Fan Fare

Madonna’s rep denies Toronto film fest flap

Fresh off hydrangea-gate at the Venice film festival — when she was caught on camera expressing her distaste for the flowers after receiving a bouquet from an appreciative fan  — Madonna has found herself in another slight controversy in Toronto.

The Material Girl’s spokesperson was quick to deny on Wednesday a press report that Madonna’s security detail had ordered Toronto film festival volunteers to turn their backs to the wall as she passed by on the way out of a press conference for her new movie “W.E.”

Madonna’s spokeswoman denied that the singer had done anything like that and  pointed out that the pop star-turned-filmmaker had thanked TIFF volunteers from the stage ahead of the festival’s “W.E.” premiere.

“We are still trying to figure out who and why anyone would ask the volunteers to turn away from Madonna. She has never and would never ask anyone to do that ever,” Liz Rosenberg said in a statement.

A TIFF organizer said it was not the festival’s doing, and that apparently it was an outside security firm that made the request.

Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox hit the back seat for ‘Transformers’

Here’s one that goes down in the PR guidebook for good movie promotion.

Actor Shia Labeouf was making headlines on Tuesday — only hours before his new movie “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” premiered in theaters — with an interview published in Details magazine in which he claims that he and former “Transformers” co-star Megan Fox shared some intimate moments on the set of the films. It makes us wonder what exactly took place in the back seats of those shape-shifting “Transformers” cars.

The Details profile says its reporter asked LaBeouf if he had “hooked up” with the 25 year-old sex symbol, and the actor nodded in the affirmative. “Look, you’re on the set for six months with someone who’s rooting to be attracted to you and you’re rooting to be attracted to them,” LaBeouf told the magazine. “I never understood the separation of work and life in that situation. But the time I spent with Megan was our own thing, and I think you can see the chemistry on-screen,” he said.

The 25 year-old LaBeouf was asked by Details if, at the time he and Fox were together, she was in a relationship with then boyfriend and now husband Brian Austin Green. “I don’t know,” LaBeouf said, repeating the answer several times according to the magazine. A representative for Fox declined comment.

Fox starred in the 2007 “Transformers” and the 2009 sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” but she was dropped from the franchise for the third film. “Dark of the Moon,” in the latest installment Fox has been replaced with former lingerie model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. We wonder what stories the actor might cook up, if any, about hooking up with her four years from now on, say, “Transformers 5″.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Charlie Sheen could be ready to quiet down

It may be hard to believe after recent weeks of his rants on subjects ranging from “trolls” to “tiger blood” and the makers of his former hit sitcom “Two And A Half Men,” but Charlie Sheen says he is ready to give up on giving interviews to the media. Sheen, who was fired from his lucrative job as the star of the CBS show earlier this week, told the Dan Patrick radio program on Wednesday that it might be the last time he talks to a reporter.

“This could be my final interview, which is sort of symbolic because it’s where it all began and it’s where it all ends,” Sheen said, because “all they do is vilify me in their narrative speak.”

Charlie goes to Rehab

Three weeks ago, while on leave for rehab, Sheen called in to the sports radio program and began a series of rants against “Two And A Half Men” co-creator Chuck Lorre, the sitcom’s makers at Warner Bros. Television and TV network CBS, which airs the program.

Charlie gets fired

Sheen escalated his verbal attacks in several other TV news interviews that followed, and by Monday of this week, Warner Bros. and CBS fired the “winning” actor. He then began his own series of webcasts called “Sheen’s Korner”  in which his behavior (smoking a cigarette from his nose) seemed erratic and just plain weird to many Sheen watchers. Some blamed his drug use, although Sheen claims he is currently sober.

Charlie goes  on cyber attack

Sundance surprise: Plenty of worthy pictures, but will any of them be hits?

Another Sundance Film Festival has come and gone, and by most accounts it was a banner year with better movie and more sales than in recent editions. At Saturday night’s awards ceremony, where love story “Like Crazy” picked up the jury prize for best film drama and Iranian lesbian tale “Circumstance” was the audience pick for best drama, veteran critic Todd McCarthy echoed what many festivalgoers were saying almost from the start of the event. The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic said, “this is one of the best Sundances I’ve ever been to.”

But what’s next? Critics, audiences and box office will be the judges. “We have to see what happens,” Sundance founder Robert Redford told Reuters on Saturday ahead of the awards. “We can get very excited, but no one’s going to know until the year plays out.”

Redford said that this year some 40 titles found distributors at Sundance, up from only 14 last year. That means there will be a huge number of mostly low-budget, independently-made movies in theaters this year, and many of those films — depending on how heavily they are promoted and the marketing money behind them — will fail at box offices. One never can be sure how Sundance films will play.

Last year, one hot title picked up at Sundance was “Buried,” a claustrophobic thriller centered entirely on Ryan Reynolds’ character trapped underground in Iraq. How much did it gross for Lionsgate? Just over $1 million — which probably covered just a few weeks’ worth of legal bills against hostile suitor Carl Icahn. Then there was “The Kids Are All Right” with around $21 million (a hit in the indie film frame), and a couple of Oscar nominations. Also, “Winter’s Bone” with just over $6 million (pretty good sum) and some Oscar nods too. But that’s the range for a well-performing art house movie.

This year’s high-profile deals included Weinstein Co’s acquisition of Paul Rudd comedy “My Idiot Brother,” which showbiz website Deadline Hollywood reported was picked up for a minimum guarantee of $6 million to $7 million. Paramount Pictures fell in love with “Like Crazy” for a sum said to be around $4 million. Kevin Smith skewered the financial dynamics of a Sundance deal at his “Red State” premiere and decided to take his movie on a promotional tour, starting March 5 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and hitting major U.S. cities before ending on April 4 in Seattle. Smith says he’s going to self-distribute “Red State” on Oct. 19.

We’ll see what happens, as Redford says. One trend going for Smith and other indie filmmakers is the opening of new distribution channels on the Web. A second advantage is that after three tough years, there’s still money in the market. What will be the indie hit of 2011? What will be the next “Little Miss Sunshine,” “500 Days of Summer,” “Kids Are All Right?” Will it be the newly anointed Sundance winners “Like Crazy” and ”Circumstance”? Or the sort of unheralded, under-the-radar crowd-pleaser that keeps the pilgrims flocking to Sundance?

Sundance’s unheralded short film and grant winners

The Sundance Film Festival reaches its climax on Saturday when winners of best feature films and their directors, writers, cinematographers and sometimes actors are announced. And make no mistake, those winners will go on to claim movie glory both outside and inside Hollywood.

Don’t believe us? Take one quick look at last year. What was the Sundance 2010 jury prize winner for best dramatic film? “Winter’s Bone.” What is a 2010 best film Oscar nominee? “Winter’s Bone.” What was the Sundance 2010 jury prize winner for best documentary? “Restrepo.” What is a 2010 best documentary Oscar nominee? “Restrepo.”

Tuesday night at separate events, Sundance gave out awards to individuals who often go unheralded at the festival: makers of short films and, for the first time this year, winners of a filmmaking grant from Indian company Mahindra Rise.

First, the short films. Sundance uses a panel of film industry jurors to pick  winners and the jury prize for U.S. shorts went to “Brick Novax pt 1 and 2″ by writer/director Matt Piedmont. It tells of a faded superstar named Brick Novax who is now down-and-out with only weeks to live. The jury prize for internationals shorts went to “Deeper Than Yesterday” from Australian writer/director Ariel Kleiman. It’s the story of a crew trapped aboard a submerged submarine for three months. Honorable mentions went to “Choke,” “Diarchy” and “The External World” “The Legend of Beaver Dam,” “Out of Reach” and “Protoparticles.” You can watch the awards ceremony here.

Separately, at the Sundance Institute/Mahindra Rise Filmmaking Award ceremony, four filmmakers were given a $10,000 grant to help develop their scripts into feature films, will be invited to the Sundance labs where they will be mentored, and they will be introduced to industry pros who can help them get their movies made and, possibly, distributed. They were Bogdan Mustata with his “Wolf” from Romania, Ernesto Contreras and “I Dream In Another Language” from Mexico, Seng Tat Liew with “In What City Does it Live?” from Malaysia, and Talya Lavie for “Zero Motivation” from Israel.  There is no video of that event, believe us, the filmmakers were excited — Mustata had to wipe away a few tears.

Mahindra Rise and the Sundance Institute also unveiled plans to conduct a screenwriters lab in Mumbai, called the Mumbai Mantra/Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab. Mumbai Mantra director Rohit Khattar explained to Reuters that while India has a huge and thriving film industry with its Bollywood musicals, western-style dramas that explore human dilemmas are less common and the labs will be designed to nurture filmmakers who can tell those types of stories.

50 Cent at Sundance: A work in progess

(Note: strong language in quote, paragraph 2)

He’s not the first music star to try a crossover in entertainment to movies. Not even close. But at least Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is smart enough to know he can’t just jump into making films and be instantly an Oscar winner. So, on Saturday at a news conference at the Sundance Film Festival, the rapper whose albums include “Get rich or Die Tryin’” was quick to admit that as an actor and filmmaker, “I”m a work in progress.”

As a rapper, he’s known as 50 Cent, and his early work and life were as remarkable for their violence as they were his music. But as an actor, 50 prefers to use his name, Curtis Jackson. He has been acting for around six years, starting with an action movie titled after his album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” but more recently he has tried to stretch his talents. Three years ago, he came to Sundance and after seeing some of the films here, he told his producing partner, Randall Emmett, “we have to do the same shit they’re doing.” (something makes us think the Sundance organizers don’t consider their films that way, but we knew what Jackson meant).

So, Emmett and Jackson founded Cheetah Vision Films, cut a $200 million deal with Hollywood studio/distributor Lionsgate to make 10 movies. They have six in the can, and on Saturday at Sundance — his third time at the festival — he was talking about his new slate, his future in the film business and collaborating on movies with boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Jackson told Reuters he likes action films and comedies. Of the types of movies he’d like to make, he mentioned films such as “Training Day” and “Bad Boys.” And when asked who he wanted to work with, his answer was Sylvester Stallone and Forrest Whitaker. We reckon that’s quite a range.

He did mention that of the six films completed, he’s starring in one, “Things Fall Apart,” which he said was “more of a drama.” He ran into Robert Redford here at Sundance and Redford had seen an early version of the movie. Redford told Jackson, “you know, you were great in it.” Jackson asked Redford if he was surprised!

(Photo credit: Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

Sundance kid: “Not thought about retiring”

He’s past the age where most people retire, but actor, activist and Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford sees no reason to call it a work day, even at age 74.

“I have not thought about retiring,” Redford told reporters on Thursday, the opening day of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Redford rose up through Hollywood’s ranks in the 1960s, and hit the jackpot with his role as an outlaw in 1969′s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” He went on to major success in “The Sting,” “All the President’s Men” and numerous other titles. He won an Oscar for directing “Ordinary People” and became as well-known for his social activism as for his acting.

Thirty years ago, he founded the Sundance Institute for filmmaking in Utah and on Thursday at a press conference, he outlined its growth from a place where artists, writers, filmmakers and performers could get together and share ideas, to an institution which has given rise to the huge Sundance festival, a TV channel airing around the globe, a group of movie theaters and a supporter of the arts with links to other organizations worldwide. He said that even though the Institute has grown, it has retained its original mission. The Sundance festival, which is backed by the Institute, opened on Thursday night by screening a group of four movies, most notably the documentary “Sing Your Song,” which tells of the life of singer and activist Harry Belafonte. Read about that here.

Helena Bonham Carter, queen of Halloween frights

This item is both good, and perhaps not so good, for director Tim Burton. His long-term companion, Helena Bonham Carter, has had the distinct honor (some might say dubious distinction) of making it on a list — twice — of top movie-themed Halloween costumes. The first time, she is a queen (good) and the second, a witch (not so good, although given Burton’s taste in characters  — Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd — he might think it’s cool).

Online movie ticket seller Fandango.com polled some  2,200 people on its website, asking them about the upcoming ghoulish holiday where people dress like goblins or werewolves and play tricks or get treats. Fifty-five percent said they would dress up and of those, 58 percent said they’d pick a movie-themed costume.

Among women, the top costume was Alice from Burton’s version of the classic “Alice in Wonderland” and at No. 2 was the Red Queen, also from that movie and portrayed by Carter. The actress’ role as witch Bellatrix Lestrange in the “Harry Potter” movies was No. 5.  (pictured above left).  Sandwiched in-between were  Barbie from “Toy Story 3″ in the No. 3 position and Hit-Girl from the action adventure “Kick-Ass” at No. 4.

For men, the top costume was “Iron Man” (who is played by Robert Downey, Jr.), followed by the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) in “Alice” and the Kick-Ass character in “Kick-Ass” (Aaron Johnson) rounding out the top 3. Bloodthirsty Jigsaw of the “Saw” movies and the menacing Machete from the film of the same name completed the No. 4 and No. 5 positions.

Where group themes were concerned, the Mad Hatter and Alice from “Alice” topped the list in a tie with Ken & Barbie from “Toy Story 3,” and Shrek and Princess Fiona from “Shrek Forever After” were in the No. 3 position. Suprisingly, given the film’s popularity, the blue Navi’i people of “Avatar” fame were down the list at No. 6, but they did beat out the cast of characters in the “Harry Potter” movies. And in another sign that the popularity of “Harry Potter” is wearing thin on movie audiences, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was No. 9 on the list favorite male costumes, just knocking off No. 10, Harry Potter.

Happy Halloween.

Hey Mel (Gibbons), we got your picture right here!

Celebrity news website Radaronline.com on Friday dropped its latest bomb on Mel Gibson when it published a picture of a chip-toothed Oksana Grigorieva, who claims Gibson is responsible for her damaged front teeth. The two are locked in a bitter legal battle revolving around the custody of their daughter, and in the past week Radar has been publishing audio tapes of Gibson ranting at Grigorieva.

While the tapes sound like Gibson, there has been no formal confirmation it is him, and we can’t vouch for the authenticity of the photo, either. But they are all up on the Radar site, if you want to see. And whether authentic or not, they’ve helped turn up the heat on Mel.

But we received picture of a different Mel, and he has been getting a lot of attention in recent days, too. It seems this other Mel is a monkey — or rather a gibbon, which is a member of the family of apes — but his name is close to the famous “Braveheart” actor.  They call him Mel Gibbons at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey, where he is kept — for now (we’ll get back to that in a minute). Zoo director Dr. Jeremy Goodman said Mel (that’s him in the photos)  gets a lot of attention at the zoo for his nearly famous name and for his personality. “He’s been one of the most popular animals at the zoo. He definitely shows off and is definitely an entertainer. But he’s never gone on a rant or rave, fortunately. He’s a good boy,” Goodman said.

Alas, Turtle Back will soon be losing Mel Gibbons. Goodman said he will soon be relocated to a new zoo, in Texas, at the recommendation of the American Association of Zoos. It seems it’s time for Mel to find a mate, and so, the staff at Turtle Back is preparing to ship him off to live with a female gibbon.

Goodman is quick to point out that there are no behavioral issues with Mel Gibbons and, we think, that is a good thing for his new mate.

Hollywood apprenticeships? No Sorcerers here.

Nic Cage sold popcorn. Jerry Bruckheimer worked in a mail room, Alfred Molina in a morgue and Jay Baruchel screamed like a girl!!!

Disney movie “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” debuts on Friday telling of a modern-day, master sorcerer (Cage) named Balthazar Blake who recruits an apprentice named Dave (Baruchel) to help him battle his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath ( Molina). Disney asked the film’s stars and mega-producer Bruckheimer (the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and “CSI” TV shows) what their first jobs were — if they ever were apprentices — and below is what they had to say. One hint: in each case, we can pretty much guarantee, it’s better to be a movie star!

Nicolas Cage

My first job was selling popcorn and candy at the Fairfax movie theater in Los Angeles. I would watch movies there and try to figure out how I was going to go from the popcorn stand to the screen.

Jay Baruchel

When I was a very skinny, strange looking 12-year-old boy I was murdered. Yup. That’s right, murdered. By an orange gelatinous monster in a swimming pool. During the mid 1950s. If any of this sounds insane it is because my first job ever was appearing in an episode of the Nickelodeon show “Are You Afraid of The Dark?” entitled “The Tale Of The Deadman’s Float.” It was awesome but I won’t lie—I reeked of chlorine for a long time. And I screamed like a girl. A very skinny, strange looking girl—with a super high voice.