• Oh, the sad irony: the Universal Studios fire, which destroyed the New York Street section of the backlot, was “caused by sparks from a blowtorch used to repair” that set. The theme park tram tour continued as scheduled yesterday, with visitors able to see the damaged facades (which will be rebuilt) up close.
• Brad Pitt is “part of a team of consultants designing an 800-room, five-star hotel” in Dubai. “You can expect something that is not only stunning to look at but will also be an incredible attraction to visit or stay at,” Pitt promised in a statement. Or, somebody did––I can’t imagine that sentence coming out of Brad Pitt’s mouth.
• Deepak Chopra says Hindus shouldn’t be mad about Mike Myers’ The Love Guru. This is the first I’ve heard about Hindus being mad about The Love Guru. Did this happen while I was in Cannes, or is the noise level on Love Guru news really that low?

“So I remember we– I had like two or three days or something and I rehearsed and choreographed and dressed my brothers. I choreographed them with the piece and picked the songs, picked the medley. And not only that. You have to work out all the camera angles and, oh, I direct and edit everything I do. Every shot you see, is my shot.” -Michael Jackson, on his preparation for an ’80s Jackson 5 performance. (Ebony Magazine, December, 2007).

Who doesn’t remember the worldwide shock and dismay when Michael Jackson announced his retirement from music in 1990, at the age of 32? But the real shocker was what came next. Mr. Jackson’s stellar career as a film director, now nearly 20 years on, seemed pure folly at the time. What magic could such a musical being possibly work with images? Surely, a performer who spoke so eloquently with his voice and feet would, with a movie camera, be all thumbs…?

We were spectacularly wrong.
…Read more

• There’s not much news to report from yesterday’s strike talks (looks like Nikki was right about that pesky press blackout), but we do know that Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards is a expected to join Tim Robbins and Gilbert Gottfried at a star-studded strike rally today in New York’s Washington Square. Meanwhile, this week Carson Daly will become the first late-night host to cross picket lines to tape his show. Yes, Carson Daly has a show.
• My beloved Silent Light took the best picture and best director prizes at the 33st Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival over the weekend
• Dubai International Capital, an investment corp owned by the ruler of Dubai, has acquired a chunk of Sony. The exact size of the investment is unknown, but DIC characterized it in a press release as “substantial.” In other local news, the Dubai Film Festival has announced its lineup, which will include a tribute to Danny Glover as well as “Jordan’s first feature in 50 years.”