Leo Eyes KITE

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Pictures has pre-emptively picked up Kite, a prison drama from writers Michael Lander and Ryan Roy, for Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Simpson to produce via their Appian Way shingle. Kite also would serve as a potential acting vehicle for DiCaprio.The story is described as an intense fictional drama that examines corruption in the California prison system. Echoing real-life events, Kite focuses on gang culture and guard corruption in a modern California maximum-security prison.

Spider-Man 3

Columbia Pictures have provided The Hollywood Bureau with your first look at Spider-man in the upcoming sequel, Spider-man 3. You may think you're looking at a black and white photo. Look closely, Spider-Man wears a black suit in Spider-man 3. Tobey Maguire returns in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3 coming May 2007.

Directed by Sam Raimi, the film will have an all-star line-up for the cast with Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Daniel Gillies, Ted Raimi, Adrian Lester, Theresa Russell and James Cromwell.

Donald Trump vs Martha Stewart

If you read our report on Donald and Martha several months ago, you would have realized that this feud was bound to develop. The Martha-Donald feud escalated Tuesday as Donald Trump fired off a blistering letter, accusing Martha Stewart of lying in her interview with Newsweek in which she claimed that NBC's original plan was to put Trump's version of The Apprentice on hiatus and replace it with hers. Stewart had told the magazine that the plan was for her to "fire" Trump in the first episode and take over as the sole host. "Essentially, you made this firing up just as you made up your sell order of ImClone," Trump wrote, referring to the case that sent Stewart to prison for lying to federal investigators. (Newsweek reported that Apprentice producer Mark Burnett confirmed that the scenario described by Stewart was indeed discussed. "Thank God that didn't happen," he added.) Trump's letter also criticized Stewart's performance and said her show "lacked mood, temperament and just about everything a show needs for success. I knew it would fail as soon as I first saw it. ... Between your daughter, with her one-word statements, your letter writing and, most importantly, your totally unconvincing demeanor, it never had a chance -- much as your daytime show is not exactly setting records." Late Tuesday, Stewart responded: "The letter is so mean-spirited and reckless that I almost can't believe my longtime friend Donald Trump wrote it. I am very proud of the work we did." Appearing later on CBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Trump remarked, ""Of course the letter was mean spirited, but I think what she did was mean spirited."

Lenny Kravitz Gets ICED

Production Weekly has reported that Lenny Kravitz will make his feature film acting debut as a musician who falls into the abyss of crack addiction in ICED. Based on the debut novel by Ray Shell, the film will follow Kravitz’s character from a promising start in his 20’s to a descent into drugs in his 30’s. The film is now in pre-production.

The Painted Veil

Warner Independent Pictures has released 3 new production stills from their upcoming period film based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil, directed by John Curran. A love story set in the 1920s about a young English couple (a doctor and a society girl) who marry hastily, relocate to Hong Kong where they betray each other easily, and find an unexpected chance at redemption and happiness while on a deadly journey into the heart of ancient China.

Warner Bros. has provided the Hollywood Bureau a preview of production stills their upcoming action thriller, V for Vendetta, starring Natalie Portman, James Purefoy, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Tim Pigott-Smith and Sinead Cusack. In addition, head on over to the film's official website http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com to watch the 37 minute press conference, recently held in Berlin, with director James McTeigue, producer Joel Silver, and the actors Natalie Portman, Stephen Rea, Hugo Weaving and John Hurt. Photos and video are both available there.

Written by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, Alan Moore an directed by James McTeigue, the film is set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, and tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as “V.” Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself" and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Prada Marfa: POP Architectural Land Art Project

We are so impressed with the concept behind Prada Marfa. Sheer genius. Art at its most brilliant. Check out the website: http://www.pradamarfa.com

"We loved the idea of the piece being born on Oct. 1 and that it will never again be maintained. If someone spray paints graffiti or a cowboy decided to use it as target practice or maybe a mouse or muskrat makes a home in it, 50 years from now it will be a ruin that is a reflection of the time it was made."

Ms. Villareal, NY TIMES

Lisa Marie Presley Marries Her Musical Director

The King’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, has married guitarist and music producer Michael Lockwood in a ceremony in Kyoto, Japan, her publicist said Thursday. Presley, 38, and Lockwood exchanged vows in a traditional Japanese ceremony, spokesman Paul Bloch said.
It was Presley's fourth marriage. She was previously married to Nicolas Cage, Michael Jackson and Danny Keough, who is the father of her two children. The bride's mother, actress Priscilla Presley, walked her daughter down the aisle and gave her away, Bloch said. Daughter Riley Keough was maid of honor and son Benjamin Keough was a groomsman. The best man was Presley's first husband Danny Keough. Lockwood was Presley's musical director and is listed as executive producer on her 2005 album “Now What.”

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

VANITY FAIR's HOLLYWOOD ISSUE

We can hardly contain ourselves with anticipation waiting for Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue which will be released tomorrow. Former GUCCI designer, Tom Ford served as artistic director of the magazine’s March issue. Photographer Annie Leibovitz shot the magazine’s controversial cover featuring Ford with a naked Scarlett Johansen and Keira Knightley. Knightley, 20, was photographed sitting sideways, with legs and arms carefully placed. The 21-year-old Johansson, draped over Ford's leg, is somewhat more exposed -- readers who open the fold-out cover will see her bare buttocks.

Ford, said he hadn't planned on becoming part of his own project, but he stepped in when "Wedding Crashers" star Rachel McAdams, 29, backed out because the nudity made her feel uncomfortable. "She did want to do it, and then when she was on the set I think she felt uncomfortable, and I didn't want to make anybody feel uncomfortable" Ford said Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Other Hollywood stars weren't difficult to persuade, Ford said.

"A lot of women actually, a couple of men, too, wanted to take their clothes off," he said. "These are such beautiful people, beautiful women, and who doesn't want to see a bit of them." Angelina Jolie also got naked for the Hollywood issue, posing in a bathtub. Another shot depicts a fully clothed George Clooney as a director filming a large cast of women wearing skin-tone underwear.

DID EISNER TRY TO SHOOT DOWN IGER'S PIXAR DEAL?

Michael Eisner lobbied members of the board of the Walt Disney Co. as part of an effort to scuttle CEO Robert Iger's $7.4-billion acquisition of Pixar Animation, the New York Post reported today , without citing sources. The newspaper's report did not indicate which board members had been contacted by Eisner, or even how many. It said that he attempted to make the case that the deal was too expensive. In reporting on Eisner's alleged activities, the Post commented that "his open lobbying against [the deal] so soon after passing the reins to Iger is a remarkable breach of corporate decorum and served to undermine his own handpicked successor." A spokesman for Eisner was quoted as saying, "Mr. Iger has Mr. Eisner's complete support in sustaining the growth of Disney."

FEUD ERUPTS IN REDSTONE FAMILY

The son of Viacom and CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone has filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve National Amusements, the family-owned company that holds 71 percent of the voting shares of both Viacom and CBS. In the lawsuit, filed last week but reported first in today's Los Angeles Times, Brent Redstone accuses his father and sister, Shari Redstone, of "misappropriating millions of dollars" from National Amusements and removing him from the board of Viacom in 2003 because he failed to act as a rubber stamp for his father. Previously, the lawsuit alleges, Sumner Redstone had promised that one day Brent and Shari would jointly run the company, but that he had been shunted aside for challenging his father on matters affecting the company while his sister was rewarded with ever loftier positions for supporting him. In a statement, National Amusements said, "It is unfortunate that Brent Redstone is abusing the court system in an attempt to extract a financial settlement in a family dispute."

Oscar Nominee Luncheon

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored this year’s Oscar contenders at its annual Nominees Luncheon today at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Seventeen of the 20 nominees in the acting categories were among the more than 100 nominees from 24 categories who gathered at noon for the traditional pre-Academy Awards fete. The Oscar Nominees Luncheon is one of the great traditional events in the lead-up to each year's Academy Awards. Held in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the luncheon is staged behind closed doors in a lavish ballroom away from the paparazzi and media, providing an intimate afternoon for the Oscar nominees.

It's a time for the likes of nominated Sydney make-up artist Nikki Gooley and Brisbane-born cinematographer Dion Beebe to rub shoulders with other nominees Charlize Theron, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Spielberg. The Academy mixes up its nominees, so a documentary nominee could be sitting next to Spielberg. Ledger could be seated next to a visual effects nominee. "I just saw George Clooney," a starstruck Keira Knightley, nominated for the best actress Oscar for Pride and Prejudice, told reporters on her way into the lunch. “That was quite cool."

The nominees have the option to talk to the press or not, with Clooney, Knightley, Felicity Huffman, Reese Witherspoon, Matt Dillon, William Hurt, Terrence Howard and Amy Adams opting to stop for a chat in a press conference room. Ledger and Williams, both nominated for Brokeback Mountain, opted not to talk, instead heading straight into the luncheon where the A-List guests snacked on Peking Duck in a Mandarin pancake, smoked salmon canapes with dill mousse and Chilean Seabass (otherwise known as Patagonian toothfish) with Papaya and Maui onion salsa.

Hollywood playboy and prankster Clooney, up for three Academy Awards, revealed his date for the Oscar ceremony. “I'm bringing [US Vice-President] Dick Cheney as my date," Clooney, a vocal opponent of the Bush Administration, said. “It's so nice. He called me up and invited me to go hunting.” I said 'Well, why don't you come as my date?" Clooney, nominated for directing and co-writing the screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck and for the best supporting actor for Syriana, made headlines around the world in recent days for saying he did not think he would win an Oscar. Clooney is just happy being invited to "the big dance" and is especially proud of Good Night, and Good Luck scoring six nominations. “I like the idea of showing up and I'm excited to be nominated," Clooney said.

Not all the Oscar nominees could make it.

Best supporting actor hopefuls Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) and Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee were stranded in the snowstorm that struck New York and paralysed airports.

The 78th Annual Academy Awards ceremony is set for March 5 in Hollywood.

Ridley Scott Project Sprouts Legs

Variety reports that Ridley Scott is in talks to direct Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in the Brian Grazer-produced drama that had its plug pulled in late 2004 by Universal. The hope is to shoot this summer. Universal will decide this week whether to finance or co-finance the revamped '70s crime drama, or possibly let it go. Two other studios are circling the project if Universal backs down. The drama has a checkered past. In late 2004, Antoine Fuqua was a month from starting production in Harlem with Washington and Benicio Del Toro when Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider canceled the film over fear the budget would cross $100 million. Pay-or-play deals with Washington and Del Toro got settled, and the studio wrote off more than $20 million.

Imagine's Grazer, who developed the drama from a New York magazine article by Mark Jacobson, kept trying. Hotel Rwanda writer-director Terry George was brought on to rework Steve Zaillian's script and rein in the budget. Scott is working with George's draft.The story revolves around a Harlem heroin kingpin who figured out a way to smuggle heroin in the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.Crowe, who would play a cop, appears to have the most challenging schedule. He's booked to star with Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's untitled period epic.

Crowe and Scott just completed "A Good Year" and previously made Gladiator together. Grazer made A Beautiful Mind and "Cinderella Story" with Crowe. Crowe and Washington previously played adversaries in "Virtuosity," before Crowe became a star in "L.A. Confidential."

2006 Grammy Awards

{Associated Press} The rock gods snatched Grammy history from the comeback queen Wednesday, as perennial favorites U2 took home five trophies while Mariah Carey had to settle for three.U2 won the 20th Grammy of its career, including album of the year for "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" - the same disc that earned them three awards last year.

Carey, one of the best-selling artists of all time, was nominated for a leading eight awards for The Emancipation of Mimi. She won three in the pre-telecast ceremony; no woman had ever won more than five in one night.But she was shut out through the televised portion. Besides losing album of the year to U2, she lost best female pop vocal performance to Kelly Clarkson's triumphant "Since U Been Gone," song of the year to U2 and record of the year to Green Day."If you think this is going to go to our head, it's too late," U2 front man Bono said after the group won song of the year for "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own." After winning the night's big award, album of the year, Bono told Carey, "You sing like an angel."John Legend won three awards: best new artist, best R&B album for his debut, "Get Lifted," and best male R&B vocal for the piano ballad "Ordinary People." His mentor, Kanye West, also won three.

Clarkson won two, including best pop album. "I'm sorry I'm crying again on national television," said the former "American Idol," tearful and shaking as she held her first Grammy. "Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me."Carey was the sentimental favorite, overcoming personal difficulties and a career slump to emerge with the top-selling album and the most popular song, "We Belong Together."But her comeback was upstaged in every way. Not only did she lose in most of the major categories, even her performance was an afterthought - along with everyone else's - after the appearance of Sly Stone, the mercurial, psychedelic pioneer who disappeared from the music scene decades ago and hadn't performed in public since 1993. Toward the end of a sizzling all-star tribute to Stone, the man himself emerged, sporting a pale Mohawk against his 61-year-old brown scalp, and made his way through "I Want To Take You Higher." Though the tribute was planned, many didn't expect Stone - who hasn't performed in public in years - to show up.

Keith Urban was answering questions backstage when Stone's performance began playing on a nearby monitor, and he had to stop talking."I think we just got upstaged," Urban said in amazement. "Everything pales in comparison."Former Beatle Paul McCartney was featured in the night's most intriguing match-up, walking onstage to sing "Yesterday" with rockers Linkin Park and rap mogul Jay-Z. Earlier, he played one of the Beatles' hardest rockers, "Helter Skelter," but went home without a Grammy.

Aside from winning the most awards, U2 provided one of the more rousing performances in the jam-packed show as they sung their hit Vertigo, then collaborated with R&B queen Mary J. Blige's gospel-inflected fervor for their classic "One."West's three Grammys matched his total for last year. The brash rapper/producer played up (or lived up to) his egotistical reputation as he won best rap album for Late Registration."I had no idea, I had no idea," West said in mock shock as he pulled a huge sheet of paper that read "Thank You List." Alison Krauss & Union Station also had three awards, including for best country album, while Stevie Wonder, who released his first album in ten years last year, had two.

The show started off on a two-dimensional note as the cartoon-fronted rock group Gorillaz performed their record of the year contender, "Feel Good Inc." with the help of animation, a blue screen and guest rappers De La Soul. The performance then segued into a Madonna moment, as the pop queen - who was not nominated for any awards - shimmied through the Gorillaz' virtual space and then returned to reality with her traditional crew of dancers while singing her latest hit, "Hung Up."A brief, impromptu performance by Keys and Wonder was the first to energize the crowd. Wonder pulled out his harmonica and the two soulfully sang his classic "Higher Ground" as a tribute to the late Coretta Scott King, who was buried Tuesday."Let's keep trying to reach that higher ground," Keys said. "I forever want to reach that higher ground."

the Bureau Takes on NYC's Fashion Week

NYC: John Bartlett - RUGGED LUXE

JOHN BARTLETT: Rugged Luxe


{New York City} By Clif Loftin, Bureau Chief

I first became aware of John Bartlett's genius when I was attending New York's Fall 1998 Fashion Week. John presented his collection at the New York State Armory. He began the show with the song "Knights in White Satin" as models clad in all white appeared and began to float down a long black and sparkling moon rock covered runway. The clean and crisp white suddenly turned into dark shades of purple -- then the collection churned out a military "look" ending with a model riding out on a saddled horse.

Bartlett's use of color and design is always artistically inspiring and his collections are always mesmerizing. Ever since that first show I have been extremely smitten -- and my love affair with John Bartlett and his clothes are still just as powerful today. So I was thrilled to witnessed John Bartlett's latest designs this morning at the tents in Bryant Park as John kicked off the Fall 2006 Menswear Collections.

This is an excerpt from the shows program: "This season, Bartlett found his inspiration in a suitably iconic setting -- and untamed stretch of coastline and wilderness that lies between Provincetown and Walden Pond, Massachusetts. In Bartlett's imagination this wild and wooly place is where sexy Ptown "Bears" ramble through pine forests, splash about naked in freshwater ponds and read Thoreau's "Walden Pond" (yes, Bears can read) before dozing off under the stars.

Rugged as this all sounds, Bartlett also knows that even the most butch of creatures love luxury. Which is why his "Man-Bears" eschew nakedness in favor of reinterpreted New England classics like a loden cashmere pea coat, a Prince of Wales Norfolk jacket, and a vintage plaid mackinaw, all worn with luxurious merino henleys and long johns.

Stylish and practical, these intrepid blokes favor a new Ghurka log carrier - all the better to transport their logs ( and the latest issue of men's Vogue) back to camp in. Fall 2006 is Bartlett's first season as Creative Director of Ghurka (another East Coast icon), and this new collection meshes beautifully with his "rugged luxe" clothing. A twill and leather sailor duffel, for instance, looks like it might have spent time sailing up the Cape Cod Coast. A nubuck backpack would look perfectly at hme at a bonfire in Truro. And a traditional overnighter, newly rendered in houndstooth and black leather, makes a wonderfully sumptuous pillow. Should a bear invite you to sleep over........"

AMY SACCO: The Queen of New York City

{New York City} PROFILE: Amy Sacco - The Queen of New York

If Manhattan were a country of its own, Amy Sacco, would surely be its reigning ruler. Sacco embodies everything that the city is known for, excitement, razzle-dazzle, high drama, chic-ness, and lets not forget EXCLUSIVITY.

We say this, and we have never even had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Sacco.

However, she is notorious, it seems that every where we go people are buzzing about the club owner turned restauranteur -- from the Prada store in the middle of nowhere in the West Texas desert town of Marfa to the green room at the Golden Globes; everyone is talking about the magic of Amy Sacco. We have heard so many amazing things about Ms. Sacco that she has become legendary to us -- a true enigma. And after some research hear is what we have learned.

Anybody who is anybody calls Amy a friend. And who would not want to make her acquaintance. Amy Sacco is the owner of famed New York City nightspots Lot 61, Bungalow 8, and the ultra-fabulous restaurant, Bette (named after Amy's own mother.) Over the last couple of years Amy has resurrected New York's nightlife. She has brought back the glamour of exclusivity -- the "thrill" of being a "chosen one." Not since the days of Steve Rubell and Studio 54, have the streets of Manhattan been a buzz about a single individual.

When Amy hosts an event she creates frenzy behind the velvet ropes. People are desperate to experience an evening in the midst of her created environments. She is so current and stays a step ahead of the pack. The Hilton Sisters, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Bill and Hillary Clinton, David Bowie and his supermodel wife Iman are all regulars at Sacco's establishments.

After working as a hostess at several restaurants and nightspots spread throughout Manhattan, Sacco opened her first club, Lot 61, in 1998. Bruce Willis, a friend, was the first celebrity to come to the club. Shortly after Willis began to frequent the nightclub other celebrities flocked to the hot spot. In its opening week, Lot 61 was named the Best Bar in New York by Time Out New York. In 2001, Sacco opened Bungalow 8, which immediately became impossible to get into. It's was so exclusive that even the girls of Sex and the City had trouble getting in. Can you imagine.......Sarah Jessica Parker standing in line trying to get in a Manhattan night club......???? Now, we wait..............and hope.........that one day we will get lucky enough to meet and make the acquaintance of Amy Sacco -- our official candidate for "Queen of the night..................Ms. Manhattan."