NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Gravity’ holds atop box office for 3rd week

NEW YORK

Star power and Oscar aspirations are reigning at the box office, where the space adventure “Gravity” and the Somali pirate docudrama “Captain Phillips” are holding off all comers.

With $31 million over the weekend according to studio estimates Sunday, “Gravity” topped the box office for the third straight week, cementing its status as the juggernaut of the fall moviegoing season.

“Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass, also held in second place, taking in $17.3 million in its second week.

Rounding out the top five were “Carrie,” $17 million, in third; “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” $10.1 million, in fourth; and “Escape Plan,” $9.8 million, in fifth place.

Burnett receives top US humor prize

WASHINGTON

When Carol Burnett launched her namesake variety show in the 1960s, one TV executive told her the genre was “a man’s game.” She proved him wrong with an 11-year run that averaged 30 million viewers each week.

On Sunday, the trailblazing comedienne received the nation’s top humor prize at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Top entertainers including Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were to pay tribute to Burnett as she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The show was to be taped and broadcast Nov. 24 on PBS stations.

Noth appears with cellos in NYC show

NEW YORK

Actor Chris Noth is appearing with a different kind of cast in New York City: eight cellos.

The star of “Law & Order” and “Sex and the City” will be at Carnegie Hall today for a show called “Angel Heart.”

He’s narrating the family concert based on a new CD storybook. It’s about a girl whose heart is broken then healed on a journey with some fantastical creatures.

The story by best-selling children’s writer Cornelia Funke comes with songs created for voices, cellos and mandolins by Luna Pearl Woolf.

The CD package, which was released last month, is narrated by actor Jeremy Irons.

Obama hosts wedding for photographer

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama has hosted a wedding at the White House this weekend for presidential photographer Pete Souza.

The White House says the wedding ceremony for Souza and Patti Lease took place Saturday in the Rose Garden.

About 35 friends and family attended.

Souza is a near-constant companion for Obama, documenting events at the White House and during the president’s trips around the U.S. and overseas.

Associated Press