Some Holiday Spirit: Two Christmas Movies From Afar
For Christmas movies this holiday season we've got Four Christmases and Nothing Like the Holidays as new offerings here in the U.S. Elsewhere in the world there's Un conte de Noel and Navidad, S.A.
The French film Un conte de Noel (more commonly referred on 2008-12-01 04:50:33
'A Christmas Tale'
Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Amalric help director Arnaud Desplechin bring a family drama situation to astonishing life.
Nothing can sound more familiar, or more b on 2008-11-14 04:54:55
'A Christmas Tale'
Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Amalric help director Arnaud Desplechin bring a family drama situation to astonishing life.
Nothing can sound more familiar, or more b on 2008-11-14 04:46:52
'I Want to See' responds to attacks
Film News: Catherine Deneuve stars in Lebanese film -- How should filmmakers respond when their countries are being attacked? That was the dilemma facing Lebanese husband-and-wife filmmaking team Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas following the 2006 war on 2008-06-28 04:49:58
A LORENAISSANCE
EUROPEAN screen icons Sophia Loren and Catherine Deneuve would seem to have little in common with the "Hostel" torture porn flicks, let alone the "Rambo" series. But a pair of new DVD box sets showcasing vintage work by the stars is coming out... on 2008-06-10 04:48:38
Romania fest plays 'Funny Games'
Film Festivals: Michael Haneke's pic opens Transilvania -- Michael Haneke's U.S. remake of Austrian pic "Funny Games" opened Romania's 7th Transilvania fest on Friday, with Catherine Deneuve due to receive a lifetime achievement award on Sunday. on 2008-06-06 20:46:29
Fashion Stars Mourn Yves Saint Laurent
Claudia Schiffer and Catherine Deneuve joined stars from the celebrity and fashion world who gathered in France to attend the funeral of late style maestro Yves Saint Laurent. The legendary fashion designer died on Sunday (01Jun08) after battling a brain on 2008-06-06 04:46:38
Mourning Yves St. Laurent
Fashion's glitterati say goodbye to the designer.
Not since Bradford Meade's funeral have we seen such a fashionable group of mourners. Wearing dark oversized sunglasses, model CLAUDIA SCHIFFER bid farewell to fashion designer YVES ST. LAURENT in Paris to on 2008-06-06 00:47:37
Fashionistas Attend Yves Saint Laurent Funeral
Model-turned-first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and actress Catherine Deneuve were among mourners Thursday at the funeral of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent. on 2008-06-05 16:46:42
Fashion world bids farewell to Yves Saint Laurent
(AP)
AP - Model-turned-first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, actress Catherine Deneuve and the Shah of Iran's widow were among mourners Thursday at the funeral of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent. on 2008-06-05 12:45:04
Designer Yves St. Laurent Has Died
Stars from Keira Knightley to Catherine Deneuve wear his fashions.
The Associated Press is reporting that famed French designer YVES ST. LAURENT, who dressed countless celebrities and royals, has died. He was 71 years old.
Born in Algeria in 1936, Lauren on 2008-06-01 20:47:01
The 2008 Cannes Palm D'Or Award Goes to...
The 2008 Cannes Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday and with it came the prestigious awards ceremony. The top honor, the Palm D'Or, was given to Laurent Cantent's The Class. The film hails from France, a country who hasn't received the Palm D'Or for more on 2008-05-28 16:51:38
Eastwood, Del Toro Recognized at Cannes
A French film wins the top prize.
When it came time for the Cannes Film Fest to hand out its awards on Sunday Night, CLINT EASTWOOD, BENICIO DEL TORO and actress CATHERINE DENEUVE were all recognized.
Del Toro was awarded the best actor prize for his port on 2008-05-26 00:45:16
Glamorous Catherine bound for Oz
EXPECT a rush of 70-something-plus men at the opening of this year's Alliance Francaise French Film Festival, when cinema siren Catherine Deneuve hits Sydney. on 2008-03-07 12:46:00
Diane and Dita Party in Paris For a Cause
The fashion pack was out in full force last night at the Sidaction AIDS benefit in Paris. With the couture shows over, front row fixtures Dita Von Teese and Diane Kruger were free to mingle with many models including Claudia Schiffer. Diane had a bit of a on 2008-01-25 20:47:01
Marrakech fest has a 'Ball'
Film Festivals: Film festival gives top honor to Estonian film -- French film icon Catherine Deneuve awarded the Marrakech Intl. Film Festival's top honor, the Golden Star, to Estonian film "Autumn Ball" at the closing ceremony Saturday night. on 2007-12-17 20:46:29
Catherine Deneuve gets animated
Actress Catherine Deneuve, now 64, is as lovely as ever as she talks about "Persepolis," her first animated film and the latest project that champions the social causes she holds so dear.
on 2007-12-16 04:45:27
Meg wrote:
> transitioned into roles where she played the mother, or older sister.
> Both she and Sharon Stone are hideous these days because of plastic
> surgery.
I agree. And she could have could have gotten appropriate plastic
surgery (see: Meryl Streep and Catherine Deneuve - both gorgeous - and
their force of personality is something MR doesn't have, imho- cute
doesn't age well).
Magda wrote:
> On 28 Sep 2005 06:58:20 -0700, in alt.gossip.celebrities, "Richie"
> arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :
Absolutely. Catherine Deneuve is far more attractive at 61 than Paris
Hilton could ever hope to be.
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/95972004.htm
Shirley MacLaine Joins Stars Criticising Paris Hilton
September 28, 2005, 6:53:26
SHIRLEY MacLAINE AND SHIRLEY TEMPLE JOIN THE ANTI-PARIS BRIGADE
Film veterans SHIRLEY MacLAINE, SHIRLEY TEMPLE and CATHERINE DENEUVE have
joined the list of stars criticising socialite PARIS HILTON, because they
believe the hotel heiress does not deserve her film roles.
MacLaine, 71; Deneuve, 61; and former child star Temple, 77, join country
singer GRETCHEN WILSON, JON BON JOVI, SHARON OSBOURNE and designer VALENTINO
GARAVANI, who have all admitted disliking THE SIMPLE LIFE reality TV star.
Paris Hilton's acting skills called into question
In Her Shoes star MacLaine scathes, "She just shops and turns up to parties.
"So she wears pink and has blonde hair and suddenly calls herself not a
starlet or an ingenue - no, according to Paris, she is a movie star.
"It irritates me. In my day, you had to really work. It took BETTE DAVIS
seven years of hard slog to reach the point where her name was above the
title on a movie."
Temple adds, "(Paris) is stealing the thunder from really talented actors
who have learned their craft."
Meanwhile, French beauty Deneuve asks, "Who is she but a provocative young
Barbie doll?"
Rick in Oz wrote:
> http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-05-16/
who shoot
> nude scenes. The French actress insists nudity is an unnecessary
distraction
> in movies, and she's urging directors to create more imaginative ways
to
> convey love on the big screen without asking their cast to strip
naked.
> Deneuve also puts her own long-lasting appeal down to her understated
> sexuality. She moans, "I hate nudity in cinema. It's so crass. For
me, the
> most beautiful love scenes are the ones that leave something to the
> imagination. Even as a spectator, I find it really hard to watch nude
> scenes, because I see only the person, not the character. My career
has gone
> on so long, I think, because I have never given anything away."
i totally agree with her. it would be one thing if these kinds of
scenes were used discerningly, but nowadays movies are using sex scenes
and nudity to fall back on b/c none of the movies being made are a
worth a crap. so they throw in some naked boobs and ass, and whatever
else they can get self-absorbed, exhibitionist stars to expose just to
get people to take notice. it's a cop-out for lack of talent and it's
so played out already.
http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-05-16/
Film Icon Deneuve Scorns Nudity in Films
Screen legend Catherine Deneuve has fiercely attacked film-makers who shoot
nude scenes. The French actress insists nudity is an unnecessary distraction
in movies, and she's urging directors to create more imaginative ways to
convey love on the big screen without asking their cast to strip naked.
Deneuve also puts her own long-lasting appeal down to her understated
sexuality. She moans, "I hate nudity in cinema. It's so crass. For me, the
most beautiful love scenes are the ones that leave something to the
imagination. Even as a spectator, I find it really hard to watch nude
scenes, because I see only the person, not the character. My career has gone
on so long, I think, because I have never given anything away."
http://entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,11328622%255E10431
%255E%255Enbv,00.html
Kidman 'next Monroe'
November 09, 2004
IF Baz Luhrmann has anything to do with it Nicole Kidman is the most famous
woman in the world.
Star turn ... Kidman in a still from the hanel ad that hits screens this
weekend.
Luhrmann, who directed Kidman in the Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge, likens
her to Marilyn Monroe and French star Catherine Deneuve.
"She's the most appropriate next icon ... she's the ultimate modern woman,
both sophisticated and yet free," he says in TV documentary Chanel No5 The
Film, a 30-minute short about the making of reportedly the world's most
expensive commercial.
Directed by Luhrmann, the commercial was shot at Fox Studios last December
and involved 250 extras, stunts and $42 million worth of jewels, with Kidman
wearing one-off couture outfits designed by Karl Lagerfeld exclusively for
the campaign.
In the reportedly $14 million commercial, which resembles the tragic love
story Moulin Rouge, Kidman is a famous star who escapes the paparazzi by
jumping into a taxi.
Seated in the taxi is a humble artist (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro) who
has no idea who she is.
The two go back to his rooftop apartment where they spend "four or five
perfect romantic days together".
But soon she must choose between selfish love and responsibility -
confidently facing the paparazzi in a black Chanel couture dress with a
diamond pendant dangling across her exposed back bearing the logo of the
world famous perfume, gazing wistfully back at her lover.
The commercial will premiere on Sunday.
News Limited newspapers
From Sunny Oz, Rick :)
Proud Keeper of the talented & beautiful Halle Berry.
http://entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,11328622%255E10431
%255E%255Enbv,00.html
Kidman 'next Monroe'
November 09, 2004
IF Baz Luhrmann has anything to do with it Nicole Kidman is the most famous
woman in the world.
Star turn ... Kidman in a still from the hanel ad that hits screens this
weekend.
Luhrmann, who directed Kidman in the Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge, likens
her to Marilyn Monroe and French star Catherine Deneuve.
"She's the most appropriate next icon ... she's the ultimate modern woman,
both sophisticated and yet free," he says in TV documentary Chanel No5 The
Film, a 30-minute short about the making of reportedly the world's most
expensive commercial.
Directed by Luhrmann, the commercial was shot at Fox Studios last December
and involved 250 extras, stunts and $42 million worth of jewels, with Kidman
wearing one-off couture outfits designed by Karl Lagerfeld exclusively for
the campaign.
In the reportedly $14 million commercial, which resembles the tragic love
story Moulin Rouge, Kidman is a famous star who escapes the paparazzi by
jumping into a taxi.
Seated in the taxi is a humble artist (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro) who
has no idea who she is.
The two go back to his rooftop apartment where they spend "four or five
perfect romantic days together".
But soon she must choose between selfish love and responsibility -
confidently facing the paparazzi in a black Chanel couture dress with a
diamond pendant dangling across her exposed back bearing the logo of the
world famous perfume, gazing wistfully back at her lover.
The commercial will premiere on Sunday.
News Limited newspapers
From Sunny Oz, Rick :)
Proud Keeper of the talented & beautiful Halle Berry.
"Thanatos" wrote in message
news:atropos-5602CE.21455318032008@news.giganews.com...
> In article
> ,
> TranslucentAmoebae wrote:
possession"http://www.tmz.com/2008/03/11/mary-ann-busted-with-mary-jane/
responsibility"http://www.tmz.com/2008/03/12/it-wasnt-mary-anns-mary-jane/
> difference?
He can't tell you...too drunk.
Deneuve unveils `Dangerous' side with `wicked' role
By Ivor Davis
The New York Times Syndicate
March 10 2004
This is not, perhaps, the easiest time for a Frenchwoman, especially one
officially designated as the living embodiment of France, to visit America.
But the elegant, sophisticated Catherine Deneuve seems to be coping.
As cool, as blond and as unlined as ever, the 60-year-old Parisienne --
whose face is the model for Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic on
the country's coins and stamps -- dismisses the current coolness between the
two nations with all the sang froid that one would expect from an icon of
European cinema.
"I think it's easier to be a French person here in America today," she says,
"than to be an American today in other parts of the world."
Nonetheless, she predicts that the current chill in Franco-American
relations will be only temporary.
"It was a very long marriage between America and France," she says, "and
like a very long marriage there can be, you know, sort of moments. Now it's
a tough moment, but it's only a moment."
Deneuve is back in the United States to promote her first-ever foray into
American television, the mini-series "Dangerous Liaisons," a remake of the
classic French tale of lust, deception and revenge that will air at 7 p.m.
on the Women's Entertainment network on Monday and Tuesday.
This version is updated to the 1960s, with the scene shifting between the
boulevards of Paris and the sun-drenched French Riviera. Deneuve plays the
conniving Madame de Merteuil, played on screen by Glenn Close in "Dangerous
Liaisons" (1988) and by Annette Bening in "Valmont" (1989). She and the
amoral Valmont (Rupert Everett) enter into a pact to seduce and abandon her
former lover's new fiance, the youthful Cecile (Leelee Sobieski) -- the
prize for Valmont's efforts to be Madame herself, the only woman who has
ever resisted his charms. The scheme goes awry, however, when Valmont
becomes enamored of the married, staunchly faithful Marie Torvel (Nastassja
Kinski).
International appeal
The mini-series was filmed in French and English, to allow it to be aired in
France and also in England, the United States and other English-speaking
countries. That made the casting of Deneuve an obvious choice, as she's one
of the few European actresses with popular appeal and artistic credibility
both at home and abroad.
For her own part, Deneuve says with a laugh, she relished the chance to play
so reprehensible a character.
"Although she is very wicked, and I don't think I've ever played someone as
wicked as this character, she is also a woman who has been living her whole
life for love," she says. "And it was an occasion to play a great amoureuse
-- I don't know how you say that in English!"
Deneuve herself has made love a guiding light in her life. Daughter of the
actors Maurice Dorleac and Renee Deneuve, she was discovered -- like so many
other French beauties -- by director Roger Vadim, who cast her in her first
major film -- "Vice et la Vertu" (1962). He was also the father of her first
child, son Christian, born in 1963. She went on to marry the English
photographer David Bailey in 1965, before divorcing him in 1972 and, later
that same year, having daughter Chiara, whose father was the Italian screen
legend Marcello Mastroianni.
Along the way she managed to become an embodiment of beauty, romance and
sexual desirability for a generation of European filmgoers. The romantic
musical "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1963) hinted at sexuality, Roman
Polanski's "Repulsion" (1965) gave more than a hint, and then Luis Bunuel's
masterpiece "Belle de Jour" (1967) made Deneuve an icon for her strong,
seductive performance as a straight-laced, middle-class housewife who
moonlights as a prostitute.
Deneuve did venture to Hollywood -- and into the English language -- for
"April Fools" (1969) and "Hustle" (1975), respectively co-starring Jack
Lemmon and Burt Reynolds. But her most popular, most influential films have
been European-made, among them her performances as a stage actress in
Nazi-occupied Paris in Francois Truffaut's "The Last Metro" (1980) and as a
Frenchwoman in 1950s Vietnam in "Indochine" (1992), for which she received
her first Oscar nomination as best actress.
Perfect timing
Deneuve attributes her longevity as an actress primarily to luck.
"I would never talk about surviving," she says in still-heavily-accented
English. "I was very lucky to do, very young, very important films that were
successful in France. I think living is surviving and making films is
living. At least for me."
She does admit, however, that sustaining a career in middle age may be
easier in France than in the United States, as Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne
Moreau and Simone Signoret also demonstrate.
"I'm sure it's less hard to grow old in Europe than in America," Deneuve
says. "We love women more than beauty in Europe.
"But I think maybe there may be sort of a reverse these past few years," she
adds. "I remember, before Jane Fonda did `Julia' [1977], actresses were
already complaining that it was difficult, after 35 in America, to be in a
story where you would have an interesting life on-screen. But it seems to
have changed -- I have the impression that there are a lot of films with
women in the major parts in American films recently.
"But it is still easier in Europe."
Which no doubt partly explains why Deneuve doesn't work more often in the
U.S.
"I suppose, a long time ago, there used to be European actresses coming to
America in co-productions," she says. "This is not the case so much anymore,
and the accent will always be a problem, unless you can justify the fact
that you have an actress with an accent."
Better choices
Besides, she adds, "I found that what I've been offered in English in
American films was not as interesting as what I was offered in French."
Those offers continue to come, however, in large part because at 60 she
remains one of the world's most beautiful women.
"Well, you know, screen is not life," Deneuve says. "Screen is a sort of
exaltation, a little miracle every day for actors and actresses. Of course I
take good care of myself and I try my best to stay in shape, but I'm not
really fighting against something I don't think it's necessary to fight. I
try to live with what I have, and I don't want to live with what I had."
___________
Hugs,
Janice
----------------------------------
(-)> *peep* (-)> *peep* (-)> *muckmouth*
in article kFpzb.305$AC6.10967@nnrp1.ozemail.com.au, Rick in Oz at
ozbadcat@h*tmail.com wrote on 12/3/03 1:10 PM:
> http://www.sunspot.net/entertainment/news/bal-artslife-news-brycehoward03,0,
> 2204578.story?coll=bal-entertainment-headlines
> Ron Howard's daughter is currently shooting M. Night Shyamalan's new movie,
> 'The Village.'
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> By Jan M. Olsen
> The Associated Press
> Originally published December 3, 2003, 10:29 AM EST
> Howard, will likely replace Nicole Kidman in Danish director Lars von
> Trier's next two films that make up the trilogy he started with "Dogville,"
> the film's producer said Wednesday.
> along with Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, is
> negotiating a contract with von Trier, his producer Vibeke Windeloev said.
> "These are only details so I am very confident that she will be on the team"
> when the shooting of "Mandalay" starts March 1 in neighboring Sweden.
> this year's Cannes film festival but didn't win any prizes. Some found the
> three-hour movie about sadism in small-town America too long and torturous.
> on the run who winds up in a small town in the Rocky Mountains in the 1930s.
> in the trilogy because of scheduling conflicts with von Trier's next film,
> "Mandalay."
> festival, including the Golden Palm in 2000 for "Dancer in the Dark" with
> French icon Catherine Deneuve and Icelandic pop star Bjork.
> said, adding she and von Trier believe Howard "will become a big star."
> in his 2000 film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with Jim Carrey
> Proud Keeper of the talented & beautiful Halle Berry.
maybe the neurotic basket case Von trier shouldn't have gone off on Kidman
for smoking a cigarette. The girl may have just had enough of his antics.
Wasn't the filming rather tortured the first time around?
January 22, 2005
The bills are eye-popping: =80606 ($1109) for hyacinths and lilies from
a Paris florist; quick trips to New York on Concorde for =806153
($11,260); a Christmas present of bed linen, just =801912 ($3499) from
a Paris store; tens of thousands of euros for Tiffany lamps, art deco
lacquer panels and matching furniture for her Latin Quarter flat; an
exotic tree flown in from Lebanon to adorn the garden of her country
house in Normandy.
Eyebrows are being raised across France as salacious details about the
icon of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve, are dragged into the open as
investigators probe a disgraced Algerian tycoon.
But for many people, the press revelations are more painful than
shocking. The disclosures have ravaged the image of an actress revered
as much for her classic elegance, sophistication and intelligence as
for her blonde beauty.
In a career spanning four decades and hundreds of films, Deneuve, 61,
is feted for the bittersweet romance The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; for
Belle de Jour the sado-masochistic tale of a callgirl; for The Last
Metro, which depicted of relationships in occupied Paris in World War
II; and for the Oscar-nominated Indochine. Her roles were acclaimed for
depth, daring and sensitivity.
Her cool beauty not only enslaved innumerable men, it also became a
symbol of French womanhood. In the 1980s, her face was modelled for a
bust of Marianne, the national emblem, which can be seen in town halls
up and down the country.
The past week, though, has seen the Deneuve touchstone tragically lose
its power.
The great lady of French cinema, so stylish, understated and
otherworldly, is suddenly viewed as shallow and grasping.
The cause of the distress is Deneuve's spendthrift lifestyle -
something that she has always admitted.
"I don't give a darn about money," she told the magazine Egoiste. "It
comes in through one door, goes out through another. Who cares?
"If I see a very beautiful object, even it is ruinously expensive and I
really can't afford it, well, I completely set aside the notion of
value of money, I go in and buy it.
"My apartment is filled with objects which I've bought like that but
which I shouldn't have."
Gerard Depardieu, France's most popular actor, has said: "Her image is
of being serene, organised. But I've never seen anyone so untidy, so
fickle when it comes to money, business."
In one case, Deneuve was on an Air France flight from Bangkok to Paris
which stopped for refuelling in Copenhagen. Deneuve, driven by an urge
for salmon, insisted on buying fresh fish in town, even though she had
to miss the flight and take the next plane.
Such whims are, of course, all part-and-parcel of movie-star
lifestyles. In Deneuve's case, though, the cost became crippling after
her career went into decline. Her last big hit was three years ago, in
the campy musical 8 Women, for which she received =80457,000
($836,383), plus 9 per cent of the box-office take.
Since then, Deneuve has fallen on the hard ground of TV movies, for
which she has been lavishly rewarded - she was paid =80610,000 ($1.123
million) for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a costume drama about seduction
and infidelity - but which have flopped.
Her other big income source has been advertising. In the 1980s, Deneuve
pitched for Chanel perfume on American television.
The following decade, Deneuve signed deals worth a US$1 million a year
as the face of Chanel's rival, Saint Laurent.
In this halcyon time, the couturier was contract-bound to pay "all
expenses including, but not limited to, the costs of travel,
accommodation, meals" as well as the costs of a friend or escort
accompanied by the actress and a chauffeured limousine.
Saint-Laurent also had to pay around 20,000 French francs ($4950 in
today's money) a day to meet the star's "personal requirements".
That was followed, from 2001-2003, as the "ambassador of charm" for the
French cosmetics firm L'Oreal, at some €1.2 million a year. Since
then, though, Deneuve's value in the ad market has plummeted along with
her box-office rating. According to the daily Le Parisien, Deneuve's
only ad contract now is with American sunglass maker Viva, worth
=80200,000 ($366,032) a year.
Deneuve found herself caught between massive bills and a sharply
falling income. She became tempted into making paid appearances at
parties, in which stars are hired to add a touch of glamour. This
demeaning path has led to her undoing.
It began, the press says, in June 1997, with an appearance with Gina
Lollobrigida at a gala for Gilberto Scarpa, a Brazilian Coca-Cola
bottler.
In 2000, Deneuve attended the opening of a Las Vegas casino, hardly a
location in line with her suave image. The following year, things were
even worse: a horsejumping competition in Lisbon, sponsored by Samsung,
and the opening of a cinema complex in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, for
=8060,000 ($109809) a pop.
In 2002, she scraped the bottom of the barrel, making appearances for a
glamour-crazed Algerian millionaire, Rafik Khalifa.
In March that year, she received =8045,700 ($83,638) for being flown to
Algiers in a private jet to attend a match between Khalifa's football
team, Olympic Marseille, and the Algerian national team. The pictures
show the pair with gritted smiles, with Deneuve plainly hating the
moment.
Even so, six months later, Deneuve attended the launch of Khalifa's TV
channel in Cannes, alongside her friend Depardieu, as well as Sting and
Naomi Campbell.
Depardieu received a =8030,000 ($54,904) payoff from the Khalifa for
attending the bash, according to the daily Le Monde, while Deneuve
picked up €40,000 ($73206), which was reportedly handed over in
cash in a toilet.
These figures come from testimony that Deneuve has been forced to give
to a Paris examining magistrate, probing the collapse of Khalifa's
nebulous business empire in France.
Khalifa, 38, is the son of an Algerian minister and is reputedly
closely connected with the ruling military, who control the country's
oil and gas wealth.
According to legal sources, Deneuve will be forced to pay what she owes
to the tax authorities, but will not be prosecuted for tax avoidance.
But, for her public - for whom fiscal evasion is in many cases a
favoured pastime - this is negligible. What is far more damaging, in
their view, is the way Deneuve surrendered her integrity. She traded
her regal status for a brown envelope from a businessman desperate to
get his picture in the celebrity press.
"The perfume of mystery turned stale, the image cracked before our
eyes," Le Monde said. "Before, she was distant and adorable. We
suddenly discovered someone who is self-seeking, grasping."
>Mischa Barton says she hates being beautiful.
>The 'OC' beauty has confessed she can't stand the fact
>people judge her solely on the fact she has a pretty face
>and slim body - and feels she would be more liked if she
> had more flaws.
I feel Barton's pain. Absolute flawlessness has always been my problem,
too. In the immortal words of Catherine Deneuve: "Don't hate me because
I'm beautiful."
Barbara H. (spraying Windex on her mirror)
---
"He's the perfect example of how an actor can be pretentious in an
entertaining way." - Swedish TV host Filip Hammar discussing Gary Busey
http://www.smh.com.au/news/People/Depardieu-Deneuve-interrogated/2005/01/06/
1104832243431.html
Depardieu, Deneuve interrogated
January 7, 2005
France's two biggest movie stars, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu,
were being questioned this week over their links to a failed Algerian tycoon
wanted for suspected money laundering, police said.
Denueve, the 61-year-old doyenne of French cinema, spent nearly five hours
on Wednesday being interrogated by a special Paris police unit investigating
embezzlement claims against the fugitive businessman, Abdelmounene Rafik
Khalifa, officers said.
She was notably asked at length about 50,000 euro ($86,900) in cash she
received from Khalifa in 2003 to promote the launch of his shortlived
Khalifa TV satellite channel based in Paris, they said.
Depardieu, the 56-year-old star of Green Card and more than 100 other films,
was likely to be questioned yesterday, police added.
The famous actor was seen at several receptions thrown by Khalifa, who liked
to surround himself with jetsetters and celebrities.
Sting, Naomi Campbell, Bono, Melanie Griffiths and Pamela Anderson were
among guests spotted at a September 2002 bash in his French Riviera villa
launching Khalifa TV, which was also attended by Depardieu and Deneuve.
Depardieu has fiercely defended Khalifa from accusations that the
businessman had raised his money from dealings with Algeria's powerful army
generals who are believed to tap their country's oil wealth.
In September 2002, an angry Depardieu accused one politician levelling the
charges, Greens MP and former French presidential candidate Noel Mamere, of
being "racist".
Khalifa, the 38-year-old son of a former Algerian minister, saw his group of
companies collapse in 2003 under debts and claims of embezzlement.
He never explained the source of the estimated one billion euro ($1.7
billion) that had let him build an empire that included an airline,
catering, car hire, graphic design, construction, a bank and two television
channels, one each in London and in Paris, from nothing seven years ago.
The group started unravelling in February 2002, when three Khalifa Bank
managers were arrested at Algiers airport with two million euro ($3.5
million) in undeclared cash stuffed into suitcases. Days later Algerian
authorities placed the bank under the control of state auditors.
France - where Khalifa did much of his business - soon opened a preliminary
criminal investigation into suspected money laundering.
Last September, French police questioned the liquidator of Khalifa Bank,
Moncef Badsi, who claimed there were financial links between the shady
dealings by the bank in Algeria "and spending made by the heads of the group
in France," a source close to the investigation said.
Interpol, acting at the request of the Algerian government, issued an
international arrest warrant for Khalifa in August 2003, warning he "may be
dangerous". He is believed to be living in Britain, which has no extradition
treaty with Algeria.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/People/Warm-smile-cant-hide-a-cold-heart/2004/11/
16/1100574455516.html?oneclick=true
Warm smile can't hide a cold heart
November 17, 2004
Snapped up ... Nicole Kidman meets her fans at the Sydney premiere of Cold
Mountain last December.
Photo: Dan Peled
Nicole Kidman is much-admired but little loved, writes Adam Sternbergh.
You could argue that marrying Tom Cruise was the best career move Nicole
Kidman made, but that would be just plain wrong. It was the second-best
move.
Divorcing Tom Cruise was her best move, because it meant that, suddenly, she
had the one ingredient for stardom she'd lacked: a cohesive story line.
Here's the official narrative: She rose, phoenix-like, from the ash heap of
her marriage to emerge as a strong, resilient, independent woman. She didn't
shy from the spotlight or wilt into anonymity. Rather, armed only with a
huge personal fortune and the most powerful PR machine in entertainment, she
gamely continued to accept starring roles in high-profile films. Only in
Hollywood could this story be spun as a tale of plucky survival.
But the narrative worked: Kidman evolved, in the public's mind, from lissom
arm-candy to bona fide silver-screen star. Her divorce gave Kidman an
emotional hook: fans might have admired her before, but now they could feel
for her.
As a result, she has the ideal career, at least on paper. She's one of the
two or three biggest female movie stars in the world. She's tackled an
impressive array of roles, or at least of accents: a southern belle in Cold
Mountain; a brusque English mother in The Others; a down-at-the-heels
American janitor in The Human Stain. She's won an Oscar. She alternates
between award-courting epics (The Hours, The Human Stain) and
controversy-courting art films (Eyes Wide Shut, Dogville). She's back on US
screens in Birth, a controversial film from Sexy Beast director Jonathan
Glazer, in which Kidman plays a woman who becomes convinced her dead husband
has been reincarnated as a 10-year-old boy.
In fact, her superstar sainthood is now such an article of faith that when
Lauren Bacall took issue with her characterisation as a "legend", the press
was aghast. Hadn't Kidman been featured as one of Vanity Fair's "Legends of
Hollywood"? Right next to Catherine Deneuve! Just who does this Bacall woman
think she is?
But is Bacall so far off? Let's look more closely at Kidman's status. She's
a movie star, but one whose movies have gone largely unloved. She's never
had that one defining hit: no Breakfast at Tiffany's, no Pretty Woman. Her
best performances, in To Die For and The Hours, might be described as
admirably brittle. Moulin Rouge!, a tsunami of karaoked pop songs, was
hardly borne aloft by Kidman's charms. The Others, a spooky success, was, in
essence, an extremely well-art-directed episode of Scooby-Doo. And Stepford
Wives arrived stillborn. Perhaps audiences felt that, in watching Kidman
play a feisty wife who subjugates herself robotically to her husband, they'd
already seen this story played out in the tabloids, with better acting.
Kidman always been dogged by the charge that she comes off as distant and
icy - so much so that nearly every profile of her strains to upend this
impression, remarking on her fiery red curls (since straightened and
blanched) and her Australian-bred lust for life. "Bring it on! Consume me!
Intoxicate me!" read her quotes on another Vanity Fair cover, as she
affected her rapacious, life-gobbling grin. But somehow this pose never
takes.
And for all her celebrated beauty, she's got to be the least carnal movie
star around. It's not for lack of trying: she stripped naked onstage for The
Blue Room, and she hasn't been shy about doffing clothes in recent films,
including Birth. Offscreen, she's been linked to a series of increasingly
improbable beaus: Q-Tip, Tobey Maguire, Lenny Kravitz. Yet she can't spark a
sexual charge. Compare her to, say, Angelina Jolie, who even makes wearing
an eye patch seem lascivious.
This is where Kidman's story line - the one written after her split from
Cruise - may be hurting her as much as it helps. Movie stars are like Greek
gods. As they ascend, they come to represent one specific quality: Tom Hanks
is the God of Affability; Meg Ryan the Goddess of Button-Cuteness. Now
Kidman's taken her place in this pantheon: She's the Goddess of Will. It's a
role that inspires admiration but not much affection. Just think back to
Julia Roberts's Oscar win: a hearty human-interest story that everyone could
cheer.
Kidman's Oscar win felt earned but inevitable, like someone battering at a
door until it gives.
If anything, the stringent discipline of Kidman's ascent has been both
laudable and off-putting, and even harrowing to watch. Greek goddesses lived
and breathed in the imagination, but existed in the world as statues,
idealised but cold. Kidman may yet rise to the status of full-blooded
legend. So far, though, she's been simply statuesque.
New York Magazine
From Sunny Oz, Rick :)
Proud Keeper of the talented & beautiful Halle Berry.
In fact, her superstar sainthood is now such an article of faith that when
> Lauren Bacall took issue with her characterisation as a "legend", the press
> was aghast. Hadn't Kidman been featured as one of Vanity Fair's "Legends of
> Hollywood"? Right next to Catherine Deneuve! Just who does this Bacall woman
> think she is?
> a movie star, but one whose movies have gone largely unloved. She's never
> had that one defining hit: no Breakfast at Tiffany's, no Pretty Woman.
I'm not a big fan of Kidman either, but I just want to point out that
in the 2 films this writers brings up as "beloved" the movie stars
play prostitutes.
I've never gotten all the hooo la la about Breakfast at Tiffany's
myself.
And Audrey Hepburn was a defined star well before that role. "Roman
Holiday" anyone?
And frankly, Kidman is an extremely talented actress-- far more so
than Julia Roberts.
This writer is a sexist idiot.
Next?
http://entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,11328622%255E10431
%255E%255Enbv,00.html
Kidman 'next Monroe'
November 09, 2004
IF Baz Luhrmann has anything to do with it Nicole Kidman is the most famous
woman in the world.
Star turn ... Kidman in a still from the hanel ad that hits screens this
weekend.
Luhrmann, who directed Kidman in the Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge, likens
her to Marilyn Monroe and French star Catherine Deneuve.
"She's the most appropriate next icon ... she's the ultimate modern woman,
both sophisticated and yet free," he says in TV documentary Chanel No5 The
Film, a 30-minute short about the making of reportedly the world's most
expensive commercial.
Directed by Luhrmann, the commercial was shot at Fox Studios last December
and involved 250 extras, stunts and $42 million worth of jewels, with Kidman
wearing one-off couture outfits designed by Karl Lagerfeld exclusively for
the campaign.
In the reportedly $14 million commercial, which resembles the tragic love
story Moulin Rouge, Kidman is a famous star who escapes the paparazzi by
jumping into a taxi.
Seated in the taxi is a humble artist (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro) who
has no idea who she is.
The two go back to his rooftop apartment where they spend "four or five
perfect romantic days together".
But soon she must choose between selfish love and responsibility -
confidently facing the paparazzi in a black Chanel couture dress with a
diamond pendant dangling across her exposed back bearing the logo of the
world famous perfume, gazing wistfully back at her lover.
The commercial will premiere on Sunday.
News Limited newspapers
From Sunny Oz, Rick :)
Proud Keeper of the talented & beautiful Halle Berry.
Breathtakingly beautiful blond actress who for many years was France's top female screen star. Her icy manner was skillfully exploited by directors Roman Polanski (in 1965's Repulsion and Luis Buñuel (in 1967's Belle de Jour and 1970's Tristana, among others. She was equally effective in a pair of François Truffaut films, The Mississippi Mermaid (1968) and The Last Metro (1980). Deneuve also delivers lighter, more accessible performances as well: she was utterly charming, for example, in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the film that brought her international recognition following several years of desultory screen appearances. Still a ravishing beauty, Deneuve has unfortunately limited her U.S. exposure in recent years to TV commercials and occasional films such as The Hunger (1983, in a surprisingly erotic role as a vampire) and Scene of the Crime (1986, a muddled psychological thriller). She earned her first Oscar nomination for Indochine (1992).
A free-spirited nonconformist, Deneuve has given birth out of wedlock to children fathered by former lovers Roger Vadim and Marcello Mastroianni. Her sister, Françoise Dorleac, was herself a talented actress whose career was cut short by a tragic car accident in 1967; they costarred in Jacques Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968).
OTHER FILMS INCLUDE: 1956: Les Collegiennes 1960: Les Parisiennes 1968: Mayerling 1969: The April Fools 1970: Donkey Skin 1972: Dirty Money 1975: Hustle 1981: Choice of Arms 1984: Love Songs 1993: My Favorite Season
"A star remains pinned on a wall in the public imagination."
"To work is a noble art."
"I don't see any reason for marriage W_hen there is divorce."
"I'm lucky. I'm getting older with some directors who are getting older."
"People who know me know I'm strong, but I'm vulnerable."
Measurements: 33 1/2-24-35 (1965 - "My bust is small."), 34 1/2B-25 1/2-36 (in 1985) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
Had a brand of perfume named after her
Was once fashion designer, Yves Saint-Laurent's muse! She will only wear his clothing!
Festival tribute at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival, France. [1994]
Has never performed in the theatre due to stage fright.
She liked Breaking the Waves (1996) by Lars von Trier so much that she wrote a personal letter to him, asking him for a role in a film of his. The result of this is her part in Dancer in the Dark (2000).
Sister of Françoise Dorléac.
Catherine is the third of four daughters born to the French actors Maurice Dorléac and Renée Deneuve (whose name she uses).
Has a daughter by Marcello Mastroianni: Chiara Mastroianni (b. 28 May 1972).
Has a son by Roger Vadim: Christian Vadim (b. 18 June 1963).
Ranked #89 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
An archetype for Gallic beauty, Deneuve succeeded 'Brigitte Bardot' (qv) as the model for Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic seen on French coins and stamps.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#38). [1995]
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