Oliver Stone Still Looking for Conspiracies

Oliver Stone | Michele Lee; Victoria Rowell | iTunes

Now that “World Trade Center” is almost over, Oliver Stone is starting to look for conspiracies again.

The Oscar-winning director told me at a private dinner Monday night for the DVD release of “World Trade Center” that he’s going to choose his next film from among five new projects.

“Afghanistan is one of them,” he said.

And that would mean a real exploration of Usama bin Laden, the Taliban, what brought us to Sept. 11 and what happened afterward.

“No one has ever told the real story,” Stone told me, and it’s pretty clear he thinks he has it.

Stone should be one of five final nominees for Best Director when the announcements are made next month. He should be joining Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Bill Condon and Pedro Almodovar at the very least, along with several others — including Richard Eyre and Stephen Frears — jockeying for position.

“World Trade Center,” more so than “United 93,” is a movie that acts as more than a documentary in telling a complex story of what happened on Sept. 11. While the latter seems like a custom-made tale for the families of the fated United Airlines flight, “World Trade Center” is a universal story of hope and survival.

Certainly, the policemen who survived Sept. 11 feel that way. Many of them were in attendance on Monday night, including John McLoughlin (played by Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena). They, along with producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, have become a family of sorts since the movie was made.

Among those who turned out for the dinner and screening of the film were documentary filmmakers Barbara Kopple and Albert Maysles, as well as actors Celeste Holm and Tony LoBianco.

But I was more interested in the young man and two women sitting at Stone’s table: his mother, Jacqueline, and first wife, Najwa, to whom he was married from 1970 to 1977. She and Stone have remained quite friendly all these years, and she’s apparently like an aunt to Stone’s son Sean, 21, who just graduated from Princeton.

“His mother is coming in this week,” said Najwa Stone of Sean’s mother, Elizabeth, “and we’re all getting together.”

Hello! Give Stone an Oscar for modern family relations, if nothing else. He’s become in films what Picasso was in art when it comes to his domestic business.

And by the way, just in case you were wondering, Stone doesn’t believe in nepotism or coddling. Sean, 21, has gotten a job since graduation, and it’s not carrying daddy’s coat. He’s been working in construction downtown until he decides what his next move is.

“Oliver went down to see him,” Najwa said, “and he was very impressed.”

Michele's a Caricature; Victoria Victorious

Broadway and “Knots Landing” star Michele Lee had an emotional moment yesterday. She finally got her caricature placed at the legendary Sardi’s.

Her husband, Fred Rappoport, had arranged for it to be drawn long ago, but somehow the hanging ceremony had not taken place.

For Lee, who last starred on Broadway in “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” it was a sentimental experience indeed. Years ago her mother had sent her from Hollywood, where she’d grown up, to New York with the idea of Sardi’s as the “in” place.

“It was the first place I ever ate lunch in New York,” said Michele, whose father, Jack Dusick, was a famous makeup man. Now if only someone would find this woman a musical to star in, Broadway would be a better place. …

You may know Victoria Rowell from her from 13 years on “The Young and the Restless,” or from her four seasons on “Diagnosis Murder.” Now she’s written a memoir called “The Women Who Raised Me,” which HarperCollins will publish next spring.

Rowell has quite an interesting story, and one that should be made into a movie. Born in Maine, she was reared in Massachusetts by foster parents. They were smart enough to send her to New York and encourage an acting and dancing career.

Along the way, Rowell was mentored by a number of teachers in all fields. What an amazing story indeed. But Rowell was born under a good sign. While we lunched at Michael’s, she ran into her boss, CBS’s Les Moonves, and HarperCollins editor-in-chief David Hirshey. What are the odds?

Victoria, by the way, plays Samuel L. Jackson’s wife in Irwin Winkler’s new movie “Home of the Brave,” a saga about Iraq war veterans who have trouble coming home. She’s great, too, which could mean yet another career making movies. It doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful, smart, etc. …

Another beautiful woman, Bebe Neuwirth, returns to her Tony-winning role on Broadway in “Chicago” beginning New Year’s Eve. Now the world feels like it’s in balance again. It’s also Bebe’s birthday. Many celebrations!

Did Apple Eat Itself?

There’s news today that iTunes downloads have fallen 65 percent, and people just aren’t pouring money into Apple’s online music service like they used to.

To no one's surprise, it’s not Apple’s fault: it’s the record companies. Their refusal to invest in careers of new artists outside of a handful has made iTunes and services like it merely catalogue companies.

The result: It’s likely that most people who have iTunes have downloaded everything they want, need or didn’t already own on CD. To revive sales, record companies (it’s funny that they’re still called that) would have to sign and significantly promote new artists. They would also have to nurture them, so that said artists would last beyond one hit or one album.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The current generation of musicians and fans are living off the 1960s and '70s. They aren’t creating anything new. Hip-hop is an end unto itself. The “songs” aren’t coverable by other artists, and since they are largely sampled from old material, they are dead ends.

If the iTunes sales downturn is for real, and not just a blip, watch for real panic at the record companies. If you thought layoffs were bad before, this news should cause pandemonium.

Legal downloading was the last bastion of the business, and the last great hope for revenue streams. With all of their methods of delivery shot, the record companies may actually have to make music. Ouch!

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