Helmer tries to give Putin campaign direction

MOSCOW -- Politics and film are never far apart in Russia. And while, unlike the U.S., the country has not yet had a former actor as president, prime minister Vladimir Putin is putting a film director at the center of his third presidential bid.Stanislav Govorukhin, a 75-year-old film veteran, has been named head of Putin's presidential campaign.The Putin loyalist -- whose career highlights include making the 1979 TV detective series "Mesto vstrechi izmenit nelzya" (The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed) starring anti-establishment singer-songwriter-actor Vladimir Vysotsky -- turned to politics after the collapse of the Soviet Union.Although the involvement of an elderly filmmaker in a re-election campaign may appear strange to Western eyes, Govorukhin's credentials in Russia are well established.The self-declared democrat, who flirted with nationalist Communism in the 1990s, lost a son in the first Chechen war, and once opposed Putin, is a member of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, for Putin's United Russia party.Govorukhin isn't the only director to take to politics. Nikita Mikhalkov, another well-known Russian director (1995's Stalin-era fable "Burnt by the Sun") stumped for Boris Yeltsin in the 1996 presidential race, appearing in a TV commercial as an astronaut for the candidate. He, like Govorukhin, has since shifted to the right-wing nationalists.As a director, Govorukhin had a populist touch with detective or adventure films championing strong male characters who seek to right wrongs while operating outside social norms. His support of Putin seems to be consistent with his earlier artistic inclinations.But there's now a question as to whether he's also consistent with today's Russian zeitgeist. Fifty thousand people in Moscow took to the streets Dec. 10 to demand a re-vote of recent parliamentary elections denounced as rigged by independent observers. More demonstrations occurred Christmas eve, when as many as an estimated 120,000 people braved sub-zero temperatures in Moscow to demand that he step down -- an occurrence that has clearly shaken the Kremlin.Putin -- who plans to run for his third term as president in March -- said Dec. 27 that measures needed to be taken to make that election free, fair and transparent. That is unlikely to satisfy protesters, although their influence is largely confined to Moscow and other large cities.Nevertheless, even a filmmaker as experienced as Govorukhin clearly has his work cut out for him. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Santa helpful to niche pix

Trendy auds ongoing hitting movie theaters in pressure within the lengthy weekend, looking at Christmas opener "Very Noisy and extremely Close" and supporting holdovers "Mess Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Artist."Warner Bros.' "Very Noisy" obtained a good opening-day per-screen average of $11,753 from six locations. (The studio is calculating the film will collect around $136,000 in 2 days.)"Mess Tailor," from Focus Features, published a powerful four-day per-screenaverage of roughly $22,000, having a weekend take of $1.two million at 55 theaters. Pic's domestic cume arrived at $2.3 million through Monday.Based on Focus, "Mess" is constantly on the play strongly at holdover houses for example L.A.'s Landmark, in which the film lost simply to "The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo," beating new records "War Equine" and "Very Noisy." FilmDistrict's Julia Roberts directorial debut, "Within the Land of Bloodstream and Honey," did less in four days, calculating $9,276 from three engagements to have an believed weekend total of $27,827.In 72 hours, Chinese Oscar entry "The Flowers of War" published a good debut per-screen average of $13,982 from three playdates, with one each in NY, L.A. and Bay Area. Pic totalled almost $42,000.The Weinstein Co., meanwhile, extended a few days ago its holdover pair, "The Artist" and "My Week with Marilyn," using the latter pic playing at 602 locations, yielding an believed three-day gross just north of $888,000. But "The Artist," which performed at far less engagements (167), really did better, tallying through Monday an believed $1.4 million. "Marilyn" has cumed $7.3 million "The Artist," $2.9 million.David Glasser, chief operating officer at Weinstein, credited that towards the studio's patient rollout technique for "The Artist.""Individuals are still finding the film," Glasser stated. "Now, what we are seeing within the exits is the fact that individuals are being released from it saying, 'That wasn't things i expected.'" Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

Christina Ricci Returns to N.Y. Stage in 'Midsummer'

NY (AP) Christina Ricci's stage debut this past year apparently did not scare her off she's returning.Producers stated Tuesday the "Pan Am" star will join two-time Tony Award champion Bebe Neuwirth inside a Classic Stage Company manufacture of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."The off-Broadway show will start performances March 28 and play through May 6. Neuwirth will act as Titania. Ricci will possess the role of Hermia.Ricci made her Broadway debut last season in Jesse Margulies' "Time Stands Still," changing Alicia Silverstone and starring opposite Laura Linney, John d'Arcy James and Eric Bogosian.Ricci burst to the scene in 1990 as Cher's daughter in "Mermaids" and it has built a lengthy listing of film credits, including "The Addams Family," ''The Ice Storm," ''Speed Racer" and "Penelope."Elizabeth Marvel to Rejoin 'Other Desert Cities'NY (AP) Elizabeth Marvel, who had been area of the original off-Broadway cast of "Other Desert Metropolitan areas," will join the show on Broadway.Lincoln subsequently Center Theater stated Tuesday that Marvel will replace Rachel Griffiths in Jon Robin Baitz's experience March 6.Marvel, who produced the role of novelist Brooke Wyeth when "Other Desert Metropolitan areas" first showed off-Broadway this past year, will rejoin fellow original cast people Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach.Griffiths' final performance is going to be March 4.The play is all about a wealthy, dysfunctional family wrestling having a deep secret. It opened up this winter in the Booth Theatre to critical praise.Copyright 2011 Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. PHOTO CREDIT Jason Merritt/Getty Images NY (AP) Christina Ricci's stage debut this past year apparently did not scare her off she's returning.Producers stated Tuesday the "Pan Am" star will join two-time Tony Award champion Bebe Neuwirth inside a Classic Stage Company manufacture of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."The off-Broadway show will start performances March 28 and play through May 6. Neuwirth will act as Titania. Ricci may have the role of Hermia.Ricci made her Broadway debut last season in Jesse Margulies' "Time Stands Still," changing Alicia Silverstone and starring opposite Laura Linney, John d'Arcy James and Eric Bogosian.Ricci burst to the scene in 1990 as Cher's daughter in "Mermaids" and it has built a lengthy listing of film credits, including "The Addams Family," ''The Ice Storm," ''Speed Racer" and "Penelope."Elizabeth Marvel to Rejoin 'Other Desert Cities'NY (AP) Elizabeth Marvel, who had been area of the original off-Broadway cast of "Other Desert Metropolitan areas," will join the show on Broadway.Lincoln subsequently Center Theater stated Tuesday that Marvel will replace Rachel Griffiths in Jon Robin Baitz's experience March 6.Marvel, who produced the role of novelist Brooke Wyeth when "Other Desert Metropolitan areas" first showed off-Broadway this past year, will rejoin fellow original cast people Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach.Griffiths' final performance is going to be March 4.The play is all about a wealthy, dysfunctional family wrestling having a deep secret. It opened up this winter in the Booth Theatre to critical praise.Copyright 2011 Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Backstage pics emerge from Paul Thomas Anderson's next

Vintage-style photos from Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming drama The Master have been released, showing extras killing time backstage in beautifully detailed period garb.While the pictures, snapped by photographer Jack Erling, don't feature any of the film's stars, they suggest the enigmatic director has not lost his commitment to authenticity or his arthouse sensibility.The auteur's first since 2007's searing There Will be Blood, the project initially struggled to find financing but is already one of the most anticipated films of 2012.It will tell the tale of a young drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) in 1950s America, who falls in with 'the Master' - the charismatic leader of a pseudo-religious belief system played by Anderson favourite Philip Seymour Hoffman - and his daughter (Amy Adams).Its premise and inspired cast should alone be enough to tantalise, but the thinly veiled parallel with Scientology - which the Boogie Nights man nevertheless denies - might just irk the considerable ranks of L. Ron Hubbard (the 'L' stands for Lafayette...) disciples in Hollywood and ruffle some faith-based feathers.Let's hope any polemical aspects don't come at the cost of the movie's artistic merit. For the time being, enjoy this monochrome glimpse behind the scenes. The sartorial signs are good.The film is likely to hit cinemas by late 2012.

Keck's Exclusives: Lucy and Desi's Children Celebrate Their Parents' Enduring Musical Legacy

Desi Arnaz Jr.; Lucie Arnaz Closing out the centennial celebration of Lucille Ball's birthday and the 60th Anniversary of I Love Lucy, Lucie and Desi Arnaz Jr. - the only children of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Sr., made one of their rare public appearances together Friday night at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The event, Tropicana Nights: A Salute to the Music of I Love Lucy, featured a panel discussion focused primarily on the siblings' father, followed by musical performance with Desi, 58, on bongos and Lucie, 60, singing two numbers her father performed on the 1950's sitcom. Prior to the event, I sat down with the pair to discuss how they both honor and protect their parents' legacy.Desi, we don't see you at many Lucy-related events. Why was this something you wanted to be part of?Desi: Well, I live in Boulder City, Nevada. But this is a big deal. It's the 60th anniversary of the show and it's Mom's 100 birthday if she were still with us. And the music is really why I'm here. Lucie and I have been working on a show that tributes Dad's music. We did it as a benefit and then performed it as a concert show called Babalu. We're moved very deeply by the music, so we enjoy talking to people about that side of I Love Lucy. Dad's contribution and the music.What were the origins of the music of I Love Lucy?Desi: I Love Lucy was actually created out of Dad's orchestral show. Mom and Dad wanted to see if people would accept them live, because CBS wasn't too sure it would work or not. In those days they weren't sure a redhead American should even be married to a Cuban. It was very controversial. But the two of them went out together with dad's band and the people loved it.Lucie: After Dad died I found all these arrangements and tapes. Stuff we had never heard before that inspired me to work more on Latin music.What's the future of your Babalu show?Lucie: He doesn't want to travel, so there is no future.Desi: [Laughs] Maybe we'll do a run in Vegas.Do you have a favorite song from I Love Lucy?Lucie: I do. It's from the Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour when they went to Havana for the flashback showing how Lucy and Ricky met. The song is "That Means I Love You" where he plays the Conga and she plays the table in front of her shaped like a Conga.Desi: That's a good one. I like the one about me being born. "We're Having a Baby; My Baby and Me."I imagine a lot of marketing people would like to turn your parents into Mickey and Minnie Mouse - with every conceivable form of merchandising. How do you protect their legacy?Desi: We have a company called Desilu Too where Lucie and I police any merchandise. We've been doing it since they passed away. We work with a company out of Chicago called Unforgettable Inc. We needed to have help to police and license the merchandise. [Desi Sr. passed away in 1986 at age 69 while Lucy died in 1989 at age 77.]Lucie: Once someone famous dies, someone has to run that estate forever.Any strange marketing pitches you heard that you rejected?Desi: No images of Mom on toilet paper.Lucie: Nobody would ask for that!Desi: Somebody actually did, and we had to say "no!"Lucie: It didn't mean to be our life's work. We've got separate careers and families, but this thing has overtaken us like the giant Godzilla monster. But there are some perks to it to. We decided if we were going to spend X number of hundreds of thousands of dollars every year policing what we weren't allowing, we might as well hire people to do it right and turn it into a real business. Make the real estate value of Lucy and Desi stay as valuable as it was when they left us.Desi: It's about quality, not quantity. If you sell everything out right away then you don't have anything left over. You don't sell the farm; you rent it out.Did you both approve the I Love Lucy: Live on Stage show that's been playing to sold out audiences in Los Angeles?Lucie: The I Love Lucy show itself is owned by CBS. Anything that is based on the scripts is controlled by CBS. What they don't totally own is the image of Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo or Desi Aranz as Ricky Ricardo. In certain cases, like in the case of dolls, you have to get permission from CBS and also the estate of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.Desi: That's because dad was future thinking and kept their image and likeness rights. He also put up half money for the pilot, so CBS wheeled and dealed with him in the negotiations in terms of who owned what.What's next for you?Lucie: I put together a hybrid version of the Babalu show with a 12-piece band based on the Latin Roots CD I released. I found a way to do Babalu and as many of Dad's arrangements that a woman can do. It's very fun. And we have a wonderful one-woman show out I directed that we own a piece of called An Evening With Lucille Ball. Suzanne LaRusch is the wonderful impressionist. There is nobody quite like her.Desi: I built the sets and we launched it at my theater. It's Mom in her late 50's, early 60's talking to a bunch of college kids about her life.You've no doubt heard that William Frawley and Vivian Vance are being inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame at a March 1 ceremony in Beverly Hills.Desi: I didn't know that!Lucie: Yes, finally! I recorded a little video for them today where I said, "On behalf of my mother and father and the I Love Lucy show, I want to congratulate Vivian Vance and William Frawley for finally be inducted into the Hall of Fame like everyone else. Friends and neighbors should be together. It's about time."They never had children of their own?Lucie: No, Vivian and Bill never did.Anything else you'd like to tell TV Guide Magazine readers?Desi: It's just fun to be here with Lucie in Los Angeles. I'm feeling very nostalgic about our childhood. I went by mom's old house today and pointed out Lucy's room to my daughter.Lucie: And what's really great is that we're together celebrating this music.Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!