Film & Stage Reviews

‘Avatar’ Swamps State-Backed ‘Confucius’ at China Box Office A film about the Chinese philosopher Confucius was overwhelmed at the box office by News Corp.’s “Avatar,” grossing 97 million yuan ($14 million) in 2½ weeks on the mainland and failing to break even, its producer said.

Diva Buckley Plays Seductress in Intimate “Love!”: John Simon On Broadway, Betty Buckley was Grizabella in “Cats,” singing the immortal “Memory.” She was, in trousers, Ned Drood in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” and the mad mother in “Carrie.”

Huppert Rants, Screams, Vomits in Derailed Paris ‘Streetcar’ Tennessee Williams might have trouble recognizing “A Streetcar Named Desire” in the latest Paris staging of his play.

Super Bowl Is Most Watched U.S. TV Program Ever, Nielsen Says The Super Bowl was seen by an estimated 106.5 million people, becoming the most-watched program in U.S. television history, according to Nielsen Co.

‘Enron,’ Keira Knightley Nominated for U.K.’s Olivier Awards “Enron,” the hit British play about the demise of the world’s largest energy trader, garnered six nominations for London theater’s Laurence Olivier Awards, including for best new play.

Sondheim ‘Merrily’ Revival Founders as Roundabout Tightens Belt Coinciding with Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday in March, New York’s Roundabout Theatre Co. proposed the ultimate tribute: the first Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” his jaunty yet dark 1981 musical that ran 16 performances.

Polanski’s Ghost, Scorsese’s Island to Debut at Berlin Festival Roman Polanski, holed up in his Swiss ski chalet and facing possible extradition to the U.S. on a 30- year-old child-abuse case, is a notable absentee from this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where his new film is showing.

Horton Foote’s ‘Orphans’ Home Cycle’ Must Be Seen: John Simon Seen in one day as a nonalogy or on separate evenings as three three-hour trilogies, Horton Foote’s “The Orphans’ Home Cycle” is absorbing and uplifting.