Variety On the Town

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

The preem scene has definitely slowed down a bit these last few weeks. But things are starting to pick up with some big movies opening soon:

Demi's 'Flawless' accent?

At Monday's Gotham premiere of "Flawless" star Demi Moore admitted getting her character's English accent flawless was a bit of a challenge. "Every time I thought, 'ok I got it,' (Director Michael Radford) would come up to me and say, 'I think that is a little too English,' and I would say, 'Michael, you are killing me.' Then it would be too American. Figuring that accent out was a huge challenge." Below is a clip from the film. What do you think of the accent?

photo: Demi Moore and Michael Radford (WireImage)

Cinema Eyes Gibney

"This event will be about ten minutes too long just like most documentaries," joked filmmaker AJ Schnack at last week's inaugural Cinema Eye Honors awards at the IFC Center in Gotham. Over 250 guests, including doc helmers Barbara Kopple, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, attended at the kudofest hosted by IndiePix films. "Chicago 10" nabbed the animation and graphic design kudo, "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" took home the audience choice award and recent Academy Award doc winner, Alex Gibney, recieved the best director kudo for "Taxi to the Dark Side." (A. Morfoot)

Parties, Premieres and Prada

While you were sleeping, stars were partying and promoting projects all over Los Angeles Thursday night.

At the Mann's Chinese Theater, David Arquette and Courteney Cox celebrated the bow of "Nosebleed." Director Jeff Vespa is the man behind the ten-minute short that was shot in black and white with no dialogue. "Nosebleed" centers around a man (Arquette), seemingly in the aftermath of breaking up with a girl, whose lonely life is interrupted one evening by, what else, a nosebleed.

In Beverly Hills, stars such as Justin Kirk, Elizabeth Banks (pictured left), Isaiah Washington, Rosario Dawson, Nicole Richie, Brooke Shields and Minnie Driver gathered for a fashionable fete at the Prada store for their "Trembled Blossoms" event.  While over at the ArcLight Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, (pictured right) celebrated at the premiere of "The Hammer." Carolla co-wrote the pic and plays an amateur boxer who decides to get back in the ring after a twenty-year hiatus.  Watch a clip from the film below.

Photo credit: WireImage

A Rockin' Rutles Reunion

It was a Ruttling good time for all at the Egyptian Theater Monday night as the American Cinematheque presented a 30th anniversary screening of NBC's 1978 Beatles spoof, "All You Need is Cash," starring the Rutles.

All four original members were in attendance:  Eric "Dirk McQuickly" Idle (who wrote and co-directed the spesh), Neil "Ron Nasty" Innes (who wrote the songs), John "Barry Wom" Halsey and Ricky "Stig O'Hara" Fataar. Since the Rutles had never had a public event in their original incarnation, Idle quipped, "It's the first time a band has reunited before they've united."

Asked how it felt to be back in the Rutles saddle, Innes said "We're not really in the saddle, we're more in the sidecar." The group had no plans to perform, leaving that to the Fab Four (pictured above with the Rutles), the cover band who are performing "Rutlemania" at the Ricardo Montalban Theater. Yet at the after-party, the original Rutles were coaxed onstage to play in public for the first time.

Before the show, Idle called the Rutles the ultimate in  "unreality TV" and denied he would be basking in the adulation of his fans. "Basking is done at home, in the bath," he said.  Fataar, who has toured as the drummer for Bonnie Raitt and other music notables, deadpanned that "(The Rutles) have dogged me every step of the way," before admitting "It's a musician's band, they're musicians' jokes, and musicians really like it." 

Which may explain why Mick Jagger, who appeared in the spesh as himself, sent a message: "After all the on-and-off promises and canceled shows, I can't believe you have finally decided — at your great age — to defy all the odds and recreate your magnificent past. I wish I could be there. If only to laugh."

Notables in the aud included The Police's Andy Summers, Jeff Lynne (E.L.O. and Broadway's "Xanadu"), Aimee Mann, Stephen Bishop and Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta.

VIPs at the pre-show reception received copies of Monday's Variety with its Rutles page, which Idle called, "The end of news as we know it." (D. Cohen)

Pictured above:  The Rutles - John Halsey, Neil Innes, Eric Idle and Ricky Fataar - with their tribute-band counterparts in The Pre-Fab Four/ Photo:  Lee Christian

Smile Woody You're On Camera

Talk about an odd trio. Designer Donatella Versace, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi couldn't even pretend to be remotely interested in posing together at the Versace menswear launch at Barneys in N.Y. on Tuesday. Read about Allen's dabble in the fashion world in this W Mag article. 

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  (photo credit: WireImage)

The Sweet Sound of Success

It was better late than never as L.A.'s top sound facility Todd-AO and Soundelux celebrated their Oscar wins for "The Bourne Ultimatum" last week at Santa Monica's Hotel Casa Del Mar. At the bash, producer Frank Marshall mingled with re-recording mixer Scott Millan and supervising sound editors Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers. The Oscar winners arrived with their kudos so that guests could take pictures with the golden statue. Noting that the 45 seconds allowed during an Oscar acceptance speech was simply not enough time to get out all the necessary thank yous, Hallberg and Landers introduced over twenty co-workers to the crowd so that they too could be recognized for their work.                          (M. McNiece)

Left: Per Hallberg and Frank Marshall (photo credit: Andreas Branch)

Geffen Gala Gabfest

Tawdry tales were told Monday night at the Geffen Playhouse's annual fundraiser "Backstage at the Geffen" in Westwood.  Thesp Roma Downey dished on a former inebriated co-star; Julie Andrews recalled the time Rex Harrison accidentally passed gas on stage during their performance of "My Fair Lady," saying, "he was a windy fellow"; and comedian Bruce Vilanch told of a near Oscar show disaster in 1993 involving Dolly Parton's well known assets.

On a more serious note, the evening honored Annette Bening and Disney's Robert Iger. Angelica Houston presented Bening with her award and director Julie Taymor was on hand to give Iger his kudo. When accepting his accolade, Iger took a moment to honor Taymor saying, "No one deserves more credit for where Disney is in the theater today than you," he said. " 'The Lion King' has been seen around the world, the stage play, by over 45 million people in the last ten years. I don't think anyone has done more for this art form than you have on a global basis." (M. McNiece)

- Pictured above: Julie Andrews; left: Annette Bening and Warren Beatty (FilmMagic)

Rock Stars Salute Madonna

While presenting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame kudo to Madonna on Monday night in Gotham, Justin Timberlake spoke of the time he had to drop his pants in front of the Material Girl.

Watch it here:

'The Grand' Scheme

There are surprises on every film set but in the case of Anchor Bay’s improvisational comedy “The Grand,” co-writer-director Zak Penn said he was prepared for anything.

“I wrote what I call a scriptment because it’s part script, part treatment,” he explained Wednesday at the pic’s ArcLight bow. “It basically tells the actors everything they need to know about their characters and what’s going to happen in what scene.” Luckily, Penn's cast — Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Chris Parnell and Dennis Farina, are no strangers to improv and tried their luck playing poker pros competing for a $10 million prize.

Penn is best known for writing superhero movies such as “Elektra,” “X3” and the upcoming “The Incredible Hulk,” but says he was amazed at how the ad-lib approach came together. “You’re hoping it will force you to throw away the conventions that you get used to as a writer. The improv forced us into an ending that’s more believable because, like the characters in the movie, we were really committed to the luck of the draw.”  (J. Sneider)

(Pictured above: Zak Penn and Woody Harrelson; left: preem guest Ray Romano and pic's Cheryl Hines - photos credit: WireImage)

Parker Picks Up 'Cell Phone'

Starring as the shy heroine of Sarah Ruhl’s Off Broadway play “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” Mary-Louise Parker gives her latest legit role a distinctive stage presence, complete with mousy voice and fragile walk. They’re typically bold acting choices for the thesp.

“Some of it is organic. Some of it is intellectual,” Parker said after the show’s opening at Playwrights Horizons on Tuesday in Gotham. “Sometimes something just happens when I stand up, and it sticks.” Next month Parker is off to shoot the next season of Showtime skein “Weeds,” but the actress still considers legit her true home. “I’m always looking for a play,” she said.  (G. Cox)

Pictured: Sarah Ruhl and Mary-Louise Parker/  (Bruce Glikas/ FilmMagic.com)

Thesps Take It To The 'Bank'

The low-tech heist flick “The Bank Job” looked anything but broke during Monday's premiere at the upscale Bryant Park Hotel in Gotham. Corseted waitresses served cocktails at the Cinema Society’s pre-screening party, and with director Roger Donaldson, stars Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows in attendance, the guests adjourned to the hotel’s theater to watch the film.

Donaldson said that he enjoyed the limitations of old technology in the film, since they made the story a better one. “This isn’t a story that could happen today,” explained the Aussie helmer. “If this was set now, you’d be triangulating using cell phones and so forth.”  In his introduction to the film, Donaldson emphasized the movie’s adherence to the facts — things that English journalists writing at the time of the actual robbery on which the film is based, were forbidden from reporting for 35 years. (S. Thielman)

Hanks' Political Show

To prepare for his role as the second president in the new HBO miniseries "John Adams," Paul Giamatti said he “did what he had to do,” which included lots of reading, horseback riding and shaving his head. Based on the bestseller by David McCullough, series, which bowed Monday in Gotham, also stars Laura Linney as Adams' wife Abigail and is executive produced by Tom Hanks. “Hopefully it will satisfy people who are interested in the book and hopefully it will pull in people who aren't necessarily interested in it,” Giamatti said. (A. Morfoot)

Photo: Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti and helmer Tom Hooper/ photo credit: WireImage