Movie

"Les Misérables" fans of a certain age may remember Colm Wilkinson, the big-voiced stage actor who originated the role of Jean Valjean in London and later on Broadway.  The producers of the new movie version have given the actor a cameo role as the Bishop of Digne, the priest who takes pity on Valjean. It's a brief role but an important one -- his act of kindness sets Valjean on a different path in life. After playing "Les Misérables" on Broadway, Wilkinson embarked on a career in Canada.

The man who made perhaps the most famous shot in cinematic hoops history never played high school basketball. "I tried out three years in a row," Maris Valainis says, "and I got cut three years in a row." But as Jimmy Chitwood in the venerated 1986 film "Hoosiers," Valainis calmly sinks the game-winning jumper to give the Hickory High Huskers the 1952 Indiana state title. Movie fans haven't forgotten. Valainis says he's still recognized from his portrayal of Chitwood, whose shy, reserved personality is similar to his own. "When I'm playing, yes," says Valainis, whose picture-perfect shooting form can still be seen in Southland pickup games, "and when I'm out sometimes too. "If I'm in a social situation, I'll get a lot of, ‘You look really familiar to me.' And then finally someone will figure it out, which is amazing to me that 25 years later people would remember.

Grace Bradley Boyd, an actress who came to Hollywood as a Paramount contract player in the early 1930s but abandoned her career after marrying the love of her life, William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd, has died. She was 97. Boyd, the keeper of the "Hoppy" flame after the death of her western movie-hero husband of 35 years in 1972, died of age-related causes on her birthday Tuesday at her home in Dana Point, said Jane Mak, a longtime close friend. As Grace Bradley, Boyd appeared in 35 films, including "Too Much Harmony," starring Bing Crosby; "The Big Broadcast of 1938," with W.C. Fields and Bob Hope; and "Come on Marines" with Richard Arlen and Ida Lupino.

This review has been corrected. See below for details. "Flashdance the Musical" has its way over "Flashdance" the movie in at least one critical regard: The show's plucky heroine - as you'll recall: welder by day! nonstripping stripper by night! - is played by just one actress, as opposed to the constant cutting from Jennifer Beals to body double Marine Jahan that makes the 1983 film almost unwatchable as a contemporary TV rerun. Actually, the stage version would be a riot if a stand-in for the leading lady ran in every time a dance routine begins.

WhenWalt Disney Co.executives gave the greenlight to the project that became the Martian adventure film"John Carter,"they hoped they were launching the studio's next big franchise. It was to be directed by Andrew Stanton, who had been associated with a string of successful Pixar Animation Studios films - starting with the 1995 hit "Toy Story. " The source material was a century-old sci-fi touchstone that had inspired filmmakers including George Lucas and James Cameron. The movie would fit perfectly into Disney Chairman and Chief ExecutiveRobert A. Iger's big-picture plan to produce movies that would spawn sequels, become theme park attractions and drive sales of "John Carter" merchandise.

On the fourth floor of a vacant wing of St. Vincent Medical Center near downtown Los Angeles, some 150 crew members crowded the hallways, joining actors Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson as they prepared to film a scene for "Captain America: The Winter Soldier. " The hospital wing is often used for filming television crime dramas such as "CSI" and "Private Practice," but Tuesday's shoot was among the largest St. Vincent has accommodated in 20 years of renting out its facilities to Hollywood.

'50/50" was the first feature script I ever wrote. The reason? When it came to writing, there was nothing exceptional about any of my ideas. I'd always aspired to write movies like the very ones that inspired me: "The Apartment," "Harry and Tonto," "Harold and Maude. " Comedies that are not only funny, they're tragic and they're human. But those movies are experiential meditations, and when I was in my early 20s, the only thing I knew to write about was what it's like to be single, horny and terrified of women.

The gig: Jason Blum is a producer whose career took off when the low-budget horror film "Paranormal Activity," which he played a key role bringing to the big screen, became a surprise hit in 2009 and spawned a new Hollywood franchise with annual sequels. After spending most of his career in the independent film world, the 42-year-old has reshaped his business around the "Paranormal" model, aiming to make inexpensive movies with mass audience appeal. He produced April's hit horror film "Insidious," is working on more "Paranormal" sequels for Paramount Pictures and is developing projects under a newly signed deal with Universal Pictures.

As an experienced pilot who has logged about 1,600 hours in the cockpit, director Robert Zemeckis understands stalls, turbulence and dead stick landings. But when it came to making "Flight," his new movie about an alcoholic commercial airline pilot, the "Forrest Gump" filmmaker had to contend with a different set of aerodynamics: Hollywood's reluctance to clear difficult dramas for takeoff. More than a decade in the making, "Flight" marks Zemeckis' first live-action film since 2000's "Cast Away" and an atypical wager for Paramount Pictures, which financed the film's $31-million budget.

MONTE RIO, Calif. - On the redwood-lined banks of the Russian River, dozens of local residents and tourists gathered in a grassy field on a hot Sunday afternoon, lining up to buy raffle tickets and $10 plates of barbecued chicken as a bluegrass group rehearsed a number for a Ramble at the Rio concert. It might have been a church social or a school fundraising picnic. But this event was to raise money to save a centerpiece of the community: the Rio Theater. VIDEO: Upcoming summer films Built from a World War II Quonset hut and adorned with murals from local artists, the Rio has been screening films in this town of about 1,200 people since 1950.