Handpicked by Walt Disney to be one of the original Mouseketeers, Annette Funicello was America's girl next door. She spoke to Fresh Air in 1994 about Mickey Mouse ears and why she went public with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. She died Monday at age 70 from complications of the disease.

P.J. Hogan's new movie is madder than madcap, a zany, nonconformist boundary-pusher whose offbeat manner makes for a rich and grounded film. Toni Collette plays the part of a modern-day Maria von Trapp as if she has nothing to lose — and Anthony LaPaglia shows his true Aussie accent.

Annette Funicello, who was part of the original cast of the 1950's Disney television program, The Mickey Mouse Club, died Monday. She was 70 and had had multiple sclerosis for decades. Funicello also co-starred in several Disney beach party movies in the 1960's along with Frankie Avalon.

Director Danny Boyle is best known for the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. His latest film is called Trance. Critic Kenneth Turan says the film's overall coldness means there isn't anybody you care to identify with or any outcome you want to see.

The Canon-sponsored Project Imaginat10n used social media to crowdsource images and ideas to produce five short films. It's an idea director Ron Howard says other artists would be foolish to ignore.

The Mouseketeer and bikini-musicals actress became a pop star and made a generation of boomer boys swoon. Later she faced multiple sclerosis with equanimity — and raised awareness and money in the process.

A director spent a year filming the Alawite community in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous, where many believe President Bashar Assad is the only man who can save them from the mostly Sunni Muslims leading the country's rebellion.

J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy Lord of the Rings is filled with fantastical stories of elves, hobbits and wizards. But the ring at the center of his tale may have been inspired by a real ring. Owners of The Vyne, an English estate, say they possess the ring that inspired Tolkien's "ring of power."