US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary

Vampires rule, "Transformers" divides movie fans

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The "Twilight" vampire franchise topped a survey of 2009 moviegoers' favorites, but film fans were divided over whether they loved or hated this year's "Transformers" sequel. A poll on the AOL movie website Moviefone.com ranked "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" both the worst of 2009 and the year's best action movie, as well as the second-most disappointing film of the year -- after "Bruno."

The top 10 biggest TV blunders of the decade

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Perhaps executives toiling in the TV industry should get a pass given all the competitive distractions dwindling their audience, from video games to social networking. And yet, some of their decisions were so memorably boneheaded that we must celebrate these milestone mishaps. Let's start with... 10. FOX CANCELING "FAMILY GUY" (AND, SURE, PERHAPS "FIREFLY" TOO)
Avenged Sevenfold drummer dies in California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The drummer with Avenged Sevenfold, a rising force in the heavy metal scene, died on Monday at his home in southern California, the group and authorities said. James Owen Sullivan, nicknamed "The Rev," appeared to have died of natural causes, Huntington Beach police Lt. John Domingo told the Orange County Register. He was 28. The Orange County Coroner's Office is investigating, the paper said.

Tyra Banks bringing end to TV talk show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former supermodel Tyra Banks said on Monday she is ending her Emmy-award winning TV daytime talk show in the spring of 2010. Banks, 36, said in a posting on her official web site that the current fifth season of "The Tyra Show" on the CW network, would be the last.

Charlie Sheen's wife claims knife threat in assault

DENVER (Reuters) - Charlie Sheen's wife accused the actor of threatening her with a knife in a Christmas Day emergency phone call to police that led to his arrest, a recording released on Monday revealed. She also told police that Sheen had threatened to kill her during an argument about a possible divorce, according to a separate police report obtained by celebrity website TMZ.com.

Singer Van Morrison a father again, at 64

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Van Morrison became a father again on Monday at the age of 64 after his manager gave birth to a son he described as "the spitting image of his daddy." "Gigi (Lee) and Van Morrison are proud to announce the birth of their first born son, George Ivan Morrison III," the Belfast-born Morrison said on his website, www.vanmorrison.com.

Polanski thanks backers as extradition wait goes on

PARIS (Reuters) - Roman Polanski has thanked people who have sent messages of support during his battle to avoid extradition from Switzerland to the United States over a case of having sex with a 13-year-old in 1977. "These messages have come from my neighbors, from people all over Switzerland and from beyond Switzerland -- from across the world," the Oscar-winning film director wrote in an open letter published on the website of French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy.

"Avatar", Chipmunks lead worldwide box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The 3-D extravaganza "Avatar" ruled the worldwide box office for a second weekend on Sunday, while the latest exploits of Alvin and the Chipmunks and Sherlock Holmes helped set a North American sales record. "Avatar," an eco-friendly morality tale from "Titanic" writer/director James Cameron, earned $220 million in North America and 108 foreign markets, taking its 10-day haul to $617.3 million.

"It's Complicated": a man's film in a woman's world

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nancy Meyers, the middle-aged men of America thank you. While older men are most often portrayed in films and on television as guys chasing the skirts of women half their age, your new movie "It's Complicated" plays them somewhat differently.

Merge Records: 20 years of glorious noise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In the summer of 1987, 19-year-old Mac McCaughan and his bandmates stumbled on an idea as old as rock 'n' roll itself. Rather than sending demo tapes to major record companies, they followed in the do-it-yourself footsteps of punk-rock idols such as the Buzzcocks and Minor Threat and started their own label. But more than promote their own band, they wanted to document the local music in the college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.