Did anyone catch what Colin said just after that? Something about being on live TV

Santa Firthy was there! How cute was he in that hat? Loved it, he's a great sport. Huge crowd on hand, hope our metro fan base got up close!:-) More! Give us more.... I'm at work so had to miss it!

(Time) But this material is either underdeveloped or crudely put by a director whose style is so conventional that he makes James Ivory look, by comparison, like Jean-Luc Godard. Yupp, another one who didn't read the book. I was worried about this, how people who are not familiar with the book and /or not fans of CF or SJ will see the movie. Thank goodness these sort of reviews are in the minority. Liked the New Yorker one better. :-) Thanks Mari and Mary! Ladies, please keep the Santa-Colin reports coming, I'm enjoying it vicariously through you. Thanks a bunch!

Was that cute or what? Grabbing his hand. Loved Katie's line, "you need to get busy and fill that up, honey." After are you stalking me: "I just made it onto live TV." Regis for me in a few minutes...

Hi all! Was there, but can't report right now, must go work. Except for when he left, you saw him better than I did. Sent Karen some pics. If I can't report before I go out early evening, I will when I get home later. Don't think my VCR taped right, so I may have missed it all trying to get both Today and R&K. Hope to get that on compilation tape later with The View. Saw his second segment on R&K. Is it my imagination or does he seem to stumble when trying to talk about GWAPE. Noticed it at Today and on R&K. Like he doesn't have great soundbites organized in his head yet. Don't know what she looked like and how she was acting, as she (and I) was too short and I couldn't see through the crowd well except the back and top of her head and Colin's face (which was more important), but Katie sounded just too adorable and so smitten with him. I could hear her grinning the whole time. ;-D And he was just WAY too cute in that hat. Looked awesome as always. *sigh*

Have just watched Reege. What a breath of fresh air to have Joy on as a co-host (have never seen her in that capacity before). Colin was probably thrilled to have some decent/intelligent comments and questions. I think it showed in some of his answers as well, as they weren't the 'same old, same old'. He needed to vary the answers. [Regis still doesn't have a clue and probably didn't watch the movie.] Off to see what Dorine has sent me...

Good job, Dorine, looking forward to hearing more. Did you get to stuff his bag?;-) Too funhy when he said I thought I was done, but they just gave me another bag to fill. And I was ROTF when Katie and Colin did that double kiss on each cheek thing; then he and Matt Lauer went to shake hands, and Matt bows down and did a mock double kiss on each side of his hand! LMAO! I think he told Katie that TEOR would be filming until February.

"Metro Gal" here reporting after post Today show appearance . . . Needless to say I'm on CLOUD 9 for various reasons . . . Got to Today show at 6:55 AM . .was lucky to get into the "inner sanctum" .(they rope you off like cattle there). There was an inner pen, which you had to be let in via security guards. I think they closed that area at 7AM . .so I was lucky to get there when I did. I was prepared for the cold . .snow boots, long underwear, 2 pairs of socks . .everything. Had large sign as mentioned in post above, and 2 toys in hand. At first, was dissapointed that I did not get there earlier, All the prime spots right up in front, all around the fence/pen were already taken . .I feared that my sign would not be seen, my toys would not be donated . .and I wouldn't even get a good view of ODB. I did a initial survey of the space . and noticed cameras and a little sleigh decorated Christmas-y like at the end near the studio windows . .so I made it there, close to a speaker, /Christmas tree in the corner . .the crowd was not too large, so at least I thought I could get a good view. Al Roker came out numerous times . .but, unfortunately taped his segments either just past me or down at the far end of the pen where I had entered He was nice enought to sign the cookbook of the woman who was standing in front of me . I kept counting down til 8:30 . .scanning the area where I saw Al come out of, figuring ODB would come through that same door . . I whipped out my toy donations, my copy of the FP DVD (the one w/ the pic of him in the black leather jacket and Ruth Gemmell in her green dress on it), a small note I wrote for him . .and a blue sharpie . .dare I hope I would get close enough to get an autograph??? Periodically, people in front of me started leaving b/c of the cold . .so I got closer and closer . .;) Then . . .it happened. It was a few minutes to 8:30 when he appeared . .looking very adorable in his jaunty Santa cap, big smile on his face . . tall, lanky in blue jeans . .thought he should be freezing (wearing lightweight early fall peacoat type of jacket . .and no gloves!!!) ( note it was 25 degrees at that moment. The minute I saw him and (I caught a glimpse of him before anyone in my corner did )I started jumping up and down giddily. "There he is!!" I said The women around me were asking me who it was . .and I said to them: "Colin Firth! Colin Firth! This is why I've been standing around since 7:00am for!!!!" Then I started enlightening them on his films he was in, explained that GWAPE was opening this week and he was in NY for a little bit of press work for the film.. When he walked further out into the enclosure, I shouted his name and he smiled and waved in my general direction. I waved back w/ the FP DVD in hand;) . .I don't believe anyone else in the audience knew who he was!!! . .Or at least no one as happy to see him as I was . . . He then got directions from the producers/crew and a sack, and he started collecting toys from the section who were at my left. I feared he wouldn't get to us. The women around me were plotting to start calling out his name to get him to come over . .and they let me squeeze in the front between them. Matt & Katie came out . .He stopped then to do the little interview. Can't tell you much since they were in front of us, facing away . .I got the rear view! . . . I did see Kaie give him a big hug . .gush a bit and touch his hands . . . Then he was given another bag and went back to collecting toys . .and then all of a sudden . .there he was, right in front of me. I dropped the toys in with one hand, and showed him the FP DVD, open sharpie and my little note with the other. I looked at him, and (God, I'll admit it, turned on the puppy dog eyes) . .and I said "Colin, please, please could I have a quick autograph?" And I held my breath. The woman to the right of me smiled and said:"We can hold the toy bag for you . ." so his hands could be free. He looked at me and said: "All, right . .really quickly. . .", then took the pen and signed!!!! (Poor boy cold cold and no gloves and he signed .thank you Colin!) Then (I was really gutsy) I said: "Here, this is for you, darling . . ." and gave him the note. He grinned and quickly put it in his pocket and went on collecting toys. He looked back in my direction once breifly after that and I yelled:"Thank you!" But I wasn't sure if he heard me . . . Other people were starting to take snapshots. . sorry girls, did not have a camera . . . I stayed till he finished collecting toys . . I believe he gave one final wave to the crowd . .thenhe left . .then I pretty much left and made it to work on time! . . I've been floating ever since . .The women around me congratulated me for getting the autograph . . My husband is interested in seeing it as well . . .I got to work and told the woman I temp for . .who is also a large Colin fan . . . she was excited for me as well! Happy, happy day . .what a Monday!!!!

Dorine . . . you were there?????? I would have met up with you!!!!!

Congratulations on your first Firth experience, Kimberly! And Dorine... two sightings on one day? Great job, Metro DDs!!! Yay and happy Monday to all!

(Kimberly) I said: "Here, this is for you, darling . . ." and gave him the note. He grinned and quickly put it in his pocket... ...And spent the next few hours in torturous anticipation, wanting desperately to read it, hoping it wouldn't be one of those usually very carefully penned, Jane Austen style letters he usually gets, but one full of dirty innuendos about his very sexy person... ;-) Way to go, Kimberly, I'm so happy for you! Another Colin virgin bites the dust. Dorine, I can't wait for your pictures. Lucky girl, you! Thank you both for your reports!

(Kimberly) I said: "Here, this is for you, darling . . ." and gave him the note. He grinned and quickly put it in his pocket... (Ildiko)...And spent the next few hours in torturous anticipation, wanting desperately to read it, hoping it wouldn't be one of those usually very carefully penned, Jane Austen style letters he usually gets, but one full of dirty innuendos about his very sexy person... ;-) Ha!!!!. . .afraid not .more of a appreciative note from a fellow actor to another . .it was small . .no innuendo, sorry to disappoint ya!

(Brazen Hussy) Then (I was really gutsy) I said: "Here, this is for you, darling . . ." LOL! Darling? You called him 'darling'? Great story and loved reading about your encounter. I salute you Metro Gals for getting up so early and standing there in this weather. Bravo! What troupers! Here are Dorine's pics: http://www.firth.com/gwape_todaygal.html adorable

Great job, Dorine and Kimberly! Too bad we couldn't have anticipated his not having gloves. One of you could have brought a pair and said, "Fill these up, honey";-) He did say he was shocked when he got off the plane that it was so cold. When he left London it was still nice, fall weather. (Karen)What a breath of fresh air to have Joy on as a co-host Exactly. She seemed very excited beforehand that Colin was going to be a guest. She mentioned that she watched P&P last night. Lots of talking between Regis and Joy about Colin before he came out. I was surprised that the first part of the interview was all about TEOR and Renee. He did say they won't finish until the beginning of February--Yes! Regis seemed more comfortable talking about that than GWAPE. I think Joy really liked GWAPE and was more into it than her hubby. All in all another great day. Thanks ladies!

(Karen) LOL! Darling? You called him 'darling'? I did!! . .it just kind of came out before I could stop myself . .To quote ODb as MD: "And, um, you tend to let whatever's in your head come out of your mouth without much consideration of the consequences.... " That's pretty much what happened . whew, talk about being forward;) Dorine, were you standing at the end of the toy collecting line? I swear those first 2 pics looked like you took them over my shoulder when he stopped to sign my DVD

Congratulations on your first Firth experience ... Another Colin virgin bites the dust. BRAVO!!! Well done. Obviously the "S" in your name doesn't stand for "shy"!

Kimberly!!! Already a legend! Wonderful reporting, so happy you got to see him when he looked so amazing! LOL at the paint by numbers set you bought to give to Santa Colin. Dorine....OMG! The pics are to die for...that hat makes me think all manner of non-Christmassy naughty things! Speaking of which....wouldn't mind sitting in a certain Santa's lap and telling him what I really want! ;-) He looked great. Tired, but AFG. He has a vein that pops on his left eye that was v. noticable (and I found a bit irrisistible), but he was hot (despite the cold)!! Loved the jeans/dark jacket look. Liked Katie for saying "we need to get you some gloves" (I suspect she is like me and was just wanting to look at those lovely digits because as she said that, he put hands out in front of him and spread his fingers! GAHAAA!!! Also loved the Euro kiss....that Katie is a jammy git!) Thank you ladies for the reports and Dorine for the pics...thank you Karen for getting them up so quickly! Made my morning! Thanks Murph and Mari for the reviews...one good. one not so good....it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I think the good will far outweigh the bad for GWAPE (when life gives you GWAPES, make GWAPE juice, right?!)

Thank you Dorine and Kimberly for the reports, and thanks also to Dorine for the terrific pics! Kimberly, kudos on working up the nerve to do (and say) what you did; I've found that it's usually best to just go for it when you have the chance! How nice of the ladies in your section to help with your experience, and brilliant of them to offer to hold the bag to free up ODB's hands. Glad to hear you both had a nice time! :-)

From VLife (a Variety Supplement) - Dec/Jan 2004 - Holiday Screenings Maui: First Light 2003 Screenings - all screenings take place @ the Castle Theater/MACC (inside Maui Arts & Cultural Center) - 1 Cameron Way, Kahului, Maui AMPAS and guild members RSVP to 808-579-9553 or firstlight@mauifilmfestival.com. For more info, log onto www.mauifilmfestival.com Friday, Dec. 19 - Love Actually @ 5 PM Tuesday, Dec. 30 - Girl With A Pearl Earring @ 7:30 PM Aspen: All Screenings take place @ Harris Concert Hall (960 N. 3rd Street,Aspen), unless otherwise noted. AMPAS and guild members RSVP to 970-925-6882 x101 For more info, log onto www.aspenfilm.org Weds, Dec.31 - Girl With A Pearl Earring @ 5:30 PM

Various things from Variety - Friday, 12/5 1) A large Lions Gate ad: Lions Gate thanks The IFP (Independant Spirit Award Nominations)& The National Board of Review Under National Board of Review section: Girl With A Pearl Earring - Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking 2.)Article: New to the beat : Vet composers try their hand at something different this year by Steven Mirkin Craig Armstrong has collaborated with musicians such as U2 and Madonna and filmmakers like Baz Luhrmann and Phillip Noyce, but working on the score for "Love Actually" presented one of the biggest challenges. For one thing,"Love Actually," Richard Curtis' directorial debut, is the first laffer Armstrong has scored. "It's really quite difficult," he says laughing. "Working with comedy is actually very technical. One moment the audience is laughing; the next you're trying to move them emotionally." He's not the only one trying something new this year. Paris-based composer Alexandre Desplat scored his first studio pic, "Girl With A Pearl Earring." Working with tryp director Peter Webber, Desplat opted for a sinuous, contemporary score combining the stately minimalism of Steve Reich, the jaunty melodies of French composers Georges Delerue and the lurking moodiness of Bernard Herrmann. He says his music treats sound the way the artist Vermeer used paint: "to bring tone, color and light" to the images. "The movie recreates Vermeer's time and place so beautifully, that for the music also to do it would have been too much," Desplat says explaining why he avoided the sounds of 17th century Holland. Going in the other direction, the sounds of Italy are very much present in "Under the Tuscan Sun" Christopher Beck, who shifted to composing for film after several years of working in television, says, "Italy is never really far away from the score." Pic about a San Francisco woman who moves to Tuscany after a divorce, needed to have contempo and old Europe sounds. Although echoes of the scores Nino Rota composed for Fellini films can be heard, Beck says he was after music that sounded "beautiful, fragmented, very textured," in which mandolins and other solo instruments give a hint of the locale "Under the Tuscan Sun" is the second pic Beck has scored for Director Audrey Wells. His familiarity with Wells made the project both easier and more difficult. The hard part is that working with someone a second time brings a "pressure to top yourself, which is a good pressure," Beck says. The expectation is "you'll do something that much better than before, so you have to work a little harder to wow the person you're working with." On the other hand, Beck and Wells developed a kind of creative shorthand. "It takes alot of guesswork out, " he says. "There's a really nice feeing of not having to second-guess yourself We both knew what kinds of sounds we both really like." Armstong is confident the "Love Actually" score works because even now, after he's seen the pic a couple of hundred times, certain scenes "still crack me up." This despite the ex plot involving each pair of lovers with their own theme. "Right from the beginning," the 45-year-old Armstrong knew "the job of the score was to connect things," which meant the themes had to be "very disparate dramamtic devices," but at the end of the picture "they had to play together." Plus, he had to include Beatles tunes and the Troggs' "Love Is All Around." He compared the process of coming up with music that fit these criteria to "taking afugue apart."

Baby, all I need for Christmas is you . . .oo, oo, oo! Oooh, Baybay! Dorine, I *love* this--thanks so much! Kimberly, good for you for making it happen! So glad our Metro fan base had a Firthwhile morning! Great stuff, ladies, thanks!

BTW, they were playing the songs from LA when CF first came out to collect; not sure if you could hear it in the plaza. Thought it was cute when Katie told Colin she was talking up LA to everyone she knew and he asked her to do the same for GWAPE. "Colin, I just did that for the past 4 minutes!" They have a nice, teasing rapport. Dorine and Kimberly, how long did he collect out there?

Mari - Did hear them play the song from LA (very loudly, since right by the speaker;). .I was trying to hint to the women next to me that he was in that film too!! (In case they recognized the song from the commercial) He wasn't out collecting for very long . .just a few minutes . .I'm glad I chose that corner, and stayed there . .for he really just collected at our end of the pen;)

Thanks so much "Metro Gals"! What a treat and thanks Karen for getting Dorine's pics up so fast! I had to miss both shows today but being able to see the pom and the silly boy with no gloves really made my day! Smoldering Daughter of Delft: Fleshing out Vermeer By ALAN RIDING Published: December 9, 2003 LONDON, Dec. 8 � With great portraits it is usually the painter, not the painted, who is remembered: even emperors, kings and popes take second place when Titian, Rubens or Vel�zquez portray them. Yet a few unidentified models, Leonardo's Mona Lisa or Goya's Maja among them, have become icons. And now, thanks to a best-selling novel and a new movie, Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring" may be joining them. The painting was among 20 oils in the Vermeer show seen in Washington and The Hague in the mid-1990's. In 1999 it reappeared on the cover of Tracy Chevalier's novel "Girl With a Pearl Earring," which imagined the girl to be Griet, a buxom maid who becomes Vermeer's muse. Now, in Peter Webber's movie adaptation, which opens Dec. 12 in New York and Los Angeles, it is Scarlett Johansson's Griet who is stirring the repressed passion of Colin Firth's Vermeer. For the purpose of fiction, of course, it helps that not too much is known about Vermeer's life. This Dutch master was born in 1632 and died in 1675; he made about 45 paintings (some 35 survive); he lived in his mother-in-law's house with his wife, Catharina, and eventually 11 children; he worked as an art appraiser; he had a wealthy patron, Pieter van Ruijven; he painted slowly, doing perhaps two oils a year; and his models were probably family members or friends. On screen "Girl With a Pearl Earring" captures the mood of a mid-17th-century Delft household as reflected in Dutch genre paintings. And it skillfully evokes the light, color, silence and intimacy that characterize Vermeer's works. It even shows Griet walking through Delft's town square in the right direction to reach the canal-side house where Vermeer once lived. It could be said that almost everything about the film is real � except the story. And this story is not about painting, Mr. Webber insisted, eager to distance his first feature film from traditional artist biopics. "It's about creativity and the link between art and money and power and sex in some strange unholy mixture," he explained over coffee in a private club near Notting Hill Gate. "That's what interested me when I read the screenplay." He paused, then added with a loud laugh, "To tell you the truth, I'm more interested in sex than in painting." At least since Raphael's "Fornarina" the two activities have never been far apart. For many artists the very act of painting a woman is a form of making love. Others needed to satisfy their sexual appetite less metaphorically. And if Vermeer's very proper models � reading letters, pouring milk, playing a virginal � suggest this artist was a bit of a square, Ms. Chevalier, Mr. Webber, Mr. Firth and the screenwriter, Olivia Hetreed, have infused him with a fair dose of smoldering eroticism. The movie's plot has Griet sent to clean Vermeer's studio every morning after her father is blinded in an accident. Inevitably the maid and the artist meet. She is intrigued by his painting, he is struck by her wide-eyed youthful beauty. Soon Catharina Vermeer is fuming with jealousy, but her own mother, who runs the household, is sure van Ruijven will pay well for a portrait of Griet. So she secretly lends Catharina's pearl earring to the girl. The film is remarkably silent, except for Catharina's ranting. "I wanted it to be different from the standard English costume drama where people talk too much," Mr. Webber said. "Vermeer's paintings are not loquacious. It's a quiet, tense, mysterious, transcendent world. I wanted to capture some of that mood. Sex is not about words. Power is not about words. We have such great performances that you can tell what people are thinking." As Griet, Ms. Johansson, the young American actress who is currently also starring in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," is at the heart of the movie. Now just 19, but 17 when the film was made, she also looks the part, not only in her period costumes but also with her large eyes, peach skin and full lips, all suggesting both innocence and sexual awakening. Like other major players in the movie, though, she is Griet by accident. Three years ago the film's producers, Andy Paterson and Anand Tucker, were just one month away for production when their first Griet, Kate Hudson, pulled out. The project sank and with it Ralph Fiennes as Vermeer and Mike Newell as director. The film was reborn in 2001 when Mr. Webber was chosen as director and casting began anew. But no one was more surprised to be involved than Mr. Webber, who in the movie world, as he put it, fell into the category of "Who?" "My career has proceeded through the obvious suspects being busy," he said with good humor. Well, not quite. Now in his late 30's, he spent five years as a freelance television editor in London, where, he recalled, he worked with both talented directors and "a whole bunch who were just faking it." Bored with spending days in a small dark room, he decided to become a director himself. "I always wanted to do it," he said, "and I thought, `I can at least be as bad as some of these people.' " Over the next five years he made 14 hourlong documentaries for Channel 4 in Britain, with a focus on classical music and popular science. An important move came in 1997 when he persuaded Channel 4 that a planned documentary about Schubert should be dramatized. Two subsequent television movies, "Men Only" (2001) and "Stretford Wives" (2002), finally won him attention in Britain. Even so, "Girl With a Pearl Earring" came his way by chance. While visiting the offices of Mr. Paterson and Mr. Tucker, he saw a poster of the painting. "I had seen the picture as a student on a trip to The Hague," Mr. Webber said, noting that he studied art history in college, "and Andy heard me talking about it and handed me the script. I immediately saw how to do it. The beating heart of the movie was that obsessive love affair and how Vermeer used it to create a masterpiece." The casting process naturally began with Griet. After interviewing scores of actresses between ages 16 and 24, "one worked," Mr. Webber said, "Scarlett Johansson." Mr. Firth quickly came aboard, and others followed: Tom Wilkinson as van Ruijven, Essie Davis as Catharina, Judy Parfitt as Vermeer's mother-in-law and Cillian Murphy as Pieter, Griet's butcher boyfriend. Mr. Webber set most of the movie inside Vermeer's house, "letting the pressure cooker atmosphere build up," he said. But the story is driven more by looks than by narrative, "which is difficult for some people, and it means it is `more deliberately paced,' which is code for slower, than most contemporary films," he added. "It was what I wanted to do, but I have been surprised that people like it as much as they do. I suppose it is because the romance works." Yet the movie's ending suggests that Mr. Webber has not forgotten his early interest in art: after the last scene and before the final credits, Vermeer's painting fills the screen. "For me, the end of the film is not what happens to Griet," he said. "It's about having the audience stare at the painting for one and a half minutes. I'm quite proud of that. It's not often that people take time off to do that." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/movies/09VERM.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5062&en=870e9195b8a7ebbe&ex=1071550800&partner=GOOGLE

I'm so happy for both of you, Dorine and Kimberly! Kimberly, you were so prepared with everything from long underwear to having a keen sense of where to stand! Making friends with the ladies near you (and telling them about ODB) was really great too! Dorine, how fast did you get those pictures developed and scanned (and still get to work on time) ;-)? And Karen, you got them up here so fast! All of you are amazing! Thanks for your mighty efforts! ...And I heard him exclaim as he walked out of the Today Show 'pen,' "That darling Metro fan base is at it again!"

OMG. What a day!! I can't take all this excitement. Those pics..Dorine, you outdid youself, honey. ... Boss...pl. replace Village Idiot pic on opening page with a Drool exclusive Santa. Regis and Kelly v. cute. I cheered when Joy came out. She's literate;-) He does look pastey and tired, poor baby.

Well done ladies! Great report and pics. He does look rather tired - but I'll say no more on that! The video was up on Today's webpage earlier today, but now it seems to have disappeared. Does anyone know if it can still be accessed elsewhere?

(Tress)Thanks Murph and Mari for the reviews...one good. one not so good....it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I think the good will far outweigh the bad for GWAPE (when life gives you GWAPES, make GWAPE juice, right?!) LOL! I nearly choked when I saw that!!! I don't think I've seen this review before. Seems pretty good (granted pedophilic is generally a less than positive adjective), but at least no sour GWAPEs here (sorry). ;-) MOVIES-Newsweek International, December 15 issue The Face Behind the Painting Until recently the lay public knew little about the life of 17th-century Flemish painter Johannes Vermeer. But that was before the runaway success of Tracy Chevalier�s 2001 historical novel, �Girl With a Pearl Earring.� The book has sold more than 2 million copies, and painted the artist with a saucy, alluring brush. That sexy image is set to be further reinforced by Colin Firth�s portrayal of Vermeer in the new film of the same title. Closely following Chevalier�s plot, the film is spun from the mystery behind one of Vermeer�s most enigmatic paintings�that of a beautiful young woman wearing a pearl earring. The fetching subject of the masterpiece, it turns out, is 17-year-old Griet, a grieving maiden forced by a family tragedy to become a maid in Vermeer�s chaotic household. The artist becomes enraptured with Griet (played by �Lost in Translation�s� Scarlett Johannson) when she shows an acute understanding of art. But when Vermeer�s jealous wife discovers the commissioned painting of Griet wearing her mistress�s pearl earring, the reckless master�s home life is turned upside down. Director Peter Webber�s debut feature is entertaining, albeit slightly disturbing�the cinematography immediately takes you inside a vibrant 17th-century Holland. Johannson�s nuanced turn brings alive a young girl�s first fits of passion. But that�s just it: Johannson�s too-innocent-looking face and Webber�s deliberate underscoring of the erotic in the master-maid relationship�with several highly sexed (minus the sex) overtones�leave a somewhat pedophilic pit in your stomach. There�s a heart-pounding paint-grinding scene and a disturbing interlude where Firth pierces the young girl�s ear. What�s left for the viewer is a powerful impression of the passion behind a canvas. �Sarah Sennott

You Metro Gals truly ROCK! Thanks for the great report and fab pictures.

Dorine and Kimberly - my heroes!!! How brave you were to face the crowds and the bitter cold for a chance to see the adorable Santa Colin, and how grateful we are for your reports and photos! I didn't even get to see or tape the Today Show so I was thrilled to read your marvelous reports and see Dorine's pics. Thanks to Karen, as always, for posting the photos so quickly. Does anyone know where the line forms for sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what you want for Christmas? ;-)

Thanks Dorine and Kimberly! You metro gals are made of tougher stuff than me. I would have betted on the storm and weather causing him to cancel and stayed in a nice warm bed. I am so glad you didn't. We all benefit from your bravery. I really enjoyed the segment on Today. Am over the moon that they did this instead of regular interview. They can always bring him back for a more serious one during Oscar season. I haven't seen him in a Santa hat since TEP and that not nearly as clear as Dorine's. I had to go put on my own Santa hat--and that's not easy with these antlers.:-) I felt so sorry for his bare hands. Matt should have just taken his gloves off and given them to him. Colin needed both hands exposed more than he. Colin must have a new appreciation for "I feel it in my fingers..." He seemed to be bothered by his hands on R&K. Fiddled with them more than usual. Definitely needs some moisturizer. IMO, he did pretty good with Reege. When he mentioned he and HG being men of a certain age, it gave R the opportunity to preen like he often does. Then, Joy was serious and Colin lightened it with "And, he had one heck of a wig." Reege was able to joke about that. Good going, Colin. My favorite of the day was his reaction to finding that he had walked into the shot while Katie was hot. He jumped back and froze in such an adorable pose. Wonder if he looked like that when he stepped around the trailers while filming TIOBE and someone shouted, "You're in Judy's line of sight." Am laughing like Judy Dench must have.:-)

Just had to share this excerpt from an article on backstage.com: The biggest pause in the afternoon's proceedings came when actor Colin Firth ("Love Actually") took the stage to dish out an award. After pausing for nearly five minutes until the wolf whistles and shouting died down from the 500-plus female guests, Firth asked if perhaps his fly was down. He introduced Oscar-winning makeup artist Jenny Shircore ("Elizabeth"), who picked up the craft award for her work that most recently included making up Firth to resemble Dutch painter Vermeer in "Girl With a Pearl Earring." *LOL!* LOVE that man's sense of humour! ;-) The whole article can be found at: http://www.backstage.com/backstage/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2047361

I want to thank everyone for a wonderful (and fairly unproductive) Monday! What a gas. This joint was jumping faster than I could pop in and out. To the Metro gals who braved the cold (sorry for not thinking of *your* discomfort earlier Dorine) I salute you. To Karen, for putting up Dorines fabulous Santa pics in the speed of light, I'm grateful and delighted. And for all of the reports from the tv screen to my computer screen at work, I thank you. And last but not least is the pleasure I get from the excited posts and reviews.

Dorine, thank you for the great Santa pics, oh you were so close again! I envy you. I'd love to just stand there and look at him. The one time I saw him I was so busy taking pics I had no time to just stand there and quietly contemplate the lovely sight before me. I hope next time I'll get to do that. Ladies, great reports about the show, thank you!

(Ildiko) I'd love to just stand there and look at him. The one time I saw him I was so busy taking pics I had no time to just stand there and quietly contemplate the lovely sight before me. That's basically what I did at the end (while snapping a couple of pics). Didn't feel the need or desire to bombard him with questions. oh you were so close again! Matter of fact, I was so close, I actually had to back up a step and lean back a hair to get a pic that wasn't just his nose or eye.

Matter of fact, I was so close, I actually had to back up a step and lean back a hair to get a pic that wasn't just his nose or eye. Good job at that and thanks again!

(Dorine)Matter of fact, I was so close, I actually had to back up a step and lean back a hair to get a pic that wasn't just his nose or eye. *Swoon* Not that just an ear or his forehead alone would be unappreciated, but all the "accessories" together are even better! In your last pic, so graciously and quickly posted by Karen (THANKS!), it looks like he's smiling directly at you, Dorine. Think you've been recognized? ;-)

Firth asked if perhaps his fly was down. Stole one from Jon Stewart, didn't he? ;-) Well, as houses are already decorated, I could put up Dorine's portrait of a Santa...

(Shoshana) Think you've been recognized? ;-) Impossible. That was a Hail Mary shot reaching over the crowd. Didn't pay me one bit of attention at the end (first 2 pics). Maybe the ballcap threw him off. ;-D

Blessings on your tribe for the new pin-up, Boss. *slurp, slurp* , Dorine, thanks for my first Xmas gift:-))) After pausing for nearly five minutes until the wolf whistles and shouting died down from the 500-plus female guests...at one of London's top West End hotels. , 500 women!!! Wolf whistles and shouting!! And we thought the Zeigfield Press Tent was loud. (Bet they didn't chant "Col-in, Col-in");-)

NY Times... Smoldering Daughter of Delft: Fleshing out Vermeer By ALAN RIDING Published: December 9, 2003 ONDON, Dec. 8 ? With great portraits it is usually the painter, not the painted, who is remembered: even emperors, kings and popes take second place when Titian, Rubens or Vel�zquez portray them. Yet a few unidentified models, Leonardo's Mona Lisa or Goya's Maja among them, have become icons. And now, thanks to a best-selling novel and a new movie, Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring" may be joining them. The painting was among 20 oils in the Vermeer show seen in Washington and The Hague in the mid-1990's. In 1999 it reappeared on the cover of Tracy Chevalier's novel "Girl With a Pearl Earring," which imagined the girl to be Griet, a buxom maid who becomes Vermeer's muse. Now, in Peter Webber's movie adaptation, which opens Dec. 12 in New York and Los Angeles, it is Scarlett Johansson's Griet who is stirring the repressed passion of Colin Firth's Vermeer. For the purpose of fiction, of course, it helps that not too much is known about Vermeer's life. This Dutch master was born in 1632 and died in 1675; he made about 45 paintings (some 35 survive); he lived in his mother-in-law's house with his wife, Catharina, and eventually 11 children; he worked as an art appraiser; he had a wealthy patron, Pieter van Ruijven; he painted slowly, doing perhaps two oils a year; and his models were probably family members or friends. On screen "Girl With a Pearl Earring" captures the mood of a mid-17th-century Delft household as reflected in Dutch genre paintings. And it skillfully evokes the light, color, silence and intimacy that characterize Vermeer's works. It even shows Griet walking through Delft's town square in the right direction to reach the canal-side house where Vermeer once lived. It could be said that almost everything about the film is real ? except the story. And this story is not about painting, Mr. Webber insisted, eager to distance his first feature film from traditional artist biopics. "It's about creativity and the link between art and money and power and sex in some strange unholy mixture," he explained over coffee in a private club near Notting Hill Gate. "That's what interested me when I read the screenplay." He paused, then added with a loud laugh, "To tell you the truth, I'm more interested in sex than in painting." At least since Raphael's "Fornarina" the two activities have never been far apart. For many artists the very act of painting a woman is a form of making love. Others needed to satisfy their sexual appetite less metaphorically. And if Vermeer's very proper models ? reading letters, pouring milk, playing a virginal ? suggest this artist was a bit of a square, Ms. Chevalier, Mr. Webber, Mr. Firth and the screenwriter, Olivia Hetreed, have infused him with a fair dose of smoldering eroticism. The movie's plot has Griet sent to clean Vermeer's studio every morning after her father is blinded in an accident. Inevitably the maid and the artist meet. She is intrigued by his painting, he is struck by her wide-eyed youthful beauty. Soon Catharina Vermeer is fuming with jealousy, but her own mother, who runs the household, is sure van Ruijven will pay well for a portrait of Griet. So she secretly lends Catharina's pearl earring to the girl. The film is remarkably silent, except for Catharina's ranting. "I wanted it to be different from the standard English costume drama where people talk too much," Mr. Webber said. "Vermeer's paintings are not loquacious. It's a quiet, tense, mysterious, transcendent world. I wanted to capture some of that mood. Sex is not about words. Power is not about words. We have such great performances that you can tell what people are thinking." As Griet, Ms. Johansson, the young American actress who is currently also starring in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," is at the heart of the movie. Now just 19, but 17 when the film was made, she also looks the part, not only in her period costumes but also with her large eyes, peach skin and full lips, all suggesting both innocence and sexual awakening. Like other major players in the movie, though, she is Griet by accident. Three years ago the film's producers, Andy Paterson and Anand Tucker, were just one month away for production when their first Griet, Kate Hudson, pulled out. The project sank and with it Ralph Fiennes as Vermeer and Mike Newell as director. The film was reborn in 2001 when Mr. Webber was chosen as director and casting began anew. But no one was more surprised to be involved than Mr. Webber, who in the movie world, as he put it, fell into the category of "Who?" "My career has proceeded through the obvious suspects being busy," he said with good humor. Well, not quite. Now in his late 30's, he spent five years as a freelance television editor in London, where, he recalled, he worked with both talented directors and "a whole bunch who were just faking it." Bored with spending days in a small dark room, he decided to become a director himself. "I always wanted to do it," he said, "and I thought, `I can at least be as bad as some of these people.' " Over the next five years he made 14 hourlong documentaries for Channel 4 in Britain, with a focus on classical music and popular science. An important move came in 1997 when he persuaded Channel 4 that a planned documentary about Schubert should be dramatized. Two subsequent television movies, "Men Only" (2001) and "Stretford Wives" (2002), finally won him attention in Britain. Even so, "Girl With a Pearl Earring" came his way by chance. While visiting the offices of Mr. Paterson and Mr. Tucker, he saw a poster of the painting. "I had seen the picture as a student on a trip to The Hague," Mr. Webber said, noting that he studied art history in college, "and Andy heard me talking about it and handed me the script. I immediately saw how to do it. The beating heart of the movie was that obsessive love affair and how Vermeer used it to create a masterpiece." The casting process naturally began with Griet. After interviewing scores of actresses between ages 16 and 24, "one worked," Mr. Webber said, "Scarlett Johansson." Mr. Firth quickly came aboard, and others followed: Tom Wilkinson as van Ruijven, Essie Davis as Catharina, Judy Parfitt as Vermeer's mother-in-law and Cillian Murphy as Pieter, Griet's butcher boyfriend. Mr. Webber set most of the movie inside Vermeer's house, "letting the pressure cooker atmosphere build up," he said. But the story is driven more by looks than by narrative, "which is difficult for some people, and it means it is `more deliberately paced,' which is code for slower, than most contemporary films," he added. "It was what I wanted to do, but I have been surprised that people like it as much as they do. I suppose it is because the romance works." Yet the movie's ending suggests that Mr. Webber has not forgotten his early interest in art: after the last scene and before the final credits, Vermeer's painting fills the screen. "For me, the end of the film is not what happens to Griet," he said. "It's about having the audience stare at the painting for one and a half minutes. I'm quite proud of that. It's not often that people take time off to do that."

Dorine, Kimberley, Karen, thanks for the pics and the reports. I love them. He really does look gorgeous.

Craig Kilbourn just announced this week's guests and Colin's name was in the group, along with SJ

Thank you for all the news, pictures, articles and updates. What a lovely Monday! ...and now we know the true meaning of Yes, Virgina, there is a Santa Claus-but Santa never looked this good!

12/9/2003 Shades of Scarlett Johansson By Evan Henerson Staff Writer There are people - admittedly, many with a film to promote - who believe that the face of Scarlett Johansson is as layered and enigmatic as, well, as the model for a quite famous 17th-century painting by Johannes Vermeer. The comparisons figure to come hot and heavy, if simply because in "Girl With a Pearl Earring," Johansson plays a fictionalized subject of Vermeer's masterpiece. "She's a dead ringer, 'GWPE' incarnate." "Nah, they look nothing alike." But a physical resemblance was never really an issue, says Peter Webber, director of the film "Girl With a Pearl Earring" which opens this weekend. And by now, he figures enough people will simply enjoy looking at - even studying - Scarlett Johansson. The director certainly does. So, it seems, do the housewives who have responded to "Lost in Translation" and the teenagers with "Ghost World" DVDs in their backpacks who see Johansson as one of them, not just an indie queen, cultural "It Girl" or a cinematic work of art. "I just found myself compelled and fascinated by her presence," Webber says of Johansson. "I saw what you saw in the film: an intelligence, a kind of budding sexuality. I saw a girl who was mature beyond her years. I saw a sensitivity. I just saw that I could do a close-up on her and I could tell what she was thinking.' Brush with greatness Truth be told, Webber and the actress herself both feel there's not much physical resemblance between Vermeer's Girl and the 19-year-old, New York-born Johansson, who earned praised earlier this fall for her role in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation." Take Johansson out of that bottle-like bonnet scarf and put her in contemporary clothes and the gap between subject and actress widens further. "We both look European, we both look young, and she's got big eyes," says Johansson, her blond hair pulled back in a twist during an interview. "There were ideas that were thrown around, like, 'Should we morph Scarlett's face into the painting? How are we going to sell this that it's really her?' Then I think Peter realized this is a fictionalized story based on the painting, and it doesn't make much sense to morph it. Some of those things (we tried) looked like a cross between, I don't know, Hayley Mills and the youngest Hanson brother." Little is known about the life of Vermeer, much less about the model for his painting. In her best-selling novel - on which the film is based - Tracy Chevalier suggests that a poor but intelligent servant named Griet negotiated her way around the bustling Vermeer household, struck up a rapport with the artist and became his assistant. In addition to modeling for him, Griet also fell in love with her employer. And vice versa. Who's that 'Girl'? With several "Pearl Earring" cast and crew members nursing an interest in classical art, discussions and debate over the painting filtered over the set. Colin Firth, who plays Vermeer, has suggested that the girl could have been one of Vermeer's daughters. Johansson disagrees. "There's something very sexual about that painting," she says. "There is like a certain longing in her eyes, and her lips are moist. Maybe it was a young lover. Who knows? It seems too sexy to be something you'd paint of your own daughter." Playing the smart but quiet servant Griet, whose presence is noticed by nobody except Vermeer, Johansson is largely silent. Colin Firth's Vermeer is much the same way. Which is not characteristic of either person, says Firth. "As soon as someone would say cut, we'd start talking 10 to the dozen because we both are like that as people," says Firth. "It's quite ironic in a way that such a quiet, wordless film is made by such loquacious people." Count Firth as a Johansson admirer as well. "She has the child and the adult in her. She can look ordinary or look stunning, which is an amazing asset for an actress to have," says Firth. "She can be aggressive and fearless, and she can be extremely fragile and vulnerable. And I think those are the things you keep looking at and studying and wanting to get to the heart of - and that's why you can watch her in close-up for hours." Anonymous no longer In person, Johansson is, if not loquacious, certainly open. Her voice is low, her wit bone-dry. She talks a lot about movies and about the "private moments" she occasionally seeks out. With her recent film "Lost in Translation" turning out to be a well-seen, critically praised sleeper, those private moments aren't as easy to find - at least not in public - as they once were. A lady can't even spend a few minutes alone with a certain famous painting, apparently. The first time producers took Johansson to the Hague in Holland to see the portrait, the actress recalls noticing a certain nervousness among her escorts. She soon found out why. Johansson had just started to study the brush strokes and the aging when she turned to find a video camera pointed at her. "It was like, 'So, Scarlett, what do you think of the painting?' I was like, 'Whoa, where did you come from?' " she says. "And this guy was standing behind me saying, 'In 1976, we uncovered the white spots on the lips, and you can see the cracking.' I got all nervous all of a sudden. What am I supposed to think? 'It looks nice, I guess. Look, "A View of Delft." Let's go over to that painting.' " "I really wish I had seen it on my own," Johansson continues. "It was nice to see the physical painting. However, I would have liked to have spent some time just looking at it. Just trying to figure out what she was thinking." Johansson made her film debut in Rob Reiner's ill-fated "North" (1994) followed by a turn in the indie film "Manny and Lo." More attention came following her casting as Kristin Scott Thomas' handicapped daughter in Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperer." More recently, she has worked with the Coen Brothers in "The Man Who Wasn't There" and in the horror comedy "Eight Legged Freaks." It's an eclectic body of work for an actress who has largely steered clear of films that would target audiences in her age range. During a recent visit to Starbucks, however, Johansson found herself approached by "like 15 13-year-olds with 'Ghost World' DVDs in their backpacks." The Terry Zwigoff dark comedy, she notes, because of its R rating, would have kept a lot of teens from seeing it. "Ratings prevent younger people from seeing smarter films," Johansson says. "I had a meeting with a studio head, and I was talking about this film that I was really excited about and really wanted to get made. And she turned to me and said, 'Yes, yes, I know, but we have to appeal to the MTV generation.' "And I looked at her and said, 'I am the (expletive) MTV generation. You're wearing a blazer and loafers and you're telling me about the MTV generation.' I find that very upsetting, and I think that youth is underestimated in that sense." And as for that "It Girl" label, Johansson has heard it too often and doesn't know what it means. "Who wants to be the It Girl?" she asks. "Then you're the one who once was the It Girl girl. It's so in the moment, and that's a terrible thing." http://u.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,212~23471~1817568,00.html Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com

I just saw talking movies, and GWAPE was featured as the first movie, I missed most of it. Keep an eye out for a repeat!

A note on the NY Times story, posted by Ev -- Two pictures of the painting and Scarlett side by side, plus Colin and Scarlett below. - and in the "oops" department, on the continuation page, there is a picture of Webber and Colin, and the caption says "Webber and Cillian Murphy."

As translated by Google (Originally in Spanish) Colin Firth: a proudly English actor In the romantic comedy?Love Actually? he returns to meet with the acclaimed writer and director Richard Curtis Juan Rodriguez Flowers Editor of Spectacles 29 of November of 2003 Towards end of year 2001 was carried out in the United States the opening of the English comedy Bridget Jones? Diary, which in just a short time became one from the favorites of I publish. In addition to the shining performance that he had in this films the actress Renee Zellweger, his companion Colin Firth attracted the attention of a good percentage of women who saw in their image the incarnation of the masculine ideals that take in the heart. ?Nunca I have thought that Grant can compete with somebody like my good Hugh friend, yes is true rompecorazones, Colin Firth said, with great sense of humor, during the visit that the last week did to Los Angeles. simply I am a theater actor that now can gain the life doing films. Formed within the purest English theater tradition, Colin Firth accepted east year to participate in Love Actually , the first film directed by Richard Curtis, author of the scripts of as popular comedies as Four Weddings and to Funeral , Notting Hill and already mentioned Bridget Jones? Diary. ?Cuando somebody notified to me that Richard was preparing itself to make debut like director, immediately llo I called to say that wished to him to be involved in its project, I explain Firth. for surprise mine, I knew that others of my companions did the same, among them Hugh Grant. I think that Love Actually is a film that has a spirit who contradicts, in the good sense of the word, everything what it happens so far in the world. Because it puts to the love, the confidence and the faith in the human beings over all the climate military, panic and terror that have been created around the invasion to Iraq. I believe that a film this one will serve to remember the public to him who, in spite of all the errors and tragedies caused by our politicians, still is in the life space for the love and the friendship. In Love Actually, Colin Firth has to their position the paper of Jamie, writer who decides to leave London to go away to live in a house to the south of France where, in the middle of the solitude, tries to revitalize their heart after to have happened through a bitter and painful sentimental experience. With respect to their personage, Colin Firth said the following thing: is a very sensible man, for that reason it wants to take refuge in the writing of his new book. When Curtis offered to me east paper immediately I felt identified with him. In order to be able to develop I made it a long trip by the French region well, to which he is going away to live. While it crossed some small cities and towns, I was trying to include/understand why Jamie leaves London and what reasons must to try to break with their past. Thus I could realize that was somebody that needed to eet again the love and that at the same time gave the back him to that feeling. When Jamie has the opportunity to know a called girl Aurelia (Lucia Moniz) knows that she can be the woman who is been looking for during long time, but she in the beginning refuses to recognize it. Finally, after fighting against itself, Jamie understands that it cannot deceive his own heart and it gives his affection to him. Perhaps because never I have stopped bei g a very ingenuous and romantic person, I felt very excited to have the opportunity to play this role. Proudly English Like recognition at the high artistic level that she has, Colin Firth has been invited in more than an occasion to immigrate to Hollywood. He has always said that not to each one of those proposals. ?Me I feel very comfortable and calm with the life style that I take in London, he assured the actor Shakespeare in Love , The Importance of Being Earnest , To Thousand Pungent , Valmont and Girl with to Pearl Earring . by that reason that I have not felt the necessity to leave my country in permanent form. Although I like to film films in Hollywood, by the enormous international visibility that these have, I I prefer to take part in films that are small and interesting, from the artistic point of view. Perhaps because never I have let love the theater anywhere in the world does not interest to me to be recognized by million people. I am very happy for being an English actor who has the opportunity to participate in film like Love Actually , in that always has priority to develop a good history over any commercial criterion. http://www.laopinion.com/print.html?rkey=00031128143927204086

Hilarious translation, Maria. Thanks. To Thousand Pungent My fave.

true rompecorazones Oh my! The imagination is in high gear over what this might mean. I'm thinking romping on a feather bed ... I'm thinking high energy ... I'm thinking lovely smiles and eye crinkles ... I'm thinking erogenous zones ... (I'm thinking too much -- must get back to work!)

(Deb)true rompecorazones He certainly gets my corazones romping!! (Taking it that is a bad translation for Heartthrob?)

(se�or Firth) "Yo simplemente soy un actor de teatro..." Prove it. Hilarious, Maria. That's why most of the translations are "by committee."

Whoopsie daisies. All closed now.

I think I would take Bill Nighy over Alan Rickman any day after reading their airport stories... (Plus their attitudes at the premiere swayed me as well!) 'Love Actually' embraces romantic side of impersonal airports By DAVID GERMAIN -- AP Movie Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Everybody hates airports -- until the moment when that loved one's face materializes from the crowd, and you find yourself in a viselike hug, oblivious to the swirling mob of strangers. During a long wait at Los Angeles International Airport, British writer-director Richard Curtis was so struck by the tenderness of reunions that he incorporated montages of airport greetings into his romantic comedy "Love Actually." Dozens of airport embraces, caresses and kisses open and close "Love Actually," whose ensemble cast includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Alan Rickman as Londoners in various throes of pre-Christmas romance. The reunion hugs are of real people, shot by a hidden camera at London's Heathrow Airport. "What is lovely in these airports, before the person you love comes through the door, the people waiting look their least attractive," said Curtis, who wrote "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." "They're tired, they parked in some airport car park, they arrived 45 minutes early. They look like they couldn't muster a smile if you paid them a thousand pounds. Then their person comes through, and this explosion of personality takes over." Airport farewells carry just as much impact, Curtis said. "They can be equally moving in a very different and sadder way," said Curtis, who turns 47 the day after "Love Actually" opens. "When I go through my melancholy phase in my 50s, maybe I'll do a movie that begins and ends with airport departures." The Associated Press asked Curtis and some of his cast to share memories of their own airport experiences, whether happy greetings or sad partings. Curtis, actually, has a sad greeting. In Paris years ago, he developed a crush on a British woman. Before he returned to London, he arranged to meet her at the airport when she came back home. "When she came off the plane, I didn't recognize her. She was wearing a slightly different dress, and I was looking straight through her," Curtis said. "I remember telling this annoying person in front of me to move because I was looking for this fabulous girl in a blue dress, and it turned out to be her. "Not the perfect start to a date." Linney, 39, plays an American living in London, whose attempts at romance with a co-worker are disrupted by trouble with her mentally ill brother. The actress' strongest airport recollections date back to childhood, when she would leave behind her mom and dad to visit her grandmother in Georgia. "I was one of those solo-flier children, and I would go down and spend part of summer with her," Linney said. "Just getting off the plane and seeing her face, it was wonderful." While most people tend to blot out demonstrative scenes among strangers at airports, Linney said she always has been a bit of an emotional voyeur over such moments. "I get very choked up at airports watching other people greet and say goodbye. When you see those hellos and goodbyes, people coming together or taken apart, you see their chemistry change," Linney said. With Curtis' script, "I was very glad somebody else saw it the same way and was as sentimental about it, and as much of an emotional sponge as I am." Rickman, 57, also has been a longtime spectator of other people's emotional airport dramas, so much so that he bears a friendly grudge against Curtis. "Strangely enough, I've always had in mind that I wanted to make a short film of just people saying hello and goodbye at airports, and he snatched it away from me," said Rickman, whose "Love Actually" character is a steadfast husband put to the test by a flirtation with an amorous colleague. "It just goes to show if you have an idea, you better do it fast before someone else does." For Rickman, no particular airport scenes from his own life come to mind. "The trouble is, my airport experiences usually are, 'Where's the driver? Where's the luggage? There's too much luggage. The luggage is too heavy,'" Rickman said. "That's why I look around at airports for signs in other people that they're having a better day than I am. "I think it's everybody for themselves at airports." British TV and pop star Martine McCutcheon, 26, gets her big-screen break with "Love Actually" as an adorably klutzy aide who catches the eye of Britain's new bachelor prime minister (Grant). McCutcheon recalls her mother's glum face a couple of years ago, when the actress took her first trip from London to Los Angeles to meet with agents. "My mum drove me to the airport, and she knew I'd be out there on my own. She was kind of breaking her heart when I left," McCutcheon said. "Suddenly you're independent, growing up, all those things. It was pretty emotional saying goodbye. We were both crying our eyes out." Among drivers holding placards with passengers' names at Heathrow, McCutcheon once saw a man with a sign saying, "Susan, will you marry me?" "I didn't ever see Susan," McCutcheon said. "I don't know if she said yes or not, but I remember thinking, I hope she says yes." Bill Nighy, 54, who played a dinosaur rock 'n' roller in the 1998 bandmate-reunion comedy "Still Crazy," co-stars as another has-been rocker in "Love Actually." With shameless glee, his character hits the comeback trail plugging his awful Christmas version of the old Troggs tune "Love Is All Around." Nighy recently had a heartfelt reunion with his 18-year-old daughter when she returned to England after a trip to South America, in countries "she chose very carefully to put the wind up her father, countries where her cell phone wouldn't operate." So Nighy had barely spoken with her for two months when he picked her up at Heathrow. "On the way to the airport, I was thinking, if I squeeze her the way I want to squeeze her, we'd end up in casualty. I will squeeze her to death," Nighy said. "You understand your mother, suddenly. The physical distress you get when you haven't seen your child for a long time. "When I actually saw her and hugged her, I restrained myself. I didn't break both her arms." http://www.sacticket.com/static/movies/news/1106love.html

se�or Firth) "Yo simplemente soy un actor de teatro..." (Ms Karen)Prove it. Ok, isn't there a rule about driving the linguistically challenged nuts?;-) (Maria)I think I would take Bill Nighy over Alan Rickman any day after reading their airport stories... (Plus their attitudes at the premiere swayed me as well!) I'm with you Maria! Loved your spanish article.

Screening of GWAPE in London the 11th.. http://www.screencinemas.co.uk/coming.php http://www.scriptfactory.co.uk/

Box-office report includes LA's current rank and gross: "It's 'Love Actually' for British Filmgoers" The film has grossed over $45 million in the States thus far, and is still in the top ten. While this is a nice achievement, I think the marketers at Universal could have done a much better job promoting it. (These, after all, are the people responsible for deluging us with "Cat in the Hat" references everywhere we turn nowadays). It seems to me that the film was advertised fairly well on television in the days leading up to its opening, but that kind of promotion seemed to drop off as the film's release expanded, and it made its way to more theaters. In the U.S., where film audiences tend to have short-term memory, and gravitate towards the last movie they remember seeing an ad for, it would have been more desirable for the promotion of the film to increase as the number of screens playing it increased. That way, people who saw the ads on TV could have actually gone out to see the film at that time, rather than be expected to wait up to several weeks until it arrived in their town. By then, they were seeing commercials for other films, and tended to gravitate towards those instead. Ah, well, I only rant because I work for a cinema chain on the theater level, and see this type of marketing gaffe a lot, so it's a longtime thorn in my side. I do think Universal would be wise to begin a second wave of promotions in the coming week; a good holiday film will do great business during the holidays, and they don't get much better than *this* film. :-)

Thank you Jane! LOL...I would have been doing a lot more that 'wolf whistlin' if ODB's fly was down! ;-) (ODB) "It's quite ironic in a way that such a quiet, wordless film is made by such loquacious people." A testament to how good of an actor he is (and Scarlett too!)! This movie is so quiet, yet so much is 'said' with looks...wonderfully done. Love OLB (Our Loquacious Boy)! Keep talking! I'm listening! Maria! Thanks for the articles and thank goodness for the Google translator...gave me quite a giggle! (Googlie translation) Colin Firth has been invited in more than an occasion to immigrate to Hollywood. He can inhabit in England or he can inhabit in Hollywood. ;-) And Maria...thanks for the airport article...I liked Martine's recollection: Among drivers holding placards with passengers' names at Heathrow, McCutcheon once saw a man with a sign saying, "Susan, will you marry me?" "I didn't ever see Susan," McCutcheon said. "I don't know if she said yes or not, but I remember thinking, I hope she says yes." And Bill Nighy...the sweet guy! Love him!

One major problem with Love Actually's box office is its R rating. Most R movies are action adventures, heavy dramas or gross-out comedies like The Last Samurai, Hannibal or American Pie. Love Actually is a romantic comedy - not usually an R-rated genre - which could easily have brought in more teenagers, families and conservative women if it was PG-13. Many people might have been blind-sided by the nudity because the movie was marketed as something sweet and romantic. I personally didn't mind the nudity and actually found it pretty witty in context, but it seems like there are many who were offended by it (including many in this group), and that kind of reaction slashes repeat viewers and word of mouth. If you look at the top grossing movies almost all of them are PG or G. Even with its nudity, Titanic got a PG-13 rating, probably because the nudity was related to art, not sex. That R rating probably took off a quarter of LA's gross.

Pssst! BJD had an R rating in this country. Personally, I hate when films are toned down for the American audience's prudish mores toward nudity but not violence and language. I don't believe anyone in Hollywood expects an R-rated movie to gross the same as Finding Nemo or similar. Back to CF news...

(Tress)...I would have been doing a lot more that 'wolf whistlin' if ODB's fly was down! ;-) No you wouldn't...you'd agonize like Mari and I did the first time we saw 3 DOR, first act. (I had binocs;-) Considering that LA is a British movie, with predominantly British cast. (People don't normally line up to see LL or Billy Bob) I think it's doing v. well.

No you wouldn't...you'd agonize like Mari and I did the first time we saw 3 DOR, first act. (I had binocs;-) OH NO! (horrible thoughts filling my brain) Whatever do you mean? Has this been discussed before -- and if so, please direct me where to go read the posts.

IFC Channel's At the Angelika will be reviewing GWAPE this month. The current episode (#79) airs nearly everyday. Here are some dates within the next few days: Eastern times all: Tuesday, Dec 9 at 4:00 PM Tuesday, December 9 at 4:00 PM Wednesday, December 10 at 12:30 PM Wednesday, December 10 at 4:30 PM Thursday, December 11 at 7:00 AM Here's a monthly calendar: http://www.ifctv.com/ifc/whatson?CAT0=45&TZ=ET&TB=4&DW=2&CLR=blue&BCLR=0099CC

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/445/445241p1.html?fromint=1

(Evelyn) No you wouldn't...you'd agonize like Mari and I did the first time we saw 3 DOR, first act. OMG...was his fly down? And no pics...that is a tragedy (though it sounds as if the image is burned in your brain...LOL)! And you guys don't have that problem I have! You can actually articulate when he is near. You didn't do the 'universal' your fly is down sign to him? Well, guess I would want it left down...see if anything...never mind...Good call having the binos Evelyn! Were you in the front row? ;-D (Evelyn) I think it's doing v. well. I think so too. And Christmas week is one of the best movie going weeks of the year. Some will line up for Cold Mountain, but my guess is, LA will get plenty of new (and some repeat) business. It is the type of film that, I think, many are looking for during the actual holidays.

I think I could start believing in Santa all over again, and may not sleep a wink this year listening for sleigh bells. Not sure anyone should be allowed to look that adorable in a Santa hat. Lucky Dorine! Lucky Kimberly! Okay Dorine, be honest now. Did you just briefly entertain the idea of maybe possibly hiding in one of those toy bags so you could get inside with him???

Ooooooh! Love those new pics, Maria. Though I'm pretty sure they aren't publicity stills, but screenshots.

Seems that guy might have a screener.

If it's VHS, then it's missing the ID marking in the upper right-hand corner. ;-)

Gah! I disappear for a day to work on grad school apps and all this lovely stuff appears. Maria, great finds!!! You are truly a master Googlier (and you've definitely employed today more usefully than I have)! (Juan Rodriguez Flowers, Editor of Spectacles)When Jamie has the opportunity to know a called girl Aurelia (Lucia Moniz) And I thought she was only a waitress and part-time housecleaner...though that might explain the stripping scene. ;-)

Some new pics at Rex Features from the Women in Film presentation. http://www.rexfeatures.com/cgi-bin/r2show0?k=Colin+Firth&f=Newest

Great, Sandy, have snagged the big ones, though Sophie is going to have work her magic on those nasty watermarks.

Thank you Sandy! The second picture in made me LOL! Love that look!

Love Actually is still #1 at the UK box office, bringing in $5,540,181 this past weekend on 478 screens ($11,590/avg) and the two week cume is $36,467,389. (Ev, Elf continues to trail, thought you'd want to know)

From the Village Voice: Muse It Or Lose It: Dutch Treat Inspires Vermeer Masterpiece by J. Hoberman December 10 - 16, 2003 A more agreeable, less inflated historical fantasy than Big Fish (see above), Girl With a Pearl Earring signals its interest in what Fernand Braudel called the "structures of everyday life" with an opening close-up of its 17th-century teenage protag Griet (Scarlett Johansson) peeling an onion. If the spectacle of a soberly becapped young woman bathed by sunlight as she slices veggies by the kitchen window evokes the golden age of Dutch genre painting�-you've come to the right place. A first theatrical feature by documentarian Peter Webber, adapted from Tracy Chevalier's bestseller, Girl With a Pearl Earring tells the tale of how young Griet came to work as a maid in the Delft household of the painter Johannes Vermeer and wound up modeling for one of his supreme masterpieces, The Girl With a Pearl Earring, also known as Girl in Turban, and less officially, the "Mona Lisa of the North." Vermeer, whose paintings may be the world's rarest, is fellow Dutchman Vincent van Gogh's only rival as a posthumously appreciated genius. In an odd fashion, the men are almost contemporaries; Vermeer's revaluation began in the period of post-impressionism, the taste for his better-than-photo photo-realism itself post-photographic. Griet, however, is a natural connoisseur: Hired as a slavey in the tumultuously miserable Vermeer household, she stumbles upon the master's sacred studio, replete with props and setups now famous from his paintings�as well as the camera obscura, subject of another debate, that functions as his secret weapon. As Griet's sensitive attempt to wash the windows inspires Vermeer's Woman With a Water Jug, she's privileged to watch that masterpiece come into existence and is soon mixing Vermeer's paints and glazes, and even offering compositional ideas. Not exactly Master and Commander stuff, this Braudelian action is hyped by the strenuously dancing snowflakes of Alexandre Desplat's over-sparkly score�as is the complex domestic conspiracy that brings a priceless trophy of Western culture into existence. Delft is impressively evoked, and Griet, assumed by her betters to live in a world beneath intelligence, is a perfect "everyday" subject. Vermeer (Colin Firth) is portrayed as taciturn and glowering. The artist might well brood, annoyingly saddled with a blubbering bovine wife (Essie Davis), a micromanaging mother-in-law (Judy Parfitt), a small army of children, and a lip-smacking, troublemaking patron, Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson). The smarmy Van Ruijven has his eye on Griet, but the modest girl refuses even to remove her cap. (Quiet as Girl With a Pearl Earring is, the moment when Vermeer spies Griet's cascade of auburn hair makes for a superbly Muslim moment.) Girl With a Pearl Earring cannot help but sensitize the viewer to its own use of light and color. It's a daring ploy with unavoidably mixed results�-especially since a colleague insists that the eponymous piece of jewelry was, in fact, a pendant of polished pewter. As the imaginary historical subject, Johansson holds her frequent close-ups with considerable authority. Wide-eyed, open-mouthed, and silently beseeching, she's even more a screen for projection here than in Lost in Translation; surrounded by a gaggle of over-actors, she glows with understatement.

"...surrounded by a gaggle of over-actors, she glows with understatement. " Meeeeeeeeeeow!!! I see there are still a few b*tches living in the Village... what a nasty thing to say. Especiallly when you're not willing to back it up with an example, or even say who you're talking about. Coward.

Wow . .one day away from the computer . .great articles & pics ladies!!! true rompecorazones . .my guess Romper = to break corazon = heart A true heart breaker? Sure, Hugh might be one . .but ODB certainly is too . . .

Pssst! BJD had an R rating in this country Bridget Jones (with its undeserved R rating) made just $71.5 million in the US and earned its hit status more on its disproportionately higher $255 million international gross. With LA's gross just slightly lower than BJD after 31 days ($49M/$51M), it still has an outside chance of equalling it. But with all its hype, even that would be seen as a disappointment, at least in the US. I'm hoping that LA has great legs through the Christmas season. It'll be interesting to see how GWAPE does when it is widely released in January. Crossing my fingers for an Oscar nod for Scarlett to boost visibility and status.

One major problem with Love Actually's box office is its R rating. Most R movies are action adventures, heavy dramas or gross-out comedies like The Last Samurai, Hannibal or American Pie. Love Actually is a romantic comedy - not usually an R-rated genre - which could easily have brought in more teenagers, families and conservative women if it was PG-13. Many people might have been blind-sided by the nudity because the movie was marketed as something sweet and romantic. I personally didn't mind the nudity and actually found it pretty witty in context, but it seems like there are many who were offended by it (including many in this group), and that kind of reaction slashes repeat viewers and word of mouth. Good point, Katty. While I don't think all prospective viewers know about the nudity, I'm sure some do, and unfortunately that will keep some away. I don't believe anyone in Hollywood expects an R-rated movie to gross the same as Finding Nemo or similar. Oh, I certainly didn't expect grosses of that nature, either. And one thing I did fail to mention (when my train of thought derailed, as it often does) is that LA is still being shown on considerably less screens than the major releases in the U.S. The highest number of screens that it's been played on in one week is somewhere around 1700, I believe (and in its first week of release, that was somewhere around five hundred). Films like "The Cat in the Hat" opened on well over 3,000 screens (and that one isn't even doing that much more business than LA, when you take into account the much higher # of screens it's playing on). LA might actually have come close to matching even that type of general audience fare, had it a comparable # of screens to compete with. I suppose my original point, though, was less to compare its performance to that of other films, and more to express my opinion that it could be doing even a bit better than it already is (and I agree with Evelyn that it's doing quite well). Many people I know who have the interest in seeing the film still aren't quite interested enough to drive 45 minutes to an hour to do so (this is where # of screens comes into play). I am pleased that the film has done so well; I am also just one of those people working in the cinema business who likes to gripe about how much better *I* could have marketed a film (whether or not that's actually the case, LOL). Anyway, on to GWAPE; I am prepared to drive as many miles as need be to see this! :-)

EOR -- There is a still pic at Coming Soon.neet from People Magazine http://comingsoon.net/news.php?id=2628

Thank you Sandy, Mary, Maria, Jane, and Karen I'm glad to see LA doing really well in the UK, but Nicole, I agree with you. I can't believe that the cast was still doing publicity and the commercials were all but gone. (Tress)You didn't do the 'universal' your fly is down sign to him? LOL, would you?

Did anyone see Scarlett J on The View? I missed it and was wondering if they talked about Colin at all. Those women seem the type who would ask questions about him. LA is still being shown on considerably less screens than the major releases in the U.S. It is a shame that LA's on relatively few screens, and that certainly hurts its gross. (Bridget Jones was on a 1,000 more screens in its first few weeks.) The distributors were expecting word of mouth and impressive grosses to push the number of screens up, but even though it has had decent per screen numbers, it's already losing screens instead. We'll see what kind of "legs" it has.

(Nicole) LA is still being shown on considerably less screens than the major releases in the U.S. As is typical for a platformed release. It would never reach the same number of screens (complete saturation) as the slash & burn major releases, which are out to get as much as they can in the first two weeks (when the studios get the lion's share of the take) and then don't care about what happens (50% drops) when the distributors are set to get theirs. You really can't compare. (Katty) Did anyone see Scarlett J on The View? I missed it and was wondering if they talked about Colin at all. I know this has been asked and answered--'caused I answered it myself earlier. No, Colin was not mentioned by anyone.

The transcript of the Today Show is up here: http://www.firth.com/int/03todaydec8.html and larger caps have been added to this gallery: http://www.firth.com/gwape_todaygal.html

OMG!! You can see my camera (if you get out a magnifying glass ;-)) right next to the right side of the head of the woman holding the right side of the sign, closest to Colin. And I believe his bag is kind of squared at the bottom because of my present. It was thin, but kind of large. Did they show him the whole time he collected on that side? Maybe you can see "me" (rather my arm) handing it forward to him over people's heads. It was in a bright blue bag.

As is typical for a platformed release. It would never reach the same number of screens (complete saturation) as the slash & burn major releases, which are out to get as much as they can in the first two weeks (when the studios get the lion's share of the take) and then don't care about what happens (50% drops) when the distributors are set to get theirs. You really can't compare. Sure I can! :-) This isn't to say that I expected Universal to release the same # of prints for LA as for the "slash & burn major releases". I was merely speculating (as I enjoy doing in my little hypothetical world lol) that LA might have grossed comparably to those films, had it been released on as many screens (though I was not stating that such a thing was ever going to occur in reality). This point was simply to illustrate the success the movie HAS had, because my initial post on the subject seems to have been interpreted as suggesting that LA has not been successful in the U.S. My primary issue was the marketing of the film here, and that with a different promotional timetable, it may have had even *more* commercial success thus far. Linda stated it well.. "the cast was still doing publicity and the commercials were all but gone." Anyway, as of today the U.S. gross for the film tops $49 million, so it seems to be chugging along quite nicely. And I have done my part; I've seen it four times so far! I'm sure I'll see it at least four more times in theaters, at the very least. :-)

Did they show him the whole time he collected on that side? Maybe you can see "me" (rather my arm) handing it forward to him over people's heads. It was in a bright blue bag. Dorine, I see your camera! I will have to go back and check the tape to see if I can see your arm (or bag). First thing in the morning lol...

This week at BBC World, Talking Movies will have a feature on GWAPE. Click on the following website for more details and the link to the video report: http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_talkingmovies.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=3 Talking Movies can be seen on BBC World TV at the following times (GMT): Tuesday 20:30 | Thursday 16:30 | Friday 01:30 | 08:30 | 13:30 Saturday 21:30 ************************************************************************* For Colin Firth, the opportunity to star as the famous 17th century painter was a welcome change of pace for the actor who�s lately been seen in a number of contemporary romantic comedies. Colin Firth: "I�ve been doing much lighter stuff and it was such a radical change of tone in terms of what I was reading that it was very noticeable to me for that reason. It also felt like a piece of literature, not in terms of its loftiness but just in terms of the fact that sounds and colors and smells seemed to ooze off the page, and that doesn�t happen every day when you read a script.

Colin Firth Plays Dress Up by Angel Cohn In the new film Girl With a Pearl Earring, Colin Firth wears '60s-style fashions � the 1660s, that is � for his role as Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. You may recall that in Love Actually, he looked shabby chic � here, he's just plain shabby! Apart from wardrobe, though, he says there's very little difference between making modern films and period pieces. "I don't pay much attention to what the period is," the 43-year-old British actor says. "I find that a story is a story, and that the when of when it's set is a convention that's been provided just to tell a story in a particular way." In fact, Firth is not even sure what defines a film as a period piece � much to his mother's dismay. "I don't know when 'period' starts," he admits. "I did a Terence Rattigan play [The Deep Blue Sea] which was set in the year of 1952. When I mentioned it to my mother that I was doing that, I described that as period. She was somewhat hurt, because this was her period, and she wasn't really ready to have it characterized as a costume drama just yet." Despite his confusion over dates, he's still dedicated to achieving an authentic period look, even when it means sporting a very scraggly hairstyle. "I think," he laughs, "that a man who's willing to wear the wig that I did in Girl With A Pearl Earring is willing to do just about anything!" Firth's bedraggled artist look was mocked by co-star Scarlett Johansson, whose knowledge of American TV commercials clearly surpasses his own. "A lot of [the taunting] was directed at my wig � and she called me Fabio for some reason," he chuckles. "And what I thought was my sizzling look was met with a smirk and [her saying], 'I can't believe it's not butter.'" http://www.tvguide.com/news/insider/031210c.asp

Did anyone see Scarlett J on The View? I missed it and was wondering if they talked about Colin at all., "Um, um...no. I mean... you know...'No'." Also same yesterday morning on The Early Show. "Um...um...no". But had on a cute top and leotards..v. Soho.

The transcript of the Today Show is up here: http://www.firth.com/int/03todaydec8.html and larger caps have been added to this gallery: http://www.firth.com/gwape_todaygal.html Shoshana, thank you for the transcript and a big thanks to whomever did the screen captures!! Such fun, a great appearance for Colin, and a nice change of pace from the usual talk show interview. I always enjoy seeing Colin being Colin. Dorine, I'll check my tape tonight to see if I can spot you.

(Evelyn) "Um, um...no. I mean... you know...'No'." Also same yesterday morning on The Early Show. "Um...um...no". Oh, Evelyn, you crack me up! Did anyone else think Scarlett was chewing gum on the BWTA interview (or does she just chew those lips constantly?) I dunno -- in spite of all the kudos re. her acting/directing savvy, she seems still very immature to me. (But hey, anyone under 30 seems very immature to Moi.)

Great articles and links girls! Fabulous screen captures . .!!!! Dorine your hand . . your camera!!!! I wish I had taped it!! I think I may be there as well . . .look at the pics with the today show round sign/speaker in the corner by the Christmas tree over Colin's shoulder. Or the one when Katie is hugging him . .theere is a white banner hanging over the edge, two women who look like they are wearing white hats (they were santa ones) . . (they were the nice women who offered to hold the toy bag!)I think I am the figure next to them, w/ my grey/black hat on, clutching my FP DVD! Its a blur . .but I think it could be me .that's right where I was!

Trying again: I was standing to the right of the women in the santa hats when you are looking at the pictures . . .

IndieWire review: "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" aspires to be as beautiful as a Vermeer painting and almost succeeds. It's an agreeably slow, absolute visual delight that must be seen on the big screen to be properly appreciated, especially since the filmmakers' obsession with the nuances of light approaches the painter's own. Scarlett Johansson is (literally) luminous in the role of Griet, a maid in Vermeer's household who, as posited by the original novel by Tracy Chevalier, was the inspiration for the painter's most famous work. Whatever problems the film has stem more from the original novel than from any failure of imagination or execution on the part of the filmmakers. For one thing, it is difficult to credit the notion of the middle-class Vermeer teaching a lowly, illiterate maid how to mix paints and appreciate the colors of the sky (as well as his paintings) in the 16th century, simply because he has become entranced by her beauty. (Even more improbably, she mumbles something about his having "looked into her very soul" when she sees a completed painting she's modeled for.) It's pretty to think of things in this romantic vein, and clearly fun for a lot of people, but not very realistic. At the risk of appearing mortally snobbish, I must also say that the exploration of aesthetic issues here is thoroughly middle-brow and aimed at what most people who pack blockbuster exhibitions of the impressionists, Van Gogh, and, yes, Vermeer, are already looking to get from art. What's best on the level of ideas is the film's constant, wel ome insistence on the financial context within which all art is condemned to take place, even if cultural conservatives don't like to believe it. Colin Firth is stolid, uncommunicative, and inscrutable as the painter (this is a compliment), but while Johansson is visually superb as Griet (even if the unending close-ups finally become tiresome), she is less sure in her performance. Judy Parfitt is workmanlike in the clich�d role of the scheming mother-in-law, as is Tom Wilkinson playing the Vermeer's randy patron, but Essie Davis' performance as Vermeer's spoiled wife is sublime and subtle all at once. Great things are in store for her.

I just watched "At the Angelika" on IFC. Small interview with Colin and (um) SJ (who BTW is improving)& PW. Content was mostly repression and Colin talks about Vermeer "aching" for Griet and not being able to do anything about it. The interviewer liked the film more than the book...Yesssss!

(Indie Wire)Colin Firth is stolid, uncommunicative, and inscrutable as the painter (this is a compliment) I guess a compliment is a compliment. ;-) Thanks Mari for the review and Karen for the Today Show captures!

From The New York Observer's Mr. Indomitable; no full review yet, maybe next week: by Rex Reed The holiday countdown has begun. The potpourri of new movies lining up to assault your senses and your pocketbook from now until New Year�s is like the good stuff�bad stuff you find every year crammed in your Christmas stocking: for every prayed-for diamond, a lot of nasty cashew nuts. I�m thankful for the rare treasures like Cold Mountain, House of Sand and Fog, The Girl with a Pearl Earring and Mona Lisa Smile, and I�d like to kill Santa for dumping garbage like Big Fish, The Haunted Mansion and The Cat in the Hat that was clearly meant for the local landfill, not the local mall.

I'd like to schmoozle his smiley/resting in hand little head! http://www.baftala.org/gal/2003-Q-A-Sessions?page=3

"I think," he laughs, "that a man who's willing to wear the wig that I did in Girl With A Pearl Earring is willing to do just about anything!" Oh...the possibilities!! I can think of all manner of things for him to do!! ;-D Thanks Maria! And thank you Mari for this (I think! LOL!): For one thing, it is difficult to credit the notion of the middle-class Vermeer teaching a lowly, illiterate maid how to mix paints and appreciate the colors of the sky (as well as his paintings) in the 16th century, simply because he has become entranced by her beauty. Really? Hmmmmm....probably right, this would never happen...what would a middle aged man want with a young, beautiful girl (surely he could just get a sports car and get over it)? ;-) And thank you Karen and Shoshana and 'friend' for the Today Show goodies! He looks good enough to eat here (mo' better than gingerbread!!): And I see your camera Dorine (thanks for flashing him) ;-D !!!