NEW YORK (AP) ― Hollywood loves the Next Big Thing, and four years ago, that was Barack Obama, the equivalent of a breakout movie star.“He is ‘The One,’’’ said Oprah Winfrey, his biggest and most influential celebrity champion.“The best candidate I’ve ever seen,’’ said George Clooney.Halle Berry said she’d “collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.’’ Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am chimed in with the famous “Yes We Can’’ video.But you can’t be the Next Big Thing twice and a

Film Jan. 1, 2012

Pianist Paik’s ‘romance’ with Brahms Paik Kun-woo“Brahms-Intermezzi” (Universal Music)Paik Kun-woo’s second album on Brahms is more evidence that this Korean musician’s fingertips can bring back to life almost any composer.Filled with 13 pieces chosen among those written in the latter half of Johannes Brahms’ life, the album will serve as a gift for any fan of the German composer.Playing through the intermezzi, capriccios and romance pieces Op. 76 through Op. 119 (in random order), Paik has tran

Culture Dec. 30, 2011

PARIS (AP) ― Paris, once regarded as the gastronomical center of the world, is looking to a cadre of young chefs from a country derided for its love of processed cheese ― gasp, the United States ― to help raise the bar.French chefs have been opening fine restaurants stateside for years, but up until about a decade ago, the opposite would have been almost unthinkable. Now, bright young things from New York, Chicago and Seattle are behind some of the City of Light’s most-hyped, hardest-to-get-into

Food Dec. 30, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Hanging around outside The Public Theater next week could turn you into an unanticipated actor.An hour or so before the group known as the Gob Squad hits the stage with its new offering for the Under the Radar Festival, four members will hit the streets armed with video cameras to create their new work, “Super Night Shot.”They’ll initiate and film some “comic and surreal adventures” that “celebrate unexpected encounters with strangers,” according to the group, a British and Germa

Culture Dec. 29, 2011

Up to 1.71 million people will receive aid from the government for cultural activities and a foundation for artists’ welfare will be set up next year, as part of efforts to resolve the cultural divide among different social sectors, the Culture Ministry said Thursday. The ministry released its plans for the New Year as Minister Choe Kwang-shik briefed President Lee Myung-bak along with other cultural organization chiefs.Some of the plans for 2012 include increasing the number of people who recei

Culture Dec. 29, 2011

DUBLIN (AFP) ― Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has admitted that her fourth marriage has ended after just 16 days, with the star blaming pressure put on her husband by those close to him.O’Connor, 45, met therapist Barry Herridge, 38, earlier this year when he responded to an online appeal posted by the singer, and they married in a Las Vegas chapel on Dec. 8. But in a blog post on Monday, the singer revealed that the marriage had lasted only 16 days, until December 24, and that the couple had live

Performance Dec. 29, 2011

 WASHINGTON (AP) ― Forrest Gump’s oft-imitated line, “My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get’” will be immortalized among the U.S. treasures in the world’s largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994’s smash hit “Forrest Gump’’ starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. “Th

Culture Dec. 29, 2011

Korean pianist Shin Soo-jung and baritone Bahk Heung-u will both receive medals from Germany, noted for the contributions they made in spreading German music in Korea, according to the German Embassy in Seoul. Shin, 69, will be receiving the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, while Bahk, 50, will be honored with the Cross of the Order of Merit during a ceremony on Friday, the embassy said. Veteran pianist Shin, formerly the dean of the Seoul National Univer

Culture Dec. 28, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Helen Frankenthaler, an abstract painter known for her bold, lyrical use of color who led a postwar art movement that would later be termed Color Field painting, died Tuesday at her home in Connecticut, her nephew said. She was 83.One of Frankenthaler’s most famous works is “Mountains and Sea,” a 1952 painting at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which she created by pouring thinned paint directly onto raw, unprimed canvas laid on the studio floor. Frankenthaler’s

Culture Dec. 28, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Reality TV producer Bruce Beresford-Redman is willing to face trial in Mexico for the murder of his wife after losing his fight against extradition, his lawyers said.Beresford-Redman, 40, an Emmy-nominated former producer of CBS’s “Survivor” and MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” is accused in the death of Monica Burgos, 41, his Brazilian-born wife of 11 years, at a Cancun resort in April, 2010.In a statement, his lawyers Richard Hirsch and Vicki Podberesky expressed disappointment with l

Television Dec. 28, 2011