BITS AND PIECES 09/10 Part 1
PUSSSYKATT
--Mellow songsmith Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown")
recovering from emergency stomach surgery. The 63-year-old had been rushed to a
Canadian hospital Sunday. No further details have been disclosed on Lightfoot's
ailment.
--Sylvester Stallone suggesting he might revive his Rambo character for a new
film, possibly taking on terrorists. The aging action hero's last Rambo movie
was back in 1988.
--Frasier star David Hyde Pierce expected to make a full recovery after falling
and bonking his head while rehearsing a scene for the hit TV show.
--Vin Diesel getting credit for real-life heroics after helping pull a family
from a car fire. Diesel was riding his motorcycle on L.A.'s 101 freeway when he
saw the disabled vehicle and rescued the family.
--Oprah Winfrey to recive the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award during the
Primetime Emmys on September 22. The honor recognizes those "whose humanitarian
efforts have brought credit to the Industry and whose deeds and actions have
had a lasting impact on society."
--Cartoon Network securing rerun rights to all 72 episodes of Futuruma. The
Matt Groening 'toon, late of Fox, will debut on Cartoon Network in January.
--3 Doors Down to embark on a tour for the U.S. Navy. Beginning in October, the
rockers will play several gigs on ships and bases abroad.
--Well-endowed hip-hopster Lil' Kim to make her movie debut in Guns and Roses,
a Western focusing on five female outlaws out to avenge a murder.
--Rapper Lil' Mo has given birth to a baby girl. She and hubby Al Stone
welcomed the tot, named Heaven L. Stone, last month.
--Miramax making the first major acquisition of the Toronto Film Festival,
snapping up the distribution rights to the French film Jet Lag, starring
Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno, for around $1 million.
NY POST/V.A. MUSETTO
--Larry Clark, who has made a career out of directing sexually explicit films
about minors, has done it again. His "Ken Park," written by Harmony Korine (who
also scripted Clark's "Kids") and co-directed by Ed Lachman, shows underaged
kids having sex with each other and with adults. After seeing the movie at the
Venice International Film Festival, critic Lee Marshall of Screen Daily wrote:
"The male organ . . . is persuaded to jump up and down and get excited, and
over-excited, all in full graphic detail." Just how much of the sex will
survive, if and when the film gets a distributor, remains to be seen.
NY POST/MICHAEL STARR....
--Ben Patrick Johnson, the announcer for "Entertainment Tonight," "Judge Joe
Brown" and "You've Gotta See This" (Fox Sports Net) has a new book out next
month (Oct. 15). "In and Out in Hollywood" (Palari Press) is a "semi-true"
novel of what happened to Johnson ("Freddie" in the book) when the producers of
"Extra" found out he was gay - just weeks before he was set to be the show's
first anchor. He ended up as a senior correspondent for one year, then left in
1994 to devote his energies to his voiceover career. E!'s Steve Kmetko says
that Johnson, "covers all the basic food groups that nourish Hollywood: Sex,
power, dreams and deception," while Bruce Vilanch ("Hollywood Squares") says
"this book speaks the truth."
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--THE mother of rapper and one-minute Pepsi shill Ludacris is lashing out at
Bill O'Reilly for forcing Pepsi to scrap its promotion deal with him. O'Reilly
called her son a "thug" and cited his sexually graphic lyrics and videos. "How
irresponsible, arrogant, erroneous and slanderous of you," Ludacris' mom writes
in a letter to the Fox News gabber in a letter posted on daveyd.com. "Let's
keep it real. Fox cannot take the high ground with respect to artistic
expression."
--ROGER Ebert throwing a hissy fit at an overfilled screening at the Toronto
Film Fest, whining, "Who are these people? Why are they getting in?" "Because
they are the next in line," responded a volunteer, before Ebert and his
five-person entourage wandered off for some broiled chicken . . .
--STEVE Tyler weeping at St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue at the funeral of
his former wife, Cyrinda Fox, as copiously as Cyrinda's daughter Mia Tyler and
Mia's half-sister, Liv Tyler . . .
--THE West 11th Street townhouse former Sen. Bob Kerrey was about to move into
as the new president of the New School was ravaged by fire early yesterday
morning. For the past year and a half, some New School staffers wondered why
over $1 million was being spent on a gut rehab of the mansion while the
university's budgets were being slashed. At the same time, neighbors were fed
up with the incessant noise and inconvenience of the long-running project.
Everything was nearly finished, and they were looking forward to peace and
quiet, when the fire broke out on the second floor and spread upwards, almost
destroying the building. Though fire marshals are still investigating the
cause, the best guess was faulty wiring. Now the rehab work must start all over
again. New School reps did not return calls. But one school official who viewed
the disaster scene firsthand was overheard sighing, "What a mess."
--JULIAN Schnabel and Sean Penn are competing to make the next great surf movie
now that "Blue Crush" has wiped out. Penn is already at work on "In Search of
Captain Zero," the film version of Allan Weisbecker's surfer memoir. Now
Schnabel is hot to direct the life story of surf legend Herbie Fletcher.
Schnabel was recently seen giving the old beach dog a tour of his favorite
Montauk shoreline, reports artnet.com. And he sniffs at the competition from
Penn. "I read the book," he told a friend. "But I didn't think much of it."
--A FORMER bandmate of Frank Zappa says his son Dweezil Zappa is crazy for
auctioning off the guitar his father was given by Jimi Hendrix. Ike Willis,
Zappa's longtime guitarist and backup singer, calls Dweezil's decison to
auction the instrument - which Hendrix famously set on fire at the Miami Pop
Festival in 1968, before giving it to Zappa - "ridiculous." Willis says: "I
would never even dream of selling the thing. It should be played so that others
can feel the magic instead of [letting it] sit in a glass case collecting
dust." The guitar goes on the block in London Sept. 24.
--HER tennis game isn't improving, but Anna Kournikova looks so much like a
winner that she has opportunities other players don't. The ravishing Russian,
who has been steaming up local nightclubs with her boyfriend, Enrique Iglesias,
reportedly is set to launch her own range of beauty products. Teaming up with a
German cosmetic group, Kournikova will produce perfume, deodorant and a unisex
shower gel.
NY POST/LIZ SMITH....
--SOME PEOPLE snickered a bit at Sharon Stone during the Cannes film Festival.
Sharon was one of the festival judges, and appeared every day and night on the
red carpet in a new, different and daring outfit. She posed like a starlet,
obliging anybody with a Polaroid, yakking it up with all of the media outlets.
It looked like an overzealous audition, an all hands-on-deck alert that the
sexy star was back, after adopting a child, coping with her husband's
komodo-dragon injury and surviving her own illness - a scary brain aneurysm.
The one-time Oscar nominee was camera-ready again. If it seemed a little . . .
"anxious," well, guess what? It worked! Movieline magazine for October reports
that Stone will star with Dennis Quaid in "Cold Creek Manor" for director Mike
Figgis. Then she'll do "A Different Loyalty," playing an alcoholic British
woman who becomes a spy, opposite Rupert Everett. And, if all goes as planned,
Sharon will star in the film version of Mary Karr's novel, "The Liar's Club."
In that she would have the scenery-chewing role of a much-married, mentally
unstable matriarch of an equally dysfunctional Texas family. Take a tip from
Sharon Stone, you young whippersnappers, who dress like rag pickers and run
from the camera: Strike a pose when you're all dressed up. Look good. Be
gracious. Publicity, used correctly, is never to be despised.
--DIANE KEATON is interviewed in the big 15th anniversary issue of Premiere
magazine. Asked by Brantley Bardin about criticism of Woody Allen and his
penchant for casting himself opposite much younger women, Diane says: "I wonder
if it's because they don't accept him as an actor, but only 'Woody Allen.'
Plus, his personal history makes it easier to . . . well, there is always going
to be a scapegoat in the end. I mean Martha Stewart is going to have to take
the rap, because it is just so much fun to hate her, and I feel there's an
element of that with Woody. The public wants to get back at him." Well, I don't
know about that, I think people are always ready to see a good Woody Allen
movie. But Woody's young leading ladies are now his film shtick, his trademark,
almost. He hardly presents himself as a romantic or alluring character.
Pursuing these young women on screen is the only way Woody can utter his
self-deprecating jokes and asides. At home, in real life, we know he is not so
humble.
--SINGING SENSATION Josh Groban's voice is heard in Verizon's new 90-second TV
ad, reflecting the events of Sept. 11. Filmed at the Statue of Liberty, the
spot features the faces of children of all races - including Middle Eastern.
Groban will also perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" on NBC's "Concert for
America" tomorrow night. SO YOU love celebrities and you also have a bent
toward doing a good deed in a naughty world? Well, have I got an event for you.
I'm going to attend it myself.
--On Sept. 25 - Christopher Reeve, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Barbara Walters and Ron Meyer, who all share the same birthday, will blow out
their candles together at the Marriott Marquis in "A Magical Birthday Bash" to
benefit Chris' Paralysis Foundation. "Sex and the City's" Kim Cattrall will be
host, and none other than Robin Williams is to make a special appearance. For
tickets, call (212) 353-8200. But if you can't afford them, you can still help
Chris and his cause. An anonymous donor will give $1 to the foundation for
every e-mail card sent to Christopher Reeve, www.christopherreeve.org.
* * *
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY....
Mickey Rourke may need to get spayed after his dog-in-heat behavior at the
Toronto Film Fest last weekend. The high-spirited actor treated one and all to
a viewing of his private parts at a party for his new movie, "Spun," at the
Bovine Sex Club. We hear some gal at the party asked Rourke if it were true
that he is, uh, one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Rourke was only to happy to
demonstrate. "I was pretty shocked," another clubgoer, artist Floria Sigismondi
tells us. She was also horrified by Rourke's attempt at some pretend S&M at the
club. "I don't necessarily like to be thrown up against a pinball machine and
have my hair pulled," says Sigismondi. "Things just got out of hand. He
couldn't take no for an answer. I finally told him I had a boyfriend, and he
walked away with a waitress." Rourke isn't the only frisky guy in Toronto.
Dennis Quaid was spotted at another party, making out with a blond. Colin
Farrell dropped trou outside a bar - apparently to entertain some of his
drinking buddies. Farrell pulled up his pants after a paparazzo snapped, then
headed to the Brass Rail strip club, where he stayed until 2:30 a.m.
--Jerry Lewis was said to be recuperating yesterday after collapsing at a
London charity show. The comic, 76, was backstage at the Palladium, getting
ready to perform at a benefit for a drug- and alcohol-treatment program, when
he took ill. Show producer Stephen Allen Green and Lewis' wife, SanDee,
disputed reports that he was taken to a hospital. "He is currently resting
comfortably at his London residence," Green said in a statement. "There is no
change in his condition," said SanDee, who is in Las Vegas. Lewis contracted
spinal meningitis two years ago. Last year he was diagnosed with pulmonary
fibrosis, for which he takes steroids. He also suffers from diabetes. The
comedic legend has lately relied on a battery-powered pulse generator to
relieve spinal pain that makes it difficult for him to walk.
--George Stephanopoulos missed an Essex House event that honored his network,
ABC, on Monday. But the anchor of "This Week" had one beautiful alibi - his new
daughter, Elliott Anastasia Stephanopoulos, who arrived at 7:02 a.m. The former
Clinton aide was at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington coaching his wife,
Alexandra Wentworth, in the delivery room. Elliott - which was the maiden name
of Wentworth's great-grandmother - arrived about two weeks early. An ABC rep
says the parents attribute that to their spicy Mexican dinner Sunday night.
--Brian DePalma may have a keen fan in Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi strongman is
said to have been inspired by the scene in "The Untouchables" in which Al
Capone, played by Robert De Niro, beckons a rival to a sitdown on the premise
of making peace, only to bash his head in with a baseball bat. According to
U.S. News & World Report, Saddam recently summoned "foes for a tongue-lashing -
and afterward shot one in the head." Sources tell the mag that the dictator
videotaped the murder scene, then sent cassettes to Arab leaders as a warning
of what happens to enemies. Saudi Arabia is said to have briefed the United
States on it and plans to cut a copy. A State Department spokesman told us he
was unaware of such a video. Saudi Embassy officials had no immediate comment.
--All the directors and actors heading to Savannah, Ga., at October's end
aren't going for the peach pie. The kudzu-draped town boasts the Savannah
College of Art and Design - home, surprisingly, of the country's most
technologically advanced film and video school and its film festival. Sydney
Pollack will teach a master class for directing students following a
retrospective of his movies, including "Tootsie," "The Way We Were," "They
Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and "Out of Africa." Debbie Reynolds is scheduled to
speak after receiving a lifetime-achievement award. Geraldine and Annie Chaplin
will fly from Switzerland for a special screening tied to the rerelease of
eight movies by their father, Charlie.
--Serena Williams has a heck of an overhead. Just ask Candice Bergen. U.S. Open
champion Williams pounded a ball so hard it flew into the second-tier box where
the actress was sitting, grazing her head. She laughed it off, as though it had
been a dig from Dan Quayle. Speaking of Serena, she lets nothing go to waste.
Harry Winston presented her with a 249-diamond bracelet. But when it proved too
clunky to wear on the court, she suggested that the jeweler take out a few
links - and turn them into earrings! Winston obliged ...
--Sean Combs is waging a quiet campaign to defend the name of his friend
Notorious B.I.G., we hear. So far, the rap mogul has made no public statement
about the recent L.A. Times report alleging that Biggie played a role in the
murder of rival Tupac Shakur. But a source says Combs has sent messages to
friends via his two-way pager, telling them to dismiss the report.
USA TODAY....
--The Russian Space Agency has officially said 'N Sync star Lance Bass will not
be aboard the Oct. 28 flight to the space station. A letter faxed Monday to
NASA ends the 23-year-old's plan to be the youngest in space and the third
space tourist. No response from Destiny Productions, which promoted his flight.
--AOL members can see an exclusive clip from hotly anticipated movie Red
Dragon, the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, at 10 a.m. ET Thursday. The
scene features Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Edward Norton, who plays
FBI agent Will Graham. It can be seen at AOL. Keyword: First View and
Moviefone.com. Dragon hits theaters Oct. 4.
--Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones is being digitally remastered for
showing in IMAX theaters starting Nov. 1. Apollo 13 — The IMAX Experience is
the first movie to undergo the remastering process to IMAX; it premieres in
L.A. Friday.
--The maker of the top-selling Grand Theft Auto video game series is taking its
musical high jinks beyond the game with seven separate soundtracks for Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City, due Oct. 29 for Sony's PlayStation 2 system. Taken from
tunes heard on radio stations during the game, the albums include '80s hits
from Blondie, A Flock of Seagulls, Judas Priest and Kool and the Gang.
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