Jamie Lee Curtis’ Emotional Funeral Farewell To Father Tony
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis fought back tears as she paid tribute to her late father Tony Curtis at a private memorial service in Las Vegas on Monday.
The Some Like It Hot star passed away on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest.
More than 400 mourners attended the service at Palm Mortuary & Cemetery and watched a moving film tribute to the late star.
During the ceremony, the actor's daughter Jamie Lee delivered a moving tribute, and joked, "All of us got something from him. I, of course, got his desperate need for attention."
Actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger also spoke at the service and recalled his movie mentor encouraging him to break into Hollywood despite his thick Austrian accent.
Schwarzenegger revealed how Curtis told him, "You are going to make it. Don't pay any attention to those guys. I heard the same thing when I came here."
Curtis was laid to rest in his favourite Armani scarf and driving gloves - and his widow Jill lightened the mood by telling mourners how the legend always wanted to take to the wheel again in his later years.
She said, "He was always, right up to the end, plotting ways to get his drivers license back."
But she brought friends and family to tears when she paid tribute to her husband, declaring: "He was a once-in-a lifetime man."
She added, "People always wonder what he was really like. He was exactly like you thought he would be. He was that charming, handsome man you saw on the screen."
The funeral was due to be followed by a burial and then a reception for 200 invited guests at the Luxor hotel.
Natalie Portman Helped Writer Aaron Sorkin Depict Life At Harvard for ‘The Social Network’
The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin had insider access to everything that goes on behind closed doors at Harvard University thanks to school graduate Natalie Portman.
The Star Wars beauty studied psychology at the prestigious institution from 1999 to 2003 and even dated a member of the famously exclusive Porcellian Club, a secretive male-only club.
And she couldn't wait to share all about her time at university with Sorkin after learning he was working on the screenplay for The Social Network, which chronicles the early days of Facebook.com when computer science students Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin co-founded the website in their Harvard dorm rooms.
Sorkin tells Entertainment Weekly, "Natalie Portman got in touch with me when she heard I was doing this to say, 'Listen, come over for dinner and I'll tell you some stories.'
"I would've come over for dinner under any circumstances. But that was really helpful."
Real Housewives’ Equipment Stolen
A film crew working on American TV show The Real Housewives Of New York City was targeted by thieves during a shoot in Manhattan last week (ends03Oct10).
The show was being filmed at the Pierre Hotel, where several of the stars, including Alex McCord, Simon van Kempen and Kelly Bensimon, were enjoying a party.
But while the Bravo TV crew was out shooting the show, thieves targeted their van, which was parked nearby, stealing $30,000 (£20,000) worth of equipment, according to New York Post gossip column PageSix.
A source tells the newspaper, "The van was parked right outside the Pierre near the ballroom entrance. Thieves broke the lock and stole a bunch of camera equipment and crew wallets."
A spokesperson for Bravo confirmed the theft, adding, "Two long lenses, tripods and a couple of crew bags were stolen. About $30,000 worth of equipment. A police report and insurance claims have been filed."
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Actor Jessie Eisenberg on playing Facebook CEO (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jesse Eisenberg has never been at a loss for work, having starred over the years in studio films like "Adventureland" and "Zombieland" and independent films like "Squid and the Whale."
Now, the 26 year-old actor is getting ready to take on his most high-profile role to date, playing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," in theaters on Friday.
The film, directed by David Fincher, is based on author Ben Mezrich's book, "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal." The feature not only chronicles how the game-changing website was created, but the lawsuits that stemmed from it in the process.
Eisenberg talked with Reuters about playing Zuckerberg and why he, Eisenberg, is not a Facebook user.
Q: The film is told from three different points of view: Zuckerberg's, his former best friend Eduardo Saverin's and identical twin brothers, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. At the end of it all, whose view do you actually agree with?
A: "My job as an actor was to defend my character, Mark Zuckerberg, every day for six months, 14 hours-a-day while we were filming. Therefore, there was never any question for me personally that my character was responsible and right and even a good friend because that was my job. Once you stop thinking along those lines, it's impossible to play the role you're assigned".
Q: Have you ever met Mark Zuckerberg?
A: "No, I never met him. But I spent six months listening to him on my iPod every morning."
Q: Wouldn't it make sense to sit down with the man you're going to play before actually portraying him?
A: "I would have loved to, but it was an impossibility."
Q: How so?
A: "For a laundry list of reasons. I guess I'm going to have to remain cagey on that for now." (Zuckerberg has said he declined to cooperate with the film's makers)
Q: If the opportunity arose, would you still meet him?
A: "Of course! I'd be very interested to meet him. In the final weeks of filming the movie, my cousin got a great job at Facebook and is now an employee there. My cousin told me Mark couldn't have been more gracious toward him."
Q: Did Mark know he was employing someone who had a family member portraying him in a big Hollywood movie?
A: "Mark came up to him at a party during his first week on the job and said: 'I think your cousin is playing me in a movie; that's really cool.' I couldn't have heard better things from my cousin both personally and professionally about Mark. It coincides with how I feel having played him as well."
Q: Are you on Facebook?
A: "I don't use Facebook and I had never been on it prior to reading the script of 'The Social Network.' But I went on it during pre-production and it was immediately evident to me why it's such a phenomenon."
Q: So why not join?
A: "I think I speak for a lot of actors, which is if you're in a public setting like we are, you come to really value your privacy. That's the primary reason why I'm not on it. But my mother found friends that she went to camp with via Facebook."
Q: So if you weren't an actor, you'd be on Facebook?
A: "Yes, I'm sure of it. When America Online came out, that was a very early incarnation of social networking with the instant messaging. I was like 13 years-old and my friends and I would come home from school and instant message each other for hours!"
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
View the original article here
Paramount Pictures Studios to lay off 53 people; save $10 million (AP)
LOS ANGELES – Viacom Inc.'s movie studio, Paramount Pictures, is laying off 53 people worldwide, most of whom are based in Los Angeles, in a move that will save about $10 million a year.
Chief Operating Officer Frederick Huntsberry and Vice Chairman Rob Moore informed staff of the move in an e-mail Thursday.
The layoffs come amid an industrywide decline in DVD sales and as Paramount has pared back the number of movies it releases every year.
In the quarter that ended in June, Paramount's revenue fell 10 percent to $1.25 billion, but it posted $69 million in operating profit, reversing a small loss, as it cut costs by releasing fewer movies.
The layoffs came by eliminating redundant positions and merging certain divisions, including folding the direct-to-home-video team under Paramount Digital Entertainment, which produces made-for-Internet videos.
The home video team, operating the Paramount Famous brand, had released movies that bypassed theatrical release such as "Road Trip: Beer Pong." It was set to release "Mean Girls 2" to home video next year.
Now that team will work under the president of Paramount's digital arm, Tom Lesinski. In 2007, the digital unit experimented with the release of "Jackass 2.5" by allowing people to watch it for free online at a site owned by Blockbuster Inc., before sales and rentals of physical DVDs were made available.
That model was repeated last year with the made-for-Web horror movie "Circle of Ei8ht."
"The restructuring we are announcing today consolidates our operations in a way that is consistent with how more of our customers are exploring multiple facets of the film experience," Huntsberry and Moore said in their memo. "Paramount as a company simply must keep evolving and refining its operations."
Paramount's licensing and consumer products division is also being merged into its motion pictures promotions division, overseen by executive vice president LeeAnne Stables.
Viacom's widely traded Class B shares rose 9 cents to $36.28 in after-hours trading, reversing a 9-cent decline to $36.19 in the regular session on Thursday.
Reaction to the death of Tony Curtis (AP)
Reaction on Thursday to the death of actor Tony Curtis at home in Henderson, Nev., at age 85:
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"All Tony ever wanted to be was a movie star. He didn't want to be the most dramatic actor. He wanted to be a movie star, ever since he was a little kid." — Jill Curtis, wife.
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"My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages. He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world." — Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter, actress.
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"He's one of those actors who in the 50s was a beautiful, charismatic leading man, who became sort of iconic as a sex symbol. Not somebody who you originally thought had a lot of depth. He was just charming and funny and yet he revealed himself to be quite complex and gave some great performances." — Tony Goldwyn, actor, director and son of film producer Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.
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"Tony Curtis was a Hollywood icon, a great performer and artist and devoted family man. I saw his extraordinary talent and ability to inspire generations of Americans firsthand on the set of 'Christmas in Connecticut,' and will always remember our times together." — Arnold Schwarzenegger, California governor and actor.
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"The guy was such a sweetheart. Beautifully neurotic, in a very endearing kind of Woody Allen way." — Sam Rockwell, actor with Curtis in the 1998 movie "Louis and Frank."
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"Tony Curtis and Eddie Fisher in the same week. It's very sad. He was funny, so very funny, very talented and a great spirit." — Marlo Thomas, actress, advocate and star of 1960s sitcom. "That Girl."
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"One thing Tony always said: 'God is great, he won't hurt us, 'cause he looks like Tony Curtis.' I guess now he knows how he looks." — Jill Curtis.
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"I'm fan of Billy Wilder films and you know, 'Some Like It Hot.' I mean, it's an iconic, comedic film. Besides the writing being brilliant, the acting was fantastic. Tony Curtis, I mean, he was phenomenal. He was a legend." — Jimmy Fallon, comic and television host.
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"He'd gotten to a transitional place at 55, 60 years old where all of a sudden they're looking for the next Tony Curtis. But the guy was filled with joy. One day we were sitting in a car together, a picture car, and he had these wonderful clothes on from the '30s, as did I, and he turned to me with a huge grin on his face and said, 'Isn't this fun? We're lucky people.'" — Brian Dennehy, actor, co-star with Curtis in the 1980 remake of "Little Miss Marker."
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"I am just a huge fan of his. What he gave to the world will live forever, which is a marvelous gift of this industry." — actress Diane Lane.
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Beach Boys film project picked up by Fox (Reuters)
There's a new Beach Boys movies in the works.
Fox 2000 has picked up a an untitled Beach Boys project that revolves around the band's music but is not a biopic.
The project is being produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the team responsible for "Hairspray."
Also producing is John Stamos, who has toured with the Beach Boys as their drummer and whose association with the band goes back to his appearance in the music video of "Kokomo."
Screenwriter Susannah Grant, who worked on Zadan and Meron's new "Footloose" project as well as the upcoming musical-themed "Burlesque," starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, is on board to write the Beach Boys movie. Rather than tell the story of the band, it will take a similar tack to "Mamma Mia!," which built a fictional story around the music of ABBA.
Plotlines for the film were not revealed.
The acquisition was made amid heated bidding, with the 20th Century Fox specialty unit beating out Universal Pictures as the price tag surfed up to the seven figures.