THE LEFT LANE
'All My Children' takes a 'reality' turn
Advertiser Staff and News Services
 |
|
|
The plan is to have two of the show's regular characters form a cosmetics company and begin a search for the sexiest man in America. The producers will then hold "real" tryouts in various cities that will be taped for inclusion in the drama. Videotapes and photos also can be sent in for consideration.
Twenty-five finalists will be put to a vote of viewers, with the winner getting an appearance on "All My Children" in September.
An independent boost
 |
|
|
The film was shown in last year's Hawai'i International Film Festival and also ran at The Art House on Restaurant Row. It earned two nominations for the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards (best feature, and best supporting actress for Jacqueline Kim).
Fueled by a thumbs up from critic Roger Ebert, "Charlotte Sometimes" has been getting good notices and acclaim (Best Narrative film at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, a slot on Entertainment Insiders.com's Top 10 Films of 2002), but not where it counts — Internet Movie Database (IMDB), a Web yardstick that could hurt its chances of winning the Independent Spirit Award. If you saw and liked the film, you can cast a vote at us.imdb.com/Ratings?0284478.
Hot ethnic cookware
 |
HomeWorldBusiness magazine, which covers the cookware industry, put sales of ethnic cookware at $150.6 million last year, up from about $100 million in 1997.
But doesn't a plain old frying pan work as well as Salton's $29.95 Quesadilla Maker (pictured)? "Sure," Salton product manager Bud Thatcher says. Yet sales are sizzling; they shot from 45,000 two years ago to 500,000 last year.
Hormone therapy losing popularity
More than a third of women on hormone-replacement therapy stopped taking the drugs in 2002 after hearing about two studies that questioned the safety of replacement hormones, a national survey says. Last year's studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association raised doubts about the safety of a combined hormone-replacement therapy of estrogen and progestin, particularly Prempro and Premphase.
Doctors prescribed hormone-replacement drugs for more than 6 million women last year.
