A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via pub.tv2)

In: Kate Moss. She's had quite a week, what with dumping her crack addicted former rent boy ex-boyfriend. Now, Hott off the AP wires:

"A lawyer for Kate Moss said Wednesday the British supermodel had accepted substantial libel damages from a newspaper that alleged she had collapsed into a coma after taking cocaine.

"An article published in Britain's Sunday Mirror and on the newspaper's Web site in January alleged that during a visit to Barcelona, Spain, in June 2001, Moss collapsed into a drug-induced coma and had to be revived after taking large amounts of cocaine.

"'The allegations are untrue,' Moss' lawyer, Gerard Tyrrell, said Wednesday.

"Tyrrell said publisher Mirror Group Newspapers Limited accepted that the allegations were false and should not have been published. He said the two parties had agreed on a substantial figure in damages, but he did not say what the amount was."



(image via HP)

Out: Jeff Katzenberg. Do you suppose right about now Jeffrey Katzenberg is playing Bananarama's Cruel Summer over and over again? The McDonalds deal notwithstanding, he's had a bad week. According to Tim Arango of the NYPost:

"NBC Universal is in discussions to acquire DreamWorks SKG, the private live-action film business left behind after the company took public its animation division last year, The Post has learned."

Does this have anything to do with the stinky opening for "The Island"?

" ...While talks with Universal are ongoing, sources familiar with the matter said they are still at an early stage and that no deal is imminent.

"The deal, if completed, would be another sign that the ambitions of the powerful Hollywood trio that formed the company 11 years ago have never been fully reached.

"DreamWorks does not break out figures for its live action unit � which remains a private company � but public comments earlier this year by David Geffen, who has taken the reins of the unit, suggest that management believes it is worth about $1 billion."

The animation unit -- DWA --- is trading down 0.6 percent as of press time. Further, James Nash of the Los Angeles Business Journal writes today:

"Struggling DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. on Monday redrew the lines of authority for its top executives, giving Chairman Roger Enrico more authority and diluting the power of Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who helped found DreamWorks in 1994.

"The Glendale-based animation unit, which was spun off from DreamWorks SKG last year, has suffered declines in stock price amid disappointing returns for the DVD of 'Shrek 2' and the recent theatrical release 'Madagascar.' The company�s shares have fallen 17 percent since the company�s initial public offering in October 2004."



(image via film.com)

In: The Island As The New Ishtar. Sure, The Corsair tore Michael Bay a new hole yesterday. That was then, this is now. His spectacular flameout is so "Out," it's "In." The aftershocks of The Island bombing are sure to be with us in the form of a thousand Sharon Waxman-esque "think pieces," on The Island as metaphor for the box office Slump of 2005. Blablablah.

But before that happens, shall we take a few moments to fully savor the full-bodied nougaty richness of the grand failure of Michael Bay, who once told Kate Beckinsale she was unattractive to her goddamned face. (A considerable pause) There -- now doesn't that make you feel better?

We like it when a man breaks. There is a strain of luxurious cruelty in the Mwangaguhunga bloodline line, my friends, it goes back to the old Kabaka kings, we believe. But we are only cruel to the particularly deserving. The Corsair enjoys in the bitch-like squeals of the broken scoundrel's pride in shredded tatters, as, we suppose, Michael Bay's must be at present. We especially love it when they give us the Spaniel-eyes; we can't get enough of the Spaniel-eyes. Observe, via the LATimes:

"Anticipating that the heat would be on in Hollywood this weekend, 'The Island' director Michael Bay slipped away � to sweltering Arizona."

You can run, Michael Bay, but you cannot hide.

'I didn't hear the numbers all weekend,' he said. 'I relaxed, called my agent Sunday and said, Give me the bad news.

"When he heard the film finished in fourth place with $12.4 million, it was clear: 'It's a debacle, it's my worst opening weekend ever,' Bay said.This summer's box-office doldrums has claimed numerous victims: Rebound, Lords of Dogtown, and the bigger budget films Cinderella Man and Kingdom of Heaven. Now moviegoers have crowned the biggest opening belly-flop so far: Bay's Island.

"Paul Degarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., said the film's opening comes as a major disappointment for distributor DreamWorks SKG. 'There's a lot riding on a tent pole movie like that,' he said.Bay bemoaned that the movie had low awareness. Even before it opened, he had sharp words for the marketing campaign, complaining in a Times interview that the effort wasn't generating interest and that a poster made costar Scarlett Johansson look like 'a porn star.'"

"...'I was five for five. You know it's going to happen.' 'It hurts,' Bay added. 'It's always the director's fault.'"



(image via scripting)

Out: Tucker Carlson. According to Drudigie Poo's numbers:

"FLASH: CABLE NEWS RACENITE OF MON, JULY 25, 2005 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,594,000 [VIEWERS]; FOXNEWS GRETA 2,534,000; FOXNEWS HANNITY/COLMES 2,275,000; CNN LARRY KING 1,533,000; CNNHN NANCY GRACE 797,000; CNN AARON BROWN 564,000; CNN ZAHN 513,000; MSNBC OLBERMANN 331,000; MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 326,000; MSNBC HARDBALL 233,000; MSNBC TUCKER 153,000"

The Corsair has to admit, the Hardball numbers were the first shock; then again, the influence wielded by those 233,000 viewers is enough that Chris Matthews will not be out of work. The second shocker -- or, maybe not -- was that Tucker Carlson isn't getting any traction with his show. Nada buzz. Radar informed us:

"According to a network source, the 36-year-old motormouth landed the job after promising MSNBC he could deliver raucous debates with high-profile guests like Jon Stewart�who famously called Carlson a 'dick' on Crossfire and accused him of 'hurting America'�but that the debates have yet to materialize.

" ... But Carlson, who snagged a high six-figure salary and stock options from MSNBC after being booted from CNN, is still sitting pretty. 'For some reason the higher-ups keep kissing his ass, even though the show was DOA the week it premiered,' the source gripes."

We are guessing that MSNBC doesn't much care for ratings, which, actually, would explain a lot.



(image via teezeh)

In: Big Bosom's and Square Jaws. This perfect review of Roger Ebert's cinematic mentor from Simon Doonan of the salmon-colored weekly:

"I am currently reading Jimmy McDonough�s Big Bosoms and Square Jaws (Crown $26.95), the biography of soft-porn genius Russ Meyer, and I may soon have to stop: With every page, I sink further and further into the sleazy mire of Meyer. By Labor Day (I�m a slow reader), I am sure I�ll be sporting a revolver, not to mention a giant pair of silicone hooters.

"This book has proven to be a fantastic antidote to this summer�s freaky Francophilia. The violent, busty Meyer supervixens�Raven, Haji, Tempest, Tura et al.�are, apr�s tout, the antithesis of those withholding, smug French women. And Coco Chanel, with her lifelong battle to rid the world of vulgarity, was the absolute screeching polar opposite of Russ Meyer.

"I feel a personal connection to old Russ. Back in the early 80�s�in ma drinkin� days�I lived around the corner from a strip club called the Body Shop on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The main attraction was Mr. Meyer�s then-girlfriend, Kitten Natividad. The star of Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens took quite a shine to me. This manifested itself in a highly unorthodox way: She invited me back to her dressing room. I went (it would have been inelegant to have refused). She then flew across the room and began to bat my head with her legendary appendages.

"I had a Proustian moment while reading the Meyer bio. It occurred when I reached the passage where Mr. McDonough describes Russ as 'the kind of man who discovers that slapping a leg of lamb is a perfect sound effect for a breast striking a face.'"

Brilliant. More.



(image via ananova)

Out: Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp and Kate Moss are still close. At least, they are still close enough that he's willing to get involved when her now ex- boyfriend is wrestling with a nasty crack habit. As the 3AM Girls have it:

"Our spy reveals: 'Johnny had come to London for the film's premiere and was determined to catch up with Kate and meet Pete for the first time.

"'Johnny is still close to Kate and they've remained friends. Since she had her daughter Lila Grace, two years ago, he's been increasingly concerned for her and wants to make sure she is in good hands.

"'People had warned Johnny that Pete was trouble but he never likes to judge a book by its cover. He wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"He had obviously heard about Pete's wild, rock star antics and was concerned for Kate, so he took him aside for a one-to-one.

"They were having a real heart to heart. Johnny was saying how having children had changed his life and that Pete should focus on raising his son Estille [by singer Lisa Moorish] and on being a good father."

Unfortunately, his advice fell on deaf ears. Last Friday, 29-year-old Pete got into a boozy street brawl with a group of youths. He fled into a shop but the gang smashed in the front door looking for him.