All of this… over potty training. A Dallas woman who beat her 2-year-old daughter and glued the toddler’s hands to a wall because she was struggling with potty training was sentenced Friday to 99 years in prison. Family members in the courtroom sobbed loudly as the judge announced Elizabeth Escalona’s punishment. Escalona pleaded guilty in July to felony injury to a child, but her mother and sister had asked the court for leniency on her behalf. Dallas County prosecutor Eren Price said the 23-year-old mother of five had not taken responsibility for her actions. “Elizabeth lies to hide the evil,” Price said. Defense attorney Angie N’Duka repeated that Escalona was not a monster and that she was deserving of probation or a short sentence. “She is no monster. She can be redeemed. She can be helped,” N’Duka said during closing arguments. N’Duka said Escalona asked, “What about my children?” after the sentence was announced. Price said Escalona will be eligible for parole in 30 years. N’Duka said she plans to appeal. Escalona’s family has acknowledged their dismay and anger following the attack, but her sister and her mother nonetheless asked the judge for leniency. Does this horrible mom deserve 99 years for her crime? Source
Also in Friday morning’s round-up of news briefs: Ridley Scott gives the low-down on a Blade Runner sequel. Michelle Williams is eyeing a role in a WWII-era drama and a run-down on the weekend’s new specialty release offerings. Richard Gere Considering Counter Islamophobia Pic After Innocence of Muslims Controversy Promoting Arbitrage at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Gere said he was “talking to a couple of people…about the possibility of shooting part of a movie that I’m working on here.” He said he was open to shooting a movie that would present Muslims in a more positive light after the damage caused by the anti-Islam video, THR reports . Ewan McGregor Set for Australian Crime Thriller Son of a Gun McGregor is currently shooting August: Osage County with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. He will shoot the crime pic Son of a Gun in Australia early next year. The film revolves around McGregor’s criminal character and his young protégé, Deadline reports . Ridley Scott: ‘ Blade Runner Sequel is ‘No Rumor’ Producer/director Scott confirmed that a re-make of the sci-fi classic is in the works. Scott was not sure if Harrison Ford will be on board the possible re-make of the 1982 pic, Metro reports . Michelle Williams Eyes Suite Francaise Williams is set to star in the leading role of the forthcoming film adaptation of Irène Némirovsky’s celebrated second world war novel Suite Française . A Ukrainian-born Jew, the writer died in Auschwitz in 1942 after completing only two of the novels, which were then lost in her personal papers until 1998, The Guardian reports . Specialty Box Office Preview: Middle of Nowhere , Smashed , Excuse Me for Living , Simon and the Oaks , Gayby This weekend’s new specialty release offerings get a preview including the Octavia Spencer/Mary Elizabeth Winstead starrer Smashed and other newcomers that will be opening in theaters, Deadline reports .
We can’t crack on Amare tonight… The baller is now is now an Executive Producer and his film focuses on four young athletes with hoop dreams and encouraging youth is on the top of our list! According to The Grio : The “Little Ballers” documentary is reportedly slated for release next year. Stoudemire is intimately familiar with the country’s AAU basketball circuit because he once was a part of it. The Phoenix Suns were so high on Stoudemire’s talent at a young age, they drafted him straight out of high school in 2002. Stoudemire and the Knicks open the 2012-13 NBA season against the Brooklyn Nets on November 1. First a children’s book series and now this. Kudos all around Amare. Images via WENN
Thank the Lawd for Fact Checkers! This fool better check himself next time. According to The Huffington Post : Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said the unemployment rate has been rising, when in fact it has fallen by 13 percent over the past year. “Joe and I are from similar towns. He’s from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I’m from Janesville, Wisconsin. You know what the unemployment rate in Scranton is today?” Ryan said. “It’s 10 percent. You know what it was the day you guys came in? 8.5 percent. That’s how it’s going all around America.” Vice President Joe Biden challenged him: “You don’t read the statistics. That’s not how it’s going. It’s going down.” The national unemployment rate is in fact going down. It has fallen from 9 percent last September to 7.8 percent this September: its lowest level since President Barack Obama took office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. SMH…how many more lies will these fools spit before November 6th?!?! Images via WENN
President Obama and First Lady Michelle are all coupled up on the Nobember cover of EBONY Magazine! The 2012 Election is 30 days away, and the incumbent, President Barack Obama, and his wife, the First Lady Michele Obama gracefully cover the November issue of EBONY. In the cover feature, written by MSNBC political analyst Melissa Harris Perry, and in an open letter from The President to “African American Families,” the second term hopeful thoroughly outlines for voters what he’s done over the past four years to benefit the country at large, and specifically the African America community. The President ‘s points in the article hone in on Jobs, Health Care, Education, and Crime and Violence, to name a few. And, he makes his second term plan clear—continue to improve the economy, accessible health care, foster community sustainability via education, health care and stable families. Here are a few quotes from the cover story: On Jobs: “African Americans were hit especially hard by the recession…but over the past 30 months, businesses have created 4.5 million new jobs.” On Education: “We created the first-ever White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.” On Health Care: “…the numbers of working poor who don’t have health care who are African American or Latino are higher than the general population…the 30 million people who are going to be able to get health care for the first time…are going to be African Americans.” What do you think? Will this help his case for addressing African American issues?
Is it me or does Jim Carrey look like he’s dying a thousand deaths in the video below as he kills time on the set of Kick-Ass 2 in Toronto looking like the result of a night of passion between the Riddler’s mom and Sgt. Rock. That actually could be a good thing since stand-up comics, which Carrey was before he became an ac-tor , are great at converting humiliation and flop sweat into moments of brutal and dark comic brilliance — a tone that certainly worked for the first Kick-Ass movie. In the Matthew Vaughn-directed sequel, Carrey plays Colonel Stars, a former mob enforcer who, if the character remains true to the comic series, found religion and formed (with his brother, Lieutenant Stripes) Justice Forever, a superhero group that also included Night Bitch (Lindy Booth) and Insect Man (Robert Emms), who can both be seen with Carrey in the video. Aaron Johnson, who plays the green-suited title character is also on hand. In the John Romita Jr.-drawn, Mark Millar-written comic, Stars ends up in a showdown with Red Mist/The Motherfucker (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and his henchmen that does not turn out well. Photos of Carrey in his crime-fighting get-up were posted on SlashFilm.com . The site also linked to the below YouTube video from SuperHeroHype.com that depicts Carrey and his co-stars on the set. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter. Sources: SlashFilm.com ; SuperHeroHype.com
If, like me, you’ve been lamenting the steady bleed of thoughtful, investigative journalism from newspapers and magazines, the Toronto International Film Festival offers hope via visual media. Scanning the list of documentaries that the festival will be screening, the subject — and the fresh, innovative ways in which the filmmakers are tackling them — calls to mind the original, smart, and, often, great journalism that came from the pages of Harold Hayes’ Esquire magazine in the 1960s and early’70s, arguably, the gold standard of 20th Century magazine writing. And here are the 10 docs that will have my undivided attention here in Toronto. Now I just have to find the time to see them. 1. Stories We Tell , Sarah Polley: Initial reports are that the wise-beyond-her-33-years actress and filmmaker has made a stunning auto-documentary by becoming, as she puts it, “a detective in my own life.” Polley — the daughter of the late actress and casting director Diane MacMillan Polley, who died when Sarah was 11, and British actor-turned-insurance-agent Michael Polley — delves into her murky family history to separate fact from fiction. I hear that the answers she unearths resonate like a punch in the gut. 2. Love, Marilyn , Liz Garbus: The enduring perception of Marilyn Monroe as a “Candle in the Wind” to use the title of Elton John’s exquisite song, gets an overhaul in Garbus’ close-up of the actress and sex symbol. The Bobby Fischer Against the World filmmaker uses an ensemble of actresses — including Marisa Tomei, Viola Davis, Ellen Burstyn, Evan Rachel Wood and contemporary trouble doll Lindsay Lohan — to give voice to Monroe’s never-before-seen personal papers, diaries and letters which reveal her to be a fiercely ambitious steel magnolia with a poet’s soul. 3. The Gatekeepers , Dror Moreh: The buzz has been building on this documentary since it debuted on the festival circuit in Jerusalem in July and, according to a couple of sources who’ve seen it, The Gatekeepers is an eye-opening look at the real costs of the Palestine-Israeli conflict told through the unprecedented first-person accounts of six former Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) leaders. Word is the film is unflinching, hair-raising and, all the more powerful, because it humanizes the agents who did their government’s dirty work in the interest of homeland security. (Sound familiar?) As former Shin Bet chief Avraham Shalom says in the film: “In the war against terror, there is no morality.” 4. The Act of Killing , Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn: That documentary masters Errol Morris and Werner Herzog came aboard as executive producers after seeing this film in various stages of completion should tell you that this is no ordinary documentary. But wait until to you hear its cinematic conceit: Oppenheimer and Cynn filmed Indonesian paramilitary leader Anwar Congo and his cohort — who participated in the murder of more than a million alleged Communists, ethnic Chinese and intellectuals in the 1960s — proudly and chillingly reenacting some of their murders in the style of their favorite movies: westerns, musicals and film noir. This should give new life to the debate over violence in the movies sparked by the Aurora tragedy in July. 5. Reincarnated , Andrew Capper: Capper, the global editor for Vice magazine, chose a compelling subject for his first feature-length documentary: the evolution of pot-loving rapper Snoop Dogg to pot-loving Rastafarian Snoop Lion during a trip to Jamaica to record with the DJ named Diplo. Whether Snoop is merely trying on a new career-rejuvenating persona the way that David Bowie did (multiple times) in the 1970s, or looking for a more spiritual reason to inhale a buttload of chronic, the musical artist born Calvin Broadus has a playful-but-knowing charisma that I bet will play well on camera. I think he’s ready for his close-up. 6. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God , Alex Gibney: The Taxi to the Dark Side director takes on another powder-keg subject — sexual abuse in the Catholic church — and I hear that fireworks ensue. Gibney begins with the headlines-making case of Father Lawrence Murphy, who beginning in the 1950s, is believed to have molested as many as 200 boys at the St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin. Although the Vatican was made aware of the priest’s actions in 1963, he was never defrocked and, in fact, was allowed to remain at the school until 1974 (when he was transferred). Mea Maxima Culpa , which translates to “My Most Grievous Fault,” takes Gibney all the way to the Vatican where he scrutinizes the roles that the late Pope John Paul II and his successor Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) played in this tragic tale. 7. Artifact , Bartholomew Cubbins: Based on the coy picture I found on the Toronto Film Festival’s website, the Dr. Seuss-monikered director of this film is actually also its subject: actor and Platinum-selling 30 Seconds to Mars front man Jared Leto. (He has used the pseudonym before.) Since Leto has, so far, defied my predictions that he would be a musical flash in the pan, I’m eager to see whether he can cut it as a filmmaker. (I like his acting, but let’s say I’m skeptical that he can direct.) Artifact is about Leto and his band battling their record label Virgin/EMI in court while writing songs for a new album and, according to the TIFF synopsis, “struggling with big questions over art, money and integrity.” I suspect that droves of pretty young things will want to see this documentary, too, albeit for different reasons. 8. How to Make Money Selling Drugs, Matthew Cooke: With candid assists from Eminem, 50 Cent, Susan Sarandon and other celebrities, Cooke’s directorial debut is getting good word-of-mouth for its satirical Trainspotting -meets- Casino approach to a subject that makes most people’s eyes glaze over: the United States’ ineffectual drug policy. Cooke even employs a video game within the film to make his point. Donkey Bong ? 9. First Comes Love , Nina Davenport: Another auto-doc that taps into the, um, ripe subject of single motherhood as a choice. Unattached at the age of 41, Davenport decided to have a baby on her own — in New York City, no less — and to film the process. I’m hoping that it’s a candid corrective to The Back-Up Plan. 10. The Central Park Five, Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon: I’m not a dedicated fan of Burns. His PBS Jazz documentary series irritated me, but I get why this particular project, which has been acquired by Sundance Select for distribution, is generating buzz. The subject of this collaborative effort with his daughter Sarah (who wrote a 2011 book about the Central Park Five) and son-in-law, McMahon, speaks volumes about race, crime and politics in New York City. In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park. They spent between 6 and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, leading to their convictions being overturned. For more from Movieline at the Toronto Film Fest, click here. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Lindsay Lohan is back in surprisingly familiar territory as the prime suspect in a criminal investigation … oh how we only wish we were kidding. The troubled star is formally a suspect in the theft of $100,000 worth of watches and sunglasses from an L.A. home this month, TMZ reports. LiLo was recently at the Hollywood Hills home of Sam Magid, who called the LAPD and reported a jewelry theft the night after an all-night party. The 26-year-old star has been at the house frequently, including at the all-night house party a week ago Sunday when Magid reported the crime. Lindsay and her assistant Gavin Doyle are both suspects in the theft, with earlier reports suggesting that Lohan may have invited the robbers in . Now it appears she’s being fingered as the crook herself. There’s an odd twist, though, in that Magid has since recanted his story and now says nothing was stolen. Police aren’t closing the investigation, however. Officials believe independent witnesses can corroborate their belief that Lindsay and Gavin are the thieves and bring charges even without Magid. It’s not clear why the wealthy Magid would change his story. LAPD detectives contacted lawyers for Lindsay Lohan and Gavin Doyle today, asking for an interview with the two suspects; the request was denied. Lindsay, of course, is already on probation for a similar offense – her alleged jewelry heist from a store last year. An arrest here would look very, very bad. [Photo: WENN.com]
Watching the trailer for Brian De Palma’s upcoming film Passion , I get the feeling that he could be a fan of SCTV ‘s classic Whispers of the Wolf Ingmar Bergman parody. Yes, I know that De Palma’s erotic thriller is based on the late Alain Corneau’s final film Love Crime (2010 ), about two international business women locked in a power struggle — but there’s something about Noomi Rapace’s vacant stare in the first scenes of the trailer that reminds me of the great Andrea Martin’s performance in the SCTV comedy gem. (You can see both videos after the jump.) And Rapace’s co-star Rachel McAdams strikes me as a more vulpine version of the also-great Catherine O’Hara. I couldn’t help but notice that both clips feature masks, by the way, although based on the contents of the sex drawer that gets opened in the Passion trailer, De Palma’s movie is going to be way kinkier than anything that ever ran on Count Floyd’s Monster Chiller Horror Theater. Here’s the trailer for Passion , which is going to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September and screen that same month at the Toronto Film Festival: Watch It on YouTube. Now check out Whispers of the Wolf . Enjoy! Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
For the time time since the deadly Colorado shooting that took 12 lives, someone associated with The Dark Knight Rises has spoken out. And that someone is director Christopher Nolan. “Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises , I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community,” Nolan said, adding: “I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting, but that they were there last night to watch a movie. “I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.” James Holmes is in custody for the crime, which tragically took place just miles from the 1999 school shooting incident in Columbine, Colorado.
