Babel

Late at night in a college classroom, Liliana Hung opened her laptop and adjusted her Chanel eyeglasses. She took a swig of Rockstar energy drink before tackling her assignment, which was to write a synopsis of one of three scenarios for a television show: A man learns that his long-lost mother is working in a strip joint. A woman seduces a young man, then realizes that he is her son. A transvestite called the "Queen of the Night" discovers his father dancing onstage at a club. At Telenovela U.

The afterlife 1: Though the box office hasn't been exactly robust for the gritty, globe-trotting drama "Babel" -- it has made just $30.3 million domestically -- the movie, which arrives Tuesday on DVD, won a Golden Globe for best dramatic film and is nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture and director (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu).

Bad news sometimes makes worse TV. Thursday morning's long-awaited release of the Tower Commission report on the Iran- contra arms affair triggered a Washington media frenzy that showed TV reporting at its chaotic, hip-shooting worst. At 7 a.m., CNN loudly advertised "The Tower Commission Report," to air an hour later, as if promoting a prime-time TV show. It turned out to be a show, at that.

Micom Systems built its business by getting computers to talk. Now it wants to get them to understand each other better. The Simi Valley-based company, trying to become a leader in one of the data communications industry's growing areas, is stepping up development of components used both to link different brands of computers and computers scattered among remote locations into smooth electronic networks. The need for better data communications systems is clear.

Grammy Awards voters gave their top honor to British roots music band Mumford & Sons for their album "Babel" on Sunday at the 55th awards ceremony. Other top honors were distributed to a broad array of younger acts, including indie trio Fun., electronic pop artist Gotye, rapper-R&B singer Frank Ocean and rock group the Black Keys. "We figured we weren't going to win because the Black Keys have been sweeping up all day - and deservedly so," Mumford & Sons front man Marcus Mumford said after he and his band members strode to the stage at Staples Center in Los Angeles to collect the award from last year's winner, R&B-soul singer Adele.

The religious overtones on Mumford & Sons' sophomore album come as no surprise. Though he's now known as the most visible figure in an international folk revival that also includes North Carolina's Avett Brothers and Iceland's Of Monsters and Men, frontman Marcus Mumford first circulated in the scene around the Vineyard, an international network of evangelical Christian churches (Mumford's parents are leaders of the community in the U.K.). So when he notes that "this cup of yours tastes holy," as he does here in "Whispers in the Dark," you figure the guy knows what holiness tastes like.

HE calls it "the trilogy in my trilogy," but Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu isn't just playing a clever numbers game. Do the math: The Mexican director's new film, "Babel," like his breakout hit "Amores Perros" (2000), is a unified story told in three interlocking parts. But its logistical ambitions surpass those of "Amores Perros" and his other feature film, "21 Grams" (2003), neither exactly a slacker effort.

"I work like a sculptor when I work with naked people," says Maguy Marin, discussing her evening-length epic "Babel, Babel," which her company will bring to the Los Angeles Festival on Thursday and Friday at the Raleigh Studios., followed by "May B" on Saturday and Sunday. In "Babel, Babel," which is set to Mahler, to popular music from the '60s (including "Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini") and to Spanish songs, Marin's company of 12 dancers does indeed appear naked a good deal of the time.

Brad Pitt didn't show for the news conference here Tuesday with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, actress Cate Blanchett and other cast members of "Babel," but everyone understood why. Pitt sent word to the Cannes Film Festival that because of Angelina Jolie's pregnancy and the "imminent arrival of the newest addition of our family" he was unable to join them in introducing the film but added that he was "tremendously proud" of it.