Tuesday, 3 February 1998

THE BEST ARE BACK: Three of Hollywood's best directors have picked their latest projects. Lawrence Kasdan returns from back-to-back bombs (French Kiss and Wyatt Earp) with Mumford.

Wolfgang Petersen, who took to the air with Air Force One, is heading back to the sea (he made his name with Das Boot) with an adaptation of the best-selling novel, The Perfect Storm.

And Tim Burton is looking at Dreamworks' X -- The Man With The X-Ray Eyes as his next project after wrapping Superman Reborn this summer.

JUST WONDERING: When Tim Burton has a mid-life crisis, will he start wearing business suits, buy a Toyota and start making movies like Deep Rising?

BAD WILL HUNTING: Maybe Matt Damon isn't so nice after all. Reports out of various New York gossip rags have Minnie Driver in Golden Globe tears after she found out that she was the ex-girlfriend when Matt announced that he had no girlfriend on Oprah. But never fear, Matt's still sticking with Ben Affleck, do or die.

EMPRESS' NEW CLOTHES: After holding out on "the nudity thing" for years, Heather Graham can't seem to keep her clothes on. First, she boogied the night away as Rollergirl. These days the MPAA won't cough up an R-rating for Graham's sex scene with Robert Downey Jr. in Two Girls and A Guy, no matter how they re-cut the encounter. And now, news that she will turn up as a sexed-up alien in the Danny Boyle-directed segment of the Alien Love Triangle trilogy at Miramax. She will keep her space suit on in New Line's PG-13 Lost in Space, but keep an eye out for the un-cut un-rated video version.

READER OF THE DAY: From Luke R.: " "Titanic Unsinkable," "Titanic Stays Afloat," "New Entries Left in Titanic's Wake." These are but a sample of the myriad of disgusting headlines that puff-piece editors have foisted upon us in the last weeks of Titanic's record success. You know, I got sick of O.J., I got sick of the Lewinsky story, but I swear to God I am going to go postal if I hear any more puns describing Titanic's B.O. take."

A REASON TO E-MAIL: I need a good name for my daily request for your e-mail. I keep on trying to find the right one, but I need your help. Help!