'Playbook' wins big at Toronto film fest
TORONTO, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- "Silver Linings Playbook" has won the BlackBerry People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Directed by David O. Russell, the family comedy stars Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver.
The political drama, "Argo," which was directed by and stars Ben Affleck, was the People's Choice Award runner-up. It is set in Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis.
Martin McDonagh's crime caper "Seven Psychopaths," starring Colin Farrell and Christopher Walken," won the Midnight Madness Award, while Bartholomew Cubbins' music film "Artifact" earned the Best Documentary prize.
James Taylor seeks $2M from Warner Bros.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. singer-songwriter James Taylor has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Records seeking $2 million in damages for royalties from digital downloads.
After an audit of Warner Bros. Records, Taylor said he discovered he's not receiving as much money from digital downloads of his songs as he thinks he should, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Taylor said a contract with Warner Bros. Records, his former record company, states he should receive 50 percent of royalties from licenses, though according to the lawsuit, the company denies a digital download is considered a license.
Taylor's lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks damages of about $2 million for royalties for digital downloads, as well as underpayment for foreign receipts, budget sales and the unauthorized use of the musician's songs on compilation albums. He is also seeking damages for allegedly receiving a smaller-than-expected share of the record company's $110 million settlement with Napster, Variety reported.
9M watch U.K. premiere of 'Downton'
LONDON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- About 9 million people tuned in for the Season 3 premiere of "Downton Abbey" on British television Sunday night, ITV said.
The show, which is a huge ratings hit in the United States, won't be seen on American television until January.
Set in the early 20th century, the series follows the lives of a wealthy British family and the loyal employees who serve them in their country mansion.
Hollywood actress Shirley MacLaine joins the cast this season as a wealthy family member from the United States.
Starring Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Brendan Coyle and Michelle Dockery, the series was nominated for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards this year. The winners of the prizes are to be handed out Sunday.
Duchess of York defends Kate Middleton
LONDON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Britain's Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, says she sympathizes with Prince William's wife, Kate, who is in the middle of a topless photo scandal.
William and Kate are suing Closer after the French magazine recently published photographs of the duke and duchess of Cambridge sunbathing in southern France last month.
Several newspapers have since run the images, as well.
"I have been there and know what it's like," Ferguson, who is William's 52-year-old aunt, told London's Daily Mail newspaper. "Everyone is entitled to privacy. It is a devastating invasion of one's personal inner space. It is deplorable, abhorrent and despicable."
Ferguson was referring to how embarrassing topless photos of her with American businessman John Bryan surfaced in 1992, shortly after she and her husband, Prince Andrew, broke up.
"She is a beautiful young woman doing a great job for the country," Ferguson said of Middleton."Why should she be stripped of that moment with her husband?"
