Morning Report - News from June 8, 2002

MOVIES

‘Killers’ Held Blameless in Shooting Death

A Louisiana appeals court has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit blaming the Oliver Stone film “Natural Born Killers” for a young couple’s interstate rampage that left a store clerk paralyzed.

The Louisiana Court of Appeal said “Natural Born Killers,” a 1994 film starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis as a couple on a killing spree, was entitled to 1st Amendment freedom of speech protection because nothing within the movie advocated or incited viewers to commit violence.

The lawsuit was bought against Warner Bros. Pictures in 1995 by the family of Patsy Byers, a Louisiana store clerk who was shot by Sarah Edmondson during a robbery attempt. Edmondson said she and her boyfriend, Ben Darras, had watched the film repeatedly before launching a two-state crime spree that year. Byers was left a quadriplegic and died of cancer two years later.

Joe Simpson, attorney for the Byers family, said they haven’t decided whether to appeal the case to the Louisiana Supreme Court. “In my opinion, it’s hopeless to go any further,” he said.

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PEOPLE

Harrelson: Unwilling Star of Real-Life Drama

The real-life Woody Harrelson was arrested after a bizarre late-night taxi chase through the streets of London, a British police source said Friday.

Best known for his roles in the hit TV comedy “Cheers” and movies such as “White Men Can’t Jump,” the actor was said to have broken an ashtray and a lock on the door of a cab taking him back to his hotel from a nightspot in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Harrelson then jumped into another cab, with the driver of the first taxi chasing behind.

“It was like something out of Hollywood,” the cabbie, Les Dartnell, told the Sun newspaper.

Officers eventually intercepted the taxi carrying Harrelson and, after he jumped out of the vehicle, arrested him on suspicion of criminal damage. He was released on bail and told to return July 1.

Cruz, Morales Honored With Imagen Awards

Penelope Cruz and Esai Morales were chosen entertainers of the year and Andy Garcia was given the creative achievement award at the 17th annual Imagen Awards. The event, honoring positive portrayals of Latinos and Latino cultures in the entertainment industry, was held at the Beverly Hilton Thursday night.

The Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire” won for best live-action children’s programming, and Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” was named best animated children’s programming. “Bread and Roses” and “Tortilla Soup” shared the prize for best theatrical feature film.

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THEATER

Theater Heavyweights Commemorate Sept. 11

A host of high-profile playwrights, directors and actors have signed on to participate in a three-day theater marathon commemorating the first anniversary of last year’s terrorist attacks, the New York Times reports.

Among the participants in “Brave New World,” to be held in New York City’s Town Hall Sept. 9-11: playwrights Christopher Durang, Tina Howe and John Guare, actors Billy Crudup, Sigourney Weaver, Stockard Channing and Vanessa Williams, and composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

The event will feature four performances of a variety of new plays and songs written by the participants and will benefit the New York Children’s Foundation.

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THE ARTS

Poland Plans to Build a Jewish Museum

Plans are underway to create a $50-million museum celebrating centuries of Jewish history in Poland. The building, backed by a government eager to make amends for decades of Communist persecution and to strengthen ties with Israel, will be designed by an architectural team led by Frank Gehry, whose parents emigrated from the country.

The museum will be built on a plot of city-donated land next to the monument that marks the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, destroyed by the Nazis when they crushed an uprising of Jews who were confined there. Prior to World War II, Polish Jews numbered 3.5 million--10% of the country’s population. Fewer than 20,000 remain.

Besides reconstructing Nalewki Street in the heart of the Jewish quarter, the museum will include a model of a shtetl, or Polish village, and at least 50,000 artifacts from Jewish life that have been collected. The Polish president hopes to lay the cornerstone next year in anticipation of a 2006 opening.

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QUICK TAKES

Singer Jennifer Lopez and her dancer-husband, Cris Judd, who married on Sept. 29, have separated amicably but have no immediate plans for divorce, a source told Associated Press Friday. A spokesman for Lopez declined to confirm or deny the split.... “Spider-Man” has taken in $358.5 million at the box office domestically, surpassing “Jurassic Park” to become the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time.