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Veteran film-maker Woody Allen has won the original screenplay prize at the Writers Guild awards for his romantic comedy Midnight in Paris.

The best adapted screenplay award went to Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash for The Descendants.

TV honours went to Modern Family, Breaking Bad and Homeland.

Voters honoured The Help director Tate Taylor with a special award recognising work that embodies the spirit of civil rights and liberties.

Taylor told reporters the movie had been a "labour of love" and that its success this awards season had been "fantastic".

"It's my first adaptation, which I think was a blessing because I just went for it," said the director, who based his script on Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel.

The Writers Guild Awards, held at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday, are often seen as a good indicator of which films will win writing plaudits at the Oscars.

Due to the organisation's own rules, though, Oscar favourite The Artist had been rendered ineligible.

Talk show The Colbert Report, which reportedly went off air last week due to the ailing health of host Stephen Colbert's mother, won best comedy/variety series.

General Hospital was crowned best daytime drama, while Simpsons episode Homer the Father was named best animation.

Elsewhere, Steven Spielberg enjoyed success at the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards on Sunday, earning honours for both The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse.

WWI drama War Horse took the award for sound effects and foley – the reproduction of everyday sounds – in a feature film.

The Adventures of Tintin, meanwhile, won for sound effects, foley, dialogue and ADR – Automated Dialogue Replacement – in an animation film.

Martin Scorsese's Hugo won best sound for music in a film, while The Muppets took the award for music in a musical feature film.

Scorsese was cited again when his George Harrison film Living in the Material World was recognised in the feature documentary category

Story By: Talk of the Nation

Michael Moore, filmmaker and author
Nina Seavey, director, George Washington University’s Documentary Center

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has changed the way they nominate documentaries for the Oscars. One of the most controversial changes — proposed by filmmaker Michael Moore — is that films must be reviewed by The New York Times or the Los Angeles Times.

The release of the movie Sparkle, Whitney Houston’s final recorded work, has been the subject of intense interest since the pop star died in Beverly Hills on Saturday.

On Monday morning, Radar Online quoted a source at Sony saying the release date for the movie, in which Houston plays the mother of aspiring pop singers, is being moved up from August 17 because of fan interest. The film "could be released as early as Memorial Day" in the US (May 28), Radar quoted the source as saying. Shortly afterwards, a Sony spokesman said that the report was "not true" and that the film would be released on schedule on the third weekend of August.

A remake of a 1976 Irene Cara movie, Sparkle is still technically in post-production, though a rough cut has been completed. According to executive producer Howard Rosenman, who said he saw that cut just last week, Houston shines in the film. "She is genius in the movie and it would have been a giant comeback for her," he told 24 Frames.

The original Sparkle told the story of the Williams sisters, a trio of 1950s-era Harlem singers whose stories were loosely inspired by the Supremes. Headed by Lonette McKee’s Sister, the group also features Sister’s sister Sparkle (Cara), Dolores (Dawn Smith) and several friends. As they begin to find success, though, Sister’s life spirals out of control, with drug addiction eventually leading to her death.

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New York: Fans are showing their grief over Whitney Houston’s death by buying her music.

Since her death, her album sales have been boosted by almost 6,000 per cent.

Data released late Tuesday by Nielsen SoundScan showed that Houston’s album sales for the week ending Sunday – the day after her death – were at 101,000.

The week earlier, she had sold just 1,700 copies of her albums.

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There are 20 new Dubai residents who are extra thankful for the ‘winter’ we’re having at the moment – a colony of King and Gentoo penguins have just arrived from SeaWorld in the States (1) and have become the most popular additions to the city overnight.

The country’s own happy feet colony have just landed in Ski Dubai, and visitors can have a totally unique interactive experience with them – and once you’ve gotten up close to the birds you’ll realise just how unique their personalities are (2).

The ‘peng-friend’ encounters are open to anyone over the age of three, giving visitors the opportunity to interact with the penguins (3) and meet the trainers who have worked with the birds since they hatched.

If you don’t fancy donning snow boots and a parka, there’s a March of the Penguins every day (2pm, 5pm, 8pm weekdays, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm weekends); watch on from the mall as the feathered friends walk though the SkiDubai snow park. Cuteness alert!

Cost Dh175 per person 

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Three different stage versions of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby are set to take place later this year, it has been announced.

Gatz will open at the West End's Noel Coward Theatre in June and Wilton's Music Hall will host The Great Gatsby in April.

A musical adaption will open at the King's Head Theatre in Islington, north London in August.

Published in 1925, the book has long been regarded as a US literary classic.

Set in New York, the story is about the dreams and delusions of the nouveau riche in the 1920s.

The Great Gatsby Musical will be directed by Young Vic Genesis director, Linnie Reedman and award-winning composer Joe Evans has been lined up to write the music.

Casting for the Wilton production is currently underway.

The adaption will feature singing and dancing, as well as Gatsby-themed rooms, which members of the audience will be encouraged to explore before and after the show.

The announcement follows a six-hour off-Broadway Gatsby production, which was a hit at the end of last year.

The Great Gatsby's popularity has soared recently, thanks in part to a new spin-off novel that traces the fortunes of the character Daisy Buchanan's daughter Pamela.

Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann has also started production on a new film adaptation starring British actress Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular Jay Gatsby.

The picture is scheduled for release at the end of the year.

A version in 1974, starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow won Oscars for costume design and music.

Scottish bard Robert Burns.

Hear a variety of artists in the intoxicating embrace of the Scottish bard’s songs, including Rod Paterson, June Tabor and Eddi Reader.

For more information on this program, visit www.thistleradio.com.

Steven Tyler says he meant to sing the US national anthem like that.

The Aerosmith frontman and American Idol judge endured plenty of jabs after his rendition of the anthem at the AFC Championship game last month, but Tyler says he doesn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

"I don’t know. As I said before, I put emphasis on, ‘In the land of the free’ and I went up," Tyler explained. "Oddly enough I hit the note, so I don’t know what they are talking about. I emphasised ‘free’, which was for freedom. It was well thought out prior to. I wasn’t messing with American tradition."

Enduring negative criticism at that football game did not stop Tyler from enjoying pre-Super Bowl festivities with Carrie Underwood. The duo is in Indianapolis for Crossroads, which brings acts from different genres together to perform. It’s not the first time the two have sung together: They performed a duet at the Academy of Country Music Awards last year.

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Story By: by Patrick Jarenwattananon

The logo for the Center City Jazz Festival — provided it launches.

Swing, Swang, Swingin’: verb conjugation a la Jackie McLean.

Elsewhere at NPR Music:

Story By: World Cafe

Novalima began in 2001 when four Peruvian friends, all living in different parts of the world, took to the Internet to exchange ideas. Pulling from rock, pop, salsa, reggae, dance and electronic music, they formed a collective that would soon become known worldwide for its inventive form of Afro-Peruvian roots music. Novalima released its self-titled debut in 2002, and its 2005 follow-up won the Independent Music Award for best album in world fusion.

Novalima’s fourth record, Karimba, has solidified the band’s reputation as a producer of world music that’s both accessible and danceable. The album incorporates African-inspired percussion that blends seamlessly with modern electronic beats and a wealth of historical influences. From tribal chants to Cuban rhythms, Karimba is endlessly energetic, which comes through nicely in the two tracks chosen for this installment of World Cafe: Next.