Aussie Publishing Wars

High drama as an ex-pat Aussie media man takes legal action against high profile journalist Ronan Farrow (pictured right) who wrote the 2017 New Yorker "expose" on Harvey Weinstein that kicked of the so-called @MeToo movement. He won a 2018 Pullizer Prize for that reporting.
Farrow is the son of actress Mia Farrow and director Woody Allen and the grandson of legendary Australian film writer and director John Farrow who found fame in Hollywood in the 1940s.

Enter from stage right heavyweight publisher Dylan Howard who was brought up in Geelong outside Melbourne and who studied journalism at Deakin University. After working on the daily Geelong Advertiser in 2009 Howard decamped to the US to work as a TV reporter for Kerry Stokes' Seven Network.

Howard left, has become a pretty high powered media personality over the years managing publications like Us Weekly and OK! as well as editing the hugely popular celebrity gossip tabloid the National Enquirer which no US supermarket worth it's salt would dare not feature at the check-out counters.
Recently, with a weekly circulation of over 270,000 the Enquirer was sold for $US100M.

Back to Ronan Farrow who is this month releasing an anticipated tome called Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators which rumours say will document claims Howard attempted to dig up information on Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan ( well he is a journalist- sort of his job really..a bit like Farrow's) along with other tales about US president Donald Trump.
Apparently M'Learned Friend has been contacted by Howard with high powered US, UK and Australasian law firms telling all and sundry in the book business..publisher, retailers etc they could be in line for a legal rumbling should anything untoward appear about their client.

Ronan is the image of his grandfather John Farrow. His book is due to be published on October 15th.

Winners..

So far..Cate Blanchett looking sensational on the 2014 Academy Award's red carpet in Giorgio Armani and Catherine Martin who has picked up the gong for Best Costumes for hubby Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby (pictured holding the brolly at the Sydney premiere)

Cate in Another Designer Gown

Cate Blanchett in a black Givenchy halterneck gown at London première of Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.

Cate of Many Colours

Cate Blanchett attended the Paris premiere of her Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine last night in an amazing spider-web style Karl Lagerfield dress. Contrast it with the orange creation she wore at the Sydney premiere and the amazing red dress she wore at this year's AACTA Awards.

Cate Shines In Orange

Looking as always, sensational, Cate Blanchett attended the premiere of the new Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine last night in Sydney.

There's the usual talk of Oscars and such for her performance. How does he do it ?. Allen has the world's best actors queueing, almost begging to be in his flicks. And it's not like they are even paid sensational sums. It's rumoured Cate worked on Blue Jasmine for a half million dollar fee which is chicken feed compared to the usual $15M wage she can demand.

A Night For Awards

the Emmy's kick off this morning in Los Angeles with two Australians up for awards : Nicole Kidman for her portrayal of Martha Gellhorn in the film Hemingway and Gellhorn while the reclusive Judy Davis ('best actress in the world' :Woody Allen) will be attending to see if she picks up the Best Supporting Actress gong in the political drama Page Eight.

Nicole Kidman as Martha Gellhorn with co-star Clive Owen

Trevor Ashley : Diamonds Are For Trevor

In the evening the stars of the Australian stage and local Hollywood types will gather at the Sydney Opera House for the Helpmann Awards. The Shuttle will be on hand to see if the brilliant rising drag star Trevor Ashley picks up an award for his superb show Diamonds Are For Trevor while Tim Minchin is nominated for Best Comedy performance.

Judy Davis' husband Colin Freils may get Best Actor in A Play for Red and no Sydney theatre event is worth it's salt without either Cate Blanchett in attendance or getting a Best Actress Award as she may for her role in Gross Und Klein. And Miranda Otto should be there along with the Otto clan including dad Barry Otto ('best actor in the world' : John Gielgud). Miranda has been nominated in the supporting role in The White Guard.

Bruce Beresford has been nominated for his direction of the opera Mice And Men.
Prince, Kylie Minogue, Foof Fighters, Sade and Keith Urban have all been nominated in various categories.
For the full list go to the Helpmann Awards website and check back at the social shuttle later tonight.

Another Day..Another AACTA

a red dog

This is becoming repetitive. Not a week seems to go by without a new film award. Just a few days ago Geoffrey Rush was in Los Angeles helping hand out AACTA gongs to the Gumleaf Mafia and LA locals like Meryl Streep. That was followed by the SAG Awards a few days later.

Cate Blanchett shines

Miranda Kerr

Megan Gale

Last night he looked bright eyed and bushy tailed at the Sydney Opera House handing out more AACTAs to those in the local film industry.
He had some help from colleague Cate Blanchett. Actually that is the Samsung AACTA Awards. It's the re-incarnation of the Australian Film Awards and Samsung have put a hefty sum behind the whole deal hence the media were invited inside to the Opera House instead of being, as is film publicist's wont, bundled into some pen alongside the red carpet out in the elements. So we in the meejah are now very fond of Samsung and almost as happy as actor Simon Baker who keeps popping up on television promoting Samsung products for a reputed $3M a year.

The "Australian equivalent of the Oscars" went off without a hitch and anyone who has done anything in an Aussie film was there including some who haven't like Miranda Kerr. And there was a bar for the media.

The big winner was the film Red Dog judged Best Film. It's a charming feel good movie that was inexpensive to make which should delight the producers as not only has it been a box office success, animals don't get residuals.

The LaPaglia Brothers

And Judy Davis-who Woody Allen reckons is the "best actress in the world" won Best Actress for Eye Of The Storm which is based on the book by the crankiest ever Nobel Prize winner Patrick White. Olivia Newton John, Anthony La Paglia and Magda Szubanski were there as was  Shutle pal Jaqui Weaver who was up for an Oscar last year. She spent a few hours regailing us in the bar and roaring with laughter over some very risque tales of Jacqui's after Oscar party experiences, plus Claudia Karvan who is still having difficult recalling how the Shuttle bounced her on our knee in her dad's bar Athurs in Kings Cross (innocently of course!) when she was seven. Miranda Otto and her sis Gracie Otto and their dad Barry Otto attended. And Barry is the man that Sir John Gielgug once said was the best actor in the world.

SNOWTOWN picked up a gong and qute right too. It's a pretty gruesome true life tale but well made and  based on the shocking serial murders where ten bodies were found dumped in barrels of acid n a disused bank vault in Snowton in South Australia.  Done wonders for the tourism trade I'm told.

More Honours for Nobel Winner Patrick White

Patrick White

Charlotte Rampling

The Australian film, The Eye of the Storm directed by Fred Schepisi has won the special jury prize at the Rome International Film Festival, alongside the French film See How They Dance by Claude Miller, the first time 2 movies have been awarded a joint prize.

The Eye Of The Storm stars Geoffrey Rush, Charlotte Rampling and Judy Davis ( who according to Woody Allen is "the best actress in the world") and is based on the book by Australian writer Patrick White, the first time any of his 12 novels has made it to screen and the one which so impressed a Swedish judging panel they awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature

Aussie Films Open Toronto Film Festival

Geoffrey Rush in Eye Of The Storm ( at Luna Park)

Three Australian made films have been included in the Toronto Film Festival including Eye Of The Storm directed by Fred Schepisi starring Geoffrey Rush, Burning Man by Jonathan Teplitzky and Daniel Nettheim's The Hunter.

Charlotte Rampling, Judy Davis & Geoffrey Rush in Eye Of The Storm

Eye Of The Storm also stars Charlotte Rampling and Judy Davis (the best actress on the planet according to Woody Allen) and is based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner Patrick White.

The Hunter with Willem Dafoe, Frances O'Connor and Sam Neill (spotted by the Shuttle today buying cigars in Double Bay)  has been adapted from the book Sleeping Beauty and is directed by Julia Lei.
The Toronto Film Festival runs from September 8th to the18th.

exclusive: Geoffrey Rush Attends-Cate Blanchett Calls In Sick

 Theatre director Neil Armfield was able to call in some heavyweights to launch the new book about the Belvoir Street Theatre-Geoffrey Rush and David Wenham.

And Geoffrey is always happy to help the Belvoir-he's a member of the syndicate that owns the theatre that includes some pretty big names. Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson, Sam Neill, Gillian Armstrong and Peter Carey are all part owners.

David Wenham & Bille Brown

Barry Humphries at Belvoir Street

25 Belvoir Street is a book of essays and historic snaps of the theatre. Contributors include Rhoda Roberts, Neil Armfield , Robert McFarlane and Ralph Myers and it's edited by Fairfax journalist David Marr.

It's on sale from tonight at the box office for $77 and there are a limited number signed by Rush and Armfield.

Below is part of Geoffrey Rush's speech which went on for nearly 20 minutes.

One great Belvoir Street supporter who decided not to attend knowing her presence would draw attention from the tome was Cate Blanchett.

On the weekend the News Ltd tabloids, the Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Rupert Murdoch's own baby The Australian tore into Cate because she is starring in a Climate Change series of adverts with actor Michael Caton.  

News Ltd's campaign against Blanchett was a spectacular low point for a bunch of tabloids that regularly sup in the gutter. The main gripe seemed to be that the actress is apparently worth $53M according to BRW's 2011 Rich List and that she was 'out of touch' with 'ordinary' Australians.

Emily Barclay & Geoffrey

Since Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that Labor would be introducing a carbon tax News Corp have been beside themselves with rage-none of which surfaced when 4 billionaires last year mounted a deceptive campaign against a new mining tax (that would have cleared Australia's debts in four years) on the billions those magnates reap from mineral deposits owned by the whole country.   

News Ltd spouted the line of the mining magnates-that they would up stakes and go elsewhere, Which would be some feat with the wealth being actually in the ground here.

According to the tabloids Blanchett's appearance in the adverts had "sparked outrage in the community". And who was the 'community ?. The far right wing Australian Families Association (patron : Dame Elisabeth Murdoch) and nutbag politician Barnaby Joyce.  Missing in most News Ltd reports on the great Climate Change debate is that the tax raised by Labor will be distributed to working families to cover increased costs.

We think Cate may have the last laugh here.                     


** On Wednesday 8th June at the Belvoir the long awaited Benedict Andrews production of The Seagull opens. The Chekhov play stars Emily Barclay, Bille Brown, Judy Davis (Woody Allen reckons she's the greatest actress in the world) and David Wenham.

The season has already sold out but there is standing room available but get in quick:
Box office 612 9699 3444