Hawaii
Clint Eastwood
tight-lipped
at Maui film festJUST back from a weekend in Maui. The visit coincided with the Maui Film Festival, so I thought I'd take part. I may be the only guy to cover a film festival without seeing a movie ... The closest I got to seeing a movie was watching the highlights of Clint Eastwood's illustrious career on film and seeing him accept the Silversword Award in recognition of his career. ABC's Joel Siegel emceed the affair. He told me before the onstage interview that Eastwood was a man of such few words that he feared a bunch of "yes" or "no" answers. So when Siegel asked a question about motivation in one film, Eastwood nearly left him speechless when he said, "Maybe." Said Siegel, "That gets you an 'A.' A yes or no would only rate a 'B.'" ...
FOLLOWING the ceremony, I had planned to go up to the Celestial Cinema (so named because it's outdoors) and see both the new Jennifer Aniston film, "The Good Girl," and Eastwood's award-winning "Unforgiven." But rock music promoter and producer Shep Gordon spotted me and invited me to join the party at his house on the beach, saying, "Everyone is going to be there." Naturally, I opted for the party, joined by Eastwood and his 30-ish wife, plus Alice Cooper, who lives next door in another house Gordon owns; Maui's Pardee Erdman, who talked golf with Alice; Don Ho (at the eats table); and big John Corbett ("Sex and the City"), at the fest for his new film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding,' there with Ms. "10" herself, Bo Derek, who may be 5 feet tall if she stretches. I know, it surprised me, too ... Former Hawaii International Film Festival exec director Christian Gaines said, "I still check things out in Hawaii in your column Tuesday through Friday. I like the Sunday one, too, but it's full of people who were before me." He introduced his wife, Christian Taylor, and I said most married people have the same last name and different first names. He allowed they were different ...
Puck and pluck
THERE was also time for a delicious dinner at Spago, the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant which has opened in the old Seasons space in the Four Seasons. And a trek just up the hill to Mulligan's, the perfectly named Irish pub on a golf course. Owner Kevin O'Kennedy had a Celtic group playing the night I stopped by (including himself on pennywhistle), followed by a rock group. As two young lady friends put me in a taxi, the driver said, "Wow, are you some kind of movie star or what?" They were everywhere during the weekend: Mike Myers, looking for all the world like a shagaholic, Larry King, Rosanna Arquette and many more ...
Beatlemania
A MAJOR highlight of the weekend was taking in "A Walk Down Abbey Road" at the Arts & Cultural Center Amphitheater Saturday night. A group made up of mature rockers such as Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Eric Carmen, Mark Farner, Jack Bruce of Cream (my favorite and, before he was finished, the crowd's as well) all put together by Alan Parsons, his latest "project," and a real winner, getting off and running on Maui with a tribute to late Beatle George Harrison ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com