Pierce Brosnan returns to TV in 'Bag of Bones'

(CNN) -- You most likely know Pierce Brosnan from his work as 007, but he's actually been quite busy since his Bond days.

Rom-com roles, quirky indie flicks here and there and spending time developing his own projects through his company Irish DreamTime gives you the sense that this is a guy who's dedicated to not only the craft of acting, but also to working instead of coasting on any prior associations. For his latest project, a TV mini-series adaptation of Stephen King's 1998 novel, "Bag of Bones," he portrays Mike Noonan, a writer who seems to be going slowly insane at a remote lake town after his wife's death. It's a typical King thriller, with a host of supernatural and psychological twists.

As "Remington Steel," Brosnan got his start on the small screen so there's no mystery as to whether he could pull it off -- but with the creativity found on television these days, the medium is ripe for a versatile workaholic like Brosnan.

The actor recently spoke with CNN about his return to TV, how he brought King's character to life and what he thinks of the Bond franchise now.

CNN: "Bag of Bones" is one of the first big returns for you to television since "Remington Steele."

Brosnan: I haven't done TV in a good number of years. But I've been saying to my agent, "Look, please do not rule out TV. I enjoy it, I started my career there, it's such fertile ground." So, I got "Bag of Bones." The timing was great, I love Stephen King ... I'd done one of his short stories a long time ago, called "The Lawnmower Man."

CNN: What's exciting about this medium to you these days?

Brosnan: It's a corporate world out there in the world of movie making. It's really hard to raise the finances, as a filmmaker myself. It's just really hard going.

I have two pieces with my own company, Irish DreamTime that are in development, that we just got the writers on and just got the heads-up from the studio. Two shows that I would be in from time to time. It's just interesting work out there. We've started writing the scripts ... I don't really want to talk about them right now, it's a little bit premature. The one that's going to be a half-hour show, it's very cool. Comes from the world of "Dexter," it has a sick attitude about it. TV is very exciting; it's get in, get out.

This particular piece, "Bag of Bones," happened so quickly. I had two weeks off before the last job I had, before moving into this. You can come away from a day's work absolutely exhausted, but exhilarated, because it's so fast.

CNN: What's critical to bringing a King story to screen? His world's are so rich as you're reading it, but for a visual medium, it's different.

Brosnan: (Director) Mick Garris is the one you have to tip your hat to. He's extremely prepared and passionate and knows the King world so well. King trusts Nick implicitly. Garris and I didn't talk too much about it. It was fairly self-evident what had to be done with the story. At first I thought it was overly written with stage directions and it kind of irked me where it was telling me how to act here. As the piece wore on, the weeks went by, I realized more and more of the stage direction.

CNN: There's not a lot of dialogue between you and other characters. It was more the inner-conflicts that we see play out. How does one approach a role like that?

Brosnan: The first three weeks it was just me in a house. It was like "Diary of a Madman." There was only one person on the call sheet and that was me. That was a unique way to work and I actually found it extremely pleasant; I didn't have to deal with any other actors (laughs). I could just have my own timing and my own emotional world, all to myself. That only goes so far. It's hard to articulate how I got there, but it's somewhat like "Diary of a Madman."

CNN: Portraying fear is a critical aspect of a King story. How difficult is that?

Brosnan: I didn't really have time to worry about that. How many ways can portray fear, things that go bump in the night, or how many expressions do you have up your sleeve? That's when you have to rely on the director, that he's going to be in the right place to get that look.

CNN: How did the book translate to screen?

Brosnan: It's pretty much there; I think it's better than the book. I found the book, at times, kind of slow and I thought the script had such a snap to it. You enjoy the sharp left turns that come at you.

CNN: Does Stephen King consult on something like this?

Brosnan: I think there was a great rapport between Garris and him. He didn't come down. I called him up before I went off to shoot it, just to say hello and get his blessing, so to speak. Stephen King is Stephen King. There's only one of him. He always has a point of view.

CNN: Have you been following the "Bond" franchise?

Brosnan: (Daniel Craig) is one great Bond. Certainly does a magnificent job.

CNN: He's a tough one. A tough dude.

Brosnan: He's a tough dude. They have to. Big competition with "Bourne Identity" and one thing or another. He'll be right as rain.

"Bag of Bones" is a two-part mini-series that airs Sunday December 11 and Monday December 12 on A&E.

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Photographers to give, not take, portraits

(CNN) -- "This is me and my daughter's first picture," a Los Angeles woman wrote on her portrait. "I'll always remember this moment and cherish this beautiful picture forever and ever. I'm so blessed this was captured."

This response from a recipient of a free portrait at the L.A. Skid Row Rescue Mission is what inspires celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart. His nonprofit, Help-Portrait, gives professional quality portrait photographs to people who could otherwise not afford them.

Cowart, who has taken photographs of celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Tim Tebow and the Kardashian sisters, recruits other photographers, makeup artists and stylists to volunteer their time, equipment and expertise for a day. For the first time, Help-Portrait will share this year's photographs with the world a week after the event, through their website and the CNN Photos blog.

"Part of the beauty of Help-Portrait is that it's a movement that belongs to the people," Cowart said. "All events are independently organized." Each local coordinator determines where their community's event will take place, with Cowart's general guideline of helping people in need.

The third annual event will take place in more than 50 countries around the world on December 10, with a new twist.

"Subjects will be encouraged to draw or illustrate on a copy of their photo and tell others who they are," Cowart said. He hopes that sharing these images with the world will allow others to "join us in celebrating stories of triumph, reconciliation and new beginnings."

This year, many photographers started early, including Karen Lim, whose blog "The Story of Bing" won the 2011 Singapore Blog Awards Best Lifestyle Blog. She recently traveled to Swaziland to capture portraits in an underprivileged local community.

"The kids were very excited that they were going to have their photos taken," Lim wrote on her blog. "Some of them rushed to wash themselves clean to look smart for their shot."

While she was there, Lim photographed a school for disabled children. She said she had to try to hold back tears with each photograph.

"But I burst into tears as soon as I started processing the shots," she wrote.

Lim added that some of the children had disfigured faces and bodies from birth, others from abuse. Some would never see their photo because they were blind.

"Sometimes I feel like it's such a small contribution on my part. I know how to take pictures, and I was just taking some pictures for some people. But to them, it's a huge thing."

Luanne Dietz, a photojournalist and middle school photography teacher in St. Petersburg, Florida, said she has volunteered for Help-Portrait since its beginning. This year she has selected five journalism students to participate and partner with her and other professional photographers.

The event will take place at the Mosley Motel, an establishment that houses 95 people; 57 are children.

"Not only do I have the opportunity to bring along some of my students to help who are from the very neighborhood the Mosley is in," Dietz said, "but I also get to open their eyes to the power they have to change the world through their talent."

Her team has paired with the motel to provide portraits during a block party. Going above and beyond, they have set up a clothing giveaway, free back massage, a bounce house, free barbecue and a movie on the lawn at sunset.

"So often in photojournalism I feel that photographers get wrapped up in the news frenzy of 'report the facts and let the viewer decide how to help,' " Dietz said. This year, she wants the photographers to be responsible for taking action.

Across the world, ' target='_blank'>recipients of these portraits express their gratitude.

"Katrina took everything from me," a New Orleans participant said. "But now you are here to help me get something back, and I thank you for that."

Another in Calgary, Alberta, said, "You made me feel like I was special, like a rock star."

The past two years combined, the group has given more than 101,000 pictures to people in places like nursing homes, homeless shelters and children's cancer wings in hospitals.

"It started with a simple idea," founder Cowart said, "to give back with our skills and talent -- and it's blossomed into a grass roots, worldwide movement fueled by people hungry to give, instead of take, portraits."

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Review: 'New Year's Eve' is dunderheaded

(EW.com) -- "New Year's Eve," a schlock ensemble love-o-rama timed for the season of easy good feeling, is a movie I often found myself laughing at in ridicule, and one that also gave me a lump in the throat.

So I guess you could say I had a good time. The movie, like last year's "Valentine's Day," was written by Katherine Fugate and directed by Garry Marshall, and I can just imagine Marshall showing up on the set to basically shout seven words: ''Action!'' ''All right, everybody, overact!'' ''Okay, cut!''

If you had to pick the cheesiest subplot, your head might explode.

Is it Jon Bon Jovi as a rock star trying to win back the fianc e he dumped -- a superchef played by Katherine Heigl, who looks as if she can barely slice a pineapple?

Is it Ashton Kutcher as a smirk-aleck stuck on a grimy elevator with an agonizingly sincere backup singer (Lea Michele)?

Is it Hilary Swank as a Times Square exec who saves the dropping New Year's Eve ball from mechanical failure? (She calls...Kominsky! A repairman with funny Russian accent!)

Or is it Robert De Niro as a dying man with a bucket-list wish so wispy that the entire anecdote seems designed to let De Niro shoot his scenes in less than an hour?

"New Year's Eve" is dunderheaded kitsch, but it's the kind of marzipan movie that can sweetly soak up a holiday evening.

EW.com rating: B-

See the full article at EW.com.

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6 arrested in India hospital fire

New Delhi (CNN) -- Investigators have arrested six hospital managers after a fire that killed at least 89 people in a hospital Friday in eastern India.

The six worked at a five-story hospital in the city of Kolkata, said Javed Ahmed Khan, the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services minister.

They were arrested for negligence, Khan said.

A "majority" of the bed-ridden patients were abandoned by most of the staff on duty, he said.

Video of the scene broadcast by CNN affiliate CNN-IBN showed crowds of people wearing face masks and rushing patients out onto the street in stretchers.

One child, apparently unconscious, was lowered by a rope from a higher floor of the hospital by rescuers.

A mass of people stood outside the hospital talking on cell phones and holding each other. Some who were trapped inside had broken windows to let the smoke out, and the hospital remained hot and smoky, CNN-IBN reported.

A doctor and two attendants were among the dead, he said. The other victims were all patients. Kolkata police said another 60 were injured.

The blaze started in the hospital's basement, said D.P. Biswas, the additional director-general of the fire department in the area.

The victims died of smoke inhalation, Biswas said.

The blaze started at about 4 a.m. Authorities were trying to determine what caused the fire.

A preliminary investigation showed that the hospital had safety violations in the basement, said Khan.

Authorities found that the basement was being used to park cars, house medical supplies and also as an oncology department, Khan said.

"This was a violation (of the safety norms)," he said.

Khan said the hospital's license was revoked.

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Fliers blame 'bully' flight attendant

(CNN) -- Three women kicked off an AirTran plane bound for New York say a "bully" flight attendant is to blame.

The passengers -- who did not know each other before the Monday flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, to White Plains, New York, but were seated in the same section of the plane -- say the incident started during boarding when a male flight attendant began roughly handling bags in the overhead bin.

"I said, 'Hey, I have breakables in that,' " recalled Marilyn Miller, according to CNN affiliate WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach. But she said the comment only seemed to make his behavior worse.

"It was just like a bully and I found myself shaking."

Passenger Carol Gray told the TV station that she flagged the same flight attendant for help with another problem.

"I said, 'Excuse me sir, my seat is broken,' and he looked at me and said, 'I'm not talking to you,' and poked me in the arm," Gray told WPTV.

The passengers said the flight attendant then began to get angry and told them to leave the plane, according to WPTV. That's when a third woman, who had been watching the situation unfold, told the station she decided to intervene.

"I said, 'This is crazy, they didn't do anything. Why are you doing this to them?' And he said, 'Throw her off, too,' " Karyn Schorr told WPTV.

Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies were called to the scene and stood by as the women exited the plane and went to another gate, said Eric Davis, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The women were not cited or charged with any crimes, WPTV reported.

Southwest Airlines, which owns AirTran, said it booked new travel arrangements for the passengers and compensated them as "a gesture of goodwill for their inconvenience."

"Our goal is always to mitigate any uncomfortable situation prior to departure. Our crew assessed the environment onboard and ultimately decided to accommodate the passengers on an alternative flight," spokeswoman Brandy King said.

"We always prefer that a passenger walk away with a positive experience when flying our airline; we regret that didn't happen in this scenario. As we often do in these situations, we will take this opportunity to review the reports and take away any key learnings that we might uncover."

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Chris Mannix: Must-see NBA games of 2011-12

The NBA is back. On Tuesday, the league released its compacted 66-game schedule, filled with enough back-to-back-to-backs (42 overall, compared to 64 in the 50-game 1998-99 season) to make players groan and coach-class-flying beat writers groan even louder. Here's a look at a 10 interesting dates:

COMPLETE 2011-11 NBA SCHEDULE

Fans won't have to wait long for a continuation of the Thunder's epic seven-game Western Conference semifinals win over the Grizzlies. However, both teams will look a little different this time around. The Grizzlies will try to re-incorporate Rudy Gay into a lineup that went 15-10 without him down the stretch last season because of a shoulder injury. The Thunder, meanwhile, will have a slimmed-down Kendrick Perkins anchoring a defense that should improve after finishing 15th in the league in points allowed per 100 possessions (107.2).

Get a good look, Otis Smith. With the Nets expected to be among the leading candidates to land Dwight Howard should the Magic decide to trade him, New Jersey's first trip to Orlando will give the Magic brass an up-close look at Brook Lopez, the likely centerpiece of any Nets offer. A spectacular game from Deron Williams wouldn't hurt the Nets' chances of enticing Howard to stay long-term, either.

It won't mean much in the standings -- neither the Jazz nor the Nets are expected to contend this season -- but Williams' return to the city where he spent the first 5 _ years of his career is sure to be an emotionally charged event. Despite a rocky ending in which some blamed Williams for the exit of long-time coach Jerry Sloan, expect a warm reception for the All-Star guard.

Former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins might get the loudest ovation for a visitor since Robert Parish returned to the Garden wearing his familiar "00" on a teal Hornets uniform in 1994. More importantly for the Thunder, the trip to Boston will be their first test against an Eastern Conference power.

Jimmer-mania returns to Utah. As one of the most popular college basketball players in the state's history, Jimmer Fredette will make his first appearance as a pro, with the Kings. If the chemistry between him and Tyreke Evans comes together in training camp, it could change the face of the struggling franchise. For Jazz rookie Alec Burks, it's a chance to prove Utah was smart not to trade up for the hometown hero.

John Wall vs. Derrick Rose, possibly in front of President Barack Obama. The Wizards' chances of beating one of the conference's expected elite could hinge on the development of rookie Jan Vesely, Washington's lanky 21-year-old forward who could be thrown into the fire right away.

Lakers-Celtics. Celtics-Lakers The mere mention of the matchup evokes and emotional response. The two long-time rivals will meet twice this season, first in Boston, where Rajon Rondo (9.7 points, 9.8 assists per game all-time against the Lakers) will look to exploit L.A.'s aging backcourt.

The second of two meetings between the NBA's glamour teams could look a lot different than the first. Why? Because the Lakers, who are in hot pursuit of Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, may revamp the roster after the late February trade deadline if the two are with their respective teams that long. Miami will try to address its issues before the season when it scours the market for any and all point guards and centers.

LeBron James loves to play at Madison Square Garden. Well, as a visitor anyway. James is always a threat to score 50 at MSG, and the Heat's lone visit to New York could have serious playoff implications. The Knicks' new weapon against James and the Heat is assistant coach Mike Woodson, the new de facto defensive coordinator who was the architect of Detroit's 2004 title-winning D.

The Sixers, possible dark horses in the East, finish a five-game season-ending road trip in Detroit. The Pistons game caps an especially brutal four-games-in-six-nights stretch for the 76ers. In what is expected to be a competitive conference playoff race, a strong finish could push them into a top-six seed.

COMPLETE 2011-12 NBA SCHEDULE

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Presidents only look like they age faster

(Health.com) -- Earlier this year, sociologist Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., watched President Barack Obama return to his hometown of Chicago to celebrate his 50th birthday. In the days that followed, Olshansky was struck by the amount of media coverage dedicated to a single question: When did Obama's hair get so gray?

Being president is a demanding job -- especially in times like this -- and it seems plausible that the stress of juggling politics, the economy, and the military could literally take years off a person's life.

Michael Roizen, M.D., a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, even suggested on Obama's birthday that presidents age twice as fast as normal while in office.

But Olshansky, a professor of public health at the University of Illinois-Chicago, wasn't buying it. Wealth, access to healthcare, and education are all closely linked to longer lifespans, and presidents have all three resources in abundance, he reasoned; if anything, presidents should age slower than the average person.

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To test his hunch, Olshansky collected the birth, death, and inauguration dates of every American president that died of natural causes. (He also included living presidents.) Then, based on their time in office, he estimated their projected lifespans under Dr. Roizen's "accelerated aging" theory.

Two-thirds of presidents lived (or are living) longer than their projected lifespans, Olshansky found. What's more, two-thirds also made it past the average lifespan of men in their age group.

"The first eight presidents lived an average of 79.8 years during a time when life expectancy for men was under 40," says Olshansky, whose findings were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "It seems like most presidents live exceptionally long lives."

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If that's the case, what explains the rapidly graying hair and premature wrinkles that seem to beset presidents? (Obama isn't the only president whose visible aging has attracted attention: In years past, the media hasn't failed to note that Bill Clinton was white-haired by the time he left office, that Jimmy Carter had baggier eyes, and that George W. Bush developed new lines across his forehead.)

The obvious answer is that U.S. presidents are simply older when they leave the White House as when they enter. They also take office in their mid-50s, on average -- a stage in life when the external signs of aging tend to become more pronounced in men.

In addition, Olshansky suspects, high levels of stress may indeed contribute to superficial aging, even if they don't shorten lifespan.

"There is good, strong literature to suggest that stress can lead to accelerated graying of hair," he says. "There's no question that stress has a powerful effect, but at least with regard to the presidents, it doesn't appear to be making them die sooner."

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Olshanksy plans to study people in other high-stress jobs -- like CEOs of insurance companies -- to test whether stress really does influence how old they look.

Either way, he says, Obama and other stressed-out workers shouldn't fret over their appearance. "No one dies from gray hair and wrinkles," he says.

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