KIM CATTRALL & SEX IN THE CITY

The timeless appeal of Sex and the City

By Pamela Newlands

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/29/08

– “I didn’t think I could play this vamp in her forties,” says Kim Cattrall who personfied Carrie Bradshaw’s outrageously sexual friend Samantha.

“I didn’t think I was up to it. Now I think, how ridiculous!”

“It was about women joining together as the new family, girlfriends sticking together through thick and thin,” says Cattrall.

“Those relationships are what made the show so popular.

The first day I expected a group of fans or onlookers or some press.

But when I came to the set, and stepped out of the car in the morning, I felt like I was at a premiere.”

“The first day I had butterflies, it was all the fans,” says Cattrall.

“But, at the same time I thought, wow, you know, I also turned fifty in the downtime.

I thought I had reservations at forty, but at fifty…”

When Sex and the City first aired on television in 1998, Cattrall became the role model of the sexually empowered woman.

From her roles in ‘Porky’s’, ‘Police Academy’ and ‘Mannequin’, the television series producers had envisioned Cattrall as Samantha early on but then in her forties, Cattrall was comfortable playing moms and wives.

Now she’s back, and the role model of the sexually empowered 51-year-old woman. Cattrall is sexier than ever.

After an award-winning six seasons on HBO, ‘Sex and The City’ reruns remained on the air in syndication for four years.

Now these single ‘Sex and The City’ thirty and forty-something’s have grown up.

The film picks up where the series left off, with the adventurous Cattrall puzzled to be in a monogamous relationship in Los Angeles.

Her girlfriends are getting married and having babies,” says Cattrall.

“There’s that feeling of being left behind, and not just distance-wise.”

“These four women, I have always believed, make up one complete woman,” says Cattrall.

“You can wake up in the morning and be Carrie, have an afternoon like Charlotte, an early evening like Miranda and hopefully, a very late evening like Samantha!

She has an insatiable appetite for fun and is infectious to be around.

Most people in life are picking at the appetizers but she’s going for the main course and dessert as well.”

“I play Samantha who is a flame that is burning bright,” says Cattrall.

“She loves life and laughter.

I’ve had such a great time playing her for seven years and then reprising her for ‘Sex and The City’, the movie.”

Cattrall has her own production company: Fertile Ground Productions.

Cattrall co-executive produced and hosted the feature-length HBO documentary ‘Sexual Intelligence’, based on her book of the same name.

Cattrall also wrote ‘Being a Girl: Navigating the Up’s and Down’s of Teenage life’.

‘Sex and the City’Running Time:

2 hrs. 25 min.Release Date: May 30th, 2008 (USA)

Rating: R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

Distributor: New Line Cinema

RACHEL RAY & SHARON STONE lose out on Endorsements

Ray accused of dressing like a terrorist, Stone taken to task by Chinese

By Matthew B. Zeidman

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today)

5/30/08 –

A few days ago, it would have been unthinkable to accuse wholesome American icon Rachael Ray of supporting terrorism.

Apparently enough people did just that, however, causing Dunkin Donuts to remove an online ad last weekend featuring the Food Network star.

The ad in question featured Ray wearing a paisley scarf resembling a keffiyeh, which is a traditional headscarf of Arab men sometimes used to denote support for Palestinian nationalists.

After a scathing article by syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin and a number of consumer complaints, Dunkin Donuts caved to public pressure, stating that any symbolism was unintentional and that the controversial wardrobe was suggested by a stylist at the ad shoot and not by Ray.

The ad in question began running on May 7. Ray has been a spokesperson for Dunkin Donuts since March 2007, appearing in numerous television commercials and other media for the chain.

Also facing promotional troubles was Sharon Stone, whose face has been pulled from Chinese Christian Dior ads after the noted actress suggested the devastating May 12 earthquake was karmic retaliation for the communist nation’s treatment of its Tibetan territory.

The French fashion retailer said in a statement that it was attempting to distance itself from Stone’s comments, so as not to offend its patrons.

Stone also released a statement Thursday apologizing for last week’s remarks, which were made during an interview at the Cannes film festival.

The Love Guru - Mike Myers & Jessica Alba

Hindu group says Myers, Jessica Alba film a slant against gurus, like saying Austin Powers a strike against spies

By Brian Frederick

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today)

5/31/08 –

“The Love Guru,” the latest Mike Myers film co-starring Jessica Alba from Paramount Picture, “yeah baby. ”

The Austin Powers and SNL stars as as Pitka, the self described “second best Guru in India,” is viewed by one group as an insult to the Hindu community.

Rajan Zed, real life spiritual leader for the Hindu community in Nevada called for an all out boycott of ‘The Love Guru.’

Hindus have been parodied in film with love and satire since Peter Seller’s days, and the tradition has continued to India’s own Bollywood films.

It is not clear if this group targeted this film for publicity purposes or legit religious concerns.

All religions have been free targets for creative film community appreciation or satire – and their actions will likely increase the film’s box office, not help their stated cause for Hinduism awareness.

Simply stated, gurus get made fun of — same as, say TV preachers.

It does not hinder their important messages to believers.

Advancing the movement launched by Zed, Bhavna Shinde, spokesperson for the USA chapter of the Hindu community in communication with Paramount Pictures, today mentioned the protests would be launched and supported by the backing of Hindu Janjagruti Samiti and Sanatan Society for Scientific Spirituality.

Leaders from different religious organizations have joined Zed in the protest.

“We also feel that the parody on Gurus will contribute to the misunderstanding about the sacred concept of the Guru.”

Shinde urged Paramount Pictures and Viacom to immediately issue a study guide about Hinduism and the sacred tradition of the Guru confirming to Hindu scriptures, post it on the official websites of Paramount, Viacom and ‘The Love Guru’ and make it available free of costs in printed form at the movie theatres worldwide.

The request by Shinde to distribute pamphlets in movies sparked further criticism from religious organizations for using Paramount Pictures to further the religious beliefs of Hinduism in movie theatres.

Zed’s response told the Associated Press, “The movie appears to be lampooning Hindus and Hinduism.

People might not be well versed in Hinduism and this maybe their only exposure.”

Shinde writes, “’The Love Guru offends the sentiments of the Hindu and the spiritual community concepts, such as that of the Guru, or spiritually evolved Master, Karma, etc., as sacred.”

‘The Love Guru’ is sure to gain from the media attention the Hindu community is bringing to the movie.

Unwittingly, the call for a boycott may provide free advertising exposure and increase audience anticipation for the movie.

An act that could backfire on Rajan Zed and benefit Paramount Pictures.

Mike Myers got the idea of Pitka while working on the ‘Austin Powers’ series.

During production of the series, Myers lost his father and in that grief, he began his personal quest to seek out a guru or ashram.

“I loved the idea of bringing irony and humor to the human search for happiness and love.”

The Love Guru – Pitka is commissioned to travel to the US to help a pro hockey player reconcile with his estranged wife in time to help his team win the Stanley Cup.

The movie also stars hottie Jessica Alba and “Dick in a Box” singer Justin Timberlake.

The film shoot took place in Canada. If you want to join the protests or see the movie, opening day is June 20.

SEX SELLS ....USD $66 MILLION by this weekend !!!!

Sequel based on HBO television series going for $66 million weekendBy Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today)

5/31/08

Sex and the City’ fans are selling out theaters, despite tepid reviews.

With an all-ages female-driven audience, ‘Sex and the City’ is racing toward $66 million.

The summer of women continues as ‘Sex and the City’ outpaces the triumph of Universal’s ‘Baby Moma’ ($52 million with it’s fifth week).

One thing driving audiences to ‘Sex and the City’ is the fashion, which presented a challenge to produce.

“I knew that we were going up be up against Fashion Week, European and American,” says ‘Sex and the City’ star and producer Sarah Jessica Parker, who had dresses flown in last minute at tremendous expense and wore millions of dollars worth of jewelry in the film.

“To come to a costume fitting…there are at least sixteen, twenty racks of things,” says Kim Cattrall.

“There’s such excitement in the room.

It’s just a free-for-all of trying things on.

It’s like going to a fabulous trunk show.”

“There were just tables of bags, every new bag that you haven’t seen in the store yet,” says Kristin Davis.

“And there were tables of shoes.

It was just like Mecca.”

“I would estimate that there were well over three hundred changes for these four women,” says costume designer Patricia Field, who defined a decade of fashion for the HBO series.

May 30 Theater Counts

Indiana Jones (Paramount) 4,264

Prince Caspian (Buena Vista) 3,801

Iron Man (Paramount) 3,650

*Sex and the City (New Line) 3,285

*The Strangers (Rogue Pictures) 2,467

What Happens in Vegas (Fox) 3,086

Speed Racer (Warner Bros.) 2,070

Made of Honor (Columbia) 1,905

Baby Mama (Universal) 1,772

Action continues to be huge this summer with ‘Indian Jones’, ‘Prince Caspian’ and ‘Iron Man’ leading the theater counts this week over newcomers ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘The Strangers’.

‘Indiana Jones’ did an $120 million domestic opening and exceeded a $300 million opening in worldwide day-and-date.

The huge but relatively soft American opening seems due to the absence of Megan Fox, whose hottie-ness with Shia LeBeoff in ‘Transformers’ helped bring it to $309 million to date.

That ‘Indiana Jones’ has no young hot chick seems a mistake by DreamWorks/Paramount in an otherwise excellent cast.

In a rare admission of making a mistake, Buena Vista said it made a programming error by placing ‘Prince Caspian’ between blockbusters ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Indiana Jones’.

But, is that the problem?

Boys would rather imagine being Iron Man or Indy.

Girls had an amazing variety of chick flicks available.

Caspian wasn’t the heart throb expected, falling a steep 59 percent after opening softer than ‘Narnia’.

No mea culpas have been offered by Warner Brothers for ‘Speed Racer’, with a very soft $36 million and falling fast.

Paramount’s ‘Iron Man’, on the other hand, continues strong, with $258 million in 25 days.

Data: Box Office Mojo

hollywood today - Starz productions eva longoria

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today)

6/1/08

Starz Productions is filming their latest comedy feature, ‘Table For Three,’ starring a collection of Hollywood’s brightest young actors – Brandon Routh (”Superman Returns,”) Sophia Bush (”Stay Alive,”) Jesse Bradford, Jennifer Morrison, Johnny Galecki and Liza Lapira.

The Starz Production unit began filming in May, in and around Los Angeles.

“We’re really happy to have such talented and fresh actors for this project,” said executive producer Karen Bailey.

Another Starz Production in partnership with Anchor Bay Entertainment is distributing ‘Lower Learning,’ starring Eva Longoria Parker (”‘Desperate Housewives,”) Rob Corddry and Jason Biggs.

Starz is not normally known for being in the production business, but as one of the leaders in cable movie distribution.

It’s prod unit is part of Starz Media, LLC, a global production and distribution company, including entertainment brands Anchor Bay and Manga.

Starz is wholly owned by Liberty Media Group.

Starz Productions creates live-action, animated programming and partnership programming with other entertainment companies and produces films for direct DVD, television and theatres.

The distribution division of Starz, distributes its own programming as well as other programming under agreement with outside producers.

Starz Entertainment Introduces Starz Play and Internet Distribution:

Starz Media, announced its premium movie channels will be available to Verizon’s eight million internet customers.

Video downloads will transmit via satellite, cable or affiliated companies.

Vongo digital download launched by Starz in January 2006 has struggled to compete against download giants, Netflix and Blockbuster.

By comparison, Vongo attracted a mere 300,000 customers on average, per month, compared to seven million customers for Blockbuster.

Starz spokesperson, Tom Southwick has stated that “Starz did not have the ability,” to market Vongo as a stand alone service.

This is Starz first wholesale agreement.

Verizon will offer its own subscription plan for Starz products, a first for Verizon.

The deal likely will seal the fate for Vongo, which offers downloads for $9.99 compared to $5.99 for Starz Play through the agreement with Verizon. Customers will have access to more than 1,000 movies per month, including ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Spider-Man 3,’ and Ratatouille.

Currently, the existing Vongo service offers a greater choice of movies to watch.

With Verizon’s thirst to expand its reach into mass market media, the Starz agreement is the imprint Verizon needs to gain further access to home entertainment.

Verizon’s Director of Programming has said the deal, “is a major thrust of extending our brand.”

Starz has agreements with Disney and Sony Studios to offer films through their online service.

In March of 2007, Liberty filed suit against Disney to prevent it from offering their films through ITunes, a unit of Apple, while the same films were offered through Starz or Vongo.

Starz offers 16 movie channels including Starz and Encore with 30 million viewers between the two.

Starz advanced services includes Starz On Demand, Starz Play and Vongo.

Verizon headquartered in New York City is a blue chip Dow Industrial 30 company with nearly a quarter million employees in its workforce.

Verizon is a dominant leader in providing broadband and wireless communications to business, government and global serves. In 2007, the company achieved $93 billion in revenue.

Yves Saint Laurent is DEAD

YVES SAINT LAURENT:

A GIANT OF FRENCH FASHION:

Yves Saint Laurent, who died Sunday at age 71, was one of a handful of designers who dominated 20th century fashion, on a par with Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret.

The reclusive Saint Laurent, who retired from haute couture in 2002 after four decades at the top of his trade, had been ill for some time.

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born in the coastal town of Oran, Algeria, on August 1, 1936, at a time when the North African country was still considered part of France.

Having learned his trade at the house of Dior, he founded his own couture house at the start of the 1960s.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he set the pace for fashion around the world, opening up the Japanese market and subsequently expanding to South Korea and Taiwan.

Among his many fans in his native France was the actress Catherine Deneuve, who was always to be seen at his shows.

Latest Entertainment & Social news Today- 1st June 2008

OBAMA QUITS CHICAGO CHURCH AFTER LONG CONTROVERSY:

Barack Obama said Saturday he has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago "with some sadness" in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the church by a visiting priest.

"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation he sent to the church on Friday.

"I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church," he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and "the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them."

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FIRE ON HISTORIC BACK LOT:

A large fire raged on a back lot at Universal Studios on Sunday, devouring several movie sets and the theme park's King Kong attraction, officials said.

The King Kong exhibit is a stop on the studio's tram tour where the giant ape bellows at passengers and artificial banana scent fills the area, studio spokesman Eliot Sekuler said.

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Daryl Jacobs said at least one building had burned and as many as three blocks of movie facades were destroyed.

LBN-NOTICED:

***Justin Timberlake and girlfriend Jessica Biel in an hours-long "heavy make-out session" at Set in Miami

***Michael ("Kramer") Richards strolling Columbus Avenue in a bright floral shirt with a camera around his neck.

***Mariel Hemingway, Marilu Henner, Drew Pinksky, director John Landis, Heather Thomas, attorney Gloria Allred, writer Stanley Bing all at the large Harper Collins Book Expo party held at the 20th Century Fox lot last night.

LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:

***The Bunny Ranch, Nevada's famed cathouse, is fighting inflation by offering its jet-setting customers a $15 rebate to defray new baggage fees imposed by American Airlines.

***Two years in, the merger of Disney and Pixar is notable for how well the two companies have made it work.

LBN-SNAP:...Is that a hickey on Amy Winehouse's neck??

ALMOST GONE:

Just over 50 years ago, Iraq's Jews numbered more than 130,000, but only seven or eight still remain, groups say.

LBN-COMMENTARY BY DOUG GILES:

Biblical Christianity, lived and worked out in real time, has always been a life-stoking blessing in whatever land it took root.

LBN MISSION:

To comfort the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable. Seven days a week but never weakly.

LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:

***Sallie Hofmeister is the new business editor at the Los Angeles Times, reporting to the managing editor.

LBN-OVERHEARD:

***Frank Sinatra wasn't the type to forgive and forget.

The Chairman of the Board bristled at a Catholic priest who wrote to him suggesting the jailed kidnappers of his son, Frank Sinatra Jr., were sorry for their crimes and deserved a break.

In a six-page letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons Chaplain Roger Schmit written in 1964, Ol' Blue Eyes rages:

"You have had no prior relationship to the Sinatra family . . .

It is presumptuous for you to ask us to forgive them.

" He rips the kidnappers' claims that young Sinatra was in on the abduction, and "up to this time I have remained silent . . . [about] the harm done to my son by the claim of 'hoax,' but your letter, written in the name of God, has caused me to break that silence." T

he typewritten missive, signed by Sinatra, is for sale at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?

== for $36,000.

***Don't count on Susan Sarandon to keep her word and leave the country if John McCain becomes president.

Such threats are almost never carried out.

Eight years ago, Barbra Streisand, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Alec Baldwin, and the late director Robert Altman all threatened to leave the US if George W. Bush got elected.

None did.

Four years ago, Robert Redford said he'd leave the country if Bush got re-elected.

He's still in Utah.

***Angry Alec Baldwin trashed friends and strangers equally at a party to launch his new book on divorce Friday night.

At a private bash to hype the book "A Promise to Ourselves," the 50-year-old "30 Rock" star first promised the book was not meant to "bury" ex-wife Kim Basinger - then he proceeded to rake her over the coals.

"My ex-wife reaches an almost sexual level of satisfaction when she's in a room full of high-priced lawyers," he said of Basinger, with whom he has battled since their 2001 divorce over the custody of their daughter, Ireland. Baldwin added, "There are serious repercussions for children living in a fatherless home.

I won't name names - Lindsay Lohan!"

***The star of "Two and a Half Men" has moved on to marriage No. 3. Charlie Sheen tied the knot with fiancée Brooke Mueller Friday night, said publicist Stan Rosenfield, who declined to give more details.

DID YOU KNOW?

***Hair is made from the same substance as fingernails.

***Although the outsides of a bone are hard, they are generally light and soft inside and are about 75% water.

***The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons.

***Ketchup was once used as a medicine in the United States.

In the 1830s it was sold as Dr. Miles Compound Extract of Tomato.

***People generally read 25% slower from a computer screen compared to paper.

LBN-QUOTE:

"Somewhere in the waning hours of this interminable primary, I found myself channeling Barack Obama as he began a long overdue and eagerly anticipated conversation ... on gender."

--Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe associate editor and Pulitzer Prize winning syndicated columnist

LBN-HISTORY: On June 1, 1968, author-lecturer Helen Keller, who earned a college degree despite being blind and deaf most of her life, died in Westport, Conn.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE:

In addition to being read in all 50 of the United States, this LBN E-Lert is read each day in 23 foreign countries including:

China, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, England, Iraq, Israel, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain, Norway, Australia, South Africa, Israel, Canada, Mexico & MALAYSIA...among others.

Please forward it to all of your international friends.