UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Madonna, Chris Rock and dozens of other celebrities raised $5.5 million at a star-studded benefit at the United Nations to help poor and sick children around the world.
The $2,500-a-plate dinner and live auction hosted by Rock on Wednesday night was an unusual blend of charity and commercial promotion for the U.N. and made some of its officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, uneasy.
Gucci, which paid the costs, pegged the event to the Friday opening during New York’s Fashion Week of its Manhattan flagship store on Fifth Avenue and put its logo and UNICEF’s behind the walkway where celebrities were photographed.
The United Nations Children’s Fund relies on $1 billion in private sector donations for its $3.5 billion global budget, but the U.N. had never before granted permission to a company to erect a 42,000-square-foot tent on the north lawn of the U.N. for such a lavish event with a commercial tie-in. Gucci gave paying guests its limited edition “Gucci Loves NY” handbag, with a big red heart, costing more than $600 each.
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You Kill Me is currently enjoying a 75% “fresh” rating over at RottenTomatoes.com. Visit to read some of the great reviews!
Did you hear the one about the Polish hit man (Sir Ben Kingsley) who gets sent from Buffalo to San Francisco to sober up? That’s the nutshell plot of John Dahl’s You Kill Me, a return to the off-kilter crime tales of his earlier independents The Last Seduction and Red Rock West. Tea Leoni doesn’t just play the flinty-yet-flirty San Francisco saleswoman who falls for Kingsley; she also came on board the film as a producer. Dahl and Leoni spoke with Cinematical in San Francisco about low-budget film making, scene-stealing and other petty larcenies.
Cinematical: Your previous film, The Great Raid was a effects-heavy period piece set during World War II; was part of the appeal of doing You Kill Me being able to do something more modern-day and not smaller in scope but less arduous on a production level?
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There are 2 new video clips posted. One from Conan O’Brien and the other from Regis and Kelly. You can watch Tea on The Sauce by visiting the official Fuse TV website.
Also, Tea will be on The Early Show on CBS next Monday morning, June 25.
Tea Leoni’s interview with Moving Pictures Magazine at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival is featured as the special Video of the Week on the magazine’s website. Leoni is fun and expressive as she talks about working with Ben Kingsley on the film, You Kill Me.
You can see Leoni featured on the main page here:
www.movingpicturesmagazine.com
The video is part of a series of questions she answered from the festival that you can find here:
www.movingpicturesmagazine.com/videoaudio/mpminterviews/TeaLeoni
