June 15, 1999

AN EXPERT'S VERDICT: 'AUSTIN POWERS' IS PRETTY NEAT

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

BOX-OFFICE BONANZA: Everyone knows that "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" has turned into one of the year's biggest movie success stories, even acing "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" off the top of the charts.

Lest any presumptuous laypersons feel themselves tempted to wax analytical about it, though, USA Today is sagacious enough to go out and find a certified expert to say something.

"Austin Powers” is going to hold really well because this is a word-of-mouth picture," says Paul Dergarabedian, who works for a box-office tracking firm called Exhibitor Relations. "The movie is outrageous, so you want to see it again and drag other people to see it."

"People go to movies to escape," Paul goes on owlishly, "and 'Austin Powers' is providing the perfect escape. It's a character that has become an icon and has really captured people's imagination, old and young."

Thanks for your insight, Paul. One question: How do you spell "Dergarabedian"?

FASHION NOTES FROM ALL OVER: Gemutlichkeit czarina Martha Stewart raised some well-plucked eyebrows not long ago by showing up at a White House state dinner dressed in a rose-pink pantsuit.

"Martha felt it was appropriate," Susan Magrino, who is employed by Martha as a spokeslady, explains to a reporter, "and she said a number of people complimented her on it.”

Nor is this all.

"She's not running for office," observes W magazine editor Merle Ginsberg. "She's not Hillary Clinton; she doesn't have to play by the rules. How cool is it for someone of her stature, who lives in a relatively conservative universe in terms of her image, to have fun!" So, really, it's the feel-good story of the year.

CELEBRITY CLOSURE: Ordinary people like the ones who read this column may imagine that it's no one's business what Brooke Shields thoughts are concerning her separation from Andre Agassi, but gossip dowager Liz Smith and Brooke herself are wise enough to know that the public has a right to be made privy to such things.

"Andre and I really do love each other," Brooke tells Liz for the record, "and are so very close. We speak each day and are entirely supportive of one another. Our decision to end our marriage was mutual, and although it seems sad for now, it is for the best."

Thanks, Brooke, we feel much better.

"We have grown up together."

Brooke, stop, you're making us cry.

NEWS THAT MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER: Now that Heather Locklear's old show, “Melrose Place," has gone the way of the stegosaur, word is that she's on the verge of inking a pact to appear as a regular in “Spin City.”

MORE NEWS THAT MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER: According to one of his spokeswomen, Cristyne Lategano by name, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is trying to get publishers interested in paying him to write a diet book. "He's taken weight off and kept it off," explains Cristyne.

NEWS REPORTING PAR EXCELLENCE: A "well-placed source" assures the New York Daily News that Michael Douglas' current romantic obsession is with Catherine Zeta-Jones, the comely thespian now appearing in theaters opposite Sean Connery in "Entrapment." Not only that, but the same source says Michael is getting his old pal Danny DeVito to tell Catherine what a great guy he is.

Accordingly, the News gets Danny's flack, Stan Rosenfield, on the blower for a comment.

“I can't believe Michael Douglas would have any trouble expressing himself to her," Stan says.

On the other hand, Stan does allow that "Danny is one of Michael's best friends, so I don't imagine he'd mind saying something nice about him."

THE LITERARY LIFE: Now that her 22nd book, "Dangerous Kiss," is safely ensconced on bookstore shelves, what is Jackie Collins doing for relaxation and to recharge her batteries preparatory to writing No. 23?

"I just watched six years of 'Party of Five' episodes over the past month," she tells People mag. "I taped them all from 1994, but never had the time to watch because I was busy watching 'Beverly Hills 90210,' 'Melrose Place,' 'Friends,' 'Seinfeld' and 'NYPD Blue,' but now I'm up to date. I watched three a day, when I was having a bath or whatever. I became totally hooked." Which is exactly how William Faulkner took a breather when he was getting ready to write "Absolom, Absolom!

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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