Sep 30 2009
Russell Crowe, now in Pittsburgh for the Paul Haggis film called "The Next Three Days," is the butt of a one-liner in "Zombieland."
When four of the last (or the last) human survivors on the planet crash a Hollywood A-lister's house and scour the kitchen for Twinkies, they find none. That leads a character played by Emma Stone to crack, "See, I told you we should have gone to Russell Crowe's."
Woody Harrelson is the one dying for a Twinkie in Hostess product placement heaven. First, he and Jesse Eisenberg come across a crashed Hostess truck but it has only pink Sno Balls (not my snack of choice either).
"Zombieland" opens Friday and stars Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg from "Adventureland" along with Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. It's R-rated, gross at times and surprisingly funny.
Sep 30 2009
This has little to do with Pittsburgh but it's still a fun photo by Kevin Kolczynski, Universal Orlando.
Actor John C. Reilly was in Florida for the opening night of Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights on Friday (when we were still in the midst of G-20 craziness). He met with sideshow freaks inspired by his upcoming film, "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant."
In addition to Reilly, co-stars Chris Massoglia and Josh Hutcherson were on hand. In case you plan on visiting the park, Halloween Horror Nights is devoted to bringing popular horror films to life. It runs select evenings through Oct. 31.
Sep 30 2009
From the Associated Press:
"My So-Called Life" actress Claire Danes and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" actor Hugh Dancy have married.
Danes' spokeswoman Jodi Gottlieb says the 30-year-old Danes has married the 34-year-old Dancy more than two years after the couple met while filming "Evening." Gottlieb would not provide any additional details about the nuptials.The couple announced their engagement in February.
Dancy played a man with Asperger's syndrome earlier this year in "Adam."
Sep 29 2009
Sunday, November 29 at 5:00 PM - Mellon Arena
Tickets on sale THIS SATURDAY, October 3 -10:00 AM
Special Star Wars: In Concert On Sale Event
at Mellon Arena Saturday Morning - 9:00-11:00 AM
Star Wars: In Concert is a massive multi-media event with stunning visuals, a live full symphony orchestra and choir featuring music from all six of John Williams' epic Star Wars scores, narrated live by Anthony Daniels (the actor who portrayed C-3PO in all six films), plus an exclusive exhibit of Star Wars costumes, props, production artwork and several new and never-before-seen items!
Tickets will go on sale this Saturday, October 3 at the Mellon Arena Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, including select Giant Eagle, Macy's and FYE locations, by phone at (800) 745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com.
In conjunction with the 10:00 a.m. onsale Saturday, a special show "preview" will take place on the large video screen outside of Gate 3 at Mellon Arena from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. The official Star Wars costumed fan club, "The 501st," will be in attendance and special ticket discounts will be available to patrons purchasing their tickets at the Mellon Arena Box Office on Saturday only.
View the 4-minute Star Wars: In Concert "sizzle reel":
http://www.starwarsinconcert.com/#_media_videos_sizzle
For more information please visit
www.StarWarsInConcert.com or www.mellonarena.com
Sep 27 2009
T
hose pricier 3-D tickets (and good reviews) again boosted "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" to the No. 1 spot at the box office. Here are the top five, from Box Office Mojo, with final numbers due Monday as always.
1. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," $24.6 million.
2. "Surrogates" (starring Bruce Willis with and without hair), $15.0 million
3. "Fame," $10 million.
4. "The Informant!" $6.9 million.
5. "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself," $4.8 million.
Sep 27 2009
The long arm of the law nabs Roman Polanski, just days after the death of Susan Atkins, one of the members of Charles Manson's family who helped kill his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, in 1969. If you want to know more about Polanski, check out the documentary called "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" from 2008.
From the Associated Press:
By ERNST E. ABEGG and BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
ZURICH (AP) - Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police as he flew in for the Zurich Film Festival and faces possible extradition to the United States for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, authorities said Sunday.
Polanski was scheduled to receive an honorary award at the festival when he was apprehended Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement. It said U.S. authorities have sought the arrest of the 76-year-old director around the world since 2005.
"There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming," ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told The Associated Press. "That's why he was taken into custody."
Polanski, the director of such classic films as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," fled the U.S. for France in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the underage girl.
Polanski has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn a judges' refusal to throw out his case. He claims misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it.
His victim, Samantha Geimer, who long ago identified herself publicly, has joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal, saying she wants the case to be over. She sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement.
Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said the director will remain in Zurich until the conclusion of the extradition proceedings. The United States now has 60 days to file a formal request for Polanski's transfer, she said.
A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington declined to comment on the case Sunday.
Polanski's French lawyer, Georges Kiejman, told France-Inter radio that it was "too early to know" if Polanski would be extradited.
"The proceedings must take their course," he said Sunday. "For now we are trying to have the arrest warrant lifted in Zurich."
Kiejman later told The Associated Press that France does not extradite its citizens and that U.S. authorities had never asked France to prosecute Polanski at home.
Balmer said Polanski's arrest was not influenced by politics, even though the director has often traveled or stayed in the country. Novelist Robert Harris, whose book "Ghost" is being made into a movie by the director, told Britain's Press Association that Polanski owns a house in Gstaad, which he has visited regularly while filming in Germany, and that there was never any warning he faced arrest.
In the Swiss capital of Bern, Widmer-Schlumpf told reporters that Switzerland had only one legal option for dealing with Polanski's visit, and rejected the idea that there was any U.S. pressure in ordering the arrest.
"I know his films, they impressed me very much," she said, but she underlined that Polanski could not be given special treatment because of his artistic talent, especially because the warrant was not for a trivial complaint.
Switzerland joined Europe's passport-free area in 2008 and ended all passport checks in March on flights to and from the 24 other countries participating in the agreement. Even before then, it rarely closely monitored the identities of travelers from neighboring European countries entering Switzerland.
Balmer also rejected that the arrest was somehow aimed at winning favor with the U.S. after a series of bilateral spats over tax evasion and wealthy Americans stashing money at Swiss banking giant UBS AG.
"There is no link with any other issues in question," he told The AP.
Investigators in the U.S. learned of Polanski's planned trip days ago, giving them enough time to lay the groundwork for an arrest, said William Sorukas, chief of the U.S. Marshals Service's domestic investigations branch.
"There have been other times through the years when we have learned of his potential travel but either those efforts fell through or he didn't make the trip," Sorukas told the AP.
--------
Klapper reported from Geneva. The Associated Press' Angela Doland in Paris, Matt Moore in Berlin and Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report.
Sep 24 2009
It's a shame that a city as lovely as Pittsburgh is hiding under a veneer of plywood, locked metal gates and concrete barriers.
Walking across the Smithfield Street Bridge and down the Boulevard of the Allies, I thought how eerie and empty the city seemed - just like a movie set. In fact, it's a lot like "The Road," except for the defoliated trees and roaming cannibals.
And no Viggo in tattered clothes, either.
Sep 23 2009
If you're looking for information about tickets for the Michael Jackson movie, here's the latest press release:
"MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT"
WILL LAUNCH WITH MORE THAN 25 GLOBAL PREMIERES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27
-- MORE THAN 15 PREMIERES WILL OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY AROUND THE WORLD--
--Special Advance Screenings For The Public Start Same Day --
Tickets Available This Sunday at www.thisisit-movie.com
CULVER CITY, Calif., September 21, 2009 -Fans worldwide will have the opportunity to celebrate the global launch of Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT when Sony Pictures Entertainment hosts over 25 global premieres, with more than 15 of those coordinated simultaneously around the world, on Tuesday, October 27th. Three hours after the red carpet events begin, audiences will be able to see the highly anticipated film for the first time as the studio has added special advance screenings that evening throughout the world.
Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT will be available worldwide for a limited two-week engagement beginning, Wednesday October 28. Tickets for all shows, including the Tuesday night special advance screenings, are available for purchase beginning this coming Sunday, September 27. Moviegoers can purchase tickets by visiting all major motion picture ticketing websites as well as www.thisisit-movie.com.
"Michael Jackson has an army of fans everywhere around the world. By rolling out this film with simultaneous premieres and special advance screenings on October 27th, we are giving audiences an incredible opportunity to join together in celebration of Michael Jackson's incredible career," said Jeff Blake, chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures.
The film's world gala will be in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on Tuesday, October 27. That event, which begins at 6pm PDT, kicks off a series of more than 25 premieres around the globe. More than 15 cities, including New York, Rio De Janeiro, London, Berlin, Johannesburg, and Seoul will host events simultaneously, with red carpet arrivals and activities from the Los Angeles event broadcast by satellite to those cities. Other cities, including Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, and many others will host their own, non-simultaneous premiere activities.
Three hours after the worldwide celebration of the motion picture, the first public screenings of the film will begin. For example, the first audiences in Los Angeles will see the film at 9pm; in New York, audiences will have the opportunity to see the film at midnight; and in London, the advance screenings will be at 4am UK time.
Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from March through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show.
Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before. In raw and candid detail, Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius, and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show. Kenny Ortega, who was both Michael Jackson's creative partner and the director of the stage show, is also directing the film, which is being produced by Randy Phillips, Kenny Ortega and Paul Gongaware. Executive producers are John Branca and John McClain. The film will be distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing. For more information about the film please visit www.thisisit-movie.com.
Sep 23 2009
The Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway sightings have begun.
They are in town filming "Love and Other Drugs," and even actors have to eat when they're on location, right? Some lucky restaurant and bar patrons spotted Gyllenhaal, who plays a pharmaceutical sales rep, and Hathaway, cast as an ailing woman who becomes his love interest.
The cast also includes Josh Gad (also seen at a popular breakfast place), Judy Greer, Gabriel Macht, Hank Azaria and Oliver Platt.
Ed Zwick is directing the movie inspired by the real story of a pharmaceutic sales rep named Jamie Reidy. He was one of those well-dressed, charming people who used to hand of "trinkets and trash" such as pens, pads and coffee mugs to doctors' offices and treat the staff to pizza and doughnuts and meals.
A new code from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America called for drug companies to stop giving anything of value to doctors in order to avoid the appearance of influencing which drugs are prescribed.
Gyllenhaal is an Oscar-nominated actor for "Brokeback Mountain" while Hathaway earned her first Academy Award nomination for "Rachel Getting Married." They each have lots of other movies to their credit.
Sep 21 2009
"Inglourious Basterds" is now Quentin Tarantino's top grossing movie, bumping "Pulp Fiction" (when tickets admittedly were less expensive). The World War II picture has grossed more than $108 million in North America since its Aug. 21 release.
It's a revenge fantasy that opens with "once upon a time" in Nazi-occupied France and features a memorable villain in a Nazi colonel played by Christoph Waltz, who seems bound for an Oscar nomination.
Inspired by the conventionally spelled Enzo Castellari 1978 war movie, "Inglourious" re-imagines a world where an American named Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a band of brothers. Jewish-American brothers who will, Raine promises, be cruel to the Germans.
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