOST WANTED: Adopting a lighter touch than most of the recent batch of TNT Mystery Movies, Deck the Halls (9/8c) is based on the holiday mystery novels written by Mary Higgins Clark and daughter Carol. Which might explain the tight bond between the movie's heroine, gorgeous P.I. Regan Reilly (Scottie Thompson), and her mom, mystery writer Nora (Jane Alexander), who team up with amateur sleuth/lottery winner Alvirah Meegan (a very welcome Kathy Najimy) when Nora's husband (David Selby) is kidnapped by a thug in a Santa suit three days before Christmas. Is it wrong that as I watched Alexander and Selby together, I couldn't shake the memory of their graphic sex scenes in HBO's short-lived Tell Me You Love Me? Not to worry. This one's strictly PG.WEDNESDAYREALITY FINALES: It's going to be a Merry Christmas for someone this week, including the winner of Bravo's stimulating Work of Art: The Next Great Artist (9/8c), which gives the three finalists - Sara, Kymia and front-runner Young - a chance to display their collections to the judges, with the winner going on to a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. ... Top Chef: Texas (10/9c) is still a while away from crowning its winner, and in this week's episode, the Quickfire challenge forces the chefs to take instructions from tweets on Twitter, which is probably more annoying than it even sounds. Patti LaBelle is guest judge for the elimination round, in which the chefs prepare a "tribute dish" in honor of the person who taught them their way around a kitchen. Presumably not while tweeting.And then there's Fox's The X Factor (8/7c), with the final 90-minute performance show divvied up among the three finalists: Melanie Amaro (the favorite, or at least mine), dark horse Josh Krajkic and addict-turned-rapper Chris Rene, who has the most compelling personal story. Who will win? Who's left to care, considering that in an act of ultimate hubris, the $5 million winner won't be announced until Thursday, awfully close to Christmas for much of the real world to be focused on the winner of an overblown singing competition.SURREALITY FINALE: They've barely had time to mop up the bloody mess from last week's childbirth episode of FX's American Horror Story (10/9c), which was less horrific than horrible as Vivien predictably joined the ranks of the house's dense (in many ways) population of ghosts. In the season finale of this stupefyingly lurid hot mess, the fate of the surviving baby - and, presumably, the surviving Harmon (Dylan McDermott) - sets the stage for next season. Calling all exorcists!JUST IN (JUSTIN) TIME: If The X Factor strikes you as off-key, there are other options, including CBS's A Home for the Holidays With Martina McBride (8/7c), the 13th annual holiday special extolling the virtues of adoption. Among those joining McBride in musical performances: Mary J. Blige, Gavin DeGraw, OneRepublic and the ubiquitous Justin Beiber. ... Just how omnipresent is the Beeb? He also appears in NBC's A Michael Bublé Christmas (9/8c), getting a second airing after the crooner's successful Saturday Night Live appearance. ... And TLC weighs in with This Is Justin Bieber (9/8c), a holiday special featuring acoustic versions of songs from Bieber's Under the Mistletoe Christmas album, plus footage of Bieber in London, including a performance on The X Factor UK, which somehow brings everything dizzyingly full circle. Please don't let this be the start of a Bieber celeb-reality show. I wouldn't put anything past TLC.THURSDAYWINNING: The winner of The X Factor (8/7c) is revealed in what's sure to be a deafening two-hour live results show (and that's just the noise coming from the studio audience). ... And yet another reality competition comes to a blingy finish, as Lifetime's Project Accessory (10/9c) displays the three finalists' designs in front of NY fashionistas. Was anyone aware this was even still on?FRIDAYTHE OTHER BEEB: In a fun experiment of TV as radio, NPR's popular and Peabody-winning Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! quiz show-with-a-twist comes to BBC America for a year-end special, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! A Royal Pain in the News (8/7c). With "everyone's favorite news uncle" Carl Kasell as announcer and scorekeeper, and the genially glib Peter Sagal as host, the stage is set for topical and comedic banter as a panel including Paula Poundstone, Last Comic Standing's Alonzo Bodden and British wit Nick Hancock field questions and commentary on subjects including Occupy Wall Street, the Murdochs and the year in politics. Here's Bodden on the coverage of the crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street protester, likening it to the civil rights movement: "Good luck with the pepper spray. We had fire hoses. Not as spicy, little more pressure." Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman is brought on for a special round of questions on the royal wedding of William and Kate. He does better than you might think.THE CHUCK WAGON: If you're looking for new network fare on the eve of Christmas Eve, NBC continues burning off the final season of Chuck (8/7c) with a new episode featuring comics legend Stan Lee, who once upon a time romanced the stone - by which we mean stone-faced but deep down warm-hearted General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy). Christmas is anything but peaceful at the Buy More, as a computer virus called "the Omen" takes aim at Carmichael Industries, but when it goes viral, ends up sending scores of customers to the store on Christmas Eve for some Nerd Herd maintenance.(On actual Christmas Eve, starting at 8/7c, things get back to normal, with NBC re-airing It's a Wonderful Life opposite ABC's perennial The Sound of Music, while TBS revs up its 24 Hours of A Christmas Story marathon, which continues through Christmas Day. This is more like it.)With that, a wish for happy viewing through the holidays.Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Batman Star Bale Attempts To Visit China Activist

First Released: December 16, 2011 9:09 AM EST Credit: Getty Images BEIJING -- Caption Christian Bale gets to this year's La premiere of Public Opponents, June 23, 2009Batman star Christian Bale, at the time of marketing a movie he earned in China that some experts have known as propaganda, was physically stopped by government-backed pads from going to a blind activist living under house arrest having a CNN crew with you to record the scuffle. CNN published footage from the confrontation on its website Friday. The run-in and publicity will probably cause discomfort in Chinas government-backed film industry, which hopes Bales movie The Flowers of War is a creative success both at home and abroad. The heavens actions are certain to focus attention around the plight of Chen Guangcheng, guarded night and day by thugs who've blocked a large number of reporters and fellow activists attempting to see him previously. Bale ended up being to leave China on Friday and the reps couldn't immediately be arrived at for comment. Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last years The Fighter, traveled Thursday having a crew from CNN towards the village in eastern China where Chen, the blind lawyer, lives together with his family in complete isolation. These were stopped in the entrance to Dongshigu village in Shandong province by unknown males. The recording footage shows Bale asking to determine Chen, having a CNN producer supplying interpretation, when you are purchased by among the pads to depart. Then he requested why he was not able to feed. The pads responded by attempting to grab or punch a little camcorder Bale was transporting. Things I wanted to complete ended up being to satisfy the guy, shake his hands and say how much of an inspiration he's, Bale was cited as saying by CNN. Chens situation continues to be elevated openly by U.S. congress and diplomats, including Secretary of Condition Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China. CNN stated Bale first discovered Chen from news reviews when he is at China filming The Flowers of War, Chinas official submission this season for the best language film Oscar. Chen Guangcheng is really a newsworthy figure and therefore it is incorporated in the interest of CNNs global audiences to listen to from him, CNN stated inside a statement. Mr. Bale arrived at to CNN and asked us to become listed on him on his journey to go to Chen. Chen, a self-trained lawyer who had been blinded with a fever in infancy, angered government bodies after recording forced late-term abortions and sterilizations along with other abuses by overzealous government bodies attempting to meet population control goals in the rural community. He was jailed for allegedly instigating a panic attack on government offices and organizing someone to disrupt traffic, charges his supporters say were fabricated. Although now formally free underneath the law, he's been limited to his home within the village eight hrs drive from Beijing and exposed to periodic beatings along with other abuse, activists say. While Bales visit focuses new attention on Chens situation, CNNs role boosts questions regarding activism and advocacy among reporters, stated David Bandurski, editor from the China Media Project website in the College of Hong Kong. It helped me instantly uncomfortable, wondering the way it all joined together. It boosts questions regarding in which the line is attracted, Bandurski stated. The incident also came strong interest the majority of it highly positive on social networks for example Twitter and it is Chinese equivalent, Weibo. Getting their stars title pinging over the Internet regarding the this type of politically sensitive subject puts marketers from the Flowers of War inside a bind. The film opens in China on Friday and then week within the U . s . States. Directed through the famous Zhang Yimou, it's also probably the most costly Chinese movie available, at $94 million, most of which originated from the condition-possessed Bank of China. The film focuses on the 1937 sacking from the eastern town of Nanjing, a central event in Chinas pre-revolutionary century of humiliation and it has been referred to by some experts as hewing to official propaganda representing Chinese as heroic sufferers and Japanese as you-dimensional cartoon villains. While China has got the mobile phone industry's third-biggest film industry in box office and output it's made relatively little global impact. Story line is frequently heavily affected through the ruling Communist Party, whose culture commissars must approve scripts and also have final say over whether a movie will get launched. Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Giuliana Rancic Doing Really Well After Double Mastectomy

First Published: December 14, 2011 7:08 PM EST Credit: Getty Images LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Bill Rancic and Giuliana Rancic attend the 18th Annual QVC FFANY Shoes On Sale at The Waldorf Astoria, NYC, on October 13, 2011Giuliana Rancic underwent a successful double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery on Tuesday. G is doing really well, her husband, Bill Rancic, told E! News. Her surgery lasted about four hours and the doctors were very pleased with the result. Bill admitted the hours after surgery were certainly not a breeze for his brave wife. She had a little bit of pain through the night but is feeling much better this morning and was cracking jokes, he added. Giuliana herself, offered gratitude for the supportive words she has received from the public. I want to thank all the viewers and fans for their support and prayers, she told E! News. The tweets and notes have not gone unnoticed. I am very grateful. Earlier this month, the E! host revealed she was planning to undergo the double mastectomy after a previous lumpectomy was unable to rid her body of cancer. For me, it was important to get the cancer out, Giuliana explained on the Today show in early December. Thats what I wanted to do just get it out. The E! TV personality who first revealed she was battling breast cancer in October said her desire to have children was a big part of her decision-making process. That was actually a big part of it, not all of it, but a big part, she previously told Todays Ann Curry. But to be honest, at the end, all it came down to was just choosing to live, and not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Thats really what it came down to. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.