Even though Charlie Sheen has mercifully stopped making boastful “tiger blood” DNA claims, those three initials are still part of his Mulholland Drive gated community make-up. Only now, they’ve been re-arranged to spell NDA.

We know this because Karina Longworth leads off her fun house-call LA Weekly cover story with a reminder that celebs like Sheen are doing all they can to prevent a triggering of the TMZ coffers. With, in the reformed actor’s case, a little help from seasoned entertainment PR pro Larry Solters. From Longworth’s article:

I am intercepted in Sheen’s driveway by a security guard, a friendly, not-intimidatingly-large man who asks me to come with him into the garage to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

This is a first for me. I scan the five pages of legalese, in which the undersigned — me — is referred to as “the Employee.” To what extent, I wonder, will signing this document impede my ability to do my actual job of interviewing Sheen and his childhood friend, Roman Coppola, about their new movie, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III?

Read more

This is both a surprise and a reversal of the usual currents underlying the departure of a full-time print film critic. Today is Karina Longworth‘s last day as an LA Weekly full-time film editor writer and former film editor. She will continue to contribute as a freelancer and explains the decision was entirely hers:

For some time I’ve been itching to try new things, to write for additional venues and in formats I’m not practiced in… Then, a book project came along that I couldn’t turn down, and I decided it was time to make the leap. Said book will be my priority for the next couple of months…

This is not Longworth’s first book. Earlier this fall, Phaidon Press published the English-language version of an overview of the career of Star Wars maestro George Lucas that Longworth completed in 2011 for Cahiers du Cinema. ”The new book is on Meryl Streep,” Longworth tells FishbowlLA via email. “It’s again for Cahiers du Cinema. This one is longer, more in depth; it’s the story of her career and craft via critical analysis of ten performances.”

Read more

In addition to his duties as an author and freelance film writer, Stephen Farber has a new gig: president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assocation (LAFCA). He took over in late July from Brent Simon and tells FishbowlLA he has just begun working on the logistics of the group’s annual awards dinner.

Farber recently wrote a quartet of reviews for The Hollywood Reporter from Telluride and says that by year’s end, he will have written somewhere between two and three dozen critiques for the publication. He also contributes interviews and critical essays to outlets such as The Daily Beast and the LA Times.

“As an example, I did a piece for The Daily Beast before The Artist won Best Picture,” Farber recalls. “I was writing that if it did win, it would be the first time that a movie about movies or about Hollywood had won that prize, even though many such pictures have been made and, in some cases, been nominated.”

A problem in recent years with the Oscars telecast is that the winning performers have previously won the same prize at several other major awards shows, rendering their acceptances speeches moot. For example, Lincoln’s Daniel Day-Lewis could possibly run the table in 2012.

Read more

Yahoo’s Dylan Stableford got a funny scoop after super lawyer Gloria Allred accidentally forgot to BCC the 380 journos on her invite list to an Oscar viewing party at the Beverly Hills Hotel–on behalf of Ginger White, the woman who claims to have had a 13-year affair with Herman Cain.

First of all, what a weird fucking party to go to. Even by LA standards.

“So, did you watch the Oscars last night? The fucking French, huh?

“Yeah. What was all that yelling about? Just bring the dog up with you, tap dance a little and get the hell out of there.”

“Anyway, hung out with Herman Cain’s (alleged) mistress at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Just a doll. And she totally called Meryl Streep. The Academy owed her one.”

As far as the actual blown BCC goes, Stableford writes that at least one journo on the list wasn’t too pleased. “Dear Gloria: Thanks for sharing your entire mailing list with your entire mailing list.”

Stableford has the emails in full if you’re curious.

For years now, the most entertaining part of the Oscars has been Jimmy Kimmel‘s post-Academy Awards special.

The ABC late night talk show host landed some serious star power for his seventh special Thursday when the network announced Oprah Winfrey would join Kimmel on Feb. 26.

This should be a change of pace for Winfrey, who is normally doing the interviewing.

Kimmel is the right man behind the desk to make the former talk show giant squirm just a little bit while she promotes her new weekly series on OWN, Oprah’s Next Chapter.

Billy Crystal, Meryl Streep, George Clooney and Martin Scorsese will also join Kimmel and Coldplay will close out the show.

In the arcane, moneyed world of “For Your Consideration” ads, there are each year a number of pitches that rub Academy members the wrong way. But after a paid email blast was sent out this week by both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, TheWrap reporter Steve Pond is getting some blowback for suggesting that the transmission was only borderline AMPAS-legal:

Weinstein Company COO David Glasser responded: “We are surprised that a media outlet like TheWrap, which normally has journalistic integrity, would print the strange accusation of an anonymous competitor and use this as a direct broadside against Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.”

Can you guess who the anonymous competitor is? The email in question, paid for by Weinstein Co., featured the subject line “Meryl Streep Exclusive Video” and linked to a screening Q&A conversation between the actress and Deadline.com’s Pete Hammond. During the clip, Hammond exclaims that the 29-year gap in Streep winning an Oscar really needs to be rectified.

Read more

Tomorrow night, actress Lisa Kudrow will be in Alberta, Canada to accept the first ever “Award in Excellence in Digital Media” from the Banff World Media Festival. It’s all in recognition of her work on the Lexus sponsored Internet series Web Therapy.

Given the fact that Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals will be happening around the same time as the award presentation, all Canadian eyes may be diverted to the action on the ice. Which in a sense is a perfectly daffy, Kudrow-esque circumstance. Our favorite part of the actress’ advance chat with the Calgary Herald is this bit about the economics of web series:

“When we went in to talk to our agents about the web series, they would say ‘Whatever numbers you’re used to in TV, remove a zero and that’s what it will be,’ ” Kudrow says. “It’s not going to ever be, like, set for life.”

Read more

After a harmless Hilary Swank interview remark made by Kim Masters on Monday’s edition of KCRW-FM program The Business, the sound bite was picked up Tuesday by EW and TMZ, continuing on today via CNN.com. Each of these reports skipped over the part where Masters quickly apologized, acknowledging that her observation that Swank and Meryl Streep are not “pretty girl”-like came out wrong.

But that’s enough for an Internet news trail. Would you believe that TMZ got 200,000 clicks in a poll asking readers to rank the relative horizontal hotness of Masters and Swank?

Read more

Each year, the coveted seats at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony are carefully parceled out by one Judy Solomon, a 79-year-old Israeli journalist you’ve probably never heard of. But once a year she becomes a publicist’s nightmare, as they try to negotiate precious tickets for their employers. Nicole LaPorte of The Daily Beast profiles the feisty scribe, and provides an interesting glimpse into how your Golden Globe celebrity audience sausage is made:

Even more unique in a town where everyone owes someone else a favor, Solomon doesn’t seem to care who she pisses off. Last year, she caused a mini world war when she declared that no agents or managers could sit in the pit—i.e., the area closest to the stage, where the biggest movie stars are seated. (The logic was that too many dark suits in the audience does not make for sexy TV.) This ruling prevented CAA partner Kevin Huvane from sitting with his client Meryl Streep, who was nominated for a Best Actress award for Julie & Julia.

Read more

The analysis has begun with a vengeance as to a) why the Academy has chosen this morning as its latest Oscars telecast hosts the handsome young duo of James Franco (32) and Anne Hathaway (28), and b) whether or not this will help make the moribund program relevant again to younger audiences.

Here at FishbowlLA, we have our own take on this bold choice away from the usual stand-up comic, late night talk show host and Social Security nipping candidates. In no particular order:

- Given that the Oscar telecast usually feels like it lasts about 127 hours, and that watching it sometimes induces the feeling that you would rather gnaw off an arm than sit through till the end, Franco is imminently well qualified.

- Since many attending divas wear Prada, parking Hathaway on the red carpet beforehand for a couple of quick Q&A’s would seem like a perfect, synergistic way to get younger eyeballs to tune in. Especially if Meryl Streep happens to walk by.

Read more