Posted on: Tuesday, January 11, 2005
ISLAND LIFE SHORTS
Top U.S. arts official heads bill
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Poet Dana Gioia has chaired the National Endowment for the Arts just shy of two years. But his leadership of the federal grant-issuing agency has energized the organization, tarnished in the 1990s for funding controversial projects. He has spearheaded programs for recording experiences of military veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan and bringing touring Shakespearean productions to the country's small communities and military bases.
Gioia will discuss the importance of public support for the arts and read poetry at a free presentation, 7 tonight at Hawai'i Theatre. Also on the bill: brief performances by Iona Contemporary Dance, Kenny Endo, Manu Boyd, Makana, Auntie Genoa Keawe and others. 586-0909.
The spooky story about recording voices from the dead, starring Michael Keaton, debuted at $24 million, while the "Meet the Parents" sequel dropped a modest 32 percent and made $28.5 million, according to estimates by Exhibitor Relations.
In third place was Leonardo DiCaprio's role as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," which made $7.6 million. Rounding out the top five are "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" ($7 million) and "Fat Albert" ($6.4 million).
The best per-screen average went to Clint Eastwood's widely-touted female boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby," which earned $18,440 at only 109 theaters. Warner Bros. plans to expand the movie this month.
Jamie Lynn Spears | little sister of Britney Spears, in "Seventeen" magazine's prom special issue: "If Ashton Kutcher wanted to go to prom with me, I would go. My friends would be so jealous, but I would so do it."
'White Noise' can't unseat 'Fockers'
"White Noise" made plenty of noise this weekend at the box office, coming close to unseating "Meet the Fockers" for the first time in three weeks.
FINAL WORD
