Claire

Art sometimes imitates life. And then again, life often imitates art. Just ask Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and her husband, Franco Nero. In the new romantic comedy, "Letters to Juliet," the 73-year-old Redgrave plays a widow named Claire who had left the love of her life, Lorenzo (Nero), 50 years earlier when she was a student in Verona, Italy. Before she had left, Claire did what numerous women in love have done over the centuries, write a letter about her love affair to the Shakespearean heroine, Juliet, and tack it on the wall of the courtyard where the fictional character had lived.

"Homeland," "The Vest" 10 p.m. Dec. 11 Showtime The premise Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) returns as a hero to the U.S. after spending eight years as a prisoner of war in Afghanistan. Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) is a mentally unstable CIA officer who is convinced that Brody is an agent of Al Qaeda. She gets antipsychotic medication and lithium from her sister, psychiatrist Maggie Mathison (Amy Hargreaves), but she fears she'll lose her job if she gets medical treatment through normal channels.

To capture the unique inflections of Temple Grandin, an autistic pioneer whose life is the subject of a new HBO film, Claire Danes spent weeks listening to recordings of Grandin on her iPod, practicing her gruff abruptness. She became so immersed in "Temple-speak," as she put it, that when she saw Grandin recently in Los Angeles to promote the film, "I slipped immediately back in Temple mode," the actress admitted. "It was very embarrassing," Danes said, shaking her head at the recollection.

Reading anything by or about Charles Dickens is a year-round pleasure for many readers, but it's especially difficult not to associate him and his world with the holidays thanks to "A Christmas Carol. " In Claire Tomalin's new biography, "Charles Dickens: A Life," the author (whose other books include lives of Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen) suggests, in the following excerpt adapted from "Prologue: The Inimitable 1840," why Dickens the man - not just his books - presents such a feast for any biographer.

"Letters to Juliet" is an ode to romance of the most starry-eyed sort, a sugary paean to quixotic clichés and a film destined to be a guilty pleasure for some (me included, sigh) and the painful price of a relationship for others (so steel yourselves). The starry eyes here belong to Amanda Seyfried, one of Hollywood's favorite ingénues now. But soon enough the movie morphs into a multigenerational romance-Italian road trip with Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan and Franco Nero, to say nothing of certain members of the audience, bitten by the bug. But love doesn't guarantee happy endings, particularly when the tale is tied to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and the Verona balcony wherefore the star-crossed lovers he conjured up once cooed.

DNA or not, we know we are related to the Neanderthals (July 11). Some can be found in politics, sports, etc. CLAIRE GRAY Montebello

Fred (I Don't) Claire is a mess. MIKE THOMAS Canoga Park

To Fred Claire and the Dodgers, after what they have done to improve the team in the off-season: Thanks for nothing. DONALD L. MARGOLIS Encino

Kudos to Bill Plaschke ("Dodger Tradition Can Only Go Just So Far," Sept. 21) for his "Claire" evaluation of the individual responsible for the demise of the Dodgers. LOU ROUBITCHEK Encinitas

Is Fred Claire on drugs? The Dodgers have a chance to trade for Pedro Martinez, but are apparently unwilling to part with Adrian Beltre. Adrian who? What a surprise--Claire refuses to give up a totally unproven minor leaguer for a proven ace. He's probably waiting for Pat Zachry to come out of retirement so the Dodgers can sign him to a minor league contract. JOSH SEGAL San Diego

Showtime's "Homeland," which premieres Sunday, is not just the best new drama of the season (and would be, no doubt, even if the bar had been set higher than it has been this year), it's the first telling of a post-9/11 story that is all the things it should be: politically resonant, emotionally wrenching and plain old thrilling to watch. Perhaps not surprisingly, two of its creators, executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, were forces behind Fox's "24" (a third, Gideon Raff, created the Israeli series "Prisoners of War")

Who is more dangerous? A rescued POW Marine who may be plotting a terrorist attack on U.S. soil as he makes an uneasy return to his home and family? Or an emotionally frayed CIA agent whose suspicions of the returning war hero prompt her to cross a line, thus endangering herself, friends and colleagues? That dilemma is a key driving force behind "Homeland," a new Showtime drama that feeds off of the distrust and paranoia of the 9/11 attacks and its aftermath, even a decade later.

It's hard not to admire the visual artistry in co-writer-directors Alexei Kaleina and Craig Macneill's "The Afterlight," with its beautifully composed shots of lyrical, sometimes-ominous countryside and near-painterly, lived-in interiors; Zoe White's cinematography is nothing short of masterful. At the same time, it's hard to embrace this glacially paced, symbolism-heavy film's elusive — when it's not being elliptical — story about a city couple's escape to rural life. Andrew (Michael Kelly)

Clair E. George, a former CIA covert operations chief who received a presidential pardon in 1992 after being convicted of two counts of lying to Congress in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, has died. He was 81. George, a 32-year veteran of the CIA who lived in Chevy Chase, Md., died of cardiac arrest Aug. 11 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., said his daughter Leslie George. George's career in espionage took him to agency stations around the globe and culminated with his becoming the CIA's third-highest-ranking official.

Bernard St. Clair Lee Baritone singer in Hues Corporation Bernard St. Clair Lee, 66, a baritone singer and original member of the Hues Corporation, which had an early disco hit in 1974 with "Rock the Boat," died Tuesday at his home in Lake Elsinore, said Ava Dupree, a family spokeswoman. He died of natural causes. The Hues Corporation, a soul trio whose name was a pun on Los Angeles aviation giant Hughes Corp., was formed in 1969 by Lee, soprano Hubert Ann Kelly and tenor Fleming Williams.

The best-dressed celebrities at Sunday's Golden Globes got the message that simpler is almost always better when it comes to red carpet dressing. Simple also happens to be what's new in fashion now, with "minimalism" being the watchword for the last two runway seasons. Claire Danes was the big red-carpet winner in a neon pink silk halter gown by designer Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein. Costa also designed Emma Stone's cap-sleeved, open-back, nectar-colored silk crepe gown, which was so simple, sleek and confident that it made much of the rest of the night's apparel look overdone and duded-up.

It was a stormy Halloween night and the full moon was partially covered by clouds. Three girls, named Claire, Jody and Jennings, were having a big Halloween sleep-over party. Claire's mother came down the stairs, stopped at the bottom and said, "Claire, I'm going to an office party. Now you and your friends behave yourselves." Claire replied, "OK, Mom." When her mother had left, Claire asked Jody and Jennings what they wanted to do. "Let's use the Ouija board," Jody said.

It's hard not to admire the visual artistry in co-writer-directors Alexei Kaleina and Craig Macneill's "The Afterlight," with its beautifully composed shots of lyrical, sometimes-ominous countryside and near-painterly, lived-in interiors; Zoe White's cinematography is nothing short of masterful. At the same time, it's hard to embrace this glacially paced, symbolism-heavy film's elusive — when it's not being elliptical — story about a city couple's escape to rural life. Andrew (Michael Kelly)

"Going to yoga was part of my goodness project," writes Claire Dederer in her memoir, "Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses. " In the liberal Seattle community where she begins that project, it's also the thing to do: Doctor, neighbors, even a homeless guy tell her to get on the mat, in part to heal a bad back after having a baby. But goodness as it turns out is elusive and not terribly interesting for the same reason most books about yoga are unreadable: No one wants to hear about how good you are. We want to hear about how you tried to be good and fell short.

Arms raised, hair streaming sensually as she glides on a motorbike down a dirt road, Isabelle Huppert looks as radiant as a Renaissance saint. The moment occurs early in Claire Denis' latest film, "White Material," which opened Friday and stars Huppert as a French coffee plantation owner clinging fiercely to her land in an unnamed African country on the verge of bloody implosion. For a few seconds, viewers may wonder whether Denis is slyly nodding to one of her favorite directors, David Lean, who shot another celestial blond, Peter O'Toole, whipping along on a motorcycle in the opening frames of "Lawrence of Arabia.