Who better than Miss Nice, Sharon Stone, herself to assert that the 7.8 earthquake that devastated China, leaving over 88,000 people dead or missing, was karma biting back? “I am not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans, because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. So I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don’t like that,” the ever eloquent and concise Stone said on the Cannes red carpet last week. “Then I have been concerned about, oh, how we should deal with the Olympics. Because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, ‘Is that karma, when you’re not nice and bad things happen to you?’”
DreamWorks to Redo ‘Yomigaeri’
Talk about getting reanimated: DreamWorks PDI is going to remake the Japanese film Yomigaeri (or “Resurrection”) with the help of Elizabeth: The Golden Age screenwriter William Nicholson. The film is based on a novel by Shinji Kajio and is like the love child of Akira and Tuck Everlasting. Asian films are still hot for DreamWorks, considering they also brought over The Ring, The Ring Two and A Tale of Two Sisters. Any wonder if we’ll also be seeing Exte (“Hair Extensions”) as a remake in two years? Catch the original Exte at this year’s Another Hole in the Head Film Festival at The Roxie.
Yoko Ono Owns Lennon Pot-Smoking Footage
The yelling and screaming has ceased, at least on Yoko Ono’s end, as she won her case to stop the release of a nine-hour film that included her late husband discussing drugging President Richard Nixon’s tea with a dose of LSD. Although World Wide Video bought the 24 tapes fair and square, and alleged that Ono was infringing on their rights to show the film, Judge Rya Zobel ruled that Ono had full rights to ban the video in the public domain. World Wide Video paid over $1 million for the films.
Jay Chou’s BFF: ‘He’s Totally Useless’
Okay, so he only played Taiwanese pop and film sensation Jay Chou’s best friend in a commercial, but a former television ad co-star admitted that he wouldn’t be surprised if Chou’s performance in the new film Secret was as wooden and dull as the dozens of mobile phone ads Chou has completed in China. “He was such a diva on the set, showing up late and refusing to follow directions. He was also really slow and didn’t really know what he was doing. Totally useless and really can’t act to save his life,” my source said.
While Hayden Pannettiere whines on and on about how everybody is all up in her bizz in the rags, she continues to sell herself out on EBAY — literally. You, too, can go whale watching off the Channel Islands with Hayden Pannettiere … for the right price. The auction will benefit The Whaleman Foundation, which sounds more like a secret underground society of mermen than an environmentalist non-profit group, but wouldn’t it be cheaper to save the whales by just not polluting the oceans and eating less fish? Besides, hanging out with Pannettiere and her bodyguard doesn’t count as a romantic threesome.
Miss Philippine Breaks Model Code
Subway’s Jared Fogle better stay away: Michelle’s foot-longs won’t help you drop poundage anytime soon, even though the second runner up for the 2006 Model of the Year international beauty pageant stands at 5′ 10″ and probably weighs less than your lap dog. Michelle de Leon spent Valentine’s Day last year competing for the international title in Kunming, Yunnan Provice, China. The Filipino-Puerto Rican beauty celebrated her successful photoshoot with photographer, Tony Maestro, at his private loft on Sat. May 24 with two big trays of food: lumpia and buffalo wings, all homemade. Good thing Jessica Simpson didn’t tag along either!
Even Models Need to Learn Grace
Every fashion diva needs natural grace and to hit the gym regularly, but Haute Couture magazine model Michelle de Leon didn’t expect to learn how to catwalk on the treadmill! “[Charleston Pierce] made me rehearse on a treadmill for my catwalk — it was intense!” she told me. “I had to master certain walks, their styles, twisting and turning, all the while this track was going pretty fast. But he’s got 25 years in the business, so I trusted that he knew what he was doing.” The aspiring supermodel laughed about her first mistrials, admitting that twisting and turning in heels on a treadmill took a lot of practice … and a few crashes.
Colleen Quen Celebrates Documentary Film Party
“Oh my god, it’s like Charlie’s Angels up in here!” exclaimed fashion desiger Colleen Quen, a.k.a. the Vera Wang of the West, at her private screening at Dolby Labs on Thurs. May 22. Quen was dressed in her favorite Miao apron and a white skirt of her own design, and her family applauded her and filmmakers Duffy Wang and Alex Chiang after the show. Quen’s collection will be announced at the end of June, at the Asian Art Museum’s lavish party for their new Ming exhibit.