NEW YORK (Reuters) – The death of celebrity disc jockey DJ AM was caused by an accidental drug overdose, and eight different substances were found in his body, the New York City Medical Examiner's office said on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old disc jockey, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, died last month from a lethal cocktail of cocaine, cold medicine and prescription drugs, it said.
A toxicology report found traces of the drugs used in the painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin and sedatives Ativan, Klonopin and Xanax. It also found levamisole, a cancer treatment drug that is also used to cut cocaine.
Goldstein's music appeared on the albums of artists, including Madonna and Will Smith. He survived a plane crash with Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker in 2008 and was once engaged to reality TV star Nicole Richie.
His death was ruled an accident and police have said no foul play was suspected.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Polanski fights extradition as Hollywood watches
ZURICH/PARIS (Reuters) – Roman Polanski's extradition to the United States on a decades-old sex charge could take years to accomplish after the Oscar-winning film director decided on Monday to fight his removal from Europe.
Polanski, 76, who has dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested on Saturday on a U.S. warrant by authorities in Switzerland, where the "Chinatown" director was set to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival.
"He is in fighting mood and determined to defend himself," Herve Temime, Polanski's lawyer, told France Info radio, adding that the movie director was stunned by the arrest because he was a regular visitor to Switzerland.
Temime said he had requested Polanski's release from a Swiss prison but a Justice Ministry spokesman said it was very unlikely the director could be released on bail.
U.S. judicial sources, who requested anonymity because they were not directly involved in the case, said the complex extradition process could take years if Polanski challenges it. U.S. authorities have up to 60 days to make a firm extradition request, but Polanski can appeal to the Swiss courts.
The filmmaker, who won the best director Oscar for 2002 Holocaust film "The Pianist," is wanted for fleeing the United States on the eve of his formal sentencing over a 1977 criminal charge of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, to whom he also was accused of giving drugs and alcohol.
At the time, Polanski had reached a deal with Los Angeles prosecutors to plead guilty to the sex charge and receive 42 days in prison for psychiatric tests -- time that he had already served. But Polanski believed the judge might overrule the plea and sentence him to as much as 50 years in jail.
A Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman did not return calls for comment on Monday.
EUROPE ANGRY, HOLLYWOOD MOSTLY MUM
In the past three decades, questions have arisen about judicial misconduct and the victim, Samantha Geimer, has said Polanski should not face more jail time.
Polanski's arrest has infuriated authorities in France and brought protests from European filmmakers. But in Hollywood, reaction was far more restrained.
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose company helped distribute the 2008 documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" that highlighted the supposed judicial irregularities, said in a statement: "We are calling every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation."
But there was silence from the Directors Guild of America and from many big-name U.S. actors who had worked closely with Polanski in the past.
In Europe, the Zurich Film Festival jury accused Switzerland of "philistine collusion" with U.S. authorities and wore red badges reading "Free Polanski."
"We hope today this latest order will be dropped. It is based on a three-decade-old case that is all but dead but for minor technicalities," said jury president Debra Winger.
Italian actress Monica Bellucci, France's Fanny Ardant, president of the Cannes film festival Gilles Jacob and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai issued a petition demanding Polanski's immediate release.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French radio he was working with Poland on the matter and had written to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Questions were raised about a U.S. government pardon, but judicial sources said a pardon cannot be issued for people who have never been formally convicted of a crime, which is the case with Polanski because he fled before being sentenced.
During a visit to Paris, Swiss Economy Minister Doris Leuthard said the country had no choice but to enforce the international arrest warrant against the director.
Leuthard rejected suggestions Berne had arrested Polanski to help patch up ties strained by a high-profile U.S. tax case against Swiss bank UBS, which agreed a settlement over charges it helped wealthy Americans stash assets in secret accounts.
"The two things have absolutely no connection," she said.
Polanski, 76, who has dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested on Saturday on a U.S. warrant by authorities in Switzerland, where the "Chinatown" director was set to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival.
"He is in fighting mood and determined to defend himself," Herve Temime, Polanski's lawyer, told France Info radio, adding that the movie director was stunned by the arrest because he was a regular visitor to Switzerland.
Temime said he had requested Polanski's release from a Swiss prison but a Justice Ministry spokesman said it was very unlikely the director could be released on bail.
U.S. judicial sources, who requested anonymity because they were not directly involved in the case, said the complex extradition process could take years if Polanski challenges it. U.S. authorities have up to 60 days to make a firm extradition request, but Polanski can appeal to the Swiss courts.
The filmmaker, who won the best director Oscar for 2002 Holocaust film "The Pianist," is wanted for fleeing the United States on the eve of his formal sentencing over a 1977 criminal charge of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, to whom he also was accused of giving drugs and alcohol.
At the time, Polanski had reached a deal with Los Angeles prosecutors to plead guilty to the sex charge and receive 42 days in prison for psychiatric tests -- time that he had already served. But Polanski believed the judge might overrule the plea and sentence him to as much as 50 years in jail.
A Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman did not return calls for comment on Monday.
EUROPE ANGRY, HOLLYWOOD MOSTLY MUM
In the past three decades, questions have arisen about judicial misconduct and the victim, Samantha Geimer, has said Polanski should not face more jail time.
Polanski's arrest has infuriated authorities in France and brought protests from European filmmakers. But in Hollywood, reaction was far more restrained.
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose company helped distribute the 2008 documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" that highlighted the supposed judicial irregularities, said in a statement: "We are calling every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation."
But there was silence from the Directors Guild of America and from many big-name U.S. actors who had worked closely with Polanski in the past.
In Europe, the Zurich Film Festival jury accused Switzerland of "philistine collusion" with U.S. authorities and wore red badges reading "Free Polanski."
"We hope today this latest order will be dropped. It is based on a three-decade-old case that is all but dead but for minor technicalities," said jury president Debra Winger.
Italian actress Monica Bellucci, France's Fanny Ardant, president of the Cannes film festival Gilles Jacob and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai issued a petition demanding Polanski's immediate release.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French radio he was working with Poland on the matter and had written to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Questions were raised about a U.S. government pardon, but judicial sources said a pardon cannot be issued for people who have never been formally convicted of a crime, which is the case with Polanski because he fled before being sentenced.
During a visit to Paris, Swiss Economy Minister Doris Leuthard said the country had no choice but to enforce the international arrest warrant against the director.
Leuthard rejected suggestions Berne had arrested Polanski to help patch up ties strained by a high-profile U.S. tax case against Swiss bank UBS, which agreed a settlement over charges it helped wealthy Americans stash assets in secret accounts.
"The two things have absolutely no connection," she said.
Monday, September 28, 2009
"Trauma" stands out among new fall TV shows
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – NBC's primetime lineup is already laden with cop and hospital dramas, so it hardly seems necessary to add yet another to the schedule. And initially, the new medical series "Trauma" seems to be the same old tune, different verse.
Five minutes in, however, makes it clear that "Trauma" is not the same old song. Instead, it's a riveting, multilayered show about fallout; survival amidst the ruins -- a standout among the fall season's offerings. The show premieres on Monday at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT.
"Trauma" focuses on a team of San Francisco paramedics devastated in the aftermath of a horrific (though spectacularly filmed) helicopter collision. The meat of the show picks up a year post-crash, focusing on the survivors -- world-weary Nancy (Anastasia Griffith); repressed Boone (Derek Luke) and reckless Reuben (a.k.a. Rabbit, played intriguingly by Maori actor Cliff Curtis). They're collectively struggling to emerge from their mental wreckage while racing to save others, and none of them have put the disaster behind them.
There's a lot to chew on: Creator-writer Dario Scardapane doesn't underestimate his audience, and by creating bickering leads with enigmatic shared histories he doesn't provide outsiders with an immediate entry into the narrative. But then disaster strikes and "Trauma" grabs its audience by the throat, thrusting viewers into a world where things go bad, get worse, and then get terrible -- a highway pileup becomes a gas explosion that sends shrapnel into a young boy. Medical jargon and details whiz past without exposition, mere parts of the chaos, a device "ER" weaned its viewers on. And suddenly, it's happened -- viewers are grafted into the anarchic slipstream of the story, and hooked solid.
"Trauma" is far from perfect -- three antiheroes are a bit much to stomach at once, and the bigger-than-life disaster scenarios surely can't be sustained every week. But there's a lot of subtle interplay sandwiched between the emergencies, and with luck, diligent viewers should be rewarded. Anyone still wondering whether "Trauma" is a keeper should stick around for the sweetly underplayed and near-wordless end scene, for proof that this patient has strong vital signs.
Five minutes in, however, makes it clear that "Trauma" is not the same old song. Instead, it's a riveting, multilayered show about fallout; survival amidst the ruins -- a standout among the fall season's offerings. The show premieres on Monday at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT.
"Trauma" focuses on a team of San Francisco paramedics devastated in the aftermath of a horrific (though spectacularly filmed) helicopter collision. The meat of the show picks up a year post-crash, focusing on the survivors -- world-weary Nancy (Anastasia Griffith); repressed Boone (Derek Luke) and reckless Reuben (a.k.a. Rabbit, played intriguingly by Maori actor Cliff Curtis). They're collectively struggling to emerge from their mental wreckage while racing to save others, and none of them have put the disaster behind them.
There's a lot to chew on: Creator-writer Dario Scardapane doesn't underestimate his audience, and by creating bickering leads with enigmatic shared histories he doesn't provide outsiders with an immediate entry into the narrative. But then disaster strikes and "Trauma" grabs its audience by the throat, thrusting viewers into a world where things go bad, get worse, and then get terrible -- a highway pileup becomes a gas explosion that sends shrapnel into a young boy. Medical jargon and details whiz past without exposition, mere parts of the chaos, a device "ER" weaned its viewers on. And suddenly, it's happened -- viewers are grafted into the anarchic slipstream of the story, and hooked solid.
"Trauma" is far from perfect -- three antiheroes are a bit much to stomach at once, and the bigger-than-life disaster scenarios surely can't be sustained every week. But there's a lot of subtle interplay sandwiched between the emergencies, and with luck, diligent viewers should be rewarded. Anyone still wondering whether "Trauma" is a keeper should stick around for the sweetly underplayed and near-wordless end scene, for proof that this patient has strong vital signs.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Renowned Spanish pianist de Larrocha dead at 86
MADRID (Reuters) – Alicia de Larrocha, a former child prodigy considered by many to have been the best Spanish pianist in history, has died in Barcelona at the age of 86, officials said.
"She was an extraordinary ambassador for Spain," Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde said in a news release following the death of the petite pianist, who was less than 5-feet tall, in Barcelona's Quiron Hospital on Friday night.
The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra was due to hold a minute's silence before this weekend's performances in honor of de Larrocha, whose public performances began at the age of six and stretched into her 80s, state news agency EFE said.
De Larrocha played with major orchestras around the world, won several prestigious Grammy awards for her recordings and was known for her interpretations of Mozart, Schumann and of Spanish composers.
Her championing of the Spanish repertoire, particularly the piano works of Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados, helped to make world audiences more familiar with music that has since gained enormously in popularity.
"Spanish music is very, very, very hard," she once said.
"Young people come to me and think they can play it right away. But Spanish music must have the right rhythm, just as Bach and Mozart must have the right rhythm."
"She was an extraordinary ambassador for Spain," Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde said in a news release following the death of the petite pianist, who was less than 5-feet tall, in Barcelona's Quiron Hospital on Friday night.
The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra was due to hold a minute's silence before this weekend's performances in honor of de Larrocha, whose public performances began at the age of six and stretched into her 80s, state news agency EFE said.
De Larrocha played with major orchestras around the world, won several prestigious Grammy awards for her recordings and was known for her interpretations of Mozart, Schumann and of Spanish composers.
Her championing of the Spanish repertoire, particularly the piano works of Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados, helped to make world audiences more familiar with music that has since gained enormously in popularity.
"Spanish music is very, very, very hard," she once said.
"Young people come to me and think they can play it right away. But Spanish music must have the right rhythm, just as Bach and Mozart must have the right rhythm."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Bateman feted with Russian retrospective
Canadian artist and environmentalist Robert Bateman, best known for his wildlife paintings, is preparing to depart for Russia, where a retrospective of his work will be featured in a four-city tour.
The exhibit Robert Bateman in Russia will feature nearly 50 of the artist's original paintings, including a trio of new pieces created specifically for the occasion.
"I couldn't be showcased in such a prestigious international venue without attempting to pay homage to Russia's symbol," Bateman said on his website about one of his new pieces: the imposing canvas Russian Brown Bear.
The Russian show is adapted from the 2007 Bateman retrospective that opened in 2007 at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ont., with a second Canadian stop at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, Alta. The retrospective also toured the U.S. Comprised of works from the artist's own collection as well as loans from individuals and art institutions, the Russian show features paintings depicting the 79-year-old Bateman's beloved wildlife, but also those exploring architecture, the human figure, portraits and still lifes.
The Toronto-born artist, now based on Salt Spring Island, B.C., will be on hand for the opening of the exhibit Oct. 8 at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
The show moves to the Tula Museum of Art (nearly 200 kilometres south of Moscow) in December before travelling to the Ivanovo Regional Art Museum (about 250 kilometres east of Moscow) in February.
The exhibition concludes with a display at the Tsarytsyno Museum in Moscow from April through June.
The exhibit Robert Bateman in Russia will feature nearly 50 of the artist's original paintings, including a trio of new pieces created specifically for the occasion.
"I couldn't be showcased in such a prestigious international venue without attempting to pay homage to Russia's symbol," Bateman said on his website about one of his new pieces: the imposing canvas Russian Brown Bear.
The Russian show is adapted from the 2007 Bateman retrospective that opened in 2007 at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ont., with a second Canadian stop at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, Alta. The retrospective also toured the U.S. Comprised of works from the artist's own collection as well as loans from individuals and art institutions, the Russian show features paintings depicting the 79-year-old Bateman's beloved wildlife, but also those exploring architecture, the human figure, portraits and still lifes.
The Toronto-born artist, now based on Salt Spring Island, B.C., will be on hand for the opening of the exhibit Oct. 8 at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
The show moves to the Tula Museum of Art (nearly 200 kilometres south of Moscow) in December before travelling to the Ivanovo Regional Art Museum (about 250 kilometres east of Moscow) in February.
The exhibition concludes with a display at the Tsarytsyno Museum in Moscow from April through June.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Barbie to have big screen career
Mattel's Barbie, who turned 50 this year, is stepping up for an enhanced career on the big screen.
Universal Pictures has acquired the rights for a movie based on the blonde dolly.
The studio also produced toy-based hits such as Transformers and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobras.
Universal says it will create a family-friendly live action film with a Barbie story.
"Barbie is the most famous doll in history, a unique cultural icon in the world of brands," said Universal Pictures chairman Marc Shmuger. "So many representations of Barbie frequent pop culture, but never before has she been brought to life in a motion picture."
Barbie has made previous appearances on the small screen, including animated films such as Barbie in the Nutcracker, which went direct to home video, and the 1987 TV special Barbie and the Rockers.
She is also tech-savvy, with a Facebook profile, Twitter feed and fashion blog, as well as dedicated YouTube channel.
Laurence Mark, whose credits include Dreamgirls and Jerry Maguire, is producing with Mattel executives Richard Dickson and Rob Hudnut.
Universal Pictures has acquired the rights for a movie based on the blonde dolly.
The studio also produced toy-based hits such as Transformers and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobras.
Universal says it will create a family-friendly live action film with a Barbie story.
"Barbie is the most famous doll in history, a unique cultural icon in the world of brands," said Universal Pictures chairman Marc Shmuger. "So many representations of Barbie frequent pop culture, but never before has she been brought to life in a motion picture."
Barbie has made previous appearances on the small screen, including animated films such as Barbie in the Nutcracker, which went direct to home video, and the 1987 TV special Barbie and the Rockers.
She is also tech-savvy, with a Facebook profile, Twitter feed and fashion blog, as well as dedicated YouTube channel.
Laurence Mark, whose credits include Dreamgirls and Jerry Maguire, is producing with Mattel executives Richard Dickson and Rob Hudnut.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer facing more charges
LOS ANGELES – More charges were filed Wednesday against the lawyer-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, with prosecutors claiming he helped obtain the drugs that killed the former Playboy model.
Howard K. Stern was charged with five more felony counts in an amended complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, bringing the total number of charges against him to 11.
Smith died of a drug overdose on Feb. 8, 2007, in a Florida hotel room. Prosecutors call Stern an aider and abettor of two doctors, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, who are charged with improperly prescribing the drugs that killed Smith.
All three pleaded not guilty in May to conspiring to illegally provide Smith with controlled substances. They re-entered their pleas Wednesday to the amended complaint.
The doctors each face six counts including conspiracy, and up to five years, eight months in prison if convicted. It was not clear what sentence Stern would face if convicted, Los Angeles County district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said.
Search warrant affidavits suggest Stern put his name on prescriptions for opiates that were given to Smith, and claim that 44 different medications were prescribed for Smith under a number of other names, including Stern's.
Outside court, Stern's attorney said the additional charges were filed because prosecutors realized their case against him was weak.
"They are using a shotgun approach," Steve Sadow said. "They are throwing everything at him to see what sticks, and nothing will stick."
Prosecutors declined to elaborate on what prompted the additional charges against Stern.
Sadow argues his client should not be blamed for Smith's death because Stern was relying on the doctors to treat the former model, who he said was recovering from an illness at the time of her death.
"Anna Nicole was a very strong-willed woman," Sadow said. "She took the prescription medications because she thought it was in her best interest to control her pain.
A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 5 but prosecutors asked for a delay until Oct. 13. A decision will be made following a scheduling hearing Oct. 1.
On Tuesday, Kapoor's attorney said she was outraged by claims in search warrant affidavits that her client crossed professional boundaries and had a sexual relationship with Smith.
Attorney Ellyn Garafalo told The Associated Press that Kapoor is openly gay and never had a sexual or social relationship with his famous client.
A picture of Smith and Kapoor that was cited in the affidavits was taken at a gay pride celebration they both attended, Garafalo said.
"These search warrant affidavits are based on insufficient information and they are wrong in material respects," Garafalo said in an interview with the AP. "The prime example is that Dr. Kapoor is openly gay and never slept with Anna Nicole Smith or any other woman."
Garafalo said the doctor and patient encountered each other in a bar after a gay pride parade, but did not have an ongoing social relationship.
District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined comment saying, "The case has not yet gone to preliminary hearing and it would be inappropriate for us to be making comments outside court."
Eroshevich, a psychiatrist, also is accused of an improper sexual relationship with the former Playboy model based on photographs found on a computer of the two women naked together in a bathtub "in various intimate embraces."
Eroshevich's lawyer, Adam Braun, declined to comment directly on the pictures but said that the relationship between Smith and the psychiatrist began as one of friendship and evolved into a patient-doctor relationship.
Howard K. Stern was charged with five more felony counts in an amended complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, bringing the total number of charges against him to 11.
Smith died of a drug overdose on Feb. 8, 2007, in a Florida hotel room. Prosecutors call Stern an aider and abettor of two doctors, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, who are charged with improperly prescribing the drugs that killed Smith.
All three pleaded not guilty in May to conspiring to illegally provide Smith with controlled substances. They re-entered their pleas Wednesday to the amended complaint.
The doctors each face six counts including conspiracy, and up to five years, eight months in prison if convicted. It was not clear what sentence Stern would face if convicted, Los Angeles County district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said.
Search warrant affidavits suggest Stern put his name on prescriptions for opiates that were given to Smith, and claim that 44 different medications were prescribed for Smith under a number of other names, including Stern's.
Outside court, Stern's attorney said the additional charges were filed because prosecutors realized their case against him was weak.
"They are using a shotgun approach," Steve Sadow said. "They are throwing everything at him to see what sticks, and nothing will stick."
Prosecutors declined to elaborate on what prompted the additional charges against Stern.
Sadow argues his client should not be blamed for Smith's death because Stern was relying on the doctors to treat the former model, who he said was recovering from an illness at the time of her death.
"Anna Nicole was a very strong-willed woman," Sadow said. "She took the prescription medications because she thought it was in her best interest to control her pain.
A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 5 but prosecutors asked for a delay until Oct. 13. A decision will be made following a scheduling hearing Oct. 1.
On Tuesday, Kapoor's attorney said she was outraged by claims in search warrant affidavits that her client crossed professional boundaries and had a sexual relationship with Smith.
Attorney Ellyn Garafalo told The Associated Press that Kapoor is openly gay and never had a sexual or social relationship with his famous client.
A picture of Smith and Kapoor that was cited in the affidavits was taken at a gay pride celebration they both attended, Garafalo said.
"These search warrant affidavits are based on insufficient information and they are wrong in material respects," Garafalo said in an interview with the AP. "The prime example is that Dr. Kapoor is openly gay and never slept with Anna Nicole Smith or any other woman."
Garafalo said the doctor and patient encountered each other in a bar after a gay pride parade, but did not have an ongoing social relationship.
District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined comment saying, "The case has not yet gone to preliminary hearing and it would be inappropriate for us to be making comments outside court."
Eroshevich, a psychiatrist, also is accused of an improper sexual relationship with the former Playboy model based on photographs found on a computer of the two women naked together in a bathtub "in various intimate embraces."
Eroshevich's lawyer, Adam Braun, declined to comment directly on the pictures but said that the relationship between Smith and the psychiatrist began as one of friendship and evolved into a patient-doctor relationship.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Anna Nicole prescription was "pharmaceutical suicide"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A pharmacist asked to provide powerful medications for late Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith described the combination of drugs as a prescription for "pharmaceutical suicide" and refused to fill the order, according to court documents released on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles pharmacist's account of the incident gives a glimpse into how Smith was treated before her death in 2007 at age 39 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Smith's former boyfriend and two doctors have been charged with illegally supplying Smith with controlled substances for years before she died in a Florida hotel in February 2007.
Smith was a Playboy Playmate and Guess jeans model who gained worldwide fame when she married an 89 year-old billionaire oil tycoon when she was 26.
Previously-sealed search warrants and supporting documents describe a 2006 request from Smith's psychiatrist to a pharmacist for 300 tablets of methadone, two types of sedatives, a muscle relaxer and other drugs, including a painkiller nicknamed "hospital heroin."
The pharmacist called Smith's doctor and said he would not fill the prescription, calling it "pharmaceutical suicide," the court documents state.
The documents also detail warnings given to Smith's team of doctors by other pharmacists.
The papers also suggest that the two doctors charged in the case, psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and Dr.Sandeep Kapoor, crossed professional boundaries by having sexual contact with Smith, who was a top Playboy model in the 1990s.
They cite photos showing Smith and Eroshevich naked and embracing in a bathtub, and mention a video aired on celebrity news show "Inside Edition" showing Smith and a shirtless Kapoor "kissing and nuzzling."
California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who oversaw the investigation, said on Tuesday, "As you have seen in these reports, now made public, there was scandalous activity" before Smith's death.
"Not only prescription drugs, but inappropriate relationships between the doctors, the lawyers and Anna Nicole Smith," Brown told reporters.
Smith's longtime boyfriend Howard K. Stern, and Eroshevich and Kapoor have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and illegally supplying the model with drugs. They face up to five years in prison if convicted. Another court hearing is scheduled for October 5 in Los Angeles.
Smith died shortly after the death of her 20 year-old son, who also suffered an overdose of prescription drugs and methadone.
The Los Angeles pharmacist's account of the incident gives a glimpse into how Smith was treated before her death in 2007 at age 39 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Smith's former boyfriend and two doctors have been charged with illegally supplying Smith with controlled substances for years before she died in a Florida hotel in February 2007.
Smith was a Playboy Playmate and Guess jeans model who gained worldwide fame when she married an 89 year-old billionaire oil tycoon when she was 26.
Previously-sealed search warrants and supporting documents describe a 2006 request from Smith's psychiatrist to a pharmacist for 300 tablets of methadone, two types of sedatives, a muscle relaxer and other drugs, including a painkiller nicknamed "hospital heroin."
The pharmacist called Smith's doctor and said he would not fill the prescription, calling it "pharmaceutical suicide," the court documents state.
The documents also detail warnings given to Smith's team of doctors by other pharmacists.
The papers also suggest that the two doctors charged in the case, psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and Dr.Sandeep Kapoor, crossed professional boundaries by having sexual contact with Smith, who was a top Playboy model in the 1990s.
They cite photos showing Smith and Eroshevich naked and embracing in a bathtub, and mention a video aired on celebrity news show "Inside Edition" showing Smith and a shirtless Kapoor "kissing and nuzzling."
California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who oversaw the investigation, said on Tuesday, "As you have seen in these reports, now made public, there was scandalous activity" before Smith's death.
"Not only prescription drugs, but inappropriate relationships between the doctors, the lawyers and Anna Nicole Smith," Brown told reporters.
Smith's longtime boyfriend Howard K. Stern, and Eroshevich and Kapoor have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and illegally supplying the model with drugs. They face up to five years in prison if convicted. Another court hearing is scheduled for October 5 in Los Angeles.
Smith died shortly after the death of her 20 year-old son, who also suffered an overdose of prescription drugs and methadone.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
U2's Bono stops for theatre in Toronto
Besides delighting U2 fans at a pair of concerts and surprising moviegoers by turning up on a film festival red carpet, frontman Bono apparently also took in some musical theatre while in Toronto last week.
The Irish rock band's lead singer stopped in to check out a late-stage rehearsal on Friday for the musical The Boys in the Photograph, Mirvish Productions revealed on Monday.
The musical, which features an all-Canadian cast, had its world premiere in Winnipeg in April and opens in Toronto on Tuesday.
Bono, who watched the cast perform several scenes, also spent time chatting with Boys in the Photograph writer and director Ben Elton. The singer shared stories about his own life that offered "a unique view on the divisions illustrated in our show," Elton said in a statement.
"He spoke to the cast with passion and humour about what he had seen and even shared some tips on Irish phrasing with our lead couple."
A collaboration between Elton and theatre mogul Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Boys in the Photograph follows a Belfast soccer team during the start of Northern Ireland's violence-ridden Troubles.
Bono and U2 bandmate The Edge have signed on to create the score for the forthcoming Broadway project Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
"As songwriters new to the theatre, we have a lot to learn from Andrew Lloyd Webber. And Ben Elton is so sharp — I'm interested in anything he does," Bono said in a statement. "Stories like this need to be told and told in the popular theatre."
The Irish rock band's lead singer stopped in to check out a late-stage rehearsal on Friday for the musical The Boys in the Photograph, Mirvish Productions revealed on Monday.
The musical, which features an all-Canadian cast, had its world premiere in Winnipeg in April and opens in Toronto on Tuesday.
Bono, who watched the cast perform several scenes, also spent time chatting with Boys in the Photograph writer and director Ben Elton. The singer shared stories about his own life that offered "a unique view on the divisions illustrated in our show," Elton said in a statement.
"He spoke to the cast with passion and humour about what he had seen and even shared some tips on Irish phrasing with our lead couple."
A collaboration between Elton and theatre mogul Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Boys in the Photograph follows a Belfast soccer team during the start of Northern Ireland's violence-ridden Troubles.
Bono and U2 bandmate The Edge have signed on to create the score for the forthcoming Broadway project Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
"As songwriters new to the theatre, we have a lot to learn from Andrew Lloyd Webber. And Ben Elton is so sharp — I'm interested in anything he does," Bono said in a statement. "Stories like this need to be told and told in the popular theatre."
Monday, September 21, 2009
Chinese artist blames police beating for brain injury
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is recovering from surgery in Germany after suffering a brain injury he says was inflicted by police in China.
The artist, who has posted pictures of himself on Twitter, said a surgeon in Munich told him he needed immediate surgery because of bleeding in the intercranial cavity between his brain and skull.
The 52-year-old artist had the operation Monday.
The avant-garde Beijing-based artist is in Germany ahead of his October exhibit there. He said he'd suffered dizziness ever since being punched in the head and detained in a hotel in Sichuan province in August.
Twenty uniformed and plainclothes police converged on the hotel where he was staying and threatened to kill him, he said.
5,000 schoolchildren died in Sichuan quake
Ai has been a public critic of the Chinese government's version of events over the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008 in which 87,000 people died or were never accounted for. At least 5,000 of them were schoolchildren.
Many blame poorly constructed schools that collapsed during the catastrophe.
Ai has been collecting and publicizing the names of all the students who died in the quake. The artist said he was back in Chengdu, Sichuan, to testify as a witness in a case involving fellow quake researcher Tan Zuoren, who is charged with subversion and revealing state secrets.
Ai was also there to continue his research on the names of children who died in the quake.
"The authorities were very nervous and tried to prevent us from doing our research," Ai told German magazine Spiegel last month about his experiences in Sichuan.
Ai's exhibition "So Sorry," at Munich's Haus der Kunst, will open Oct. 12 as planned, according to the museum, which sent out a statement about his injury.
His work has been exhibited around the world, including the Venice Biennale.
Ai was the original designer of the massive Olympic Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, but then distanced himself from it and the Games.
The artist, who has posted pictures of himself on Twitter, said a surgeon in Munich told him he needed immediate surgery because of bleeding in the intercranial cavity between his brain and skull.
The 52-year-old artist had the operation Monday.
The avant-garde Beijing-based artist is in Germany ahead of his October exhibit there. He said he'd suffered dizziness ever since being punched in the head and detained in a hotel in Sichuan province in August.
Twenty uniformed and plainclothes police converged on the hotel where he was staying and threatened to kill him, he said.
5,000 schoolchildren died in Sichuan quake
Ai has been a public critic of the Chinese government's version of events over the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008 in which 87,000 people died or were never accounted for. At least 5,000 of them were schoolchildren.
Many blame poorly constructed schools that collapsed during the catastrophe.
Ai has been collecting and publicizing the names of all the students who died in the quake. The artist said he was back in Chengdu, Sichuan, to testify as a witness in a case involving fellow quake researcher Tan Zuoren, who is charged with subversion and revealing state secrets.
Ai was also there to continue his research on the names of children who died in the quake.
"The authorities were very nervous and tried to prevent us from doing our research," Ai told German magazine Spiegel last month about his experiences in Sichuan.
Ai's exhibition "So Sorry," at Munich's Haus der Kunst, will open Oct. 12 as planned, according to the museum, which sent out a statement about his injury.
His work has been exhibited around the world, including the Venice Biennale.
Ai was the original designer of the massive Olympic Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, but then distanced himself from it and the Games.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
"Precious" wins top Toronto film festival prize
TORONTO (Reuters) – "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" won the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival Saturday, giving the Oprah Winfrey-produced film some early momentum heading into Oscar awards season.
The film, a gritty tale of the abuse and redemption of a teenage girl in Harlem, captured the festival's People's Choice award, which is voted on by filmgoers. Last year it went to best picture Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire."
Critics have roundly praised "Precious" since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and audiences in Toronto warmly received the film, which is directed by Lee Daniels and will hit theaters in November.
"I made this film for every person out there who ever looked in the mirror and felt unsure about the person looking back," Daniels, who is traveling in Spain, said in a statement read out at an awards reception in Toronto.
In addition to "Slumdog Millionaire," past winners of the award that have gone on to win the best picture Oscar include "American Beauty" and "Chariots of Fire."
The festival, which wraps up later Saturday with a red-carpet screening of "The Young Victoria," a look at the British queen's early years, was notable this year for a lack of distribution deals signed as the independent film industry remains mired in a near two-year funk.
More than one-third of the more than 330 films screened entered the festival without distribution deals, and barely a handful were announced during the event's 10-day run.
Festival co-director Piers Handling said he expects more deals involving Toronto-screened films to soon be announced, but said the days of festival bidding wars were likely over.
"It's a combination of just an increasingly conservative marketplace in North America, the recession, as well as a glut of product," he told Reuters after the awards presentation.
"I think there will be fewer films being made."
Other winners included critics' awards for "The Man Beyond the Bridge," an Indian production featuring the little-used language of Konkani, and "Hadewijch," a French film that looks at the possibilities and consequences of a devoutly religious life.
The audience award for top documentary went to "The Topp Twins," which tells the story of a New Zealand lesbian country and western singing duo.
The film, a gritty tale of the abuse and redemption of a teenage girl in Harlem, captured the festival's People's Choice award, which is voted on by filmgoers. Last year it went to best picture Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire."
Critics have roundly praised "Precious" since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and audiences in Toronto warmly received the film, which is directed by Lee Daniels and will hit theaters in November.
"I made this film for every person out there who ever looked in the mirror and felt unsure about the person looking back," Daniels, who is traveling in Spain, said in a statement read out at an awards reception in Toronto.
In addition to "Slumdog Millionaire," past winners of the award that have gone on to win the best picture Oscar include "American Beauty" and "Chariots of Fire."
The festival, which wraps up later Saturday with a red-carpet screening of "The Young Victoria," a look at the British queen's early years, was notable this year for a lack of distribution deals signed as the independent film industry remains mired in a near two-year funk.
More than one-third of the more than 330 films screened entered the festival without distribution deals, and barely a handful were announced during the event's 10-day run.
Festival co-director Piers Handling said he expects more deals involving Toronto-screened films to soon be announced, but said the days of festival bidding wars were likely over.
"It's a combination of just an increasingly conservative marketplace in North America, the recession, as well as a glut of product," he told Reuters after the awards presentation.
"I think there will be fewer films being made."
Other winners included critics' awards for "The Man Beyond the Bridge," an Indian production featuring the little-used language of Konkani, and "Hadewijch," a French film that looks at the possibilities and consequences of a devoutly religious life.
The audience award for top documentary went to "The Topp Twins," which tells the story of a New Zealand lesbian country and western singing duo.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Few deals, some Oscar bets at Toronto film festival
TORONTO (Reuters) – This year's Toronto film festival lowers its final curtain this weekend after 10 days of red carpet premieres and industry networking that produced few movie deals but showcased some good bets for Oscars.
Executives, hoping for signs that the independent film industry might be ready to emerge from a nearly two-year funk, had little to celebrate. Barely a handful of distribution deals were announced during a festival that began with more than 100 titles available for acquisition.
"I anticipated a slow market, but I guess I was surprised. I thought there would be a few more deals closed by now," said Steven Beer, an entertainment lawyer with Greenberg Traurig.
Films like rock'n roll vampire flick "Suck" and the Woody Harrelson superhero movie "Defendor" were among the exceptions that found distributors to release them in theaters.
Overall, weak demand from recession-stung distributors has ended the traditional flurry of deal making at the Toronto International Film Festival.
"You'll see carnage from this film festival," David Garber, CEO of Lantern Lane Entertainment, told an industry round-table this week. "There are some very expensive movies there that are going to be wanting for distribution. And they'll make a deal that makes no real financial sense."
While summer season box office receipts crept up from last year, the independent film industry has been hit by plunging DVD sales and fewer sources of production funds.
There is also uncertainty over how digital downloads and movies-on-demand on television will impact future revenues.
These factors have forced film distributors to cut back on bigger budget movies and to be more picky in what they release.
"(This) is a permanent change," said Beer. "The cost of releasing films continues to escalate, so the risk factor is so considerable that the industry has become very conservative."
LOWER BUDGETS, HIGH HOPES
However, just as shoppers tend to look for cheaper products during a recession, the door is still open for low budget and art house films of the type that play at Toronto.
Industry players say high-priced actors are accepting lower pay, which may be benefiting smaller productions.
"I think one of the things at this festival was how many of the smaller films had bigger stars," said Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics.
He pointed to Rodrigo Garcia's relatively low-cost "Mother and Child," which stars Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Samuel L. Jackson.
"Defendor" managed to snag Woody Harrelson for a low-budget Canadian film helmed by first-time director Peter Stebbings.
Timed just before Hollywood's Oscar season, the Toronto festival has in the past given a push to small pictures like "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler," both of which went on to Oscar nominations and awards.
Early buzz this year has surrounded the Oprah Winfrey-backed "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," about a troubled teen growing up in Harlem.
"That's the movie most people have been wowed by in that 'Slumdog Millionaire' kind of way -- the movie that knocks your block off and leaves everybody buzzing," said Tom O'Neil, a veteran Oscar watcher who writes for TheEnvelope.com.
Also getting attention is Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," Robert Duvall for "Get Low" and George Clooney for acting turns in Reitman's film and in "The Men Who Stare At Goats."
A trio of little known actresses are earning buzz: Carey Mulligan in "An Education," Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious" and in a supporting role, Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air."
Executives, hoping for signs that the independent film industry might be ready to emerge from a nearly two-year funk, had little to celebrate. Barely a handful of distribution deals were announced during a festival that began with more than 100 titles available for acquisition.
"I anticipated a slow market, but I guess I was surprised. I thought there would be a few more deals closed by now," said Steven Beer, an entertainment lawyer with Greenberg Traurig.
Films like rock'n roll vampire flick "Suck" and the Woody Harrelson superhero movie "Defendor" were among the exceptions that found distributors to release them in theaters.
Overall, weak demand from recession-stung distributors has ended the traditional flurry of deal making at the Toronto International Film Festival.
"You'll see carnage from this film festival," David Garber, CEO of Lantern Lane Entertainment, told an industry round-table this week. "There are some very expensive movies there that are going to be wanting for distribution. And they'll make a deal that makes no real financial sense."
While summer season box office receipts crept up from last year, the independent film industry has been hit by plunging DVD sales and fewer sources of production funds.
There is also uncertainty over how digital downloads and movies-on-demand on television will impact future revenues.
These factors have forced film distributors to cut back on bigger budget movies and to be more picky in what they release.
"(This) is a permanent change," said Beer. "The cost of releasing films continues to escalate, so the risk factor is so considerable that the industry has become very conservative."
LOWER BUDGETS, HIGH HOPES
However, just as shoppers tend to look for cheaper products during a recession, the door is still open for low budget and art house films of the type that play at Toronto.
Industry players say high-priced actors are accepting lower pay, which may be benefiting smaller productions.
"I think one of the things at this festival was how many of the smaller films had bigger stars," said Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics.
He pointed to Rodrigo Garcia's relatively low-cost "Mother and Child," which stars Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Samuel L. Jackson.
"Defendor" managed to snag Woody Harrelson for a low-budget Canadian film helmed by first-time director Peter Stebbings.
Timed just before Hollywood's Oscar season, the Toronto festival has in the past given a push to small pictures like "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler," both of which went on to Oscar nominations and awards.
Early buzz this year has surrounded the Oprah Winfrey-backed "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," about a troubled teen growing up in Harlem.
"That's the movie most people have been wowed by in that 'Slumdog Millionaire' kind of way -- the movie that knocks your block off and leaves everybody buzzing," said Tom O'Neil, a veteran Oscar watcher who writes for TheEnvelope.com.
Also getting attention is Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," Robert Duvall for "Get Low" and George Clooney for acting turns in Reitman's film and in "The Men Who Stare At Goats."
A trio of little known actresses are earning buzz: Carey Mulligan in "An Education," Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious" and in a supporting role, Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air."
Friday, September 18, 2009
Carrie Ann Inaba trades ballroom for Emmy red carpet
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When the Emmy-nominated television stars begin their stroll up the red carpet Sunday at U.S. TV's top honors, one nominee will be on the wrong side of the line between celebrities and onlookers, Carrie Ann Inaba.
But don't think the judge of No. 2-rated U.S. TV show "Dancing With the Stars," which was nominated for 10 Emmys this year, was wronged by award organizers because Inaba is where she wants to be. She is hosting the TV Guide Network's coverage of the Emmys red carpet and asking questions of stars instead of rubbing elbows with them.
"I actually feel more comfortable doing this than walking the red carpet. There's so much pressure in walking the red carpet," Inaba told Reuters.
Alongside fellow "Dancing" judges Len Goodman (the upholder of conservative ballroom dancing) and Bruno Tonioli (the voice of brash showmanship), Inaba plays the middle of the panel, cheering daring choreography as long as it stays within the rules of ballroom dancing on the popular TV contest.
The show is seen by more than 20 million viewers weekly, and it earned Emmy nods for best reality competition, best host (Tom Bergeron) and choreography, among its nods.
As a judge on "Dancing," Inaba has become as popular among TV audiences as the stars she will question on Emmy night. Still, she thinks she will make a top-notch and inquisitive red carpet reporter because she's been a big TV fan since childhood and sees less like a nominee and more like an everyday viewer.
By blending her audience point-of-view about TV with her industry insider knowledge, she thinks she can provide special insight to viewers of the TV Guide Network on Emmy night.
"I'm not going to pretend that I'm not on a show, but I'm going to be meeting people I've never met before," she said.
REALITY RED CARPET
The dancer and choreographer-turned TV personality said one of her goals is to bring some real-life to the red carpet filled with women in couture gowns and dripping in diamonds -- most all of which are on loan.
She does not want to dull the glamour, but she does want viewers to know that in this culture of celebrity where stars are emulated, it is more important to develop one's own sense of style and be comfortable in what one wears, more than coveting what celebrities profess to have.
"I want to be able to explain what the process is," she said, because in real life, finding the right dress is about "what you feel comfortable in and what looks good on you."
Inaba says she is no fashion maven herself, so she has already been doing some background work in her new role as a reporter. Designs she expects to see include gowns with only one shoulder strap and hair may reflect a return to the highly stylized looks of the 1970s.
After last year's understated fashion parade amid 2008's financial market meltdown, Inaba expects a bit of glitz to return for Emmy's red carpet in 2009 because "there seems to be a little more faith in our economy."
About the new season of "Dancing," which begins September 21, Inaba said a few twists and turns have been added to put some new sizzle on the ballroom floor. There are new dances -- the country two step and the sexy lambada -- and there will be some double-elimination episodes.
"I have to say, I'm excited," she said, sounding more like a fan, than the star judge of the popular TV show.
But don't think the judge of No. 2-rated U.S. TV show "Dancing With the Stars," which was nominated for 10 Emmys this year, was wronged by award organizers because Inaba is where she wants to be. She is hosting the TV Guide Network's coverage of the Emmys red carpet and asking questions of stars instead of rubbing elbows with them.
"I actually feel more comfortable doing this than walking the red carpet. There's so much pressure in walking the red carpet," Inaba told Reuters.
Alongside fellow "Dancing" judges Len Goodman (the upholder of conservative ballroom dancing) and Bruno Tonioli (the voice of brash showmanship), Inaba plays the middle of the panel, cheering daring choreography as long as it stays within the rules of ballroom dancing on the popular TV contest.
The show is seen by more than 20 million viewers weekly, and it earned Emmy nods for best reality competition, best host (Tom Bergeron) and choreography, among its nods.
As a judge on "Dancing," Inaba has become as popular among TV audiences as the stars she will question on Emmy night. Still, she thinks she will make a top-notch and inquisitive red carpet reporter because she's been a big TV fan since childhood and sees less like a nominee and more like an everyday viewer.
By blending her audience point-of-view about TV with her industry insider knowledge, she thinks she can provide special insight to viewers of the TV Guide Network on Emmy night.
"I'm not going to pretend that I'm not on a show, but I'm going to be meeting people I've never met before," she said.
REALITY RED CARPET
The dancer and choreographer-turned TV personality said one of her goals is to bring some real-life to the red carpet filled with women in couture gowns and dripping in diamonds -- most all of which are on loan.
She does not want to dull the glamour, but she does want viewers to know that in this culture of celebrity where stars are emulated, it is more important to develop one's own sense of style and be comfortable in what one wears, more than coveting what celebrities profess to have.
"I want to be able to explain what the process is," she said, because in real life, finding the right dress is about "what you feel comfortable in and what looks good on you."
Inaba says she is no fashion maven herself, so she has already been doing some background work in her new role as a reporter. Designs she expects to see include gowns with only one shoulder strap and hair may reflect a return to the highly stylized looks of the 1970s.
After last year's understated fashion parade amid 2008's financial market meltdown, Inaba expects a bit of glitz to return for Emmy's red carpet in 2009 because "there seems to be a little more faith in our economy."
About the new season of "Dancing," which begins September 21, Inaba said a few twists and turns have been added to put some new sizzle on the ballroom floor. There are new dances -- the country two step and the sexy lambada -- and there will be some double-elimination episodes.
"I have to say, I'm excited," she said, sounding more like a fan, than the star judge of the popular TV show.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary dead at 72
BOSTON – Mary Travers, who as one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary helped popularize such tunes as "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "If I Had a Hammer," died in a Connecticut hospital Wednesday after battling leukemia for several years. She was 72.
The band's publicist, Heather Lylis, said Travers died at Danbury Hospital.
Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that in her final months, Travers handled her declining health with bravery and generosity, showing her love to friends and family "with great dignity and without restraint."
"It was, as Mary always was, honest and completely authentic," he said. "That's the way she sang, too; honestly and with complete authenticity."
Noel "Paul" Stookey, the trio's other member, praised Travers for her inspiring activism, "especially in her defense of the defenseless."
"I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career," he said.
Mary Allin Travers was born on Nov. 9, 1936 in Louisville, Ky., the daughter of journalists who moved the family to Manhattan's bohemian Greenwich Village. She quickly became enamored with folk performers like the Weavers, and was soon performing with Pete Seeger, a founding member of the Weavers who lived in the same building as the Travers family.
With a group called the Song Swappers, Travers backed Seeger on one album and two shows at Carnegie Hall. She also appeared (as one of a group of folk singers) in a short-lived 1958 Broadway show called "The Next President," starring comedian Mort Sahl.
It wasn't until she met up with Yarrow and Stookey that Travers would taste success on her own. Yarrow was managed by Albert B. Grossman, who later worked in the same capacity for Bob Dylan.
In the book "Positively 4th Street" by David Hajdu, Travers recalled that Grossman's strategy was to "find a nobody that he could nurture and make famous."
The budding trio, boosted by the arrangements of Milt Okun, spent seven months rehearsing in her Greenwich Village apartment before their 1961 public debut at the Bitter End.
Their beatnik look — a tall blonde flanked by a pair of goateed guitarists — was a part of their initial appeal. As The New York Times critic Robert Shelton put it not long afterward, "Sex appeal as a keystone for a folk-song group was the idea of the group's manager ... who searched for months for `the girl' until he decided on Miss Travers."
The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, both onstage and off. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem for racial equality. Other hits included "Lemon Tree," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff (The Magic Dragon.)"
They were early champions of Dylan and performed his "Blowin' in the Wind" at the August 1963 March on Washington.
And they were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the American mainstream.
The group collected five Grammy Awards for their three-part harmony on enduring songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "Blowin' in the Wind."
At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement.
It was heady stuff for a trio that had formed in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village, running through simple tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
Their debut album came out in 1962, and immediately scored a pair of hits with their versions of "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." The former won them Grammys for best folk recording, and best performance by a vocal group.
"Moving" was the follow-up, including the hit tale of innocence lost, "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" — which reached No. 2 on the charts, and generated since-discounted reports that it was an ode to marijuana.
Album No. 3, "In the Wind," featured three songs by the 22-year-old Dylan. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Blowin' in the Wind" both reached the top 10, bringing Dylan's material to a massive audience; the latter shipped 300,000 copies during one two-week period.
"Blowin' In the Wind" became an another civil rights anthem, and Peter, Paul and Mary fully embraced the cause. They marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., and performed with him in Washington.
In a 1966 New York Times interview, Travers said the three worked well together because they respected one another. "There has to be a certain amount of love just in order for you to survive together," she said. "I think a lot of groups have gone down the tubes because they were not able to relate to one another."
With the advent of the Beatles and Dylan's switch to electric guitar, the folk boom disappeared. Travers expressed disdain for folk-rock, telling the Chicago Daily News in 1966 that "it's so badly written. ... When the fad changed from folk to rock, they didn't take along any good writers."
But the trio continued their success, scoring with the tongue-in-cheek single "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," a gentle parody of the Mamas and the Papas, in 1967 and the John Denver-penned "Leaving on a Jet Plane" two years later.
They also continued as boosters for young songwriters, recording numbers written by then-little-known Gordon Lightfoot and Laura Nyro.
In 1969, the group earned their final Grammy for "Peter, Paul and Mommy," which won for best children's album. They disbanded in 1971, launching solo careers — Travers released five albums — that never achieved the heights of their collaborations.
Over the years they enjoyed several reunions, including a performance at a 1978 anti-nuclear benefit organized by Yarrow and a 35th anniversary album, "Lifelines," with fellow folkies Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dave Van Ronk and Seeger. A boxed set of their music was released in 2004.
They remained politically active as well, performing at the 1995 anniversary of the Kent State shootings and performing for California strawberry pickers.
Travers had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing after that.
"It was like a miracle," Travers told The Associated Press in 2006. "I'm just feeling fabulous. What's incredible is someone has given your life back. I'm out in the garden today. This time last year I was looking out a window at a hospital." She also said she told the marrow donor "how incredibly grateful I was."
But by mid-2009, Yarrow told WTOP radio in Washington that her condition had worsened again and he thought she would no longer be able to perform.
Travers lived for many years in Redding, Conn. She is survived by her husband, Ethan Robbins and daughters, Alicia and Erika.
The band's publicist, Heather Lylis, said Travers died at Danbury Hospital.
Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that in her final months, Travers handled her declining health with bravery and generosity, showing her love to friends and family "with great dignity and without restraint."
"It was, as Mary always was, honest and completely authentic," he said. "That's the way she sang, too; honestly and with complete authenticity."
Noel "Paul" Stookey, the trio's other member, praised Travers for her inspiring activism, "especially in her defense of the defenseless."
"I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career," he said.
Mary Allin Travers was born on Nov. 9, 1936 in Louisville, Ky., the daughter of journalists who moved the family to Manhattan's bohemian Greenwich Village. She quickly became enamored with folk performers like the Weavers, and was soon performing with Pete Seeger, a founding member of the Weavers who lived in the same building as the Travers family.
With a group called the Song Swappers, Travers backed Seeger on one album and two shows at Carnegie Hall. She also appeared (as one of a group of folk singers) in a short-lived 1958 Broadway show called "The Next President," starring comedian Mort Sahl.
It wasn't until she met up with Yarrow and Stookey that Travers would taste success on her own. Yarrow was managed by Albert B. Grossman, who later worked in the same capacity for Bob Dylan.
In the book "Positively 4th Street" by David Hajdu, Travers recalled that Grossman's strategy was to "find a nobody that he could nurture and make famous."
The budding trio, boosted by the arrangements of Milt Okun, spent seven months rehearsing in her Greenwich Village apartment before their 1961 public debut at the Bitter End.
Their beatnik look — a tall blonde flanked by a pair of goateed guitarists — was a part of their initial appeal. As The New York Times critic Robert Shelton put it not long afterward, "Sex appeal as a keystone for a folk-song group was the idea of the group's manager ... who searched for months for `the girl' until he decided on Miss Travers."
The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, both onstage and off. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem for racial equality. Other hits included "Lemon Tree," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff (The Magic Dragon.)"
They were early champions of Dylan and performed his "Blowin' in the Wind" at the August 1963 March on Washington.
And they were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the American mainstream.
The group collected five Grammy Awards for their three-part harmony on enduring songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "Blowin' in the Wind."
At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement.
It was heady stuff for a trio that had formed in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village, running through simple tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
Their debut album came out in 1962, and immediately scored a pair of hits with their versions of "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." The former won them Grammys for best folk recording, and best performance by a vocal group.
"Moving" was the follow-up, including the hit tale of innocence lost, "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" — which reached No. 2 on the charts, and generated since-discounted reports that it was an ode to marijuana.
Album No. 3, "In the Wind," featured three songs by the 22-year-old Dylan. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Blowin' in the Wind" both reached the top 10, bringing Dylan's material to a massive audience; the latter shipped 300,000 copies during one two-week period.
"Blowin' In the Wind" became an another civil rights anthem, and Peter, Paul and Mary fully embraced the cause. They marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., and performed with him in Washington.
In a 1966 New York Times interview, Travers said the three worked well together because they respected one another. "There has to be a certain amount of love just in order for you to survive together," she said. "I think a lot of groups have gone down the tubes because they were not able to relate to one another."
With the advent of the Beatles and Dylan's switch to electric guitar, the folk boom disappeared. Travers expressed disdain for folk-rock, telling the Chicago Daily News in 1966 that "it's so badly written. ... When the fad changed from folk to rock, they didn't take along any good writers."
But the trio continued their success, scoring with the tongue-in-cheek single "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," a gentle parody of the Mamas and the Papas, in 1967 and the John Denver-penned "Leaving on a Jet Plane" two years later.
They also continued as boosters for young songwriters, recording numbers written by then-little-known Gordon Lightfoot and Laura Nyro.
In 1969, the group earned their final Grammy for "Peter, Paul and Mommy," which won for best children's album. They disbanded in 1971, launching solo careers — Travers released five albums — that never achieved the heights of their collaborations.
Over the years they enjoyed several reunions, including a performance at a 1978 anti-nuclear benefit organized by Yarrow and a 35th anniversary album, "Lifelines," with fellow folkies Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dave Van Ronk and Seeger. A boxed set of their music was released in 2004.
They remained politically active as well, performing at the 1995 anniversary of the Kent State shootings and performing for California strawberry pickers.
Travers had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing after that.
"It was like a miracle," Travers told The Associated Press in 2006. "I'm just feeling fabulous. What's incredible is someone has given your life back. I'm out in the garden today. This time last year I was looking out a window at a hospital." She also said she told the marrow donor "how incredibly grateful I was."
But by mid-2009, Yarrow told WTOP radio in Washington that her condition had worsened again and he thought she would no longer be able to perform.
Travers lived for many years in Redding, Conn. She is survived by her husband, Ethan Robbins and daughters, Alicia and Erika.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Stars share memories of Patrick Swayze at Toronto film fest
TORONTO - Keanu Reeves remembered Patrick Swayze happily leaping out of planes during the filming of "Point Break." Drew Barrymore called the "Dirty Dancing" actor "the nicest man that one could ever meet." And Rob Lowe felt like he lost a brother.
Stars at the Toronto International Film Festival paused to share their memories of Swayze, who died on Monday at age 57 after battling pancreatic cancer.
Reeves, in town to promote "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee," spoke of Swayze's "lust for life in his craft." The pair appeared in the 1991 surfing film "Point Break."
Swayze made over 30 skydiving jumps during the course of filming, Reeves said.
"He wanted to experience life and ... he wanted to take the opportunity that the film gave him. ... In the film you see him jump out of the airplane and do some flips falling to the ground," recalled Reeves as he sat alongside "Pippa" co-star Robin Wright Penn at a news conference.
"He did it with an open heart. To me he was very generous. And to everyone around him, he just lit up a room."
Barrymore, in Toronto to screen her directorial debut "Whip It," said she met Swayze when she was seven years old, adding he was a hero to her and her friends because of his role as Darry Curtis in the 1983 teen flick "The Outsiders." The film, based on a novel by S.E. Hinton, made pin-ups of Swayze as well as co-stars Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell and Ralph Macchio.
Barrymore and Swayze ultimately worked together in the 2001 movie "Donnie Darko," and the actress said her co-star was "the nicest man that one could ever, ever, ever know."
"Our blessings are with the people around him that knew him and loved him the best," she said.
Lowe shared his memories of Swayze on Monday night on the red carpet for his festival film "The Invention of Lying."
In addition to "The Outsiders," the two appeared together in the hockey movie "Youngblood."
"Patrick lived a thousand lifetimes in one life," Lowe told Entertainment Tonight. "He played my brother twice, and so I feel like I lost a brother."
Stars at the Toronto International Film Festival paused to share their memories of Swayze, who died on Monday at age 57 after battling pancreatic cancer.
Reeves, in town to promote "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee," spoke of Swayze's "lust for life in his craft." The pair appeared in the 1991 surfing film "Point Break."
Swayze made over 30 skydiving jumps during the course of filming, Reeves said.
"He wanted to experience life and ... he wanted to take the opportunity that the film gave him. ... In the film you see him jump out of the airplane and do some flips falling to the ground," recalled Reeves as he sat alongside "Pippa" co-star Robin Wright Penn at a news conference.
"He did it with an open heart. To me he was very generous. And to everyone around him, he just lit up a room."
Barrymore, in Toronto to screen her directorial debut "Whip It," said she met Swayze when she was seven years old, adding he was a hero to her and her friends because of his role as Darry Curtis in the 1983 teen flick "The Outsiders." The film, based on a novel by S.E. Hinton, made pin-ups of Swayze as well as co-stars Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell and Ralph Macchio.
Barrymore and Swayze ultimately worked together in the 2001 movie "Donnie Darko," and the actress said her co-star was "the nicest man that one could ever, ever, ever know."
"Our blessings are with the people around him that knew him and loved him the best," she said.
Lowe shared his memories of Swayze on Monday night on the red carpet for his festival film "The Invention of Lying."
In addition to "The Outsiders," the two appeared together in the hockey movie "Youngblood."
"Patrick lived a thousand lifetimes in one life," Lowe told Entertainment Tonight. "He played my brother twice, and so I feel like I lost a brother."
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Ukraine nixes Elton John's adoption plans
Elton John and his Canadian partner, David Furnish, will likely meet with disappointment in their bid to adopt a 14-month-old Ukrainian child.
Ukraine's family, youth and sports minister, Yuriy Pavlenko, said John, at 62, is too old to adopt. Pavlenko also said Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions and only married couples can adopt.
"Foreign citizens who are single have no right to adopt children … and the age difference between the adopter and the child cannot be more than 45 years," he said. "The law is the same for everybody: for a president, for a minister, for Elton John."
John and Furnish wed in 2005 in one of Britain's first legalized civil partnerships, but Pavlenko's remarks indicate that Ukraine would not recognize the union.
John said an HIV-infected boy named Lev stole his heart when he toured a hospital in eastern Ukraine on Saturday.
Furnish also fell in love with the boy and expressed a wish to adopt him.
Ukraine has one of the fastest-rising rates of HIV infection in Europe.
Adoption of children with health problems is rare in Ukraine, and they are likely to spend their entire lives in orphanages.
John runs a foundation for AIDS prevention and patient care and supports several projects in Ukraine.
Ukraine's family, youth and sports minister, Yuriy Pavlenko, said John, at 62, is too old to adopt. Pavlenko also said Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions and only married couples can adopt.
"Foreign citizens who are single have no right to adopt children … and the age difference between the adopter and the child cannot be more than 45 years," he said. "The law is the same for everybody: for a president, for a minister, for Elton John."
John and Furnish wed in 2005 in one of Britain's first legalized civil partnerships, but Pavlenko's remarks indicate that Ukraine would not recognize the union.
John said an HIV-infected boy named Lev stole his heart when he toured a hospital in eastern Ukraine on Saturday.
Furnish also fell in love with the boy and expressed a wish to adopt him.
Ukraine has one of the fastest-rising rates of HIV infection in Europe.
Adoption of children with health problems is rare in Ukraine, and they are likely to spend their entire lives in orphanages.
John runs a foundation for AIDS prevention and patient care and supports several projects in Ukraine.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Family demands Vermeer from Vienna museum
Vienna's art museum is bracing for a protracted legal battle with the heirs of a man who reportedly sold his Vermeer painting to Adolf Hitler in 1940.
The Austrian Culture Ministry revealed earlier in September that it has received a formal request for the restitution of The Art of Painting by 17th century Flemish master Johannes Vermeer, which has been displayed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 1946.
Sabine Haag, director of the museum, called it "an absolute jewel."
The work depicts a painter painting his female model, who is standing by a window in his studio, with a map of the Netherlands on the wall. It is considered a masterpiece, noted among other things for the way in which it shows the play of light upon surfaces.
The Art of Painting was a favourite of Vermeer, who refused to sell it in his lifetime.
Sold to guarantee family's safety
The family of Jaromir Czernin has been petitioning for its restitution since the 1960s but the Austrian government kept rejecting the plea because it said the sale was voluntary.
Now the Czernin family says it has a report commissioned by an expert who says the sale was made under threat.
"[Jaromir] had to sell it in order to guarantee his family's safety," Czernin family lawyer Andreas Theiss told Der Standard newspaper.
Czernin was the brother-in-law of Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, who was in power from 1934 to 1938, and he opposed Hitler's annexation of his country. As well, Czernin was married to a woman of Jewish heritage.
He sold the painting for 1.65 million Reichsmark.
Under a 1998 restitution law, Austria has returned approximately 10,000 works of art stolen by the Nazis after the country was annexed by the Nazis in 1938.
One of the most notable cases was the restoration of five paintings by Gustav Klimt by the Belvedere Museum to the descendants of the previous owner.
Fewer than 40 paintings by Vermeer are known to exist. The work could be worth tens of millions of dollars.
The Austrian Culture Ministry revealed earlier in September that it has received a formal request for the restitution of The Art of Painting by 17th century Flemish master Johannes Vermeer, which has been displayed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 1946.
Sabine Haag, director of the museum, called it "an absolute jewel."
The work depicts a painter painting his female model, who is standing by a window in his studio, with a map of the Netherlands on the wall. It is considered a masterpiece, noted among other things for the way in which it shows the play of light upon surfaces.
The Art of Painting was a favourite of Vermeer, who refused to sell it in his lifetime.
Sold to guarantee family's safety
The family of Jaromir Czernin has been petitioning for its restitution since the 1960s but the Austrian government kept rejecting the plea because it said the sale was voluntary.
Now the Czernin family says it has a report commissioned by an expert who says the sale was made under threat.
"[Jaromir] had to sell it in order to guarantee his family's safety," Czernin family lawyer Andreas Theiss told Der Standard newspaper.
Czernin was the brother-in-law of Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, who was in power from 1934 to 1938, and he opposed Hitler's annexation of his country. As well, Czernin was married to a woman of Jewish heritage.
He sold the painting for 1.65 million Reichsmark.
Under a 1998 restitution law, Austria has returned approximately 10,000 works of art stolen by the Nazis after the country was annexed by the Nazis in 1938.
One of the most notable cases was the restoration of five paintings by Gustav Klimt by the Belvedere Museum to the descendants of the previous owner.
Fewer than 40 paintings by Vermeer are known to exist. The work could be worth tens of millions of dollars.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Michael Caine: I'll retire quietly when I stop finding roles that interest me
TORONTO - Michael Caine has had a prolific movie career, but the screen legend says he could quit at any time.
"I don't have to work, and I just sit there - if a movie comes in that I want to do, I will do it, if one never comes in that I want to do, then I'm retired," Caine, 76, told The Canadian Press on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
"But there won't be any announcement in the papers that Michael Caine is retired," he noted with a twinkle in his eye. "I'll be like the old soldier I am and fade away - very nicely, quietly."
Caine took a rare 18-month break before filming "Harry Brown," a thriller in which he plays an ex-marine pensioner who takes up arms against a group of young thugs who have murdered his only friend.
Since wrapping in March, he's been on another break. But he says he isn't ready to call it quits just yet.
"There's a script which I like very much, which is called 'Cold War Requiem,"' said Caine, adding that Susan Sarandon was interested in playing his wife in the film.
"It's about an old spy from the '60s in the Cold War, who's now retired - just like me, an old guy. And his enemies come back to kill him because of what he did in those days. ... It's a very good thriller. it might get done, it might not."
He will also be a part of the next instalment in the rebooted Batman franchise, in which he plays Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's beloved butler. He says that they won't film a sequel "for ages."
"I would imagine that would be about 2011," he said.
Meanwhile, he has a small role in "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, "Inception."
Caine said Nolan only needed him on set for one day.
"He said: 'There's no part for you, just do this day,' so I did that day," Caine said of the director.
"I'm his mascot. I'm his lucky charm."
"Harry Brown" is due in theatres this fall.
"I don't have to work, and I just sit there - if a movie comes in that I want to do, I will do it, if one never comes in that I want to do, then I'm retired," Caine, 76, told The Canadian Press on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
"But there won't be any announcement in the papers that Michael Caine is retired," he noted with a twinkle in his eye. "I'll be like the old soldier I am and fade away - very nicely, quietly."
Caine took a rare 18-month break before filming "Harry Brown," a thriller in which he plays an ex-marine pensioner who takes up arms against a group of young thugs who have murdered his only friend.
Since wrapping in March, he's been on another break. But he says he isn't ready to call it quits just yet.
"There's a script which I like very much, which is called 'Cold War Requiem,"' said Caine, adding that Susan Sarandon was interested in playing his wife in the film.
"It's about an old spy from the '60s in the Cold War, who's now retired - just like me, an old guy. And his enemies come back to kill him because of what he did in those days. ... It's a very good thriller. it might get done, it might not."
He will also be a part of the next instalment in the rebooted Batman franchise, in which he plays Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's beloved butler. He says that they won't film a sequel "for ages."
"I would imagine that would be about 2011," he said.
Meanwhile, he has a small role in "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, "Inception."
Caine said Nolan only needed him on set for one day.
"He said: 'There's no part for you, just do this day,' so I did that day," Caine said of the director.
"I'm his mascot. I'm his lucky charm."
"Harry Brown" is due in theatres this fall.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
"Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" a mediocre thriller
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – In theory, digging into the RKO archives for remake possibilities is a fine idea, but this redo of Fritz Lang's 1956 film noir "Beyond A Reasonable Doubt" is no improvement on a potboiler that was no great shakes to begin with.
Director-screenwriter Peter Hyams has said that he wanted to redo this legal thriller with younger stars, but the lack of charisma exhibited by leads Jesse Metcalfe and Amber Tamblyn doesn't help matters, and not even the stalwart presence of Michael Douglas fails to provide the proceedings with sufficient gravitas.
The film opens in five markets Friday via Anchor Bay Films.
As is typical with remakes, this incarnation suffers from a bloated 105-minute running time nearly a half-hour longer than the original, and several gratuitous actions sequences that don't add appreciably to the suspense level.
The convoluted plot revolves around the efforts of ambitious TV reporter C.J. Nicholas (Metcalfe) to get the goods on a corrupt and politically ambitious district attorney (Douglas) whom he suspects of planting evidence. Along with his eager-beaver cameraman (Joel David Moore), C.J. improbably sets out to get himself accused of the murder of a prostitute, contriving evidence after the fact that will reveal the D.A.'s crooked methods.
Needless to say, his plan goes awry when he's sentenced to the death penalty and the exculpating evidence is gotten rid of by the D.A.'s chain-smoking henchman. Complicating matters further is C.J.'s burgeoning romantic relationship with a lawyer (Tamblyn) working for the D.A. who naturally finds herself facing a serious conflict of interest.
The far-fetched plot might have worked if it had been executed with more stylistic finesse and if the performances were more engaging, but Metcalfe's protagonist is hard to root for, Tamblyn's love interest is bland, and Douglas is unable to make his one-dimensional role remotely credible.
Hyams' screenplay mainly ignores the social aspects of the original, which took a highly dim view of the death penalty. As is usual for the helmer, he also serves as his own cinematographer, with the results displaying his usual technical slickness.
Director-screenwriter Peter Hyams has said that he wanted to redo this legal thriller with younger stars, but the lack of charisma exhibited by leads Jesse Metcalfe and Amber Tamblyn doesn't help matters, and not even the stalwart presence of Michael Douglas fails to provide the proceedings with sufficient gravitas.
The film opens in five markets Friday via Anchor Bay Films.
As is typical with remakes, this incarnation suffers from a bloated 105-minute running time nearly a half-hour longer than the original, and several gratuitous actions sequences that don't add appreciably to the suspense level.
The convoluted plot revolves around the efforts of ambitious TV reporter C.J. Nicholas (Metcalfe) to get the goods on a corrupt and politically ambitious district attorney (Douglas) whom he suspects of planting evidence. Along with his eager-beaver cameraman (Joel David Moore), C.J. improbably sets out to get himself accused of the murder of a prostitute, contriving evidence after the fact that will reveal the D.A.'s crooked methods.
Needless to say, his plan goes awry when he's sentenced to the death penalty and the exculpating evidence is gotten rid of by the D.A.'s chain-smoking henchman. Complicating matters further is C.J.'s burgeoning romantic relationship with a lawyer (Tamblyn) working for the D.A. who naturally finds herself facing a serious conflict of interest.
The far-fetched plot might have worked if it had been executed with more stylistic finesse and if the performances were more engaging, but Metcalfe's protagonist is hard to root for, Tamblyn's love interest is bland, and Douglas is unable to make his one-dimensional role remotely credible.
Hyams' screenplay mainly ignores the social aspects of the original, which took a highly dim view of the death penalty. As is usual for the helmer, he also serves as his own cinematographer, with the results displaying his usual technical slickness.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Toronto International Film Festival opens
Toronto returns to the cinema world spotlight Thursday as the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway for 10 days of movie screenings, deal-making and celebrity-watching.
More than 330 titles from around the globe will unspool as part of the 34th edition of the annual movie-fest, known for being one of the most public film festivals on the international circuit and also as a successful launch pad and testing ground for films aspiring to the Academy Awards and other prominent year-end film honours.
"The No. 1 thing about the Toronto film fest — and it's become a cliché, but it actually is true — is it's just the best audiences in the world," Quentin Tarantino said in an interview while in Toronto in August.
"If you're looking at the Midnight Madness movies, they're here for it. If you're seeing the new Eric Rohmer [film], they're there for it. Whatever the proper audience for the movie is, the Toronto audience brings it."
This year's festival arrives at an odd crossroads, in that it is showcasing films largely made and financed before the global economic collapse, but a significant segment of which are still searching for distribution deals — possibly because of a still-anxious industry.
Industry representatives, on the other hand, are on the lookout for gems like Slumdog Millionaire, which grew from award-winning audience favourite at TIFF in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim and Oscar domination.
The festival's nearly 100 world premieres this year include anticipated Hollywood titles such as A Serious Man from Joel and Ethan Coen, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It! (featuring Canadian Ellen Page) and Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, one of two TIFF offerings starring George Clooney.
In addition to Clooney, Barrymore and Page, celebrities slated to make a red carpet appearance include Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces), Julianne Moore (Chloe), Michael Caine (Harry Brown) and Oprah Winfrey, executive producer of another of the films with buzz this year, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.
"I think everyone can find something here that’s going to speak to them," festival co-director Cameron Bailey told CBC in a recent interview.
TIFF gets underway Thursday evening with the gala world premiere of the Charles Darwin drama Creation, which scored a last-minute, pre-festival distribution deal earlier this week. The festival continues through Sept. 19, closing with Quebec director Jean-Marc Vallée's royal costume drama The Young Victoria.
More than 330 titles from around the globe will unspool as part of the 34th edition of the annual movie-fest, known for being one of the most public film festivals on the international circuit and also as a successful launch pad and testing ground for films aspiring to the Academy Awards and other prominent year-end film honours.
"The No. 1 thing about the Toronto film fest — and it's become a cliché, but it actually is true — is it's just the best audiences in the world," Quentin Tarantino said in an interview while in Toronto in August.
"If you're looking at the Midnight Madness movies, they're here for it. If you're seeing the new Eric Rohmer [film], they're there for it. Whatever the proper audience for the movie is, the Toronto audience brings it."
This year's festival arrives at an odd crossroads, in that it is showcasing films largely made and financed before the global economic collapse, but a significant segment of which are still searching for distribution deals — possibly because of a still-anxious industry.
Industry representatives, on the other hand, are on the lookout for gems like Slumdog Millionaire, which grew from award-winning audience favourite at TIFF in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim and Oscar domination.
The festival's nearly 100 world premieres this year include anticipated Hollywood titles such as A Serious Man from Joel and Ethan Coen, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It! (featuring Canadian Ellen Page) and Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, one of two TIFF offerings starring George Clooney.
In addition to Clooney, Barrymore and Page, celebrities slated to make a red carpet appearance include Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces), Julianne Moore (Chloe), Michael Caine (Harry Brown) and Oprah Winfrey, executive producer of another of the films with buzz this year, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.
"I think everyone can find something here that’s going to speak to them," festival co-director Cameron Bailey told CBC in a recent interview.
TIFF gets underway Thursday evening with the gala world premiere of the Charles Darwin drama Creation, which scored a last-minute, pre-festival distribution deal earlier this week. The festival continues through Sept. 19, closing with Quebec director Jean-Marc Vallée's royal costume drama The Young Victoria.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ellen DeGeneres joins "American Idol" as 4th judge
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Comedian Ellen DeGeneres, one of the top U.S. talk show hosts, was named on Wednesday as the new fourth judge on "American Idol," replacing Paula Abdul, who quit the most-watched American television show last month.
Fox television executives and the producers of the hit singing talent show had been searching for a permanent, new judge to sit in Abdul's seat when the ninth season of the show returns to TV in January 2010.
"As the new judge, Ellen will offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition," Fox said in a statement.
DeGeneres, whose award-winning talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is in its seventh season, described herself as a longtime fan of the show.
"So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I'll save from not having to text my vote," she said in the statement.
"American Idol" has become an audience juggernaut for News Corp's Fox network, with an average 26.3 million viewers per episode, and has grown into an estimated $1 billion-plus brand that is aired in about 100 countries.
Abdul abruptly quit the show after seven years when she failed to secure a new contract with a big enough pay raise.
After HER departure, the show's producers said they would bring in several pop stars and performers to fill guest judge spots on "Idol."
Fox said this list included Katy Perry, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, Shania Twain, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne and Kristin Chenoweth.
DeGeneres will take her seat at the judge's table after the audition rounds start.
"Idol" producers have renewed the contract of songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi, who was added to the judging panel this year to help boost sliding viewership.
The two other judges -- the often-acerbic Briton Simon Cowell and the laid-back Randy Jackson -- are still under contract and host Ryan Seacrest also will be returning.
Fox television executives and the producers of the hit singing talent show had been searching for a permanent, new judge to sit in Abdul's seat when the ninth season of the show returns to TV in January 2010.
"As the new judge, Ellen will offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition," Fox said in a statement.
DeGeneres, whose award-winning talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is in its seventh season, described herself as a longtime fan of the show.
"So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I'll save from not having to text my vote," she said in the statement.
"American Idol" has become an audience juggernaut for News Corp's Fox network, with an average 26.3 million viewers per episode, and has grown into an estimated $1 billion-plus brand that is aired in about 100 countries.
Abdul abruptly quit the show after seven years when she failed to secure a new contract with a big enough pay raise.
After HER departure, the show's producers said they would bring in several pop stars and performers to fill guest judge spots on "Idol."
Fox said this list included Katy Perry, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, Shania Twain, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne and Kristin Chenoweth.
DeGeneres will take her seat at the judge's table after the audition rounds start.
"Idol" producers have renewed the contract of songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi, who was added to the judging panel this year to help boost sliding viewership.
The two other judges -- the often-acerbic Briton Simon Cowell and the laid-back Randy Jackson -- are still under contract and host Ryan Seacrest also will be returning.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett dies aged 82
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett, who became a familiar figure on British television in the 1960s and most recently appeared in the big-budget movie "Australia," has died at the age of 82.
Barrett died in a hospital on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland after falling at his home and suffering a brain hemorrhage, his agent Jane Cameron told Australian media.
Barrett studied music, elocution and acting before moving to England, where the craggy-faced actor became a popular television star in the 1960s, appearing in a long list of shows.
He was the voice of some characters in the popular children's puppet series "Thunderbirds" and "Stingray," starred in the long-running BBC show "The Troubleshooters" and appeared in "Dr Who," "The Saint" and "Dixon of Dock Green," among others.
He moved back to Australia in the mid-1970s, appearing in various TV shows over the years as well as the screen adaptation of John Williamson's play "Don's Party" and the movie "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith."
His last major role was as the character Ramsden in Baz Luhrmann's epic "Australia," released last year.
"Ray Barrett was one of Australia's great leading men ... Few Australian actors were as capable of delivering understatement and highly crafted meaning," wrote actor/director Graeme Blundell, who appeared with Barrett in "Don's Party," in an obituary.
Barrett was awarded the Australian Film Institute's Longford Life Achievement Award in 2005 for his long and distinguished acting career.
Barrett died in a hospital on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland after falling at his home and suffering a brain hemorrhage, his agent Jane Cameron told Australian media.
Barrett studied music, elocution and acting before moving to England, where the craggy-faced actor became a popular television star in the 1960s, appearing in a long list of shows.
He was the voice of some characters in the popular children's puppet series "Thunderbirds" and "Stingray," starred in the long-running BBC show "The Troubleshooters" and appeared in "Dr Who," "The Saint" and "Dixon of Dock Green," among others.
He moved back to Australia in the mid-1970s, appearing in various TV shows over the years as well as the screen adaptation of John Williamson's play "Don's Party" and the movie "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith."
His last major role was as the character Ramsden in Baz Luhrmann's epic "Australia," released last year.
"Ray Barrett was one of Australia's great leading men ... Few Australian actors were as capable of delivering understatement and highly crafted meaning," wrote actor/director Graeme Blundell, who appeared with Barrett in "Don's Party," in an obituary.
Barrett was awarded the Australian Film Institute's Longford Life Achievement Award in 2005 for his long and distinguished acting career.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Gypsy Holocaust drama wins top prizes at Montreal
TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - French director Tony Gatlif's "Korkoro" (Freedom), a film about gypsies rounded up in Nazi-occupied France, earned top honors at the Montreal World Film Festival on Monday.
The film, which is set for a theatrical release in France in December, stars Alain Blazquez, Marie-Josee Croze and Marc Lavoine. It won the Grand Prix des Americas prize from the jury as well as the top audience award.
The Montreal jury, led by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, gave the best actress award to Marie Leuenberger for her performance in Micha Lewinsky's "Die Standesbeamtin," from Switzerland, while the best actor trophy went to Cyron Melville for his star turn in Danish director Morten Giese's "Vangittig Forelsket."
The best director trophy went to Japanese director Kichitaro Negishi for "Viyon no Tsuma" (Villon's Wife), a big-screen adaptation of the Osamu Dazai novel.
The film, which is set for a theatrical release in France in December, stars Alain Blazquez, Marie-Josee Croze and Marc Lavoine. It won the Grand Prix des Americas prize from the jury as well as the top audience award.
The Montreal jury, led by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, gave the best actress award to Marie Leuenberger for her performance in Micha Lewinsky's "Die Standesbeamtin," from Switzerland, while the best actor trophy went to Cyron Melville for his star turn in Danish director Morten Giese's "Vangittig Forelsket."
The best director trophy went to Japanese director Kichitaro Negishi for "Viyon no Tsuma" (Villon's Wife), a big-screen adaptation of the Osamu Dazai novel.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Jackson glove grabs $53,000 at Aussie auction
One of the iconic white gloves worn by the late Michael Jackson has been sold for $53,210 (57,600 Australian dollars) at an auction in Melbourne.
The King of Pop tossed the crystal-laden glove to a fan in Sydney in 1996.
Bidding at auction house Bonhams and Goodman on Saturday started at $27,700 and was soon soaring as bids rolled in.
Bonhams and Goodman spokeswoman Charlotte Stanes says there were six bidders in all, four of them from overseas.
In the end, Warwick Stone, a buyer for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, came out on top.
Jackson, who died in June at aged 50, was in Sydney in 1996 during his HIStory world tour when he attended the Australian premiere for the film Ghosts, which he was starring in.
Bill Hibble, a film and music collector, was sitting near Jackson's entourage along with a friend.
They were one of the few people who laughed along with the movie and as a result, the singer flung them his glove. According to the auction house, it is the same glove Jackson wore when he married Debbie Rowe earlier the same day. Rowe is the mother to two of Jackson's oldest children.
Hibble, who is now dead, caught the glove. Hibble's mother sold the item. At least three other similar gloves have been auctioned this year.
Jackson was buried on Thursday at a cemetery in Los Angeles, two months after his death from a drug overdose. Authorities have ruled his death a homicide and police are investigating several doctors. Police say they will seek criminal charges.
The King of Pop tossed the crystal-laden glove to a fan in Sydney in 1996.
Bidding at auction house Bonhams and Goodman on Saturday started at $27,700 and was soon soaring as bids rolled in.
Bonhams and Goodman spokeswoman Charlotte Stanes says there were six bidders in all, four of them from overseas.
In the end, Warwick Stone, a buyer for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, came out on top.
Jackson, who died in June at aged 50, was in Sydney in 1996 during his HIStory world tour when he attended the Australian premiere for the film Ghosts, which he was starring in.
Bill Hibble, a film and music collector, was sitting near Jackson's entourage along with a friend.
They were one of the few people who laughed along with the movie and as a result, the singer flung them his glove. According to the auction house, it is the same glove Jackson wore when he married Debbie Rowe earlier the same day. Rowe is the mother to two of Jackson's oldest children.
Hibble, who is now dead, caught the glove. Hibble's mother sold the item. At least three other similar gloves have been auctioned this year.
Jackson was buried on Thursday at a cemetery in Los Angeles, two months after his death from a drug overdose. Authorities have ruled his death a homicide and police are investigating several doctors. Police say they will seek criminal charges.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Amazon to restore Orwell books to Kindle library
In a major mea culpa move, Amazon says it will replace digital versions of two George Orwell books that it removed from its Kindle electronic digital readers at no charge for affected customers.
The online book service emailed clients saying it would provide copies of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm as recompense for its controversial actions in July.
Customers could also opt for a $30 US gift certificate or a cheque, instead of getting the two books.
Attached to the email was a copy of an apology by the company's CEO Jeff Bezos in the days after the erasure in which he called the deletions "stupid, thoughtless and painfully out of line with our principles."
The company had said it was forced to remove the books from its e-book service because another company had uploaded the novels to Amazon's catalogue and that company did not have the rights to sell them. However, that explanation differed from what Kindle users had been told by Amazon's customer service department, which implied that the removal was the publisher's choice.
The erasures triggered a wave of criticism that compared Amazon's actions to the totalitarian government featured in Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which documents deemed inappropriate are dropped into a "memory hole" and were gone forever.
The company was also sued by a high school student who said he had taken notes on his Kindle and they were also gone along with his copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The online book service emailed clients saying it would provide copies of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm as recompense for its controversial actions in July.
Customers could also opt for a $30 US gift certificate or a cheque, instead of getting the two books.
Attached to the email was a copy of an apology by the company's CEO Jeff Bezos in the days after the erasure in which he called the deletions "stupid, thoughtless and painfully out of line with our principles."
The company had said it was forced to remove the books from its e-book service because another company had uploaded the novels to Amazon's catalogue and that company did not have the rights to sell them. However, that explanation differed from what Kindle users had been told by Amazon's customer service department, which implied that the removal was the publisher's choice.
The erasures triggered a wave of criticism that compared Amazon's actions to the totalitarian government featured in Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which documents deemed inappropriate are dropped into a "memory hole" and were gone forever.
The company was also sued by a high school student who said he had taken notes on his Kindle and they were also gone along with his copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Crowe beats gossip columnist in bike duel
An Australian newspaper columnist is eating crow after accepting a challenge from Russell Crowe to a 20-kilometre bike ride.
The Gladiatorstar wanted a race after a story in Sydney's Daily Telegraph mocked him for eating and smoking on a bike ride with his personal trainer.
The piece, by gossip columnist Annette Sharp, was headlined "smokes and fatty foods the fitness regime for Rusty" and showed a picture of Crowe pausing for tacos and a smoke on a Sydney street.
Crowe's representative called Sharp the following day and said: "Get on your bike. Russell wants you to go riding with him. Are you ready to die?"
Sharp agreed to meet Crowe at dawn for the race, but was soon struggling to keep up with the actor.
At one point during the trip, she fell off the bike.
"I was sliding exuberantly down the track when, with a thump, I came off the seat and landed painfully on the crossbar," Sharp wrote in her column. "This was surely it — his victory moment, with me sprawled in the dirt."
However, Crowe was a gentleman about the incident, turning back to help her up and check her knees for injury.
He even told her she was a better biker than Australian director Baz Luhrmann. "You're twice the man Baz is," he said.
Crowe is a well-known figure around Sydney, where he lives and co-owns a rugby league team called the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
He is also known for his fiery temper although he has a usually cordial relationship with Sydney's journalists.
Sharp said she accepted the challenge as part of the price of being a gossip columnist.
"When you make a living throwing stones you expect that one day someone is going to lob one back," she wrote.
The Gladiatorstar wanted a race after a story in Sydney's Daily Telegraph mocked him for eating and smoking on a bike ride with his personal trainer.
The piece, by gossip columnist Annette Sharp, was headlined "smokes and fatty foods the fitness regime for Rusty" and showed a picture of Crowe pausing for tacos and a smoke on a Sydney street.
Crowe's representative called Sharp the following day and said: "Get on your bike. Russell wants you to go riding with him. Are you ready to die?"
Sharp agreed to meet Crowe at dawn for the race, but was soon struggling to keep up with the actor.
At one point during the trip, she fell off the bike.
"I was sliding exuberantly down the track when, with a thump, I came off the seat and landed painfully on the crossbar," Sharp wrote in her column. "This was surely it — his victory moment, with me sprawled in the dirt."
However, Crowe was a gentleman about the incident, turning back to help her up and check her knees for injury.
He even told her she was a better biker than Australian director Baz Luhrmann. "You're twice the man Baz is," he said.
Crowe is a well-known figure around Sydney, where he lives and co-owns a rugby league team called the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
He is also known for his fiery temper although he has a usually cordial relationship with Sydney's journalists.
Sharp said she accepted the challenge as part of the price of being a gossip columnist.
"When you make a living throwing stones you expect that one day someone is going to lob one back," she wrote.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Jackson family procession belatedly arrives at funeral; Liz Taylor, other celebs kept waiting
GLENDALE, Calif. - Michael Jackson's family has arrived more than hour late for the pop singer's funeral, keeping 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and other celebrities waiting on a hot summer evening.
A police escort ushered the motorcade of 31 cars, including Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, to Forest Lawn Glendale on Thursday.
The planned start of the service came and went as the crowd of about 200 awaited the arrival of Jackson's parents Joe and Katherine and the singer's children. The motorcade from their Encino compound departed more than a half-hour after the funeral was to begin.
Temperatures hovered at 90 just before sunset, with some mourners fanning themselves with programs for the service. Other mourners included Barry Bonds, Macaulay Culkin and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
A police escort ushered the motorcade of 31 cars, including Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, to Forest Lawn Glendale on Thursday.
The planned start of the service came and went as the crowd of about 200 awaited the arrival of Jackson's parents Joe and Katherine and the singer's children. The motorcade from their Encino compound departed more than a half-hour after the funeral was to begin.
Temperatures hovered at 90 just before sunset, with some mourners fanning themselves with programs for the service. Other mourners included Barry Bonds, Macaulay Culkin and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
'Go exactly with the flow'
The OSM also performed Take the Dog Sled, an original composition by Canadian composer Alexina Louie that incorporated throat singing by Evie Mark and Taqralik Partridge.
"Kent Nagano's really well known internationally," Mark said of the orchestra's Japanese-American conductor.
"It's like, 'Oh my God, when he cues me, am I going to make the cue? Will I make a mistake?' Because once I'm cued, I have to go exactly with the flow."
Mark, who was raised in Ivujivik, said she quickly agreed to join the OSM's Arctic tour because she likes to try new things.
She prepared for the experience by attending some symphony concerts in advance, she said.
"I said, 'OK, I'm going to try to make [an] effort to go to the orchestra so that I can appreciate it more so that I don't kind of fall asleep,'" Mark said.
"So I went to the orchestra maybe three or four times, and I really started appreciating it only after I realized how complicated music, classical music can be."
"Kent Nagano's really well known internationally," Mark said of the orchestra's Japanese-American conductor.
"It's like, 'Oh my God, when he cues me, am I going to make the cue? Will I make a mistake?' Because once I'm cued, I have to go exactly with the flow."
Mark, who was raised in Ivujivik, said she quickly agreed to join the OSM's Arctic tour because she likes to try new things.
She prepared for the experience by attending some symphony concerts in advance, she said.
"I said, 'OK, I'm going to try to make [an] effort to go to the orchestra so that I can appreciate it more so that I don't kind of fall asleep,'" Mark said.
"So I went to the orchestra maybe three or four times, and I really started appreciating it only after I realized how complicated music, classical music can be."
Film on Montreal symphony's Nunavik tour makes debut
A unique documentary that pairs l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) with Inuit throat singers and storytellers will premier this weekend at an international film festival in Montreal.
Tusarnituuq! Nagano In The Land Of The Inuit follows the OSM — led by renowned conductor Kent Nagano — and Canadian Inuit performers as they toured three remote communities in Nunavik, a predominantly Inuit region in northern Quebec, in September 2008.
The 52-minute documentary debuts Saturday at the Cinéma Quartier Latin in Montreal, as part of the World Film Festival.
Director Félix Lajeunesse said the collaboration was challenging because of the differences between throat singing and classical music, but audience members in Inukjuaq, Kangirsuqjuaq and Kuujjuaq loved it.
"The crowd was responding so well to the music, it was very moving to see," Lajeunesse told CBC News.
"These people really, I think, felt the generosity of this initiative and responded very positively to it."
The Nunavik tour, the first such foray for the Montreal orchestra, included performances of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat with Inuktitut-language narration by Jobie Weetaaluktuk.
Tusarnituuq! Nagano In The Land Of The Inuit follows the OSM — led by renowned conductor Kent Nagano — and Canadian Inuit performers as they toured three remote communities in Nunavik, a predominantly Inuit region in northern Quebec, in September 2008.
The 52-minute documentary debuts Saturday at the Cinéma Quartier Latin in Montreal, as part of the World Film Festival.
Director Félix Lajeunesse said the collaboration was challenging because of the differences between throat singing and classical music, but audience members in Inukjuaq, Kangirsuqjuaq and Kuujjuaq loved it.
"The crowd was responding so well to the music, it was very moving to see," Lajeunesse told CBC News.
"These people really, I think, felt the generosity of this initiative and responded very positively to it."
The Nunavik tour, the first such foray for the Montreal orchestra, included performances of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat with Inuktitut-language narration by Jobie Weetaaluktuk.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
"Mad Men" renewed by AMC for fourth season
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The office boozing and hijinks on "Mad Men" will continue for a fourth season on AMC next summer, the cable channel said on Tuesday.
The renewal of the 1960s-set advertising drama is not exactly a shock given that series creator Matthew Weiner earlier this year signed a contract with producer Lionsgate to return for the third and fourth seasons.
Ratings have also improved dramatically for the show that kicked off its third season last month, and Emmy voters recently showered the series with 16 nominations, including best drama.
The first three episodes of the third season averaged 2.1 million viewers, up 40 percent from the same period last year, an AMC spokeswoman said. Still, that's a drop in the bucket compared to leading shows on the broadcast and cable networks.
Three "Mad Men" stars will vie for Emmys on September 20, including Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss for their respective lead roles as a mysterious Madison Avenue executive and ambitious copywriter, and John Slattery for his supporting turn as the office's libidinous partner.
"Mad Men" also received 16 nominations last year, and won six categories including best drama, the first time the coveted prize ever went to a basic-cable program.
AMC is a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp's Rainbow Media Holdings LLC. Lionsgate is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
The renewal of the 1960s-set advertising drama is not exactly a shock given that series creator Matthew Weiner earlier this year signed a contract with producer Lionsgate to return for the third and fourth seasons.
Ratings have also improved dramatically for the show that kicked off its third season last month, and Emmy voters recently showered the series with 16 nominations, including best drama.
The first three episodes of the third season averaged 2.1 million viewers, up 40 percent from the same period last year, an AMC spokeswoman said. Still, that's a drop in the bucket compared to leading shows on the broadcast and cable networks.
Three "Mad Men" stars will vie for Emmys on September 20, including Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss for their respective lead roles as a mysterious Madison Avenue executive and ambitious copywriter, and John Slattery for his supporting turn as the office's libidinous partner.
"Mad Men" also received 16 nominations last year, and won six categories including best drama, the first time the coveted prize ever went to a basic-cable program.
AMC is a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp's Rainbow Media Holdings LLC. Lionsgate is a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
"Teen Wolf" in pilot's seat at MTV
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – MTV's reinvention of the 1985 movie "Teen Wolf" is inching closer to reality.
The cable network announced the project in January as part of its development slate. After seeing the script, MTV brass have picked it up as a pilot presentation.
The film starred Michael J. Fox as a teenager who discovers he is a werewolf. The MTV version will be set in high school, draw from the horror genre to explore werewolf mythology and include a romantic plot line.
"It has a fresh take and is very different from the original," said Liz Gateley, senior vp MTV series development. "It has more of an 'American Werewolf in Paris' feel to it. It's a dramatic thriller with two best friends in the center who provide a great comedy element: They are two very relatable characters on the outer circles of popular cliques."
The new "Wolf" was written by "Criminal Minds" creator Jeff Davis.
The '80s continue to be hot at the broadcast networks, with contemporary remakes of the feature "Parenthood" and miniseries "V" set to launch next season on NBC and ABC, respectively, and series in developments based on the films "St. Elmo's Fire" (ABC) and "Heathers" (Fox).
The cable network announced the project in January as part of its development slate. After seeing the script, MTV brass have picked it up as a pilot presentation.
The film starred Michael J. Fox as a teenager who discovers he is a werewolf. The MTV version will be set in high school, draw from the horror genre to explore werewolf mythology and include a romantic plot line.
"It has a fresh take and is very different from the original," said Liz Gateley, senior vp MTV series development. "It has more of an 'American Werewolf in Paris' feel to it. It's a dramatic thriller with two best friends in the center who provide a great comedy element: They are two very relatable characters on the outer circles of popular cliques."
The new "Wolf" was written by "Criminal Minds" creator Jeff Davis.
The '80s continue to be hot at the broadcast networks, with contemporary remakes of the feature "Parenthood" and miniseries "V" set to launch next season on NBC and ABC, respectively, and series in developments based on the films "St. Elmo's Fire" (ABC) and "Heathers" (Fox).
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