Tom Cruise spends $50k per week for Suri’s safety

Hollywood star Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes might have got divorced a year back but Tom is still a protective father and he enSuri

Suries that his daughter Suri is safe and for his daughter’s safety he spends USD 50,000 per week.

Tom is happy spending this whopping amount on his seven-year-old daughter.  "Tom is always surrounded by two rings of plain clothed security agents. That goes double for his precious daughter. Katie believes money is no object when it comes to the safety of Suri and insisted Tom handle that side of things. She'd go broke if she had to pay for it and it's a total necessity with the enormous interest in Suri," a source said.

These are trained guys and ensure security cover 24x7 over Suri. "These guys are highly trained. They legally carry weapons. When in LA they keep guns in the trunks of Katie's SUV limos. When in New York, they have licenses to carry firearms on their person," the source added.

Katie Holmes now need not have to worry for her daughter’s safety. As she is busy actress, Suri’s safety was an important issue for her. "Katie knows the guys are the best in the world and she can breathe a lot easier with them on the job. Suri has the Rolls Royce of security guys watching out for her," the source said.
” Katie is appreciative of her former husband’s gesture and the security guards give the high profile actress peace of mind, a source added.

On one hand, Tom is spending huge amount on his daughter, on the other side, Katie is throwing a big bash to celebrate her freedom. She is happy that she is finally separated from Tom and to mark her freedom she is throwing a divorce party.

Suri lives with her mother Katie in New York.

Did you know the shocking secrets of Michael Jackson?

Michael Jackson, the moonwalker who died an unfortunate death at the age of 50, was a man of diverse tastes. Post his death, many unknown facts about the musician have unravelled, most of them being shocking revelations - be it his sinking health, drastic weight loss (he weighed a mere 50 kg when he died), financial losses, debts, et al.

The music legend conquered the world with his music, dancing skills and style. MJ was named as the most successful entertainer of all times by the Guinness World Records. No doubt, he was a true genius. 

Are you aware of the hidden secrets of Michael Jackson? Here are many more secrets of MJ which are yet to be unraveled publically. 

  

Jackson regularly wore a black armband to remind people of children suffering around the world.

  

The world was left in shock and anger when with the ‘Child dangling incident’ when he brought his newborn son onto the balcony of his room as fans stood below, holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face.
  

Michael Jackson wore an iconic crystal rhinestone studded glove while performing the moonwalk.

  

In 1984 a French fan committed suicide because he couldn’t have surgery to look like Jackson.

  

Michael Jackson invented and patented special boots that allowed the wearer to lean so far forward that it seems to defy gravity. He used these for the famous lean in the Smooth Criminal music video.

  

Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper. Instead he would dictate into a sound recorder, and when recording he would sing the lyrics from memory.

  

Michal Jackson rescued a three-year-old chimpanzee Bubbles from a Texas cancer research centre. The chimpanzee used to accompany him everywhere and would even be dressed up in the same outfit as Jackson and toured with him on his Bad tour.

  

14. Michael Jackson’s Neverland range was a dream come true for him. He paid USD17 million in 1988 for the Ranch which had a theme park, a movie theatre, railway station and a zoo. However, it has been sold after his death. 

  

Michael Jackson was believed to sleep in an oxygen chamber for beauty purposes and long life. He later donated the bed to a Californian medical center as a therapeutic aid for burn victims. It may be a rumour but who knows when its MJ.

  

Jackson had a pet python called Crusher.

  

Michael Jackson was a vegetarian.

  

Michael Jackson didn’t need instruments for music but imitated the instruments using his voice. He believed that it is easier to sing a drum line, or sing a bass, instead of playing a drum line or a bass with an instrument.

  

Michael Jackson has been immortalized in numerous sculptures.

  

Jackson suffered from a rare skin disease called vitiligo, which causes sufferers to lose pigmentation in their skin.

  

Michael Jackson burnt his hair and suffered burns when an explosion set his hair on fire during production of a Pepsi advertisement in 1984.

  

Lady Gaga beats Beyonce, Madonna on Forbes' Most Powerful Musicians list

London: Pop star Lady Gaga has beaten Beyonce and Madonna to the title of World's Most Powerful Musician according to Forbes Magazine's 2013 list. 

The 27-year-old came first in the annual ranking, which is determined by earnings, social media influence and press mentions, largely thanks to the star's 'Born This Way' world tour grossing a massive USD 168 million, despite it being cut short due to her hip injury. 

The eccentric performer, who also ranked second on Forbes' Most Powerful Celebrities list, is a prolific social media user and communicates daily with her 38.5 million Twitter fans and 57.9 million Facebook fans, who she calls her 'Little Monsters'. 

Beyonce ranked second on the list, with her current 'Mrs Carter World Tour' grossing USD 2 million per concert date, while Madonna came in at number three with her 'MDNA Tour' raking in over USD 305 million. 

Taylor Swift was fourth thanks to the smash success of her new album 'Red', while rockers Bon Jovi, powered by their 'Because We Can' tour, came in at number five, and social media whizz Justin Bieber was sixth. 

Coldplay were the only British artists to feature in the American-dominated Top 10, after their world tour made them USD 3 million per performance.

Post breakup with Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber cozies up to married waitress

London: Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber is reportedly dating a married woman. 

The 19-year-old 'Baby' hitmaker, who split with his longtime girlfriend Selena Gomez, was spotted kissing and cuddling Las Vegas waitress and model Jordan Ozuna, reported Sun online. 

Ozuna, 22, is married to his childhood friend Daniel. 

"She's still married. They've been separated a good year. They were very young when they got married. They'll figure it out on their own. They're probably in the process of getting divorced," a source said. 

Bieber and Ozuna first sparked romance speculation on June 16, when they were spotted behaving intimately during a group trip to Las Vegas Indoor Skydiving.

Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux headed for a split?

Los Angeles: Jennifer Aniston has reportedly shot down fiance Justin Thoreaux's proposed plan for the couple to live in New York City part-time. 

The couple's difference in opinions is said to have delayed their wedding plans too, reported Radar online. 

"He suggested the couple could live in New York City part-time, no more than six months a year (and LA the rest of the time). Justin misses the Big Apple, and his friends. His entire life was in New York, and he uprooted his entire life to move to LA to be with Jennifer. 

"He thinks it's time Jennifer start to compromise, but she is absolutely refusing to live on the East Coast, even part-time," a source said. 

Aniston and Theroux are currently staying in Los Angeles.

Johnny Depp celebrated 50th birthday with low-key dinner

Superstar Johnny Depp marked his recent 50th birthday with a low-key dinner with his children because he feels celebrating big milestones is like "clinging to vanity".

The Pirates of the Caribbean star reached 50 on June 9 but instead of a party he opted to dine out with his 14-year-old daughter Lily-Rose and son Jack, 11, reported Daily Star.

"We kept it simple and we just went to dinner. I find the whole idea of celebrating one's birthday is like clinging to vanity in a way, which is something I'd rather not cling to. It's one of those things. It's another decade…Cool. I didn't suddenly wake up and go, 'God, my back is killing me!,'" he said.

Lily-Rose and Jack are Depp's children with former partner Vanessa Paradis, who he split from last year.

Lady Gaga moves into USD 22,000 per month NYC penthouse

Pop sensation Lady Gaga has reportedly moved into a luxe penthouse in the Big Apple's 40 Central Park South building. 

Gaga, 27, is paying USD 22,000 per month for the 1,985-square-foot duplex, reported the New York Times. 

The mansion has two giant bedrooms, a granite chef's kitchen, a wood-burning fireplace, a large marble bathroom and a view of Central Park. 

Gaga is said to have moved into the locale about a month ago. 

"It's so cool! She comes and goes with all this security. I can't believe she's my neighbor," a source said.

Bright Days Ahead (Les Beaux jours): Film Review

The Bottom Line

Thoughtful and touching old age dramedy features strong performances from a seasoned cast.

Opens

June 19 (in France)

Director

Marion Vernoux

Cast

Fanny Ardant, Laurent Lafitte, Patrick Chesnais, Jean-Francois Stevenin, Marie Riviere

Fanny Ardant, Patrick Chesnais and Laurent Lafitte topline Marion Vernoux's story of a love affair between a man and a woman twice his age.

A former dentist having a late-life crisis finds comfort in the arms of a much younger man in Bright Days Ahead (Les Beaux jours), writer-director Marion Vernoux’s tender and terrifically cast coming-of-old age dramedy. Starring Fanny Ardant as a soul-searching retiree, Laurent Lafitte as her pot-puffing beau, and the superb Patrick Chesnais as her mildly suspicious husband, this well-tempered love story gets a tad too airy in its third act, but otherwise provides a frank and endearing portrait of cross-generational relationships—somewhere between the explicitness of Ulrich Seidl and the feel-goodness of Quartet and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Released locally by Le Pacte in mid-June, the film scored a promising 200K admissions it its opening week, and could very well become a summer box-office mainstay in France, with older audiences turning out in healthy numbers. Overseas, Days could travel beyond the usual Francophone circuits to selected art-house distributors, especially those who can smartly market it to the senior set.
Based on co-screenwriter Fanny Chesnel’s novel Une jeune fille aux cheveux blancs (A Young Girl with Gray Hair), the story follows the amorous travails of the recently retired Caroline (Ardant), who visits a nearby senior center—named "Les Beaux jours," which is also the film’s French-language title—where she’s supposed to partake in time-killing activities like ceramics and amateur theatre. Instead, she finds a brand new hobby between the sheets with carefree ladies’ man, Julien (Lafitte), who teaches computer classes when he’s not bedding half the women in their small seaside town.
The initial courting scenes between the two are among the film’s strongest, with Ardant showcasing the charms that made her one of France’s most seductive stars in movies like Francois Truffaut’s Confidentially Yours and The Woman Next Door, while Comedie-Francaise troupe member Lafitte reveals a darker character than he’s played in recent hits like the cop caper On the Other Side of the Tracks.
Never outright explicit but racy none the same, the lovemaking soon becomes a regular routine between the two, with Caroline discovering newfound passion in her uneventful retirement, and Julien slowly growing attached to what was initially just another easy—albeit significantly older—lay. Meanwhile, Caroline begins to neglect her dentist spouse until he figures out something’s up, and the way that the excellent Chesnais  (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) portrays the cuckolded yet deeply understanding hubby is a study in intuition and restraint.
As things slide into the third act, the film heads in rather expected directions and winds up wrapping things up in a manner that seems all-too neat for such a host of messy lives. Still, as a whole, Bright Days Ahead remains an acute and endearing character study, and definitely one of the more convincing portraits of senior sex-and-love to come out in recent years.
Tech credits are classically polished, with cinematographer Nicolas Gaurin (Cold Showers) intimately capturing the Nord Pas-de-Calais locations, and Czech composer Quentin Sirjacq providing an emotionally infused score. A convincing cast of additional elders includes vets Jean-Francois Stevenin and Marie Riviere – the latter of whom famously starred in Eric Rohmer’s classics The Aviator’s Wife and Summer.
Opens: June 19 (in France)
Production companies: Les Films du Kiosque, 27.11 Production
Cast: Fanny Ardant, Laurent Lafitte, Patrick Chesnais, Jean-Francois Stevenin, Marie Riviere
Director: Marion Vernoux
Screenwriter: Marion Vernoux, Fanny Chesnel, based on her novel Une jeune fille aux cheveux blancs
Producers: Francois Kraus, Denis Pineau-Valencienne, Juliette Favreul Renaud
Director of photography: Nicolas Gaurin
Production designer: Yann Dury
Costume designer: Marite Coutard
Music: Quentin Sirjacq
Editor: Benoit Quinon
Sales Agent: Le Pacte
No rating, 93 minutes

Indie Icons: Morgan Spurlock Talks New CNN Show 'Inside Man' (Video)

The "Super-Size Me" filmmaker explains why his series won't be a part of the "polarized" TV landscape.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hopes the perspective of his new CNN series doesn't easily fall into an ideological category.

"What happens when you turn on the TV a lot, they completely polarize everything. You're either on this side, you're either on this side, and that's it, there's no middle ground," the Super-Size Me director told  during a recent interview while on the press tour for Inside Man.

"Almost every issue we cover in this show, there is a tremendous amount of people who aren't on this side or this side that have much differing opinions than the ones who are screaming the loudest. I think that is what this show does, it gives a voice to a lot of those people," Spurlock explained.
Inside Man, a first-person exploration show, saw Spurlock take a job in a medical marijuana dispensary during the debut episode on June 23. The show will air weekly on Sundays at 10 p.m.
Watch the THR interview above.

THR's Must-Reads of the Week: 'White House Down,' James Gandolfini Tributes

Foxx, left, and Tatum

A look back at the week that was in entertainment.

Between industry dinners, premiere parties and countless meetings, here's what you may have missed this week in entertainment news.
Cover Story: In this week's issue of , executive editor, features, Stephen Galloway takes an in-depth look at Sony's summer gamble with the superhero-free film White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. Meanwhile, with James Gandolfini's untimely death, THR chose to commemorate the actor in a split run with tributes from The Sopranos creator David Chase, The Newsroom star Jeff Daniels, Starz CEO and former HBO head Chris Albrecht, God of Carnage co-star Marcia Gay Harden and more.
Emmy Season: With nominations to be announced less than a month away, on July 18, senior editor Stacey Wilson spotlights how Netflix is upping the campaign ante by providing free lunches and signs on private yards in L.A. -- some placed in exchange for Netflix subscription coupons or Starbucks gift cards.
ESPN's John Skipper on Sports Rights, Layoffs and Keith Olbermann: The one-time wannabe literary editor on overseeing Disney's $40 billion asset and the potential return of Olbermann: "We don't have a policy here that you can never come back."
Ray Donovan Executive Producer Bryan Zuriff's High-Stakes Poker Games: The rich Hollywood wannabe was on the verge of success until he was arrested and handcuffed for allegedly being involved with an international gambling and money-laundering scheme worth more than $100 million.
TV Review: THR TV critic Tim Goodman calls FX's serial-killer drama The Bridge "a mandatory viewing for drama lovers."
Film Review: THR film and theater critic David Rooney describes Sony's White House Down as having "scant originality here, but witnessing America's hearth and home under siege still brings an emotional frisson to the silly thrills."

John Travolta: Robert De Niro Inspired Disco King's Stylish Moves in 'Saturday Night Fever'

Getty Images

John Travolta

The Hollywood star also shared his memories in Karlovy Vary about his friend James Gandolfini after his sudden passing earlier this month.

KARLOVY VARY – John Travolta says he owed his success as disco king Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever to Robert De Niro, his co-star 37 years later in the action flick Killing Season.

During a press conference in Karlovy Vary, the Hollywood star said that De Niro taking his method acting to the extreme by learning to play the saxophone for real in the 1977 musical drama New York, New York had him soon after training to become a real dancer for Saturday Night Fever.
“He [De Niro] was setting a trend in the United States for a kind of acting that was, if you were going to portray a part, you needed to become that role by studying and actually gaining the knowledge and ability of the character,” Travolta recalled.

The veteran actor said he worked non-stop for nine months to perfect his stylish moves on the dance floor in Saturday Night Fever.
Nearly four decades later, Travolta was in Karlovy Vary to introduce Killing Season, the action movie that pairs him with De Niro and comes from Avi Lerner’s Millenium Films and Corsan Pictures.
Also Saturday, Travolta, who starred opposite James Gandolfini in five movies, including Get Shorty, recalled his long-time friend after Gandolfini's untimely death earlier this month.
He recalled how his father sold car tires to Gandolfini’s father, and how Travolta’s movie fame inspired The Sopranos star to first become an actor.
Another defining moment for their friendship came when Travolta’s son died in 2009 while on a family vacation.
“When my son passed away, he [Gandolfini] would not leave the city until I was okay. He was just worried about me, and I felt it was so human and unusual for an actor to have this depth of feeling about someone,” Travolta added.

Their friendship was also defined a few years earlier on the set of Lonely Hearts, a crime thriller shoot that followed Gandolfini’s bitter divorce battle with first wife Marcy Wudarski.
Travolta recalled one day coming on set to see Gandolfini in emotional turmoil.
“I saw him backstage and I said, ‘Jim, did I ever tell you something? And he said 'what?' I said, ‘I loved you the moment I met you,’” he recalled telling his friend.
That set tears flowing from Gandolfini’s eyes, Travolta remembered, “because he needed to cry.”
“That was a connection that was true and how I felt about him,” he added.
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival runs to July 7.

Box Office Report: 'The Heat' Crushing 'White House Down,' Eyeing $39 Million Debut

Twentieth Century Fox

"The Heat"

Starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, Roland Emmerich's big-budget tentpole "White House Down" may only open to a dismal $25 million, likely hurt by hitting theaters so soon after the similarly themed "Olympus Has Fallen."

Providing a respite for females weary of male-action tentpoles, Paul Feig's Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy headliner The Heat is off to a stellar start at the Northern American box office for 20th Century Fox, grossing $13.6 million on Friday for a projected $39 million weekend.

The news was grim, however, for Roland Emmerich's White House Down, pairing Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. The $150 million film, from Sony, took in around $9 million on Friday to only narrowly beat World War Z ($8.9 million).

World War Z is likely to pull ahead of White House Down on Saturday, however, putting White House Down at No. 4 for the weekend.
Disney and Pixar's Monsters University is holding at No. 1 in its second weekend, grossing roughly $14.3 million on Friday for an eight-day domestic cume of $139.1 million. By Sunday, its total is likely to hover around $170 million.
Heading into the weekend, The Heat and White House Down were each tracking to bow in the $30 million range. And on Friday night, each film earned an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers.
The Heat marks another major victory for McCarthy and Feig -- who worked together on Bridesmaids -- as well as for Bullock. To date, McCarthy's top opening at the domestic box office is Identity Thief, which debuted earlier this year to $34.6 million.
Costing a modest $43 million to produce, the raunchy R-rated comedy stars Bullock as a strict FBI agent who is forced to team up with McCarthy's rough-around-the-edges Boston street cop.
Feig's Bridesmaids grossed $26.2 million in its domestic debut in May 2011. The film, which starred McCarthy along with Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, became a female-friendly comedy hit and has gone on to gross $288.4 million to date worldwide.
White House Down will turn into a financial headache for Sony unless it picks up the pace in North America, or does exceedingly well overseas. The A- CinemaScore is a a good sign in terms of strong word-of-mouth, but simply not enough moviegoers turned out on Friday.

In the film, the president of the United States (Foxx) and a wannabe Secret Service agent (Tatum) team up after the White House is invaded by terrorists and the U.S. Capitol destroyed.
One problem -- White House Down comes out just three months after FilmDistrict's White House-under-siege film Olympus Has Fallen played in theaters. Another is a glut of male-skewing action films in the market, including World War Z and Man of Steel.
White House Down looks the like lowest opening for an Emmerich-directed tentpole in recent times. In summer 2004, The Day After Tomorrow debuted to $68.7 million. Independence Day -- which also featured the destruction of the White House -- opened to $50.2 million in July 1996.

Erdem Tepegöz's 'Zerre' Wins the Main Prize at Moscow IFF

Jung Young-heon is awarded as the best director at the festival.

MOSCOW – Zerre (Particle) by Turkish director Erdem Tepegöz collected the Golden St George, the main prize of the 35th Moscow International Film Festival, which drew to a close in the Russian capital late on June 29.

The social drama, centered on employed Zeynep who lives with her old mother and disabled daughter in an abandoned apartment, also brought its main star, Jale Arikan, the best actress’ award.
The best director’s award went to South Korea’s Jung Young-heon for his film Le-ba-non Kam-jeong (Lebanon Emotion), a drama about a man dealing with the loss of his mother.
Russian actor Alexei Shevchenkov was awarded for his role in Andrei Bogatyrev’s Iuda (Judas), based on a novella by 20th century Russian author Leonid Andreyev.
The jury’s special prize was awarded to the Japanese movie Sayonara keikoku (The Ravine of Goodbye) by Tatsushi Ômori, a story about a complex relationship between a rapist and his victim.
Russia’s Rustam Ilyasov collected the best short film award for his film Zamok Elfov (Elven Castle), and Polish director Paweł Łoziński picked up the best documentary award for his film Ojciec i syn (Father and Son).
The Stanislavsky Special Prize for The Outstanding Achievement In The Career Of Acting went to Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport.
The ceremony at the theater Rossiya was followed by the screening of the closing-night film Rasputin.

'The Hobbit': Orlando Bloom Says Goodbye to Legolas With Viral Video

The actor sings along to the 2007 online sensation “They are Taking The Hobbits To Isengard.”

Peter Jackson / Youtube

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom has officially left Middle-earth.

The actor wrapped filming on The Hobbit: There and Back Again, the third installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. And to mark the occasion, Jackson posted a video on his Facebook page of Bloom singing along to the 2007 viral hit “They are Taking The Hobbits To Isengard.”
The original video centers on his character Legolas, and has wracked up 2.1 million views to date.

“A day after saying goodbye to Gandalf and Tauriel, it was time to farewell Legolas. What a great day it was, with Orlando battling a serious Orc for all 12 hours of shooting - part of the Battle of the 5 Armies for the third Hobbit movie,” Jackson wrote. “When we finally got the day done, we said goodbye to Orlando, had a couple of beers ... and couldn't resist doing this!”
Bloom, 36, was 22 years old when The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring began filming in 1999.
Jackson recently said his goodbyes to another of his stars, Ian McKellen, who first played Gandalf in: Fellowship of the Ring.
The second Hobbit film, which stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the dragon Smaug, opens Dec. 13 via Warner Bros.
The final installment, There and Back Again, hits theaters Dec. 17, 2014.
Watch Bloom’s take on the video, as well the original, below.

Killing Season: Karlovy Vary Review

The Bottom Line

A drawn out cat-and-mouse game never catches fire.

Venue

Karlovy Vary Film Festival

Opens

July 12 (Millennium Entertainment)

Director

Mark Steven Johnson

Cast

John Travolta, Robert De Niro, Milo Ventimiglia, Elizabeth Olin

Robert De Niro and John Travolta go mano a mano in Mark Steven Johnson's film about two ex-soldiers with some unresolved business.

KARLOVY VARY -- A former Serbian soldier and his one-time American opponent get a second — and third, and fourth… — chance to torture each other in Killing Season, from director Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil, Ghost Rider).

John Travolta plays a Serbian with a fat accent and a grudge the size of the Austro-Hungarian empire who travels to the U.S. to "accidentally" befriend Robert De Niro, a retired U.S. soldier who also fought in the 1990s Yugoslav wars. Their hunting trip in the Appalachians quickly turns into a long-winded chase as the true reason for the Serb's visit emerges, though the film struggles to suggest the former fighters are true equals or even interested in actually killing each other, thus deflating what little tension there is.
Though some moments of gore as well as the first pairing of the two veteran stars might spark some initial audience interest, the performances themselves won't aid word-of-mouth. Millennium Entertainment will release the film stateside July 12 after premieres at the Taormina and Karlovy Vary festivals, though this modest-scaled project should perform better as a small-screen item (it goes out day-and-date on VOD).

Emil Kovac (Travolta) was part of a gang of vicious Serbian soldiers during the Yugoslav conflict. Benjamin Ford (De Niro) fought there as part of the NATO force, though nowadays he's retired to a hunting lodge in the Appalachians where he not only enjoys hunting but equally savors being far away from his ex-wife and her new husband, though, perhaps with some regret. He also sees very little of his adult son (Milo Ventimiglia), who's just had a child of his own.
When Ford's car breaks down in the forest, a foreign man claiming to be Bosnian miraculously appears to help him out. When it starts pouring, he's invited back to the cabin, where the men trade war stories. Since the film begins with a flashback to the war and a scene in present-day Belgrade, where Kovac lays his hand on a file with Ford's information, it doesn't come as a surprise that the Serb suggests a hunting trip the next day. The trip quickly turns into a very different type of hunt.
Unfortunately, there's little to no tension in the film's first lazy 30 minutes.
When the truth surfaces and the chase begins, there are initially a few clever details, such as the use of walkie-talkies so the two can communicate even when they're running from each other. There's also the fact both men hunt with a bow and arrow. Their archaic weapon of choice directly leads to the film's first scene of gore, which sees one of the men hit in the calf by an arrow and subsequently hung from a string pulled through the resulting hole.
But the tension and element of surprise of this first bloody interlude are largely absent in what follows, as the subsequent cat-and-mouse game continually repeats a single setup: one of the two catches the other until the latter gets away and everything starts all over again.

Various backdrops and torture methods — including waterboarding with a laughable amount of salt and lemon juice instead of water — are used, but not once do De Niro, Travolta or Johnson manage to suggest the men are truly in mortal danger. Coincidences must pile up so the chase can continue. The screenplay by Evan Daugherty (who had a story credit on Snow White and the Huntsman) also lacks humor and struggles to integrate the supposed confessions and conversations the two often bone-weary men have about the war and God. Things even unintentionally tip over into parody when Kovic and Ford face off in a church at the crack of dawn.
Cinematographer Peter Menzies (Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) isn't as nearly interested in the scenery (shot in Georgia and Bulgaria) as Travolta, who chews large quantities of it as Kovac. He not only looks disconcerting with his pitch black chinstrap beard but also sounds it, with his thick, occasionally unintelligible Slavic accent.  De Niro is particularly subdued here, further reinforcing the impression that a true battle of the wills between the protagonists will never materialize. The obvious use of body doubles in several sequences is also distracting.
Christopher Young's busy score tries to add tension to scenes that clearly didn't have a lot of it going in, and the pursuit also ends rather abruptly after just over 70 minutes, with the remaining time of the 90-minute duration split between the various codas and drawn-out end credits.
Originally called Shrapnel, the film was meant to team up Travolta with his Face/Off co-star Nicolas Cage under the direction of John McTiernan before finally being made in its current configuration.
Venue: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Special Events)
Opens: July 12 (Millennium Entertainment)
Production companies: Corsan, Millennium Films, Nu Image
Cast: John Travolta, Robert De Niro, Milo Ventimiglia, Elizabeth Olin
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Screenwriter: Evan Daugherty
Producers: Paul Breuls, Ed Cathel III
Director of photography: Peter Menzies
Production designer: Kirk M. Petruccelli
Music: Christopher Young
Costume designer: Denise Wingate
Editor: Sean Albertson
Sales: Media Pro Distribution
R rating, 90 minutes.

Stars Celebrate George Lucas' Wedding at Chicago Soiree (Video)

Courtesy of LucasFilm

Mark Hamill, Robin Williams, Gayle King, Rahm Emanuel, Al Roker and more were spotted at the Windy City event for the "Star Wars" creator's nuptials to Mellody Hobson.

Hollywood descended upon Chicago Saturday to celebrate the wedding of George Lucas and Windy City native Mellody Hobson.

The couple, who tied the knot June 22 at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, Calif., hosted well-wishers at city’s lakeside Promontory Point, where Prince provided the music and Robin Williams was spotted entertaining a small gathering of locals.
Among the other notable guests were Star Wars star Mark Hamill, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, CBS This Morning co-anchor Gayle King, Today's Al Roker, CNN contributor Van Jones, Jesse Jackson, and Grammy winner Ne-Yo.
Prince performed with a 22-piece band under a huge tent.

"They wrote a check to the city for the whole thing," said a police officer on duty, as he shooed rubberneckers from a pathway that overlooked carts shuttling guests from the check-in desk. Those spotted at the main gate tilted towards Chicago political and business  figures from the Hobson side of the aisle–with assorted TV news personalities from national outlets. Hobson, the chair of DreamWorks Animation and head of the Chicago-based investment management firm Ariel Investments and chairman of Ariel Mutual Funds, also contributes financial analysis for CBS News.
Other attendees included Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker; former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley; his brother Bill, now running for Illinois governor; former White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, who is now CEO of Johnson Publishing Company; University of Chicago president Robert Zimmer; Chicago Metropolis 2020’s Paula Wolff; radio host Tom Joyner; former Congressman Harold Ford Jr.; and Patrick Daley, a classmate of Hobson’s from St. Ignatius College Prep.
Actor Andrew Shue, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast Tina Brown, CNN pundit Paul Begala, MSNBC PoliticsNation host Rev. Al Sharpton were also in attendance at the event.
The Hyde Park neighborhood, which hosted the event, is the site of the University of Chicago and was President Barack Obama’s home prior to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It is rather bookish, per 2005's Proof. Not starstruck, this demographic pays more mind to Nobel laureates than to Oscar winners. Paparazzi, as few as there are in Chicago, were notably absent. A neighborhood newspaper sent a photographer. Neither Chicago daily did, apparently.
Chicago Tribune reported the reception was organized by New York party planner Van Wyck & Van Wyck, who has previously overseen bashes for Sean Combs, Alicia Keys, Hillary Clinton and Barack and Michelle Obama.

Guests staying at the Chicago Peninsula Hotel found a gift bag awaiting them Friday. The bags were filled with some of the couple's "favorite local flavors," which included chocolate cookies from Carol's Cookies, popcorn from Garrett Popcorn, and Marshall Field's Original Frango Mints. There were also Skywalker Ranch hats, T-shirts and a tote.
Ahead of the event, producer Sid Ganis, former senior VP of Lucasfilm, told  Lucas' nuptials were the wedding event of the season.
"I'm happy that he's getting married, this kind of wandering guy, who, you know, has been in and out of relationships ever since he split with his wife Marcia," Ganis said. Lucas divorced his first wife, Marcia Lucas in 1983. Ganis added: "I have never seen him so happy. I know he's got a lot of money now, but even beyond that, he's a happy person."
Last weekend, Bill Moyers officiated a ceremony for the couple, which was attended by Ron Howard, Oprah Winfrey, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. The couple made their engagement public in January.
Watch local news coverage of the event from ABC below.

Gromit Statues Vandalized in Bristol

The English city is opening a "Gromit Unleashed" trail with 80 sculptures to raise money for its children's hospital.

LONDON - Two statues of Gromit, one of the lead characters of stop-motion animation film series Wallace & Gromit, have been vandalized in the English city of Bristol.

The city put up 80 sculptures of the dog - 5-foot tall - on its streets this weekend to raise money for "Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal," a charity that is raising money for the Bristol Children's Hospital. The statues will form a "Gromit Unleashed" trail, which is set to be formally opened on Monday for for 10 weeks. It was organized together with Wallace & Gromit series producer Aardman Animations, which is based in Bristol.

TV network ITV reported that a Gromit statue designed and painted by actress Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) was vandalized as its tail was snapped off on Friday night. The sculpture, called "Poetry In Motion," was removed to be repaired.
"We’re very sorry to say that late Friday night, one of our Gromit Unleashed sculptures was damaged," the organizers said in a statement this weekend. "We are dismayed that anyone would want to damage one of the Gromit sculptures, which have been created to raise money to treat sick children in hospital and to provide something for everyone in Bristol to enjoy. We have reported this to the police and are currently assessing the damage to the sculpture."

The neck of a second sculpture, dubbed "Carosello Gromit," was damaged over the weekend, according to ITV. It was also taken away for repair.
The financial damage wasn't immediately clear. It also wasn't clear who damaged the statues.
Some of the Gromit sculptures were brought into Bristol on a steam train by Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park earlier this week.

Box Office Report: 'White House Down' Flops; 'The Heat' Soars With $40 Million Opening

Twentieth Century Fox

"The Heat"

UPDATED: Roland Emmerich's big-budget action tentpole opens at No. 4 with $25.7 million, despite starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx; "Monsters University" stays at No. 1 in its second weekend with $46.2 million to cross the $300 million mark worldwide.

Fueled by females, Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock's The Heat ended up having all the firepower at the North American box office as their new R-rated comedy crushed Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx's big-budget tentpole White House Down.

From 20th Century Fox, The Heat opened to a rousing $40 million, signaling another major win for McCarthy and her Bridesmaids director Paul Feig. The pic also marks McCarthy's best opening to date for a lead role -- as well as the best opening ever for Bullock and Feig.
Conversely, director Roland Emmerich's White House Down debuted to a dismal $25.7 million. The action pic cost a pricey $150 million to produce and is the second Sony summer tentpole to flop after Will Smith's After Earth. The studio does have two high-profile summer tentpoles yet to open, both of which have strong buzz: Grown Ups 2 and Elysium.

Disney and Pixar's Monsters University stayed at No. 1 in its second weekend, declining a slim 44 percent to $46.2 million and pushing its domestic total to $171 million. The toon has jumped the $300 million mark after earning another $44.2 million overseas from 37 territories for an international total of $129.3 million.
Monsters University wasn't the only 3D animated film making headlines. Overseas, Universal's Despicable Me 2 broke records as it opened in six countries, scoring $41.5 million for the weekend for an early international total of $50 million from seven territories (it opened in Australia last weekend.) The sequel opens Tuesday in North America, where it is expected to be just as much of a monster.
Despicable 2 opened No. 1 in the U.K., France, French Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium, and was second only to Man of Steel in Sweden and Australia. In the U.K. and Ireland (considered one market), the toon opened to $15.7 million -- the top opening ever for a Universal film, as well as being the top opening of 2013. Including last week's previews, the U.K. total is an outstanding $23.3 million.
In North America, The Heat came in No. 2, followed by Paramount holdover World War Z, which held well, falling 48 percent to roughly $30 million. The Brad Pitt zombie tentpole has now earned $124 million domestically.
Heading into the weekend, The Heat and White House Down were each tracking to bow in the $30 million range. And on Friday night, each film earned an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers.
The Heat, costing Fox a modest $43 million to produce, provided a needed respite for younger and older women weary of action fare stars (females made up 65 percent of the audience). In the film, Bullock stars as a strict FBI agent who is forced to team up with McCarthy's rough-around-the-edges Boston street cop.
"We positioned this movie as a female summer movie event, and it worked. That was the entire thrust of the marketing campaign, but due to the popularity of the stars and the storyline, men also turned out," said Chris Aronson, Fox's president of domestic distribution.
Bullock's previous best opening was The Blind Side ($34.1 million). Female-skewing films, save for The Twilight franchise, often open lower but have strong legs.
To date, McCarthy's top opening for a movie in which she plays a lead role is is Identity Thief, which debuted earlier this year to $34.6 million. Bridesmaids grossed $26.2 million in its domestic debut in May 2011. The film, whose ensemble cast also included Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, became a female-friendly comedy hit and has gone on to gross $288.4 million to date worldwide.

White House Down will turn into a financial headache for Sony unless it does exceedingly well overseas. The A- CinemaScore is a good sign in terms of strong word-of-mouth, but simply not enough moviegoers turned out. In the film, the president of the United States (Foxx) and a wannabe Secret Service agent (Tatum) team up after the White House is invaded by terrorists and the U.S. Capitol destroyed.
One problem -- White House Down comes out just three months after FilmDistrict's White House-under-siege film Olympus Has Fallen played in theaters (that film opened to $30. 4 million). Another is a glut of male-skewing action films in the market, including World War Z and Man of Steel.
White House Down is the lowest opening for an Emmerich-directed tentpole in recent times. In summer 2004, The Day After Tomorrow debuted to $68.7 million. Independence Day -- which also featured the destruction of the White House -- opened to $50.2 million in July 1996.
Sony believes the film will have strong legs based on the A- CinemaScore. Also, plenty of females turned out (49 percent).
"We couldn't be more proud or supportive of the film Roland, Channing and Jamie created. This weekend's launch is just the beginning. While White House Down opened in a few smaller countries this weekend, it will not begin to open in major overseas territories until mid-July and it will continue to roll out overseas well into the fall," said a Sony spokesman.
Action plays very well internationally, although some box office observers question whether the storyline is too American centric. Olympus Has Fallen, which took in $98.7 million domestically, topped out at $62.1 million overseas.
White House Down took in $6.8 million from its first handful of markets, most of which are in Southeast Asia. It grossed $2.1 million in Korean, five times the opening of Olympus Has Fallen, and $1.2 million in Indonesia.
On a brighter note, Sony's innovative end-of-the-world comedy This Is the End continued to prosper, grossing $8.7 million in its third weekend for a North American total of $74.7 million and coming in No. 6.

Among other weekend highlights, Warner Bros. and Legendary's Man of Steel jumped the $500 million mark globally. The Superman pic placed No. 5 domestically, grossing $20.8 million in its third weekend for total of $248.7 million.
Summit's sleeper hit Now You See Me raced past the $100 million mark in North America and crossed $150 million worldwide. The magician heist pic has earned $104.7 million domestically and $48.7 million internationally for a total $153.4 million.
At the specialty box office, Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited, starring Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, opened slightly less than his other recent offerings, grossing $102,730 from five theaters for a location average of $20,546. Sony Classics Pictures, which has a longtime relationship with the filmmaker, is distributing the indie film in the U.S.

'The Heat' Guide to Law Enforcement: How Sandra Bullock & Melissa McCarthy Ditch the Rulebook

The Heat, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy's buddy-cop comedy directed by Bridemaids mastermind Paul Feig, features a lot of illicit behavior. And not all of it comes from the criminals! Bullock's FBI Agent and McCarthy's Boston beat cop not only ditch the rulebook to get their collars, they throw it in a suspect's face — and that's not a figure of speech. Not since the heyday of McBain has the line between cop and criminal been so murky. Here'a A Guide to Law Enforcement, courtesy of lessons learned in The Heat.
1. Run Over Perps With Your Car

20th Century Fox

Because this isn't police brutality, reckless endangerment, or road rage.
2. Accessorize Your Uniform With Bandannas and Fingerless Gloves

20th Century Fox

Okay, this looks cool, but we're pretty sure it's not regulation. Then again, Serpico's beard probably wasn't either.
3. Dangle a Suspect over a Fire Escape Ledge to Make Him Talk

20th Century Fox

Since when did "enhanced interrogation" tactics become adopted by the Boston PD? Or is that a rhetorical question?
4. If That Doesn't Work, Literally Throw a Book at a Suspect

20th Century Fox

I really do wish Detective Mullins afterward had said McBain-style, "Bye, book!"
5. Point a Gun at a Nurse to Avoid a Hospital's "No Cellphones" Rule

 

20th Century Fox

So I guess we've all decided to agree once again that the idea of someone pointing a gun at a helpful civilian is funny. At least until the next mass shooting.
6. Use Hand Grenades to Take Down Perps

20th Century Fox

Interesting no one's questioned the use of explosives by the "good guys" in a story set in Boston. But it's an exploitation-film homage, so I guess it's all good.

Unhappy Hour: Paula Deen Makes Things Worse and 8 More Reasons to Drink

Peter Kramer/NBC

Every week, Hollywood gives us something to whine about, and the week of June 24 was no different. We could make a drinking game out of this week, but that would be too dangerous. Instead, we'll stick to the usual formula: varying levels of alcoholic respite depending on how bothersome the week's issues are. Is your biggest complaint this week a flimsy one? How about a light cocktail to take the edge off? Got a real bone to pick with a celeb or entertainment entity this week? Go ahead, grab a drink that'll put hair on your chest. Here are the week's entertainment stories that are forcing us to seek a bubbly or boozy refuge. And maybe an idea or two about how you should wash them down.

 LIGHTEN UP WITH A TEQUILA SUNRISE 

Adele and Bon Jovi have banned their songs from karaoke. Rumour Has It  that whoever allowed them to ruin karaoke forever is Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Game Of Thrones superfans are naming their children Khaleesi so that their daughter Arya isn't the only one who has to face Earth's version of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

The creator and showrunner of MTV's Awkward. upruptly quits her own show. Huh...well this really is awkward...

WASH THIS WEEK DOWN WITH A fUNKY MONKEY

Justin Bieber was banned from a skydiving facility for life, proving that "you can't fly unless you let yourself fall" but you also can't fly if you're a douchebag.

An alternate ending to The Hills will air on MTV because these LC and co. weren't  annoying enough the first time around.  

Miley Cyrus embarasses herself on Jimmy Kimmel Live and "We Can't Stop" staring. 

HIT THE HARDER STUFF WITH A LONG ISLAND ICED TEA

Paula Deen's Today show appearance doesn't help her cause, tempting us all to "pick up that rock, pick up that boulder" and hit her as hard as we can.

Chris Brown was accused of assaulting a woman in a nightclub. Or was he really just complimenting her on her dancing? After all, he once told us "the way you drop, drop" makes him wanna pop.

Jim Carrey suddenly withdraws from supporting his violent Kick Ass 2, paying tribute to his bipolar personalities in The Mask  and Me, Myself & Irene.

'White House Down': Can a Movie About Terrorism Ever Be Fun?

Columbia Pictures

It is a bright day in Washington — every corner of the the young and excited President James Sawyer's (Jamie Foxx) White House brims with vitality. Hope is everpresent, enthusiasm pervades throughout the West Wing halls. It's a good day to be an American. Enter: an American. John Cale — Channing Tatum's Secret Service wannabee who is vying for a job protecting the Commander-in-Chief. We meet John amidst his undertaking of two big missions: interviewing for this position, and trying to win back the favor of his distant middle school-aged daughter (Joey King) with a trip to 1600 Pennsylvania. Thanks to his less than stellar professional record, the fact that John's interviewer is an embittered ex-girlfriend (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and the fact that no teenaged girl is ever going to be all that fond of her absentee dad — especially right after he misses her flag-twirling performance in the talent show, for goodness' sake — none of John's operations seem to be progressing smoothly. It's a rocky ride of small-scale, smirk-inducing follies that endear us to the Cale family and ingratiate us into the buzzy world of a sunny District of Columbia. Yes, this is going to be one delightful movie.
And then, the Capitol Building gets blown up.
Here, stomachs turn — not only those of John (over concern for his daughter's life), the President's (for his country), and affable tour guide Donnie (for the priceless antiques planted throughout his beloved White House), but those of the audience. At for least some members. For, even though we entered Roland Emmerich's 2013 venture knowing full well what disaster and cacophony lay before us, it's difficult to appropriately prepare for visions of national monuments being exploded by domestic terrorists.
But it's all meant in good fun. The whole movie, even when it veers a little too far into the heat of our present political and international climate, is built on the idea of fun: an enjoyable, exciting summertime romp at the movie house. Just like Emmerich's career-making Independence Day, the life blood of this movie is the "Oh my God!"s of its action scenes and the elated laughter of its thoroughfare of comedy.

Columbia Pictures

However, there is a key difference between White House Down and Independence Day, and that lies in the opportunity of escapism. In the director's 1996 science fiction feature, we're dealing with an alien invasion as the primary conflict — we're not plagued with real world connotations or any feelings of gravity whatsoever. Sure, there's a present danger, enough to raise hairs and widen eyes. But nothing to spike our viewings with a sense of dread, one that passes beyond our screen-affixed eyes and into the backs of our minds. So, in all its fantastical glory, Independence Day can be, and is, as much fun as it wants.
But White House Down is anchored down by the cringes the conversation of terrorism still inspires. And it isn't a question of taste or tact — it's not as though Emmerich handles a delicate situation insensitively. It's a question of whether or not this material is capable of eliciting the fun it's meant to carry here. If we'll ever be able to embrace the attitude of fantastical escape in a story whose subject matter is so deeply rooted in the most severe and dense reality our society knows.
Throughout the movie, there are instances where we might laugh. Scenes we recognize, cognitively, as well-done or pleasing. But we find it hard to get past that hump, to allow for a lapse of concern in the face of something we've carried with us as our definition of the utmost evil.
And perhaps the majority of us will overcome this tribulation, finding the fun that Emmerich works so hard to embed in his new movie. Taking pleasure in the back-and-forth between talented comic players Tatum and Foxx. Perhaps we'll approach the film with hopes of a modern Independence Day, maintain this attitude even through the grittiest of White House Down's scenes and suggestions, and have as good a time as we might a movie about aliens. If ever there was a movie about terrorism that fans might be able to, in the purest sense of the word, enjoy, White House Down would be it.
So we wait to find out: is the theme, when handled with this degree of frivolity and fun, free of its anchor? Or will we always leave a terrorism film with at least a little bit of a turned stomach?

How We Got to Season 8 of 'Dexter,' And What to Expect Next

Jim Fiscus/Showtime

This post contains spoilers regarding Dexter Season 7. Read at your own risk.

When Dexter ended last season, we all felt that the title of the finale, "Surprise, Motherf**ker," was pretty accurate. Dexter got arrested, Hannah escaped from jail, LaGuerta gathered enough info to prove Deb was Dexter's accomplice in Travis Marshall's death, and there were a whole lot of Doakes flashbacks. The only thing that didn't surprise us was that everyone thought LaGuerta was nuts. And then, in a shocking twist of fate, Deb killed LaGuerta.

Deb has been on a pretty consistent downward spiral ever since she found out that Dexter is a murderer. And honestly, who can blame her? She's been through some serious crap. She got engaged to the Ice Truck Killer, she learned her dad slept with his informant (but only after sleeping with her informant), Lundy was killed, she figured out the Ice Truck Killer and Dexter were brothers, she broke up with Quinn, and then she realized she was in love with Dexter. Finding out that Dexter is a serial killer was just the cherry on top of a truly screwed-up sundae. And then, because that sundae was missing some whipped cream, Deb shot and killed LaGuerta.

So, we bet your bottom dollar that for the final season of Dexter we can expect Deb to continue on that downward spiral until she ends up in a place darker than any she's been before. But Deb's not the only one with problems. Dexter will have to deal with Dr. Evelyn Vogel, a neuro-psychiatrist who's an expert on the brains of psychopaths. Also, Batista's back in the homicide division to try to solve LaGuerta's murder. Not good news for Deb or Dexter.

Also at the end of last season, Quinn was doing his sleazy, flirty thing with Jamie, so we bet we can expect that relationship to develop in Season 8. Although, honestly, Jamie needs to reevaluate her taste in men. She hasn't made such great decisions so far. Besides, with Dexter and Deb both busy trying not to get caught, Harrison's going to need a lot of looking after. Pay attention to the actual child, Jamie, not the grown man who acts like one.

Dexter floundered for a couple of seasons, but Season 7 brought it back to life, and Season 8 is shaping up to be the epic finale we've been waiting for. There are only 12 episodes left and, on Sunday, the end begins.