NEWS ARCHIVE [page 6]
 
"HE WILL BE MISSED, BUT HEAVEN JUST GOT FUNNIER" - Don Cheadle [AP, 8/10/08]
Bernie Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him. For Mac, who died Saturday at age 50, it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian, in films including the casino heist caper "Ocean's Eleven" and his acclaimed sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show." Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal — befitting inspiration he found in a wide range of humorists: Harpo Marx as well as Moms Mabley; squeaky-clean Red Skelton, but also the raw Redd Foxx. Mac died Saturday morning of complications from pneumonia in a Chicago-area hospital, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles. "The world just got a little less funny," said "Oceans" co-star George Clooney. Don Cheadle, another member of the "Oceans" gang, concurred: "This is a very sad day for many of us who knew and loved Bernie. He brought so much joy to so many. He will be missed, but heaven just got funnier." Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease. Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side. He began doing standup as a child, telling jokes for spare change on subways, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy "Mo' Money" in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama "Get on the Bus." He was one of "The Original Kings of Comedy" in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black standup comedy stars to a wider audience. "The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac ... he gave them their money's worth," Steve Harvey, one of his co-stars in "Original Kings," told CNN on Saturday. Mac went on to star in the hugely popular "Ocean's Eleven" franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, playing a gaming-table dealer who was in on the heist. Carl Reiner, who also appeared in the "Ocean's" films, said Saturday he was "in utter shock" because he thought Mac's health was improving. "He was just so alive," Reiner said. "I can't believe he's gone." Mac and Ashton Kutcher topped the box office in 2005's "Guess Who," a comedy remake of the classic Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn drama "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Mac played the dad who's shocked that his daughter is marrying a white man. Mac also had starring roles in "Bad Santa," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Transformers." But his career and comic identity were forged in television. In the late 1990s, he had a recurring role in "Moesha," the UPN network comedy starring pop star Brandy. The critical and popular acclaim came after he landed his own Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show>," about a child-averse couple who suddenly are saddled with three children. The series won a Peabody Award in 2002, and Mac was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. In real life, he was "the king of his household" — very much like his character on that series, his daughter, Je'niece Childress, told The Associated Press on Saturday. Fox was proud to be the home of The Bernie Mac Show, and all of us at Fox and 20th Century Fox Television extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Rhonda, and daughter, JeNiece." A public memorial is planned for noon Aug. 16, 2008 at The House of Hope church in Chicago, said Smith, Mac's publicist.
 
 
"GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN" SONGWRITER DEAD AT 59  [E! Online, 8/10/08]
Cyndi Lauper sang it. Miley Cyrus covered it. Robert Hazard wrote it. In the 1980s, Hazard's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" helped define Lauper as the free-spirited alternative to the boy-toying Madonna. The sing-along song rose to No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart, spawning a like-named Sarah Jessica Parker - Helen Hunt teen comedy, countless movie soundtrack inclusions and a recent cover by Cyrus, the reigning teen queen. If it was an interesting note that the girl-power anthem was penned by a man—in a 15-minute spurt in a motel bathroom in 1979, or so the story goes—then it was also interesting that the peppy pop hit was penned by a musician who preferred understated folk-rock. "Robert was a writer's writer," his manager, Jim Della Croce, said in a statement. A much-recorded solo artist, and a Philadelphia legend for the 1980s outfit Robert Hazard and the Heroes, Hazard died Tuesday night at a hospital in Boston following unspecified surgery, reports said. He was 59. "I was very sorry to hear that Robert Hazard, the songwriter of 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun,' sadly passed away Tuesday," Lauper said in a statement Thursday. "He was a very talented song writer." And his songs—his other songs—can be heard at his myspace website.
 
BUSINESSMAN JOSEPH ROTMAN TO CHAIR CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS [CBC, 8/9/08]
Canadian business mogul Joseph L. Rotman is set to take on the Canadian arts world after being named the new chair of the Canada Council for the Arts. Heritage Minister Josée Verner announced the appointment of the entrepreneur, philanthropist and merchant banker on Wednesday (Aug. 6). "I am positive that his wealth of experience and dedication to the arts will greatly benefit the organization," Verner said in statement. The Toronto-born Rotman's background includes a career as an oil trader and experience establishing a host of companies, including merchant bank Clairvest Group. The 73-year-old businessman's name is also often tied to the University of Toronto, one of his alma maters, which re-christened its management school in his honour. He has also served in leadership roles or on the boards of many groups and corporations, including the Art Gallery of Ontario. Rotman, who was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1995, previously served as president of the AGO, president of its board of trustees as well as other board positions. Rotman will replace former prima ballerina and National Ballet of Canada artistic director Karen Kain, who announced her resignation in March in order to devote more time to running the Toronto-based dance company. Kain, who was appointed in 2004, oversaw the council's 50th anniversary celebrations last year as well as the development of a new strategic plan for the national arts funding body. She also saw the federal government increase its contribution to the council by $30 million annually. As chair, Rotman's duties will include presiding over the Canada Council board as well as managing its relations with the federal government.
 
BEIJING CEREMONY INTRODUCES OLYMPIC THEME SONG "YOU AND ME" [Billboard, 8/9/08]
U.K. soprano vocalist Sarah Brightman and Chinese singer Liu Huan unveiled the official 2008 Beijing Olympics theme song “You And Me” at the National Stadium (aka the Bird's Nest) during the opening ceremony in front of a crowd of 91,000. Globally, there was an estimated TV audience of one billion people for the four-and-a-half-hour spectacular. The performance, which came an hour into the Aug. 8 opening ceremony (at 9pm Beijing time), was the climax of the artistic portion of the program. It featured the duo singing from the top of a 16-ton globe with a diameter of 18 metres, surrounded by a sea of portraits of smiling children’s faces from around the world. The song, which was a heavily guarded secret before being performed at the ceremony, was composed by France-based Chinese classical composer Chen Qigang, the musical director of the opening ceremony. Liu, who began the performance by singing the Chinese verse of the song, previously sang the theme to the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. Brightman also sang the official theme to the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, “Friends For Life”, with Jose Carreras. The show, which featured 10,000 performers, including 2,008 drummers and a skywalking, torch-bearing gymnast lighting the Olympic flame, received rave reviews.
 
SNOOP DOGG MAKES BOLLYWOOD DEBUT [BBC News, 8/8/08]
U.S rapper Snoop Dogg has made his debut in a Bollywood film which is being released on Friday. Dogg, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, sings and acts in a romantic comedy called Singh is Kinng. Fusing hip hop and bhangra, Dogg appears in the film with leading Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, singing the eponymous title track. The song has already made it to the top of the Bollywood music charts and is a hit at Indian nightclubs. The producer of the film, Vipul Shah, told the BBC that Akshay Kumar, the star of the film, and his friends approached Dogg to sing and act in the $11m film. "When Dogg was satisfied with the scale of the film, he agreed to be a part of it. The song was filmed with his sensibility and he had creative control," he said. Mr. Shah said the song cost $475,000 to record and film. Wearing a tradition Indian turban and a tunic, Dogg and Akshay Kumar were filmed for the song in Chicago. The words in the song are a combination of English, Hindi and Punjabi language lyrics and rap. The rapper's introduction to the song gives an indication. Last year, Dogg was honoured at the fourth annual VH1 hip-hop awards show in New York for his musical achievements. Snoop Dogg says he now plans to tour India. "Snoop Dogg has a lot of fans in India and I love 'em right back," he said. "Get ready for me."
 
"PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" SMOKING ITS WAY TO BOX OFFICE RECORD [Aceshowbiz, 8/8/08]
Despite the fact that "The Dark Knight" has dominated the record-breaking story with its continuous success, stoner flick "Pineapple Express" has created a history of its own. The David Gordon Green's comedy has landed itself atop of the list of the best-ever Wednesday opening at the domestic box office in August. Debuted in the theaters on Wednesday, August 6, the Seth Rogen and James Franco-starring movie has grossed as much as $12.1 million on the particular day only. By that it means that "Express" has overtaken the previous record held by "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" set in 2004 with $8.9 million. Even more impressive, the comedy written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg has sat on the top of the daily box office pushing "Dark Knight" from its comfortable #1 place for the first time. It is an accomplishment that none other previously released movies, including "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor", can achieve. Although it has won the Wednesday battle and it has an impressive opening, box office analysts still think that "Express" could not dethrone the "Batman Begins" sequel from its champion seat this coming weekend.
 
IRON MAIDEN REFUSE LIVE AWARD NOD [BBC News, 8/8/08]
Rock band Iron Maiden have asked to be removed from the Vodafone Live Music Awards shortlist after being nominated for the best live return prize. Vodafone said the band had complained they should not be considered for the prize because they said they had never stopped touring. In a posting on their website the band said: "We are not quite sure where we are returning from." Indie group James have now been nominated for the award instead.  The Manchester band, best known for 1991 hit single Sit Down, reformed last year to play five arena concerts in the UK. Iron Maiden, who recently played at Twickenham Stadium, said the nomination was "very flattering". A Vodafone spokesman said: "We respect and support the band's decision and have complied with their request to be removed from this year's shortlist." Earlier this week, Iron Maiden asked their fans to be on the lookout for a guitar stolen after a concert in Athens. The band are offering a signed tour jacket and a letter of thanks from guitarist Adrian Smith as a reward.
 
PERELMAN TO SETTLE MARVEL LAWSUIT [Reuters, 8/8/08]
Billionaire financier Ronald Perelman agreed to pay $80 million to settle a decade-long lawsuit with trustees for the comic-book publisher formerly known as Marvel Entertainment Group Inc, according to court papers. Delaware federal judge Sue Robinson has scheduled a hearing date of September11, 2008 to consider a motion to approve the settlement. The litigation dates back to 1997, months after Marvel Entertainment filed for bankruptcy protection. Perelman had acquired Marvel in 1989. Noteholders for Marvel, which publishes comics including Spider-Man, sued Perelman, his holding company and others, claiming that they breached their fiduciary duty. The settlement agreement is a result of negotiations over the last two years, the court papers obtained by Reuters show. "It would be irresponsible for them to reject the $80 million settlement offer and risk the outcome and delay of a trial and appeal," the trustees said in papers filed on June 20 in Wilmington, Delaware, federal court. Perelman could not immediately be reached for a comment.
 
DUBAI FIRMS BUY STAKE IN "CIRQUE DU SOLEIL" [Reuters, 8/7/08]
Two government-owned investment firms in Dubai have acquired a 20 percent stake in the colorful Canadian acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil, furthering the desert city's plans to expand its tourism appeal and lengthening its list of foreign investments. Istithmar World, the investment arm of Dubai World, and real estate developer Nakheel said on Wednesday (Aug. 6) they bought the stake in the Montreal-based circus for an undisclosed sum. Under the deal, the rest of the business will remain under the ownership of Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, which is known for mixing traditional circus acts with dance, music, mime and theater. Cirque du Soleil plans to open a show production office, ticketing company, and technical equipment and set design rental company in Dubai. The move comes as Dubai expands its image as a vacation destination, complete with artificial islands and the world's tallest tower. In May of last year, Nakheel and Cirque du Soleil formed a 15-year partnership to develop a permanent show on Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island off the coast of Dubai, which will be the group's first resident show outside of the United States and Asia. As part of that agreement, the two organizations will design and build a 1,800-seat theater to house the show. Cirque du Soleil has annual sales of more than $700 million and attracts nearly 10 million visitors a year, making it one of the world's largest entertainment businesses. For 2008, it is producing 18 different shows around the world. It is not the first time that companies based in the United Arab Emirates have expanded their reach to Canadian investments. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co, better known as Taqa, picked up PrimeWest Energy Trust and Pioneer Natural Resource Co's Canadian unit last year. Taqa said in January it wanted to push the value of its Canadian asset base to around $20 billion from what was then $7.5 billion.
 
VIN DIESEL'S "BABYLON A.D." UNLEASHES SIX NEW CLIPS [Aceshowbiz, 8/7/08]
Fans and movie lovers alike can now enjoy a series of clips from Mathieu Kassovitz's sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." which stars include Vin Diesel, Melanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh and Gerard Depardieu. Featuring random scenes from the meeting of Toorop and Aurora to a fight sequence in a club, the clips display little violence materials. Set in the near future, "Babylon A.D." centers its story on a mercenary by the name of  Toorop who is hired to escort a woman, Aurora, from Eastern Europe to New York. What looks like a simple task soon turns to be a dangerous one when he discovers that Aurora is a host to an organism which maybe the next Messiah and everybody is racing to be the first to get it. Based on Maurice Georges Dantec's novel "Babylon Babies", the 20th Century Fox's film will hit theaters on August 29, 2008.
 
'60s SONGSTER ERIK DARLING DIES AT 74 [CBC, 8/7/08]
Erik Darling, the singer-songwriter who stepped in when Pete Seeger left the Weavers, has died at 74 of lymphoma in Chapel Hill, N.C. Best known for his 1960s pop hit Walk Right In and his arrangement of the iconic true-crime ballad Tom Dooley, Darling spent four years in the late 1950s and early '60s with the Weavers. The celebrated group was at the heart of the post-Second World War folk resurgence. A master of the banjo and a virtuoso on the 12-string guitar, he recorded numerous albums with the Weavers and several other groups and released five solo albums. His music — and occasionally Darling himself — also appeared in several films, including Forrest Gump and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and on television. With the Weavers, Darling was more than just a substitute for Seeger, who left the group to start a solo career. After leaving the Weavers, Darling formed the Rooftop Singers, in which he led a 12-string guitar revival with his updated version of Walk Right In, written and originally recorded in 1929 by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers. The song was Darling's biggest commercial hit. Hellerman told the Associated Press that he received a package from Darling in the mail a few weeks ago. It was a copy of Darling's recently published memoir, I'd Give My Life: A Journey by Folk Music. Hellerman said he'd been meaning to write to Darling to tell him how much he enjoyed the book. "My biggest regret is that I didn't do it," he said.
 
SINATRA JR FINDS BRAZILIAN SPONSORED BY FAMOUS FATHER  [AFP, 8/7/08]
The son of legendary singer Frank Sinatra has found a Brazilian sponsored by his father in the 1980s after a public search headed by a Rio newspaper. The O Dia daily said Wednesday its photo of Carlos Henrique dos Santos taken 28 years ago, when he was a boy and met Sinatra during the late crooner's concert tour in Rio de Janeiro in 1980, proved successful in locating him. Frank Sinatra Junior, who was in the city as part of his own concert tour echoing his father's tunes, launched the search to invite Dos Santos to his gig on Thursday. The outcome was a happy one for Dos Santos, now 40 and a security guard. His wife died of cancer three months ago, leaving him to raise their two children alone, and his mother died last year. He said he had kept a collection of Sinatra albums the elder singer had given him when they met. "I still have them, but I can't listen to them because I don't have a record player," he said. He met Frank Sinatra when the famous singer asked to see the poor Brazilian boy he was sponsoring for 19 dollars a month through a charity that helped children in underdeveloped countries. Frank Sinatra Junior was determined to find Dos Santos because he was now the same age as his father -- 64 -- when he had his concert in Rio and thought the meeting would be symbolic for his own "Sinatra by Sinatra" tour. Sinatra senior died in 1998 after a long and storied career in music and films.
 
DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES, NICK JONAS RAISES AWARENESS ON THE DISEASE [Aceshowbiz, 8/7/08]
Becoming pop stars and everyone's idols, Jonas Brothers sure know how to make use their fame for good cause. The siblings are teaming up with Bayer to fight diabetes, which Nick Jonas has been diagnosed with recently. Attempting to raise awareness on the disease, Nick in companion of brothers Kevin Jonas and Joe Jonas have all spent their time Wednesday, August 6 making an appearance before the crowd at New York City's W Hotel to help spread their words on the issue. The threesome are teaming up with the Bayer Diabetes Care organization to raise awareness among young people everywhere about proper diabetes care. Personally sharing his experience on losing his weight before the diagnosis and how he maintains his condition in check amidst his hectic schedule with the band, Nick told the crowd "When I was first diagnosed, I did think, 'Why me?'" He continued saying "I had a great medical history. I had never stayed in the hospital before. I didn't know anybody with diabetes. So it was a shock." Supporting the cause, Bayer has donated money to the Jonas Brothers' foundation, dubbed the Change for the Children, to help support the musicians' diabetes awareness campaign.
 
BARKER REMOVED FROM WRONGFUL TERMINATION SUIT [AP, 8/6/08]
A judge has dismissed allegations against Bob Barker in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a "Price is Right" employee, saying the game-show's longtime host was not her boss. Deborah Curling, a former production assistant, sued Barker, CBS and production company FremantleMedia North America in October, claiming she faced retaliation after testifying against Barker in another wrongful termination lawsuit. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm H. Mackey tentatively dismissed several claims against Barker on Wednesday (Aug. 6), saying he could not be sued for wrongful termination because he was not her employer. Curling's attorney, Nick Alden, can amend the complaint to try to prove that Barker inflicted emotional distress, but Mackey dismissed that allegation for now. Mackey also dismissed several claims lodged by Curling against FremantleMedia, but will allow Alden another chance to argue they should be included. Attorneys for CBS and FremantleMedia declined to comment after the hearing. Curling's suit claimed she was in a "pleasant working environment" during most of the 24 years at "The Price is Right." She claimed she was demoted after testifying against Barker in a wrongful termination suit filed by one of the show's former production assistants. She had been seeking unspecified damages. Neither Curling nor Barker was in court Thursday. Barker retired last year after hosting "The Price is Right" for 35 years.
 
REPLACEMENT LEAD FOR CSI? [E! Online, 8/6/08]
While Grissom is, for all intents and purposes, a goner, the Hollywood Reporter claims that the more-than-capable Laurence Fishburne is currently in talks for prime-time's cushiest gig, succeeding William Petersen in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Neither CBS nor Paramount, which produces the show, has commented on the possible casting. Fishburne would theoretically be taking over for Petersen, and his character would not assume the role of Sin City's head CSI, rather an outside scientist who joins the team as more of an equal. He'd begin his beat after Grissom solves his final crime on the 10th episode of the upcoming season. Petersen would still make occasional appearances on the show.
 
JAMES FRANCO IS NO SERIOUS DOPE IN "PINEAPPLE" [Reuters, 8/6/08]
He played tragic actor James Dean and a villain in "Spider-Man 3," but actor James Franco says he's always loved making people laugh, which is what he hopes his new movie "Pineapple Express" will do. The marijuana-fueled action film which debuted in U.S. theaters on Wednesday (Aug. 6), marks a comeback to comedy for Franco, after more serious roles in 2007 war drama "In the Valley of Elah" and 2006 tragic romance "Tristan & Isolde." Well before those roles, Franco, 30, caught the eye of writer/director/producer Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up," "The 40 Year-Old Virgin") in TV critical hit "Freaks and Geeks," and he directed his own dark comedy, a short film called "The Ape." "I hadn't done a comedy for a while, and thought Pineapple Express would be fun and funny," Franco told Reuters. Pineapple Express is the name of a type of marijuana that Silver calls "the dopest dope I've ever smoked." When Denton drops his newly purchased stash of weed at a murder scene, the two become hunted by a corrupt cop and drug lord. The movie, which was produced by Apatow and based on a story co-written by him, Rogen and Evan Goldberg, is described by its makers as the first action, stoner, buddy comedy.
 
U.K. DIVA SARAH BRIGHTMAN TO PERFORM AT OLYMPICS [CBC, 8/6/08]
British singer Sarah Brightman will join Chinese pop singer Liu Huan to perform the official theme song for the Beijing Olympics during Friday's opening ceremony, organizers announced from the Chinese capital on Wednesday. Brightman is in the city and rehearsing with Liu, Zhang Heping, a director of the group organizing the ceremony, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday. On her website, the former Andrew Lloyd Webber muse turned international pop-classical performer called the gig "a tremendous honour." It will be her second Olympic gig: Brightman and Jose Carreras sang the theme song of the 1992 Barcelona Games at its opening. Beijing's opening ceremony, directed by acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, will "focus on the long history and beautiful culture of the Chinese people, and the new development after reform in China," Zhang said. Nearly 100,000 people will take in the event live from the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing, while billions more tune into the broadcast around the globe. Brightman and Liu will perform at the conclusion of an hour-long performing arts segment, organizers said. However, secrecy continues to surround many aspects of the Olympic kickoff, with the name of the song Brightman and Liu will sing among the many elements still being kept under wraps. The song was omitted from three opening ceremony rehearsals that have taken place so far. CBC-TV and CBCSports.ca will broadcast live coverage of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on Friday beginning at 7 a.m. ET.
 
SUGARLAND LEAPFROGS MILEY TO EARN FIRST No. 1 [Billboard, 8/6/08]
Despite a 45% sales decline to 171,000 copies, Sugarland's "Love on the Inside" rises 2-1 to become the country act's first Billboard 200 chart-topper. Last week's No. 1, Miley Cyrus' "Breakout" (Hollywood), falls to No. 2 on a 56% decrease to 163,000 copies. For third week straight, the Decca soundtrack to "Mamma Mia!" stays at No. 3, with an 18% sales decrease to 138,000. Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Atlantic) enjoys a 3% bump to 96,000 and holds steady at No. 4 for a second week. Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" remains at No. 5 after moving 79,000 (-8%). Christian rock act Third Day scores its best charting and sales week ever with "Revelation" (Provident Music Group), which debuts at No. 6 with 75,000. It also lands at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart -- the act's fourth No. 1 there. Previously, Third Day's high-water marks came with 2005's "Wherever You Are," which debuted and peaked at No. 8 with 63,000. Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol) slides 6-7 with 70,000 (-7%). Razor & Tie kid-centric collection "Kidz Bop 14" starts at No. 8 with 58,000. The Jonas Brothers-led soundtrack to Disney's "Camp Rock" falls 7-9 in its seventh week with 58,000 (-14%), while Nas' untitled set rounds out the top tier, slipping 8-10 with 41,000 (-35%). Only two other album bow inside the top quarter of the Billboard 200. The self-titled Interscope debut from Scars On Broadway, which features System Of A Down members Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan, begins at No. 17 with 24,000. Rick Springfield charges in at No. 28 with "Venus in Overdrive," giving the singer his best debut ever, as well as his highest charting album since 1985's "Tao" went to No. 21. The New Door set starts with 16,000 -- Springfield's best sales week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. At 7.35 million units, sales this week are down 6.2% from last week's sum and down 11.1% from the same week last year.
 
ROYAL PREMIERE FOR NEW BOND FILM [Aceshowbiz, 8/6/08]
Princes William and Harry will attend the world premiere of the next James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. They will be joined on the red carpet in London by 007 actor Daniel Craig, as well as co-stars including Dame Judi Dench and Gemma Arterton. The Royal brothers have asked for proceeds from the event to benefit two charities - Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion. The premiere will take place on 29 October 2008 in Leicester Square. The film's producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, said: "We are pleased this event will help raise much needed funds to support the servicemen of our country through the princes' chosen charities." Since its launch last October, Help for Heroes has raised £6m for wounded servicemen and women. The Royal British Legion provides support for those who are currently serving, or have served, in the Armed Forces and their families. Quantum of Solace, the 22nd official film in the 007 series, picks up from Casino Royale as the secret agent sets out to avenge the apparent death of his lover. It has a bigger budget than Casino Royale and producers have promised more action. The title is taken from a short story published by Bond creator Ian Fleming in 1960. It will hit cinemas on 31 October in the UK, with the rest of the world seeing it from early November, 2008.
 
"EAGLE EYE" GETTING IMAX SIMULTANEOUS RELEASE [Aceshowbiz, 8/6/08]
On September 26, the latest drama thriller from 'Disturbia' director D.J. Caruso will be heading to both conventional and IMAX theaters. After "Kung Fu Panda" and "The Dark Knight" dig up gold from their simultaneous release in both conventional and IMAX theaters, drama thriller "Eagle Eye" gets its chance to do the same. Words are the D.J. Caruso-directed film will be released on the bigger screens on the exact date it makes its way to the ordinary movie theaters. Though confirmation about the matter has yet to be outed by DreamWorks/Paramount, it is said that the film will be converted to 70mm IMAX. By that, it means that it will be shown on IMAX DMR venues across the country starting on September 26, 2008. Written by Hillary Seitz, Dan McDermott and Travis Wright, "Eagle Eye" follows two strangers whose path are crossing one another when they are set up to be the pawns of a mysterious woman in a diabolical assassination plot. Aside from LaBeouf and Monaghan, this fast-paced race-against-time-thriller also sees Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Mackie and Billy Bob Thornton in the cast ensemble.
 
'AFRO SAMURAI' PLANNED TO GET LIVE-ACTION TREATMENT [Aceshowbiz, 8/6/08]
With its anime series generating great responses from fans, it looks like that it is time to give "Afro Samurai" a big screen treatment. And, apparently that is what Samuel L. Jackson, the actor who voiced the titular character in the series, has in mind about the Takashi Okazaki's manga adaptation. Revealing the plan on developing the series into a live-action one, the 59-year-old who also serves up to be the series' executive producer confessed that the making of the movie has been thought of. "We have a live-action plan," he gushed. "Hopefully, that script will come together and we'll be able to do that in the next two years or so." Meanwhile, on the chance of him portraying the lead character in the film, Jackson confessed that he would rather see a younger actor take the role. "No, I'm not; I won't be doing that," he put off the casting idea. "I'll be the dead father. I'll show up in some spiritual scenes, and give him some guidance. We'll find some young guy that is capable of doing all those things and make it really cool." Suggesting another actor he thinks fit for the role, he mentioned the name of OutKast's member, Andre Benjamin a.k.a. Andre 3000. "You know, when I look at him, I see Andre 3000," the Oscar-nominated actor let out. "So, maybe so."
 
CURTIS, LADD WILL BE TOASTED AT MONTREAL WORLD FILM FEST [CBC, 8/6/08]
Actor Tony Curtis and producer Alan Ladd Jr., will be celebrated for their lifetime achievements in separate tributes at the Montreal World Film Festival that runs Aug. 21 to Sept. 1, 2008. Organizers announced Tuesday (Aug. 5) that 234 feature films, 105 of which are world premieres, 13 medium-length movies and 208 shorts will be screened in the 11-day movie showcase. Another highlight will be a master class given by U.S. film director Brian de Palma, a master of psychological thrillers such as Carrie. The 31st annual festival will kick off Aug. 21 with Paris 36, a French feature film directed by Christophe Barratier about three dance hall veterans who stage a musical as France's Popular Front comes to power in 1936. Curtis will be toasted for his performances in some of the most acclaimed films of the 1950s and 1960s, including Some Like it Hot. As president of 20th Century Fox, Ladd, son of the late actor Alan Ladd, gave George Lucas the go-ahead to make the Star Wars movies. His own company, The Ladd Company, has produced movies such as the Oscar-winning Braveheart.
 
RENEE ZELLWEGER'S 'APPALOOSA' WELCOMES TRAILER [Aceshowbiz, 8/5/08]
After "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "3:10 to Yuma", another Western movie, "Appaloosa", will be brought to the big screen. Yet, before it is screened in limited theaters on October 3, the trailer to the drama starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger has been released. Based on Robert B. Parker's 2005 Western novel of the same name, "Appaloosa" follows the story of two friends hired to protect a western town from a renegade rancher and his gang. However, their plans are disrupted when an attractive widow comes to the town. Despite the fact that the story also involved the widow, the trailer highlights on the gun fighting and the pair of friends as the men of law. Coming from the four-time Academy Award-nominated actor, Harris, "Appaloosa" is set to be distributed by New Line Cinema. The movie was filmed in New Mexico in late 2007. It is Harris' second project as a director.
 
MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTOR FALLS FOR "FIASCO" [Reuters/Hollywood Reporter, 8/6/08]
Music videos veteran Samuel Bayer, who directed Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," has signed on to shoot the action thriller "Fiasco Heights." The Universal Pictures project revolves around a gunman who returns to the crime-ridden city of Fiasco Heights and teams with a degenerate gambler/private eye to look for a beautiful femme fatale and a mysterious briefcase. Bayer is also attached to a remake of "Near Dark," a 1987 vampire horror originally directed by Kathryn Bigelow. His other music clips include Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around Comes Around."
 
'DARK KNIGHT' SHOOTS TO $400M IN RECORD TIME [AP, 8/5/08]
Add another entry for "The Dark Knight" in Hollywood's record books: The Batman sequel has climbed past $400 million at the box office in just 18 days, the fastest pace ever, a studio executive said Tuesday. As of Monday, "The Dark Knight" had taken in $400.03 million domestically, according to distributor Warner Bros. Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for Warner, said the film hit that mark in less than half the time it took for the previous record-holder, "Shrek 2," which crossed the $400 million level on its 43rd day of release. "The Dark Knight" is now No. 8 on the all-time box-office charts, and it should move up to No. 7 on Tuesday, passing the $403.7 million haul of the original "Spider-Man." That will make "The Dark Knight" the top-grossing comic-book adaptation ever.
 
SCOTTY'S ASHES MISSING IN CRASH [BBC News, 8/5/08]
Some of the ashes of actor James Doohan, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in Star Trek have gone missing. The remains were being sent into orbit by a company that offers a space burial service when the rocket carrying them malfunctioned minutes after take-off.  This is the second unsuccessful attempt to launch a portion of Canadian-born Doohan's remains into space - an act he requested in his will. Doohan died of Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia in July 2005 aged 85.  The actor's ashes were among those of 208 people who had paid to have their remains fired into space aboard Falcon 1. The craft failed around two minutes into the launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX's engineers are still investigating the cause of the rocket's failure. Doohan's characterisation of the Scottish Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise inspired many fans to to choose engineering as a profession.
 
KEVIN COSTNER OPENS DOOR FOR 'BODYGUARD' SEQUEL [Aceshowbiz, 8/5/08]
Having played many memorable characters in various movies from Eliot Ness in "The Untouchables" to Billy Chapel in "For Love of the Game", Kevin Costner never once starred in a sequel to his movies. Nevertheless, it seems that the fact won't last any longer, especially with the buzz on "The Bodyguard" sequel hypening up. In the latest news related to the actor and his 1992 hit action drama movie, it is reported that the 53-year-old has expressed his interest on reprising his Frank Farmer role in the sequel. Though nothing about the sequel is certain yet, he admitted that he has ideas for the story if the studio bosses are up for the project. To the New York Daily News, Costner said, "Bodyguard could have had one (a sequel)." Sharing his idea further, he denied that Rachel Marron portrayed by Whitney Houston and Frank will be reuniting for the sequel. "No (Marron and Farmer wouldn't reunite)," added Costner, "I think he was true to his word; he didn't want to guard celebrities anymore." Grossing as much as $410.9 million to date, "The Bodyguard" tells the story of a former Secret Service agent who is hired by music superstar to protect her from a fan who stalks and threatens to kill her. Though garnering considerably mixed reviews, the movie directed by Mick Jackson and written by Lawrence Kasdan sent Houston's song "I Will Always Love You" to be the most successful cover tune ever.
 
EVA MENDES' NIP SLIP IN CK PERFUME VIDEO AD CAUSES STIR [Aceshowbiz, 8/5/08]
Adding the long list of celebs who get caught in steamy pictures scandals, Eva Mendes is the latest victim. Having been recruited as the new face of Calvin Klein fragrance brings more trouble for the actress as the ad she does to promote its latest scent, Secret Obsession, from Coty Inc. has been banned from U.S. broadcast networks. The controversial ad apparently features nude Mendes exposing a little too much flesh for the U.S. censors. She's shown in the 30-second TV spot for Secret Obsession caressing herself, rolling around in a rumpled bed and flashing a nipple. "Between love and madness lies obsession," Mendes whispers huskily in the commercial. "Love ... madness. It's my secret." Directed by celebrated photographer Steven Meisel, the clip has provoked controversy even before it is aired, with some U.S. broadcast networks refusing to air the commercial as well as its censored version. Mendes who has starred in a number of big screen projects, is no stranger to appearing sexy either on screen or off screen. She has stripped down for PETA ad and Italian Vogue spread among others. She was last photographed nearly naked for the ad campaign of Calvin Klein underwear.
 
'MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA' BRINGS FORTH DANCING CHARACTER POSTERS [Aceshowbiz, 8/5/08]
In the second teaser of "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa", fans and viewers can see that the lost-in-the-jungle friends celebrating their departure to New York by dancing to the groove of "I Like to Move It" track. Giving more of their dancing styles, DreamWorks have released five animated posters of each character online. The first four posters display the four main characters, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria, in respective order. Meanwhile, the last one exposes King Julien the Lemur with pom-pons in hands shaking his body. The continuance of the first "Madagascar" movie, "Escape 2 Africa" follows another adventure of the pampered Central Park Zoo animals as they are trying to return to their beloved home after being stranded on the island of Madagascar. Unfortunately, instead of heading toward their home, they are crashing on the rural plain of Africa. Featuring the voices of renowned Hollywood stars, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith and Sacha Baron Cohen, the animated film is helmed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. It has been scheduled to be released in theaters on November 7, 2008.
 
FOURTH 'MUMMY' MOVIE TO HAVE ITS OWN TWIST [Aceshowbiz, 8/5/08]
Before "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" made its way to the theaters last Friday, August 1, it has long been rumored that the filmmakers have thought off of bringing to big screen two more sequels. Though the development of those sequels still depend on the result of "Dragon Emperor", director Rob Cohen apparently has prepared a twist for "The Mummy 4". Giving out spoiler to those who have not watched the third "Mummy" movie, the 59-year-old filmmaker revealed that he has provided an open door for the fourth installment in the end of "Dragon Emperor". He noted that Brendan Fraser's character Rick O'Connell is now immortal due to the exposure to the pool of eternal life and his brother-in-law, Jonathan, has obtained a powerful artifact. On the possible location for the fourth film, Cohen declared that he would take "Mummy 4" to another culturally interesting country opening chances for Peru or Mexico. "What I'm really happy about is that, by taking 'The Mummy' out of Egypt and putting it in China, by exploring a different approach to the quest for immortality, we now have it clear that the 'Mummy' franchise can travel," he confessed.
 
CO-FOUNDER OF DALLAS OPERA DIES AT 92 IN ITALY [AP, 8/5/08]
The co-founder of the Dallas Opera has died at a hospital in Viterbo, Italy. Nicola Rescigno was 92. Jonathan Pell, the Dallas Opera director of artistic administration, says he received a phone call Monday (Aug. 4) afternoon from Rescigno's nephew, who had been informed of his uncle's death by the hospital. Pell says Rescigno had been in the hospital to have surgery for a broken leg. He says Rescigno "went to sleep and didn't wake up." Rescigno and the late Lawrence V. Kelly founded the Dallas Opera in 1957. Pell says the pair attracted well-known performers such as Maria Callas. He says plans to honor Rescigno by the Dallas Opera will be announced later.
 
'JUSTICE LEAGUE' COMING BACK TO LIFE? [Aceshowbiz, 8/4/08]
After months of going in and out of shelves, "Justice League Mortal" has been reported to be put on the back burner last April. Contrary to that, however, a new report concerning the movie about a group of superheroes from the DC Comics' universe suggested that the comic book adaptation maybe back on. On the speculation, Moviehole.net noted that in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, director George Miller unveiled the movie was only stalled but it is still very much alive. Hinting further on the project, the helmer insisted that the film just won't be shot in Australia like what has been planned previously due to the tax revenue's problem. Nevertheless, there are no confirmation on the truth of this report yet. Bringing the heroic story of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and many others superheroes to life, "Justice League" allegedly has Adam Brody, Armie Hammer, Megan Gale and Common attached to it. It will be produced by Warner Bros. Pictures using the screenplay penned by Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney.
 
MILLION-SELLING OPENING FOR VAMPIRE SERIES FINALE [AP, 8/4/08]
Harry Potter is still king, but the final book of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series did manage a million-selling debut. "Breaking Dawn," the fourth of Meyer's sensational teen vampire series, sold 1.3 million copies in the first 24 hours after its midnight, Aug. 2, 2008 release. Publisher Little, Brown Books for Young Readers announced Monday (Aug. 4) that it has gone back for 500,000 more copies, making the total print run 3.7 million. The numbers for "Breaking Dawn" are comparable to the openings of a pair of famous memoirs: former President Clinton's "My Life" and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History." But they don't approach the unveiling of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." The seventh and final volume of J.K. Rowling's fantasy series sold 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours in the United States alone.
 
WINNER TAKES IT ALL AS ABBA MAKE UK ALBUM HISTORY [Reuters, 8/4/08]
Swedish supergroup ABBA made British chart history as their "Gold -- Greatest Hits" compilation became the oldest album to reach number one, the Official UK Charts Company said on Sunday (Aug. 3). First released in 1992, the compilation has previously topped the charts on four separate occasions, but Sunday's achievement was the first time an album had taken the number one spot after such a long interval. The Swedish group has enjoyed a resurgence on the back of the success of the film version of the hit musical "Mamma Mia!," with the soundtrack topping the album charts two weeks ago. With worldwide sales topping 26 million "Gold" is one of the top 40 best selling albums of all time, while ABBA's legacy of hits has racked up worldwide album sales of more than 350 million, with the group still selling 3 million albums annually. ABBA's success pushed last week's number "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends" by Coldplay down to two, while Welsh singer Duffy and "Rockferry" rose one to three. There were no new releases in the top 10, although Kid Rock's album "Rock N Roll Jesus" made an impressive showing climbing 141 places to four. The U.S musician did even better in the singles chart taking top spot with "All Summer Long" knocking last week's number "Dance Wiv Me" by rapper Dizzee Rascal down to two. Script's "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" climbed 27 places to three, Katy Perry and "I Kissed a Girl" rose from 139 to four, with the Saturdays the only newcomer in the top 10, coming in at eight with "If This Is Love."
 
MADONNA TO INTRODUCE FILM AT MICHIGAN FESTIVAL [AP, 8/2/08]
Michigan's Cherry Capital city is getting ready for the Material Girl. Fans are getting ready for Madonna to make an appearance at the Traverse City Film Festival founded by her pal Michael Moore. She is to introduce her documentary — "I Am Because We Are" — before a screening Saturday night (Aug. 2). The movie deals with the orphans of Malawi, the African nation where she and husband Guy Ritchie adopted a son. Madonna is not expected to make any other public appearances and might not even stick around for the showing. Her appearance comes amid the release of a tell-all book by her brother and speculation about her relationship with New York Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez. Madonna and Rodriguez both deny an affair.
 
MICHELLE YEOH BRINGS KICKS AND POISE TO "MUMMY" [Reuters, 8/2/08]
Not many actresses have given strong, emotional performances and kicked major butt in the same film, but fortunately for fans of the "Mummy" movies, Michelle Yeoh is one. Yeoh, 45, stars in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," which opened in theaters on Friday (Aug. 1), the third in a series of box office hits about adventurer Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) who seems to always run afoul of power-hungry mummies. In this newest version, Yeoh portrays Chinese sorceress, Zi Yuan, who puts a curse on an ancient emperor only to see him rise from the dead after 2,000 years to seek vengeance. Zi is one of a group of people, including O'Connell, who must put the emperor back in his grave, and she uses not only her fists, but her wits and poise, as well. Yeoh rose to prominence in Hong Kong action flicks, and she gained wide recognition from U.S. audiences as a Bond girl in 1997's 007 spy flick, "Tomorrow Never Dies." She then displayed both her acting and her fighting skills in Ang Lee's Oscar winner "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." In recent years, she has taken straight acting roles in dramas "Memoirs of a Geisha" and science fiction flick "Sunshine." Her ability to move beyond roles as an action heroine seems to have paid off because while this third "Mummy" movie has failed to win over many critics, Yeoh's performance has been seen as one of its few bright spots. "Best of all is Michelle Yeoh, who radiates integrity in every role she takes on and who holds our attention as a powerful sorceress," wrote Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan.
 
LOLLAPALOOZA GETS UNDERWAY IN CHICAGO [Reuters/Billboard, 8/2/08]
Lollapalooza Music Festival, billed as the largest alternative music festival in the United States, a midsummer ultra-marathon of music, street food, beer and sweat kicked off today (Aug. 1) in Chicago's Grant Park, with acts like the Raconteurs, Cat Power, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Bloc Party, CSS and the Cool Kids setting the table for a slavishly anticipated headlining set from Radiohead. The latter band's performance will go heavy on material from its acclaimed 2007 album, "In Rainbows," along with a handful of choice nuggets from 1995's "The Bends." This is Radiohead's first North American show on the second leg of its summer tour. A sell-out crowd of about 75,000 watched the five-piece ensemble from Oxfordshire, accompanied by a spectacular video and light show as darkness fell over the Windy City. Tickets remain for Saturday and Sunday. The day began with a literal bang in the form of Bang Camaro, who kick-started Lollapalooza with an 11:30 a.m. set. Festivalgoers endured a windless 90-degree-plus day on the edge of Lake Michigan, but rocked out early to bands like Rogue Wave and Noah & the Whale, both of whom performed on two different stages. Hip-hop groups like Cadence Weapon and Free Sol also had a place, while Gogol Bordello offered its trademark showmanship in a sweat-drenched set featuring backup dancers decked out in lime-green tribal wear. The Honeybears and Black Joe Lewis were a funky crowd favorite on the BMI stage, earning favorable comparisons to retro-leaning acts like the Dap-Kings. With the sun threatening to set, Cat Power's Chan Marshall, decked out in a T-shirt with the slogan "People Make the Peace," soothed the audience at the Playstation-branded stage, while Mates Of Stage fleshed out material from their latest Barsuk album, "Re-Arrange Us," with full band accompaniment. Chicago native son, hip-hop superstar Kanye West, closes the festival on Sunday night in a head-to-head match-up with industrial rock icons Nine Inch Nails. The festival, which in its 1990s incarnation toured the United States each summer, is contracted to stay in Chicago's Grant Park through 2011.
 
MAMMA MIA! LEADS FILM AWARD NODS [BBC News, 8/1/08]
Mamma Mia!, The Golden Compass and St Trinian's lead the field for the National Movie Awards, picking up four nominations each. Teen actress Dakota Blue Richards is up for best female alongside her Golden Compass co-star Nicole Kidman. Mamma Mia! cohorts Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth are up for Best Male for their roles in the Abba musical film. The winners, voted for by the public, will be unveiled in London next month in a ceremony screened on ITV1. Newcomer Gemma Arterton, who beat 1,500 hopefuls to land a part in the forthcoming James Bond film, is also up for best female for her performance as head girl Kelly in St Trinian's. Superhero hopefuls Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Meryl Streep are also in the running for the award. Among the 14 actors shortlisted for best male are Will Smith, Ben Barnes, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E feature in the best family category nominations. Iron Man, Hancock, Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight and The Incredible Hulk make it into the Superhero category. Competing for the action award is I Am Legend, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor and Wanted. The National Movie Awards take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London next month.
 
DARK DRAMA "BLINDNESS" NAMED ATLANTIC FILM FEST OPENER [CBC, 8/1/08]
Blindness, the dark Canadian-Brazilian-Japanese drama based on Jose Saramago's acclaimed novel, is set to open the 28th edition of the Atlantic Film Festival.Organizers announced their selection on Friday from Halifax, where the 10-day festival will unspool beginning Sept. 11, 2008. "Opening night will beautifully align our celebration of Canadian cinema with this incredible Brazilian co-production," said festival director Lia Rinaldo. Packed with Canadian and international stars, Blindness tells the story of a mysterious epidemic that afflicts an unnamed city, robbing citizens of their sight and quickly causing societal breakdown. The cast includes U.S. actors Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover, Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal, Brazil's Alice Braga, Japan's Yusuke Iseya and Canadians Sandra Oh, Maury Chaykin, Susan Coyne, Martha Burns and Don McKellar — who also adapted the screenplay from Saramago's book. The movie opened the Cannes International Film Festival in May and will also screen at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. Blindness is set for a limited North American theatrical release in September, 2008.
 
EX-NBC UNIVERSAL BOOKKEEPER PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD [Reuters, 8/1/08]
A former bookkeeper at NBC Universal pleaded guilty on Friday to participating in a scheme to steal more than $1 million that he and his boss were accused of using for personal expenses, including a summer rental home. The plea comes several months after a guilty plea by the man's supervisor, former NBC Universal treasurer Victor Jung, who was charged in January 2007 with taking part in the scheme to steal from the media conglomerate. James Walsh, 35, who was not named as a defendant in the original case, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud at a hearing in U.S. Magistrate's Court in Manhattan. According to a superseding indictment in the Jung case filed by prosecutors in May, Jung and an unidentified co-conspirator engaged in a scheme to embezzle funds from the media company. A lawyer for Walsh, Douglas Grover, said after Friday's hearing that Walsh was the person named as the unidentified co-conspirator in the May court papers. Walsh left the General Electric Co-owned media company in 2006, his lawyer said. In court on Friday, Walsh said he helped his boss carry out the fraud, which began in 2005. He admitted to knowingly causing a $238,450 illegal wire transfer in April 2006 from a GE account to a checking account for a dummy company that, according to court documents, had been set up by Jung. Walsh told Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz he kept some of the money from the scheme to pay down credit card loans and other personal expenses. According to the May indictment, Jung and his unidentified co-conspirator used the stolen money to pay about $40,000 in fees for a summer rental home in Southampton, New York, as well as for a birthday party that Jung threw for Walsh. The indictment said Jung, along with others who were not identified, also used some of the money to fly by private jet to Miami, Antigua and the Turks and Caicos Islands. An NBC Universal representative declined to comment on the case. According to sentencing guidelines, Walsh could get a prison term of 21 months to 27 months when he is sentenced. His sentencing date was set for November 4, 2008. Jung pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud. He is also due to be sentenced in November, according to court filings.
 
BRAD PITT'S 'BURN AFTER READING' TO OPEN 65th VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL [Aceshowbiz, 7/31/08]
Announcing the full list of movies up for the Golden Lion award, the 65th Venice International Film Festival's organizers made known that 'Burn After Reading' is set to open the event. Another coveted film festival, the 65th Venice International Film Festival, is about to be held. Bearing that in mind, it is announced that the Coen brothers' latest dark comedy "Burn After Reading" has been given the honor to open the fest on August 27, 2008 with two of its stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt are expected to make a red carpet appearance. The drama comedy from Focus Features about two gym employees' attempt to blackmail a former CIA agent using his memoir is included in the 'Out of Competition' movie list which is the only American movie put into the category. The full list of the movie which is not included in the competition can be seen via LaBiennale.org. Meanwhile, the full list of 'In Competition' movies which was announced in Rome by Paolo Baratta, the president of the Venice Biennale, and Marco Muller, director of the cinema section can be read at LaBiennale.org. The 65th Venice International Film Festival will be closed on September 6, 2008.
 
CONDUCTOR DROPPED FROM TORONTO'S SOUND OF MUSIC FOLLOWING ARREST [CBC, 7/31/08]
Simon Lee, the longtime Andrew Lloyd Webber collaborator charged with assault in Toronto on Sunday, has been dropped from the production of The Sound of Music. Webber's production company Really Useful Group has scrapped the 46-year-old Lee's engagement as musical supervisor for the musical's Toronto run, slated to begin in October, 2008. "Simon is a very talented person who is extremely important to us. However, on this occasion we felt it was necessary to seek the termination of his engagement on 'The Sound of Music' in Toronto," said a statement issued by London-based communications firm Brown Lloyd James on behalf of Webber's group. "The alleged events are subject to legal proceedings and, therefore, we can't comment further." The veteran British conductor, who has performed with top orchestras around the globe, has served as the musical director or supervisor on projects ranging from the opening ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Olympics to both theatre and film versions of Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. Lee, listed as the musical supervisor for Webber's London production of The Sound of Music, was in Toronto this summer for CBC-TV's reality competition How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? He served as one of three judges and as Webber's proxy for the televised contest, which ultimately saw 23-year-old actress Elicia MacKenzie score the title role of Maria von Trapp for the Toronto version of the stage musical. Lee missed the last two episodes this week after being arrested and charged with assault and forcible confinement after an incident at a Toronto hotel on Sunday morning. He was released on bail and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 27, 2008.
 
WEAKERTHANS, CORB LUND VIE FOR WESTERN CANADIAN MUSIC AWARDS [CBC, 7/31/08]
Veteran Winnipeg rockers The Weakerthans and Albertan country music star Corb Lund are among the top nominees for the sixth annual Western Canadian Music Awards. Organizers announced nominees in 19 categories on Thursday (July 31, 2008) in Edmonton. The city will host the conference and awards gala in the fall.  As in the past, the awards are a publicly voted honour. The Weakerthans (Reunion Tour) and Lund (Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!) scored four nods each and will go head-to-head in categories like outstanding independent album. Their rivals in that category include Jeremy Fisher (Goodbye Blue Monday), Immaculate Machine (Immaculate Machine's Fables) and The Perpetrators (Tow Truck). Other nominees include:
  • Classical Recording
    • David Harding, Phillip Bush & Jonathan Crow (Brahms)
    • Jasper Wood (A Child's Cry from Izieu)
    • Michael Horwood (Suite and Serious)
    • Shauna Rolston (Dreamscape)
    • Tiresias (Delicate Fires)
  • Country Recording
    • Aaron Lines (Moments that Matter)
    • Gord Bamford (Honkytonks and Heartaches)
    • Hey Romeo (Hey Romeo)
    • Jo Hikk (Ride)
    • Paul Brandt (Risk)
  • Jazz Recording
    • Altered Laws (Metaphora)
    • Greg Lowe (Guitar and Bass Sessions)
    • Hutchinson Andrew Trio (Music Box)
    • Ian McDougall Big Band (No Passport Required)
    • Saul Berson Quartet (Intricacy)
  • Rock Recording
    • Maybe Smith (Animals & Architects)
    • Social Code (Social Code)
    • State of Shock (Life, Love & Lies)
    • The Evaporators (Gassy Jack and Other Tales)
    • The Weakerthans (Reunion Tour)
  • Urban Recording
    • GreenTaRA (Global Baby)
    • Moka Only (Vermillion)
    • Moka Only & Def 3 (Dog River)
    • Souljah Fyah (Truth Will Reveal)
    • Touch & Nato (Intelligent Design)
  • Songwriter(s) of the Year
    • Aaron Lines (Moments that Matter)
    • Corb Lund (Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!)
    • Jeremy Fisher (Goodbye Blue Monday)
    • Social Code (Social Code)
    • The Weakerthans (Reunion Tour)
  • Video of the Year
    • I Wanna Be In The Cavalry, Corb Lund
    • Transportation, James Murdoch Band
    • Cigarette, Jeremy Fisher
    • Civil Twilight, The Weakerthans
    • Viva la Vinyl, Twilight Hotel

A full list of nominees can be found at the awards website. Part of the celebrations will include tributes to Vancouver's Spirit of the West and Albertan bandleader and Senator Tommy Banks. The gala is set for Oct. 19, as a grand finale to a music festival, conference and industry awards that kicks off in Edmonton Oct. 16, 2008.

 
"DRAG ME TO HELL" LATEST HORROR THRILLER FOR 2009 [Aceshowbiz, 7/30/08]
At the recent San Diego Comic Con, Sam Raimi's latest horror thriller "Drag Me to Hell" was presented and an extended clip has been previewed. Nearly four minutes long, the video footage gives out the first real look into the Universal Pictures' horror flick which can be described as horrifying and at the same time tickling. Focused on the main character Christine Brown played by Alison Lohman, the clip displays Brown being attacked presumably by the old woman whose loan extension she denied earlier. The video began with a creepy scene where Brown walks to her parked car, the video hypes up the terrifying atmosphere with a sudden appearance of the old woman in the back seat of Brown's car. Then, the clip continues by exposing the fight between Brown and the old woman. "Drag Me to Hell" is the story of Christine Brown, a young and ambitious L.A. loan officer whose life is perfect until she is being cursed. "Drag Me to Hell" follows her as she tries to break the curse which transformed her life into a living hell. Coming from the director of "Spider-Man" series, this film is set to be outed on May 29, 2009.
 
"DOCTOR ZHIVAGO" FILM-MAKER YOUSSEF CHAHINE DEAD AT 82 [Klassic Magazine,  7/27/08]
Egyptian film-maker Youssef Chahine, Arab cinema's most celebrated director of films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago both starring Omar Sharif, died on Sunday (July 27) at age 82 after several weeks in a coma. His friend and fellow director Khaled Yussef who co-directred Chahine's latest film "Chaos" in 2007 said he died this morning at 3:30 a.m. For 60 years Chahine was the biggest name in Egyptian cinema and he breathed cinema to the very end. Youssef Chahine lived only for cinema. Chahine made his first film in Egypt in 1950 and it was there that he also discovered and launched the career of  Omar Sharif, whose first starring role was in Chahine's 1954 film The Blazing Sun. Three of his highly acclaimed films in the late 1990s are "Al-Muhajer" (The Emigrant), "Al-Masir" (Destiny) and "Al-Akhar" (The Other), which focused on tolerance and the distinction between Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. Chahine won official plaudits for his pioneering role in Egypt's film industry and was awarded the Cannes film festival's 50th anniversary lifetime achievement award in 1997. Born a Greek Catholic Christian in Alexandria in 1926, Chahine studied acting in Pasadena, California, in the late 1940s and began work in the cinema on returning to Egypt. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday,  "The (cinema) has lost one of its most famous servants." "Very attached to his Egypt but open to the universe ... Youssef Chahine sought through his work, during his entire life, through the pictures, to denounce censorship, fanaticism and fundamentalism," Sarkozy added. A funeral ceremony will be held in Cairo on Monday, Yussef said, before Chahine is buried in the family crypt in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria where he was born, Egypt's official MENA news agency said.
 
'FATHER' OF CONGOLESE RUMBA DIES [BBC News, 7/30/08]
World music star Papa Wendo, often hailed as the "father" of Congolese rumba music, has died at the age of 82. The musician was admitted to a clinic in Kinshasa in DR Congo on Monday and died after a long illness. His music first came to the attention of international audiences in the 1950s with Marie Louise, which the Congolese thought could wake the dead. Wendo was born Antoine Wendo Kolosoy in the Bandundu region but became an orphan at the age of nine. His parents' deaths meant he was taken care of by priests - until he found them too strict and left about three years later, Agence France-Press said in an obituary. The singer started his career as a boxer in the 1940s and travelled to Cameroon and Senegal before he made his first record in 1948. The Catholic church suspected his song Marie Louise had satanic powers, and the singer was briefly jailed. In the 1940s Wendo befriended the country's first legally elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba , but he was murdered in 1961 by troops loyal to the army. Four years later, army chief Joseph Mobutu took power and Wendo decided to stop playing music, citing politics as his reason. Mobutu was forced out in 1997 and the father of current leader Joseph Kabila helped Wendo when he restarted his recording and touring career. A documentary on Wendo called On the Rumba River, made by French film-maker Jacques Sarasin, was released last month.
 
21 FILMS TO COMPETE FOR GOLDEN LION AT VENICE FEST [AP, 7/28/08]
The Venice Film Festival will feature Italian movies this year — and it will also show fewer American movies because of the writers' strike. Festival organizers on Tuesday unveiled the 21 films competing for the coveted Golden Lion award, including Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married" and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." The competition features five Hollywood productions, four from Italy and three each from France and Japan. Organizer say the film festival will show 20 Italian films to 10 American this year, because fewer U.S. productions were ready because of the writers' strike. The festival runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6, 2008.
 
'MUMMY TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR' HITS ITS AMERICAN PREMIERE [Aceshowbiz, 7/28/08]
Less than a week from its theatrical debut across the U.S. on August 1, 2008 "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" celebrated its American premiere with the special first screening at Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. The premiere event was held on Sunday, July 27 and marked with the rolling down of red carpet in front of the theater. Attending the special celebration were director Rob Cohen and most of the cast ensemble, including Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Luke Ford, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li, Isabella Leong and Russell Wong. Other celebrities grazing the red carpet include Velvet Revolver's lead guitarist Slash and actress Phoebe Price. The third film of "The Mummy" franchise, "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" follows daring adventurer Rick O'Connell once again as he tries to stop another resurrected mummy from dominating the world.
 
DARK KNIGHT" GROSS $300M, SHATTERING RECORD [AP,  7/27/08]
"The Dark Knight" continues to obliterate box office records, crossing the $300 million mark in just 10 days. The epic Batman saga grossed $75.6 million in its second weekend in theaters, pushing its domestic total to $314,245,000, Warner Bros. head of distribution Dan Fellman said Sunday (July 27). That surpasses the record set in 2006 by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which took 16 days to make $300 million. The latest Batman installment already had broken records for best opening weekend at $158.4 million and best single-day with $66.4 million. It's also busted records in its showings on IMAX screens, making $16.3 million in its first 10 days. Fellman expects that "Dark Knight" could reach $400 million in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days. "What can you say? We've been getting a lot of repeat business coming in," Fellman said. "Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews. Our audience is getting a little bit older, that's the good news. We're finding the younger demographic, male and female, coming back." He called it "a big surprise," adding: "To do $300 (million) plus in 10 days, we just couldn't have predicted it." "The Dark Knight" could pass "Titanic" as the highest-grossing film in U.S. history, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. James Cameron's 1997 extravaganza made $600,788,188 domestically, a record no other movie has come close to touching. Part of the film's visual allure comes from the fact that 30 minutes of it were shot with IMAX cameras, including an elaborate bank-heist scene at the start. "Chris (Nolan) has clearly hit upon something," said Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "There are many important filmmakers who we've spoken with in the last couple of weeks about shooting with IMAX cameras." Coming in second place was "Step Brothers," which had a strong opening of its own with $30 million. Sony also has the Will Smith superhero flick "Hancock," which made $8.2 million this past weekend to cross the $200 million mark. The weekend's other big release was "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," which made an estimated $10.2 million. Ten years after the first "X-Files" movie and six years since the pioneering sci-fi show went off the air, this latest installment finds Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) re-teaming to solve a missing-persons case. "The hardcore `X-Files' fans, they're happy. And frankly, that's who the movie was made for," said Chris Aronson, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday (July 28).
 
SPRINGSTEEN, BON JOVI AND CHESNEY VIE FOR TOP TOUR [Klassic Magazine, 7/27/08]
"Glory Days" are here again for Bruce Springsteen, whose upcoming tour could make him the biggest touring artist of the year in North America. Springsteen and his E Street Band, who kick off the second leg of their North American tour in New Jersey on Sunday (July 27), will vie for the crown with fellow Garden State rockers Bon Jovi and country singer Kenny Chesney, according to Pollstar magazine. Each artist should end the year with ticket sales of about $70 million, said Gary Bongiovanni, the editor of the Fresno, Calif.-based trade publication. That's a modest sum by past standards. The Police were tops last year with $132 million, while the Rolling Stones led the field in 2006 with $138.5 million and in 2005 with a record $162 million. Springsteen won the 2003 derby with $116 million. Springsteen's tour begins with three dates at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.  The last time he played the football field, five years ago, he grossed $39 million from 10 concerts. The quick month long jaunt, a follow-up to a two-month arena trek earlier this year, sticks largely on the eastern United States. Last year, he grossed $38 million in North America, No. 14 on Pollstar's list. Pollstar is still crunching data for Bon Jovi's tour, which finished earlier this month with a pair of shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. Chesney -- the No. 2 act last year with $71 million-- is on the road through August 23, 2008. Van Halen, whose 2007 tour ranked No. 5 with $57 million, wrapped their trek in early June.
 
JAZZ SAXOPHONIST JOHNNY "THE LITTLE GIANT" GRIFFIN, DEAD AT 80 [AP, 7/27/08]
Jazz saxophonist Johnny Griffin, nickname "the Little Giant" who played with America's greats from Thelonious Monk to Lionel Hampton but chose to live in France, died hours before a concert, his agent said Saturday (July 26). He was 80. Griffin, whose career spanned more than a half-century, was found dead Friday morning in the music room of his home in Mauprevoir in western France by his wife Miriam, said Helene Manfredi, his agent for 28 years. The exact cause of death was not clear. Griffin, who had played in the Riviera town of Hyeres on Monday, was to give a concert Friday night in the central Cher region. Born April 24, 1928, Griffin got an early start at Chicago's Du Sable High School where Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington and other greats grew into their music. He graduated then toured with Hampton's big band. After two years in the army, he played in Chicago and New York, gaining a national reputation with his hard-bop improvisations. In the late 1950s, he played with Art Blakey and Monk. In the early 1960s, the sax master moved to France where a collection of jazz artists was gathering. He then hopscotched to the Netherlands and back to France. He toured Europe, keeping up the pace even in his final years with recent concerts in Spain, Portugal and Tunisia, his agent said. Griffin's 1958 album "A Blowing Session," a hard bop jam session with John Coltrane, drummer Art Blakey and others, remains among his signature works. Griffin is survived by his wife Miriam and four children, one of whom lives in France and the others in the United States. Funeral services were scheduled for Tuesday at the Poitiers Crematorium, Manfredi said.
 
SOAP OPERA "NOOR" SHAKES CUSTOMS OF ARAB MARRIED LIFE [AP, 7/27/08]
Every evening for the past four months, a tall young man with soulful blue eyes has been stealing hearts across the Middle East, from the refugee camps of the Gaza Strip to the gated mansions of Riyadh. But it's not just the striking good looks of Mohannad, hero of the hugely popular Turkish TV soap opera "Noor," that appeal to female viewers. He's romantic, attentive to his wife, Noor, supportive of her independence and ambitions as a fashion designer — in short, a rare gem for women in conservative, male-dominated surroundings. "Noor" delivers an idealized portrayal of modern married life as equal partnership — clashing with the norms of traditional Middle Eastern societies where elders often have the final word on whom a woman should marry and many are still confined to the role of wife and mother. Kivanc Tatlitug, who plays Mohannad, is an ex-basketball player who won the 2002 "Best Model of the World" award. While Noor is played by Songul Oden. Some Muslim preachers in the West Bank and Saudi Arabia have taken notice, saying the show is un-Islamic and urging the faithful to change channels. But all the same, the show may be planting seeds of change. The nightly soap opera "shows that there are Muslims who live differently," said Islah Jad, a professor of women's studies at the West Bank's Bir Zeit University. In Saudi Arabia, the only country with ratings, about three to four million people watch daily, out of a population of nearly 28 million. In the West Bank and Gaza, streets are deserted during show time and socializing is timed around it. In Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and in Hebron, the West Bank's most conservative city, maternity wards report a rise in babies named Noor and Mohannad. A West Bank poster vendor has ditched Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein for Noor and Mohannad.
 
RUSSEL CROWE'S ROBIN HOOD MOVIE HITS DELAY [Reuter/Hollywood Reporter, 7/27/08]
The Sheriff of Nottingham will not be chasing Robin Hood into Sherwood Forest this fall. Production on "Nottingham," a revisionist film set to star Russell Crowe as a sympathetic sheriff, has been indefinitely postponed because of script concerns, location logistics and the current labor unrest. Director Ridley Scott's Universal Pictures project had been aiming for a mid-August start date, one of a handful of high-profile productions pushing ahead despite the stand-off in contract talks between the studios and the Screen Actors Guild. In explaining the production shutdown, Universal cited the "cloud of the SAG strike" as one of three factors that led to the postponement. It also said that "the film's forest locations need to be green," which suggests even if other factors were to be resolved later this year, the production could not now resume until next spring. The third key factor was the project's script by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, with a rewrite by Brian Helgeland. "The current version of the screenplay," the studio said, "is not yet where the studio and the filmmakers want it to be in terms of realizing the full value of the story. "Universal could have moved forward with one of these challenges, but the confluence of the three caused the studio to reconsider and take the time for all conditions to be optimal." The statement said that Universal, Imagine, Scott and Crowe all remain committed to the project. "Nottingham" had been on track to be released November 6, 2009.
 
PRINCE WILLIAM IN SECOND HIGH SEAS DRUGS BUST [AFP, 7/26/08]
Prince William has been involved in a second drugs bust operation in the Caribbean, where he is serving on board a Royal Navy warship, the defence ministry in London said Saturday (July 26). The 26-year-old, who is second in line to the throne, was on a Lynx helicopter that chased down a speedboat suspected of involvement in trafficking cocaine from South America and opened fire to shoot out its engine. Three men on the craft, which tried to flee, jumped into the sea and were later taken to the Type-23 frigate HMS Iron Duke, where William is on a two-month placement.
 
TORONTO'S SOULPEPPER THEATRE GETS $1M DONATION [CBC, 7/23/08]
Toronto philanthropists Charles and Marilyn Baillie have donated $1 million to the city's Soulpepper Theatre Company to help support teacher residencies. The endowment will create the Baillie Artistic Fellowship, which will bring leading Canadian and international artists to teach at Soulpepper’s year-round training academy. The donation was announced Monday at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Baillie is a former chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank and chancellor emeritus at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. He and his wife have also given generously to the Art Gallery of Ontario. A 400-seat performance space at the Young Centre is named the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre because of an earlier contribution they made to Soulpepper. The Baillie Centre, established with a second gift, houses offices for resident instructors, two rehearsal halls and a production centre. Soulpepper’s training academy is geared to upgrading the skills of theatre professionals. George Brown Theatre School also makes its home in the Young Centre.
 
NETFLIX EXITING INDIE MOVIE DISTRIBUTION [Reuters/Hollywood Reporter,  7/23/08]
In a move that could have a big impact on indie film sales and distribution, online film rental service Netflix is shuttering its film financing and acquisition arm Red Envelope Entertainment. Since it was founded two years ago, Red Envelope invested in more than 100 films and partnered on key acquisitions for small distributors. Some of its acquisitions include the war documentary "No End in Sight" with Magnolia Pictures, and the romantic comedy "Two Days in Paris" with Samuel Goldwyn Pictures. According to a Los Angeles Times report, Netflix said it shuttered Red Envelope because the division competed withy Netflix's Hollywood studio partners. Red Envelope employed about 50 people.
 
SYLVAIN POIRIER WINS CANADA COUNCIL DANCE PRIZE [CBC,  7/23/08]
Montreal-based choreographer, performer and artistic director Sylvain Poirier has been awarded the Canada Council for the Arts' 2008 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize for his contribution to the development of dance in Canada. A former athlete, Poirier's interest in body movement first took the form of artistic roller skating when he was a teenager, then broadened into dance. In 1986, he joined Montréal Danse, a contemporary dance group, and became a freelance dancer in 1990, working with independent choreographers and established dance companies. He began choreographing in 1998. For the past two years, he has been developing a movement cycle, La Poésie des Ailleurs, with his dance troupe dansesylvaindanse. The series explores the interaction of the individual with his environment in a variety of settings and seasons. The annual $6,000 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize was established in 1980 in memory of the late Jacqueline Lemieux, who died of cancer in 1979. Lemieux and her husband, Lawrence Gradus, founded Montreal's Entre-six, a chamber ballet company that bridged the gap between classical ballet and modern dance.
 
"GOLDEN GIRL" ESTELLE GETTY DEAD AT 84 [E! Online, 7/23/08]
Estelle Getty, the actress, whose knack for being cast as a maternal unit paid off handsomely when she was cast as Beatrice Arthur's no-holds-barred mother on the long-running TV hit The Golden Girls, died early today (July 22) at her Los Angeles home, her son Carl Gettleman said. Getty, who was three days shy of her 85th birthday, succumbed to Lewy Body Dementia, a disease with symptoms that mimic Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. A perennial award nominee for The Golden Girls, which ran for seven seasons, from 1985 to 1992, Getty won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work as Sophia Petrillo, the shuffling octogenarian with the muted self-censor button who was never without her handbag—or a wisecrack. Age 62 at the time of the show's premiere, Getty was the least-well-known member of the gang of four, which was rounded out by Rue McClanahan as the hot 'n' steamy Blanche. While her costars had all been prime-time fixtures on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Betty White) and Maude (Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan). Born Estelle Scher on July 25, 1923, Getty set aside early acting ambitions to become a "housewife in Bayshore, Queens," as the New York Times put it in a 1982 article. Getty, then 58, told the newspaper she thought she was too old for Broadway. But given a chance meeting with Fierstein at a party in the 1970s, the novice turned positively Sophia-esque . "I said to him, 'If you're such a hotshot playwright, why don't you write a play with a mother in it—so I can play it,'" Getty said. "A year later he sent me this play to read. He had never seen my work, but decided I could do it." And she could.
 
LARRY HAINES, BROADWAY ACTOR, DIES AT 89 [Playbill, 7/23/08]
Larry Haines, as Dr. Dreyfuss, the neighbour of the show's main character, corporate pawn Chuck Baxter - who lends out his apartment to his superiors for romantic trysts in hope of advancing his position - Mr. Haines sang "A Young Pretty Girl Like You" with the show's star, Jerry Orbach. He died at age 89. The Burt Bacharach-Hal David show ran for more than three years. Mr. Haines was also Tony-nominated for his Broadway outing just previous to Promises, Promises, a 1965 William Goodhart comedy called Generation, which was directed by Gene Saks and starred Henry Fonda. In the 1970s he replaced James Coco as Barney Cushman in Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers; and acted opposite Jack Lemmon (who played the original Baxter in the film "The Apartment") in 1979's Tribute. He brought in a steady income for 35 years playing the part of Stu Bergman on the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow." The actor joined the show two months after it premiered in 1951. He won two Emmys as Best Actor on a Daytime Series, and had a dedicated fan in First Lady Pat Nixon, who called him her favorite soap actor. Born Aug. 18, 1918, in Mount Vernon, NY, he first became known in the 1930s as a radio actor on the crime series "Gangbusters." He also appeared in shows like "Suspense," the "Shadow," "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" and "X Minus One," and starred in a short-lived series of 1953, "That Hammer Guy," in which he played Mike Hammer, the character created by Mickey Spillane. He never left radio, even as the medium faded as a dramatic forum. Between 1974 and 1982, he appeared in 82 episodes of the "CBS Radio Mystery Theater." Mr. Haines was predeceased by his former wives, Gertrude Haines and Jean Pearlman Haines as well as by his only daughter, Debora Haines. He is survived by his niece, Kathy Hecht. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Screen Actors Guild, Hollywood Headquarters, 5757 Wilshire Blvd. 7th Floor, Los Angeles, CA, 90036-3600.
 
DEMME DRAMA JOIN TORONTO FILM FEST [SQMAP,  7/20/08]
A new film by U.S. filmmaker Jonathan Demme "Rachel Getting Married", starring Anne Hathaway, joins the glitzy gala lineup, along with British-U.S. co-production The Other Man, starring Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Antonio Banderas, helmed by Notes on a Scandal director Richard Eyre are among the latest batch of titles set to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival this September. Three films have also been added to the special presentations slate: Appaloosa (U.S.), I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, France) and La Fille de Monaco (France). The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 4-13, 2008.
 
ART MOVES TO CARIBANA BEAT [SQMAP,  7/20/08]
The Roots to Rhythm exhibit soon to open at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has works by 23 African-Canadian artists that reflect their cultural diversity and colourful past. The exhibition was created by the Association of African Canadian Artists and curator Joan Butterfield and will be open during Toronto's famous Caribana Festival. Artists were asked to respond to a poem [in italics] Butterfield wrote that riffs on black musical traditions in North America - "We refused to be broken by the rhythm of the trip, or the threats of a master whip. We sang and we danced to the rhythm of our songs, we disguised the words and did no wrong. We now jump up to the rhythm of steel pan, we limbo to the beat of a calypso band." The resulting 72 paintings are a visual interpretation of the journey of African people from the days of slavery and emancipation, to street parades in the Caribbean and North America. The ROM exhibit opens July 25, and runs until Aug. 4, 2008. Caribana festivities began June 13 in Toronto and the parade is scheduled for Aug. 2, 2008.
 
"DARK KNIGHT'' TICKETS HOT SELLERS ON eBAY [Reuters/Hollywood Reporter, 7/21/08]
It seems that 4,366 theaters weren't quite enough. As hype for new box office champ "The Dark Knight" reached a fever pitch over the weekend, moviegoers were surfing eBay and Craigslist for tickets, sometimes paying five times face value for them. The hottest items were tickets to Imax showings. The movie opened on 94 Imax screens, and company executives did a good job letting folks know that director Christopher Nolan shot many of the biggest action scenes with an Imax camera, making it the best venue for viewing the film. All the publicity didn't hurt Imax stock, either: It gained 18 percent last week. "The Dark Knight," meanwhile set a new weekend record by selling $155 million worth of tickets. The going online-auction price for an Imax "Dark Knight" ticket seemed to be around $50 -- with many sellers asking $60 and many buyers offering $40. eBay has seen a surge in activity related to Batman in general, with nearly 23,000 items listed on Friday. As for movie-related Batman gear, Christian Bale paraphernalia is the most popular while other items are being offered for as little as $5 and as much as $1,000. The big-ticket item thus far was a Batman comic book that sold last month for $30,000.
 
FORMER RYERSON STUDENT FILMING DOCUMENTARY IN JAMAICA [SQMAP,  7/20/08]
The latest project underway to chronicle the history of Jamaica's music is "The Top 20 Greatest Moments in Reggae" by Earthstrong Production, Aranthes Lewin and Trinidadian Jeanille Bonterre, also known as Empress Jeanille, formerly of MTV Reggae Tempo. Filming of the documentary began Monday, July 14, 2008 in Jamaica and will premiere on Black Entertainment Television (BET) Network 5, Channel BET J, in September, 2008, if everything goes according to plan. Among the local personalities from whom Jeanille and her crew will be sourcing information from are the riddim-twins, Sly and Robbie; veteran tour organizer/manager, Copeland Forbes; founder of International Reggae Day (IRD), Andrea Davis; and Tommy Cowan. She said that a lot of the pioneers based in New York will be featured in the documentary, one of whom is Burning Spear. Jeanille was born and raised on the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, before moving to Canada where she is a distinguished graduate of Ryerson University in Canada. She became the entertainment news writer for the local radio station, Ebony FM - that paved the way for a position as the entertainment correspondent for CCN TV6, and eventual host for the best selling DVD series, Inside Carnival. Later moving to Los Angeles, California to pursue a degree in communication at the Santa Monica College.
 
JO STAFFORD, DEAD AT 90 [AP, 7/19/08]
Jo Stafford, the honey-voiced band singer who starred in radio and television and sold more than 25 million records with her ballads and folks songs, has died. She was 90. Stafford died of congestive heart failure Wednesday (July 16, 2008) at her Century City home, her son, Tim Weston of Topanga, said Friday. She had been in declining health since October, he said. Stafford had 26 charted singles and nearly a dozen top 10 hits, her son said. She won a Grammy for her humor. Stafford and then 24-year-old Frank Sinatra sang "I'll Never Smile Again" that became the No. 1 hit for 12 weeks and sold 2 million copies. Her records of "I'll Walk Alone," "I'll Be Seeing You," "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" and other sentimental songs struck the hearts of servicemen far from home in both World War II and the Korean War. They awarded her the title of "GI Jo."  Jo Elizabeth Stafford was born Nov. 12, 1917, in Coalinga, Calif., where her Tennessee father had come to work in the oil fields. When a new field was discovered in Long Beach, he moved his wife and four daughters south. In addition to her son, Stafford is survived by a daughter, Amy Wells of Calabasas, and four grandchildren. Paul Weston died in 1996.
 
MAD MEN,' 'DAMAGES' MAKE EMMY NOMINATIONS HISTORY [AP, 7/17/08]
"Mad Men," AMC's sleek drama set in the advertising world circa 1960, and FX's legal thriller "Damages" made Emmy nominations history Thursday as the first basic cable programs to gain best-series nods at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.  "30 Rock," last year's best comedy Emmy winner, was the top nominee among sitcoms with 17 bids. "Mad Men" was the leading drama series contender with 16 nominations, including one for star Jon Hamm. In the lead drama actor category, four of the five nominees were stars of cable shows, including Jon Hamm of "Mad Men." In the corresponding actress category, three of the slots went to cable series stars, including Glenn Close of "Damages." "Grey's Anatomy" stars Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson received nominations. "Lost," rebounding with a well-received season, joined "Mad Men" and "Damages" in the best-drama series category with six nominees, including "Boston Legal, "Dexter" and "House." Other best comedy series nominees besides "30 Rock" were "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage," "The Office" and "Two And a Half Men." HBO, the premium cable channel had a leading 85 bids overall, followed by ABC with 76. Nominees in the top categories were announced at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences by Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris and TV academy Chairman John Shaffner. Shaffner surprised Harris and Chenoweth at the end of the telecast by announcing each actor's supporting-actor nomination. Chenoweth, of "Pushing Daisies," stood open-jawed, while Harris, from "How I Met Your Mother," pumped his fist and said, "Nice!" The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held Sept. 21, 2008 in a live broadcast on ABC. Other Emmy honors, including those for technical achievement and guest actors and actresses in series, will be given at the creative arts ceremony on Sept. 13, 2008.
 
'BAYONETTA': MOVES LIKE A MODEL, KILLS WITH HER HAIR [AFP,  7/17/08]
A curvy new heroine that walks like a runway model but has ankle pistols and deadly hair is getting ready to make her mark in a videogame world packed with macho action heroes. Sega on Thursday introduced to industry insiders "Bayonetta," an animated witch that battles monsters disguised as halo-wearing angels in a world created by Platinum Games studio for the Japanese videogame pioneer. "She is a dark hero," Yusuke Hashimoto of Platinum said as he demonstrated his team's creation in a private room at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. "There are so many strong male characters; we wanted to create a strong female character." Bayonetta makes martial arts leaps and handstands, all the while firing pistols in her hands and on her feet. She uses magic to amplify and weave her hair into giant high-heel boots to kick enemies. Her hair weaves into huge dragons or other beasts she can sic on more formidable foes, referred to as "bosses" in videogame jargon. "We will set the bar for the stylish genre," said Wyman Jung of Sega North America. Hashimoto declined to reveal the game's storyline, saying that is being kept secret until closer to its release next year.
 
'9 to 5: THE MUSICAL' TO OPEN ON BROADWAY [Reuters,  7/15/08]
A musical based on 1980 film "Nine to Five" will open on Broadway in 2009 with music and lyrics by country star Dolly Parton, producers said on Tuesday. "9 to 5: The Musical" includes Parton's original score as well as 20 new songs, and stars Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Marc Kudisch. The film "9 to 5" starred Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.  Parton was nominated for an Oscar for the title song "9 to 5." It is due to open on Broadway on April 23, 2009 but will first play a six week engagement in Los Angeles in September/October this year.
 
HONORING HEATH LEDGER AT 'THE DARK KNIGHT' PREMIERE [BBC News, 7/15/08]
Heath Ledger's co-stars paid tribute to him at the world premiere of the new Batman film in New York on Monday. Ledger's performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight has prompted speculation that he may win a posthumous Oscar for the role. "It's the best performance of a villain I have seen," said co-star Sir Michael Caine, who walked down a black carpet. The movie is dedicated to the actor, who died aged 28 following an accidental drug overdose in January. Ledger's co-stars paid tribute to him at the world premiere of the new Batman film in New York on Monday. Ledger's performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight has prompted speculation that he may win a posthumous Oscar for the role. "It's the best performance of a villain I have seen," said co-star Sir Michael Caine, who walked down a black carpet. The movie is dedicated to the actor, who died aged 28 following an accidental drug overdose in January.
 
OSCAR WATCHERS DAMPEN AWARD HYPE FOR LEDGER'S  JOKER [Reuters, 7/16/08]
When the new Batman movie "The Dark Night" began screenings last month before its U.S. debut on Friday, some moviegoers saw Heath Ledger as an instant Oscar candidate as the deranged villain, The Joker. But Oscar watchers and veteran critics say the joke may be on fans creating mostly Internet-based buzz because an Academy Award for the Australian actor, who died of an accidental drug overdose in January, would be a rare event. Only one actor has won an Oscar after death, Peter Finch for 1976's "Network." Still, Ledger's critically hailed performance may bring a nomination for the U.S. film industry's top award, to be presented next on February 22, 2009. Hollywood has a long history of seeing big stars -- James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Bruce Lee among them -- appearing in high-profile films released after their untimely deaths. "Like Heath, James Dean was a heartthrob star who was considered a serious actor, who died tragically young," O'Neil said. "He was nominated twice posthumously, for "East of Eden" and "Giant," and he lost both times." Even the legendary Spencer Tracy was ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Oscars, after he died in 1967 just as "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" was coming. And he was the front-runner, O'Neil said. Tracy's co-star Katharine Hepburn did win best actress for "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" "That's how reluctant Oscar voters are to hug the dead," O'Neil said. "These awards are all about hugs and there's something creepy about embracing the dead."
 
GOOGLE'S YouTube IN LIONS GATE FILM CLIPS DEAL [Reuters, 7/16/08]
Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday its YouTube unit reached a deal with Lions Gate Entertainment Inc to feature film clips from the studio on the video-sharing site. Schmidt said the deal would enable viewers to upload scenes of their favorite Lions Gate movies, accompanied with ads. He was speaking at an Ad Age/William Morris Agency conference. Lions Gate is home to such films as the "Saw" horror movies and "Crash." Jordan Hoffner, director of content partnerships for Google, said the new channel will launch in the near future. Both Hoffner and Schmidt said their company was in discussions with other Hollywood studios.
 
2009 T FESTIVAL SOLD OUT [BBC News,  7/16/08]
The first batch of tickets for 2009 T in the Park festival sold out in under 10 hours, organizers have revealed. Music fans rushed to snap up the 40,000 tickets when they went on sale at noon on Tuesday. Those who missed out will be able to try again when the first artists and line-up are announced early next year. T in the Park 2009, which will again be held at Balado near Kinross, will run from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 July. Festival organizer, Geoff Ellis, of DF Concerts, said: "We are delighted to have been able to give so many T in the Parkers the opportunity to book their place at next year's festival and to have sold out in a single day. Festival-goers at this year's T in the Park were treated to performances from REM, The Verve, the Prodigy and Amy Winehouse.
 
EU DECISION ON MUSIC COLLECTING SOCIETIES [Reuters,  7/16/08]
Societies that collect music copyright fees for artists from the Rolling Stones to the Arctic Monkeys must end deals to stop competing against each other across borders, the European Commission said on Wednesday. The decision gives the two dozen "collecting societies" across Europe 90 days to terminate the cross-border agreements. The Commission, the European Union executive, imposed no fines on their umbrella group, known as CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. Basically, the collecting societies can continue to hold monopolies inside their countries but must end certain cross-border agreements. "The removal of these restrictions will allow authors to choose which collecting society manages their copyright. It will also make it easier for users to obtain licenses for broadcasting music over the Internet, by cable and by satellite in several countries from a single collection society of their choice," the Commission said in a statement. The EU executive said it had responded to complaints from broadcasting group RTL and Music Choice, a British online music group. The decision said the societies may no longer apply membership clauses that prevent authors and composers from moving from one society to another. The Commission also prohibited territorial restrictions that prevent a collecting society from offering licenses to commercial users outside their domestic territory. Critics who saw the decision while it was in draft form say it does little more than earlier efforts dating back seven years, which fell short of breaking up the monopolies. Critics have said voiding a few clauses hardly solves the problems.
 
LOU PEARLMAN TO REPAY FRAUD VICTIMS $300 MILLION  [Billboard,  7/16/08]
Lou Pearlman and federal authorities have finally agreed on how much the former boy band promoter swindled from banks and investors in a decades-long scam: a staggering $300 million. That's how much creator of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync will have to repay, at a minimum, for restitution on the fraud conviction for which he's serving a 25-year prison sentence. U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharpe today (July 16) asked prosecutors and defense attorneys to amend court documents with the agreed amount. It will be difficult for Pearlman to repay all the money while he is behind bars. Pearlman made millions in the record industry in the 1990s, but investigators have found that money and more seemingly gone with the collapse of his Ponzi scheme. He's been allowed to manage — at arm's length — the few remaining music acts he still has. He could also offer money from whatever job he gets in prison. The judge has ordered that individual investors be repaid first, then banks. He wanted them punished for poorly judging Pearlman worthy of multimillion dollar loans, many secured with the same collateral. Sharpe remanded Pearlman to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which will transfer him to an undetermined facility. Pearlman had been at the Orange County (Fla.) jail, a few miles from his opulent former offices.
 
"THE CLASS" TO OPEN NY FILM FESTIVAL [Reuters,  7/15/08]
Organizers of the New York Film Festival said on Tuesday they will open this fall's event with the North American premiere of French director Laurent Cantet's "Entre les Murs" (The Class), winner of this year's top prize at Cannes. "Entre les Murs" became the first French film in 21 years to claim the coveted Palme d'Or award at Cannes — the world's biggest film festival — after captivating the notoriously picky audience of film industry insiders and journalists there. The 46th New York Film Festival will hold two showcases throughout its run from September 26 through October 12, 2008. The first, "In the Realm of Oshima," looks at the work of Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima, and the second, Views from the Avant-Garde, features Guy Debord's "In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni."
 
PRIVATE SEARCH FOR STEVE FOSSETT UNDERWAY [AFP, 7/14/08]
The first of two searches for millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett got underway on the Nevada-California border on Monday, nearly one year after the aviator's mysterious disappearance. A group led by Canadian adventurer Simon Donato began a week-long search on Monday, hoping to solve the mystery of what happened to Fossett after he took off for a brief solo flight on September 3, 2007 and never returned. Fossett, 63, who was flying a single-engine Citabria Super Decathlon, was never found despite a massive search that saw dozens of aircraft take to the skies to help scour the region where he disappeared. In February, an Illinois judge declared Fossett legally dead at the request of his widow, who issued a recent statement that there were "no further plans for additional searching." Donato, who could not be reached for comment on Monday, said over the weekend his 10-member team includes paramedics and expert hikers who would search remote canyons and forested regions inaccessible to most. If Donato's search is unsuccessful, explorer Robert Hyman intends to lead a team in August to conduct a similar volunteer search. His group, made up of experts in aviation, hiking, mountains and climbing, has no fixed timetable for the length of the search. Both Donato and Hyman are members of the Explorers Club, an international adventure-enthusiasts organization of which Fossett was also a member.
 
FILM PRODUCER JOFFE DIES AT 78 [BBC News, 7/15/08]
Film producer Charles Joffe, who had worked on Woody Allen films since 1969, has died at the age of 78. Joffe and business partner Jack Rollins first co-produced Allen in Take the Money and Run. In 1978, Joffe collected the best picture Oscar for Annie Hall. The pair, who are executive producers of new Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, also managed comedians including Robin Williams in the 1960s. Joffe died in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering from lung disease. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1929, Joffe studied journalism before going on to work for Rollins in the 1950s as a junior manager for comedians. In the 1960s, the pair formed their own company, Rollins and Joffe Productions, and helped the careers of comedians including Williams and Billy Crystal. Joffe's wife Carol said: "He was a fabulous deal-maker - that was his real strength."
 
'HELLBOY II' ON FIRE AT U.S. BOX OFFICE [Reuters, 7/13/08]
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" took the top spot at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, becoming the third comic-book property to lead the field this summer. "Hellboy II" earned $35.9 million, said distributor Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co. It handily surpassed industry expectations, as well as the $23.2 million start for its 2004 predecessor, "Hellboy."  Last weekend's champ, Columbia Pictures' Will Smith superhero comedy "Hancock," slipped to No. 2 with $33 million, taking its 12-day total to $165 million. Also new was the 3-D adventure "Journey to the Center of the Earth," starring Brendan Fraser, which opened at No. 3 with $20.6 million, also exceeding expectations. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc. Meanwhile, Eddie Murphy bombed with his latest comedy, "Meet Dave," which opened at No. 7 with estimated ticket sales of just $5.3 million during its first three days.
 
BANKSY'S IDENTITY REVEALED [BBC News, 7/13/08]
Mysterious graffiti artist Banksy is alleged to be a 34-year-old former public school pupil called Robin Gunningham, according to a newspaper report. The paper says it has identified the "guerrilla artist" from a photograph taken four years ago in Jamaica, which shows a man kneeling by a spray can. Banksy's stencilled artwork appears unannounced in public spaces around the world. His fiercely-guarded identity only adds to his subversive appeal - and members of the Hollywood elite including Christina Aguilera and Angelina Jolie have snapped up his paintings. In January a piece of his graffiti in Portobello Road, west London - which shows a painter finishing off the word "Banksy" - attracted a bid of £208,100 in an online auction. The only solid biographical fact about the artist is that he was born and raised in Bristol. The picture  the newspaper claims is of Banksy was taken by Jamaican photographer Peter Dean Rickards.
 
COMPOSERS TURN UP THE DARKNESS FOR 'KNIGHT' SCORE [Reuters/Billboard, 7/11/08]
Warner Bros. "The Dark Knight", which opens July 18, 2008, composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard used as their inspiration the oppressive gloom of fictional Gotham and the unhinged character of the Joker, nemesis of Batman for the score. The result is an intense orchestral bombast, replete with crashing percussive outbursts and cellos teetering at the far reaches of human hearing. It's the second time Zimmer and Howard have teamed with director Christopher Nolan on a score; the first was for 2005's "Batman Begins." The soundtrack to "Batman Begins" sold 79,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, but this time out, the release of the "Dark Knight" score is getting a much bigger push than most soundtrack releases receive. Zimmer and Howard will perform live together for the first time prior to the movie's New York premiere July 14, 2008; they will then sign copies of the soundtrack at Virgin Megastores in New York and Los Angeles. The soundtrack itself is getting a fancy rollout starting July 15, 2008, three days before the film's release. It will be available in a standard jewel-case CD, a two-LP set made out of 180-gram vinyl, a special-edition Digipak and a collector's edition with bonus artwork.
 
BEAT-ERA ARTIST BRUCE CONNER DIES [BBC News, 7/11/08]
Avant-garde film-maker and artist Bruce Conner has died at his home in San Francisco at the age of 74. He was one of the last surviving artists associated with the U.S city's Beat generation during the 1950s. His 1958 experimental film A Movie, in which he set snippets of so-called "B-movies" to music, is widely cited as a precursor of music videos. Throughout his career Conner collaborated with many visual artists and musicians including David Byrne, Jay DeFeo, Wallace Berman and Brian Eno. Conner is survived by his wife, Jean, and their son Robert. He died of natural causes on Monday. 
 
SPIKE LEE TO FILM BROADWAY SHOW [BBC News, 7/11/08]
U.S director Spike Lee is planning to make a film of the award-winning Broadway musical Passing Strange.  Passage Strange opened to critical acclaim in February at the Belasco Theatre and tells the tale of a young man's journey through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. The show received seven Tony Award nominations, winning a prize for storylines for its co-creator and star, Mark Stewart. Lee, known for movies such as Malcolm X and Do the Right Thing, will film the production on July 19, 2008, along with two more performances without audiences. The musical will then end its run in New York on the following day.
 
'DARK KNIGHT' ALL NIGHT [BBC News, 7/11/08]
Managers at an Imax cinema in London have said they were "seriously considering" screening the new Batman film "24 hours a day" to meet demand. Ticket sales for The Dark Knight: The Imax Experience had been so great, organizers said, that extra shows had been put on in the middle of the night. The Dark Knight features six sequences shot with Imax cameras and marks the first time that a major feature film has ever been partially shot using the Imax format. Unlike traditional 35mm film which usually appears in "letterbox" format, scenes shot with Imax cameras on 15/70mm film will expand vertically to fill the entire screen. The 485-seater theatre has the largest cinema screen in the UK, at more than 20m tall and more than 26m wide. The Dark Knight will be shown there for four weeks from July 24, 2008.
 
ACTRESS EVELYN KEYES DIES AT 91 [AP, 7/11/08]
Evelyn Keyes, who played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister Suellen in "Gone With the Wind" and counted director John Huston and bandleader Artie Shaw among her famous husbands, has died. She was 91. The actress died July 4, 2008 of uterine cancer at her home in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, producer and close friend Allan Glaser said Friday. Glaser said the news was withheld because lawyers wanted to wait until the death certificate was filed. Keyes' personal life often overshadowed her acting career. Married four times, she lived with the flamboyant producer Mike Todd for three years during his preparation and filming of "Around the World in 80 Days." She played a cameo role in the movie and helped on publicity. Todd sent her to the premiere in Caracas, then called her abruptly from Paris with this message: "Listen, I have to tell you. I've fallen in love with Elizabeth (Taylor)." Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1916, according to state birth records. She grew up fatherless and poor in Atlanta. A glowing blond beauty with an alluring figure, she danced in nightclubs and at 17 set out for Hollywood.
 
EX-YANKS STAR, BROADCASTER BOBBY MURCER DIES AT 62 [AP, 7/13/088]
Bobby Murcer succeeded Mickey Mantle, played in pinstripes with Don Mattingly and watched proudly from the broadcast booth when the New York Yankees returned to power. A cherished link from former Yankees greats to the club's current stars, Murcer died Saturday due to complications from a malignant brain tumor at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, the team said. He was 62. A five-time All-Star outfielder, he spent nearly four decades with New York as a player, executive and announcer. The only person to play with Mantle and Mattingly, the popular Murcer hit .277 with 252 home runs and 1,043 RBIs in 17 seasons with the Yankees, San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs. He made the All-Star team in both leagues and won a Gold Glove. Murcer is survived by his wife, his children, Tori and Todd, and his grandchildren.
 
EX-BUSH PRESS SECRETARY, TONY SNOW  DIES [AP, 7/13/088]
Conservative writer and commentator, Tony Snow, who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush's press secretary, died Saturday of colon cancer. He was 53. Snow died at 2 a.m. at Georgetown University Hospital, according to former employer Fox News. Snow, who served as the first host of the television news program "Fox News Sunday" from 1996 to 2003, would later say that in the Bush administration he was enjoying "the most exciting, intellectually aerobic job I'm ever going to have." Robert Anthony Snow was born June 1, 1955, in Berea, Ky., and spent his childhood in the Cincinnati area. Survivors include his wife, Jill Ellen Walker, whom he married in 1987, and three children.
 
"MOTLEY CRUE IS NOT JUST A ROCK BAND" [Reuters/Billboard, 7/9/08]
. . . "Motley Crue is larger than the individual members. What it stands for is bigger than the music and the band itself, " said author Neil Strauss. Motley is rock royalty with two generations of subjects: its original fans, and those fans' children, who have been exposed to the band though their parents, channels like VH1 Classic and Fuse, and such videogames as "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." On June 24, 2008, Motley Crue wrote the next chapter in its larger-than-life story with the release of "Saints of Los Angeles." The Motley Records/Eleven Seven Music release, the first studio album in 11 years from the band's original lineup, debuted at No. 4 with sales of 99,000 copies. The set offers a classic Crue vibe and echoes the tumultuous history recounted in "Dirt." On July 1, 2008, the band opened Crue Fest, a 40-plus-city summer tour, sharing the bill with hitmakers Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Trapt and Sixx: AM, the side project of Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx. It's expected to be one of the summer's best-selling rock festivals. After years of chaos, Motley Crue still no "Saints." Bad boy Tommy Lee and his Crue will be in T-Dot on August 28, 2008 at Molson Amphitheatre.
 
AUDIENCE ROLLS DOWN TRACKS DURING 'DIE SOLDATEN' [AP, 7/9/08]
The opening note of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Die Soldaten" ("The Soldiers") has to be the most moving in opera when heard in David Pountney's production: The 974-seat bleacher containing the audience slowly starts to roll down train tracks in the Park Avenue Armory's Drill Hall, passing over a football field-length runway where most of the action takes place. A complicated 12-tone work, the opera is played by a 110-piece-orchestra, with the main section on the audience's left, a 16-person percussion group on the right and an on-stage jazz band thrown in. To keep the singers coordinated, a dozen video screens showing the conductor were mounted throughout the armory, which resembles a European train station. The opera is about the Brutality of War, it is, in actual fact, not about war at all - but about the horrors of class distinction in 19th century Germany, and the attendant male-chauvinist anti-feminism which led men of a certain class to treat women who were their social inferiors simply as cattle. Based on Jakob Lenz's 18th century play, updated to the late 19th century, it simply tells of the rise and fall of Marie (Claudia Barainsky), daughter of a shopkeeper, Wesener (Johann Tilli), who, spurning the love of Stolzius (Claudio Otelli), is seduced by the gifts and promises of a young French aristocrat, Desportes (Peter Hoare). Marie, after being raped by Desportes' gamekeeper, ends up in the gutter, a beggar who, in the final scene more melodramatic than poignant, even her father did not recognize. Lincoln Center Festival runs through to July 12, 2008.
 
DREAMWORKS TO USE INTEL TECHNOLOGY FOR 3-D MOVIES [Reuters, 7/8/08]
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc plans to use chips from Intel Corp for the creation of 3-D movies, the companies said on Tuesday. DreamWorks will use Intel's visual computing products for 3-D animated feature films starting with its "Monsters vs. Aliens" movie, set for domestic release on March 27, 2009, it said. Intel, whose biggest rival is Advanced Micro Devices Inc, said it also plans to develop next-generation 3-D viewing technology for home theaters, personal computers, video games, online environments and mobile devices.
 
BON JOVI HELPS BRING DOWN A HOUSE IN DETROIT [AP, 7/8/08]
Jon Bon Jovi is giving some people who are living on a prayer something a bit more substantial. The Grammy winner was in a neighborhood on Detroit's East Side Monday to announce the building of five new homes as part of a partnership among his Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation, Saturn and Habitat for Humanity Detroit. People gathered and cheered "knock it down" as construction workers busted a hole in the roof of the last remaining house on the block to be razed. Detroit-area Saturn retailers then raised the first wall of a new home. "I wanted to come back and give something back to you," Bon Jovi told the crowd. Bon Jovi, 46, is an owner of the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul. His charitable foundation focuses on providing affordable housing to needy communities. Bon Jovi was in town for a performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills Monday night as part of his band's "Lost Highway" tour. After a short speech, he told the audience he had to go. "I have to go to my day job now," he said with a smile.
 
'KINKY BOOTS' BOUND FOR BROADWAY [AP, 7/8/08]
British film comedy Kinky Boots is set to become a Broadway musical, according to the  Hollywood Reporter. Rights to the 2005 movie, which saw a drag queen called in to help an ailing shoe firm, have been bought by veteran producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig. Though not a musical, the film - which starred British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor - did include some cabaret numbers. Ejiofor, who was made an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list this year, received a Golden Globe nomination for his flamboyant performance. He also won an Oliver award for his role in a recent West End production of Othello. Jerry Mitchell, who directed the Broadway version of the film Legally Blonde, is said to be in talks to direct the production. The film, Kinky Boots, was directed by Julian Jarrold and the script was inspired by a real men's footwear factory in Northamptonshire that began producing boots for transvestites.
 
TV AND FILM BIZ FACING DARK DAYS [Reuters, 7/7/08]
Lehman Brothers cut the stock ratings on Monday of Walt Disney Co, Time Warner and other top entertainment companies, fearing the television and film industry could suffer the same battering as the music business. Along with Disney and Time Warner, Lehman lowered its ratings on News Corp and CBS Corp on concerns about "structural changes that appear destined to impact the core revenue and profits of (the) entertainment business." Lehman maintained its rating on Viacom Inc, but nonetheless cut its price target on the stock. It also lowered its overall view of the industry to "negative" from "neutral."
 
ANNETTE BENING NAMED TO ACADEMY BOARD [Reuters, 7/7/08]
Three-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening has been elected to the governing board of the organization that gives out Hollywood's highest film honors, the Academy Awards, the group said on Monday. Bening, 50, who is married to actor Warren Beatty, will now join the 43-member Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which draws up the rules and regulations for the Academy Awards, or Oscars.  
 
WILL SMITH BOX OFFICE SUPERHERO [Reuters, 7/6/08]
Will Smith, the closest thing to a sure bet in Hollywood, overcame some of the worst reviews of his career to claim the top spot at the U.S. Independence Day holiday box office with "Hancock." The comedy-drama sold an estimated $66 million worth of tickets across the United States and Canada during the three days beginning July 4, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday. Since opening on July 2 -- with Tuesday-night previews rolled into Wednesday sales -- the film has earned $107.3 million, becoming his 8th consecutive No. 1. Smith, 39, has ruled the July 4 holiday weekend on five occasions, beginning with 1996's "Independence Day," his all-time personal best. Adjusted for ticket-price inflation, the "Hancock" opening ranks at No. 3 among those offerings, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo. Smith last film "I Am Legend," ended up with $256 million domestically after opening last December. "Hancock," which cost about $150 million to make, was directed by Peter Berg. Last weekend's champion, Walt Disney Co's robot love story "WALL-E," slipped to No. 2 with $33.4 million, taking its 10-day total to $128.1 million. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp.
 
STARS LINE UP FOR ELVIS COSTELLO TV SHOW [Billboard, 7/4/08]
Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former U.S. President Bill Clinton will be among the heavy hitters appearing on Elvis Costello's new variety show. The show, called "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...," has taped four one-hour episodes of a planned 13-program run. The series is being co-produced by CTV in Canada and Channel 4 in the U.K., as well as the Sundance Channel in the U.S. The format for the series will see Costello have conversations and collaborations with his guests. According to the production company, one of the early episodes will see Costello perform with John. A broadcast schedule has yet to be announced. Additional guests confirmed for this season include musicians Davey Faragher, Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve of the Imposters; guitarist James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley; legendary producer, pianist, writer, arranger and singer Allen Toussaint; jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, winner of 17 Grammy Awards; as well as others.
 
HUGE TROVE OF 78 rpm RECORDS DONATED [AP, 7/5/08]
A vast collection of 78 rpm records — valued at $1 million, weighing 50 tons and representing more than a half-century of American music history — is being donated to Syracuse University by the estate of a prominent New York City record shop owner. The more than 200,000 records represented the entire inventory of "Records Revisited," a landmark Manhattan store owned by Morton Savada, who died in February from lung cancer at age 85. Savada's collection included recordings from 1895 to the 1950s, with big band, jazz, country, blues, gospel, polka, folk, Broadway, Hawaiian and Latin among the genres. It also contains spoken-word, comedy and broadcast recordings, and "V-disks," which were distributed as entertainment to the U.S. military during World War II. His family also donated Savada's collection of catalogs, discographies and other materials.
 
'LOVE CONNECTION' PRODUCER LIEBER DIES AT 71 [AP, 7/6/08]
LOS ANGELES — Eric Lieber, whose television production credits include the long-running dating show "Love Connection," has died. He was 71. Lieber died Wednesday of leukemia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his wife, Peggy. Lieber created "Love Connection" in 1983 after decades producing other game shows, as well as the talk shows of Dick Cavett, Sammy Davis Jr. and Mike Douglas. "Love Connection," hosted by Chuck Woolery, aired until 1995. Lieber also was executive producer of the 1998-1999 reprise of the series, hosted by Pat Bullard. "The show succeeds because we believe in honest emotions," he told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1992. "And, admit it: We're all a little voyeuristic and enjoy peeking into someone else's life." Lieber was born April 7, 1937, in Vienna and came to the United States as a baby. He grew up in New Jersey and launched his TV career in New York City in the 1950s.
 
WORLD'S LONGEST CONCERT'  RESUMES [BBC News, 7/5/08]
This weekend, weights holding down the organ pedals in a church Halberstadt, Germany will be shifted and the next note - sixth - chord of John Cage's As Slow As Possible work will play to much celebration in the town centre. The note is from a piece by the U.S composer in what has been called the world's slowest and longest concert. The performance began in 2000 and is scheduled to last a total of 639 years with the final note being played in the year 2639. The idea of taking so long to get through the composer's piece is to find a musical way of countering the hustle and bustle of modern life. When Cage wrote his famous work in 1985, there was one tiny detail the late avant-garde composer chose to omit - exactly how slow the piece should be played. Its maiden performance lasted a rather normal 29 minutes. A subsequent version took 71 minutes.
 
AUCTION HOUSE TO SELL ROSA PARKS COLLECTION [AP, 7/4/08]
A Wayne County probate court judge in Detroit has asked Arlan Ettinger's auction house, Guernsey's, to find a buyer — preferably a museum, university or other institution — has been assigned to auction civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks collection. The Parks collection could be worth approximately $10 million and consist of thousands of Parks' personal items, among them are her presidential and congressional medals, a post card from Martin Luther King Jr. and the hat Parks is believed to have been wearing on Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, cementing her spot in civil rights history. Ettinger, whose New York-based company has auctioned off items ranging from the possessions of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt to Jerry Garcia's guitars. Parks, the diminutive woman whose actions sparked the yearlong Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott and threats that eventually led her and her husband to Detroit, died in 2005 at age 92 with many of her most treasured possessions still with her.
 
EMMERDALE ACTOR HORNBY DIES AT 63
[BBC News, 7/4/08]
Actor Clive Hornby, who played Jack Sugden in ITV1 soap Emmerdale, has died at the age of 63. It was announced in January that Hornby would be taking a break from the soap because of ill health. The star had been in Emmerdale for 28 years after signing up on a three-month contract and was the soap's longest-serving cast member. Hornby, the second actor to play Jack Sugden, enjoyed success as drummer with 1960s Liverpool band The Dennisons. After The Dennisons split up, Hornby became an actor, attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before working in repertory theatre.
 
JOHN MAYER OF FIBBINGTON [E! Online, 7/6/08]
[John Mayer will be performing in Toronto tomorrow [July 7, 2008] and thought his fans may enjoy his humours side — since some of us never get up close and personal to speak to the superstars] . . .With rumors spreading like wildfire, perhaps the best thing to do is spread some more...kinda like firemen setting a backfire to sap a blaze's energy. Maybe that's John Mayer's strategy, because he told the crowd at his St. Louis show last night: "When I was a child I would kill small animals and wear their teeth as necklaces. True. Print that. And I've always felt deep down that I was born a woman." On tour with Jennifer Aniston in tow, John set off on this goofy rumour jag after telling the amused multitudes that he enjoyed it when fans emailed him dubious tales from the tabloids. Some of the other felicitous fabrications, per People magazine, which John shared with the crowd: He fears the color green. He weighed 400 pounds when he was 12. He wrote the lyrics to the Kenny Loggins hit "Danger Zone" at age 9. And he's "33 percent done" with building a time machine. Nice going, John. With rumours this good, who needs reality?
 
"HANCOCK" POISED TO EXTEND HOLLYWOOD HOT STREAK [Reuters, 7/2/08]
"Hancock," the Will Smith action movie opening ahead of the July Fourth holiday, seems sure to extend Hollywood's latest hot streak, keeping the U.S. box office on pace to exceed last year's record summer. "Hancock" is expected to give Sony Pictures its first No. 1 release of the lucrative season and gross $70 million to $80 million in its opening weekend. Smith's last movie, "I Am Legend," raked in a whopping $77.2 million its first weekend in mid-December last year, a career best for the 39-year-old star. Several big franchises are still to come later this summer, including Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor."
 
RUSH LIMBAUGH'S  DEAL [AP, 7/2/08]
Rush Limbaugh has signed a lucrative new deal with Premiere Radio Networks that will keep him on the air until 2016. Limbaugh who is approaching his 20th anniversary as talk radio's most dominant force wouldn't disclose details on Wednesday, but is said to be getting a nine-figure signing bonus and would make about $38 million a year. Limbaugh's three-hour show, broadcast from his office in Florida, is heard on some 600 radio stations across the country. More than 14 million people listen to him at least once a week, according to Talkers magazine. Sean Hannity is second with more than 13 million listeners. 
 
BOZO THE CLOWN DEAD AT 83 [AP, 7/3/08]
Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at his home, said his publicist, Jerry Digney. He was 83. Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular frizzy-haired clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of TV stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos. He embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume. "I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, (people) would never be able to forget those footprints," he said. The business — combining animation, licensing of the character, and personal appearances — made millions, as Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets. "I'm looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important," he said of his criteria for becoming a Bozo.
 
MAMMA MIA! THE MOVIE" OPENS IN UK [BBC News, 7/1/08]
London's Leicester Square was transformed into a star-studded Greek paradise for the world premiere of Mamma Mia! the movie. Hollywood superstars Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Pierce Brosnan were joined by home-grown talent Colin Firth and Julie Walters on a blue carpet meant to capture the film's Greek island setting. The landmark was also decorated with lemon trees - adorned with fake fruits - and a Greek church which were fittingly bathed by the summer sun. As the stars arrived, Abba's legendary hits from the stage musical filled the square to the delight of hundreds of fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the impressive guest list. Three members of the Swedish supergroup turned out for the occasion - Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The film will release in the UK on July 10, 1008. The stage version opened in 1999 and has become one of the most successful musicals of all time.
 
ANGEL TAVIRA, VIOLINIST, DIES AT 84 [AP, 7/1/08]
MEXICO CITY - Angel Tavira, a one-handed violinist who dedicated his life to Mexican folk music and won a Cannes Film Festival award for his first movie at age 82, has died. He was 84. Tavira died of kidney problems Monday in a Mexico City hospital, said Eugenia Montiel, a spokeswoman for Camara Carnal Films, the company that co-produced Tavira's 2005 film "The Violin." With no previous experience, Tavira won an acting award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival for his role as the patriarch of a family of street musicians who support an armed rebel movement. Tavira was born on July 3, 1924, into a family of musicians in the southwestern town of Corralfalso, and started playing the violin at age 6. When he was 13, he lost his right hand while setting off fireworks at a fair. He pursued his music career nonetheless, playing the violin with the bow tied to his stump. Tavila is survived by his wife and 12 children from two marriages.
 
THEATRE NAMED IN LEDGER'S HONOR [AP, 7/1//08]
PERTH, Australia - The Australian hometown of the late actor Heath Ledger named a theatre in his honor Tuesday for his commitment to acting. The $87 million, 575-seat Heath Ledger Theater in Perth is a fitting tribute because Ledger was always supportive of other young actors, Western Australia state Premier Alan Carpenter said at a naming ceremony. Ledger died at 28 of an accidental prescription drug overdose in New York in January.  Ledger received a best-actor Academy Award nomination for his role in 2005's "Brokeback Mountain." His father, Kim Ledger, said family members would travel to New York later this month to attend a screening of "The Dark Knight." Heath Ledger plays the Joker in the movie, his final full film role. "The Dark Knight" opens in theaters July 18, 2008. The actor's performance has already been lauded by critics. 
 
'VOICE' OF WALL-E: ROBOT SOUNDS TODDLER-INSPIRED [AP, 6/27/08]
Sci-fi animation moviemaking in aisle four! Ben Burtt, the two-time Oscar-winning sound engineer who designed the voices of R2-D2, ET and now the main character in "WALL-E," says his out-of-this-world audio often comes from the most mundane, Earth-bound activities — like a trip to the grocery store. When he needed the sound of shopping carts banging together for a scene in Pixar's robot love story, Burtt took his 10-year-old daughter to a Safeway, where they put their recorder in a cart and pretended to shop (banging into things in the parking lot for good measure). But when it comes to making robots emotionally resonant, Burtt bases his ideas on the voice of humans. Very small humans. "The bulk of the vocals, the expressive vocals, are really sounds that are more like a toddler makes ... kind of the universal language of intonation," Burtt said in an interview aired on AP Radio. "'Oh,' 'Hm?,' 'Huh!,' you know? This sort of thing." Sometimes, though, finding just the right sound is the product of a happy accident, said Burtt, who's won sound effects editing Oscars for 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and 1982's "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial." "I'd gotten a big punching bag, a big canvas bag that you normally would beat and box with it, and I wanted to do some impacts," Burtt said. "But I dragged it through the hallway to go to the studio on a rug, and it made a wonderful sound, like a howling wind." The result: the main component of the sound of a wind storm in the film. "WALL-E," a Walt Disney Pictures release, opens this weekend.
 
FILM GOES BEHIND "GANJA QUEEN" WORST NIGHTMARE [Reuters, 6/28/08]
Schapelle Corby is living every traveler's worst nightmare -- convicted in 2005 of smuggling marijuana into Indonesia, the 30-year-old Australian is serving a 20-year sentence in a cramped prison. Now a film "Ganja Queen" by Janine Hosking is set to air on HBO television on Monday and goes behind the scenes at the dramatic trial that gripped Australia, initially strained ties between the neighboring countries and left people asking: "Did she really do it?" Corby traveled to Bali with her brother and friends in 2004 for a two-week holiday to visit her sister Mercedes. She checked her bags in Brisbane, then flew to Sydney and on to Bali, where she collected her luggage. When asked by a customs officer to open her bodyboard bag, she did, revealing a plastic bag containing 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds) of marijuana. Within hours of her arrest, video footage and photos of Corby and the bag of drugs were circulating in Indonesian media, who dubbed her the "Ganja Queen."  In March, Corby's final appeal was rejected, sending her into a depression that saw her admitted to hospital last week. While Australia and Indonesia are negotiating a prisoner swap deal for Corby, she has said she does not want to return home to serve her sentence. 
 
"WALL-E" WOWS NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE [Reuters, 6/29/08]
LOS ANGELES - Animation giant Pixar hit the box office jackpot once again on Sunday as its robot love story "WALL-E" snagged the No. 1 spot during its first weekend of release across North America. The movie, bolstered by near-unanimous critical praise, earned an estimated $62.5 million in its first three days, said Pixar's Walt Disney Co parent. Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie scored a personal best with the violent assassination thriller "Wanted," which opened at No. 2 with a better-than-expected $51.1 million, said distributor Universal Pictures. Her previous record for a live-action movie was 2005's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which opened to $50 million. Last weekend's champion, the Warner Bros spy comedy "Get Smart" slipped to No. 3 with $20 million, taking its 10-day haul to $77.3 million. The film should finish up with about $130 million, said the Time Warner Inc-owned studio. Universal is a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal Inc.
 
WIM WENDERS TO CHAIR VENICE FILM FESTIVAL JURY [Reuters, 6/27/08]
Acclaimed German director Wim Wenders will chair the jury of this year's Venice film festival, organizers said on Friday. Wenders is perhaps best know for his films "The Buena Vista Social Club" (1998) and "Paris, Texas" (1984), both of which scooped up international awards. He is already a darling of the Venice festival, winning its Golden Lion prize in 1982 with his film "The State of Things" about a shoestring movie producer and his ragtag crew. He first appeared at the Lido in 1972 with the "Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Kick." His latest film, "Palermo Shooting" starring Dennis Hopper, divided critics at its premiere at the Cannes film festival last month. The festival, in its 65th edition this year, runs from Aug 27 to Sept 6, 2008.
 
MICROSOFT CO-FOUNDER, BILL GATES, RETIRES [AFP, 6/27/08]
Bill Gates is spending his last day at Microsoft on Friday before turning his attention full time to philanthropy after decades building the US software colossus. The Microsoft co-founder, 52, known for his boyish face and nerdy manner, will now focus on running the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , aimed at fighting disease, reducing poverty, and improve education around the world. Gates eases into retirement ranked the third richest person in the world, behind US investor Warren Buffet and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim. Gates and his wife, Melinda, live in an earth-friendly "smart home" on a swath of hillside overlooking a lake near Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The couple married in Hawaii in 1994 and has three children. While seemingly aloof, Gates has a humorous side. After leaving Microsoft, Bill Gates will remain its largest single shareholder and chairman of company's board of directors.
 
PIANIST LEONARD PENNARIO DIES AT 83 [AP, 6/28/08]
LOS ANGELES - Leonard Pennario, a Grammy-winning pianist and best-selling classical recording artist, has died. He was 83. Pennario died Friday at his home in San Diego of complications from Parkinson's disease, said his biographer, Mary Kunz Goldman. Pennario won a Grammy in the 1960s for his work with violinist Jascha Heifetz and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. Born in Buffalo on July 9, 1924, Pennario was 10 when he and his family moved to Los Angeles. At age 12, he learned the Grieg Concerto in a week so he could perform it from memory with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He made more than 40 recordings for the Capitol record label between 1950 and 1960. He went on to make more than 20 more for other labels.
 
WILLIAM JOSEPH: INSTRUMENTAL, ORCHESTRAL POP PERFORMER [Billboard, 6/24/08]
Instrumental composer/performer and Billboard chart debutante, William Joseph, has played piano in malls at Christmas and played the organ at Phoenix Coyotes hockey games. In 2004, his manager invited him to meet producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Michael Buble) while Foster was rehearsing at a charity event. "Foster sat me down at the piano, looked at me and said, 'Play something.' My heart skipped a few beats." But the impromptu audition went so well the young pianist was invited back to open that night's show -- He began headlining solo shows this year, and will be touring Canada as well as playing in China. Foster signed Joseph to the l43 label on Reprise/Warner, a year later, where he joined a roster that included Buble and Josh Groban. His sophomore album, "Beyond," has peaked at No. 17 thus far on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Backed by a 72-piece orchestra on his own songs, as well as a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," Joseph's work is infused with stirring, dramatic arrangements that have a visual quality reminiscent of film scores. "I would love to get into writing for film," says Joseph, who has kept busy opening tours for Groban, Il Divo and Clay Aiken. A PBS special, "David Foster & Friends," will air in December and features Joseph, Buble, Andrea Bocelli and others. As for whether instrumental orchestral pop can find a mass audience without vocals, Joseph is confident that it can. Pointing to the success of Kenny G and Yanni, Joseph notes, "There is a niche out there that isn't being filled right now. There are not a lot of instrumentalists out there that are really well known. From a live standpoint, it's gone really well."
 
MOVIE STARS CLASH IN HOLLYWOOD UNION BRAWL [Reuters, 6/25/08]
Movie stars accustomed to polite rivalry for coveted film roles and Oscar glory are taking sides in an increasingly bitter labor dispute between Hollywood's two actors unions. The larger and more militant Screen Actors Guild this week enlisted such high-profile members as Jack Nicholson, Ben Stiller and Nick Nolte in its campaign to scuttle a contract negotiated by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The A-list performers, including Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin and Sally Field, who won an Oscar for her role as a sweatshop union organizer in "Norma Rae," sided last week with AFTRA in publicly urging that union's 70,000 members to ratify the labor pact. The dispute is ratcheting up tensions in Hollywood over the possibility of actors walking off the job this summer, just as the film and TV industry is still recovering from a 14-week writers strike that ended in February. SAG leaders say AFTRA's tentative labor deal, covering work on prime-time television, is fatally flawed and undercuts SAG's position in its own contract talks with the studios on a broader TV and motion pictures contract. Both contracts expire on June 30, though SAG leaders say they are prepared to negotiate past that deadline if necessary to get a deal. Meanwhile, they are going all out to persuade some 40,000 of SAG's 140,000 members who belong to both unions to vote "no" on the proposed AFTRA settlement, and have suggested the two unions could reunite afterward to bargain jointly.
 
SPIELBERG LOOKS TO DIRECT FILM OF "39 CLUES" [Reuters, 6/25/08]
The DreamWorks studio on Wednesday said it has acquired movie rights to the book, Internet and card game series "The 39 Clues," with Steven Spielberg looking to direct a film version. "The 39 Clues" is a multimedia product set to be launched in September by U.S. publisher Scholastic Corp., which is the same company that published the wildly popular "Harry Potter" books about the British boy wizard. The new series includes 10 books, more than 350 collectible cards and an online game in which kids compete for prices by unraveling a mystery that delves into the global power behind a family named the Cahills. The first book in the series, "The Maze of Bones," was written by Rick Riordan. "'The 39 Clues' takes creative leaps to expand the story experience from the pages of the books to multiple stages of discovery and imagination," Spielberg said in a statement. "We have the opportunity to develop this property that says 'film,' 'family,' 'fun' and 'franchise."'  DreamWorks is currently owned by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
 
QUEEN CONFERS KNIGHTHOOD ON SALMAN RUSHDIE [AP, 6/25/08]
Queen Elizabeth II conferred a knighthood on "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie on Wednesday, a year after the announcement of the knighthood provoked protests from the Muslim world. Some Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy in the book and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on him in 1989.  Rushdie, 61, published his first novel, "Grimus," in 1975. Success came with his next book, "Midnight's Children," which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1981. Rushdie was forced to accept round-the-clock protection after "The Satanic Verses," was published in 1988. The Iranian government withdrew the death sentence in 1998 and Rushdie has gradually returned to public life. "It's been a long time — my first novel was published 33 years ago but I think the thing you hope to do as a writer is leave behind a shelf of interesting books and it's great just to have that work recognized," Rushdie told reporters.
 
SIMON COWELL GRANTS ONE MORE "CHANCE" [Reuters/Hollywood, 6/24/08]
The Simon Cowell-produced movie about a rags-to-riches reality music star is moving ahead at Paramount. "One Chance" is a comedy-drama based on opera singer Paul Potts' last-ditch effort to make a career in music by competing on the "Britain's Got Talent" television show. The mobile-phone salesman was riddled by a streak of bad luck when, on a lark, he auditioned for "Talent" in 2007. His on-air performances bowled over audiences and judges, including the famously caustic Cowell. He won the show and become a media and YouTube sensation, eventually going on a global music tour and releasing an album. Cowell, the British music magnate who brought "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent" to these shores, is making his studio debut with "Chance." He also is developing "Star Struck," a scripted tale about a musical reality show that has not yet been set up at a studio. The script for "One Chance" will be written by Justin Zackham ("The Bucket List").
 
DODY GOODMAN, STAGE AND TV COMEDIAN, DIES AT 93 [AP, 6/23/08]
Dody Goodman, the delightfully daffy comedian known for her television appearances on Jack Paar's late-night talk show and as the mother on the soap-opera parody "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," has died at 93. Goodman died Sunday at Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center, said Joan Adams, a close family friend. The actress had been ill for some time and had lived in the Actors Fund Home in Englewood since October, Adams said. The actress was born Dolores Goodman on Oct. 28, 1914, in Columbus, Ohio, where her father ran a small cigar factory. Goodman, who never married, is survived by seven nieces and nephews, 11 great nieces and nephews and 15 great-great nieces and nephews, Adams said. A memorial service is planned.
 
'GET SMART' GETS AUDIENCE WITH $39.2 M DEBUT [AP, 6/21/08]
Audiences still get Maxwell Smart. Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway's "Get Smart," the Warner Bros. big screen update of the 1960s spy sitcom, raked in $39.2 million to debut as the No. 1 weekend movie, according to studio estimates Sunday. But movie-goers did not get Mike Myers' "The Love Guru," the weekend's other new wide release. The Paramount Pictures comedy about a self-help mentor took in just $14 million to open at No. 4. In limited release, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" opened strongly with $222,697 in five theaters, averaging $44,539 a cinema, compared with $10,012 in 3,911 theaters for "Get Smart." "Kit Kittredge," released by Picturehouse and based on the popular line of American Girl dolls, stars Abigail Breslin as a 9-year-old aspiring newspaper reporter during the Depression. The film expands into wide release July 2. The weekend's No. 2 spot was a photo finish between DreamWorks Animation and Paramount's "Kung Fu Panda" and Universal's "The Incredible Hulk." In its third weekend, "Kung Fu Panda" pulled in $21.7 million, raising its domestic total to $155.6 million. "The Incredible Hulk" was right behind with $21.6 million in its second weekend to lift its total to $96.5 million.
 
SPIDER-MAN 4? YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO WAIT [E! Online, 6/21/08]
Looks like everyone's favorite web-slinging superhero is slowly weaving his way back to the box office. Very slowly. Laura Ziskin, producer of the blockbuster movie franchise starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, told theater owners from California and Nevada on Thursday that Spider-Man 4 won't hit theaters until at least 2011. She said there is no script yet and neither Maguire nor director Sam Raimi have signed on. Spider-Man 3 opened in 2007 to mixed reviews, although that didn't stop the film from grossing a record $59 million its first day out of the gate. The first three Spidey flicks combined have grossed a whopping $2.5 billion worldwide.
 
STARS EMBEZZLED IN L.A. [Reuters, 6/20/08]
Sharon M. Walker, 56, pleaded no contest to two counts of grand theft and one count of tax evasion in Los Angeles Superior Court and was sentenced to more than five years in prison on Friday. A judge immediately sentenced her to prison and ordered her to repay nearly $82,000 in back taxes. According to prosecutors, Walker stole nearly $568,000 from Stephen J. Cannell, whose writing and producing credits include "The A Team," "21 Jump Street," and "The Rockford Files." Charlton Heston and his wife were bilked out of $158,000, prosecutors said in a news release. Walker worked as an account manager at a business management firm, which allowed her access to Heston and Cannell's financial info. Prosecutors accused her of forging signatures to pay credit card debts between 1999 and 2005. Jail records show Walker remains in custody at a Los Angeles-area jail. No attorney information was listed and she could not be reached for comment.
 
LIVE NATION CHAIRMAN, MICHAEL COHL, RESIGNS [Reuters, 6/20/08]
Live Nation Inc Chairman Michael Cohl, the driving force behind the concert promoter's wooing of superstars such as Madonna, has resigned, the company said on Friday after a disagreement over strategy. Cohl, who was head of Live Nation's artists division, has moved to a consultant role and stepped down from the board, the company said. Live Nation's shares fell almost 10 percent in anticipation of the news carried in earlier reports. At issue are "360 deals" under which Live Nation signed major name artists such as Madonna and Jay-Z, giving them big upfront payments in exchange for financial rights to nearly all their business activities, from recording to licensing, according to a person familiar with the talks. Cohl wanted to sign more such deals at a faster pace, while Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino preferred signing around four to six artists a year, the person said. Live Nation has not revealed the financial terms of its artists' deals but the agreement with Madonna, which included recording rights, has been estimated to be worth $120 million over 10 years including a three-album commitment. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cohl will perform consulting services for Live Nation through June 2012 for a lump-sum payment of $4.5 million. It said non-competition clauses in his previous contract remained in effect. Cohl signed a nine-year non-compete agreement with Live Nation when he joined the business last year.
 
DREAMWORKS IN TALKS WITH INDIA'S RELIANCE ADA [Reuters, 6/18/08]
DreamWorks SKG, the film studio of Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, is six to eight weeks away from a $500 million to $600 million deal with India's Reliance ADA group as part of their plan to leave Paramount, a person close to the talks said on Wednesday. Speculation has swirled for months regarding the next move for Spielberg and Geffen as their relationship with Dreamworks parent Paramount Studio, a unit of Viacom Inc, flared up last fall. The deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, would link the co-founders of DreamWorks with one of the biggest names in the Indian business world and enable them to form a new movie venture. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, a separate publicly held studio run by Jeffrey Katzenberg, has its own deal to have its movies distributed by Paramount through 2012. DreamWorks, Viacom and representatives for Geffen, Spielberg and Reliance all declined comment. On Wednesday, the person familiar with the matter said that DreamWorks is still talking with other studios to distribute its films once it arranges further financing to provide it with enough funding to make a slate of about six films a year. Reliance would provide Spielberg and company with $500 million to $600 million in equity and would also give Reliance a large stake in the new company, the person told Reuters. The source said that while Paramount was not totally out of the question as its potential distributor, this was not probable. The source said the DreamWorks team lists General Electric Co's Universal Pictures, where Spielberg started his career, and News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox as among their top choices. DreamWorks was acquired by Viacom's Paramount Pictures in 2006 for $1.6 billion.
 
MUSICAL STAR CHARISSE DIES IN LA [AP, 6/17/08]
Cyd Charisse, the long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, has died in Los Angeles Tuesday. She was 86. The actress-dancer died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack on Monday, her publicist Gene Schwam said. Her name was Tula Ellice Finklea when she was born in Amarillo, Texas, on March 8, 1922. From her earliest years she was called Sid, because her older brother couldn't say "sister." She was a sickly girl who started dancing lessons to build up her strength after a bout with polio. Classically trained, she could dance anything, from a pas de deux in 1946's "Ziegfeld Follies" to the lowdown Mickey Spillane satire of 1956's "The Band Wagon" (with Astaire). Charisse began her career dancing with the Ballet Russe as a teenager. Her height was 5 feet, 6 inches, but in high heels and full-length stockings, she seemed serenely tall, and she moved with extraordinary grace. Her flawless beauty and jet-black hair contributed to an aura of perfection that Astaire described in his 1959 memoir, "Steps in Time," as "beautiful dynamite."
 
FILM SPECIAL EFFECTS PIONEER DIES [BBC News, 6/17/08]
Oscar-winning special effects expert Stan Winston, who created the creatures in films including Aliens and Jurassic Park, has died at the age of 62. Winston, who also made the robots in Terminator, died at home in California surrounded by family on Sunday. The film veteran had been battling multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer, for seven years, a representative of the Stan Winston Studio said. He had worked with Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tim Burton. During his 40-year career, he became a pioneer of merging real-world effects with computer imaging. California governor and former Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "The entertainment industry has lost a genius, and I lost one of my best friends. "Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever. Winston won Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park. He also received Oscar nominations for Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, AI, Predator and Heartbeeps. Winston had recently worked on director Jon Favreau's box office success Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow. Winston's most recent film projects included Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, GI Joe, Shutter Island and the futuristic Avatar, for which he reunited with Aliens director James Cameron. Winston is survived by his wife Karen, a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren.
 
MUCHMUSIC DELIVERS THE ACTION[Special, 6/16/08]
The MuchMusic Video Awards was held in Toronto, Canada on Sunday night. It is the MMVA's 19th year anniversary, and just minutes before the red carpet special was to begin, the sky turned black, thunder rattled and flashes of lightning could be heard, then the rain fell. But the show went on. Not to be deterred by the weather, thousands of screaming fans braved the rain to see their favourite star grace the red carpet, including Flo Rida, Girlicious, Kardinal Offishall, Akon, IllScarlet, Simple Plan, Hedley, Sean Kingston, Melanie C. aka Sporty Spice, Perez Hilton, Chace Crawford, Whitney Port and Jason Spezza. When the New Kids On the Block, performed their first major show in Canada in 15 years, the audience went wild.  The big winners were Hedley who took home awards in four of six categories in which they were nominated including MuchLOUD Best Rock Video for "She's So Sorry" and Rihanna for Best International Artist and Most Watched Video. For a full list of the winners, visit MuchMusic.com.
 
PEARL JAM WOWED BONNARO FESTIVAL [AP, 6/15/08]
Pearl Jam wowed the Bonnaroo crowd in Tennesse with a three-hour performance late Saturday, returning the band to the grand stage of a music festival. Others playing Saturday included Ben Folds, Sigur Ros and B.B. King, who was honored with the key to Manchester by the city's mayor, Betty Superstein. King, 82, showed his age by performing — as he has for years — seated. He rattled off a list of ailments: diabetes, a bad back, bad knees. The Friday night bill was led by comedian Chris Rock, Metallica. Though the heavy metal band played a generally admired set, the Pearl Jam audience seemed larger and arguably more enthusiastic.
 
BRAZILIAN SAMBA LEGEND DIES AT 95 [BBC News, 6/14/08]
Brazilian samba singer Jose Bispo Clementino dos Santos, better known as Jamelao, has died at the age of 95. His career spanned more than five decades during which he sang in countless carnivals and recorded more than 20 records. With his smooth, melodic voice, Jamelao was a pillar of Mangueira - one of Rio de Janeiro's most traditional and well-known samba schools. He died in a Rio hospital, three days after being admitted. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1913, Jamelao began performing at an early age in the percussion section of Mangueira. He moved on to play the cavaquinho - a small, four-stringed guitar central to traditional sambas - and quickly became a singer. He became the official singer at Mangueira carnivals and has toured Europe as a solo performer. On his 90th birthday, Jamelao was asked by a local television station what he most loved about singing. "The music. The music. I love the music," he said. "And the women I can get, too." Jamelao's burial is scheduled to take place on Sunday.
 
'NO COUNTRY' WINS BIG AT KEY ART AWARDS [AP, 6/14/08]
"No Country for Old Men" is still collecting awards. The film — which won Oscars for best picture, screenplay and director — earned the inaugural "best campaign of the year" award at the 37th annual Key Art Awards, which honor the best movie posters, trailers and other marketing efforts. The Key Art Awards, sponsored by the Hollywood Reporter, were presented Friday during a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel. The best-campaign award recognizes the collective creative materials to promote the film as well as the overall marketing strategy developed for its launch. A panel of experts that included filmmakers David Fincher and Kevin Smith picked "No Country" for the prize. The film also won three other awards including best trailer and best graphics. "The Simpsons Movie" and "300" were the night's other big winners. "The Simpsons Movie" won four awards, including honors for its theatrical cardboard "standees" and its Web site design, while "300" was recognized for its print ads and TV spots. "Bee Movie," "Ratatouille," "Juno" and "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" were each double winners. Judd Apatow received the Visionary Award, which recognizes filmmakers who inspire marketing creativity.
 
NBC'S TIM RUSSERT DEAD AT 58 [AP, 6/13/08]
Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died suddenly Friday while preparing for his weekly broadcast. The network's Washington bureau chief was 58. He was a senior vice president at NBC, and this year, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In addition to his weekly program, Russert appeared on the network's other news shows, was moderator for numerous political debates and wrote two best-selling books. President Bush informed of Russert's death while at dinner in Paris, swiftly issued a statement of condolence that praised the NBC newsman as "an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades. Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it." The network said on its Web Site that Russert had been recording voiceovers for this Sunday's "Meet The Press" when he was stricken. Russert had Buffalo's blue collar roots, a Jesuit education, a law degree and a Democratic pedigree that came from his turn as an aide to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York. One of his books, "Big Russ and Me," was about his relationship with his father. Russert had dozens of honorary college degrees, and numerous professional awards. He won an Emmy for his role in the coverage of President Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004. He was married to Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair Magazine. The couple had one son, Luke.
 
HULK" DELIVERS THE ACTION GOODS[Reuters/Hollywood Reporter, 6/12/08]
It turns out Marvel Studios knows how to make solid movies out of Marvel Comics. The production arm of Marvel Entertainment is two for two in 2008, hitting home runs with "Iron Man" and now "The Incredible Hulk." "Iron Man" has more wit and style, but "Hulk" is a neat thrill ride with an intelligent script by Zak Penn and smart, well-paced direction by the French director of "The Transporter" series, Louis Leterrier. The film does represent a sea change from Ang Lee's 200 "Hulk," which had the temerity to delve into Oedipal conflicts, repressed memory and scientific hubris. This movie emphasizes action over introspection, but star Edward Norton, who reportedly tinkered more than a little with the script, makes certain the hero still broods over the curse of his cells poisoned by gamma radiation. The film is poised to carry the weekend buoyed by an unbeatable combination of buzz and hype. The franchise is safe -- and, at the end, the Marvel folks hint that they might be thinking of a way to team Iron Man with the green fighting machine. The movie brightly starts off long after former scientist Bruce Banner (Norton) has turned himself into a freak show in an unwitting experiment that produces a man who when angered becomes a green monster many times his size. Bruce is hiding out in a Rio favela, learning Portuguese and working as a day laborer in a bottling plant. He is training to curb his emotions, a kind of anger management that is going well until his nemesis, Gen. Ross (William Hurt), shows up with a military unit led by Russian soldier of fortune Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth).

The first of the large-scale action scenes has Bruce chased through the hill-clinging shanty town before getting very angry. He then works his way back to the U.S., where his former girlfriend, Dr. Elizabeth Ross (Liv Tyler), the general's daughter, and a cellular biologist (Tim Blake Nelson) might hold the key to his return to normalcy.

Meanwhile, Emil receives treatments from scientists to turn him into the Abomination, a foe on an equal footing with the Hulk. As we wait for the inevitable showdown, Bruce struggles to shake off the mantle of his Hulkness. The story -- a combination of the Frankenstein and King Kong myths -- essentially is about a man trying to escape his superpowers. Yet the movie keeps throwing villains at him -- first the general and then the Abomination -- that force him to continue being the Hulk.

Some silliness leaks into the story. You wonder why Dr. Bruce keeps worrying about a neighborhood being "safe." When a guy can turn into a creature that repels bullets and flips Humvees like Frisbees, what's to worry? There is even confusion about what triggers green episodes. Previously, anger was the trigger. But this movie more than suggests that a metamorphosis can follow sexual excitement, which is not the same thing.

The confrontation between the Incredible Hulk and the Abomination is a CGI pig-out, so all contact with story or characters is lost. But the film has built up enough goodwill to withstand this third-act letdown.

 
KATRINA DOC "TROUBLE THE WATER" HEADED FOR THEATRES [Reuters/Hollywood, 6/10/08]
The Hurricane Katrina chronicle "Trouble The Water," winner of this year's Sundance Grand Jury documentary prize, has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Zeitgeist Films. Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's "Water" uses camcorder footage that aspiring rapper Kimberly Roberts and Scott Roberts shot before and during the New Orleans disaster. The film tracks the couple through the aftermath, taking a critical look at the government's response and media coverage. The film will receive an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles and New York beginning August 22/08, followed by a gradual national rollout.
 
STUNTMAN KILLED ON JOHN WOO FILM SET [AP, 6/10/08]
A stuntman was killed and six others injured in a fire while shooting an action scene in director John Woo's Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff," the film's crew and Chinese media said on Tuesday. The accident occurred Monday morning while filming an action sequence in Beijing, the crew said in a statement. A small boat was set ablaze and collided with a larger boat as the filmmakers had intended, but the fire quickly raged out of control and engulfed both ships. The person killed was a 23 year old stuntman, the Beijing News reported, citing a local fire commander. It was the latest setback to Woo's massive production, which marks his return to Chinese language film after a stint in Hollywood. "Red Cliff", about a well-known battle in feudal-era China, has suffered casting changes and set problems since it started filming in April last year. The Chinese government views the movie, which is partly backed by state-run China Film Group, as an important showcase of Chinese history and wants it released before the Beijing Olympics. The Olympics start on August 8, 2008.
 
SPORTSCASTER JIM MCKAY DIES AT 86 [AP, 6/8/08]
Jim McKay elegantly covered competitions from badmington to barrel jumping. Yet he may be remembered for that grim day at the Munich Olympics when he broke the news with three simple works: "They're all gone." The groundbreaking sportscaster died Saturday of natural causes at his farm in Monkton, Md. He was 86. He is survived by his wife Margaret, his daughter Mary and son Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.
 
BO DIDDLEY GETS A ROCKING SEND-OFF FUNERAL [AP, 6/7/08]
Bo Diddley's funeral rocked and rolled Saturday with as much energy as his music. For four hours, friends and relatives sang, danced and celebrated the life of the man who helped give birth to rock and roll with a signature beat that influenced Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones and many others. Diddley had four children, 15 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
 
"WONDERFUL LIFE" ACTOR BOB ANDERSON DIES AT 75 [AP, 6/7/08]
Bob Anderson, who played the young George Bailey in the Christmas classic "It's A Wonderful Life", has died. He was 75. Anderson died Friday of cancer at his home in Palm Springs, his wife, Victoria said Saturday. Anderson was 12 when director Frank Capra cast him as Jimmy Stewart's youthful counterpart in the 1946 film. In one scene, the story called for him to spot a potentially fatal error made by a drunken druggist, played by H.B. Warner. During his years as a actor, he also appeared in the 1940, Shirley Temple film Young People and 1945's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
 
TOO FEW BLACK ACTORS IN FILMS[BBC News, 6/6/08]
Clint Eastwood has responded to fellow director Spike Lee's claims that there are too few black actors in his films, saying he should "shut his face". Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Eastwood said his 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers was historically accurate. The Oscar winner insisted that black troops were not involved in raising the flag at Iwo Jima . "If I go and put an African-American actor in there, they'd say 'this guy's lost his mind'", he said. At this year's Cannes Film Festival, film-maker Lee challenged reporters to ask Eastwood why there were no black actors in either of his films about Battle of Iwo Jim. "That was his version. The Negro version did not exist," said Lee. Eastwood said that there was a small detachment of black troops in the World War II battle, but they were part of a munitions company. "The story is Flags of Our Fathers, the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn't do that," he told the Guardian. "It's not accurate."  Eastwood said, "When I do a picture and it's 90% black, like Bird, I use 90% black people," referring to his 1988 film about jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker. His next project, The Human Factor, will look at post apartheid South Africa. "I'm not going to make Nelson Mandela a white guy," he joked. Lee's forthcoming film, The Miracle at St. Anna, shows the contribution made by African-American troops in Italy during World War II.
 
RIAA HONORS JEWEL [BBC News, 6/06/08]
Jewel has been honored by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with a career milestone commemorating sales of more than 18 million albums in the US. Jenny Alves, RIAA's coordinator of artist industry relations, surprised the 34 year old singer Thursday as she prepared to sign autographs at the Country Music Association festival. Jewel, whose full name is Jewel Kilcher, released a country album "Perfectly Clear", on Tuesday. The lead single, "Stronger Woman" is No. 15 on the Billboard chart. Perhaps best known for her pop and rock hits that include "Foolish Games" and "You Were Meant For Me", Jewel has sold 27 million albums worldwide since her 1995 debut. She is touring with Brad Paisley this summer.
 
ILLNESS FORCES YES TO SCRAP TOUR [BBC News, 6/06/08]
Rock band Yes have scrapped the North American leg of their 40th anniversary tour after their lead singer was diagnosed with respiratory failure. Jon Anderson has been ordered by doctors to rest for six months after suffering an asthma attack. The 63 year old said he is "deeply disappointed", but added "health has to come before anything else. Yes who topped the U.S. charts in 1983 with Owner of a Lonely Heart, were due to begin the tour on 12 July. The series of concerts was originally scheduled to wind up in Los Angeles on 22 August - their first tour of North America since 2004. Only Anderson - also the main lyricist - and bassist Chris Squire remain from the original group. Their biggest UK hit came in 1977 with Wondrous Stories, which reached number seven on the chart.
 
STEVIE WONDER TO EMBARK ON EUROPEAN TOUR [BBC News, 6/5/08]
Motown legend Stevie Wonder is to perform a series of concerts in Europe for the first time in a decade. The Grammy Award-winning musician will begin his tour in the UK on 8 September in Birmingham followed by dates in Manchester at London's O2 arena. Wonder will perform in seven other countries, culminating in a concert in Paris  on 28 September. Wonder announced the tour at a London press conference where he performed eight songs including Superstition, Happy Birthday and Master Blaster. He told the press conference that he began planning a return to the stage last year after his mother - who died in 2006 - same to him in a dream. "I want to thank everyone for the contribution you've made over my life", he said. "Had it not been for you I would never have had the chance to get the support for my music. And I would never have been able to allow my mother to have a far better life than she would have had." Wonder has sold over 70 million albums since he was signed by Motown Records at the age of 11. His best known hits include I Just Called to Say I Love You - which won him an Oscar in 1985 - and 1973' Superstition. He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 1996 and inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later.
 
BO DIDDLEY DEAD AT 79 [AP, 6/02/08]
Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a hair cut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar licks inspired legions of other musicians, died on June 2, 2008 after months of ill health. He was 79. Born Elias Bates on December 30, 1928 in McComb, Miss, he was adopted by his mother's cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel which his wife always called him. The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said. Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla. spokesperson Susan Clary said. He had a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak. The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Diddley, like other artists of his generation, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances. 'I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."
 
FOUNDER OF SECOND CITY DEAD AT 80 [AP, 6/02/08]
Paul Sills, founder of Chicago's fame improvisational comedy group The Second City, which has a troupe in Toronto, died on June 2, 2008 at age 80 of complications from pneumonia. Sills helped start Second City in 1959. It turned out some of North America's best-known comedians, including John Candy, John Belushi and Bill Murray.
 
MURDER MOST FOUL [...., 6/05/08]
A man, frustrated at failing to find employment, paid a relative about $2,500 to murder his father, a day before the victim was to retire, in order to get his job, police said. The accused planned to claim his father's job on the grounds he died while still at work. He told authorities he would have gotten the job on compassionate grounds had the murder remained a mystery.
 
THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL[AP, 5/13/08]
The Cannes Film Festival, in its 61st year, is the world's most-prestigious film festival. The  present lineup from an illustrious, if somewhat predictable gang of regulars, includes Clint Eastwood, Steven Soderbergh, Woody Allen, Atom Egoyan and Wim Winders. Then there's Steven Spielberg, who's not quite a newcomer, since he's been at Cannes before. But the festival's centerpiece, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," marks the director's first trip back since the 1980s, when he showed "The Color Purple" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". The new "Indiana Jones" movie has been kept under tight wraps, with Spielberg and his collaborators playing coy on key plot points. This much is known: The story is set in 1957, 19 years after the action of 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and  archaeologist- adventurer Indy is battling Cate Blanchett's. The "Indiana Jones" flick opens worldwide May 22, four days after its Cannes premiere, giving the movie a similar global rollout that preceded blockbuster "E.T." Other Cannes highlights are: James Gray's romance "Two Lovers," with Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Isabella Rossellini; James Toback's "Tyson," a documentary on the rise and fall of heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson.  
 
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG DIES AT 82 [AP, 5/13/08]
Robert Rauschenberg,  whose use of odd and everyday articles earned him a reputation as a pioneer in pop art but whose talents spanned the worlds of painting, sculpture and dance, has died, his gallery representative said Tuesday. He was 82. He won a Grammy Award in 1984 for best album package for the Talking Heads album "Speaking in Tongues."
 
DENNIS FARINA ARRESTED AT LA AIRPORT [Reuters, 5/11/08]
Dennis Farina, a former policeman who built a Hollywood career playing detectives, was arrested on Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport for carrying a loaded gun on his way to board a plane, police said. The actor was initially booked on one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm and bail was set at $25,000. The charge was upgraded later to felony after police confirmed the gun was not registered, and bail was raised to $35,000. Farina was a Chicago police officer for nearly 20 years before taking up acting in the 1980s. He has starred in movies such as "Get Shorty" and "Sidewalks of New York" and is perhaps best known in his role of New York Detective Joe Fontana on the popular television crime series Law & Order.
 
"GHOST BROTHERS" MUSICAL POSTPONED [Playbill, 5/6/08]
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a world premiere musical by Stephen King and John Mellencamp, will no longer be produced as part of the Alliance Theatre 2008-2009 season, the Atlanta Theatre company announced May 5. The production scheduled to run April 15-May 10, 2009 has been delayed "due to unanticipated scheduling problems which could not be resolved in time for the production". The musical will be produced at the Alliance Theatre as part of the 2009-10 season, if all the elements can come together, according to Alliance.
 
ROD STEWART ISN'T READY FOR RETIREMENT [Reuters/Nielsen, 5/7/08]
Hall of Fame and Grammy-award rocker, Rod Stewart, is 63 years old, but nowhere near retirement as he considers a wish list of future projects that include a movie, an R&B album and maybe even a fling with country and western music. "I'd love to make a movie, just for posterity," Steward told Reuters ahead of an upcoming 18-City North American tour which will take him around the United States and Canada. He will be performing in Toronto at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 16. Stewart has sold millions of records with hits such as "Maggie May", "Tonight's The Night", and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" 
 
MANDELA CONCERT LINE-UP UNVEILED [BBC News, 4/30/08]
Queen, Leona Lewis, Annie Lennox and the Soweto Gospel Choir are among the acts that will appear at a concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday in June. The former South African president will travel to London for the 27 June event, which will also feature Dame Shirley Bassey, Simple Minds and Razorlight. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, and Hyde Park will host a crowd of 46,664 - Mr. Mandela's old prison number, which is also the name of his charity. All proceeds from the concert will go to the charity.
 
FBI RAID OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL  [Washington Post, 5/6/08]
Nearly two dozen federal agents raided the Washington headquarters of the agency that protects government whistle-blowers, as part of an intensifying criminal investigation of its leader, Chief Scott J. Bloch, who is fighting allegations of improper political bias and obstruction of justice. FBI agents served grand-jury subpoenas on 17 employees and shutdown access to computer networks in a search lasting more than five hours. Bloch has long been a target of criticism, some of it by his agency's career officials. During the probe, Bloch hired the technology service Geeks On Call to erase his computer hard drive and those of two aides, giving use to new allegations that he was obstructing justice. Agents from the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general's office, who have been investigating Bloch for more than two years visited his home and left carrying boxes of files. According to a person who saw the search warrants and subpoenas, files taken included a now-closed investigation into the travel of then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice before the 2004 election.
 
FREE CONCERT FOR CABBIE  [Reuters,  5/6/08]
Grammy-nominated violinist, Philippe Quint, who left his $4 million, 285 year old Stradivarius violin in a taxi, repaid the driver who returned it with a free concert at an airport taxi stand. Quint gave the cabbie, Mohammed Khalil, and his colleagues a 30-minute recital - although using a less valuable violin. Quint has invited Khalil and his family to New York on September 23 where he will perform using the "Strad". The violin was loaned to Quint by two U.S. philanthropists and is one of 650 "Strad".
 
SEC CHARGED ALABAMA MAJOR [Reuters, 4/30/08]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the Major of Birmingham, Alabama and two of his friends in connection with an undisclosed payment scheme in municipal bond deals. The SEC said the chairman of Alabama investment bank Blount Parrish & Co made more than $156,000 in undisclosed payments to Mayor Larry Langford related to municipal bond offerings and swap agreements Langford directed on behalf of Jefferson County. Langford & Blount hid the payment scheme by using their longtime friend, Albert LaPierre, an Alabama registered political lobbyist, as a conduit, the SEC said. The SEC said it is seeking financial penalties against the defendants as well as disgorgement of gains. Jefferson County has recently been delaying debt payments as it works on a plan to avoid what could become the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy.
 
MOORE FILM OPENS CANNES FESTIVAL [BBC News, 4/30/08]
Blindness, a thriller starring Julianne Moore, is to open the Cannes Film Festival in France on 14 May. Based on a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago, the movie focuses on a town which is hit by a sudden epidemic of sight-loss.
 
UB40 LEAD SINGER REPLACED BY HIS BROTHER [BBC News, 4/30/08]
Former UB40 lead singer Ali Campbell is to be replaced in the band by his brother Duncan, with reggae singer Maxi Priest also bolstering the line-up on tour. The Birmingham reggae band, which has eight members, including Ali Campbell, had its last gigs together in February in Australia, New Zealand and Uganda. Campbell left the group after almost 30 years because management difficulties had become "intolerable". Campbell who sang on hits such as Rat In My Kitchen and Red, Red Wine, said the decision was not due to him wanting to pursue a solo career. He claimed the disagreements had been going for nearly five years and was "deeply unhappy" with many decisions. Ten tracks from the band's new album, 24/7, will be given away this week with the Mail newspaper. These feature Ali Campbell's vocals, with the full album also including seven new tracks. The 17-track version is due for a conventional release in the UK on June 16. UB40 spokesman disputed Campbell's comments over the situation with management.
 
RADIOHEAD: NO MORE MUSIC FREEBIES  [Reuters/Hollwood Reporter, 4/30/08]
Radiohead won't be repeating its initiative to let fans pay what they want for their downloads, the English rock band's frontman said Tuesday. Radiohead's decision to allow fans to pay into the online equivalent of an honesty box for the album came shortly after it walked away from troubled record label EMI, sparking acres of comment about future direction of the music industry and the dwindling revenue pot from CD Sales.
 
INDICTED SAMSUNG CHAIRMAN RESIGNS [Washington Post, 4/22/08]
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee was indicted last Thursday for tax evasion and breach of trust. He resigned in disgrace Tuesday, after apologizing to South Koreans for causing "much grief." According to an indictment last week, the largest of those mistakes was hiding about 4.5 billion worth of Samsung stock in accounts that used "borrowed names." His wife is also resigning as head of a Samsung art gallery and cultural foundation. And his son -- long regarded as heir-apparent to the Samsung throne -- was pushed out of his senior management position and will be sent into exile as manager in a yet-to-be-named emerging market. But don't count the Lee family out just yet. A peculiar tick of the South Korean legal system is that judges here -- not wanting to upset the economic apple cart -- rarely sentence corporate titans to long prison terms and seldom strip them of their empires. The Lee family, for all its public-relations woes and legal entanglements, remains the dominant shareholder in Samsung, the jewel in South Korea's conglomerate crown. The highly profitable cluster of 59 companies makes everything from memory chips to ships, employs a quarter million people around the world and accounts for a fifth of South Korea's exports. About 55% of the company is owned by foreign investors. History suggests that Lee Kun-hee's chances of going to jail - on charges that include evading about $120 million in taxes - are slim.
 
$4 MILLION VIOLIN RETURNED [AP, 4/23/08] 
A Grammy-nominated violinist has been reunited with a $4 Million violin he left in the back of a cab. Philippe Quint exited a minivan cab at New York City’s Battery Park early Monday, leaving the 1723 Antonio Stradivari “Ex-Keisewetter” inside. By next day the violin was still undiscovered by the driver, Mohamed Khalil, while the frantic Quint was calling the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Newark’s Taxi Commission, which put the word out that the violin was missing. Khalil eventually discovered the violin case with the instrument inside. Quint soon arrived, dropped to his knees and shed tears of joy.
 
AFTRA REJECTS SAG OFFER FOR JOINT TALKS [AP News, 4/15/08]
At first glance, things might look familiar when representatives from both major actors union sit at the negotiating table Tuesday with the studio executives. But looks can be deceiving. Two staff members from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will only be observers as the Screen Actors Guild begins negotiating a new contract. In a letter Monday to SAG, AFTRA said it would not revisit its decision to sever the guilds’ longtime unified negotiations. On Sunday, SAG’s national board voted to let AFTRA join its negotiations with producers on a new contract for feature film and prime-time TV. SAG gave AFTRA, whose own talks with producers are set to begin April 28, until Wednesday to respond. The split between the unions came last month as AFTRA accused SAG of trying to entice actors in the soap drama “The Bold and The Beautiful” to abandon the federation. SAG President Alan Rosenberg rejected the allegation, calling it a “calculated” and “cynical” excuse by AFTRA to hasten the end of the partnership he claimed they had long wanted to end.
 
GLASTONBURY DEFENDS JAY-Z BOOKING [BBC News, 4/15/08]
Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis defended decision to headline rapper Jay-Z by writing, "there is no reason why we should not have the greatest living hip-hop artist on at Glastonbury festival."
 
POLICE SEEK CHILD ENDANGERMENT CHARGE IN SAMBORA CASE [AP, 4/16/08]
Police are asking for a misdemeanor child endangerment charge against Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora following his drunken-driving arrest in Laguna Beach, Calif., last month. The 48 year old musician was stopped after a police officer saw Sambora's black Hummer weaving in traffic. Police say he was arrested without incident after failing a field sobriety test. Authorities haven't released the names of a woman and two girls who were passengers in Sambora's car.
 
LAST OF WALT DISNEY'S "NINE OLD MEN" DIES [Reuters, 4/16/08] 
The last of Walt Disney's original team of animators, known as the "Nine Old Men" has died at the age of 95, a Walt Disney Company spokesman said on Tuesday. Ollie Johnston worked for Disney for 43 years before retiring in 1978, after completing some work on his final film, "The Fox and The Hound."  His work was drawing characters for animated Mickey Mouse short films before contributing to classics such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", Pinocchio", "Peter Pan" and "The Jungle Book." Johnston died of natural causes in a long-term care facility in Sequin, Washington on Monday. He was the first animator to win the National Medal of Arts in 2005. Johnson is survived by two sons. 
 
BEAT BOBBY LANDS PUBLISHING DEAL [BBC News, 4/10/08]
PC Matt Hilton, has quit his job after landing a 800,000 pound publishing deal to write crime thrillers. Matt Hilton worked as a beat officer in Cumbria before securing the five novel deal with Hodder and Stoughton. The 42 year, of Carlisle, say he has finally achieved his dream after working for the police and in security. His first book, Dead Men's Dust, will be published in June 2009 and the later novels will be released at six-monthly intervals. The police officer has been writing novels since the age of 13 and has had non-fiction magazine articles published before.
 
MISCHA BARTON PLEADS NO CONTEST TO DUI [AP, 4/10/08]
Mischa Barton, former star of TV's "The O.C." has pleaded no contest to drunken driving for a December arrest in West Hollywood. The 22 year old was not present in the Beverley Hills courtroom on Thursday as her lawyer entered no-contest pleas on her behalf to driving without a license and misdemeanor driving under the influence. Her lawyer Anthony Salemo says Barton will be fined, placed on three years' probation and must attend an alcohol-education program.
 
INDIA OPENS UP TO PAKISTAN FILMS [BBC News, 4/4/08]
A critically acclaimed Pakistani film on Islam has been released across cinemas in India. It is the first Pakistani film to get a wide commercial release in India in over four decades. Khuda Kay Liye (In the Name of God) focuses on the lives of Muslims after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States. Officially, India and Pakistan had banned each others films since going to war in 1965. Indian films are hugely popular in Pakistan and illicit copies are easy to find. India's Hindi-language film industry, which includes Bombay's Bollywood movies, is the world's largest by viewership.
 
CONDUCTOR STEPS IN TO SAVE OPERA [BBC News, 4/4/08] 
An opera conductor stepped in to save a tenor who lost his voice by taking over his singing part whilst continuing to lead the orchestra. Anthony Walker took over Vladimir Kusmenko's role during a performance of Aida in Pittsburgh in the U.S. as the ailing singer lip-synched on stage. Walker said it was "an amazing experience" but hopes to "never have to do that again".
 
50 CENT SUED OVER EVICTION CLAIM [BBC News, 4/4/08]
Rap star 50 Cent is being sued by a former girlfriend who claims he is trying to evict her and their 10-year son from their home. According to court papers filed in New York, Shaniqua Tompkins accuses the star of breaking a promise to provide her and their son Marquise a home. Ms. Tompkins' lawyer said the rapper handed over the house, worth $2.4 million, but now wants it back. The rapper's lawyer, Bret Kimmel, was unavailable for comment. Tompkins is already receiving court-ordered financial support from 50 Cent for their son.
 
RAPPER REMY MA TO WED IN PRISON [BBC News, 4/4/08]
Grammy-nominated hip-hop star Remy Ma is planning to marry her fiance, fellow rapper Papoose, in a New York jail. The 26 year old star is currently at Rikers Island prison as she awaits sentencing for shooting a woman. Remy Ma, whose real name is Remy Smith, was convicted last month of assault and could face a prison sentence of up to 25 years. The defence team for the star told the court that she had fired a shot, but insisted it was an accident.
 

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