Category: Defies a category!

Christopher Nolan on theater shooting: ‘I would like to express our profound sorrow’

Christopher Nolan has released a statement following the tragic events in Colorado in the early hours of July 20 — when a gunman opened fire at midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

“Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting, but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families,” the director said.

Kathie Lee sorry for Short gaffe

Actor Martin Short brushed off marriage questions from TV presenter Kathie Lee Gifford during a live U.S. show on Wednesday – because his wife Nancy Dolman died two years ago.

The funnyman was promoting his upcoming movie Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted on breakfast programme Today when conversation turned toward his personal life.

However, interviewer Gifford failed to conduct proper research and she applauded Short’s long-lived marriage to comedienne Dolman, who lost her battle with cancer in 2010, setting the stage for a very awkward chat.

But gracious Short kept his cool, skirting over the issue instead of calling out the 58-year-old host on air.

Gifford said, “He and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in showbusiness. How many years now for you guys?”, to which he responded, “We (had been) married for 36 years.”

Gifford, however, kept pressing, saying, “But you’re still, like, in love?” Short forced a small smile and responded, “Madly, madly in love.”

Fans watching the awkward interview were mortified, taking to Twitter.com to fire off their thoughts.

One fan wrote, “Kathy Lee Gifford just had an #epicfail (sic),” while another tweeted, “Just saw Kathy Lee Gifford ask Marty Short abt (about) his wife/marriage. She died abt 2 yrs ago. Gulp! He was very gracious.”

Gifford has since realised her big blunder and has taken to her Twitter page to apologize for her mistake.

She tweets, “I send my sincerest apologies to @MartinShort and his family. He handled situation w/ (with) enormous grace and kindness and I’m so grateful.”

Warner Bros. trademarks “Quidditch” lingerie
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) ñ Sure, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” raked in an astounding $330 million worldwide in its opening weekend, but with “Part 2” coming next summer, Warner Bros. is facing the twilight of its magical franchise.
No fear. The studio still has lots of opportunity to milk its cash cow.
In a blog post entitled “Expecto Legalus” on Greenberg Glusker’s website, attorney Dan Nabel points out that Harry Potter’s favorite sport Quidditch has recently become an actual athletic event with a competitive circuit in New York City. Nabel examines whether Warner Bros. has any legal recourse to shut it down.
We already know that Warners isn’t too keen on Harry Potter condoms. And it turns out that the studio has grabbed extensive trademark rights over “Quidditch.”
The studio’s first rights grab came back in November 1999. Warners went with the basics, locking up the typical Quidditch merchandise that might one day be licensed to playmakers:
“(S)porting goods, games and playthings, namely, action figures and accessories therefore; plush toys; balloons; bathtub toys; ride-on toys; equipment sold as a unit for playing card games; toy vehicles; dolls; flying discs; electronic hand-held game unit; game equipment sold as a unit for playing a board game, a card game, a manipulative game, a parlor game, a parlor-type electronic game and an action type target game; stand alone video output game machines; jigsaw and manipulative puzzles; paper face masks; skateboards; ice skates; water squirting toys; balls, namely, playground balls, soccer balls, baseballs, basketballs; baseball gloves; swimming floats for recreational use; kickboard flotation devices for recreational use; surfboards; swim boards for recreational use; swim fins; toy bakeware and toy cookware; toy banks; and Christmas tree ornaments”
The fact that the studio trademarked “Quidditch” t-shirts will surprise nobody, but how about “Quidditch” lingerie?
“Clothing for men, women and children, namely, shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jogging suits, trousers, pants, shorts, tank tops, rainwear, cloth bibs, skirts, blouses, dresses, suspenders, sweaters, jackets, coats, raincoats, snow suits, ties, robes, hats, caps, sunvisors, belts, scarves, sleepwear, pajamas, lingerie, underwear, boots, shoes, sneakers, sandals, booties, slipper socks, swimwear and masquerade and Halloween costumes and masks sold in connection therewith”
It doesn’t stop there. Here’s what the studio secured “Quidditch” trademark rights to in 2007:
“Motion picture films featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and animation, and motion picture films for broadcast on television featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and animation; audio tapes, audio-video tapes, audio video cassettes, audio video discs, and digital versatile discs featuring music, comedy, drama, action, adventure, and animation; stereo headphones; batteries; cordless telephones; audio cassette and CD players; CD ROM computer game discs; telephone and radio pagers; short motion picture film cassettes featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and animation to be used with hand-held viewers or projectors; video cassette recorders and players, compact disc players, digital audio tape recorders and players; radios; mouse pads; eyeglasses, sunglasses and cases therefore; game equipment sold as a unit for playing a parlor-type computer game; video and computer game programs; video game cartridges and cassettes; cellular telephone accessories, namely, hands-free accessories, cellular telephone covers and cellular telephone face covers; encoded magnetic cards, namely, phone cards, credit cards, cash cards, debit cards and magnetic key cards; and decorative magnets”
And then in 2008:
“Printed matter and paper goods, namely, books featuring characters from animated, action adventure, comedy and drama features, comic books, children’s books, magazines featuring characters from animated, action adventure, comedy and drama features, coloring books, children’s activity books; stationery, writing paper, envelopes, notebooks, diaries, note cards, greeting cards, trading cards; lithographs; pens, pencils and cases therefore, erasers, crayons, markers, colored pencils, painting sets for children, chalk and chalkboards; decals, heat transfers; posters; mounted and unmounted photographs; book covers, book marks, calendars, gift wrapping paper; paper party favors and paper party decorations, namely, paper napkins, paper place mats, crepe paper, paper hats, invitations, paper table cloths, paper cake decorations; printed transfers for embroidery or fabric appliquÈs; printed patterns for costumes, pajamas, sweatshirts and t-shirts”
And then in 2009:
“Bath linens, namely, bath towels and wash cloths; bed linens, namely, bed blankets, bed canopies, bed pads, bed sheets, bed spreads, pillow cases, comforters, duvet covers, mattress covers, dust ruffles, crib bumpers, pillow shams and bed spreads; textile wall hangings; curtains; draperies; linen; kitchen linens, namely, barbecue mitts, cloth doilies, cloth napkins, dish cloths, fabric table cloths, kitchen towels, fabric place mats, oven mitts, washing mitts, fabric table runners, pot holders and cloth coasters; handkerchiefs, quilts, and golf towels”
Even that was not enough to cover the gambit of all things “Quidditch.” So Warner Bros. made yet another trademark registration in 2009 over these rights:
“Clocks; watches; jewelry, namely, bracelets, ankle bracelets, brooches, chains, charms, cuff-links, earrings, lapel pins, necklaces, ornamental pins, pendants and rings”
Add it all up and Warner Bros. could open its own department store. The film franchise may be coming to an end, but the studio can sell Quidditch ankle bracelets forever.

Album signed by John Lennon for his killer Mark David Chapman is up for sale
The album that John Lennon signed for Mark David Chapman hours before he killed the former Beatle is on sale for £530,000.
The copy of 1980’s ‘Double Fantasy’ was signed by Lennon as he left his home on December 8, 1980. He was then murdered by Chapman when he returned five hours later.
“The album is the most extraordinary artefact in rock and roll history,” autograph dealer Gary Zimet told NYPost.com. “It has Lennon’s signature on the cover and Chapman’s forensically enhanced finger prints on the sleeve.”
“I originally sold it in 1999,” he continued. “But it has come back up for resale. The current owner doesn’t want to be named because he received death threats.”
After Chapman killed Lennon, a maintenance man found the autographed album at the entrance to the Dakota, where Lennon lived. He then handed it over to Police as evidence.
For more information, visit Momentsintime.com.
Currently serving a life sentence, Chapman was recently denied parole for a sixth time.

‘Seinfeld’ star misspelled on Walk
LOS ANGELES – They misspelled Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ name on her Hollywood Walk of Fame star, but the Emmy-winning star of “Seinfeld” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” seemed tickled by the typo.
The mistake? The star read “Luis” instead of “Louis,” and there was no hyphen between Louis and Dreyfus.
“The misspelling was so perfectly apt, a great metaphor for show business,” Louis-Dreyfus said after the Tuesday-morning ceremony. “Right when you think you’ve made it, you get knocked down,” she continues. “It’s an ideal metaphor for how this business works.”
Following the ceremony, it was announced that the last Walk of Fame honoree whose name was misspelled was actor Dick Van Dyke in 1993.
Attendees at the Louis-Dreyfus ceremony included cast and crew members of “Christine,” as well “Seinfeld” director Andy Ackerman, co-star Jason Alexander and co-creator Larry David, who joked, “I am prepared to give up my nights and weekends to guard this (star) with my life from the filth and pollutants to which it’s prone. Anyone who so much as sneezes near this area, while I’m on duty … well, I’ll say, ‘God bless you,’ but I won’t be happy about it.”
Louis-Dreyfus, 49, is the first “Seinfeld” principal to get the Walk of Fame honour, as well as the first to enjoy a successful follow-up series, “Christine,” for which she won an Emmy in 2006. CBS has yet to announce whether it will renew the sitcom for 2010-11. “Oh, I certainly hope we’ll be back,” Louis-Dreyfus noted. “We love doing it. And I think it’s very likely that we’ll be back next season. Yes.”
A spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administrates the Walk of Fame ceremonies, said it would install a new, correctly spelled star and will be sending Louis-Dreyfus the erroneous “LUIS” and the accompanying chunks of pink-terrazzo star as souvenirs.”

Officer let Halle Berry bypass airport security line
A Montreal police officer “took the personal initiative” to move American actor Halle Berry, her Canadian partner and their daughter to the front of a lengthy U.S. customs queue at Trudeau airport earlier this week, a police spokesman said Friday.
Oscar winner Berry, Quebec model Gabriel Aubry and their daughter were spotted bypassing a long lineup Monday before they boarded a Montreal airport flight to Los Angeles ó an incident reported by Quebec media outlets and slammed by at least one blogger.
Insp. Jimmy Cacchione, who heads the Montreal police forceís 36-member airport unit, acknowledged the officer’s move had nothing to do with keeping the celebrity family safe.
Cacchione said the officer made the decision to let the couple through after a spur-of-the-moment request by Aubry.
“The husband of Ms. Berry asked if they could go faster through the line because they were late and they had the baby,” Cacchione said. “The officer took the personal initiative to allow them to go through the line faster, but that’s not something the Montreal police supports.”
Cacchione added that the officer will not be reprimanded and the police airport unit will institute stricter rules for the future.
Escort by police ‘a bit exaggerated’: blogger
Before police reacted to Quebec media reports, freelance journalist MariËve Paradis said in her French-language blog that other passengers in the same line as Berry and her family had to wait as long as an hour.
“I need to make one thing clear Ö I have absolutely nothing against Halle Berry, or movie stars,” Paradis wrote.
“They are probably nice people living in a world that’s different from mine! I just find that an escort by the Montreal police strikes me as a bit exaggerated. Couldn’t she have been escorted by an agent from Air Canada or the airport?”
“It was a very hard morning that day because there were so many people,” Paradis told CBC News from Los Angeles on Friday.
When she and her husband arrived at the gate only minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off, Paradis said she was scolded by Air Canada staff.
“We would not have been late if we were Halle Berry,” Paradis said.
Heightened airport security measures brought in after an alleged bomb plot was foiled following a transatlantic flight to Detroit on Christmas Day resulted in long lineups for passengers travelling to the United States over the holidays.

Joy Division singer’s gravestone stolen
Thieves have stolen a memorial stone for Ian Curtis, frontman of the influential post-punk band Joy Division from a cemetery in northern Britain.
The stone has the inscription “Ian Curtis 18 – 5 – 80” and the words “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” the title of his most popular song.
Cheshire Police said the stone was taken some time between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. They have appealed to the local community for information.
Curtis, who was returned to the spotlight recently with the release of the film Control, based on his life story, died in 1980.
He suffered from depression and hanged himself at age 23 just before Joy Division was to tour the U.S.
The band’s second album, Closer, with the single Love Will Tear Us Apart, was released after his death.
Curtis’s widow, Debbie, was said to be in “a state of shock” after being informed that the stone was missing.
Stephen Morris, former drummer of Joy Division and later rock band New Order, speculated that a misguided fan may have stolen the stone. He appealed for its return.
Fans from all over the world have travelled to the site over the past 20 years to pay their respects and often leave messages and tokens behind.

Sharon Stone: Was China quake `bad karma?’
LOS ANGELES (AP) ó Sharon Stone’s “karma” is having an instant effect on her movie-star status in China.
The 50-year-old actress suggested last week that the devastating May 12 earthquake in China could have been the result of bad karma over the government’s treatment of Tibet. That prompted the founder of one of China’s biggest cinema chains to say his company would not show her films in his theaters, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else,” Stone said Thursday during a Cannes Film Festival red-carpet interview with Hong Kong’s Cable Entertainment News. “And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you’re not nice that the bad things happen to you?”
Ng See-Yuen, founder of the UME Cineplex chain and the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, called Stone’s comments “inappropriate,” adding that actors should not bring personal politics to comments about a natural disaster that has left five million Chinese homeless, according to the Reporter.
UME has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, China’s biggest urban movie markets.
During the brief interview, which has also surfaced on YouTube, Stone also said she cried when she recieved a letter from the Tibetan Foundation asking her to help the quake victims.
“They wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry,” she said. “It was a big lesson to me that sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who aren’t nice to you.”
Stone’s words created a swell of anger on the Internet, including at least one Chinese Web site devoted solely to disparaging her comments.
An after-hours phone call and email to a representative for Stone were not immediately returned Tuesday night.
“To Sharon Stone’s comment, it’s unlikely that we will respond,” said a woman who answered the phone at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. She refused to give her name or position.
According to the Web-based database imdb.com, Stone has at least four movies coming up between now and 2010, including “Streets of Blood,” “Five Dollars a Day” and “The Year of Getting to Know Us.”

Neil Young gets new honor — his own spider
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians — his own spider.
An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.
“There are rather strict rules about how you name new species,” Bond said in a statement.
“As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice.”
Young, 62, is a veteran rock musician who rose to fame in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield and later became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, whose 1970 release “Deja Vu” has become a classic rock album.
The singer/songwriter, whose solo work ranges from older albums such as “Harvest” to newer CDs like “Living with War,” has long been an activist for social and anti-war causes.
Bond discovered the new spider species in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2007. He said spiders in the trapdoor genus, who tend to live in burrows and build trap doors to seal off their living quarters, are distinguished from one species to the next on the basis of differences in genitalia.
He confirmed through the spider’s DNA that the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is an identifiable, separate species of spider within the trapdoor genus.
Young is not the first musician to have a creature named after him. A species of beetle that looks as if it is wearing a tuxedo — the whirligig beetle, or Orectochilus orbisonorum — was named earlier this year after the late rock ‘n’ roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.

Ledger Apartment Back Up For Rent
The New York rental apartment Heath Ledger died in has been put back on the market, the New York Post reports.
Three weeks after the actor was found dead in his bed after accidentally overdosing on prescription drugs, the Broome Street, Soho pad he had rented since September for approximately $22,000 per month is being offered up.
The vast apartment is 10 times the size of many Manhattan homes, with 4,400 square feet of floor space, and features three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, an office, laundry room, wood-burning fireplace, kitchen and balcony.
Sources said that it is now being offered for around 25,000 a month.
A real estate agent told the New York Post: “You don’t wait around in a hot rental market like this. As ghoulish as it sounds, people will rent that place in a heartbeat, especially when the vacancy rate is below one per cent.”