Live Wire

Anton Yelchin was born in 1989,not quite four years after Fright Night 1985 released and became a cult classic. Now,at 22,he is starring in the remake of the movie. I watched it when I read the script for our version and loved it. For me,personally,that film is about the nature of the horror genre in 1985 more than anything, he says. The new Fright Night casts him as Charley Brewster,a geek turned cool kid who hangs with the in crowd and dates Imogen Poots,the prettiest girl in his high school. Trouble starts,when Colin Farrell,a charismatic stranger,moves into town and,coincidentally,people start to die. No one but Charley seems to notice that Jerry might be a vampire.

Contagion,directed by Steven Soderbergh,follows the converging story lines of characters played by Gwyneth Paltrow,Matt Damon,Kate Winslet,and others as they fight or fall victim to one of the few problems we have not faced so far this year: a deadly flu pandemic. It is to be released in the US on September 9the 10th-anniversary weekend of 9/11. With its debut at the Venice film festival,which begins on August 31,Contagion will join Roman Polanskis Carnage,about intense personal conflict,and George Clooneys Ides of March,in opening a season that will test the willingness of viewers to take on added anxiety.

Alec Baldwin is not running for mayor of New Yorkyet. Firstly,the 53-year-old actor wants to finish his work on his TVshow,30 Rock,then go back to school and learn what the job is all about. In a recent interview,he spoke about his long-term political ambitions. Speculation about his political future picked up after a sex scandal upended former Representative Anthony Weiners career in June,forcing him to resign from Congress. Baldwin said he would probably sit out in 2013 but run in a later election,and wanted to educate himself about the mayors office first. He is talking with two top universities about enrolling in a masters program in politics and government.