James Cameron_ 3-D will become standard format Larry Birkhead

							                                                                                                                                                                                                                        aLWatan DaiLY
   entertainment                                                                                                                                                                                                    friDAY, mAY 14, 2010
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James Cameron: 3-D                                                                                                              Larry Birkhead opens
will become standard format                                                                                                     up about life after Anna Nicole
          SEOUL, South Korea: Avatar director James Cam-                                                                            LOS ANGELES: When Larry Birkhead took his 3 year-old
     eron said Thursday that 3-D will replace 2-D as the                                                                        daughter Dannielynn to the Kentucky Derby this year, it was life
     standard, mainstream format for film, television and                                                                       coming full circle because in 2004 he met the toddler’s mother,
     online content in less than 25 years.                                                                                      Anna Nicole Smith, at the famous horse race.
          Viewers will soon not only enjoy films in 3-D the-                                                                        Now, as he prepares to sell her memorabilia at an upcoming
     aters but all forms of entertainment, including sports                                                                     auction in Las Vegas, Birkhead hopes he can begin to put some of
     and music shows on TVs and laptops, Cameron said at                                                                        the past behind him and move forward with his life.
     a technology forum in Seoul.                                                                                                   “When Anna first passed away, i had to take every single
          Cameron directed the 3-D epic Avatar, which won                                                                       thing out of the house and put it away in storage,” he told reu-
     three Oscars and is the highest grossing film in history,                                                                  ters. “it was too hard emotionally for me to be around those
     with $2.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales to date. He                                                                    memories.”
     has also directed other blockbuster films such as Titanic                                                                      At first, when Smith died in 2007 of an accidental drug over-
     and Terminator.                                                                                                            dose, Birkhead said he never thought he could sell her things, but
          Avatar has proved that 3-D technology is not just                                                                     as storage fees and his own home came to look like something of
     a fad but a revolution changing how the audience                                                                           memorabilia museum, he decided to let go.
     chooses to consume media and entertainment con-                                                                                “i don’t know that my daughter is going to need every single
     tent, the 56-year-old director said in a speech to the                                                                     thing that was her mothers. maybe it’s right to share some of
     Seoul Digital forum, an annual technology and media                                                                        Anna’s legacy with her fans.”
     gathering.                                                                                                                     The items will be sold by Julien’s Auctions at the Planet Hol-
          “Quite simply, where they had a choice, the audi-                                                                     lywood resort and Casino on June 26 in Las Vegas. Going under
     ence was selecting for the best possible way to see the                                                                    the hammer will be much of Smith’s furniture, wardrobe, art-
     movie,” he said. “And they saw 3-D as the premium                                                                          work and even a car.
     viewing experience.”                                                                                                           What he refused to sell were two Kentucky Derby dresses
          Cameron likened what he called the 3-D renais-                                                                        she wore when they met -- he has since loaned them to the Ken-
     sance to the advent of sound and color in motion pic-                                                                      tucky Derby museum -- photo albums, diaries and a Swarovski
     tures. But he said full adoption of the enhanced format                                                                    crystal encrusted gown Smith wore to mimic her idol, marilyn
     will require less time than the 25 years it took for color                                                                 monroe.
     movies to become standard.                                                                                                     “i kept that for my daughter because i know it was really
          Pointing to the popularity of 3-D films, Cameron                          FILE - James Cameron                        special to Anna -- she would never part with it,” said Birkhead. “i
     envisions the film, technology and consumer electron-                                                                      also kept Anna’s jewelry because every little girl likes jewelry.”
     ics industries rapidly moving toward mass adoption of          3-D content to watch, Cameron said.
     the enhanced format.                                                “if you play all the 3-D movies in existence on                            Life After Anna Nicole
          That could come as soon as “in a couple of years,”        your fancy new 3-D TV, it will keep you entertained for          for Birkhead, life is still very much about Smith, making it
     but “definitely less than the 25 years it took color mov-      about 3 days,” he said. “This content gap is the biggest    difficult to move forward personally and professionally.
     ies,” he told reporters at a press conference after the        hurdle for the rapid adoption of 3D TV.”                         “Not a day goes by where don’t i get a call from a publicist
     speech.                                                             Asked about the prospects for internet streaming       or a fan or there’s some court case,” said Birkhead. “So it’s been
          Television makers Samsung Electronics Co. and Pa-         of 3-D movies, Cameron said he was upbeat.                  hard to go and do my own thing.”
     nasonic Corp. started selling 3-D TVs this year in hopes            “3-D laptops are already here,” Cameron said.               Though he worked steadily as a celebrity photographer when
     of riding one of the next big waves in consumer elec-          “i’ve already seen some very good ones.”                    he met Smith, he gets few assignments now because his former            FILE - Larry Birkhead and his 3 year-old daughter Dann-
     tronics.                                                            Cameron also said he intends to personally dedi-       contacts only want pictures of Dannielynn.                              ielynn
          movie studios Universal and Disney have released          cate himself to helping the industry adopt 3-D without           His photography is now private work and he has been invest-
     3-D films on Blu-ray, such as Coraline and The Polar           creating a consumer backlash.                               ing in real estate. He’s also had offers to star in reality TV shows,       His one-time nemesis, Smith’s lawyer and former boyfriend
     Express. Discovery Communications and ESPN previ-                   That will include continuing to create quality 3-D     but producers “want conflict and chaos,” which he refuses to en-        Howard K. Stern whom he battled in court over paternity and
     ously announced they will launch their own 3-D ca-             content, like a sequel to Avatar, which he estimated        gage in.                                                                guardianship of Dannielynn, is now a regular in his life.
     ble television networks, with ESPN first broadcasting          will take about 3 years to make - 18 months less than            Birkhead said he is protective of Dannielynn, and that means           “At one time he and i were not so friendly,” Birkhead admits,
     World Cup soccer in 3-D next month.                            it took the first.                                          having to hire security. Between curious on-lookers and pa-             rather wryly. “But now we get along. Howard is the executor of
          The biggest hurdle to rapid mainstream adoption of             The release date will be announced in a few months,    parazzi, going to the playground means “you’ve got ten camera           Anna’s estate so we spend a lot of time talking about estate busi-
     3-D is not technological shortcomings, but the lack of         he said. -AP                                                phones in your face and your every move is on Twitter.”                 ness.” -reuters




Facebook not          3 Idiots front-runner for IIFA honors
enough to bring Betty                                                                                                                                                                                                              MUMBAI: rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idi-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ots is the clear favorite at next month’s
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               international indian film Academy (iifA)

White to Oscars
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               awards with fourteen nominations, in-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               cluding best film, at india’s version of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Oscars.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Colombo plays host in June to the an-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               nual awards which are held in a different
          LOS ANGELES: facebook fans brought Betty White                                                                                                                                                                       city each year - a sign of Bollywood’s ef-
     to Saturday Night Live, and now they’ve got their eyes                                                                                                                                                                    forts to broaden its global appeal.
     on the Oscars.                                                                                                                                                                                                                3 Idiots, the highest-grossing film of
          A page on the social networking website, called Of-                                                                                                                                                                  2009, wooed audiences with its endear-
     ficial Page for Getting Betty White to Host the Academy                                                                                                                                                                   ing tale of three friends at an engineering
     Awards, has collected more than 56,000 fans.                                                                                                                                                                              college and earned Aamir Khan an iifA
          One commenter wrote that “Betty White would be                                                                                                                                                                       nomination for leading actor.
     one of the best hosts ever!!!!!”                                                                                                                                                                                              Also in the running for awards in ma-
          But the Academy of motion Picture Arts and Sciences                                                                                                                                                                  jor categories are films like Paa, an un-
     says it isn’t ready to let facebook make casting decisions                                                                                                                                                                usual father-son story revolving around
     for film’s biggest night.                                                                                                                                                                                                 progeria, frothy romance Love Aaj Kal
          Spokeswoman Leslie Unger says the academy plans                                                                                                                                                                      and the caper Kaminey. many of indian
     to continue with its protocol of allowing the producers to                                                                                                                                                                cinema’s biggest names including Am-
     select the host that will best serve the show they’re trying                                                                                                                                                              itabh Bachchan are expected to attend
     to put together. -AP                                                                                             FILE - Screen grab from the movie 3 Idiots                                                               the awards ceremony. -reuters




The funniest relationship on TV? Colbert and House                                                                                                                                              Katherine Heigl to
         NEWYORK: The funniest relationship on TV might
     be the clandestine, cross-network affair between The
                                                                    our staffs.
                                                                         “in the end, we’re both always right.”
                                                                                                                                    The House photo (now more visible because
                                                                                                                               The report broadcasts in high-definition) has stuck
                                                                                                                                                                                                become ageless in love story
     Colbert Report and House.                                           The shelf behind Colbert’s C-shaped desk contains     around, Colbert said in a recent interview, because the
         if you look carefully, you can spot a small, framed        a collection of odd objects that he has found reason       show noticed it would frequently show up on camera                   LOS ANGELES: Katherine Heigl will get to live every movie
     photograph of Hugh Laurie, the star of fox’s House,            to keep by some twist of the show’s bizarre comedic        over his shoulder.                                               star’s dream of never growing old in The Age of Adaline.
     on the set of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.             meanderings. The House photo currently rests, Col-              “We said we’ve got to keep that - we can’t get rid              The epic love story, which is eyeing an October start date, centers
     House has reciprocated the gesture with a photo of             bert noted, “in a place of honor next to my coin purse     of the picture of House,” he said.                               on a young woman, born at the turn of 20th century, who is rendered
     Colbert that sits on Dr. Gregory House’s desk.                 made from a bull scrotum.”                                      When he saw that “House” responded in kind, Col-            ageless after an accident. After years of a solitary life, she meets a
         On monday’s Report, Stephen Colbert said                        Colbert first placed the photo on his set in June     bert said he was “honored because i’m such a fan.”               man who might be worth losing her immortality.
     House’s photo sits on his shelf because he’s a huge fan        2006 after Colbert (the real one) received an honor-            in an e-mail Wednesday, Laurie said he was “huge-               The producers, Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel
     of the TV doctor.                                              ary degree from Knox College. This made him a doc-         ly flattered by mr. Colbert’s tip of the hat.”                   Entertainment, are out to directors and talent, including actors for
         “House and i have a lot in common,” Colbert, in            tor, Colbert claimed, and next to his degree, he placed         “People sometimes ask whether i have anything               the male lead.
     mock pundit character, said on the show. “We both              photos of three other TV doctors: House, Noah Drake        in common with the character i play, and i answer as                 Heigl next stars opposite Ashton Kutcher in Killers, which Lion-
     refuse to play by the rules, never consider the con-           from “General Hospital,” and Dr. Cliff Huxtable from       truthfully as i can: House and i are the same height             sgate opens June 4, and recently wrapped the comedy-drama Life as
     sequences of our actions, and are horribly abusive to          The Cosby Show.                                            and we both have a worshipful obsession with Stephen             We Know It for Gold Circle and Warner Bros. -reuters
                                                                                                                               Colbert,” said Laurie. “That’s it. And even the height
                                                                                                                               part isn’t quite right. i am actually one inch taller than
                                                                                                                               House. But it seemed to us completely and satisfyingly
                                                                                                                               consistent for House to curl up in front of Colbert after
                                                                                                                               a hard day’s healing.”
                                                                                                                                    The connection between the two fictional charac-
                                                                                                                               ters is fitting because it mirrors a real-life link. Both
                                                                                                                               are comedians with a fondness for wordplay and an
                                                                                                                               extraordinary talent for embodying a character.
                                                                                                                                    American audiences are less familiar with Laurie’s
                                                                                                                               earlier sketch comedy work on British television, in-
                                                                                                                               cluding the beloved, acclaimed series Blackadder and
                                                                                                                               “A Bit of fry and Laurie,” and his portrayal of P.G.
                                                                                                                               Wodehouse’s empty-headed Bertie Wooster in the
                                                                                                                               PBS series Jeeves and Wooster. Colbert says he’s par-
                                                                                                                               ticularly a fan of “A Bit of fry and Laurie,” which co-
                                                                                                                               starred Stephen fry (also Laurie’s co-star in Jeeves).
                                                                                                                                    “i love it when people say, ‘Oh, i saw Hugh Laurie
                                                                                                                               on SNL. He was funny!’” said Colbert. “Yes, there was
                                                                                                                               something he did before House.”
                                                                                                                                    But that’s background that Colbert - or Laurie -
                                                                                                                               would never even wink at on TV. No, instead Colbert
                                                                                                                               continues to play up his character’s love of House.
                                                                                                                                    “i spend a lot of time praising the larger-than-life
                                                                                                                               figures who shape our nation, be they President Bush,
                                                                                                                               Vice President Cheney or House,” Colbert said on
                                                                                                                               a 2006 show. “When will that hospital learn just to                                                                   FILE -
                                                                                                                               trust his instincts? They already give him the hopeless                                                               Katherine Heigl
                                             FILE - Cast photo of House                                                        cases.” -AP