Ex-Animals singer joins dump protest
The former lead singer of the British rock band the Animals is rejuvenating his '60s protest music to rally against a proposed garbage dump near Joshua Tree National Park.Eric Burdon, whose songs include "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "House of the Rising Sun," was among several singers to perform Saturday night at the Rockin' for Joshua Tree benefit concert in Palm Springs, Calif.
The event was to raise money to fight the Eagle Mountain Landfill, which -- if built -- would be one of the country's largest garbage dumps. Environmental groups have sued to stop the project, which would be surrounded on three sides by the park.
Pollution "is a worldwide mega-problem, and with such a problem you can only begin in your own back yard," the 58-year-old Palm Springs resident said.
"That's why I'm fighting this. This is my own back yard."
'Altar Boys' filming won't be in Savannah
The film adaptation of "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," a story about growing up Catholic in Savannah, Ga., will not be filmed in Savannah, the director says.
Jay Self said only that Savannah property owners "were not comfortable with the script," which features Jodie Foster as a one-legged nun. The movie is based on Chris Fuhrman's 1994 novel of the same title.
"They wanted to film about three weeks in Savannah to get exteriors, but they could not get the exact location they wanted," Self told the Savannah Film Commission this week.
Instead, he said movie scenes will be filmed in Wilmington, N.C., with outdoor scenes probably being shot in Charleston, S.C.
"They have not signed all the deals in Charleston, but I think that's the direction they're heading," Self said.
British director happy film released in U.S.
British director Mike Hodges has waited 29 years since his hit film "Get Carter" to have another movie in wide release, but he says he doesn't mind the wait.
"I'm happy it is getting a release in the United States at all," said Hodges, 68. His latest film, "Croupier," opened this weekend, two years after it was finished.
Some of the films considered Hodges' best were never widely distributed, including 1974's "Terminal Man" and "Black Rainbow," a 1990 movie starring Jason Robards and Roseanna Arquette.
Hodges' latest film is a thriller about a detached writer who takes a job in a casino to make ends meet. The character eventually gets drawn into a robbery plot by a mysterious gambler.