HOLLYWOOD - Actor Steve Martin turned the premiere of his new movie Novocaine into a 40-minute comedy show, as he cracked jokes about himself at the 26th annual Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Reuters reported.
"I don't like to work with unpleasant people," he said. "That's why I never want to work with myself."
Martin was cooperative while posing for pictures alongside director David Atkins and co-star Helena Bonham Carter. "Now to the left! And to the right! And down!" he joked.
In Novocaine Martin plays the role of Mr. Frank Sangster, a dentist whose life is turned around after he falls in love with a drug-addicted patient, Susan Ivey, played by Carter.
The film will be released in North America on Oct. 26.
Deaths
Actress Julie Bishop, who began her career in silent film and co-starred with actors like Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne and Roy Rogers, died on Aug. 30 of pneumonia, BBC News reported. She was 87. Her last film was 1957's The Big Land, co-starring Alan Ladd.
In Courts
CBS and has dropped a copyright infringement suit filed in April against Fox's Boot Camp, alleging the show was a knockoff of CBS' Survivor. According to The Hollywood Reporter, none of the representatives of the parties involved would comment on the matter, citing confidentiality agreements. It is unclear whether money was involved in the settlement. The case against two men accused of stealing pictures of actress Patsy Kensit, the former wife of Oasis' lead singer Liam Gallagher, , was dismissed by a London court after she failed to appear at a scheduled hearing. According to BBC News, the case has been postponed twice previously, first because her Kensit's film commitments and again because of the detective's failure to appear on court. The accused men, Michael Sulkin, 39, and Howard Kayman, 34, claim to have found the pictures near a trash can in the street.In General
Actor Matthew McConaughey gave first aid to Janice Flisfeder, a mother of three who collapsed during a screening of his new film Thirteen Conversations about One Thing at the Toronto International Film Festival. Flisfeder told the Toronto Sun that the actor was stroking her hair and telling her: "It's okay, sweetheart." ABC plans to expand its high-definition digital format programming in all its comedy and drama series in the 2001-02 season, starting Sept. 18 with the hour-long season premiere of Dharma & Greg. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC was the first network ever to broadcast in HDTV. Actor Hayden Christensen, who is set to play Darth Vader in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 2--Attack of the Clones, is trying to gain recognition from fans before the big day. He is currently promoting Life as a House, which premiered at the 26th annual Toronto Film Festival Sunday, Reuters reported. "It was important to me to get a film out before Star Wars and really be unrecognizable with the audience," he said at a press conference. Fox is planning to release the Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes on DVD two days before Christmas. Among the 28 bonus programs included are nine behind-the-scenes and multi-angle features, crew biographies and special effects. Fox is currently mounting a $10 million TV, radio and online ad campaign for the video, which will cost $29.98. Cable's Showtime is reducing production of original movies in the hopes of generating more cash to churn more original series and miniseries, Reuters reported. Showtime plans to cut back to 24 movies a year from 35, which still surpasses the number released by any other network. In addition, Showtime will sign three or four name actors instead of the one or two that sufficed previously, said Jerry Offsay, programming president at the Viacom-owned pay cable channel. The average production cost for a movie will rise to about $5 million from $4 million, whereas the budget for an episode of a weekly series will climb to $1.3 million an hour from $1.1 million. Shoppers will soon be able to choose between Homer's Cinnamon Donut Cereal and Bart Simpson Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch, when the Kellogg Co. launches The Simpsons cereal later this month. According to Reuters, Kellogg is calling the The Simpsons cereal "limited edition," although the company has previously released other cartoon-based cereal, such as Powderpuff Girls and Pokemon.