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Star Wars studio boss booed at fans' convention over lack of information on Star Wars: Episode 7
Disney showcase sparks fans irritation after studio executive says he can't reveal anything new about much-anticipated Star Wars: Episode 7
Hell hath no fury like a room full of disappointed Star Wars acolytes: a Disney boss at a high profile convention in California has been booed after admitting he had nothing new to tell fans about JJ Abrams' forthcoming Episode VII.
Speaking at the annual D23 event in Anaheim, during which the studio showcases clips and wheels out star talent from its upcoming slate, chief executive Alan Horn was met with a chorus of anger after an expectant crowd got little more than a series of previously made announcements such as the appointment of Abrams, tentative release dates and plans for future spin-off films. "I really wish I could tell you more. It will come soon," he apologised.
Details about the new Star Wars trilogy, which Disney announced after purchasing all rights to the long-running series for $4.05bn in October, have been few and far between. Episode VII is being filmed in the UK early next year and is due to arrive in cinemas in 2015, with plans to release sequels every two to three years after that. Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt is overseeing the screenplay for the debut instalment, while Disney has revealed that The Empire Strikes Back's Lawrence Kasdan and Sherlock Holmes' Simon Kinberg will write two of the standalone films. The stars of the original trilogy, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Ford (Han Solo), have all been tipped to return to the series.
Fans have become used to titbits about upcoming films being leaked at conventions such as D23 and San Diego's annual Comic Con, though it is rare for Hollywood executives to be booed for failing to come up with the goods. Ford himself signalled in a new interview with the New York Times that the constant flow of information about upcoming blockbusters from studios to filmgoers via blogs and fan conventions had become a negative.
Asked how Star Wars and Indiana Jones might fare in today's fan-friendly environment, the 71-year-old said: "Everyone would be ahead of it, and everybody would know what it was, and it would be no fun at all." He added: "But people still went to movies in those days. People went to movie theatres. It was a community experience, and that was part of the fun. Now people see a movie on their iPad, alone, with interruptions for snacks."
Fans at D23 were mollified by the appearance later on Saturday by Angelina Jolie, who will take the lead role in the upcoming live action remake of Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent. "Since I was a little girl, I was drawn to her. But I was also terrified by her, but she had this elegance and grace," she said during a brief appearance in front of 7,500 Disney acolytes. There were also new clips from Marvel superhero movies such as Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier as well as George Clooney sci-fi Tomorrowland and the Mary Poppins-themed Saving Mr Banks.
Meanwhile, footage from a long-lost "mockumentary" made during the filming of the original Star Wars series and featuring Ford, Fisher and Hamill in costume emerged on YouTube. Return of the Ewok details British actor Warwick Davies' supposed path to taking the role of Wicket in 1983's Return of the Jedi.
Limited edition ABBA maxi-single sells for $6,400 at Swedish auction
A rare ABBA recording was sold Sunday for nearly 5,000 euros, in an online auction of a vast collection of the Swedish pop group's memorabilia.
Thomas Nordin, a collector of all things related to the group famous for hits including "Dancing Queen", "Fernando" and "Mamma Mia", had put up some 25,000 items for sale.
A limited edition maxi single produced in 1981 by the group for their manager Stig Anderson's 50th birthday was sold for 42,000 kronor (4,800 euros, $6,400), almost twice the list price of 25,000 kronor. Only 200 copies of the single had been produced.
"It's fantastic, I'm stunned!" Nordin told AFP.
The collection -- the largest dedicated to the iconic disco group to be sold at auction -- comprises objects collected by Nordin since 1974 when ABBA burst onto the international scene winning the Eurovision contest with their song "Waterloo".
Nordin, an ABBA fan who was nine at the time, has since then picked up rare items and unusual merchandise from around the world, such as ABBA clogs made exclusively for the American market, rare ABBA soaps and dolls, a large collection of clippings and books, and original posters.
Among items which have found buyers was a purple vest bearing the name of the group, which went for 31,500 kronor, more than seven times the list price.
"We never imagined that," said Beata af Donner, the spokeswoman for the auction house Stockholms Auktionsverk, which organised the sale.
A rare soap went for 4,000 kronor while a small red bag was sold at 13,000 kronor.
Buyers were less interested by press cuttings.
"Obviously there are certain things that did not sell. It's very varied, but I'm very very happy," said Nordin.
For himself, Nordin was keeping just three souvenirs "which do not take up much space". One of these items is a postcard signed by all four members of the group: Agnetha Faeltskog, Bjoern Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.
Items which did not find buyers will be sold at an auction in the autumn, with lower list prices.
The results of the two-day sale, which goes on until 2100 GMT Sunday, will be known only Monday.
The auction house has estimated the sale could fetch up to 95,000 euros.
ABBA dominated the 1970s disco scene with their glitzy costumes, kitsch dance routines and catchy tunes such as "Winner takes it all", "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me".
They split in 1983 and have vowed they will never reunite to sing together again.
[Image from Beeld en Geluidwik on Wikimedia Commons]
UFO cultists demand rehabilitation of the swastika
They believe that the symbol has been associated with Nazis for too long and have launched a campaign to reclaim it
As the beachgoers of Long Island soaked up the sun last month, their attention was caught by a light aircraft flying above with a flag trailing behind it. On it was a huge swastika and the web address "proswastika.org". People were outraged. Who was responsible for publicly flaunting this ugly symbol of hate? Neo-Nazis? Pranksters? Neither, apparently.
The Long Island swastika actually belonged to the Raelians – the world's largest "UFO religion" – and the stunt was part of their pro-swastika campaign aimed at rehabilitating the symbol. Not because the Raelians are far-right extremists, they believe the Nazis' hijacking of the ancient Sanskrit peace symbol has been allowed to stand for long enough.
Before Hitler adopted it as the Nazi logo in 1920, variations of the swastika had been used by civilisations in China, Africa and South Asia since the bronze age.
"As long as we associate the swastika with Hitler and the horrors of the Nazi regime, they own it," argues Thomas Kaenzig, head of the pro-swastika movement. "We want to take it back. The swastika is an ancient symbol of good luck and harmony. It can be found all over the world.
Swastikas may have been depicted by ancient cultures since as far back as 2000 BC, but surely the pro-swastika movement recognises that what it represents today still offends millions of people? ""If somebody associates the swastika with something negative, then I feel offended," says Kaenzig. "It's part of our official symbol. What about our feelings? When we flew the flag on the East Coast it wasn't to incite hatred, but to educate."
Formed in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon – a racing-car journalist turned "messiah" – the Raelians claim to have 70,000 members worldwide. They believe that a race of aliens called the Elohim created earth, and that they chose Vorilhon as a prophet to spread their message of peace and free love.
Often considered a cult, they are also interested in scientific immortality. This, they say, is why their logo is a swastika inside the Star of David – the swastika represents "infinity in time", the Star of David "infinity in space", apparently.
Well-intentioned or not, the pro-swastika campaign has succeeded as a publicity stunt. A few days prior to the Long Island stunt, an advert for the movement played on a big screen in Times Square, New York, in which people formed a swastika in a swimming pool. Kaenzig says the message received a mostly positive response. Apart from the Jewish teacher who called up screaming, that is.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013
[Boy In A Tin Foil Hat Peeking Out Of A Window, Shutterstock]
'Deep Throat' owners fight on: 'We’re sending a cease and desist to iTunes'
CNN host corners Priebus over Fox TV producing Hillary Clinton miniseries
CNN host Candy Crowley on Sunday confronted Republican National Committee Chairman (RNC) Reince Priebus and asked him why he was not pulling GOP debates off of the Fox News Channel after it was revealed that Fox Television studios may be producing a Hillary Clinton miniseries.
In letters to NBC Entertainment and CNN last week, Priebus had threatened to not allow the networks to host any Republican presidential primary debates unless plans to air shows about Clinton were scrapped.
Priebus later explained to Fox News host Sean Hannity that he as attempting to “control the referees” because CNN and NBC were "not in the business of promoting our party."
But The New York Times reported on Friday that Fox Television Studios, the sister company of Fox News, was in talks to produce the miniseries for NBC.
During an interview on Sunday, CNN host Candy Crowley asked Priebus if Fox News should be subject to the same scrutiny as NBC and CNN.
"First of all, our party has to quit availing our self to biased moderators and companies that put on television, you know, in this particular case documentaries and miniseries about a particular candidate that we all know is gearing up to run for president, and that's Hillary Clinton," Priebus explained. "And so the big question for me, Candy, number one, is which company is putting it on the air, who's doing the work? I'm not interested if they're using the same caterer or whether they all drink Diet Coke, or I'm not boycotting Diane Lane."
"I'm going to boycott the company that puts the miniseries and documentaries on the air for the American people to view," he continued. "I'm not interested whether they use the same sound studio or whether they use the same set. I don't know the truth of anything you're talking about. But I do know what's very clear is that the company that puts these things on the air to promote Hillary Clinton, including CNN, is the company that's not going to be involved in our debates."
"So, the people that write and produce and put together the shows are not what you're worried about?" Crowley pressed.
"I'm not going to boycott Diane Lane [for playing Hillary Clinton]!" Priebus shot back. "It's not her fault she decided to take a script. I'm not going to boycott the food trucks that service all of the same companies."
"Candy, some researcher at CNN or NBC worked for a few days to find some little connection somewhere down the road to bring something into this debate," the RNC chairman insisted. "I think it's totally ridiculous and stupid."
Watch this video from CNN's State of the Union, uploaded Aug. 11, 2013.
Legend of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs heads to big screen
The life and times of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will be immortalized on the big screen next week as the first of two planned biopics about the visionary computer guru lands in theaters.
Almost two years after Jobs lost his long battle with cancer, "Jobs", starring Ashton Kutcher as the iconic computer industry titan, is to be released Friday.
The independent film opens ahead of a bigger-budget project on Jobs planned by Sony that is being put together with the support of Apple's other co-founder Steve Wozniak.
"Jobs" was screened at the prestigious Sundance International Film Festival earlier this year where it received a lukewarm reception from critics.
The film charts Jobs' early life, including his famous launch of Apple in a garage in 1976 through to his triumphant return to the company in 1996 after earlier being ousted from the company in a boardroom coup.
Directed by Joshua Michael Stern from a script by Matt Whiteley, "Jobs" paints a broadly favorable portrait of the man who gave the world such groundbreaking gadgets such as the iPod and iPad.
But it also touches on the more controversial chapters of his life, including his abrupt break up with his pregnant girlfriend and his later refusal to acknowledge paternity of the couple's daughter.
During the annual MacWorld/iWorld conference in San Francisco in January, Kutcher acknowledged being intimidated by the task of playing Jobs.
"Playing a guy which everyone will have judgment of or criticism about was really, really scary," the 35-year-old said.
Kutcher, an avowed geek who has also invested in a slew of technology start-ups, spent hours poring over old videos of Jobs in an effort to replicate the Apple chieftain's mannerisms and voice.
He also got into character by adopting Jobs' strict diet of eating and drinking only fruit and carrot juice -- a regimen that led to excruciating pain and a trip to hospital two days before filming was set to start.
Kutcher's film has, however, been greeted coolly by Apple co-founder Wozniak, who has taken exception to certain scenes in the movie, including one scene in particular where Jobs outlines his grand vision for computers.
"Steve is lecturing me about where computers could go, when it was the other way around," Wozniak told the Los Angeles Times.
"Steve never created a great computer. In that period, he had failure after failure after failure. He had an incredible vision, but he didn't have the ability to execute on it," he said.
"I would be surprised if the movie portrays the truth."
Kutcher, meanwhile, defended "Jobs" from Wozniak's criticisms in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"A couple things you have to understand. One, Steve Wozniak is being paid by another movie studio to help support their Steve Jobs film, so he's gonna have an opinion that is connected to that, somewhat," Kutcher said.
"Two, the biggest criticism that I've ultimately heard is that he wanted it to be represented -- his contribution to Apple -- fairly. And, in all fairness, the movie's called 'Jobs.' And it's about Steve Jobs and the legacy of Steve Jobs, and so I think it focuses more ... on what his contribution to Apple was."
Sony and Wozniak's movie is to be based on the Apple co-founder's official biography penned by Walter Isaacson.
Heavyweight Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network") has been entrusted with the adaptation.
Sorkin has already indicated that he plans to tell the story of Jobs in three phases tied to three of the inventor's best known products. The director and the actor who will play Jobs have yet to be picked.
Smithsonian adds Irving Penn images to collection
The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington said Friday it's ramping up its photography collection with the acquisition of 100 images from the late Irving Penn.
They include rare street photographs from the 1930s and 1940s, most of them unpublished, as well as images from post-war Europe and examples of Penn's iconic fashion, portrait and still-life photography.
In a statement, the museum's director Elizabeth Broun said the photos -- gifted by the Irving Penn Foundation, which oversees the photographer's legacy -- "adds breadth and depth" to its holdings.
The street photography -- not a genre commonly associated with Penn -- comprises images that he took in 1941 when he was crossing the American South en route to Mexico.
"They are very surprising and, in some cases, quite surreal," Penn's son Tom Penn, executive director of the Irving Penn Foundation, told AFP.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum began seriously collecting photography 30 years ago. Its holdings now range from antique daguerreotypes to cutting-edge digital work.
Penn himself donated 61 photographs to the museum -- and another 60 to the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery -- prior to his death in New York in October 2009 at the age of 92.
A major exhibition of about 160 photographs by Penn will tour the United States after its presentation in Washington in late 2015, reflecting the full range of his career.
"Not many photographers have covered every genre of photography" as Penn did in his lifetime, his son said. "It will be very exciting to see all these different visions (that originated) from one brain."
[Image via Agence France-Presse]
HBO: High rates of 'Game Of Thrones' piracy is 'better than an Emmy'
ACCORDING TO Time Warner CEO Alan Bewkes the 'piracy' buzz around Game of Thrones is a good thing, so good that it's better than an entertainment industry award. The firm was talking about its latest financial results when it was asked about the so-…
Swiss store denies wrongdoing in Oprah 'racism' controversy
A Swiss luxury boutique denied any wrongdoing Friday after US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey claimed she had been the subject of racism when a shop assistant allegedly refused to show her an expensive handbag.
Winfrey, one of the richest women in the world, said she had been in Zurich for US singer Tina Turner's wedding in July and had spotted a swanky crocodile handbag while out shopping.
"I'm in a store, a name-brand store. I'm by myself, absolutely nobody else with me. And I say to the woman, 'I would like to see that bag on the shelf'," Winfrey told fellow US talk show host Larry King on Internet channel ora.tv.
"And she says, 'No, that one's too expensive. I'll show you this one'," said Winfrey.
She did not directly describe the incident as racist, but recounted it after telling King of a "racist moment" in New York years ago when she and her hairdresser were refused entry to a luxury store which had been robbed by two black people.
Trudie Goetz, head of the Swiss luxury chain Trois Pommes, denied her saleswoman had ever sought to stop Winfrey buying the bag.
"Everyone wants to sell a crocodile bag," Goetz told AFP.
"It's a misunderstanding," she said, adding that the saleswoman always put the customer first and tried to be "too kind".
"She explained how beautiful the bag was, then she said, 'Honestly this bag costs 35,000 Swiss francs, but I can show you other versions in ostrich, in pure leather and in velour'," Goetz said.
That sum is worth $38,000 -- small change for Winfrey, whose wealth is estimated at $2.8 billion by Forbes magazine.
On its Twitter feed, Switzerland Tourism apologised and said the saleswoman had behaved inappropriately.
Winfrey joked that she had been tempted to buy up the entire store, recalling a scene in the movie "Pretty Woman" where Julia Roberts' prostitute character has the last laugh in a snobbish shop.
"I wanted to create a Pretty Woman moment and come back and buy everything and say, 'Big mistake!'. But then I thought she'd get a commission, to let's not do that," she told King.
Goetz said no disciplinary action was planned against the saleswoman.
"She's a great person. She's highly qualified. She also works in the shop in St Moritz and she takes care of prestigious clients," she said.
Trois Pommes was still considering how to respond to the claims, and would take legal advice, she added.
Winfrey, 59, was last month named the most powerful celebrity in the world by Forbes.
'Easy Rider' star Karen Black dies at 74
American actress Karen Black, who shot to fame in the 1969 counter-culture classic "Easy Rider," died Thursday in Los Angeles, her husband said. She was 74.
Black, who starred alongside Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in the film, died after battling cancer.
"It is with great sadness that I have to report that my wife and best friend, Karen Black has just passed away, only a few minutes ago," Black's husband Stephen Eckelberry wrote on his Facebook page.
"Thank you all for all your prayers and love, they meant so much to her as they did to me."
Born in Illinois in 1939, Black went on to star in around 100 movies, including several with some of the biggest names in Hollywood history.
As well as "Easy Rider," she appeared in 1970's "Five Easy Pieces," earning an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Nicholson's pregnant girlfriend.
She had earlier appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's 1966 film "You're a Big Boy Now."
She won a Golden Globe for her performance alongside Robert Redford in the 1974 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby."
Black also appeared in Robert Altman's 1975 musical drama "Nashville" before featuring in Alfred Hitchcock's last movie "Family Plot" in 1976.
Black was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010. She is survived by her husband and two children.
Is Alec Baldwin going to have his own show on MSNBC?
Actor Alec Baldwin could soon be hosting his own show on MSNBC on Friday nights, according to Mediaite.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the outspoken liberal actor was in talks to host a program on the news network.
Mediaite said the show was a "done deal," while The Hollywood Reporter said the talks could still fall through.
Neither NBC nor Baldwin has confirmed the reports.
"We’re fans of Alec but we don’t have anything to say regarding the unconfirmed reports," a NBC spokesman said.
Baldwin was rumored to be joining MSNBC after Keith Olbermann left the network in 2011. Those reports turned out to be untrue.
[Alec Baldwin photo via Shutterstock]
Roger Ailes won't deny rumor that Sean Hannity is losing his 9 pm slot
Fox News host Megyn Kelly could bump her colleague Sean Hannity from his 9 p.m. time slot.
During a 21st Century Fox investors conference in Los Angeles this afternoon, Ailes refused to confirm or deny rumors that Kelly was going to be moving from daytime to primetime.
“Generally, I don’t confirm or deny any rumors, and that is a rumor at the moment,” Ailes said, according to Media Bistro. “Hannity is a brand that many of our viewers love and want to see, and, as you know, is one of the nicest guys in the building."
The rumor was started by The Drudge Report. Citing "top sources," the conservative news aggregator said Kelly had landed the coveted 9 p.m. slot.
Where Hannity goes if Kelly takes over at 9 p.m. is unknown, but he is definitely staying at Fox News.
"As previously stated, the network has signed long-term deals with Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier, Shepard Smith, Bill O'Reillly, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren," Fox News said in a statement.
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