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A federal court in the Southern District of New York today terminated the Paramount Consent Decrees, which for over seventy years have regulated how certain movie studios distribute films to movie theatres. The review and termination of these Decrees were part of the Department of Justice’s review of legacy antitrust judgments that dated back to the 1890’s and has resulted in the termination of nearly 800 perpetual decrees.   “We appreciate the Court’s thoughtful opinion and ruling today granting our motion to terminate these outdated Paramount Decrees,” said Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.  “As...

HYDERABAD: With cinemas figuring in the hit list of terror organisations, the city police have ordered their closure till managements ensure proper safety measures. According to sources, a place of worship at Chaderghat, bus stands, super markets and theatres are the likely targets of terrorists. Apart from cinemas, multiplexes like Prasad’s attract huge crowds and many of them lack proper safety measures. In fact, a crude bomb exploded at Odeon theatre at RTC crossroads during the second show in May last year. After that incident, a few cinemas had resorted to taking photographs of cinemagoers while some installed door frame...

LOS ANGELES — "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" snatched the box office crown from "King Kong" during another fierce four-day holiday battle for the top spot. Less than $2 million separated "Kong" and "Narnia" each of the past two weekends. "We edged out `Kong.' It's been neck-and-neck," Buena Vista's Dennis Rice said Monday. "These are two great movies in the marketplace that are doing great business." "Narnia" took in an estimated $32.8 million from Friday through Monday, nudging Universal's "King Kong" out of the No. 1 spot and into second with a New Year's...

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (Sept. 21, 2005) -- It was in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 movie “Full Metal Jacket” that R. Lee Ermey portrayed Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, the quintessential Marine Corps drill instructor and for many Marines, a movie version of the nightmare they overcame in training. The movie is a staple on nearly every Marines shelf and has easily become the most quoted and re-enacted film in Corps history … for now. In the coming months and into 2006, the film industry will again turn its focus to telling the Marine Corps story. On Nov. 4, "Jarhead”...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand cinema owners said Friday they may use mobile phone jamming technology to stop mid-movie calls and text messaging in the hopes of preventing disruptions and conflicts between patrons. The national Motion Pictures Exhibitors Association said it’s studying the legality of using mobile phone jammers in the group’s 200 cinemas around the country. Mobile phones in cinemas were a “huge disruption” to moviegoers, said association spokesman Duncan Mackenzie.

ROME - Anti-terrorism police arrested the Algerian cleric of a mosque and four Tunisians Sunday in a crackdown authorities said was aimed at preventing an al-Qaida-linked cell from sending suicide attackers to Iraq (news - web sites). The suspects were seized in pre-dawn raids in three cities in the northern Tuscany region, Genoa's Police Chief Oscar Fiorolli said. Genoa, a northern port city, began the investigations that led to the arrests. The suspects allegedly belonged to a cell of Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq with links to al-Qaida, Fiorolli told the Associated Press in Rome in a...

Theatres Making Antiwar Statements By Leonard Jacobs On March 2, over 110 New York theatre groups and venues will make a pro-peace statement, from program inserts and curtain speeches to performance events and street actions. Spearheading the action is THAW, short for Theaters Against War. Formed by New York-based actors, playwrights, and directors, THAW isn't just concerned about war overseas, but "escalating attacks on civil liberties here at home." According to Hillary Keegin, an Equity actor and spokesperson, artists "don't have to look outside our own community to do something... we have space, audiences, and concerned individuals." The participating theatres...