Prodigy

THE weeklong International Laureates Festival -- founded by Eduard and Laura Schmieder in 1997 to promote gifted musicians ages 19 to 32 from around the world -- will celebrate its 10th anniversary season beginning today with a gala at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

Should Google be more frugal? Google Inc.'s shares fell more than 7% on Thursday after investors realized that the Internet giant's expansion plans are not only ambitious -- they're expensive. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said second-quarter revenue jumped 58% to $3.87 billion as it continued to dominate the search-engine advertising market. But profit rose only 28% to $925.1 million because Google invested heavily to hire employees and develop products.

Peter Moore, a video game industry veteran who became the face of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox business, resigned Tuesday to join top game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. Moore, 52, plans to leave the Redmond, Wash., company Sept. 1 to become president of EA's sports games division, which generated one-quarter of the company's $3.1 billion in revenue last year, Lazard Capital Markets estimated. Moore had been vice president of interactive entertainment at Microsoft.

Child prodigy movies either make you fear your own progeny (for he may be the antichrist) or hope that he doesn't turn out to be a tortured little genius. "Vitus," a charming Swiss drama about a young boy with an off-the-charts intellect, falls comfortably into the latter category. Smart is one thing, but little Vitus has rare gifts. In kindergarten, he reads the encyclopedia while the other children play.

Prodigy "Return of the Mac" (Infamous/Koch) * * 1/2 Since his group Mobb Deep emerged in the mid-'90s as brooding narrators of New York's crack/crime era, rapper Prodigy has rarely extended his vision beyond his gun sights. Yet, on "Return of the Mac," he channels a single-mindedness for menace and mayhem into a surprisingly cohesive, stylish package.

In the wake of reports that high school basketball prospects are padding their grades at diploma mills to earn college scholarships, NBA Commissioner David Stern, to his credit, is addressing this problem. One idea that has found traction is to establish a national basketball academy. The school would train future pros and Olympians in academics as well as the fundamentals of the game.

Ariel Lanyi sits on a pillow to reach his piano and needs to stand on a chair to play the double bass. He peeks over the rims of the drum set and isn't big enough to use a full-sized violin. The piano is the 9-year-old Israeli prodigy's favorite instrument, but when he gets going at a jam session, he can't stick to just one, playing each with dexterity well beyond his years.

It's no surprise that Butler is making its sixth NCAA appearance in 11 seasons. The Bulldogs do two things good teams do -- make free throws and take care of the ball. 6 Butler is sixth in the nation in free-throw shooting, making 76.3%, and was best in the country at taking care of the ball, averaging only 9.36 turnovers a game. 2 The main factor on both counts: junior guard A.J. Graves, who ranks second in the country in free-throw shooting percentage at 95.8%.

IT'S about time Leon Fleisher came to Hollywood. His, after all, is a perfect movie story: a combination of epic tragedy and personal triumph, complete with an odds-defying ending. For more than 30 years, Fleisher dedicated himself to becoming one of America's greatest pianists -- until a mystery ailment rendered his right hand useless.