Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play …
Prediction: Paul McCartney will receive the bulk of the public sympathy in his escalating divorce battle with Heather Mills McCartney — and not only because many assume that she leaked her shocking court filings against him to the British tabloids, which promptly highlighted the juiciest details.
Describing scenes so intimate that they’re embarrassing, the filings depict McCartney as drunk or drugged out, physically and emotionally abusive, cruel, self-centered, insensitive to her handicap (she has one leg and has required numerous surgeries) and indifferent to his parenting duties.
Related prediction: Mills McCartney’s supporters will consider the favoring of her soon-to-be-ex husband to be sexist.
It’s much simpler than that.
We have 40-plus years of stake in McCartney being a good guy, the pure heart behind many of the best, most beloved songs of the past century. He has maintained one of the more unshakable personas of any mega-celebrity: consistently positive, romantic (hence the lack of a prenup), optimistic (ditto), careful not to offend, eager to spread the love.
We have far less stake in whether Heather Mills McCartney is an innocent victim or a fiendish schemer seeking half of his estimated $1.6 billion fortune.
We’d root for Britney Spears over Kevin Federline, too, and if for some reason Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe hit the skids, there’s no question that most folks would want to think better of the sunny, superfamous actress than the brooding, semifamous actor.
Mills McCartney’s accusations strike not just at the 64-year-old rocker’s behavior but also his artistic honesty. His last two pop albums, “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard” and “Driving Rain,” were filled with tender odes to Heather, regardless of whether the public actually yearned to hear him wax poetic about his outspoken new amour, who is 26 years his junior.
The whole spectacle is sordid and sad. Either he’s far more tormented than any of us knew or he’s proof that no matter how much you try to rise above the muck in public life, you’ll eventually get dragged down.
I already feel like taking a bath.
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Also, no one stayed home to watch baseball this year
The 42nd Chicago International Film Festival is in the books, and the early returns look good. General manager Sophia Wong Boccio said that as of Friday, before the final night’s screenings, about 56,000 tickets had been sold, a jump from the overall attendance of about 50,000 for each of the previous three years.
Boccio credited the addition of the 700-seat Thorne Auditorium in Streeterville — as well as a program that spread the marquee events over the festival’s two weeks — with the attendance boost.
Consistency helps too: The 43rd festival already is booked to run Oct. 4-18 next year at the same theaters.
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Wesley, what happened to your fame and fortune?
What has Wesley Snipes been up to?
Defrauding the government of $12 million in taxes — plus failing to file returns from 1999 to 2004 — according to an indictment handed up Tuesday. Reuters reported Friday that Snipes is filming a zombie action movie called “Gallowwalker” in the African country of Namibia, which happens not to have an extradition treaty with the U.S. I’m more curious what happened to his career.
Since 2002, his only releases without “Blade” in the title have gone straight to video: action movies such as “Hard Luck,” “The Detonator,” “Chaos,” “The Marksman,” “7 Seconds” and “Unstoppable.”
It’s easy to forget what hot stuff he was around the time of “Jungle Fever” (1991) and “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992).
Now the only thing hot about him is his arrest warrant.
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The Pop Quiz
1. Which one of the following statements about rapper Jay-Z is not true?
a. Anheuser-Busch hired him to be a brand manager of Budweiser Select.
b. He’ll be participating in Budweiser’s TV, radio and print ads and making personal appearances on behalf of the beer.
c. He’ll be involved in Bud.TV, an online site aimed at young adults.
d. He’s been named as a character witness in the upcoming R. Kelly trial.
2. Which of the following statements about the movie adaptation of the video game “Halo” is true?
a. “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson is set to direct.
b. The studios just pulled the plug on it.
c. Zach Braff has signed on to star.
d. It will be shot in Chicago.
3. One hot young actress will be making her recording debut with which album?
a. “Kirsten Sings Sinatra”
b. “Lindsay Sings Aretha”
c. “Scarlett Sings Tom Waits”
d. “Mary-Kate Sings Meat Loaf”
ANSWERS 1. d; 2. b. Universal and Fox agreed that the $135 million-and-rising price tag was too high; 3. c. Scarlett Johansson’s first album is tentatively slated for spring on the newly revived Atco Records.
