Discussed

M. Night Shyamalan's take on "the collective moviegoing experience" is years too late ("Director Warns of Big Screens' Extinction," Oct. 28). Currently, that experience begins in an under-ventilated auditorium sticky underfoot and smelling vaguely of popcorn; 20 minutes or more of ads that feature cars exploding and people screaming at jet-takeoff sound levels, followed by 126 minutes of three-act predictability. Meanwhile, cellphones tinkle, chairs are kicked and plots and problems are loudly discussed while the movie unfolds.

BAGHDAD - Less than a year and a half after the last U.S. troops left, Iraq's political leaders are openly debating the prospect of two dangerous paths for their country: de facto division or civil war. Perhaps both. Tension between the Shiite majority, now in control of the levers of power, and the Sunni Arab minority, which dominated under Saddam Hussein, has been building for months. But politicians on all sides agree that the country has entered a perilous new phase, highlighted in late April by an attack on a Sunni protest camp by security forces that killed at least 45 people.

The days when parents could drop kids off at Disneyland for the day, leaving it up to Mickey and Goofy to watch over the youngsters, are over. Walt Disney Co. has unveiled a new admission policy requiring that children entering any of its U.S.-based theme parks be accompanied by a visitor at least 14 years old. In years past, parents living near theme parks would often use them as day-care facilities during summer vacation and spring break....

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election. Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter from the IRS.

A small wooden cabinet went up for auction on EBay. Inside were two locks of hair, one granite slab, one dried rosebud, one goblet, two wheat pennies, one candlestick and, allegedly, one "dibbuk," a kind of spirit popular in Yiddish folklore. The seller, a Missouri college student named Iosif Nietzke, described the container as a "haunted Jewish wine cabinet box" that had plagued several owners with rotten luck and a spate of bizarre paranormal stunts.

What's in a face? David Perrett has spent his career trying to find out. The author of "In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), Perrett is an experimental psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and head of its Perception Lab. Using computer graphics, Perrett's team tweaks faces on-screen to explore how they help us choose the best mates, whether you can trust a face, the cuteness factor in babies and what faces reveal about overall human health.

Humans are on the cusp of discovering how the universe works on its biggest and smallest scales, Stephen Hawking said during a lecture Tuesday in Los Angeles. The renowned theoretical physicist made his name studying black holes, massive structures that anchor galaxies and whose gravity is so strong that not even light can escape. But on Tuesday, he delved into the world of microscopic cell biology to see first-hand how researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute are using stem cells to develop treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, the disease Hawking was diagnosed with in 1963.

There's a star on the stage of the Great Western Forum. Immaculately dressed as always, 6-foot-1, tanned, not a hair out of place, he is a veteran of such very public appearances. In seminar after seminar, convention after convention, he has captivated thousands of people around the world with his charisma, sincerity and enthusiasm. But this appearance, on Feb. 19, 2000, is something special for Mark Reynolds Hughes.

WASHINGTON - Email traffic exchanged during the drafting of talking points about the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, last year shows that the State Department and White House were more involved in shaping the document than they previously let on. The newly released emails highlight the political concerns expressed in those discussions as President Obama's administration wrestled with what to tell the public in...

The crowd at New York's legendary Comedy Cellar is always primed for high-profile drop-ins like Louis C.K. and Jerry Seinfeld. But this was different. Dave Chappelle was in New York - and on stage. Chappelle, one of the country's most sought-after yet reclusive comedians after walking away in 2005 from his still-influential Comedy Central show, spent three recent nights onstage at the Cellar, sometimes joined by friends, including Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Marlon Wayans and Paul Mooney.