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Blues singer Etta James remembered in Los AngelesLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of mourners gathered at a Los Angeles-area church on Saturday to remember rhythm-and-blues singer Etta James, saying she overcame great personal and professional hurdles to sing "the times that she lived." During a two-hour service that featured performances by pop stars Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera, the Rev. Al Sharpton eulogized James as a woman who rose from a tough childhood and poured her pain into...Read Full Story

(Reuters) - Silent film "The Artist" and the apocalyptic tale "Take Shelter" led the Independent Spirit Award nominations on Tuesday, each taking nods for best feature, director and for acting."The Artist," which led Tuesday's New York Film Critics Circle honors with wins for best picture and director, took two Spirit Award nominations for Michel Hazanavicius for directing and screenplay. The festival hit about the transition in Hollywood from silent films to talkies also scored a nod for...Read Full Story

(Reuters) - Blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, who penned the screenplay for the classic film "Roman Holiday," had his credit restored by a Hollywood writers group on Monday, reversing history 58 years after the movie's release.Trumbo, the writer behind the original story for the 1953 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was part of the Hollywood Ten, a group of industry writers and directors who were accused of being Communist sympathizers by the U.S. House of Representatives...Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Romantic comedy "New Year's Eve" topped the domestic movie box office during the weekend but Hollywood had little to celebrate as North American ticket sales slumped to their lowest level in three years."New Year's Eve" led the charts with a disappointing $13.7 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters on Sunday. The movie added $12.9 million from international markets, for a combined global debut of $26.6 million...Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The three finalists of TV contest "The X Factor" went back to their roots on Wednesday, each performing their first audition songs as they battled for votes and a $5 million recording contract.Power ballad singer Melanie Amaro, 19, belted out Beyonce's hit "Listen," while 30-year-old rocker Josh Krajcik played guitar for a pared-down version of the Etta James classic "At Last."Recovering drug addict Chris Rene, 28, performed his original rap song "Young Homies" that...Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The headboard from Michael Jackson's deathbed was withdrawn from auction on Tuesday at the request of the singer's family.But previously unseen footage of the King of Pop's 1993 concert tour is up for sale in London this month, and auctioneers say it could fetch up to $6 million.The London-based Fame Bureau is selling the concert footage, filmed during Jackson's "Dangerous" tour in 1993 at a stop in Argentina, on November 26. If the film meets expectations, it would...Read Full Story

(Reuters) - The author of a 1995 comic story titled "Cowboys & Aliens" on Thursday sued the producers of a summer action flick of the same name, and accused them of stealing his idea.Austin-based author Steven John Busti filed his lawsuit in federal court in his home state of Texas.The lawsuit comes as another potential blow to the Universal Pictures film "Cowboys & Aliens," starring Daniel Craig which was released in July and made only $175 million at worldwide box offices, which was barely...Read Full Story

LONDON (Reuters) - A lost Walt Disney cartoon that pre-dated Mickey Mouse has been discovered in a British film archive and will be offered for auction in Los Angeles on December 14."Hungry Hobos" was one of 26 episodes featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character created by Disney and cartoonist Ub Iwerks in 1927 for Universal Studios.The first production featuring Oswald, widely considered a prototype to the more famous Mickey Mouse, was rejected by the Hollywood studio, but the second...Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The new "Twilight" vampire movie scored big at the weekend box office with a massive $139.5 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.The weekend total beat expectations from production studio Summit Entertainment for "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1." The movie is the first of a two-part finale for the hugely popular series about a human-vampire-werewolf love triangle."Happy Feet Two," a 3D animated sequel...Read Full Story

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Dramas "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "The Surrogate" won big at the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend, giving the event a burst of energy after early movies with grim sagas and star names failed to impress critics."Beasts of the Southern Wild," a poetic, mystical tale of the bond between a father and daughter, set in impoverished Louisiana with a cast of non-actors, won the jury prize for best U.S. drama and another for its cinematography."The Surrogate...Read Full Story