OJ, Round 2?. After a jury acquitted him of his wife’s murder in 1994 It’s hard not to think of the upcoming trial of O.J. Simpson in Las Vegas for armed robbery as Round Two, but that’s exactly what the judge is asking the current jury NOT to do. Jury selection has officially started, and Judge Jackie Glass warned potential jurors her courtroom was not the place for those “looking to become famous…write a book or be on TV,” the L.A. Times reported. Simpson faces up to life in prison if convicted on multiple counts of robbery of sports collectible dealers at a Las Vegas hotel. The jury selection process is expected to take a week or longer.
Harry Potter Is Untouchable. Harry Potter seems to brew as much jealousy as he does fandom. Author J.K. Rowling has been very protective over her prized character’s back story and any potential spinoffs. She has even indicated to interviewers that she knows him better than anyone else—as though speaking about a real person. Well, one more fan has felt the wrath: a librarian who wanted to create a guidebook to Harry Potter lore lost a copyright suit filed by Rowling and Warner Bros. Inc. Hands off the golden child.
Fannie and Freddie. Two of the biggest home mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been taken over by the federal government. It’s been a rocky year for homeowners and banks alike, with rising default rates and government bailouts and takeovers. But markets rebounded a bit at the news. The two were originally set up by the government but managed by private shareholders, but had been suffering along with many other financial institutions during the mortgage crisis. Some experts say Fannie and Freddie are simply too entangled in the greater economy to let fail. Sounds a lot like Bear Stearns…
Who You Gonna Call? Slimer hitting the big screen again? Actor and producer Harold Ramis talked to the L.A. Times about a possible third installment of the Ghostbusters movies. We’ve seen a lot of over-the-hill hero movies lately (Indiana Jones and Rocky come to mind), so it would be interesting to see if they could pull this one off: Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore could be training the next generation of cowboy scientists to wrangle ghosts.
The Fly Goes Highbrow. Howard Shore may have swept the Oscars for three years with his melodramatic (and very good) scores for the Lord of the Rings films, but come on—an operatic remake of The Fly? The opera, a collaboration with opera legend Placido Domingo and film director David Cronenberg (who worked with Shore on the 1986 film) premiered Sunday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. What a notion that would be—L.A. producing world-class operas—but the jury’s still out. L.A. Times music critic is slated to post a review of the production tonight on the paper’s blog Hero Complex.
Superman Gets Real? There’s been talk of toning down the optimism for future movies in the man-of-steel franchise, but Superman Returns was already a little too Dawson’s Creek for my tastes. Really, if future filmmakers do it right, who can resist feeling at least a little excited, even liberated, when watching a guy rip off his cubicle costume, fly away, and battle bad guys? Even hardened video gamers can appreciate that. Check this out, just for fun…
Tags: aj rowling, ghostbusters reunion, harry potter is untouchable, o.j. simpson trial again, opera, superman returns all dark, the fly