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6-8-2000
ey Blanchetteers! Yes, the dog days of summer and doldrum days of winter are upon us. Not only do we have to struggle for every little bit of Cate news, even when we find it it seems like there are a million things that bide our time and prevent us from going to press. So, thanks for your patience and we will continue to do our best to get you all the Cate News as we find it…or at least as fast as we can find time.
H CATE TO ATTEND VENICE FILM FEST
n news first reported by Variety, it would appear that Cate will be attending the Venice Film festival Premiere of “The Man Who Cried”:
I “With new offerings from the majors all but absent and U.S. features in general receiving only sparse representation, the 57th Venice Intl. Film Festival has gone a similar route to Cannes this year, cold-shouldering Hollywood in favor of European and Asian cinema.
Britain is represented in competition by Stephen Frears' "Liam," with Ian Hart, the story of a poverty-stricken Irish family in the Depression seen through the eyes of a 6-year-old boy; and by Sally Potter's 1930s-set melodrama "The Man Who Cried," about a Jewish girl who dreams of leaving Europe to find her father in the U.S. The film stars Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro and Johnny Depp, all of whom are expected to attend. The fest kicks off Aug. 30.”
FILM NEWS
n bits and pieces of film news, Variety has announced that the untitled MGM and Hyde Park Entertainment Barry Levinson project (aka "Outlaws"), which stars Cate, Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton is scheduled to commence shooting on Sept. 25.
I Also, Variety is reporting that Britain’s FilmFour has shuttered its Australian office after the defection of its Oz representative, Miranda Dear, to the film unit of SBSI.
Ironically, the news comes as Four has been using Aussies as part of its plan to expand into more ambitious films with the likes of Warner Bros., with whom it recently announced a co-production pact, starting with Gillian Armstrong’s $20 million Cate Blanchett vehicle “Charlotte Gray.”
Universal Pictures has acquired all rights to Gillian Armstrong's upcoming "Charlotte Gray" in France, Benelux, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The $22 million WWII drama starring Cate Blanchett is being co-produced by FilmFour, which is handling international sales, and Warner Bros, which is taking North America. It starts shooting early next year.
FASHIONABLE CATE
es, it’s voting time once again, courtesy of this feature from the Telegraph UK:
Y
“The Elle Style Awards, which are among the most glamorous events in the fashion calendar (in the past, Stella McCartney, Joseph Fiennes, Jade Jagger and Elizabeth Hurley have attended the party), are now in their fourth year.”This time, the evening will be supported by The Daily Telegraph which gives you the chance to say who you think deserves to pick up an award in each of the 15 categories. You may do so at Elle Awards.
This is how they describe the Actress category:
“Very few people look as drop dead gorgeous in a Dior gown as Nicole Kidman, although Gwyneth Paltrow, Anna Friel and Kate Winslet certainly come close. Cate Blanchett is always elegant, whether she is wearing haute couture or leather jeans, while Catherine Zeta Jones and Madonna are both pregnant and, as a result, looking more fantastic than ever.”
This correspondent couldn’t figure out how to vote for Cate AND Samantha Morton, Jennifer Ehle and Justine Waddell, so I simply threw in the towel and voted for Cate in every category (even the male ones), so let the Telegraph sort it all out. :-)
CATE ON THE TOWN
his story, by Tom Cardy, ran a short time back in the Auckland Press:
T Rising Hollywood star Cate Blanchett is in Wellington and enjoying the nightlife - but is so far too busy for interviews.
The Australian actress, nominated for a Best Actress Oscar last year for the film Elizabeth, is in the Capital for about a month to play Galadriel in the $360 million The Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy.
Requests to interview the star had so far been turned down by Blanchett's publicist.
Blanchett, 31, had dinner on Friday at Logan Brown restaurant in Wellington with a party including director Peter Jackson and a leading US star, Liv Tyler. Co-owner and chef Alister Brown said the group ate upstairs from the main dining area so they could have some privacy "without the goggling eyes".
"I would say a lot of people didn't recognise Cate Blanchett anyway," he said. "I think there were three females at the table and there were three salads for entrees. Movie stars eat a lot of salads, I think. They really enjoyed their evening, had a few wines and they were gone by 12 o'clock." Mr Brown said big names had eaten at the restaurant, including Tom Jones during his recent visit, but Friday was probably the largest number of Hollywood stars at one time.
"We love to entertain them, that's for sure. We get a real kick of having people like that under our roof." Blanchett has a small but important role in The Lord Of The Rings as Galadriel, an elven queen. Her on-screen husband Celeborn is played by Kiwi actor Marton Csokas.
Blanchett appeared at Australian Fashion Week last month wearing and praising clothes by Kiwi designer Karen Walker. She was most recently seen in the film The Talented Mr Ripley.
CHITTY CHITTY CATE CATE
ell, we always like to offer a goofy Cate story in our news, and this seemingly fits the bill in spades. Courtesy of The New Zealand Herald comes this bulletin thanks to the journalistic skills of one Alison Horwood.:
W Recycled junk becomes Chitty car with pedals
Brett Harman believes one man's junk is another man's treasure.
The self-taught Wairarapa craftsman, his wife, Lisa, and their sons, Finn and Mitchell, scour local dumps and junkyards collecting pieces for unique pedal cars.
Two years ago, Mr Harman built a pedal car as a surprise for his sons, and since then has turned his hobby into a burgeoning business.
"I was drinking with some mates in Ohakune a few years ago and had two hubcaps in my hand. I held them together and then just visualised the pedal car in between.
"Then I had a car accident two years ago and had a bit of spare time on my hands. Instead of going mad I thought I would start doing something with all the junk I was collecting."
The first pedal car he made attracted so much attention on the streets of Carterton near his home that he kept building and has not looked back.
He is now working on his fifth piece - a car inspired by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the 1968 film.
Dick Van Dyke portrays an inventor who builds a flying car that drives by itself.
Mr Harman's car is made of a copper hot-water cylinder, a cedar sliding door and pram wheels.
The dashboard will be cedar, complete with flashing lights and motorbike gauges, and the upholstery domed leather.
"Everything on it is from the dump - only the steel frame and rivets are new," he says.
Mr Harman says it takes about two months to scrounge the parts for each pedal car, and about a fortnight to put them together. He sells them for $1000, and recently sold one to Australian film actress Cate Blanchett, in Wellington for filming Lord of the Rings.
"Someone suggested I should make some templates and build them off the production line, but I don't want them to be mass-produced. I like the fact that everyone has something different. No two can be the same."
Mr Harman, who is working as a model-maker on Lord of the Rings, builds the pedal cars in a studio outside his house - which he designed and built for $1700 from a disused barn, corrugated iron, concrete and hay.
"The philosophy in our family is that we don't buy anything - we either find it, or make it."
So, there ya have it. We’re not sure if that’s Andrew off to the store in Cate’s Chitty-Car, getting a jumpstart from a couple of the neighborhood lads, but, don’t ya know we would kill to get a shot of Cate tooling about in it. If we were a little more ambitious, we would be in PhotoShop right now constructing our own pic, but, we’ll just have a little patience. One is sure to turn up before long…lest it’s a gift for Cate’s brother. (sorry Bob!) :-))
Cheers for now. Whilest we all wait for the commencement of the Sydney Olympics, don’t you know it’s a good time to “PLAY A VOLTA!”. Catch ya next time, Blanchetteers!
