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Updated: 6:04 p.m. ET March 23, 2007

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Newsweek Home » Entertainment

Nonprofessional actors were used in scenes such as this one where Iranian authorities penned up women to keep them from watching a soccer game

Movies: Soccer and Sexism

'Offside' provides a charming--but barbed--look at an Iranian society so repressive that women can’t even watch soccer.

Courtesy Jafar Panahi Film Productions

• Books: Why Was 1919 So Bad?
The year: 1919. It was one of those years that make you glad you live now.

MORE ENTERTAINMENT FROM THE CURRENT ISSUE

• Lethem's Rock and Roll Romance
Novels about rock and roll are rare, and good ones are even rarer. Jonathan Lethem comes closer than most.

• TV: A Radio Classic Gets a Look
Ira Glass explains how you turn a beloved radio program into a TV series—without ruining it along the way.

• Q&A: America's Political Divide
A new book argues that every political institution is 'up for grabs, in every election.' A conversation with one of the coauthors on electoral gridlock, and how things got that way.

• Books: Sex, Lies and Cigarettes in America
A new book chronicles the allure, deception and deadly legacy of the cigarette industry in America.

• War Film: The Politics and Drama of '300'
Marines love it. Iran calls it an act of war. '300' is essentially a Spartan (yet lavish) videogame, but people take it seriously.

• Vanessa Redgrave at 70: A Magical Role
Vanessa Redgrave works magic in Didion's mournful memoir.

• Books: Reviewed in Brief
McMurtry revisits Duane Moore, a Roman army doctor proves charming, and Jesus saves on highways across the country.

• Ansen on 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley'
Ken Loach’s movie about the Irish civil war is talky (it is the Irish after all) and biased, but in the end, powerfully moving.

• Music: Mika Makes a Splash
Mika made a name for himself the newfangled way: On MySpace... with one (really good) song.

• Books: The Bracket Game
Tolstoy or Dostoevsky? Duke or Carolina? The single-elimination bracket grid really can answer all of life’s questions.

• HBO's Hard Look at Addiction
HBO unveils a massive documentary about drug and alcohol abuse that's almost too much of a good thing.

• Richard Nixon Makes It to Broadway
From Broadway to books to movies, Richard Nixon continues to be a fascinating—and unlikely—source of artistic inspiration.

• Newsmakers: Naomi Campbell, Star Jones

• TV: Wedding Bell Blues
Stay away from Fox’s monstrous new soap about wedding planners—especially if you’re planning a wedding.

• Movies: East Meets West in 'The Namesake'
Mira Nair's brings Jhumpa Lahiri's novel 'The Namesake' to life on the screen with details as simple but wonderful as a bowl of Rice Krispies.

• Q&A: 'Namesake' Director on Cross-Cultural Movies
‘The Namesake’ director Mira Nair explains how the parallels between Calcutta and New York affected her new film.

• Comics: Captain America, 1941-2007
Stan Lee and Marvel Comics’s Joe Quesada contemplate Captain America's surprising death.

• Music: Ry Cooder Gets a Little Catty
On a new album, Ry Cooder channels his inner feline to genre-hop through songs about organized labor and racism.

• Whose Art? A Debate Erupts Over Antiquities
American museums are returning some of the world's great antiquities to their original homes. Should they? A new debate over who owns the past is underway.

• Books: Sontag's Last Stands
The final book from one of our greatest essayists.

• Books: When Murder Ruled Chicago
Chicago in the ’20s was a city in the toxic grip of a homicide epidemic.

• Books: Kurt Andersen's 'Heyday'
A thoroughly modern author revisits New York's past.

• Music: Soul on Ice, And a Twist
Singer Amy Winehouse is a mess. Lucky for us.

• Arcade Fire: The Biggest Little Band?
Indie darlings Arcade Fire return to the spotlight in their own quirky downbeat way.

• Why We Watch Disturbing YouTube Videos
A young NBA talent’s gruesome injury becomes a perverse Internet-video hit. Sick, right? So why do we keep watching it?

• Q&A: ‘Zodiac’ Writer Robert Graysmith
An expert on the 40-year-long fascination with the 'Zodiac' serial killer—and why the mystery may never be solved.

• What Can Hollywood Teach Us About 'Green'?
Some critics dismissed the Academy Awards’ carbon-neutral claim as a publicity stunt. But organizers say there’s substance behind the label.

• 'Harry Potter' Star Reveals Himself in 'Equus'
‘Harry Potter’ star Daniel Radcliffe recasts himself—complete with nude scene—on the London stage. The critics are impressed.

• What U.S. Interrogators Learned from TV
An American soldier describes how he and fellow interrogators in Iraq were influenced by harsh techniques gleaned from hit series like '24.'

• Ansen: 'Zodiac' Is a Haunting, Riveting Film
The Zodiac killer has never been caught, but David Fincher still made a riveting film about him.

• A Nice—Yes, Nice—Night at the Oscars
DeGeneres infused the festivities with relaxed goodwill while Scorsese’s ‘Departed’ dominated as the big winner.

• Newsmakers: Craig Ferguson

• Why TV Is Better Than Movies
Film has always been the Four Seasons to television's Motel 6. Not anymore. Here's how the small screen ended up so much bigger—and bolder—than the big one.

• TV: 'Soprano' Wannabes: a Split Decision
Two new and very different dramas take their cues from ‘The Sopranos’ to explore life in American criminal clans.

• Music: Kids' Tunes Parents Can Love
Some of the best new music for kids--parenthood never sounded better.

• ‘Black Snake Moan’ Courts Trouble on Purpose
Craig Brewer is happiest making movies about the very things that make most people profoundly uncomfortable.

• Movies: Our Oscar Prediction Guide
Helen Mirren looks like a sure thing, but after that, well, they don’t call it gambling for nothing.

• Q&A: 'King of Scotland' Director on Idi Amin
Director Kevin MacDonald looked to the past to tell the story of Idi Amin. But the Scottish filmmaker—whose movie could win actor Forest Whitaker an Oscar—is all about the future.

• Books: 'Cat in the Hat' Explained at Last
An annotated ‘Cat in the Hat’ shows us why this durable masterpiece (it just turned 50) looks so wonderfully simple, and why it took a year and a half to create.

• Newsmakers: Celine Dion, Howard Stern

• Fox Tries Funny. Try Again.
Watching 'The ½ Hour News Hour,' Fox's answer to 'The Daily Show,' leads to only one conclusion: Surely conservatives can do better than this.

• Now on Tap: Vintage Beer
Forget 'born-on dates.' Vintage suds are becoming a popular pour at fine dining joints. But is any bottle of beer really worth $23? We swallowed hard and took the plunge.

• Daytona 500: Cheating, or Competing?
In the days before Daytona, NASCAR cracks down on racing teams trying to get an edge.

• Miep Gies Remembers Anne Frank
She’s nearly a century old, a grandmother and the subject of a new movie. But the woman who tried to save Anne Frank is filled with regrets.

• Movies: Three Fine Foreign Films
This year Oscar was deluged with so many good foreign films, they didn’t have room to nominate all the good ones.

• America’s Long Dance With the Mideast
America's long dance with the Mideast dates all the way back to the Founding Fathers. Who knew?

• Excerpt: Oren’s ‘Power, Faith, and Fantasy’
In this Web-exclusive excerpt from Michael B. Oren’s new book on America's history in the Middle East, the author examines the impact of the post-Civil War era on Egypt.

• Books: This Finn Is a Real Shark
In a new novel, Huck's Pap is scarier than you remember.

• Five Do’s and Don’ts for Winning an Oscar
You thought the Academy rewards only talent? Right. The PR campaign is as important as the movie itself.

• Movies: Good Spy vs. Bad Spy
'Breach' is a taut thriller about the Hanssen case.

• Rattling His Chains
Will Brewer's latest film give audiences the blues?

• Newsmakers: Nicolas Cage, Ryan O'Neal

• Music: NEWSWEEK’s Grammy Wish List
NEWSWEEK writers pick a few instances where the famously out-of-touch recording industry has gotten it right with their nominees for 2007.

• The Greatest Film Composer Ever?
With more than 300 film scores to his credit, Ennio Morricone is one of the most prolific—and maybe the best—film composers who ever lived.

• Music: Sneaky Pop Hits
Three new albums prompt the question: How do we explain playing something (a lot) that we don’t even like that much?

• Music: A Sorrowful Lucinda Williams
The songs on her new album deal with the death of her mother and the breakup of a love affair--and that’s the good news.

• TV: How to Keep Enjoying 'Lost'
Yes, it’s not as good anymore. No, it hasn’t jumped the shark. As season 3.5 of ABC’s hit series gets rolling, there’s only one way to stay in love with ‘Lost’: stop trying to fix it.

• Film: Gays, God and the Movies
Bruised in one encounter with evangelicals, gay actor Chad Allen gets a different reaction the second time around.

• Are the Academy Awards Finally Colorblind?
This year, a record five black actors received Oscar nominations. That's amazing progress—maybe.

• Super Bowl: Why the AFC Rules
As Super Bowls go, the Colts title was pretty predictable. And so, already, is next year’s. Just go with the AFC champ.

• Rating the Super Bowl Ads
After a forgettable slate of commercials, it's time to admit that the golden age of Super Bowl advertising is over.

• Super Bowl Diary: A $3,000 Cold Shower
When the Super Bowl is played in a downpour, sometimes the best seats are by the concession stand.

• Movies: A Waking Nightmare
Sex, spies und audiotape in corrupt East Germany.

• Vietnam Memorial: Where Memory Endures
After 25 years, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial casts a long shadow.

• Newsmakers: Belinda Carlisle Q&A

• Super Bowl Diary: The Fans
You don't need team jerseys to identify Colts backers from the Chicago crowd

• Super Bowl Diary: Playboy's Bikini Bash
In which our correspondent gets vitals at Playboy’s Bikini Bash.

• Super Bowl Diary: Bawdy, Belching Boozers
For many people, football means consuming mass amounts of alcohol—days before the game starts.

• Q&A: Randy Newman's Newest Satire
Mad as hell, the singer-songwriter doffs his film-scoring hat and resettles into a familiar old role as our leading political satirist.

• Super Bowl Diary: Game-Day Performances
Before the game and at halftime, Super Bowl viewers will be treated to Prince, Billy Joel and some, well, unusual performances.

• Super Bowl Diary: The Other Miami
Prepping for the Super Bowl isn’t all fun. In the latest entry in his Super Bowl Diary, our bureau chief takes a ‘reality tour.’

• Super Bowl Diary: A Rage, Sort of, in Miami
In the second entry of his Super Bowl Diary, our Miami bureau chief takes a hard-hitting look at a party for journalists.

• Super Bowl Diary: Meet the Bears
In the first entry of his Super Bowl Diary, our Miami bureau chief goes to media day and finds bears, Bears and a Mexican TV bombshell.

• Jasper Johns: Pop Art's Poppa
Long before Warhol's soup cans, Jasper Johns revolutionized painting with works that were right on target.

• America’s White Rapper Moment
Isn't it time somebody represented for the Clark Kents of the world? Nerdcore hip-hop says 'Darn straight!' And don't think this stuff is parody.

• Q&A: Vanilla Ice on Keeping It Real
Vanilla Ice discusses his fall from grace, the long road since and what aspiring white rappers can learn from his mistakes.

• Norah Jones's Smart New Album
When she messes with success on her new album, the changes are subtle and smart.

• Will Oscar Finally Toast Peter O’Toole?
The legend on awards, aging—and good Scotch

• The Man With Two Brains
Whose words these are we thought we knew. But his notebooks show Robert Frost discovering himself.

• Newsmakers: Drew Barrymore, Lindsay Lohan, Oprah Winfrey

• David Ansen Deciphers the Oscar Nominations
This year's race for best picture (dream on, 'Dreamgirls') is anyone's call, but the critics seem to have the inside track.

• Sundance Shockers: A History of Controversy
A horse is a horse, of course, of course, except when it appears as the female lead in a movie at America’s premier independent film festival.

• Oscar Roundtable: Brad, Leo, Helen & Co.
Only one actor at our Oscar Roundtable really played a monarch. (Unless a zany tyrant counts.) But they all ruled in their 2006 films, and they certainly know how to hold an audience.

• How Ted Haggard Altered Alexandra Pelosi's Film
Alexandra Pelosi finished her HBO documentary on evangelical America and then her main guide, Ted Haggard, was ruined by a sex scandal.

• Newsmakers: Jewel, 'Am. Idol'

• Is Simon the Most Supportive 'Idol' Judge?
As 'American Idol' judges up the ante with bigger beat downs, a psychology professor says Cowell's cruel commentary might actually be a good thing.

• Television: Mideast Humor. Seriously
‘The Watch List,’ Comedy Central’s new online show, features (very funny) Americans of Middle-Eastern descent.

• Television: The Macho Baker Is Back
The host of the Food Network’s hit show ‘Ace of Cakes’ on why his kitchen essentials include a drill, saw and blowtorch.

• A Book Reviewer's Dilemma
Our reviewer liked the first 100 pages of Vikram Chandra’s new novel. If he’d loved them, he might have finished the book.

• 'American Idol' Wannabes: Meet the Rejects
'American Idol' is back, and so are the groupies who audition for it over and over (and over) again. Will they ever make it to Hollywood?

• Television: Rating the Golden Globes
From trashy to classy, the Golden Globe awards have it all.

• Stop or They'll Shoot!
A new reality show turns D-list celebrities into gun-toting crimefighters. What could possibly go wrong?

• Television: No Place Like 'Rome'
Virgil's Aeneid and HBO's lurid series about the Caesars couldn't be more different—and more alike.

• Cosby's Darkest Hours
In a book excerpt, a NEWSWEEK reporter recalls her talks with the grieving star after his son's 1997 murder.

• Newsmakers: Mia Farrow, David Beckham, Jack Nicholson

• How Friends Finished Steve Irwin's Last Film
Steve Irwin's death almost derailed the filming of Animal Planet's 'Ocean's Deadliest.' Then his friends decided to finish it in his memory.

• Television: Jack's Back
After a lame first hour, the new season of ‘24’ gets back to what it does best: imagining the unimaginable.

• Movies: Stepping on 'Stomp the Yard'
'Stomp the Yard' takes on the subject of black fraternities—and touches off a controversy.

• Movies: Interview With James Cameron
Eleven years after his record-breaking success with 'Titanic,' the director starts another movie—that he says will take four years to finish.

• Music: Lily Allen Finally Comes to America
Lily Allen’s songs are sugar-puff pastries with acid filling. Get them while they’re still (sorta) hot.

• Excerpt: Allison Samuels's 'Off the Record'
In a chapter from her new book, 'Off the Record' Allison Samuels talks to Eddie Murphy on his way back to the top

• Is a Violent Videogame Art?
After a gaming festival drops Super Columbine Massacre RPG! (yes, it’s what you think) from consideration, other videogame makers drop out in protest. Is it art, or just offensive?

• How Friends Finished Steve Irwin's Last Film
Steve Irwin's death almost derailed the filming of Animal Planet's 'Ocean's Deadliest.' Then his friends decided to finish it in his memory.

• Books: The Devil Wears Swastikas
Norman Mailer's new novel is a Hitler-family saga, with superstar guests. Maybe fiction isn't his real calling after all.

• Spycraft as Thespianage
Hollywood's latest forays into the postwar intelligence community get the period detail right—and miss the point.

• Newsmakers: Renee, O.J. and Whitney

• Theater: Broadway Preview
Eric Bogosian, Liev Schreiber, Kander & Ebb (and Rupert Holmes), Joan Didion, Vanessa Redgrave—need we say more?

• Interactive Design: Where Tech Meets Art
Industrial designer Bill Moggridge mines the history of interactive design to better understand how we mortals interact with technology.

• Books: Marriage, Tragedy and Music
Rob Sheffield’s memoir of a happy marriage, a tragic death and the music that bound it all together.

• Oprah Winfrey's Lavish South African School
True, the world's most successful woman has always shared her wealth. But her latest project is really one for the books.

Our critics' picks for 2006

• Movies
Films that inhabited a gray area between fiction and reality

• Music
A good year to plug in and tune out the world outside

• Books
Fiascos and states of denial both in fiction and nonfiction

• TV
Chances are, you missed the best stuff on the tube

• Art & Design
Great new buildings and books on design

• Performances
The year's best actors and actresses

Highlights

• Pressure Builds Over Gonzales, Rove

• Can Divorce Hurt a Presidential Hopeful?

• A New Battle Over Gays in the Military

• Iraq: Why Bombs Still Rain Down on Dora

• Gore’s Waistline: Clues to Presidential Bid?

• Is Shaikh Mohammed Telling the Truth?

• $1.5 Billion Doesn’t Guarantee Good Science

• War Film: The Politics and Drama of ‘300’

• Vanessa Redgrave at 70: A Magical Role

• How to Buy a House With Bad Credit

• GodTube: What Would Jesus Download?

EAT LIKE A LOCAL

• Where to go if you're in the know in Chicago and four other great cities around the globe.

• More Tips from Budget Travel

THE BOOMER FILES

• A Love Affair With Literature

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"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war. The American people see the reality of the war, the president does not."
—Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the passed legislation that would require President Bush to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq by next year

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