NEW YORK -- "Sopranos" actor Michael Imperioli has taken on a new role: first-time film director.
"The Hungry Ghosts" -- packed with the kind of gritty passions found in the hit HBO series -- will premiere Sept. 15 in New York.
The evening will be something of a cast reunion for actors from "The Sopranos." Steve Schirripa and Sharon Angela star in the film, and Vince Curatola, Lorraine Bracco and Vincent Pastore are expected as guests. The TV series ended in 2007.
"Ghosts" won't have the usual red-carpet opening.
Ticket sales for what's billed as "a private screening" at the Rubin Museum in downtown Manhattan will benefit Tibetan refugees and elderly Buddhist monks led by the Dalai Lama.
"Buddhism is an antidote to the characters in the film," said the 43-year-old director, who studies Eastern philosophy and practices the tae kwon do martial art with his wife and children.
His movie's characters float like ghosts through an intense 36 hours of New York life, wrestling with drugs, alcohol and sex in what Imperioli calls "the human struggle for completion."
"They're lost and searching for something, restless and desirous of something spiritual -- and physical," he said in a telephone interview Saturday, adding with a laugh, "It's a common affliction, a universal one."
The various linked lives are saved by "a sense of compassion for each other, a sense of going beyond yourself," said Imperioli.
With his wife co-producing and designing the sets, plus the actors' modest fees, the 105-minute movie was shot on a mere $600,000 budget.
Imperioli is now aiming for distribution of his independent silver-screen debut.
Tom Selleck wins Calif. court battle over horse
DEL MAR, Calif. -- Actor Tom Selleck has been awarded more than $187,000 after a California jury found the actor was duped into buying a lame horse.
Selleck accused Del Mar equestrian Dolores Cuenca of trying to pass off a show horse with a medical condition as fit to ride in competitions.
The defense had argued that Selleck didn't check the veterinarian records of the 10-year-old Zorro.
The bulk of the San Diego County jury's award is for the price of the horse. The rest is to cover boarding costs. A second trial next week will determine how much Selleck should be paid in punitive damages.
Selleck is best known for his role on TV's "Magnum, P.I." in the 1980s.
Moore makes first Venice premiere
VENICE, Italy -- Michael Moore says his film "Capitalism: A Love Story" is dedicated to "good people ... who've had their lives ruined" by the quest for profit.
After much success at Cannes, Moore premiered the movie Sunday in his first appearance at the Venice Film Festival. It was warmly received at a press showing Saturday evening and won positive reviews. Variety called it one of Moore's "best pics."
"I am personally affected by good people who struggle, who work hard and who've had their lives ruined by decisions that are made by people who do not have their best interest at heart, but who have the best interest of the bottom line, of the company, at heart," Moore told reporters Sunday.
The film features plenty of examples of lives shattered by corporate greed -- but also some inspiring tales of workers who have rebelled.
While "Capitalism" has a strong political message, Moore said his main purpose is to entertain with a film that "makes you laugh a little, or cry, or think. I am happy with all those results.
