I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 69 6th year
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
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Entertainment
Monday, March 24, 2014
‘Noah,’ revival of Bible epics, finds rough seas
WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps
Japan’s biggest slum not on maps or in film fest
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK — In the beginning of their work together on “Noah,” director Darren Aronofsky made Russell Crowe a promise: “I’ll never shoot you on a houseboat in a robe and sandals with two giraffes popping up behind you.” Decades after Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” and “Ben-Hur,” Aronofsky has renewed the tradition of the studio-made, mass-audience Bible epic, albeit as a distinctly darker parable about sin, justice and mercy. While much of his “Noah” is true to Scripture, it’s nothing like the picture-book version many encounter as children.
AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Niko Tavernise
This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Russell Crowe as Noah in a scene from the film, “Noah.”
“The first time I read it, I got scared,” the director says. “I thought, ‘What if I’m not good enough to get on the boat?’” It’s an altogether unlikely project: a $130 million Bible-based studio film made by a widely respected filmmaker (“Black Swan,” ‘’Requiem for a Dream”) few would have pegged as a modern-day DeMille. In the lead-up to its March 28th release, “Noah” has been flooded by controversy, with some religious conservatives claiming it isn’t literal enough to the Old Testament and that Noah has been inaccurately made, as Aronofsky has called him, “the first environmentalist.” “Noah” is a culmination of the shift brought on by Mel Gibson’s independently produced “The Passion of the Christ,” which awakened Hollywood with its unforeseen $612 million box office haul in 2004. In the time since, Hollywood has carefully developed closer ties to faith-based communities, (Sony and 20th Century Fox have set up faithbased studios targeting evangelicals). Yet the debate about “Noah” proves that it can be tricky to satisfy both believers and non-believers, and that
finding the right intersection of art, commerce and religion is a task loaded with as much risk as potential reward. A lot is at stake, and not just for “Noah” and distributor Paramount Pictures. In December, Fox will release Ridley Scott’s “Exodus,” starring Christian Bale as Moses. On the heels of the recently released “Son of God,” the religious drama “God’s Not Dead” opened Friday and Sony is releasing the less straightforwardly Biblical “Heaven Is for Real” ahead of Easter next month. The studio is also developing a vampire twist on Cain and Able with Will Smith. In Lionsgate’s pipeline is a Mary Magdalene film, hyped as a prequel to “The Passion of the Christ” and coproduced by mega-
church pastor Joel Osteen. When Jonathan Boch started his company Grace Hill Media in 2000 to consult Hollywood studios on reaching the faith community, the two “really didn’t know each other,” he says. Since then, films like “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “The Blind Side” have benefited from outreach to churchgoers.
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Monday, March 24, 2014
Page 6
World leaders gather for Hague nuclear summit
Rooney double gives Man United 2-0 win at West Ham
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France has images of possible jet debris
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Referee sends off wrong Arsenal player at Chelsea
Associated Press Writer
LONDON — In a high-profile case of mistaken identity by a Premier League referee, the wrong Arsenal player was sent off during Saturday’s 6-0 loss at Chelsea — adding a farcical element to a one-sided encounter between the two title rivals. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain blatantly handled in the penalty area in the 15th minute, making a diving save to tip away Eden Hazard’s shot when Arsenal was already 2-0 down. But Oxlade-Chamberlain escaped any sanction and referee Andre Marriner instead sent off defender Kieran Gibbs for no obvious reason. Oxlade-Chamberlain was seen saying “it was me” to Marriner but the referee ignored protests, while his assistants also failed to spot the mistake. Marriner later admitted he made a mistake via a statement from the Premier League referees’ body, with officials prevented from speaking publicly to the media. “Andre is an experienced referee and is obviously disappointed that an error of mistaken identity was made in this case,” Professional Game Match Officials said in a statement. “Incidents of mistaken iden-
tity are very rare and are often the result of a number of different technical factors. “Whilst this was a difficult decision Andre is disappointed that he failed to identify the correct player. He expressed his disappointment to Arsenal when he was made aware of the issue.” Hazard scored from the resulting penalty spot and three more goals followed for the hosts as Arsenal was consigned to one of its heaviest losses in manager Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th match in charge. Technology is only used in the Premier League to rule on disputed goals, but Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho called for referees to be allowed to base decisions on video replays. “The sending off is a big ammunition for people like me that thinks that one little screen in front of the fourth official is a big help against these kinds of mistakes,” Mourinho said. European football’s governing body quickly used the incident by Marriner to argue that the Premier League should adopt its five-official system. An extra official is placed behind each goal in Champions League and Europa League matches after UEFA President Michel Platini rejected the use of technology.
AP Photo/Rob Griffith
Two Chinese Ilyushin IL-76s aircraft sit on the tarmac at RAAF Pearce base ready to join the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Perth, Australia, Sunday, March 23, 2014. More planes were joining the search Sunday of a remote patch of the southern Indian Ocean in hopes of finding answers to the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, after China released a satellite image showing a large object floating in the search zone.
Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia says France has satellite images of objects that could be from a passenger jet that went missing more than two weeks ago.
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Referee Andre Marriner, in grey, sends off Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs, left, during their English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge stadium in London Saturday, March 22 2014.
A statement Sunday from the Ministry of Transport said Malaysia had received the images from “French authorities showing potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor.” That is thought to be close to an area of the Indian Ocean where Australia and China have also had satellites capture images of objects that could be debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which went missing March 8 with 239 people on board. Air and sea searches since Thursday in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean to determine whether
the objects were from the Malaysia jet have been unsuccessful. Meanwhile, more planes joined the search Sunday of a remote patch of the southern Indian Ocean in hopes of finding answers to the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, after China released a satellite image showing a large object floating in the search zone. The desolate area in the Indian Ocean is about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia, where three days of searching for similar images from another satellite that emerged earlier in the week have produced no results.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the operation from the country’s western coast, said it refined the search based on the latest clue from the Chinese satellite showing an object that appeared to be 22 meters (72 feet) by 13 meters (43 feet). It said the object’s position also fell within Saturday’s search area but it had not been sighted. Sunday’s search involving eight aircraft has been split into two areas within the same proximity covering 59,000 square kilometers (22,800 square miles). These areas have been determined by drift modelling, the AMSA said. Despite the frustrating lack of answers, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was upbeat. “Obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads
and there is increasing hope — no more than hope, no more than hope — that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft,” Abbott told reporters in Papua New Guinea. Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein put a message on his Twitter account Sunday asking those in churches around the country to offer a “prayer please” for the passengers and crew on Fight 370. More than 300 Malaysian cycling enthusiasts rode their bikes to the Kuala Lumpur airport to remember the people onboard the jet. The cyclists decorated the bikes with small Malaysian flags and stickers that read “Pray for MH370.” Seven planes left a base near Perth, where an intense wind was blowing, for a four-hour journey
to the search region, the safety authority said. One more will fly out later. The HMAS Success, an Australian navy supply ship, is also taking part. A cold front was forecast to move through the region later Sunday, which could bring clouds and wind, further hampering efforts to locate any debris thought to be from the plane. The latest satellite image is another clue in the baffling search for Flight 370, which dropped off air traffic control screens March 8 over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. “China hopes that these data will be helpful for searching and rescuing efforts,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement. Continued on page 6