April 11, 2000

'Charlie's Angels' movie: Dispiriting news for old-time fans

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

Rumors that Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith - are going to make cameo appearances in the big new theatrical-movie version of the TV chestnut, starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, are simply not true. Sorry.

MUCH BETTER NEWS: You remember this thing where Nicolas Cage got married to Patricia Arquette and they proceeded to be seen arm in arm at all the big entertainment functions for a year or two, then it turned out they had actually gotten separated about 20 minutes after telling the justice of the peace thank you very much? Now they're back together, according to what one gossip scribe says in the New York Daily News. On the other hand, Nic's "rep" - who sounds like a truly surly individual -declines to make any comment on the matter.

BACK TO THE BAD NEWS: The latest celebrity medical reports have it that Mariah Carey recently was hospitalized for tummy trouble after eating some marginal clams.

THE NEWS IMPROVES AGAIN, IF ONLY A BIT: Yet according to USA Today, chances were thought to be at least fair that Mariah would be well enough to tape a scheduled VH1 tribute to Diana Ross.

"They (the medicos) have assured us," says Cindi Berger, who makes such statements to the press on Mariah's behalf, "that she will be out of the hospital in time to perform," which is quite a relief.

OOPS, MORE BAD NEWS: Does a report that Billy Bob Thornton and Laura Dern - whose "reps" denied for ages on end that there was anything romantic going on between them in the first place - have "ended their relationship" counterbalance the good news from the Cage-Arquette household?

CASTING NOTES FROM ALL OVER: Linda Florentino is appearing in a new movie with Paul Newman called "Where the Money Is." Also, she recently inked a pact to portray Georgia O'Keeffe in an upcoming pic. Georgia O'Keeffe was

1. The woman who played opposite Walter Brennan in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People."
2. The woman who played Trixie on "The Honeymooners" before Joyce Randolph came in as her replacement.
3. A very famous artist based in New Mexico.

GOOD NEWS THAT TURNS BAD ALL OF A SUDDEN: One is tantalized by a report that Leonardo DiCaprio was mulling a part in the next "Star Wars" installment, but one's enthusiasm is almost instantly dashed by this statement from Leo spokesman Ken Sunshine:

"He met with George Lucas," the Sunshine man allows, "but he is definitely unavailable." So the meeting was basically what you might call a farce, it sounds like. (By the way, the answer to the O'Keeffe question is 3.)

THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS NEED NOT APPLY: And here's a longish tidbit concerning this big deal of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's where they want to offer fledgling writers a leg up via the Internet.

"We're putting up a Web site where anybody who has a screenplay can submit it," Matt explains to a reporter. The only rule is that you have to read two other screenplays and rate them. Once we get down to a certain number of finalists, we're going to read them and pick five. They'll shoot five minutes of their movie on digital cameras. The one we choose will get a $1 million budget from Miramax to make their movie." Sounds like a lot of trouble to go through for a measly one mil.

PUTTING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE: Some people (we don't happen to be among them) are intrigued by rumors that Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey have mended their romantic fences, assuming that they once were a romantic item to begin with, a fact that is not perfectly clear. Regardless, Matthew uses the gossip as an opportunity to expound on certain matters.

"Look, I want to find the love of my life and have a family," he says, "but right now I'm single. I don't understand the whole time-clock thing. Maybe for women, but not for men. And the one thing I've learned about myself is that if there's expectations about when I need to do something, that's the one sure way of getting me not to do it."

Matthew, remember - don't go down to the post office today and send us a check for several thousand dollars in care of this newspaper.

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

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