Drew Barrymore News Blog

A goldmine the color of turquoise

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:08:09 +0000

PHOTO GALLERY A day in paradise IF YOU GO

From Los Angeles, connecting service (change of plane) to Bora Bora is available on Air France or Air Tahiti Nui. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $1,466.

Tahiti Tourism, (800) 365-4949, www.tahiti-tourisme.com. Check the Web site for low-cost packages to French Polynesia and Bora-Bora.

Fountains of Wayne

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:08:09 +0000

The other day, Craven was flying up Highway 6 and 50 toward the mall.

OK, make that attempting to fly up Highway 6 and 50 toward the mall. Actually, Craven was inching, plodding, crawling in the herky-jerk, stop-and-go gridlock that passes for midday traffic on that choked stretch of road these days. And the only thing flying was the invective he hurled ineffectually at the ditz too busy texting her psychic to signal her intention to merge four inches ahead of Cravens front bumper.

No one can deny that the Grand Valleys burgeoning population has brought with it some of the problems we might have previously deemed urban. You no longer have to live in New York or Los Angeles to worry about traffic, pollution, crime and a gathering pother of street-level crabbiness. And while life in Grand Junction might have once meant close ties to family and neighbors, today youre as likely to feel the crushing loneliness of modern existence in Orchard Mesa or the Redlands as on the lower east side of Manhattan.

Latin King of Comedy Paul Rodriguez to test funny bones Tuesday

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:08:09 +0000

Who is Paul Rodriguez and why is he so dang funny?

"Sometimes I wonder that myself," Rodriguez said playfully during a recent telephone interview.

"In truth, I'm just a guy who likes being a comedian. It's fun to be silly and make people laugh, especially when you get paid for it."

Bruce Willis Under Fire for not Being a Liberal Guy

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:43:33 +0000

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: "Personal story" segment tonight. As you know, most celebrities in Hollywood are liberal. The culture out there almost demands a political correctness exemplified by people like George Clooney and Susan Sarandon.

Some actors have even told me they can lose jobs if they espouse conservative beliefs. Actor Bruce Willis, however, openly admits he voted for President Bush. And that has been a topic of conversation in his promotion of his film "Die Hard." I talked with him yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Movie Listings

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:43:33 +0000

1408 (PG-13) John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson star in this onscreen version of the short story by Stephen King where a man known for debunking paranormal phenomena meets his supernatural match in an eerie hotel room.

Blades of Glory (PG-13) A loophole allows Will Ferrell and Jon Heder to compete as the ugliest, hairiest figure-skating duo ever.

Evan Almighty (PG) Remember “Bruce Almighty?” Well, Morgan Freeman plays God again, but instead of Jim Carrey, this time he’s hounding Steve Carell to do his job for him. Carell’s character is a stuffy congressman who ends up growing a long beard and building an ark, all against his will.

Tastings bigger in Reno, but our D'Vine has people

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:43:33 +0000

t seems like Carson's D'Vine is on the same tasting track as some of the big boys in Reno, like Reno's Grand Sierra Resort, formerly the Hilton. Friday night the resort invited some of the media to sample their new room, The Reserve (and Wine belongs in the title somehow, but no one was quite sure).

The Reserve is a large open area just off the casino play area. It's all neat tables with a center desk, where guests go to purchase a plastic ticket for whatever amount they wish to spend tasting wines.

And what they can buy are wine tastings from 80 electronically operated founts, each displaying the bottle it serves and the prices. Insert your card and select a wine, push one of the three buttons and out comes the wine. The price is listed above the buttons, and the buttons control size of the testing: One ounce, three ounces or five. The cost is deducted from the purchased card. Drink until you've drunk up your card. But use caution. Tastings cost from 50 cents to $15 per ounce.

We're all blue

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:43:33 +0000

BLUES LEGEND BOBBY "BLUE" BLAND was to perform on Friday at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in conjunction with celebration of Black Music Month, but had to be hospitalized in Memphis, Tenn., and is undergoing a series of tests.

"He was expected in town on Wednesday to relax before the show," the Honorable Dorothy Tillman told me. "Bobby is a dear friend of mine and I call him the Master of the Blues. I am asking fans in Chicago to pray for his speedy recovery, and from 2 to 6 p.m on Friday, we are asking people to come by to sign a get-well card. There will still be a concert, but with special guest artists paying tribute to Bobby," said Tillman.

Refunds will be made at the point of purchase. Bland performed at the grand opening of the Cultural Center in 2004.

I STILL AM THE REAL LEROY: LAURA

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:42:45 +0000

June 26, 2007 -- LAURA ALBERT is not a teenager or a prostitute, and, at 41, probably not a teenage boy.

But she sailed into the newsroom yesterday - a bone from a raccoon's penis hanging jauntily from her neck - dropping A-list names like Bono, Madonna and even Paris Hilton. And the middle-aged mom originally from Brooklyn Heights insisted she was, deep down, that teenage, transgendered hooker.

At least, in her extremely colorful head.

Bora Bora makes a splash

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:42:28 +0000

dream landscape emerged as our dinghy sped through turquoise waters toward the uninhabited South Seas islet of Tapu. Here, on a triangular speck of sand and coconut palms at the bottom of the world, red hibiscus, white gardenia and yellow plumeria blossoms were strewn on the water at land's edge. As we stepped from the boat, a sommelier offered flutes bubbling with Dom Perignon. Behind him, china and crystal sparkled on a dining table positioned in shallow water at the edge of the lagoon. A Fren...

It was just another day in paradise for the staff of the St. Regis Resort, Bora Bora, where producing dream scenarios is part of the job. On this April afternoon, staffers were helping a couple celebrate an anniversary, and I had tagged along.

This was my second trip to Bora Bora, a stunning slice of French Polynesia once treasured nearly as much for its slow pace as for its scenery. But life here has begun to speed up. In the past year, two ultra-luxurious hotels have sprouted, with another on the way, all designed to lure the world's most affluent travelers to this fabled South Pacific island.

Summer Movie List

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:23:06 +0000

George Lopez in El PasoBy Victor R. Martinez / El Paso TimesArticle Launched: 06/22/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT var requestedWidth = 0;

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:54:31 +0000

(Times file photo)Nobody should feel sorry about George Lopez losing his self-titled ABC sitcom.

"A show like that had not been seen in the history of TV," Lopez said in a telephone interview before a sold-out performance from New York's Radio City Music Hall. "Desi Arnaz was Cuban, and Freddie Prinze was Puerto Rican -- and as a Mexican-American, as a Chicano, to do a show that was about the things that I actually wanted it to be about was great."

Lopez said he was able to have control over the show, which was loosely based on his life.

'Criminal Minds' actress dates back to 'Charlie's Angels'

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:35:14 +0000

Q: I was watching "Criminal Minds" on CBS and the lady on the team named Emily had a woman portraying her mother, an ambassador to Russia. I kept noticing different things about the mother and was wondering if she could have been one of the persons who played in the old "Marcus Welby, M.D." series? It might be something else that played about that time, but she sure did look familiar.

A: She was indeed familiar. That was Kate Jackson, best known as Sabrina Duncan on "Charlie's Angels" and as Amanda King on "Scarecrow and Mrs. King."

Q: What is the name of the castle, and where is its location, in Drew Barrymore's movie "Ever After"?

It's no mystery

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:52:12 +0000

Sometimes it takes a mom to put things into perspective.

Emma Roberts, the young star of the new Nancy Drew film, is apparently so likable, so professional, so wholesome that even a makeup artist she works with throughout an entire day can't help raving about her. Her directors use terms like "one of a kind" and talk about how she knows the names of all the crew members — and their kids.

By the time the creator of the Nickelodeon tween series Unfabulous — Emma's breakout vehicle — mentions that Roberts sang the goody-good Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease at her audition, a reporter's sweet-o-meter is headed off the charts.

Luke Wilson still searching for love

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:03:12 +0000

A Family Guide to Films

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:50:27 +0000

The Family Movie Guide should be used along with the Motion Picture Association

of America rating system for selecting movies suitable for children. Only films

rated G, PG or PG-13 are included in this weekly listing, along with occasional

Summer reading: Trashy, yet compelling

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:50:27 +0000

When only a tiny percentage of Americans pick up a book on a regular basis anymore, can anything between two covers be called a guilty pleasure, a trashy read? If you say no, you havent wandered the hinterlands of a bookstore you havent perused the remainders, marked down and placed in a bin on the curb, outside the reach of security, like a box of unwanted cats.

What we have here are four new quintessential trash reads, beach books, light, and in most cases, sort of hard to put down. Gently place each within the fold of a bigger book of more respectability, obscure the cover, enjoy.

Rickles Book: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster, 256 pages, $24)

Anna Lee?s Biography... ET Turns 25 and the Thompson Factor

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:54:40 +0000

I just put down one of the most wonderful biographies I have read in ages. 'Anna Lee' by famed author Barbara Cooper and published by McFarland Publishing. Anna Lee is most widely known as Lila Quartermaine on ABC soap opera,"General Hospital." Lee grew up in affluent Great Britain and early on decided she wanted to become an actress. Like everything this dame set out to do, she achieved it with great success. One of Anna's loveliest parts was as Sister...

This book is well written and researched. It reads like a novel; fluent and interesting. Cooper's style is polished and refreshing. She knew her subject personally and you feel her admiration for the star. Cooper weaves a rich story and delves into the actress's heartbreaks, joys and even shock when she was released from her contract by ABC. Through out the book, Cooper never loses the focus of her story.

I fell in love with Anna on the screen in her 1937 movie "King Solomon's Mines." She played Kathy O'Brien. She also starred in Ford's "How Green Was My Valley." This was the film that made her lifelong friends with Roddy McDowall and the beautiful Maureen O'Hara. O'Hara wrote the Foreword for this book.

Celebs take on social causes

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:54:40 +0000

WASHINGTON – Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore traipsed purposefully up the Capitol steps last month in a simple black dress, red-soled black pumps and russet mane, not for a film shoot but to lobby for child-feeding programs in Africa as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. World Food Program.

Barrymore, 32, then took her extracurricular celebrity campaign to the airwaves at CNN with anchor Wolf Blitzer. She described children in Kenya telling her all they needed was one meal a day, pencils and paper. “It is life-altering, and it has humbled me to the core,” she confided in a slow undertone.

“It struck a chord with me,” said Michael Adams, 57, a guidance counselor at J. Albert Adams Academy, a middle school in Annapolis, Md. He went online to research the World Food Program and called its Washington office to pledge $100.

Fashion, Sex and Violence meet in Beverly Hills

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:54:40 +0000

BEVERLY HILLS ? A bizarre triangle connected three Russian ?migr?s involved in the ?attempted murder? on South Camden, in which a man violently attacked a pregnant woman.

Recent interviews with the victim and the attorneys for the defendant and his ex-wife reveal a torrid triangle of multiple twists: high-end fashion industry, con-artists, affairs, domestic violence, jealousy, extortion, and death threats.

?Sounds like a movie script,? said one Beverly Hills attorney. On May 26, police arrested Albert Kalenik, 46, for attacking the Elena Nazaroff, 37, a well-known international Russian fashion designer.

In honor of Father's Day, this week's answers to all of the pop quiz questions will be famous dads. Take the quiz below to find out which celeb papas made news last week.

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:54:40 +0000

1. OK, while he won't be a dad for a couple of months, this athlete earned the highest male entry - he came in No. 2 - on Forbes magazine's recent ranking of the top 100 celebrities.

2. This influential and world famous movie director announced last week that he's supporting Hillary Clinton in her bid for president.

3. This action film star has denied recent rumors that he's dating actress Drew Barrymore.

Drew Barrymore yaps for Disney animal comedy - washingtonpost.com

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:27:22 +0000

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Drew Barrymore will voice a pampered Chihuahua in "South of the Border," a talking-animal Disney comedy whose lineup includes a who's who of Latino actors.

Among them are Andy Garcia, Salma Hayek, George Lopez, Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez, Placido Domingo, Edward James Olmos and Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo. The live-action film will be directed by Raja Gosnell, who previously worked with Barrymore in the 1999 comedy "Never Been Kissed."

"South" chronicles the adventures of a Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe (Barrymore) accustomed to riding in a purse. While on vacation in Mexico, she gets lost and must rely on her friends to help her get back home.

Rebuilding Paris

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:27:22 +0000

The question for Paris Hilton now is: Can this career be saved? (All right, the first question is: Can this "career" be called a career?)

Here's a word even the dumbest blond knows: makeover. We asked the experts how Hilton can rehabilitate her public image.

» Click to enlarge image

The "real" Nancy Drew sassy, but good as gold

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:39:52 +0000

Sometimes it takes a mom to put things into perspective.

Emma Roberts, the young star of the Nancy Drew film that opens Friday, is apparently so likable, so professional, so wholesome that even a makeup artist she works with throughout an entire day can't help raving about her. Her directors use terms like "one of a kind" and talk about how she knows the names of all the crew members - and their kids.

By the time the creator of the Nickelodeon tween series "Unfabulous" - Emma's breakout vehicle - mentions that Roberts sang the goody-good "Hopelessly Devoted to You" from "Grease" at her audition, a reporter's sweet-o-meter is headed off the charts.

Versatile Fountains frontman uses his 'bunch of projects' to keep skills sharp

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:38:16 +0000

When not playing bass for Fountains of Wayne, Adam Schlesinger can be found writing music for films, television shows, commercial jingles, Broadway plays or Ivy, the other power pop band he started in the mid-1990s.

Despite his multiple musical and family commitments (his wife recently gave birth to their second child), the 39-year-old Schlesinger found time for a telephone interview last week as Fountains of Wayne prepared to kick off the latest leg of the tour in support of their fourth studio album, "Traffic and Weather."

Hit comedy, horror thriller arrive at DVD outlets

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 05:54:15 +0000

A hit comedy ("Norbit") and a horror thriller ("The Messengers") are the top titles arriving at DVD outlets on this second weekend of June.

The top DVD rental and sales titles are:

Best Renters