Tidbits!

Click here to see a MovieWeb exclusive clip of Jeff and Parker Posey in /Fay Grim. I wasn't sure I'd be too into this movie but seeing Jeff's handsome visage all artfully tousled and serious and stern just made me change my mind. I am even considering seeking out the film's precursor, Henry Fool so I can get the full picture - though reviews I've read insist that Fay Grim can stand on its own.

Here's something that surprised me. Did you know that Jeff does not yet have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? How is it that this man has yet to be awarded one, when "celebrities" like Ryan Seacrest and Judge Judy are already up memorialized in pavement? I think it's scandalous, frankly; and apparently the city of Tel Aviv agrees with me. The German press is reporting that the city is planning it's own Walk of Fame for Jewish celebrities.

Tel Aviv hopes to set up a "walk of fame" similar to that in Hollywood on one of the city's main streets in time for its 100th anniversary in 2009, the Ma'ariv daily reported Thursday.

The walkway, initiated by Deputy Mayor Peer Wiesner, would see copper molds with the names of Jewish celebrities from Israel and abroad placed on the sidewalk of the city's Ibn Gvirol street, a long thoroughfare which is also near most of Tel Aviv's main cultural institutions.

Candidates for the Tel Aviv walk of fame, said Ma'ariv, include Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Jeff Goldblum, Mel Brooks, Sarah Jessica Parker, Goldie Hawn, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Crystal and Barbra Streisand.

Michael Douglas and Scarlet Johansson, who are half-Jewish, are also candidates for inclusion, the daily said.

As wonderful as this is, I still think it's a crime Jeff hasn't recieved his own star in Hollywood. I was looking around the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce website and it turns out that any entertainer can be nominated by anyone (even a fan), as long as the application includes a letter of agreement from the star (or their agent), and someone's willing to foot the $25,000 bill. Damn, I'm sorry, Jeff. I love you but I ain't got a barrel of money.

And here's a little something I stumbled upon quite accidentally while reading about this year's Tribeca Film Festival. A movie called "The Grand" premiered there last week and rumour has it Jeff has a small part/cameo, along with some other big names. According to the Tribeca site:

Woody Harrelson goes all-in to save his dead grandfather's hotel-casino from a real estate developer in this hilarious mockumentary. His master plan: to win the world's most famous high stakes tournament, the Grand Championship of Poker. Anteing up the laughs are Werner Herzog, Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Ray Romano and Dennis Farina.



In the tradition of a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary, an eclectic all-star comedic cast assembles in Las Vegas for a dizzying and hilarious trip into the world of professional poker. Parallel storylines and dozens of cameos-including the likes of Jason Alexander and Brett Ratner-intersect during the game's biggest night: the Grand Championship of Poker, with high stakes for all involved. A recovering party boy is looking to reclaim his grandfather's hotel-casino (Woody Harrelson) from an eccentric real estate developer (Michael McKean), so he faces off against an all-too naïve Midwesterner (Richard Kind) and rival siblings (David Cross and Cheryl Hines) being pushed by their megalomaniacal father (Gabe Kaplan). SNL's Chris Parnell as a misanthropic genius/sci-fi geek and German auteur Werner Herzog as a nihilistic card shark who has an interesting relationship with animals-especially his rabbit- round out the poker table. As the chips fly and the players get closer to the golden pot, it's anyone's game as surprises and antics ensue. With Ray Romano as Cheryl Hines' fantasy-foot-ball-obsessed husband, the tournament becomes a rollicking good time, and the audience is sure to have as much fun as the cast. Seasoned screenwriter Zak Penn(X-Men: The Last Stand), who follows up his directorial debut Incident at Loch Ness with The Grand, knows when to add just the right amount of structure and when to back away and allow his formidable cast to improvise, raising the stakes and bringing the comedy to its full height.

Interestingly, Goldblum is mentioned nowhere on the Tribeca site, nowhere on the IMDB page for the film, and the film itself is not listed in his IMDB filmography. I don't know if that means this reviewer got mixed up or if his part is so small he doesn't warrant mentioning, but I am looking into it. If anyone has confirmation one way or the other, let me know. It is of almost no consequence, since I'd go see this film if I lived anywhere near NYC. It features several of my very favourite performers, and of course the amazing Werner Herzog, perhaps the world's most absurd director. (He just may be Batman.)

The Grand plays three more nights at Tribeca, so if you're in the city, go check it out tonight, Wednesday, or Saturday. Tickets are $18 at the door.