Critics say Michael Jackson album better than feared

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Thu Dec 9, 2010 7:14pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A sentimental video for Michael Jackson's new single "Hold My Hand" was released on Thursday as music critics paid grudging respect to the first album of new Jackson material since his death 18 months ago.

Heart-tugging clips from the King of Pop's performance archive, mixed with children singing and multicultural images of happiness, mark the four-minute music video for "Hold My Hand" -- a duet recorded with R&B singer and producer Akon in 2007 that is the first official single on the album "Michael".

It was released on Jackson's official website, www.michaeljackson.com, ahead of the December 14 debut of "Michael" -- a collection of 10 songs completed by various record producers after the singer's sudden death in June 2009 due to an overdose of the anesthetic propofol and other drugs.

Despite media skepticism and some dissent within Jackson family ranks, early reviews largely found "Michael" better than expected, if below the perfectionist standards the "Thriller" singer might have wished for.

"He would not have released anything like this compilation, a grab bag of outtakes and outlines assembled by Jackson's (Sony) record label," said Rolling Stone. But the magazine acknowledged that the songs were recognizably Jackson songs, adding that "'Michael' can be compelling."

USA Today said the collection of ballads, dance songs and R&B tracks, including collaborations with rapper 50 Cent and rocker Lenny Kravitz, "is a credible musical effort that can't be dismissed" and contained a few treasures.

Entertainment Weekly awarded the album a "B", calling it "certainly no great affront to his name", while The New York Times said it was a "miscellany of familiar Jackson offerings: inspirational, loving, resentful and paranoid."

Opinion in Britain -- where Jackson had planned a series of 50 comeback concerts in the summer of 2009 -- was generally more enthusiastic.

Music website NME.com said the track "Behind the Mask" was "an absolute revelation" on which "Jackson howls a solid-gold melody at his fearsome best."

Telegraph newspaper critic Neil McCormick said Jackson "bursts with verve and confidence" and said the album "may well be Jackson's best work since his Eighties glory days."

"It is certainly a great deal better than anyone had the right to expect...Jackson is finally about to get the comeback he craved," McCormick wrote.

"Michael" is the first album of new Jackson material since his disappointing "Invincible" in 2001, and the first in a $250 million deal between Sony and the executors of Jackson's estate to release 10 albums of new material through 2017.

Jackson's physician at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, and he has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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"Narnia" film to trump "Tourist" at box office

By Carl DiOrio

Thu Dec 9, 2010 11:37pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two costly movies open in theaters across North America on Friday, although neither is expected to deck the halls extravagantly during a relatively quiet pre-Christmas period.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" looks likely to lead the field with three-day sales of $35 million-$45 million.

"The Tourist," an action thriller starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, is expected to earn a modest $20 million, vying for second or third place with current champ "Tangled" and former champ "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1."

Directed by versatile British filmmaker Michael Apted ("The World Is Not Enough"), "Dawn Treader" cost about $145 million to make. That's down significantly from the $225 million tab for its immediate franchise predecessor, 2008's "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." This time around, producer Walden Media and distributor Fox (taking over from Disney) cut costs by using more soundstages, reducing visual effects and obtaining hefty Australian tax credits.

Franchise-launcher "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" bowed in 2005 with $65.6 million, part of a $291.7 million domestic run. "Caspian" debuted with $55 million and rang up a disappointing $141.6 million.

"The Tourist" was produced for roughly $100 million, with all costs born by producer Graham King's GK Films. Sony is distributing for a fee. Amid soft interest from prospective moviegoers, some industry pundits have blamed the marketing materials, while others said the A-list casting can't mask a tired concept.

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck ("The Lives of Others), "The Tourist" has Depp's character traveling to Venice to get over a recent breakup and getting involved with Jolie's sultry Interpol agent.

Limited openers this weekend include Paramount's Mark Wahlberg boxing movie "The Fighter," with four playdates in three markets.

Among notable expansions, Fox Searchlight's Natalie Portman starrer "Black Swan" adds 72 playdates for a total of 90 engagements in its second session, with the suspense thriller toting $1.5 million in sales to date.

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Wesley Snipes reports to Pennsylvanian prison for sentence

PITTSBURGH | Thu Dec 9, 2010 12:09pm EST

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Actor Wesley Snipes reported on Thursday to a federal prison in northwest Pennsylvania to begin serving a 3-year sentence on tax charges, a prison official said.

The star of the "Blade" action movies, who was convicted in 2008 in Florida, arrived at Federal Correction Institution McKean in Lewis Run, Pennsylvania, shortly before noon, said Ed Ross, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman.

"He surrendered a short time ago and is now inside the facility," Ross said. "He'll go through an orientation process and will begin serving his sentence."

Snipes, 48, was convicted in an Ocala, Florida court for willful failure to file tax returns from 1999 through 2001.

Each of the misdemeanor counts carried a maximum one-year prison term. He was found not guilty on five other counts.

Snipes' attorney, Daniel Meachum, has said he believes the case contains irregularities, and he plans to file legal documents seeking a review.

During a recent appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live," Meachum said he appealed a Florida judge's denial of a new trial and the judge's failure to interview a juror who has said Snipes was convicted despite reservations by some members of the jury.

McKean, 90 miles south of Buffalo, New York, is a medium-security facility for men with an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum security male inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

(Reporting by Daniel Lovering; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)

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A Minute With: Angelina Jolie, femme fatale and busy Mom

By John Irish

PARIS | Thu Dec 9, 2010 9:35am EST

PARIS (Reuters Life!) - Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie has teamed up for the first time with Hollywood heartthrob Johnny Depp in "The Tourist."

The romantic action film, which opens worldwide on Friday, sees Depp's math teacher character falling for Jolie's femme fatale as she spins a web of mystery amid a backdrop of Paris and Venice.

Jolie, 35, spoke to Reuters about the film, her co-star Depp, and coping with her six kids in busy airports.

Q: Your character tells Johnny Depp 'Women don't like questions.' Do you see this forceful woman in yourself?

A: "I got out of my pajamas to come to work today, so maybe I seem more like her than I really am. You try to bring in to each character something you can relate to, but she's written in as a traditional femme fatale, but in fact she has a big heart."

Q: Have you ever been in a movie where you have to carry off as much elegance and wear so many beautiful dresses?

A: "No. It was fun for a while, but I was really happy when it was over to get into my slacks, T-shirts and boots and not be in hair and makeup."

Q: It must be tough being a tourist for you. Where's the strangest place you've been recognized?

A: "It's more the opposite. I had a lovely experience once in Africa working with the U.N. when a president of a country met me about refugee issues and said 'What do you do?' I said 'I'm an actor.' He replied 'I heard that was a very difficult job and might not be the smartest job to do.' It was lovely. He was warning me about doing it."

Q: Is the pre-celebrity lifestyle something you miss?

A: "I'm not somebody to complain about it. I feel lucky to have all the opportunities given to me and I am very grateful, but I do feel it for my children. In Paris you see the Champs Elysees, there are these beautiful Christmas lights and I want to get out of the car and walk around, see the carousel, but we can't really. We tried and we had about 20 people behind us and it wouldn't have been a good experience for the children."

Q: Speaking of the children, have you ever had that moment with your kids when they melt down in the supermarket?

A: "I had it at the airport a few times. Usually I believe in letting them go through with it if they are going to scream and cry and if it's just a tantrum not to pay too much attention. But it's so very hard to do when there's a bunch of people around. I think Maddox figured it out that this is a place where I have to appease the tantrum ... We try to be referees. (We've been given) referee cards, Brad (Pitt) has the cards and me a whistle."

Q: Do you think you'll stop at six children?

A: "We're open, but we're having that real discussion about how to make the balance as they get older and their needs grow."

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Russell Brand takes sobriety to new level in "Tempest"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Wed Dec 8, 2010 6:20pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Russell Brand is not exactly the actor one thinks of when seeing a Shakespearean drama, but he figures prominently in new film "The Tempest" -- and it's not the first time he's taken on The Bard.

Years ago in London drama school during his heyday of drug use -- an image he once cultivated -- Brand took the title role in a production of "Macbeth."

"I took a big load of amphetamines, drank half a bottle of whiskey and staggered out as Macbeth," the actor and comedian told Reuters. "Before I went on, I tried to get myself in the right mood, so I was smashing stuff up in the back room, cut my hands and tried to make myself puke."

The result?

"It was bloody stupid because I was sick everywhere," said Brand. "Some people in the audience thought it was brilliant because they liked that I was intense and mad. The people that ran the drama school said 'That's not what we're after.'"

Brand was kicked out of theater school shortly thereafter, but now a second chance to redeem himself has come along.

"The Tempest," directed by Julie Taymor, opens on Friday in theaters in New York in Los Angeles and expands to other U.S. cities December 17. These days Brand is a new man -- drug-free, sober and married to "Teenage Dream" singer Katy Perry. The pair were married in October and are currently one of the hottest couples making the covers of celebrity magazines.

In "The Tempest" he plays Trinculo, whom the actor describes as a "slivering castaway jester" in Taymor's gender-bending version of Shakespeare's original. Helen Mirren stars as Prospera, who is struggling for control of the island. In the original, the character is a male named Prospero.

Brand said he was thrilled to be in the movie because "I love language" and he wanted to work with Taymor. But he also had reservations.

"I was worried because I was force-fed Shakespeare at school like a lot of people, so you learn that it's medicinal," he said. "Julie (Taymor) has made it accessible and exciting and populated it with brilliant contemporary actors."

INSPIRED BY HELEN MIRREN

Brand only had a couple of scenes with Mirren, but it was enough to make him smitten with the Oscar-winning star.

"Seeing how she handles things, the way she conducts herself as a human being, is very inspiring," said Brand.

Earlier this year, when the actor signed on to star and produce the remake of the 1981 comedy "Arthur," he immediately asked Mirren to be his co-star. "The best experience of my acting career is getting to know her," said Brand.

The British export first drew U.S. attention when he was cast in 2008 romantic comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" as a hard-partying rock star named Aldous Snow. When Snow proved popular, Brand reprised him for "Get Him to the Greek"

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Carrie Fisher brings "Wishful Drinking" to TV

By Jill Jacobs

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 9, 2010 9:22am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress, writer and daughter of famous Hollywood parents, Carrie Fisher has often exposed her life for fans, but never quite so much as in her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking."

The 2009 stage production makes its way to cable TV's HBO on Sunday as a full-length documentary of her life that combines archived film footage with a taping of "Wishful Drinking" in front of a live theater audience.

The "Star Wars" actress and daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds weaves a witty tapestry of her 54 years, littered with alcoholism, drug addiction and bipolar disorder, and revealing her famous family.

Reuters spoke to Fisher about the show.

Q: In "Wishful Drinking", you're on stage for nearly 90 minutes, singing and interacting with the audience. Was there any special preparation for such a demanding role?

A: "Clean living, pretty much. It's fun and there's an immediacy to it because every night the audience is different so that changes the show and makes it much more fun for me and I think for the audience too."

Q: How much of the show is improvised?

A: "Part of the way that it can look extemporaneous is if I'm actually talking directly to someone in the audience. Otherwise I'm performing to the abstract 'you' and that wouldn't keep it alive as much."

Q: You offer a peek into your eclectic family tree in a segment dubbed "Hollywood Inbreeding 101." What was it like having Elizabeth Taylor as a step-mom?

A: "I remember meeting her once at the Beverly Hills Hotel when I was four, and I was very jealous of her kids, Liza, Michael and Christopher...She's a very lovely woman and we get along great and have for years. I gave her an award once where I thanked her for getting my father out of the house. So we've been steeped in irony for years."

Q: You've been a role model for people facing a variety of challenges: mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction. How does it feel to know you've had a positive influence?

A: "If you can move through it and keep going, that's half the battle. Having a perspective and getting an angle on it that can keep it funny and take the danger out of it is empowering. I feel more comfortable being a role model for those suffering with mental illness. There are people that participate in their sobriety more than I do, and that's very impressive to me."

Q: You often make light of the challenges you face. What advice do you have for those facing similar issues?

A: "Talk about it with other people who have similar problems. Find your community and get to laughing about it as soon as you can. For me, humor is the answer."

Q: Few people can claim to have a shampoo, a pez dispenser and a stamp named after them, let alone a life-sized Princess Leia sex doll. How do you deal with being a pop culture icon?

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