BITS AND PIECES 12/17
PUSSSYKATT
--OSCAR DARK HORSE: Topsy-Turvy, director Mike Leigh's take on a Gilbert &
Sullivan operetta, named best film today by the New York Film Critics Circle.
--AWARDS ADD: Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story) named best actor; Hilary
Swank (Boys Don't Cry) tapped best actress.
--WAITING GAME: Miss America officials refusing to confirm or deny a report
that says next year's pageant will be pushed back to October to avoid ratings
competition from the Sydney Olympics.
--FISHY TUNES: Federal antitrust regulators investigating several music
companies amid reports of trade no-nos regarding CD pricing.
--THE CHAMPIONS: Actor Harrison Ford and rocker Bob Dylan among People
magazine's greatest, um, people of the 20th century.
--CASE CLOSED: In Los Angeles today, an ex-executive for Disney's Go Network
convicted of possession of kiddie porn. Two other more serious charges were
declared a mistrial.
--SLAMMED: Canada's broadcast regulator ordering an all-sports cable network to
stop airing WWF Raw during the day when young children can watch, the Hollywood
Reporter says.
--TIME-SLOT SHUFFLE: Fox's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire clone, Greed, moving
to Fridays at 9 p.m. as of January 7.
--PASSING THE TORCH: NBC to farm out 273 hours of 2000 Summer Olympics coverage
to its MSNBC and CNBC cable outlets.
--HEAD OF THE CLASS: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc director Luc
Besson to head the Cannes 2000 film festival jury, it was announced today.
--HERE'S TO YOU, KATHLEEN: Movie-star type Kathleen Turner to make her London
stage debut next spring as Mrs. Robinson in a new version of The Graduate.
--THUMBS SIDEWAYS: A new Broadway revival of the Mozart-lovin' Amadeus opening
Wednesday to mixed reviews.
--CURTAIN CALL: The Los Angeles version of rock musical Hedwig and the Angry
Inch to close Sunday, losing its entire $600,000 investment, according to the
Los Angeles Times.
--ANARCHY IN THE U.K.: Malcolm McLaren, the impresario who put together the Sex
Pistols in the 1970s, now running for mayor of London, promising to legalize
brothels and allow drinking in libraries.
--TRIBUTE: Nearly 100 cartoonists penning drawings honoring soon-to-be-retired
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. Look for them on the National Cartoonists
Society's Website (www.reuben.org)
--STAR STRUCK: Alien star Sigourney Weaver getting the 2,150th star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame today in Los Angeles.
--HONORED: Director Roman Polanski inducted into France's acclaimed Academy of
Fine Arts Wednesday in Paris.
--MR. MANNERS: Green Mile star Tom Hanks topping the National League of Junior
Cotillions list of best-mannered celebs.
--REMEMBERED: Rocker Robbie Robertson read a tribute to his late Band bandmate
Rick Danko at a memorial service Wednesday in Woodstock, New York.
--SICK BAY: Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson rushed to the emergency room
for an intestinal and urinary tract infection Tuesday in Odessa, Texas, forcing
the band to cancel a show there.
--TRL veejay Carson Daly gets animated for MTV's Daria teleflick, Is It Fall
Yet?. The made-for-TV flick, which will feature several celeb cameos, will
focus on what Daria and her pals at Lawndale High do for summer vacation, and
it will contain several plotlines from the series. The animated movie is slated
to premiere on the cable network next fall.
--Model Angie Everhart tests her acting skills on Law & Order: Special Victims
Unit. The leggy redhead will guest star as a well-coiffed lobbyist and
executive of a women's rights committee in the episode "Disrobed." Look for
Everhart's prime-time cameo later this season.
--Elijah Wood is buzzing about The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. Wood will star with
Janeane Garofalo and Rachael Leigh Cook in the Starz! network teleflick about a
teenager who finds himself in an experimental hospital specializing in the
treatment of terminally ill children. Shooting on the made-for-cable film
starts next year.
--Jeff Goldblum joins the countdown as One of the Hollywood Ten. The actor will
star in the indie drama about actors, writers and directors who were placed on
the Hollywood blacklist. Goldblum will play writer Herbert Biberman, who, along
with his actress wife Gale Sondergaard, were shunned by their peers after the
episode. The pic starts shooting in Spain in January.
--Bob Costas is playing ball with HBO. Since moving out of his position as lead
basketball announcer for NBC, Costas has been given the go-ahead to develop a
Nightline-style sports-journalism show for the cable network. The show debuts
in February 2001.
--Ex-football player Brian Bosworth has signed on to the low-budget flick
Company of Men. The Prophecy Entertainment film, shooting in British Columbia,
will tell the story of a former CIA agent (Bosworth) forced to steal a painting
to save his lover's life. The film is due in Y2K.
NY POST....By MICHAEL RIEDEL
--Matthew Broderick and Parker Posey will play the leads in "Taller Than a
Dwarf," a new comedy by Elaine May about a man who refuses to work. "Dwarf"
will open in the spring at the Longacre, with Alan Arkin directing ...¤ "Fully
Committed," Becky Mode's hilarious play about the restaurant business, began
performances last week at the Cherry Lane Theater with a bang -- advance ticket
sales are closing in on $100,000.
NY POST...MICHAEL STARR
--Leave it to wacky Bill Murray to cause a ruckus. CNN was taping an episode of
its "Millennium Roundtable" when Murray burst into the studios at the Algonquin
Hotel. "Who's the chick with the tattoos?" Murray asked, pointing to panelist
Janeane Garofalo before vanishing. The eight-part "Millennium Roundtable" is
moderated by Wolf Blitzer and will air on "CNN NewsStand" Monday-Thursday (10
p.m.) Dec. 20-23 and Dec. 27-30.
--You can thank renowned astrologer Susan Miller for "predicting" that Barbara
Walters would publicize her relationship with Sen. John Warner. Miller was a
last-minute guest Tuesday on "The View." "I told [Walters] that I saw amazing
passion and real amazing chemistry, with lights flashing and thunder roaring,"
says Miller.
--The stars of NBC's "Will & Grace" -- including Eric McCormack and Debra
Messing -- snubbed photographers before a party last night at the Mansfield
Hotel.
NBC had invited photographers to shoot the cast, but late yesterday the network
faxed a copy of the invitation to reporters with "Party canceled!" and "Not
happening!" scribbled on the fax. So what happened? A source says the "talent"
changed their minds and didn't want to be photographed -- while the party went
on as planned.
NY POST...PAGE SIX...
--ROBIN Givens wants to bury the hatchet with ex-husband Mike Tyson. A source
close to Tyson tells PAGE SIX Givens has been asking Iron Mike's boxing
advisor, Shelly Finkel, to set up a meeting with Tyson. "She says she wants to
end all this bad karma between them," reports our spy. Is it just coincidence
that Givens is about to take over as host of "Forgive or Forget," the show in
which ex-lovers publicly berate each other until one of them begs for
redemption? "Robin is always trying to use Mike's name to gain recognition,"
says the source. "He told Shelly to tell her to stop calling." Finkel and reps
for Givens did not return calls.
--Ethan Hawke is directing his wife Uma Thurman, Natasha Richardson and Kris
Kristofferson in "Last Word on Paradise" at the Chelsea Hotel ...
--Jessica Sklar is working full-time as p.r. director of Tommy Hilfiger's
children's wear line even though she's busy making top-secret plans for their
impending wedding and honeymoon.
--LATRELL Sprewell, new Knick John Wallace and fashion designer Fernando
Sanchez at Jimmy's Bronx Cafe planning a retirement party for Herb Williams.
--THOSE exquisite Afro-Asian genes of Tyson Beckford have been replicated. The
supermodel has a year-old son, Jordan, he's been keeping a semi-secret. "He
adores his boy," Tyson's agent, Bethann Hardison, told PAGE SIX. The hunk went
public Wednesday night at the new Broadway City Arcade on 42nd Street. Tyson
was carrying his baby in a sling on his chest as he made the rounds at a party
Notorious magazine and Nike threw for the kids of Daddy's House Social
Programs, the charity founded by Sean "Puffy" Combs. Bethann wouldn't identify
the mother except to say, "She's no one famous."
--THAT Genie she sings about must have been ticked at Christina Aguilera. When
she performed with Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Brian McKnight at KTU's
Miracle on 34th Street at the Hammerstein Ballroom the other night, everything
went wrong. First, Aguilera tripped over one of her dancers and did a face
plant on stage. Then her pre-recorded music tracks skipped and she had to
abandon two songs. Gamely, she sang "Genie" a capella.
NY POST...NEAL TRAVIS...
VETERAN director and photographer Gordon Parks isn't a bit surprised at the
success of "Sex and the City" writer Candace Bushnell. Parks says he started
living with Bushnell when he was 62 and she was just 18 -- "and she was a
dynamo then who always got what she wanted." Parks, who directed the original
"Shaft" movie, was talking to Webster Hall art curator Baird Jones at Jessica
Burstein's photography exhibit at the Neuhoff gallery the other night. His next
project is the movie of his novel based on the life of studly British landscape
painter J.M.W. Turner. Parks is attracted to the 19th-century master because
"he never married and had innumerable sexual conquests -- even in his 70s, when
he was quite fat." Parks himself now dates women closer to his own age (87),
and says he sees Gloria Vanderbilt once a week.
--SOMEHOW you just knew Sarah, the Duchess of York, would get tapped as an
agony aunt. Fergie pops up in that guest role in the next issue of More
magazine. "While I'm not exactly a fountain of knowledge, my instincts are good
and I know something about bending rules and taking risks," she says. For the
over-40 readers of More, she advises holding your head up high when attacked,
making midlife changes and not letting stress drive you to overeat.
USA TODAY...
--You don't normally kill off the lead character of a show in the pilot
episode, unless you're planning to transplant his brain into the superhuman
body of a younger man. That's what happened to John Goodman in CBS' Now and
Again, a romantic update of '70s hit The Six Million Dollar Man. Goodman will
return to the drama ( Fridays, 9 ET) in a February sweeps episode that's
apparently a flashback to before he was crushed by a subway train. Details are
sketchy; producer Glenn Gordon Caron declined to discuss the story line. But
Goodman's reappearance as life-insurance salesman Michael Wiseman is said to
delve into the chain of events leading to his death, sparked by the promotion
of his protege (Chad Lowe) and a subsequent drinking binge
--Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek finds himself up the creek in a thriller
from three producers of Cruel Intentions (Christopher Ball, Bruce Mellon, Neal
Moritz). Jackson plays Luke, a New Haven, Conn. townie who claws his way into
Yale and joins a secret society known as The Skulls. At first, Luke is seduced
by the society's elitist trappings, but before you can say Whiffenpoof, things
take a darker turn. The Skulls is due in February.
--Billy Campbell, the divorced dad and hunky beau on ABC's Once and Again, may
not look like your typical armchair quarterback, but come Jan. 2, he'll help a
lucky football fan pull up a chair at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
The "Dig In, Kick Back" charity auction on eBay features a bowl game package
that includes the Ultimate Football-Watching Recliner, a retrofitted recliner
that will serve as the winning bidder's seat for the game. Tostitos then will
match the highest bid, up to $20,000, and donate the money to the anti-hunger
group Share Our Strength.
--The Artist (formerly known as Prince) will retire his 1982 smash 1999 after
an all-star New Year's Eve performance originating from his Paisley Park studio
in Minneapolis. "I was aware of the impact (1999) would have when I wrote it,"
the performer says in a statement. "I knew my place in the musical community at
the time, and I have always sought to be a leader, not a follower." The anthem
for the millennium will end its purple reign with a funky farewell featuring
Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton, Larry Graham, and Morris Day and The Time. The
Artist's Rave Un2 the Year 2000 party is available on pay-per-view for - you
guessed it - $19.99.
STAR MAGAZINE...JANET CHARLTON....
--CALISTA FLOCKHART is appearing onstage in L.A. in a drama called bash and
apparently she's very convincing in her tragic role. Calista's Ally McBeal
co-star PORTIA de ROSSI was seen in the audience weeping, and she was so
touched she sat in the theater with her head in her hands sobbing until the
rest of the audience left.
NY POST...LIZ SMITH...
--KEVIN BACON, that durable, real actor, will receive an extraordinary honor
Jan. 12. He will be the first recipient of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's
Young Friends of Films award. This recognizes the work of a contemporary actor
or director admired by today's audiences. There will be a screening of Bacon's
acclaimed 1997 film "Telling Lies in America" and then a black-tie dinner.
Bacon just wrapped up Paul Verhoeven's "The Hollow Man" and, with sibling
Michael, tours with his band, the Bacon Brothers, after his NYC gala. Kevin has
come a long way since he wedged himself into those tight jeans and danced up a
storm in "Footloose." Not that we ever want to dismiss that sexy performance.
It's a classic, now.
--I'M TAKING a chance that this remains exclusive -- Roseanne, that singular
sensation, will become a grandma next year. Roseanne's daughter, Jenny, and her
boyfriend, Jeff, will wed this weekend. Jenny, infanticipating, as Winchell
would say, expects her first child -- and Roseanne's first grandchild -- next
summer. Roseanne made this happy announcement during the taping of her TV show
yesterday, which won't air until the 20th. But you know how people gossip.
Congrats to all. One thing's for sure, Roseanne won't be no rocking-chair
granny!
MITCHELL FINK....NY DAILY NEWS...
--Look for worlds to collide at tonight's premiere of Oliver Stone's new movie,
"Any Given Sunday." There will be a heavy contingent of rappers on hand,
including LL Cool J, who's in the movie, along with DMX, Havoc and Prodigy, who
all have songs on the film's soundtrack. They'll be able to mix it up with
other expected first-nighters, including Police Commissioner Howard Safir,
Ricky Martin, Matthew Modine, Larry King, Mira and Paul Sorvino and such local
football heroes as Lawrence Taylor, Tiki Barber, Jesse Armstead and Curtis
Martin. DMX, by the way, who's real name is Earl Simmons, will spend the
weekend at the Children's Village, a residential treatment center for foster
children in Dobbs Ferry. Simmons lived in the facility from 1983-85, and he's
going back to celebrate his birthday with kids who live there now.
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