“Michael Moore's 'Capitalism' movie doesn't tell the whole story - Nashville Tennessean” plus 4 more

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism' movie doesn't tell the whole story - Nashville Tennessean
AEG president: Jackson movie should clear co. name - Modesto Bee
New Michael Jackson Single to Hit Airwaves October 12 - ABC News
Kristen Dunst testifies against man accused of stealing her $2k purse - Newstrack India
Timberlake to Star in the Facebook Movie - The Celebrity Cafe.com

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism' movie doesn't tell the whole story - Nashville Tennessean

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 01:34 AM PDT

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THE FACTS: Three months after that scene was shot, Goldman Sachs was one of 10 large banks that repaid in June some $68 billion they received from the $700 billion Troubled As-sets Relief Program. Since then other large companies also have repaid funds, in-cluding Chrysler Financial and American Express Co.

Still, many large banks haven't repaid the TARP money. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. each received $45 billion and have yet to repay the funds.

Not all of the $700 billion in TARP funds have been disbursed. The total peaked at $425 billion.

MOORE'S RESPONSE: "Let's be clear on this. We're not talking about the majority of people who took the money ... not even 10 percent of the $700 billion has been returned."

MOORE'S TAKE: You're better off dead at least that's how some companies view their workers.

THE FACTS: Moore highlights an ugly truth about insurance policies that benefit companies, not the employees, when workers die. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is scathed for its use of such "dead peasant" policies. Moore notes how the death of a 26-year-old former Walmart worker resulted in a $81,000 life insurance payout to the retailer.

It's never mentioned in the body of the film that in 2000 the retailer canceled all 350,000 of these policies it took out on employees between 1993 and 1995.

MOORE'S RESPONSE: No misrepresentation here, he says: Walmart's termination of the insurance policies is included in a seven-minute-long presentation of facts and quotes on different issues relating to the movie shown in the closing credits.

MOORE'S TAKE: Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and other officials unfairly and hypocritically benefited from financial programs not available to all.

Moore asserts Dodd re-ceived more than $1 million in discounted loans for be-ing a "Friend of Angelo," re-ferring to Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp. That lender, heavily involved in the subprime-mortgage business, was sold last year to Bank of America.

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AEG president: Jackson movie should clear co. name - Modesto Bee

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 02:38 AM PDT

"It's mixed feelings, first of all, to see these guys again, and to be in this space," noted singer Darryl Phinnessee. "You know, we finished rehearsing at quarter to midnight the night before Michael died, and he was energetic and up and doing his thing, as you'll see in the movie."

Crafted from hundred hours of rehearsal footage, "This is It" is directed by longtime Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega, who had been working with Jackson on the concerts.

"You see the music, the studios, the rehearsals, the dancers, the auditions, the costumes," said Leiweke. "You see all of the behind the scenes, and the you finally see the last few days of the dress rehearsals, and you begin to see the genius of Michael: the dancing, the singing, the choreography, and his concept of creative a one-time performance that no one would ever forget."

Leiweke said the movie also will provide proof that AEG had Jackson's well-being in mind. "I think we still are hurt," Leiweke explained. "Some of the things that people have said about us, which are so untrue, this movie's going to restore his legacy, and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here. And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback here was dreaming of. And that we created an environment for him that was probably the best environment that the guy had the last 10 or 15 years of his life. And I'm very proud of the way we treated Michael, and very proud of the partnership that we had with him. And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo."

"This is It" is set to open in cinemas worldwide Oct. 28.

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New Michael Jackson Single to Hit Airwaves October 12 - ABC News

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 12:44 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - A new Michael Jackson single called "This Is It" will hit the airwaves on October 12, two weeks before it is available as part of a two-disc album released by the late pop star's record label.

Sony Music's Columbia/Epic Label Group said it would release the "This Is It" album internationally on October 26 and in North America on October 27, to coincide with the simultaneous global release of the Jackson movie of the same name on October 28.

A spokeswoman in London said that contrary to some reports, the posthumous single would not go on sale separately but would be available for radio stations to play from October 12.

"This song only defines, once again, what the world already knows -- that Michael is one of God's greatest gifts," said John McClain, co-producer of the album and an executor of Jackson's estate. Jackson died of an overdose of prescription drugs on June 25, at around the time he was rehearsing for a 50-date, sellout series of comeback concerts in London.

The "This Is It" movie, subject of a $60 million deal between Jackson's estate and concert promoter AEG Live and Sony Pictures, is based on footage from the final concert rehearsals.

Sales of Jackson's records spiked after his death, and the release of the movie and album will add to the value of the "Thriller" singer's estate, estimated at around $400 million.

Sony Music said the first disc of the two-disc album will feature some of Jackson's greatest hits plus two versions of the new single "This Is It." The song includes backing vocals by Jackson's brothers.

The second disc will include unreleased versions of some of the singer's classic tracks and a spoken word poem entitled "Planet Earth" performed by Jackson and never heard before.

Sony Pictures and Sony Music are units of Sony Corp.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Kristen Dunst testifies against man accused of stealing her $2k purse - Newstrack India

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 12:51 AM PDT

London, September 25 (ANI): Actress Kirsten Dunst recently appeared at New York court to testify against a man who allegedly stole her 2,000-dollar designer purse.

The 'Spider Man' star reportedly narrated the incident to the jurors.

According to the Daily Express, the beauty said she was shooting her new film 'How To Lose Friends And Alienate People' at the SoHo Grand hotel when her Balenciaga bag went missing.

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She also added that there was 2000 dollars cash in the purse, apart from other contents.

However, the purse and her credit cards were eventually returned.

Thirty-five year-old James Jimenez is the man who has been accused, but his lawyer has blamed a co-defendant who has pleaded guilty to attempted burglary. (ANI)

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Timberlake to Star in the Facebook Movie - The Celebrity Cafe.com

Posted: 24 Sep 2009 07:33 AM PDT

Timberlake to Star in the Facebook Movie
24-Sep-2009
Written by: Pahull Bains

Justin Timberlake has landed a role in the forthcoming Facebook movie, The Social Network.

Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg have nabbed the leads in The Social Network, a drama about how Facebook was created, written by Aaron Sorkin.

Eisenberg will play Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Timberlake will play Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster who became Facebook's first president.

They are joined by newcomer Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, who had a falling out with Zuckerberg as the site became a financial success.

The film will tell the story of the creation of Facebook, and how its immediate success changed the Harvard classmates who invented it in 2004.

Kevin Spacey, one of the film's executive producers, spoke to MTV News recently about the film, speculating that it would begin filming before the end of this year. He also said that he was "enormously excited" about the film.

"Great story for people that don't really know how it happened," Spacey said. "Very filmic, very modern, very cool."

Production is due to start on the film, which is being directed by David Fincher, next month and it is expected to be released in 2010.

Timberlake has acted in films such as The Open Road and Alpha Dog. He also picked up an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor on Saturday Night Live earlier this week.

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