Editor: Joy Press
Updated: Today
Topic:

Harry Potter

Friday, Nov 2, 2001 09:08 PST

She's, like, deep

Cruz digs Cruise, but not for his looks; "Survivor" chef won't serve blood. Plus: Another "Seinfeld" spinoff nose-dives, and Madonna says she couldn't seduce Jacko!
By Amy Reiter

Whatever you do, don't accuse Penelope Cruz of being looksist. The actress insists that, even though she's dating heartthrob king Tom Cruise, she doesnt give a fig about his appearance. It's the way he laughs and kisses that turns her on.

"For me the way a man looks is of secondary importance," Cruz told German magazine Max. "The man who I find attractive has to have a sense of humor and he's got to be a good kisser."

And we've all seen "Top Gun" enough times to know that Cruise is, in fact, a hilariously passionate puckerer. Not that it's only laughs and licks Penelope's after.

No, it's much deeper than that. It's a soul thing.

"I feel attracted to a man when I feel a spiritual relationship to him," she says. "Then the chemistry's right and there's not much more to say."

Well, then we'll just leave it at that.

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First George Clooney, now this

"Choosing between Aidan Quinn and Pierce Brosnan is my biggest problem. I'm sorry if every woman in Ireland is jealous of me now. But, I'll give them back after."

-- "ER" star Julianna Margulies on her guilt over playing a very lucky corner of a love triangle in the upcoming film "Evelyn," on showbizireland.com.

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The Famie game

Is anyone watching "Survivor 3," the Kenya chapter?

Keith Famie -- the chef from "Survivor 2" whose rice was apparently as mushy and overdone as his marriage proposal -- is.

In fact, now that the debut of his Food Network show, "Keith Famie's Adventures," is nigh upon us, Famie has seen fit to offer his assessment of the Kenyan fare he figures the show's early castoffs enjoyed.

Braised warthog and zebra are particularly toothsome, says Famie, who traveled to Africa for his own show. And black shark pan-fried with mayonnaise and cinnamon is so flavorful, he tells Wireless Flash News, he's thinking of adding it to the menu at his Detroit eatery.

But Famie will not try to sell the traditional Kenyan delicacy milk-flavored blood to his Midwestern clientele. "It's not the kind of thing you get a craving for," he says.

Unless, of course, you're Richard Hatch.

Juicy bits

Will the "Seinfeld" curse strike again? Julia Louis-Dreyfus' new comedy, "23:12," may be headed into the sort of choppy TV waters that capsized fellow "Seinfeld" alum Michael Richards' "The Michael Richards Show" and is rocking Jason Alexander's "Bob Patterson." According to the Hollywood Reporter, NBC has seized control of the show from its producers Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, who will remain on board as mere "creative consultants." The motivation for the switcheroo is said to be financial. Yada, yada, yada ...

Muggle to the rescue. The U.K. Sun reports that Warner Bros. had to hire London schoolboy Joe Sowerbutts to dub over the voice of Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," in two scenes because 12-year-old Radcliffe's voice changed in the middle of filming. As Peter Brady might say, when it's time to change, you've got to rearrange.

Uri Geller's hopping mad. Michael Jackson's psychic pal says Sony Music removed the words "God," "Jerusalem," "USA" and "Angel 2000" from a drawing he made for Jackson's new album, "Invincible." What's more, he tells Reuters, the music suits replaced his rendering of a Star of David with a pentagram. "The sensitivity of not wanting any religious symbols in my drawing I found quite extraordinary because God is universal," Geller gripes. And he'll bend a spoon before your very eyes to prove it.

Speaking of things bent before your very eyes, Michael Jackson doesn't come off too well in Andrew Morton's new biography of Madonna. According to Morton, Madonna once told a lover that the Neverland resident was the one man she couldn't manage to seduce. It wasn't for lack of trying. After the Oscars in 1991, Madonna apparently told this lover that she put the moves on Jackson, but that "when they touched he would start giggling, like a little boy." What a surprise.

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Miss something? Read yesterday's Nothing Personal.

 

Harry Potter in the news

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Recommended Reads

Salon reviews of Harry Potter films:

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
The long-awaited movie is faithful to J.K. Rowling's book, but the fantasy isn't very fantastic and the evil just isn't dark enough.
By Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
Despite terrific special effects and funnier gags, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" finds a way to make J.K. Rowling's marvelous series into a deadly bore.
By Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
Hippogriffs, Dementors and Harry, oh my! Director Alfonso Cuaron finally decants the essence of J.K. Rowling's work and brings us one of the greatest fantasy films of all time.
By Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Harry and his friends are growing up, but this latest Potter film may leave you struggling with your own childhood demons.
By Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
Patches of magical beauty rescue this sprawling adaptation of the fifth book in J.K. Rowling's beloved series.
By Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
The sixth film in J.K. Rowling's series has beautiful special effects, and something even more rare: Magic.
By Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

Other Salon articles related to the films:

Harry Potter doesn't get "Blue Velvet"
The boy has no profound psychosexual life, which keeps the film from being dangerous -- and important.
By David Thomson, Salon

Harry Potter and the art of screenwriting
Michael Goldenberg talks about the pleasures and pitfalls of adapting "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" for the big screen.
By Rebecca Traister, Salon

The sexual awakening of Hermione
How "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson is navigating the tricky transition from adorable child actor to mature adult.
By Joy Press, Salon

Salon reviews of Harry Potter books:

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," like all great escapist reading, takes you happily back to where you already were.
By Charles Taylor, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
With her fourth Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling takes her young hero to his darkest adventure yet.
By Charles Taylor, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
No, Hogwarts isn't a hotbed of drugs, smoking and sex (at least not yet). But J.K. Rowling's rich and huge new installment unmistakably brings our bespectacled hero into adolescence.
By Laura Miller, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
Harry learns more about his mysterious nemesis -- and the brutal reality of being 16 -- in J.K. Rowling's tricky, but ultimately satisfying, penultimate volume in the "Harry Potter" series.
By Laura Miller, Salon

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
Does J.K. Rowling's final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," provide the magical ending to the beloved series her readers so desperately long for?
By Laura Miller, Salon

Other articles related to the books:

Dumbledore? Gay. J.K. Rowling? Chatty.
What happens when authors like J.K. Rowling can't stop telling their own stories?
By Rebecca Traister, Salon

A.S. Byatt and the goblet of bile
The author's recent New York Times Op-Ed shows that she doesn't understand why so many of us love Harry Potter. Maybe it's just too much fun.
By Charles Taylor, Salon

A list of their own
Has Harry Potter changed the course of the New York Times Book Review -- and the children's book market -- for good or for evil? It depends on whom you ask.
By Kera Bolonik, Salon

Of magic and single motherhood
Bestselling author J.K. Rowling is still trying to fathom the instant fame that came with her first children's novel.
By Margaret Weir, Salon

Harry Potter's girl troubles
The world of everyone's favorite kid wizard is a place where boys come first.
By Christine Schoefer, Salon

Can 35 million book buyers be wrong? Yes.
The cultural critics will, soon enough, introduce Harry Potter into their college curriculum, and The New York Times will go on celebrating another confirmation of the dumbing-down it leads and exemplifies.
By Harold Bloom, The Wall Street Journal

On the Potter lifestyle:

Potterpalooza
For the Quidditch players, wizard rockers and would-be witches who gathered at a New Orleans Harry Potter convention, this is the dawning of their summer of love -- and loss.
By Rebecca Traister, Salon

For Harry Potter fans about to rock, we salute you
A global network of Potter-influenced bands inspired kids like 8-year-old Darius to make their own wizard rock. Will fans keep the music alive?
By Elisabeth Donnelly, Salon

The end of the affair
For almost a decade, Harry Potter and Tony Soprano have been my intimate companions. Now it's time to disentangle myself from their lives and say goodbye.
By Rebecca Traister, Salon

Wizard people, dear reader
The first chapter in the famed unauthorized "re-telling" of the Harry Potter films.

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