**October 31**

















A Good Year for the Rabbits
Sydney Confidential(www.news.com.au)
RUSSELL Crowe has always had his footy team to turn to when Hollywood has got him down. But he went one further yesterday, getting South Sydney bums on seats at a special advance screening of his latest film, currently being caned by the international critics. Rabbitohs co-owner Peter Holmes a Court Rusty's mate, Mark 'Spudd' Carroll and even his mum and dad, made the team trip to the flicks, who all not surprisingly loved seeing him on the big screen. "I'm no film critic, but it's a bloody good movie which shows a lighter side to Russell which the world hardly ever sees,'' Holmes a Court told Confidential.

The official results for AGY in UK
9th. place with 376.962 Pounds.
(Tanks Ivani)

**October 30**

Russell Crowe Open To Idea Of Making "Gladiator 2"
Maira Oliveira - AHN - Americas Reporter
Los Angeles, CA (BANG) - After having a huge box-office hit with the first movie, Russell Crowe has revealed he would love to make "Gladiator 2," but admits it's difficult to come up with good storylines that will make the sequel work. The 42-year-old actor, who played Roman warrior Maximus in the Oscar-winning movie "Gladiator," says he and director Ridley Scott are always thinking up sequel ideas - despite Crowe's character dying at the end of the first movie. Crowe told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, "The idea of doing a "Gladiator 2" comes up all the time but we've made it very difficult for ourselves by killing off my character in the first one. He added, "We have an idea but it never seems to have sufficient credibility. It just comes back at us and says, 'Are you kidding?' Maybe we are kidding. Maybe we just enjoy talking about it." There have been many rumors about possible storylines for "Gladiator 2" including a prequel plotline, or a sequel with a descendent of Maximus as the lead character or even Crowe's character coming back as a ghost. Meanwhile, Crowe says he agreed to star in his new movie "A Good Year" because it was set in the South of France. Crowe said, "I wanted to go to Provence and I wanted to take my family to a location that knew my wife would enjoy. It just appealed to me." (allheadlinenews.com)

Russell Crowe was snubbed by his 14-year-old co-star Freddie Highmore
In his latest movie, 'A Good Year', Crowe's character is played as a child by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" star Freddie Highmore. However, when the Oscar winner offered some advice to his pint-sized colleague his offer was turned down. Crowe, 42, said: "I went up to him on the first day he arrived and said, "G'day Freddie, I'm Russell. Seeing as you're playing me as a young man, if you want to spend time hanging out, we'll get to know each other and discuss it." And he goes, "Oh, no, I don't think I'll have time for that." Meanwhile, Crowe has revealed becoming a dad has mellowed him. The "Gladiator" star - who has two sons, Charlie, two, and three-month-old Tennyson, with wife Danielle Spencer - says being a father and a husband has put his priorities in perspective. He recently said: "The world of celebrity becomes this strange place to live in. But marriage and kids have made me less concerned with it." (ecanadanow.com)

**October 28**

Happy Birthday Joaquin Phoenix
Today is the birthday of Hollywood hottie Joaquin Phoenix! Today he turns 32. Joaquin was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico & comes from a very mixed heritage; as his father is of Irish & Spanish descent, while his mother is an Orthodox Jew born to emigrants from Hungary & Russia. If you really have to know, Phoenix is a dedicated vegan & has been since age three! His most famous movies are To Die For alongside Nicole Kidman, Gladiator alongside Russell Crowe, Ladder 49, The Village & most lately Walk The Line as Johnny Cash. Happy Birthday Joaquin! (waleg.com)

A review on "3:10 to Yuma"  HERE
and on   Wikipedia

Thanks to Vsecin and Ivani, these reviews: From  Aol Entertainment UK
From  Empire Movies
From  E-FilmCritic

**October 27**

Let's vote for AGY at BOM
What is your most anticipated movie of the Holiday season (Nov-Dec)?
You need to be registered to vote, but it's easy and free. (Tanks Ivani) Click  HERE

**October 26**

AHA Investigating 3:10 to Yuma Horse Injury
The American Humane Association said Wednesday it has ordered an independent investigation into the serious injury of a horse used during filming a movie in New Mexico. The horse was so severely injured that it had to be euthanized on the movie set. During filming on Monday, Oct. 23, 2006, of the Lionsgate western 3:10 to Yuma, a horse in a scene ran head-on into a camera-carrying vehicle, severely injuring itself and its rider, who is a professional rider/stuntman. The rider went to the hospital in critical condition, and the horse's injuries were severe enough to warrant euthanasia on the set. The accident happened in Diablo Canyon near Santa Fe, New Mexico. American Humane, which monitors the safety and welfare of animals on the sets of films and TV commercials, did have one of its certified animal safety representative on the set. That person, who is also a licensed humane officer, had checked the road on which the horses were loping and had found no rocks, holes or other problems that might have caused the accident. According to production notes, a group of horses was supposed to split off to one side and the other while loping toward a moving camera vehicle. Of the group of 11 horses, the last one did not veer off and instead ran directly into the camera and vehicle. American Humane has requested necropsy of the horse to discover whether there were any physical factors that might have contributed to the horse not responding properly. It is being performed by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture's Veterinary Diagnostic Services laboratory in Albuquerque. In addition to the necropsy, American Humane has requested an independent, objective and thorough investigation as soon as possible, and is also awaiting a full report from a veterinarian, an equine specialist, who was summoned to the set immediately after the accident. Meanwhile, American Humane's vice president of Animal Protection Services from Denver, Dr. Bill Torgerson, is personally on the scene in the Santa Fe area to facilitate fact-finding in this unfortunate accident. This includes extensive interviews with trainers, wranglers, producers and others involved with the production. Director James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma stars Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Dallas Roberts, Ben Foster and Vinessa Shaw. The remake of the 1957 Glenn Ford Western revolves around a desperado who is caught by a sheriff determined to bring the outlaw in. The sheriff's plans go awry when the desperado's accomplices stage an ambush.(comingsoon.net)

**October 25**

Crowe: 'Cinderella Man' deserved more
By: United Press International (washingtontimes.com)
Australian actor Russell Crowe says seeing his film "Cinderella Man" overlooked at the Oscars in March made him re-think the value of the U.S. film awards. "When I see some of the decisions that are made, you do ask yourself, 'How can you take it seriously?'" the actor said in New York. "Paul Giamatti not winning best supporting actor for that performance (in 'Cinderella Man')?" he said. "I think we got three nominations at the end of the day for a film that I believe deserved a lot more." The actor, who will soon be seen in the comedy, "A Good Year," said he is constantly approached by fans who "put their hand over their heart and start to cry," telling him how much they love "Cinderella Man." "I'll be having those conversations 10 years from now," he predicted. Asked if he thinks his behavior off-set impacted the opinions of Oscar voters, Crowe replied: "I don't care. "It's not what I base my life on. It's not even in the top 100 of my priority list of life." Crowe has made headlines in the past for fighting and pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor assault after throwing a telephone at a hotel worker in New York.

3:10 to Yuma on IMDB (Tanks Ivani)

**October 24**

 Screencaps of Russell Crowe on sky.

The Inimitable Russell Crowe
You might not think of Russell Crowe as someone who's able to have fun, since in recent years, he's taken on the persona of "serious actor" after winning an Oscar for Ridley Scott's Roman epic Gladiator. Crowe is reunited with Scott for his latest movie A Good Year, a lighter comedy based on the novel by Peter Mayle, in which Crowe plays Max Skinner, a shifty British investment broker who inherits a villa and accompanying vineyard in the Provence region of France. As he tries to get the place into shape to sell off, he instead learns how to relax, finds a bit of romance and starts to learn how doing the right thing can sometimes be more satisfying than making a lot of money.
ComingSoon.net spoke to Crowe about the movie and his life on an off-day from shooting the new crime drama American Gangster, again with Ridley Scott, which he told us more about, as well.
ComingSoon.net: So you're doing light romantic comedies now. Crowe: I've done them before. People talk about the physical comedy [in "A Good Year"]. Well, didn't we have a conversation a few years ago when I was doing "Mystery, Alaska," flopping around on the ice like a dead fish? A lot of people told me this morning in talking to me, "It's so different from what you usually do." And I said in reply, "Let's just take it from a handful, let's go: "Romper Stomper," "L.A. Confidential," "Insider," "Gladiator," "A Beautiful Mind," "Master and Commander," "Cinderella Man," which of these movies are similar? That's not what I do. I do what's apparent to me and usually what's apparent to me is something I haven't done at all. CS: What attracted you to this character?
Crowe: I liked the fact that Max was so taken up with his day-to-day life, but underneath there was this wealth of knowledge that had been put in his head. At some point in time, he'd subjugated a lot of it for the simple end of it, which was that competition is what life is about. He's taken it to a point where there's no joy in the competition. He's so good at it and so good at adjusting the rules for the competition that he's never going to lose. There's no joy in that, I think it's the situation of his uncle dying, a man who, by rights, he should have spent a lot of time with in the last decade, but in actuality he spent no time with at all. That's a very sharp mirror to put yourself in front of and Max realizes just how absolutely shallow he's become. I think any movie that begins with a 14-year-old drinking red wine, smoking a cigar and cheating at chess, this is going to give you a smile.
CS: Did you feel that Max represented a part of your own self-image?
Crowe: No, that's just a bunch of silliness because obviously the deal to do this film pre-dates anything that would have come up in my life in between those two points. Was the movie enjoyable to make? Absolutely. Working with Ridley, working in a beautiful place like Provence, working with such a great fellow cast, it was all really good. It's just the next character I decided to play.
CS: Could you relate to the character's need to leave the rat race and get back to the simpler things in life?
Crowe: Oh, I think for sure. I had a very intense decade where everything about my life came down to what happened between "action" and "cut." Whereas, I absolutely understand my need to establish that there were no parameters on the limits on what I could do as an actor and that's fine and dandy. That's been established. Now I can just focus on the part I really enjoy, which is being on a film set, working with other actors, inspiring and terrifying a crew, and I say terrifying because Ridley would occasionally do 75 setups before lunch. You may get an American crew or an Australian crew will go along with that but a French crew, they were finding that difficult to deal with. This was $30 million dollars below the line, shot extremely efficiently. It's beautiful to look at. It has that thing that all good films should have – you're watching the frame and something seems to come off the frame, something comes out into the air of the movie theater and you're in that world. That's what Ridley Scott specializes in. You can say that this is a light film for Ridley or less of a challenge for Ridley but that's an interpretation that's not entirely correct. He's done exactly the same thing with this world as he's done with the world in "Alien" or "Blade Runner" or "Gladiator." He's taken you into that world and in this film, you feel like having yourself a nice glass of red wine and a piece of cheese.
CS: Did you help pick Freddie Highmore to play the younger you?
Crowe: I wanted to meet Freddie Highmore. I wanted to work with Freddie. I'm a big fan of Freddie's and told him so. Our first conversation together I said, "Listen, Fred, if you want to spend some time hanging out, discussing the characters and all that sort of stuff, I'm available for that." He says, "Oh Mr. Crowe, I don't think I'll have the time for that." "Alright, Fred. Well, you just enjoy yourself then. I'll go back in the corner." He's got his stuff worked out and he's got to do it.
CS: And what about Albert Finney?
Crowe: He's wonderful. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any scenes with Albert. We had two dinner parties, lovable fellow.
CS: How is it working with Ridley Scott again after the long break since doing "Gladiator"?
Crowe: It's great. We share common ground, a sense of humor and work ethic. It's just really easy on a Ridley Scott set. I have complete trust in the fact that whatever I do and whatever I come up with in the moment that he'll capture. He knows, from past experience, that if he directs me to jump off a cliff, I'll go out and jump off a cliff. If you're a director, you want that kind of response to your requests.
CS: Your last project together was such an extravagant, big budget movie, so was this your chance to just kick back a bit?
Crowe: Well, I have fun on all my movies. Ridley's the same. Ron Howard's the same. Michael Mann is the same, though Michael Mann's interpretation of fun can be a little strange for some people. I had fun with him. I think we just wanted to do something. We'd spent so many years getting further and further away from each other with our schedules. At one point, they were about a year and a half apart. We never intended that after "Gladiator." We found ourselves doing things with other people that we probably would have preferred to be doing together, so we had a serious, "We need to sit down, we need to see what is available to us." So Ridley, myself and Akiva Goldman sat down at the Beverly Hills Hotel and went through 17 projects one Saturday morning. We talked through one thing being offered by the studio with $115 million-dollar budget and so much money being offered upfront. Through that conversation, the thing that was still in my mind when I woke up Sunday morning was this little aside that Ridley had talked about, this wine project he wanted to do. So I called him up and said, "Let's do that one. Let's focus on that and forget about the big budgets and all that stuff," because there's so much expectation on our teaming up again from the success of "Gladiator," that doing this just neutralizes that expectation and frees us up to do whatever it is that we want to do. Low and behold, we went straight into another film together because it's enjoyable. It's always fun making a film, but when you're making a film with a friend, when you're making a film with a master filmmaker who you respect at the highest level, and when you're working in a place like Provence, it was just a wonderful thing. We've just been through all of the skankiest neighborhoods that the five boroughs can put forward for "American Gangster," and we still had fun every single day. He gave a quote to a magazine a while ago, which I thought was quite funny. He said, "We're both marginally grumpy men, however, when we're together, our mood lightens significantly."
CS: How has your work relationship evolved since "Gladiator"?
Crowe: No matter how oblique, what I'm talking to him about, appears. He knows the best thing to do is just see it and he'll get it when he sees it. There are only so many words to explain human emotion. I can spend all day talking to him about it or I can do it for him after "action" and then he can adjust it at that point and we can do another take. But I know what he's looking for. He downloads to me what his desires are, what he sees and believes in, what he sees the movie as, and I listen, which is a scary thing for a lot of directors. I listen and I also retain it and I become a version of his conscience. We'll be in the middle of something and I'll say, "Didn't you say you wanted this to be like that and to have the bloke say this to go with that?" and he'll say, "exactly. And you would interpret that how?"
CS: Were you two deliberately trying to make a European feeling film?
Crowe: Well, Ridley is European.
CS: That's true, but in the sense of making something that feels more French or Italian?
Crowe: For sure. There are homages to many different French filmmakers in this film, just in the physicality of the character you have the salute to Jacques Tati, but also, equally, you have a salute to Harold Lloyd. Ridley didn't set out to make a movie in France with an American sensibility, absolutely not.
CS: What was it like living and working in Provence?
Crowe: It's got a completely different sensibility from any of the big cities. We were in a place called the Luberon Valley and I was staying in a little town called Lacoste, and we shot mainly in a place called Bonnieux. I could ride there on a bicycle, fifteen to twenty minutes. I called it the Tour de Luberon, just getting on my bicycle every day and riding to a movie set, that was a great deal of fun. It was a very family friendly environment; my wife and my child spent the whole time there. It's an intensively farmed area, which is opposite to the farm area I live in Australia which is nowhere near as intense as that. Somehow, they manage to get this intensive farming done in such a relaxed way. We arrived during the summer when everything was green and it was really hot and then experienced it turning into fall, the reds and the oranges and the yellows and the golden sunshine. It was a great place to make a film. If I could set it up so I could just go back to Provence three months a year and make a movie, I'd be a very happy man.
CS: As a counterpoint, you've been shooting "American Gangster" with Ridley here in New York City. Can you talk about that?
Crowe: Denzel plays Frank Lucas, a heroin dealer who has a very middle-class sort of life with $250 million in the bank. He has a physical relationship with Ms. Puerto Rico and he takes his mom to church every Sunday. On the other half of the coin is the completely dysfunctional life of the police who are trying to pursue him. None of them can hold a relationship together, I don't have any sort of friendship with my son in the film and I think we're very honest in the way we view police work. Most of it is just keeping your focus and every now and then you might get lucky and that luck might lead to a conviction. Particularly in the early 1970's, the investigative techniques weren't very sophisticated. The thing that my character sees that a lot of other people at the time didn't see at the time is that it was possible for an African-American man to be running a crime syndicate of this size. Everybody from fellow policemen all the way up to the US Attorney told my character Richie Roberts that he was kidding himself if he thought that was real and then low and behold, five years later, everybody understood he was right.
CS: How has it been filming in New York?
Crowe: You cannot lockdown a street in the city, they will just not let that happen. I've been standing on the street doing a scene and a car bursts through the police cordon at 60 miles a hour and just about tickles me up the backside. It's crazy. To me, it kind of indicates a lack of basic respect. This town cannot deal with having a movie made. It's like, "We're not shutting down, we're not stopping, get out of our way, we're New York" but you know that about New York coming in, so that's actually part of the fun of being here. It's like running across the freeway at 6 o'clock at night in Los Angeles. It's very dangerous, you shouldn't do it, but it feels great when you get to the other side.
CS: Did you get to meet the real Richie Roberts and is it strange playing a real person?
Crowe: Yeah, he came to the set pretty much every day, but I've done it before and I always find that my attitude is really about my subject matter, and is my subject matter going to come clean with me or not. The thing with Richie Roberts is that he's a very private person, and he's probably a little perturbed that there's a film being made, but he's trying to be brave about it, but he doesn't want me to be Richie Roberts in the movie. He's okay with the facsimile version, but he doesn't really want the truth, and I can respect that, too. Through talking to Richie, who started off in the Marine Corps and then he went to Israel to do undercover work, busting hash dealers on the border, then he came back and got cornered into the prosecutor's office as an investigator without ever having been to a police academy. Two years later, after that particular investigation was over and he had helped bring down a lot of mob figures, he finally did spend a week or two at the police academy, but he never donned a uniform. While he was in the police, the indemnic corruption started to eat away at him, it really started to bother him, so he went to law school. Five years, he did law school at night, passed the bar and he became a prosecutor himself. While being a prosecutor, his relationships with people that were higher than him, he began to realize that that corruption is still prevalent here. So Richie became a defense lawyer. This journey of his, which starts in the '60s, he begins as The Man and thirty years later he's the hippie. I asked him about that, and I reinterpreted that for him a couple months later. I said, "This is who I see you as. I see you as a person who believes that no matter who is in control or who is in power, questions have to be asked. No matter what the obvious missive of a crime, people deserve a defense. I see you as an agitator who stands on the outside of society as it exists right now and throws stones. How do you feel about that?" He smiled and said, "Well, you've nailed me down." He's not in this gig to be a hero; he certainly doesn't want a movie made about him. He knows that there were many, many other people involved in the arrest of Frank Lucas, and this film will probably glorify his part in that and that embarrasses him a little bit. It embarrasses him that I've played the character as a womanizer. He is absolutely adamant that he was never that bad, though he will relate stories to you about the time he was giving evidence in the Supreme Court, and him and the stenographer had sex during the recess in a broom closet upstairs. Richie Roberts, the character in "American Gangster," is contradiction after contradiction after contradiction. He's just not the man you expect to be in that situation, and he's certainly not a heroic figure. Hopefully, in my own way, given that Richie didn't want to be completely upfront with me, I've still honored him.
CS: And do you have another role lined up yet?
Crowe: "3:10 to Yuma" with James Mangold and I get to ride a horse every day for three months. It's a Glenn Ford film. Unfortunately, he just passed away so I don't get to have a laugh about that, but I'm going to take the character in a completely different direction than Glenn had it and I get to work with Christian Bale, so that will be interesting.
CS: Many people who saw "Cinderella Man" last year thought it was a shoe-in for Oscars, but it was snubbed. How did you feel about that?
Crowe: Well, when I see some of the decisions that are made, you do ask yourself how you can take it seriously. I believe "Cinderella Man," for example, I think we had three nominations at the end of the day for a film that I believed deserved a lot more, and not just with my own work, but Ron Howard's work, Renée Zellweger's work, Paul Giamatti. Paul Giamatti not winning Best Supporting Actor for that performance, you have to stand back and say, "Well, it's not healthy to take any of this seriously." The thing is I talk about "Cinderella Man" ten times a day. I'll be walking down the street and people stop me and they put their hand on their heart and they start to cry. I'll be having those conversations ten years from now. It will be interesting to see how many conversations people are having about other films down the road.
CS: Do you think that your personal problems contributed to that in any way?
Crowe: I don't care. It's not the thing that I base my life on. It's not even on the top 100 of my priority list. CS: Is life better for Russell Crowe now that you're married and you have kids?
Crowe: My life has changed a lot since I got married and having two little boys. I'm very blessed. On a daily basis, I get to experience a whole type of joy that I've never had before. It was the right time for me to become a dad. From where I came from, I'm a working-class boy, born in New Zealand and I won an Oscar and that took a lot of personal fortitude. I had to go from one place to another place on that journey. Nothing was ever guaranteed; it's all about right place, right time. I spent a lot of time establishing that there were no parameters in what I could do as an actor in the cinema and now I don't have to worry about that anymore. I can be two or three steps more objective and enjoy the whole experience of being on the set.
(comingsoon.net)

Russell Crowe's corked w(h)ine
Friday, 20th October 2006, 12:12
LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK)
- Russell Crowe threw a tantrum in a top London restaurant because his £3,500 bottle of wine was corked. The 'Gladiator' star was dining at Marco Pierre White's exclusive eatery Mirabelle when he sent back the wine, but the waiter stood up to him, insisting it was the actors palate that was at fault. Crowe, 42, told BANG Showbiz: "I wanted to do something special so I ordered a bottle of Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1964, bottled the year I was born. "It is an Australian wine that I have had a lot of experience with so when it was opened and brought to the table I could smell from two foot away that it had been corked, it had gone off. "I let it breathe but when I took a sip I got a mouthful of mould. "The sommelier spent about 45 minutes trying to convince us that it was the chestnut undertones and the wafts of blackberry. "I just turned round and went, 'Mate. It's off.' "He refused to accept it was corked but eventually he did replace it. Very nice it was too." A spokesman for Mirabelle has not denied the incident, saying: "We are glad Russell was eventually satisfied." (www.lse.co.uk)

**October 23**

Russell Crowe Thinks He Is Getting Too Old For Action Movies
Russell Crowe thinks he is too old to be an action hero. The 42-year-old star has confessed he is too worn out to perform dangerous stunts in his movies and is on the look out for more sedate roles. Crowe said: "Now that I'm getting a little bit older the bones are creaking and the Achilles tendons don't work the way they should. I don't approach everything with the same intensity that I used to." The burly actor has tackled some gruelling action roles including a Roman warrior in Gladiator, a sea captain in Master and Commander and a boxer in the critically acclaimed Cinderella Man. Although Crowe is ready to walk away from action roles some of his ageing Hollywood rivals are going back to the genre that shot them to fame. Bruce Willis, 51, is making a fourth Die Hard film, 64-year-old Harrison Ford is starring in a fourth Indiana Jones movie and Sylvester Stallone, 60, has laced up his gloves one more time for a sixth Rocky movie.(www.starpulse.com)

CROWE: "I'M A ROMANTIC"
Hollywood tough guy RUSSELL CROWE is an incurable romantic at heart who will do anything to impress the woman of his dreams. GLADIATOR star Crowe courted DANIELLE SPENCER for 14 years from 1989 until their marriage in 2003, and once made dinner aboard a 150 seat boat. He says, "The only boat I could get sat 150 people. But I wanted a kitchen because I wanted to cook for her. So this thing arrived and I thought, 'Oh my God.' It was just massive. "I had all this fresh scampi and I was in the kitchen but it was almost a three minute walk to get from the galley to where she was sitting on the deck. "It could be a comedy in itself. She thought it was way over the top." (contactmusic.com)

 HERE is the link of the whole interview Marion gave to Mail On Sunday last October 19th. (Tanks Ivani)

While Amazon doesn't have the samples of this soundtrack to be heard, we can do it by the site of the label Sony Legacy, using the box at our right.  HERE is the link. (Tanks Ivani)

**October 22**

EXCLUSIVE: DADDYATOR
Hollywood Wildman Russell Crowe tells how family life has tamed him
GLADIATOR star Russell Crowe has revealed how he's stopped raising hell since having kids. The 42-year-old Oscar winner's explosive temper had him hitting the headlines after a series of late-night rows. He was infamously arrested and fined after hurling a phone at a hotel receptionist in New York. But the New Zealand-born star says he'd now rather play with his kids than party with the A-list. He and actress wife Danielle Spencer have two sons - Charles Spencer, who will be three in December, and Tennyson Spencer, born in July. The family live happily at their 1300-acre ranch outside Sydney. AdvertisementWhen we met at London's Dorchester Hotel, Crowe - looking relaxed and fit - said family, not films, is his priority. He went on: "Every decision I make now goes through what's right for my wife and my kids. The jobs I'm choosing don't come with a 30-week schedule like the films I've done in the last few years." The star of award-winning epics such as Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Master And Commander and Cinderella Man says he's determined to see more of his family. Russell added: "Life is balanced but daddy's still got to go out and earn the milk, mate." He appears in a series of big movies in the months ahead. First, there is romantic comedy A Good Year. He has just finished crime thriller, American Gangster with Denzel Washington and detective drama Tenderness. And he is starting work on a remake of classic western 3.10 To Yuma. But Crowe points out the schedule for all those films was carefully arranged around his roles as husband and father. Crowe dotes on his sons and is chuffed when I congratulate him on the latest addition to the family. "What do you think of the name?" he asks about baby Tennyson. "We put Spencer in the middle again to give Charlie and him something in common." Crowe has also delivered another surprise after switching from his trademark heavyweight dramas to the frothy romantic comedy A Good Year. He said: "If somebody is familiar with all the films that I've done, then they know there's a gay, football-playing plumber in The Sum Of Us and there's the ice-skating sheriff in Mystery Alaska. "Comedy is not a place that I haven't been to - it's probably a full third of all the films that I've done." In this comedy - which reunites him with Gladiator director Sir Ridley Scott - Crowe plays a super-confident City whizzkid who inherits a vineyard in Provence, left to him by an uncle, played by Albert Finney. His intention is to make a killing "by selling for a big profit but he falls in love with the country side and, in particular, a French waitress who works in the village. There's a scene in which Crowe become a waiter to impress the girl that he's fallen for and he confesses that he has done many things in real life in an attempt to impress wife Danielle. "We met in 1989, got married in 2003 and I did so much over that time to try to impress her," he says, laughing. The most spectacular stunt the star pulled as he wooed Danielle was when he hired a boat in Sydney harbour as the setting for a romantic date. He recalls: "The only boat I could get sat 150 people. But I wanted a kitchen because I wanted to cook for her. So this thing arrived and I thought, 'Oh my God'. It was just massive. "I had all this fresh scampi and I was in the kitchen but it was almost a three-minute walk to get from the galley to where she was sitting on the deck. "It could be a comedy in itself. She thought it was way over the top." Apart from his romantic side, Crowe has other things in common with the character he plays in A Good Year. For instance they both appreciate fine wine... Crowe has thousands of carefully selected bottles stored at his Aussie ranch. The star attributes his taste for good wine to his father Alex, who ran a pub while Crowe was growing up. The consequence is that Crowe has become an expert on wine and is confident enough to fight his corner when he reckons that a bottle of wine is off. He recalls an incident when he had just started filming Gladiator. Crowe and co-star Connie Nielsen went for a meal at a top London restaurant and he decided to splash out on a bottle of outrageously expensive wine that happened to share its vintage with the year the two were born. Russell said: "This particular wine was Australian and, when it was opened and brought to the table, you could smell from two feet away that it was corked." He told the wine waiter the bottle was bad and the waiter argued that the actor was very wrong. "That conversation lasted 45 minutes," he said. From the world of fine wine, Crowe moves on to where the local tipple is a shot of cheap red-eye when he saddles up for the western 3.10 To Yuma. This is a remake of the 1957 golden oldie that starred Glenn Ford as an outlaw leader who is held by rancher Van Heflin as they wait for the train that'll take the baddie to court in Yuma. "I'm doing the Glenn Ford part and Christian Bale plays the Van Heflin role," says Crowe. And when they weren't remaking this wild-west romp, Crowe and Bale - who has an 18-month-old girl - could swap stories about changing nappies. 9 A Good Year is released on Friday. (sundaymail.co.uk) (Tanks Ivani)

From Ivani:
Today I am going to attend AGY here in São Paulo at São Paulo International Film Festival that began yesterday, and AGY will have 4 screenings, today will be the first, and I hope soon get some reviews about the movie and my impressions too.
These 2 positive reviews below were done at the time of Rio International Film Festival, we had 3 but the third one is negative, so feel free to post them or not. The translation for English was done by me.
"A Good Year: From Gladiator to a romantic comedy: New partnership between Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe produces predictable movie, but funny"
By Carla Meneghini, do G1 (Portal news of Globo.com) in Rio de Janeiro. The original link  HERE
October 4th, 2006
When Ridley Scott announced that would make a new movie starred by Russell Crowe, lots of people thought that it would come a second "Gladiator" very soon. But, the duo/twosome proved their versatility and risk themselves in a completely different territory. In the romantic comedy "A Good Year", Crowe change the Roman sandals and sword by glasses, suit and tie, portraying a very well succeed London's stockbroker. The story is far away of predictable, with no doubt, but Scott releases small surprises during the path that makes from the 2 hours of screening a delicious one, even though if nothing stays in mind when the screening is over. In the plot, Max (Crowe) is a workaholic stockbroker, vain and selfish, of a sort who passes over anyone else to fatten his bank account. Suddenly, he inherits from an uncle a farm that produces wines in the region of Provence, in France, to where he travels looking for a fast selling and profit. But, little by little, he falls in love for the place and changes his way of life, giving more importance to simple things of the life and less to the money. And the end we can already see The director follows to the letter the clichés of the genre: visual jokes, romance, stereotyped characters, unlikely situations and a lesson at the end. But, wrapped in the correction of RidleyŽs camera, in the nice Crowe's acting and in the beautiful French landscapes, the result is an unpretentious comedy, charming and funny"A Good Year" is certainly a smaller movie in Scott’s history, who one day brought to the screens big movies/super productions that marked Hollywood's history, as "Gladiator", "Blade Runner" and "Alien". But it marks the consolidation of Scott-Crowe partnership, that is going so far and it’s already showing new fruits: the twosome are filming now the police movie "American Gangster", in which the actor portrays a heroin dealer of the 1970's.
The day that Ridley Scott's good humor came back from vacation.
By Rodrigo Fonseca (Brazilian movie site "Almanaque Virtual")
The original link  HERE
10/12/2006
From the auditorium of Paissandu Theater, in Flamengo neighborhood, city of Rio de Janeiro, a shout summarized well A Good Year's charm (2006): "What an Actor", a female moviegoer shouted, enthusiastic with Russell Crowe. But her shout only gives account of the charm. And Ridley Scott's new film goes far moreover. Despite the slightness with the story, borrowed from Peter Mayle's romance, is told, it's the big trump of the production. It is rare to see Scott working a universe where nobody holds weapons. Only bottles of wine. And good seduction by flattering words and manners. With the right to a Crowe's unexpectedly comic performance, that gets through to remind Dean Martin's charm. A Good Year is a tuned romantic comedy with the derivatives of "Rome Adventure (1962)" of long time ago. Only with a French charm in the essence. Of course that it would Scott's habitual hysteria to compose takes of adventure has a weigh in the 20 first minutes, free of the loving sugar. Its trend to speed up the presentation of the central characters of his movies beats point in the way of how he invites the audience to know the swindler Max Skinner. An investor without moral, Skinner makes what it is at his reach/hand to shake the structures of the English stock market, stimulating the competition among his employees. Unconcerned with other people's feelings, he lives only for the job, making solid the workaholic cliché, so beaten by Hollywood movies. This common place will go to be diluted in a plot of redemption treaded in feeling and in the laugh. Surrounded in childhood by his uncle's affection, dandy Henry (Albert Finney, perfect), owner of a vinery, Skinner became the opposite of everything of the better his relative taught him about life. But his carelessness with his heart will come to an end when he receives the news of Henry's death. Skinner finds out he is his only heir, and being so, therefore, the new responsible by the vineyards in which he grew around. Without great interests, he leaves his tumultuous routine and goes to the old property, to know/discover if he can profit from the sale of the place. He didn't take in a count to elbow with a cutting object called love. This collision will become more convincing thanks Crowe's effort of being more than the truculent on duty he is used to portray. Despite of a limited gift to make fun, the "Gladiator" star has an extreme easiness to compose characters. And Skinner, with all his greed, avarice and arrogance, is a full plate for an actor who likes to invest in a mood/humor that doesn't depend of staffs and ridiculous cacoethes. Skinner amuses first with his unscrupulous phrases. Then, he will make laugh at his reflection about life and the incompatibility of it with the metropolitan stress. And this elaborate composition of character frees "A Good Year" from the aura of "De Já Vu" that surrounds productions about redemption experiences on moral. The excellent soundtrack borrows more flourishing to an experience that can be renovating for Scott, confirming a versatility that he seemed to have buried under his ambition to manufacture blockbusters in series. Don't be surprised if somebody associates the movie with the word "Oscar".
(Tanks Ivani)

Some goodies from VSecin:
A Good Year special site - page at  Messenger
A new German photo site, with pics of Russell in Germany:  HERE
More pics of Russell in Germany at  EmpireOnLine
A site called  Blinx, full of RC videos.
(Tanks Ivani)

**October 20**

Who's the perfect daddy, Russell?
by BAZ BAMIGBOYE
Fatherhood before films: Russell Crowe wants to get his priorities right Russell Crowe is very clear about what kind of father he wants to be - "present, not absent" - even if it means turning down major movie roles. He and his wife, Danielle, have two sons: Charlie, a rambunctious toddler, who will be three in the New Year; and four-month-old Tennyson.
°Watch the trailer of Crowe's new film A Good Year
With school looming on the horizon, Russell is having to think about his future career. He's already ruled out movies that take half a year to make. "I'm not into this thing of signing on for ever and not knowing when something is going to finish," the Oscar-winning star told me. "I need to know for my wife and kids when I'm going to be around. And just out of my own self-interest, it gets really tedious sometimes being away from home for that long. "I can have the family with me, but I also have to keep a balance. Is it the right place for them to be? Is it healthy for Charlie?" One project which proved perfect for mixing career and family was shooting A Good Year on location in Provence. He and his pal Ridley Scott had met in Los Angeles to go through several movie ideas. When it came to "the wine project", Russell noted that Scott became exceedingly animated. And so it was that they found themselves taking over the Chateau La Canorgue in Bonnieux during last year's wine harvest. A Good Year, based on a best-selling novel by Peter Mayle, shows the actor's caring, sharing side. There's no blood and gore, though Russell's character, Max (named after Maximus in Gladiator), does inflict some serious financial wounds upon his competitors. There's light comedy mixed in with the drama and Russell has a deft touch, particularly when he gets out of the City of London after his elderly uncle (Albert Finney) leaves him the picturesque chateau - and its vineyard. A friend in Hollywood has described the picture, admiringly, as "porn for women". Russell and his family had a ball living in Provence. He was also much taken by the local rosé wine; so taken that he shipped 17 cases home to Australia. "It's a good tipple," he told me. But not every location is going to be suitable for the family. He has just shot a couple of movies back to back in the States: the drama Tenderness, for which he was on set for just nine days, and American Gangster, which took him 11 weeks. Next is the remake of the Glenn Ford classic 3: 10 To Yuma with Christian Bale, and that's an acceptable three-month shoot. "A big part of conversations Danielle and I are having is where are we going to be, and where's Charlie going to school," he says. "What are we going to do in terms of restrictions on work? It's in my mind that I don't want to be an absent dad when my son is school age. "I want to be the dad who takes him to school in the morning and picks him up in the afternoon — which makes making movies very difficult.' Russell told me how, when Peter O'Toole's son, Lorcan, was of school age, the actor changed his work life and if a movie didn't fit in with the school schedule, he didn't do it. "I'm not interested in being the parent that's always away. I'm not interested in being that sort of dad. I want to be present all the time," Russell told me. Those work-family thoughts were going through his mind when he decided to withdraw from the epic film everyone thought he was going to make with Baz Luhrmann, co-starring Nicole Kidman as his leading lady. "I can't get into a gig that's going to go on and on and on. You can't make other plans. The last movie he shot took 16 months," said Russell, insisting that he and Luhrmann remain good pals and will work together again. Then there's the dosh factor. Russell observed that the as-yet-untitled Luhrmann picture (it shoots early in the New Year, and will now star Hugh Jackman) has a big budget, but everyone reduced their price, so more money could be spent on other aspects of the film. "Everyone has to take a hit, I understand that. But I didn't understand why my hit had to be bigger than everybody else's," he said. (/www.dailymail.co.uk) - (Tanks Ivani)

**October 19**

Russell Crowe's Bloody new movie
Oscar Winner Russell Crowe and rising actress Holly Valance ("DOA") are in talks to star in a Matthew Vaughn ("Layer Cake") produced film about the legendary Australian cricketer, Donald Bradman. The film, "The Bloody Ashes", is expected to start next year. Crowe has apparently expressed interest in playing Bill Woodruff, Bradman's captain during the 1932-33 Ashes series, whilst Valance is expected to be sought for the role of Bradman's wife, Jessie. Producers are said to be scouting cricket clubs to find a young actor to play Bradman. Co writer Peter Clifton tells The Herald-Sun that they don't just want good actors, they want actors "who can play cricket properly, so we can achieve the authenticity needed for the film". The chosen actor will be required to go undergo an intensive 6-month acting course, in addition to tuning up his cricket skills. Other actors being sought for the $30 million dollar movie include someone to play English captain Douglas Jardine and his star first bowler Harold Lawford. Donald Bradman, aka The Don, was an Australian cricketer who is universally regarded as the greatest batsman of all time, and is one of Australia's most popular sporting heroes. His Test batting average of 99.94 is by some measures the greatest statistical performance of all time in any major sport. The last actor to play Bradman on screen was Gary Sweet ("Macbeth"), who gave life to the legend in the 1984 mini-series "Bodyline". (www.moviehole.net) (Tanks Ivani)

From BAFTA/LA
It will be on November 13th:
The venue is still to be confirmed.(Tanks Ivani)

From   Azstarnet.com, Arizona, Phill Vilarreal has Russell as one of his five noms for Best Actor:
Best Actor
Russell Crowe, "A Good Year" (Nov. 10) - The film is said to be so-so, but Crowe has a way of commanding Oscar attention. (Tanks Ivani)

**October 18**

Russell Crowe: Fatherhood over fame
LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - Russell Crowe insists becoming a dad has allowed him to turn his back on fame. The 'Gladiator' star - who has two sons, Charlie, two, and three-month-old Tennyson, with wife Danielle Spencer - says being a father and a husband has helped him put his priorities in perspective, He told Britain's Live magazine: "The world of celebrity becomes this strange place to live in. But marriage and kids have made me less concerned with it." Crowe's has also revealed his priorities were changed further by the death of his good friend, 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin. The wildlife expert was killed on September 4 when a stingray barb pierced his chest while he was filming a documentary off of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. He was 44. Crowe said: "That was a terrible blow. When life shows itself in such a way it's very difficult to take anything else seriously other than the needs of your family and your friends." The actor paid tribute to Irwin at the public memorial service held in his memory at his Australia Zoo, in Queensland. At the ceremony, Crowe sad: "We've all lost a friend, we've lost a champion, and we're going to take some time to adjust to that." (www.lse.co.uk)

**October 14**

My friend Cassy has sent me these pics of Russell in Munich.
           

A Good Year will be screening in here São Paulo/Brazil during the 30th São Paulo International Film Festival (link   here). The festival will be held from October 20th to November 2nd. The logo of the festival was created by famous Portuguese director Manuel de Oliveira, still working at his 97 years old and who will be present at the festival with his last movie, "Belle Tojours". We donŽt have still the dates when AGY will be screening, maybe during today or tomorrow the info will be at the site, but   HERE is the page of the movie. (Tanks Ivani)

Gallery on  "Russell Crowe in Paris" (une bonne année)

Updated gallery   "Russell in Rome" (Un amore per caso)

**October 13**

Russell Crowe and family in Paris today. Pics   HERE (Search for Russell Crowe)

Russell Crowe at premiere
"The last year of my life has been pretty special" - Russell Crowe
Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe has attended the German premiere of his latest movie A Good Year in Munich. It tells the story of arrogant financial expert Max Skinner, played by Crowe, who wants to get rid of an inherited French vineyard. The actor says the film crowns what has been an excellent year for him. He says: "The last year of my life has been pretty special. "I've made two movies with my favourite director Ridley Scott and I welcomed the birth of my second son. That to me personally has been a very good year. "The movie itself, even though it's sort of under the title of romantic comedy, I think it actually is a story of rediscovery and rejuvenation. "There is a lot of guys whose work I admire and if it ever comes up that they send me a script I'll work with them. But I don't seek out people that I want to work with." (www.itv.com)

**October 12**

Updated  gallery

**October 11**

(News Items) : Press-conference and photo call for the film "A GOOD YEAR" directed by RIDLEY SCOTT starring RUSSELL CROWE. Russell Crowe, nick named Rusty, decided to leave his family at the Grand Hotel in Rome while he move around Europe for the film promotion. Russel Crowe will attend then opening of the Rome Film Festival (Festa Internazionale di Roma) on October 13th with NICOLE KIDMAN. Plot Outline of "A Good Year": An Englishman (Crowe) inherits a vineyard in Provence. Upon arriving at his new property, he meets an American woman who claims that the land is hers.(unimediaimages.com)

Article in german of the press conference for "AGY"  HERE. (freiepresse.de)
(Tanks Ivani)

















Russell Crowe presents his new film in Munich
The article   HERE
Tanks to Ivani for the traslation:
OSCAR winner Russell Crowe presents today in Munich his new film "a good year". At noon the 42-years old will give first a press conference, before he visits the premiere in the Filmcasino at the Odeonsplatz in the evening. "A good year" of director Ridley Scott is a dear romantic comedy about arrogant Londoner Expert of financial politics Max Skinner (Crowe), who wants to repel an inherited wineyard in Southern France. It becomes the object however not so fast loosely. But ensure a resident wine farmer, a local beauty and the charm of Provence, to whom Max purges gradually. "A good year" comes on 9 November into the cinemas. The film is based on Peter Mayles novel best-seller "a good year".

**October 10**

Russell's pics on  ISIFA

Russell's pics on   Wireimage

Russell's pics on   Gettyimages

At the Italian TV you can watch Russell in Rome.  HERE and   HERE. Click on the first line. In the first video Russell speaks italian.

It's time again to give 10 to A Good Year at  Joblo. So mark today and do it again next month on November 10th, because this site only allows the rating once per month. (Tanks Ivani)

The page of AGY cd at  Amazon. And the pic of the cd:  HERE  (Tanks Ivani)

**October 8**

The traslation of the italian article is on   Murph

- -Russell is in Rome (Italy)
I've found  this article in italian but I can't traslate it.

- -You can pre-order CD soundtrack "A good year".  Sony  and   Barnes & Noble and  Amazon
Here are All the tracks:
1. How Can I Be Sure Of You
Nilsson
2. "Il faut du temps au temps"
Makali
3. Je Chante
Charles Trenet
4. Breezin' Along With The Breeze
Josephine Baker
5. Jump Into The Fire
Harry Nilsson
6. The Wedding Samba
Edmundo Ros & His Orchestra
7. Never Ending Song Of Love
Delaney & Bonnie
8. Old Cape Cod
Patti Page
9. J'Attendrai
Jean Sablon
10. Gotta Get Up
Nilsson
11. Le Chant Du Gardian
Tino Rossi
12. Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini
Richard Anthony
13. Max-a-million
Nick Ingman
14. Le Coin Perdu
Nick Ingman
15. Wisdom
Nick Ingman
(Tanks Ivani)

**October 7**

A mellow fellow
Lawrie Masterson
GIVEN the subject matter of his light-hearted new film A Good Year – the picturesque vineyards of Provence, fruity reds, a beautiful French woman – Russell Crowe admits he must be feeling romantic. "And potent," he adds with a high-pitched giggle and a reminder that he and his wife, Danielle Spencer, welcomed two-year-old Charlie's little brother, Tennyson, as recently as July. Certainly 42-year-old Crowe, judging from his demeanour at a recent interview to promote A Good Year, is mellowing and not just on screen, where his latest character is probably his most affable since he played Jack Thompson's gay son in The Sum of Us a dozen years ago. By his own admission, his "level of intensity" has dropped compared with a few years ago when he played career-defining roles in The Insider, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind in fairly quick succession, earning consecutive Academy Award nominations, and winning for Gladiator. "The thing I used to apply to my work now doesn't get to my work until it's been filtered through the needs of my family, so my work I look on with a different eye," he says. "There was a certain thing I needed to get out of the work while I was doing it and I don't need that any more. I just enjoy being on a set, making a film, problem-solving with my friends like Ridley (director Ridley Scott). "But it's not the most important thing any more, not even in the Top 10. Whatever my wife and children need is where every day begins. Then I have the rest of my family to look after, and very close friends and animals. "Then I've got to make sure we've got the right non-chemical fertilisers to use on the soil at the farm. These things are much more important." Crowe makes the shooting of A Good Year sound like something of a romp, which probably is just what he needed after the nasty publicity surrounding his infamous phone-throwing incident in New York in June last year. It is his second film with Scott and seems an unlikely choice following their collaboration on Gladiator. "But, I mean, it's just healthy to work against those kind of expectations," he said. (/www.news.com.au)
(Tanks Ivani)

**October 4**

A lot of pics of Russell in Madrid -  wireimage (search for Russell Crowe)

In one of the interviews given to the Spanish Press, Russell said he would like to work with the famos Spanish director Pdro Almodovar. Click on   El Confidencial from Spain, October 4th: The part in Spanish he commented:
El actor neozelandés se sumó a esa lista de intérpretes que estarían encantados con trabajar con el cineasta español más universal, Almodóvar: "Conocì a Pedro hace unos años y me dijo que me veía como un toro salvaje. Me parece un gran director y por eso seria un gran privilegio trabajar con él aunque fuese interpretando algo parecido a un toro salvaje" afirmó entre risas.
The part translated by Ivani:
New Zealand actor joined to this list of interpreters who would enchanted of working with the most universal/globalized Spanish filmaker: "I met Pedro some years ago and he told me he saw me as a wild/raging bull. I think he is a great director and because of this it would be a great privilege working with him even if it were playing something lookalike with a wild/raging bull", he stated with smiles. (Tanks Ivani)

SCOTT'S ABUSIVE STREAK INSPIRES CROWE
RUSSELL CROWE decided how to portray an Englishman living in rural France in new movie A GOOD YEAR when he saw British director RIDLEY SCOTT's casually abusive manner towards the French. Crowe found Scott's unintentional nationalism fascinating - and it's something he can relate to, being born a New Zealander in neighbouring Australia. He says, "Ridley has had a house in Provence (France) for the last 15 years therefore the story of the Anglo-Franco dynamic is something that he knows absolutely. "In talking to Ridley he will casually abuse French people without even be consciously aware that he's doing it in an English manner, just as my French friends will casually abuse the English in the same way. "As an outsider and a New Zealander born in Australia this to me was very funny. I wanted to examine that dynamic because this is two countries that share so much more common ground than they'll care to admit. "Yes, there's a different language but there's a sensibility and an understanding of life in both countries that is very similar though neither would ever admit that. There's been many times they've been each other's strongest and closest ally." (contactmusic.com)

A message from Ivani:
Dear Friends Last Monday, October 2nd, Russell was announced the winner of August voting, but unfortunately yesterday Hello put Hugh Laurie as the winner: www.hellomagazine.com/vote/pastwinners/attractiveman.html In a message I received from Hello they said: The monthly winner is actually Hugh Laurie. We have cleaned the votes, and even though the amounts of both Hugh and Russell reduced dramatically, Hugh Laurie still came out as the winner. This is not fair, if they have to announce a winner, why do they do this, why they announced a winner if the checking wasn't ready/over? Please, if you or the fans want to complain about it, write to megan.conway@hellomagazine.com Once more, thank you so much for all your support and votes. (Tanks Ivani)

Actor Russell Crowe poses for the media to promote his film 'A Good Year' in Madrid today   HERE.
REUTERS/Susana Vera (SPAIN) HERE. (Tanks Ivani)

Gladiator star enjoys Cornish pasty in city
By Gavin Aitchison
Russell Crowe at the Cornish Pasty Bakery STAFF at a York food shop Russell-ed up a treat for a visiting Hollywood film star when he stopped off in the city centre. Eagle-eyed Press reader Ruth McMonagle, 25, snapped a picture of Gladiator actor Russell Crowe in the Cornish Pasty Bakery in Colliergate, off King's Square. The family of Crowe's wife, Danielle, comes from Nether Poppleton, and he is a frequent visitor to the area and has been spotted in the city in the past. Abandoning his gladiatorial attire in favour of a casual tracksuit, Crowe, who also starred in A Beautiful Mind and LA Confidential, took time out to enjoy some meaty fare in the heart of the city. continued...Sharon Grima, branch manager at the bakery, confirmed Crowe had visited the shop as part of a group on Monday afternoon. She said: "He was here at about 12.30pm and then sat out in the square for about an hour, so he must have really enjoyed it. I was surprised to see him come in. He's just like everyone else, but you recognise his face. "He had about three guys with him and was really polite and then they went." And what does an international film icon eat? Ms Grima said: "They got traditional Cornish pasties then water and coffee - most people from out of town get that." She said it was not her first brush with fame while working for the Cornish Pasty Bakery. She said that when she was based at the firm's Coney Street branch, TV duo Ant and Dec visited - but while her colleagues were all abuzz, Australian Sharon didn't know who they were. Ms Grima said a couple of people had gone up to Crowe to chat to him, but most people had left him in peace. Ms McMonagle, of Bishophill, said: "Me and my friend, Victoria Stone, were quite surprised to see an A-list celebrity in York. He was with about six men - probably his entourage." Last November, The Press exclusively reported that Crowe had been spotted in Bettys Tea Rooms with Danielle and her aunt and uncle, Anne and Peter Horsfall, before later heading to the Blue Bicycle in Fossgate for a meal. Anne said the Crowes had stopped in to visit Danielle's grandparents briefly on Sunday, while on a promotional trip in London. (www.thisisyork.co.uk) (Tanks Ivani)

**October 3**

CROWEING OVER 'SCARY' SCENE
Beverley Lyons
RUSSELL CROWE lived up to his hard-man image making new movie A Good Year. His character is terrified by deadly scorpions - but not Crowe himself. He said: "I come from Australia. Everything in Australia bites - including the girls." (www.dailyrecord.co.uk) (Tanks Ivani)