Here a Love, There a Love, Everywhere a Love....

From The Today Show - September 30, 2002

INSTANTLY UPDATE YOUR LIFE FOR FALL

Looking for a change in your life to match the change in seasons? “InStyle” magazine’s “instant update” list in the October issue covers the newest trends — from three-day mascara to glowing ice cubes. Charla Krupp, contributing editor to “In Style,” and the Today Show for seven years, goes through the list to give you the coolest “updates” in fashion, makeup and entertainment.  

Here's one of them:  

NOT JUST FOR KIDS

Adult sleepovers — the ultimate expression of cocooning. Surround yourself with the security of friends as you sleep. Jennifer Love Hewitt celebrated her birthday with an all-female slumber party at the Beverly Hills Hotel bungalows.

Story: © 2002 National Broadcasting Companies Inc., Microsoft Corporation and InStyle Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

ARMANI OUTFITS TUXEDO'S STARS

by Kelly Carter

The designer says the tuxedo proved a challenge because Chan would be wearing it for more than just walking.

In The Tuxedo, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jackie Chan wear Armani-designed styles.

In the case of Jackie Chan and his tuxedo, the clothes really do make the man.

In the action-packed comedy The Tuxedo it's a special tuxedo with an automatic self-defence system, built-in Xerox machine and secret video camera that really transforms Chan, giving him the ability to crawl up walls and sing and move like James Brown. All necessary skills for the espionage world.

Giorgio Armani designed the outfit, a one-button classic black wool crêpe tuxedo with narrow notched satin lapels, a satin cummerbund, a classic tuxedo shirt and bow tie, which of course ties itself.

Tuxedo co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt also is outfitted in Armani in the film.

"The tuxedo in the film, with all the super powers it endows on Jackie's character, is described as the ultimate tuxedo," Armani says. "How could I turn down the chance to design something with that kind of billing?"

Hollywood's male and female stars covet Armani's creations at award shows. Usually when he designs an actor's tuxedo, Armani looks for the suit to reflect the actor's personality, body type and personal style.

"With this tuxedo, I had to take into account the fact that Jackie would be doing much more than simply walking down a red carpet," Armani said.

Story: © 2002 USA Today - a Ganette Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.

From ABS-CBN.com - September 30, 2002  

A snip it of FULL METAL JACKIE CHAN

by Johanna Schneller  

Throughout, Chan was everywhere, explaining every punch (through gestures more than words), hoisting himself and his eight-man stunt team on wires, kicking, spinning, falling. He put on his own makeup. He spritzed his face with fake sweat. He slept, at most, four hours a night. He dissected scenes into an infinite number of pieces: Throw this jab -- cut! Spin and step left -- cut! The crew got used to hearing him cry out, “Let go!” It was a signal to first assistant director Lee Cleary that Chan was getting impatient again.

For one sequence, in which he frees Hewitt from Banning’s henchman, Chan began blocking with stuntmen and stand-ins at 3:30 in the afternoon. At 5:45, Hewitt stepped in.

“Jackie never stops thinking about how to make each little moment in every scene more exciting,” she said, smiling beatifically. “He goes from movie to movie, does tons of charity work, gets hurt and brushes it off, and I’ve never heard him complain once.”

The henchman wrapped his arms around her; Chan slapped them off, whap, whap. His hands moved so fast that Donovan routinely had to slow the playback on the monitor to see what he had done.

By 6:15, they had shot eight takes and printed the last three. At 6:30, Chan and Hewitt began to shoot a bit of dialogue, and at last, here was one thing Jackie Chan couldn’t do alone.

Hewitt, as Blaine, asks Tong a question. He’s supposed to reply, “I’ll explain it to you later.”

But Chan couldn’t wrap his tongue around those L’s that Donovan suggested shortening the line to “I’ll explain later,” then “Tell you later.” Chan struggled with both. “Just say, ‘Later!’” Donovan instructed.

What Chan ended up saying could be his motto, not just for The Tuxedo , but for how he races through life.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Hewitt asks.

Chan replies, “No time!”

Story: © 2002 ABS-CBN Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.  

From Great Falls Tribune - September 30, 2002  

ACROSS THE BIG SKY

A former Montana State University linebacker has a credit in a new Jackie Chan movie, as the film's director.

Kevin Donovan of Helena, a 1982 finance major at MSU, directed "The Tuxedo," an action comedy starring Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. It is Donovan's first feature film, after working on a string of commercials.

Donovan played four years for the Bobcats, after finding success on the Helena Capital High School football team.

"After graduation I got a job in my field -- finance -- at Boeing Co. in Seattle," Donovan said. "It took me only one year to realize I had absolutely no interest in finance."

He enrolled in the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., and after working in advertising for about seven years, he moved into directing commercials. Then came opportunities to work with films.

"I was offered a lot of very bad movies," he said. "Two years ago my agent told me Dreamworks was interested in me directing 'The Tuxedo."'

Story: © 2002 Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved.

From The Hollywood Reporter in association with My Love Hewitt Websites - September 27, 2002  

ZOMBA'S $3 BIL BILL DISPUTED

by Scott Roxborough

COLOGNE, Germany -- German media giant Bertelsmann wants to pay as much as $600 million less than expected to take over Clive Calder's Zomba Music Group, sources near the company said Thursday, confirming German media reports.  

Bertelsmann reportedly sees Calder's $3 billion price tag for Zomba as too high as it believes that the label's top acts, including Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys,  and most recently JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT are on the decline.  

Calder forced Bertelsmann to buy Zomba when he exercised a "put" option in June that required the German group to pay a premium of at least eight times Zomba's average pretax profit from 1999-2001.  

But sources close to Bertelsmann say the German firm disagrees with the pretax profit figures being put forth by Calder's investment group Summer Shore NV. Bertelsmann reportedly wants to use a stricter measure of pretax profit that would value Zomba at $2.4 billion.  

Analysts, however, believe that the real reason for Bertelsmann's haggling is the decline in Zomba's market share. In 2000, according to Nielsen SoundScan, Zomba artists accounted for more than 6% of sales of new album releases in the United States.   So far this year, the label has managed only a 2.78% share.

Story: © 2002 The Hollywood Reporter in association with My Love Hewitt Websites. All Rights Reserved.

Ramzi Azar with
Tuxedo star
Jennifer Love Hewitt

TORONTO RUGBY PLAYER HAS MOVIE PREMIERE

By Doug Crosse  

North American release of Tuxedo has scene featuring Irish Canadian player

A Toronto area rugby player is getting his major movie debut as the Jackie Chan/Jennifer Love-Hewitt film Tuxedo opens across North America today.

"It took us about eight hours to shoot it," Azar told RugbyRugby.com/Planet-Rugby.com recently. "I hit my head a few times but it was fun."

The scene - which he has been told runs around a minute or so in the film involves Azar playing a limo driver who has a raincoat that Chan wants to borrow.  Azar catches the star trying to pinch the garment and a chase ensues - eventually leaving Azar on the ground unconscious from hitting a tree branch and his limo and driver's uniform gone as well.

Originally he was not going to be involved in the scene quite so much - but improvisation by Chan led to script changes - which came as a pleasant surprise to the part time actor who runs a restaurant with his brother and Irish teammate George Azar.

As for his co-stars Chan and Love-Hewitt, of the two Azar says Jennifer was much more friendly - with the pair killing a lot of time on the set.

"Jennifer was just hanging around and very approachable," he said.

Prior to this movie shoot Azar had starred in a commercial for a Casino where he plays a tough guy in an elevator - and he also did a number of ads for Missisauga's Square One shopping centre.

And is he ready to chuck the restaurant business and pursue acting full time?

"Not just yet," he says with a smile - "I'm fine doing what I am doing - it's a great experience and a lot of fun."

Story: © 2002 Rivals Digital Media. All Rights Reserved.
Images: © 2002 Allsport Photographic PLC. All Rights Reserved. 

From "A LIVELY INTERVIEW WITH JACKIE CHAN"

By DIXIE REID

But Chan is uncertain if there'll be "The Tuxedo 2."

"I'm pretty lucky: sequel, sequel, sequel. With 'Tuxedo,' they either close the deal now or wait. I'd rather wait and see what happens at the box office. If it doesn't (do well), that means the audience (doesn't) like Jackie Chan doing special effects."

Story: © 2002 The Sacramento Bee. All Rights Reserved.

FROM KING FU TO WHITE TIE

by JEFFREY M. ANDERSON

Since his first movie role in 1964, Jackie Chan has racked up hundreds of credits, performing with rabid enthusiasm in front of and behind the camera. He's racked up nearly as many injuries, including a scar on the right side of his head just above his ear which has dictated his hairstyles for the past decade.

"If you cut it short, you can see the scar," Chan says.

On a recent visit to The City to promote his new movie, "The Tuxedo," Chan's hair is unusually long. It's to prepare for his next role, in "Around the World in 80 Days," he says. Chan and the movie's director haven't decided on a hair length, so he's keeping it long for the time being. When practicing kung fu at home, he wears women's hair clips.

Though Chan's Asian movies are funny (and often beautiful) films in the comedy/kung fu genre, in American releases he's an action star, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But Chan would rather be taken as a graceful physical actor along the lines of his heroes Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Take, for example, one of his greatest bits from 1991's "Armour of God II: Operation Condor" (released here in 1997 as "Operation Condor").

During a struggle, Chan causes his opponent to drop his gun, which lands on the edge of a rug. He flips the carpet up in the air, does a forward roll, grabs the gun, cocks it and aims it at the adversary's head before you can say "good grief!"

He says that anyone can do a big stunt like falling out a window. "You land on a mattress and you don't get hurt ... most of the time."

And when it comes to little stunts using furniture or household items in a fight scene, Chan is tapped out: "The television? Been done. Under the bed? Been done."

Chan says he'd like to do a dramatic role, especially something in which he gets to kiss the girl. Starring with the ever-so-cute Jennifer Love Hewitt in "The Tuxedo," which opens Friday, the pair does engage in an aggressive "I can't stand you"-type banter that usually leads to a kiss.

But "The Tuxedo" never pays off.

Chan says, "Hollywood knows my movies and they don't want to risk the formula. ... American people like it, the whole world likes it. So, OK, keep the formula. No love scene. Just funny."

Hollywood interfered with the film in other ways, too. Before Chan could perform a jump off a 120-foot silo, he had to wait for a Dreamworks executive to arrive and to take a meeting with the filmmakers to make sure Chan wasn't being exploited and wouldn't be hurt. Then they forbade from doing the follow-up stunt, a jump from the silo into a cement truck.

"American films are difficult; there are so many rules. For me, they waste so much time, so much money. Making Asian films, I can do whatever I like to do," he says. "On Hong Kong films, we save a lot of money, save a lot of time, but you see I do get hurt. ... The best way is if I can combine the Hollywood way and the Hong Kong way."

Another other drawback in Hollywood is that American directors tend to cut too many times during a fight scene. Chan choreographs a whole fight in one go, and the director chops it to bits. "That's why I never move the camera during fight scenes," Chan says of his own pictures.

Still, he's excited about his next American movie, the sequel to the hit "Shanghai Noon." Chan claims that the American crew finally listened to him and that the film, slated for February release, will be closer to Hong Kong style.

"It's five times better than 'Shanghai Noon'! Wait until the end! There's a swordfight," he says, while making rapid-fire sword fighting noises with his mouth, explaining that the action will play much faster than your usual thrust-and-parry.

Chan, who was born in 1954 in Hong Kong, attended the punishing Peking Opera School, where he learned martial arts along with other skills he used to propel himself to fame. (His frequent collaborator Sammo Hung, from TV's "Martial Law," was a classmate.)

After Bruce Lee rocketed to international stardom in the 1970s, Chan, along with dozens of other would-be stars, was groomed to be "the next Bruce Lee." He even worked briefly on Lee's best film, "Enter the Dragon." In 1978, Chan came into his own when he mixed comedy, slapstick and kung-fu in "Drunken Master," directed by Yuen Woo-ping of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fame.

In "The Tuxedo," Chan has a wonderful scene full of irony. When an angry bicyclist tries to pound taxi driver Chan to a pulp, Chan gets away by hiding under his cab. After the brawl, a friend asks why he didn't just use kung fu to defend himself. Chan replies, "Not everyone can be Bruce Lee."

Story: © 2002 The San Francisco Examiner. All Rights Reserved.

INTERVIEW: JACKIE CHAN

By Smilin' Jack Ruby

And here's another junket I'd like to tell you about...

So, this past Saturday, all us reporter-types scuttled down to the Century Plaza Hotel down in Century City for the Tuxedo junket.  I have to admit, I was pretty excited about this junket because I'd always wanted to meet Jackie Chan.  Seriously, like meeting Jet Li, Jackie was one of the few stars I really wanted to get in a room with.

Uh-oh, here it comes...

I love Jackie Chan movies, though I got into them late.  Jennifer Love Hewitt can say that she's loved Chan "since she was a kid" (as that was last week, it's probably not too far a stretch), but I hadn't even heard of him until I got to college. 

Question: Did you hear any of Jennifer's music?

Jackie: Oh, that's later.  Then I said, "Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown" – he taught me every small step, how to sing – "Get up, get on up," but he said, "Jackie, you don't have to sing it so clear." – "Get Up.  Get On Up.  Get Up.  Get On Up." – No!  "Geeeeet up, get on up." (Jackie does a slurred, more James Brown-esque rendition).  It was a great experience.  I spent a few months learning that and now I know it!  I can use that all my life.  Now when there's a party going on and they're like, "Jackie, sing some song" – I always sing Elvis because that's the only song I know.  Everybody just thinks I'm a big fan of Elvis.  But anyone who sings slow songs, I like it – Whitney Houston.  Now, I can sing "Sex Machine!"  (breaks into "Sex Machine") "Get up, get on up!"  And everybody goes, "Wow, Jackie can speak perfect English!  Yes!"  "Sex Machine!"  But, Jennifer – crazy.  Everybody said, "Oh, you're working with Jennifer.  She's sexy."  "What?  She's sexy?"  I never found out she's sexy.  Nothing.  She's just there.  Of course, better than Chris Tucker and Owen Wilson.  Every morning, we wake up.  Look.  Five o'clock.  (makes an exhausted face).  Sometimes you're haggard.  But then she'd put on her music...(whispers) Shut off what you're playing!  "But that's my new album!"  Oh, God.  I don't want to hear anymore!  You've been singing again and again and again.  She wanted to learn kicking and punching.  She jumped on my back, "kick me, punch me."  I'm only full of energy on the set.  She?  On the set, always lazy.  Behind the set? (mimes Jennifer bouncing off the walls)  She's just crazy.  Yesterday, somebody said, "Jackie, look at these – Rolling Stone."  I looked at them.  "Oh, yeah, nice."  "You know who she is?" "No, I don't know."  "Jennifer."  WHAT?  WOW!  Let me see her again!  Tonight, I'm dating her!  After five months, from yesterday, NOW she's sexy!  If you can imagine every day for five months, eat together, lunch, work.  She's becoming a buddy.  She's like a tomboy.  (Mimes Jennifer punching him in the arm).  "Ow!  Stop hitting me!" 

Question: You didn't think she was sexy until you saw her in Rolling Stone?

Jackie: Yeah!  Now, yes. 

Story: © 2002 CHUD.com. All Rights Reserved.

JACKIE CHAN RULES HOLLYWOOD VIA "THE TUXEDO" 

By Crispina Martinez  

LOS ANGELES, CA — Jacky Chan’s celebrity in Hollywood is growing by leaps and bounds and it is expected to be enhanced even more by his latest movie, “The Tuxedo.”

“Tuxedo,” co-starring Jackie with the petite but very talented Jennifer Love Hewitt, was premiered on Thursday (Sept. 19) night at the Mann Grauman’s Chinese Theater and judging from the crowd’s enthusiasm when Jackie appeared, the Chinese comedic action superstar has indeed conquered Hollywood, an heir apparent to Bruce Lee’s throne.

Always the nice and down-to-earth fellow, Jackie went around the fans that lined up both sides of Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Mann Grauman’s Chinese Theater and shook hands with some lucky ones. Hollywood Blvd. was closed to traffic in part for a few days for some very exciting events, including the Latin Grammy Awards and the premiere of Dreamworks’ “The Tuxedo.”

“The Tuxedo” tells the story of a cab driver (Jimmy Tong) who becomes chauffeur to a playboy millionaire named Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs). Devlin likes him but early on he admonished him never to touch his prized tuxedo which is securely encased in glass. But when Devlin is hospitalized due to an explosive “accident,” he ordered Jimmy to put on the tuxedo. Jimmy obeyed and behold, he gets the power to do extraordinary abilities — like kick and punch the enemies, but also sing and dance beautifully. The tuxedo is not an ordinary tux but one computerized with awesome and state–of-the-art gadget.

It turns out that the “out of commission” wealthy industrialist Devlin is a secret agent working for the CSA. Jimmy, with his rookie partner Del Blaine (Hewitt), is suddenly thrust into a dangerous world of espionage. He becomes an unwitting but impeccably dressed secret agent.

Del Blaine, on her part, does not know that her partner is actually Jimmy Tong, the driver, and not the suave and fabulous Devlin.

This is now a typical Jackie Chan role, but definitely it has the charm, the wit and the humor that are characteristically his alone.

“The Tuxedo” marks the film feature directorial debut of Kevin Donovan, an award–winning commercial director. Being a first time director, Kevin confessed to encountering some problems with the producers at first but then Jackie noticed his predicament and “he wrote me a two-page letter saying he understood my dilemma but that he wanted to help me in every way he can. And he did. Jackie is the kindest man on earth. He was very supportive of me. He encouraged me to work on, He’s amazing.”

As to the chemistry between Jackie and Jennifer, Kevin said “it was so great that it made our work much easier.” The first-timer that he is, Kevin said there were a few regrets he felt when he saw the result of his work, scenes that he could have done differently, that he could have changed; scenes he shot incorrectly. “I did huge political mistakes.” But somehow the movie turned out well and is predicted to be another blockbuster for Jackie Chan.

Kevin’s next project? “I think everybody is reluctant to get you again until they see the result of your first work,” he said.

“The Tuxedo,” which opens next week in LA, will be released in the Philippines through United International Pictures (UIP).

Story: © 2002 The Manila Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.

Regarding the movie, "The Tuxedo"  

"I have two costars in the movie.  Jennifer Love Hewitt and that tuxedo."

-Jackie Chan as told to John Monaghan of the Detroit Free Press - September 22, 2002

Story: © 2002 Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

ROLLING STONE NOW GATHERS LOTS OF MOSS

A Commentary by Joel Brown

I subscribed to Rolling Stone before Dr. Hook sang about getting on the cover. Some of the writers who review concerts for me weren't even born when my first issue of the baby boomer music bible came in the mail. (Thanks, Dad!) And unlike many of my generation, I've been sending in the renewal checks ever since.

So I guess I'm supposed to be up in arms about the magazine's makeover, which officially takes effect with the current (Oct. 3) issue.

Publisher Jann Wenner dumped a veteran managing editor and put in place Ed Needham, who ran the American version of FHM (For Him Magazine). That's one of the so-called ``lad mags,'' the British invention that has taken the magazine world by storm lately.

FHM, along with Maxim, Stuff and a handful of imitators, focuses on booze, babes and partying. They're the print form of beer commercials, and they care little for the distant '60s, for that generation's values or its crusading journalism.

And now Rolling Stone is going to be one, or at least more like one.

The standard line is that those of us who grew up with Rolling Stone as a (counter-)cultural touchstone ought to be horrified at the dumbing down/sexing up of our magazine.

Please.

Other, hipper outlets regularly beat the Stone to the cutting-edge music these days. Even the stodgiest mainstream publications include the sort of pop-culture stories that were once the Stone's exclusive domain. Music is now just one of several commercial and artistic media, like movies or TV, rather than a vital force behind sweeping social changes, as it was when the Stone began.

In other words . . . the truth is, Rolling Stone long ago turned into the kind of magazine that mainly pushes lad mag-style skin shots of barely legal actresses, exotic models and sultry singers.

You say that like it's a bad thing. (Bada boom!)

The Oct. 3 cover feature showing Jennifer Love Hewitt in various stages of undress is no different than scads of previous cover spreads on Drew Barrymore, Teri Hatcher, Beyonce Knowles, Britney Spears and countless other red-hotties. Young men will always want to look at pictures of underdressed young women, and old men like Jann Wenner who want to keep their magazines profitable will always provide said pictures. Click Here to read the October 2002 Rolling Stone article on Love.

The Stone's reader-correspondence page reliably features two kinds of letters in response to such features. One says, ``I thought you were a music magazine, not a skin rag''; the other says, ``Thank you for the pictorial of the lovely (whoever), I've been pawing it for days,'' or words to that effect.

The only difference now is a bonus skin shot of Asia Argento on the correspondence page accompanying the letters; her pictorial appeared a couple of weeks ago, during Needham's shakedown phase.

The concerns aren't just about what's going into the magazine, though; they're also about what's going out, namely the sort of huge prose pieces on which Hunter S. Thompson, P.J. O'Rourke, Joe Ezterhas and many more made their reputations and brought a new kind of substance to pop-culture journalism.

It appears such pieces will be rare in Needham's magazine, which so far seems largely to be about cut-up bits and pieces, short takes, quips and hit lists. College freshmen can't read more than three paragraphs at a sitting, seems to be the rationale. But a lot of it is livelier, more timely and more fun than what has been in the Stone lately. Previous attempts to adopt the cheeky tone of music-mag competitors Spin and Blender have fallen flat. Needham's whip seems to be driving the gag writers and trendspotters to better efforts.

Aside from the occasional well-reported piece on teen killers (a specialty), there hasn't been a newsmaking big article in Rolling Stone in recent years. The magazine has mostly delivered content-free celebrity tongue baths - just like the Jennifer Love Hewitt piece.

Among Needham's claims is that he's going to bulk up the Rock 'n' Roll news section of the Stone. But the lead piece in the current issue simply rehashes a Los Angeles Times investigation that pinned Tupac Shakur's murder on fellow dead rapper Biggie Smalls. It's the kind of story on which the old Rolling Stone would have scooped the daily papers, no doubt with a 30,000-word behemoth. But not the Rolling Stone of 2002, before or after Needham's arrival.

Needham is simply taking the Stone one step further down the road it's already on. The issue's one big, chunky piece is a smarmy profile of ``the new girl next door,'' a ``pouty-lipped'' 18-year-old suburban New Yorker who is supposed to typify some new breed of sexually dominant female teen. ``Do me! Or else!'' says the headline, and the lead is ``Jordan knows you want her . . .''

Although the article features several sultry snaps of this surly-mugged hottie, and extended discussion of her sexual history and preferences, it omits her last name, perhaps to avoid filling her e-mail in-box with aching missives from boys who'll now have to resort to writing letters to Needham.

Despite a couple of quotes from parents and guidance counselors - the writer's efforts to gin up a trend angle - it's as content-free as the Love Hewitt interview.

Needham has simply delivered Rolling Stone to the destination to which it has been headed for years.

Story: © 2002 by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NEW TITLE

There are a lot of stories out there regarding the Latin Grammy Awards.  Who's attending, who's performing, who's winning, and who's Visa was not approved.  

And the only thing mentioned by the media about Jennifer Love Hewitt, is being a presenter.   They call her 'actor/singer', 'actress/singer', 'actress', 'singer', or just 'Jennifer Love Hewitt'.  

This is what today's (09/18/02) New York Daily News called her:

actress-cum-pop-diva Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Story: © 2002 Hewmix Limited. All rights reserved.

NUDES TICKLED PRUDES

By JAMES GARDNER

FULLY a generation before the invention of the dirty post card, and more than a century before the Playboy Channel hit the airwaves, a man could reach adulthood without having ever seen more of a woman than her face or - if he was lucky - her bare hand.

It's in this context that we should ponder the gods and goddesses now on view in "Exposed: The Victorian Nude," which has just opened at the Brooklyn Museum.

To a 19th-century public that had never seen so much as a glimpse of stocking, these temptresses must have come as a revelation.

An Edward John Poynter work from the Brooklyn Museum exhibit on Victorian nudes.

And it's worth noting that the nudes that make up most of the show, unlike the beefy battleships immortalized by French artists, all have the lithe dimensions favored by a generation of adolescents nurtured on Britney Spears and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

These paintings, sculptures and photographs weren't pornography - but art.

A society that would have been scandalized by the mere thought of a bare ankle was cordially invited to gawk at life-size, fully frontal nudes and somehow feel edified in the process.

The "edification" provided by the nude took several forms - and one sure-fire favorite was images of Christian martyrdom, like John William Waterhouse's "Saint Eulalia," or "Faithful Unto Death," a scene of Christians before the lions by the suitably named Herbert Schmaltz.

It can't be said that the art included here is of the highest order.

Most of it is academic schlock, whose integrity is fatally compromised by making lofty claims for what, in most cases, is scarcely sublimated carnality, whether heterosexual, homoerotic or pedophile.

What's best about the show is its useful inquiry into a delightful, if somewhat goofy, chapter in the history of taste - relating as it does the rise of the Victorian nude to the emergence of popular athletics, like the swimming craze, and the prevalence of prostitution.

Like the infamous "Sensations" exhibition from three years ago, this show comes to the Brooklyn Museum from England.

Yet how much has changed in so short a period.

If Giuliani were still in office, the free publicity from his going postal over sexualized images of children could have been factored into the museum's projections for its bottom line.

Now that his successor is resolutely libertarian, "Exposed" will probably never achieve the infamy that - from several perspectives (feminist, children's rights etc.) - it richly deserves.

EXPOSED: THE VICTORIAN NUDE
Brooklyn Museum of Art, 200 Eastern Parkway, (718) 638-5000. Through Jan. 5, 2003.

Story: © 2002 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Image: © Edward John Poynter. All rights reserved.

A&W SIGNS UP WITH UIP TO REVITALISE BRAND

A&W Malaysia Sdn Bhd has started a marketing alliance with United International Pictures (UIP) as part of its effort to revitalise the brand. 

Beginning Sept 15, the restaurant chain is offering a four-selections menu called the Tuxedo Combo Meal, introduced in conjunction with the forthcoming movie from Dreamworks Pictures The Tuxedo starring Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. 

Packaged at RM10.90 each, the value meal’s featured selections include Mozza Burger, Coney Dog, Fried Chicken, Chicken Bites, A&W Root Beer and Limited Edition Tuxedo Bear of the World. 

During this promotion period which ends on October 31, customers will be entitled to one free Tuxedo movie ticket with every purchase of any two Tuxedo Combo Meals in a single receipt. 

A total of 1,415 tickets will be randomly distributed at seven selected A&W Restaurants, including the two drive-in outlets in Petaling Jaya and Seremban. 

A&W marketing manager Danny Teo said the chain was aiming for a 7% increase in sales with the Tuxedo combo meal.  

Regular combo meals contribute 30% of the entire A&W sales. 

He said the alliance with UIP was the second this year, after the successful Spider-Man promotion in April with Buena Vista. 

BUNGO SWAPS BEER FOR BIKKIES

By Mark Todd

Lion Nathan's Walter Bugno, who once thought he'd be a beer man for life, had one of those defining moments watching television a week ago.

Actor and singer Jennifer Love Hewitt was asked in an interview what she liked most about Australia. "Tim Tams," she replied, and Bugno was hooked.

"I thought that's good enough for me. This is a pretty appealing category of consumer to go after," he said.

Yesterday, Bugno quit his position as managing director of Lion Nathan in Australia to become president of US-owned Campbell's/Arnotts with responsibility for the Asia-Pacific. In doing so he's swapped selling beer for soup and biscuits.

In reality though the decision was one of the hardest of Bugno's life. Having decided to go he has mixed feelings; a sense of excitment at his new job and one of sadness at leaving Lion Nathan where he made his name in the beer industry.

Bugno said yesterday that, in the end, he wanted to run his own show. Earlier this year, Lion Nathan's chief executive Gordon Cairns renewed his contract until the end of 2004, when some thought the jovial Scotsman might end his stewardship some time next year.

Also, the company hired Andrew Reeves, the former head of Coca-Cola Amatil's Australian operations, and Peter Cowan, the managing director of Southcorp's Australasian wine business. Both, particularly Reeves, were considered strong rivals to Bugno's claim on the top spot.

"A bird in hand was probably worth more than the prospect of waiting for another two years to lead an organisation in my own right," Bugno said. "In a way it would have been irresponsible for me not to keep my eyes open."

Bugno will report to former Arnott's boss John Doumani, who will assume responsibility for all the Campbell's empire outside the US.

In Bugno's 4 years running Lion Nathan's Australian beer business, profits increased at a compound rate of 7 per cent and the company emerged as a strong rival to Foster's. He was known for innovation, helping to introduce Hahn Premium Light, Hahn Witbier, Toohey's Maxim as well as reinvigorating Toohey's New.

"Walter has made a significant contribution to Lion Nathan over the last few years," Cairns said.

Shares in Lion Nathan were up 14c to $5.30.

Story: © 2002 Sydney Morning Herald.  All Rights Reserved.