Stop us if you've heard this plot before: A film about a group of buddies who go into the mountains for a canoe trip and run into a bunch of crazy mountain men. Now let's say one of the actors was Burt Reynolds. You're right. It's Deliverance from 1972. But it is also going to be Without a Paddle, "a comedic take on Deliverance". Filming will take place around Wellington and the central North Island. This is an exciting - especially if you are one of the crew of around 150 - but also fun parlour game as you think up how you make a comedy about a film which featured graphic homosexual rape and killings by crossbow. Amuse your friends by casting celebrities as inbred mountain folk and speculate on what new theme they might come up with in place of Duelling Banjos. And wonder, is old man Burt one of the gnarled mountain men in this one?
KELLY'S A HERO: Having a cameo in the Rhombus video - a parody of '81's Goodbye Pork Pie - seems to have whetted Pie's star Kelly Johnson, these days a lawyer in Whangarei. In his latest movie, Spooked, Johnson plays a title character, Spook, in a film based on the book The Paradise Conspiracy being directed by Geoff Murphy around Auckland. The story is "a contemporary conspiracy thriller" and inspired by the true events surrounding the mysterious death of Paul White, a New Zealand computer dealer who unwittingly bought sensitive international banking records on disks as part of a second-hand computer deal. "It's a great opportunity to get involved in a bit of fun and a challenge ... it has a certain energy," Johnson said. "I'm not expecting any phone calls from Hollywood after the movie has screened." No matter, he's got a part in the Whangarei Youth Theatre's next production, Driftwood. He plays an adult.
BRIT-POP: Britney Spears has disclosed she was the "man" in her relationship with chart hunk Justin Timberlake. And the singer - once the world's most famous virgin - said she only slept with Timberlake because she thought they would one day marry. In an interview with GQ magazine, the Baby One More Time star said having sex did not make her a "bad person". "I've always been a tomboy," said Spears. "I've always ended up being the man in the relationship. I know it sounds really weird, but it's very hard for me to let go and let the man take control. As far as the whole sex thing goes, I really did think that Justin was the one I was going to marry, so I did do the thing with him after three years.
"And I don't think that's a bad thing. Just because I've admitted to having sex doesn't make me a bad person, does it?" She also said she would not sleep with a man in the early days of a relationship, and prefers to simply kiss. "When you're first dating a guy, you can't really go there with him. I think it's more sacred and special if you just kiss." We here agree.
<I>Chatterbox:</I> Burt finds funny kind of 'Deliverance'
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