Entertainment News Summary: Aretha Franklin's gospel roots celebrated; Lady Gaga's acting praised

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Lady Gaga takes off the make-up for movie role

Lady Gaga, the pop singer rarely seen without strikingly coiffed hair and heavy makeup, said on Friday she had to go natural for her first starring role in a movie. Gaga plays a girl-next-door character who achieves her dream of becoming a famous singer in "A Star Is Born", directed by co-star Bradley Cooper.

Remembering Michael; Jackson's children mark singer's 60th birthday

Nine years after the death of the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson's children and other family members came together to launch an auction, accept a posthumous award and remember the singer on what would have been his 60th birthday. Children Paris and Prince Jackson, brothers Tito and Jackie and R&B singer Usher joined some 1,500 guests in Las Vegas on Wednesday for a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show "One," based on music by the "Thriller" singer.

Neil Armstrong's sons defend 'First Man' against anti-American jibes

The family of astronaut Neil Armstrong on Friday defended a new film against accusations of anti-Americanism because it does not show him planting the U.S. flag to mark the first moon landing. "First Man," starring Canadian actor Ryan Gosling as the late astronaut, had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week and won rave reviews from critics, making it an early contender for Hollywood's awards season.

Woody Allen's latest film release in doubt

The release of Woody Allen's latest film was cast into doubt on Thursday after distributor Amazon Studios said it had not decided on a release date. The 82-year-old Oscar-winning director of comedies like "Annie Hall" and "Midnight in Paris" has traditionally released a new movie every year.

Venice Film Festival moves on gender equality, but no sign of quotas

The organizers of the Venice Film Festival signed a pledge on Friday to work toward gender equality, hoping to mollify critics who have accused them of sidelining women filmmakers. Venice follows other European film festivals Cannes and Locarno in pledging to get an equal number of men and women in its top management by 2020 – but it has ruled out any quota system for selecting films to compete.

Long live women filmmakers, even awkward ones, says Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave, who received a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival this week, added her voice to those calling for more visibility of female directors, even if she said women were sometimes hard to work with. The 81-year-old British actress was given a Golden Lion for her career that began on stage in the 1950s and led to an Oscar-winning movie career, at a festival that has been criticized for the small number of women directors in its line-up.

'Two-queens' Colman brings grief, comedy to Venice in 'The Favourite'

"It is fun to be queen sometimes," exclaims Olivia Colman in "The Favourite", in which she plays a physically and emotionally crippled monarch who swings from childlike glee to childish impetuousness in the space of a sentence. The British actress, soon to be seen as Elizabeth II in the Netflix series "The Crown", plays Britain's 18th-century Queen Anne as a heartbroken widow whose pet rabbits that have the run of her palatial bedchamber are surrogates for the 17 children she has lost during or soon after pregnancy.

Aretha Franklin's gospel roots celebrated at Queen of Soul's funeral

A Detroit church swelled with the sound of gospel music on Friday as a family, friends, and fans of Aretha Franklin bid rousing farewell to the Queen of Soul at a funeral that featured tributes by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and singer Stevie Wonder. "Come on, this is a church service, lift your voice!" Bishop Charles Ellis III, the officiant, exhorted the congregation at the Greater Grace Temple, as the choir and orchestra swayed behind him.

She can sing, but can she act? Critics hail Lady Gaga: movie star

Most of the critics avoided the obvious headline to describe Lady Gaga's performance in "A Star Is Born", but they seemed to agree that the singer showed what it takes to lead a major movie. For audiences familiar with the pop diva known for high-concept outfits and extraordinary hair and makeup, Gaga is barely recognizable as Ally the girl-next-door who has given up on a music career until she is discovered by grizzled rock star Jackson, played by first-time director Bradley Cooper.

50 years in the making, Orson Welles' last film makes it to the screen

It is the stuff of movie industry legend: the director of the best film ever made leaves behind an unfinished movie destined never to be seen - until now. Orson Welles shot "The Other Side of the Wind" in the early 1970s but gave up on it, leaving behind 100 hours of footage when he died in 1985.

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