'Gangster Squad' Stars On the Effect of Movie Violence

Last summer, Gangster Squad found itself in the middle of controversy when its violent trailer mirrored the tragic events of the audience gunned down in cold blood at an Aurora, CO movie theater during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Now, the new movie is finally hitting the big screen with a revised ending, and its stars weigh in on the correlation between film violence and the gun violence so prevalent today.

Video: Gosling & Stone Create 'Gangster Squad' Sparks

"There's so many factors nowadays," Josh Brolin tells ET's Brooke Anderson. "Why wasn't there the amount of violence in society back [in the 1940s] when there was still a massive amount of violence [onscreen]? Is it really because of a movie like Gangster Squad? Is it because of a movie like Saw 9, or whatever the latest Saw is? Is it repression? … Is it because of the fact that parents aren't necessarily at home as much as they were before, and both parents have to work? There's so many different factors. This is an escapist deal when you go to a movie -- you hopefully allow yourself to kind of live [vicariously] through this movie and get that out. … I'm not going to pretend like I know the correlation, but I think it's a lot bigger than movies create incredible and awful violence."

In theaters Friday, the 1940s-era Gangster Squad chronicles ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen's (played by Sean Penn) domination of Los Angeles – and the super-secret crew of LAPD outsiders, including Brolin's character of Sgt. John O'Mara, recruited to stop him.

The controversial scene in the Gangster Squad trailer showed mobsters shooting at an audience inside a movie theater. The trailer ironically ran just before the fateful shooting rampage in Aurora and Warner Bros. immediately pulled it and then ordered reshoots, effectively omitting that climactic scene.

Video: Go Behind the Scenes of 'Gangster Squad'

Of the change to the film's ending, Brolin comments, "I thought it was a smart thing. I really did. I liked that scene a lot, but the correlation was so perfectly paralleled that I think it was respectful to go back. … I actually like the new version better."

Watch the video to see how other Gangster Squad stars feel about the subject, including Emma Stone and Robert Patrick.

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EMT union fuming over alleged plea deal for B'klyn assistant DA accused of attacking medic: letter

Members of the union representing emergency medical workers are fuming mad over a potential sweetheart plea deal they believe the Manhattan district attorney’s office has offered to a Brooklyn assistant DA accused of attacking a medic in an ambulance last November, according to a union letter obtained by The Post today.

Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Michael Jaccarino, 30, will appear in court tomorrow on charges he drunkenly pummeled and choked EMT Teresa Soler, 46, inside an ambulance after she picked him up in November.

“It is said that the Manhattan DA office will not present the case in a grand jury and that he will plea bargain,” union vice president Joe Conzo raged in the letter to union members.

“Members should be outraged and come out to support EMT Teresa Soler by appearing in Manhattan Criminal Court.”

Law-enforcement sources said the Manhattan DA’s office is considering offering Jaccarino a plea deal instead of pursuing felony charges, but no deal has been offered yet and no deal is expected to be offered tomorrow.

Reached on the phone, Conzo confirmed the letter and said Jaccarino should be prosecuted as seriously as if he had attacked a cop.

“Nobody should be given special treatment,” he said.

Also, another drunken Brooklyn assistant district attorney was busted in December after he refused to pay cab fare – and then told responding cops that he “outranked” them, law-enforcement sources said at the time.

Jaccarino was suspended without pay following the alleged beatdown.

Soler could not be reached.

jsaul@nypost.com

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Florida company provides electrical power for the world

More than 4,000 miles from its home base in Doral, Energy International is helping keep the lights on and the power grid humming in Gibraltar, the British territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Energy International, a global provider of power plants and energy solutions, sent a temporary plant that will provide power for at least the next two years while a more permanent fix is sought for the territory’s erratic and aging electrical system.

The Doral company was founded 14 years ago as MCA Power Systems and its initial goal was to pursue energy contracts in Latin America. It began 2000 with a name change and in recent years its focus has become global.

“The world needs energy,’’ said Brett Hall, EI’s vice president of finance.

While the 2007-2008 recession curtailed the growth of worldwide energy demand, the U.S. Energy Information Agency has projected that global demand for electricity will increase by 2.3 percent annually from 2008 to 2035.

The potential is especially strong in developing nations. The International Energy Agency estimated that in 2009, 21 percent of the world’s population — 1.4 billion people — didn’t have access to electricity. In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of people without power rises to 69 percent.

Energy International has expanded sales from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, boosting revenue from $100 million annually in 2009 to more than $300 million today, Hall said. This year, EI is anticipating revenue of $350 million to $375 million.

In the next seven years the company, which is privately owned by American shareholders and affiliated with Gecolsa — the Caterpillar dealership in Colombia — hopes revenue will top $1 billion, he said.

Even though Energy International is based in the United States, it does little work domestically. Its sweet spot is emerging economies and contracts of $100 million or less.

“Our focus is to do whatever makes the most economic sense for a particular market,’’ said Hall.

“We’re not going to be building a nuclear power plant,’’ he said. But EI will accommodate its solutions to local fuel supplies whether it’s biofuel, natural gas or heavy fuels that are more prevalent.

When it comes to the type of temporary power solution needed by Gibraltar, which had been plagued by a string of power outages at its archaic electrical facilities, EI can have a temporary plant up and running in 30 to 40 days, supplying the engineering, rental turbines and other equipment and doing the installation.

“We were able to support Gibraltar’s power needs on short notice,’’ said Andres Molano, EI’s vice president of sales. “Some of their equipment required major maintenance and they needed to stop their plants.’’

EI, one of the world’s largest suppliers of interim energy solutions, signed a $12 million contract with the government of Gibraltar in November and the plant was operational by Dec. 21. The agreement includes an option for a three-year extension.

The equipment now in use in Gibraltar is considered part of EI’s fleet and will move on to other energy emergencies when its service in the territory famed for the Rock of Gibraltar is complete.

But when it comes to its permanent power plants, EI will build a facility for a client looking to generate its own power or construct a plant, run it and sell power directly to the final user.

“We can do all the work ourselves. We have all the skills in house — finance, design, operations, maintenance, building and the equipment,’’ said Hall.

Energy International has moved into the Middle East, completing projects in Oman and Yemen and establishing a subsidiary in Dubai in 2012 to pursue business in Africa and the Middle East, said Molano.

“Africa is new to us, but we believe there are opportunities there,’’ he said.

The company also is looking for continued growth in Latin America, especially in Colombia, which is now attracting foreign investors who previously had been spooked by violence.

Remote areas of the Amazon where temporary power solutions are needed also represent opportunity for the company.

“EI is very fortunate to be in a position in which we have more excellent opportunities than capital.’’ said Hall, so this year it will be concentrating on raising equity to finance growth.

“One of our biggest challenges in 2013,’’ Hall said, “will be to find investors or joint venture partners to provide capital that will enable EI to perform these projects so our aggressive revenue growth targets can be achieved.’’

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VP: Ailing Chavez is Venezuela’s president even if he misses inauguration

CARACAS, Venezuelan - Vice President Nicolás Maduro will remain at the helm of this oil rich nation even if his ailing boss, Hugo Chávez, is unable to attend Thursday’s scheduled inauguration, Attorney General Cecilia Flores said Sunday.

The statement comes as some argue that the constitution requires National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello to become interim leader until Chávez, who is recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, is fit enough to return.

“It will be just another normal day in Venezuela and the world,” Flores said of Thursday — when Chavez is to begin a new six-year term. “All five powers of the government will simply be working and fulfilling their duties.”

In an extensive interview with TeleSur television, Flores argued that, because Chávez is already president and has a fully staffed cabinet, Thursday’s inauguration is a mere formality, and that he can take his oath in front of the Supreme Court at a later date.

Opposition leaders argue that if Chávez is not present on Thursday to be sworn in by the National Assembly, as the constitution mandates, then Cabello – and not Maduro – should temporarily take the helm of the country.

Cabello, a longtime Chávez ally who was reelected as head of the legislature on Saturday, has not echoed that argument. And both Maduro and Cabello deny that they are fighting each other for control of Latin America’s fourth-largest economy.

Chávez traveled to Cuba on Dec. 11 to undergo a fourth-round of surgery to treat an undisclosed form of cancer. Since then, he has not been seen or heard from, which has fueled rumors that his health has taken a turn for the worse.

If he were to die or be permanently incapacitated, it would trigger snap elections within 30 days.

Before he traveled to the island, Chávez asked the administration to call new elections if he was unable to take office, and asked the country to rally around Maduro, his longtime foreign minister.

The opposition has been asking for independent verification that Chávez’s health.

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Analysts predicting slow start for ‘ultra-HD’ TVs

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ultra high definition TVs are set to be the talk of International CES, the gadget show kicking off this week, but they aren’t likely to account for much of the market even four years down the road.

That is the conclusion of analysts of the show’s host, a day before TV makers such as Samsung, LG and Sony attempt to wow conference attendees with their latest models.

Ultra-HD TVs, with four times as many pixels as HD TVs, are expected to account for only 1.4 million units sold in the U.S. in 2016, or about 5 percent of the entire market. Sales in the rest of the world are expected to be smaller.

The analysts blamed high prices and low availability for the slow start.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Smash Season Two TCA Trailer

After a very public behind the scenes shake-up, the newly installed Smash EP, Joshua Safran, and the cast addressed the press at the Television Critics Association Tour in Pasadena, CA today.

First thing first, Safran wanted to make it clear that this rejiggered season is still very much the Smash you fell in love with last year. "I don't really think it's changed that much. The stuff you loved last year is still there and the stuff you thought went off on tangents, we tried to find ways to pull together."

VIDEO - How Katharine McPhee Became A Smash

"It's bigger, with more music, younger in some regards, but I hope the people who watched it still see the same show they loved."

Having watched the two-hour premiere, I can attest that what Safran says is true. The episode is fast-paced, more grounded yet dares all the characters to dream higher. All in all, it's simply more of what you loved to begin with.

To play off that, Smash introduces Hit List, a second burgeoning Broadway musical this season, which is how newbies Jeremy Jordan and Andy Mientus (they play Hit List's writers) come into the picture. "We have more original music, more musical sequences per episode [and] more diverse styles," Safran added. "If you look at Broadway, there are shows that take place in the 1800s and shows that take place today. I wanted to represent that [on our show]."

RELATED - 12 Best Shows of 2012

Check out a brand new sneak peek above and tune in to the season two premiere of Smash, February 5 at 9 p.m. on NBC.

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Aurora gunman's wife escaped, called cops on crazed husband

The wife of a Colorado gunman who killed three relatives in his Aurora home Saturday escaped by leaping from a second-floor window before she called cops, her sister said today.

Shooter Sonny Archuleta, 33, was later killed by cops after a six-hour standoff, but not before his wife, Stephanie, dodged his bullets to run and get help.

Corinne Wurzbacher, 30, said her stepsister Stephanie said that Archuleta was spraying the house with bullets.

“It wasn’t just here or there,” said Wurzbacher, who spoke with a family member on the phone about the incident. “Stephanie said she couldn’t understand how the bullets missed her. She’s faced with all of this grief and guilt.

“He just went nuts. I don’t think he cared who he hit. He was in a really bad state of mind that night. He was really low. It was a drug fit. He wasn’t right in the head. I can only think that they tried to confront from.”

Cops said it’s still unclear why Archuleta, 33, snapped early Saturday morning and killed his wife’s stepfather, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend in the Aurora townhouse.

Wurzbacher, whose father and Stephanie's step father, Anthony Ticali, was killed in the shooting, said the two had clashed before, and that Archuleta threatened Ticali last year with a gun.

“My father and I talked a great deal about the problems he was having,” Wurzbacher said about her dad, who lived with Archuleta and Stephanie.

“He and my father butt heads. He was violent. He had gun charges and one of them involved an altercation with my father.”

The shooting took place just miles away from an Aurora movie theater where 12 people were killed and 70 were wounded during a massacre at a July screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Testimony begins Monday to determine if the accused shooter in that incident, James Holmes, will stand trial.

Archuleta lost his own brother, Patricio, 34, to gun violence only a year ago, authorities said.

Patricio was shot to death in a Denver parking lot on Sept. 3, 2011.

Patricio Archuleta, who had a criminal record of drug and assault charges, was released from prison in 2008 after serving 15 months for obstructing public peace and order and vehicular eluding.

Following that shooting, Sonny took to Twitter to express his grief: “My brother Pat was murdered in Denver, Colorado on Friday September 3 at 1:45am. Pray for my family and that Jehovah well get the glory from this.”

jbain@nypost.com

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Billionaire Phillip Frost an ‘entrepreneur’s entrepreneur’

For that blind first date, a half-century ago, the young doctor, Phillip Frost, showed up at Patricia Orr’s family house in suburban New York, with an unusual gift: a miniature mushroom garden.

In the 50 years since, Frost, the son of a shoe store owner, has gone on to amass a fortune of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine, becoming the 188th wealthiest man in the United States by developing and selling pharmaceutical companies. Along the way, he and Patricia have become major philanthropists in Miami-Dade County and they’ve signed a pledge to give away at least $1 billion more.

“He’s a relentless guy,” says Miami banker Bill Allen, who’s know him for more than 40 years. “He’s not afraid to take risks. ... He knows the intimate details of the chemistry of products, and he’s the kind of guy who can examine 50 deals while eating a sandwich.”

CNBC’s Jim Cramer recently praised Frost’s “incredible track record” for developing companies, calling Frost’s latest endeavor, OPKO Health, a “very risky” investment while noting it could offer huge gains under Obamacare.

But back in 1962, Patricia’s first impression was that Phil Frost was a bit of a nerd, finishing his medical internship with a strong interest in research — including mushrooms. She figured an academic career loomed.

“My mother was very impressed,” recalls Patricia, not so much by the M.D. behind Frost’s name but by the gift, something more serious than the usual flowers or candy. Serious was fine with Patricia, who was living at home while working toward a master’s degree in education at Columbia University. For their first date, they listened to a classical music concert.

Frost’s rise to riches may seem highly distinctive, but in an odd coincidence he has much in common with another prominent Miamian. Frost, 76, and car dealer Norman Braman, 80, both frequently appear on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans. Both grew up in Philadelphia — Frost the son of a man who sold shoes, Braman son of a barber. Both are Jewish, well-known art collectors and philanthropists.

“He’s an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur,” says Braman. “We have a lot in common, coming from very poor families. But he went to Central High (a public school for exceptional students) and I was not qualified to go there.”

There are other differences. While Braman is voluble and highly visible in the causes he supports, Frost tends to be a reticent, almost shy speaker, given to careful pauses.

‘Lucky chances’

Told that a former colleague had called Frost “lucky,” Frost thought for a long moment. He could have cited many national business stories about his business acumen. Instead, he responded crisply: “I’ll be satisfied with lucky. I benefited from chance meetings.”

Frost spent his first years living above the shoe shop within an Italian market in South Philly. His two brothers were 15 and 16 years older. “I was an afterthought.”

The family was religiously observant, and Frost recalls his father singing him songs in Yiddish when he was small. He lived at home while attending the University of Pennsylvania, except for a year abroad in France. He took many science courses, but his major was French literature.

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America’s Next Top Model brings its fierce style to Lauderdale

South Florida’s fiercest braved the rain Saturday for a chance to become America’s Next Top Model.

The CW network reality TV show hosted auditions at the Fort Lauderdale Art Institute, and for the first time welcomed male models to try out.

Miami Gardens resident Gregory Boudreaux, 24, was there with his best asset: his hair. His 6-inch afro sticks straight up into pointy peaks.

“I usually get casted because of my hair,” said Boudreaux, who works in a retail store setting up displays and has walked in some Miami Beach fashion shows.

Even the makeup artist took notice of his ‘do as she dabbed foundation under Boudreaux’s eyes.

“Your hair, oh my God,” said makeup artist Jude Andam. “It’s so angular. It looks... not real.”

More than 300 gorgeous guys and gals auditioned in Fort Lauderdale with the goal to land a spot on the show, created and hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks. On the show, in its 20th cycle, supermodel wanna-bes live together and compete through photo shoots in exotic locations. Past contestants have lived in New York and Los Angeles, and have traveled as far as China, Brazil and Italy for photo shoots.

One by one, models get booted off the show while the rest move closer to top prize: a modeling feature, $100,000 and partnerships with fashion companies to help launch a top-notch modeling career.

Judges on Saturday were looking for models between the ages 18 to 27. Women under 5’7” and men under 5’10” were cautioned to not apply.

A panel of industry experts will pick their local favorites and recommend them to the casting director. Viewers can also pick their favorite by voting online starting Jan. 7-14. The judges’ and viewers’ picks will be revealed in a spot inside the premiere of TV show Carrie Diaries 8 p.m. on Jan. 14 on SFL-TV, The CW.

Jeslie Mergal got her picture snapped for the viewer’s choice contest. Her nerves began to bubble up as she got closer to her short appearance in front of judges.

“Standing in line, it’s not that bad. But as you get closer, it gets worse and worse,” she admitted.

Mergal grew up in Hialeah but moved to Orlando in elementary school. She made the drive down to Fort Lauderdale with her father for two reasons: to audition for the show, and to celebrate her birthday with her grandmother in Hialeah Gardens. The nursing student turned 21 the same day.

The only thing standing in the way of a carefree birthday lunch with her family was a nerve-wracking stint in front of the judges.

Mergal took to the short, wooden platform that served as a catwalk, and introduced herself.

“Why do you want to be on America’s Next Top Model?” a judge asked.

It’s the same question every contestant gets — Mergal knew that. But up until moment before, she admitted she wasn’t sure how’d she answer.

“I know if you put me on the show, I’m going to win,” she answered to the judges. “I will make it: whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

Then she strutted up and down the short catwalk, and ended with a smile and her hands on her hips.

The whole ordeal — from signing up, to orientation, to hair and makeup, and finally, the audition — took about two hours.

“I can’t wait to get my callback,” Mergal said.

Follow @Cveiga on Twitter.

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We Salute the First Baby Senator

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

RELATED: Claire McCaskill and How to Attack the Opponent You’re Rooting For

Here’s our suggestion to improve the (already pretty hilarious) swearing-in process for U.S. Senators: Each new member of Congress must bring a cute baby.

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Apparently the BBC has decided to market a line of lunch boxes specifically made for hungry polar bears. They are still working out the kinks: 

RELATED: Homer Simpson, Fox News Pundit; Books After Dark

RELATED: Bo Obama Stays On Message; Sarah Palin Can See HBO in Her House

The Golden Globes will be bittersweet this year. Don’t get us wrong — we’re really excited to watch Amy Poehler and Tina Fey entertain us. But we’ll also be also really sad when this thing is over because it means the end of these promos:

And finally, it’s Friday. And it’s time to dance. Enjoy your weekend. 

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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