JULIA ROBERTS: BEAUTY EVOLUTION 1990 – 2007

Actors change their looks for roles all the time. But there has never been a major star that has had less desire to stick to one particular impression than JULIA ROBERTS.

Since JULIA became an A list Hollywood personality in the early 90s, she has had endless combinations of hair styles – every shade of blonde, red and brunette imaginable in a wide variety of lengths and textures.

I personally thought the red looked fabulous. She had that incredible long thick wavy titian mane almost two decades ago. In her latest film DUPLICITY she rocks a similar cascading chestnut style that is dangerously close to auburn.

I also think the streaked blonde hair that she’s been seen out in public with recently is exceptionally flattering as well.

JULIA’S approach to beauty has always been magnificently experimental. Her successes in that arena (just like her career) are irresistably endless.

To experience JULIA’S fashion phases over two decades, please go here

GEARING UP FOR SUMMER CONCERT SEASON

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

If you missed some of your favourite 80S and 90S bands the first time around, there’s a good chance you can catch them on the comeback trail this summer.

Reunions, packaging and pricing are key this year as artists and promoters try to fill seats in a soft economy.

Bands such as FLEETWOOD MAC have also returned after breakups or long spells away.

There’s no dearth of blockbusters to choose from this summer.

COLDPLAY, GREEN DAY and AC/DC (among others) will be out. What may be the year’s biggest tour, U2, cranks up in SEPTEMBER.

The summer festivals are also hot tickets.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN heads Tennessee’s BONNAROO in June. THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND tops the OUTSIDE LANDS gig in SAN FRANCISCO the same month.

A number of double and triple bills are making the rounds: AEROSMITH with ZZ TOP; ERIC CLAPTON and STEVE WINWOOD; ELTON JOHN with BILLY JOEL; DEF LEPPARD along with CHEAP TRICK and POISON – as well as BOB DYLAN with WILLIE NELSON and JOHN MELLENCAMP.

“I think the packaging is an outgrowth of the recession,” remarked GARY BONGIOVANNI, editor in chief of the concert industry publication POLLSTAR.

“You can lower the ticket prices some, but another way is stronger support acts or co-bills. You may have already seen ERIC CLAPTON, but if he’s with STEVE WINWOOD, it may be a reason to go see him again.”

Artists and promoters are extra sensitive about prices this year. Bands such as CROSBY, STILLS & NASH are all offering at least some tickets for about $20 US. Several others start prices at about $30.

Summer is the most important season for the concert industry. Even with the recession, 2009 is shaping up to be a good year.

BARBRA STREISAND & HER NEW DESIGN BOOK

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BARBRA STREISAND has finished building her dream house and has started to think about her life.

The actor/director/singer has reached an agreement with VIKING PRESS for A PASSION FOR DESIGN, an illustrated book scheduled for the fall of 2010.

It includes photos of the MALIBU oceanfront compound she worked on for more than five years. In writing about where she lives, she has been writing about herself.

Long reluctant to discuss her private life, Ms. Streisand told the AP that she has been working on chapters, in long hand, for a separate book.

But she hasn’t made up her mind whether she will complete the memoir and publish it.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN TAKES ON SHAKESPEARE

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE PUBLIC THEATER says PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN is set to play IAGO in an off Broadway revival of OTHELLO next season.

An OSCAR winner for the film CAPOTE, PSH will star as one of SHAKESPEARE’S most conniving villains in the production at NEW YORK UNIVERSITY’S SKIRBALL CENTER from SEPTEMBER 12 to OCTOBER 4.

JOHN ORTIZ, PSH’S long time collaborator at the LABYRINTH THEATER, will play OTHELLO.

Also on the PUBLIC’S schedule for its 2009 – 2010 season are two world premieres: RICHARD FOREMAN’S IDIOT SAVANT starring WILLEM DAFOE and SNAKE by PULITZER PRIZE winning playwright SUZAN LORI PARKS.

EIGHT GREAT LOOKS: SIENNA MILLER

SIENNA MILLER possesses effortless style.

She can go from bohemian to severely elegant in the blink of an eye…and she always looks flawless. Unlike almost anyone else in the public eye, her glamorous experiments actually turn out exceptionally well.

You have room to be daring if you have the grace and the confidence to pull it off. SIENNA most definitely does.

After all, she does have her own fashion line (TWENTY8TWELVE) that she manages along with her sister SAVANNAH.

To find the gallery with SIENNA’S photos, please go here

20 UPCOMING CDS

Our precious friends from EW have a series of photos showcasing 20 of the biggest and most anticipated CDS of the summer.

Here are the ones that appear most promising to me…

THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND – BIG WHISKEY & THE GOOGRUX KING (JUNE 2)

WILCO (THE ALBUM) – WILCO (JUNE 30)

HOREHOUND – THE DEAD WEATHER (JULY 14)

TITLE TBA – JORDIN SPARKS (JULY)

TITLE TBA – THE FLAMING LIPS (LATE SUMMER)

To hit the gallery, please go here

THE CANNES 2009 GALLERY: SOME EXTRAVAGANT PHOTOS OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

I didn’t necessarily want to make this all about fashion. I was just lookimg for interesting shots of glamorous personalities that you guys and girls might like.

But, inevitably, it is all about fashion. It has to be. I wouldn’t have pictures of anyone up here if I didn’t think they looked fantastic.

Some of these are from the red carpet. A few are from the AMFAR gala which took place at CANNES at the same time as the fest.

I hate captioning. A few of the people I can’t identify definitively.

But let’s go in order….

ANGELINA JOLIE & BRAD PITT

RACHEL WEISZ

ABBIE CORNISH

ROBIN WRIGHT

DIANE KRUGER, QUENTIN TARANTINO & BRAD PITT

DESIGNER GEORGINA CHAPMAN (AKA HARVEY WEINSTEIN’S SPOUSE)

HAYDEN PANETTIERE

MARION COTILLARD & GUILLAUME CANET

EMILE HIRSCH & GIRLFRIEND

ANG LEE & WIFE, DEMETRI MARTIN & EMILE HIRSCH

SHARON STONE

Hope y’all dig these.

Enjoy…

CANNES 2009 WINNERS

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LIST OF WINNERS:

PALME D’OR (FIRST PLACE): THE WHITE RIBBON

GRAND PRIZE (SECOND PLACE): THE PROPHET

JURY PRIZE (THIRD PLACE): TIE – FISH TANK & THIRST

BEST DIRECTOR: BRILLIANTE MENDOZA – KINATAY

BEST ACTRESS: CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG – ANTICHRIST

BEST ACTOR: CHRISTOPH WALTZ – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST SCREENPLAY: FENG MEI – SPRING FEVER

CAMERA D’OR (BEST FIRST FILM): SAMSON & DELILAH

SPECIAL AWARD: ALAIN RESNAIS

Austrian director MICHAEL HANEKE’S sombre drama THE WHITE RIBBON claimed the top prize Sunday at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, where QUENITIN TARANTINO and LARS VON TRIER entries earned the acting honours.

It was a big night for Austria, whose triumphs included CHRISTOPH WALTZ as BEST ACTOR for QUENTIN TARANTINO’S Second World War epic INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG won the BEST ACTRESS honour for LARS VON TRIER’S ANTICHRIST, a film that riled and repelled many CANNES viewers with its explicit images of physical abuse involving two grieving people.

MICHAEL HANEKE addressed his wife as he accepted his award, noting that “Happiness is very rare.”

“This is one moment in my life in which I’m very happy and so are you, I believe,” commented MICHAEL HANEKE, who received the festival’s PALME D’OR for his gorgeously photographed black and white tale.

THE WHITE RIBBON examines themes of communal guilt, distrust and punishment among residents of a small German town besieged by tragedies and strange occurrences as the First World War approaches.

The second place GRAND PRIZE went to FRENCH director JACQUES AUDIARD’S prison drama A PROPHET, about an illiterate inmate who educates himself and becomes a player in drug and smuggling circles.

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG delivers a terrifying performance as a psychotic woman torturing her husband (WILLEM DAFOE) and mutilating herself during a trip to the woods intended as a healing sojourn after the death of their child.

CHRISTOPH WALTZ earned the BEST ACTOR award for his gleefully homicidal role as Nazi COLONEL HANS LANDA, renowned in Germany as an ace “Jew hunter” in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, QUENTIN TARANTINO’S rewrite of the history books that follows the exploits of a band of Jewish Allied commandos led by BRAD PITT.

QUENTIN spins a wildly different take on how the war ended as BRAD PITT’S crew plots to take out top Nazi leaders at a film premiere in PARIS.

“Above all I owe this to HANS LANDA and his unique and inimitable creator, QUENTIN TARANTINO,” CHRISTOPH WALTZ remarked. “You gave me my vocation back.”

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG thanked WILLEM DAFOE and LARS VON TRIER “who allowed me to live what I believe to be the strongest, most painful and most exciting experience of my whole life.” She also thanked her father, the late singer/actor SERGE GAINSBOURG, who would have been “proud and shocked, I hope.”

The nine member CANNES jury headed by FRENCH actor ISABELLE HUPPERT, which included performers ROBIN WRIGHT and ASIA ARGENTO and director JAMES GRAY, presented a special award to beloved FRENCH filmmaker ALAIN RESNAIS, who was in the competition with the offbeat tale WILD GRASS.

The film follows the odd relationships that spring up after a married man forges a relationship with a woman whose stolen wallet he recovers.

Several well received entries among the 20 CANNES competition films were shut out for prizes, including one from a past PALM D’OR winner – JANE CAMPION’S historical romance BRIGHT STAR.

Also snubbed was ACADEMY AWARD winner ANG LEE for his rock & roll comedy TAKING WOODSTOCK.

BRITISH director ANDREA ARNOLD’S teen drama FISH TANK and South Korean filmmaker PARK CHAN WOOK’S vampire love story THIRST shared the festival’s JURY PRIZE, the third place award. ANDREA ARNOLD won the same honour with her first film, RED ROAD in 2006, while PARK won the festival’s second place prize with OLD BOY in 2004.

The DIRECTING AWARD went to Filipino filmmaker BRILLANTE MENDOZA for KINATAY, a harsh story centered on police inflicting harsh retribution on a prostitute who crossed them.

Chinese director LOU YE’S SPRING FEVER, a tale of forbidden romance involving homosexual relationships, won the screenplay award for writer FENG MEI.

The prize for BEST FIRST FILM went to AUSTRALIAN writer/director WARWICK THORNTON for SAMSON & DELILAH, his love story about two teens living in an isolated Aboriginal community.

CANNES: WITH COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY, THE 2009 FEST CONCLUDES…

FROM REUTERS

A lavish portrayal of a brief affair between Russian composer IGOR STRAVINSKY and fashion pioneer COCO CHANEL in the early 1920S brought the curtain down on the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL on Sunday.

The festival’s closing film, COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY, directed by Dutch born JAN KOUNEN, stars ANNA MOUGLALIS and MADS MIKKELSON in the title roles and is based on CHRIS GREENHALGH’S novel which weaves together fact and fiction.

The movie opens with the infamous 1913 premiere of THE RITE OF SPRING in PARIS, where IGOR STRAVINSKY’S score and VASLOV NIJINSKY’S experimental choreography were greeted with boos, jeers and a near riot.

Seven years later GABRIELLE (COCO) CHANEL, who attended the premiere, is introduced to the impoverished composer and invites him and his family to move into her villa.

Although the facts of what happened during the brief sojourn are hazy, in the film the characters have a passionate affair which feeds into their respective creative energies.

“I discovered that COCO attended the first premiere of THE RITE OF SPRING and that IGOR STRAVINSKY lived in the house in 1920. That’s a fact,” CHRIS GREENHALGH told reporters in CANNES.

“Other than that there was very little information. I had the framework of the facts but the freedom to invent everything that happened inside the villa.”

Early reviews have praised the look of the movie, which recreates the sumptuous ART DECO style of the villa and the fashions of 1920S PARIS. But several critics said that the actors failed to bring the historical characters fully to life.

COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY is not the first feature film on the life of the fashion designer to be released this year. AUDREY TAUTOU also portrayed her in COCO BEFORE CHANEL.

JAN KOUNEN said the coincidence was not necessarily a bad thing for his movie because it forced him to speed up his production which was therefore less affected by the financial crisis.

COCO BEFORE CHANEL hit FRENCH cinemas in April but has yet to be screened in most other countries.

“When there are two films with the same character you have to work fast, you have to be out fast. The film exists partly thanks to the fact that there were two projects.”

And while JAN KOUNEN’S movie focuses on the relationship between COCO and IGOR, COCO BEFORE CHANEL is about her rise from humble beginnings to fame and fortune and her love affair with ARTHUR “BOY” CAPEL who died in a car crash in 1919.

COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY had its premiere in CANNES on Sunday evening, when the main prizes at the end of the 12 day festival were handed out.

In the rumour filled atmosphere that traditionally precedes the awarding of the PALME D’OR, FRENCH newspapers carried talk that the jury was split due to the imperious style of ISABELLE HUPPERT, the actor heading the panel.

The JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE said that there was speculation that some members could quit the jury, leaving Ms. Huppert to present the award for BEST FILM among the 20 main competition entries almost alone on stage.

COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY played out of competition.

JAY BENNETT (FORMERLY OF WILCO) DEAD AT 45

JAY BENNETT – multi-instrumentalist and member of the band WILCO for seven years until his departure in 2001 – passed away in his sleep on Sunday morning of unknown causes.

He was 45 years old.

A friend and collaborator, musician EDWARD BURCH, told the CHICAGO SUN TIMES that an autopsy is under way to determine the cause.

As is the case with many musicians, even those who are relatively successful, JAY BENNETT did not have health insurance. His existing health problems recently became public via his MYSPACE blog, where he explained that a hip injury incurred in the 90S as the result of a stage fall was going to require surgery as soon as possible.

“It turns out that these types of injuries don’t really heal themselves,” he wrote.

In the beginning of May, shortly after that post, JAY sued former bandmate and WILCO leader JEFF TWEEDY for breach of contract and unpaid royalties. He sought to recoup $50,000, much of which, he claimed, was owed for his appearance in the WILCO documentary I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART.

That film focused on the 2000 – 2001 recording of WILCO’S pivotal album YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT and famously captured the growing rift between the two men. The falling out ended with JAY’S bitter departure from the band. After WILCO, JAY partnered with EDWARD BURCH for 2002′s THE PALACE AT 4 AM which they released as a duo.

Though JAY continued to release solo albums, he began to concentrate on his talents as a producer. His credits include work with stars such as SHERYL CROW.

JAY’S contributions to WILCO’S first five albums remain a vital part of the band’s catalogue and his work at large will certainly live on.