BITS AND PIECES 01/18
PUSSSYKATT
--Bruce Springsteen giving his blessing to a new rock 'n' roll opera called
Drive All Night based on his songs. Springsteen will reportedly get his first
look at the production in March.
--ABC greenlighting Dreamkeeper, a $30 million-plus, four-hour miniseries that
will dramatize several Native American legends.
--Alicia Keys, Carson Daly, Frankie Muniz and Lil' Bow Wow joining Britney
Spears and others during the NBA's All-Star Read to Achieve Celebration
February 9 during basketball's All-Star weekend.
E! ONLINE...by Victoria Withey
--Russell Crowe is negotiating to be the Master and Commander for 20th Century
Fox. Director Peter Weir is wooing Crowe to star as Captain Jack Aubrey, who is
sent to battle France in the first British sailing vessel. If the busy Crowe
comes aboard, the film is likely to start shooting right away so he'll finish
in time to start his already scheduled directorial debut flick, The Long Green
Shore, and the boxing biopic Cinderella Man.
--Director Robert Altman is plugging into Voltage. His next project is a
satiric ensemble comedy about a recently graduated engineer hired at a New
Jersey defense contractor full of eccentrics. Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Bob Balaban, Harry Belafonte, William H. Macy, Tony
Shalhoub, Elliot Gould and Liv Tyler star. Shooting begins in May.
--Gary Sinise makes his mark in The Human Stain. Based on the Pulitzer-winning
Philip Roth novel, the film tells the story of a disgraced college dean
(Anthony Hopkins) and his affair with an illiterate janitor (Nicole Kidman).
Sinise plays the narrator who examines the professor's life. Shooting on the
Miramax flick begins in late March.
--Garfield and Odie are coming to the big screen, thanks to 20th Century Fox
and some computers. Toy Story scribes Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow are adapingt
the Jim Davis comic strip about the scheming orange cat and his dim-witted dog
pal. The film is a combination of live action and animation, with the animals
being computer-generated.
NY POST....
--What Gaul! First, director Tim Burton dumps fiancée Lisa Marie for actress
Helena Bonham Carter - who appeared with Lisa in "Planet in the Apes" - and now
they parade through Paris, putting their amour on display for all the world to
see. Their romantic stroll through the streets of the City of Light culminated
in a passionate park-bench makeout session. Burton isn't British-born beauty
Helena's first "committed" conquest. Her affair with Kenneth Branagh in 1995
effectively ended his marriage to Oscar-winner Emma Thompson.
NY POST/MICHAEL STARR....
--"Early Show" co-host Jane Clayson is flying down to Washington today to tape
"The Women Who Advise," a look at the Bush White House one year later. Clayson
will interview Mary Matalin, Karen Hughes and Pentagon spokeswoman Torrie
Clark. The story, airing Monday on "The Early Show" (7-9 a.m./CBS) is a
followup to Clayson's talk last may with Matalin, Hughes and policy advisor
Margaret Lamontagne.
--Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani told "Extra" that he felt like he was "cheating" on
"Late Show" host David Letterman for appearing on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show"
Wednesday night. "I mean, I think I've been on the Letterman show almost twenty
times and I had never done Jay Leno before," Giuliani said.
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--Bob Costas will be the ring announcer when Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis
finally square off April 6. Showtime, which has Tyson under contract, and HBO,
which owns Lewis, are working on an unprecedented co-promotion, which will
profit one company more than the other, depending on which fighter wins . . .
--HE's never been before, so George Plimpton is on his way to Antarctica. The
author is researching a book on legendary British explorer Sir Ernest
Shackleton and trying to finish a second book about birds. "I hope to see some
empire penguins, or a wandering albatross," Plimpton said before setting off to
board the Explorer, an Abercrombie & Kent ship with a strengthened hull and bow
thrusters for getting through the pack ice. The trip will include stops at the
Falklands and South Georgia Island, where Shackleton sailed a lifeboat 800
miles to fetch a rescue ship for his stranded men.
NY POST/NEAL TRAVIS...
--FOR 40 years, the Rolling Stones have epitomized the drugs, sex and rock 'n'
roll life while managing to keep their more scandalous episodes hidden from
public view. But it now emerges that former bandmate Bill Wyman was keeping a
diary and writing down everything the others were too dazed and confused to
remember. Now Wyman, who left the world's greatest rock band in 1993, has
completed a book that tells it all in sometimes sordid detail. Mick and the
boys won't thank him for it, even if the book and its candid snapshots do jog
their memories about what it was like to be young, idolized and totally
moss-free. Bill's book is due out in Britain in October - at the height of the
Stones world anniversary tour - and may already have been snapped up by a New
York publisher.
--THE nice people at Glamour magazine just sent me a squib abut their annual
Conde Nast lunch today for the top 10 college women. Worthy but unremarkable
until you start delving into the history of this event and discover that none
other than Martha Stewart was the recipient of one of these awards way back in
1961. Imagine, if it hadn't been for Glamour, we wouldn't know how to crochet a
doily or turn a holey sock into a chew toy. (I'm only kidding - dear Martha is
up there with Viagra when it comes to putting pizzazz in your personal life.)
--I AM seriously worried that Howard Stern is overdoing it, taking too much of
his work out of the studio and home with him. The demented radio genius has
just been taping down in Chelsea at the VIP strip club, recording live-action
interviews for tonight's E! channel show. This may cause some jealousy among
Howard's lap-dancing cuties at Scores, but he says it's all to do with
defending the First Amendment rights of girls anywhere and everywhere to make a
buck out of being (almost) buck-naked.
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--NOT ONLY IS Patrick Stewart a figure in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum on 42nd
Street, he remains in demand elsewhere. It's his voice we hear as the egg (King
Goobot) in the hit animated film, "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius." Patrick will
reprise Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the 10th installment of the "Star Trek"
feature film series, "Nemesis." In June, he plays the title role in "King of
Texas," a TNT version of "King Lear," set during the Mexican revolt of the
1800s. Then he'll rejoin the original cast for the sequel to "X-Men."
--WHEN BOB Altman talked with Bob Spitz for Delta's SKY magazine, he let out
old resentments. Altman has 76 films and TV credits under his belt and his
latest, "Gosford Park," is doing great. But what he remembers most is how
Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland tried to get him fired from the classic hit
"M*A*S*H*." He learned of the conspiracy two years after the film was made.
"It's a good thing," says Altman. "I'd have quit."
USA TODAY...
--For Pierce Brosnan, getting into the role of James Bond is more like training
to be a professional athlete than preparing to star in a film. The actor, who
recently began shooting his fourth Bond film, and vows to come back to do a
fifth, says that he didn't do much to get in the mind-set of Agent 007.
Instead, he just did as much "exercising, eating and sleeping" as he could to
prepare for the movie's demanding stunts. The reason he didn't pore over the
new Bond script: Brosnan was shooting Evelyn, which completed filming about a
month before Bond began on Jan. 14. Evelyn was a five-year labor of love for
the Irish-born actor, who also produced the drama, about an Irish man in the
1950s who loses his children after his wife leaves him and fights through the
court system to reclaim them. As for his future as James Bond, the 48-year-old
Brosnan says that his physical health will most likely be his barometer in the
future. He says: "It's a fight to get back (in shape) every time."
--Locating good material has always been the most daunting task facing Bonnie
Raitt each time she contemplates a new album. "The hardest part of my job is
waiting for songs to fall out of the sky, which they never do," Raitt says. "I
have to go digging under rocks." The blues-pop queen unearthed a gold mine for
Silver Lining, due April 9. Her 16th album, recorded last year, includes first
single I Can't Help You Now and Time of Our Lives, both penned by Tommy Sims,
Gordon Kennedy and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the team responsible for Eric Clapton's
Change the World. "When I got those songs, I knew I could go in the studio,"
she says. "I was so excited." Rising singer/songwriter David Gray composed the
title track. Raitt contributes honky-tonk tune No Gettin' Over You and co-wrote
Gnawin' On It with bluesman Roy Rogers and Back Around with guitarist Habib
Koité of Mali. "I've been lucky in the last decade to have the kind of success
that allows me to get off the road and have a life," Raitt says. "That lets me
follow my passion and muse to Ireland, Cuba and Africa." Produced by Raitt,
Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, Silver Lining features Raitt's longtime rhythm
section (guitarist George Marinelli, bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson and
drummer Ricky Fataar), as well as New Orleans singer/keyboardist Jon Cleary. He
and his band will open for Raitt on a three-month theater tour this spring.
--Gaining perspective on the Vietnam War is a confusing, ever-changing
endeavor, say those involved in HBO's Path to War, a look at President
Johnson's administration, scheduled for May. In the late '60s, "Johnson and
(Defense Secretary Robert) McNamara were anathema to me," says Donald
Sutherland, who plays Johnson adviser Clark Clifford. "Maybe five years ago ...
I started to have a better understanding and a greater sympathy for Johnson."
Path to War, which stars Michael Gambon as Johnson and Alec Baldwin as
McNamara, looks at how Johnson's administration became entangled more deeply in
Vietnam, unable to figure out a way to end the conflict. Presidential historian
Michael Beschloss says the John Frankenheimer film brings "the ring of truth"
to a troubling war. Baldwin, who grew up watching Vietnam coverage on
television, says the film affixes responsibility on policymakers. "That's
something that's always been very problematic for me," he says. "How you take
away the shame of the men and women who fought over there, because they are
blameless, and you put the blame for the Vietnam War where it belongs, which is
on the characters in this film."
REUTERS...
--British singer and songwriter Phil Collins will perform in Geneva Saturday to
raise funds for a charity foundation he and his Swiss wife Orianne set up to
help aspiring entertainers and athletes.
--American war movie ``Black Hawk Down,'' tipped to be one of 2002's biggest
hits, got its British premiere in London on Thursday night. Fans packed
London's Leicester Square to watch the film's stars, including Ewan McGregor,
Josh Hartnett and Tom Sizemore as well as director Ridley Scott, walk up the
red carpet. McGregor, who plays a U.S. Ranger, said he prepared for the film by
learning what makes professional soldiers tick. ``We learned how to fire
weapons, we learned technical things that were invaluable for the film,'' he
told Sky News. ``Black Hawk Down'' is based on the true story of a group of U.S
soldiers sent into Somalia in 1993 as part of a United Nations peacekeeping
mission. Their mission goes wrong when two of their Black Hawk helicopters are
shot down and the soldiers soon find themselves embroiled in a massive
firefight, outnumbered 50-1. The film is due to open on wide release Friday.
VARIETY...
--Universal has abruptly halted the untitled comedy that was to star Jim Carrey
and Nicole Kidman and begin production in March. Carrey was to play a widower
who begins dating, only to find himself haunted by his deceased wife (Kidman).
Universal had expected to release writer/director Gary Ross' film as its big
Christmas offering. No specific reason was given for shelving the film, though
it appears that a deciding factor was Kidman's busy schedule. She's shooting
the Lars von Trier film ``Dogville,'' followed immediately by the Robert
Benton-directed ``The Human Stain'' with Anthony Hopkins. The Universal project
came together with much fanfare, as both actors sparked to Ross' script, and it
is considered very possible that they will come back together in the fall to
make the picture happen. For now, Carrey is pursuing other projects for the
spring.
--Stephen King, John Grisham and Pat Conroy will be among those appearing next
month at a benefit for Frank Muller, an award-winning audio book reader
severely injured in a motorcycle crash last November.
ASSOCIATED PRESS...
--Singer Julio Iglesias' daughter, Chabeli, gave birth Monday to a son,
Alejandro, at Jackson Memorial Hospital. ``They're doing fine,'' said Roberto
Somoza, a spokesman for Iglesias. Iglesias, 58, was not present at the birth.
He had to travel out of the country to record a new album.
--Artists Against AIDS Worldwide -- the organization that recently produced an
all-star remake of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" to promote the campaign
against AIDS in Africa -- is planning an all-star, Good Friday concert in
Johannesburg, South Africa. Executive director Leigh Blake told UPI she expects
several of those who took part in the "What's Going On" project to be involved.
The record featured leading pop artists such as Christina Aguilera, Backstreet
Boys, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Destiny's Child, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Eve,
Nelly Furtado, Ja Rule, Wyclef Jean, Alicia Keys, Aaron Lewis of Staind,
Jennifer Lopez, Nelly, 'N Sync, P. Diddy, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and
Michael Stipe. It won an award for best collaboration at last month's VH1
Awards. Blake -- a former journalist, film and music producer -- has made AIDS
awareness her main focus, and recently began to develop an AIDS clinic in
Kenya. She and Bono established the artists' group last year to provide "a
creative outlet" for musical artists to work against AIDS. The Good Friday
concert is being produced by Play-Tone, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's
production company, and plans call for filming the event.
--The Red Hot Chili Peppers are front and center on the main stage at Warner
Bros. Online (warnerbros.com) in a special performance from the second annual
"Silver Lining Silver Lake." The benefit concert, held last month at the
Paramour Estate in Silver Lake, Calif., raised money for the Hollywood Sunset
Free Clinic. The Webcast marks the first time the event has been available
online. The show was hosted by actor Robert Downey Jr. During the coming
months, Warner Bros. Online will also present performances by Sting, Aimee
Mann, Jurassic 5, Bostich from Nortec Collective, Jaguares, Deborah Falconer
and Daniel Lanois from the event.
--Bush will be hitting the road starting in late February in support of its
latest album, "Golden State," which was released last fall. Allstar.com says
Atlantic Records wouldn't confirm any tour dates, but Ticketmaster is listing
five shows in the United States. Canadian rockers Default will be the opening
act in at least St. Louis and Milwaukee.
--Creed's "Weathered" has joined 'N Sync's "No Strings Attached" and Eminem's
"The Marshall Mathers LP" as the only albums in the SoundScan era that have
held onto the No. 1 position on The Billboard Top-200 album chart for their
first eight weeks of release. Billboard.com reports "Weathered" had no trouble
holding off Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory," which is No. 2 for a third week in a
row. Creed launched its 2002 tour in Atlanta Wednesday night.
--Target Stores is offering a U2 album created exclusively for the upscale
discount retailer. The CD, titled "U2 7," is a compilation of seven rare and
remixed U2 songs -- including an acoustic version of "Stuck In A Moment You
Can't Get Out Of," remixes of "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation" as well as the
domestic releases of "Summer Rain" and "Always." It'll retail for $6.99 and go
on sale next Tuesday. U2 was named "Band of the Year" by Spin and Rolling Stone
magazines. The Irish rockers are currently nominated for eight Grammy Awards,
including "Album of the Year."
--Sheryl Crow's ties to country music continue to grow stronger. Country.com
reports the pop singer recently recorded tracks with Dixie Chicks singer
Natalie Maines ("Abilene") and Emmylou Harris ("Weather Channel") that are
being considered for Crow's upcoming album, due out in the spring. Crow also
duets with Willie Nelson on his newly released album, "The Great Divide."
Earlier this month, Crow earned a Grammy nomination for best female country
vocal performance for "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," a track from the Hank
Williams tribute "Timeless." Crow's sister lives in Nashville and works for
performing rights organization Broadcast Music Inc.
--'N Sync has signed a deal with Chili's Grill & Bar to star in a series of
commercials promoting the restaurant chain's Baby Back Ribs and "To Go"
service. It marks the first time in Chili's 27-year history that the company
has enlisted celebrity talent for its television or radio advertising. The new
spots featuring Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and
Justin Timberlake will begin airing next week. Chili's will also be the lead
sponsor of the band's upcoming concert tour.
--The anti-abortion movement will take on a younger, hipper face when
high-school and college youths descend on Washington this weekend for the Rock
For Life rally and concert. The music ministry organization Rock for Life
expects hundreds of young supporters to travel to Washington for Saturday's
concert commemorating the 28th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision
Roe v. Wade that legalized abortions in the United States, and the annual
anti-abortion March for Life rally. Bryan Kemper, director of Rock for Life,
said the concert will feature the bands Hangnail, Cool Hand Luke and Jennifer's
Regret at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill. The next day, the group will
hold a candlelight prayer vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, the
participants plan to picket the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
and hold a news conference followed by a youth rally. The event winds up with a
second concert on Constitution Avenue next Tuesday. Abortion rights and women's
advocacy groups such as the Feminist Majority Foundation have not yet announced
their counter-plans for the weekend. The Feminist Majority Foundation also
sponsors what they call Rock for Choice concerts around the country featuring
musical groups such as Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the
Machine, among others.
--The line between fantasy and reality grew blurrier with news that Defenders
of Wildlife, a green environmental group, has the support of the actor playing
President Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing" in its effort to stop oil
exploration in the Artic National Wildlife Refugee. A statement from the group
says, "At least one American 'president' favors preserving the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlet ... is
calling for Americans to urge their senators to save the refuge from oil
drilling. Sheen sent his message today in an e-mail to the environmental
organization Defenders of Wildlife's electronic network of nearly 500,000
supporters."
--Clint Black will host a telethon to benefit the victims of last summer's
Tropical Storm Allison. Country.com reports the One Houston United Telethon
Concert, at Enron Field on Jan. 26, will also feature special appearances by
Lisa Hartman Black, Rodney Crowell, Destiny's Child, the Beach Boys, La Mafia
and Joe Sample. Black recently visited some of the homes damaged by the storm.
"Like a lot of Houstonians, I thought by now the situation had worked itself
out," he said on his Web site. "People are living in conditions hard to accept.
It's almost impossible to manage our emotions. It's not just homes but lives
that need to be rebuilt." The telethon will air on several Houston TV stations.
--By the end of the month, a 1790s-vintage portrait of George Washington will
be moving from the George Washington Museum to Barbra Streisand's home in
Malibu, Calif. The oil painting has been on display at the museum since
October. Streisand outbid the Mount Vernon Ladies Association to buy the
painting for $412,750 at a Sotheby's auction in May, but agreed at the
association's request to lend the artwork to the national historic site for
four months. ``They requested it for a period of time for which she
acquiesced,'' said Streisand's manager, Martin Erlichman. ``They did not ask
for an extension.'' ``We're thrilled to have it here,'' said Mount Vernon's
associate director, Linda Ayres. The painting by Charles Peale Polk was
described in the Sotheby's catalog as a ``highly individual contribution to the
body of early Presidential portraiture.'' With the 1777 Battle of Princeton
serving as a backdrop, the painting depicts a more youthful commander in chief
than seen in the famous Gilbert Stuart portraits. It's unclear whether
Washington sat for Polk. Streisand told the Orlando Sentinel in November that
she collects 18th-century artifacts and planned to hang the portrait in her
home next to an 18th-century chair.
www.zap2it.com....
--TNT will become the exclusive home to repeats of CBS' "Judging Amy" next
year. The cable channel and 20th Century Fox TV, which produces the show,
announced the agreement Wednesday (Jan. 16). Repeats of the drama, which stars
Amy Brenneman as Amy Gray, a single mom and family court judge in Hartford,
Conn., will begin airing on TNT in September 2003. "Judging Amy," currently in
its third season on CBS, has enjoyed strong ratings this season. It's 12th in
the Nielsen household rankings for the year and averages about 15.6 million
viewers per episode. The show also seems a logical fit for TNT and its "We Know
Drama" slogan. The channel has acquired off-network rights to a number of
popular dramas in recent years, including "ER," "NYPD Blue" and "Law & Order."
It will have exclusive off-network rights to "Judging Amy" for seven years.
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