Movie News: Friday, November 17

Brad Pitt defends bodyguards after racist abuse row (Reuters)
   Reuters - Hollywood actor Brad Pitt denied allegations three bodyguards racially insulted parents and children at an Indian Islamic school during shooting of a film starring his partner Angelina Jolie, reports said on Saturday.

Death of the VHS
   On the brink of a new civil war of video formats, we take this moment of silence to recognize the death of the Video Home System. We knew him fondly as VHS, but as it lived a long and full life, it is now officially over. Variety offers: After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old. No...

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Hostel: Part II - Trailer 1
   No synopsis provided by studio.

Evan Almighty - Trailer 1
   Newly elected to Congress, Evan leaves Buffalo behind and shepherds his family to suburban northern Virginia. Once there, his life gets turned upside-down when God (Morgan Freeman) appears and mysteriously commands him to build an ark. But his befuddled family just can’t decide whether he’s on to something or not.

Zodiac - Trailer 1
   Based on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation’s history. As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the murderer.

Kate Hudson Ex-ed Out (E! Online)
   

E! Online - Kate Hudson's Black Crowe is flying the coop.

From book to film, U.S. fast food industry examined (Reuters)
   Reuters - Journalist Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast Food Nation," said he struggled to find a publisher for his 2001 nonfiction book that became a surprise bestseller.

New James Bond film clears China censors (AP)
   

AP - Chinese censors have cleared "Casino Royale" to be shown in the country without asking for any changes, a movie executive said Friday. "The film has been approved and no cuts or changes have been requested," Li Chow, general manager at Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International and Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The Dark Knight Gets Release Date
   Well, all of us Batman Begins fans have a date that we can now circle on our calendars. Warner Bros. has announced it's planned release date for the follow up film "The Dark Knight". The date... July 18 2008. A long year and a half away. Oh well.. the time will fly, and I'm sure the casting rumours will keep the buzz going for at least the next couple of months as they've yet to officially...

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Angelina the Avenger (E! Online)
   

E! Online - Angelina Jolie has come to the defense of her defenders.

Borat Etiquette Coach Raises Her Voice (E! Online)
   

E! Online - It could have been worse—Borat could have set the bag on fire.

Jay-Z documentary shown at U.N. (AP)
   

AP - In a new documentary, Jay-Z is reminded of his early life in the Brooklyn projects as he sees children playing near open sewers in an Angolan slum.

Review: 'The Fountain' is laughably bad (AP)
   AP - Hugh Jackman has got to be the hardest-working man in show business this year between starring in the third "X-Men" film, "Scoop" and "The Prestige" and voicing characters in the animated "Flushed Away" and "Happy Feet."

O.J.: Is it about more than the money? (AP)
   AP - It may be about more than the money. Experts say that in writing a book about how he hypothetically could have committed murder, O.J. Simpson may be trying to recapture the limelight. Or maybe, just maybe, he is trying to get something off his chest.

TomKat ado ignites Dolce Vita in Rome (AP)
   AP - Poised with his camera outside Rome's elegant Hassler hotel, the so-called King of Paparazzi is waiting to get a shot.

Gibson tops Film Threat's powerless list (AP)
   

AP - Two decades after being chosen as People magazine's first sexiest man alive, Mel Gibson now tops a very different kind of list: Film Threat's annual "Frigid 50: The Coldest People in Hollywood."

Bond vs. penguins in box-office battle of tuxedos (Reuters)
   

Reuters - The winner of this weekend's U.S. movie box-office battle is almost guaranteed to be wearing a tuxedo.

Jolie's bodyguards detained in India after fracas (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Indian police detained three of Angelina Jolie's bodyguards on Friday after parents complained the men had manhandled and abused them and their children during a shoot of the Hollywood star's latest film.

Pierce Brosnan A Spy Again In Spy vs Stu
   I really enjoyed Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. He had all the style for the part, and I wouldn't have minded seeing him on for one more Bond film, but in all reality, he had done 4 Bond films, and it was just time to inject new blood into the franchise, and time for him personally to move on to other projects. But even though he's not 007 anymore, he can't seem to get away from the "spy type"...

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"Borat" dubbed film of the year - by Kazakh paper (Reuters)
   

Reuters - In perhaps the most unlikely praise yet for the misogynistic, anti-Semitic and fictional Kazakh TV reporter Borat's new movie, a leading newspaper in the real Kazakhstan dubbed it "film of the year" on Friday.

Penguins set to beat Bond at U.S. box office (Reuters)
   Reuters - Animated penguins will fight a new James Bond at the weekend box office, with "Happy Feet" likely to take the crown, potentially reaching the $50 million mark.

Indie ThinkFilm snaps up "Trials" documentary (Reuters)
   Reuters - ThinkFilm has acquired North American rights to "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," the true story of a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder. Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's film was placed on the Oscar shortlist Wednesday for best documentary.

3 Jolie bodyguards arrested in India (AP)
   

AP - Indian police on Friday arrested three British bodyguards working for Angelina Jolie after they allegedly roughed up parents and students at a Mumbai school where the star was filming scenes for "A Mighty Heart," police said.

"Union" job lures acting duo (Reuters)
   Reuters - Ashley Williams and Zachary Levi have been cast as the leads in the TBS pilot "Imperfect Union," a workplace comedy being produced by former "Will & Grace" star Eric McCormack.

Huston directing "Kiss" country noir (Reuters)
   Reuters - Actress Anjelica Huston is headed back to the director's chair for her first feature job in seven years.

Tyler Perry sings 'Blues' with Lionsgate (Reuters)
   Reuters - Continuing its successful partnership with Tyler Perry, Lionsgate has acquired the multihyphenate's next two films, "Why Did I Get Married?" and "A Jazz Man's Blues."

Scientology may be TomKat's co-star (AP)
   

AP - Some marital advice Tom Cruise and his bride-to-be could receive Saturday: Never go to bed angry at each other. Or they may be told that newlywed "girls" expect "frills" and maybe a cat, and young men are prone to "forget" their promises.

"Stu" is next target for Brosnan (Reuters)
   Reuters - Pierce Brosnan can't get enough of playing a spy.

Gina Gershon in "Creepy" book deal (Reuters)
   Reuters - Actress Gina Gershon is in final negotiations to sell the movie rights to an upcoming children's book she wrote with her brother to DreamWorks and Nick Movies.