Movie Star

It could be that he recently moved to Canada, or that he doesn't have his own publicist. Or that he's been acting professionally for 41 of his 51 years, or that he once played minor league baseball for the Angels and the Padres. Maybe it's that he flies airplanes, hunts deer and holds political views that oppose those of his liberal friends, or that he hasn't made a career of trading on his dimpled good looks.

Gene Kelly on Film "An American in Paris" Kelly sings and dances to Gershwin tunes in this 1951 Oscar best picture winner "Anchors Aweigh" Kelly meets Tom and Jerry in this 1945 musical, for which he earned a lead actor Oscar nomination "Cover Girl" Kelly and Rita Hayworth dance up a storm in this 1944 musical-comedy

Apparently Sophia Loren didn't get the memo that she is a septuagenarian and a grandmother because at 76 she is as stunning as when she first arrived in Hollywood more than 50 years ago. Sitting on a comfy sofa in the lobby of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Loren remains the epitome of glamour and graciousness. Dressed in a red pantsuit with red boots, Loren is svelte with barely a line on her face. Her voice is as distinctively earthy, her accent as thickly Italian as ever — she even apologizes when she can only think of a certain word in her native tongue.

It may take half a decade for the couple in "The Five-Year Engagement"to make it to the altar, but the romantic comedy will quickly outrun the competition to the top of the box office this weekend. The movie starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt is expected to debut with a solid sum of $18 million to $20 million, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys. The film about a troubled relationship is likely to perform far better than three other movies hitting theaters this weekend.

"My Week With Marilyn," starring Michelle Williams as the blond bombshell, is as mercurial a film as its subject, Marilyn Monroe, was a star. It's lush and vibrant when Williams is onscreen, mostly fussy British discontent when she's not. Whatever the flaws, the truth is nothing else much matters since Williams is Marilyn, and Marilyn had a way of outshining everything around her. It is magnetic to watch the actress move seamlessly between the...

How's this for a slice of irony? Mario Batali, dressed in a suit, no orange Crocs in sight, is seated at a gleaming restaurant counter in a Manhattan eatery, haranguing a chef who works for him: "In a down economy, green doesn't play," Batali insists as part of a profanity-laden rant. "People don't give a damn where their hamburger comes from as long as it tastes good. " It's the last thing anyone would expect to hear from the ambassador of Italian cuisine, a man who wholeheartedly endorses the eating local philosophy.

Ever since the astounding grosses for "Avatar" started rolling in, Hollywood has been pretty much going gaga over 3-D. At a time when DVD revenues have been plummeting, who would've believed that 3-D would help save the studios' bacon? According to Warners distribution chief Dan Fellman, roughly 52% of the studio's box-office take for this weekend's "Clash of the Titans" was from 3-D ticket sales. According to industry marketers, the 3-D ticket price premium gave a huge boost to "Clash's " $61.4-million box-office take, which would've been closer to $41.4 million if it was only playing in 2-D. The film, which was retrofitted with 3-D at the last minute, inspired my colleague Kenny Turan to write that "Clash" could be "the first film to actually be made worse by being in 3-D."

Behind the glasses there--is that movie star Sandra Bullock playing for yuks on a TV sitcom? It is. She puts in an appearance Wednesday on "The George Lopez Show" (8:30 p.m., ABC). Why? Read the credits: She's one of the program's executive producers.

For generations, French presidents have filled a nearly sacred role. They act as an embodiment of their republic's lofty ideals, and they exude such judiciousness and serenity that they often end up seeming oddly otherworldly. And then there's Nicolas Sarkozy. The fast-talking president could go toe-to-toe with Chicago's feisty incoming Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a political street fight — and finagle the United States into a war of choice with Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi. Woody Allen recently remarked to the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that he could imagine casting Sarkozy in a Joe Pesci-like tough-guy role.

WE ALL know that the stock market has been plummeting in recent weeks. But what's dropping even faster is the stock Hollywood studios put into the value of movie stars. This past weekend's disastrous opening of Warners' costly "Body of Lies" was just another nail in the coffin. Buoyed by the presence of two mega-stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, with Ridley Scott in the director's chair, the Middle East spy thriller was supposed to easily win its weekend. Instead, it finished No.

SUNDAY How to solve "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," when its venerable Victorian-era author died before he could finish it? "Masterpiece Classic" tries to bring Charles Dickens' dark tale of obsession to a satisfactory conclusion in a new adaptation. (KOCE, 9 p.m.) She made "Tiny Furniture" – the 2010 art-house hit, not things you might find at a mini-Ikea. Now, Lena Dunham, below, is giving the small screen a go as creator and star of "Girls," a new dramedy about twentysomethings in the Big Apple.

A comic powerhouse W.C. Fields was one of the top comedic stars of vaudeville, Broadway and film, starring in such classics as 1934's "It's a Gift" and 1940's "The Bank Dick. " Fields also found success on radio. Back in 1936, Fields was in the hospital after a bike accident and his battle with the bottle. When he was still too shaky to return to films, he went to work on radio in 1937 on "The Chase and Sanborn Hour" hosted by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his puppet alter-ego, Charlie McCarthy.

They're among the most elite and mystery-shrouded members of the U.S. military, part of a traditionally anonymous group of alpha males known as the "quiet professionals" for their daring, clandestine missions like the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. But the secret world of the U.S. Navy SEALs is about to open up in dramatic fashion — in an unusual, independently financed action movie called "Act of Valor. " In a moment of unprecedented public exposure, several active-duty SEALs play the lead parts in the film, which opens Feb. 24. Though their names don't appear in the credits — listed instead are the names of Naval Special Warfare forces killed since Sept.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre is hallowed Hollywood tourist ground, the famed site where silver-screen stars such as Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra literally cemented their legends by making hand- and footprints in concrete. On a recent November morning, those movie icons were joined by three gigantic rodents: Alvin and the Chipmunks. Or, more precisely, as Alvin, Simon and Theodore are cartoon characters, by three anonymous guys in chipmunk suits who stuck their "paws" in wet cement while their squeaky, high-pitched version of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" blared over the sound system.

Au revoir , David Beckham. Although your aides-de-camp keep insisting nothing has been decided, everybody knows your move to the French club Paris Saint-Germain is pretty much a fait accompli . (By the way, David, I hope you're reading this closely because you really should learn the language.) When the deal does become official — which probably will be after New Year's to assure the greatest possible media coverage — we hear a "movie star" unveiling will be staged in central Paris.

"You gotta get a gimmick," Stephen Sondheim advised struggling starlets in the deliriously crackpot number he wrote with Jule Styne for "Gypsy" that had one veteran stripper breaking out a trumpet. The song parodies its point, but the branding wisdom it offers entertainers is as relevant today as it was a half century ago. Hugh Jackman, currently appearing in "Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway" at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York, has no problem separating himself from the pack. How many other movie star pinups are also giddy song-and-dance men?

Reizl Bozyk (pronounced Rye-zel Bow-zac ), the 74-year-old actress who plays Amy Irving's grandmother in the current release "Crossing Delancey," is the embodiment of the Jewish Bubee. She's loving above and beyond the call of duty and just a tad too insistent about knowing what's best for today's working woman. We've seen her a hundred times. Ironically, director Joan Silvers' film marks Bozyk's screen debut.

For the past several months, the cast and creative team of the WB sitcom "Movie Stars" have been twiddling their thumbs waiting for the network to schedule the comedy. A year after the sitcom about married superstars (Harry Hamlin and Jennifer Grant) raising three children in a Malibu manse was announced as a midseason replacement, the series is seeing the light of day. "I'll believe it when I see it [on the air]," says Hamlin in a mocking tone. "I ain't holding my breath."

"My Week With Marilyn," starring Michelle Williams as the blond bombshell, is as mercurial a film as its subject, Marilyn Monroe, was a star. It's lush and vibrant when Williams is onscreen, mostly fussy British discontent when she's not. Whatever the flaws, the truth is nothing else much matters since Williams is Marilyn, and Marilyn had a way of outshining everything around her. It is magnetic to watch the actress move seamlessly between the...

What did Rock Hudson do for a living before he became a movie star? He was a truck driver.