Angelina Jolie | Kai Milla | Def Fashion | Martin Scorsese | Notes
Angelina, Ex Back Together for 'Peace'
Angelina Jolie is getting back together with her first husband, Jonny Lee Miller.
The occasion is a screening and press conference for a documentary called "Peace One Day." This is a project designed by Jeremy Gilley, a ponytailed British actor who made it his cause to have an international cease-fire day. You can read all about this worthy effort at www.peaceoneday.org.
His dream became a reality on Sept. 7, 2001, when the U.N. voted to approve the special day.
Gilley and Kofi Annan made the announcement — or attempted to — on Sept. 11, around 8:30 a.m. Ironies abound.
The documentary of how this all occurred will air on the Sundance Channel on Sept. 21, which is the United Nations International Peace Day for which Gilley campaigned.
The night beforehand, Gilley will show the film at the Ziegfeld Theatre in midtown Manhattan at a star-studded premiere. Miller and Jolie will be on hand. No word yet on whether Brad Pitt will attend, but it should be a media circus and one of the least peaceful days of the year, media-wise.
A few years ago, Miller became involved with Gilley. He subsequently drew in Jolie. Other celebrity supporters include designers Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs, who've made T-shirts for the cause, which you can buy at the Web site.
I talked to Gilley the other day while he criss-crossed the country in search of peace. His goal is to get the film seen and to bring other countries into the mix.
I wish him luck. We still don't have a special day of remembrance for Sept. 11, or a proper memorial for the victims. But I do admire his tenacity.
Stevie Wonder's Wife: Lovely Clothes
Last night's 9 p.m. fashion show by Kai Milla at the New York Public Library was really a 10 p.m. show. But that was all right.
The designer was late flying in from Los Angeles with her husband and new baby. And the place was filled with tongues wagging about the lights falling at Diane von Furstenberg's 6 p.m. show in her home salon. Four fashion editors were said to have been injured. You're not safe anywhere anymore!
Of course, Milla's husband is Stevie Wonder, and their four-month-old baby boy is named Mandela (he was named by Nelson Mandela himself).
The show was late, but no one minded, not even Paris Hilton or Kelly Osbourne, who spent a lot of time posing for the paparazzi.
There were plenty of other name guests in the Celeste Bartos Forum, a smallish room with a rotunda ceiling: The ubiquitous (yet shrinking) Star Jones with husband Al Reynolds in tow; Serena and Venus Williams; Denise Rich; Ashanti and her mom, Tina Douglas; Damon Dash, looking dashing in a buttery custom-made suit of his own design; and of course, Janice "Diddy" Combs, mother extraordinaire.
A special credit in the program went to LaTanya Richardson-Jackson, the great actress and wife of Samuel L. Jackson. She helped put the whole thing together.
This is what I can tell you: Milla is the real thing. Her clothes were genuinely applauded because they looked sensual, yet accessible. For spring and summer, she used colors like mint, ivory, yellow and white. Everything flowed. The music was sexy R&B, not the oppressive stuff heard elsewhere this weekend.
What made it work: Chairs were set up in a diamond formation so that the models walked a 'runway' through the audience, giving the show an intimate feel. There was also a draped stage, usually used for small classical music recitals and readings.
The show opened with the curtains drawing back to show three of the models, in gowns, as if they were in a scene from "Porgy and Bess."
The show ended on the same stage, with Steve and his grown daughter, Aisha, the one for whom "Isn't She Lovely" was written, performing Gershwin's "Summertime."
Aisha, who has a phenomenal voice, was a last-minute substitute for the AWOL Fantasia Barrino.
Classy, elegant and salable. Multicultural, too. What more can you ask for?
The next time Milla shows her stuff, it had better be an official part of Fashion Week, and not just a novelty off the track.
Def Fashion: Deaf Ear More Like It
Yes, 1,500 people jammed into Radio City Music Hall on Saturday night for a half-hour presentation by Kimora Lee Simmons of her Baby Phat line of clothes.
Why Radio City? I think just to show that they could fill it. And they did. But what a mess!
The music, if you could call it that, was a steady cacophony of loud junk. Nothing witty or fun. Just a drone. A lot of white noise, if you know what I mean, with surprisingly little soul.
We looked for celebrities, but to no avail.
Alicia Keys — fresh from her heart-stopping performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone" on the MTV telethons — was supposed to be there. Didn't see her.
Mary J. Blige was also supposed to be there. No go, again. Russell Simmons, looking thinner and thinner, introduced us to a girl group he signed at his new record label now that he's completely divorced from Def Jam (I'm told that Def Jam's next big signing is supposed to be the rapper Fabolous.)
Point of interest: Maybe the worst seats in the house, front row, pushed up against the stage and far from the runway, went to Russell's brother, Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons of Run-DMC fame.
You know, if he'd been closer, he could have told the girls to "Walk This Way." Maybe next year.
Scorsese: Kubrick Made Best Color Film Ever
Martin Scorsese may be working on his new movie (after being robbed once again for the Oscar on "The Aviator") but he's always interested in movie preservation.
Apparently, he's gotten together with Philips to promote its new Ambilight Flat TVs. That's prompted a list from him of his top 10 color films in two categories, English and foreign-language.
Since we always love recommending movies, here are the lists. Each one is in alphabetical order by title.
English:
1. "Barry Lyndon" (1975, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
2. "Duel in the Sun" (1946, dir. King Vidor)
3. "Invaders From Mars" (1953, dir. William Cameron Menzies)
4. "Leave Her to Heaven" (1946, dir. John M. Stahl)
5. "Moby Dick" (1956, dir. John Huston)
6. "Phantom of the Opera" (1943, dir. Arthur Lubin)
7. "The Red Shoes" (1948, dir. Michael Powell)
8. "The Searchers" (1956, dir. John Ford)
9. "Singin' in the Rain" (1952, dir. Stanley Donen)
10. "Vertigo" (1958, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
Foreign:
1. "Contempt" (1963, dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
2. "Cries and Whispers" (1972, dir. Ingmar Bergman)
3. "Gate of Hell" (1953, dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa)
4. "In the Mood For Love" (2000), dir. Wong Kar-Wai)
5. "The Last Emperor" (1987, dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
6. "Red Desert" (1964, dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
7. "The River" (1951, dir. Jean Renoir)
8. "Satyricon" (1969, dir. Federico Fellini)
9. "Senso" (1954, dir. Luchino Visconti)
10. "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (1964, dir. Sergei Paradjanov)
The Friday night Hurricane Katrina telethon was stolen by two geezers: Rod Stewart and Neil Young.
Rod, proving he's alive after all and not pickled in the juices of standards, did a remarkably swingin', cool version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready." He was accompanied by the Temptations featuring the underrated Motown star Dennis Edwards ("Don't Look Any Further").
Young's closing song, from his new album "Prairie Wind," was a knockout, and a cinch for Best Song nomination at the Grammys.
Mayfield's estate should expect a nice big check, thanks to Kanye West. He performed his new "Touch the Sky" on the MTV telethon. It's a major sampling of Mayfield's "Move On Up." Kids, the song is 35 years old. It's older than Kanye.
Tony award-winning playwright Warren Leight ("Sideman") debuts his new play, "No Foreigners Beyond this Point" on Sept. 17 at the Culture Project on Bleecker Street in New York City. It's based on his youthful experiences as a foreign instructor in China. My question is: Why is there still no movie version of "Sideman"? It was a brilliant play.
Gospel artists Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans headline tomorrow night at KISS-FM's annual "Night of Healing." The show is at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. At the same time, the Rolling Stones do a one-off show in the main room. Too bad they're not all together.
Linkin Park's Chester Bennington was the step-out star of the MTV telethon. Who knew he could sing like that?
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