Richard Gere is getting a George Eastman Award in upstate New York for his contributions to movies and humanitarian causes.

The star of such films as "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Pretty Woman" will be honored Feb. 16 during a ceremony at Rochester's George Eastman House, the restored home of the founder of photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co., according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.

Steven Spielberg's new film "War Horse" is almost deliberately old-fashioned, pitting noble beast against the horrors of war, with sweeping, emotional set pieces -- and dividing critics as Hollywood's awards season looms.

The movie, which got a Golden Globe nomination this month ahead of its Christmas Day release in the United States, is even made on good old celluloid in a snub to the digital revolution.

Etta James' longtime manager says the terminally ill blues singer has been hospitalized after experiencing difficulty breathing.

Lupe De Leon says James' family is with her at a Southern California hospital where she was taken earlier this week.

Anita Ekberg, the curvaceous star of "La Dolce Vita", is hard-up and homeless and has asked for money from the foundation of the cult film's director Federico Fellini, La Stampa reported on Friday.

The 80-year-old Swedish-born actress, famous for frolicking in the Trevi fountain with Marcello Mastroianni in an iconic piece of film history, is in an old people's home near Rome after her house was set on fire in a burglary.

Why do kids believe a chubby guy in a flying sleigh can deliver joy across America? Because their parents do. A whopping 84 percent of grown-ups were once children who trusted in Santa's magic, and lots cling to it still.

Things are changing fast these days, with toddlers wishing for iPads, grade schoolers emailing their Christmas lists and moms wrestling over bargain toys at midnight sales. Despite all the pressures on the rituals of the season, an AP-GfK poll confirms that families are sticking by old St. Nick.

Melanie Amaro has "The X Factor."

The powerful 19-year-old vocalist from Sunrise, Fla., won the Fox talent competition Thursday over soulful 30-year-old singer Josh Krajcik of Wooster, Ohio.

There sure is a lot of cool stuff going on in "Kiss the Air," the latest effort from choreographer Elizabeth Streb. Dancers hang from spinning ladders, twirl in harnesses, splash into pools, crash into each other with yelps, and (gulp) belly-flop to the ground from ledges high enough to make you sick.

But is it dance? An intriguing question, one it's probably not best to spend much time on.

Kid Rock is teaming up with a Detroit church to give away hundreds of gift baskets and retail gift certificates to needy families in the area where he got his start and still calls home.

The musician's nonprofit organization joined Hartford Memorial Baptist Church on Wednesday to distribute 100 gift certificates for Meijer retail and grocery stores, along with more than 300 gift baskets.

You'll find a drop-waist dress when you set off on your first shopping spree of the new year, and you probably already can find a flouncy ruffle attached to a chic, trim jacket or sheath in stores. But for all the talk about fast fashion, few looks move directly from the runway to the real world without some tweaks and adjustments.

Designers, manufacturers and retailers use the months between splashy previews and on-sale dates to harness big ideas and turn them into the garments they hope people will find appealing and flattering, and motivate them to buy.

British singer George Michael has been discharged from the Vienna hospital where he has been for the past month and is due to fly back home for Christmas, Austrian media reported Thursday.

The British singer, 48, who had been in intensive care with a severe bout of pneumonia, left hospital on Friday morning and was taken by limousine to Vienna airport, the Oesterreich tabloid reported, citing hospital workers.