(Me) Better sequel...The Empire Strikes back over Star Wars. ;-) (Tress)He forgot one...surely he knows that Empire Strikes Back is far better than Star Wars. By missing that obvious one you know he isn't an expert! ;-) LOL, great minds!.....we were typing the same thing on 2 different topics. ;-)

(Dorine) Better sequel...The Empire Strikes back over Star Wars. ;-) LOL...I wasn't quite as bright as you and put that response on the BJD topic.....eerie how we do that sometimes.

Crikey, Scarlett. How can you stand there with that silly grin on your face? We've missed Maria's birthday. Hope you had a great day, Maria.

(Tress)By missing that obvious one you know he isn't an expert! ;-) But, but, he was just giving his opinion.

(Evelyn) But, but, he was just giving his opinion. Funny, I missed the words "I think" or "In my opinion" or similar. I *know* a declarative sentence when I see one. ;-) Give me good warning when you start citing Ben Affleck. ;-))

After watching and listening to him at the Dem Convention, would much rather listen to what BA has to say than MD.

This way lies Madness... but a very fine madness! Here's looking at you kid! I hope you had a wonderful Birthday! And now one from Bee!

Oops! I was to smitten by that picture I forgot to uncenter;-))

Help Karen!;-(

Never mind...

Winter! . .Pleased to meet you! . .Congrats on your wedding . .lovely lovely pics! Glad to hear the FL Droolers are doing OK!

Maria! . .Seems like I missed your b'day! I hope you had the happiest b�day I know of someone that�s got to practice his singing chops for his next role. So I talked him into singing a little diddy for you! From West Side Story . . Maria . . . The most beautiful sound I ever heard: Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria . . . All the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word . . Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria . . . Maria! I've just met a girl named Maria, And suddenly that name Will never be the same To me. Maria! I've just kissed a girl named Maria, And suddenly I've found How wonderful a sound Can be! Maria! Say it loud and there's music playing, Say it soft and it's almost like praying. Maria, I'll never stop saying Maria! The most beautiful sound I ever heard. Maria. Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

(Moon Dreams)I feel less guilty because Maria was on my mind yesterday That was always my "assumption"...:) And as to the martinis - the mind is weak but the body is willing Moon, I know our time will come! Thanks a Mishimoto! And Colin don't be too harsh with Scarlett, I think she just got a head start on the party, or maybe the effect of your arm around her shoulders really is that intoxicating! Thanks Linda! Bee, no party would be complete with your famous cake! Thanks so much! And I would love to lead Colin down the path of madness, it's really quite lovely once you get used to it! Kimberly thank you for talking Colin in to practicing his singing for me...I was so named because of that song and yet to hear him sing it makes it sweeter still. ( I like it here in America when sweet boys sing to me! :)) I plan on feeding him a piece of the beautiful cake when he takes a break from his serenade...

From Sunday's Observer: You call it a blockbuster. I call it utter tripe. Jason Solomons I know it's the blockbuster season, a traditional wasteland, but has there ever been a less creative, less inspiring, less varied set of films available than those currently on display at British cinemas? After a summer of shiny green ogres, plastic-looking superheroes, bleating camels, dancing crabs and limping tigers, I'm on the verge of a Peter Finch-style Network breakdown. I can't take it any more. It started last month with the ridiculous hype surrounding Shrek 2. It had been in competition in Cannes and it did miraculous things rendering fur in CGI. But does it really stand for serious, adult thought? No. And it isn't all that funny, either - not when you look closely. There are so many gags that the good ones are choked by the bad and the vocal performances of the British cast in particular are maddeningly flat. For anyone over the age of 35, the film is shrill, short on logic and full of unfathomable references. Spider-Man 2 was also hailed as great. Yes, some jokes work nicely, the fight scenes have a certain zip and the villain is played to the hilt in the best panto tradition. But as for the film having 'heart and brains'? No. True, the film is faithful to the source material, so precious memories of Saturday mornings with your comics are preserved, but if anyone sheds a tear during Spider-Man 2 or better understands the human condition having seen it, then I'm a spider's aunt. Somehow, even I was caught in its web, admitting on national radio that there was something of the Hamlet about Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker. I was wrong but something is rotten in the state of cinema. A week later, sensible grown-up critics were lamenting the trampling of their collective cherished memories by the live-action Thunderbirds. For anyone who had to endure the film, it was obvious after five minutes that this was, as Tim Robbins says in The Hudsucker Proxy, 'you know, for kids'. But was the original template really that good? Surely not. The new film was supposed to be just as rubbish as those old shows. And, my word, it was. Similar confusion arose from the remake of Around the World in 80 Days. I hadn't seen David Niven's version for years, but I remembered it being thoroughly enjoyable when I saw it as a child. The new version, starring Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan, is tripe and I can't believe it would prompt anyone to do anything other than leave the cinema. In a dreadful summer, this should have been the low point. But along came Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the richest twins in America, with their cinematic debut, New York Minute, a hopeless farce that reminded me of a night of torture I once spent being the only straight man at the Legally Blonde 2 premiere. We were expected to weep over the story of a pair of Mongolian camels (The Story of the Weeping Camel), reunited by some screeching musicians that even the organisers at Womad would have politely declined. Then we watched two tigers turn tables on dastardly hunters in IndoChina. Mind you, if I felt bad watching Jean-Jacques Annaud's Two Brothers, imagine how its star, poor Guy Pearce, must have felt when he saw his name take third billing behind the tiger cubs. This after the world cooed at the sight of Antonio Banderas's cute kitten face in Shrek 2. Then there were fish, crabs and penguins falling over in Deep Blue, a film about Garfield the Cat, a compendium of claymation shorts (though these were, admittedly, rather funny) and Julia Stiles, whom I thought had actually grown up by now, in The Prince and Me, in which she falls in love with the Prince of Denmark. Only the hype around Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 masked the mess, but even that piece of event cinema could hardly be termed a great film. This month hardly gets off to a better start - King Arthur and The Stepford Wives simply retrace cinematic steps and make no improvements. Even Woody Allen's Anything Else is a pale shadow of former glories. Even more depressingly, there was not one British film available as alternative viewing. The dark, low-budget comedy One for the Road received a small release in July but you'll have found that hard to track down after one week. Why was there no British distributor prepared to step in and rescue us? What happened to counter-programming? Finally, Richard Jobson's 16 Years of Alcohol arrived last week and did rather well, critically and commercially, so desperate are adults (like alcoholics) for a drop of the cinematic hard stuff. From America, there's only Before Sunset, philosophical, adult and witty, that shines out like a beacon of sophistication in a sea of dross. Catwoman arrived. Another comic strip, another mess, albeit one in leather and Halle Berry curves. Will Smith could have cheered us up in I, Robot, but not even he is that funny. British cinema culture won't change. There are no television shows promoting or pointing to better films; few intelligent seasons (such as the current Fellini retrospective at the NFT), interesting matinees or neglected foreign gems, while radio does little to encourage better cinema. Sadly, my radio show on the BBC's London station has made way for more football. Fulham 2 Fellini 0. Like I said, we get the culture we deserve. I hope the worst summer in the history of cinema isn't merely the start of a long winter of discontent.

Wow, what a rant!! At least he recognized BS as a shining beacon :o) I saw "The Door in the Floor" this weekend. It was very Irvingesque; with quirky characters getting caught in some hillarious comprimising positions!! I liked it, though it's getting harder to watch Jeff Bridges play......Jeff Bridges over and over.

I love Jeff Bridges. I don't think he repeats himself. Think Door in the Floor vs. Seabiscuit vs. Big Lebowski, just to name a few relatively recent ones. MARIA! Sorry to have missed the festivities. Hope you'll be there to greet me at those left-coast premieres, darling. Happy Birthday!

I snipped out the zzzzzzzzzzz-inducing charts, but some interesting stuff here on WT and Uni. Check out the price tag for TEOR; *somebody* should be able to afford a better looking pair of swim trunks.;-) Probing a Box-Office Crash Universal's Working Title Films went into unfamiliar territory with the big-budget 'Thunderbirds' By Claudia Eller, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer What were they thinking? Many in Hollywood wondered just that when the producers of such low-cost, grown-up hits as "Fargo," "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" decided to make a big-budget, special-effects-driven adventure movie for kids. Now that "Thunderbirds," their $65-million version of a quirky British 1960s television series has crash-landed at the box office � grossing $6 million in the U.S. since its July 30 opening � longtime partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of London-based Working Title Films are wondering the same thing. "Of course, we'll go through the painstaking process of figuring out what went wrong," said Bevan, who for years had championed the movie as a pet project and had high hopes for it. For now, he said, "you're left slightly scratching your head." Some say it shouldn't be too hard for Bevan and Fellner to sort out what happened with "Thunderbirds," which was released and largely financed by Working Title's parent, Universal Pictures: The producers fell prey to an all-too-familiar Hollywood trap: veering from what they know best. "They couldn't resist the siren call of a big-budget summer action flick," said Larry Gerbrandt, who heads the media and entertainment unit for Century City-based financial advisory group AlixPartners. Gerbrandt said that although he understood the urge to "step up a career" by taking a big gamble, when filmmakers do that, "not only does the price of success go up, so does the cost of failure." Bevan acknowledged that he and Fellner were largely on unfamiliar turf when they tried to attract young audiences with "Thunderbirds." Their only other similar attempt, with the $30-million family film "The Borrowers," flopped five years ago. But the two producers are trying to keep "Thunderbirds" in perspective. "When you make as many movies as we do, there's going to be a train wreck," Bevan said. "It's unfortunate it was on one that cost a lot of money." Added Fellner, "You haven't been in the film business until you have something like this happen." The producers and Universal executives said they believed unfortunate timing might have played a role in the movie's poor showing. Directed by Jonathan Frakes and starring Ben Kingsley and Bill Paxton, "Thunderbirds" follows the perilous exploits of five brothers who make up the International Rescue brigade and embark on lifesaving missions aboard their fleet of souped-up spacecraft known as Thunderbirds. Working Title bought the rights to "Thunderbirds" in the early 1990s � long before the creation of Robert Rodriguez's hugely successful family movie franchise, "Spy Kids," about a brother and a sister who use an array of futuristic contraptions to save the day. By the time "Thunderbirds" made it to the big screen, the similarity between the two movies wasn't lost on film critics who largely panned it as a wannabe. Young audiences also thought it looked like a poor man's "Spy Kids" and stayed away in droves. "Ours was not sufficiently original and fresh enough to get parents and kids in to see it," Bevan conceded. For Universal, the film's poor showing compounds what has been a rough summer. The General Electric Co.-owned studio's other misses have included "The Chronicles of Riddick" (which cost $110 million to make and has taken in $57 million at the U.S. box office) and "Van Helsing" (which cost $160 million and grossed $120 million domestically). Universal Chairwoman Stacey Snider, who gave "Thunderbirds" the green light, acknowledged that audiences perceived the film as derivative. "It looked very much like movies that have come before," Snider said. The studio chief added that everyone involved made the wrong assumption that the film would not only draw 10-year-old boys but also appeal to the coveted teen audience. "It didn't get the cool young teenager group," Snider said. Bevan also believes that a "fatal error" was made in releasing the film during a summer that featured two mega-budgeted, effects-driven family films: " Spider-Man 2" and "Shrek 2." Both were instant blockbusters here and overseas. What's more, some industry insiders said, Universal was aware that it had a dud on its hands � so it decided not to put much marketing muscle behind it. Consequently, there was little audience awareness or anticipation created before the movie opened. "The studio knew it had a dog," Gerbrandt said. "The ad campaign was a short burst." Universal spokesman Paul Pflug disputed that the studio abandoned "Thunderbirds," though he declined to disclose how much it laid out for advertising to support the film's opening on more than 2,000 screens. "The marketing spent was absolutely appropriate for the number of screens we opened this picture on," Pflug said. Snider said that although Bevan and Fellner were clearly "operating outside their wheelhouse" on "Thunderbirds," she didn't hesitate signing off on the project because of the producers' strong track record. Universal acquired their company in 1999. "These guys have made a lot of money and brought us a ton of prestige, and they've done it by taking chances," Snider said. "So, you roll the dice on something they believe in and something that has potential international appeal." Before "Thunderbirds," the most expensive movie Bevan and Fellner had made was the $45-million "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," a box-office miss that starred Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz. The duo have fared far better with less-costly fare. "Fargo," for instance, cost $7 million to make and took in $24 million at the U.S. box office and $36 million internationally. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" cost just $4 million. It grossed $53 million domestically and $191 million overseas. Among their other hits: "Billy Elliot," "Dead Man Walking," "Notting Hill" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Since Fellner and Bevan first teamed up in 1994 on "Four Weddings," their films have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide � placing them among the top-earning producers in Hollywood. What also makes their movies stand out is that they tend to perform much better overseas than in the U.S. Working Title's most recent romantic comedy, "Love Actually," grossed $182 million internationally, compared with $59.4 million domestically. "Bridget Jones's Diary" had domestic ticket sales of $71.5 million but racked up $209.8 million abroad. And last year, the spoof spy thriller "Johnny English" took in $130 million overseas but generated only $28 million in ticket sales domestically. "We thought the same would happen with 'Thunderbirds,' " Snider said. "We thought it might underperform here and over-perform internationally," particularly in Britain, where the idiosyncratic '60s TV show featuring marionettes was a smash. In fact, "Thunderbirds" has had a disastrous showing in the United Kingdom, grossing less than $8 million. Overall, it has taken in $11 million internationally. Bevan and Fellner suggested that in light of the failure of "Thunderbirds," Working Title would be more cautious when looking for other projects. But only to a point. "We can't just stay in the box of making only one sort of film," Fellner said. "We have to try new challenges." To that end, Working Title's upcoming releases include � of all things � another kids' movie: "Nanny McPhee." Upcoming releases Title: 'Wimbledon,' a romantic comedy directed by Richard Loncraine, starring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany Estimated cost: $31 million Opening date: 9/17/04 Title: 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,' sequel to the 2001 hit starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth Estimated cost: $70 million Opening date: 11/19/04 Title: 'The Interpreter,' a suspense thriller directedby Sidney Pollack and starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn Estimated cost: $80 million Opening date: 2/18/2005 Title: 'Pride and Prejudice,' with Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen and an ensemble cast Estimated cost: $28 million Opening date: 2005 Title: 'Nanny McPhee,' a children's tale written by Emma Thompson and starring Thompson, Colin Firth and Angela Lansbury Estimated cost: $34 million Opening date: 2005 Source: Universal Pictures / Working Title, Times research

"We can't just stay in the box of making only one sort of film," Fellner said. "We have to try new challenges." To that end, Working Title's upcoming releases include � of all things � another kids' movie: "Nanny McPhee." *snort* What was that word Snider used to sum up Thunderbirds? Ah yes, derivative. Take a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down... ;-)

I thought The Door in the Floor was well done, but a downer overall and thought the comic interlude of the lady chasing JB strangely out of tone with the rest of the movie. A very slapstick scene in an overall serious movie with some comic undertones. What a dysfunctional mess they all were, except the kid. He was just trying to cope. But JB has *the* best hair in Hollywood. Would *love* to get my hands in that. ;-) Saw Vanity Fair a week ago. I liked it for the most part. I thought RW was an excellent choice and did a very good job, but it was funny to watch her change physically back and forth in it due to her pregnancy. Sometimes her face and chest were fuller than at other times. Not necessarily coinciding with her pregnancy in the movie or in order. The cinematography annoyed me for the most part. I suppose one could say it looked lush, but I didn't like it. Felt it was apropos for some of the darker scenes though. I wasn't particularly fond of the casting of Rhys Ifans (who I really like otherwise and saw in a very cute movie 2 wks ago-Danny Deckchair) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Bob Hoskins and Eileen Atkins were quite amusing. I'm curious if RW did her own singing in this...haven't bothered to look and it didn't sound much like her. But the song she sang near the end, I loved. Q&A with Julian Fellowes and Mira Nair was good after the technical difficulties at the beginning. Said a great deal of what was in that looooonnnng article was posted. Budget was $23 million. Added the very last scene in India after they had gotten the movie together and she thought the original ending was flat. Moon, there was a Bollywood number in it with RW. Last night saw Stephen Fry's directorial debut, Bright Young Things. He adapted from Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Great short scene with Peter O'Toole. Definitely some parallels to present day upper class social scene. It was set in the Jazz Age. Excellent Q&A with Stephen Fry! But good golly, he seemed a nervous wreck. Literally never stopped moving the entire time...hands in and out of pockets, adjusting his glasses, running hands in hair, other assorted touches of face. Poor thing was sweating a storm, too. Wonder if he's always like this at public presentations. He must be a wreck hosting the BAFTA Awards. He was extremely entertaining! Told a couple of great anecdotes about Peter O'Toole...in other social situations they've been in. Gave very loooonnnngg and comprehensive answers to every question. And boy, can he talk fast. Very interesting man.

Title: 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,' sequel to the 2001 hit starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth Estimated cost: $70 million That's an absurd budget for a rom-com.

Title: 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,' sequel to the 2001 hit starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth Estimated cost: $70 million (Do)That's an absurd budget for a rom-com. Have you bought a *lift ticket* lately? ;-)

I just had to click on a news item with this title: ;-) http://www.darkhorizons.com/news04/040817c.php

Evelyn So, are you selling all your old JN and Colin tapes;-)) LOL! No, but they have been collecting dust for quite a while now! :-) BTW, my best friend from University is currently working for Working Title, and Nanny McPhee. I'm bummed that I'm no longer in LA to take full advantage of this one degree of separation! Marianne and Jana-- Get to work! ;-)

Re: Dark Horizons peice: He's got a *point* there;-)

About Stephen Fry: Just finished reading three of his novels. The man is astonishingly literate, He must be exhausting to be around. I enjouyed all three of the books. They are very different from one another. I would like to know how he works on them. This is probably off topic, but someone mentioned Fry and just thought I'd put in my two cents worth.AM going to watch his "Wilde" this evening. It is waiting for me at the library.

(Carolyn) This is probably off topic... Then this would be the correct place to post it, i.e., the Odds & Ends topic. :)

(Mari),I love Jeff Bridges. I don't think he repeats himself. Think Door in the Floor vs. Seabiscuit vs. Big Lebowski, just to name a few relatively recent ones. So true! And he still looks quite handsome. TEOR Estimated cost: $70 million (Dorine)That's an absurd budget for a rom-com. (Beedee), Have you bought a *lift ticket* lately? ;-) LOL! Those huige salaries.

Dorine, thanks for sharing all the info on VF and BYT. I, for one, love reading about all the screenings and Q&As that you are able to attend. Keep it up!! :o) (Dorine) JB has *the* best hair in Hollywood. Would *love* to get my hands in that. ;-) HHMMMM never noticed that about him. Will have to take a closer look... I am in the middle of watching The Tenant of Wildfell Hall RGs hair is very nice in this one! Also, there are several kissing scenes in this one that could be used as "how to" examples in CF's kissing tutorial,IMO...of course ;o)

Is this an Odds and Ends question? Does William Joseph Firth have to belong to the union in order to appear and be listed as a nocredited performer. This is his second such appearance, Are we being introduced to the nexr generation of an acting dynasty or is it a summer vacation "gotta do something while dad works" kind of activity?

Well, I have done it once more. Shall return to Coventry and watch from afar

He's essentially been an extra. An under-five for Spiderman, so no, I don't believe the union is a factor.

Technically, he was 11 and he does say one word or is it two? ;-) Some actors would fight for a SAG card with that alone.

Yeah, but can they get it. I've forgotten what the criteria is. Kim would know, I bet. And what difference does his age make? Saying one word or two, makes him an under-fiver.

From the She's Not Nearly As Smart As I Thought She Was Dept.... Page Six.... RENEE Zellweger in Toronto, sitting on the patio at a place called Amber and feeding hummus and pita to the joint's barfly raccoon. When Amber owner Toufik Sarwa pleaded, "Renee, please don't do that, you'll just encourage it," the squinty-eyed screen queen replied, "But it's soooo cute!"

Oh, this will be brilliant: Joan Rivers Starring on 'Nip/Tuck' NEW YORK - Joan Rivers, the fashion critic who has openly joked about her own cosmetic surgery, will guest star as herself on the season finale of the FX drama series "Nip/Tuck." In the episode to air Oct. 5, Rivers will play herself and meet with the show's plastic surgeons, played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon, for an unusual cosmetic consultation. It is so unusual that in the show, Rivers flies to the surgeon's Miami practice to avoid the glare of the paparazzi. Though FX is tight-lipped about the nature of the discussed procedure, Scott Seomin, a publicist for the cable station says, "It's definitely not something she's had done before." Rivers is best known for her celebrity red-carpet coverage on cable's E! Entertainment network. In June, she and daughter Melissa joined the TV Guide Channel to cover the entertainment world.

ROTFL!! That's hysterical! I can't wait for that one. Thank, Karen.

Loving care for 'Tender' Wed Aug 18,11:14 PM ET Michael Fleming, STAFF Twentieth Century Fox is closing a deal with F. Scott Fitzgerald's estate to remake "Tender Is the Night," a book it first adapted in 1962. Underlying U.S. rights to the novel had reverted back to the Fitzgerald estate, which is run by the author's granddaughter, Eleanor Lanahan. Fox has hired screenwriter Jesse Wigutow to adapt the novel. The studio's Robbie Brenner is steering the project. The estate will be paid a seven-figure sum if Fox makes it to production on the jazz-age story about apsychiatrist whose marriage to a wealthy patient ultimately destroys him. Deal is the first made since veteran film exec Don Laventhall took the reins of the film rights department at Harold Ober Associates. The Gotham-based lit agency represents many classic books, the rights to many of which have reverted back to the authors. The agency also reps the estates of James M. Cain, Nathanael West, Dylan Thomas, Agatha Christie and Langston Hughes, as well as writers Ira Levin, J.D. Salinger and Lois Lowry.

Good article on Nip/Tuck, but major warning - it has big spoilers not only on this week's episode, which I haven't seen yet, but next week's: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=15&u=/ap/20040819/ap_en_tv/ap_on_tv_nip_tuck

Thanks. So you've gotten into watching it now? It was definitely an emotional storm and turning point for them this week. Hope this picks up something at the Emmy's. I mentioned before about that show Rescue Me that shows back to back with Nip/Tuck on some repeat nights. Best new show on TV, IMO. Great writing and acting. Hope it does well next year. Denis Leary should definitely get a nod for at least acting, as well as being one of the writers. Every bit as good as his last show The Job was.

Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me are standards on the TIVO in my house. Agree w/Dorine - great new dramas. BTW - am I the only one growing a bit weary of the 'over the top' sex, psychosis, and family dysfunction in the Fisher family on Six Feet Under?

I have to say, as much as I love 6 FT Under the first couple of years. My interest waned last season and I think I've only caught part of one episode this season.

(Dorine)My interest waned last season and I think I've only caught part of one episode this season. IMO, they continue to have some great ideas and storylines but in their quest to continually up the ante they're beginning to border on the absurd. And the new plot line w/Mena Suvari playing a domineeing lesbian strikes me as merely gratuitous. I can't help but think she took on the role to simply try and harden her image a bit.

That was one of the bits in the one I saw, along with David's new difficulties with men. I didn't find her domineering, just bordering on pushy or just plain irritating.

(Dorine)I didn't find her domineering, just bordering on pushy or just plain irritating. Yeah, those are probably better adjectives but you might want to throw in manipulative as well after last week's episode.

I only watched a total of 10 mins, so that may well be.