Lull in fighting between Israel, Gaza militants

JERUSALEM (AP) — A flare-up in fighting between Israel and militants from Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement has subsided.

Both sides say the government in Egypt helped to restore calm.

Israeli defense official Amos Gilad told Army Radio on Thursday that Egyptian security forces have “a very impressive ability” to convey to the militants that it is in their “supreme interest not to attack.”

Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha says Egypt conveyed Israel’s desire to contain the violence. He says Hamas told Egyptian that militants would cease fire if Israel would.

The Israeli military says militants haven’t attacked southern Israel since Wednesday night. It says the military hasn’t struck Gaza since Wednesday morning.

Militants fired some 80 rockets and mortars at Israel on Wednesday and Israeli aircraft struck four times.

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‘Pusher’ review: remake guilty of lack-of-substance abuse

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Like Kleenex or cheap plastic razors, there are movies that are instantly disposable.

“Pusher,” an English-language, unnecessary remake of the identically titled 1996 Danish cult film from “Drive” director Nicholas Winding Refn (he subsequently made two “Pusher” sequels), is exactly that.

Watching this slick bit of familiar crime drama effluvia, one has the sense of having sat through this exact same movie way too many times before. The odd part, though, is that while “Pusher” is nearly beat-for-beat a remake of Refn’s movie, it’s more reminiscent of Guy Ritchie’s early films with its cast of scruffy London low-lifes.

“Pusher” follows a week in the increasingly desperate life of Frank (Richard Coyle), a smalltime London drug dealer hoping for a big score. To that end, he gets a brick of cocaine on credit from Milo (Zlatco Buric, amusingly old world), the neighborhood crime lord. Before Frank can pay Milo back, however, his own intended deal goes south when the police interrupt the buy. Frank flees, dumping the coke in a river as he attempts to escape the police.

Frank now owes big money to Milo for the missing drugs and spends most of the rest of the movie trying to raise it any way he can, including borrowing from his own impoverished mum. As the deadline for paying Milo back looms, Frank comes to realize that there’s no one — not even his hanger-on best friend (Bronson Webb) or girlfriend (model Agyness Deyn) — on whom he can really count.

This “Pusher,” as directed by Spanish-born Luis Prieto (he previously directed a couple of Italian features), is all style, no substance. With the exception of a scene in which Milo and his cronies wax rhapsodic over a plate of freshly made sweets, there’s nothing distinctive about any of the characters or scenes.

Coyle gives a solid performance, convincingly showing Frank’s growing panic as the noose around his neck tightens, and Buric displays a certain wily charm along with the menace as the drug kingpin. Deyn, based on her stilted playing here of Frank’s stripper girlfriend – c’mon guys, surely, her character could just as easily have been a waitress or a store clerk – is yet another model who probably should stick to the runway and still photo shoots.

To close out on a positive note, “Pusher” has a running time of only 89 minutes. (The movie, which opens theatrically on Friday, has been available via VOD since late last month.)

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Actor Jack Scalia arrested for gun at LA airport

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police at Los Angeles International Airport say actor Jack Scalia has been arrested after security screeners found an unloaded handgun in his carry-on bag.

Sgt. Belinda Nettles says the 61-year-old Scalia, who had recurring roles on “All My Children,” ”Remington Steele” and “Dallas,” was arrested Thursday afternoon in Terminal 7.

No further details were released.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Scalia played the role of Nicholas Pearce on “Dallas.” The character plunged to his death from a balcony following a fight with J.R. Ewing.

Scalia played Chris Stamp on “All My Children” from 2001 to 2003.

A representative of Scalia could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

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Zynga posts 3Q loss, shares jump after-hours

NEW YORK (AP) — Battered shares of Zynga Inc. soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the social gaming company posted stronger-than-expected revenue for the third quarter and said it will enter the gambling business.

The past few months have been tough for the company known for games such as “FarmVille” and “Words With Friends.” Interest in many of its Facebook games has waned, and Zynga has had trouble making money from mobile games. It laid off workers for the first time on Tuesday to cut costs, and on Wednesday posted an outlook for the year that fell short of analysts’ forecast.

As it had earlier warned, Zynga booked a loss in the July-September quarter due largely to a charge marking down the value of mobile game company OMGPop, which it acquired in March for $ 183 million.

The company lost $ 52.7 million, or 7 cents per share. That’s down from earnings of $ 12.5 million — break-even on a per-share basis — from a year earlier, when it was still privately held.

On an adjusted per-share basis Zynga broke even in the most recent quarter, matching analysts‘ expectations.

Revenue grew 3 percent to $ 316.6 million. According to FactSet, analysts expected lower revenue of $ 291 million.

Despite its troubles, Zynga is still by far the No. 1 maker of games for Facebook. As such, it relies on its Facebook games for nearly all of its revenue, though it has been working on expanding to other areas, notably mobile devices. This has been a challenge. Though “Words With Friends” is popular, it doesn’t bring in as much money as games on Facebook. And Zynga lost its gamble on OMGPop, whose Pictionary-like “Draw Something” game was explosively popular, but then quickly faded away.

The company is trying to convince investors that it can revive growth, and on Wednesday said that it’s signed a deal to offer online poker and casino games, played with real money, in the U.K. It plans to launch those games in the first half of 2013.

The bet on gambling games comes a day after Zynga announced that it is closing studios, killing off 13 games and cutting about 150 jobs, 5 percent of its workforce, to cut costs.

In another attempt to appease investors, Zynga also said Wednesday that it will repurchase up to $ 200 million of its shares. Buybacks increase the value of the remaining shares traded on the stock market and can lift per-share earnings since results are divided among fewer shares.

For the rest of its fiscal year, Zynga’s prediction falls short again. It forecast 2012 adjusted earnings of 2 to 3 cents per share, while analysts are expecting 4 cents.

The company backed a previous forecast for its bookings, which reflect in-game purchases of virtual goods in the period they occur. It still expects $ 1.09 billion to $ 1.1 billion in annual bookings.

Shares of San Francisco-based Zynga jumped 28 cents, or 13 percent, to $ 2.41 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down 7 cents at $ 2.13 in regular trading after touching an all-time low of $ 2.10. Zynga’s stock began trading in December after pricing at $ 10 in its initial public stock offering.

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