CULTURE

Will the Mad Men of U.S. television score a second Emmy best drama victory and can anyone stop comic actress Tina Fey and 30 Rock?

Patty Loveless' 2001 bluegrass album, Mountain Soul, holds a special place in her heart. Influenced by the music she grew up with in rural Kentucky, the album resonated strongly with the country singer's fans even as it broadened her audience.

The Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z might be the week's No. 1 album. But the other major September 8 hip-hop release, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx . . . Pt. II, can still claim a victory.

In the midst of its first reunion tour in the summer of 2006, veteran hard rock act Alice in Chains played to a crowd of 30,000 at Portugal's Super Bock Super Rock festival. As the band performed a set of its classic cuts, a handful of fans unfurled a 25-foot-long sign that read, Alice in Chains Get Born Again.

He gained fame as one of China's best dancers and was at the center of an international crisis, but the real story of Li Cunxin may never have been told if it had not been for Li sitting down to write it.

Grammy Award-winning rock duo The White Stripes for years have maintained an air of mystery around them, but a new film documentary offers a rare insider's look at the pair, who often toy with their public image.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival Saturday, giving the Oprah Winfrey-produced film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season.

At first impression, the man no one knows as Michael Penniman seems uncharacteristically quiet. As he takes a well-earned break from rehearsing for a tour to promote one of the year's most eagerly anticipated music releases, he seems tired and anxious, a far cry from his usual ebullience.

A Los Angeles judge has ruled that Michael Jackson's mother can challenge the administrators of his estate without losing her share in a lucrative family trust, according to court papers released on Friday.

The son of actors Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal, who spent his mother's dying days in jail on a drugs charge, was ordered into a one-year treatment program on Friday for heroin possession.

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz admits to not being an avid fan of comic books. When he started chatting with Los Angeles designer Darren Romanelli about developing a visual project with the band, however, the idea of creating a comic seemed like a natural fit.

Four well-targeted films hit domestic multiplexes Friday, but the weekend forecast suggests prospects are sunniest for the 3D animated feature Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

After seeing Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith's earnest, smart documentary about Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers controversy, viewers not old enough when it unfolded might wonder why the story has played such a minor role in popular histories of the era. This informative account deserves more than the very limited theatrical release it's likely to get. The Most Dangerous Man in America: ...

Jennifer's body, the horror film starring Megan Fox as a sexy high school student that is possessed by an evil spirit, has gotten mixed reviews from film critics.

The Toronto International Film Festival has catapulted several well-known Bollywood movies to global prominence in recent years, but 2009's event has showcased one Indian movie that had audiences buzzing for its use of a rare language, Konkani.

Glorious 39 sends mixed signals. One minute it seems like a conspiracy thriller and the next one of those well-upholstered English melodramas about the privileged class pushing back against threats to their way of life. Either way, it's a lot of hokum that relies on contrivance and chance to move its dubious plot forward.

Music producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector says life behind bars is driving him insane.

ARTIST: BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM: LOVE IS THE ANSWER

The U.S. soap opera Guiding Light -- the world's longest-running TV drama -- aired its final episode on Friday, ending a 72 year run.

Maybe Tim Blake Nelson just got tired of being so serious. The actor and writer -- whose previous films as a director have questioned the existence of God (Eye of God), retold Othello in a high school setting (O) and examined the conscience of Jews who worked with their oppressors in Nazi concentration camps (The Grey Zone) -- goes absolutely bonkers in Leaves of Grass.

This year's Toronto film festival lowers its final curtain this weekend after 10 days of red carpet premieres and industry networking that produced few movie deals but showcased some good bets for Oscars.

Christie's will offer for sale what it calls a Rembrandt masterpiece in December, and expects to fetch up to 25 million pounds ($41 million) in what would be an auction record for the artist.

Half a million people are expected to fill Havana's Revolution Square Sunday for a concert that is supposed to be about peace, but has become another front in the war of words between Havana and the Cuban exile community in Miami.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is poised to exit bankruptcy by the end of September after a federal bankruptcy judge approved a reorganization plan that gives ownership of Minnesota's largest newspaper to its senior lenders.

Taiwan's second-largest city is reconsidering plans to show a film about Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer over concerns it would upset China just weeks after the Dalai Lama's visit to the island, officials said on Friday.

Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter walked away with the feature film award for their WALL-E screenplay Thursday at the annual Humanitas Awards, which honor TV and film writers whose work enriches human understanding.

Jacques Audiard's prison drama A Prophet will be France's bid for an foreign Oscar nomination slot for the 2010 Academy Awards, the French film organization CNC said Thursday.

Hallmark Channel is planning Christmas in Canaan, starring Billy Ray Cyrus.

Three hard-edged movies about young women screening this week at the Toronto film festival depart from Hollywood formulas by avoiding sentimental or romantic cliches that often define movies about teenagers.