EVEN MONEY, box office definitivo: $ 64,458.

Misunderstood Masterpieces: Cool World
Posted by Will Helm on 07.10.2007
...or, Come Watch Frank Sinatra, Jr., Get Raped Onstage!
When it comes to "adult" cartoons, there are few more famous – or infamous – as long-time auteur Ralph Bakshi. Working his way up from the awesome old Mighty Mouse and Marvel Comics cartoons of the ‘60s – in particular the wonderfully cheesy, "let's-cut-everything-out-of-the-comics" Spider-Man, Bakshi made his name in the world of cinema with the help of one man: legendary independent comic artist Robert Crumb. Crumb, the premier comic artist of the gonzo late-‘60s – and illustrator of Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills as well as the creator of Zap Comix, devised the infamous subject of Bakshi's first major release: 1972's Fritz the Cat, the first animated release to garner an "X" rating.
Six years later, Bakshi would ingratiate himself to nerds everywhere as he attempted to do what was then impossible: turn J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings cycle into films. The result was the uneven and semi-animated – the film was animated over rotoscoped actors – J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The film – though it did feature Tim Burton working very behind the scenes – suffered the unenviable task of truncating the first two books – The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers – into one 150-minute movie and, in the process, losing the epic scope that Peter Jackson would finally grasp 23 years later. Perhaps due to the cool reception toward Lord of the Rings, Bakshi would fade from the public eye until getting back into the cinematic game with another major release featuring big-name actors . . . well, one before he was REALLY famous and a few other actors. The film is 1992's Cool World and unfortunately, it didn't perform so coolly at the box office even though many saw it as a "more adult" Who Framed Roger Rabbit? I guess the public wasn't ready for another cartoon-meets-reality film . . . but I wonder if they had overlooked a Misunderstood Masterpiece? Let's find out!
Sadly, the film dates itself early on because the opening credits are accompanied by – gasp! – ‘90s synth-pop. Ugh. Just ugh. Somehow, instead of staying rooted firmly in the early ‘90s, the scene opens in 1945 Vegas, where folks stand around at a very small airport while swing plays in the background. I'll take that over ‘90s synth-pop any day; thanks for redeeming yourself, movie! The crowd gets all excited at the airport as soldiers exit a plane but one woman in particular (Janni Brenn) is quite perturbed . . . until Brad Pitt gets off the plane. Of course, she's not excited because Brad Pitt's there, she's actually just his mother . . . in Cool World, not the real world. I have a hunch that juxtaposition is going to get very confusing later on.
Back home with mom, Brad Pitt emerges from his room dapper and well-Brylcreemed. In addition – as the film slightly exudes an Oedipal overtone, Brad has a surprise for his mom: a shiny new motorcycle. Hmm . . . why do I get the feeling that's like Homer Simpson buying Marge a bowling ball for her birthday? Apparently, Brad won it while playing poker. Sadly, he should've kept playing; eventually he could've won the Millennium Falcon. Oh wait . . . that was Sabacc. Speaking of gambling, while Brad takes his mom for a ride through the desert – Oedipus, where are you?, a drunken couple exits an establishment helpfully called "Gambling." As is plainly obvious with what's being set up, the drunken couple run down Brad and his mom and, unsurprisingly, Brad's mom dies while Brad goes into shell shock. Well, that's a grim turn – no pun intended.
Elsewhere, some little cartoon professor opens a portal to Nevada and he watches as the cops keep pushing Brad down for no discernable reason. Seriously, every time he tries to get up, they push him back down on the ground. Weird. Anyway, perhaps to rescue Brad from this very gentle and counterintuitive form of police brutality, the cartoon professor warps Brad into the cartoon world. Once there, Brad, as anyone warped anywhere is wont to do, freaks out until the cartoon professor provides exposition for Brad and the viewer. Of course, since he's a cartoon, the professor is wacky – unless it's a bizarre form of gallows humor to take Brad's mind off his mother's untimely death. Brad, meanwhile, ignores the professor's gags because he's either catatonic, concussed, or stoned . . . or any combination of the three.
With Brad Pitt's origins now established, the film fast-forwards to 1992 – or, as it was back then, "present day" . . . and to a Las Vegas prison. Hey wait . . . that trilogy was a few weeks ago! Although, maybe the guy that killed Brad's mom is getting out now? Or not, as in a finely appointed cell – complete with a drafting table, convict Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne) animates a HOT CHICK. Perhaps he's spent a little too long on the inside because the HOT CHICK starts talking to him and even comes to life! Somehow, he's pulled into cartoon land and, once there, he ends up in a night club full of Tex Avery-inspired wolves and . . . more synth-pop. Luckily for him, there's a reason he's there as the HOT CHICK is dancing on stage and he's mesmerized by her hips . . . until he's rudely pulled back into the real world. Oh well. I guess he'll just have to spend a little more time with his bitch later.
Back in cartoon world – or, formally, the titular "Cool World," a jive hoodlum struts on the streets until his henchmen mock him. He responds by roughing them up and then attacking them with killer nickels. Ah, so it's one of those places where life is cheap and the dames are cheaper. Got it. Meanwhile, Brad drives into town and he stops some ‘toons – or "doodles" as they're known in the film . . . probably to differentiate it from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – from jackin' his car. He then visits the blonde HOT CHICK, Holli Would (though I think "blonde HOT CHICK" is a much better name, personally), who reveals that, somehow, she's obsessed with Marilyn Monroe.
Brad, on the other hand, is just a cop on the beat, trying to keep the peace in a city filled with iniquity and despair. He's also got a job to do, so he asks Holli about Jack's unannounced and uninvited arrival earlier in the evening. She tries to distract him with tales of Las Vegas legends and her animated wiles – but she's no Erin E-surance, that pink-haired vixen. Anyway, Holli finally reveals her raison d'être: she wants to be a real boy. Oh wait . . . that was Pinocchio. Well, either way, Holli wants to be real and she wants Brad to help her make it so. Jean-Luc Picard would be proud. Brad isn't so much, though, as he just lectures her and takes his leave.
Over in the real world, Jack gets out of jail and he drives home to find his nosy neighbors already suspicious about his presence. Geez . . . whatever happened to paying one's debt to society? Anyway, Jack drives through Vegas – disappointed by all the false glamour he sees along the way – and his first stop is a comic store. Once inside, it's revealed that he's a sort-of famous artist, enough so that the female clerk on duty hits on him. Unfortunately, while a horde of groupies hound Jack for autographs, some smarmy geek hassles Jack about the murder that landed him in jail. Dum-dum-DUM! Something tells me the smarmy geek might be next on Jack's hit list.
Later that night, Jack is warped back to Cool World where an innocent, naïve rabbit loses in a fixed craps game. Huh? Anyway, the rabbit's captors are distracted by Jack's impromptu arrival and, disturbingly, he's accosted by his own "creations." Great . . . just what this movie needs: a "chicken/egg" paradox. Anyway, while Jack is bothered by a bunch of goons and an obsessive hooker, Holli shows up to break up the party and Jack is mystified again. Well, he was in the joint for a spell and, hence, no nookie . . . at least no nookie of the heterosexual kind. Holli, sensing Jack's interest, toots his horn – in the prurient sense – and then she hits on him.
Elsewhere, the rabbit reports the skullduggery to the cops . . . and it wants REVENGE! To that end, the cops show up and Jack and Holli flee from the scene in her car and with her goons in tow. On the way to Jack and Holli's freedom, a lackadaisical car chase ensues and one of Holli's goons uses urine to fend off the cops . . . until the cops and rabbit meet their fate in a car accident. I suppose that's another grim turn . . . no pun intended. Meanwhile, Brad questions a brunette HOT CHICK (Candi Milo, who will always be awesome because she's the voice of "Cheese" on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) on the streets and, as it turns out, she's Brad's woman and the "Veronica" to Holli's "Betty." Brad's perturbed by all the crime going on under his nose but, before his HOT CHICK can calm him down, he's rudely interrupted by his partner, Nails (Charles Adler). It's all in a days work for a damned cop.
At a dance club, Holli gyrates lasciviously and gets Jack into the club with the help of goon power. The scene inside isn't so cool, however, as Brad is there waiting for Jack. Dum-dum-DUM! After roughing up Jack to get his attention, Jack explains the rules of Cool World. Rule #1: You do not talk about Cool World! He also tells Jack that Holli isn't worth all the trouble; whether it's because she's a loose broad or BITCHES BE CRAZY remains to be seen, however. In addition, cross-dimensional intercourse isn't allowed . . . mainly because it's really hard to wash paint off your naughty bits. I feel kind of bad for the guy who first found that out! After the little lecture, Jack warps back to the real world and he lands directly on his drawing board; I'm sure there's some sort of symbolism there, but I'm not sure what it is.
In Cool World, Brad goes back to his HOT CHICK and he laments the fact that he can't hook up with her . . . though I suppose mutual masturbation is A-OK. Obviously, my hunch is correct as the HOT CHICK starts stripping for Brad but he's once again rudely interrupted by Nails, who's almost as annoying as him on a chalkboard. In the real world, Jack hangs out in the desert like a mental patient because Holli is haunting his thoughts. Perhaps to cure his psychosis, Jack once again travels to Cool World and he lands in the midst of an opera. Somehow, Holli's goons arrive through the backdrop to pick up Jack.
Elsewhere, Brad visits Holli's place, where her knocker sasses at him and denies him entry. Her door-knocker, perverts. As Brad REALLY wants a chat with Holli, he and Nails join forces to scale the side of the building but Brad nearly falls to his death when Nails sneezes and loses his grip. That would've brought a quick end to the film, I surmise. After a few attempts, Brad finally gets into the building where he finds Holli waiting and prepared to question Brad's masculinity.
While Brad has to deal with Holli's emasculating insinuations, her goons take Jack to her place and she puts Jack into her bed, much to the consternation of seemingly EVERYONE in Cool World. Damned prudes. While Holli desires to seduce Jack, he's more concerned about Brad's warnings than Holli's surely anatomically correct form. Somehow, while Holli's goons conspire to watch the goings-on, Holli gets it on with a somewhat unconscious Jack – Holli is obviously a bit of a rapist . . . remember that for future reference – and, hence, she turns real . . . and into Kim Basinger. Hmm . . . I wonder what happens if you get her wet or feed her after midnight. Somehow, in addition to her physical form transforming, Holli's clothes also turn real as well. That's wonderfully convenient, I must admit; I'm sure no one would want Kim Basinger to have to run around through the rest of the movie naked or anything. Right?
Back to beating the streets of Cool World, Brad is perturbed because he knows there's something fishy going on. Either that, or he's smelling Holli now that she's real. Brad, perhaps still feeling a bit insecure as well, elects to apologize to his HOT CHICK and he makes up with her; meanwhile, Nails finds out that Jack and Holli may very well be leaving Cool World for the real world. He decides to let Brad know, but after calling him, Nails has second thoughts and chooses to take the case himself.
After real Holli basks in her own reflection for a bit, she steals Jack's fountain pen – which is, according to Brad, a powerful weapon in Cool World – and, outside, she confronts Nails on the street. Though Nails tries to thwart Holli's plan, she kills him with Jack's pen and then she and Jack return to the real world unfettered by police interference. Over at Jack's place, his nosy neighbors walk in on him and Holli celebrating their freedom – with their clothes on, perverts – and Holli ingratiates herself toward the neighbors by acting giggly and dumb. Unless that's not an act.
In Cool World, Brad mourns for his deceased partner and then he also finds out what Jack and Holli did. Back in Vegas, Holli and Jack go to a lounge together where Holli sniffs men and is very enthusiastic about drinking heavily. Then, while Frank Sinatra, Jr., performs onstage, Holli commandeers the bandstand and, somehow, Jack's protestations get him ejected from the establishment. Umm . . . he's not the one onstage, guys; but, then again, he's also not a HOT CHICK coming on to Frank Sinatra, Jr. While Jack seemingly starts turning into a doodle outside, Holli performs with Frank Sinatra, Jr., and, during the course of the number, she gives him what can best be characterized as a "standing lap dance" . . . or a very clumsy rape. It's not like she hasn't done it before!
In Cool World, Brad swears REVENGE against Holli and Jack for making a heel out of him – and probably for killing Nails too. Sadly, Brad's HOT CHICK isn't too happy about how the situation is turning out, so they end up arguing. Either that, or it's their sexual frustration boiling over. Back onstage in the real world, Holli starts turning back into a doodle – specifically a clown-like doodle – so she leaves the stage to everyone's applause. Outside, Holli meets up with Jack and their quite concerned by the recent turn of cartoon events. Back in Cool World, Brad begins his quest for REVENGE by having a flashback back to earlier in the film and then warping back to the real world . . . in 1992. Luckily, he doesn't age 47 years en route; that would certainly put a damper on the remaining action.
On the streets of Vegas, Holli and Jack argue about their particular predicament and Holli's desire for power. Since Jack isn't as supportive as she'd like, Holli kicks him in the face and then she hijacks his car. Look out! BITCHES BE CRAZY! Elsewhere, Jack's neighbor (Michele Abrams) sits down to read one of his comics until she's rudely interrupted – is that a running theme or something? – but Brad's arrival in Jack's house across the street. Jack arrives back at his house to find Brad waiting for him and, in lieu of Brad exacting his revenge, they scream at each other instead until – shockingly – the nosy neighbor rudely interrupts them.
On the Vegas strip, Holli parks Jack's car in front of a casino and she interrogates the hapless valet as to the whereabouts of some guy named "Vegas Vinnie." Wait; she's looking for Kevin Nash? Inside the casino, Holli wanders around, very confused, until she's forcibly ejected by a horde of tuxedo-clad men. And here I thought being a close, personal friend of Frank Sinatra, Jr., would've given her carte blanche in Vegas. Outside the casino, an overdressed midget accosts Holli but, as it turns out after a brief scuffle, it's actually the cartoon professor in disguise! He cautions Holli about her desire for power but, instead of heeding his warnings, she simply blows him up with Jack's pen.
The professor doesn't stay blown up for long, however, as, moments later, Jack, Brad, and Jack's nosy neighbor arrive on the scene. While Jack and his neighbor reassemble the professor, Brad chases Holli through the bowels of the casino. In a back stairwell, he finally catches up with her but she responds by pushing him over the railing. Brad, who's even a hard-workin' cop in the real world, recovers and hunts for Holli in a gaudily wallpapered hallway. Of course, the wallpaper is just a ruse as Holli emerges from it to kick Brad in the junk. I guess he wasn't emasculated after all . . . until now. Holli then climbs onto a ledge outside the casino – as the object of her desire is at the top – and, through a convoluted series of events and a moment of mercy on the part of Brad, she pushes him over the edge and to his death on the pavement below.
Fueled by Brad's death and the professor's urging, Jack finally realizes his destiny and he grows cartoon arms with which he climbs the side of the building. On the top of the structure, Holli scales a big neon sign and then she grabs some rod that releases a horde of cartoon ghosts into the real world! Wow, I remember the first time I saw that bit . . . in Ghost Busters. While cartoons invade the real world, Jack turns into a cartoon superhero and Nails escapes from his incarceration in the pen . . . no pun intended. After Jack fights off the evil cartoons and, after grabbing the rod from Holli, he reverses the cartoon invasion. In the aftermath, the professor, Nails, and dead Brad return to Cool World, leaving Jack's nosy neighbor behind to clean up the mess. In Cool World, Brad's HOT CHICK laments his passing . . . until he turns into a cartoon so they can get it on. Meanwhile, Super-Jack and Holli end up together, unhappily ever after.
I have to admit it: Cool World isn't that bad of a movie. That's not to say it's good, however; it's more odd than anything. During the course of the film, particularly in the realm of Cool World, there are scores and scads of random animations floating by or frolicking in the foreground for no particular reason. Whether that was to set the scene as chaotic or just to give the animators something to do is a mystery; as it is, however, it seemingly serves no purpose. More than anything, though, Cool World feels like it's missing something – or a lot of things, honestly. While the professor explains how Brad got to Cool World, it's never really clear why he's brought to Cool World. Holli's motivations are never fully explored – she wants to be real and then . . . what? – as well as the origins of her rather intimate knowledge of the outside world. Other than the smarmy geek, Jack's crime is mostly forgotten about in the course of the film; in fact, his neighbors seem to be rather fine with the fact there's a convicted criminal across the street. Most significantly, however, the film feels like it wants to be even more "adult" but it's hemmed in by a restrictive "PG-13" rating. Of course, whenever a film never quite realizes its full potential, that can only mean it's a Misunderstood Masterpiece.
Join me next week as Brendan Fraser somehow ends up in Cool World . . . but with a slightly different plot. Or not. I haven't watched it yet, but you'll find out! See you then!

Ascolti Tv: i dati Auditel di venerdì 29 giugno 2007
GENITORI IN TRAPPOLA Rai 1 3.861 22,56%
ERIN BROCKOVICH FORTE COME... - ESTATE D'AMORE Canale 5 3.374 21,27%
CSI:MIAMI - POLIZIOTTO PER VOCAZIONE Italia 1 2.663 14,22%
CSI:NY - LO SCHELETRO Italia 1 2.381 13,35%
ENIGMA (pdi) Rai 3 2.042 11,40%
IL CAPITANO - IL LAVANDAIO Rai 2 1.730 9,49%
NATI IERI - UNA DOMENICA TRANQUILLA Rete 4 1.080 6,32%
NATI IERI Rete 4 1.072 5,72%
UNA BIONDA TUTTA D'ORO - CINEMA LA7 La 7 468 2,81%

Even Money (*1/2) | Odds aren't too good for next year's Oscars
The standouts are Kim Basinger as a novelist who's blowing the family savings and Danny DeVito as a one-time Borscht Belt magician.
Movie times
Though the press notes assure us that novice screenwriter Robert Tannen's intention is to offset the phoniness of past Hollywood gambling movies, with Even Money, he has written one of the phoniest of them all.
Nothing in the movie rings true, least of all its depiction of gambling, both in casinos and in the bookie world that ultimately drives the story.
Written in the overlapping style of Crash,Even Money introduces nine characters -- gambling addicts, addicts' relatives, bookies or casino hangers-on.
The connecting link for all of them is a 10th person, Ivan, who doesn't appear until the final scene. He is the overlord of an illegal gambling ring, whose field operative, Victor (Tim Roth), is a sadistic thug whom homicide detective Brunner (Kelsey Grammer, behind a prosthetic nose and chin) suspects of murdering a low-life bookie.
The characters standing out most in this crowd are Kim Basinger's Carol Carver, a blocked novelist who's blowing her family's savings at casino slot machines, and Danny DeVito's Walter, a one-time borscht belt magician now living on tips from the senior citizens he dazzles in the casino restaurant.
Walter rescues Carol from the slots, helps her win some money back at blackjack, then suggests she be his assistant in a revival of his act as the Amazing Abraham.
Meanwhile, Forest Whitaker's handyman Clyde Snow is pressuring his younger brother (Nick Cannon) to shave points in his college basketball games so he can pay off his gambling debt to Victor.
The nine lives all come together, more or less, over a climactic basketball game that is poorly shot and whose stakes are ridiculously overstated.
If you're looking for entertainment, save your 10 bucks for the lottery.
Cast: Tim Roth, Kelsey Grammer, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Forest Whitaker.
Director: Mark Rydell.
Screenwriter: Robert Tannen.
Producers: David S. Greathouse, Mark Rydell.
A Yari Film Group release. Violence, language, brief sexuality. Running time: 108 minutes. In Miami-Dade: Palace 18; in Broward: Sawgrass.

Even Money (2006)
The second film about compulsive gamblers to hit theaters this month, Mark Rydell's ensemble drama Even Money doesn't commit the colossal blunder of Curtis Hanson's Lucky You, which focuses on poker to the seeming near-exclusion of character development and narrative. Charting the intersecting, sometimes deadly paths of nine characters, Robert Tannen's first-produced screenplay certainly doesn't lack for story—or clichés, for that matter. Nor does Tannen skimp on trite, predictable plot twists, or well-worn, stock characters in his pedestrian script for Even Money, directed by Rydell with scant trace of the assurance he brought to either On Golden Pond (1981) or The Rose (1979), arguably his best film.
Bookended by Kelsey Grammer's pseudo hard-boiled, film noir-esque voiceover, Even Money opens with the body of a murdered, small-time bookie washing ashore. The potentially tragic consequences of gambling duly established, Rydell and Tannen introduce us to the principal characters whose fates will entwine. There's Carolyn Carver (Kim Basinger), a novelist who's blown her family's savings playing the slots; Clyde (Forest Whitaker), a janitor so mired in gambling debt he'll cajole his younger brother, college basketball star Godfrey (Nick Cannon) to throw a game; and Murph (Grant Sullivan), a bookie trying to go straight for his girlfriend, Veronica (Carla Gugino). While Walter (Danny DeVito), a down-on-his-luck magician, befriends the skittish Carolyn, Walter's acquaintance, crippled Detective Brunner (Grammer, wearing a distractingly fake schnozz) questions Victor (Tim Roth), a preening, sadistic, thug working for the mysterious "Ivan," about the murdered bookie. Rounding out the rogue's gallery of shady characters, addicts, and losers is Augie (Jay Mohr), Murph's best friend and business partner, whose greed will prove his undoing. Their various fates will be resolved, for better and worse, against the backdrop of the college basketball game that provides the climax of Even Money.
Although the actors play their thinly conceived roles with more conviction than the material deserves, Even Money never comes across as anything but a glorified, '70s-era made-for-television movie—an impression reinforced by Dave Grusin's cheesy, obvious score. A few scenes have dramatic bite, most notably a restaurant encounter between Roth and DeVito, but there's no real grit or honest pathos to the characters' dilemmas. Moments that should pack a wallop—the novelist's husband (Ray Liotta) discovering that she's ransacked their savings to feed her secret addiction—fail to register with sufficient emotional force, due to the superficial on-the-nose level of the writing. That Rydell's first theatrical film since 1994's Intersection is no more than mediocre is a shame, because some of the storylines, namely Basinger's, glimmer with potential. Unfortunately, that potential is only fitfully realized, if at all, in Even Money.

Kim Basinger: ‘I Didn’t Release the Voicemail!’
Posted by ExtraTV Staff on April 24, 2007 9:35 AM
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Kim Basinger issued a statement that makes it clear she is not responsible for leaking her ex-husband Alec Baldwin’s voicemail temper tantrum to the media.
“Kim Basinger did not release the voicemail. Additionally, the voicemail was not sealed under a court order,” the statement read.
In addition, Kim addressed reports she’d hired a bodyguard for her 11-year-old daughter, Ireland:
“Kim did hire security in response to the media attention on her daughter in order to allow Ireland to maintain her regular routine and activities uninterrupted.
“Everybody is always asking why this custody battle has been going on for so many years and now they have the answer. The issue is not about Kim or the alleged alienation that Alec constantly refers to, it is about his ongoing aggressive behavior. Kim’s sincerest wish is for him to finally address his unstable and irrational behavior so he, at some point, can potentially create a relationship with his daughter. Until then, Kim will continue to protect and safeguard her child’s well-being as any parent would.”

I 40 anni di Nicole
Il trionfale ingresso negli "anta" della Kidman, che festeggerà il compleanno il prossimo 22 giugno
Quarant'anni e sentirli tutti, ma solo sul conto in banca, grazie al ricchissimo patrimonio accumulato negli ultimi 20 anni: solo alla splendida Nicole Kidman poteva riuscire la magia di entrare nell'età-spauracchio per le attrici senza battere ciglio. Forte di un primato apparentemente inattaccabile nella classifica delle star più pagate di Hollywood, la Kidman festeggerà il fatidico compleanno il prossimo 22 giugno senza il timore, comune a tante colleghe, di restare ai margini dello showbiz.
«Donne e attrici come Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn o Joan Crawford hanno trovato nella loro maturità i ruoli e i tempi migliori - ha dichiarato l'ex signora Cruise, ora sposata con il cantante country Keith Urban -. Non penso affatto che il tempo di un'attrice sia cristallizzato agli anni della giovinezza come purtroppo è successo a Marilyn Monroe e a Judy Garland».
L'attrice australiana debutta in un ruolo da cattiva: «Non m'interessano più di tanto i risultati del box office - commenta la Kidman in un'intervista rilasciata al Corriere della Sera -, voglio solo fare i film in cui credo davvero, che mi arricchiscono, e anche pellicole avventurose, in generi per me nuovi come The Visiting con Daniel Craig». Non solo: «Voglio interpretare anche film per i miei figli - continua l'attrice premio Oscar per The Hours -, come quando ho dato la voce a un'adorabile pinguino in Happy Feet o come quella che uscirà a Natale, il fantasy The Golden Compass». L'attrice da 107 milioni di dollari (a tanto ammonta il conto in banca della Kidman) ha un cachet che si aggira sui 20 milioni di dollari a film, senza contare i gettoni che riceve partecipando a trasmissioni televisive (500mila dollari per accettare l'invito di Oprah Winfrey) o facendo da testimonial per spot pubblicitari (3,71 milioni di dollari per apparire in una pubblicità di 4 minuti).
Insomma, la donna da 928.800 dollari al minuto guarda con serenità (apparente) al trascorrere degli anni: «Se penso a me come a una donna non più giovane, una futura vecchia signora, spero di poter essere ricca di saggezza, di avere un cuore aperto a tante emozioni e considero che a un certo punto sarà bello anche avere capelli lunghi, ma bianchi». Sarà da vedere se la botulinizzata Kidman avrà il coraggio di esibire una chioma canuta. E se, fra una decina d'anni, saremo ancora qui a paragonare i cachet delle quarantenni d'oro di Hollywood, da Julia Roberts (uscita un po' dal giro per lo stop dovuto alle gravidanze recenti, ora in attesa del terzo figlio, dopo la coppia di gemelli), che ha messo da parte un patrimonio da 200 milioni di euro, a Sharon Stone, che non fa nemmeno un passo per meno di sette milioni di dollari (14 milioni, il guadagno previsto per il 2008, grazie a cinema e pubblicità).
Fanalino di coda, tra queste vip super-ricche e coccolate, Meg Ryan e Kim Basinger: la prima, guadagna oggi cinque milioni di dollari l'anno, contro i 15 degli anni '90, la seconda, che nel corso di questi ultimi anni ha anche rischiato la bancarotta, è passata a un "misero" (!) guadagno annuale di 2 milioni di dollari. «Gli attori - dice la Kidman al Corriere - hanno il privilegio di regalare sogni e amore a pewrsone che non conoscono, che non hanno mai incontrato, ma la vita è un film molto più grande di uno spettacolo cinematografico». Con patrimoni di questa entità, in effetti, non è difficile da credere.

Tv: Ascolti Mediaset, Alle Reti Seconda Serata
Ieri, martedi' 29 maggio, le Reti Mediaset, si sono aggiudicate la seconda serata e le 24 ore sul pubblico 15/64 anni rispettivamente con share del 41.06% e 3.874.000 telespettatori e il 43.91% di share con 3.734.000 telespettatori totali. Canale 5 e' leader in prima serata con il 24.42% di share sul target commerciale e 5.452.000 telespettatori totali e nelle 24 ore con il 23.25% di share sul target commerciale e 1.907.000 telespettatori totali. Lo afferma la stessa Mediaset che, va ricordato, comunica il numero assoluto di telespettatori riferito al pubblico totale di ogni eta'. La quota di mercato (share) e' riferita invece al target commerciale 15 - 64 anni.
Su Canale 5 "Striscia la notizia" si aggiudica l'access prime-time con il 32.22% di share sul target commerciale e 6.872.000 telespettatori totali, nonostante la ''fortunatissima'' concorrenza. A seguire, bene il film ''Cellular'', che raccoglie 5.002.000 telespettatori totali, con il 22.45% di share sul target commerciale.
In seconda serata chiude in bellezza ''Zelig Off in Tour'' segnando il record in ascolto medio, con 1.512.000 telespettatori totali e il 14.20% di share sul target commerciale. In day-time, sempre su Canale 5, ascolti in costante crescita per ''1 contro 100'', che e' stato seguito da 3.280.000 telespettatori totali pari a una share 22.89% sul target commerciale. Nell'ultima frazione, il quiz di Amadeus, dalle 19.45 alle 19.58 ha raggiunto i 4.236.000 telespettatori totali pari a una share del 25.18% sul target commerciale.

The Baldwin-Basinger feud Continues
There is still no answer as to who leaked out the infamous voicemail tape.
The child custody battle between Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin continued on Friday with no results and still no answer as to who leaked a voicemail tape of Baldwin’s verbal tirade against his 11-year old daughter.
Baldwin and Basinger took opposite seats of the table upon arriving in court, gesturing and speaking animatedly to his attorneys and assistants. Baldwin left the courtroom twice during the four-hour hearing. At one point, the actor said, "This is a waste of my (expletive) time."
Baldwin has apologized for the remarks against his daughter and has accused his ex-wife of leaking the tape, in which he calls his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig." Basinger denies this.
Attorneys for the two stars declined to comment about the court proceedings, which was closed to the public in order to protect the privacy of their daughter. Another hearing is scheduled for June 25.