Marianne Faithful

Now here's a turn up for the books: Marianne Faithful in a role where she only plays being a tart.

Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull plays a grandmother in dire straights who becomes a sex worker in London's seedy Soho, in a touching yet hilarious movie that has lit up a hitherto subdued Berlin film festival.

"Irina Palm" follows Maggie, played by Faithfull, from the side of her sick grandson's hospital bed to a sex shop where, desperate to pay for the boy's medical treatment abroad, she accepts a job where her smooth-skinned hands are a key asset.

Taught by a younger woman, she learns to service clients who stand on the other side of a wall with a hole in it where they can be heard but not seen.

So legendary is her technique that queues of customers begin to form, a rival club seeks to poach her.

Much of the comedy derives from the horror etched on Faithfull's face as she goes to work, and the reaction of her straight-laced circle of friends when they discover what Maggie has been up to during the day.

 

Technorati tags: marianne faithful, sex

Lindsay Lohan Backs Out of Movie

The actress Lindsay Lohan has backed out of the movie she was due to make:

Actress Lindsay Lohan, who entered a Los Angeles rehab center last month, has backed out of the upcoming movie, "A Woman of No Importance."

Lohan is working on "I Know Who Killed Me," which had to stop filming briefly when she had an appendectomy and later entered the Wonderland Center in Los Angles, People magazine said.

"She doesn't want to just say, 'Yes,' everyone and compromise herself anymore," Lohan publicist Leslie Sloane said. "If anything has been learned, it's that what she needs comes first -- and right now she needs focus."

Sloane said Lohan plans to take it easy for the next few weeks so she can "focus on getting better."

Lohan will honor her commitment to do publicity work for her film "Georgia Rule," Sloane said.

She needs to be careful, actresses sometimes get sued for dropping out like this, as happened with Boxing Helena.

 

Technorati tags: Lindsay Lohan, Boxing Helena, A Woman of No Importance

Molly Ivins

Molly Ivins, who has just died, "will be missed " says President Bush:

Among the people who mourn the death of best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, George Bush, whom Ivins referred to as “Shrub,” expressed his admiration towards her as well as his sadness for the loss, in a statement released after her death Wednesday evening.

"Molly Ivins was a Texas original. She was loved by her readers and by her many friends, particularly in Central Texas.

"I respected her convictions, her passionate belief in the power of words, and her ability to turn a phrase. She fought her illness with that same passion. Her quick wit and commitment to her beliefs will be missed. Laura and I send our condolences to Molly Ivins' family and friends," Bush said.

Molly Ivins, 62, who made her living by poking fun at politicians, whether they were in her home state of Texas or the White House, passed away on Wednesday at her Austin home while in hospice care, after a long battle with breast cancer. Ivins revealed she was being treated for the disease the third time in early 2006.

I know it was Anne Richards who delivered the line but I think Molly Ivins wrote it, about G. Bush senior: "Poor George was born with a silver foot in his mouth".

 

Technorati tags: molly ivins, george bush, anne richards