Sunday, February 24, 2008
Witherspoon is producer
of independent film
LOS ANGELES — She might be a tad shy about cracking the whip on set, but Reese Witherspoon is every bit the shot-caller. “I hate being in charge, so I’d say I’m more of a collaborator,” said the producer and co-star of the independent film “Penelope,” opening Friday. “I don’t want to be the one to tell [the crew] that they have to stay for two extra hours or come in at 6 o’clock in the morning.” Witherspoon’s production company, Type A Films, grossed $125 million worldwide five years ago with its first project, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde.” Now Witherspoon, 31, is back in the producer’s chair with the magical love story “Penelope.” Witherspoon starred in “Legally Blonde 2,” but this time she handed the title role to Christina Ricci in exchange for a smaller role as Annie, “the friend.” That allowed her to focus on working behind the camera with her first-time feature team.
Myanmar magazine
attacks ‘Rambo’
YANGON, Myanmar — Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo character looks like a fat lunatic in his new movie, a Myanmar magazine said recently, bucking local public opinion that has glorified him for his exploits fighting the ruling junta’s unpopular soldiers. The new “Rambo” film shows the weary hero on a mission to rescue a group of Christian missionaries taken captive by brutal government troops in the jungles of Myanmar. Stallone’s fictional exploits have made him a folk hero among the government’s real-life foes here, who circulate bootleg DVDs of the film, even though state censors have ordered video shops not to carry the movie because it denigrates the army’s image. But an article in The Voice, a Myanmar-language magazine, decried Rambo’s bloodletting and said he “looks funny fighting a war even though he’s so fat with sagging breasts.”
Today’s birthdays
Actor Abe Vigoda is 87. Actor-singer Dominic Chianese is 77. Actor James Farentino is 70. Actor Barry Bostwick is 63. Actor Edward James Olmos is 61. Singer-writer-producer Rupert Holmes is 61. Rock singer-musician George Thorogood is 58. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is 53. News anchor Paula Zahn is 52. Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 50. Singer Michelle Shocked is 46.