With his fourth leading feature film role due to come out this month, George Clooney is convinced that he can act. According to Reuters/Variety, the suave actor said that he will be tempted to improvise some of his lines on "ER"'s live season premiere on Sept. 25. The show will air on the day before his new thriller, "The Peacemaker," opens.
Whoever dares to say that scientology is not a religion will have to deal with the wrath of John Travolta. Reuters recently reported that the actor joined other witnesses to speak at a U.S. commission last week against what they described as religious discrimination and persecution in Europe. Travolta, who has been a long-time member of the Church of Scientology, spoke out mainly against the treatment of Scientologists in Germany. He claimed that German officials had tried to launch a boycott of his films because he is a Scientologist, while citing other incidences where Scientologists have been discriminated against in some form because of their convictions. Though Germany currently has an estimated 30,000 Scientologists, it is not recognized by the government as a religion.
Reuters also reports that Martin Lawrence will be working hard to negate his image of a Bad Boy. A judge recently ordered the star of such memorable expletive-fests as "Bad Boys" and "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" to perform community service and to stage a charity fund-raiser as his sentence for an incident at a Hollywood nightclub. The misdemeanor occurred Lawrence punched a man twice in the face when the victim bumped into the entertainer while dancing. Lawrence was also placed on two years' probation and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.
Variety reports that HBO Pictures President John Matoian has given the thumbs-up to "A Bright Shining Lie," HBO's most expensive film to date (about $14 million). The adaptation of Neil Sheehan's 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning book is set to start shooting on Oct. 13 in Bangkok, with Bill Paxton ("Twister") in the lead role. Paxton will play John Paul Vann, one of the first senior military advisers sent to Vietnam by JFK.
Music
As reported last week in this section, Jane's Addiction (well, three-fourths of the group, minus bassist Eric Avery and plus Flea) will be touring the U.S. later this fall. Addicted to Noise reports that the band will launch its tour with two shows at New York's 3,000-capacity Hammerstein Ballroom on Oct. 30-31. Lead singer Perry Farrell said, "There's no greater city to throw a Halloween party in than New York." The eagerly anticipated tour will be called the "I-Itz M'My Party Tour."
ATN reports that Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (MCA) plans to hold the Tibetan Feedom Concert "every year until Tibet is free." A 3-CD "Tibetan Freedom Concert Album," as well as a "Free Tibet" documentary film, will be released this winter. The album will include live versions of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees," U2's "One" and Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam performing "Yellow Ledbetter."
Another all-star benefit will take place shortly: the 11th annual Bridge School Benefit. The all-acoustic concert to benefit the school (founded in 1986 by Neil Young's wife, Peg) will take place on Oct. 8, at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif. Performers include Smashing Pumpkins, Lou Reed, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler and Neil Young, himself, ATN reports.
Finally, in a trend that has to be stopped NOW, remaining Doors members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore will be releasing a "new" song, "Orange County Suite," which consists of deceased lead singer Jim Morrison reciting one of his poems over background music played by the other three. This abomination will be part of a 4-CD album, called "Box Set," which includes three hours of previously unreleased Doors music (mostly alternate versions of Doors classics), and will be available on Oct. 28, says ATN.
