LA Confidential

By James Bartlett

The "Melibu" Mel Gibson story really has long legs; there was something about it on television and in the newspapers every day this last week. Not only does talk of a cover-up continue, but there were interviews with actors, producers, studio executives, people who were at the bar where Mel was having a few cold ones, even one with the man who served him drinks - too many drinks? - and so on.

There has been plenty of condemnation, but also lots of people who have been strangely anonymous, fudging or not really criticizing Gibson for what he said. Was his anti-Semitic outburst really a symptom of his alcoholism, and he'd never, ever say something like that sober? Doesn't matter - if he thinks those kind of things anyway, that's the problem.

Most strangely of all, there have been very few people mentioning that Gibson has a history of anti-Semitic opinions. Maybe we can ignore the fact that his own father is a Holocaust denier, but the barrage of abuse that greeted his mega-hit move The Passion Of The Christ often focused on the fact that it was very violent, anti-Semitic movie, yet no-one has said anything about it in the light of his arrest. Disney - who is putting out Gibson's next movie Apocalypto, around Christmas - has been especially quiet. Hey, you don't want to hurt the chances of one of your movies making money, do you?

Gibson has of course apologized and asked to be involved with Jewish groups, but that hasn't stopped other facts emerging about his religious beliefs. It's a rare thing amongst Hollywood celebrities (with the exception of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and others of course, although Scientology has a long way to go before it's accepted by establishment and society as a religion) for their beliefs to be aired in public this way.

It appears that Gibson even has his own theology, and has even built his own church in Agoura Hills to back it up - amazing what vast amounts of money can entitle you to do isn't it?

Time will still tell as to whether this will affect Gibson's career in a lasting way, but since this is the Land of the Free, as long as Gibson makes nice and keeps his mouth shut - or doesn't ever get caught with a bottle of tequila in his car again - it will all soon be pretty much forgotten. After all, he's a movie star.

Movie stars don't always get it their own way; the news around town this week was that the studios are finally cutting back on the huge deals they make with them and their companies: Tom Cruise, currently receiving $10,000,000 a year from Paramount Pictures to cover his companies development and overhead costs, is now looking straight down the barrel of a much lower offer - around $2.5m - now that the contract is about to expire.

The ten million was four times what Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp or Tom Hanks was getting, but with the semi-disappointment of the Mission: Impossible III - of which Cruise got a large chunk of the profits - and the other movies they have produced being bombs (Elizabethtown, Narc, Ask The Dust) - he and his company may have to go elsewhere, even though it's unlikely they'll get a much better offer. Apparently his Scientology outbursts and his antics on Oprah haven't helped either.

Still, if the worst comes to the worst, Cruise can always try and do something new: get a normal job like the rest of us. I regularly check Craigslist.com, a simple, easy-to-use website that covers most major cities in the world and allows you to do anything from find an apartment to finding a lover, or buy DVD's, boats, cars and a million other things.

One job there caught my eye this week and wins my JOB OF THE WEEK AWARD: "Swingers Club looking for Nurse or Doctor to Administer Oral HIV Tests". The text ran: "we are a couple active in the swinging community with many private events.... Let us know where and how to buy (sic) them, and how much it would cost for you to come by and give them". No word though on whether you would be allowed to stay and join in the fun....

STRANGE STORY OF THE WEEK AWARD goes to a tale that also has a Malibu connection; this week saw the anniversary of the death of legendary screen starlet Marilyn Monroe, and a Canadian singer has been announced as her reincarnation. She knows things that only Monroe and her family could have known, apparently, and Malibu psychiatrist Adrian Finkelstein is completely convinced.

I wasn't too sure about it all - especially when it also mentioned that her daughter is apparently the reincarnation of Monroe's mother (rather creepy that) - although I certainly believe there's something in it. There have been cases of people - and children - knowing things they couldn't have possibly known about another person who lived before them, most notably of Virginia Tighe, a Virginia housewife who in the 1950s said she was the reincarnation of Bridey Murphy of Cork - 1798 Cork - and even spoke in a strong Irish brogue when she was under hypnosis.

At the Box Office this week, Will Ferrell's latest movie Talladega Nights: The Story of Ricky Bobby blew everything out of the water with a huge $47m opening weekend - animation Barnyard: The Original Party Animals was a long way behind at #2 with $16m. Colin Farrell in Miami Vice had a huge drop to #4, and British director Neil Marshall's low-budget all-female horror The Descent scared in a respectable $8.8m.

This week I will be going to an advance screening of Oliver Stone's 9/11 movie World Trade Center, starring Nicholas Cage, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello and Michael Pena. Earlier in the year I saw United 93, directed by Paul Greengrass of Bloody Sunday fame, and I found it a moving and compelling experience. World Trade Center is a different type of movie - it deals with the real story of two Policemen who were trapped under the rubble - and it will be interesting to see how it works on screen.

Finally, this Saturday will be a challenging one for yours truly because I will be tackling the Spirit of LA 5k run. I have in training for the last few weeks and I'm pretty confident it won't be too tough, but even so, please keep your fingers crossed for me!