Variety reported yesterday that Philly native Will Smith and his Pursuit of Happyness production partners have bottled up the screen rights to Philly Mag alum Benjamin Wallace’s upcoming book, The Billionaire’s Vinegar. No word on a production date, but the book — a rollicking account of the controversy surrounding the most expensive bottle of wine ever auctioned — is due in stores in mid-May. — Timothy Haas

‘Vinegar” screen rights optioned
The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

From IMPRESARIO, our new arts and entertainment blog …

Yesterday, film industry trade magazine MovieMaker announced its eighth annual list of the best cities in which to make movies, with Philadelphia landing at number five, below — in this order — Austin, Albuquerque, Shreveport (yes, Shreveport), and New York.

Last year, the magazine gave us the number two spot, just behind New York, citing our generous state tax incentives, grant and loan programs, the efforts of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, and, oh yeah, the fact that we’re just a cool city to be in, what with our “beautiful derelict outer slums” and all. Continue reading on IMPRESARIO

All I can say is brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I hate this freakin’ weather. Should you desire to brave the wretched elements, I offer some fine filler for your agenda.

The same thing happened to me on 13th and Locust … If you still haven’t seen Philadelphia Theatre Company’s (fairly) spectacular new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theater, a good excuse would be the opening of M. Butterfly, a Tony Award-winning play about some French dude who’s all hot for a pretty little Chinese opera singer who turns out to have one Y chromosome too many. And closing this weekend is New City Stage Company’s powerful Extremities at Mum Puppettheatre. All about victimization and revenge. Get a sitter.

Not so pretty pictures … They can build all the condos they want — Philadelphia will always have a gritty, shadowy underbelly, which I, personally, love and which is perfectly captured by local photographer Natalie Hope McDonald in Evidence, a three-(Philly)-woman show at William Way. (An example: the lovely Anya). Plus there are both disgusting and beautiful vein-popping bodybuilding photos by Ellen Rosenberg.

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The best thing about Christmas being over in less than a week is not that the relatives head back from whence they came or that your checking account will finally reveal a sliver of its former self. No, it’s the fact that dance companies the world over — including our own Pennsylvania Ballet — will close the curtain on their productions of the Nutcracker. Now, they say that this tired old tradition keeps the lights on for many troupes, but there are a lot of other folks out there who’d like you to buy a ticket to their Christmas shows, too. (Plus, I’m pretty sure that the Ballet has some friends with deep pockets, like, say, Wachovia, Chrysler, and Reliance Insurance.)

Should you choose to step outside of the comfy confines of the Academy of Music and venture out into a Yuletide world less traveled, I have a few suggestions …

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Me? I just can’t take this cold weather anymore, so I’m off to Turks and Caicos for some pristine bods and beaches. You? You’re stuck with Kensington, the Chinese, and Macaulay. Enjoy.

Give Netflix a break … We’re in a brief lull in the movie business. Some of the best movies of the year — American Gangster, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and No Country for Old Men — have been out for a while, and the movie that I fully expect to clean up at the Oscars — Sweeney Todd — isn’t out for a couple of weeks. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit at home and watch Die Hard or Beaches for the 30th time. My suggestion: Go see two old (well, old to me) and brilliant (though in very different ways) movies — Blade Runner at the Ritz East and Home Alone at the spectacular new Ambler Theater. Yes, Macaulay Culkin was a horrible little prick, but he sure grew up fine.

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Ah, the promised wintry mix. The gaudy department store decor. The month of Law & Order reruns and stop-motion reindeer on TV. It all can only mean one thing: The dreaded holiday season is upon us. Enjoy yourself while you still can.

I’m guessing only one of them can get it up … This weekend, three very different shows featuring singers of the male gender hit town. My personal pick: the swaggering Tom Jones. Oh, excuse me, Sir Tom Jones, as his office in the UK pointed out to me. Sir Tom (at the A.C. Hilton all weekend) may be best known for his hit singles “It’s Not Unusual” and “What’s New Pussycat,” but they are child’s play compared to his balls-to-the-wall Thunderball. If Sir Tom exudes too much testosterone for you, there’s always the thoroughly asexual (and thoroughly magnificent) Vienna Boys Choir at the Kimmel and Bobby Rydell at the Keswick. Sure, Rydell hasn’t had a hit since more than a decade before I was born, but the high school in Grease was named after him, so he must have been pretty cool at some point.

Just what you need, more food … We may have lost Lollapalooza, but we will always have Latkepalooza. This year (the fifth annual), chefs from places like Bar Ferdinand and Marigold Kitchen will spruce up 3,000 or so of the lowly potato pancake. In case you lost track, Hanukkah starts next week.

What the hell is an Electric Boogaloo anyway? … I wrote off breakdancing a long time ago as one of those things that I think I would really like to do but will never actually do, and I’m fine with that (though I do remember doing a mad Worm at a drunken party in the ’90s). I would much rather watch the experts at work in the Kings of the Floor competition at Society Hill Dance Academy.

Yeah, but I get to bang Fran Drescher … I’m pretty sure that on my wife’s list of men that she could guiltlessly make out with if she just happened to be hanging around Phuket at the same time as him is Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations, the Travel Channel show where he scoffs down goat colon soup and mealworm pie. (Fran Drescher has never had a cockroach in her mouth, so I think I have the better deal.) He’s totally arrogant, which is actually what makes his show so good. See him be arrogant at the Free Library on Saturday in support of his new book.

And because I can’t decide … Bowling Against Bullets at Lucky Strike … (one of my favorite movies) Donnie Darko and cheap beer at the Troc … and 1812 Productions’ politically charged (and no doubt very funny) This Is The Week That Was at the Adrienne.

UA King of Prussia Stadium 16 traded its usual curbside crowd of baggy-pant-wearing 14-year-old loiterers for a big white tent, spotlights and red carpet last night for the premiere of Bella, the first producing cred for local financiers Eustace Wolfington (a St. Joe’s grad) and nephew Sean. Although the mall traffic did little to add to the less-than-glam festivities, the usual opening-night crowd of real estate suits and the occasional horned-rimmed film type were in attendance. Sean was out shaking hands, and Eustace was spotted outside the theaters, which, rumors swirled, needed to add an extra screen due to the larger-than-expected guest list.

Director Alejandro Monteverde spoke before and after the festival-winning film, and the stars, including to-die-for leading man Eduardo Verastegui, were out and shining, asking for Philadelphia to fill the theaters for the next two weeks; this low-budget baby
needs to hit big numbers in the next 14 days in order to secure bookings in other theaters across the country. So do your part and buy a ticket. Not only will you see the most uplifting, feel-good film since Little Miss Sunshine, but you’ll also be able to say you saw it first and get a hit of Philly pride when these local faces walk across the stage come Oscar time. — Jenna Bergen

Bella [IMDB]

Philadelphia’s most lovable DJ, Jerry Blavat, auditioned this week for a bit part in The Lovely Bones, a new $70 million DreamWorks production directed by Peter Jackson of The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and immense-weight-loss fame. The flick, said to star Susan Sarandon, Ryan Gosling, and the truly luscious Rachel Weisz, is based on a 2002 Alice Sebold novel by the same name about a gal from the Main Line who watches from Heaven as her family and friends go on with their lives after she is savagely murdered. Blavat’s prospective role is, appropriately enough, as a DJ emceeing a fashion show. If he gets the part, his lines would include:

“And here comes Amanda and doesn’t she look groovy! Forget about bell-bottoms. I’m talking flares in pink polyester that hug those girly, girl curves in all the right places. If you’ve got it, why not show it, right ladies?”

“And who needs buttons and zips when you have Velcro! A quantum leap forward in funky fashion fastening! Don’t zip it — rip it!”

But Blavat says that the casting agent’s reaction suggested he might be too big for the part: “They know that I am such a big, big personality here, so I might just be too much for the movie.”

The ever humble Geator doesn’t seem too worried though. He points out that he’s been there, done that: “I was in Desperately Seeking Susan [he was?!?!] and Cookie with Peter Falk … Plus, I’m booked through 2009!” — Victor Fiorillo

Perhaps timed to accompany Michael Vick’s guilty plea, Variety is reporting that ex-Inquirer writer John Grogan’s labrador love letter Marley and Me finally has a cast. Bumpy-nosed Owen Wilson has been tapped to play the somewhat bumpy-nosed Grogan, and Jennifer Aniston will play Mrs. Grogan. But the project has already spawned its first negative review, even though Devil Wears Prada director David Frankel has yet to shoot a scene.

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