Secretariat’s story heading to big screen
by Steve Szkotak
DOSWELL, Va. (AP) – A movie about the thoroughbred who won the Triple Crown in 1973 has begun filming in Kentucky.
Diane Lane is portraying “Secretariat” owner Penny Chenery and John Malkovich is trainer Lucien Laurin.
In an era defined by a dispiriting war and a surreal Washington scandal, Secretariat gave Americans and their bruised psyche something to cheer about.
Now the race horse considered by many as the best ever and the housewife-turned-breeder who soared in a male-dominated sport are coming to the big screen.
Randall Wallace, who directed “We Were Soldiers,” is directing. A fall 2010 release is expected.
Unlike the 2003 movie “Seabiscuit,” ”Secretariat” will focus partly on Chenery’s improbable success in the old money, bourbon-sipping world of horse breeding.
US online ads fell 5 pct to $5.43 billion in 2Q
NEW YORK (AP) – Newly released statistics show that Internet advertising in the U.S. fell 5 percent in the second quarter as the recession continued to crimp marketing budgets.
It was the second consecutive quarterly decline in Internet advertising, extending the medium’s first slump since the aftermath of the dot-com bust in 2002.
The $5.43 billion spent on Internet ads during the three months ending in June compared to $5.75 billion at the same time last year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Advertising has fallen much farther for newspapers, magazines and broadcasters, where the second-quarter declines ranged from 12 percent to 29 percent.
King Kong figurine used in 1930s movie up for saleLONDON (AP) – A skeletal figurine used to create one of the 1930s’ most memorable movie monsters is going up for sale.
Christie’s auction house says the 22-inch (56-centimeter) metal figurine was used to represent King Kong in the climactic scene where the giant ape scales New York’s Empire State Building.
“King Kong” wowed audiences with what for the time were astonishingly realistic special effects. The titular monster’s movements were created using stop-motion animation.
At time of the 1933 movie’s filming the skeleton was clad in cotton, rubber, liquid latex and rabbit’s fur. Christie’s spokeswoman Jo Swetenham said Friday that the covering had since rotted off.
Christie’s says the figurine will go up for sale late next month.
Steven Spielberg receives Liberty Medal in Philly
Mary Claire Dale
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, long recognized for his artistic achievements, was honored with the Liberty Medal on Thursday for his compassion and humanitarian work.
Former President Bill Clinton presented the medal to Spielberg at the National Constitution Center, which offers history-based exhibits focused on the U.S. Constitution and gives the annual award to those whose actions represent the founding principles of the United States.
“Art is and should endeavor to be among the human enterprises that contribute to the building of good and free societies,” said Spielberg, whose other projects include “Amistad,” about a slave ship mutiny, and the HBO series “Band of Brothers,” about a company of soldiers during World War II.
After making “Schindler’s List,” based on the true story of a man who tries to save Jews from the Nazis, Spielberg established a foundation to produce video and oral histories of Holocaust survivors.
The Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation became part of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2006. Its collection now stands at nearly 52,000 video testimonies in 32 languages, representing 56 countries.
Spielberg, who won Oscars for best director and best picture for “Schindler’s List” and best director for “Saving Private Ryan,” will donate the Liberty Medal’s $100,000 cash prize to that organization, the National Constitution Center said.
Australian TV show apologizes for blackface skitby Tanalle Smith
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) – An Australian variety show host has apologized for a skit in which singers parodying the Jackson Five performed in blackface.
American singer and actor Harry Connick Jr., who was serving as a guest judge on Wednesday night’s “Hey Hey It’s Saturday,” was visibly shocked by the skit, in which four men with afro wigs and blackface sang and danced behind a Michael Jackson impersonator wearing white makeup.
Connick, 42, gave the performance a zero score and told them that if it had been done in the United States it would have been pulled off the air.
Blackface was a traditional trope of minstrel shows in the U.S. that dates to the 19th century. Whites playing stock black characters – usually offensive stereotypes meant to demean – rubbed coal, grease or shoe polish on their faces. Blackface performances are not common in Australia.
At a news conference on other issues Thursday morning, opposition politician Helen Coonan labeled the skit “disgusting.”
Host Daryl Somers apologized to Connick at the end of the live show.
Connick said he would not have appeared on the show if he’d known about the skit.
Anand Deva, the frontman of the “Jackson Jive” act, said it was not meant to cause offense but added he would not have performed it in the United States.
Filmmaker sues Chris Rock over ‘Good Hair’
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A filmmaker is suing Chris Rock for at least $5 million and trying to block the release of his upcoming documentary “Good Hair.”
Regina Kimbell sued Rock and several film companies in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, claiming Rock’s project is a copycat of her film, “My Nappy Roots.”
Kimbell states she screened her film for the comedian in 2007. The lawsuit states “My Nappy Roots” traces the business and cultural history of black hair care and has otherwise only been shown at colleges and film festivals since its completion in 2006.
Her lawsuit claims several of elements of her film have been copied.
Rock’s publicist declined to comment.
“Good Hair” will be released in certain cities on Friday and nationwide on Oct. 23.
FCC chairman warns of ‘looming spectrum crisis’
by Elliot Spagat
SAN DIEGO (AP) – The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission warned Wednesday of “a looming spectrum crisis” if the government fails to find ways to come up with more bandwidth for mobile devices.
Julius Genachowski said the government is tripling the amount of spectrum available for commercial uses. The problem is that many industry experts predict wireless traffic will increase 30 times because of online video and other bandwidth-heavy applications.
Genachowski promised “a full-throated, strategic look” at how to close that gap between demand and supply, declaring it one of the FCC’s highest priorities. The review will consider reallocating existing spectrum now used for other purposes, and encouraging development of new technologies that use spectrum more efficiently. He said the FCC is open to ideas.
The chairman asked industry executives to imagine a scenario when the number of computers with mobile broadband quadruples, or when every mobile phone user upgrades to an iPhone, Palm Pre, BlackBerry Tour or other bandwidth-hungry device.
“I believe that the biggest threat to the future of mobile in America is the looming spectrum crisis,” he said in a speech to industry trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association.
The FCC has raised tens of billions of dollars by auctioning off airwaves to the nation’s big wireless carriers to provide mobile broadband access and wireless applications, which often require large amounts of bandwidth.
The agency has also opened up some of the nation’s airwaves for unlicensed uses such as Wi-Fi connections. Last year, it voted to allow the use of fallow portions of television airwaves known as “white spaces” to deliver wireless broadband services.
AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler contributed to this report from Washington.
