The Bieber might outdraw the Beatle. That’s what Mexico City officials are saying as they prepare for Monday’s free concert by teen star Justin Bieber.
Paul McCartney’s May 10 concert in Mexico City’s central plaza attracted some 200,000 people and city Tourism Secretary Carlos Mackinlay said organizers expect “a little more” for the Bieber event.
Officials are planning elaborate security arrangements for the event, with nearly 6,000 police officers, two helicopters, 500 portable toilets and four rings of barriers. Checkpoints will limit the crowd in the plaza to about 80,000, with other fans directed to watch the concert on giant screens erected on neighboring streets.
’Car Talk’ brothers pulling plug on NPR show
The chatty mechanics on NPR’s “Car Talk” are pulling in to the garage.
Tom and Ray Magliozzi said Friday that they will stop making new episodes of their comic auto advice show at the end of September, 25 years after “Car Talk” began in Boston. The show airs every Saturday morning and is National Public Radio’s most popular program.
Older brother Tom is 74 years old and the brothers say it’s time to stop and smell the cappuccino.
“Car Talk” isn’t disappearing, however. NPR said repurposed episodes will continue to air every week with material culled from the show’s archives.
’Star Trek’ actors tapped for new video game
The actors who played Capt. James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock in the 2009 film reboot of “Star Trek” will give voice to those characters in a video game based on the beloved science-fiction franchise.
Paramount Pictures and game publisher Namco Bandai Games America Inc. announced last week that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto will reprise their roles from the “Star Trek” film directed by J.J. Abrams.
“We are thrilled to have these incredible actors lending their voice to the legendary characters of Kirk and Spock in the video game realm,” said LeeAnne Stables, head of Paramount’s video-game unit. “Players are in for a truly authentic experience.”
The “Star Trek” video game is scheduled for release early next year, with versions tailored for play on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles as well as on personal computers powered by Windows software.
An original storyline for the game was being created by Marianne Krawczyk, a writer known for her work on the hit “God of War” video-game franchise, and people working on an upcoming “Star Trek” film, according to Paramount.
Jane Fonda doesn’t take Cannes glamour too seriously
Don’t get Jane Fonda wrong. The 74-year-old actress got a thrill when she wowed the fashion crowd at France’s Cannes Film Festival in a form-fitting, two-tone Stella McCartney gown.
“It’s very nice at my age to have glamour attention — something I missed out on when I was younger, so it’s nice to be getting it now,” she said.
But the two-time Academy Award-winner said she can’t take it too seriously: “It goes as fast as the walk on the red carpet does, it’s over and real life comes back.”
Miss Fonda spoke in an Associated Press interview to promote her new independent film, “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding” that debuted in limited release and on video on demand Friday.
Miss Fonda also is taking on a recurring role as a media executive in Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO drama “Newsroom,” and has signed on to play former first lady Nancy Reagan in the Lee Daniels film “The Butler,” due out next year.
In “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding,” Miss Fonda plays Grace, a hippie grandmother living in Woodstock, N.Y., who is reunited with her estranged daughter Diane, an uptight New York lawyer played by Catherine Keener.
Miss Keener, who garnered Oscar nominations for her roles in “Capote” and “Being John Malkovich,” admitted to being a bit awed when meeting her co-star, saying “That was just cool for me.”
Miss Fonda said she found a friend in Miss Keener who she wanted to hold on to.
“When I was younger — you make a movie and it’s over and you go on and you don’t necessarily stay in touch, but [when] you’re older you realize, ’If I want to be her friend, I’m going to have to really make it happen.’ So I’ve tried to stay in touch. We’ve stayed pals.”
Shirley MacLaine honored by AFI — for all her lives
It’s not just a single life that gets toted up when Shirley MacLaine receives a career award. It’s all her lives — past, present and future.
Miss MacLaine earned the American Film Institute’s life-achievement award Thursday night with friends and colleagues praising her accomplishments in this life — and cracking jokes about the reincarnation believer’s other lives.
Co-stars Julia Roberts, Jack Nicholson, Jack Black, Sally Field, Meryl Streep and others contributed to the loving roast of Miss MacLaine, along with friends, co-workers and admirers including Katherine Heigl, Don Rickles, Morgan Freeman and 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern.
“Tonight we’re here to honor a person I have known, a person I have loved my whole life,” said Miss MacLaine’s younger brother, Warren Beatty, the 2008 recipient of the AFI honor.
Some stars lovingly ribbed Miss MacLaine for her belief that she has lived many past lives. Mr. Black, Miss MacLaine’s co-star in her current comic drama “Bernie,” presented a hilarious reel of himself congratulating the actress at career honors from prehistoric times to the Elizabethan era to U.S. Colonial days.
“This is not the first lifetime-achievement award she’s won over the ages,” Mr. Black said.
The 40th recipient of the annual AFI honor, Miss MacLaine received the best-actress Oscar for “Terms of Endearment” and was nominated four other times.
The awards show, held in a historic Sony Pictures soundstage where MGM shot “The Wizard of Oz,” will air June 24 on TV Land.
• Compiled from Web and wire reports
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