Hollywood OKs deal with Cinema Paradiso




















Cinema Paradiso will soon have a sequel.

Hollywood’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed Wednesday morning to buy 3,000 movie tickets a year — at a cost of $30,000 — to help the small art house theater open a second location.

“The outpouring of support is amazing,” said Gregory von Hausch, the theater’s executive director. “Now we just have to work to get it open.”





Having a Hollywood location has been three years in the making. The theater, which shows documentaries, foreign and independent films and retro movies, currently operates from a spot near the Broward County Courthouse on Southeast Sixth Street in Fort Lauderdale, but wanted a second, more metropolitan location.

It’s worked out a deal to lease a nearly 3,000-foot space at 2008 Hollywood Boulevard.

It just needed the CRA’s guaranteed financial support in order to commit. And city leaders say the theater is the perfect for downtown, where they envision an arts and cultural district.

“This is more than a no brainer,” said Mayor Peter Bober. “This is a deal that makes absolute sense.”

The tickets will be given for free to area hotels to distribute to guests. The theater will also work something out to encourage Hollywood residents to view films there.

Several residents and theater supporters came out in favor of having a theater location in Hollywood.

“Here is a wonderful way of bringing people from all over Hollywood downtown,” said Terry Cantrell, president of the Hollywood Lakes Civic Association.

With the approval, von Hausch said they will immediately start work on the space to create a ticket booth, concession stand, screen and other theater necessities. The hope is for the theater, which will have about 100 seats, to open in three months.

Board Chair Alan Koslow is already dreaming of a second phase.

“This is just the start,” he said, adding that the film society would love to add a film school. “We want to bring Hollywood, California to Hollywood, Florida.”





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Nintendo president describes Wii U sales as ‘not bad’






Nintendo’s (NTDOY) new Wii U gaming console came out of the gate strong and saw first-week sales reach 400,000 units in the U.S., however sales have since stalled and the system has been labeled a flop by some. While consumer interest in the company’s new console has slowed right out of the gate, Nintendo’s president recently said that he isn’t worried even though sales aren’t where he hoped they would be.


[More from BGR: Smooth sailing is over for Apple]






“At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn’t as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in an interview with Reuters. “But sales are not bad, and I feel it’s selling steadily.”


[More from BGR: New ‘higher-end’ iPhone reportedly launching by June, low-end model could be coming as well]


The executive declined to give specific details on sales or forecasts, although he did say that Nintendo plans to focus on developing attractive software for its 3DS handheld to appeal to new users, and will seek new ways to increase Wii U sales in a changing market.


Nintendo previously announced that it hopes to sell 5.5 million Wii U devices by the end of March and more than 24 million Wii U games in the same timeframe.


This article was originally published by BGR


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Kim and Kyle Richards Talk Stars in Danger

For the last two years, the world has watched Kim Richards grapple with addiction and recovery. In her sobriety, Kim's struggled to successfully mend the fractured relationship she shares with sister Kyle Richards. That was just one of the reasons The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills agreed to star on Fox's new series, Stars in Danger: The High Dive.

"I wanted to do it because, obviously we've had a rough couple of years on Housewives, and I thought this would be something fun," Kim tells ETonline. "Just get away from the Housewives and spend some quality time together, and that's what we did."


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Although the process wasn't easy for either lady, Kyle faced the largest hurdle as she had to overcome a debilitating fear of heights. "Believe me, my desire to do this show had nothing to do with getting on a diving board, that's for damn sure," Kyle tells me. "I thought it would be a good experience for Kim and me since we'd spent every single day together ... in a pool ... freezing our butts off ... in bathing suits!"

They laugh now, but the reality of competing on a televised diving competition was far from funny at the time. "Every single day we wanted to quit," Kyle admits. "I can tell you personally, each time I dove, I didn't want to do it. Every time I climbed the ladder, I would hyperventilate and was bawling backstage."


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But the risk was worth the reward. "At the end of the day, I was elated. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping," Kyle laughs. "I never got to a place of enjoying it. It's not like I overcame my fear, we just had to endure it."

Relying on one another throughout this experience achieved the result both desired at the outset. "There were days where we were both crying, cursing and leaning on one another for support," says Kyle. "But it was such an amazing experience. It's like having the Kim I grew up with back again."

Kim says, "I've learned a lot about myself in the last two years, but this was such a mental, physical and emotional challenge, the fact I didn't quit makes me so happy. All away around, this whole experience has not only done something for me and something for my sister, but it's made a huge impact on my kids as well. And that's been the best thing of all."


Stars in Danger: The High Dive
airs January 9 at 8 p.m. on Fox.

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4 smartphones with standout features




















These days, smartphones are almost all drawing from the same bag of tricks, and it can be hard to tell one from the next. If the average smartphone will do all the basic things you want it to, what does it take to be special? Here are four smartphones with unusual features that really make them stand out.

Nokia Lumia 920

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)





The good: This phone forges new Windows Phone ground with wireless-charging support and a highly sensitive screen you can use with gloves. Moreover, Nokia helps fill in Windows Phone OS gaps with a few missing features.

The bad: A thick, heavy build and slippery finish for some colors make the Lumia 920 harder to hold and carry, and the phone’s overhyped camera doesn’t have enough settings.

The cost: $99.99

The bottom line: Nokia’s Lumia 920 is heavy and thick, but if you want the most powerful, feature-rich Windows Phone smartphone available, this is it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: Oodles of screen real estate make this terrific for videos, games, and reading, and its improved stylus aids productivity. A blazing quad-core processor, a great camera and strong battery life round out the advantages of this Android 4.1 phone.

The bad: The huge display makes it unwieldy to carry, and hiccups in the S Pen stylus and apps can slow you down. The pricey Note 2 isn’t a suitable tablet replacement across all categories.

The cost: $149.99 to $309.99

The bottom line: Samsung delivers a powerful, boundary-pushing device that gets a lot right. Yet its complicated features and high price raise questions about its purpose.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: This Droid (Verizon) offers fast performance, a big, eye-popping screen and luxurious design. It also has great call quality, lots of storage, 4G data speeds, and unbeatable battery life.

The bad: The major weakness is a camera that produces subpar images. The phone is filled with Verizon bloatware as well.

The cost: $149.99 to $299.99

The bottom line: Motorola’s fast, stylish Droid Razr Maxx HD offers outstanding battery life, but its camera captures unimpressive images.

Samsung Galaxy Beam

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: An integrated pico projector, as well as a dual-core processor, 720p video capture and a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen.

The bad: The projection software needs some work, the 5-megapixel camera sometimes blurs indoor shots, and the Beam is thicker and heavier than many phones.

The cost: $474.49 to $839.99

The bottom line: Despite weak software, the Galaxy Beam’s bright projector pushes boundaries, and strong smartphone features make it a worthy standalone device.





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Argentine ship seized over unpaid debt to hedge funder Paul Singer returning home








MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — An Argentine naval ship detained for more than two months in Ghana because of a financial dispute was returning home Wednesday to a triumphant welcome.

Thousands of Argentine government sympathizers traveled to the seaside resort of Mar del Plata, some 250 miles from the Argentine capital, to celebrate the return of the ARA Libertad.

Ghana courts ordered the ship held in October on a claim by Cayman Islands-based hedge fund NML Capital Ltd. Its owner, American billionaire Paul Singer, leads a group demanding payment in full, plus interest — about $350 million — for dollar-based Argentine bonds bought at fire-sale prices after Argentina's 2001-2002 economic collapse forced a sharp devaluation of its currency.





AP



The ARA Libertad





The conflict over the ship reached an especially tense moment in November, when Argentine sailors brandished weapons to block Ghanaian officials from moving the vessel to a less busy dock.

But the UN's International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered the ship's release last month after Argentina argued that warships are immune from seizure.

President Cristina Fernandez has called Libertad a symbol of Argentina's sovereignty and has hailed its return as a victory for the country. She planned to head a ceremony in the afternoon to receive the ship.

Argentina, currently Latin America's third-biggest economy, engaged in the biggest sovereign debt default in history a decade ago. The government has restructured about 92 percent of its world record $95 billion debt default since then.

But Fernandez refuses to pay the holdouts, calling NML Capital and others "vulture funds" for buying debt for pennies on the US dollar in 2002, when Argentina's economy during its worst crisis, and now trying to collect in full.

The fiery, center-left leader says it was their loss for refusing two opportunities to swap defaulted bonds for new, less valuable bonds that the state has reliably paid since 2005.

Members of Argentina's political opposition have called the welcoming ceremony for the ship an effort to boost support for Fernandez at a time when their compatriots are frustrated by soaring inflation, violent crime, allegations of high-profile corruption, and government currency controls that make it difficult to buy dollars.

Critics say that Argentines were humiliated by the government's failure to foresee that the ship would be seized in Ghana and other ports where it docked during training exercises.

Anti-government activists handed out fliers in Mar del Plata on Wednesday, encouraging people to join a pot-banging protest in the evening. "If were for you, Cristina, they would have kept the ship," the fliers read. "Stop the insecurity, the corruption and inflation for an independent justice."










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Scott Israel is sworn in as Broward sheriff




















As several thousand people looked on inside the Faith Center of Sunrise, new Broward Sheriff Scott Israel was introduced at Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony to a standing ovation.

It’s one of the most powerful elected post in the county, overseeing about 5,500 employees and a $670 million budget.

The BSO Honor Guard and a pipe and drum corps led the procession on stage. Israel’s triplets, 16-year-old Blair, Blake and Brett, led the “Pledge of Allegiance.’’





Israel, a Democrat, takes the reins from form Sheriff Al Lamberti, a Republican, who served in the post since first being appointed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007. Lambert won over challenger Israel in 2008, but in the most recent election, Israel handily ousted the incumbent. Lamberti has not said what his future plans include.

Even before taking office, Israel set to work changing things at BSO. In December, his transition team sent emails to 28 high-ranking employees telling them they would be out once Israel took over. Many top officials had already announced they would be leaving, including BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal, attorney Judith Levine and Undersheriff Tom Wheeler. Emails from Israel’s transition team to BSO show that Israel has sought information about every aspect of the agency, including budget forecasts, contracts for everything from garbage collection to lobbying, statistics about the race of employees and even about the protocol for military casket arrivals.

Beyond staff changes, it is not yet clear how Israel, a 56-year-old former Fort Lauderdale police captain and North Bay Village police chief — will change BSO.

But Israel’s senior command staff includes many who played key roles in his campaign, including his new general counsel, Ron Gunzburger, son of County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, and Lisa Castillo, who worked on Israel’s campaign. The name of her husband, Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo, is also being bandied about as having a role in the Israel administration.

Israel, his wife Susan and their teenage triplets live in Parkland.

Miami Herald staff writer Amy Sherman contributed to this report.





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Sony unveils Xperia Z Android phone with full HD display









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The Hunger Games Costumes Tour and Auction

The Hunger Games fans looking to catch a glimpse of the film's incredible costumes up-close are in luck -- Haxbee, Inc. just announced the Hunger Games Costumes Exhibit & Auction tour, which will include original screen-worn costumes worn by Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Stanley Tucci as Caesar, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, and more.

Haxbee and Blacksparrow Auctions will provide a special sneak preview at The Hollywood Show convention in Los Angeles from January 11 to 13, after which the exhibit will continue its tour on March 1-3 at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, WA; April 26-28 at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) in Chicago, IL; and lastly on October 10-13 at the New York Comic Con in New York, NY, with additional dates and locations to be announced.

Related: 'Hunger Games' Launches 'Capitol Couture'

After the tour ends in New York, ReedPOP will hold an auction with over 200 costumes from the film, where interested bidders will be able to bid live in-person, by telephone, via absentee, and on the Internet.

Related: A Guide to the Best 'Hunger Games' Fashion

No word yet on if Elizabeth Banks' stunning shoes will be included in the mix, but you can bet that her Capitol Couture looks (as well as Jennifer Lawrence's famous "Girl on Fire" dress) will be amongst the most popular in the exhibit!

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Jobs grow, wages dip




















Wages in South Florida took a dip last summer, despite a spike in hiring.

New federal data show that while employment continues to grow in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, the average weekly wage dropped during the second quarter of 2012. In Broward, the weekly wage dropped .7 percent to $830 and in Miami-Dade it inched down .5 percent to $876, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.





The shift is tiny, and bucks an overall trend of rising wages in South Florida since the end of the 2007-09 recession. But the statistics also show South Florida underperforming most of the nation as the recovery gains traction. Of the ten largest counties in the country, only Miami-Dade saw wages decrease between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012.

Taking the broader pool of the 329 largest counties in the United States, Broward have 276th worse record in terms of wage gains for the second quarter of 2012, and Miami-Dade the 269th.

Both counties fared far better in terms of adding jobs, with employment up 2 percent in Broward and 2.3 percent in Miami-Dade. That put Broward in 122nd place in terms of employment growth among the large counties, and Miami-Dade in 98th place.





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'Linen King' charged with owning illegal gun








There's more dirty laundry for the "Linen King."

Millionaire George Bardwil — owner of the country's biggest table-linen company, Bardwil Home — has been charged with possessing an illegal gun in his E. 51st Street apartment.

Bardwil, 60, is already on the hook for allegedly pummeling his beautiful ex-wife, Emiko, 26, last year. Cops are now alleging in the new charge that Bardwil called 911 on Sunday to report an attempted burglary, then showed them surveillance footage of himself pointing the gun in question at the retreating thief.

The gun — a loaded, .40 caliber Sig Sauer — turned out to be unregistered, according to the criminal complaint against him.





Dan Brinzac



George Bardwil





Bardwil remains free on a $250,000 bail bond, and is due back in Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 11 to learn if he has been indicted on criminal possession of a weapon.

First, though, the bed-sheet magnate is due in court tomorrow on his second degree assault charge, for allegedly throwing Emiko to the ground and bashing her head into the sidewalk as they argued outside the same Turtle Bay apartment in May 2012.

The ex required staples to close a gash to her head, prosecutors say. Bardwil has countered through his lawyer, Michael Bachner, that there was no assault involved.

"This was the second robbery attempt by the same person," Bachner said of Bardwil's brush with both a burglar and the police. "It's an inside job, somebody George knew and a warrant is out for his arrest."










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