Sex and the City's Nixon is in the House

Photo: Cynthia Nixon.

NEW YORK- Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon will make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of the Fox medical drama House. The episode is slated to air in December, the network said Friday. Nixon will play a "sharp-witted patient who suffers from a mysterious seizure and goes toe-to-toe" with Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), while he and his team try to discover the source of her ailment. Last season, the 39-year-old actress played a soccer mom who suffers a stroke and is rushed to the emergency room in an episode on NBC's ER. Nixon played Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City. She won an Emmy for her role on the HBO show. House is on a break as Fox covers the Major League Baseball playoffs, but will return in early November.

FINE TUNING: Watching an IMAX film on a TV screen may seem like a fool's errand, no matter how big your set is.

Photo: Chris Noth and Jennifer Sciole.

In one of the more audacious experiments of the new TV season, Criminal Intent has been swapping back and forth between lead characters each week. By bringing in Chris Noth at the outset of the season familiar to original Law & Order viewers as no-nonsense tough guy Det. Mike Logan, and alternating stories between Noth and D'Onofrio Criminal Intent has managed to breathe new life into what was always the toughest sell of the Law & Order spin-offs. In tonight's outing, Logan and his partner Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra, familiar to followers of The Sopranos as one of Tony Soprano's more ill-fated goomahs) investigate a Park Avenue plastic surgeon implicated in the death of a medical student in Guatemala. Criminal Intent is not one of those tedious howdunits, along the lines of CSI and its countless imitators, but rather a whydunit. Co-creator, senior producer and head writer Rene Balcer, a Montreal native who studied at McGill and worked for a time as a reporter on the now-defunct Montreal Star before turning to producing TV scripts for a living, has always been more interested in the psychological underpinnings of fictional crimes. In Balcer's hands, D'Onofrio's Det. Robert Goren became a kind of alter ego to the traditional TV police detective, a shambling bear of a man who immerses himself in the criminal mind and emerges with the answer in the end: part Lurch, part Lt. Columbo. It was fun watching D'Onofrio for a time, but his wildly over-the-top, just-watch-me performances began to take their toll, in front of and behind the camera. Noth's Mike Logan takes the more direct approach: He's all about busting heads and getting into constant trouble with his bosses. Law & Order: Criminal Intent has always been my favourite of the various Law & Order incarnations, and that includes the original.

Photo: Annabella Sciorra, familiar to followers of The Sopranos.

(I still say the original Law & Order was at its best during the Michael Moriarty/Chris Noth years). Balcer has an eye for behaviour and an ear for the way people think and talk you don't often see on U.S. television it's a Montreal thing and the stories are often dense and layered, even when you know from the outset who did it. Criminal Intent is worth seeing. Avoiding it just because it has Law & Order in the title strikes me as, dare I say it, depraved indifference. CTV, NBC. Trust Homer Simpson to get into an altercation with the Easter Bunny which is exactly what he does in tonight's Simpsons outing, Last of the Red Hat Mamas.

Photo: Robert Downey, Jr.

Homer gets into it with the bonbon bunny at Mayor Quimby's annual egg hunt, and Marge ends up being shunned by her society friends as a result. Lonely, Marge joins a women's group called The Cheery Red Tomatoes and agrees to help with their upcoming charity drive: robbing Mr. Burns of his prized Faberge egg collection. And if one of the voices you hear sounds suspiciously like Lily Tomlin, that's because it is. Tomlin recorded her guest-voice appearance earlier this year. Global, Fox. Robert Downey Jr. appears in Family Guy at least, his voice does and if you think that sounds like a match made in heaven, why, you might be right! The episode revolves around Peter Griffin's sudden effort to lose weight. There's a reason, you see, why Baby Stewie keeps referring to him as ``Fat Man,'' as in, ``I underestimated you, Fat Man!'' That's a hell of a thing for a baby to be calling his own father but, hey, if the shoe fits ... Global, Fox. Viewers looking for a change of pace from Sunday familiars like The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives Carlos gets religion! and Grey's Anatomy may be interested in the IMAX film Wolves, which airs tonight on the Outdoor Life Network. Watching an IMAX film on a TV screen may seem like a fool's errand, no matter how big your set is, but it's actually fascinating to see, and not just because IMAX films are made with a visual language all their own. The big-screen films are stately paced and immaculately filmed, and Wolves is no exception. The serene vistas of jagged mountain peaks and snowbound valleys create a serene, almost surreal effect, and everything about the film's imagery is calculated and carefully studied.- By A. Stachaan.

CNN revamps prime time to make way for rising star

Photo: Aaron Brown, squeezed out.

CNN has squeezed out anchor Aaron Brown to create a new vehicle for one of its rising stars, Anderson Cooper. Cooper, 38, is a hot personality since his on-the-scene coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its effects on New Orleans. In a memorable exchange four days after the storm, he cut off Senator Mary Landrieu's lavish praise of various politicos to remind her that he'd been seeing dead bodies floating in the streets and that wasn't what Americans expected of their leaders in a crisis. Brown, 56, was once considered a star at CNN. He was thrust into a major role shortly after he joined the network in 2001 because of his heartfelt anchoring following the Sept. 11 attacks. His 10 p.m. newscast had a following of fans who liked his cerebral approach and quirky commentaries. But CNN's new president Jon Klein was not a fan and was seeking a vehicle to give Cooper more exposure. For the past month, Brown and Cooper had been paired in a two-hour newscast, NewsNight.

WHO IS AARON BROWN? With more than 25 years of journalism experience to draw from, Aaron Brown is a lead anchor during breaking news and special events as well as anchor of NewsNight With Aaron Brown, CNN's flagship, evening newscast. Brown also serves as host of CNN Presents, CNN's documentary series. Brown is based in the network's New York bureau. Less than an hour after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, Brown began covering the unparalleled event from a rooftop in New York City. His continuing live coverage from several points in New York City, including Ground Zero, provided CNN audiences with constant updates and insight as the crisis turned into a search-and-rescue mission then evolved into a war on terrorism. Since then, he has covered numerous news events for CNN, including the ongoing war on terrorism, Election 2002, the D.C.-area sniper and the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. During 2003's war in Iraq, Brown anchored from the network's headquarters in Atlanta, providing viewers with the latest information from frontlines' reports as well as from Central Command in Doha, Qatar, and Washington, D.C. In 2004, Brown served as co-anchor during the network's "America Votes 2004" election coverage. In May, Brown traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan, where he secured an exclusive interview with President Pervez Musharraf. In December of that year, Brown traveled to Indonesia to cover the disaster and aftermath of the tsunami that took more than 155,000 lives in South Asia. Previously, Brown was the anchor of ABC's World News Tonight Saturday and reported for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline and other ABC news broadcasts. He was the founding anchor of ABC's World News Now. Brown played a lead role in covering many news stories, including the British return of Hong Kong to the Chinese government, the Columbine High School shootings, the trial of O.J. Simpson and Nelson Mandela's historic election as president of South Africa. He also reported on the restoration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the head of Haiti's government, the death of Princess Diana, the trial of Susan Smith in Union, S.C., and the California earthquake in 1994. Additionally, Brown spent a year reporting and covering the tobacco industry. As an essayist for ABC News, Brown covered subjects ranging from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton to the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Before joining ABC News, Brown anchored the evening newscast for KIRO-TV in Seattle. Before that, he spent 10 years at Seattle's KING-TV as a reporter and anchor. Brown has garnered a number of awards including three Emmy awards, a duPont-Columbia Award, a New York Film Festival World Medal and several Sigma Delta Chi awards for political, general and sports news reporting as well as in the category of Outstanding Documentary. Brown is a native of Hopkins, Minn., and began his broadcasting career as a radio talk show host in Minneapolis and later in Los Angeles.

WHO IS ANDERSON COOPER? Anderson Cooper anchors Anderson Cooper 360°, an unconventional, wide-ranging news program airing on CNN/U.S. weekdays. Cooper, who joined CNN in December 2001, served as CNN's weekend anchor before moving to the 7 p.m. hour in March 2003 following the war in Iraq. Since joining CNN, Cooper has anchored major breaking news stories. He traveled to Sri Lanka to cover the tsunami and was in Baghdad for the Iraqi elections. Cooper also anchored much of CNN's live coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II in the Vatican City. For "America Votes 2004," he moderated a Democratic presidential candidates forum the network sponsored with Rock the Vote. Before joining CNN, Cooper was an ABC News correspondent and host of the network's reality program, The Mole. Cooper anchored ABC's live, interactive news and interview program, World News Now, as well as providing reports for World News Tonight, 20/20 and 20/20 Downtown. Previously, he was a New York-based correspondent for ABC News, reporting primarily for World News Saturday/Sunday. Cooper joined ABC from Channel One News, where he served as chief international correspondent. During that time, he reported and produced stories from Bosnia, Iran, Israel, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa and Vietnam. He also reported national stories that were broadcast over the Channel One News school television network and seen in more than 12,000 classrooms nationwide. Cooper has won several awards for his work, including a National Headliners Award for his tsunami coverage, an Emmy Award for his contribution to ABC's coverage of Princess Diana's funeral; a Silver Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival for his report from Sarajevo on the Bosnian civil war; a Bronze Telly for his coverage of famine in Somalia; a Bronze Award from the National Educational Film and Video Festival for a report on political Islam; and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism for his 20/20 Downtown report on high school athlete Corey Johnson. Cooper graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. He also studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi. Cooper is based in New York City.

THE MEDIA BIG NAMES GAME     

THOSE BIG SHOT TV ANCHORS: HOW GOOD AND HOW BAD ARE THEY!?

Keep on flipping and changing stations. You are not going to miss a thing!                                                            By Maximillien de Lafayette, Syndicated Columnist

Photos from L to R: #1. Mr. Larry King. A perfect gentleman and seasoned talk how host. #2. Dr. Monica Crowley host of The Monica Crowley Show; one of America's most intelligent and respected news personalities. A real national gem!

American media is a contemplative product. A blend of autocratic ideology and individualistic comprehension of events. American journalists including an avalanche of TV commentators and talk show hosts seem to know everything. Yes sir, they talk about every imaginable topic. Mr. Bill O'Reilly, (honest and sharp!) for instance, at ease and with permissive critical approach nightly argues about an astonishing variety of delicate subjects, topics and themes, ranging from questioning the loyalty of President Bush's former senior advisors to same-sex marriage, and from global ecology to immigration and naturalization services, and from questioning the validity and honesty of a ruling by a judge in the State of Florida to salty or sweet water on Mars. The two guys and "lovely" Juliet Hudy  of the FoxNews morning show “FOX AND FRIENDS” have answers to all your questions. Certainly, they are entertaining and easy to follow but, their conquest and analysis of world affairs, Spanish political dynamics, President Chirac's political ideology, Bin Laden's underwear, Michael Jackson lipstick and astrophysics-outer-of-space latest technologies are a little bit "too much" for the trio.

On the American tube, the host and the commentator become the news. They are the show! They know everything and they talk about everything. Nevertheless, we rush to our TV sets to watch them and amuse ourselves. They dissect news when they occur and invent them when the world events ponds become stagnant. However, they are colorful, animated, agitated and easy to like or disregard. Watching the American tube is a rare experience at many levels. The alert viewer must begin to wonder whether he or she is listening to world events or simply watching the anchor or newscaster. In that context, the host and the commentator become the news. They are the show! Consequently, commenting on news and delicate political issues become irrelevant, for the American radio and TV program hosts will inject into the veins of the debate and analysis their  very personal conviction, subjective opinions, crafty visions and silly jokes. However, a very small number of political analysts and contributors of the American media excel in their analysis and "projected" interpretation of facts, suppositions, points of views and unnecessary eloquent prologues and monologues. Few of them invite you to think and allow you to understand "what's really is going on". Among the most alert, informed and credible media commentators, analysts and talk shows hosts are Ms. Greta Van Susteren, Ms. Anne Coulter, Ms. Laura Ingraham, Ms. Monica Crowley, Ms. Candy Crowley, Mr. Bill Schneider, Mr. Chris Matthews,  Ms. Catherine Crier, Ms. Deborah Norville, Ms. Judy Woodruff, Ms. Judy Woodruff, Mr. Larry King, Mr. Charlie Rose, Mr. Aaron Brown, Mr. Geraldo Rivera, Mr. Jeff Greenfield, and Mr. Bill Schneider. Take those names out, and the American news and TV entertainment factory becomes "Toys R US".

HOT TICKETS

IF YOU KNOW THEIR NAMES, THEN THEY ARE REALLY HOT!!

Let's illustrate a case: Every time, Ms Greta van Susteren asks her guest a question, particularly on legal matters and socio-political issues, the correct answers were already provided in her polite and eloquent silence. For, we know that Ms. van Susteren already knew the answers, being a lawyer herself. However, she allows her guests to give their opinions without interrupting them. The French call this "Le Beau Geste". Ms. Monica Crowley is blessed with a brilliant analytical mind, a high level of education and a captivating persona. Those qualities are a rare commodity in the world of American media. Dr. Crowley is currently hosting  a very successful radio show in New York "THE MONICA CROWLEY SHOW" and millions of viewers and watchers are benefiting from her impressive experience and wisdom. But, she does not have a show on national television. None of the TV networks in the United States offered this bright young lady a deal on the wheel!  Occasionally, she "sits in" for some anchors and hosts at FoxNews. How do you explain this phenomenon?

Photo: Dr. Monica Crowley, one of America's brightest political analysts and commentators. She is the author of the book "NIXON IN WINTER", an international bestseller. This book is one of the most informative and "intelligent" book even written about President Nixon, his times and own world.

Another brilliant mind is Anne Coulter. She is the author of several authoritative and informative books on politics. Occasionally she appears on national television. So far, Ms. Coulter does not have her own TV show. Brilliant minds are kept in storage. Silly big mouth hash-hash anchors and hosts grab the spotlights. And they are doing fine. They don't need to be intelligently analytical, well-informed, highly educated with a broad vision of world affairs. What they have and need to do is to be either aggressive, talkative, agitators or silly. Silliness is like hot bread. You eat it when it is hot. You eat it when it is cold. It depends on how much and how bad you need that loaf of bread. Almost 87% of the American tube viewers tuned unconsciously to their TV sets. And 82% of American TV watchers flip their remote control every 4 minutes. Since, there is no continuity and logical synthesis in the commentaries of the anchors and show hosts, changing programs and constantly flipping stations would not affect the quality nor the importance of "chronologically following" the news and listening to the commentaries. So, keep on flipping and changing stations. You are not going to miss a thing!

Photo: Jeff Greenfield: means depth and integrity.

Probably, the most interesting and intelligent figures of the American TV cable networks are Judge Andrew Napolitano, Monica Crowley and Jeff Greenfield. Unfortunately, they are rare birds. Their commentaries are well presented, their analyses are well founded and their "persona" enjoys credibility. They never steal the show. Once again, one primordial question arises: "Why Judge Napolitano is kept in the dark?" He just appears on the screen when another talk show host is "required to do so" or badly needs a legal advice. A "Judge Napolitano Show" would and could be a great asset and a great "BOOM" to FoxNews. Helas! Nobody is paying attention. The viewers are glued to their sets. Do not let them think. Bring the popcorn and Kentucky fried chicken boxes, sit and enjoy the show. Don't think. Just eat! TV programs are not meant to be cultural, educational and informative in the United States. Unless, you are watching Public Television, A&E, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel and the History Channel. TV programs in America are "entertainment".  For now, we are 50% lucky, as long as the cable networks keep on bringing Bill Schneider, Jeff Greenfield, Catherine Crier, Judge Napolitano, Deborah Norville, Chris Matthews, Gretta Van Susteren and Monica Crowley.

MONICA CROWLEY IS ALWAYS NO.1

In 2003, World Art Celebrities Journal http://www.worldartcelebritiesjournal.com conducted survey on the most popular faces of the American media. Monica Crowley came first. In 2004, The International Herald Daily News http://www.internationalheralddailynews.org  in Paris and London did the same thing. And Crowley scored again. She topped the list. This year INA conducted an international poll on the prettiest and brightest women in the American media. Here are the results: The five brightest women are Monica Crowley, Diane Sawyer, Christianne Amampour, Paula Zhan and Catherine Crier and Nancy Grace,  both in five place. The prettiest are Monica Crowley, Deborah Norville and  Paula Zahn in third place.

Photos from L to R: #1. Monica Crowley. #2. Diane Sawyer. #3. Deborah Norville. Gorgeous women of the American media.

TV CELEBRITY OF THE WEEK

LAURA SAVINI: DIVA OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes! Public television can make you a "beloved star". Do people watch public television? You bet, if PT stations networks have personalities like Laura Savini and Charlie Rose. We know who Charlie Rose is, but Laura who? Hold your horses. Laura Savini is a knockout, brilliant, sharp, extremely well respected and above all, she is stunning. But who in heavens is Laura Savini? We asked this question to 15 of our reporters and senior writers. Twelve of them knew who she was. We asked 300 of our readers if they knew anything about Savini, heard of her, and if they did, what did they think of her. Great! To our great astonishment and delight, 210 heard of Savini and 179 of them watch her regularly on her public television network. So, public television is well and kicking. Although, many of our readers who are regular viewers of PT admitted that they get extremely annoyed by the monotonous and continuous appeals and begging of public television announcers and hosts for donations and contributions, the majority of those whom we have surveyed, admitted that they love to see the face of Savini on the small screen. To some viewers, Savini is the prettiest face they have seen on public television networks. To others, Savini is sharp, straight to the point, an effective fund raiser and an "Italian Stallion". WOW! So we decided to check her out. Laura Savini is the VP of marketing and communications for WLIW21 New York Public Television. She controls and manages the whole marketing, communications, fundraising, outreach, graphics and instructional television departments of the station. The whole 9 yards, from concept to realization.

 

Photo: Laura Savini.

Yes, sir, Savini managed to  raise $6 million for her station. And astonishingly, she does it every year. Watching this woman is a pure delight. No doubt, we watched her last week, and yesterday when she appeared on an Italian food segment of a show. Savini was there helping an Italian chef cooking his Spaghetti A La Carbonara. She was a darling, event though, she missed one or twice, grabbing the spaghetti with her fork. No problem, she got it with her fingers and of course with grace and a big smile. To many, Savini is a celebrity. A hot hot celebrity and  a familiar face, for she  hosts the station's on-air fundraising campaigns and ever week, she  interviews new talents on her program, "Metro Guide." This program is extremely informative and entertaining. A large segment  of "Metro Guide" is ethnic, and that is good for Savi. Because it helped her in creating a super duper, quality ethnic programming, with strong and intelligent  emphasis on Italian-American community and vital topics. After all, Savini is  the past president of the National Organization of Italian American Women, and currently, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Italian American Museum. Fascinating woman, de facto. So we decided to learn more about this most unusual woman. Files and Internet data, as well as literature on Savini provided us with the following: "In March 2002 she hosted the acclaimed national PBS special "The Best of Sarah Brightman: Classics" from Europe with Ms. Brightman. In June 2002 she spent two weeks in Italy co-hosting a new series on wine. That month she also interviewed Irish tenor Ronan Tynan in Dublin for PBS.

 

Photo: Laura Savini with Apostolos Kaklamanis,  President of the Hellenic Parliament.
 

Never one to slow down, in September she was in Guadalajara on a Mariachi project for PBS, then on to San Francisco to interview Tony Bennett under the Golden Gate Bridge. In April 2001 she was one of only seven American women invited to participate in Global Forum: Women and Power, held by the Women's Federation for World Peace, as a guest of Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu.

Photo: Laura Savini addressing the audience after receiving the Artemis Award at the Benaki Museum.

Tyra Banks weighs 350 lbs. - for a day

Photo: Heidi Klum, left, dances with talk show host and model Tyra Banks on a recent show.

LOS ANGELES, California- Tyra Banks has gone undercover as a 350-pound woman. Banks wore the fat suit to experience what it's like to be obese. "It seemed like the last form of open discrimination that's OK, and I decided to put on a 350-pound suit myself and live that life for a day and see what happens," the 31-year-old former supermodel told AP Radio in a recent interview. "And it was one of the most heartbreaking days of my life." Banks said she was shocked at the reaction. "I started walking down the street and within 10 seconds, a trio of people looked at me, snickered, looked me right in my eye and started pointing and laughing in my face," the talk-show host said. "And I had no idea it was that blatant." The segment will air Monday on The Tyra Banks Show. Banks, who had a sonogram on her show in September to prove that her breasts are real, is also planning a Nov. 18 segment on pursuing "a beautiful booty." She will reveal her own "dimpled butt" and receive endermologie treatment on the set.

Prison Break (repeat; check listings in your area). Global and/or Fox

Prison Break has defied expectations since its debut little more than a month ago. Most new series that start with a bang, fizzle by the second or third episode, but Prison Break, if anything, has ratcheted up the tension even more with each succeeding week. Tonight, in back-to-back repeats from last month -- thanks to baseball playoffs, new episodes won't return until Oct. 24 -- Stacy Keach's prison warden finds himself at the centre of a blackmail scheme and an unanticipated prison riot threatens to derail Michael Scofield's (Wentworth Miller) carefully laid escape plans. The first episode is slowly paced, by Prison Break's standards -- Prison Break has to be the most urgent, cliffhanger-driven rollercoaster ride this side of 24 -- but features much of the irony-laden dialogue the series has become known for, including a scene in which Sarah Wayne Callies's prison doctor tells a death-row inmate (Dominic Purcell), "letting the state know that you're healthy enough to execute is not why I went to medical school." The second episode, directed with pressure-cooker precision by Australian feature-film director Robert Mandel -- he also directed the pilot episode of The X-Files and has several episodes of Lost on his resume -- devolves into a full-blown prison riot, and features much of the same wry humour. In one disarming moment, for example, Michael Scofield's cellmate, "T-Bag," tells him, "Either I'm through that hole with you, or I'm gonna sing like Johnny Cash." Like 24 before it, Prison Break doesn't quite hold up on second viewing. Even a Prison Break repeat is preferable to some of the night's first-run options, though. 

Into the West. CBC, 8 p.m.

This lumbering, Old West-themed, filmed-in-Alberta miniseries, which re-imagines Wagon Train through the prism of Dances with Wolves, reaches the end of the trail in tonight's two-hour conclusion. The finale culminates in the massacre of Plains Indians at Wounded Knee on New Year's Day, 1891, and the carnage is not easy to watch. The saga ends with the prophet Loved by the Buffalo (Joseph M. Marshall III) returning to the Wheeler homestead, his prophetic vision now complete, where he links arms with Margaret Light Shines (Irene Bedard) and their adoptive family, before riding off into the proverbial sunset. I found Into the West to be obvious and leaden-handed, but there are those who disagree: The average customer review on Amazon.com's DVD site is four of a five possible stars, and the postings feature such positive remarks as, "finally, history as it really happened!" and, "moved me to tears." Myself, I'm more with the reviewer who wrote, "an OK epic," but that's just me. Whether you decide to watch is entirely up to you. 

Las Vegas. CH and NBC, 9 p.m. 

Watching Las Vegas isn't a gamble, really. Unlike the real thing, what you see is what you get. The Pussycat Dolls and professional poker player Annie Duke appear as themselves in tonight's episode, as regulars Danny (Josh Duhamel) and Penny (Rachel Leigh Cook) heat up their romance. Jillian (Cheryl Ladd) sprains her ankle and talks Ed (James Caan) into walking the family dog at a local dog show. Meanwhile, back at the casino, Monica (Lara Flynn Boyle) is trapped in the shower and calls on Mike (James Lesure) to rescue her. No, it's not a comedy. You may laugh, though. Go ahead -- feel free. It's Las Vegas. It's not meant to be taken seriously.

Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie Start Up Simple Life

Photo: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.

Former best friends Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie begin filming the fourth season of The Simple Life on Tuesday. They don't have a network for their show and they're not speaking to each other, but that's not stopping Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie from filming another season of The Simple Life. The win-win part for the former best friends: Even if no network picks up their show (which is being produced by 20th Century Fox Television), Paris and Nicole are guaranteed money because their options were renewed earlier this year. The hotel heiress is optimistic that viewers will get to see the fourth season: "All of them are fighting over it," she says of the networks "vying" for their show.

“What A Wonderful Place” to be Opening Night film at The 21^st Annual Israel Film Festival

DAVID LINDE, JAMES SCHAMUS OF FOCUS FEATURES; AMOS GITAI ADDED AS HONOREES ON OPENING NIGHT DECEMBER 1, 2005

Photo: James Schamus.

California- Focus Features Co-Presidents David Linde and James Schamus and Israeli Filmmaker Amos Gitai will be honored at the Opening Night Gala of the 21st Annual Israel Film Festival, it was announced today by Festival Chairman Meyer Gottlieb, COO of Samuel Goldwyn Films.  The festival’s opening night film is “What A Wonderful Place,” written and directed by Eyal Chalfon.  The movie is Israel’s foreign language film entry for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Oscars. Manager/Producer/Best-Selling Author Bernie Brillstein will also be honored that evening, with Jerry Weintraub introducing Mr. Brillstein. The festival, the largest showcase of Israeli films in the U.S. and one of the oldest film festivals in California, will run from December 1-15, 2005 with the Opening Night Gala to be held at Grauman's Chinese Theater.  The Opening Night film, “What a Wonderful Place,” directed by Eyal Halfon, centers on an ex-cop and family man whose career was ruined by compulsive gambling.  He is forced to work off his gambling debt providing muscle, aiding illegal immigrants forced into prostitution and collecting money for a heartless, cruel racketeer.  His conscience is reawakened by a desperate Russian woman he befriends.  The film evokes sympathy for foreign workers assimilating into Israeli society.All other films in the Festival will screen at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 (corber of Sunset and Crescent Heights), Laemmle’s Town Center 5 (17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino) and Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in West Hills.  Opening night tickets are $100.  To purchase tickets and for further information on all screenings and events, cal 1-877-966-5566 or go to www.israelfilmfestival.com. A complete list of the over 40 titles to be screened at  including features, documentaries, television dramas and selected student films, will be announced shortly.

Amos Gitai is known worldwide as Israel's most acclaimed director. Four of his films have been nominated for major prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, with Kippur winning an honor at the 2000 Festival. He has been nominated six times for awards at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Cinema for Peace Award in 2004 for Promised Land and the UNESCO Award in 2002 for September 11. His latest film, Free Zone, earned the Best Actress Prize for Hana Laszlo at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, as well as a nomination for the Golden Palm. Free Zone, which also stars Natalie Portman, will be released in the United States on December 16, 2005.  "David and James have helped bring to the screen some of the most innovative, powerful and provocative films of the past decade, while Amos is widely hailed as Israel's premier filmmaker. All three men have helped shape the face of modern cinema, and we are proud that they will be part of a festival that helps bring the voice of Israeli film to American audiences" said Gottlieb. Over the past 21 years, the Israel Film Festival has welcomed to the United States hundreds of premieres and helped to bring Israel's finest film talents to American audiences. Prior honorees of the festival include Arnon Milchen, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Adam Greenberg, Sidney Lumet, Milos Forman, Larry King, Laura Ziskin, Elie Wiesel, Michael Fuchs, Tom Rothman, Mike Medavoy, Norman Jewison, Gale Anne Hurd and Penny Marshall. Under the skillful supervision of Founder/Director Meir Fenigstein, the Israel Film Festival and its parent company, The IsraFest Foundation, Inc., a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, has showcased more than 550 of the best of Israel's growing film and television industry for the past 21 years. Introducing Israeli life and culture to American audiences through the powerful medium of film and providing a comprehensive intercultural exchange. Through the years, more than 700,000 filmgoers in Los Angeles, New York and Miami have experienced the best of Israeli cinema. All films in the Festival other than the opening night gala film will screen at Laemmle's Sunset 5 and Laemmle's Town Center in Encino. For sponsorship and for further information on all screenings and events, call 1-877-966-5566 or visit www.israelfilmfestival.com <http://www.israelfilmfestival.com/>  Following the Los Angeles festival, the 21st Israel Film Festival continues in New York from February 23-March 9 and in Miami from March 26-29, 2006. 

Isabelle Huppert takes New York by storm