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").