MOVIES, TELEVISION AND CELEBS

The latest local and national television, movie and celebrity news from New Orleans and beyond

New Orleans filmmakers will get a chance to show what they can do in just 48 Hours. Taking place on the Weekend of July 25 - 27, filmmakers will make a short film, no more than 7 minutes long in just 48 hours. In this contest the teams write, shoot, and edit their films, and race to the drop off, where films that are even one minute late are disqualified.

Ellis Lucia / The Times-PicayuneNorman Robinson

WDSU-Channel 6 anchor Norman Robinson returned to work Monday following a leave of absence precipitated by a June drunken driving arrest.

Jonathan Shelley, the station's news director, said Wednesday that no timetable has been set for Robinson's return to the anchor chair.

Robinson has been at WDSU more than 17 years, and anchored the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts prior to the incident, in which he crashed his vehicle but was not injured.

"He's working on some projects for us right now," Shelley said.

Got a sneak peek of Paramount Vantage's "American Teen" last night at the AMC Clearview Palace. It's a documentary -- of all things -- that offers insight into the world of modern teens, following a disparate group of classmates through their senior year of high school in Warsaw, Ind.

This is the film that first started raising eyebrows when it screened in January at the Sundance Film Festival -- where it earned filmmaker Nanette Burnstein an award for documentary directing -- and that piqued my curiosity enough for me to highlight as a potential sleeper gem in my Summer Movie Preview back in May.

And, heck, a film that so cleverly cribs the poster from "The Breakfast Club" can't be all bad, right?

"American Teen" isn't set to open in the New Orleans area until Aug. 1 at the earliest, and I'll post my full review closer to that date. (Just to ease the suspense, I will say this: High school still apparently totally sucks.) Until then, however, here are some details on the film -- including its trailer -- along with my one-word review.

Dave Walker

HOLLYWOOD - The panel interview sessions and evening events that comprise the July Television Critics Association TV Tour adjourned at the close of business Monday for a full day of Tuesday set visits.

After a stop at Warner Bros. to see where "ER," "Chuck" and "Pushing Daisies" are made, members of the TCA bused across town to Fox, for a preview walk-through of the stunning set for "Dollhouse."

Leader of the "Buffy the Vampire" and "Firefly" cults, "Dollhouse" creator Joss Whedon led the tour accompanied by his muse for this new series, actress Eliza Dushku.

Five things rattling around in the head of one movie buff this week:

A scene from 'The Recruiter.'

5. HBO to air documentary "The Recruiter" -- HBO just keeps screening quality docs, and this 2008 Sundance Film Festival selection hits a little closer to home than others, focusing as it does on the Army's most successful recruiter -- who also happens to be from Houma. Premiers Monday at 8 p.m. on the premium cable channel. (Click here for other showtimes.)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Two photographers suspected of loitering on city-owned property near Britney Spears' home were arrested Monday.

Alexandre Passos of Canoga Park and Eduardo Ravalha of Los Angeles, both 35 years old, were arrested around 6 p.m. Monday after being warned to leave an access road near Mulholland Drive and Coldwater Canyon Avenue, police spokeswoman April Harding said.

'W' actor Josh Brolin.

Oof. All kinds of stuff going on in connection with the arrest last weekend of "W" actor Josh Brolin shortly after the film wrapped in Shreveport. Here are some headlines and links, culled from a variety of sources, to keep you in the loop.

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ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB

• KTBS-TV: Mayor defends police action in Brolin brawl
• San Francisco Chronicle: Police submit tape of Brolin brawl
• Chicago Sun-Times: Political jeers sparked Brolin barfight

Nicola Dove/Miramax Films Ben Wishaw as Sebastian Flyte and Matthew Goode as Charles Ryder in 'Brideshead Revisited.'

As far as filmic adaptations go, most people remember "Brideshead Revisited" as the 11-hour miniseries that launched the film career of Jeremy Irons.

You read that right: Eleven. Frickin. Hours. An intimidating thought, to be sure -- almost as intimidating as the thought of actually reading Evelyn Waugh's 1945 novel.

Thankfully, director Julian Jarrold ("Becoming Jane") has tackeld a shorter version for Miramax -- the first made-for-the-big-screen version anyone has dared to attempt -- and I had a chance to catch it this morning (Tuesday, July 23).

It's not scheduled to open in New Orleans until Aug. 1 at the earliest, so I won't post my full review until then, in keeping with the studio's wishes, but in the meantime, here's a basic description of the film, along with my one-word review.