As the ozone layer disintegrates and the world prepares for certain doom in "4:44 Last Day on Earth", man is left with just one question: 'to be or not to be?', to commit suicide or stay and watch?

Hamlet's philosophical quandary plagues New Yorker Cisco, the protagonist in U.S. independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara's latest film, in the running for Venice's Golden Lion with a world premiere screening on Wednesday evening.

Cowboy hats, costumes and saddles from actor John Wayne's estate are among the items that will go up for auction in Los Angeles next month.

Heritage Auctions spokesman Donn Pearlman on Tuesday said the auction will include more than 700 personal and professional items, including an eye patch Wayne wore in his Oscar-winning performance in "True Grit."

In the tradition of Bob Hope and Johnny Carson, and later Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg, Oscar is going back to its comedic roots with Eddie Murphy as host.

The actor and comedian will host the 84th annual Academy Awards, producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer said Tuesday — and even they were surprised the reclusive star agreed to the gig.

Staff and students at the University of Massachusetts celebrated the start of the new semester on Monday by making the world's largest stir-fry.

Using a custom-built, 14-foot (4.27-meter)-frying pan, the 4,010-pound (1,820-kilogram) meal included 800 pounds (360 kilograms) of chicken, 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of onions, 400 pounds (180 kilograms) of carrots, 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of broccoli as well as peppers, green beans, bok choy, peanuts, basil and garlic. It was cooked in 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of canola oil.

Salvatore Licitra, a tenor known in his Italian homeland as the "new Pavarotti" for his potent voice and considerable stamina, died Monday at age 43 after spending nine days in a coma following a motorscooter accident in Sicily.

Catania's Garibaldi Hospital, announcing the death, said Licitra never regained consciousness after suffering severe head and chest injuries in the Aug. 27 accident. Doctors had said Licitra crashed his scooter into a wall near the town of Ragusa, apparently after suffering an interruption of blood to the brain while driving.

He may be 87, but don't suggest to French crooner and veritable national monument Charles Aznavour that his forthcoming tour is a goodbye. "I have never, ever used the word farewell," he quickly points out.

The legendary singer-songwriter pleased fans the world over when he announced plans for a month-long residency at Paris' landmark Olympia theatre starting September 7, followed by a nationwide tour.

World champion soprano Pretty Yende never knew opera existed until a soaring score of an airline commercial came over the television in her South African black township home 10 years ago.

The flash of 19th-century French composer Leo Delibes' classic "Flower Duet" from his opera "Lakme" so moved the teenager growing up without librettas and arias that she asked a high school teacher the next day what the music was.

For British director Steve McQueen, there was no better place than Manhattan to film "Shame," his new film that portrays the life of a 30-something sex addict, played by Michael Fassbender in often graphic detail.

"Excess and access. New York is the place," McQueen said Sunday ahead of his second film's world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Al Pacino's movie "Wilde Salome" is a complicated examination of Oscar Wilde's once-forbidden play about illicit love and revenge.

But his inspiration was simple: Jessica Chastain.

From the red carpet to the big screen, women are dazzling at this year's Venice Film Festival with the key roles going to female stars who amaze with glamour and sheer chutzpah.

Pop diva Madonna crazed the island when she sauntered down the celebrity runway in a striking Vionnet dress with red butterfly motif and long sweeping train -- matched with large red-rimmed sunglasses and a dynamite red lipstick.