Stars in the news

PITT. Expensive misstep.

Poor Brad Pitt—he recently made fashion history by becoming the first male endorser of an expensive perfume brand. He was paid $7 million—but the TV spot was so badly conceptualized and over-artily executed that it generated laughter instead of added sales.

In fact, spoofs of the hokey advertisement have gone viral, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the spot would be quietly taken out of circulation by the perfume’s manufacturer, and charged to expensive experience.

As for Brad, he needs to learn from this sad experience to stop taking himself so morosely, artfully seriously, so he can climb out of this deep pit and endorse other products, with far better and less stinky results!

George Clooney also hit the headlines last week, but much more positively, when for the first time in his career, he unveiled his singing talent at a fundraising event.

Everyone was bowled over by the fact that George could really sing—but, veteran music lovers wondered what the excitement was all about, because they recalled one of George’s aunts was none other than recording star, Rosemary Clooney! Clearly, musical talent runs in their family, so why all the fuss and dither?

On the local show biz scene, young star Matt Evans is in hot water because his live-in partner has accused him of beating her and her brother up. Evans has countered that he was the victim—but, unless he and his handlers are able to smooth this wrinkle out to everyone’s satisfaction, his career could be in jeopardy.

Young stars are supposed to be all sweetness and light, so negativity is to be shunned at all costs.

On the more positive side, two local movies have been doing well at the box office this month: Vice Ganda’s new starrer, “This Guy’s In Love With You, Mare,” is reported to have grossed P200 million, while “Tiktik,” topbilling Dingdong Dantes, is clicking with chiller-thriller fans.

This is the sort of good news that the Filipino movie industry needs to firm up the impression that, after more than a decade in the dumps, it’s finally regaining the ground it’s lost and its products are again making money.

This is great news for the many film workers who have been sidelined by the long slump, so we hope that’s truly and finally over.