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Jerry Bruckheimer is known for producing blockbuster hits

The Most Powerful Man in Hollywood. Over the past two decades, Jerry Bruckheimer's name has become synonymous with Hollywood blockbusters.

From Bad Boys to Beverly Hills Cop and from Top Gun to The Rock, the 58-year-old producer has made one hit after another. This year he struck box office gold with Pirates Of The Caribbean, while Bad Boys 2 was also a success. All of which has led US magazine Entertainment Weekly to vote him the most powerful man in Hollywood. Detroit-born Bruckheimer developed his love of films when he discovered Steve McQueen action movies at an early age, while his organizational skills stood him in good stead for his future career. "I had an ability to organize things and put them together," he says. "For example, I was never a good athlete, but I put together a baseball team so I could play. Then I got a hockey team together so I could play that too". His first job as producer came in 1972 with The Culpepper Cattle Company, a Western which follows the fortunes of a young farmhand desperate to make it as a cattle rancher. Other early productions included 1980's American Gigolo, which made a star of Richard Gere, Michael Mann's 1981 thriller Thief and the horror remake Cat People, with Nastassja Kinski.

Adrenaline: In 1983 he made Flashdance, his first collaboration with long-time producing partner Don Simpson. It was a smash hit, making more than $100m in the US alone, and set the tone for future Simpson/Bruckheimer productions with its adrenaline-powered story and several set-pieces set to rock music. It was a formula that saw them through a string of 80s and early 90s hits, notably Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which turned Eddie Murphy into a worldwide star and 1986's Top Gun, which did the same for Tom Cruise. Together they pioneered the "high concept" movie - films which would begin with a simple idea or premise and then given to scriptwriters to flesh out. Days Of Thunder (1990), Bad Boys (1995), Crimson Tide (1995) and The Rock (1996) were among the other hit projects to emerge from their 14-year partnership. Sadly the partnership came to a premature end in 1996 when Don Simpson died of heart failure aged 52. Simpson, who was known for his flamboyant lifestyle and volatile temper, had been battling with drug problems for years before his death. Afterwards, Bruckheimer says, he was faced with the challenge of having to prove himself to the industry. Yet, thanks to the likes of 1998's Armageddon and Enemy Of The State and 2001's Black Hawk Down, as well as the success of smaller films such as 2000's Coyote Ugly, he has done just that. Even 2001's Pearl Harbor made nearly $200m in the US despite largely negative reviews. He's also scored a hit on the small screen with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, currently doing battle in the US ratings with another of his shows, Without A Trace. But while Bruckheimer's name above the credits virtually assures box office success, the critics aren't usually so impressed with his brand of loud, flashy blockbuster. "It scared me a little when they liked Pirates," he says of the film's largely positive reviews. "Because if the critics love it, I think, 'Is it going to be a hit?'" His success with Pirates of the Caribbean is perhaps his crowning achievement. It is the ultimate high concept movie - a film based on a theme park ride.

He tops Hollywood power list: TV and film producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been named the most powerful figure in entertainment by a US list. Bruckheimer has worked on films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Hawk Down plus TV shows like CSI. "Bruckheimer has become a brand," said Entertainment Weekly magazine in its 14th annual list of the 101 most powerful people in Hollywood. A spokesman for Bruckheimer said he was "flattered" by the honor - but wanted people to judge him on his work. Bruckheimer produced one of the most successful films of the summer in Pirates of the Caribbean and Bad Boys II, the sequel to the 1995 film starring Will Smith, was a more modest hit.

Blockbusters: And besides CSI, which is the most popular show in the US, Bruckheimer's has also produced TV hits including CSI: Miami and Without a Trace. Bruckheimer made his name as part of a production team in the 1980s with Don Simpson. Together, they produced landmark films like Flashdance, Beverley Hills Cop, Top Gun and Days of Thunder. Since Simpson's death in 1996, Bruckheimer has produced blockbusters including Con Air, The Rock, Enemy of the State, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. Entertainment Weekly's top ten also included director Steven Spielberg, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, actor Tom Cruise and rapper Eminem. Last year's number one, Denzel Washington, went down to number 22.

KEELY SMITH TRIUMPHANT COMEBACK

Photo: Keely Smith and Louis Prima, some 50 years ago...

Keely Smith, queen of the swing and ex-wife/partner of the legendary Louis Prima is under the spotlight. This year, Ms. Smith appeared in many shows in New York, Florida and her beloved Las Vegas where she made her big debut 5 decades ago with Prima 5 man swing band. The amazing part of her splendid comeback is the longevity of her voice. It is still sparkling and rich. Keely Smith, nee Dorothy Jacqueline Keely was born on 3-9-1932 in Norfolk, Virginia. Beginning her career as the female singer in Louis Prima’s band, and later becoming famous as one half of their hugely successful Las Vegas lounge act, Keely’s early achievements were tied to someone or something else.

Photo: Keely Smith then...

and now..

Now in her early 70s, she has found the renewed interest and acknowledgment of her own talent to be immensely gratifying. "I’m thrilled that the resurgence is of my career by myself because for many years everything I did was with Louis, and now all of a sudden I’m being recognized on my own and that really is the ultimate for me," she recounted recently to the Los Angeles Times. Throughout the 1950s, Louis and Keely were the undisputed King & Queen of Las Vegas and have been credited with essentially inventing the modern lounge act. Performing five shows a night at the Sahara’s Casbar Lounge, they became a huge draw for both the average blue-collar tourists as well as some of the biggest celebrities at that time. On any given night, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Howard Hughes, and the young Senator John F. Kennedy could be found in the audience. Many of the show business elite would add to the audience’s enjoyment of the show by affably heckling the duo and sometimes even getting up on stage to join the act. During this period, Capitol Records issued a series of chart-topping albums that consisted of abridged versions of Prima and Smith’s beloved nightclub act. In addition, Keely released I Wish You Love, a solo debut that confirmed her own star power by receiving a GRAMMY nomination and selling over a million copies. Keely’s appeal and renown is just as strong today, having survived several decades, various musical trends and the fickle nature of the entertainment industry. Actor Robert DeNiro and director Martin Scorcese have been long-time fans of Keely’s and over the years have placed her music in numerous films, including “The Deerhunter,” “Raging Bull,” “Analyze This,” “That Old Feeling,” “Big Night” and “Mad Dog and Glory.” The revival of the swing movement in the late ‘90s inspired The Gap retail chain to use Prima’s signature tune, "Jump, Jive and Wail" in one of its popular ad campaigns. This renewed interest in swing and big band music also led to an invitation for Keely to perform at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, where she sang to a jam-packed crowd of admirers, both young and old. Most recently, Keely has performed to SRO audiences across the country, including a five-night stop in Atlantic City and a stint at Feinstein’s at the Regency in New York City. Talks are currently underway to book Keely into Caesar’s in Las Vegas, bringing her back full circle to where it all began. In the meantime, Keely is writing her autobiography, which has been a work in progress for several years. "I started it about four years ago and then put it aside," she explains. "When I read it, I wasn’t sure if I liked what I had written, but now I’ve started on it again. I want to do it with complete honesty, or not at all." And there are certainly plenty of lifetime experiences to chronicle: winning one of the first-ever Grammy Awards in 1959, performing at President Kennedy’s inauguration, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and friendships with everyone from The Rat Pack to Elvis Presley. "I have been very blessed in my life," says Keely reflecting back. And as she looks towards the future, there are even more accolades to receive and sold-out shows still to come. In October of 2000 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, The Cherokee Honor Society will bestow Keely with its prestigious Cherokee Medal of Honor. "It’s the highest recognition that can be bestowed to a woman in the Cherokee nation," she states proudly. The Medal of Honor is given out annually to recipients whose achievements bring pride and honor to the Cherokee nation and community. The incomparable Tony Bennett has gone on record naming Keely Smith "one of the greatest jazz-pop singers of all time." What better candidate then to honor Count Basie, one of the greatest bandleaders of all time. Further expanding her audience and repertoire, Keely Smith once again pays tribute to an important figure in her life with class, respect, and above all, an immense display of pure talent. Merv Griffin says it best—“Keely is awesome!”. Source: Swingmusic.

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SEAN PENN, BUSH AND IRAQ

It is afternoon in Marin County, well past the lunch hour. In the Indian restaurant, the kitchen is about to close. There is the smell of curry and the sound of sitar music. In a corner, wondering whether the manager will bend the no-smoking law and let him fire up a cigarette at the table, Sean Penn is talking about work and life and these past 12 controversial months. 'E.L. Doctorow had a quote I've used a lot of times,' Penn says, a pack of American Spirit cigarettes weighing down his shirt pocket, 'that the responsibility of the artist is to know the time in which he lives.' The words come out in a rapid mumble. For all the menace of his public image, Penn in person is fragile-looking. He's not tall - maybe 5ft 10in - and he's slight, like a dancer. From a distance, waiting alone outside this hole in the wall in a Travelodge just off the freeway, he looked lost and dishevelled, pacing and smoking on the blank pavement like some bohemian fugitive in one of his own movies. Close up he is clean-cut, with very blue eyes and very white sneakers, his face shaved, his hair puffed with some sort of styling product. His untucked shirt looked from afar like denim; up close, it turns out to have been cut from something finer, more delicate. It has been a year since Penn's visit to Iraq turned him into the surprise face of the anti-war movement. The New York Post is still ragging on him ('Baghdad Sean', its pundits called him at one point). Nor has that been the extent of his trouble. The courts are still sorting out a legal wrangle in which Penn claimed producer Steve Bing cancelled a $10 million job offer after Penn questioned the invasion on the Larry King show. Plus, his car was stolen from the street in broad daylight in April, along with the two guns that were in it.

Penn's personal dust-ups, however, have coincided with an especially fertile professional period, which has yielded two of his most interesting roles as an actor in many years. He is in Clint Eastwood's brooding thriller Mystic River, and Alejandro González Iñárritu's edgy 21 Grams. The first puts him in the hands of a respected Hollywood elder, the second in the sights of a budding and highly regarded Mexican director. Both are meaty roles, with all-star ensemble casts, and Penn's name is again coming up in the context of Oscar nominations - he's never won one. His performances are so disparate that the actor is almost unrecognizable from one film to the other, a chameleon-like trait that has characterized Penn's work, from the stoned surfer dude Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High to the convicted murderer in Dead Man Walking to the talented but repugnant guitarist in Sweet and Lowdown. But the range of these more recent roles has raised questions about the intersection of an artist's world and his work. Penn did the first film before the Iraq contretemps and started on the second within hours of his return from Baghdad. 'He was smelling still [from the long journey] when he came on the set,' Iñárritu said. Penn's immersion in the war issue, once he committed to it, mirrored the ferocity of his involvement in both Eastwood's and Iñárritu's movie projects. It was October 2002 when Penn took out a $56,000 ad in the Washington Post to publish an open letter to President George W. Bush. The letter, which Penn said he wrote both as a father of two and as the son of a World War II veteran, called on Bush to slow the march to war in Iraq. The thrust of the ad wasn't surprising, but Penn's name as signatory was, a little. His father, the late TV director Leo Penn, had been blacklisted in 1950s Hollywood, and as a result Penn had, by and large, kept his own political views to himself. Half a dozen or so years ago, Penn moved out of Hollywood to Marin County in San Francisco's Bay Area where he lives with his wife, actress Robin Wright Penn, and their 12-year-old daughter, Dylan, and 10-year-old son, Hopper. Penn was, he says, 'tired of a lot of aspects of Los Angeles, the main one being raising the kids in a company town'. As a father, he didn't want to be distracted 'by people mainlining the sort of commercialism and compromise of spirit that goes with most people's idea of [showbusiness]'. The Bay Area, however, has a strain of progressive fervor that makes Hollywood look like a hotbed of moderation. Here, low-key political views are the exception, and Penn's ad was widely viewed as the least one might expect from someone of his stature. Still, it was noticed and applauded by Norman Solomon, head of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a San Francisco-based public policy group. Solomon had taken several public officials on fact-finding missions to Baghdad, and, though he had never met the actor, he wrote to Penn, inviting him to come along on his next trip. To his astonishment, Penn said yes, squeezing a tour of hospitals, schools, poor neighborhoods and the Iraqi Foreign Minister's office into a three-day window before flying to Memphis to shoot 21 Grams. Solomon said the actor surprised him: not only did Penn fly economy (Penn once took a lot of flak when he complained about not getting a private jet while promoting a picture), but he also talked about the issues with humanism and depth. None the less, Penn was ridiculed by conservatives as a liberal elitist, whose impulsive act had undermined the appearance of American unity. Criticism worsened when the Iraqi government news agency falsely proclaimed that the actor had confirmed Iraq to be free of weapons of mass destruction. 'Hey, isn't that Bono's job?' sniggered Craig Kilborn of CBS's Late Late Show. In fact, both sides had miscast him. Penn says that he went to Iraq largely because he didn't believe the Bush administration's rationale for the invasion and feared that questions weren't being raised because too many Americans felt intimidated. 'I was just frustrated with the sense of the place that was being commonly accepted,' he says as the waiter sets down plates of naan and chicken curry. 'It made no sense to me as an observer of human nature.' Penn is no peacenik, however. He once named politics as the job he'd never want on the long-running US TV show Inside the Actors Studio. He spent a month in jail in the 1980s for rounding off a series of fist fights with an attack on an extra who tried to take his picture on the set of gang movie Colors. Months after his return from Iraq, one of the muscle cars he likes to drive - a limited-edition 1987 Buick Grand National - was stolen in Berkeley. Among the contents was a .38-calibre Smith & Wesson revolver and a loaded 9mm Glock handgun. 'I've had some very serious threats that have come my way,' Penn says, adding ominously, 'I know exactly who stole my car.' Records show he received a concealed weapons permit in 2001 after persistent calls from an allegedly violent ex-employee whom he fired in the 1980s. Amid such personal drama, Penn continued to make movies. His last major role had been I Am Sam in 2001, a sentimental drama about a mentally challenged adult in a custody battle, that earned him his third Oscar nomination. He then went back to directing, providing the American contribution to September 11, a collection of short films from around the world. Penn had been interested for some time in working with Eastwood, who's known as an actor's director; Eastwood had talked to him tentatively about a part in Blood Work, the director's 2002 thriller, but that hadn't worked out. 'But we had a really nice time together and felt a lot of the same things about what was interesting to speak to right now in a movie,' Penn says. When, some time later, the director approached him again, this time about doing a film version of Dennis Lehane's novel Mystic River, 'I immediately wanted to do it,' Penn says. The story hinges on the aftermath of a child molestation in working-class Boston and on the ways that that act of violence plays out a generation later when a murder occurs in the same neighborhood. Life and art intersected more immediately, however, when Penn went to work on 21 Grams in December. In that film he plays a dying man who, because of a tragedy, is given a second chance and feels compelled to repay his emotionally devastated benefactress, played by Naomi Watts. Initially, Iñárritu said, he had imagined Penn in thegrittier part that he ended up giving instead to Benicio Del Toro. 'I spent four or five months, thinking, going around,' says the director, who got to know Penn after the actor cold-called him on his mobile phone to compliment him on his debut film, Amores Perros. In the end, however, the director said he was glad he ended up offering Penn the role of the more impressionable good guy, not least because Penn had arrived on the set directly from Baghdad and as a result was emotionally tender. 'He was exhausted when he arrived, but I think it helped him,' Iñárritu says. 'I didn't analyze it consciously,' says Penn, who said he mainly remembers feeling 'awake and alive and curious' when he came back from Iraq. Penn's stripped-down performance is remarkable for its understatement and its communication of disorientation and pain. 'I think it's really important to be able to feel your own life, and I had felt so numbed by what had been a kind of surreal saturation of what was going on in the Middle East, and what it was going to mean, particularly relative to my kids' future and things like that,' he says. 'I wanted to lodge what had happened into whoever I was playing.' Now, he says, he plans to take a year off, having completed work on Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Based on a true story, the film follows the fortunes of a failed furniture salesman who snaps, blames the government for his troubles and decides to crash a plane into the White House. Penn has written one script for himself to direct, he says, and is writing another for Sam Bayer, who was Penn's cinematographer on the 9/11 short film. He may also do something more with his experience in Iraq. 'I started writing right away,' he says, but isn't sure what will come of his observations, artistically or otherwise. 'Your life is what you bring to any story,' he says, finally getting the go-ahead to smoke from the manager of the empty restaurant. 'This is a life craft. It's, "How do you feel? Who are you? What do you have to say?"

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LIDO. PARIS

Establishment Photo

On the most beautiful avenue in the world, one of the greatest shows on earth : «Bonheur !» at the Lido de Paris. An enchanting show in a sumptous decor where magic and hi-tech combine to offer you the very best of Paris. A show not to be missed for un unforgettable evening! This new show will be available from December 2003,Book it now through their website!

CINEMA: INDEX OF CONTENTS AND ARTICLES

REVISITING THE STARS, THE GOSSIPS AND RUMORS OF THE YEAR. MORE NEWS NEXT

By Shoshanna Rosenstein, Shoshanna Rosenberg, Josephine Leblanc, Carmen Ortega, Louise Bertrand, Alain Berger, Simone Leclerc, Sylvia Rodriguez, and Roland de La Porte

Madonna denies being anti-Bush

US star Madonna has denied accusations that she is anti-George Bush.

The video for American Life sees Madonna throwing hand grenades to the beat of the music cut with images of victims of war. The sentiment reflected in the video caused some commentators to say Madonna was anti-Bush and pro-Iraq. "I understand that there have been reports about my upcoming video American Life in the media - much of which is inaccurate," she said in a statement on her website. "I am not anti-Bush. I am not pro-Iraq. I am pro-peace," she said. She said she felt "lucky to be an American citizen for many reasons - one of which is the right to express myself freely, especially in my work". The star is one of a growing number of celebrities who have expressed their concern about the looming war with Iraq. She said her video tried to depict the illusion of the American dream and the values held by her country. "I don't expect everyone to agree with my point of view," she added. "I am grateful to have the freedom to express these feelings and that's how I honor my country."

Photo: Madonna is married to director Guy Ritchie

The American Life video was shot in Los Angeles and features Madonna dressed as a superhero on a fashion show runway. "Starting as a runway show of couture army fatigues, the fashion show escalates into a mad frenzy depicting the catastrophic repercussions and horror of war," Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said. "This will be a stirring and extremely controversial piece of work from the artist who created the medium of the small film set to music," she added. The American Life single is out in March and will be included on her forthcoming album due for release in April. Madonna recently issued a denial that she was expecting another child with husband Guy Ritchie after a UK magazine reported she had been spotted at a birth clinic. She has complained to a press watchdog over the inaccurate article.

Alanis denies gaffe in Peru

Rock singer Alanis Morissette has denied saying "thank you Brazil" at the end of a concert in Peru. The Canadian star said it was "entirely untrue" that she had got the countries confused and her words were misheard at the gig in the Peruvian capital, Lima. On her website, she said she told 14,000 fans last month: "Thank you, bless you" - not "thank you Brazil". The singer previously blamed the slip on being drunk, saying "must have slipped out". But now the star said she felt compelled to set the record straight after the story traveled round "at such speed with and such tenacity." The singer-songwriter admitted to fans on the site that she "can be a flake like the best of them." 'Comedic': "I can claim that I'm disoriented, discombobulated, drunk, flakey and all of the cousins of those words in moments throughout my life," she said. Morissette said she had no intention of commenting on the issue at first "because it was comedic to me". The 29-year-old has been touring South America promoting her latest album Feast on Scraps. Critics made light of her gaffe and praised the Peru show. "These are mistakes, that have already been forgiven after a magical night on which we witnessed a true rock star," said one local paper.

Triumphant comeback for reunited Duran

Duran Duran were given a rapturous reception at their first UK gig for 18 years, which featured the band's original line-up.

Photo: Duran Duran's John Taylor (left) and Simon Le Bon in action at their UK comeback concert

Reunions often sound good in theory, but don't always live up to high expectations. But as a loyal Duranie, I had high hopes that my pop heroes from 1983 could pull it off in 2003 - as did the other 1,999 people at north London's Forum on Tuesday night. Despite rave reviews of their recent comeback shows in Japan and the US, the UK would be the acid test.

Photo: The original Duran Duran line-up as they looked in the 80s.

The atmosphere was electric inside the venue - this was our chance to see the real thing, the five of them back together on one stage. The venue filled up with groups of nostalgic 30-somethings eagerly flicking through shiny silver programs, and several had already put on their newly acquired tour T-shirts. When the band finally came on stage, it was just as I imagined it would be - helped since they have aged gracefully and kept all their hair. Simon Le Bon was in nostalgic mode too, kitted out in a white jacket and shoes, while Roger Taylor seemed to be wearing the same style of short-sleeved white top I remember from 20 years ago After the odd shaky moment early on - Le Bon was almost drowned out by the rest of the band on a few songs - it all clicked into place and the Duran magic of old was very much in evidence. During the second half, which included Notorious, Wild Boys, Careless Memories and Rio - each song greeted with wild cheers - the boys were on a roll, to the crowd's delight. At the end, the band beamed at each other as they took a bow. Le Bon seemed overwhelmed as he held his hand to his chest, before waving to the audience one last time. Even the most hardened critic would have to admit that although they may never have been a fan of Duran's music, this was nonetheless a triumphant return. Marvin Gaye's most sensual release gets a reappraisal with this special edition of his 1976 album I Want You. This extended version includes previously unreleased takes, alternate and instrumental mixes and snippets of the sensual love songs that were becoming Gaye's forte in the latter half of the Seventies. Many of the tracks on the original release had already been recorded and released by label-mate Leon Ware. Motown boss Berry Gordy offered them up to Gaye, thinking they offered a suitable vehicle for his singular vocal talents. And make the material his own he surely did. The very real target of his affections was his then wife Jan, whom he conspicuously refers to on the record. It's near the knuckle, personal stuff; no surprise, Marvin was never one to shy away from baring his soul. What delights the most is the chance to hear familiar anthems from brand new perspectives; the stripped down a cappella version of "I Want You" makes the already suggestive grooves even more sensual. Marvin, along with fellow love god Barry White (and the frequent power cuts of the decade), has been blamed for the 1970's pronounced spikes in birth rates. Listening to this you can hear why. The oft quoted myth of Marvin recording most of these vocals laid out on a studio sofa gains further credence from the alternative version of "I Wanna Be Where You Are." It features different lyrics from the original, and is delivered in such a laid back & fragile manner that the great man sounds on the verge of a very deep sleep. One criticism of this 'deluxe' release is that the instrumental versions of some of the tracks, lacking Marvin's expressive voice, verge on the mildly bland easy-listening. But, taken as a whole, this collection is a real treat for aficionados and newcomers alike. It gives us a chance to see Marvin's complex and contradictory character in even more detail than before.- By Greg Boramann and J. Willson.

Photo: Sharon Stone.

Sharon Stone is a cougar on the war-path. The recently separated commando queen is looking to jumpstart her sputtering career Demi Moore-style, setting her sights on Goldie Hawn's 27-year-old son Oliver Hudson. A friend claims "She's looking for her Ashton. She knows Demi has got acres of coverage since taking up with her toyboy." Stone may have a hard time duplicating Demi's hype. First of all, the reverse May-December is already getting tired and secondly, Stone is older and less hot than the newly-remodeled Moore. In order to make a bigger splash, she needs to go bolder. Forget Hudson and make a play for Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle. Here's some completely useless and shallow information: If you want hair like Jennifer Aniston's, just pick up a US$100 bottle of shampoo that's made with a curious blend of champagne, caviar and truffles. (Ironically, these are all things that are not allowed on any celebrity's Zone diet.) If you don't make a million dollars an episode and can't afford the shampoo, a cheaper alternative may be to just stick your head into a supermodel's toilet bowl. Apparently this concoction ensures rapid growth. Speaking of concoctions, it makes you wonder if she ever puts it down Brad Pitt's pants. The shampoo, that is.

Photo: Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias is on a roll. He recently padded his bank account by beating out J.Lo and Justin Timberlake to become the mole-less face of Pepsi and he's been well-received on the big screen opposite Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas in the kick-ass blockbuster Once Upon a Time in Mexico. If recent quotes are any indication though, his good fortune may be going to his mole-free head. The spawn of Julio recently revealed, "I haven't found a girlfriend I want to be with more than a week at a time and I haven't had a steady girlfriend for the last five years." That may be news to Anna Kournikova. What happens after one week? Does the Latin lothario have his women removed like an unwanted mole? (Sorry, the mole makes me giggle.)

Photo: Penélope Cruz.

Penélope Cruz has recently been forced into spin duty to combat rumours that her relationship with Tom Cruise is kaput. In a recent interview Cruz assured inquiring minds with the soothing words "everything is fine." Well, that's a ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one. I don't want to seem skeptical but lately Tom and Penélope have been seen together as often as Clark Kent and Superman.

Kevin Costner raised a few eyebrows with a recent declaration that he would never compromise his artistic integrity by making a sequel. "I have not made Tin Cup 2 or Bull Durham 2 or Dancing with Wolves Twice... I won't spit on my life to get a big fat hit." It's true -- Kevin's cinematic résumé boasts remarkable range. I mean he makes sports movies AND westerns. (Please, Tin Cup was Bull Durham on a golf course and Open Range should be called Dances Without Oscars.)

Photos: Cindy Crawford.

Cindy Crawford was recently asked to remove her US$900 Jimmy Choo shoes while going through security at JFK airport. Somehow, amidst all the metal detecting and whatnot, the high-priced heels went AWOL. While I support stepping-up security in the fight against terrorism, this instance seems to be a bit much. I can assure you that no woman would ever try to set fire to $900 shoes

ANNE MURRAY CALLED AND SHE WANTS HER HAIR BACK

Good news for anglophones -- Céline Dion's next album will be en Français. 1 fille & 4 types will be her first French disc in four years. Also, having suffered a hernia, Dion no longer does her flying stunt during her Vegas show; a body double now takes flight. Actually, I'm not surprised the songbird has grounded herself. Hell, I don't even buy her when she belts out "I drove all night" in her Chrysler ads -- mainly because she didn't even walk down the aisle at her wedding. She was carried Cleopatra-style behind a pair of camels. The zoological allusion seems apt. I'm convinced she's morphing into one of Siegfried & Roy's white tigers.

NEW RISING STARS OF THE YEAR: SUSAN BARTH, JOAN BENDER

Photos from L to R: #1.Suzan Barth. #2. Joan Bender.

This year, the pop music scene witnessed the ascension of new superb talents who are on their way to fame and fortune: Susan Barth who has just released her third CD "Wonderland", a bouquet of well crafted songs on the bohemian side with a tender touch of romance and nonchalant flair. Barth's sparkling talent is obvious. Expect to hear a lot about this rising star. She is stormy, funky, upbeat and down-to earth without relinquishing style and elegance; Joan Bender, a classically trained singer, actress and musician released a brand new CD "Stars Eyes", a collection of all time standards, as well as Bender's own composition. The CD reflects vocal virtuosity, elegance and a captivating human warmth. Joan Bender arrived in New York with one suitcase and plans to pursue musical theatre, but then it dawned on her that jazz could be a full-time pursuit. In college, Joan had heard a CD by the legendary Blossom Dearie, and when she got to New York, the first performer she went to see live was Blossom Dearie. Hearing Dearie live only confirmed what Joan had learned from the records – that this was a great artist. Joan immediately bought every piece of product Dearie was selling on the gigs, and Dearie was intrigued by this young girl who was so taken by her work. Blossom took Joan to dinner, and the two have been friends ever since. And now, the stunning and multi talented Joan Bender is taking New York by storm. Joan is a sweet and considerate person. But watch out, this young star is a volcano, for Joan is also an activist in the cause of women's rights in the music world. Joan organized the first protest of the policies of Jazz at Lincoln Center with regards to the hiring of women (or lack thereof) in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Cites Bender, "Some people misunderstood what the rally meant and thought of it as an attack against Wynton Marsalis. If we didn't like Wynton, why would we want to play with him in the band then? It is true Wynton decides who gets to be in the band, and we hope he will consider our message, as well as every other bandleader in the country! Our message is that women musicians, be it if they're a trumpet player or saxophone player, want to be included in the world of professional big bands and jazz everywhere. We held a rally at the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's fifth annual benefit gala because it was appropriate.

CLEAN UP YOUR ACTING

Photo: Tara Reid. Tara Reid has lashed out at what she sees as a Hollywood double standard. While Reid has been forced to work desperately to reform her (rather well-deserved) party-girl image, she's annoyed to see Colin Farrell's roguish behaviour rewarded. "You watch that guy smoking endless cigarettes, every other word is f**k, f**k, f**k, 'I'll screw any girl in the world.' If I did that I'd be blackballed out of the industry." You know, Reid may have a point. Of course Tinseltown's selective prejudice is based on talent, not gender. Farrell is a gifted actor whereas Reid's last two credits are National Lampoon's Van Wilder and My Boss's Daughter. Tara, make a decent movie and you too can sleep with as many women as you want.

Speaking of Demi, the dark angel has decided to furnish her new US$4.8 million love palace with furniture from IKEA. While this may sound like she's going cheap on the décor, I think Demi's just a hopeless romantic. Flipping through the IKEA catalogue must remind her of Ashton -- pages and pages of unpolished wood.

IS HE USING JAILBAIT ON THAT HOOK?

At my editor's behest, I've made a conscious effort to stay away from all things MJ, but I just had to share this little nugget. The onetime King of Pop was recently spotted arriving at an airport in Santa Barbara wearing pyjamas and carrying an umbrella, a hand fan and a fishing rod. It's as though the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy got a hold of Huck Finn.

Photo: Cuba Gooding Jr. Academy Award-winner (yes, it's true) Cuba Gooding Jr. was recently spotted shopping at a Costco in Van Nuys, CA, bragging to fellow bargain-seekers that his membership card was a present from Jerry Maguire costar Tom Cruise. Hey Cuba, maybe the cashier at Costco isn't the only one you should be reminding that you once starred in an A-list blockbuster. While you're hauling that lifetime supply of mayonnaise home to the wife and kids, you might also want to give your agent a gentle reminder lest the producers of Snow Dogs 2 or Another Boat Trip come a-calling.

SMALL THINGS COME WITH BIG PACKAGES?

Verne Troyer's little heart was broken after his engagement to 6-foot tall model/yoga instructor Genevieve Gallen was abruptly called off. Apparently the relationship fell apart because the mismatched couple couldn't handle the scrutiny of the curious media. The media aren't the only ones who are cu-rious. Let's see -- he's a mere 32 inches (vertically) and despite her amazonian stature she claims to have been completely satisfied in the boudoir. How does that work? Was she using him like a loofah?

Remake of a horror movie. Horror turns into fun??

Photo: Jessica Biel (R) stars in the 2003 remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

If slasher movies have said it once, they've said it a hundred times: When you're young, lost and weary and you need a helping hand ... the other hand is going to be holding a hook, machete or chain saw. It's the standard warning preached in most survival-horror flicks, starting with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974 and retold in the likes of Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and the more recent Jeepers Creepers. The tale has been repeated so endlessly -- and with so many sequels -- why would anyone want to remake one of the originals? Marcus Nispel, the director of New Line Cinema's 2003 version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has a simple answer: repetition is part of the fun. He described the slasher genre as modern folk tales, simple yarns meant to be told and told again, adding detail and embellishment as they grow. So why not pass the Massacre onto a new generation? "This is storytelling in the vein of Hansel and Gretel. It's age-old," said Nispel, a first-time feature director whose previous work includes music videos for Janet Jackson and Faith No More. "The metaphor is a simple one," he added. "If you're a kid or young adult in some hick town, some one-horse town, and parents are suppressing you and all you can do is get away, how do you rebel?" While the original was a $140,000 project that built an unexpected cult following the remake, starring former 7th Heaven actress Jessica Biel, retains the low-budget flavour, costing a low $9.5 million US. Biel plays one of five stranded youths who become the prey of a deformed lunatic who repeatedly fails to follow proper safety guidelines when utilizing tree-trimming equipment. Bloody horror films remain so popular -- with the recent box-office success of Jeepers Creepers 2, Freddy vs. Jason and Cabin Fever -- because teenagers and 20-somethings have a seemingly primal fascination with death. "It just seems so lowbrow, but there's a visceral thing to it. It hits you in the gut," said producer Michael Bay, who is best known for directing Pearl Harbour and Armageddon. Maybe these movies are metaphors for growing up and breaking free from the horrors of adolescence ... or maybe they're just excuses for two people to get close on a first date. "In the movies, you watch these couples just grab onto each other," Bay said, laughing. Most long-time horror fans acknowledge that slasher films follow the same pattern. But Michelle Inman, a 24-year-old slasher-film aficionado and student at California State University, Northridge, said it's the little variations that make a thriller great.

"I like to see people get out of situations, because sometimes they do. And then if they don't get out of it, I like to think 'What would I have done differently?' " she said, adding with a laugh: "It's kind of neat to take note in case you ever come across a psycho." Inman loved the original Chainsaw, but said she wasn't interested in a faithful remake. She was more curious about the alterations: in the remake, the hitchhiker at the beginning is a victim, not a weirdo; the audience gets to see Leatherface's real mug; and there's a larger family of sickos. The original featured a gritty, gruesome visage of deranged murder that lived up to its stark name. It helped define the slasher genre and stunned unprepared sneak-preview audiences -- some reportedly staggered out of theatres sick. Capitalizing on Halloween and the new remake, a special edition DVD release of the 1974 thriller debuted Tuesday. Tobe Hooper, the original's director, refused to be interviewed for this story, but has said previously that he too was inspired by folk tales -- and by shopping in a hardware store. He fused his chain-saw motif to the true-life story of Ed Gein, the Wisconsin grave robber and murderer whose 1957 exploits, which involved cannibalism and sewing clothes out of human skin, inspired the Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho and the Oscar-winning The Silence of the Lambs. Scott Kosar, the screenwriter who adapted the remake Chainsaw script, said he had reverence for the original's signature senselessness. "It's not based on plot or clever construction. There was no attempt to explain what was happening," Kosar said. "There's just a murderous beast with a chain saw and he just keeps coming and coming and coming." The same can be said of slasher movies.

Weiland and wife split.
Former Stone Temple Pilots singer has filed for divorce

Photo: Scott Weiland.

Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland has filed for divorce from his wife. The 35-year-old singer said in court documents filed Tuesday that he's divorcing Mary Weiland, with whom he has two children, because of irreconcilable differences. The couple has a prenuptial agreement. The two married in May 2000 and separated in September 2002. Mary Weiland filed for divorce after their separation, but dropped the matter in August. Scott Weiland was sentenced to three years' probation in August after pleading no contest to one count of possessing heroin. He's scheduled to return to court Monday for a progress report. He had a prior drug arrest and was jailed in 1999 after he violated probation and didn't complete drug rehabilitation programs. In 2001, Weiland pleaded guilty to domestic battery after a fight with his wife at the Hard Rock hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The judge agreed to dismiss the charges as long as Weiland underwent counseling.

Spears Glad She Didn't Settle Down

Says she's quite shy

Britney Spears, throwing away her old sweet-as-pie image and most of her clothes, says she's relieved she didn't settle down with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake. Spears is quoted in the September edition of Elle magazine discussing how the break-up made her a better artist and that she hated Timberlake talking about their relationship because she's actually quite shy. On the cover, the 21-year old star appears in a seductive pose wearing nothing but tiny black briefs. "I'll always have feelings for Justin," she said. "OK, not feelings for him, but he'll always have a special place in my heart. "He was my first love after all. I think I got way too serious, way too young. It's very healthy to not be in that relationship right now." Spears said she wasn't ready to join friends from Louisiana who had settled down. "I'll call up a friend and say, 'Hey! What's going on? You're pregnant? What? Already?' But that's where I come from and that's the mindset I had all my life," Spears said. "Now I think 'Whoah, that would have been the biggest mistake of my life. Y'know?" Spears split with Timberlake in March 2002 after three years together. "I've said goodbye. Seriously," she said. "You can love someone so much, but then there are times when too much has been said. You can forgive . . . but you can't forget." She said the breakup had made her a better artist. "I know that for a fact," she said. "But because of what happened when I went into the studio to make my new album, I sang better. It's because you're feeling. It's all real. It's you." Spears was unimpressed by Timberlake featuring a look alike of her in his video Cry Me a River. "Freakin' horrible. You know what I mean?" she said. "It was hard for me that he was so exploitative. Every interview that he did, he was just talking about us in such an open way and I just felt 'Is nothing sacred anymore'? It was weird. It was . . . disappointing. "Now Spears is enjoying the single life. "At first it was weird, but I don't know if I could be in a relationship right now. And it's more exciting when you don't have a boyfriend," she said. Spears says she's shy at heart. "When I'm in front of the camera, I know what to do, but I get in a room, stuck with four guys, and I'm like the shyest girl there."

RHE DE VILLE: THE YEAR'S GREATEST CABARET JAZZ SENSATION

New Yorker diva, Rhe De Ville made her mark on the world of Jazz Cabaret, this year. De Ville, one of today's most glamorous and captivating chanteuses captured the headlines of the American and international media. Her CD" Echoes of my Heart" elevated her to stardom. Twice, this year, De Ville's CD was nominated best Cabaret Jazz album of the year. The International Herald Daily News called her "The perfect Cabaret Diva", The London Monthly Herald added another accolade, " Superb at many levels, Rhe De Ville is almost perfect..." wrote the Herald. Without doubt, this woman can sing, and her voice is out of this world.

Photo: Cabaret diva, the fabulous Rhe De Ville. Photo credits: Scott Schedivy.

Although, her repertoire recaptured moments from the vanished golden era of Hollywood and "ancient" Broadway, De Ville's astonishing originality, romantically bursting voice blended with sensuality and extreme finesse, set her apart from the avalanches of New York's leading cabaret singers. You could sense in her voice, the maturity and sinful beauty of the voice of a woman who breathes and explodes life. In addition to her phenomenal stage presence and vocal virtuosity, De Ville mastered the art and science of gracefully projecting the femme fatale aura on stage, around the black piano, at the corner of each challenging note and amid her adoring fans.

Photo: Femme Fatale of New York Cabaret Jazz Scene, Rhe De Ville...

Watching this woman on stage is a pure delight. After all, those who go to cabaret have usually something on their mind: To forget the troubles of the day or to fantasize about a world of beauty, music, fun and possibly adventures...a world they wish to inhabit and enjoy. And De Ville is the perfect tour guide of that world. She is phenomenal. Go see her in action.

Adams's photo picked for stamp

B.C. rocker says he is 'thrilled' his photo of Queen to be used.

Rock singer Bryan Adams, also a budding celebrity photographer, will have one of his signature photographs posted across the country. Canada Post has chosen one of Mr. Adams's informal photographs of Queen Elizabeth as the new definitive, or mass-circulation stamp that will be issued on Dec. 19 in preparation for next year's postage rate change. The image was selected more than a year ago by Canada Post's volunteer stamp advisory committee after its marketing department found the picture when considering new "official" photographs of Queen Elizabeth. The stamp, of which 10 million copies will initially be printed, could conceivably be used by Canada Post for several years, according to spokesman Tim McGurrin. "Bryan Adams, being a true Canadian, realizes just how significant Canada Post using his image for the Queen stamp is," he said yesterday. "It is something that will be going to every door in Canada over the next year." Mr. Adams, who lives in London, England, said the photograph was an unpublished "out-take" from a session he did with the Queen in late 2001 in preparation for her Golden Jubilee celebrations last year. "I was thrilled and honored for my photograph to be chosen by Canada Post," he said yesterday. The playful photograph breaks from Canada Post's tradition of showing an unsmiling, regal-looking Queen; in this sepia-toned image her back is to a wall, her face is creased with laugh lines and she has a broad, toothy grin. A twinkle in her eyes suggests she was sharing a joke with Mr. Adams as he snapped the shutter. Mr. Adams, who has developed a following as a "celebrity photographer of celebrities," was chosen as one of several "official" photographers to the Queen, along with her cousin Patrick Lichfield, Prince Andrew and Dazed & Confused magazine founder Paul Rankin. Mr. McGurrin said Canada Post found the photograph when it began the process of changing its most popular Queen stamp to reflect new rates that go into effect in January. It will be used on the 49¢ stamp placed on domestic mail. The stamp could conceivably be in circulation for several years, depending on when Canada Post has to raise rates again, Mr. McGurrin said. The rate is tied to inflation. At least 20 million of the stamps are expected to be issued next year. Mr. McGurrin would not say how much Mr. Adams was paid, but described it as a nominal fee. "They're [photographers] providing us with the images because it is an honor to have them on a stamp."-Jef Lee

John Ritter remembered

Photo: Flower bouquets and photos of John Ritter are left at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, shortly after his death.

Actor John Ritter brought love and laughter not only to millions of television viewers but to family, friends and colleagues, say those who knew him well. About 1,000 people gathered Tuesday night at the El Capitan Theatre to remember Ritter, who died Sept. 11 of an undetected heart problem. He was 54. Ritter gained fame in the 1970s as the bumbling but lovable Jack Tripper on the madcap comedy series Three's Company. He staged a television comeback last year as loving dad Paul Hennessy, in the ABC series 8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter. He fell ill on the set of his new hit. At Tuesday's memorial, Ritter's widow, actress Amy Yasbeck, stood with photos of her husband as both Tripper and Hennessy. "Sorry, John," Yasbeck said, "but tonight we are here to love you out loud." Tom Ritter described his brother as "a pied piper of fun, filled with joy and love." Others who spoke included actress Katey Sagal, who played Ritter's wife on 8 Simple Rules and Michael Eisner, head of Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC. Actor-director Peter Bogdanovich was a guest star in the last 8 Simple Rules episode that Ritter taped. He described Ritter as "loving, funny, warm hearted, kind, generous, mischievous as a young kid, unpretentious." "What John seemed to be, he was," Bogdanovich said.

VERONICA GUERIN: AMAZING WOMAN!!

It's not surprising Cate Blanchett was drawn to play the martyred Irish journalist. The two have lots in common .

In 1996 an Irish journalist named Veronica Guerin pushed the drug peddlers of Dublin a little too hard. She was shot dead in her car on a country road, and became a national hero. A troubling kind of hero, to be sure. She left behind her husband and small child, who had been endangered by her reckless prodding at powerful criminals. But she also shamed the country into cracking down on them. Seven years later, the elite of Dublin loudly applauded Australian actress Cate Blanchett's performance in the film Veronica Guerin. Not everybody liked the way the story was told. But they loved Cate Blanchett's flawless imitation of a Dublin accent. They loved the ferocity of the performance. "Imagine that," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who took time out from his customary bloated action films (Pearl Harbor, Top Gun, Beverley Hills Cop) to make a film about a woman who "should be remembered. With Veronica's mom and dad and son in the audience, Cate got a ten minute ovation. For a young Australian girl to fool the Irish is really something." Only a powerful Hollywood producer could think of Blanchett, who has a razor-edged intellect and a prodigious talent, as a "young Australian girl" or imagine that her intent was to "fool the Irish." But if that is just Bruckheimer's way of saying that Blanchett stole the movie, he is entirely right. Early reaction to Veronica Guerin has focused almost entirely on Blanchett's performance, with a good deal of Oscar talk going on. Taken together with her performance as the queen of England in Elizabeth five years ago, Veronica Guerin has sealed Blanchett's reputation as the most formidable of the new crop of actresses. But when it's put to her that way, during a recent visit to the Toronto film festival, she is surprised. "I don't think about the evolution of the creature, the actress. I've been out of drama school for eight or nine years. That's enough time for a lot to happen to any one." Of course. Haven't we all done 14 films, two TV series and a couple of dozen theatre performances in the last eight years? Right after graduating? Blanchett likes to seem insouciant about a career which has clearly been built on a brutal amount of hard work. "I have to be seduced back to acting every time, there are so many other things to do in life. I don't know whether I'll..." she says, and then hesitates, realizing that you don't really want to say "whether I'll stay in this job" in a profession where lots of backup goddesses would be happy to hip-bump you back to Melbourne. "I mean, I love what I do," she continues. "I've been seduced back many times." Jerry Bruckheimer, who thought she should have won an Oscar for Elizabeth instead of just being nominated, sent her the script for Veronica Guerin. Blanchett was curious right away about the character. Guerin, it seemed, was a woman who had lived her whole life in overdrive. When she pounded on the doors of psychopathic killers who didn't want to talk to her, she did it with exactly the same manic energy she brought to "playing football or flying to Nicaragua," says Blanchett. "She loved being at the centre of things. Fireball energy, that's what's behind the film." She doesn't need to add that there is a clear affinity of personalities between herself and Guerin, so far as being "enigmatic and passionate" is concerned. But when Blanchett looked more deeply into Guerin's story she was, like most people, increasingly troubled.

Guerin had not only been warned to stop writing exposes of Ireland's drug lords, she had actually been shot in the leg by a gunman who knocked at her front door. Her response was to take intensive physiotherapy and get right back to harassing the criminals. Having located the ringleader, a murderous fellow named Gilligan who had set himself up as a pretend aristocrat breeding race horses, Guerin went right to his palatial home and knocked on the door. Gilligan stepped out and beat her senseless. That didn't stop her either Her husband and child also begged her to stop, and she didn't. "You can say she was cavalier," says Blanchett, "but she was trying to change the environment her child was growing up in." She also cuts short any suggestion that a mother has a greater responsibility to keep herself alive than a father. "Lots of policemen with children risk their lives." As an actress Blanchett is a superb technician, and she deployed a variety of devices to approach the role. She listened to tapes of Guerin being interviewed, including some that were made after she was assaulted by Gilligan. "The linguistic process is a way into the character," says Blanchett. "How they intonate, how they breathe...the anger submerged in the voice." She talked to Blanchett's mother, brothers and other relatives, "and they all described a different person, the way people do." She spent a solid month in Ireland hammering away at the accent until nobody could spot that she was foreign. And then she contemplated the fact that Joel Schumacher, the director, wanted Guerin's death to occur at the beginning, with the rest of the film depicting the months before her death. The audience would know that Guerin was heading toward death, but Guerin herself did not. How to play a character who doesn't know that she is going to die, when you the actor do? "It's part of the skill. You have to have a childlike sense of concentration. They say you can be infantilized in this industry, but you have to have the ability to do imaginative play and pretend that what you're doing hasn't happened before," she says. Especially difficult was the scene where Gilligan attacks her. "The only way to play shock is to pretend it isn't going to happen. She didn't knock on Gilligan's door expecting to be beaten. Doing the scene wasn't pleasant. I had on a thin suit and I couldn't pad it because of continuity (she had worn it in a previous scene). And it was raining. Gerry (McSorley, who plays Gilligan) was nervous in case he hit me. And then he did hit me. He hadn't intended it." So here is Blanchett, the camera recording not-entirely-fake blood spurting from her nose and mouth, continuing her plan: to become the "rag doll" that Guerin had described herself as being in the same moment. Never having been beaten up herself, she had prepped for the scene by asking male friends what it was like. "They said an unprovoked beating leaves you with humiliation that turns to rage. I found that interesting."

Blanchett, who is 34 years old, grew up in Melbourne. Her Australian mother and American father were business people, and her grandfather, she recalls, "was a mechanic and illustrator". She studied economics and fine art at university, and with no actors in the family had no real reason to think of herself becoming one. But while travelling in Egypt she picked up a little money working as an extra on an Arabic film. She returned to Australia and attended the National Academy of Dramatic Arts. Straight out the door of the school, she became a fixture of professional theatre in Sydney, a link she has never forgotten (this spring she will return there to play Hedda Gabler in a new adaptation written by her husband, film director Andrew Upton). She hasn't always been fortunate in her choice of films. But in every one that has received so-so reviews - Oscar and Lucinda, Pushing Tin, An Ideal Husband - the critics have been unanimous that her performance was better than the rest of the film. It has been noticed that she can play characters totally unlike each other with seamless and effortless conviction. "Cate isn't a glamour star," says Bruckheimer, who accompanied her to Toronto. "She becomes the character." It almost seems inevitable that, given a non-human character like Galadriel the elf queen in Lord of the Rings, Blanchett would be called on to bring her to life. Veronica Guerin looks like another of those movies which will attract mixed reviews, in spite of Bruckheimer's declaration that "we didn't want the character to be candy coated. She was flawed." An Irish journalist who wrote a critical biography of Guerin, Emily O'Reilly, was paid 130,000 pounds to be an adviser on the movie but now says that very little of her research was used in it, and that she has no intention of seeing it. Others, allowing that the film in the main is honest, regret what one Dublin critic calls "the shocking dive into sentimentality at the end." Like most actors, Blanchett will not let herself be put in the position of having to criticize aspects of a movie she is in - especially not those aspects, such as the script, over which she had no control. All that she will say now is that "Veronica Guerin is not a documentary, it is a work of fiction." She adds that there is never unanimity about the character of a human being, and that she had to settle on her own understanding of Guerin - "I had to make her three dimensional" - even knowing that some people who knew Guerin would disagree with those choices. We finished our conversation by telephone, since she had to fly off to the west coast to star in Martin Scorsese's upcoming film inspired by reclusive millionaire Howard Hughes. It's called The Aviator, and Blanchett will play the role of Katherine Hepburn, who had a long relationship with Hughes. "And I'll tell you one thing," she says emphatically. "I'm not doing a Katherine Hepburn imitation!"

WHO IS VERONICA GUERIN?

Photo: Veronia Guerin

A fearless investigative reporter, Veronica Guerin’s daring coverage of Dublin’s criminal underworld exposed corruption, angered organized crime figures and led to her eventual assassination. Her death caused national outrage and led to a government crackdown on organized crime that netted more than 150 arrests.

Veronica Guerin covered organized crime for Ireland’s best-selling newspaper, the Sunday Independent. A household name, she was famous not only for her fearless reporting about the murderers and drug lords of Dublin’s criminal underworld but for her commitment to defending the public’s right to know. As a result of her work, she received numerous death threats, was attacked numerous times and ultimately killed. Guerin was born in 1959 and came to journalism relatively late. After studying as an accountant and political researcher, she set up her own public relations company before joining the Sunday Business Post and what was then the Sunday Tribune. In 1994, she joined the Sunday Independent and began her career as an investigative reporter. Guerin knew that her life was put at grave risk by her prize-winning reports on leading underworld figures, whom she identified by nicknames because of Ireland’s libel laws.

In October 1994, gunshots shattered the windows of her cottage north of Dublin. On Jan. 30, 1995, the day after she published an article profiling “The Monk,” a man suspected of masterminding the largest robbery in Ireland’s history, Guerin was shot in the thigh by an unidentified assailant who attacked her in her home. Undaunted, she vowed to continue her investigations upon her release from the hospital. “I vow that the eyes of justice, the eyes of this journalist will not be shut again,“ she said. “No hand can deter me from my battle for the truth.” Her employer, Independent Newspapers, installed an expensive security system to protect her. On Sept. 13, 1995, she was attacked again, this time by a convicted criminal, John Gilligan, who viciously beat her when she sought to interview him. According to Guerin, Gilligan called her the next day and said, “If you write a word about me, I will find your boy and kidnap him and rape him. I am going to kill you if you write a word about me.” Following this incident, the police provided her with a 24-hour escort, but she quickly dispensed with this protection because she said it hampered her style. Guerin was killed on June 26, 1996, when one of two men on a motorcycle fired six rounds from a pistol at close range as she waited in her car at a traffic light just outside Dublin. She was 37 and married with a 6-year-old son, Cathal. She was murdered two days before she was due to address a conference in London on “Dying to Tell a Story: Journalists at Risk.” Guerin’s slaying, the first murder of a journalist in the Irish Republic, sent shock waves throughout the country. Prime Minister John Bruton called it “an attack on democracy.” The Irish Parliament marked her death with a moment of silence. In a joint statement, leading editors in Ireland and Great Britain declared: “Veronica Guerin was murdered for being a journalist. She was a brave and brilliant reporter who was gunned down for being tenacious. This assassination is a fundamental attack on the free press. Journalists will not be intimidated.”
Her death led to Ireland’s largest criminal investigation, resulting in over 150 arrests and a crackdown on organized-crime gangs that her assassins could never have foreseen. In November 1998 Paul “Hippo” Ward, a Dublin drug dealer, was convicted of Guerin’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. Although not the man who pulled the trigger, he had disposed of both the pistol and the motorcycle used by two accomplices in the shooting. Another man, Brian Meehan, was accused of driving the motorcycle and sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1999. John “The Monk” Gilligan, suspected of leading the gang, was also charged with murder. In October 1999, he lost a three-year fight against extradition from England, where he was being held on separate drug charges, and was sent back to Ireland on Feb. 3, 2000, to face proceedings in the Special Criminal Court. Veronica Guerin devoted her career and life to exposing the drug barons and leading figures in Dublin’s underworld. “I am simply doing my job,” she said. “I am letting the public know how this society operates.” She paid the ultimate price for her pursuit of truth. By Ray Conloge

Big Bad-boy actor has slowed down

It's been a year of 'wonderful' changes for B.C.'s Jason Priestley, who says he's found new priorities since being seriously injured in a race car crash. But, as the thrill-seeking actor tells Michael D. Reid, he's not quite ready to leave the driver's seat.

Photo: Jason Priestley.

It's amazing what a near-death experience will do to help you get back on track. Just ask Jason Priestley, the Vancouver-born actor who has been doing just that since he crashed his Dallara-Infiniti into a wall at nearly 290 km/h at Kentucky Speedway in August 2002. It left him with skull fractures, a broken back, nose and cheekbone, broken feet and crushed vertebrae. "My life has changed, but in a wonderful way," says Mr. Priestley, who was in Victoria this week filming scenes for The Road Movie, a teen comedy about the exploits of three buddies and two sexy hitchhikers on a cross-country trip from Tofino, B.C., to Newfoundland. Mr. Priestley, 34, plays Swackhammer, a sleazy music producer who gets his comic comeuppance in scenes opposite the film's star, standup comic Ryan Belleville, and members of pop-punk band Gob and hip-hoppers The Swollen Members. Teen singer Avril Lavigne also appears in the movie. Spending three months in a hospital bed in Indianapolis provided all the time he needed for reflection, said the handsome, personable actor and director best known for his role as heartthrob Brandon Walsh on the popular 1990s TV series Beverly Hills, 90210. "It's slowed me down a little and going through rough experiences like that, they change you," says Mr. Priestley. "There's no way around it, but I'm not wearing Birkenstocks and sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya. I'm still a very urban active guy."

Indeed, Mr. Priestley, who has been described as a modern-day James Dean, is a thrill-seeker whose exploits, including rehab after crashing his Porsche in Hollywood and a powerboat in Miami, have been exhaustively scrutinized in the tabloids. The actor, twice chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People, says he has learned to live with the fact his life is an open book, and how his "bad-boy" image seems unshakable. He says his priorities changed after last year's crash. "I'm finding I spend more time on things that are important to me and less time on the tertiary things that don't really matter," says Mr. Priestley. "There are certain times in everyone's life, I think, where you kind of clean house. I want to change this, I want to change that. I don't want to waste my time hanging out with certain people anymore." The chain-smoking actor looks fit, relaxed and free of any visible scars from his life-changing brush with death. Charming and polite, he frequently breaks into laughter during an interview before his "lunch break" that starts shortly after midnight. Between takes of scenes he was filming with hundreds of extras, Mr. Priestley also signed autographs and joked with members of Gob -- a group for which he has directed a music video. Getting back to Canada to work on indigenous productions is one of his newfound priorities, he says. Last spring, Mr. Priestley returned to shoot a made-for-TV movie on Baffin Island and in Halifax. Titled Sleep Murder, the film stars Mr. Priestley as a Toronto lawyer who represents an Inuit man (The Fast Runner's Natar Ungalaaq) with a sleep disorder who has been charged with a pair of brutal murders. After shooting The Road Movie, which he describes as "a very, very funny film," Mr. Priestley is off to promote Die Mommie Die, a black comedy that pays homage to classic Hollywood melodramas starring larger-than-life movie queens like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Mr. Priestley will be back in Victoria in November to film I Want to Marry Brian Banks, an ABC movie about a resourceful manager who launches a reality TV show inviting women to bid for marriage to his client, an actor whose career is on his skids. "He's a washed-up teen idol. Funny they came to me," quips Mr. Priestley. Although the actor may never realize his childhood dream of racing in the Indy 500, he says he'd still like to get back in the driver's seat. "I've had to take this year off so that the screws can set in my spine but I'll do some testing this winter and see where I'm at mentally, emotionally and physically." It was a good sign, says the hockey buff, that he was able to lace up his skates and start playing again. "My feet were broken so badly I didn't know if I'd ever play hockey again," said Mr. Priestley- Michael Reed

Michael denies attack on Bush

Pop singer George Michael has defended his new single, saying the satirical Shoot The Dog is not intended as an attack on US president George Bush or the American people. Responding to criticisms of the song, which has a cartoon video showing UK Prime Minister as a poodle on the White House lawn, the star said it was meant to provoke debate about Tony Blair. Michael, 39, told CNN's Talkback Live TV show: "It's anti-Mr. Blair and anti-Mr. Blair's reluctance to challenge Mr. Bush. It's not anti-American in any sense." And he confirmed that the single would not be released in the US. The video was shown for the first time on Tuesday on cable channels MTV and VH1. It also features a scene in which the singer, dressed in a leopard-print thong, apparently tries to seduce Cherie Blair. But US callers to the CNN show appeared to perceive the video as an attack on the US, and there were reportedly boos from the studio audience. Michael maintained he would never "disrespect" Americans' feelings after the 11 September attacks. "There was no plan to release [the song] in your country and I think it would have been disrespectful to make this an issue in a country which obviously has suffered much loss and very recently," he told CNN."