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ENTERTAINMENT B1

September 25, 2009

the grapevine The Early Life of an Iconic Designer Eva Longoria Parker Studying Her Roots

Actress Eva Longoria Parker. photo by robert benson/getty images for nclr

Actress Eva Longoria Parker has set her sights on a master’s degree. The “Desperate Housewives” star recently told “Hola” magazine that she wants to “Learn more about the history of the country we came from.” According to the Associated Press, she plans to do that through a graduate program in Chicano studies and political science. Parker grew up in Texas, but her family is originally from Monterrey, Mexico.

Jessica Biel Headed for the Peak Actress Jessica Biel is gearing up to climb Africa’s highest peak— Mount Kilimanjaro. Biel will join hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco and actress Isabel Lucas on the summit

expedition. The celebrity adventure aims to raise awareness about the need for clean water around the world. More participants are expected to be announced.

A New Single Coming From Michael Jackson Sony Music Entertainment has announced that “This Is It” will be the first posthumously released song from Michael Jackson. The company will make the track public on Oct. 12. Just

before the opening of the feature film “This Is It,” the twodisc album of the same name will be made available on Oct. 26 internationally and on Oct. 27 in North America.

Celebrity New Yorkers Step Out for Children New Yorkers for Children, an organization that supplements the needs of children on welfare and in foster care, held its annual Fall Gala at Cipriani 42 in Manhattan on Tuesday. Hosting the event

was Anderson Cooper. There to support the cause were Mary J. Blige, Oscar de la Renta, Frederick Fekkai, and Jessica Seinfeld, among others. The event raised $1.5 million.

Hall of Fame Nominees Announced Nominees for the 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been announced. The 12 artists include ABBA, LL Cool J, Donna Summer, Genesis,

KISS, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Over 500 voters will decide who will be inducted in a ceremony on March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.

Ellen Pompeo Welcomes Baby Girl “Grey’s Aanatomy” star Ellen Pompeo and husband Chris Ivery have become first-time parents, according to “US” magazine. The baby girl, Stella Luna Pompeo Ivery, was

born on Sept. 15. Pompeo and Ivery have been married since 2007.

Compiled by Barbara Danza, Epoch Times Staff

Movie Review: ‘Coco Before Chanel’ By JOE BENDEL Her name is synonymous with style. Disdaining corsets and frilly ornamentation, Coco Chanel’s look was perfectly suited to the liberated flapper era, yet she maintained her position at the pinnacle of the fashion world until her death in 1971. However, it’s Chanel’s early years that fascinated director Anne Fontaine, who focuses on the rags portion of her rags-to-riches story in “Coco Before Chanel.” Throughout the film, Fontaine clearly implies the pain of being orphaned as the greatest formative experience of Chanel’s life, fueling her drive to succeed and shaping her relationships with men. When the audience first meets the Chanel sisters, they are performing songs in a rowdy nightclub, where they are expected to shill champagne in between numbers. Actually, neither is much of a vocal stylist, but

Coco is a wizard with needle and thread. When it becomes clear they have no future in cabaret, both sisters become secret lovers of ostensibly upstanding society gentlemen. Though she chafes at the expectations of her new position in life, Chanel has yet to become the future paragon of independence. Essentially, “Before” could have been titled “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Kept Woman.” Audrey Tautou plays Chanel as part Audrey Hepburn and part Elaine Stritch. Frankly, the Stritch half is more fun. At times, her peevish appeal to her wealthy lovers seems a bit obscure. Still, Benoît Poelvoorde becomes convincingly captivated by her, finding unexpected depth and humanity as her initially lecherous lover-keeper, Etienne Balsan. With the carefully worded credit line, “Freely adapted from the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux,” “Before” seems to roughly conform to Chanel’s biography. Fontaine and her co-screenwriters only take Chanel up to her first big triumph as a designer, so those hoping for high fashion intrigue should look elsewhere (perhaps the 1981 biographical melodrama “Chanel Solitaire” starring Timothy Dalton and Rutger Hauer). Likewise, “Before” completely avoids Chanel’s

CHANEL: (L-R) Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel and Marie Gillain as Adrienne in the film "Coco Before Chanel." chantal thomine-desmazures/ sony pictures classics

controversial activities during World War II. Though scandalous things happen during the time of the film, they are largely unseen and rarely spoken of directly. In fact, “Before” is a conventionally respectable prestige picture, but it’s unlikely to be a player during awards season or to factor on many critics’ top ten lists. While certainly a

good fix for Francophiles, most viewers will simply find it a modestly pleasant diversion.

Joe Bendel blogs on jazz and cultural issues at http://jbspins.blogspot. com and coordinated the Jazz Foundation of America's instrument donation campaign for musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Bruce Springsteen Turns 60 By STEPHEN SUMMER Epoch Times Staff

NEW YORK—Rocker Bruce Springsteen reached a milestone birthday this week, and for a musician of Springsteen’s caliber and continued achievements, that milestone is a bit hard to believe. The American singer and songwriter, who tours with the E Street Band, popularized the “heartland rock” genre of music and has a extremely large following—he has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, with more than half sold in the United States. Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, Springsteen grew up playing in clubs across from his home state. He started building a following in the late 1960s and signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1972. But it was in the mid— and late— 1970s that Springsteen really made a breakthrough. His album “Born

to Run”—which would be one of his biggest releases of all time— was released on Aug. 25, 1975, and radio stations all across the country started playing songs from the album, such as “Born to Run” and “Thunder Road.” In late October of that year, Bruce Springsteen appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazine, sealing his fate of stardom and success. In 1980, Bruce Springsteen hit the top 10 single charts for the first time with “Hungry Heart,” a single from his 20-song double album “The River.” In 1984, Springsteen released what would become his best selling album of all time—”Born in the U.S.A.” The album sold 15 million copies in the United States alone. Seven singles from “Born in the U.S.A.” hit the top 10 singles charts. Springsteen went through several

ups and downs after “Born in the U.S.A.” and these were reflected in his musical and personal life. After a short-lived marriage with actress Julianne Phillips, Springsteen remarried in 1991. His second wife, Patti Scialfa, was a backup singer in the E Street Band, which Springsteen had performed with since 1975. From 1987 to 2002, Bruce Springsteen released four albums, among which “Tunnel of Love” and “Human Touch” hit number one and two on the Billboard charts respectively. Springsteen returned to the mainstream in 2002—after a seven-year hiatus—to release five albums. Four of those albums—”The Rising” (2002), “Devils & Dust” (2005), “Magic” (2007), and “Working on a Dream” (2009)—made it to the top of the Billboard charts. Springsteen has won 19 Grammy awards in addition to two Golden Globe awards and an Academy Award.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rock musician Bruce Springsteen. rafa rivas/afp/getty images