Weekly Cinema BuzzFeed - 19 September 2013

Hollywood Ladies Love Pearls

Marilyn with favored pearls

Marilyn Monroe was not noted for her interest in bling, however, she did love the simple pearl necklace given to her by Joe DiMaggio on their honeymoon.  In fact she wore it at their divorce hearing in 1954, not in scorn but because she really adored that pearl necklace.

Liz Taylor however, was into bling in a big way.  Her famous comment, "Big girls need big diamonds" summed it all up.  Her collection included the La Peregrina pearl which was part of the 16th Century Spanish crown jewels.  La Peregrina has no literal translation in Spanish but many called it the 'pilgrim' or 'wanderer'. It has an estimated value of $2-3 million. 

Many celebrities favor pearls over diamonds believing they are less ostentatious.  Jackie always wore pearls.  However, the formation of pearls is so rare that a natural pearl forms in only one in every 2,000 oyster shells.  In some cases, one in 50,000 shells for some of the rarer colored pearls, making them rarer then many precious gems.

Irregardless, Hollywood female stars have always favored pearls.  Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Natalie Wood all favored pearls, today Keira Knightly and Lady Gaga, all have or had an affinity to pearls.

Metro Manila

If you get a chance, even if you have to travel a bit, do go and see the indie movie Metro Manila by Sean Ellis. Remortgaging his house to raise funding, Ellis got the additional $600,000 needed to make the $1 million character-based thriller.

The story centers around a farmer who is forced on to the streets of Manila after the price of rice drops, he finally gets a job as an armored truck driver, falls in with shady company, and the movie goes from there.

Metro Manila premiered at Sundance in January, taking the Audience Award for Best World Drama.  Its release, next month, in the Philippines has become a national event.

Asked what is in store after the success of Metro, Ellis commented that, "There are some great scripts being sent to me. But, what was it Michael Caine said? The kind without other people's coffee stains on them". That's good.

Jackie Chan 'World' Just Like Disney World?

Jackie Chan, the Chinese martial arts and film star, is opening his own theme park in Beijing, China. To be called JC World, the park will be almost a square mile in size, and have five sections each offering a different "cultural experience".  Entrance to the park will be free, although certain attractions will carry a charge that will be used to maintain the facility.

Chan told reporters, "I was very poor when I was a child, so when I had money later on, I bought all sorts of things and went around the world collecting them."  These collections will all be on display."  Chan has amassed collections of sandlewood houses, jewelry, furniture, and many other items.

China has been opening theme parks as of late. Disney will open an enormous resort in Shanghai in 2015 which has been 15 years in the making.  The world's first Angry Birds park recently opened and DreamWorks plans a resort titled Dream Center to open in 2016 also in Shanghai.

We wish Jackie all the best.

Nicole Knocked Down But Gets Up Fighting

Nicole Kidman says she will press charges against Carl Wu, the notorious biker paparazzo, after she was knocked to the ground when Wu hit her with his bike. See photos at right taken by other paparazzi on the scene.

Racing to get a photo of the celeb, Wu collided with Kidman outside the Carlyle Hotel in New York, where she was attending Fashion Week. Kidman was allegedly sent sprawling when Wu smacked into her, although she did not appear to be seriously injured.  Police issued a ticket to Wu for cycling on the pavement. Wu recently also had a run-in with Lady Gaga's security people in Boston as he tried to take an up close photo of the singer.

Paparazzi activities have drawn a lot of ire out of Hollywood celebs recently and several including Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner appeared before the California legislature to tout a new law against the taking of photos of children accompanying famous people.

Best
Jim Lavorato