Australian man, 88, busted for filming ‘Avatar’ for his wife

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Picture this: In the back of a move theater, a short elderly man, with a walking stick in reach, holds up a camcorder and aims it at the screen as blue aliens frolic on a moon called Pandora. This guy is not your average film pirate.

The 88-year-old man was stopped by the theater manager in Glendale (southeast coastal Australia, not California), who called the police, according to the Herald in Australia.

The man’s excuse for filming his own copy of ‘Avatar’ -- his wife couldn’t make it to the showing, and he wanted her to see it. Aw. How sweet.

Police trashed the video from his camera and let him finish the movie, the Herald wrote. We somehow think he wouldn’t get it so easy here in the U.S. The Motion Picture Assoc. of America sued a grandpa for $600,000 in 2005, citing illegal movie downloads.

-- Mark Milian
twitter.com/markmilian

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PHOTO: Moviegoers who were not arrested (AFP/Getty Images). Bottom, Spider-Man in handcuffs in Hollywood (Me Melcon/Los Angeles Times)