Actor, singer and tween idol Carlos Pena Jr., 21, has bought a Mediterranean-style home in the San Fernando Valley for close to its $1.5 million asking price. The 560-square-meter villa is set back from the road on a gated lot. The paver-stone courtyard is punctuated by a fountain, and the custom front door, with leaded and beveled glass and side lights, opens to a two-story foyer with limestone...

Bill Pryor is living proof that a career in film (as it used to be called) can flourish far away from the coasts. For almost 50 years, Pryor, 68, has specialized in “industrials,” promotional and training films made for corporate clients. The Texas native was studying journalism at the University of Oklahoma when he began to dabble in film. He worked for a few years in St. Louis before joining ...

Confessions (Japan) Opening Feb. 17 Thriller. Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima. Middle school teacher Yoko (Takako Matsu), whose 4-year-old daughter has recently died, tells her class that she believes two of her own students murdered her beloved girl. Though the police have closed the case without pressing charges, Yoko announces that she will punish the two students herself. Yoko’s revenge then ...

It sounded like a dream job: plop down on a couch, throw some popcorn in the microwave and spend your days watching movies. That’s what Christine Davila thought, anyway. The 32-year-old Los Angeles resident had spent years toiling as an assistant to a number of Hollywood producers before she finally got a shot at her ideal gig ― working as a programming associate for the Sundance Film Festival, ...

PARK CITY, Utah ― It takes a lot of faith to make an independent film. This year, independent films are showing a lot of faith. Among the roughly 120 features playing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, a surprisingly large number use faith ― and specifically Christianity ― as either a critical narrative fulcrum or a key expositional backdrop. And the dramas do not always take a neutral stanc...

Debut film ‘Heartbeat’ draws more than 1 million Film director Yoon Jae-geun has done a lot in the last 10 years. He studied art, made TV commercials for ramen and department stores, traveled across Europe, learned how to make films overseas, wrote movie scripts, and never gave up on becoming what he is today. “I watched ‘Star Wars’ when I was in fifth grade,” the 44-year-old director told The...

Actress attributes her international success to global outlook While showing obvious pride for her ethnic heritage, internationally acclaimed Chinese-born actress Gong Li says acting is not a “local” job. “I think an actress should go anywhere in the world to perform,” Gong told reporters Monday at The Shilla Seoul, ahead of the Korean premiere of her Hollywood mystery thriller, “Shanghai.” “I...

Hollywood may be the goliath of the movie industry, but Korean film director Shim Hyung-rae is not afraid to knock on its door. “I believe that Hollywood absolutely bought the idea of the main character in the recently released movie, ‘The Last Godfather.’” Despite critics’ skepticism over his entrance into Hollywood after a string of poorly received movies such as “Yong-gari” and “D-war,” Shim...

Ivan Reitman ― whose directing career (“Ghostbusters”) is so long in the tooth that he actually has a son, Jason, directing Oscar-worthy comedies ― has his best outing in decades with “No Strings Attached,” an amusing flip of the “friends with benefits” sex-leads-to-love romantic comedy formula. It’s a movie benefiting from another sparkling, sexy and emotionally available performance by Natalie...

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― For Natalie Portman, 2011 is already shaping up to be an unforgettable year. The actress is getting big awards buzz for her turn as a ballerina gone mad in “Black Swan.” She already won a Golden Globe, she is up for a Screen Actors Guild award and she is sure to hear her name when Oscar nominations are announced next week. Portman also has four other movies slated for release...

Shanghai (U.S.) Opening Jan. 27 Thriller. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom. Paul Soames (John Cusack) is an American agent from the Naval Intelligence Office. He arrives in Shanghai during World War II to visit his friend who also serves as an agent. But soon after his arrival, Soames finds out his friend has been murdered. In the process of investigating what’s behind his friend’s death, Soames fal...