The Couch Potato Report - July 4th, 2006
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on the trouble with ANNAPOLIS and the trouble with Harry.
Over the years there have been some great movies made about the military and the armed forces.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, APOCALYPSE NOW, TOP GUN, STRIPES, PLATOON and FULL METAL JACKET are just six, and I could easily go on.
Sadly, over the years there have also been some really bad movies made about the military and the armed forces.
Since I offered six good ones, let me know give you six bad ones: PEARL HARBOUR, DOWN PERISCOPE, NAVY SEALS, U-571, WINDTALKERS, and JARHEAD.
With that list, sadly, I could also easily go on.
And I will, let me add one more title to the list of really bad movies made about the military and the armed forces: ANNAPOLIS.
In real life Annapolis is The United States Naval Academy, an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. It is located in Annapolis, Maryland, and thus The Academy is often referred to simply as “Annapolis.”
The movie ANNAPOLIS stars James Franco from the SPIDER-MAN movies as a young man from the wrong side of the tracks whose dream of attending becomes a reality.
Or at least that’s what the film starts off as, but then it becomes a boxing movie.
Boxing is part of the training at the real Annapolis so I don't have a problem with the film's facts, but once it goes down the pugilist road full-time it becomes almost unwatchable.
Before that ANNAPOLIS is a "coming of age" movie and also a "small town boy makes good" movie, but it is isn't actually very good.
It aspires to be TOP GUN, FULL METAL JACKET or AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, but it never quite gets there.
Once it is over, all ANNAPOLIS actually achieves is a place on the list of really bad movies made about the military and the armed forces.
Granted, it is better that DOWN PERISCOPE, NAVY SEALS, U-571 and JARHEAD, but that isn’t saying much.
So I will stop saying things about ANNAPOLIS at all.
Instead, let me turn our focus to another one of ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S FILMS.
This week I have some things to say about Hitch's 1955 film THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY.
The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body.
Everyone also thinks that they had something to do with his death.
THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY is a black comedy and it was a radical departure for the director. Thus, audiences didn’t warm up to it when it was first released, even though by today’s standards it features an all-star cast.
Before Shirley Maclaine hit the big time; before Jerry Mathers was the Beaver; before John Forsythe was BACHELOR FATHER, or had even heard of DYNASTY; and before Alfred Hitchcock was a household name, they all were a part of THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY.
The film might not be a masterpiece, but it has enough of Hitchcock’s trademark techniques and plot twists to keep you guessing.
So in reality, I didn't have any trouble with THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. And it is available now on DVD, and so is ANNAPOLIS.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
In the superb THE MATADOR Pierce Brosnan leaves James Bond behind playing a globetrotting hitman who meets a businessman in a hotel bar in Mexico City and they become friends, for reasons neither expected.
STONED is a chronicle of the sordid life and suspicious death of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, who was found in the bottom of his swimming pool weeks after being let go from the band.
I’ll also continue our tribute to ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S FILMS with the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece SABOTEUR; and I will tell you about SEASON ONE of the TV show WEEDS.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!
Wyrd Sisters continue Harry Potter battle with studio
The Winnipeg folk group The Wyrd Sisters plans to continue its battle against the movie studio behind the Harry Potter films despite another legal setback, a lawyer says.
The group has been fighting the movie studio Warner Brothers since late 2005 over a scene in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that depicts a band of the same name.
The group's lawyer, Kimberly Townley-Smith, said Monday that The Wyrd Sisters plan to appeal last week's Ontario Supreme Court ruling that ordered them to pay $140,000 in legal costs for Warner Brothers.
"We will be appealing the disposition of costs," Townley-Smith said.
The studio, which still faces a $40-million lawsuit brought by the band, welcomed the recent Ontario court ruling.
"We're extremely hopeful that we will continue to prevail in this case," Warner Brothers spokesman Scott Rowe said from Los Angeles.
It was not clear when the court would hold a hearing for the lawsuit.
Failed injunction bid
In November 2005, The Wyrd Sisters failed in a bid to block the release of the film.
The group argued that it had owned the trademark to the name in Canada since 1990 and the release of the movie, which featured a band with the same name portrayed by members of Radiohead and Pulp, would ruin its reputation.
The film is based on Scottish author J. K. Rowling's hit book, in which there is a band called the "Weird Sisters" — a term inspired by William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Warner Brothers has said it tried to reach a deal with the folk group to use the name, but the sides were unable to come to an agreement.
While some have criticized the group and called the legal battle a publicity stunt, Wyrd Sisters member Kim Baryluk has said the lawsuit was meant to protect their trademark and work as musicians.
New CD Releases For July 4, 2006
* * *Johnny Cash "American V: A Hundred Highways"
Johnny Cash was a busy "Man in Black" in the months prior to his death on Sept. 12, 2003. He recorded a batch of new material with producer Rick Rubin, the result of which can be heard on this fifth chapter to Cash's acclaimed "American" series.
Like with previous "American" trips, "A Hundred Highways" features the singer tackling a variety of material. The album includes the traditional spiritual "God's Gonna Cut You Down" as well as songs written by Hank Williams, Rod McKuen and Bruce Springsteen.
Cash, who was 71 at the time of his death, also sang two originals on the collection--"I Came to Believe" and "Like the 309." The former is a tune that Cash wrote and originally recorded early in his career. The latter, which is the last song Cash wrote and recorded, incorporates one of the singer's favorite lyrical motifs--trains.
* * *Rise Against "The Sufferer and the Witness"
Chicago punk-rock band Rise Against delivers its sophomore major-label outing and its first new full-length CD since 2004's "Siren Song of the Counter Culture."
The group got its start when two 88 Fingers vets--guitarist Dan Precision and bassist Joe Principe--joined forces with some fellow hardcore enthusiasts in 1999. Rise Against released two albums on San Francisco indie Fat Wreck Chords, 2001's "The Unraveling" and 2002's "Revolutions Per Minute," before signing with Geffen and putting out "Siren Song of the Counter Culture."
Career highlights for the band included appearing in the skateboard flick "Lords of Dogtown." Rise Against delivered a version of Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown" on the "Dogtown" soundtrack.
The band is touring this summer as part of the Warped Tour.
* * * Mr. Criminal "Stay on the Streets"
The Los Angeles-based rapper returns with a follow-up to 2005's "Sounds of Crime." Counting compilations that the hip-hop star has produced, "Stay on the Streets" is Mr. Criminal's fifth album. He made his debut with "Criminal Mentality" in 2001.
* * *Various Artists "Johnny Cash: Roots and Branches"
Perfectly timed with the release of the new Johnny Cash CD, this album collects 16 recordings by various artists who were highly influential in the Man in Black's career.
"Roots and Branches" includes such selections as Jimmie Davis' "Was There When It Happened," Warren Smith's "Rock 'n' Roll Ruby," Roy Orbison's "You're My Baby," Ernest Tubb's "So Doggone Lonesome" and Hank Williams' "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle."
* * *Alice Peacock "Who I Am"
The Minnesota-born singer/songwriter returns with her third full-length record. "Who I Am" follows 1999's "Real Day" and 2002's "Alice Peacock." The vocalist recently promoted her album with an appearance on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion."
* * *
More new releases:
Bonobo, "One Off Remixes & B- Sides"
Dave Brubeck, "At Storyville 1954"
Michel Camilo & Tomatito, "Spain Again"
Diana, "Diana 2006"
Frances Faye, "No Regrets"
Steven Ivey, "Country Goes Bluegrass"
Jerry Lewis, "Are You for Real?
Alice Peacock, "Who I Am"
Various Artists, "Hawaiian Love Songs"
Various Artists, "Jazz Divas"
Soundtracks and scores:
"Best of Miami Vice"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
'Superman' Didn't Fly High Enough, Say Analysts
If Superman Returns hadn't cost about $204 million to make and an additional $40 million to develop over the past 19 years, the $84.2 million that the movie earned since it opened late Tuesday night would be cause for celebration at Warner Bros., the studio that produced it.
However, analysts pointed out that the estimated $52.2 million that it earned over the three-day weekend trailed last year's War of the Worlds' $64.9 million over the comparable weekend and Spider-Man 2's $88.2 million in 2004.
Moreover, it is expected to be sunk next week by Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and continue to plunge after that.
Meanwhile, rival studios are reportedly upset over Warner Bros. decision to include 10:00 p.m. screenings on Tuesday in its total for Wednesday, thereby giving the appearance that the film performed far better at the box office for its Wednesday premiere than it actually did.
L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke quoted one rival studio exec as saying, "It's not unfair to note that Fox's X-Men 3 had $130 mil[lion] after five days and is ending up making $235 mil or so.
If the same ratio holds and Superman Returns does 1/3 less, than it would not make $200 mil and that would be a disappointment."
In fact, the actual bragging rights for the weekend belong to 20th Century Fox, whose The Devil Wears Prada opened with an estimated $27 million.
"This was way beyond anybody's expectations," Fox distribution chief Bruce Snyder told today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times.
The film helped push the overall box office some 5 percent above last year's for the same weekend.
Today's New York Times quoted Bruce Friend, managing director of the research firm OTX Entertainment, as saying, "The good news is the bleeding has stopped from last year. ... But it hasn't rebounded to the levels of two years ago."
Here are the top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Superman Returns, $52.15 million;
2. The Devil Wears Prada, $27 million;
3. Click, $19.4 million;
4. Cars, $14 million;
5. Nacho Libre, $6.2 million;
6. The Lake House, $4.5 million;
7. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, $4.4 million;
8. Waist Deep, $3.3 million;
9. The Break-Up, $2.8 million;
10. The Da Vinci Code, $2.3 million.
New rules make Emmy race harder to call
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tony Soprano and his thugs will be back, looking to grab a piece of the action, and "The West Wing" politicians will make one last bid for re-election when the Emmy Award nominations are handed out on Thursday.
Both are likely to share the spotlight with a fresh crop of TV doctors, firefighters, a kid named Chris and an ex-con named Earl, thanks to Emmy rule changes aimed at giving newcomers and underdogs a better shot at U.S. television's highest honors. The winners will be announced on August 27 in Los Angeles.
Even more than last year, when ABC's hot new "Desperate Housewives" clinched nominations for three of its stars and freshman castaway thriller "Lost" went on to claim the prize for best drama, this year's Emmy race is seen as wide open.
"The key story this year is the Emmy nominations should not look like a TV rerun," said Tom O'Neil, columnist for the Los Angeles Times entertainment award Web site TheEnvelope.com. "This new nominating system hopes to welcome in new blood from that second tier of TV channels like FX, and UPN, and WB and others that have not been represented strongly in the past."
As Ray Richmond of the Hollywood Reporter writes: "Hope suddenly springs eternal in the Emmy world for the distinguished, the disenfranchised and the just plain dissed."
That makes it tougher to handicap a process that has long favored veteran shows and past nominees over newer prime-time offerings, though some perennial shoo-ins are expected to return.
HBO mob series "The Sopranos," a longtime Emmy darling that won for best drama in 2004 but sat out last year's contest due to a production hiatus, is heavily favored to muscle its way back into the race for the 58th annual awards.
And some experts give White House saga "The West Wing," a four-time winner for top drama, a good chance of making the cut one last time for its critically acclaimed but low-rated final season on NBC, which drew to a close in May.
But ABC hospital hit "Grey's Anatomy," which just completed its first full season, also is heavily favored to break into the pack just as that same network's "Lost" did last year.
And FX cable drama "Rescue Me," starring Dennis Leary as an emotionally troubled firefighter, is given strong odds to snag that network's first nomination for best drama series.
Even the Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" remake has drawn mentions from several critics as a possible candidate for best drama, though neither that network nor science fiction in general have ever garnered much Emmy attention.
CROWDED COMEDY RACE
The Emmy battle over laughs is even more of a horse race.
Newer NBC comedies "My Name is Earl" and "The Office," Fox's recently canceled Emmy winner "Arrested Development" and UPN family sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" are all seen as front-runners, bucking Emmy voters' historical tendency to ignore younger shows, canceled shows and smaller networks.
Past comedy champion "Will & Grace," which ended its NBC run this spring, could also return to the nominees circle once more, along with "Desperate Housewives," though many critics feel "Housewives" lost some of its luster last season when critical reviews turned sour.
Other comedies cited as longshots with a realistic chance this year are HBO's cynical Hollywood satire "Entourage" and even ABC's short-lived "Sons & Daughters."
Under this year's new nominating system, members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences choose 10 finalists for best comedy and best drama series on the basis of votes cast for all eligible candidates in each category. The field is then winnowed to five nominees by a blue-ribbon panel of judges who review videotapes of their best work.
A similar process is used to cull five nominees from the top 15 vote-getters in the categories for best lead actor and actress in a comedy and drama series.
O'Neil said critics are hoping the changes will finally reward some stars they see as long overdue for recognition, especially Lauren Graham of the WB's "Gilmore Girls." "If she doesn't get nominated this year ... TV critics of America will torch the academy," he joked.
Further complicating the Emmy picture this year is the proliferation of hourlong shows that mix elements of comedy and drama -- such as "Housewives," "Rescue Me" and "Grey's Anatomy" -- a factor that can sometimes work against a show's Emmy chances.
Yzerman to retire
Detroit has called press conference for 1 p.m. today and Steve Yzerman is stepping down.
The Detroit Red Wings Captain has made the difficult decision to retire and he's expected to make the announcement during a press conference today in the Motor City.
The sure-fire hall-of-famer has decided his body can no longer take the grind of another NHL season.
Johnny Cash needed to keep recording after death of beloved wife June
NEW YORK (AP) - Diabetes had cost Johnny Cash much of his sight, and he needed a wheelchair. Losing his wife June was crushing. Yet, in retrospect, producer Rick Rubin wasn't surprised to hear Cash's plea the day after June died in May 2003.
He needed to work. He HAD to work to keep himself going. Fulfilling Cash's request, Rubin set up a studio in a bedroom of Cash's home in Tennessee, and sent an engineer who was on call for recording for most of the rest of Cash's life. The music legend died four months after his wife.
"Sessions were booked every day and if he woke up and felt good enough to do it, he would call up and say, 'Let's do it,"' Rubin recalled. "If he wasn't doing well enough, he'd say let's do it tomorrow."
Results of some of those sessions are evident with Tuesday's release of American V: A Hundred Highways, the fifth and penultimate in a series of discs made with Rubin that memorably capped Cash's career. It's the most moving musical rumination on mortality since Warren Zevon's last album before lung cancer killed him.
Cash's once mountainous voice trembles and breaks in a set of songs both sombre and spiritual. "Oh, Lord, help me to walk another mile, just one more mile," Cash sings on the disc's opening line. "I'm tired of walking all alone."
Among the dozen cuts is Like the 309, the last song Cash ever wrote. It's about a train, appropriate for the man who once sang about a prisoner hearing a train whistle pass.
During those last few months Rubin regularly sent Cash assignments of songs to work on. Cash would suggest his own, and his son encouraged him to record Bruce Springsteen's Further On (Up the Road).
The producer sensed how important it was to keep Cash's artistic spirit alive.
"When he stopped touring, that was a terrible blow to him," Rubin said. "He loved being an artist. He felt that was why God put him on the planet. When he stopped touring, one of his main means of communication had been stopped. From that point on, he really wanted to record all the time. If he had said 'let's stop,' we would have stopped."
The timing of his death surprised Rubin because Cash had been feeling better and was planning to travel to Los Angeles to work on the music.
"After June died, he was prepared to die," said Rubin, who spoke with Cash every day in those final months. "I don't think he wanted to die, but I think he was completely at an accepting stage, of whenever it was time, it would be fine with him."
Being at the end of a memorable life is clearly reflected in the song selection. Rod McKuen's sweet Love's Been Good To Me is a nostalgic look back by a man who feels lucky in love. Cash re-records one of his old compositions, I Came to Believe, about how spiritual strength helped him overcome addictions.
On his own Like the 309, he sings: "Everybody take a look, see I'm doin' fine. Then load my box on the 309."
The one selection that seems ill-conceived is Hank Williams' A Legend in My Time, with a jarringly self-pitying tone.
One idea that provoked wildly mixed feelings among Rubin's friends who heard the album is how the first three songs - all essentially spirituals - are followed by a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind. Some found the transition odd and too abrupt.
Yet the Lightfoot cover is the disc's emotional centre. Cash's voice is at its weakest, but his struggles to reach the notes and enunciate the words accents the aching tenderness of the lyrics.
Cash always believed he could count on his voice, and it bothered him when it was less reliable at the end, Rubin said.
"His ability to tell a story was so strong, that even when his voice was faltering, it sounded like that was part of the storytelling," he said. "I would always tell him that. I think it would make him feel better, but I did know that he wished he had better use of his instrument in the same way he always had before."
For most of his discs with Rubin, Cash would record vocals close to home and Rubin would direct construction of musical backing tracks in Los Angeles with veteran session musicians - people like Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Then Cash would head West to oversee the final touches and re-do some vocals if he had to. The only thing different with American V was, of course, the elimination of that last step.
After Cash died, the tapes sat in storage. Rubin's a busy guy - his long list of production credits includes current bestsellers by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Dixie Chicks - but that wasn't the reason. He couldn't deal with it emotionally.
Once he decided to attack the project, "it was initially traumatic and sad," he said. "But by the end of the first week it felt uplifting and positive. We felt like Johnny's presence was overseeing what was going on."
Probably because of Cash's condition and the song selections, it's a slow-tempo affair. The exception is God's Gonna Cut You Down, with an inventive arrangement that features hand-claps and the stomping of feet.
Cash left behind enough material, about 60 songs, that there will be one more instalment in the American Recordings series.
"Six isn't done yet," Rubin said. "But it's real good."
An in-your-face producer could be borne up anew by 'Superman Returns,' which he championed.
This summer, moviegoers will flock to theaters to see the Man of Steel battle archnemesis Lex Luthor in "Superman Returns." But the $200-million-plus comic book extravaganza also marks another drama-filled return: the reemergence of movie producer Jon Peters.
He was the onetime hairdresser whose romance with Barbra Streisand led to an almost unfathomable ascent to blockbuster producer and then studio power broker. His messy 1991 departure as co-chairman of Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. was relished by those who were envious of his lavish, jet-setting lifestyle or were stung by his in-your-face demeanor and legendary temper.
To this day, the mere mention of his name invokes venom in Hollywood circles. "Egotistical," brayed one producer, when asked to comment on Peters. "He's a bully, a blowhard," lambasted another, before lapsing into obscenities.
"Enormously charming — and enormously lucky," quipped a third. All requested anonymity. Even his ex-wife, Mindy Peters, who is dating him once again, observed: "He's a madman, crazy and mean. But he has a beautiful heart. When he's passionate about something, he puts everything he can into it."
No one questions that it was the vision of director and co-writer Bryan Singer ("X-Men") that pumped life into the once-moribund "Superman" franchise at Warner Bros. But if the movie succeeds — and quiet talks of sequels are already underway — the producer who many considered washed-up could find himself soaring once again.
"He's somebody who doesn't quit, he has visions about how things should be done, and more often than not he's proven right," said producer Jeff Wald, who was a television executive at Peters' former production company years ago.
For 13 years, Peters played a pivotal role in keeping the "Superman" project alive within the studio. It was a long and arduous journey as Warners shelved earlier ideas, the project bled directors, writers and actors, and debates raged over whether Superman should be killed off — or find himself pitted against Batman.
It paid off for Peters: After several years spent flying under the radar, he shares producing credit on one of the summer's biggest movies with Singer and Gilbert Adler.
Of course, Peters' championing of the caped superhero hasn't been without controversy.
In 2003, gossip columns buzzed with reports that Peters and director Brett Ratner came close to blows when Ratner abruptly quit the "Superman" project. Sources say Peters also erupted in a meeting with Warners production chief Jeff Robinov, accusing the studio of being disrespectful of director McG, who at the time was in discussions to helm "Superman." Robinov did not return phone calls seeking comment.
One might think that Peters would be front-and-center, trumpeting the new film. But from his enclave in the ritzy, celebrity-drenched Malibu Colony, the man who remains one of Hollywood's more intriguing figures declined to be interviewed. Meanwhile, his ex-wife spoke freely about her relationship with Peters — as well as his penchant for confrontation and argument.
Sometimes, she said, "you have to say to him, 'Give it up! OK, fine, Jon, now shut up!' "
Mindy Peters said she can understand why some might avoid clashing with her ex-husband.
"He's not conventional. He doesn't live by the rules, so to speak…. He's definitely fair. He's the guy who, if you are in a predicament where it's going to get dangerous, you want Jon on your side. He's a passionate person. If somebody is trying to mess with you, he will mess back. He's a street fighter. He's trained in Brazilian jujitsu."
If Peters' latest career incarnation lands him back on top, will the "suits" in today's executive suites understand the likes of a Jon Peters? After all, some might say he's a dinosaur in a business that is becoming more corporate and risk-averse with each passing day.
"He's opinionated and talented," Wald said. "When I look around at the movies being made today, they're made by committee. You can't run that game on Jon."
Mindy Peters, who has her own film production company and said she was at Jon's side throughout the years the "Superman" project was in development, described him as someone who is smart, shrewd and can strategize like a chess master, even if he's not one to send memos.
She noted that during meetings "he closes his eyes, puts his head back, and then takes it all in, and when he opens those eyes, just be ready."
Mindy Peters also talked about the side of Peters that few get to see, such as his generosity. He donated money to the family of a deputy sheriff slain in the line of duty and paid for a terminally ill girl from the Pacific Northwest to come to L.A. for a week to visit Disneyland and other theme parks.
She said he also wakes up sweating, unable to breathe because of a recurring nightmare: "Jon is sitting on a curb waiting for his dad to come home and as he runs up to the car, the car pulls away."
With his wealth, good looks and the ability to turn on the charm, he has attracted some of the world's most glamorous women over the years. He was married to actress Lesley Ann Warren and has been romantically linked over the years to Streisand, "Batman" star Kim Basinger, Pamela Anderson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Swedish supermodel Vendela.
Peters got his big break in the 1970s, as a hairdresser on the set of "For Pete's Sake." He charmed Streisand and persuaded her to make "A Star Is Born." The 1976 film became a hit and Peters was provided an entrée into producing. He went on to team with producer Peter Guber, resulting in numerous hits, including the 1989 blockbuster "Batman."
His rocky tenure atop Columbia (with Guber as fellow co-chairman) led to a fall from grace in the eyes of many. In recent years, Peters has kept a lower profile even as he produced two well-known bombs, "Money Train" and "Wild, Wild West," along with critical favorites like "Rosewood" and "Ali."
Ronnie Grigg, president of Peters Entertainment, said his boss had a good relationship with Singer and was "a very facilitative guy" over the course of the "Superman" production.
But one former Warners executive who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was frustrating working on "Superman" with Peters because "every Monday he would come in after seeing some hit movie and change the script."
Mindy Peters described it as a "wild ride to say the least. None of us thought it would take this long or be this intense. It had so many fits and starts."
As years went by and "Superman" languished in development, it put a strain on their relationship. The project, she said, certainly was a factor in their 2004 divorce.
"I had so had it with him," she said of the decision to break up. "But we stayed connected because of the ["Superman"] project and because we have this really intense connection. This was a dream we had from so many years before."
Mindy Peters said all those memories came rushing back as she was driving along Sunset Boulevard recently and saw the first billboard for "Superman Returns." She pulled over, called to tell him, and began sobbing.
The couple are now rekindling their romance. They are also jointly involved in film and real estate deals. (The couple met 12 years ago when she was selling real estate in Montecito and he was looking to buy a ranch. He had just ended a long relationship with Vendela and poured his heart out.)
Together, they have plans to develop a 3,000-acre El Capitan Ranch north of Santa Barbara. They also are rebuilding the old Charlie Chaplin estate in Beverly Hills. They have an 8-year-old daughter, Kendyl Rose, and Mindy Peters says her former husband has more or less adopted her son by a previous marriage. They both study Kabbalah.
Even though "Superman Returns" helped cause their breakup, the couple were on the paparazzi-lined red carpet at the movie's Los Angeles premiere, and the irony of the moment was not lost on them.
Almost two decades before, Jon Peters had walked along a similar red carpet leading to the same theater for the premiere of "Batman."
But this time, as they got out of the car, Mindy Peters recalled, he hesitated. "Jon said, 'No, I'm not going to do that,' " and opted to slip into the theater unnoticed. "Then he saw Bryan [Singer] standing there smiling and waving us over," so he changed his mind.
"This was really a dream come true for Jon," she said. "He did 'Batman' and now he does 'Superman Returns'…. This was a dream coming to fruition."