Mike Myers lauds T.O. on 'Tonight Show'

TORONTO (AP-CP) -- Actor Mike Myers declared "Toronto is safe" on NBC's Tonight Show Monday night, urging Americans to visit the city and ignore the SARS hysteria that has kept many in the U.S. away from Canada.

He reminded guest host Katie Couric that Canadians rallied in support of the United States and travelled to New York after Sept. 11, and hopes Americans will now return the favour.

"You're more than welcome to come, and it's completely safe. I just want us all to support Canada," said the Toronto-born actor.

Myers, wearing a shirt with a maple leaf, also gave a "shout out" to Canadian health-care workers who fought to control SARS.

Although 24 people have died from SARS in Toronto, no new cases have been reported since April 19. Still, many people continue to avoid the city and there are fears the tourism sector will take years to recover.

And the entertainment industry took notice of the World Health Organization's controversial travel advisory against Toronto -- which was later rescinded -- leading to cancelled concerts and appearances by the likes of Elton John, Billy Joel, Lisa Marie Presley, American Idol Kelly Clarkson and Catherine O'Hara, a Canadian actor.

Oscar-winner Halle Berry also went on record saying there was no way she would go to Toronto to shoot the upcoming movie Catwoman -- even though Toronto was never chosen as a location for filming.

Monday night was not the first time Myers has talked about Toronto while on American late night talk shows, in fact, it's a pretty regular topic of conversation.

He's talked about growing up in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough with Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart several times.

He's also appeared on shows sporting the Toronto Maple Leafs logo and has several references to his favourite hockey team scattered in his Austin Powers movies.

BRIDE JULES QUITS E!

E! talking head Jules Asner has wed her longtime boyfriend, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh - and quit her job at E!

She is said to be developing a new syndicated talk show.

Asner and Soderbergh were married by a Justice of the Peace last Saturday in Soderbergh's Chelsea apartment in a small ceremony attended by a few family members and close friends (including ABC's Diane Sawyer and her husband, Mike Nichols).

Details regarding Asner's talk show, said to be for Sony, are sketchy, but it's expected to be one hour and possibly on the order of "Oprah." It is not expected to debut until next year.

Asner, who hosts the one-on-one E! interview show "Revealed," moved to New York last fall from Los Angeles after cutting back on her daily E! duties. She continued to host "Revealed" and E!'s red-carpet coverage.

"Jules and the network have amicably decided to part ways later this month to enable her to pursue other opportunities," E! said in a statement released yesterday.

There's no word on where the happy couple went on their honeymoon - though Soderbergh will be attending the Cannes Film Festival in France, which opens tomorrow night.

Don't call me beautiful, Monica Bellucci says before Cannes festival

CANNES, France (AFP) - Monica Bellucci isn't beautiful and isn't a star -- or at least that's what the stunning Italian actress would prefer you believe as she prepares to open the Cannes film festival.

Instead, the raven-haired 34-year-old has her sights set on loftier goals: to be taken seriously as an artist and to develop her soul.

"Beauty is a state of being," Bellucci told a small group of journalists on Tuesday, the eve of the 12-day festival.

"If beauty exists, you have to wait for it to pass. It's like an illness, beauty," she said.

For the millions of people who will watch her officially declare the Cannes film festival open on Wednesday, though, there will be no escaping the thought that the looks that made her a world-class model before turning to cinema have not deserted her.

Nor will the audiences who go to see "The Matrix Reloaded" -- the long-awaited sequel to the sci-fi blockbuster which gets a special screening at Cannes on Thursday -- be able to turn their eyes from Bellucci's strategically bared body.

But for the actress, such focus on her appearance overlooks the efforts she is making to bring her talent to bear on roles.

And it's for that reason Bellucci has created an eclectic track record in films, zigzagging from Hollywood offers, such as this and the next "Matrix" films, to much more intimate European productions in France and Italy.

"Being a star doesn't mean anything... you can become a star from one day to the next, but that doesn't mean that you are an artist," she said.

"And I hope to develop become a good artist," she said.

That ambition has seen Bellucci pile project upon project in recent years. From small roles in Italian films, she managed to win leading parts in France, and finally made her US breakthrough in 2000's "Under Suspicion" opposite Gene Hackman.

Since then, directors have come looking for her, even creating characters specifically for her, such as "Tears of the Sun," the action flick with Bruce Willis that came out this year.

In "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions," both of which were shot at the same time, she plays Persephone, a sensual figure in a digital desert who takes an interest in Neo, the gravity-defying hero of the cult series, played by Keanu Reeves.

"Keanu Reeves is a very private person, but he has a big heart," she said of her co-star.

With offers now flowing in -- "you have no idea how many I turn down" -- Bellucci is in the enviable position of being able to cherry-pick her way through her career.

But for every big-budget Hollywood production, she also performs in smaller unsettling films that stretch her as an actress.

Last year, she starred with her husband, French actor Vincent Cassel, in "Irreversible" -- a harrowing tale of violence in which she features in a rape scene shocking in its verisimilitude. The film, which was in competition in Cannes, prompted several people to walk out of the screening.

Her next film is just as unusual, and just as likely to be as far from being a crowd-pleaser as possible.

In "The Passion," which is directed by Mel Gibson, Monica Bellucci plays Mary Magdalene in a story of the last hours of Jesus Christ's life as he is crucified. The film, which Gibson has said he has wanted to make for years, is filmed in two dead languages, Latin and Aramic -- without subtitles.

Then comes another French film with Cassel, "Secret Agents," which Bellucci is still working on.

Her acting, she said, did not tire her at all, even with such a full diary.

"The most exhausting times are when I travel, or these interviews," she said, dipping one sugar into her espresso to fight off jet-lag.

"But the moment when I'm on the set, I have to act, and I forget everything else."

Nevertheless, when "Secret Agents" is out of the way, Bellucci plans to take a break. Having made it so far up the acting ladder so quickly, she figures she now deserves a vacation, "a very long vacation."

The question is: Will the directors, the fans, and above all her own ambition to push herself ever further let her rest?

Bellucci may not have gone looking for beauty and stardom, but now that they both have gotten hold of her, she may find that some "illnesses" are hard to shake.

Vaughn Cast as STARSKY Villain

VARIETY reports Vince Vaughn will play the villain in Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip)' STARSKY AND HUTCH action comedy, and other new castings include Juliette Lewis, Chris Penn, Fred Williamson, and Amy Smart.

Scheduled for release next year, the film stars Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson as the buddy cops, and Snoop Dogg as their pimp informant Huggy Bear.

Not Today!

Somedays, when there are plenty of goodies on the New Release schedule, DVD stands for "Dan's Visual Dilemma" as I can't decide which new releases to purchase. I don't have that problem today.

Here's hoping you find something you like!

These are the new video and DVD releases for Tuesday, May 13th, 2003:

COMEDIAN (VHS & DVD)
EQUILIBRIUM (VHS & DVD)
THE HOT CHICK (VHS & DVD)
THE MISSION: SPECIAL EDITION (DVD)
THE IN-LAWS (DVD)
THE X-FILES: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON (VHS & DVD)
THE JEFFERSONS: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (DVD)
ANALYZE THAT (VHS & DVD)
DRACULA II: ASCENSION (VHS & DVD)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (DVD)
WRONG MEN & NOTORIOUS WOMEN: FIVE HITCHCOCK THRILLERS (DVD)
PERFECT MURDER, PERFECT TOWN (VHS & DVD)
CANOE (VHS & DVD)
THE LIFE OF MAMMALS, VOL. 1 - 4 (VHS & DVD)
DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS: TAROT CURSE (VHS & DVD)
TOWNIES (DVD)
CAMPION: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (VHS & DVD)
COPENHAGEN (VHS & DVD)
KISS ME KATE (VHS & DVD)
THE FLUFFER (VHS & DVD)

Good luck!

What's on TV on THURSDAY, Dan?

DAWSONS CREEK Two-Hour Finale on Wednesday

Series creator Kevin Williamson returns to DAWSON'S CREEK to write tomorrow night's two-hour series finale. The episode takes a look at the characters five years after last week's episode, and involves a wedding, a death, a baby, and much more. Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under) and Virginia Madsen both guest star in the episode, and it's also likely there will be a few surprise guest stars, like Meredith Monroe reprising her role as Andie.

John Goodman on WEST WING Finale

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY reports John Goodman will play the Republican Speaker of the House on the WEST WING season finale this Wednesday night at 9, on NBC. It's unknown if Goodman will return to the show in the fall.

What's on TV on THURSDAY, Dan?

Secrets Discovered & Marriage Proposed on FRIENDS Finale

The season finale of FRIENDS this Thursday night runs 75 minutes long. Entitled "The One in Barbados," the episode sees the gang traveling to Barbados where Ross is speaking at a paleontology convention. There are a trio of love triangles as the sitcom closes out its penultimate season, between Ross, Joey, and Charlie (Aisha Tyler), Rachel, Charlie, and Joey, and Phoebe, David (Hank Azaria), and Mike (Paul Rudd).

WILL & GRACE Guest Stars

Deborah Harry guest stars as herself on the WILL & GRACE season finale this Thursday night. In the finale, Karen confronts her late husband's mistress (Minnie Driver), while Grace goes into a jealous fit after meeting her husband's sexy co-worker (KNOTS LANDING's Nicolette Sheridan).

Death Hits Home on CSI

The team loses one of their own during a bank heist on the season finale of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, and even though I accidentally found out who while researching the issue (Curse you, TV GUIDE!), my lips remain sealed. The episode, airing Thursday night at 9, also has Grissom making a major decision regarding his hearing problem.

All-Claymation Episode of LATE NIGHT This Thursday

Thursday night's LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN will be broadcast entirely in clay animation. The show, which has been in production for months, is a start-to-finish recreation of an October episode that featured Johnny Knoxville, Richard Lewis, David Bowie, and a "In the Year 2000," sketch guest starring Mr. T.

New Music Tuesday!

I don't want anyone to kill me because I wrote anything negative about Marilyn Manson, so I am not writing anything other than:

Here are the new CD releases for Tuesday, May 13th, 2003:

MARILYN MANSON The Golden Age of Grotesque (Interscope)
THIRD EYE BLIND Out of the Vein (Elektra)
MACY GRAY The Trouble with Being Myself (Epic)
COLD Year of the Spider (Flip/Geffen)

Plus... ALKALINE TRIO, ANATOMY OF A GHOST, CHIMAIRA, THE DEUCE PROJECT, JOHN EDDIE, HOT BOY$, THE KLEZMATICS, LUCIA, RECKLESS KELLY, BRYAN SUTTON, THIRD WORLD, LIZZ WRIGHT, and the soundtrack to *DOWN WITH LOVE.

HANSON Depart Label Over Album Disagreement

HANSON have announced their departure from ISLAND DEF JAM Records.

The band, who are currently wrapping up work on their new album, "Underneath," reportedly ended their relationship with the label over disagreeing on their musical direction.

The new record is co-written in large part by Matthew Sweet and produced by Danny Kortchmar (Bon Jovi, James Taylor), and features Michelle Branch on backing vocals on one of the tracks.

No, seriously! Hanson still had a record deal?!?!

RADIOHEAD Promote 'Thief' With Guerilla Marketing

A number of sign posts in the Los Angeles area have been plastered with a secret poster campaign promoting the new RADIOHEAD album.

The fliers read "Hungry? Sick? Begging for a break? Sweet? Fresh? Would you do anything? We suck young blood? We want sweet meats," which happen to be lyrics from the "Hail to the Thief," track "We Suck Young Blood."

The poster also includes a phone number, 866-868-4433, or 866-TO-THIEF, where callers are treated to a preview of the album depending on what menu choices are made.

IDOL TALK

The music supervisor for American Idol telling TV Guide that Paul McCartney plans to drop in for the third season of the Fox talent contest, slated to get underway sometime in January.