Ladies frontman survives plane crash
BANCROFT - Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson and three others are "really lucky" to have survived a float-plane crash north of Bancroft Sunday, officials say.
Robertson's plane went down in the woods north of Bancroft early Sunday afternoon.
"Everyone is fine and that is the important thing," said Adam Smith, a spokesman for the band, said Sunday night in an e-mail to The Intelligencer. "That's all the comment we have at this time."
Sgt. Jeff MacKinnon of Bancroft OPP said the crash happened near Baptiste Lake, about 10 minutes north of Bancroft and one of the North Hastings district's most popular cottage areas.
"At 12:30 p.m. a Cessna 206 was taking off from Baptiste Lake, lost airspeed and entered a wooded area west of the lake," Sgt. Jeff MacKinnon of Bancroft OPP said in a telephone interview.
He said the plane was totaled but all four adults managed to walk out of the woods and soon reported the crash.
"They got out and then called it in," said MacKinnon.
MacKinnon said police aren't releasing any further details, including the names of the plane's occupants, because the investigation is now being headed by Canada's Transportation Safety Board.
Sources in the area, however, said Robertson was piloting his own plane.
"They're all really lucky to get out of there. I think there was somebody on their side," said Brian Sears, deputy fire chief for Herschel Ward of the Municipality of Hastings Highlands.
"They could smell the fuel, so they didn't waste any time getting out of it."
He said the crash happened about a kilometre from the nearest road, with the plane breaking trees on its way to the ground.
"He'd clipped one a bit farther back from there (the crash site). It hit some more maples, and the maples just leaned down and uprooted, and from the looks of it cushioned it from any real heavy blow," said Sears.
"She's on her nose up against the trees. One pontoon is split right back underneath it.
"I've left some guys there because there was quite a bit of fuel leaking," he said. "We plugged it up as much as we could."
Sears said Robertson appeared to be doing well, and visited the site at least once after the forced landing.
"He came over and brought some water and pop over for the guys," said Sears.
Robertson doubles as host of the Ed's Up television show on Outdoor Life Network Canada. He's a well-known, well-liked cottager in the area.
Nearby resident Gord Peel, who said he has known Robertson for about 10 years, said he arrived on the scene about 20 minutes after the crash. Peel said the passengers were Robertson's wife, Natalie, and their friends Julie and Jeff Jones.
"There was some gusting wind up here today," Peel told The Intelligencer. "He got up, and he got into a stall."
Following the stall, he said, Robertson managed to "set the plane straight down into the trees. It hung up into a large tree, nose down, and its nose is resting on the ground.
"The doors were jammed; they couldn't get out. They had to get out through a window. They didn't even have a scratch. They were just more in shock than anything."
He said he found the four friends walking on a road, somewhat shaken but unharmed.
Belleville's Shirley and Willard Wasson were surprised to receive a phone call from Peel Sunday.
Shirley Wasson said their acquaintance called at around 1:30 p.m. to report the plane had crashed on the Wassons' 80-acre property.
Her husband said he'd been told the plane could not be removed until authorities had investigated the crash.
Transportation Safety Board staff, meanwhile, had not returned phone calls by press time Sunday.
Deborah Baxter is a spokeswoman for Transport Canada, which also investigates aviation incidents.
"We have not received a report on this accident, so if it was a private plane and nobody was hurt ... we may not get a report until later," Baxter said Sunday evening.
THE AUTUMN OSCAR RACE IS NOW ON!! HERE IS A SNEAK PEEK AT THE SEASON'S BEST.
OSCAR BAIT
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Who's in it: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton
Why you'll see it: Director David Fincher's last film, "Zodiac," was one of the most criminally overlooked masterpieces in recent years. The presence of Brad Pitt should guarantee more eyeballs for his latest project. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Benjamin Button" is about a man who ages backwards. And through the magic of motion-capture (the same technology used in "Beowulf"), Pitt will play Button at every age, from a stooped senior citizen to a fresh-faced boy. We're curious already. (Dec. 19)
Revolutionary Road
Director Sam Mendes is joined by his wife, Kate Winslet, as well as "Titanic" boatmate Leonardo DiCaprio for the story of a suburban Connecticut couple in the 1950s whose marriage is dissolving. (Dec. 26)
The Road
If you've read Cormac McCarthy's brilliant but dispiriting novel about a father and son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, you don't need much cajoling to see this one. Viggo Mortensen plays the dad, Kodi Smit-McPhee the son. (Nov. 26)
The Changeling
This period drama from director Clint Eastwood picked up major buzz after screening at Cannes earlier this year. A mother (Angelina Jolie) has her kidnapped son returned to her and begins to suspect that the boy is not hers. (Oct. 24)
Milk
Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch and James Franco headline this drama from director Gus Van Sant about the life of Harvey Milk, California's first openly gay elected official who ultimately got assassinated. (Nov. 26)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Australia
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman star is this outback epic from director Baz Luhrmann. (Nov. 14)
The Duchess
Another year, another costume drama for Keira Knightley. She plays the fashionable Duchess of Devonshire. (Sept. 19)
ACTION
Quantum of Solace
Who's in it: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ukrainian model-actress Olga Kurylenko
Why you'll see it: Sorry, Sean Connery. 2006's "Casino Royale" was the best James Bond yet. And this 22nd installment in the franchise promises to continue with the gritty, realistic tone the last one established. Picking up one hour after "Casino Royale" left off, the film sends the British secret agent around the globe to stop a shadowy organization from taking control of South America's water supply. What's not to like? Well, except that title, which comes from an unrelated Bond story by creator Ian Fleming. Craig has said the title has grown on him and that it's a reference to Bond's search for a bit of peace - and closure - after his girlfriend Vesper was murdered in "Casino Royale." (Nov. 7)
Eagle Eye
From an idea by Steven Spielberg. Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan discover a mysterious woman has framed them as terrorists. D.J. Caruso, of "Disturbia," directs. (Sept. 26)
RocknRolla
Marital troubles or not, Guy Ritchie proves he can still craft a stylish British crime drama. Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson star. (Oct. 31)
Body of Lies
The film's pedigree alone - it was written by "The Departed" scribe William Monahan and directed by Ridley Scott - has us salivating. Leonardo DiCaprio is a covert Middle East operative and Russell Crowe is his handler. (Oct. 10)
Righteous Kill
The anticipation of seeing Robert De Niro and Al Pacino onscreen together for the first time since "Heat" is tempered somewhat by the knowledge that the director of this serial-killer thriller is the same who did Pacino's disastrous "88 Minutes." (Sept. 12)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Valkyrie
Tom Cruise's oft-delayed turn as a Nazi colonel who attempts to assassinate Hitler. (Dec. 26)
COMEDY
Burn After Reading
Who's in it: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, J.K. Simmons, Richard Jenkins
Why you'll see it: Following multiple Oscar wins for the bleak "No Country for Old Men," the Coen brothers regain their twisted sense of humor (see "Raising Arizona," "Fargo," "O Brother Where Art Thou" and, kind of, "Intolerable Cruelty") with this smaller-scale movie about a couple of dim-bulb gym employees (Pitt, McDormand) trying to make money off the found memoirs of a CIA agent (Malkovich). There are enough auspicious pairings here to make several quality films, actually: Clooney and Pitt ("Ocean's Eleven"); Clooney and the Coens ("O Brother"); McDormand and the Coens ("Raising Arizona," "Fargo"); Clooney and Swinton ("Michael Clayton"). Plus: Malkovich plays a scary bad guy! (Sept. 12)
The Women
A group of gossipy gals (Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith and Debra Messing) bond when they discover the husband of their friend (Meg Ryan) is having an affair. "Sex and the City" lite. (Sept. 12)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Kevin Smith has unfortunately confirmed you will once again see Seth Rogen's bare backside in this raunchy tale of two friends (Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who decide to earn some cash by making an amateur porno. (Oct. 31)
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Michael Cera brings some of his patented awkward goodness to the story of a loser who ends up spending the night with a girl (Kat Dennings) who poses as his girlfriend. (Oct. 3)
Role Models
Of all the Judd Apatow regulars, Paul Rudd could be the most underrated. The gifted comedian gets top billing (along with Seann William Scott) as an energy drink rep who's forced to mentor a kid in a charity program. (Nov. 14)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Four Christmases
Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents over the holidays. (Nov. 26)
Marley & Me
Based on the book, a family learns lessons from their dog. With Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. (Dec. 25)
Fall movie preview
Summer's movie superheroes give way to more intimate, prestige-minded films
After four months of spandex-and-iron-clad do-gooders, the capes are being mothballed, the batarangs holstered and the gamma-irradiated creatures caged. The summer of the superhero has come to a close, true believer, although one suspects Hollywood is sorry to see its costumed crime-fighters go, considering The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Wanted grossed more than $1 billion at the North American box office alone.
No one expects this fall's crop of more intimate, prestige-minded dramas, comedies and thrillers to perform as staggeringly -- how could they? -- but for the movie industry, old habits are hard to break and autumn has always been about stories for grown-ups that might lead to Oscar gold.
Still, after 2007's disastrous fall season -- in which audiences snubbed a horde of war-themed dramas -- executives are being nothing if not practical. So from now until mid-November, there is an abundance of escapist fare to distract from messy, unmarketable reality. And if something brilliant or provocative slips through the cracks, so be it. Here are 10 to watch:
Burn After Reading (Sept. 12)
After last year's savage No Country for Old Men, Oscar-winning siblings Ethan and Joel Coen veer into slapstick with this screwball farce about stolen CIA documents swiped by a dim personal trainer (Brad Pitt). George Clooney, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand co-star. That No Country for Old Men echoed such early Coen-made fare as Blood Simple makes us hopeful Burn After Reading is a lot more Raising Arizona or even O Brother Where Art Thou than Intolerable Cruelty, The Hudsucker Proxy or, gawd help us all, The Ladykillers.
Righteous Kill (Sept. 12)
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro partner up for the first time since Michael Mann's Heat -- and for only their third film together -- as gruff detectives investigating vigilante-style slayings. The pairing of the acting titans aside, there's reasonable cause for concern. First clue: The involvement of journeyman Jon Avnet, who last helmed Pacino's barely-releasable 88 Minutes and is far from the rareified leagues of a Mann or Francis Ford Coppola (who directed De Niro and Pacino separately in the second Godfather instalment).
Eagle Eye (Sept. 26)
Shia LaBeouf re-teams with his Disturbia director D.J. Caruso as a fugitive who finds himself manipulated by mysterious phone calls and on the run with a single mother (Michelle Monaghan). Apparently the hush-hush plot -- part-War Games, part-Alfred Hitchcock -- was conceived by Steven Spielberg, who undoubtedly approved of the casting of LaBeouf, his scruffy Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull star.
Body of Lies (Oct. 10)
Problem: You're releasing a war-on-terror thriller following a movie-going year in which audiences balked at nearly a dozen similarly-themed explorations of the malfeasance of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East (In the Valley of Elah, Rendition, Lions for Lambs, etc., etc.). Solution: Emphasize your movie's not-insignificant star wattage (Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe sparring as a CIA operative stationed in Jordan and his bloated, shifty agency boss) and Ridley Scott-directed action (think Syriana with shootouts). Will it work? The trailer is gangsters and the DiCaprio-Crowe pairing should prove irresistible. Just no one say "al-Qaeda" in the television ads.
W. (Oct. 17)
Josh Brolin stars as George W. Bush in this biographical tale -- the tagline "A Life Misunderestimated" is enough to make me smile -- that follows the U.S. president from his days as a perpetual underachieving drinker to the fella with his finger on the nuclear button. As terrifying a thought as that might be, director Oliver Stone promises 1) it's not a horror movie 2) it's not a hatchet job and 3) it's not terribly concerned with politics. Rather, he considers his film an honest character study. Surrounding Brolin is a fascinating cast: Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice and Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush. Still, as irresistible as this sounds, will anyone pay to see it? Fact is, even those who would enjoy it most may simply be -- after eight long years -- nauseated at the thought of two more hours with W.
Changeling (Oct 24)
In Clint Eastwood's latest directorial outing, Angelina Jolie stars as a mother whose kidnapped child is returned home -- except she's convinced this boy isn't her son. Worse, everyone just thinks she's crazy, including the police. As preposterous as it sounds, the film is based on a true story that occurred in 1920s Los Angeles. Although last year's A Mighty Head met with mixed response and zero interest from the Academy, this film may give Jolie something small and bald to hoist that's not a baby, adopted or otherwise.
Quantum of Solace (Nov. 7)
Having resuscitated the 007 franchise so potently that some critics even blasphemously wondered aloud if he was superior to Sean Connery, Daniel Craig returns as Ian Fleming's super-spy. And to those who fretted that this sequel would mark a spiral into the Austin Powers-ready cheekiness and eye-rolling gadgetry that Casino Royale jettisoned, fear not. Oscar-winner Paul Haggis again performed surgery on the screenplay, behind the camera is the gifted director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball) and Craig once more appears more severe than suave. But then that's to be expected given the plot hinges on a revenge-obsessed Bond out to destroy the organization that murdered the love of his life (Eva Green). One shouldn't brace for The Dark Knight-sized grosses, but we'd be stunned if Quantum didn't surpass Casino Royale (which, like Batman Begins, had to live down its jokey predecessor) to become one of the top-grossing Bonds, James Bonds, ever.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Nov. 7)
Considering 1) the original grossed $193 million and 2) filmgoers can't get enough of computer-rendered creatures (this summer's Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda both topped $210 million mark), a sequel to the 2005 toon was a given. Moreover the abrupt departure of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from its November slot to next July assures this animated follow-up will have even more of the family crowd to itself. This time out, Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) and the penguins crash-land in the vast plains of Africa where they meet species of their own kind for the first time. Whatever happens, we're pretty sure no one gets eaten: The studio has already announced plans for Madagascar 3.
Australia (Nov. 14)
Reuniting with her Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman stars as an English aristocrat forced to align herself with a rough-hewn local (Hugh Jackman, replacing Russell Crowe) as she faces cattle barons and the Japanese forces that bombed the city of Darwin following Pearl Harbor. Big, vivid, romantic, epic, Australia hearkens back to a species of cinema that's all but extinct. Why? Because to recoup your costs (Australia came with an estimated pricetag of $150 million), you need to woo multiplex mall rats who wouldn't know David Lean from Antoine Fuqua.
The Road (Nov. 14)
In this adaptation of the best-seller by Cormac McCarthy -- who also penned No Country for Old Men -- Viggo Mortensen stars as a man leading his young son through a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by war and populated by cannibals, thieves and gangs. John Hillcoat, who last helmed the sullen, superb western The Proposition, seems perfectly suited to McCarthy's dour but poetic material. Look for Charlize Theron in flashbacks as Mortensen's hope-starved wife.
'Thunder' reigns again with $16.1 million weekend
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The action comedy "Tropic Thunder" weathered a rush of new movies to remain No. 1 for a second-straight weekend with $16.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Paramount-DreamWorks release — starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black as actors caught up in real battle while shooting a war movie — raised its 12-day total to $65.7 million.
"Tropic Thunder" came in just ahead of Sony's campus comedy "The House Bunny," which debuted in second place with $15.1 million. "The House Bunny" stars Anna Faris as an ostracized Playboy bunny who becomes den mother to a sorority of campus misfits.
Universal's "Death Race" — an update of 1975's "Death Race 2000," with Jason Statham starring as a driver in a kill-or-be-killed auto race of the future — opened at No. 3 with $12.3 million.
The weekend's other new wide releases, Ice Cube's sports drama "The Longshots" and Rainn Wilson's music comedy "The Rocker," opened weakly.
"The Longshots" — an MGM-Weinstein Co. release starring Ice Cube as a former high school star coaching his niece, the first girl to play Pop Warner football — came in at No. 8 with $4.3 million.
20th Century Fox's "The Rocker," starring Wilson as an over-the-hill heavy-metal drummer who gets a chance at stardom with a high school band, took in $2.8 million to finish at No. 12.
After a run of blockbuster weekends, late summer was proving the usual dumping ground for modest movies as business slowed and audiences eased into back-to-school mode.
That opened the door for "Tropic Thunder" to repeat as the weekend's box-office leader.
"There isn't that divide where there's a couple of huge movies coming every week," said DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan.
Summer's biggest hit, "The Dark Knight," continued its climb up the box-office charts, placing fourth with $10.3 million. The Warner Bros. Batman sequel has taken in $489.2 million on its way to becoming the second film ever to top $500 million, after "Titanic" ($600.8 million).
Overall movie revenues of $3.9 billion are slightly ahead of last summer's record pace. But higher admission prices mean the actual number of tickets sold is down about 3 percent compared to summer 2007, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
Still, Hollywood should finish with a box-office record and a second-straight summer topping the $4 billion mark.
"Thank you, `Dark Knight.' That's added close to half a billion dollars," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. "One film like `The Dark Knight' can make a huge difference."
In limited release, Focus Features' comedy "Hamlet 2" pulled in $435,000. Starring Steve Coogan as a high school drama teacher staging a campy, irreverent musical sequel to Shakespeare's play, "Hamlet 2" expands into nationwide release Wednesday.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Tropic Thunder," $16.1 million.
2. "The House Bunny," $15.1 million.
3. "Death Race," $12.3 million.
4. "The Dark Knight," $10.3 million.
5. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," $5.7 million.
6. "Pineapple Express," $5.6 million.
7. "Mirrors," $4.9 million.
8. "The Longshots," $4.304 million.
9. "Mamma Mia!", $4.303 million.
10. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," $4.1 million.