Farms were big this year. Russell Crowe
burped: "P.R. is part of the gig. But I'd rather be on my
farm talking to the cows. They wouldn't ask me the same bloody
questions."--CINDY ADAMS (this sounds
like Russell..)
COURTNEY Love on Cameron Crowe
at Entertainment Weekly's party: "He's like Tom Cruise.
Has to make everyone feel important. Like Drew Barrymore, who
exhausts me. I'm a rock star. Not to be selfish or nasty, but
to stay and make sure everybody loves you is like running for
office. Russell Crowe doesn't. Jagger doesn't. And goddam it,
I don't." --CINDY
ADAMS
Reports
indicate that Russell
Crowe may fly into Ireland on Thursday for a three-day
break. Crowe has wanted to visit the Emerald Isle since
finding out about his Irish heritage. He says, "When I
found out my family was originally from Ireland, I naturally
wanted to know more about Ireland and that got me onto their
poetry. I like the clarity and the emotiveness of (Patrick)
Kavanagh. I like how he combines the kind of mystic into
really clear, evocative work that can make you glad you are
alive. "I also like (William
Butler) Yeats and someone told me I have got to read
Seamus Heaney and Millington Synge and I will. If you want
to get to know literature, Ireland's the place to be."
He also mentioned a desire for his band Thirty Odd Foot Of
Grunts to perform in the country. He says, "I like to
do one or two shows about the place. I want to hang out
there for a little while, soon. Like a lot of Aussies I'd
like to go back to my roots for a while and get into the
culture. I'll have some Guinness in its home setting and
watch some football too."
Jennifer
Connelly insists her Oscar win will not change her
career too much. The A
Beautiful Mind star, who won best actress, says she's
grateful for the honor but won't let it change her life. She
says, "I'm immensely flattered by it. All that said,
you know, I'm working now on something else, and then
there's the next job and it's kind of like I start from
scratch." Jennifer will not let her ego swell after
receiving the award. She said, "I get right back into
the 'will I be good?' (mode). So, I'm just hoping that I can
do well in the next (movie)." Connelly's next big movie
is the action flick, The
Hulk.
RUSSELL Crowe
skipped the parties and the resulting remarks about him
weren't kind. Someone said, "Russell would be
commiserating with 100 of his closet friends right now - if he
had any friends!" But his open-air carrying on with the
lovely DanielleSpencer is sincere. All eyes
witnessed their affection at Spago's Saturday. I found
Russell's hand on his heart gestures to those onstage, winning
Oscars for "A Beautiful Mind," quite charming. He
has his moments.--LIZ SMITH
Russell
Crowe:
"I think he washed his hair. He looks good. He's very
simple, very formal, nothing complicated, you know. I thought
he'd be holding a spear. Russell's a tough guy, and sometimes
he's not in the mood, but tonight he's very classy. I think
he's doing Armani, but he's also doing his own thing. Did he
get a perm? This is something I need to sit and ponder all
night long. I'm going to sit in my seat in the Oscars®
going 'Did Russell Crowe get a perm? I'm not sure.' "People
Magazine style editor Steven Cojocaru
Best Actor Award For The Night:
Russell Crowe. The normally surly star tuned down his pit-bull
act and played poodle. "I'm just looking forward to
having a really nice night," a smiling - smiling? -
Russell Crowe told Gibbons during the pre-show telecast.
-- PageSix
With the crowd shouting: "Rus-sell!
Rus-sell! Rus-sell!" the biggest star of the night
finally turns, in his long frock coat, and waves to the
hysterical fans. But Russell Crowe barely acknowledged the
press, nor did he say who the blonde on his arm was.
He looks a bit bloated, doesn't he?
-- Excerpt from Washington Post's
The View From the
Edge of the Red Carpet: Gray Sobriety
Academy
Award-nominated actor Russell Crowe, left, chats with Marilyn
Katzenberg, wife of DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg,
as they watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Detroit Pistons
in Los Angeles, Friday, March 22, 2002. (AP Photo/Lucy
Nicholson) - Mar 23 1:47 AM ET
Caption: NBA photographer Catherine
Steewkeste (R) shows Australian actor Russell Crowe a digital
image she took of him during a break in the action of the Los
Angeles Lakers/Detroit Pistons game at Staples Center in Los
Angeles, March 22, 2002. Crowe is nominated for an Oscar for
best actor for his portrayal of John Nash in the motion
picture "A Beautiful Mind." Winners will be
announced Sunday, March 24 at the Academy Awards. REUTERS/Jim
Ruymen
Actor Russell Crowe, a
native of New Zealand, arrives as a guest at a pre-Oscar party
celebrating New Zealand Film Making in Beverly Hills, March
22, 2002. Crowe is nominated for a best actor Oscar for his
role in the film "A Beautiful Mind" at the 74th
Academy Awards which will be held March 24 in Hollywood.
REUTERS/Fred Prouser
With the 74th Annual Academy
Awards only a couple of days away, Universal and DreamWorks
are set to announce Oscar front-runner A Beautiful Mind
to DVD on 5/28. Specs include a 1.85:1 anamorphic wide screen
transfer, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, an audio
commentary, multiple making-of's, and the usual filmographies,
production notes and trailers. A separate pan & scan
version is also expected to be released with the same
features, and retail is $26.95 each. Watch for the full press
release and final box art to arrive this Monday, the day after
the Oscars...
Russell Crowe walks beside a poster of
his film 'A Beautiful Mind' for a news conference in Tokyo,
March 20, 2002. Crowe has been nominated for the best-actor
Oscar for his performance in the movie. Photo by Haruyoshi
Yamaguchi/Reuters
Actors
union protests Russell Crowe film
USA Today
The Screen
Actors Guild has vowed to discipline any members who sign
non-union contracts to appear in Russell Crowe's $135
million-budget seafaring film, Master and Commander.
The movie is being shot at Fox's studios in Baja, Mexico.
Rules against non-union work have rarely been enforced when
films are shot outside the USA, but a tougher SAG rule takes
effect May 1.
March 17
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
CROWE'S
FEAT
Russell Crowe (center) and 30
Odd Foots of Grunt -Photo by: Reuters
WHILE Russell Crowe prepares himself for likely Oscar
glory next Sunday, the Aussie star is about to get the worst
review of his life. The April issue of Stuff magazine is
featuring a survey that declares Crowe is "the world's
ugliest rock star." (Crowe, of course, moonlights with
his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.) But I don't think this poll
is too scientific because Russell's idol Rod Stewart,
who has a face only a mother could love, doesn't make the top
10. Some of those who do include Billy Joel, A.J.
McLean, Tom Petty and Dee Snider.--Neal
Travis, PageSix.com
BAJA FRET:
The Screen Actors Guild telling members not to sign onto
non-union contracts for the Russell
Crowe epic Master and Commander, which begins
filming in Baja, Mexico, this summer, Variety reports.
Fox claims it will abide by SAG contracts, but the actors
union sent out a warning after receiving word that casting
directors were asking actors to sign non-union contracts.--E!
online
BEAUTIFUL MIND
REVEALED:John Nash,
the schizophrenic mathematician who's the subject of Ron
Howard's A
Beautiful Mind, denying claims that he is
homosexual and anti-Semitic during an interview with 60
Minutes airing Sunday. Nash does say that he may have
made anti-Semitic comments while he was delusional.--
E! online
The Screen Actors
Guild has told its members not to sign non-union contracts for
Russell
Crowe's Master
and Commander, which begins filming in Baja,
California, this summer. According to Variety, SAG is
enforcing its "Global Rule One" which disciplines
members who work non-union outside the United States. --
Hollywood.com
STILL with Weinstein, he has good
naturedly reacted to US syndicated gossip queen Liz Smith's
suggestion that Russell Crowe should play him on the
big screen because they "despise each other."
Smith was forced to concede the two
were quite jovial with one another at the recent SAG Awards,
enjoying the odd chat while taking cigarette breaks. Speaking
to Smith through a third party, Weinstein also said he had no
problems with Crowe playing him, although "Russell
needn't gain weight as he intends to lose weight in the
future". -- Sydney
Confidential
BEFORE Russell Crowe departed
Sydney for the Oscars, he had another ceremony to attend. The
football-mad Crowe last night starred at a local stadium,
where he wheeled a 98-year-old former timekeeper onto the
field and presented him with the bell that used to be used to
mark stoppages in the game. Crowe bought the bell for about
$20,000 at a fund-raiser for his favorite football team and
got huge applause for passing it on to the old guy. (The Rugby
League match, by the way, was between Crowe's team, the
Rabbitohs, and the rival Roosters, but we don't want to get
into the strange nomenclature of the Land Down Under or we'll
all have to send out for Vegemite sangers.) -- NEAL
TRAVIS, NY Post
A. Russell Crowe,
explaining backstage why he wouldn't recite the poem that was
cut from the British telecast of the BAFTA Awards. (The
deletion, 'course, caused a riotous ruckus between Crowe and
the show's producer, Malcolm Gerrie.)
Further non-poetry in
motion: "I was unrepentant for a while," Crowe
boasted about the BAFTA incident, "but I found out
Gerrie's son Oscar was getting a hard time at school. So, I
called up Gerrie, and he graciously accepted my apology. Then
I talked to his son for about a half hour and told him
everything he wanted to know about Gladiator."--Awful
Truth E! Online
"I'm a virgin to all this. So I
broke my virginity this evening to award ceremonies. I'm
drinking a sneaky vodka and tonic. But I shouldn't because I'm
on antibiotics for the bronchitis." Paul Bettany,
30, of A Beautiful Mind, which was nominated for
outstanding cast in a motion picture (it lost to Gosford
Park).-- People Magazine
"The last two years, I've been
marketing a movie, while shooting a movie, while being on the
circuit of the awards season, but this year I'm marketing A
Beautiful Mind, but I'm not actually shooting at the same
time, so I'm experiencing it a little bit more directly. It's
very enjoyable." The volatile Russell
Crowe, 37, who took home the award for best actor in a
motion picture.-- People Magazine
Russell
Crowe introduces Texas: Part I hilo Russell Crowe introduces Texas: Part II hilo
HOLLYWOOD
FOOTLIGHTS: Ever the girl-next-door, Nicole Kidman,
despite her superstar status, made a beeline to fellow Aussie,
Russell Crowe, after his Sunday night SAG Best Actor
win. The usually stoic Crowe, who stars in "A Beautiful
Mind," had tears in his eyes as he welcomed Nic's
accolades. He was overheard asking, "Was my speech
OK?"
MEETING
OF MINDS: Longtime
pals Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman talk it up at the
8th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.
Crowe was a best actor winner for his portrayal of
schizophrenic math genius John Nash in A Beautiful
Mind. (Kevin Winter/ImageDirect)
peoplemagazine.com
Russell
Crowe also collected some brownie points as he talked to
reporters about "the incident," and made jokes
about himself relating to "the incident" and
basically looked like a winner. This article appeared n USA
Today: Crowe
takes the high road
BEAUTIFUL
DAY:Ron
Howard winning the Directors Guild of America's top honor
Saturday for A Beautiful Mind. Howard previously won
the DGA prize in 1996 for Apollo 13, but he was not
even nominated for an Oscar that year.
30 Odd Foot of Grunts Clarity
(Gruntland) ***
£13.99
The only reason Tofog, as this
Australian six-piece abbreviate themselves, might be troubling
CD players in the next few weeks is that their
singer/guitarist is Russell Crowe, the latest Hollywood
heart-throb to unveil his musical talent. Like Keanu Reeves
and Billy Bob Thornton, Crowe maintains that music is a
passion rather than an amusing diversion; and, in his defence,
far worse atrocities than this unobtrusive alt.country set
clutter the charts as we speak. Crowe is a mumbler in the mode
of Tindersticks' Stuart Staples, his range restricted to one
low-pitched register; unless you follow along on the lyric
sheet, many of his wistful musings (such as "Love
unrequited, jamming up my system / I'm melting with
desire", which should get the ladies in a tizzy) pass in
an unintelligible blur. But that doesn't stand in the way of
enjoying the Stonesy ballad texture of Wendy or Memorial Day's
lost-in-a-fog trumpet line. Crowe's guitar-playing is
competent, too: he knows his limits and doesn't try any funny
stuff. Innocuously pleasant. (CS) -- The Guardian
Russell Crowe is mad. Again. Seems the
folks at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
cut his poem. Again. The temperamental actor set off a
firestorm last week when he exploded at the head of
BAFTA for cutting a four-line poem from his acceptance
speech. This week, Crowe invited friends to a party to
watch the Australian rebroadcast of the BAFTA show.
Crowe was promised that his poetry recital would be left
intact, but it wasn’t. “The party came to an abrupt
halt,” a source was quoted as telling the British
newspaper, The Sun. Russell couldn’t believe the poem
was axed again. He went sulky at first, then got
angry.” . . . .-- Jeannette Walls NY Daily News
HIDE THE PRODUCER:Russell Crowe, who accosted
(and later apologized) a BBC producer for edited out the
actor's recitation of a poem from the broadcast of last week's
British Academy Awards, dissed again on Monday when the poem
was cut for the telecast in his adopted homeland of Australia.--
E! Online
THE STORY THAT WON'T DIE:
Aussie spitfire Russell
Crowe — who lost his beautiful mind when a TV
producer cut
his reading of a poem at last month's British Academy Film
Awards — was peeved all over again when the verse was
excised from the broadcast in his native Australia. According
to The Sun, Crowe was assured that his acceptance
speech would not be edited again. Would someone please
air this thing already?!?! -- TVGuide
Online
RUSSELL
EATS CROW: Sounds like Russell
Crowe regrets ranting at TV producer Malcolm Gerrie
for removing part of his acceptance speech at last month's
British Academy Film Awards. "He said his language had
been excessive and, yes, he was still a bit sore — but he
understood that Malcolm had a job to do," Gerrie's rep
told Reuters. In an apologetic phone call over the
weekend, Crowe offered to buy Gerrie a drink on his next
London trip, and also spent 15 minutes chatting with his
"thrilled" son, who's a big fan. Cheers to making
peace, gents.-- TV Guide online
MORE OSCAR FODDER: Further
proof that this year's Academy Awards race is wide open: Oscar
hopefuls Gosford
Park and A
Beautiful Mind were the big winners at Saturday's
Writers Guild awards, scoring best original screenplay and
best adapted screenplay, respectively.--TVguide
A BEAUTIFUL SCRIPT:
Murder mystery Gosford
Park winning best original screenplay and A
Beautiful Mind snagging best adapted screenplay as
both took top honors at the Writers Guild of America
awards on Saturday. Writer-director Blake Edwards
was also honored with the guild's lifetime achievement
award. -- E! online
Even by Russell
Crowe's standards it's been a big week - a prize, a premiere
and another public brawl. He spoke to Herald film writer Garry
Maddox about why he throws himself into his work and life with
such ferocity.
Our item about Russell
Crowe skipping the Miramax party at London's BAFTA Awards
resulted in a flurry of calls yesterday. Crowe believes the
New York-based studio is waging some sort of campaign against
his movie "A Beautiful Mind" and all sorts of
industry types checked in to ask if a no-Oscar drive is indeed
underway. But the grumpy Gladiator can relax: If there was a
nefarious plot, tongues would've been wagging in our ears, and
we haven't heard a whisper... -- NYDailynews.com
Jennifer
Connelly
Academy
Award-nominated actor Russell Crowe, left, chats with Marilyn
Katzenberg, wife of DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg,
as they watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Detroit Pistons
in Los Angeles, Friday, March 22, 2002. (AP Photo/Lucy
Nicholson) - Mar 23 1:47 AM ET
A. Russell Crowe,
explaining backstage why he wouldn't recite the poem that was
cut from the British telecast of the BAFTA Awards. (The
deletion, 'course, caused a riotous ruckus between Crowe and
the show's producer, Malcolm Gerrie.)
Russell
Crowe also collected some brownie points as he talked to
reporters about "the incident," and made jokes
about himself relating to "the incident" and
basically looked like a winner. This article appeared n USA
Today: 
Russell's Beautiful Night
Russell Crowe is mad. Again. Seems the
folks at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
cut his poem. Again. The temperamental actor set off a
firestorm last week when he exploded at the head of
BAFTA for cutting a four-line poem from his acceptance
speech. This week, Crowe invited friends to a party to
watch the Australian rebroadcast of the BAFTA show.
Crowe was promised that his poetry recital would be left
intact, but it wasn’t. “The party came to an abrupt
halt,” a source was quoted as telling the British
newspaper, The Sun. Russell couldn’t believe the poem
was axed again. He went sulky at first, then got
angry.” . . . .-- Jeannette Walls NY Daily News)
Russell's
Secret Party
