Décès du romancier et scénariste américain Sidney Sheldon

Le scénariste et romancier à succès Sidney Sheldon est décédé avant-hier en Californie à l?âge de 89 ans, a annoncé un agent, Sean Rossall. Sheldon a succombé aux complications d?une pneumonie au Centre médical Eisenhower de Rancho Mirage, près de son domicile de Palm Springs, a-t-il précisé. Sidney Sheldon avait publié 18 romans, traduits en 51 langues et vendus à 300 millions d?exemplaires. Mais avant d?être internationalement connu comme romancier, la cinquantaine passée, il avait été scénariste pour le cinéma, la télévision et le théâtre.

Oscar race watchers put spotlight on ?Sunshine?

Hollywood?s Oscar race for best film appears to be wide open heading into its final month with several award watchers recently giving comedy Little Miss Sunshine a slight edge over The Departed and Babel. By contrast, the experts think acting and directing winners are nearly locked with favorites including Helen Mirren for best actress as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and Forest Whitaker for top actor playing former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Martin Scorsese is expected to win the best director Oscar. ?This is not a year like ?Lord of the Rings? or ?Titanic,? and the greatest tension is in the best picture race,? said USA Today critic Claudia Puig. ?I think the acting races are set.? For 2003 movies, voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Oscars, felt director Peter Jackson?s epic Lord of the Rings films were such a huge feat they gave his final installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 11 Academy Awards including best film. The same logic prevailed for 1997?s Titanic, director James Cameron?s romance set aboard the doomed ocean liner that also earned 11 Oscars.