Rushes

More grief for the beleaguered Michael Jackson. Thirty-two months after the launch of his production company, Nation Films, there's still no sign of a movie on the horizon. Executives continue to join the company, but Nation's first-look deal with Columbia ends in January 1994, and the much-hyped Midknight is stalled after the suicide of designer / executive producer Anton Furst. Additionally, the once hot Jack and the Beanstalk is in turnaround.

Word is that Columbia (and every other studio in Hollywood) will keep the singer and Nation at arm's length, until the accusations of child molestation are withdrawn or come to court. Jackson's song and video deal with Paramount for Addams Family Values has already bitten the dust - which hasn't stopped the film- makers from including a cheap gag showing Wednesday's first beau coming across a full-length poster of the star and starting to scream.

Quote of the week: 'Al Pacino - the greatest actor in the world - deigns to do my guy. Who would not be honoured? Brian de Palma wants to direct it and Marty Bergman - it's awesome what he had to do - produces] The girl? Penelope Ann Miller? She's beautiful]' Judge Edwin Torres on the filming of his bestseller, 'Carlito's Way'.

Disney has had to pay dollars 300,000 to The Price Is Right producer Paul Alter after a Los Angeles court ruled that Honey, I Blew Up the Kid used Alter's 1980 script about a giant baby as the basis for the hit sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Similarities ranged from the villain attempting to shoot the out-of-control toddler with missiles to the professor father working to reduce the infant to normal size.

Disney is 'disappointed and troubled' by the decision but has announced no plans to appeal.

Readers' responses to 'Double Bills We'd Like to See' have been overwhelming. Which only goes to show how many movie buffs and sick minds there are out there.

The best to date. From Shirley Coulson, Milton Keynes: Silence of the Lambs / Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Postcards from the Edge / Vertigo. My Brilliant Career / On the Buses. Stage Fright / Absolute Beginners. Battle of the Bulge / The Incredible Shrinking Man. Duet for One / Five Fingers.

From Otto Black, Edinburgh: For Whom the Bells Toll / Dead Ringers. Dances with Wolves / The Last Waltz. Faster, Pussycat - Kill] Kill] / Tom and Jerry: The Movie. Moby Dick / Free Willy.

From Max Mintoff, London: Bambi / The Deer Hunter. From Anonymous, London: Dumbo / The Elephant Man.

A bumper crop from David Brodie, Glasgow: Cliffhanger / Falling Down. The Baby of Macon / Much Ado about Nothing. Hello Dolly] / Farewell My Concubine. M Butterfly / Funny Girl. Home Alone / Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. The Premature Burial / The Cemetery Club. Alive / Dead Again. Presumed Innocent / Guilty as Sin. The Egg and I / Hard Boiled. F for Fake / The Real McCoy. So I Married an Axe Murderer / The Bride Wore Red.

And a real-life double-bill, spotted on a marquee in Cork by John Foyle of Dublin: The Pope Must Die / In Bed with Madonna.

Keep them coming to: Rushes, Arts, The Independent, 40 City Road, London, EC1Y 2DB.