Hollywood Beltway

Roman Polanski will spend at least another night in jail. Sources in Switzerland tell me that Polanski is not being released today from Winterthur prison. The 76-year-old Academy Award-winning director of “The Pianist”  remains behind bars until his estate in Gstaad is approved for his home sentence. Wire reports claim that workers have been preparing the property [...]

The cruel irony of Michael Jackson’s death is reflected in the boxoffice. The movie about Jackson’s rehearsals for shows that never took place, “This Is It,” hit $240 million worldwide this weekend. That gives Jackson the biggest concert film and documentary ever. Jackson’s kids will wind up very wealthy from this film thanks to his executors. [...]

The Matrix is 10 years old.

Sandra Bullock is a favorite of mine. I don’t know why exactly. It’s not like I know her. Like you, I know her on screen. But I like to root for her. On Thanksgiving, she did the hardest thing ever in her career: She beat the vampires of “Twilight: New Moon.” Her likable new film, “The [...]

Roman Polanski’s wife of  20  years, Emmanuelle Seigner, and their young son and daughter, are reportedly “decimated,” friends say, over the director’s two-month incarceration in a Swiss prison. The prison Polanski has been held in since September 25th is no country club, they say. “It’s a jail.” So news yesterday that the two-time Academy Award winning film [...]

Whitney Houston sang live (to a a track) last night on “Dancing with The Stars,” which is a pretty big deal for any artist these days. Good for her! If there’s one thing to be thankful for this week in the Celeb World, it’s Whitney’s comeback. She also got a surprise: cousin Dionne Warwick was [...]

The reviews are in, and Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones” did not go over well tonight in London. Or anywhere else. THR’s Kirk Honeycutt is not the only reviewer who’s panned the much-anticipated film translation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel. A spy in London called it “dull, lame and disappointing.” Yikes. This isn’t good news for Paramount [...]

Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman are getting ready to end their run in the Broadway play “A Steady Rain.” But fear not — the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater will not be vacant for long. In fact, John Crowley, their director, is staying put. He will next direct Martin McDonagh’s “Behanding in Spokane,” right there, set to open [...]

“Fela!” got rave reviews, even at almost three hours, when it premiered last night on Broadway. But the big move to attract celebrities fizzled. Jay Z showed up (no Beyonce). New co-producers Will and Jada Smith stayed in Los Angeles. Their excuse was that Will’s 16 year-old son Trey needed attention after a sports injury. For [...]

Rosie O’Donnell had a unique idea last night on the stage of the Palace Theater. She was raising money for her Rosie’s Broadway Kids, and this was the point when rich people bid on donated items like trips to Anguilla and two tickets to a Broadway show and dinner with its star. She had none of [...]