Hollywood Studios

A film workers union reluctantly approved a new contract with the major motion picture studios yesterday, ending a seven-month stalemate that had crippled New York's $2.5 billion movie industry. The union, Local 52 of the Motion Picture Studio Mechanics, had rejected the same contract only last month. Union leaders called for a second vote after businesses and other unions complained that a boycott by the major studios on shooting in New York had had devastating economic consequences.

QVC's bold, $9.5 billion bid on Monday for Paramount Communications Inc. was an effort to grab one of the last great Hollywood studios for sale - an 83-year-old company with vast movie, television and publishing holdings. In handsomely topping rival bidder Viacom Inc., QVC offered a premium price of $80 per share. By yesterday's close of trading, however, the battle for Paramount had driven its stock up $7.25 per share to $77, approaching the value of QVC's bid. At the same time, Viacom's stock slumped further yesterday, erasing a billion dollars from its initial $8.2 billion bid. All this intensified speculation that the legendary movie company might fetch an even higher price - either from QVC, Viacom or yet another, still- undeclared bidder.

TALK ABOUT strange bedfellows. Who woulda thunk that when R&B producer Dallas Austin received a pardon and his release from a Dubai prison last week after being convicted of cocaine possession, it would be due, in part, to intervention from conservative Utah senator Orrin Hatch. Hatch said via a statement that he was contacted by Austin's attorneys, then called the ambassador and consul of the United Arab Emirates in Washington on Austin's behalf. Beyond saying Hatch has "good relations with the ambassador and other good people in Dubai," his office gave no specifics about his dealings with the Dubai government - but Hatch did support the Dubai-based DP World in its bid to manage American ports.

UP TO NOW, the overblown controversy about the movie "Barbershop" was silly. But it just turned stupid. It was silly when civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton risked their reputations and moral authority on a threatened boycott of this lightweight but entertaining film. It was almost as silly as a "controversial" scene in which an aging loudmouth overplayed by Cedric the Entertainer made disparaging comments about civil rights icons Rev. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Jackson.

NO CHEERS FOR NBC STAR Kelsey Grammer, one of the stars of the television comedy "Cheers," was placed under house arrest for 90 days in Los Angeles yesterday and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, after pleading no contest to possession of cocaine. The actor, who plays psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane in the long-running series, was also placed on probation for three years and ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation program. The monitoring device resembles a bracelet, and Grammer must wear it on his wrist at all times.

TATTLE HAS often mocked Hollywood's obsession with remakes and sequels and its eagerness to turn any property, toy or character into a movie whether there's a movie in it or not. But even we are surprised by Warner Bros. latest foray into theatrical-rights purchases: Lego. The Hollywood Reporter says the studio and producer Dan Lin have acquired theatrical rights for a motion picture about the timeless toy, and have set writers Dan and Kevin Hageman to pen the script. About Lego.

Nobody knows what to call them. But everyone knows them when they see them - those delicate chokerlike necklaces that seem to have sprouted onto all the trendy Hollywood actresses' collar bones overnight. Some people call them rosary necklaces because they are made of a combination of delicate chains and glass beads. Others call them wishbone or lariat necklaces because they come to a point at the front and then continue down like a cowboy's lasso. Mostly, however, they've been called those-dangly-choker-things-that-the- women-on-Friends-and-Caroline in the City-and-Melrose Place-wear.

Cannon Films, the company known for formula exploitation and considered the Rodney Dangerfield of Hollywood, has been trying to earn some respect by signing up major stars at massive salaries. With Sylvester Stallone, Al Pacino, Michael Caine, Roy Scheider, Diane Keaton, John Travolta and Sam Shepard in the fold, the company has loosed a barrage of publicity to upgrade its image and to invite the world to think of Cannon as a major studio. While this development certainly represents more than window dressing, Cannon has made some other deals lately that remind us of the symbiotic nature of today's entertainment industry.

An ardent agnostic, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was not a Ten Commandments kind of guy. He was devout about the Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, most especially the first in that Bill of Rights, with its guarantee of free speech. As he was the first to admit, the celebrated writer of Roman Holiday and Spartacus was guilty of contempt. But it was Congress that first had trampled on his First Amendment rights by insisting that Trumbo, a member of the Communist Party during World War II, when the Soviet Union was a U.S. ally, identify others who were now or had ever been members of the Communist Party.

Stop worrying about the Sandinistas and Persian Gulf missiles - a more sinister menace threatens our national security. Secret brigades of entertainers are sneaking across our undefended northern border, infiltrating what we see on our Japanese TV and Canadian- owned movie theater screens. It's the Canadian Connection. Armed only with green cards, Canadians are gathering our greenbacks, corrupting our comedy, massacring our music, and nuancing our news. From "Spaceballs" to "Meat Balls," from "Star Trek" to "Superman," from "Animal House" to "Police Academy" - the Russians aren't coming but the Canadians are. Raymond Burr, Lorne Greene, William Shatner and Margot Kidder have blended unnoticed into our American culture.

  CHARLIE SHEEN may have to change his motto from "Winning!" to "Garnishing!" A judge has ordered Sheen's former bosses to zap $55,000 a month for child support from any payments they make to the former "Two and a Half Men" star. The request was made by Charlie's ex, Brooke Mueller Sheen , mother of two of his children. The former couple were divorced May 2, about two months after Sheen was fired from "Men. " The actor and his TV bosses have been fighting over payments ever since.

EVERY YEAR we give an annual mention to "The Bachelor" (a/k/a "Twenty-six's Company," "Desperate Housewannabes" or "Cathouse") and it almost always goes like this: Even though "Bachelor" Brad   ("Help, someone stole my personality!") Womack claimed that he was looking for a spouse, he and Emily , his final rose receiver, have already broken up. "Emily is not able to forgive Brad for what she considers cheating week after week with other girls," an in-the-know producer told popeater.com.

TATTLE HAS often mocked Hollywood's obsession with remakes and sequels and its eagerness to turn any property, toy or character into a movie whether there's a movie in it or not. But even we are surprised by Warner Bros. latest foray into theatrical-rights purchases: Lego. The Hollywood Reporter says the studio and producer Dan Lin have acquired theatrical rights for a motion picture about the timeless toy, and have set writers Dan and Kevin Hageman to pen the script. About Lego.

An ardent agnostic, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was not a Ten Commandments kind of guy. He was devout about the Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, most especially the first in that Bill of Rights, with its guarantee of free speech. As he was the first to admit, the celebrated writer of Roman Holiday and Spartacus was guilty of contempt. But it was Congress that first had trampled on his First Amendment rights by insisting that Trumbo, a member of the Communist Party during World War II, when the Soviet Union was a U.S. ally, identify others who were now or had ever been members of the Communist Party.

THE NETWORKS may not run out of TV shows after all. In time for the Grammys, the Oscars, the 2009 movie season and the end of the 2007-2008 TV season, there's a light at the end of the writers' strike tunnel. It is believed that a breakthrough in contract talks has been reached between Hollywood studios and striking writers and could lead to a tentative deal this week, an unnamed, unauthorized person close to the negotiations said Saturday. The two sides breached the gap Friday on the issues that matter, those concerning compensation for projects distributed via the Internet, said the anonymous insider.

TALK ABOUT strange bedfellows. Who woulda thunk that when R&B producer Dallas Austin received a pardon and his release from a Dubai prison last week after being convicted of cocaine possession, it would be due, in part, to intervention from conservative Utah senator Orrin Hatch. Hatch said via a statement that he was contacted by Austin's attorneys, then called the ambassador and consul of the United Arab Emirates in Washington on Austin's behalf. Beyond saying Hatch has "good relations with the ambassador and other good people in Dubai," his office gave no specifics about his dealings with the Dubai government - but Hatch did support the Dubai-based DP World in its bid to manage American ports.

Remember the horse-drawn cart that carried Gandalf the Grey into Hobbiton at the outset of The Fellowship of the Ring? The wizard had better move over: Hollywood has an army of sword-wielding knights, sage sorcerers, monsters, elves, and Renaissance Faire look-alikes about to jump on the wagon. It doesn't take an Oxford don to explain why as many as a dozen big-budget fantasies are in the works. The $2.84 billion international take for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and best-picture and director Oscars for the Return of the King - not to mention kabillions in DVD/video sales, merchandising and ancillary rights - have ignited the formerly disparaged dungeons-and-dragons genre.

UP TO NOW, the overblown controversy about the movie "Barbershop" was silly. But it just turned stupid. It was silly when civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton risked their reputations and moral authority on a threatened boycott of this lightweight but entertaining film. It was almost as silly as a "controversial" scene in which an aging loudmouth overplayed by Cedric the Entertainer made disparaging comments about civil rights icons Rev. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Jackson.

For a gift-basket company like FanciFull, it's hard to imagine anywhere better to set up shop than Melrose Avenue, a few minutes' walk from the Paramount gates. After all, when Hollywood studios are humming, their spending habits are beyond lavish. For a movie opening, a studio might order up hundreds of pricey baskets. Actors and actresses get them constantly. Gift baskets are given out as freely around here as plastic key chains on a car lot. Now Hollywood is facing the prospect of two long summer strikes - first of writers, then of actors - and at the studio-dependent businesses next to Paramount on Melrose, worry is turning into panic.

Give us movies with plot, character and dialogue It's been intriguing lately to see some of Hollywood's big "event" films - so full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing. It appears that meaningful plot lines and intelligible dialogue have been discarded as Hollywood focuses its efforts (and money) on the more "reliable" attractions of action, violence and special effects. Still, spending exorbitantly on production has hardly been an adequate hedge against failure - recall Waterworld.