SCREEN PEOPLE | Movies: Julianne Moore’s Alice highlighting often hidden toll of Alzheimer’s

Her performance as a vibrant woman fading into the darkness of Alzheimer’s is doing more than earning awards for actress Julianne Moore. The movie “Still Alice” is raising awareness of a disease too often suffered in isolation, even if the Hollywood face is younger than the typical real-life patient.
The movie is about a linguistics professor stricken at the unusually young age of 50 with a form of Alzheimer’s that runs in her family. That type of Alzheimer’s accounts for a small fraction of the brain-destroying disease.
About 35 million people worldwide, and 5.2 million in the U.S., have Alzheimer’s or similar dementias. The vast majority are 65 or older. Barring medical breakthroughs, U.S. cases are expected to more than double by 2050, because of the aging population.
As many as 4 percent of cases worldwide are thought to be the early-onset form that strikes people before age 65, usually in their 40s or 50s, said the Alzheimer’s Association’s chief science officer, Maria Carrillo, who served as a scientific adviser for the movie.
Alice’s type is even more rare; she tells her three adult children in the movie: “It’s familial. It’s passed on genetically.”  To help with the movie’s first-person perspective, Carrillo’s group put actress Moore in touch with someone in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s who could describe how disorienting symptoms felt.

Books: Harper Lee book could also mean a ‘Mockingbird’ movie sequel

The movie version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the rare adaptation as beloved as its source material.
So when Harper Lee and her publisher announced this week that this summer they’ll release the 88-year-old author’s second book, “Go Set the Watchmen,” a kind of sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the shockwaves were felt almost as much in Hollywood as they were in the book world.
The movies, after all, love a sequel. And rare is the chance to follow up one of the most iconic American films, half a century later.
If Lee agrees to sell the movie rights of her new book, it can be expected to be one of the most eagerly sought novels for optioning to the big screen. Particularly since Lee said Tuesday that “Go Set the Watchman” follows her young heroine, Scout, into adulthood, it’s sure to be feverishly pursued by producers. It’s likely to spark a bidding war well before it lands on book shelves July 14.

Entertainment: Bobby Brown says daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was never married

An attorney representing Bobby Brown says the entertainer’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, isn’t and never has been married.
Brown’s attorney Christopher Brown released a statement this week disputing reports that Bobbi Kristina Brown is married to Nick Gordon. Bobbi Kristina Brown has been hospitalized since Jan. 31 after being found unresponsive in a bathtub at a suburban Atlanta townhome. Gordon and a friend called police.
In January 2014, a representative for the family confirmed to The Associated Press that Brown and Gordon had gotten married, but did not release any details.
Bobbi Kristina is the only child of Brown and the late singer Whitney Houston, who was found unresponsive in a hotel bathtub in 2012. Whitney Houston left her entire estate to her daughter. Brown’s family has said she is in a hospital “fighting for her life.”

Oscars: Will ‘the’ awards presenters go the distance with ‘Birdman’ title?

And the winner is … a mouthful.
Though the full wingspan of the best-picture favorite at the Academy Awards is usually clipped down to simply “Birdman,” the movie that many think is destined to fly highest at the Oscars is officially titled “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).” If it were to win, it would be the longest-titled best-picture winner, as well as the most grammatically dubious.
Oscar night may come down to not only what name is read from the night’s final envelope, but also how the winning film is said. Should either name be called, writer-director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu isn’t quibbling.
“Better the full title, but honestly I understand we have to be practical,” said Inarritu of his preference in a recent interview. “It’s more practical to say ‘Birdman.’ That’s fine by me.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences recognizes the film’s full title in all its colorful plumage, even if most multiplex marquees don’t. The film’s distributor, Fox Searchlight, has regularly fostered the natural shorthand while still honoring the artistic intentions of its filmmaker.
Since lengthy, oddly punctuated dual titles aren’t exactly what marketers dream of, “Birdman” is how it’s generally been promoted. But Fox Searchlight also presents the complete title on movie posters (albeit with the second title in much smaller type) and it urged critics reviewing the film to use the full title on first reference. (Inarritu acknowledges Searchlight has been “very cool” about his title.)

TV: Oliver bulking up on staff with news experience

John Oliver says that he’s hired three new researchers to help with what has become his HBO show’s signature, a long-form take on a newsy subject where it’s often hard to figure out where he will find the comedy.
Oliver’s show, “Last Week Tonight,” returns Sunday after being on hiatus since November. He’ll make 35 new episodes between now and November 2015.
His boss, HBO chief executive Richard Plepler, said Tuesday that he can’t think of any HBO show that has broken through in the zeitgeist as fast as Oliver’s, which debuted last April. “Last Week Tonight” has become known for segments, often longer than half of the 30-minute show time, that have taken on topics like net neutrality, the Miss America pageant’s finances, translators in the Afghan war and anti-gay laws in Uganda.
To hear Oliver tell it, the format evolved by chance: he did a 12-minute story on the death penalty in his second show almost as a dare.
People have responded to these in-depth segments, pushed along by HBO’s decision to post them online afterward — an unusual step for a pay cable network to give away some of its content for free.
MDT/Agencies