plus 4, Tom Cruise movie filming in Melrose - Boston Globe

Tom Cruise movie filming in Melrose - Boston Globe
Grand jury unconvinced over Miley Cyrus 'stalker' - Belfast Telegraph
Chavez says Penn may make film in Venezuela - Deseret News
This Is It heats up box office - Tonight South Africa
Family movie guide - Times Union

Tom Cruise movie filming in Melrose - Boston Globe

Posted: 28 Oct 2009 03:21 PM PDT

By Travis Andersen, Town Correspondent

Melrosians can expect a little excitement this Friday night.

"Knight and Day," a film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, will be filming on the Fellsway this weekend, according to a statement from the office of Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan.

"Melrose is becoming as popular as Rodeo Drive, it seems,'' Dolan said.

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Grand jury unconvinced over Miley Cyrus 'stalker' - Belfast Telegraph

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 12:11 AM PDT

Thursday, 29 October 2009

A grand jury in Georgia refused to indict a 53-year-old on charges of attempting to stalk teenage star Miley Cyrus as she filmed a movie.

The jury decided that prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to indict Mark McLeod of Appling, Georgia, on charges of attempted stalking, obstruction of a police officer and disturbing the peace.

McLeod has been jailed since August 4 after police arrested him twice on Tybee Island, where 16-year-old Hannah Montana star Cyrus was filming The Last Song.

Police say McLeod told them he was engaged to marry the star and resisted being escorted from the set.

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Chavez says Penn may make film in Venezuela - Deseret News

Posted: 28 Oct 2009 10:45 PM PDT

President Hugo Chavez said he met privately with actor Sean Penn on Wednesday, and that the Oscar-winning celebrity may film a movie in Venezuela.

Penn may shoot a film based on a novel by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, which is set largely in the jungle along Venezuela's southern Orinoco river, Chavez said. He appeared to be referring to Carpentier's 1953 novel, "The Lost Steps," about an American anthropologist and composer's journey into the jungle region.

Penn's publicist could not immediately be reached for comment.

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This Is It heats up box office - Tonight South Africa

Posted: 28 Oct 2009 11:28 PM PDT

What do you think? Tell us!

By Mike Collett-White and Bob Tourtellotte

Michael Jackson fans poured out of cinemas on Wednesday applauding the new This Is It movie of the late pop star's final concert rehearsals and ringing up sales at box offices worldwide.

Columbia Pictures, the studio behind the movie, said the film took in $2,2-million (about R15-million) in late Tuesday night screenings in North America following its Los Angeles premiere, and early Wednesday matinee showings were surpassing that figure.

In international markets, where the film is expected to play strongly given the Thriller singer's huge global appeal, box office figures are still being collected, but "early indications already reveal strong attendance," Columbia said.

Fan excitement at the heavily hyped release of This Is It was mixed with sadness that one of music's biggest stars and most troubled celebrities died before he could bring his live comeback to the stage.

This Is It was cut from 80 hours of film of the singer's rehearsals for 50 London concerts planned from July which he envisioned both as a return to the limelight after years of life as a recluse and a final farewell to live performance.

The nearly two-hour film features Jackson singing and dancing to some of his biggest hits, including Beat It, Thriller, Black Or White and Man In The Mirror. Throughout the film, audiences see Jackson working with his singers and dancers to create a show that would wow his fans.

"It's great!" wrote Karen Portem on the Facebook social networking site, having seen the movie on its first day of release in the Philippines. "But it's so sad to think that people... aren't able to see M.J. perform it live."

Critics have been largely positive, describing the film as a fitting tribute to a star who fascinated the world with his slick dance moves and versatile vocals as well as his increasingly bizarre appearance and legal troubles.

By midday Wednesday, This Is It had scored an 79 percent positive rating on website rottentomatoes.com, which combines reviews from around the United States.

Entertainment Weekly magazine's Owen Glieberman gave the movie a grade of "B," saying "'This Is It' is fun, but it's a slightly airless experience. If the movie allows you to bask in Michael Jackson's aura, it also uses his image to foster 'nostalgia' for a concert epiphany that never quite was."

Jackson died suddenly on June 25 in Los Angeles at the age of 50 after suffering cardiac arrest only weeks before he was to have begun the This Is It concerts, denying him the chance to erase the stigma of a sensational 2005 trial when he was acquitted of child molestation charges.

He grew up as one of Motown legends The Jackson 5, made the gliding "moonwalk" famous the world over and still has the best-selling album of all time with his 1982 Thriller.

After a star-studded opening in Los Angeles Tuesday night and premieres in 16 other cities, the film began playing in 99 countries Wednesday and will expand to about 110 territories by the weekend.

In Tokyo, pop star and Jackson friend Lionel Richie said he hoped the movie would bring out the ordinary in Jackson.

"The part that you're going to see tonight is the part of him being the real Michael, which is the hard-working guy but at the same time so easy to get along with - the guy I know," he said.

Sony's Columbia Pictures bought the film rights from concert promoter AEG Live for $60-million and has described ticket demand as "phenomenal." Columbia has said the movie will be extended beyond its two-week run if ticket demand is high, and it plans a DVD release in 2010.

Meanwhile, the soundtrack to This Is It has generated sales roughly in the middle of expectations since hitting record stores on Monday. Estimates suggest it should sell between 300 000 and 350 000 units in its first week, according to Silvio Pietroluongo, director of charts at Billboard magazine.

The final number depends on how many people see the movie and then feel inspired to buy the album, but regardless of the exact figure, Jackson "certainly looks like being number one (on the charts) by a considerable margin," Pietroluongo said. - Reuters

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Family movie guide - Times Union

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 02:12 AM PDT

'ASTRO BOY'

Rating: PG for some action and peril, and brief mild language.

What it's about: a scientist creates a robot version of his son after the boy dies.

The kid attractor factor: An animated boy with rockets for legs.

Good lessons/bad lessons: All that garbage from our disposable culture is going to end up somewhere.

Violence: Quite a bit -- a child is vaporized and robot brawling is a plot element.

Language: Disney clean.

Sex: None, though Astro Boy does like his South Beach shorts.