• The View [ABC]

D: So did you actually call Sir Ben Kingsley "Sir Ben" on set?

DH: I did. Absolutely. With pleasure.

D: Yet the viewer gets the sense you have the mandate to continually bust his balls, even off-camera. You also share a fairly shocking moment near the end of the film. What was your relationship like?

DH: It was all written, really. It was a wonderful relationship that seems very real and honest; you can tell the two men really loved each other and respected each other. I think that my character realized that as professors at the university, Sir Ben was probably a little smarter, a little brighter, a little more removed — but certainly not as worldly as my character, who is advising him on having an affair with a younger woman. My character has had many affairs. It's the one moment my character has an up on him. In my career I never had a part that was really seemed like a real person — the emotion, the give and take between Sir Ben and myself were very honest, I thought.

D: Your career is endlessly fascinating: You acted alongside James Dean twice; obviously there's Easy Rider; you've appeared opposite three Oscar-winners in as many films this year alone. Do you ever take stock of how many Hollywood storylines your work intersects?

DH: Yeah, sort of. But not really. I think of my career as a disappointment most of the time. After Easy Rider and The Last Movie, not directing anymore was a really devastating affair for me. And for the last 16 years, trying to direct movies and not getting financing has really been very hard on me. I really want to direct. I know that through the years I've been very fortunate to act; Blue Velvet was wonderful. Apocalypse Now. But if you still always think about directing movies, it's a chore. And I had to take a lot of bad movies at times. Out of 150 movies that I've been in, there are maybe 20 that are really good movies.

D: You've also got TV behind you and in front of you, including an cable adaptation of Crash. It's obviously a pretty polarizing film; will the series follow that same vein?

DH: Well, you'll remember that that was three different stories that sort of all come together in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is still the basis of where it's all happening, though we're shooting in Albuquerque. The writers are the same — Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis — but the characters are all different. I play a Phil Spector-type music mogul whose always trying to look for the next big move. He's hired a 22-year-old driver from Watts who wants to be a rap star. Their relationship is totally bizarre. But it's wonderfully written and I'm having a good time.

D: But does the world really need 13 more hours of Crash?

DH: These are different characters. But why do they need it? Why does the world need entertainment at all? Do we need TV? We have it. And we do have series, and they're usually 13 in the first run. This is going to be a good 13. I love it because I've never seen such incredible language, and the things you can do on cable television now you can't even get away with in movies. We had an orgy the other day. For me it's a joy.

Cronenberg kept staring at me, like in this weird way, and I said, 'What? What?' And he goes, 'I'm really hoping you'll lactate.' . . . At one point, while we were filming, I screamed and my poor milk just shot off.

I [said] to him, 'Oh, I think you may have gone too far' . . . He cut [the scene] and later sent that little bit of film to me . . . I remember saying to [him] . . . 'Well, you cut out the most significant thing I have ever done on film."

Quite a claim from a woman less than a decade removed at the time from Amazon Women on the Moon, and certainly quite a claim from the set of a film where pretty much everything that could go did go. We have to assume her "poor milk" just never made the shot itself; otherwise we just know Cronenberg would have plugged a copy into the Lactated and Unrated Director's Cut DVD years ago.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

• ROSANNA'S SCENE TO FORGET [NYP]

"the accident happened when the car used by two stuntmen rammed into a filming lorry and then into a wall on set near the picturesque Lake Garda in northern Italy..."

"...one of the two men, a Greek national, ended up in intensive care in a hospital in the nearby town of Verona."

None of the major characters from the movie, including the ones played by Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock, are likely to make it to the series, said Beggs. "We'll use the style of storytelling from the movie," he said, "but there'll be new characters and new stories to get into the subjects of race and class, and the bigotry that's simmering under the skin of a city like Los Angeles."

Though the jettisoning of Crash's beloved character-types is certainly disappointing (surely, someone at least considered the possibility of making an offer to Kevin Dillon to reprise brother Matt's Oscar-nominated performance), we're sure viewers will embrace the fresh players Paul Haggis uses to expose the prejudice-riddled underbelly of Los Angeles on Starz, open-mindedly accepting the secretly racist firefighters, Hollywood agents, or middle-class housewives who find their lives improbably intertwined by the we're-all-just-trying-feel-something fender-bender that opens each episode.

• Starz braces for 'Crash' [Variety]
• Previously: Lionsgate Pulls WGA Into A Negotiation Room For A Spat-Ending Quickie [Defamer]

• 'Crash' director sues producer over film profits [AFP]

Though Stewart's previous turn as emcee of Hollywood Biggest Night was met by both low ratings and mixed critical reaction (there's really no pleasing Tim Allen) we're willing to give him another chance: he was profoundly unlucky in drawing the coveted assignment in a year irretrievably tainted by a Crash Best Picture win, and can't be blamed for the mass rioting that immediately followed the hand-over of Paul Haggis' second statuette of the cursed ceremony, an uprising that resulted in the tragic burning to the ground of the Kodak amidst chants of "Worst! Oscars! Ever!" With Oscar's home completely rebuilt and the unlikelihood that we'll experience another apocalypse-harkening upset, Stewart's return should be a triumphant one that helps to erase the painful memories of the unfortuante events of that March 2006 evening.

• Academy to Invite Jon Stewart Back as Oscar Host [NY Times]
• Jon Stewart to return as Oscar host [AP]

Spinelli and I were sitting at Starbucks yesterday watching the crash over and over, considering the propensity for understeer those damned wonderful Ferrari Enzos have. Simultaneously we were attempting to answer our own nagging doubts over why someone would erect a concrete divider that close to the track and why it seemed like the "Understeering Brother" was so composed after the accident. It appears we're not the only ones who had some doubts. The star-lovers over at TMZ are asking a question today that we're going to put to you. Was the Undercover Brother doing some Oscar-worthy acting in order to build some publicity for the Daniel Sadek-produced "Redline?" We've re-included the gallery from yesterday below and the compilation video above for further reference. Oh, and by the way...remember...Save The Enzos, save the world. [Hat tip to J.D.!] – Ray Wert

Was Griffin's Crash a Hoax? [TMZ.com]

Related:
Hoon Of The Day: It's The Ferrari Enzo-Killer, Eddie Griffin...Duh; New Video Of Eddie Griffin's Ferrari Enzo Fender-Bender; Another Enzo Bites The Dust, This Time With Eddie Griffin At The Wheel [internal]

Safeguards on secrecy continue up to the ceremony.

On Saturday, the day before the Oscars, the accountants will prepare two identical sets of envelopes stuffed with cards bearing the winners' names, which are placed in a safe.

The morning of the show, each accountant picks up his set of envelopes and places them inside a black, leather case, which contrary to popular myth is not handcuffed to their wrists. Accompanied by police officers, the two are driven separately to the Kodak, each taking a different route as a precaution against Los Angeles' notorious traffic.

Once at the Kodak, the accountants' job is to maintain a poker face and keep the results to themselves until they hand the envelopes to the presenters as each category is announced.

"I take it very, very seriously," Oltmanns said. "The evening of the show, I'm backstage looking at each envelope 15 or 20 times before it's handed to the presenter to make sure that I've got the right envelope for the right presenter."

Unfortunately, not even these elaborate precautions are sufficient to prevent a determined studio from tampering with the results if they're willing to go to any length to lock up an Oscar. We should all now pause to remember the brave PriceWaterhouseCoopers staffers who lost their lives last year after both were intercepted on their separate routes to the ceremony, when accountant-lookalike operatives from Lionsgate overwhelmed them, replaced the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay envelopes with counterfeit ones indicating a double Crash win, then tossed their bodies in a dumpster behind the Kodak Theatre. As there was nothing in the Academy's archaic bylaws that addressed this exact eventuality, the film was allowed to keep the awards even once the bodies were discovered days later, closing perhaps the saddest chapter in Oscar history.

[Photo: Getty Images]

• Oscar voting draws to close [Reuters]
• Previously: Oscar's Unsung Heroes: The Fearless Accountants Of PricewaterhouseCoopers [Defamer]

"Mr. Yari's legal representatives have indicated his intention to continue pressing his cause at a higher level," he wrote, referring to the case as a "petulant, nonsensical lawsuit." "So we assume that we can look forward to spending many additional thousands of dollars pointlessly a year or so down the road."

As a matter of course, Hollywood generally sublimates conflict beneath a patina of glitter and avoidance, but Mr. Davis sent a message in breathtakingly direct fashion. "We are not in any sense a vindictive organization," his note continues, "but neither are we schmucks: please let Mr. Yari know that for the next half-dozen years or so, unless he personally is a nominee, his Oscar night plans should not include the Governors Ball."

To make sure that his warning is heeded by those who might think to challenge the Academy's credit decisions with future petulant and nonsensical legal actions, Davis will renew his threats at this year's Governors Ball gala, briefly interrupting the festivities to announce over the public address system, "Good evening, Friends of Oscar! Are you enjoying our delicious food? Take a minute to savor what you're chewing. If you ever—EVER—try to make us look like schmucks, that will be the last fucking mouthful of our free sushi you ever taste. Enjoy the rest of your evening!"

• Deciding Eligibility for Oscar [NY Times]

"I was not invited to the premiere," Shulman confirmed to Page Six. "I went as Paul Giamatti's date."

"When I saw [Yari], I said hello. He didn't say anything, but let's put it this way - if looks could kill . . . and they didn't give me a wristband to get in the VIP section of the after-party."

Not that Schulman minded. We hear she joined the cast at Norton's pad on East 10th Street for a super-exclusive after-party - to which Yari was not invited.

"It's just an unfortunate and unnecessary situation," she said. "I still haven't been paid for 'Crash' or 'The Illusionist.' "

Oh, those two! The petty antics continued deep into the night, until Schulman stopped answering her cellphone, finally tired of having the private cast after-party interrupted by a series of calls from "Blocked Caller ID" consisting of nothing more than the sound of a toilet flushing and a man giggling uncontrollably.

• CRASH OF WILLS AT FLICK DEBUT [Page Six]

In Hollywood it is not unusual for squabbles to erupt over dividing the spoils when a small film becomes a very big hit. But part of what is creating bruised feelings with "Crash" is the sense among the starring cast members that their initial sacrifice has not been acknowledged with a gesture, whatever the precise state of collection accounts.

"You'd think that for a movie that won best picture, what you would do is write the actors a check against their profits, or you give them a car, or something," said a representative for one of the leading actors, who spoke on condition of anonymity because his client had barred him from speaking on the record. "That would be the classy thing to do." He added: "The money is dribbling in. It's almost offensive how little money it is."

Indeed, it does seem like a pretty egregious breach of established industry etiquette to not distract the talent with shiny trinkets while trying to screw them. Even a struggling actress without a SAG card gets a Tiffany necklace and as many glasses of champagne as she can drink before a producer mounts her in the hot tub.

• 'Crash' Principals Still Await Payments for Their Work [NYT]
• Previously: Paul Haggis Wants You To Know He's Not Ready For Lifetime Network Work Quite Yet [Defamer]
• 'Crash' Producer Is 'Flat Broke' [Defamer]

That description isn't sitting well with several of the other producers of "Crash," including the film's director and co-writer Paul Haggis, Mark R. Harris and co-writer Bobby Moresco, who have joined in a lawsuit against Lifetime demanding that the tagline be removed from billboards, radio ads and other promotional materials. [...]

"We are asking for this to stop. It's just not correct," said celebrity attorney Richard L. Charnley, who filed the lawsuit in Santa Monica Superior Court on Wednesday seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the network's use of the description. He said the network has gone "out of its way" to leverage Nunan's involvement in "Crash" while also diluting the value of future projects being developed by Haggis, Harris and Moresco.

A settlement in the dispute aimed at imposing greater specificity to the credit could result in some kind of absurd compromise, like new ads altering the line to read "from some of the producers of Crash," or "from two members of the Crash team who made a lot of phone calls, but not from the guy who wrote and directed it or his two pals." And while we hate to take sides in such matters, we do see Haggis' point in seeking legal remedy: He really can't risk executives in this town thinking that he'd waste his heavy-handed magic on a Lifetime series when bigger players are still hungry for his hacky, obvious gifts.

• 'Crash' fight moves to the small screen [LAT]
• Previously: The 'Crash' Lawsuits: Yari Vs. Schulman Vs. The Whole F'ing System [Defamer]

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council and Police Chief William Bratton will honor Lionsgate, Paul Haggis, the producers, cast and crew of three-time Academy Award winning Best Picture "Crash" in a City Hall ceremony on April 4, 2006, at 10 AM. This honor coincides with the DVD release of Crash Director's Cut Edition.

During the ceremony the Mayor and Council will designate April 4th as "Crash / FilmL.A. Day" in the City of Los Angeles in recognition of the award winning film, shot almost entirely within the City of Los Angeles.

"Our City is proud of Lionsgate and the cast and crew of Crash for this powerful film, which was shot almost entirely on the streets of Los Angeles," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "In the most diverse City in the world, we live and work side by side with people from different backgrounds, but we seldom talk about — and learn — from our differences. Art is meant to provoke, Crash certainly has and will continue to do so for years to come."

Perhaps even more disquieting than the notion that Lionsgate somehow didn't allow Haggis to fully realize his heavy-handed vision in the version that won Best Picture (we hear that in the Director's Cut, the entire movie will be split-screened with a continuous loop of the Rodney King video) is the thought of what Crash Day might entail—if the movie's vision of LA is important and accurate enough to merit this kind of recognition, a Very Special Day of staged carjackings, racially motivated traffic-stop fondlings, and redemptive, colorblind car-fire rescues seems completely unnecessary, even if there's a new DVD that needs promoting.

• Speaking of race and L.A. [LA Observed]

So my wife and I decide to catch a 9:45pm showing of CAPOTE Saturday Night at the ArcLight. We enter the theater and show the attendant our tickets. He looks over and realizes that someone is in our seats. He politely walks over and asks them to move. They do so, and as we get closer to our seats we realize it is Mayor Villaraigosa and his (I m assuming) wife. We take our seats next to him and a woman in the row in front of us realizes who the Mayor is and drops her popcorn. The mayor then asks the attendant to please refill her popcorn. As he does this they begin a discussion of the movies they have seen and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN come up which the Mayor says he LOVED. The lights go down and the movie begins. Thirty minutes in to it I hear a snort. I look over and the Mayor is dead asleep!

Let s recap:

The mayor sat in our seats.

He loved BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

He slept through CAPOTE.

We've been to the ArcLight many times, but we weren't aware that fetching snacks for the theater's clumsy patrons is included in their usher's duties—isn't it humiliating enough that they have to give that little speech about making sure the picture and sound quality are perfect without this added burden? Also, the mayor's already come out publicly as a Crash fan, so this safe, have-it-both-ways pandering to the Brokeback contingent seems a particularly shifty move.

• Previously: Overheard Celebrity Movie Reviews: Elijah Wood On 'Narnia' [Defamer]

And at what should be a career pinnacle, Schulman finds herself flat broke. "I have the interesting distinction of having made five movies in a row without ever being paid," she says. "I can't pay my bills." [...]

In the film community, while many respect Schulman's taste and acumen as a producer, some question her business judgment when it comes to the men with whom she works. "Cathy's emotionality makes her a good producer on-set," says one producer, "but gets her into trouble in business."

Schulman admits that she has been "saddened and angered" by the time spent fighting those legal battles. Amid the Ovitz litigation, she filed for bankruptcy. "I bring the same total commitment and passion to movie projects and to managing my process," she says. "It's my greatest strength and weakness. It's the same thing that made me fight tireless battles to get 'Crash' to the screen without pay. I don't suffer wrongdoing well. I right wrongs with legal battles. I want to pave the way for people who follow me not to let this happen." [...]

"Twice, I've built companies for powerful men who've gotten [ticked] off ... and sued me," Schulman says. "In defending myself, I'm considered litigious, like I'm the problem."

As much as it pained us to watch Schulman and writer/director Paul "Ask Me About How I Made Millions By Getting Carjacked" Haggis step up to the stage to accept the Best Picture Oscar, we were quite impressed that she actually thanked Yari in her acceptance speech, perhaps wanting to save for the witness stand the dramatic moment where she invites the producer to insert her hard-won statuette into a body cavity not usually recommended for the storage of awards hardware.

• 'Crash' producer: I'm broke [THR/CNN.com]
• Previously: The 'Crash' Lawsuits: Yari Vs. Schulman Vs. The Whole F'ing System [Defamer]