Malaria turns comedy's Richard Curtis from laughter to tears

By Barbara Lewis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Brussels and Washington are the two great lobbying capitals of the world, where campaigners talk themselves hoarse trying to shift the political dial.

Some of them have had the fortune to recruit British director and screenwriter Richard Curtis, whose powers of persuasion move hearts as well as minds.

Known for his romantic comedies, such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill", Curtis has turned his hand to a didactic tragedy - "Mary and Martha" - being screened across the globe to coincide with world malaria day on April 25.

"You could take a simple story and take it straight into the heart of politics," he told a Brussels audience of lobbyists, politicians and representatives of the European Commission.

"Mary and Martha" tells the story of two mothers, one American (played by Hilary Swank), one British (played by Brenda Blethyn), who lose their sons to malaria then lobby Washington politicians to try to prevent other mothers losing their children too.

For the developed world, theirs is an exceptional tragedy. In Africa, death from malaria is a daily occurrence. The continent accounts for the vast majority of the well over half a million annual deaths from a preventable and treatable disease.

Curtis, who wrote the screenplay, is appalled that a quirk of geography can be so unjust.

"If 650,000 children in Europe were going to die this year of one disease - if it were only 6,000 - everything would be stopped to do something," he said. "I can't understand why this tiny bit of geography should make it not matter."

Brussels says it is listening.

European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs met Curtis and said the European Commission would honor a pledge of 330 million euros ($430 million) for the Global Fund, set up by world leaders to tackle malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

But after the current funding period, 2011-2013, there might be "a lower budget than expected", Piebalgs said in a speech.

Over the coming weeks, EU member states and parliament are likely to freeze development spending - meaning a real-term cut - when they sign off on a seven-year financing plan for 2014-20 agreed after lengthy and difficult talks.

Curtis has a long track record in combining worthy causes with making people laugh. He helped to found British charity Comic Relief, set up in response to famine in Ethiopia in 1985.

Comic Relief, uses humor to raise funds to tackle poverty and social injustice and Curtis told his Brussels audience his foray into tragic script-writing did not mean he had given up on comedy.

"I have been getting more reflective as I get older, but I hope I have a couple of jokes in me too," he said.

($1 = 0.7674 euros)

(Additional reporting by Charlie Dunmore, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Kuwait author wins Arabic book prize for tale of foreign workers

LONDON (Reuters) - Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi has won the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his portrayal of the lives of foreign workers in Gulf countries in "The Bamboo Stalk".

The 31-year-old Alsanousi became the youngest winner in the $50,000-prize's six-year history for the story seen through the eyes of Issa, the son of a Kuwaiti father and a Filipina mother.

"All the judges agreed on the superior quality of this novel, both artistically and also in terms of its social and humanitarian content," the panel's chair Egyptian writer Galal Amin said in a statement on Tuesday.

On returning to his father's homeland as an adult, Issa finds himself in a difficult position.

Rather than the mythical country his mother has described to him, he discovers he is caught between the natural, biological ties he shares with his father's family and the prejudices of a traditional society, which views a child of Kuwaiti-Filipina heritage as socially unacceptable.

Alsanousi's work has appeared in a number of Kuwaiti publications, including Al-Watan newspaper and Al-Arabi, Al-Kuwait and Al-Abwab magazines and he currently writes for Al-Qabas newspaper. He wins $50,000.

His first novel "The Prisoner of Mirrors" was published in 2010 and in the same year won the fourth Laila al-Othman Prize, awarded for novels and short stories by young writers.

Alsanousi beat five other finalists for the prize. Each finalist, including the winner, will receive $10,000.

The other finalists were Iraqi Sinan Antoon for "Hail Mary", Tunisian Houcine El Oued for "His Excellency the Minister", Lebanese author Jana Elhassan for "Me, She and the Other Women", Saudi Mohammed Hasan Alwan for "The Beaver" and Egyptian Ibrahim Issa for "Our Master".

The prize is supported by the Booker Prize Foundation in London and funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which marks its first year as the new sponsor in 2013.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Michael Jackson wrongful death trial set to get underway Monday

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The civil trial over the death of Michael Jackson is set to get formally underway next week after jury selection was completed on Tuesday in the $40 billion case that pits the pop star's mother against concert promoters AEG Live.

Six alternate jurors were chosen on Tuesday following the selection a day earlier of a jury of six men and six women for what is expected to be an emotional three-month trial.

The conclusion of the month-long search for a jury set the stage for opening statements to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.

Jackson's 82-year-old mother, Katherine, is suing AEG Live, the promoters of his never-realized series of 2009 London comeback concerts, for the wrongful death of her son.

The lawsuit alleges AEG Live was negligent in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray to care for the singer while he rehearsed for a series of 50 shows.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and that Jackson was addicted to prescription drugs for years before he agreed to do the "This Is It" London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray, who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, posed a danger to the singer.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, from a lethal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol that Murray was administering for sleep problems. Murray, who is not being sued, formally appealed against his criminal conviction on Monday.

Potential witnesses in the civil trial include Jackson's mother, his two oldest children, Prince, 16, and Paris, 15, as well as Murray, singers Prince and Diana Ross, and Jackson's ex-wives, Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

Katherine Jackson and her son's three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from privately held AEG Live for loss of the singer's earnings and other damages. The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live negligent.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Gwyneth Paltrow named People's most beautiful woman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow on Wednesday was named the world's most beautiful woman for 2013 by People magazine, knocking pop singer Beyonce out of the top spot.

The 40-year-old mother of two credits a five-day-a-week exercise regimen for keeping her in shape as she grows older.

"It makes me look younger and feel strong," Paltrow told the magazine. "When I first started, I thought, 'I'll never be good at this. This is a nightmare!' But now it's like brushing my teeth, I just do it."

It is the fourth time Paltrow, who is married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin, has been named to the magazine's annual beautiful people issue, but the first time landing the coveted cover as most beautiful woman.

She joins the likes of fellow actresses Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston to top the list.

Paltrow reprises her starring role as Pepper Potts in the action film "Iron Man 3," which opens next month.

The actress has cut back her film work after giving birth to children Apple, 8, and Moses, 7, and released her second cookbook, "It's All Good," this month.

She is also the founder of lifestyle and clothing website Goop.com.

Paltrow won an Oscar for her role as William Shakespeare's muse in the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love."

The full list of People's "World's Most Beautiful People" can be found on www.people.com/mostbeautiful

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Novelist Banks "stunned" by fan support over terminal cancer

By Li-mei Hoang

LONDON (Reuters) - Scottish author Iain Banks, who announced this month he was suffering from terminal cancer, said he was "stunned" by the messages of support he has received from his fans.

The "Wasp Factory" author said he was deeply flattered and touched by all the responses left on the website Banksophilia, which was set up by his friend Martin Belk.

"Good grief! - what an outpouring of love, affection and respect. I honestly had no idea," he wrote.

"Discovering the sheer extent and depth of the feelings people have expressed on the message board over the past two weeks has been truly astounding," he added.

Banks, 59, said his problems came to light after a visit to his doctor about a sore back. Tests revealed he was not only suffering from jaundice but also cancer in his gall bladder.

He announced his illness on his website on April 3, before he canceled all future public engagements.

The author, who also writes science fiction under the name of Iain M Banks, said that as a late-stage gall bladder cancer patient he is only expected to live for a few months.

Banks has returned to Britain after a short honeymoon with his wife Adele in Paris and Venice to continue working on his new book "The Quarry."

Born in Fife, Banks studied at Stirling University before publishing "The Wasp Factory", his first novel, in 1984.

In 2008, he was named one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 in a list compiled by the Times newspaper.

Banks said he would be looking "seriously" at the medical advice and suggestions made by his fans and would continue to post the occasional update for as long as he is able.

"I feel treasured, I feel loved ... and I can't deny I've been made to feel very special indeed," he added.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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A Minute With: Colin Firth from royal to ordinary "Arthur Newman"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After winning a Best Actor Oscar for playing a stuttering British royal in 2010 film "The King's Speech," Colin Firth is back on screen as a character who appears ordinary to the point of boring in indie drama "Arthur Newman."

Opening in select U.S. movie theaters on Friday, Firth plays an American man who is dissatisfied with his life and hits the road with a new identity. Things get derailed when he meets Mike (Emily Blunt) a troubled young woman fleeing from her own issues.

Firth, 52, sat down with Reuters to talk about the film and life after his first Oscar win, and the (dimming) prospects of a third "Bridget Jones' Diary" movie.

Q: What made you follow up an Academy Award win with a little indie like "Arthur Newman?"

A: At the time, the title of the film was "Arthur Newman Golf Pro" and I found it so off-putting, it perversely made me more intrigued. I thought by putting 'golf' in the title, the film wouldn't be exactly marketable.

Q: How's that?

A: If you don't like golf, you won't go to see the film. And if you like golf, you're going to be disappointed because it's not about golf. It was almost provocative in how willfully unmarketable it was, so I wanted to see what was inside.

Q: And what did you find?

A: A man who seemed steeped in ordinariness. In fact, he's pronounced to be boring by several characters in the movie. So yes, he really is incredibly boring and that intrigued me. It always has. What is actually going on? What are the dynamics behind somebody languishing in a disappointing suburban life? What heroism is possible?

Q: How do you play someone like that? Where do you look to find a common thread?

A: We trap ourselves in all sorts of ways, however unusual or extraordinary our existence might seem from the outside. There are all kinds of ways in which we find ourselves on a treadmill.

If people dare to test the boundaries and step outside, it's often characterized as running away from problems. But you can't look at it that way. In Arthur Newman's case, in some ways he was probably running in to something that was more awake and more authentic.

Q: You can't possibly have any hint of dissatisfaction after winning an Oscar, can you?

A: That's not true, because you've got the rest of your tasks ahead of you. Of course there's immense reassurance (in having an Oscar) and it does give you a license for a certain freedom to do what you want and not have to prove something.

Q: Did you find that things changed for you after you won?

A: Not quickly. In some ways it's happening now....An Oscar doesn't suddenly work the miracle that manufactures a plethora of great writers who are suddenly ready to come to you with fully financed films, with the right director attached, landing on your table, saying: Take your pick. It's not as coherent as that.

Q: Have you been able to use the Oscar to your advantage?

A: Yes. It definitely opens doors. There are ways in. If you want to reach somebody to get the collaboration on something, they'll talk to you. That's a very powerful difference I've noticed.

Q: Do you like that?

A: Yeah, I do. It's useful. I think that's probably the healthiest way to look at it, rather than have something that gets preserved on a shelf. Take it and use it as a tool. Then it has meaning rather than just something to look back on. You can't live on one moment. And you can't allow either a crisis or a triumph to be the only thing that defines you.

Q: You have a lot of films on your plate due this year and next: Atom Egoyan's "Devil's Knot" and two back-to-back films with Nicole Kidman. What's the status on the sequel to "Bridget Jones' Diary?"

A: We've been teasing people a little bit because there have been plans but they're on ice now.

Q: Are you disappointed?

A: Not in the abstract. I don't spend my life thinking, "I hope there's another 'Bridget Jones.'" I like the character and I like the story. I think (author-screenwriter) Helen Fielding is a wonderful writer. Where she began to take it in this next stage now that we're all older is actually more interesting than it was in some ways back then. So if there's a good story and a good script, I'll think about it on that basis.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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"Community's" Jim Rash Talks Writing 'Freaky Friday' Episode, Getting Revenge on Joel McHale

(Note: Strong language in para 8)

By Jethro Nededog

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jim Rash hasn't let his Oscar for co-writing "The Descendants" go to his head.

"Oscar or no Oscar, it doesn't matter," Rash told TheWrap.

"It's like, 'You did that, great. Now, do it again' or 'Let's see if you got what it takes.' The pressure is always going to be there no matter what," he continued. "So I feed off that pressure, because obviously I want to do the best job as I can. But, it really doesn't mean anything. You can still write a piece of crap next time around."

He certainly didn't take the easy route when writing Thursday's episode of NBC's "Community," which features a body-switching "Freaky Friday" theme that throws the study group for a loop.

"Just randomly the nugget of 'Freaky Friday' was something that was in my head, like the idea," he explained. "Not surprisingly in the world of 'Community,' the writers were like, 'Oh my God, we talked about a body switching thing at some point.' Then we realized sort of in talking out loud this was a great opportunity to use that device to do the real emotional part of the story, which is obviously Troy and Britta and Abed will be sucked into that."

On the episode, titled "Basic Human Anatomy," Danny Pudi and Donald Glover play each other's characters. "They know each other so well as friends on and off-screen, they were actually recording their parts for each other. So, they were really giving each other homework basically. They really did study up."

And although it's only his first time writing for the comedy in its almost four seasons on-air, Rash made sure to include an acting challenge for himself, which doubled as revenge on co-star Joel McHale. Rash's Dean Pelton gets to switch bodies with Jeff (McHale) - kind of - and the actor proves he can do a pretty good impersonation of his co-star.

"I just like to give Joel s--t in general," the alum of L.A.'s Groundings Improv group said. "It was fun for me just to even do it. It's sort of like payback for me, because when we did the documentary episode and he got to 'play me' -- an exaggerated, horrible version of me for the video - I was always partly offended."

That's a writer's perk, but not all that Rash got out from the experience of writing the episode.

"It's hard, but it's a great ride," he said. "It was a dream come true. It's very simple, I wanted to do right by our writers and by. I hope I did. They were so supportive, it's really a team effort too. At the end of the day, it's people loving a show and doing their best to keep it going. All very good."

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