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(Entertainment Weekly) -- On the face of it, Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist," with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, is in the tradition of every faithful "Oliver Twist" ever filmed -- a photogenic, straightforward, CliffsNotes staging of Charles Dickens' harrowing story about a penniless orphan negotiating among cruel and occasionally good adults in a world that has no time for children, and even less for penniless orphans.

The London that Polanski reconstructs (in Prague) is a fetid, heartless place that must be navigated by wits, not maps. And as if to prove it, the director propels his action up and down stairs, through dank streets, and even across rooftops, often in the dark or in the rain.

The grimy, pint-size pickpockets Oliver falls in with have the crazed, hardened look of children ripped from childhood too soon, and their scaly handler, the sniveling Fagin (Ben Kingsley), is appropriately decayed, all bent of nose (with Semitic intimations) and mossy of teeth.

This year's Emmy Awards, America's most prestigious television prizes, are being handed out in Los Angeles.

Comic Ellen DeGeneres is hosting the ceremony, with Desperate Housewives and Will and Grace up for the most awards.

The Louisiana-born comedian is expected to pay tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina during this year's three-hour live telecast.

Celebrity presenters have been invited to wear magnolias - the state flower of storm-hit Louisiana and Mississippi.

Desperate Housewives and Will and Grace both have 15 nominations, while Everybody Loves Raymond has 13 and Lost has 12.

Housewives stars Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman go head to head for the best actress in a comedy award.

Hugh Laurie, Kenneth Branagh and Ian McShane are among the British stars up for acting awards.

Ricky Gervais' The Office Special is nominated in the TV movie category.

The successful San Diego-based band, Switchfoot, was known for their successful sales of their 2003 album, “The Beautiful Letdown”.

Although that album sold over 2 million copies, it was not an easy ride for the band.

The group was first signed to Re:think label, and released their album, “The Legend of Chin” (which brought fans into their music). It took two more records before they were signed with Columbia for “The Beautiful Letdown”.

Their follow up album to the multiplatinum album is the album, “Nothing is sound”, which was scheduled to be released on September 13th.

The band, which includes members Jon Foreman (vocals), Tim Foreman (bass), Chad Butler (drums), Jerome Fontamillas (guitar and keyboards) and Drew Shirley (guitar), found an innovative way to gather and record their music: on the road.

"The trick was actually rehearsing and arranging and even recording parts of it on the road," Jon Foreman told Reuters. "It's a challenge because it's hard to remember where you put your wallet let alone your parts to a song."

The first single, “Stars” from the album has already been released and is currently standing as number twenty on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.

In regards to what he thinks of the new album, Foreman has stated that when he hears the tracks on the album, it reminds him of various places he has been to.

The album is available for sale through all retailers, but purchasing through some avenues may be of some advantage to some fans.

Those who purchase the album for Target will receive an exclusive bonus track on their copy, and those who purchase from Wal-Mart will be able to download a free track.

In an interview with Reuters, Foreman says, “We write music for thinking people. This album is a journey, exploring what it means to be human in a world that's upside down.”

Our Thoughts

We have a feeling that with all the work and honesty they have devoted to this new album, they will be just as successful as before.

Hysterical reports to the contrary, the most notable thing on "A Bigger Bang" isn't the Bush-bashing "Sweet Neo Con," an intentionally crude grinder with lyrics a little too 2003 to have much bite

The real news flash is that the Stones have finally accepted that they truly are grown men. For once, they don't seem concerned with competing with pop stars a third their age; instead of playing it slick, they've made their dirtiest, most homemade-sounding album since "Some Girls."

And the strongest tracks are the slowest and most adult: the spooked-out "Laugh, I Nearly Died," Keith's honky-tonk-noir "This Place Is Empty," the arch country tune "Biggest Mistake."

On "Back of My Hand," they sound like the tattered bluesmen they've long threatened to become. But like every one of their albums since 1981's "Tattoo You," Bang also bogs down in autopilot rockers ("Rough Justice" sounds like a sped-up "Mixed Emotions"), soggy ballads, and the latest dispatches from Mick's aging-jetsetter life. The bang is hardly bigger, but for once the Stones seem to realize it doesn't have to be.

'Plans,' Death Cab For Cutie

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Of all the rotten things that happen in our world, it's difficult to determine which is the most rotten to watch. But here's a candidate -- "Children of Beslan," a most telling HBO-BBC co-production hour on the kids who survived the takeover of School No. 1 by a masked Chechen separatist band armed with assault weapons, bombs and evil intentions.

That was one year ago Thursday, for 57 hours before the hell of the hell broke loose. The final accounting isn't done yet, and there's blood splattered all over the ruins.

The summary at this point is 331 dead, including 186 children.

Of the enormous amount of film around, producer-directors Ewa Ewart and Leslie Woodhead could have shown so many shredded and body parts that you couldn't watch it. But they took a more devastating approach -- interviewing the children.

The children walk us through their wreckage, as if giving a tour. They reflect on how that used to have fun and now they don't have as many friends as they did before. One little girl's mother was dead; they could tell because of the DNA. Another little girl wants to bring a knife into Chechnya and kill the terrorists.

Among the deadliest notations is from Lana, who kept asking God to "save us all, please. . . . He saved those he could manage to save, and the ones he couldn't, he kept with him. He kept the best. The most beautiful ones died."