Mr. Brecher wrote vaudeville sketches, jokes, comedies for the Marx Brothers, a television series and screenplays for movie musicals including “Meet Me in St. Louis” and “Bye Bye Birdie.”

When final weekend box-office figures were reported for “Quantum of Solace,” the movie saw its record-breaking numbers stirred, but not dramatically shaken.

Kevin Rafferty makes the case for remembrance and for the art of the story in his preposterously entertaining documentary “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory plans to examine whether the old way of telling stories — particularly those delivered to the millions on screen — is in serious trouble.

As a new boxed set, “Griffith Masterworks 2,” reminds us, D. W. Griffith is still underappreciated, with much of his work waiting to be rediscovered.

“Valkyrie” was conceived as a dramatic showcase for Tom Cruise, as well as a high-profile effort to kick-start United Artists.

Killer Films, the independent company behind “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” has a new backer.

The new James Bond film sold an estimated $70.4 million in tickets at North American theaters, setting an opening-weekend record for the franchise.

Robert Pattinson, the heartthrob star of the coming film adaptation of the vampire romance novel “Twilight,” meets his squealing fans.

The protean Wallace Shawn, an actor, playwright and emissary from the New York intelligentsia, has a recurring role on the prime-time CW soap opera.

The film series Punk ‘n’ Pie, BAMcinématek in Brooklyn, captures on film the world-annihilating rage and pogoing joy of British punk.

Hanging out with Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, the handsome vegetarian vampire in the film “Twilight,” which opens Nov. 21.

It may seem like a cheat that the heroes of the first mainstream Bollywood movie to feature gay characters are just pretending, but the decent-hearted comedy “Dostana” deserves credit.

Beyoncé Knowles on her study of the life of Etta James and how it altered the direction of her new album.

Mark Walton, a Disney animator, gives voice to a hamster named Rhino and steals the show in “Bolt.”

Lessons in cross-cultural understanding abound for a the British director Danny Boyle filming “Slumdog Millionaire” in an Indian slum.

“War Child,” a documentary about the hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal, is a bit ragged and repetitive.

“The Beautiful Truth” is a documentary about contemporary health hazards and alternative treatments.

Not even the august presence of Maximilian Schell can dispel the odor of fusty smut that clings to “House of the Sleeping Beauties.”

“Eden” is a picture so modest and minor-key that the emotional bruise it leaves may take days to develop.