POP CULTURE

Hilton Settles Lawsuit with Sex Tape Co-Star

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton and ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon have allegedly ended their legal battle over their infamous sex tapes. The Simple Life reality TV star has accepted the humiliation caused by Salomon - who videotaped and marketed their saucy romp - in return for a cut of the profits, reports American website New York Daily News. A close source claims Salomon and film company Red Light District Video have agreed to pay the blonde beauty more than $400,000 and a percentage of the sales of their release One Night In Paris - Salomon has consequently dropped a lawsuit which accused Hilton and her representatives of defaming him. Salomon's lawyer, Marty Singer, confirmed the settlement but wouldn't discuss "the terms of the arrangement." Hilton's friend argues, "Paris is certainly not capitalizing on the tape. She has insisted that an ample portion of the proceeds are donated to charity."

En vrai star hollywoodienne, Cameron Diaz n'a pas fait dans le porno amateur, comme sa jeune collègue ultrablonde, mais c'est assez kinky comme ça... A qui le tour la prochaine fois ? Britney et sa nuit à Las vegas ? Mariah Carey et son test screen pour Russ Meyer?
Sur imdb.com
Diaz Chases Website Over S&M Footage

Hollywood star Cameron Diaz is trying to block a Russian internet site from offering video footage of a saucy movie she made before she was famous. The Charlie's Angels star, 31, has spent the last year battling to stop the release of footage of her topless and wearing fishnet stockings in the 1992 'S&M' film. But website Scandal-inc.Com is now offering pay-per-view customers the chance to watch the semi-nude star performing role play with a brunette and man in shackles and using a can of compressed air "for a purpose probably not recommended by the manufacturer" in the film they are calling She's No Angel: Cameron Diaz. A press release for Scandal-Inc.com claims they obtained rights to the film from a distributor who bought them from photographer John Rutter - who made the film. But Rutter's lawyer tells the New York Daily News, he "has nothing to do with this web site. This video has been in existence for 12 years. Someone must have gotten a copy." According to Diaz's representatives, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has issued an injunction banning anyone from distributing photos and video from the film. A cease and desist letter has been sent to the website's owners.

Bowie Recovering from Heart Surgery

Veteran rocker David Bowie underwent heart surgery last month after axing the remainder of his European tour with severe shoulder pain. The star was rushed to hospital in Germany, days after collapsing on stage in the Czech Republic on June 23, with what was reported to have been a pinched nerve. However, his spokesman has now revealed the singer underwent an angioplasty procedure to treat "an acutely blocked artery". But the representative has assured fans that Bowie - who had a mesh-like metal device inserted into his artery during the complicated procedure - is making a good recovery. He says, "He is at home in New York convalescing with his wife and daughter." Surgeons operated on Bowie after he struggled thorough his performance at the Hurricane Festival in Schessel on June 25. The singer was released from St Georg Hospital in Hamburg earlier this week.

Je me dis de plus en plus qu’on aurait tort de prendre Michael Moore pour un gugusse facile à écarter de nos bras de critiques « avisés », en attaquant ses films seulement pour des raisons ayant trait à une « morale du regard », celle du « vrai cinéma ». Ce sont des arguments valables bien sûr. Exemple : il suffit, pour comprendre comment Moore filme mal son « ennemi » dans « Bowling for Columbine », de comparer la scène finale, avec Charlton Heston, au travail de Claude Lanzmann dans « Un vivant qui passe ». Mais cela ne suffit pas.

Big Fat Michael est autre chose qu’un documentariste agité ou un journaliste égaré. Qu’on le veuille ou non, il est au centre du flux des images. Son travail doit être pris comme un syndrome ultra-contemporain, une forme hybride qui emprunte autant au cinéma militant qu’à la télévision. En quoi « Farenheit 9/11 » est un sale film, mais un film de 2004, contemporain de « Ten » d’Abbas Kiarostami, de certaines vidéos de Sophie Calle, des Colocataires, etc… Voilà ce que j’aimerais lire dans le déluge d’articles qui sortent ces jours-ci… et que je n’ai pour l’instant trouvé que dans… Métro, le gratuit, sous la plume d’un certain Jérôme Vermelin qui écrit :

« A une époque où les genres cinématographiques et télévisuels se multiplient et se confondent, on se demande par instants si Farenheit 9/11 est, au choix : a) un remake de La guerre des mondes ; b) une version géopolitique de la télé réalité ; c) l’épisode III de Star Wars avec un an d’avance et sans les soucoupes volantes. Un peu des trois ? Ou bien pire… »

C’est un début…

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No one will be admitted if they are directly or associated with the entertainment industry, marketing, advertising, journalism, or any media related business including the internet. No one will be admitted to this recruited audience test preview who appears dirty or unkempt, intoxicated, under the influence of drugs, or who may interfere in any way with the enjoyment of the movie. Since this is a privately recruited audience, if you or your guest do not meet this criteria or any other criteria we feel will not fit the demographics and conditions of the screening, you and your guest will not be admitted or given a ticket. We reserve the right to cancel the screening at anytime. We reserve the right to expel or turn away any person from a screening. We reserve the right to refuse an invitation to any person during a recruit. No backpacks, large bags, video recording equipment, cameras or cell phones that have cameras will be allowed in the screening. We are not responsible for any personal items that are lost or left.

Les vingt dernières minutes de la finale dames de Wimbledon 2004 (cet après-midi) ont déjà marqué l'histoire. On y a vu en direct l'invention d'un corps. Maria Sharapova, jeune sibérienne de 17 ans, a battu Serena Williams en deux sets.

Mais là n'est pas la question. La question, c'est elle : svelte et puissante, gracile et violente, elle a déjà complètement changé le standard du tennis féminin, dominé jusque là par les forces de la nature (Mauresmo) ou les petites énervées (Justine H.).

Le tennis ne m'intéresse plus depuis longtemps, alors pourquoi ce retour d'affection maintenant ? Réponse : toujours la force de l'apparition, cette émotion de voir un corps abolir la distance entre ce qu'il pense pouvoir et ce qu'il peut vraiment. L'essence du sport et du spectacle évidemment. La conjonction était évidente chez Sharapova. Je l'aime pour ça.