PARIS It sounds like a scene from "Fight Club."

BAYREUTH, Germany Veteran opera director Wolfgang Wagner welcomed guests to his last Bayreuth festival Friday, walking on the arm of his youngest daughter - a leading contender to replace him after a 57-year reign and a prolonged struggle over his successor.

PITTSBURGH Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose "last lecture" about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday. He was 47.

SAN DIEGO The creator of "X-Men" bumped into Wolverine at Comic-Con.

SAN DIEGO Zack Snyder is standing inside a 9,000 pound, tanklike metal pod in the center of the crowded Comic-Con floor. He nonchalantly points out the features of the Owl Ship, a real-life version of the flying vehicle from the award-winning graphic novel "Watchmen."

BARCELONA, Spain Batman star Christian Bale asked for privacy Thursday in his first comments since allegations he assaulted his mother and sister at a London hotel, saying the incident was personal.

LOS ANGELES Jurors in Phil Spector's upcoming murder retrial should be allowed to hear testimony about blood evidence and the autopsy of the actress he is accused of shooting, prosecutors argued in court documents.

BANGKOK, Thailand Mia Farrow said Friday the world should use next month's Olympic Games as a platform to demand that China end its support for Myanmar's junta.

SAN DIEGO If you haven't heard of "Twilight," ask a teenager. The best-selling young-adult book isn't bound for the big screen until December, but fan frenzy for the film practically took over Comic-Con on Thursday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Country singer Chris Cagle has been found not guilty of domestic violence after his girlfriend refused to testify against him.

NEW YORK A New York publisher is suing Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim, saying they were paid advances for books they never delivered.

LOS ANGELES Estelle Getty always liked a bargain.

NEW YORK MTV is staking its brand on a lesser-known one: Russell Brand.

NEW YORK Now Amy Adams' love life is "Enchanted," too. The Oscar-nominated Adams is engaged to fellow actor Darren Legallo, her publicist, Cari Ross, confirmed Thursday. Ross did not immediately provide further details.

PHOENIX DMX rapped for reporters outside a Phoenix courtroom Thursday after pleading not guilty to felony charges of theft and identity theft.

Do you believe in ghosts? Spirits? Alien abduction? Life after death? Are you an "X-Files" fan? Read this review and you could soon become one. "The X-Files: Book of the Unexplained" Volumes I and II by Jane Goldman is right on time. Sometimes there are no answers, just more questions, much like today's political vibe.

MINNEAPOLIS They're packing the "Little House" in Minneapolis.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Sheryl Crow is putting the "Rumours" to rest: She's not making a record with or joining Fleetwood Mac - not anytime soon at least.

A look at what's new in movies, books, music, television, video games and DVDs for the weekend.

LOS ANGELES "Wallace & Gromit" are going on a new adventure.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. With Alison Krauss touring this summer with Robert Plant, the guys in her band, Union Station, had some time to kill, like enough to read biographies of all 43 presidents and maybe paint their houses and their neighbors' houses, too.

Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

SAN DIEGO In a July 23 story about Comic-Con, The Associated Press reported erroneously that more than 100,000 people a day attend the comic-book convention. More than 125,000 guests are expected over the four-day event. It also misidentified the movie studio involved. It is named Summit Entertainment, not Summit Films.

The makers of the new "X-Files" movie have done themselves a disservice in coming up with the elongated title, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe." Really, it just invites a whole bunch of bad jokes which, unfortunately, are justified.

Best enjoyed by those unfamiliar with Evelyn Waugh's classic 1945 novel or the seminal 1981 miniseries version, this new "Brideshead Revisited" is tidy, proper and obvious - the cinematic equivalent of Cliffs Notes.

"Step Brothers" is a one-joke comedy that might have made a decent recurring sketch on "Saturday Night Live," digested in five-minute doses.

Here's a pairing you don't see every day: The Thing - the bricklike hero from the Fantastic Four with a penchant for "clobbering time" - and the passionate and chatty Dashwood sisters from "Sense and Sensibility."

Remind me, what was so great about Will Ferrell? Judd Apatow - wasn't he responsible for some funny movies a long time ago? Their suffocatingly stupid comedy "Step Brothers," hellbent on destroying every last brain cell that wasn't exterminated by "Semi-Pro" and "Drillbit Taylor," makes it near-impossible to recall their glory days. I wish I could forget the new movie as easily.

HARDCOVER FICTION

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback