Michael Moore movie to compete at Venice

Moore's other films include Sicko and Bowling for Columbine
Capitalism, the latest documentary from Fahrenheit 9/11 director Michael Moore, features in the official competition at this year's Venice Film Festival.

The film, in which Moore looks at the global economic meltdown, is one of 23 titles up for the Golden Lion award.

Others include Werner Herzog's remake of The Bad Lieutenant, starring Nicolas Cage, and Survival of the Dead, George A Romero's latest zombie thriller.

The 66th Venice International Film Festival runs from 2 to 12 September.

This year's event will see John Lasseter and his fellow Pixar directors receive a special award for their animated features.

Toy Story 3D will screen out of competition at the festival, as will a new 3D version of Toy Story 2.

Iconoclastic

US fashion designer Tom Ford also features in the competition line-up with his directorial debut, A Single Man.

Colin Firth and Julianne Moore appear in the film, alongside Nicholas Hoult from TV show Skins.

Also up for the Golden Lion is The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic bestseller starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

George Clooney is a regular visitor to the world's oldest film festival
No British films are in contention this year, though Liverpool-born director Alex Cox does feature in the Orrizonti sidebar section.

The iconoclastic filmmaker will be premiering Repo Chick, a sequel to his 1984 cult classic Repo Man.

George Clooney, star of last year's opening film Burn After Reading, is back this year in The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Directed by regular collaborator Grant Heslov, the satirical drama will screen out of competition.

Venice is the world's oldest film festival, having been founded in 1932 in the Mussolini era.

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will chair this year's jury, which will also feature US filmmaker Joe Dante and French actress Sandrine Bonnaire.

source: bbc

Michael Jackson's contribution to music

Music journalist Paul Gambaccini looks at the impact Michael Jackson, who has died aged 50, had on the music world.

Michael Jackson had two musical peaks: the first with The Jackson 5. Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, ordered his producers and writers to come up with three number ones to launch the group and they actually had four number ones with their first four singles.

They were the template for the boy bands that followed - The Osmonds, who already existed as The Osmond Brothers, copied them.
Michael reached his second peak with Quincy Jones with the trilogy of albums of Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.

Thriller, interestingly enough - since it is the best selling album in the world - is likely to remain so because people now get their music from the internet, so its unlikely that any album will even sell 50m again.

These were great achievements artistically as well as commercially, and Michael was the first of the great American male video stars in the US.

I Want You Back was the record that bowled over the US - for an unknown kid group to go to number one was pretty amazing and people were asking who was this 11-year-old guy who could dance so well and sing so vibrantly.

"When it came to putting on a live show he paid attention to every detail and executed his ideas brilliantly. He is still to me the best showman ever"

We subsequently learned that their father had been drilling them for years and so they weren't as new as we'd thought, but nonetheless everyone was impressed by Michael and he instantly became a world star.

Billie Jean was very important as it was the song that was the first great American video. There had been great British videos, particularly The Boomtown Rats' I Don't Like Mondays and Bohemian Rhapsody, but Billie Jean made it de rigueur for American artists to make videos as well and that changed everything.

Thriller also spawned that famous video which so many people have bought as well as seen.

When he did the Moonwalk with Billie Jean on the Motown 25 special on TV he won an Emmy award. It was something that looked impossible - he practiced it so much. He learned from Fred Astaire and James Brown and it was something that caught the fancy of people around the world.

I had a conversation with the late John Peel and he agreed that even though Michael Jackson's style of music wasn't his favourite, he was the greatest showman in pop history.

He was not necessarily the greatest record maker and not the best writer because he didn't write many of his hits, but when it came to putting on a live show he paid attention to every detail and executed his ideas brilliantly. He is still to me the best showman ever.

As the years and decades go by, people forget or disregard personal problems. To use the example of an earlier music legend who went his way - Judy Garland - we nowadays just think of the great songs and films and we don't think of her drug problems.

And within a few generations, Michael Jackson will be a great recording artist and that's it. There won't be more than a footnote about the scandals.

Chris Brown 'sorry' for Rihanna assault

Chris Brown has publicly apologised for attacking his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.
In a two-minute video on his website, the R&B star said he "thought it was time that you heard directly from me that I am sorry".

He said he was seeking help and wanted to live his life as a role model, saying: "I wish I had the chance to live those few moments again".

Brown pleaded guilty to assault after he was arrested the night before the Grammy awards in February.

In the video, the singer referred to his assault as "the incident" and said: "I am very sad and very ashamed of what I have done."

Wearing an orange shirt and apparently reading from a script, he told viewers he has repeatedly apologised to Rihanna.

The 20-year-old called what he did "inexcusible" and asked for forgiveness from his fans.

Performance cancelled

Brown was arrested hours after he fought with his then-girlfriend Rihanna in a rented sports car after a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles.

Police records claim he tried to push the 21-year-old singer from the car and repeatedly hit her and choked her.

The pair had been due to perform at the Grammy awards but the appearance was cancelled.

In part of the video Chris Brown talked about growing up in a home where there was domestic violence.

"I saw first hand what uncontrolled rage can do," he said.

Acknowledging that he has "let a lot of people down" Brown told of how he has "done a lot of soul searching".

"I have sought and am continuing to seek help to ensure that what occurred in February can never happen again," he said.

Since the attack Chris Brown has lost sponsorship deals, had his songs dropped by radio stations and faced criticism from other artists.

At the end of the video he said: "I intend to live my life so that I am truly worthy of the term 'role model'."

Chris Brown is expected to serve five years probation and perform six months of community service after he is sentenced next month.

source: bbc

Best-selling author McCourt dies

Frank McCourt, author of best-seller Angela's Ashes, has died of cancer in a New York hospice.

The 78-year-old Irish-American writer was suffering from meningitis and had recently been treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Angela's Ashes, a memoir of McCourt's childhood in Ireland, sold millions of copies and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Before the book's 1996 publication, McCourt was a New York high school teacher for 30 years.

Quoted by the New York Times newspaper, Susan Moldow of McCourt's publisher Scribner said the cause of his death, on Sunday afternoon, was metastatic melanoma.

'Epic of woe'
Born in New York, McCourt travelled to Ireland during the Great Depression with his parents at an early age.

Angela's Ashes provides a graphic description of his childhood in abject poverty in the slums of the Irish city of Limerick.

Described by its author as an "epic of woe", the book was made into a Hollywood film in 1999 starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle.

The BBC's Matt McGrath, an admirer of Frank McCourt's work, says it shone a light on a dark period of Ireland's social history.

His other works include 'Tis and Teacher Man, which both draw on his later life in New York.

Madonna stage deaths investigated

Prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation after a stage being built for a Madonna concert collapsed killing two people, a French official has said.

Eight other people were seriously injured in Thursday's accident at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille.

Assistant prosecutor Marc Cimamonti said an investigation for manslaughter and involuntary injuries in a work-related accident has been opened.



Madonna has said she is "devastated" by the news of the deaths.

'Tragic news'

Her concert, planned for Sunday, has been cancelled.

Charles Criscenzo, a 53-year-old French worker, was killed outright in the accident and Charles Prow, a 23-year-old from Headingley in Leeds, died in hospital.

Technicians had been setting up the stage at the city's Velodrome stadium when the partially-built roof fell in on Thursday, bringing down a crane.

The 60,000-seater Velodrome is France's second-biggest sports arena and home to the Olympique de Marseille football club.

The planned concert was part of Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour
About 50 people from a range of nationalities were working to set up the structure, city sports official Richard Miron said.

The roof "started shaking and collapsing" gradually, said Marseille city councillor Maurice Di Nocera.

"Since it did not collapse right away that allowed several people to get out," he said.

Madonna, who is performing on her Sticky and Sweet tour, was in Udine, Italy, when told of the incident.

"I am devastated to have just received this tragic news," she said in a statement released by Live Nation, the organisers of the concert.

"My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families, along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news."

Madonna paid tribute to the technicians at her concert in Italy on Thursday.

"I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and pay tribute to two people who lost their lives today," she told fans at the Fruili Stadium in Udine.

"It's a great tragedy to me," she continued, choking back tears. "I feel so devastated to be in any way associated with anyone's suffering.

"Let's all just take a moment to say a prayer for Charles Criscenzo and Charlie Prow. Our hearts go out to their family and loved ones."

LA 'ripped off' over Jackson gig

Roads were closed off to allow the hearse to reach the event
Los Angeles city council officials have called for a review on who should foot the $1.4m (£864,000) bill for Michael Jackson's memorial gig.

Councilman Dennis Zine claims taxpayers, who have been asked to make donations, "are getting ripped off".

He has asked for a report on policing and traffic control costs for last week's service at the Staples Center, which was attended by 17,000 fans.

Councilman Zine says promoter AEG Live or the Jackson family should pay.

But AEG president Tim Leiweke said that AEG did pay for the memorial itself.

However, security around the event resulted in high costs to Los Angeles at a time when the city is in debt for half of a billion dollars.

Roads were closed to allow the hearse carrying Jackson's body to travel the 10 miles from the Forest Lawn cemetery to the venue.

And the memorial, watched on TV by more than 31 million people in the US and millions more around the world, required the deployment of thousands of police officers and emergency services.

Donations collapse
At a meeting on Thursday, Zine asked whether the event's promoters or producers might provide "reimbursement to the city to replenish the public safety and other critical funds".

Millions watched the memorial gig
Last week, the mayor's office revealed around $17, 000 (£10, 400) had been donated to a website collecting cash before it collapsed.

Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's sister has told Sunday newspapers she believes the singer was "murdered" for his money, claiming money and jewels have since gone missing.

She told UK newspaper, the News of the World: "We don't think just one person was involved in the murder. It was a conspiracy to get Michael's money."

Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson has also said he suspects "foul play" in the death of his pop star son.

Powerful sedative found in Michael Jackson's home

The powerful sedative Diprivan was found in Michael Jackson's home, a law enforcement official said Friday as the city planned for a massive crowd at the singer's memorial service.

Diprivan is an anesthetic widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. Also known as Propofol, it's given intravenously and is very unusual to have in a private home.

The law enforcement official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about the matter.

A Los Angeles Police spokesman, Lt. John Romero, declined to discuss the case. "It's an ongoing investigation," he said.

The cause of Jackson's death has not been determined. Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks.

At the downtown Staples Center, where Jackson's memorial will be held Tuesday morning, Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger said anywhere from 250,000 to 700,000 people could try to reach the arena, even though only 17,500 tickets will be available.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry urged people to stay home and watch the memorial on TV. There will not be a funeral procession through the city.

Tickets to Jackson's memorial service will be free. They can be obtained by registering at Staplescenter.com. There will be 11,000 tickets for seats inside Staples Center and 6,500 for seats in the adjacent Nokia Theatre, where fans can watch a simulcast. On Saturday night, 8,750 names will be randomly selected to receive two tickets each.

No details about the memorial service itself were released.

Jackson was known to have suffered from severe insomnia. In the weeks before his death, Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who was working with the singer, said Jackson pleaded for Diprivan amid the stress of preparing for a massive series of comeback concerts.

Lee said she repeatedly rejected his demands because the drug was unsafe.

Told Friday that Diprivan had been found at Jackson's house, she said, "I did everything I could to warn him against it."

Jackson had trouble sleeping as far back as 1989, said one of his former publicists, Rob Goldstone, who spent a month on the road with Jackson during the "Bad" tour.

"He had very bad nightmares, he found it very difficult to sleep," Goldstone said.

Diprivan, which has a milky appearance, is sometimes nicknamed "milk of amnesia." Last fall, doctors from the Mayo Clinic warned at a conference that in rare cases, Diprivan can trigger an irreversible chain of events leading to heart dysfunction and death.

They said three patients receiving Diprivan to treat severe seizures had suffered cardiac arrest, and two died. The doctors said the clinic stopped using Diprivan to treat such patients because of the danger.

The drug's manufacturer, AstraZeneca PLC, warns that patients using Diprivan should be continuously monitored, and in a tiny number of cases patients using it have suffered cardiac arrest, although it was not clear the drug was to blame.

Authorities are investigating allegations that the 50-year-old Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. Any criminal charges would depend on whether Jackson had been overly prescribed medications, given drugs inappropriate for his needs, or if doctors knowingly prescribed Jackson medications under an assumed name.

Edward Chernoff, an attorney for Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, said Friday through a spokeswoman that he had agreed with investigators not to comment until information is released through official channels. Murray was in Jackson's rented mansion when the singer went into cardiac arrest in his bedroom on June 25.

Murray has spoken to police and authorities say he is not a suspect. In an earlier interview, Chernoff said Murray never gave or prescribed Jackson the painkillers Demerol or OxyContin, and denied reports suggesting that the doctor gave the pop star drugs that contributed to his death.

Chernoff would not discuss what drugs the doctor administered to Jackson, but said they would have been prescribed in response to a specific complaint.

------
AP Entertainment Writer Lynn Elber and AP Music Writer Nekesa Moody contributed to this report.