Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’: Consensus is ‘it’s not bad’

Copied From: Usa Today

By Steve Jones, USA TODAY

Initial reaction to Michael Jackson‘s new single has been fairly positive, but no one is declaring the song a classic. This Is It, which began streaming early Monday at michaeljackson.com, is the first new music by the pop icon to be released since his death June 25 at age 50.It’s the title track of an upcoming documentary that chronicles his last days of preparation for a series of London comeback concerts that were to have started in July. The film, which opens Oct. 28 for a two-week run, is accompanied by a double-disc album with original masters and alternate versions of Jackson’s biggest hits. Read more

INSIDE STORY: David Letterman’s Accused Blackmailer

Copied from People

In just one day, Robert “Joe” Halderman went from being one of the most highly respected producers at CBS News to being the accused blackmailer at the center of the alleged David Letterman extortion plot – and his friends and colleagues are reeling.

“I am surprised, mystified and stunned to hear these allegations against Halderman,” former CBS anchor Dan Rather, who worked with the Emmy-winning Halderman on 48 Hours, tells PEOPLE. “They are almost impossible to believe. He was always a solid character, steady, reliable, and a good, swift writer.”

Halderman, 51, has pled not guilty to charges of grand larceny in the alleged $2 million extortion plot.

‘A Popular Guy’

A Dayton, Ohio, native and veteran newsman who had been on the front lines during conflicts in the former Soviet Union and during the Gulf War, he was “one of our best producers,” says former CBS news executive Marcy McGinnis, who has known Halderman for 20 years. The golf-loving, book aficionado was “a popular guy,” she says.

“It’s like something out of a movie,” McGinnis says of the unfolding allegations. “I’m in absolute shock because there’s nothing about Joe that I know that would ever lead me to believe he’d be capable of being involved in anything like this.”

Financial Woes

But privately, Halderman was also struggling with a divorce from his second wife, Patty Montet, with whom he has two children.

During a 2007 alimony hearing, Halderman revealed that despite his annual $214,000 income, he was trying to pay off $40,000 in credit card debt.

When asked where all his cash goes to Halderman stated, “I don’t know. My life costs money.”

‘Something Must’ve Snapped’

More recently, sources say Halderman has been dealing with his split from live-in girlfriend Stephanie Burkitt, 34, the woman at the center of the Letterman firestorm.

“He had that reputation [of being a ladies’ man],” says McGinnis.

“I feel really sad about it because it just seems like his life is going to be ruined, and it shouldn’t be,” she says. “I just think that something must’ve snapped with him. I can’t get over it.”

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while.

Polanski’s arrest could lead to his freedom Case could spur legal team’s motion to have child rape charges dismissed

Long title….sorry

Copied from MSNBC

updated 2 hours, 47 minutes ago

ZURICH – A surprise arrest at the Zurich airport, detention at the hands of Swiss authorities, and a high-profile extradition process that could take weeks or months. The irony is that for Roman Polanski, the acclaimed director accused of child rape three decades ago, this latest ordeal could lead to the one thing he’s lacked since: his freedom.

Polanski’s arrest as he arrived Saturday in Switzerland for a film festival honor could potentially spur on his legal team’s recent motion to dismiss charges that have dogged him since he fled the U.S. for France in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

But it could also elevate his case into an international ordeal — involving the governments of Switzerland, France, Poland and the United States — and potentially complicate his possible extradition.

“The big issue is whether it would have been better for him to negotiate a surrender when he had the chance,” Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson said. “Now it has become an international incident and thedistrict attorney may be under pressure not to negotiate a sweetheart deal. They’ve gone to all this trouble of getting Switzerland involved. It could make it harder on him.”

Nevertheless, some believe the arrest of the 76-year-old Academy Award winner could lead to a resolution that will allow him to once again travel freely.

“I think he will finally get his day in court,” criminal defense attorney Steve Cron said, “and there’s a good chance his case will be dismissed or the sentence will be commuted to time served.”

Meanwhile, Poland and France intend to make a joint appeal to Switzerland and the United States to have Polanski released from his detention, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told the Polish news agency PAP. Sikorski said he and French counterpart Bernard Kouchner also plan to ask Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to offer Polanski clemency.

“The good news for him is he’s been living under a cloud all these years wondering who would swoop in and arrest him,” Cron said. “Now he can get this thing finally worked out.”

Countries have tightened policies since he fled
Polanski, the director of such classic films as “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” reached a plea deal in 1978, but was threatened with more prison time than previously agreed upon and fled to France before he was formally sentenced.

France has no extradition treaty with the U.S., and while he traveled throughout Europe, he avoided arrest in part because of lax policies on apprehending foreign fugitives. But in recent years, many countries have gradually tightened their efforts to find suspects abroad and extradite them.

It’s also not clear how hard authorities was searching for him. The Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement that U.S. authorities have sought Polanski’s arrest around the world since 2005, although he has been a fugitive much longer.

“There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming,” Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told The Associated Press. He rejected the idea that politics may have played a part in the action.

Previous attempts to nab Polanski when he left France were thwarted because authorities didn’t learn of his travel soon enough — or Polanski didn’t make the trip, said William Sorukas, chief of the U.S. Marshals Service’s domestic investigations branch.

“This is not the first time we have done this over the years,” said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. She said warrants had been sent out whenever rumors circulated that he would be traveling to a country outside France.

In this case, the honor for Polanski’s work proved to be his downfall, Gibbons said.

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-Lili

Moviegoers spurn ‘Surrogates’ and ‘Fame’ but stick with ‘Meatballs’

Copied from the: LA Times

All rights reserved.

September 27, 2009 | 11:44 am

Audiences took a look at the new movie offerings this weekend and decided to stick with what they knew.

Two major new wide releases, “Surrogates” and “Fame,” both posted weak openings and received poor reactions from those who did attend. Moviegoers gave the films an average grade of “C” and “B-,” respectively, according to market research firm CinemaScore. Audiences are typically generous graders, so those are signs of poor word-of-mouth and, most likely, short box-office runs.

“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” meanwhile, dropped an extremely modest 19%, indicating very strong word-of-mouth and continued hunger for a family film.

After its decent but not great $30.3-million launch last week, “Cloudy” enjoyed the third-lowest second-weekend drop of any film this year, after “Taken” and “Coraline.” The studio-estimated $24.6 million in tickets it sold in the U.S. and Canada this weekend brought its total domestic gross after 10 days to $60 million. The $100-million production, the third from Sony Pictures Animation, is now on solid financial footing, aided by the $13.3 million it has earned so far from four foreign territories.

Next week, it faces a touch challenge in Disney’s re-release of the two “Toy Story” movies, however, which will steal a big chunk of its 3-D screens and likely cause a substantially larger box-office decline.

“Surrogates” cost Disney a hefty $80 million to produce, plus marketing expenses, making its $15-million opening a major flop for the studio. The 10 international territories where it opened were stronger, though far from spectacular, bringing in an additional $12.2 million in ticket sales.

Though Disney had a strong start to the summer with hits “Up” and “The Proposal,” “Surrogates” is its second disappointing release after “G-Force.” The likely money loser comes at a time when the studio is already wrestling with internal divisions that led to the ouster of former Chairman Dick Cook a week ago Friday.

The financial failure of the movie starring Bruce Willis is the latest in a string of weak openings for movies with A-list actors in lead roles this year, including “State of Play,” “Imagine That,” “Year One” and “Funny People.” Much of the outdoor and online marketing had minimized Willis’ involvement, focusing instead on the film’s sexy androids.

“Fame” wasn’t nearly as big a disappointment for MGM and its financing partner Lakeshore Entertainment given its modest $18-million production budget. Still, the struggling independent studio had been hoping for a stronger opening than the $10 million it posted, particularly given its larger financial problems.

The movie, which garnered mixed reviews and some withering comparisons to the 1980 release on which it was based, will at best eke out a modest profit.

That’s an unlikely fate for “Pandorum,” as the horror flick from Overture Films opened to a poor $4.4 million. The movie cost Constantin Film $40 million to produce, although Overture bought domestic distribution rights for just under $10 million.

Overture got better news, along with its partner Paramount Vantage, in “Capitalism: A Love Story.” The latest broadside from Michael Moore sold $240,000 worth of tickets at four theaters in Los Angeles and New York City this weekend, giving it the highest  per-theater average of any film released so far this year. Its total since opening on Wednesday is $306,856.

Now that the left-wing filmmaker’s devoted fans have shown their interest, Overture, which is handling the domestic release, will expand the film nationwide on Friday.

Also opening well in limited release was Sony Pictures Classics’ biopic “Coco Before Chanel,” which averaged a solid $35,427 at each of its five theaters.

Miramax’s “The Boys Are Back,” starring Clive Owen, averaged a much softer $8,500 at each of six theaters where it opened.

Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com: