HOLLYWOOD -
Top Story
The 59th Venice Film Festival will kick off its venue with the long-awaited Frida, a biopic about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, starring Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas. Other films in competition include Steven Soderbergh's newest, Full Frontal, and Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition, starring Tom Hanks, as well as Between Strangers, the directorial debut of Edoardo Ponti, the 29-year-old son of Sophia Loren, who also stars in the film. Those celebrities scheduled to attend include Hayek, Loren, Hanks and Julianne Moore with her film The Hours. The festival runs Aug. 29 to Sept 8.
Celebs
Not to be outdone by another pop diva, Celine Dion is jumping on the fragrance-line bandwagon. (J.Lo, watch out.) Dion will be creating a perfume with Coty Inc., which also produces Jovan and Stetson fragrances, and the scent should be in stores in early 2003. Jennifer Lopez's fragrance, Glow, is ready to hit the market soon.Supermodel Naomi Campbell may have to wait until October before learning if she has beaten an appeal by the British tabloid Daily Mirror, which was ordered in March to pay her damages of $5,493 for breach of confidence and invasion of privacy. Why the wait? The Court of Appeal in London is going on a summer break and won't be back until October. Campbell's lawsuit stems from the newspaper reporting that she was attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings.The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' 25th annual Kennedy Center Honors will go to an eclectic group that includes Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera and musicians Paul McCartney and James Levine. The honorees will be received at the White House Dec. 8 before attending the Honors Gala event at the Kennedy Center. CBS will air the two-hour special later in December.Movies
Director Jon Amiel (Entrapment) is in negotiations to remake the 1966 thriller Seconds, which was directed by the late John Frankenheimer and starred the late Rock Hudson. Variety reports the film centers on a man who trades his life for a new identity and gets more than he bargained for. Sounds thoroughly Twilight Zone-ish. HBO will be releasing its first feature film in October with Real Women Have Curves, the winner of this year's audience award at the Sundance Film Festival. Based on Josefina Lopez's autobiographical play, the film takes a look at a first-generation Mexican-American woman who lives in East Los Angeles and tries to balance her ambitions and her cultural heritage.Tube News
NBC is bringing back the old in a brand-new way. The Rerun Show, which airs this Thursday at 9:30 p.m., has an ensemble cast re-enacting storylines from such sitcoms as Diff'rent Strokes, The Partridge Family, One Day at a Time and Bewitched. The episodes run shortened, yet word-for-word, as the actors impersonate the original sitcom stars--and the absurdity of it all isn't lost. Executive Producer David Salzman told The Associated Press, "If you can do it with Shakespeare, why can't we have fun with these shows?" Why, indeed.