american graffiti

1 More problems of a religious nature for Disney, barely a month after the Southern Baptist boycott: Muslim groups last week spoke out against the Jackie Chan action flick, Operation Condor, which is being distributed by Dimension Films (a division of Disney-owned Miramax). The Islamic Center of Long Island told New York Newsday that the film portrays Muslims as "unkempt, money-grabbing caricatures who seek world domination" - which, presumably, means it's exactly like your average Schwarzenegger or Stallone movie. Disney's television network ABC, meanwhile, has irked a Catholic group with its drama about priests and nuns called Nothing Sacred, which premieres this fall. The star, Kevin Anderson, has described the show as a "down and dirty" look at the priesthood; a press release describes his character as an "irreverent priest who questions the existence of God, feels lust in his heart and touches people's souls". The Catholic League, which is already boycotting Disney because of the film Priest, has - without seeing a single episode of Nothing Sacred - protested, calling the series "sick". No word so far of an American Father Ted.

1 This year's alien blockbuster, Men in Black, which opens in Britain on Friday, has been sliming the competition. Having amassed $150m in three weeks, there's a chance it will eventually overtake The Lost World, the current box-office frontrunner with $220m. MiB has undoubtedly benefited from a ruthless publicity campaign, which began with a Newsweek cover that (erroneously) proclaimed it "the coolest film of the summer". Shamelessly, the film's stars, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, are now appearing in TV ads, urging the millions who've already seen the film to "see it again" - a sentiment echoed in the deranged pull quotes adorning the print ads. "It's good enough to see twice!" goes USA Today's recommendation. A "critic" from the Good Morning America TV show takes it further, shrieking: "This is it! This is the one! The one you'll want to see two or three times!" Americans, I'm sad to say, are complying in droves.

1 The Larry Sanders Show, the slyest, most sophisticated show on TV, racked up a richly deserved 16 nominations (more than any other comedy) when this year's Emmy shortlist was announced on Thursday. ER, as expected, led the dramatic field, with 22 nominations, including Ewan McGregor for Best Guest Actor and Sherry Stringfield for Best Actress - a surprise, as Stringfield quit the series in November and was absent for more than half the season. Eleven of ER's nominations were in the acting categories, which meant that virtually everyone in the cast made the cut - with one conspicuous exception: new Batman and budding movie star George Clooney.

1 Michael Keaton brags in this month's Movieline Magazine: "There's times in Beetlejuice where I'm really great. There's times in Much Ado when I'm great. There's times in Pacific Heights when I'm pretty great." Not surprisingly, later in the interview, Keaton announces: "I'd love to be married to me." Keanu Reeves, on the other hand, is clearly developing something of a self-esteem problem. "There's not really much I can do about it," sighs the endearingly wooden one on E! Online. "I'm not the best actor in the world. I know that. But I'm trying. That doesn't mean anything, I guess - just to try." Not true - the harder he tries, the funnier he is.