'40-Year-Old Virgin' actor testifies at trial (AP)

VISTA, Calif. � Shelley Malil, the Indian-born actor accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend at her San Diego County home, testified Monday he understands he's responsible for her wounds but doesn't remember inflicting each one.

Malil, who appeared in the film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," told jurors he started flailing with a knife because he was struck in the back of the head in Kendra Beebe's yard in 2008 and was fighting back, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Pointing to photographs of Beebe's wounds, a prosecutor asked Malil if he could feel the knife cutting into her flesh, and if he had aimed for certain parts of her body, such as her neck, back and inner thigh.

"I don't remember any specific act that I did that caused any specific injury to her body," Malil told the jury.

He also testified that he did not know the full extent of Beebe's injuries until months after the stabbing, when he first saw the hospital photos.

"It just didn't make sense," he said Monday. "It didn't make sense that our little conflict that we endured caused that much injury."

Beebe testified last week that her ex-boyfriend walked up to her at her home in San Marcos, repeatedly called her names, then without warning stabbed her three times.

Beebe said a visiting friend disarmed Malil but the actor grabbed a butcher knife and chased her through the house, continuing to stab her until she collapsed on the front porch and a neighbor intervened.

Malil, 45, could be sentenced to 21 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and residential burglary.

Testimony in the case is expected to conclude Tuesday, after which the attorneys will begin their closing arguments.

Malil played Haziz, a co-worker to comedian Steve Carell's title character, in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

___

Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://signonsandiego.com

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Obama children's book `Of Thee I Sing' out Nov. 16 (AP)

NEW YORK � Coming two weeks after Election Day, a book from President Barack Obama for some of the nation's nonvoters: inspirational stories for children about American pioneers.

"Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters" is a tribute to 13 groundbreaking Americans, from the first president, George Washington, to baseball great Jackie Robinson to artist Georgia O'Keeffe. It will be released Nov. 16 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, which will officially announce the new work Tuesday. Knopf declined to identify the other 10 subjects.

Obama is not the first president to write for young people. Jimmy Carter's "The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer" was published in 1995, more than a decade after he left office. More in line with Obama's effort, Theodore Roosevelt collaborated with Henry Cabot Lodge on "Hero Tales from American History," released in 1895, before Roosevelt was president.

Obama's book is illustrated by Loren Long, whose many credits include Watty Piper's classic "The Little Engine That Could," Randall de Seve's "Toy Boat" and Madonna's "Mr. Peabody's Apples." Long wrote and illustrated the children's stories "Otis" and "Drummer Boy." His cover design for "Of Thee I Sing" is a sunny impression of presidential daughters Sasha and Malia Obama walking their dog, Bo, along a grassy field.

Random House children's president and publisher Chip Gibson lauded the new Obama book, which is intended for readers ages 3 and up.

"It is an honor to publish this extraordinary book, which is an inspiring marriage of words and images, history and story," Gibson said Monday in a statement. "'Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters' celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans � the potential to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths."

Obama's 40-page book will have a first printing of 500,000 copies and a list price of $17.99. Both of Obama's previous works, the memoir "Dreams From My Father" and the policy book "The Audacity of Hope," are million sellers published by Crown, a division of Random House Inc.

The president will donate any author proceeds to "a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled soldiers serving our nation," the publisher said in a statement.

Obama agreed with Random House in 2004 to write a children's book, which, according to the publisher, he completed before he became president. "Of Thee I Sing" is part of a $1.9 million, three-book deal with Random House reached in 2004, according to a disclosure report filed in 2005, when Obama was a U.S. senator from Illinois. The other two books were nonfiction.

A financial disclosure form released by the White House in May 2010 refers to an agreement � originated in 2004, amended on Jan. 9, 2009, shortly before Obama became president � for a "nonfiction work, the subject to be determined," that would not come out while he was in office.

The children's book and the nonfiction work are separate projects, although both are part of the three-book deal, said Obama's literary representative, Washington attorney Robert Barnett. The other nonfiction book was "The Audacity of Hope," released in 2006.

Neither Barnett nor the publisher would comment on the timing of the new book's release.

Obama also had a $500,000 agreement with Random House in January 2009 for an abridged young-adult edition of "Dreams of My Father" to be "prepared and released by the publisher subject to the president's approval," according to the disclosure form.

Knopf spokeswoman Noreen Herits declined to say if Obama would promote his children's book or whether it would be available in audio or digital formats, although an official with knowledge of the book said an e-edition would come out simultaneously with the print version. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the project and asked not to be identified.

The e-book is unlikely to be available on Amazon.com's Kindle reader, the most popular e-device, which does not allow for illustrated texts. Random House does not currently sell books directly through the Apple iPad store, but in a separate announcement Monday the publisher said it had begun a partnership with the Seattle-based digital company Smashing Ideas to work on children's books apps for electronic devices, including the iPad.

Obama's original agreement for the children's book includes a royalties scale for an audio books edition.

Numerous books by and about presidents are scheduled for the fall, including Carter's White House diaries, biographies of Washington and Roosevelt and George W. Bush's "Decision Points," which arrives a week before "Of Thee I Sing" and will be published by Crown.

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Actors, union settle suit over foreign royalties (AP)

LOS ANGELES � Attorneys for the Screen Actors Guild and the actor who played Eddie Haskell on "Leave It to Beaver" are asking a judge to approve a multimillion-dollar settlement over foreign royalties.

The settlement in a 3-year-old class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles should result in thousands of actors receiving payments for royalties generated in Europe since the 1980s. The agreement is expected to gain preliminary approval during a hearing Sept. 20.

Settlement documents filed Monday require an audit of the royalties program and SAG to publish detailed results to its members. The settlement states the union is not admitting any wrongdoing.

Ken Osmond, who played Haskell in the 1950s and 1960s television show, filed the suit on behalf of fellow actors in 2007.

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Obama children's book 'Of Thee I Sing' out Nov. 16 (AP)

NEW YORK � Coming two weeks after Election Day, a book by President Barack Obama for some of the nation's nonvoters: inspirational profiles of American pioneers for children.

"Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters" is a tribute to 13 groundbreaking Americans, from the first president, George Washington, to baseball great Jackie Robinson to artist Georgia O'Keeffe. It will be released Nov. 16 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, which will officially announce the new work Tuesday. Knopf declined to identify the other 10 subjects.

Obama is not the first president to write for young people. Jimmy Carter's "The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer" was published in 1995, more than a decade after he left office. More in line with Obama's effort, Theodore Roosevelt collaborated with Henry Cabot Lodge on "Hero Tales from American History," released in 1895, before Roosevelt was president.

Obama's book is illustrated by Loren Long, whose many credits include Watty Piper's classic "The Little Engine That Could," Randall de Seve's "Toy Boat" and Madonna's "Mr. Peabody's Apples." Long wrote and illustrated the children's stories "Otis" and "Drummer Boy." His cover design for "Of Thee I Sing" is a sunny impression of presidential daughters Sasha and Malia Obama walking their dog, Bo, along a grassy field.

Random House children's president and publisher Chip Gibson lauded the new Obama book, which is intended for readers ages 3 and up.

"It is an honor to publish this extraordinary book, which is an inspiring marriage of words and images, history and story," Gibson said Monday in a statement. "'Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters' celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans � the potential to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths."

Obama's 40-page book will have a first printing of 500,000 copies and a list price of $17.99. Both of Obama's previous works, the memoir "Dreams From My Father" and the policy book "The Audacity of Hope," are million sellers published by Crown, a division of Random House Inc.

The president will donate any author proceeds to "a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled soldiers serving our nation," the publisher said in a statement.

Obama agreed with Random House in 2004 to write a children's book, which, according to the publisher, he completed before he became president. "Of Thee I Sing" is part of a $1.9 million, three-book deal with Random House reached in 2004, according to a disclosure report filed in 2005, when Obama was a U.S. senator from Illinois. The other two books were nonfiction.

A financial disclosure form released by the White House in May 2010 refers to an agreement � originated in 2004, amended on Jan. 9, 2009, shortly before Obama became president � for a "nonfiction work, the subject to be determined," that would not come out while he was in office.

The children's book and the nonfiction work are separate projects, although both are part of the three-book deal, said Obama's literary representative, Washington attorney Robert Barnett. The other nonfiction book was "The Audacity of Hope," released in 2006.

Neither Barnett nor the publisher would comment on the timing of the new book's release.

Obama also had a $500,000 agreement with Random House in January 2009 for an abridged young-adult edition of "Dreams of My Father" to be "prepared and released by the publisher subject to the president's approval," according to the disclosure form.

Knopf spokeswoman Noreen Herits declined to say if Obama would promote his children's book or whether it would be available in audio or digital formats, although an official with knowledge of the book said an e-edition would come out simultaneously with the print version. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the project and asked not to be identified.

The e-book is unlikely to be available on Amazon.com's Kindle reader, the most popular e-device, which does not allow for illustrated texts. Random House does not currently sell books directly through the Apple iPad store, but in a separate announcement Monday the publisher said it had begun a partnership with the Seattle-based digital company Smashing Ideas to work on children's books apps for electronic devices, including the iPad.

Obama's original agreement for the children's book includes a royalties scale for an audio books edition.

Numerous books by and about presidents are scheduled for the fall, including Carter's White House diaries, biographies of Washington and Roosevelt and George W. Bush's "Decision Points," which arrives a week before "Of Thee I Sing" and will be published by Crown.

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'Resident Evil' tops box office on slow weekend (AP)

NEW YORK � The 3-D horror film "Resident Evil: Afterlife" led the box office on the year's slowest moviegoing weekend.

The fourth installment of the franchise debuted with $26.7 million. It was the only new film in wide release, and the box-office total of $82 million was the lowest grossing weekend of the year.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Resident Evil: Afterlife," Sony-Screen Gems, $26,650,264, 3,203 locations, $8,320 average, $39,986,817, one week.

2. "Takers," Sony-Screen Gems, $5,675,611, 2,191 locations, $2,590 average, $47,680,783, three weeks.

3. "The American," Focus Features, $5,674,240, $2,003 average, $28,111,358, two weeks.

4. "Machete," Fox, $4,294,120, $1,603 average, $20,916,709, two weeks.

5. "Going the Distance," Warner Bros., $3,788,222, $1,250 average, $13,952,322, two weeks.

6. "The Other Guys," Columbia, $3,347,995, $1,491 average, $112,422,408, six weeks.

7. "The Last Exorcism," Lionsgate, $3,322,853, $1,217 average, $38,062,322, three weeks.

8. "The Expendables," Lionsgate, $3,223,651, $1,054 average, $98,466,264, five weeks.

9. "Eat Pray Love," Sony, $2,928,256, $1,252 average, $74,660,964, five weeks.

10. "Inception," Warner Bros., $2,802,390, $1,770 average, $282,211,978, nine weeks.

11. "Nanny McPhee Returns," Universal, $2,080,315, $880 average, $26,281,045, four weeks.

12. "The Switch," Miramax, $2,001,103, $1,255 average, $25,005,832, four weeks.

13. "Despicable Me," Universal, $1,657,100, $1,205 average, $243,531,970, ten weeks.

14. "Vampires Suck," Fox, $1,480,909, $887 average, $35,082,853, four weeks.

15. "Lottery Ticket," Warner Bros., $1,206,043, $1,333 average, $22,613,669, four weeks.

16. "Get Low," Sony Pictures Classics, $864,834, $1,635 average, $6,912,937, seven weeks.

17. "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World," Universal, $802,140, $1,325 average, $30,438,315, five weeks.

18. "Toy Story 3," Disney, $761,996, $1,070 average, $409,976,037, 13 weeks.

19. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," Summit, $743,465, $626 average, $299,633,864, 11 weeks.

20. "Avatar: Special Edition," Fox, $731,178, $1,677 average, $759,562,778, three weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

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Lady Gaga says she's "not a piece of meat"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Mon Sep 13, 2010 4:57pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lady Gaga said the controversial "meat" dress she wore at the MTV Video Music Awards was intended to make a statement.

Winning eight prizes at Sunday's ceremony, the glam pop performance artist chose to accept one of her statuettes wearing nothing but a raw, red meat dress with a matching purse, that became one of the most talked about moments of the televised show.

"If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones," Lady Gaga, 24, told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on her TV program broadcast on Monday.

"And, I am not a piece of meat," she added.

Sunday's outfit comes on the heels of a meat bikini Gaga donned for the cover of Vogue Hommes Japan's September issue. It was one of several different costumes the singer wore on Sunday, including one that looked like a large black trash bag.

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that "wearing a dress made from cuts of dead cows is offensive enough to bring comment."

Lady Gaga told DeGeneres she meant no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian, and called herself "the most judgment free human being on the earth."

Singer Cher, whom Gaga asked to hold her meat purse while accepting her award on stage, defended the 24-year old songbird.

In a series of several tweets regarding the meat dress, Cher wrote on Monday that as an "art piece it was astonishing!" and that the meat purse was "genius."

Continuing on Twitter, Cher added: "modern art elicits discussion, introspection & conflict! Everyone's talking about it! BINGO!"

Lady Gaga's eccentric outfits, string of hit records like "Bad Romance" and "Paparazzi" and startling live stunts including setting her piano on fire, have made her a worldwide pop culture phenomenon over the past two years with more than 10 million album sales.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Clint Eastwood surprises again with "Hereafter"

By Solarina Ho

TORONTO | Mon Sep 13, 2010 5:23pm EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - After 50 years in the movie business, Clint Eastwood is nothing if not unexpected.

But his much-anticipated supernatural new movie "Hereafter" about near death experiences is a dramatic departure from his intimate 2004 Oscar winner "Million Dollar Baby" or the actor's grumpy widower in "Gran Torino."

"Hereafter", which combines the visuals of a Hollywood blockbuster and the intimacy of an European art film, got its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

Opening with startling scenes of a tsunami roaring through a holiday resort, the movie portrays the lives of three people living in London, Paris and San Francisco that ultimately converge.

Matt Damon plays George, a blue-collar worker trying to cope with his unusual gift -- a connection to the afterlife. Cecile De France is Marie, a French television journalist who writes a book about a traumatic personal event, and Frankie McLaren plays Marcus, a young boy adrift after a great loss.

Eastwood directs from a screenplay written by Peter Morgan, who also departs from the political focus seen in his recent works "Frost/Nixon" and "The Queen".

"Hereafter" is the ninth movie in as many years from the director who made his name playing cowboys in the spaghetti westerns of the 1960s and who went on to become one of the most admired film makers in Hollywood.

Eastwood, now 80, said he hadn't given much thought to whether there is anything after death.

"Everybody has their own take on it," the Toronto Star quoting him as saying. "I haven't been there. I don't intend to go there before my time."

"Hereafter" opens in U.S. movie theaters on October 22.

Early reviews of Eastwood's new venture were mixed.

"Eastwood has made a film for sensitive, intelligent people who are naturally curious about what happens when the shutters close," Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert wrote in his blog from Toronto.

But Variety called it "uneven but absorbing" and said Eastwood "moves into risky new territory with old-fashioned grace and sturdy classical filmmaking...it dances right on the edge of the ridiculous and at times even crosses over."

At the premiere screening, the audience was ecstatic to have the four-time Oscar winner at the Toronto festival for the first time in two decades.

"It's great to be back here in Toronto," Eastwood said as he went on stage to introduce the film.

(Editing by Janet Guttsman and Jill Serjeant)

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Oprah Winfrey shocks audience with free trip

CHICAGO | Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:02pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Oprah Winfrey surprised her talk show audience attending the premiere of her 25th and final season on Monday with an all-expenses-paid eight-day trip to Australia.

Some 300 audience members clapped, cried and hugged as Winfrey announced the trip and introduced pilot-actor John Travolta, who stepped out of a mock-up of a Qantas Airways jet rolled onto the stage.

"I started to think about where would I most want to go. Maybe I should take all of you with me to the other side of the world ... We're going to Australia! We are going to Australia! You and you and you and you, are going to Australia!" she said.

Some of her show's staff will also be flying to Sydney in December, where the Sydney Opera House will be transformed into the "Oprah" House for a taping of her show.

Previously, the famously generous Winfrey has given each audience member a new car, and recently handed staff members of her "O" Magazine Apple iPads and $10,000 checks. She has also handed out school scholarships, money for homes, and financed a school for girls in South Africa.

In a surprise to Winfrey, Paul Simon turned up to perform a rewritten version of a song dedicated to her.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" is syndicated to 215 domestic stations by CBS Television Distribution and to 145 countries by CBS Studios International.

Winfrey won't be off the airwaves after her talk show ends, as her Oprah Winfrey Network is set to kick off on cable on January 1.

(Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Joaquin Phoenix to make Letterman TV show encore

LOS ANGELES | Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:51pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After his now infamous television interview with David Letterman last year, actor Joaquin Phoenix is returning to the U.S. talk show host's guest chair.

With his bizarre new movie "I'm Still Here" still tantalizing audiences and movie critics, the acclaimed actor turned hip-hop wannabe will be a guest on the "Late Show" on September 22, broadcaster CBS said on Monday.

Phoenix's mumbling, shambling February 2009 appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman", when the Oscar-nominated actor spoke of his surprise decision to retire from acting prompted suspicions that he was staging an elaborate hoax.

The 2009 episode garnered eight million views on-line between YouTube and CBS.com.

Phoenix's strange behavior is now chronicled in the documentary movie "I'm Still Here" which got its premiere at the Venice film festival last week and has left viewers guessing about its sincerity.

Directed by his brother-in-law, actor Casey Affleck, the film follows Phoenix's transition from brooding actor to bearded, shambolic hip-hop wannabe.

The film opened in U.S. theaters last week.

In anticipation of Phoenix's visit to "Late Show" next week, CBS will rebroadcast that fateful February 11 appearance on September 16.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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John Mayer closes 3.7M-follower Twitter account (AP)

NEW YORK � John Mayer is losing friends � on the Internet at least.

A spokeswoman for the pop singer says he has discontinued his Twitter account with his Battle Studies Tour "now at a close and a return to the studio planned."

Mayer had more than 3.7 million followers on the social networking website. He used the account to invite University of South Carolina fans to see a free show in February before the start of the tour to promote his album "Battle Studies."

An e-mailed statement from Mayer says he continues to communicate with his fans via his blog as he always has.

Mayer's hits include "Your Body is a Wonderland" and "Waiting on the World to Change."

___

Online:

http://www.johnmayer.com/

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Rushdie defends Muslims' right to build NYC mosque (AP)

NEW YORK � "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie is not a great fan of organized worship but believes an Islamic center and mosque should be permitted two blocks from ground zero.

Rushdie's satirical novel led in the 1980s to worldwide riots by Muslims and calls for his death. He says he understands the "sensitivities" of building the site close to where thousands were killed during on Sept. 11, 2001.

But he says First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion should be honored. He adds that he is "not personally" a lover of mosques or any place of worship.

But he says that if people "want a mosque, it seems absolutely right they should have it."

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Stanley Tucci finds fatherhood not so simple in "Easy A"

By Cristy Lytal

LOS ANGELES | Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:11pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Even though veteran actor Stanley Tucci is the father of three children, playing the dad in new movie "Easy A" was unfamiliar territory.

Tucci, a veteran actor whose recent roles have ranged from an Oscar-nominated turn as a murderer in "The Lovely Bones" to a heartwarming performance as Julia Child's doting husband in "Julie & Julia," said he'd never played a character quite like the post-modern papa named Dill in "Easy A."

In the film, which debuts in U.S. theaters on Friday, Dill is surprised to find his teenage daughter Olive (Emma Stone) furiously sewing a scarlet letter onto a bustier in tribute to Nathaniel Hawthorne's adulterous literary heroine.

As Olive takes to wearing similarly-labeled custom outfits to high school and spreading false rumors of her own promiscuity, Tucci's dad still manages to keep his cool.

"As a parent, it would be great if I could be as relaxed as these people in the movie are," Tucci laughed as he spoke to Reuters. "It'll never happen. But a thing that I have in common with Dill is that I do joke around with my kids. We laugh a lot. But again, I couldn't let go that much -- no way."

Tucci said he never takes a role without keeping his children in mind, and "Easy A" was no exception after it came his way roughly 18 months ago just after his wife Kate died of breast cancer in April 2009.

"This was the first movie I had done since she died, and I hadn't worked for a while. And they were very kind, and condensed it (his shooting schedule) into three days."

By contrast, his time on the set when filming next summer's big-budget action flick "Captain America: The First Avenger," in which he plays mad scientist Dr. Abraham Erskine, was more demanding.

"I was gone for over three weeks, and that was a little hard," he said. "The kids were okay because it was summer. They were having a great time. But I have to orchestrate things very carefully. I always did, but particularly now because I'm a single father, I can't go away for too long."

VERSATILE CAREER

Even within these constraints, Tucci still finds plenty of ways to express his remarkable versatility as an actor, writer, director and producer.

While he hasn't acted on Broadway for seven years due to the grinding, daily workload on the Great White Way, he hopes to undertake the more flexible job of directing a play a year.

He made his Broadway directorial debut earlier this year with a Tony-nominated revival of the farce "Lend Me a Tenor," starring Tony Shalhoub.

Tucci plans to keep audiences equally entertained on film. He has shared the screen with Meryl Streep twice as an actor -- in "Julie & Julia" and 2006's "The Devil Wears Prada" -- and he's set to direct her and Tina Fey in the comedy "Mommy & Me" next summer.

He is producing the feature along with his partners Steve Buscemi and Wren Arthur through their Olive Productions company.

His array of other upcoming film work includes a role alongside Cher and Christina Aguilera in the musical "Burlesque," due in theatres this November.

For Tucci, the variety is "why you're an actor...we're all multiple personalities, and actors just allow themselves to access those personalities and figure out a way to make a living doing it. So you live all of these different lives in one."

Still, it's clear that the life to which he's truly committed is that of an involved father.

"My kids don't really like to watch me in movies," he said. "They just want me to be me. They're great kids. They're incredible. And they're all really funny. Thank God."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Albee's new absurd play reaches for double the fun (AP)

NEW YORK � Edward Albee's "Me, Myself & I" begins with a line that pretty much indicates where this absurd little play is going.

"I want to make things even more complicated than they are around here," a young man says to the audience, standing in front of the curtain, which has not yet risen.

You have to hand it to him, though: mission accomplished. By the end of this impishly inventive play, an already fragile, confused little family has been utterly upended. And you can almost hear the playwright cackling with delight.

Though Albee is now in his 80s, "Me, Myself & I" � starring Elizabeth Ashley and veteran Albee interpreter Brian Murray as her lover � has a youthful, half-baked quality. At least in comparison to his searing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" � his latest work is positively daffy, with comedic lines that evaporate without necessarily moving the plot forward.

The six-person play at the off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons centers on a pair of identical 28-year-old twins, one of whom � the mischief-maker we meet at the beginning � marches into his mother's bedroom to announce two bizarre things. One, he wants to become Chinese. And two, he's decided that his twin brother no longer exists.

Naturally, this news befuddles his mother (Ashley), who still has a hard time distinguishing between her sons and yet has not made life easy for herself by bestowing on them the same name: Otto. To get around this, the "good" twin (Preston Sadleir) is known by the lowercase "otto" and his "evil" sibling (Zachary Booth) goes by the uppercase "OTTO."

How his family handles OTTO's news basically shapes the thin plot, which has aspirations to be an examination of identity and parenthood but packs no wallop and seems artificially extended into a full-length play. The acting is good, but the performers are often working with a script that fails to connect emotionally.

This is Albee's 30th play and his signature touches are evident: actors stepping out of scenes to address the audience (at one point the mother abruptly abandons the stage, explaining "I've got to pee"); the love of American idioms ("ta-ta," "straight and narrow," "speak of the devil"); casual bigotry; and, of course, mommy issues. It's not even the first time the playwright has touched on identical twins, having done so in his 1960 one-act play "The American Dream." But it's the first time the Doublemint gum jingle has been so hysterically mangled.

"Me, Myself & I" made its world debut in 2008 at the McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts in Princeton, N.J., and Thomas Lynch's set designs have also made the trip, combining Albee's love of stark spareness with Lynch's use of thin wires to make the stage resemble a sterile yet fragile space.

Director Emily Mann, who has faithfully followed Albee's instructions even when they veer into self-indulgence, and Murray, who clearly relishes his out-of-left-field lines, are also reprising their parts.

Ashley is superb, playing the role with equal parts befuddlement, stubbornness and sentimentality, all tinged with a whiskey-aged voice, an air of flooziness and disheveled hair.

The two Ottos manage a neat double trick � appearing and moving like identicals yet remaining utterly different in temperament, no easy feat for a pair of actors who wear the same green polos, black pants, boots and haircuts.

You'll be seeing double and likely confused when it's all over. But there's no disguising Albee's singular vision.

___

Online:

http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/current_season.asp

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Bill Clinton visiting 'The Daily Show' on Thursday (AP)

NEW YORK � Comedy Central says former President Bill Clinton will visit "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Thursday.

He is expected to talk about the Clinton Global Initiative, which annually convenes world leaders to grapple with pressing global concerns. This year's meeting is scheduled to take place next week in New York.

Clinton appearance on "The Daily Show" will be his sixth. The show airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. Eastern time.

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Comedy Central is owned by Viacom Inc.

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Online:

http://www.thedailyshow.com

http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org

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Bob Marley family loses case over hit records

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK | Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:35am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bob Marley's family lost a lawsuit seeking the copyrights to several of the late Jamaican reggae singer's best-known recordings.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said the UMG Recordings unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group is the rightful owner of copyrights to five albums that Marley had recorded between 1973 and 1977 for Island Records.

The albums "Catch a Fire," "Burnin'," "Natty Dread," "Rastaman Vibrations" and "Exodus" were recorded with Marley's band The Wailers. They include some of Marley's best-known songs, including "Get Up, Stand Up," "I Shot the Sheriff," "No Woman, No Cry" and "One Love."

Marley died of cancer in 1981 at age 36.

Friday night's ruling is a defeat for Marley's widow Rita and nine children who had sought to recover millions of dollars in damages over UMG's effort to "exploit" what they called "the quintessential Bob Marley sound recordings."

L. Peter Parcher and Peter Shukat, who are lawyers for the family, did not immediately return calls seeking comment. UMG spokesman Peter LoFrumento said the company is pleased with Cote's ruling.

Marley's family accused UMG of intentionally withholding royalties from their company Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Ltd, and ignoring a 1995 agreement assigning them rights under the original recording agreements, court papers show.

It also accused UMG of failing as required to consult with them on key licensing decisions, including the use of Marley's music as "ringtones" on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile phones, the papers show.

But Cote concluded that Marley's recordings were "works made for hire" as defined under U.S. copyright law, entitling UMG to be designated the owner of those recordings, for both the initial 28-year copyright terms and for renewals.

"Each of the agreements provided that the sound recordings were the 'absolute property' of Island," Cote wrote. "Whether Marley would have recorded his music even if he had not entered the recording agreements with Island is beside the point."

She added that it was irrelevant that Marley might have maintained artistic control over the recording process. What mattered, she said, was that Island had a contractual "right" to accept or reject what he produced.

Cote also denied the Marley family's request for a ruling upholding its claims over digital downloads, citing ambiguity in a 1992 royalties agreement.

She directed the parties to enter court-supervised settlement talks, and scheduled an October 29 conference.

The case is Fifth-Six Hope Road Music Ltd v. UMG Recordings Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-06143.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Derek Caney)

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Jovovich juggles zombies, serious film fest roles (AP)

TORONTO � Milla Jovovich does not just want to rule the box office by killing zombies.

She aims to show versatility beyond her "Resident Evil" action-horror franchise with a pair of movies at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Jovovich co-stars with Robert De Niro and Edward Norton in the psychological drama "Stone," which premiered at Toronto over the weekend ahead of its theatrical release in October. Her second Toronto film, the teen comedy "Dirty Girl," also premiered at the festival over the weekend.

"I just keep chugging away at the smaller, more interesting character studies that I get to play," Jovovich said in an interview. "The `Resident Evil' world is amazing. I love it and I love the action. But really, when you do the little indies, you get a chance to play the parts you don't normally play."

Jovovich, 34, led the weekend box office with $27.7 million for "Resident Evil: Afterlife," the fourth installment in the series, in which she reprises her role as a superhero slaying ravenous zombies that have overrun the world.

The "Resident Evil" movies are overseen by Jovovich's husband, director Paul W.S. Anderson, who also is directing her in a 3-D adaptation of "The Three Musketeers," which features Orlando Bloom and Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz and is due in theaters next year.

Jovovich also has starred in such big studio productions as "The Fifth Element" and "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc," appeared in Ben Stiller's "Zoolander" and Spike Lee's "He Got Game," and has done such smaller films as "The Claim" and "Dummy."

In "Dirty Girl," which is seeking a theatrical distributor at the Toronto festival, Jovovich co-stars with Juno Temple, Mary Steenburgen, William H. Macy and Dwight Yoakam in the tale of a teen bad girl. In "Stone," Jovovich plays the wife of a prison inmate (Norton) who seduces a parole officer (De Niro) to try to secure her husband's release.

Co-star Norton said Jovovich brought both her beauty and an exotic spirit to the role.

"I knew she had this in her," Norton said. "It's a weird comparison, but she reminded me of Karen Black or one of those great actresses of the '70s who though beautiful was always kind of finding a little bit of a funky kink in what they were doing and didn't feel like they were out of central casting."

The "Resident Evil" movies have left Jovovich somewhat typecast, making more serious roles a bit tougher to land, Jovovich said. "Stone" director John Curran said he initially had doubts that she could pull off the role but that Jovovich aced her audition.

Jovovich is not complaining about her main gig as an action hero, though.

"I'm really lucky to have a four-picture franchise. Not many women in Hollywood are given the opportunity to helm a big action franchise," Jovovich said. "So it's a big honor, and I keep doing smaller movies that give me a chance to play something different from Alice in `Resident Evil' and to really grow as an actress."

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Monday marks beginning of end for Oprah show fans (AP)

CHICAGO � Brace yourselves, Oprah fans, this is the beginning of the end.

The 25th and final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" starts airing Monday.

And Winfrey has already hinted she's going out in style.

In recently released video of the season's first episode, the TV talk show host and actor John Travolta dance hand-in-hand through her stage doors to "Love Train" by the O'Jays.

Winfrey has been tightlipped about who would join her on the season premiere. Other celebrity guests and a musical performance have been mentioned.

For cable viewers, there's more Winfrey to come. She's set to launch her Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, on cable Jan. 1.

The end of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will be featured on that network with "Behind the Scenes: Oprah's 25th Season."

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Zimbabwe bars S.African pop group from performing (AP)

JOHANNESBURG � A South African pop group known for its World Cup collaboration with Shakira says it's been barred from performing in neighboring Zimbabwe after it released a video criticizing the country's president.

In an interview Monday, Freshlyground singer Zolani Mahola said the band was told last week by Zimbabwean authorities that their work permits for concerts planned next month had been revoked. Mahola says no reason was given, but she believes the spark was the "Chicken to Change" video released earlier this month.

The video depicts President Robert Mugabe isolated in his limousine, uncaring of his people's suffering. The video's Mugabe puppet transforms into a fearful chicken.

Ridiculing the president is illegal in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean immigration officials have refused to comment.

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Woody Allen defends his latest find, Bruni-Sarkozy (AP)

TORONTO � Woody Allen loves shooting in Paris. He doesn't care for the gossip about one of his co-stars, France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Allen said he was shocked at gossip column reports that Bruni-Sarkozy was a handful on the set of his romantic comedy "Midnight in Paris" or that he hired another actress to reshoot her scenes and cut her from the film.

Reports that it took Bruni-Sarkozy 32 takes to shoot a scene were false, Allen said in an interview Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where his comic drama "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" played ahead of its theatrical release next week.

"She was no problem at all," said Allen, who shot "Midnight in Paris" over the summer, his first film made in France. "I was delighted with her."

Allen said he did a typical eight or 10 takes with Bruni-Sarkozy, the same as the rest of the cast, which includes Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates, Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard and Rachel McAdams. He said Bruni-Sarkozy was not replaced and that her scenes remain in the film.

"This is a hundred percent untrue," Allen said. "She's in the picture. Everything she shot is in the picture. I love her. She's great. It's not a big part, but it's a respectable part. Everything was totally made up. Now, I did hire another actress late in the picture for another part, for a totally different role. They're both in the picture."

Bruni-Sarkozy plays a tour guide at the Rodin Museum in "Midnight in Paris," which is expected in theaters next year.

The director also denied rumors that her husband, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was displeased with his wife when he visited the set.

"He came to the set once. We gave him earphones to hear her. He was delighted with her. He said, `My wife is a natural actress. She's great.' He had a wonderful time," Allen said.

"I'm shocked at the wild and enormously prevalent, outrageous notions that circulate about Carla on television and the print press and magazines," Allen said. "I'm used to celebrity journalism, and I've had my share of untrue things printed. But this one was really one of the craziest."

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Online:

Toronto International Film Festival: http://tiff.net

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British writer and commando Micky Burn dies at 97 (AP)

LONDON � Micky Burn, a British journalist and writer who was decorated for his role in a daring World War II commando raid, has died at the age of 97.

Burn's friend James Dorrian said Monday that he died Sept. 3 at his home in north Wales after suffering a stroke.

Burn's eventful life included a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Germany in 1935. He later renounced his dalliance with fascism and joined the British army to fight the Nazis.

He was captured during a raid on the French port of St. Nazaire in March 1942 and imprisoned in Colditz Castle. He was later awarded the Military Cross for his bravery.

After the war, Burn reported for The Times newspaper from Eastern Europe and wrote novels, nonfiction books, poetry and an autobiography, "Turned Toward the Sun."

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Embattled Weinsteins aim for royal rebound

By Gregg Kilday and Alex Ben Block

Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:28am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hollywood loves nothing better than a tale of triumph over adversity.

So, after standing ovations at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals, Tom Hooper's "The King Speech" has shot to the front of the pack as an early Oscar favorite for Colin Firth's stirring portrayal of England's King George VI overcoming a speech impediment to rally his country on the eve of World War II.

Now the question is whether the embattled Weinstein Co., which is distributing the film stateside, can execute a similarly triumphant moment, turning the film into an awards juggernaut and the type of commercial success that could mark the beginning of the company's own comeback.

As awards season gets under way, there are plenty of skeptics who doubt whether the firm has the financial resources on hand for several simultaneous, full-scale Oscar campaigns as well as the release of the four movies it will bring to theaters this fall.

The company, founded by former Miramax bosses Bob and Harvey Weinstein, has regained its footing after undergoing a major financial restructuring in the summer, Weinstein senior executive David Glasser said.

"What the restructuring has done is given the company the ability to finance and distribute its slate. It's given the company a fresh start in going forward. We have a very smart, fixed budgets for the releases -- three or four pictures from Harvey and three or four pictures from Bob. It's a very focused slate going forward," Glasser said.

The producers of "The King's Speech" admitted they had heard all the naysayers when they were seeking partners for their movie, but when Harvey Weinstein pursued them, they were convinced he'd be a supportive partner -- and so far, he has more than lived up to his commitments.

"We obviously looked at that; we were assessing the best partners for the film," Emile Sherman said. "But at the end of the day, Harvey has proven himself as someone who champions movies like ours year in and year out. And we have faith he'll do that here."

The Weinstein Co. has released four movies this year, with just more than $24 million in its domestic till. "Piranha 3D" is its biggest grosser to date.

But with "Speech" leading the charge, the company is heading into awards season with four titles: John Wells' corporate-downsizing drama "The Company Men" and "Blue Valentine," Derek Cianfrance's portrait of a marriage gone bad, both of which are Sundance pickups and will come out October 22 and December 31, respectively. It also has acquired Julian Schnabel's Israel-set drama "Miral," which is down for a December 3 release. It also will be promoting Amir Bar-Lev's documentary "The Tillman Story" and, though critically applauded, has grossed a mere $428,000.

Meanwhile, the company is using Toronto to signal new signs of life. As the fest got under way, it announced it had scooped up U.S. rights to Gilles Paquet-Brenner's "Sarah's Key," starring Kristin Scott Thomas. The deal, which Harvey Weinstein had been chasing since seeing a promo reel in Cannes, substantially was completed before Labor Day weekend's Telluride festival. "Key," which plays at Toronto on Thursday, is down for a release next year.

Harvey Weinstein also was on hand to toast the "Speech" team Friday at a media dinner, including lots of members of the Golden Globe-awarding Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., at Toronto's Windsor Arms Hotel. Monday night, he'll join with Alliance Films to toast "Miral" at a cocktailer at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Behind the scenes, the company has a phalanx of 20 acquisitions and international sales executives on hand. It is offering presales on "Scream 4" and "Spy Kids 4" as well as "My Week With Marilyn," a movie based on Marilyn Monroe's experience filming "The Prince and the Showgirl," with Michelle Williams playing Monroe opposite Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier.

"We probably have some of the best presale titles out there right now," Glasser said.

Before fest's end on September 19, the company also could pick up one or two titles for domestic distribution -- it is fielding several offers. But unlike in the past, when Harvey Weinstein grabbed up a film then tried to figure out when to release it, the company is approaching any purchases more strategically, only looking to buy when it has an open date to fill. If it does walk away with Toronto titles, they'll be for the 2011 slate because the company's year-end dance card already is full.

Industry observers have, of course, predicted the demise of the Weinstein Co. for months, if not years. Last week, company critics pointed to the departure of publicity executives Dani Weinstein (no relation to the company's founders) and Sara Serlen, who left to head a New York film department for publicity firm ID, as further evidence.

But TWC has had publicity teams out in force at Toronto; it's contracted with five outside agencies, including ID, to handle various aspects of its business, including corporate PR, Oscar and Golden Globe campaigning.

Said one source who's followed the restructuring closely: "What Harvey has been saying is true: They redid the deals with investors and are re-armed and ready to make and buy movies."

In an agreement with Goldman Sachs and Assured Guaranty, the company was able to eliminate $450 million in debt by turning over ownership of about 200 of its roughly 350-film library.

As part of the deal, the Weinstein brothers were required to refocus on film production and distribution and put behind them investments in fashion, cable TV and other areas outside their core business. With what is left of the initial $1.2 billion they raised to start the company in 2007, cash flow from the remaining 150 movies in the library and revenue from ongoing distribution, they are adequately funded to carry out the new business plan, according to another insider.

Both Weinsteins have trimmed their sails. Bob is spending his time on movies for the Dimension banner like "Scream 4," and Harvey has returned to his roots making prestige and art movies on a tight budget, and masterminding plans for award season.

Instead of gambling on such big-ticket items as "Gangs of New York," "The Aviator," "Chicago" and "Nine" that have consumed his attention in the past, Harvey is making modest bets. Since so many indie distributors have left the playing field, he's able to find movies at bargain prices.

Some competitors speculated that he probably put down less than $1 million to get rights to "Key," though others believe it was a seven-figure deal. And while the Weinstein Co. is the largest investor in the $15 million "Speech," it's not a majority investor.

If "Speech" ultimately does go the distance, it will prove the Weinsteins still know how to play their hunches shrewdly.

Sherman and partner Iain Canning at See Saw Films were in the early stages of putting together the movie with Bedlam producer Gareth Unwin when TWC first came calling.

"The Weinsteins, when they read the script, to their absolute credit they saw the film's potential, and they relentlessly pursued us," Sherman said. "We weren't even happy with the script at the time, but we were getting phone calls from them three times a day because they could see what the film was going to be. They flew over their business-affairs head, and he said he wasn't leaving the country until they had a deal."

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