Korea tale of motherly love becomes US best-seller

AFP, SEOUL, April 21: Shin Kyung-Sook took South Koreans by storm with "Please Look After Mom", her poignant novel of family love which sold 1.7 million copies domestically. Now it is going international.

The book sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States just a few days after its debut and there are plans to publish in 24 countries in total.

The novel ranks 21st on the upcoming New York Times best-seller list for hardcover fiction, based on sales between April 3 to 9.

It's the first time a Korean novel has made it on the list, according to Shin's agent Lee Ku-Yong, president of KL Management.

Shin, 48, is one of South Korea's most acclaimed novelists but "Please Look After Mom" is her first book to appear in English. Now she hopes she's set a globalising trend for other Korean writers.

"I am getting all these congratulatory messages but it (the success) doesn't feel so real yet," she told AFP in a phone interview from the United States.

"But, if I think about it, it's marvellous and I feel like I have achieved something new in a different world."

The book tells the story of an elderly, disorientated and illiterate mother from the countryside who gets separated from her husband at Seoul's busy train station and goes missing.

Her grown-up children distribute fliers and search the city for her, racked with guilt that none of them went to the station to meet their parents.

The story is told from the different perspectives of the husband, the children and the mother herself.

Shin attributes her US success partly to its universal theme and partly to the meticulous translation by Chi-Young Kim.

"I tried to understand and analyse the mother as another human being, the same as all of us, and to portray the burden everyone might have as being a mother to someone else," she said.

"Everyone has a mother, and their mothers have mothers, so I think the sentiment and symbolic meaning behind the mother-figure was commonly shared."

Shin, who is currently on tour to promote her book in the United States, said great effort went into the translation.

"Rather than simplifying Korean backgrounds and words for the sake of foreign readers, my translator, Knopf (the US publisher) and I worked on translating everything word by word," she said.

"Overall, I am very satisfied with the English version."

Unlike in the past, she said, Korea now has competent translators to convey messages effectively in a variety of languages. Interest in the country's literature is growing as more Korean novelists venture overseas.

Kim Young-Ha, another best-seller at home, has published "Your Republic is Calling You" and "I Have the Right to Destroy Myself" in the US.

"Your Republic is Calling You" -- the story of a North Korean spy mysteriously summoned home after 21 years in South Korea -- was the first Korean novel to make Amazon's top 100 literature list.

"Communicating across countries through literature may be hard, but it can also be the tool for the deepest interaction," said Shin, who is also scheduled to publish her latest novel "I'll Be There" in the US.

"I want to see more Korean novels not only in the US but many other countries."

Argentine court finds rock group liable in 2004 fire

AFP, BUENOS AIRES, April 21: An Argentine court on Wednesday said members of the rock group Callejeros were "criminally liable" for a 2004 blaze that killed 194 people at a Buenos Aires concert.

A second court will determine the penalty, according to a court source.

At a 2009 trial, the owner of the Cromanon discotheque, where the concert was held, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The six members of the band were acquitted, although the prosecutor had asked that they be given a sentence of 15 years.

Familes of the victims had appealed that decision.

The fire started after spectators shot off fireworks during the performance -- a common practice during a Callejeros show. Four thousand people were crammed inside the discotheque the night of the show, more than three times its official capacity.

Many of the victims were asphyxiated because the main exit had been locked by the concert organizers to prevent people from entering the hall without paying for a ticket.

The court found that the six members of the group were "fully responsible for the involuntary fire, and the subsequent deaths."

After the verdict, prosecutor Raul Plee announced: "The Callejeros' immunity is over."

The court also found guilty several former police officers and employees of the city of Buenos Aires.

The owner of the discotheque, Omar Chaban, had his sentence reduced to 11 years from 20.

Lindsay Lohan back in Gotti movie

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 21: Lindsay Lohan is back in a proposed film about the Gotti crime family after she personally persuaded its reluctant producer to give her a shot, he said on Wednesday.

The actress, whose promising career has been derailed by drug and criminal problems, had been in negotiations for a role in "Gotti: Three Generations," starring John Travolta as mob boss John Gotti, Sr. She even showed up at a news conference announcing the project last week.

But producer Marc Fiore said earlier Wednesday that he had broken off talks because of demands made by Lohan's management team, and planned to meet with other actresses.

Hours later, he appeared to have been swayed by the "Mean Girls" actress herself.

"We had a little rocky road today, but Lindsay definitely revived the situation," Fiore told Reuters, adding that Lohan called him personally to plead her case.

Lohan will play Kim Gotti, the wife of Gotti's namesake son, Fiore said. Previous media reports said she was in line to play his daughter, Victoria. Fiore said the Kim role was bigger since the movie is about the father-son relationship.

Fiore has the cooperation of retired mobster John Gotti, Jr., whose character has yet to be cast. His father, the so-called "Teflon Don," died of cancer in 2002 while serving a life term for murder, racketeering, extortion and tax evasion.

Fiore said he hoped to announce a new director next week. Nick Cassavetes, who was originally attached, exited the project earlier this week because of a scheduling conflict.

Shooting is expected to start in October. Fiore said the budget for the self-financed film was $70 million to $80 million. He declined to specify the source of the funds.

New Jersey- and Los Angeles-based Fiore Films previously produced the 2008 DVD "National Lampoon's One, Two, Many," starring former Howard Stern radio sidekick "Stuttering" John Melendez.

Lohan, 24, is scheduled to appear at a Los Angeles preliminary court hearing on Friday over a jewelry theft charge that will determine if she should stand trial. She could be sent to prison if eventually convicted.

The former child star has not headlined a movie since the widely ridiculed 2007 bomb "I Know Who Killed Me."

Justin Bieber's Israel concert sold poorly

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 21: Justin Bieber's concert in Israel drew far fewer fans than expected, but the pop star still made $1 million for his 90-minute show, sources said.

Bieber's April 14 concert at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv drew somewhere between 17,000 (according police) and 24,000 fans (according to the promoters) -- well below forecasts in the 35,000 range. The Jerusalem Post's review split the difference, putting the number at 21,000. By contrast, Madonna's 2009 show at the same venue pulled in 56,000 people.

"They overpaid and did not market it right," says Israeli promoter Shuki Weiss, who declined to bid on Bieber believing it would be a difficult sell. "I think it's important for every artist to come to Israel, but you need to know your crowd."

Indeed, posters advertising the show were scant in the city, with the exception of areas surrounding Bieber's hotel, and with ticket sales initially sluggish, a promotion offering free entry to parents was introduced, causing its share of headaches at the park's gates.

For his part the show's promoter, Gadi Oron, said "(Sales) definitely met our expectations." He declined to comment on Bieber's reported payday: "It is our policy not to talk about financial arrangements we reach with talent we promote."

Joan Rivers: Charlie Sheen's act "two bimbo sluts"

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 21: Joan Rivers, the host of E!'s "Fashion Police" and WE's "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?," lets loose on Charlie Sheen's "Torpedo of Truth" tour and other hot tiopics.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CHARLIE SHEEN'S TOUR?

Rivers: I'm so jealous. He's filling stadiums that I can't fill. Without an act! Do you understand? I have an act and I can't fill Radio City for a week. Charlie Sheen has NO act -- he has two bimbo sluts. He's unhappy and he's a warlock and filling Radio City? I'm very upset.

IS THERE A LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM SHEEN?

Rivers: The lesson to be learned is I should have been into drugs and whoring around when I was younger.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO THAT YOU HAVEN'T DONE ALREADY?

Rivers: Well, "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?" on WE was renewed, so I'm thrilled about that. So I'm staying in L.A. five days a week; and the weekends back in New York. I know it sounds stupid but I want to go back to Broadway.

ANY IDEA OF THE SHOW?

Rivers: I want to revive a thing called Sally Marr, which I did 15 years ago. I was nominated for a Tony, and I loved the show. I'd love to do a movie. I want to do everything. I'd love LOVE to do a sitcom.

WOULD YOU LOVE TO DO A BROADCAST SITCOM SCHEDULE?

Rivers: Oh yeah. You know what I miss the most? Well, two things. I miss a late night show. I loved my late night shows because I love interviewing. And I loved radio. I did a radio show for seven years and I miss radio.

HOW HAS THE AUDIENCE CHANGED SINCE YOU STARTED?

Rivers: I think they're able to accept much more of the truth than when I started. I remember being on Ed Sullivan pregnant with Melissa, I couldn't say I was pregnant. I was eight months in waddling to the microphone and said, 'Mr. Sullivan, soon I will be hearing the pitter patter of little feet.' That's what they let me say -- it had to be my first line. Now you'd say, what, 'I've been f---'en knocked up, who knows who the father is.' It's just so different. And I think it's great for comedy.

CHELSEA HANDLER ASIDE, LATE NIGHT REMAINS A MAN'S GAME.

DOES THAT SURPRISE YOU?

Rivers: Nah, I just miss it. I love the freedom of late night. I'd like to do late, late, late night. I think it would be so much fun.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AS THE GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS WITH

CONAN O'BRIEN AND JAY LENO WAS GOING ON AT NBC?

Rivers: Who cares? I was banned. F--- 'em all. Let's see what's on HBO. I don't watch when I'm not invited.

WHAT DO YOU WATCH?

Rivers: My favorite show in the whole world is Animal Planet's "Fatal Attractions." People get a bad pet like a rhinoceros and the minute they give it a name like Snooki you know it ain't going to end well. And it never does.

'American Idol' singers take on 21st century songs

AP, LOS ANGELES, April 21: "American Idol" finalist Casey Abrams ended his song with a smooch.

The eccentric 20-year-old film camp counselor of Idyllwild, Calif., planted a peck on "Idol" judge Jennifer Lopez after delivering a rockin' rendition of Maroon 5's "Harder to Breathe" during the Fox talent competition's evening of 21st century songs Wednesday. Lopez proclaimed that she loved Abrams' performance — and his "soft lips" weren't bad either.

"You did what I've been trying to do for four months," exclaimed Steven Tyler, who later added some expletives.

Scotty McCreery, the 17-year-old high school student of Garner, N.C., kicked off the show with an eyebrow-raising take on LeAnn Rimes' version of "Swingin'." Tyler wished that the deep-voiced crooner "boot-scooted" more during his routine, while Randy Jackson dubbed his song choice as "safe." Lopez warned McCreery that it's time "to pull out the big guns."

"We were expecting more from Scotty," scolded J.Lo.

Lauren Alania, the 16-year-old country songstress of Rossville, Ga., and Jacob Lusk, the 23-year-old power vocalist of Compton, Calif., were also prodded to push themselves further after taking on Sara Evans' "Born to Fly" and Luther Vandross' "Dance With My Father." Lusk pulled out his in-ear monitor while singing, and later complained of technical difficulties.

"Vocally, it was good, but it didn't make me jump up and down," Jackson told Lusk.

Haley Reinhart, the growling 20-year-old singer of Wheeling, Ill., received a lukewarm reception for diving into Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Jackson said it was "a perfect direction" for Reinhart, but Tyler noted it was a "little slow at the start." Stefano Langone, the 21-year-old crooner from Kent, Wash., had better luck with Ne-Yo's "Closer."

"Speaking for the girls in the audience, I thought it was very, very good," Lopez told a smiling Langone.

James Durbin once again marched onto the "Idol" stage with the night's most the theatrical performance. The 22-year-old rocker from Santa Cruz, Calif., donned an outlandish military-inspired ensemble and was accompanied by four marching drummers for Muse's "Uprising." Jackson and Lopez announced it would be the best performance of the evening.

"We just love that you're out of your mind beautifully so," affirmed Tyler.

Seemingly, as reminder of why they were voted off the show, the past six eliminated contestants — Karen Rodriguez, 21, New York; Ashthon Jones, 24, Nashville, Tenn.; Naima Adedapo, 26, Milwaukee; Thia Megia, 16, Mountain House, Calif.; Pia Toscano, 22, Howard Beach, N.Y.; and Paul McDonald, 26, Nashville, Tenn. — also returned for a performance of Pink's "So What."

"We miss this group," screamed Jackson. "Come back!"

One of the top seven finalists will join them Thursday.

'Restrepo' director Hetherington killed in Libya

AP, NEW YORK, April 21: In "Restrepo," his searing, Oscar-nominated documentary about a U.S. platoon in Afghanistan, Tim Hetherington achieved what every war filmmaker aspires to: bringing the viewer painfully close to the raw and terrible truths of battle.

On Wednesday, the director and veteran photojournalist came too close himself to a different war — the chaotic, unpredictable conflict in Libya. Hetherington was killed while covering fighting between rebels and government forces in the western city of Misrata.

Also killed was Chris Hondros, a New York-based photographer for Getty Images.

The British-born Hetherington, 40, was remembered by colleagues and friends not only as a brave, dashing figure but also as a singular talent who constantly sought to expand the boundaries of his craft as he traveled the globe chronicling conflict.

"He was an artist," said Susan White, photography director of Vanity Fair magazine, where Hetherington had been a contributor since 2007. "He was a package deal. He had it all."

In his multifaceted career, Hetherington also used his photography for human rights work in places like Darfur. "Tim Hetherington was much more than a war reporter," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "He had an extraordinary talent for documenting, in compassionate and beautiful imagery, the human stories behind the headlines."

A haunting example of Hetherington's work was "Sleeping Soldiers," a 2009 video piece in which still images of soldiers sleeping in Afghanistan were superimposed with video images of battle: huge explosions, the chaos of troops in the field trying to figure out their next move, and, heartbreakingly, a soldier dissolving in tears after learning that his buddy had just died.

But he was best known for "Restrepo." He and Sebastian Junger, author of "The Perfect Storm," were co-directors of the 2010 documentary, which was nominated for an Oscar and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

"There is no way to express my devastation and sorrow at the death of my dear friend Tim Hetherington in Misrata, Libya," Junger said Wednesday. "Tim was one of the most courageous and principled journalists I have ever known. The good that he accomplished — both with his camera and simply as a concerned person in some of the most devastated countries in the world — cannot be measured."

"Restrepo" tells the story of the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company in the 173rd Airborne Combat Team on its deployment in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. The title refers to the platoon outpost, named after a popular soldier, Juan Restrepo, who was killed early in the fighting.

"We're at war," Hetherington said in an interview with The Associated Press before the Oscars. "We wanted to bring the war into people's living room(s) and put it into the movie theaters, and get people to connect with it."

A key characteristic of the film was that it did not attempt to judge or take a stand.

"It's not necessarily about moral outrage," Hetherington said. "It's about trying to understand that we're at war and try to understand the emotional terrain of what being at war means."

In another AP interview, at Sundance in 2010, Hetherington spoke of "a vast appetite for people to find out what the reality is that the soldiers go through."

"Soldiers don't come back and talk about their experiences to their families," he said. "Although we have lots and lots of news reports from Iraq and Afghanistan — information about this and that — we don't really get to see the experience of what the soldiers go through."

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said the film world had lost "a courageous, remarkably talented filmmaker."

"No one who saw `Restrepo' had any doubts about the dangers that Tim Hetherington and his crew were subjecting themselves to in order to bring us that story," said Davis.

Hetherington was doing his own work when he was killed Wednesday in Misrata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya. His family said he was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade. "Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict," the family said in a statement. "He will be forever missed."

Misrata had come under weeks of relentless shelling by government troops. Hetherington tweeted Tuesday: "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."

Along with his work, Hetherington was remembered for personal qualities: His good looks and his charm.

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter remembered him as "a rangy, charming workhorse of a photographer. Devilishly good-looking and impossibly brave, he was both a ladies' man and a man's man."

Carter noted that Hetherington had "a deft eye and unwavering dedication" to his craft and compared him to legendary war photographers Robert Capa and Larry Burrows.

White, the magazine's photo editor, said Hetherington was so dashing, "I felt sometimes like he was on assignment for Her Majesty's Secret Service — just like James Bond. I could imagine him taking off a flak jacket to reveal a tuxedo, on the way to a cocktail party. There was a lightness to him, along with the seriousness."

The White House said it was saddened to learn of the death, and called on the Libyan and other governments to take steps to protect journalists. "Journalists across the globe risk their lives each day to keep us informed, demand accountability from world leaders and give a voice to those who would not otherwise be heard," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Hetherington was born in Liverpool, England, and studied literature and photojournalism at Oxford University.

He won the World Press Photo of the Year award in 2007 for an image of an exhausted U.S. soldier resting after a firefight in Afghanistan. He released "Infidel," a book of photos capturing the lives of the 173rd Airborne Combat Team, in 2010.

His other credits included working as a cameraman on the documentaries "Liberia: An Uncivil War" and "The Devil Came on Horseback." He also produced pieces for ABC News' "Nightline."

Hetherington is survived by his mother, father, sister and brother, as well as three nieces and nephews.

Lindsay Lohan to play Junior Gotti's wife

AP, LOS ANGELES, April 21: Lindsay Lohan is joining the big screen Gotti family as the wife of John Gotti Jr. in a biopic of one of New York's most infamous families.

She called her casting in "Gotti: Three Generations" a huge honor and told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the film is an opportunity to prove herself as an actress again.

"I'm really excited to be back on set and clear up all the misinterpretations about me and show this is what I love to do," Lohan said.

John Travolta has been cast to play John Gotti Sr., the mob family's patriarch who had a flair for style and a knack for avoiding convictions that earned him the name "Teflon Don." Joe Pesci will play one of his deputies.

The younger Gotti has insisted he left the mob life in the 1990s, but has been unsuccessfully tried four times on racketeering charges.

He sold the rights to his life story to Fiore Films, which is developing the film focusing on Junior Gotti's relationship with his father. It will be shot in New York and is set for a 2012 release.

Lohan made a surprise appearance at a press conference last week and was expected to be in the running to play the elder Gotti's daughter, Victoria. By Wednesday discussions for Lohan playing that role had ended, but the actress successfully lobbied to remain on the project.

"I think it's such an iconic story," Lohan told the AP. "I think it's a great story to be told. I'm honored to be working with John Travolta and Joe Pesci."

Lohan's role as Kim Gotti has parallels to her own life, she said.

"You don't get to see the heart behind the story and the real side of people," she said of most mob movies, which she said veer toward shoot-'em-up fare. "I can relate to that because I think that I've been portrayed in a certain light. I just want to do my best to show what their family really went through."

Like the Gotti family, Lohan is no stranger to criminal troubles. She faces a felony grand theft case in Los Angeles after a jewelry store accused her of stealing a $2,500 necklace, and is due in court for a hearing on Friday.

She has rejected two plea deals in that case with guaranteed jail time, and could be incarcerated for violating her probation on a 2007 drunken driving case.

She said her legal troubles won't be a distraction.

"I think in the past, I had a lot of distractions," she said. "I've learned a lot. I've lived a lot. When I'm on set, it's about the film."

Fiore Films is making a commitment to Lohan, who is a former Disney child star and once headlined films, but for nearly four years has been known more for making the tabloids than acting.

In addition to the Gotti project, Lohan will also appear in "Mob Street," a movie based on a screenplay by Chazz Palminteri.

"We're very pleased to have Lindsay on-board for both of these films," said Marc Fiore, who is executive producer of the "Gotti" film. "She has been very enthusiastic about the Gotti project, and after resuming discussions with her, we were impressed by her commitment to the film and felt she would be the perfect Kim Gotti."

Lohan also said she is excited about filming in her native New York.

"The energy of filming there — it just brings so much more life to the film," she said.

Injured Broadway 'Spider-Man' actor to rejoin show

AP, NEW YORK, April 21: An actor whose back was badly hurt when he tumbled from the stage at the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has been cleared to return to the revamped show and hopes to be swinging over the audience again on opening night in June, a lead producer said Wednesday.

Christopher Tierney, who fell 35 feet into the orchestra pit in front of a shocked preview audience on Dec. 20, got permission from his doctor to rejoin rehearsals beginning Monday, producer Michael Cohl said.

"His back's fine. They've taken the bolts and the nuts and everything out," Cohl said in an interview.

Tierney, 31, suffered a fractured skull, a fractured shoulder blade, four broken ribs and three broken vertebrae in the tumble. He had to wear a back brace and had eight screws put in his back. His father had said from the family's Portsmouth, N.H., home he couldn't wait to resume performing.

The accident happened when Tierney, who that night had already swung multiple times at 40 mph and wrestled with the Green Goblin over the audience, simply jumped from a raised platform dressed as the webbed hero as the show was wrapping up. But he wasn't connected to anything.

The $65-million show — the most expensive ever on Broadway — is on hiatus. It began previews in November and was plagued by technical glitches, cancellations, money woes and three other injuries, including a concussion and two broken wrists. It reopens June 14.

In March, Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor left the show and a new creative team was brought in to polish it: director Philip William McKinley, playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, musical consultant Paul Bogaev and sound designer Peter Hylenski.

"Spider-Man" represents Tierney's Broadway debut, and he vowed after he was injured that he would return. Besides doing the main Spider-Man aerial stunts, he also played the part of a super villain, a bully who torments Peter Parker and a dancer.

He had previously worked with the Houston Ballet, Ballet New England and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, danced in the national tour of Twyla Tharp's "Movin' Out" and appeared in the North American premiere of "Dirty Dancing" in Toronto.

In downtown NYC, 10th Tribeca Film Fest opens

AP, NEW YORK, April 21: The 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival is scheduled to open Wednesday night in New York, a stone's throw from where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

The festival plans a musical celebration, kicking things off with Cameron Crowe's documentary "The Union," about the collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell. John will follow the film with a brief performance.

Both the screening and the concert will be held outdoors and for free at the World Financial Plaza, though the threat of rain could push the festivities indoors.

Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff founded the Tribeca Film Festival in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to help revitalize its namesake neighborhood and downtown Manhattan.