Saturday, 20th Sept 2008....Ahmadinejad & Israel....

Stardom: A Perilous Profession

The job of managing talent has become almost as chancy as managing money.

At least money managers have a good excuse.

The whole economy is tanking, so they can say, “Don’t blame me if your money has disappeared.”

Talent managers and agents don’t have such an easy out.

Consider three names: Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor.

Those are the actors most frequently cited by insiders as talent destined for stardom who somehow got marginalized along the way.

“The business has become ever more unforgiving,” one talent agent told me the other day.

“Just like a new movie can die in one weekend, so can a new career.”

If the undertow is strong, some actors are defying it.

Robert Downey Jr. has gone from unemployable to superstar in two years.

Josh Brolin is hot again thanks to the efforts of the Coen Brothers and now Oliver Stone (unless playing George W. Bush erases Brolin’s popularity rating).

Membership in the Judd Apatow fraternity has kept Seth Rogen working harder than anyone else in town (he even gets the girl in “Zack and Mira Make a Porno”)

.Agents and managers confide that these are very dicey times, however, and the old rules are tumbling.

“Who would imagine a moment when Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise would be on the studios’ “maybe” lists?”

asks one young talent agent.

The new Gibson movie “Edge of Darkness” is being privately financed through the good offices of Graham King, and Cruise is still trying to redefine his career as a mogul-star through United Artists.

All this presents great opportunities for newcomers and has-beens.

Mickey Rourke made such a hit in “The Wrestler” at the Toronto Film Festival that offers are pouring in again.

A young agent named David Unger at ICM hung in there with him for seven years, undeterred by the actor’s alleged “has-been” status.

But comebacks are getting tougher these days.

The gifted Jude Law struck out badly two years ago when five (count’em, five) Jude films poured out, including the deadly remake of “Alfie.”

Colin Farrell, who’s a delightful character and a favorite with the fan magazines, has been locked in a series of cinematic non-events such as “In Bruges.”

Then there’s McGregor, another talented actor, who seems determined to remain a character actor, not a leading man.

His recent films: “Cassandra’s Dream” (which also starred Farrell) and “Miss Potter” did a combined $4 million domestically.

Is it the actor or the movie?

It only takes one “Iron Man” to reignite a career.

But a couple of turkeys can kill one.

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:

......Duke Ellington.....

LBN-THE INSIDE STORY:

The every charming Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured above, in his off-duty gear) said yesterday that "the Jewish state would not survive in any form."

He also dismissed allegations that his country is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, the hard-line leader smirked at the notion of a "Greater" Israel that would include occupied Palestinian territories.

The Iranian president repeated his previous anti-Israel comments, calling the Holocaust by Nazi Germany during World War II a "fake" and saying that Israel is perpetrating a holocaust on the Palestinian people.

LBN-SNAP:

Pamela Anderson, 41 year old mother of two.....

LBN-BOOK NEWS:

***The September 22 issue of The New Yorker features two poems

by Bob Dylan:

17 and 22.

These poems will be published in November in a new book, Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric:

The Lost Manuscript, with text by Bob Dylan and photographs by Barry Feinstein.

Beatles-Cirque DVD Set for Oct. 21 Release; Trailers Posted Online

A feature-length documentary on the Beatles-Cirque du Soleil show will be released on DVD on Oct. 21.

"All Together Now" will be sold exclusively at Best Buy and at the Love Boutique at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

In addition, Apple Corps Ltd./Cirque du Soleil will partner with the Bigger Picture to distribute the documentary in digital theaters across the U.S. beginning Oct. 20.

Documentary details the story behind the partnership between the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of the stage production "Love," which I gave a mixed review to when it opened despite loving the mashups in the music.

Pic received its U.S. premiere at the Silverdocs Festival in Washington D.C.

watch the trailer here : http://www.beatles.com/core/love/documentary/clips/

Metallica To Open At No. 1 As 'Death' Sells 490,000

One weekend, nearly half a million sold.

Those are the results for Metallica's "Death Magnetic," which Warner Bros. released Friday.

In three days the album sold 490,000 copies in the U.S., Billboard reported, quoting stats from Nielsen SoundScan.

Album was released on a Friday to accommodate a worldwide release date.

Metallica's last studio effort, "St. Anger," which sold 418,000 copies in its first sales period, which was also shorter than usual

Metallica's biggest week ever came in 1996 when "Load" sold 680,000 copies in its first stanza.

***William Morris agent Marc Provissiero has angled the agency to form his own management/production shingle.

Provissiero Entertainment will open its doors Monday.

Provissiero, who has spent the past decade as an agent, has already signed several of his clients for his new company, including Liz Astrof ("Kath & Kim") and Victor Nelli ("Ugly Betty").

Tuesday, 15th Sept, Malaysia Day

RELIGULOUS
BILL MAHER

Even in Toronto where people are polite.

Yet everywhere I go at this year’s Toronto Fest, folks seem surprisingly happy.

Many pictures are playing well and the boo birds are few and far between.

And no one is happier than that professional curmudgeon, Bill Maher.

His new doc, "Religulous," got a standing ovation this weekend and, even better, there were protestors outside the theater (that’s good news to Maher and his director, Larry Charles).

Even better news was the Republican convention.

Sarah Palin and company underscored the link between faith and politics.

To Maher that demonstrated the relevance of his movie “You don’t have to make fun of religion,” he told me.

“Religion makes fun of itself.

It is the elephant in the room.”

Maher and Charles traveled the world to make their doc.

They put on a phony title, “A Spiritual Journey.”

The various pastors and religious potentates being interviewed were not told that the interviewer would be Maher.

When he appeared on camera some blinked – but went on with the show anyway.

Just about every religion was zapped during the doc – especially the Mormons and Scientologists (“Mormonologists” Maher calls them).

Maher and Charles occasionally were thrown off the property, even barred from the front of the Jefferson Memorial.

And both concede that their movie will offend many – especially the zealots.

“The reality is, most people who talk about the Bible have never read it,” Maher says.

Maher has read it.

Raised a Catholic, he took a course on the Bible at Cornell and studied it carefully to prep for his movie.

He emerged a convinced Doubter and believes many Americans remain “on the fence” about religious issues, despite the Republican rhetoric.

“Even though creationism is creeping back into the schools, I believe Americans are a sensible people, and will resist the extremists,” he says.

“Folks must face up to the reality that anyone who is religious is an extremist.

That’s why they believe in this magical nonsense that comprises religious dogma.”

Larry Charles, who brought Borat to the world, is persuaded that audiences will see the entertainment value of Religulous, a movie that delivers an abundance of laughs in addition to its hard-nosed message.

“I think this movie captures lightning in a bottle,” he says.

The audience in Toronto seemed to demonstrate that he was right.

***Paul McCartney is playing at Israel's 60th anniversary, and it's making Islamic folks all hot under the hijab.

A militant Muslim leader is threatening the ex-Beatle with a suicide bombing if he doesn't cancel his September 25 gig in Tel Aviv, according to the Sunday Express.

Omar Bakri, a preacher, says, "He will not be safe there.

The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for them."

Website Alert: Music that moves, motivates and grooves http://www.songsandsoundtracks.com/.

BRITNEY

September 15, 2008 , 10:10 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Fresh off winning three top awards at last weekend's MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears has confirmed she will release a new album before year's end.

"Circus" is due Dec. 2 via Jive; the first single is "Womanizer," produced by the Outsyders.

Among the other contributors are Dr. Luke, who wrote and produced the title cut, Danja, Guy Sigsworth, Max Martin and Bloodshy & Avant.

The album's release coincides with Spears' 27th birthday.

Last month, Spears told OK Magazine of the new album, "I think it is more urban," adding that she'd been writing everyday on a piano in her living room.

"Circus" is the follow-up to last year's "Blackout," which has sold 894,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The project was largely overshadowed by Spears' tabloid-fodder personal life and her disastrous performance of the single "Gimme More" during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.