Retirees want their entertainment

Call it the geezer booster.Show business may be obsessed with the youth market, but older patrons may be more willing to spend on its wares, according to a new survey of retirees and pre-retirees commissioned by insurance and financial-services firm the Hartford.Based on almost 2,000 telephone interviews of adults 45 and older, the survey determined that only 9% of pre-retirees and 7% of post-retirees would forgo entertainment (defined as including movies, concerts and theater) if they had to give up one thing to make ends meet in retirement.For people already in retirement, that was the lowest percentage scored by any category. For pre-retirees, giving up movies, concerts and theater tied with eliminating dining out or recreation (such as playing golf or tennis) as the last category to be willingly abandoned.Post-retirees said they would be most likely to give up vacations and travel (19%) and shopping to buy nice things for themselves (17%). Pre-retirees are most willing to move to a more modest home (21%) and trade down to a less expensive car (18%). Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Oscar Winner Helen Mirren Will Visit Glee For 'Hilarious' Role

Glee has scored another Oscar-winning guest star. Nearly eight months after Gwyneth Paltrow’s last episode, the Fox musical series has cast Helen Mirren in a role that was written explicitly for the British actress. Mirren’s episode “Yes/No” will air on January 17 and feature the Academy Award winner as the “inner voice” of one of the cast members — meaning that Mirren will not be seen. The actress has already recorded her part, which according to Movieline’s sister site TVline, will feature “several long and hilarious monologues.” The episode, which was directed by Eric Stoltz, also features Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member NeNe Leakes and one “spectacular” marriage proposal. Mirren is no stranger to television voice work — the actress played a caller on a 2004 episode of Frasier. Most recently, the actress was reported to be in discussions to play Alfred Hitchcock’s wife Alma in Fox Searchlight’s upcoming Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. · Glee Exclusive: Oscar Winner Helen Mirren Set to Guest Star as [Spoiler Alert] [TVline]

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen gets a trailer

The first trailer for Salmon Fishing In The Yemen has landed online.Lasse Hallström's romantic comedy drama stars Ewan McGregor as a scientist tasked with introducing salmon to the waters of Yemen for an ambitious Middle-Eastern Sheik.His tasks not as bad as it sounds though, thanks to the fact that the Sheik's legal representative is played by the ever-charming Emily Blunt.The political angle is seemingly just a backdrop for what look like fairly traditional romcom antics, but McGregor and Blunt have a pleasing chemistry and Kristin Scott Thomas is on hand to provide sturdy support.Check out the trailer below:Salmon Fishing In The Yemen opens on 9 March 2012.

Susan Gordon dies at 62

Former child actress Susan Gordon (also called Susan L. Aviner), who carried out the youthful Dorothy Nichols in 1959 Danny Kaye vehicle "5 Pennies" and Jenny in "The Fugitive" episode of "The Twilight Zone," died Sunday, 12 ,. 11, in Teaneck, N.J., carrying out a prolonged fight with cancer. She was 62.Gordon was the daughter of Flora Lang, unit production manager for TV series "Empire," and Bert I. Gordon, who directed movies including "The Astounding Colossal Guy," "Attack in the Puppet People" and "Picture Mother Dead." Susan Gordon made her debut in their father's "Attack in the Puppet People" in 1958 after which came out in "Picture Mother Dead."Gordon came out in six movies her TV credits including cases of "Playhouse 90," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Gunsmoke," "The Danny Thomas Show," "The Donna Reed Show" and "My Three Sons." She also starred with Erection dysfunction Wynn in the live TV output of "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1959.Gordon spent three semesters at sea all over the world Campus Afloat throughout college, fell deeply deeply in love with Japanese culture and settled in Tokyo, japan, japan to use just like a copywriter for your Dentsu Advertising Agency.In 2002, she made her Off Off Broadway debut starring in "Magic Devote a completely new Time."Gordon is managed to get by her husband, Avi Aviner six children and five grandchildren. Donations may be made to Chai Lifeline, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of seriously ill children around the globe.Make certain you direct any email correspondence on her behalf family to SusanGordonMemorial@gmail.com. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Justin Bieber, Werner Herzog to Finally Square Off for an Award

The fifth annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking will be handed out next month in NY City, with such inveterate documentarians as Errol Morris (Tabloid), Steve James (The Interrupters) and Kevin Macdonald (Life in a Day) facing off against the upstart likes of Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach), Tristan Patterson (Dragonslayer) and Clio Barnard (The Arbor). But look no further than the Audience Choice Award nominees for the most dynamic, high-stakes clash between old and new. See if you can spot it in the nominees announced today, on which you can vote at the Cinema Eye Honors site: · Bill Cunningham NY (Richard Press) · The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Gran Olsson) · Buck (Cindy Meehl) · Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog) · Give Up Tomorrow (Michael Collins) · The Interrupters (Steve James) · Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (Jon M. Chu) · Project Nim (James Marsh) · Senna (Asif Kapadia) · Tabloid (Errol Morris) Your mileage may vary, but Bieber vs. Herzog seems to me the showdown of the 2011-12 awards season. To be fair, let’s give Jon M. Chu — the swell auteur behind Never Say Never — credit as the nominated filmmaker, but let’s also be honest about the cosmically profound implications of two 3-D films featuring two icons of our day, each reflecting the state of human culture some 30,000 years apart. The earliest known cave drawings versus the slickest statement of modern pop. The mysteries of both our distant ancestors and the generation that follows us — their lifestyles, their language, their dreams — and our lonely contemplation of how small we are against each. Herzog’s ecstatic truth versus Bieber’s hyperbolic truth, all reduced to anonymous, mediated democracy. Anyway, I’m voting for Bill Cunningham NY. Chime in for yourself here. · Audience Choice 2012 [Cinema Eye Honors]

'X Factor's' Drew Ryniewicz on Why She Was Eliminated: 'My 'Save Me' Performance Sucked'

DETROIT -- Dr. Feelgood, the Theatre of Pain and, of course, plenty of Girls, Girls, Girls are taking up residency in Las Vegas during February.our editor recommendsConcert Review: Motley Crue at the Hollywood BowlMotley Crue Rocker Vince Neil Charged With Battery Motley Crue in Sin City will hunker down from Feb. 3-19, 2012 at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The 12-show run will include Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 5), Valentine's Day and President's Day, and the band members are promising an extravaganza that will both live up to and surpass their usual theatrical standards. PHOTOS: 20 Best and Worst Music to Movie Crossovers "It's gonna be just over-the-top craziness," frontman Vince Neil told Billboard.com during a conference call with reporters. "Vegas is pretty much based on big, big shows, and Motley Crue is also. We're putting together a show right now that's something we have never done in our lives. It's a stationary show. It doesn't have to move around, so we can do all kinds of stuff we only really dreamed about." Neil said the group plans for the production to be "interactive," with even those seated towards the back or the top of the venue "encompassed in the show." Drummer Tommy Lee added that, "I think more and more people are wanting an experience, and we're trying to bring that into this where people aren't necessarily at the show, they're IN the show. We're really trying to design something here that, when you leave there, you're wearing the show. You're taking parts of it with you. It's on you ... Why not make it a full-on experience, really? We're putting together moments of this show where the actual audience participates. They're in it. They're around it. It's going to be really exciting." PHOTOS: A History of Grunge in Pictures Neil and Lee did not share specific details to share about the production but Lee said that the show would involve "other entertainers ... and not in a musical fashion," as well as dancers in various stages of undress. "It sure would be fun to really do it Vegas style and have there be some nudity, or almost nude," Lee said, to which Neil added, "Basically, Tommy's saying there'll be lots of naked girls on stage." Lee also revealed he'll be using a modified, "even more crazy" version of the rollercoaster-like track that let him play upside down during the Crue's concerts this year. "Vegas is known for its huge, over the top shows," said Neil, who resides there when the band is off the road. "That's why I think we're a perfect fit for this." Lee, meanwhile, noted that "having (the show) not have to move every night really opens a bunch of doors for us -- literally trap doors." The Crue, whose last album was 2008's "Saints of Los Angeles," does not plan to include any brand new music in the shows, but Lee predicted there will be some flexibility in the set list from night to night. "I would imagine our plans are probably to switch it up," he said. "If we're doing a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, chances are there might be some people coming to see two shows ore maybe even three if they're there. Who knows? So I imagine we'll mix it up." The Motley Crue in Sin City show dates are Feb. 3-5, 8, 10-12, 14-15, 17-19. Ticket prices are $85 for the general admission pit and reserved floor seating, and $65 for balcony reserved with $129.50-$179.50 VIP packages. The presale has already started; public sales begin at 10 a.m. Saturday [Dec. 3] at www.motley.com, www.thejointlasvegas.com and www.ticketmaster.com. The Hard Rock is also offering vacation packages that include tickets to the show. Lee and Neil says the Crue will consider returning to Las Vegas for another residency, perhaps for even greater lengths. "If it's successful and works out for everybody, why not?" Neil says. "That's what's great about Vegas -- people from all over the world are here for a few days, then move on, new people always coming in. Basically you're having the world come to you." That said, the Crue -- which begins a six-date U.K. tour with Def Leppard and Steel Panther on Dec. 6 -- is planning to see some more of the world during 2012. A North American tour is likely, but Lee said whether it will be a Crue Fest package hasn't been determined. "We're still discussing and putting together plans for the summer ... planning the rest of our new year," the drummer explains. "Right now we're focusing on getting the Vegas residency dialed in." The quartet is also reported to be publishing a 10th anniversary expanded edition of its band memoir The Dirt -- Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band, but neither Neil nor Lee specified what new material will be included. Related Topics

Rare Action Comics No. 1 Featuring First Superman Fetches Record $2.16M

The first issue of Action Comics, which came out in 1938, cost 10 cents and featured the first appearance of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s superhero Superman, sold at auction today for $2.16 million. That’s a record for a single comic book, breaking the mark of $1.5 million set in 2010 by another Action Comics No. 1 copy, which wasn’t in as pristine shape. The record-breaking issue sold today went for $86,000 in 1992 and $150,000 in 1997, when it was reportedly purchased by Nicolas Cage. But it was stolen in 2000 and assumed lost until it turned up in a storage shed in April. Only about 100 copies of the issue are believed to exist.