All about Madagascar director's VR passion project, Venice shoots for the Moon

It's been around for decades, but, unlike regular 3D, virtual reality (VR) has yet to make a big impact in the movie industry.

Oprah, John Legend voice 'Madagascar' director's VR passion project

It's been around for decades, but, unlike regular 3D, virtual reality (VR) has yet to make a big impact in the movie industry, something a maker of Hollywood animations believes can change - if the films are good enough. Eric Darnell, who co-wrote and directed the "Madagascar" movies, showed his own VR film at the Venice Film Festival this week, "Crow: The Legend", in which the viewer is immersed in the story of a mythical bird that has to fly to the sun to bring back warmth to the Earth.

Venice shoots for the Moon in Hollywood-heavy film festival

When Ryan Gosling gets off the boat at Venice Lido this week, it will be one small step for the Hollywood actor, but potentially another leap for the world's oldest film festival. Gosling's "First Man", in which he plays pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong, opens a festival that has recovered from a period of decline and is increasingly seen as the first showcase of the season for potential Oscar winners.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Fans pay their last to Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin's body lay in repose on Tuesday while her soaring voice poured out from loudspeakers outside a Detroit museum, stirring fans to sway and sing along and others to weep as they lined up for the last glimpse of the Queen of Soul. Franklin died last week at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer in Detroit, where she began her career as a child singing gospel in the New Bethel Baptist Church Choir.

This is Aretha Franklin's hearse. It is the coolest hearse in the history of death.Photo from @freep: pic.twitter.com/BYNbfpvRYf

— Allison Carter (@AllisonLCarter) August 28, 2018

Dumbo flies off for $483,000 in $8.3 million Disneyland auction

An auction of Disneyland theme park vehicles, props, and artifacts that turned into a Los Angeles attraction in its own right raised more than $8.3 million, organizers said on Monday. An original Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride car sold for $483,000 - more than four times the pre-sale estimate - while magician David Copperfield nabbed a neon letter D from the Disneyland hotel for $86,250, auctioneers Van Eaton Galleries said.

Tony award-winning U.S. playwright Neil Simon dies at 91

U.S. playwright Neil Simon, who became one of Broadway's most prolific and popular playwrights as he combined humor, drama, and introspection in works such as "The Odd Couple," "The Goodbye Girl" and "Lost in Yonkers," died on Sunday at the age of 91, his representatives said. Simon died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City of complications from pneumonia, Broadway theater representatives DKC/O&M said in a statement on Sunday. Simon was admitted to the hospital a few days ago and the pneumonia was in his lungs, Simon's longtime publicist Bill Evans said in a Sunday phone interview. Evans said he gave Simon a kidney in 2004.