(Cheryl) My choice for best dressed woman was Cate Blanchett She looked great, didn't she? The absoulute worst was Cameron Diaz, what was that mess she was wearing? The frontless thing? It didn't do much for her (but I'm sure the men in the audience were pleased by some revealing side shots during the pre-game show). My 'U for Ugly' (or should that be 'F' for...) award has to go to Tyra Banks' purple Barbie-wouldn't-even-wear-this fluffball thing. loved the production number for "Blame Canada" with Robin Williams Agree it was a great way to divert potential controversy (hardly deserving of same, IMO), but the big number? Ugh. It was loads better than last year's tap dancing to the theme from SPR, though. The best speech was undoubtably Michael Caine's, wonderfully gracious and generous Absolutely agree. Winners have been recognizing their co-nominees for years but he did it in a way that was fresh and sincere. (Karen) Category Most Deserving Being Dropped: Best Song Argh! They were all losers IMO Yeah, what if 'Blame' had won?

v. funny play-by-play of the Oscar ceremony at film.com. Running gag about Annette doing all those standing ovations and still not having gone into labor. Comments like: (although we're still not sure what Peter Coyote, giving his best impersonation of a headwaiter, was doing at that little desk) Gwyneth Paltrow, with a bad case of bed head Roberto Benigni runs around the stage for a while and says he'd like to be a dog Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted), who's wearing some sort of Elvira getup with major hair extensions. Mike Myers, Heather Graham, and Heather's cleavage present the award for Best Sound http://www.film.com/reviews/features/awards/99oscars/

The Independent Spirit Awards, Hollywood's annual celebration of independent and low-budget film, were given out on Saturday, March 25. The awards are voted on by the 9,000 members of the Independent Feature Project. They were handed out on a marquee on Santa Monica Beach in a star-studded ceremony, attended by 1,200 people. Election won 3 awards, they were for Best Feature, Best Director - Alexander Payne, and Best Screenplay - Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Richard Farnsworth, a 79-year-old former stuntman, won as Best Male Lead for his role in "Straight Story". "Boys Don't Cry" won the categories, Best Female Lead - Hilary Swank and Best Supporting Female - Chloe Sevigny. Other winners included "Being John Malkovich" for Best First Screenplay - Charlie Kaufman and Best First Feature(over $500,000). Steve Zahn for Best Supporting Male for his perfomance in "Happy, Texas". Lisa Rinzler for Best Cinematography - "The Three Seasons". Kimberly J. Brown was cited for Best Debut Performance for her work in "Tumbleweeds". Winning for Best First Feature(under $500,000) was "The Blair Witch Project". "Run Lola Run" from Germany was named Best Foreign Film.

1. Where have Gwynie's SiL "boobies" disappeared to? 2. Thanks for the link, Karen. 3. A comment I heard on television today: "Seems that the best way for an actress to get an Oscar is to dress as a boy... This year and last year as well... "

loved the production number for "Blame Canada" with Robin Williams I liked the Gap production number ;-) No one like Phil Collins singing the song from Tarzan? ~~~ Thanks Karen for the link.

(Evelyn) I liked the Gap production number ;-) Gotta agree. They were great. Three dance numbers from West Side Story and even went with Billy Crystal's "Tonight" ;-) Who does their advertising? It's fantastic.

Thank you for all your kinds words. My son has a cast that is set over his knee. Bad multiple fractures and the cast will stay on for 3 months! I am exhausted! My 16th wedding anniversary is on April Fools Day and we were going away but now all has changed. :-( Back to Oscar... I loved Kate Blanchette's dress! The halter dress was in. Cameron's dress was Versace. It looked more like something to wear around the house (heehee, I am giving myself away). I do not like Galliano and thought Nicole Kidman's dress was a half thought. I usually like the way she dresses. I basically agree with the comments on Robin W and Caine and found Benigni very toned down. They must have given him something. ;-) You should see him in Italy! Tu vuol far l'americano ma sei natto in Italy!

Sorry to hear about your son's misfortune, Moon. ****** Renate says "hallo" to all: she misses you and wants to reassure you that she definitely isn't "that silly little thing" (reference: Heide's comment.)

Sorry to hear about your son Moon. Three months, it must be a bad one. The hardest thing is to keep them amused especially after about a month. I was surprised at the resemblence between the young Michael Caine, in Alfie and Jude Law.

I swore I wasn't going to check in on this topic but I took some Pepto Bismol and feel better now. ;-) First, terribly sorry about your son, Moon. Poor baby, poor Mom. My 16th wedding anniversary is on April Fools Day And you're still married!? ;-) Sorry, everyone I know who married on April Fools Day have gotten divorced but I think after 16 years you've gotten over the humps. I'll wait for Joan's Oscar fashion critique next Saturday but my #1 worst was Angelina Jolie. The Addams Family indeed, Eileen. And what kind of kinky thing does she have going on with her brother? I thought Jane Fonda looked great - so glad she cut her hair but she I guess it's too late for her neck. Ooh, those wrinkles. Yeah, I can only hope I look that good when I'm 60. Agree James Coburn looked better than Jack and Warren. Jack's starting to look more and more like Mr. Whipple of Charmin fame with that little muzzy and... (Gi) They should choose their plastic surgeons better ;-) LOL! You might want to give Warren your card. (Eileen) Could Russell Crowe have looked more bored? But he sure looks sexy when he's bored. (Well, I thought so!). Where was Jodie Foster? (Cheryl) The worst speech was that of Kevin Spacey; ... Boring. I'm afraid I fell asleep before that. Everything was too longgggg. (Evelyn) But his openner was a hoot.. Sorry I missed it. I got a big hoot too when he presented the (?) award he was supposed to do with Annette and said if she won the Best Actress Oscar, she'd crawl up to the stage on all fours. (Karen) Loved Dionne doing Alfie and could've sworn that was the same production number for Shaft Definitely the highlights of that segment for me. Ray Charles was ok but he ruined that beautiful song "All The Way". Finally Dionne came on and showed the others some class.

There's a complete rundown of the Oscars in the movie topic 29, including all my goofy opinions and a blow by blow description of the night.

Thank you, Arami, Lucie and Heide. It will be a long 3 months. (Heide), My 16th wedding anniversary is on April Fools Day And you're still married!? ;-) We play great jokes on each other on that day. ;-) (Heide), I'll wait for Joan's Oscar fashion critique next Saturday but my #1 worst was Angelina Jolie. The Addams Family indeed, Eileen. And what kind of kinky thing does she have going on with her brother? Agreed! And did you notice she always leaves after the award? She did that at the GGs too.

I'll have to fast forward to Angelina Jolie on my tivo recording to see what you're talking about, moon.

From The Times: Oscar star Mendes puts his 'family' first He was the toast of Hollywood with five Oscars for his debut film, but Sam Mendes did not forget the London theatre where he made his name. Shortly after his speech accepting the best film award was broadcast around the world, the young British director made an emotional transatlantic phone call to his colleagues at the Donmar Warehouse. The 24-strong staff, whom Mendes calls his "substitute family", had stayed up until 7am to watch their artistic director conquer Hollywood with American Beauty. Mendes, 34, assured them that success had not shaken his commitment to return to the 250-seat theatre to direct a play this summer. He will announce his next season within the next ten days, and plans to direct one of four plays, although he had not decided which when he left for Los Angeles. None of the Donmar staff, who gathered round a large screen in a London hotel to watch the ceremony, had ever thought he would abandon them, however lucrative the Hollywood offers. Even while shooting the film, he had been in daily contact with them. "He was there with all the stars in LA, but what he most wanted to know was what the atmosphere was like at our party in London," one insider said after yesterday's call. Caro Newling, executive producer of the Donmar, spoke of the disparity between "watching him at the 'shrine' receiving his award" and the comments he made while editing the film. "He said that 'if all went well, it could be a critical success, but not broad popular success'. Cut to nine months later and there he is with a top-selling movie around the world, collecting an Oscar."

Mendes, 34, assured them that success had not shaken his commitment to return to the 250-seat theatre to direct a play this summer. Great, Sam -- and get Colin to star in it to, wouldja? (After BJD wraps, that is.) Re: Jane Fonda -- seems painfully unfair that Jack and Warren can flit around squiring babes and spawning rug rats in their 60's while poor Jane has to contend with the likes of Ted Turner. It's a man's world:-( Sorry about your son's accident, Moon. Hope you don't have a lot of stairs in your house;-)

(Moon)My son has a cast that is set over his knee. Bad multiple fractures and the cast will stay on for 3 months! (Heide)Poor baby, poor Mom. Ditto :-( (Moon)I basically agree with the comments on Robin W and Caine and found Benigni very toned down. They must have given him something. ;-) Is he always like this? Or is it just the "crazy italian" image put on for the American cousins' benefit?

(Gi) Where have Gwynie's SiL "boobies" disappeared to? She looks anorexic to me--skin and bones. Much thinner than last year. Something's up with her. (Gi) Or is it just the "crazy italian" image put on for the American cousins' benefit? I saw or heard Judi Dench being interviewed recently. She was speaking about her Oscar experience last year. Judi referred to Benigni as "a lunatic" who was "jumping around" (not her exact words); after the ceremony she found out that he speaks "perfect English." (Heide) And what kind of kinky thing does she [Angelina Jolie] have going on with her brother? Ewwww, wasn't that creepy? She's OTT. (Moon) Agreed! And did you notice she always leaves after the award? She did that at the GGs too. Maybe her brother just wants to keep her out of the pool ;-P Jack's starting to look more and more like Mr. Whipple of Charmin fame LOL! (Susan) Re: Jane Fonda -- seems painfully unfair that Jack and Warren can flit around squiring babes and spawning rug rats in their 60's while poor Jane has to contend with the likes of Ted Turner. It's a man's world:-( That's why she's chucking the rat bas***d. She looked great--too bad she fluffed her presentation. (Moon) My 16th wedding anniversary is on April Fools Day (Heide) And you're still married!? Moon hinted at the secret to her marital success a few posts before yours, Heide: Cameron's dress was Versace. It looked more like something to wear around the house (heehee, I am giving myself away). Aha! :-D

Moon hinted at the secret to her marital success a few posts before yours, Heide: Cameron's dress was Versace. It looked more like something to wear around the house (heehee, I am giving myself away). Aha! :-D OK, I'm blushing. (Gi) Where have Gwynie's SiL "boobies" disappeared to? She looks anorexic to me--skin and bones. Much thinner than last year. Something's up with her. It must be boyfriend problems. She has not looked well lately. Or maybe she's bummed out about not getting Bridget. ;-) Gi, Benigni is really very hyper. Impossible actually. And he does get on a lot of people's nerves in Italy. He does not speak perfect English. What was Judi thinking? Or maybe she had too many drinks and imagined him speaking perfect English. ;-) Karen, it's nice to see Mendes so attached to his friends. Although by now I am sure he has made plenty of them in LA. Thanks, Gi and Susan for your well wishes.

(Moon) He does not speak perfect English. What was Judi thinking? Let me clarify. Her context was Benigni speaks better English than he would have American audiences believe. In other words, it's an act. Which doesn't surprise me!

Frears rates high marks for 'High-Fidelity' cast (March 29) By Martin A. Grove (THR) Frears' "Fidelity:" Hollywood's most interesting filmmakers can be the least predictable in terms of the projects they choose to make. A case in point is Stephen Frears, whose "High Fidelity" opens Friday via Buena Vista/Touchstone in about 1,200 theaters. The wonderfully biting romantic comedy is not only a departure from Frears' such earlier serious dramas as "The Grifters'" and "Dangerous Liaisons," but the British director shot it in Chicago although it's based on a book set in London. "Fidelity's'" screenplay by D.V. DeVincentis & Steve Pink & John Cusack and Scott Rosenberg is adapted from the novel by Nick Hornby. A Working Title Films production, it was produced by Tim Bevan and Rudd Simons and executive produced by Mike Newell, Alan Greenspan and Liza Chasin. Starring are John Cusack, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Joelle Carter, Joan Cusack, Sara Gilbert, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Lili Taylor and Natasha Gregson Wagner. "I was asked by John Cusack if I would do it," Frears told me. "I think highly of him and really wanted to work with him again (after 'The Grifters'). I thought, 'That's a really good idea.' It's a book I like very much. So it all made sense." Frears had read Hornby's novel when it was first published in the United Kingdom in 1995 but hadn't thought about it then as something to turn into a movie. "I don't read books like that. I read books to enjoy them. I'm not looking for whether they make good films or not," he explained. In "Fidelity," Cusack's character Rob analyzes the reasons his romantic relationships have failed during the years. Much of the story revolves around his record store, Championship Vinyl, which sells old-fashioned vinyl LPs rather than CDs. Rob's two store assistants (Black and Louiso) boast an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music that rivals Rob's own. It wasn't long after he received the screenplay from Cusack that Frears decided to sign on: "I just said, 'This is great. Let's do it.' We had to wait while I finished the film I was making, which was 'The Hi-Lo Country,' and then we did it. It was all quite straightforward. We went to work on the script. In fact, the script changed a lot from the one I'd originally read." The most striking change, he said, was turning what had been voice-over narration into dialogue to be delivered straight into the camera -- and, therefore, directly to the audience -- by Cusack. "That was a tremendous breakthrough," he said. "That's the really good stuff in the book, you see -- his thoughts. That was the sort of breakthrough invention that got us to where we could get at the good material. So I found that very liberating." When I observed that "Fidelity" is somewhat different material from what he has previously done, Frears replied diplomatically, "If you say so. I don't sort of think like that. But I'm sure you're right. I just do what I'm asked to do -- if I love it." With the book having been set in London, I told him, one would have expected him to have wanted to film it there in his own backyard rather than shoot in Chicago. "When I was told about (doing it in Chicago), I was surprised," he noted. "Then when I started to read it, I forgot about it. When I then thought about it, I actually thought, 'This is very, very liberating.' I'm not supposed to say things like that (being a British filmmaker). I will be taken to the Tower (of London) and beheaded for that. But, actually, I found it tremendously liberating. I found that very, very fresh and lively (to be working in Chicago)." After starting to work on the film, he said, "I discovered that, in fact, this is a sort of home movie these guys have written. It was really about them growing up in Chicago -- John and his two friends, D.V. and Steve. They all grew up together. So then you discover, 'Oh, I see. I've actually got to learn about these people's lives to understand it.' So I started doing that and then I realized their sort of take on life was already, as it were, like Nick Hornby's." Black and Louiso deliver stand-out supporting performances as Cusack's assistants. Black's character Barry, in particular, is a manic guy who dominates every scene he's in. Although it looks like it must have been impossibly tough to cast the role, Frears said that wasn't the case: "I said to them (Cusack and his writing partners), 'Who should play Barry?' and they said, 'Jack Black,' just like that. I met Jack and about two minutes after talking to him I said, 'Yeah, well, you're fine.' " Among Black's credits are roles in 'Dead Man Walking,' 'Enemy of the State' and 'Mars Attacks.' Then they said, 'Well, maybe he could play the other one (Barry's quieter colleague Dick, played by Louiso).' Then they started hedging their bets. But I always knew that their first response was, 'Oh, Jack Black.' When they started to undermine themselves, I always knew that they'd said Jack. Then it was quite a complicated process getting him because he's a tricky fellow (to nail down). And then he gave this astonishing performance. When he started to act, my mouth fell open. I didn't realize he was going to be that brilliant, but it was a treat." Another casting challenge was Laura, whose breakup with Cusack's character Rob gets the film's story under way. The role went to Iben Hjejle, a native of Copenhagen seen last in "Mifune." "I couldn't find what I was looking for in either America or England," Frears said. "Then I met her at the Berlin (International) Film Festival (where 'Mifune' opened to critical acclaim) and discovered that she spoke American." In casting, he explained, "What you're really trying to do is find out what you're looking for and being prepared to admit you don't know what you're looking for. Eventually, something happens and you just (say), 'Oh, I see. It's that.' It takes as long as it takes, really. There's no short cuts. And I'm surrounded by good people and good casting directors. I talk to everybody and pick people's brains the whole time. That's all it really is is being willing to listen." As for production, he said, "You just sort of do it, don't you? You deal with each problem as it comes up. It's always like that. Every time I have to learn something. And since I find learning interesting -- I enjoy learning things -- it's just being willing to understand things you don't know and to accept that you don't know things.'' Chicago wasn't really new to Frears. "I'd shot a bit of 'Hero' in Chicago," he pointed out. "Many times I was actually thinking, 'I'm now doing what I remember thinking I'd liked to have done when I went to Chicago to do 'Hero.' It was with a big star (Dustin Hoffman), so I come straight to him (in shooting). But I remember thinking, 'Oh, that's a rather good little bit and then not knowing how to bring it into the environs of the film. On this, I was able to do that. There were a hell of lot of things I noticed when I first went to Chicago. It's a wonderful city." Did anything come to mind in terms of particular problems while shooting? "No," Frears told me. "There are always problems in how to bring the thing to life. And what's interesting is solving those problems. You never quite know what they're going to be. There were always rather human problems because it wasn't like saying, 'Look, in this shot we've got to get to the moon or something like that if you have a very complicated technical problem. It's just a human thing of being able to be funny and touching at the same time. The films are only about people, so it sort of depends on your knowledge of human nature." Although weather can pose big problems in Chicago, Frears was on top of that: "I'd learned when I'd been to Chicago before. I'd always been to Chicago in the sunshine and when I went there to shoot, it just clouded over. The light was just horrible -- flat ghastly light. This time, I said I'll make this film between the cold and the heat. So I positioned myself for the good weather and the weather was fine. When does it stop getting cold? April. You'll notice that we shot between April and June. When does it get hot? July. We did it between the cold and the heat." As for Frears' approach to directing, he confided, "I make it up as I go along. You get nice people and you create conditions in which they can feel comfortable and competent and, as it were, make fools of themselves or show off their feelings. You give the actors as much room (as possible). The actors are splendid people."

There's also an article about John Cusack/Hi Fi in today's Boston Herald: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/movies/cusa03292000.htm

Here's a little HF info from a British movie website:As for Hornby, he isn't bothered about accusations that he sold out to Hollywood. The author tells us that he thinks this version works, explaining, "It's about a guy in a record shop with a lot of ex-girlfriends. They do have that here." 'High Fidelity' opens in the UK on July 21.

Moon, sorry to read about your son. Three months in a cast, poor boy. That's rough. I hope his spirits are holding up. You're wedding anniversary is April 1st. Did you and your husband plan it that way? If so, you two have great senses of humor. My parents got married on a Friday the 13th. No, they weren't Satanists. Most of my relatives are Catholics in one of the following categories: practising, cafeteria, lapsed, or collapsed. There are a few agnostics and, I think, one Buddhist. Then there were some of my French cousins who were practising Catholics and card carrying communists. Being contradictory is something of a family trait. Heide, did the Pepto work? No gastric rumblings, I hope. I agree with you that Russell Crowe does look sexy when he's bored. A friend of mine describes him as being "a very handsome man in a really intense way". I read somewhere that Crowe is part Maori, but I'm not certain on that point. He was born in New Zealand, though. Caught an interview with him before the Oscars. He said that Jody Foster wouldn't be going to the ceremony. She told him that she was going to watch from home, half-dressed, sitting on her bed, eating.

He said that Jody Foster wouldn't be going to the ceremony. She told him that she was going to watch from home, half-dressed, sitting on her bed, eating. LOL! How many other mothers of toddlers would love to have the luxury, not to mention the time to do that.

You're wedding anniversary is April 1st. Did you and your husband plan it that way? If so, you two have great senses of humor. We did it for the fun and in 1984 in honour of Orwell's novel. Thanks for caring, Cheryl. My son's spirits are starting to pick up. I would like to invite everyone for margaritas and stone crabs on April Fools Day. :-D

(Moon)I would like to invite everyone for margaritas and stone crabs on April Fools Day. :-D Sounds like a party to me ;-) Yeah, I sound like I'm turning into a blonde party girl, but I'll have you know it's only virtual

LONDON � Odeon Cinemas, the U.K.�s largest theater chain, is joining forces with the British Film Institute in a pioneering initiative to bring arthouse pics to a wider audience. Odeon has agreed to set aside one screen in eight theaters around the country for the BFI to program with alternative fare. Films in the initial run, which starts April 28, will include Fox�s �Boys Don�t Cry,� FilmFour�s �Holy Smoke� and Buena Vista�s �Mansfield Park,� as well as the BFI�s own reissue of the British classic �A Matter of Life and Death.� The BFI already programs its own regional arthouse theaters, but this is the first time the org has pushed its way into the mainstream. Now it is negotiating similar deals with other leading exhibitors. Sources at Warner Village, for example, say it is likely to hand over three screens at its new Birmingham 30-plex for the BFI to program. Director Terry Gilliam, who sits on the BFI board, is one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the new initiative, which will be marketed under the banner �BFI at the Odeon.� �This will encourage adventurous people to be adventurous about the films they see,� he told Daily Variety. �At the moment the choice of films in England, and even in London, is the worst in the world.� �We thought the multiplexes were going to give us greater choice, but we just got �Titanic� on every screen. But now at last there are so many screens out there that exhibitors are realizing they might as well be bold and put something interesting in.� Paul Brett, the BFI�s head of cinema services, said, �The U.K. urgently needs more screens for specialized films. This initiative is just the beginning of a resurgence in arthouse cinema � movies for grownups.� The eight Odeons already committed to the scheme are in Birmingham, Liverpool, Ipswich, Maidstone, Bournmouth, Cheltenham, Guilford and Epsom. As well as new releases, the BFI will program �festivals� at these cinemas, showcasing either films from a single country or the work of one filmmaker or actor. Ross James, marketing director of Odeon, said: �We�re fanatical about film, and determined to give our customers more choice. This initiative is all about offering people the chance to experiment a little.� Odeon has done extensive research to prove that the demand is there, and the programming in each town will be tailored closely to the local audience. The cinema managers will be heavily involved with the BFI�s choices, and are already seizing the opportunity for creative local marketing.

I applaud! Now if they would only do the same here. Caught the last 5 minutes last night on E of the celebrity profile on Jennifer Tilly. She a celebrity?! Meg was interviewed and I was surprised at how old she looks. Her face is round and she looks v. different. Not aging well. (Or is that what happens when your husband is 70 and CF leaves you. ;-)

This initiative is just the beginning of a resurgence in arthouse cinema � movies for grownups.� I too applaud their efforts.Now let's see how many grown-ups go;-) Here they're mostly "renters".

Rats! I missed that. Maybe it will be repeated. ;-)

(Cheryl) Catholics in one of the following categories: practising, cafeteria, lapsed, or collapsed. LOL! What's cafeteria Catholics?

Cafeteria means "pick and choose what you like." Term is also used for employee benefit programs.

Catching up with you all after several days away . . . John Cusack will be on David Letterman's show tonight, undoubtedly talking High Fidelity. And now this cafeteria Catholic is off to attend a Seder supper . . .:-)

(Arami)LOL! What's cafeteria Catholics? (Karen)Cafeteria means "pick and choose what you like." You've met my relatives, Karen? Probably not, but that does sound like some of them. That's a pretty concise definition, they are people who cut and paste official church positions. Picking what they like as it were, Arami. Okay, I think this is the list where someone asked who does the Gap's television advertising. The tv commercials are done in-house, which is to say they don't employ an outside advertising agency. They have an advertising department that does them. I thought the Gap did their own advertising, but I wanted to check.

Ahhh, don't be too hard on the relatives, Cheryl. Most Catholics I know don't agree with the Church's position on everything, and the "one from column A and one from column B" approach saves them from having to toss out the entire menu.;-)

My, oh my, from The Guardian (3/31) - a Bridget comment at v. end too. A national sense of superiority On patronising the Yanks Shane Watson When Sam Mendes collected his Oscar for American Beauty last Sunday in Los Angeles there wasn't a dry eye back home in his flat in Primrose Hill where, so he informed us, his friends were gathered toasting his health. We weren't given precise details of the occasion (guests: Jack and Jill from the NFT, Marion from the local theatre workshop; drink: some kegs of Old Peculier) but the message couldn't have been clearer. Mendes - in between being hugged and squeezed by Kevin Spacey and hugged by Steven Spielberg - was just letting everyone know that he comes from a very different place to the artificial world inhabited by most members of the audience. He stood before them, in their crystal-encrusted Jimmy Choo shoes, and their $400 hairdos, and quietly reminded us that, while it was great to be clutching the Oscar for Best Director and seeing his film take the awards for Best Actor, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, he was not one of them. Our boy from the Donmar Warehouse made his detour to Tinseltown, beat the Yanks at their own game hands down, first time around, and made no bones about the fact that he was on the next plane home to the country that understands quality, that is daring and innovative, that makes art in the finest tradition, without pandering to the lowest common denominator. We all know the story about The Madness of King George, which couldn't be called Madness of George III for fear that the Okies in Fenokie would think it was a sequel - duuur. We all know the reputation of British audiences: so critical, so intelligent, so ready to be challenged, whereas the Americans have to have every little thing spelt out. Subtitles for Trainspotting! They have no idea! And frankly we haven't had such a good crack at reminding them since, well, Shakespeare in Love. This sport of attempting to patronise the Americans has been going on for as long as they've been letting us get away with it. On the one hand, there's us in the educated, sophisticated, liberal and (very important this one) ironic camp. On the other, there's the poor old Hicksville Americans who cry at airports because they can't work out which country they're in, who think things built in 1899 are incredibly old (tsk) and are pathetically preoccupied with their family genealogies (dur) while thinking we all live in smog-laden Upstairs Downstairs style in Georgian crescents. The last phase of the special relationship, circa 1970 to Margaret Thatcher, say, hinged on an image of us all speaking like Terry-Thomas, having brains like Bamber Gascoigne and the standards of the characters in Brief Encounter. More recently this rose-tinted view of our twinkling isle has been rumbled and America has looked to us more as an edgy, somewhat aggressive, comfort- and hygiene-challenged place where everyone is rude and c nical and which is disseminating dodgy nannies faster than BSE. But still we've managed to hang onto this aura of intellectual superiority and liberalism coupled with an old-fashioned sense of fair play - of what really counts. It doesn't really matter whether they buy it any more, because we do and we've got no one else to patronise. They couldn't handle our Sensation exhibition in New York! Ha! (The fact that nor could we at the outset has been conveniently forgotten.) They couldn't get enough of our Princess Diana! (The fact that we found her a little too much has since been glossed over.) We have such a unique sense of humour, and we all know what happened when they tried to copy Men Behaving Badly (snort) and now they want to make their version of The Royle Family! Let's hear it for the Brit stiff upper lip. Let's hear it for the way we show our emotions (Michael Caine, Phil Collins), but not too much like ghastly American Gwynnie Paltrow. It takes an Oscar ceremony to bring out our natural sense of superiority, to polish up our sense of ourselves as the plucky little heroes holding out for standards in the face of insurmountable vulgarisation and rot. But it's never far from the surface. As I recall, the last really good cause for a bit of a What Have the Americans Done for Us (other than ruin our culture with their mocha-choca latte outlets) was the news that American actress Renee Zellwegger had been chosen to play our Bridget Jones! In our Notting Hill! With our Hugh Grant! Don't you just love being so much better than everyone else?

I have an extra ticket available for THE REAL THING, next Saturday, April 8, 2:00 p.m. matinee, in NYC. Great seat, 6th row. E-mail me privately if you're interested. Thanks.

Thanks, Karen! Poor Shane. Sounds like she has a tremendous complex of inferiority and could nit wait to bash Americans.

Took the day off from work today - not to see High Fidelity but I'm going to anyway. What should I look for, Karen? Love the Hard Day's Night=style ad.

Was wondering what you were doing here at this time of the day. ;-) Last night, I've never seen Letterman so effusive in his praise of High Fidelity!! Before Cusack even came out, he was going on and on about how he's had to talk (not the word he used) about movies that were utter crap. Said this was the best movie he's seen in 5 years. Said he read the book years ago and loved it and was so relieved they hadn't ruined it. I'm going to see HF today too. New state-of-the-art arthouse theater near me opening today with HF (only mainstream movie) playing on two screens (Onegin's there too). Finally, read where they did the record store filming. No wonder I only saw the production once. Cusack called it Wicker Park, but most people would refer to it as Bucktown. (Laura, that's where I picked you up from the L.)

(Moon)Thanks, Karen! Poor Shane. Sounds like she has a tremendous complex of inferiority and could nit wait to bash Americans. Weellll. American -bashing seems to be the current sport...but I don't think it was so prevalent in England. Wish I could find a comparable article for Brit-bashing in the US in our media...but the fact is we love the British ...take them as they are...Why can't they take us as we are... ...George III for fear that the Okies in Fenokie would think it was a sequel I'm an Okie and I take offense to this....not all rural folks are ignorant... C'mon...give us a break...

(Evelyn)I'm an Okie and I take offense to this....not all rural folks are ignorant... However, you're and adopted Okie and originally for culturally respected NY;) Mari, figures you'd have a ticket that day, when I was supposed to go, but looks like we're going the week after:(

i forgot;

Re: that article--*gag me* (and I mean that with every rude and cynical bone in my italian-irish-scottish-american body). Wait--what country am I in? Waahh! I want to go back to Hicksville! Missed Letterman last night, but heard a Cusack interview on a NY radio show yesterday a.m. He's very well spoken. Said HF was based on "an extremely funny, best selling novel" (did not mention NH's name), as well as all the other now-familiar sound bites. HF is getting consistently terrific buzz.

Cusack did mention Hornby by name on Letterman. What I don't get is so much praise being given to "Cusack & chums" for writing and then all the mentions in reviews that "so much was lifted directly from the novel." Excuse me? BTW, the article must be taken as ironic, at least that was my conclusion when I got to the final lines. BTW2, isn't it Okie from Muskogie (sp?) ;-)

(Karen) BTW, the article must be taken as ironic I know. Didn't you get my irony? ;-P What I don't get is so much praise being given to "Cusack & chums" for writing and then all the mentions in reviews that "so much was lifted directly from the novel." Excuse me? There is alot of hype for "the team that brought you Grosse Pointe Blank." At least John's trying to give proper credit to Nick. Said even though they changed the setting from London to Chicago, they left the heart of the book, 'how men really think', intact.

Yes, I wouldn't be too quick to don the red-white-and-blue hairshirts; the article was definitely written tongue-in-cheek, though it's not particularly well-done satire (sniff!;-) so I can well understand the misunderstanding;-) Unfortunately, it's not unusual to read articles like this in the British press that *aren't* meant to be ironic:-( (Evelyn)Wish I could find a comparable article for Brit-bashing in the US in our media... Will never happen. Jeez, even Saddam Hussein gets a fair shake in our press. We like everybody (ok, mostly everybody;-) because we *are* everybody. Just ask my lovely fellow mutt from NJ, Eileen.;-) (Karen) Last night, I've never seen Letterman so effusive in his praise of High Fidelity!! I've never seen Dave enthusiastic, period.;-) Cusack got Nick Hornby's name in there twice last night, and has been very forthcoming about crediting Nick in most interviews I've read. How often do you hear an actor credit the poor schmuck screenwriters, let alone the author of the book upon which the screenplay was based? Rarely. JC is a classy guy.

...a little contradictory info though. In print, he has said he had never read High Fidelity before Disney gave it to him, although he had read other things by Nick (like what? Fever Pitch?) Last night, he said he had read it before. Minor quibble.

I don't see anything ironic about "Okie from Fenokie"...maybe I'm missing something.(I also don't see anything ironic about Polish or any jokes about minorities.)Period.End of topic.

As a satirist Shane Watson is nowhere near Jonathan Swift in ability. As satire, the Shane Watson piece was nowhere. (That's just my opinion.) Now on the point of "Shakespeare in Love". Sorry Shane, you got it wrong. SiL is an American film; since it was produced by Miramax, an American company. Shane, you and SOME of your fellow Brits have got to get over your feelings of inferiority. There's no excuse for it. So the French think you have an apalling lack of style and that the term English culture is an oxymoron, get over it. Yes, the Germans think you're lazy and lacking in self-discipline, get over that as well. As for the Italians, they may well pretty much think everybody else wants to be Italian. Lastly Shane, you must remember that nobody can touch the Americans when it comes to arrogance and cultural imperialism. We know that we are what everyone else wants to be. Everybody wants to be American. Well, probably not, most people are happy to be who and what they are. And no, most Americans don't really think that way. I was only joking, after all. Apologies to the French, Germans, Italians, and to the English as well. Oh Shane, I do know who George III was. He was on the throne of Great Britain when the 13 American Colonies were lost to the rebel side in what was called the American Revolution in my history classes. But it was also during his reign that the British gained unquestioned dominance in regard to other European nations over India.

Hopefully, less controversial??? From Saturday's Times: Spielberg backs film company at Donmar By Dalya Alberge SAM MENDES, the Oscar-winning director, has turned down a multimillion-pound offer from Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks and negotiated a �700,000 investment in the 250-seat London theatre that he calls his substitute family. Dreamworks' extraordinary two-year commitment, with even more money in the pipeline for a third year, will provide �200,000 for the Donmar Warehouse and �500,000 for the establishment of the Donmar Films company. Mendes is the artistic director at the theatre, and the deal gives Dreamworks a first look at any project he suggests, leaving him free to work for other studios or theatres on both sides of the Atlantic. Mendes has also received offers from two other studios, he revealed yesterday. "I was not interested in tying myself down to one studio." He said that he was "very conscious to allow myself freedom". He was also nervous of being pressured into doing a movie just because millions of pounds had been paid for it. Speaking at the Donmar, he said that his next production would be Shakespeare's Twelth Night at the Covent Garden theatre in September. Casting has not yet begun, but is likely to be filled by "the home team" of British actors. Mendes, 34, can name his price. He is the toast of Hollywood after being showered with five Oscars for American Beauty. "Now's the time to make the crusaders' epic that costs $120 million," he said. He received the minimum fee set by the Directors' Guild of America for American Beauty. Such is the interest in America that he has also secured �350,000 for the Donmar over the next three years from the leading Broadway producer, Anita Waxman. Harvey Weinstein and Sydney Pollack are among leading producers who have bought tickets to the Donmar's fundraising gala in New York: dinner and Sir Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. Mendes has devoted himself to the Donmar as artistic director since 1992. Even while shooting American Beauty, his debut as a film-maker, he was in daily contact from America. His repertoire extends to classical and contemporary plays and his stagings have been hailed as masterful. He attracted Spielberg's attention with his musical Oliver! and later with The Blue Room. The new film company, which will initially involve a staff of two reading scripts, will share the same aesthetic as the Donmar theatre but will not have a relationship with it. Mendes said plays that worked on stage rarely transferred well to the screen. The film company's funds will allow Mendes, for example, to buy an option on a novel that he likes, and to hire a writer. ~~~~~~~ Winter, get over there with your resume!! ;-)

The Guardian/Observer had much the same re: Mendes and this additional info: He said Hollywood stars were queuing up "all the time" to work at the Donmar. "They see us as a way of increasingly their artistic validity, which is great. But that is not quite how we work. I'm nervous of star vehicles. As I think Philip Larkin said, the sun destroys the interest of what is going on in the shade. Often there is someone better for a role who is English or a theatre actor." Mendes denied rumours that he was close to persuading Tom Cruise to tread the London boards soon. "I wish," he said. "It's far more likely that I will be working again with Nicole [Kidman]." He did, however, concede that he was yearning to tempt Annette Bening, the star of American Beauty, across the Atlantic after she has her baby. "I don't know, it may take 10 years - she has four kids you know - but I would really love to bring her here." He said he "hasn't a clue" what his next film will be, although it was a "safe bet" it would be one developed by Donmar Films, which he said he wanted to keep "small and light on its feet, a bit like this theatre". He has has spent six months working on Lookout, written by Scott Frank, who adapted Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty and wrote the thriller Out of Sight, but he doubted that it would get off the ground for some time. The DreamWorks money would be added to the �350,000 a year that the New York producer Anita Waxman is pumping into the Donmar so that she can bring their new productions to Broadway. Mendes said it would allow them to be more adventurous and to get more people into the theatre with "lower seat prices and pay-as-you-wish nights. We are doing one next month for the Passion Play. You pay whatever you can afford, be that 10p or whatever." He said he had enjoyed Los Angeles but wanted to work in England if possible. "Hollywood gets a bad rap here, but I enjoyed very much working with the people I met there. "Obviously the Oscars was an entirely different experience. You are on a train and it's travelling at 120mph and you can't get off. Like every director, I'm a control freak. But all you can do is just sit there and grit your teeth. Some of the time it's exhilarating, sometimes it's not. "I was doing publicity for the film for what seemed like a decade. Did I enjoy the Oscars? Well, it's the single most nerve-wracking experience ever. "It is away out there on its own."

(Evelyn)I don't see anything ironic about "Okie from Fenokie"...maybe I'm missing something. (CherylB) As a satirist Shane Watson is nowhere near Jonathan Swift in ability. As satire, the Shane Watson piece was nowhere. (That's just my opinion.) Oh dear... As I read it, Shane was trying to say that the British should beware of feeling superior to Americans, as they tend to do when "one" of them gets a prize among "a number" of Americans. Was "not" being superior. It is a feeling very popular in small countries that used to be great at one time. America's time will come to, never fear ;-) Karen, loved the articles on Sam Mendes. Seems quite a nice and sensible guy.

Yes, nice to see Sam's head hasn't been turned. And that he recognizes talent no matter from which part of the world it comes. Can only hope Colin is part of the "home team". Would so love to see him at the Donmar in something new. (Mari) Cusack got Nick Hornby's name in there twice last night, and has been very forthcoming about crediting Nick in most interviews I've read. As he should considering whole sections of dialogue were lifted from the book. ;-) I don't know if I've ever seen a film so faithful to the book though perhaps Rob is more sympathetic in the film but then played by cutie John Cusack, how could he not be. As a film standing alone, I think some people are going to be scratching their heads in the beginning wondering what is this film about? But once it picked up steam, it sailed beautifully through to the end. I'm confused by who the target audience is meant to be. The trailers shown before the film in the theatre I went to were definitely aimed at teenagers but I have serious doubts High Fidelity is going to appeal to someone who never owned a record album. ;-)

(Heide) but I have serious doubts High Fidelity is going to appeal to someone who never owned a record album. ;-) What have we here? A geeky music snob? ;-) From the beginning, I had that reaction - that they were trying to sell it as some weirdo guys in a record store in order to appeal to the young teenage male audience. But I think that audience is going to have an impossible time relating to a Thirtysomething guy reflecting on his life and his relationships. 15-year olds haven't had those relationships. They can only fantasize about baked goods in anticipation. Funny thing is that The Hollywood Reporter used the term "mature audience" when describing High Fidelity. (Heide) don't know if I've ever seen a film so faithful to the book though perhaps Rob is more sympathetic in the film but then played by cutie John Cusack, how could he not be. I'm disappointed they didn't show his presex fears with Marie. Remember the funny bits about his head getting caught in the sweater or the underwear/no underwear thing? Maybe they thought we wouldn't believe John Cusack lacking confidence. Oh well, I enjoyed it.

(Karen), What have we here? A geeky music snob? ;-) Hey wait, that's me! My record collection is larger than what Cusack had in his apt. and then there are the CDs. :-) The reason I enjoyed the novel was partly because NH has very good taste in music and mentioned bands that I love that nobody has heard of. I too found the movie close to the book. Karen it does rain an awful lot in Chicago. ;-) Coconut Grove, last night. I talked my DH into taking me to see it. Five minutes into the film and he's off to watch something else in the theatre. Comes back later just before the dinner party at Charlie's and his comment was: I would have preferred to have seen more of Charlie's life. She is definitely the more interesting character. And then he agreed on Charlie's assesment of Rob's life. Ouch! Thank you Karen for posting such an interesting article on Sam. It does give one ideas. ;-)

..Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks and negotiated a �700,000 investment in the 250-seat London theatre that he calls his substitute family. Rachel Weinstein (American Development Officer) and her staff must be dancing in the aisles over this.All are expected to attend TRT Gala on Wednesday night. Re: Sam Mendes...Big names Bring Big Bucks.And one film did it. Thank you AB.Thank you Steven Speilberg.

Good interview with Nick Hornby from Salon. I'll post in parts. Here's Part 1 of 3. About a writer Nick Hornby talks about soccer, writing and a highly faithful adaptation of "High Fidelity." - - - - - - - - - - - - By Steffan Chirazi March 31, 2000 "I have read books written by people who obviously love football, but that's a different thing entirely; and I have read books written, for want of a better word, about hooligans, but 95 percent of the millions who watch games every year have never hit anyone in their lives. So this is for the rest of us, and for anyone who has wondered what it might be like to be this way ..." -- Introduction to "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby It was with some expectation that I headed out of Arsenal tube station and toward an Italian restaurant on Northolme Road last fall to meet Nick Hornby. I'd been a fan since his first book, "Fever Pitch," a loving account of the way his home team, Arsenal FC, had been symbolically linked to every significant event in his life, was published in 1992. "Fever Pitch" spoke to all British men obsessed with football (soccer in America), but for me there had been a special twist: I support the team Tottenham Hotspur. Located barely two miles from each other, Tottenham and Arsenal have been fierce rivals for more than 100 years. Hornby's second book, "High Fidelity," explored the weird adolescent hangover that seems to strike men in their 30s. It was a sweet and moody meditation on lost loves, fluctuating friendships and a passion for music. By the time "About a Boy" (a novel about fatherhood, responsibility and the struggle to grow up) came out in 1998, it seemed to me that Hornby had produced one novel for each of the most important areas of my life: football, fatherhood and music. "Some of the players come in here to eat," said Hornby shortly after we arrived. "Ars�ne Wenger [Arsenal's coach and manager] comes in here after every home game ... It's quite sweet really, because he always gets a round of applause." Reading Hornby for six years had me feeling like we were old mates, which probably explains why it took me all of a capresi salad and some fusilli with pesto to remember I should probably stop arguing the merits of Tottenham Hotspur's David Ginola over Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp and record something. Considering that, at the time we met, Hornby was working on a new novel, selling the screen rights to "About a Boy" to Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions and previewing "High Fidelity," then still in post-production, it was extremely gracious of him to agree to meet me. And considering that not four days earlier Tottenham had beaten Arsenal 2-1 in a typically raucous North London match, he was surprisingly friendly. Is it easy watching your work reinterpreted on the screen? There's two answers to that. One, once you take the money then that's that. It's like selling a coat. You can't then say, "I don't want that fat bloke wearing my coat because he doesn't look good in it." You'd just think, Well you sold it, you burke, you took the money. I got paid really well for it and I wanted the money and fine, I don't think I should whinge. The other thing is that I think the books are so unfilmic in a certain way that the only people who want to make films of them do so because they love them, and not because they've seen this "thing" they can pull out of it. I mean what's the big idea of "High Fidelity" where you'd take something and throw the rest away? You'd be left with nothing, a story where a bloke splits up from his girlfriend? Couldn't you have thought of that yourself? Weren't some basic elements of the book changed in the film, though? Actually the film of "High Fidelity" is incredibly faithful to the book despite the fact it's been reset in Chicago. John Cusack's in it, he's Rob, and it doesn't make an awful lot of difference to anything. The only thing that's changed is the music. I would've thought that was integral to the story. Yeah, except again I take it as part of the personal connection with it. The guys who are doing it see it as a story about themselves, therefore they've transposed their music into it and I appreciate the spirit of that. I think the only thing that's holding it up right now is they're arguing with each other about the soundtrack. Part of their thing with the whole project was getting their favorite obscure bands into the soundtrack, which seems in keeping with the spirit of it all anyway. Were you able to remain involved in the project? They've been incredibly solicitous all the way through. I've been invited to see a couple of cuts, I'm going to see another one tomorrow and they've tried to keep me as involved as I want to be. But, frankly, I quite enjoy the distance. I also think with those things you're either completely in or completely out, and if you're in that takes up a lot of time and I want to do other stuff. It's been directed by Stephen Frears, who's English anyway, so there's an English sensibility looking after it. Next page | I only read American novels and watch American television.

Part 2 of 3, Hornby interview Are you still interested in writing screenplays after "Fever Pitch?" Actually, the three of us who made "Fever Pitch" -- writer, director and producer -- got a development deal with Miramax, and this will be the first film to come out of that. It's about an American band in the U.K. where the lead singer walks out halfway through and ends up in a small seaside town. The other one is a sort of gimmicky romantic comedy. I always liked those films like "Big" and "Groundhog Day" and I wanted to try one myself. At the moment I'm developing that with John Madden, who directed "Shakespeare in Love," but he's got loads of things on the go. I don't know if he'd end up directing it, but he's helping me with the script every couple of months. Does writing a screenplay feel like taking a break from your real job? Sort of. I really enjoyed doing "Fever Pitch" and I really enjoyed working with people. It occurred to me that I'm really too sociable to want to sit on my own in a room for two years, which is what you do when you write a book. I've got a couple of things on the go right now. Original screenplays. "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy" are both going to be films -- well you know "High Fidelity" is coming out soon -- I didn't do the screenplay for that. So the last year has been spent doing drafts of two different screenplays which are very different from each other. You created some dead-on depictions of London males, especially with "High Fidelity." Do you find people saying that to you when you're doing readings in America? No, not really. Englishness doesn't really seem to come into it. "High Fidelity," for example, works for any Western country because there are guys everywhere who are obsessed with popular music. In Scandinavia the books have done well, Italy the same, Germany very well and Spain not at all. I wonder if there's something about Catholic countries where a lot of people still live with their mums and stuff and I'm not sure if they get it; the endless chopping and changing of relationships, the agonizing over what you're doing with your life. I think paradoxically they've worked so well here because we are more American in that way and we do agonize that much more over life. Also, all my input is American. I only read American novels, I only watch American television. What American writers do you admire? My inspiration was Anne Tyler. I'm very different from her, but I think she's fantastic. It's that simplicity, where there seems to be bottomless intelligence and yet they don't exclude. I think for me, what's wrong with more or less all English fiction, to be clever means to be erudite and to express your vocabulary and it alienates more or less everybody. They have tiny book sales and there's this little literary circle in Britain which is basically for themselves and doesn't impinge upon the outside world at all. What the fuck's that? The good American writers don't exclude in that way. Who else do you read? There's a short story writer called Lorrie Moore who I think is great, Tobias Wolff ... "This Boy's Life" was a big book for me before I wrote "Fever Pitch." Part of it also comes from teaching. You're looking around for stuff to give to kids that takes them places, is intelligent and that they can also comprehend. That's why in English schools even today people read Hemingway and Steinbeck all the time, "Of Mice and Men," Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." You don't feel you're being patronized by the vocabulary of the characters because the ideas and relationships behind it are extremely complex, yet the language itself is simple, so any kid can grasp what's going on in those books. Are you happy with the way your books have been received? None of the books have had really bad reviews, but I think I'm still viewed by the "establishment" with some suspicion. Why's that? Well, none of the books have been up for a literary prize. I don't feel chippy about it at all, but looking at it dispassionately I think that "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy" were better books than some which ended up on short lists. Why do you think that is? I think we have a problem with jokes in literature. If you have jokes, it's not literature. How many funny books have won the Booker Prize? I can't remember how this came up, but I think it was the year "High Fidelity" came out and one of the judges was asked why "High Fidelity" and a couple of other books weren't on the list, and she said, "I think people are confusing the best book with the best read." I appreciate you can have a difference but I'll tell you, you can't have a good book that isn't a good read. If it's not a good read, it's a bad book. Do you think fiction should be without geography? Oh no, I think fiction should certainly have a set geography. I think something's gone wrong somewhere if a book works for every single audience everywhere in the world. I don't think I'm writing about Britain, but a very precise class of people who could exist in four or five European countries. They're metropolitan books, they're written about places where there are lots of record shops, where there are lots of people who don't know what to do with their lives and people who drift from relationship to relationship. Next page | I wish I lived in a penthouse with my CDs in perfect order!

Part 3 of 3, Hornby interview Have you ever been interested in relocating to the U.S. for a couple of years somewhere down the line to write a book? There's a part of me that feels it's sort of cheating. The sort of book where you go and research something and then regurgitate it onto the page doesn't seem like proper writing to me. I'd be wondering what had come from me if I took myself somewhere and said, "Right, I'm going to live in Memphis, look at Memphis and write about Memphis people." There's people who have been living in Memphis for the past 50 years and they're not going to be interested in what I think of Memphis having lived there for three months. In terms of urban environments, let's say I went to San Francisco. I'd end up writing the same sort of book except the places would be different. Names of streets would be different and so on. In "About a Boy" you explored a "typical male" reaction to children and the concept of fatherhood. Yet you seem very comfortable with your own role as a father. Anyone who has a kid, at some point in every day, for one minute, says, "Fucking hell! I wish I lived in this penthouse with my CDs in perfect order and no one to piss around with my Bang & Olufson!" And writing a book is taking that flash of fantasy and expanding on it. In the course of a day you have a million contradictory thoughts. You look at a woman and think, For this second I do not want to be married. All that stuff happens all the time and can take you anywhere, and all that stuff is certainly true about being a parent. Has fatherhood influenced your writing? My experience with Danny is so different that I don't think that has properly influenced my writing yet. [Danny is autistic.] Does writing force you to analyze yourself as a person? Well with the type of books that they are, contemporary, I think it's very hard to write about things like drugs or hooligans without finding a bit of yourself in there. Is writing books therapeutic for you? Well, I have therapy as well, so [laughs] ... I had therapy a couple of years before I wrote "Fever Pitch," and it was the first time I'd ever talked about football in a way other than it being football. I used to go on Mondays, and every Monday I'd sit down and be asked, "How was your weekend?" And I'd reply, "Oh it was crap, 'cause we lost 2-1." It was just a crap joke because I didn't know what else to say. After about a year she [the therapist] said, "Why do you always do that, the joke about the weekend?" And she just started asking me about it. It had never occurred to me that there was any sort of meaning connected at all. And I was amazed at the time scale of when she pointed out I was getting interested in football relative to my parents getting divorced and things like that. So I don't think the book was therapy but is was certainly a product of it. Your first book dealt with very personal subjects. When I saw ["Fever Pitch"] in print for the first time I thought, God, I've exposed myself here! You look at it and think, Why did I want to go and write all this stuff about me? It struck me as a very peculiar thing to have done. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - With the restaurant all but empty, save for a handsome chap and two rather stunning women at the table behind us, it was time for Hornby to go home and continue working on his fourth book. The working title: "How to Be Good." "It's at an early stage and it's narrated by a woman," Hornby said quickly before thanking me for lunch and striding purposefully out of the restaurant. But then I saw him stop, turn abruptly and head speedily back inside, head down. He looked a bit stern and it was actually a little worrying. He came right up to me, stopped and looked up from under his eyebrows before gesturing over his shoulder at the occupied table. "Giles Grimandi," he whispered, having recognized the Arsenal defender moments earlier. He winked and quickly strode back out. Even Nick Hornby couldn't have written a better ending. salon.com | March 31, 2000

Nice article, Mari. Now where do you find a single guy who thinks like Nick and looks like..oh you know who. (Though I like the way that other guy thinks too.) Happy Anniversary Moon! (Moon) I would have preferred to have seen more of Charlie's life. She is definitely the more interesting character. Hmmm... so your DH and Charlie would have hit it off, eh? You reminded me though that even though Rob's Top Five Breakups are mentioned at the beginnign of the film, he didn't try to find #3, Jackie Allen. Or did he and I missed it?

what happened, the bit in brackets shouldn't have been in red!!

Hello, all! I just drop in briefly to say I'm still offline, more or less, software is still playing mad, don't know when/if I can log in again. Arami, Kirsten, Karen, did you get my mail, if so: please don't use the new email address yet. Whenever I use that ISP the trouble seems to start all over again. Twinwave costs more than twice as much as my new ISP, but is at least reliable.... Karen, I have disconnected chat, and will remove it after this if the line holds.

,,

Good to hear from you Renate...Hurry back to Spring, we miss you;-( I have disconnected chat.... Thank you, Thank you, Thank you....

Hello, all! I just drop in briefly to say I'm still offline, more or less, software is still playing mad, don't know when/if I can log in again. Arami, Kirsten, Karen, did you get my mail, if so: please don't use the new email address yet. Whenever I use that ISP the trouble seems to start all over again. Twinwave costs more than twice as much as my new ISP, but is at least reliable.... Karen, I have disconnected chat, and will remove it after this if the line holds.

Ooops! That good old Netscape bug still works, I must be at home ;-)) I don't know if/when I can change the chat link on cf.com, nothing works, grrrrr.

Yes, Renate, I received your email and have replied to ALL your addresses. ;-) I just got a failure notice for your new address. Thanks, Mari, for the article on Nick. v. interesting. I can't believe that he is still going forward with a book written from a woman's perspective. As that has always been the weakest part of his previous books, maybe he wants to prove something. How many times have we argued that the Paul-Sarah relationship was unbelievable and now a few critics are commenting on the Rob-Laura thing (i.e., not understanding what on earth she saw in him and why she'd take him back), but they are blaming the filmmakers when they should be laying that on Nick's shoulders. ;-) Here's the url for the Salon article and there is a review of HF too there. http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/03/31/hornby/index.html And lastly, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOON!

...and about that rain, per a Frears interview, they filmed in April-June. April showers bring May flowers, etc. ;-)

Happy Anniversary Moon.

Love the red, NOT!!! Haven't seen HIFI yet;( Will see it with date in about two weeks. However, Boston reviewers LOVE Cusack, but not the Dane? Hmmmm... Said she was better in Mifune.

How many times have we argued that the Paul-Sarah relationship was unbelievable and now a few critics are commenting on the Rob-Laura thing (i.e., not understanding what on earth she saw in him and why she'd take him back), but they are blaming the filmmakers when they should be laying that on Nick's shoulders. ;-) Ahaa...when I said that you all almost drummed me out of here;-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Anniversary , Moon...wish we were there with the Margaritas and stone crabs...yum.

(Evelyn) Ahaa...when I said that you all almost drummed me out of here;-) Ahaa yourself! Didn't say I subscribed to it though. Maybe Nick has spent a lot more time studying women these days and less watching Arsenal or playing his music, i.e., grown up a bit and moved on with his life. BTW I've always known why Sarah couldn't stay away from Paul.

sorry about wasting space, have been trying to delete red lettering, can you delete all the above Karen, thanks.

Thank You all very much! Here is a rose for every single one of you. Had a lovely time, beautiful gifts and I discovered my new drink: the Cosmopolitan! Having a hard time adjusting to the time change today. ;-)

Lots of reviews, interviews in the Sunday papers re: "High Fidelity". It helped that it was a weekend with no competing film releases(Road to Eldorado...with Kenneth Brannagh?) I am fervently hoping that all this interest in Nick Hornby will resuscitate "Fever Pitch"...wouldn't that be nice?

Ann, the red lettering was fixed many, many messages back. But just so no one else see RED, I'm going to delete the original message. Moon's anniversary is over anyway. ;-D

Does anyone here know about this? "Direct File Linking / Bandwidth Bandits In Relation To Image Linking This is something we feel very strongly about and many people don't know that it is wrong, or even what it is, so we're going to explain. Any time you link to another person's graphic that is not inside your own website, and that in the HTML you call as: You are being bandwidth bandit! What should be seen is: or or anything else, as long as it is inside your own site, not linked from another. Some things must be linked to, and you are given permission to do so, for example, a counter on your website. As long as you have permission, it is OK. However, you do not need permission to link to another website, provided you are linking to their site (for example, their main page), and NOT to one of their individual graphics, for instance, their logo. If you were just linking to their logo, or any of their other images or graphics, then you would be committing a internet no-no, which is best described as bandwidth or data transfer theft. Many webspace providers charge more to its customers (like the A-1 Clipart Archive), when more bandwidth gets used within a monthly period. Bandwidth is really just a technical term for the amount of data being transferred between their files and someone else's. The fees are sent to the original site owner, not the person directly linking. These fees, depending on the popularity of the site, and the price of the provider, can reach into the thousands of dollars." I was going to paste a .gif from their site for Moon but now... If you want to read the rest of the text, the url is:http://www.free-graphics.com/bandit.htm

Wow, Gi. Is this the end of our virtual fest here? I am not into commercials. So unless we scan eveything from our own scanners and give it other gif or jpg names, we can not post an image? I think I like the sound of bandwidth bandit. ;-)

There are many sites that ask you to download the image for your use. If a site has that warning, you DON'T link to the image, but you are allowed to use it on your own site. They don't want you to use their bandwidth (for which they are charged) each time an image is accessed here. I respect those websites' requests and don't link directly to them. Both Moon and Gi have their own webspace and can upload images and link from them if they so desire. You will see that warning at many graphics sites. It does not mean an end to posting pictures here. It just means to read and respect what the owners ask.

How is this possible? LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Julia Roberts and her "Erin Brockovich" alter ego held off another slew of newcomers to win the North American box office derby for the third consecutive weekend. At the top of the weekend's charts, "Erin Brockovich" earned about $14.2 million, a 23 percent fall from last weekend. Its 17-day total stands at $76.2 million. Two rookies rounded out the top three: the DreamWorks cartoon "The Road to El Dorado" pulled in $12.5 million, a sum considered disappointing by the studio, and "The Skulls" (Universal) opened at No. 3 with $11.4 million, a sturdy sum given the bad reviews for the teen secret society drama. Hong Kong action star Jet Li's "Romeo Must Die" (Warner Bros.) slipped two places and a hefty 46 percent to No. 4 in its second weekend with $9.7 million. The $25 million-budgeted chopsocky-gangland romance is expected to reach about $60 million, said WB distribution president Dan Fellman. "High Fidelity" (Disney's Touchstone), a romantic comedy starring John Cusack as a music snob who ponders his romantic shortcomings in between compiling lists of songs, opened at No. 5 with $6.4 million. Its per screen average of $5,414 was the highest in the top 10. [...] "High Fidelity" received strong reviews, and it pulled in equal shares of males and females primarily in the 18-30 age bracket, said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Pictures distribution unit. Noting that Cusack's romantic comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank" opened at $6.8 million en route to $29 million in 1997, he hoped to bring in the review-sensitive, over-30 crowd in coming weeks.

What surprised you, Karen--did you think it would do better? I think it's a great showing. HF was only on one-half to one-third of the screens that the other films were, and it topped them in per screen average. It's still considered a small movie, but getting good exposure due to the positive reviews and Cusack's publicity efforts. Moon, I just caught the last half of that E! show on Jennifer Tilly. That wasn't Meg they were interviewing; it was another sister, Rebecca, I think. They do all resemble each other.

I didn't check to see how many screens it was on because it's on like about 2,000 in Chicago alone! ;-) But what I found bizarre was the comment about getting out the "over-30 crowd." Maybe they were all at home watching the NC2As. Speaking of E! I just saw a clip of Jude Law and Sadie Frost at the Oscars. Had seen him, but not her. Eeoww, bad choice of dresses. Looked like she was very cold. ;-p

The Monday Times has weighed in on HF, starting off with the Reuters boxoffice info above, so I'll delete: A US take on Nick Hornby has been showered with faint praise, says Sean Macaulay John Cusack, as the moping antihero of High Fidelity, cuddles up to Iben Hjejle, the girlfriend who comes back to him. Some will wonder why she bothers Cusack wallows in record whinge [...] The most praised new release is High Fidelity, an Americanised version of Nick Hornby's novel starring John Cusack. It took fifth place with an estimated $8 million. But the reviews - "wry", "quirky", "whimsical" - are synonyms for not much plot and will prove kinder than the word of mouth. This is a static tale of a morose record store owner (Cusack) having a thirtysomething crisis after his girlfriend moves out. He reorganises his record collection, reviews his Top Five All-Time Break-Ups then tries to win her back in his passive-aggressive, selfish way. It ends as souffl� light conventional romantic comedy, but not before spending countless moments striving for heartfelt drama. Every time there's a rainstorm Cusack heads outside to get drenched and wail at the sky. Cusack scored a similar-sized hit two years ago with Grosse Pointe Blank, his romantic comedy about a hit man attending a high-school reunion. It was fun, zany, offbeat, all you could want until the Girl arrived. In the world view of the eternal adolescent male, the Girl is invariably the earnest voice of reason. This means she gives Cusack the big dramatic choice: be a hitman or be with me. It's a terrible choice because he is such a likeable hitman and the world is so madcap. The perfect match would be a woman who loves him precisely because he is a hitman. Even better, a girl who wants to be one too. It was a similar problem that afflicted Hornby's own film adaptation of his soccer fan memoir, Fever Pitch. The Girl represented maturity, the way forward, growing up. In short, everything you don't want in a romantic comedy. Like the book, the film of Fever Pitch should have a been joyous romance. Boy meets Team. Boy Loses Team. Boy wins Team back. That courtship died the moment the Girl forced him to choose between his love of football and domesticity with her even though he was so happy with the team. I would have given him a girl who loved him precisely because he was an Arsenal nut. Even better, one who was more obsessed with the team than he was. High Fidelity, at least, doesn't make this mistake. Iben Hjejle who plays the Girlfriend/ex-Girlfriend/Girlfriend doesn't tell Cusack he has to give up his obscure record shop. But she does urge him on to do something genuinely creative - like, gee, maybe recording a local band and getting back to being a DJ again. All the trendy, indie cred the movie works so hard to cultivate evaporates with this cheeseball climax; all its hip music references, all its candid relationship analysis, all its heart-to-heart drama. It might as well be the dancing finale of Footloose with the falling glitter effect. It also prompts a new list to add to the Top Five lists the characters keep compiling: Top Five Most Embarrassing Disco Dancing Scenes for White Male Actors. Cusack's arm-raised sashay as he follows his girlfriend into the crowd is right up there with Michael Douglas's dancefloor moment in Basic Instinct (V-neck sweater, nothing underneath) and Harrison Ford's Parisian nightclub turn in Frantic. Until this eager-to-please finale, High Fidelity works the other way. Its hero is a royal pain. It's meant to be touching and honest but it exposes the limitations of the book's pensive, bruised new lad persona. It is the literature of loser justification - Bridget Jones for blokes. The phrase "Take it on the chin" is not in this character's vocabulary. "Why am I doomed to be rejected?" he asks. Hmm, let's see - because you're a whining, sad-sack, self-obsessed loser with no passion, no courage and no sensitivity for another's person's feelings. The narcissism is breathtaking. "What came first the music or the misery?" he wonders - with his record collection, there's not much difference. The real reason for Cusack's pain is his selfishness. He is a heel who can't admit it. The film doesn't want to see it either. We are meant to forgive the fact that he sleeps with someone else while his girlfriend is pregnant and still owes her money. Or not mind that he sleeps with a nightclub singer, all the while raging at his ex-girlfriend for having a new boyfriend (whom she's yet to sleep with). Cusack is a performer of great charm. He's been playing everyman romantics since Say Anything and The Sure Thing. But even his candour can't paper over these wrong turns. There's no sweetness to him here. No decency. He's a baby, an eloquently rationalising angst-ridden baby, and director Stephen Frears is happy to mostly indulge him as he blames all his old girlfriends for his pain. If only it were a satire it would be a triumph. ~~~~~~ I have to disagree with the second to last paragraph. The page 92, hurl-the-book-against-the-wall admission is there in all its glaring hideousness.

It is the literature of loser justification - Bridget Jones for blokes. LOL, Karen! Now you know why my DH did not care for it. The above critique I have heard before from him. Mari, did you see Meg at all in the E profile? I imagine she would say something about Jennifer. That sister Rebecca must be her twin because she was identical to Meg.

It is the literature of loser justification - Bridget Jones for blokes. Was it Sean Macaulay who wrote that, or was he quoting Will Self?

STARS COME OUT FOR BAFTA AWARDS Hollywood legends Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway and pregnant Titanic star Kate Winslet will be among the VIPs at this weekend's Baftas. The stars are set to present prizes at the glittering awards ceremony in the Odeon cinema at London's Leicester Square. Also lining up as guest presenters are Notting Hill star Hugh Grant, Shakespeare in Love heart-throb Joseph Fiennes, Naked Gun comic actor Leslie Nielson and supermodels Elle Macpherson and Naomi Campbell. ~~~~~~~ Now, if this were the Oscar telecast, the producers would have Colin, Renee and Hugh trotted out together with the announcer saying, "now the three stars of the most eagerly anticipated British film in years..." ;-)

(KarenR)Now, if this were the Oscar telecast, the producers would have Colin, Renee and Hugh trotted out together with the announcer saying, "now the three stars of the most eagerly anticipated British film in years..." ;-) You wish... They'd probably leave Colin out of it entirely :-(

You wish... They'd probably leave Colin out of it entirely :-( More likely, he'd leave himself out of it entirely. This is a guy who's been known to skip his own premieres.:-(

This is a guy who's been known to skip his own premieres.:-( C'mon...you know he'd send someone in his place;-)