Six and a half years ago I was strolling along the rue de Rivoli, and just as I approached the main entrance of a large, swanky, gold-trimmed hotel (probably Le Meurice) Catherine Deneuve, flanked by a couple of security guards, walked out and got into a waiting limo.

The legendary actress was 69 at the time, and smoking a cigarette as she walked under the rue de Rivoli colonnade and onto the boulevard. I distinctly recall muttering to myself, “Wow…a woman of her age shouldn’t be smoking….she should’ve quit a long time ago.”

Because sooner or later cigarettes will catch up and take you down, if not with lung cancer then with a stroke. Lifelong smoker Joni Mitchell (who was born only a couple of weeks after Deneuve in the fall of ’43) was felled by a fairly serious stroke in ’15, and has yet to fully recover.

Earlier today it was reported that Deneuve is in a Paris hospital after suffering a “very limited” ischemic stroke. Such strokes are caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.

Variety‘s Nick Vivarelli and Elsa Keslassy report that Deneuve succumbed to the stroke “while filming a scene in a hospital in Gonesse, near Paris, for the movie De Son Vivant, which is being directed by Emmanuelle Bercot. Deneuve is now at the Salpetriere hospital, which specializes in treating strokes.”

There are currently 28 Gold Derby “experts” making Oscar-race predictions or, if you will, “spitballing” the outcome. I am one of them, and right now the Best Picture race is owned by The Irishman — 14 out of 28 are confident that Martin Scorsese‘s gangster epic will take the Big Prize.

Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is second with 8 experts predicting it’ll win. Noah Baumbach‘s Marriage Story is in third place with four Best Picture upvotes, and Greta Gerwig‘s Little Women is in fourth place with two experts standing behind it.

The Oscar apple cart could be totally upset or re-oriented when Sam Mendes‘ 1917 and Clint Eastwood‘s Richard Jewell screen later this month, but for now I’m eyeballing a second Best Picture trophy for Marty. Disputes? Doubts?

Oscar Tea Leaf Reader: I’m telling you right now The Irishman is too much of a downer to win Best Picture. Just put that out of your head.
Hollywood Elsewhere: It’s not a downer — it’s an epic art film that ends with a meditation on aging, dying and the importance of family by showing its absence — by showing the end of a life without a trace of family involved. In its own way, it’s a very pro-family film.
Oscar Tea Leaf Reader: It’s a downer, man.
Hollywood Elsewhere: It’s not! It’s a profound statement…it’s saying “watch out, don’t let your life end like this.”
Oscar Tea Leaf Reader: Most people aren’t gonna get that.
Hollywood Elsewhere: And people don’t measure films by the standards of “upper” or “downer.” What audiences care about is whether or not a sense of justice has prevailed…whether the main character has earned or forsaken a chance at happiness or fulfillment, or has gotten what he or she deserved. The Godfather, Part II ended with a sense of justice…Michael Corleone alone in his Lake Tahoe mansion, shrouded in shadows, only his goons to keep him company. People accepted that as a fair ending.
Oscar Tea Leaf Reader: Not to mention the Netflix thing.
Hollywood Elsewhere: The Irishman never would have happened without Netflix! Academy members need to wake up. Streaming is happening everywhere. All the majors are doing it. Get over yourselves! It’ll never be 1975 again.
Oscar Tea Leaf Reader: Plus Marty’s already won a Best Picture Oscar and Quentin never has.
Hollywood Elsewhere: Maybe that’ll be a factor. And maybe 1917 will sweep in later this month and push everyone aside.
Oscar Tea Leaf Reader: Yeah, maybe, who knows.

It was seven years ago when Kristen Stewart and her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders were spotted getting hot and heavy in a parked car. This was while she was hooked up with Robert Pattinson (aka “Rpatz” and more recently “RBatz“). FLASH! Yesterday Stewart told Howard Stern that she and Sanders, who was married at the time, never actually “did the deed” and only, like, “kissed.”

“I did not fuck him,” Stewart declared. “This is like the most candid interview. No, I didn’t fuck him.” Why didn’t she clarify matters after getting busted in the press? “Well, who’s going to believe me? It doesn’t even matter. It looked like…you know, you make out with a dude in public, it definitely looks like you did [slam ham].”

If you’ve ever been in a smoking hot extra-marital affair in which the seams of your jeans are close to splitting open, you know that things get very touchy-grabby when you make out in a car and that “kissing” is never the end of it. Stewart told Stern that the affair was “not innocent,” whatever that implies.

There’s something fishy-smelling about a just-announced plan to cast a CG-simulated James Dean in Finding Jack, a forthcoming film based on Gareth Crocker’s same-titled novel.

For one thing, the novel — about a Vietnam vet determined to reconnect with a combat-assistance dog named Jack in the aftermath of the Vietnam War — is said to be mediocre. A Publisher’s Weekly review called it “sappy and unbelievable.” So right off the bat there’s concern.

Two, people have been talking about reanimating dead actors in newly-made films for many years, but it hasn’t really happened outside of Oliver Reed‘s post-mortem performance in Gladiator, Peter Cushing in Rogue One and in a couple of TV commercials. You’d think that the first semi-noteworthy appearance of a mythical dead actor playing a supporting role would be in a classier, more formidable-sounding vehicle than Finding Jack. Man-dog love stories are about as cloying as it gets in the game of second-tier, sentimental-appeal programmers.

Three, Finding Jack is being co-directed by two guys, Magic City Films’ Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh, and that in itself is sometimes a red flag, especially when one of the guys is named Tati Golykh.

Four, Ernst has been quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as saying the following: “We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean.”

Excuse me…what? They didn’t search for “the perfect character” but the perfect actor. The character of Rogan is a human being and therefore a “who” and not a “which.” And the way to describe Rogan’s arc is “extremely complex,” not “extreme complex.” And to claim that “after months of research” he and Golykh decided that only a CG imitation of James Dean could play a supporting character in their film? What kind of bullshit is that? They’re using the dead Dean because it will stir marginal commercial interest in their film, period. And so they’ve paid money to Dean’s family for the rights.

And five, I could see re-animating Frank Sinatra for a biopic — that would be exciting! — or bringing back the young Marlon Brando for a modern-day love story, but the Dean legend is not eternal. He died 64 years ago. New generations grow up, things change. Who other than boomers and older GenXers will care all that much about seeing the star of Rebel Without A Cause come back to life?

Jordan Ruimy’s top performances of the 20teens are, in this order, The Master‘s Joaquin Phoenix, The Wolf of Wall Street‘s Leonardo DiCaprio, The Social Network‘s Jesse Eisenberg, Lincoln‘s Daniel Day Lewis, Blue Jasmine‘s Cate Blanchett, Frances Ha‘s Greta Gerwig, Amour‘s Emmanuel Riva, Margaret‘s Anna Paquin, Whiplash‘s J.K. Simmons and Lady Bird‘s Saoirse Ronan.

HE’s list (in random order): Manchester By The Sea‘s Casey Affleck, The Wolf of Wall Street‘s Leonardo Dicaprio and Jonah Hill (don’t care if Hill is supporting), Joker‘s Joaquin Pheonix (also really good in Her), Silver Linings Playbook‘s Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, Inside Llewyn Davis‘ Oscar Isaac, Dallas Buyers’ Club‘s Matthew McConaughey, Lady Bird‘s Sairse Ronan, A Separation‘s Payman Maadi, Hereditary‘s Toni Collette, Moneyball‘s Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill (don’t care if Hill is supporting), 12 Years a Slave‘s Lupita Nyong’o, Greenberg‘s Ben Stiller, The Iron Lady‘s Meryl Streep.

Others?

From 3.27.19 Guardian story by Jessica Glenza, “Trump’s Spiritual Adviser: Relationship With President Is ‘Assignment’ From God”:

“Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser and megachurch leader Pastor Paula White said in an exclusive interview [that] her relationship with the president is the result of a direct ‘assignment’ from God, who directed her to ‘show him who I am‘.

“The controversial pastor at the central Florida-based New Destiny Christian Center is known for her luxurious lifestyle and preaching the prosperity gospel, which tells followers the more they donate to the church the more God will bless them.”

I shit you not. This is Trump’s “faith advisor.” For real. This woman works in the whitehouse. This one. This woman. pic.twitter.com/4avg0KOZN5

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 5, 2019

I drew this Peter O’Toole portrait at a tender, pre-pubescent age. Yeah, I had a certain facility but the eyes are too big and the facial proportion is all wrong.

If I’d been an actual budding artist I would’ve drawn something from real life, but instead I tried to imitate a studio-issued photograph with pencil strokes. I was basically more into expressing obeisance before the glamour of the Movie Godz than trying to tap into visual creation itself.

I went to Silvermine Art College one summer and drew some nude models, but my heart wasn’t in it. In high school I got the idea I might turn into a rock-band drummer, but my drumming was mediocre at best. It was only when I turned to florid letter-writing in my early 20s…only then did I realize “okay, this might work out.”

I need to say this carefully so I don’t get in trouble. Keanu Reeves is 56, fairly loaded and in reasonably good physical shape. The usual thing for a studly-spiritual hetero movie star of his age is to partner with a classy, curvaceous hottie who’s at least 10 or 15 or even 20 years younger. If Keanu was with a 35 year-old the paparazzi would shrug. Sometimes middle-aged actors will even do a Dennis Quaid (i.e., pair up with a 20something.)

But it’s a very rare thing for a guy like Keanu to hold hands at a big public event like the LACMA Art + Film Gala with a woman who…uhm, doesn’t fit the mold.

Her name is Alexandra Grant, a 46-year-old artist-designer. Besides being Keanu’s creative collaborator (she’s illustrated two Reeves books, Ode to Happiness and Shadows) she’s also his girlfriend. Let’s just say that Reeves, Hugh Jackman and Pierce Brosnan are in the same approximate boat, significant-other-wise. And there’s nothing the least bit wrong with that.

One year away from the 2020 election, a Washington Post-ABC News poll of registered voters has found that Mayor Pete is polling ahead of President Trump by 11 percent — 52% to 41%.

Droolin’ Joe, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are running strongest against The Beast nationally, with Biden leading by 17 points (56% to 39%), Warren by 15 points (55% to 40%) and Sanders by 14 points (55% to 41%).

But Biden is a slow-mo train wreck/gaffe machine, and his lead is partly if not largely due to stubborn black voters refusing to reassess. Am I encouraged that Warren takes Trump by 15%? Yes, definitely. But you know she’s vulnerable with Medicare For Life, the Pocahantas thing and that schoolmarm voice. And we all know that Bernie won’t make it because of the heart attack.

I don’t know which is a scarier one-on-one debate prospect, Trump vs. Biden or Trump vs. Warren.

Does it bother anyone at all that Trump, Biden, Bernie and Warren are all in their 70s, and that the 70 year-old Warren is younger than Biden by seven years? Executive- or management-performance levels peak when people are in their mid 40s to mid 60s.

How about electing a President who’s below retirement age?

Pete, I’m dead certain, would kick the tar out of Trump in a debate — ten times brighter, better educated, more mature and composed, military background.

Bad Boys For Life (Columbia, 1.17.20) is obviously a gaudy and shameless cash grab by a couple of over-the-hillies whose careers have been downswirling for quite some time.

Will BBFL “open” regardless of quality? As the core audience has been known for occasionally stupid and gullible allegiances, yeah…probably.

How do I know for certain that Bad Boys For Life is second- if not third-tier stuff? Because of what the trailer shows, and especially how it’s cut. And also because it was directed by the Belgian-born Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. During his peak years (’93 to ’03) Smith wouldn’t have glanced at these guys. But things change.

When did I know that Smith would wind up screwing the pooch? When he passed on The Matrix to make Wild Wild West — that’s when I knew he would eventually sink into the swamp. Smith’s all-time peak moment came when he starred in Tony Scott‘s Enemy of the State (’98). His second-best was starring in Michael Mann‘s Ali (’01). And I’ll never forget how completely cool and transporting he was in Fred Schepisi‘s Six Degrees of Separation (’93).