BITS AND PIECES 05/10 Part 2
PUSSSYKATT
--Sean (Puffy) Combs, who beat weapons charges that would have sent him to
prison, is headed to the slammer in his first major screen role. We've learned
the rap mogul just signed to play a convicted murderer sentenced to the
electric chair in "Monster's Ball." Halle Berry will play his wife in the
drama about three generations of racist executioners, portrayed by Peter Boyle,
Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger. The plot thickens when Thornton's
character falls for Berry's after Puffy's gets snuffed. The drama, produced by
Lee Daniels and directed by Marc Forster, starts shooting in Louisiana next
week.
--The first time we see actor Paul Bettany playing England's Geoffrey Chaucer
in "A Knight's Tale," he's buck naked in the middle of the road. "It was
humiliating," Bettany tells us. "But then again, if someone wants to pay me an
enormous amount of money to take my clothes off, I can live with that." It
hasn't always been so easy for the Brit. "I was a busker playing guitar on the
street, living with the two smallest lesbians in the world and 50 million
cockroaches." Fortunately, he got into the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is
playing opposite Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind."
--Ben Affleck lost big — to the tune of $50K, we hear — at Las Vegas'
Bellagio hotel….
--Gwyneth Paltrow is clearly over her Affleck-tion. A spy tells us Gwynnie and
Luke Wilson were so lost in each other's lips the other day at a
post-office-box rental store, other customers had to ask if they could get to
their boxes. The stylish actress had a package from Prada under her arm.
Natch.…
USA TODAY...
--On July 24, 'N Sync fans will be lining up to buy-buy-buy the group's new
album, Celebrity. The first single from the album, Pop, will be released
Tuesday. On May 23, the boy band kicks off its PopOdyssey stadium tour in
Jacksonville, Fla. Future dates: May 26 and 28, Hershey, Pa.; May 31 and June
1, Foxboro, Mass.; June 3-5, East Rutherford, N.J.; June 8, Cincinnati; June
10, Buffalo; June 13, Philadelphia; June 16-17, Chicago.
--Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez is going home. Rodriguez, who wrote and directed
the hit family film Spy Kids, is heading south of the border to direct Once
Upon a Time in Mexico, the third part of his action trilogy, which began in
1992 with El Mariachi and 1995's Desperado. "I plan on returning to a
down-and-dirty, more experimental style of shooting, similar to El Mariachi,"
Rodriguez told The Hollywood Reporter. Antonio Banderas, who starred in Spy
Kids and Desperado, will star in Mexico. Desperado veterans Quentin Tarantino
and Salma Hayek are said to be possibilities in the mix.
--You can take the cotton out of your ears now. The Motion Picture Association
of America announced Wednesday that it will reduce the eardrum-shattering
volume of film trailers, one of the biggest complaints by theatergoers. This is
the third reduction since the Trailer Audio Standards Association was set up to
standardize the volume of movie previews, which are often recorded at deafening
volumes to grab attention.
--Singer Mary Wilson of The Supremes deserves a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Wilson
will receive an associate degree in liberal arts today from New York
University. This is no cushy honorary degree. Wilson took four years of classes
in between tours to earn her diploma.
--Bette Midler's book deal has gone the way of her TV show. Two weeks ago,
Midler was reportedly offered $1 million by Simon & Schuster for a tell-all
book about her failed CBS sitcom, Bette. A spokesman for the publisher denies
rumors that the deal was killed by Viacom, parent of CBS and Simon & Schuster.
--Amid worries about the economy and uncertainty about its effect on the art
market, the spring sales at the two big New York auction houses kicked off
Wednesday night at Christie's, where the star lot, a striking 1923 Picasso
portrait of his first wife, Olga Picasso, failed to sell. It had been expected
to go for up to $30 million. A Monet Nymphéas (1916-1919) fetched $9.9
million, just under the pre-auction estimate. Sotheby's big impressionist sale
starts Thursday.
UPI....
--Paul Schrader, the director of "Affliction" and writer of "Taxi Driver" and
"Raging Bull," will direct "Auto-Focus" -- a movie based on the brutal 1978
murder of "Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane. The actor was 49 years old when he
was bludgeoned to death with a camera tripod in an apartment in Scottsdale,
Ariz., where he had been appearing at a dinner theater -- seven years after his
hit comedy series ended its six-year run on CBS-TV. Investigators found a video
library in Crane's room, a catalog of his sexual one-night-stands. John Henry
Carpenter -- an electronics equipment dealer who helped Crane learn how to use
video equipment, and frequently shared women with Crane -- was accused of
killing the actor because he was afraid Crane was going to end the friendship.
However, Carpenter was acquitted in 1994 when a jury decided there was
insufficient evidence to convict him. The movie is being produced by Scott
Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the writers of "The People vs. Larry Flynt"
and "Man on the Moon." The screenplay was written by Michael Gerbosi, based on
the Robert Graysmith book "The Murder of Bob Crane."
--Radiohead and Capitol Records are creating the first instant message "buddy"
in music history. The label has teamed up with ActiveBuddy, Inc., a provider of
interactive agent technology, to build branded interactive agents to promote
artists and new album releases, beginning with Radiohead. It'll be part of
Capitol's marketing campaign for "Amnesiac," the band's fifth album due for
release on June 5. Through Active Buddy's technology, Radiohead will be the
first band to provide exclusive Radiohead content directly to its fans through
Instant Messaging. The Radiohead agent will allow fans to access exclusive
information and services related to the band and to the album -- including tour
dates, song lists, artists' bios, album credits, purchasing information,
contact information and current Web site information. Radiohead has long been
one of the most Web-savvy bands, especially in terms of fan outreach. Prior to
the release of last year's platinum-plus, Grammy-winning "Kid A" album, band
site Radiohead.com would feature spontaneous recording and tour diary entries,
and even the occasional unannounced streaming audiovisual performances of new
material.
--The Academy of Country Music, AllStarCharity.com and Country Cares have
teamed up in support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis for a
celebrity auction featuring items from artists such as LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill,
Tim McGraw, Billy Gilman, Alabama, Lonestar, Lee Ann Womack, The Kinleys and
Jamie O'Neal. Items going on the block will include personal items either worn
or used during the ACM Awards Show or items collected prior to the ACM awards,
including an autographed "I Hope You Dance" jersey and book from Womack, a
leather bomber jacket autographed by Brooks & Dunn, an autographed, framed
Keith Urban lithograph, a black Gucci top worn by Hill during her Breathe album
shoot, a one-of-a-kind, specialized and autographed Alabama guitar with band
logo and boots and personal autographed items from ACM awards host
Rimes.
--The Independent MusicFest 2001 festival will be held June 14-16 at
Nashville's Municipal Auditorium during Fan Fair. 75 independent record labels
and approximately 300 artists have asked to participate in the festival, which
is free to the public. Steven B. Riley -- a former country artist and now owner
of V2 Productions, a Nashville video production company -- masterminded the
event to give exposure to artists not appearing at Fan Fair. The festival will
have a country music flavor as well as feature other musical genres --
including pop, rock, gospel, jazz, blues and bluegrass. Former Epic and Curb
recording artist Ken Mellons will be the festival's official spokesman.
Independent MusicFest 2001 will stage a "Legends" show on opening day,
Thursday, June 14, at 4 p.m., which, Riley says, will feature performances by
as many as 20 Grand Ole Opry stars.
www.zap2it.com...
--Hoping to dissuade teens from imitating the dangerous stunts on "Jackass,"
MTV is airing clips of the show's star Johnny Knoxville asking fans to "stop
doing it" before the hit show, according to New York Times. At the beginning of
each program, viewers are already warned not to copy the stunts performed by
Knoxville and his friends. However, the warning did not stop two young men from
lighting themselves on fire as Knoxville did this season while wearing
protective gear. Another teenager hurt himself trying to jump over a moving car
while making an audition tape for the show, even though a written warning also
aired during the show states that taped submissions won't even be viewed. "Stop
doing it," Mr. Knoxville says in the new clips. "You're going to get hurt, and,
on a lesser level, we'll get canceled." Though the network does not accept
responsibility for the actions of those imitating, or claiming to imitate,
stunts on the show, MTV says it hopes that Mr. Knoxville's remarks will make
viewers think twice before trying to copycat the stunts. "We thought the most
effective means to talk about 'Jackass' was by having the star of the show
speak directly with the audience," says Van Toffler, president of MTV.
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