Banderas film avoids strike

Mexico City HBO Films narrowly avoided a strike that could have shut down the set where Antonio Banderas is filming “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself” after signing a contract with Mexican technicians.

The Mexican Union of Film Technicians complained that “Pancho Villa” was being made without a contract, and that 18 workers had been fired without cause. It named Banderas as a defendant in his role as associate producer and sought to bar him from leaving the country.

HBO’s spokeswoman for the project, Patricia Zavala, said she could not comment on the settlement but said the filming had not been interrupted at the set in the north-central city of San Miguel Allende.

‘White Christmas,’ ‘A Christmas Story’ tops on this Santa’s list

Los Angeles So what’s Santa Claus’ favorite Christmas movie?

Tim Allen, who reprises his role as head elf of the North Pole in “The Santa Clause 2,” puts Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney’s “White Christmas” and the quirky comedy “A Christmas Story” at the top of his list.

“‘White Christmas,’ that’s possibly my favorite, because I love how the set opens up at the end and it’s snowing,” Allen said.

His other pick, the 1983 dysfunctional-family tale “A Christmas Story,” stars Darren McGavin as a gruff but lovable dad and Peter Billingsley as a wide-eyed child yearning for a Red Ryder air rifle come Christmas morning.

“‘Christmas Story’ is such a little sweetheart,” Allen said. “Terrific details about a specific time of life. The rifle, the snow falling outside, and Christmas Day and the turkey. It’s got the details, everything right.”

“The Santa Clause 2” is scheduled for release Nov. 1.

Freedom Awards honor pair

Memphis, Tenn. NAACP chairman Julian Bond and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu were honored with Freedom Awards from the National Civil Rights Museum.

Bond, 62, a civil rights leader, and Menchu, 43, a peace activist in her native Guatemala, told about 2,500 at a local church Wednesday why they became involved in their causes.

Bond said news reports in 1957 about the Little Rock Nine integrating a school changed his life, especially the images of a frightened, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford walking to school followed by a menacing crowd of white adults.

Menchu said she drew inspiration from human rights icons such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Bradbury wins literary honor

Santa Barbara, Calif. Ray Bradbury, author of “Fahrenheit 451” and “The Martian Chronicles,” has received the first Ross Macdonald Literary Award.

Bradbury accepted an engraved plaque from the Santa Barbara Book Council. The 82-year-old author said he had deep affection for the Santa Barbara detective novelist and his body of work.

Macdonald’s books include “The Galton Case” and “The Goodbye Look.”