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It was a grand entrance on the Grand Canal.
George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones met a throng of fans on
day six of the Venice Film Festival. The pair was there to promote
their new film "Intolerable Cruelty," about a divorce lawyer who
falls for his client's ex-wife. But poor George had no idea what
was waiting for him inside. Love was clearly in the canals as
a reporter asked Clooney for his hand.
But it was all in good fun, and it got Catherine
thinking about affairs of the heart and her famous husband back
home. She says, "I guess love is a very special thing, and I'm
very lucky to be in love and have love in my life. George and
Catherine weren't the only big names in town promoting their latest
films; they joined the likes of Bill Murray, Sofia Coppola, and
even her cousin Nicolas Cage. But it’s not always easy for this
sea of stars to navigate the city of canals. Catherine says, "It
was a little choppy, we had a few wakes and the heels were a bit
of a problem. There's nothing more embarrassing then falling into
the water." Clooney adds, "But I decided not to wear the heels
so I was fine."
source: reuters
Clooney, Zeta-Jones Spark Frenzy in Venice
VENICE, Italy - Hollywood celebrities George
Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones whipped up a frenzy in Venice
Wednesday as the Coen brothers' new screwball romantic comedy
"Intolerable Cruelty" premiered at the film festival. Girls screamed
and paparazzi jostled for position as the stars pulled up in an
elegant wooden boat to promote the new film about a Beverly Hills
battle of the sexes.
Zeta-Jones dazzled in a fluttery, ultra-feminine
black dress, but Clooney was the main attraction. "Georgeous Clooney!"
the headline of one film magazine said, while an Italian comedienne
interrupted a press conference on the Lido to ask for the 42-year-old
actor's hand in marriage. Joel and Ethan Coen rushed their latest
picture to the 60th Venice Film Festival, where it is being screened
as a "work in progress," since a couple of extra shots will be
added to the film before its commercial release.
Clooney portrays Miles Massey, a highly successful
Los Angeles divorce attorney who finally meets his match in professional
husband hunter Marylin, played by Zeta-Jones. And yet, as the
two battle it out in the divorce courts they find they cannot
help being attracted to each other. "I didn't want Marylin to
be that deliciously bitchy because I wanted people to like her,"
said Zeta-Jones, who won an Oscar for her recent performance in
the gangster musical "Chicago."
"She's the eye of the storm or a tornado, unaware
of what chaos she can create," said the Welsh actress,who in real
life is married to actor Michael Douglas .Geoffrey Rush and Billy
Bob Thornton also make hilarious appearances in the film, which
kept critics howling at a preview screening Tuesday night. "You
can't really underplay the characters, there's nothing subtle
about a Joel and Ethan script," said Clooney, who has worked with
the critically acclaimed filmmakers before in "O Brother, Where
Art Thou?"
With his rugged good looks and charming smile,
the Hollywood heart throb is better known for his pictures like
"Ocean's Eleven" and the TV series "ER." Although "Intolerable
Cruelty" has a malicious side, it marks a shift from some of the
Coen brothers' darker works like "Fargo" and "Barton Fink," prompting
critics to ask if they were going mainstream. "Intolerable Cruelty"
is showing out of competition at the world's oldest film festival.
Twenty pictures are facing off for the Golden Lion, which will
be awarded Saturday.
source: REUTERS, Wed Sep 3, by Shasta Darlington
Italian journalist proposes marriage to George
Clooney
VENICE, Italy (AP) - George Clooney said
"I do" sort of when a journalist asked him to marry
her during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival.
Clooney was answering questions Wednesday
about his new film, "Intolerable Cruelty," when an Italian TV
journalist wearing a white veil proposed marriage. The needy reporter
appeared wearing a white veil and had two rings and a faux priest
in tow.
"All right, come here," Clooney
replied. The woman approached the dais, bringing along a cameraman
doubling as a priest who produced two rings. "Finally, finally
married!" Clooney said, although he added: "My fear is that he
really is a priest."
Clooney kissed the journalist, laughed
and had a sip of celebratory wine before moving on: "Next question?"
"Intolerable Cruelty," the Coen
brothers' latest film, stars Clooney as a divorce lawyer and Catherine
Zeta-Jones as a "serial divorcee." It is not in competition at
the festival. In an interview in the October issue of Vanity Fair
magazine, the 42-year-old Clooney said he is single and still
keeps hope alive about dating. "You get to start over and go,
`I'm a really nice guy.' And by virtue of saying it, you can be
it. You can actually decide, OK, now I'm a really nice guy."
source: AP, Sept 4th 2003
VIDEO COVERAGE
George Clooney on dating
Actor likes chance to start
anew, hates paparazzi
LOS ANGELES, California -- Actor
George Clooney clearly relishes living the life of a rich and
famous bachelor, but dating has had its ups and downs. "Here's
the great thing about dating," Clooney says in a Vanity Fair magazine
interview that hits newsstands on Wednesday. "You get to start
over and go, 'I'm a really nice guy.' And by virtue of saying
it, you can be."'
Plus, he rarely, if ever, strikes
out with women. The downside of being one Hollywood's most eligible
hunks, even as he wiles away the summer in a picturesque Italian
villa, is venturing outdoors with any new real-life love interest
and thus becoming "fresh meat" for the paparazzi. "The minute
you start dating, it's pictures and stories and 'Who is she?'
And it puts the pressure on immediately," he laments.
"So you have to decide, before you
go out in public, if you're willing to take those hits. Usually,
it's, 'Well, why don't we stay in and have some drinks and get
to know each other before we decide if we're willing to face up
to this." The paparazzi aren't the only ones who hound Clooney
for his picture. The latest twist in celebrity stalking is the
cell phone camera.
"I've literally gone out to dinner
and a girl comes over to the table and says, 'Can I have a kiss?'
She leans over, gives me a kiss, I go back to the house, and the
photograph is on the TV. It's hysterical."
As a result, Clooney says he has
spent much of the summer holed up inside the luxurious confines
of his 15-bedroom villa overlooking Italy's Lake Como. But the
42-year-old "ER" heartthrob turned big-screen leading man says
he considers himself "lucky" to be living the good life, and he
knows better than to complain about the trappings of fame and
fortune.
Clooney did, however, take umbrage
at Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan for his scathing
review of the actor's recent directing debut, "Confessions of
a Dangerous Mind." "An angry ... guy," Clooney said of Turan.
"He just destroyed 'Confessions.' It was a real personal attack.
It was really brutal."
source: Reuters, Wednesday, September 3, 2003
Venice laps up Zeta and Clooney
Clooney and Zeta Jones arrived
to promote their film by boat. Catherine Zeta Jones and George
Clooney have been making waves after sailing into the Venice Film
Festival.
The stars arrived by a boat to promote
their new film, Intolerable Cruelty, ahead of its premiere at
the prestigious event on Wednesday. Critics gave the film - directed
by the acclaimed Coen brothers - a warm reception at a preview
screening. The actors are two of the biggest names in Venice and
caused some of the most frenzied scenes of the festival so far.
Fans and paparazzi scrambled to
get a glimpse of the pair as they pulled up in their elegant wooden
motorboat.In Intolerable Cruelty, Clooney plays a successful divorce
lawyer who has a court battle with Zeta Jones, who portrays a
woman who makes money by marrying and then divorcing rich men.
It sees Clooney reunited with Joel and Ethan Coen, who directed
him in O Brother Where Art Thou? and have also had hits with films
like The Big Lebowski and Fargo.
During a press conference in Venice,
Clooney said: "There aren't all that many good scripts out there
so any time you find a script you think is funny you want to work
on it. He also said he wanted to take any chance he could to work
with the Coens. "I've had a great fun time with them," he said.
"There are few directors who you'll do anything you can for. Very
few."
Most questions at the press conference
were directed at the former ER star - dubbed "Georgeous Clooney"
by one film magazine - while an Italian comedienne interrupted
proceedings to propose to him. The actor admitted his recent more
serious films had "bombed" at the box office, but said: "You just
keep plugging away and hope one of them will make it."
This is the 60th anniversary of the
Venice Film Festival - the oldest event of its kind. It has already
seen acclaimed premières of Woody Allen's latest film, Anything
Else, and Lost In Translation starring Bill Murray.Intolerable
Cruelty is not in the running for the festival's main award, the
Golden Lion, which was handed out on Saturday.
source: BBC, 4th Sept. 2003
Official BIENNALE site with
Clooney photos
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY Official US Site:
Official German Site, German title "Ein (un)möglicher
Härtefall":
EXTERNAL LINKS COVERING THE VENICE EVENT
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