Since Sex and the City has screened around the world and critics have weighed in, it's time for a little nitpicking -- and nobody seems more up to the task than that unflagging beacon of urban gossip, Page Six. Today, the New York Post column reports that New Line Cinema and Radio City Music Hall are facing off in a blame-fest following the mistake that lead to 1,000 ticket holders getting turned away at the New York City premiere. At the close of the piece, however, the article gets into some of the details of the plot: "Those who've seen Sex and the City are buzzing that its story owes much to widely reported episodes involving Jonathan Tisch and Ellen Barkin," it reads, and that's just one of the alleged rip-offs. There's also a supposed reference to Tisch's canceled engagement to Jill Swid, and a "scene where Carrie freaks out about having a 347 area code seems just like one in an old Seinfeld episode."

Not having seen the movie, I can only judge from afar, but this sounds like two very separate complaints. That Sex and the City would use real life incidents to inspire its metropolitan plot shouldn't bother anyone (except the real life inspirations, of course). But borrowing from Seinfeld? Now that's a low blow.

Two reasons I'm writing this story: 1) I love screenwriter success stories, and 2) I love New York City screenwriting success stories. (No, I'm not very interested in seeing a sequel to New Jack City ... unless, of course, Chris Rock loses fifty pounds and plays another crack addict.) Over at Yahoo, they have a great story about a NYC tollbooth worker who wrote a crime script last year called Brooklyn's Finest. See, his car was totaled in an accident and so he entered this screenwriting competition with hopes the cash prize would help pay for a new ride. While Michael Martin had studied film in college, he had never written a full screenplay before -- and though his script placed second, it attracted attention from all over the place; landing on the steps of a Warner Bros-based producer who was searching for someone gritty enough to write the sequel to New Jack City.

Dude eventually moved to Los Angeles, wrote for the Showtime series Sleeper Cell, but then got homesick and returned to New York -- where, to this day, he works for the Transit Authority (he was just promoted to construction flagger). In between flagging, he still works on the New Jack City 2 script (which will probably go direct to DVD) on break in the subway tunnels, all while Brooklyn's Finest gears up to go into production this May -- in Brookyln -- with Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere and Ellen Barkin starring. Training Day's Antoine Fuqua will direct.

Oh, and he has a new car now.

Great story; you can read the entire thing here. And good luck to you Mr. Martin!

Back in December, we gave you your first glimpse of the teaser poster for Ocean's 13 the third star-studded installment in director Steven Soderbergh's light-hearted caper franchise. Today, we offer you an exclusive ganders at the new -- and final -- theatrical poster for the film (click on the image above for a larger version).

Those of you who have already seen the aforementioned teaser poster will notice that it is quite similar to the new poster. There are, however, a number of subtle differences. I count five. How many can you spot?

Ocean's 13 finds Danny (George Clooney), Rusty (Brad Pitt) and co. on a mission to mete out revenge against a ruthless casino owner (Al Pacino) responsible for forcing Reuben (Elliot Gould) out of the biz. Along the way Linus (Matt Damon) falls for an attractive older woman (Ellen Barkin), the boys join forces with longtime nemesis Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) and Danny cries during 'Oprah.'

Enjoy the poster, and come back tomorrow to see 12 new Oceans 13 photos -- such as the one of Brad Pitt to the left -- right here.

All about Ocean's 13 | Watch the Ocean's 13 trailer | See the Ocean's 13 teaser poster

Caper-film junkies, George Clooney fans and Brad Pitt worshippers, this is your lucky day. We have your absolute first look, anywhere on the planet, at the new poster for 'Ocean's 13' (click on the image to the left for a larger version). And in case you're counting, there are only 12 people on the poster: the original crew of 'Ocean's 11' and their perennial nemesis Andy Garcia.

'Ocean's 13' finds Danny (Clooney), Rusty (Pitt) and the rest of the boys planning their most ambitious heist to date AND rolling sans ladies (Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, you will be missed) -- but they've also got a new pal to play with: an unknown actor you've probably never heard of named Al Pacino. And if that doesn't pique your interest, you'll be happy to learn that the earnest Linus (Matt Damon) may get a little loving this time around ... from an attractive and alluring older woman played by Ellen Barkin. Wow, our little boy Linus is all growed up.

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GET IT: More info on 'Oceans 13'

SEE 'EM: George Clooney | Brad Pitt pics

This week, the celebrity grapevine is twirling all its little tendrils around Angelina Jolie. My goodness, she's getting more news time than Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson combined. First, she and her family tried to take a rickshaw ride in India but had to stop due to excessive media coverage. Then her driver in India hit a pedestrian while trying to avoid paparazzi. (It was discovered later that she wasn't in the car at the time.) And now a photographer is claiming that he was punched and threatened at gunpoint by a bodyguard on the set of A Mighty Heart, in which Jolie is portraying Mariane Pearl, widow of journalist Daniel Pearl.

Fortunately, if you sift through the mountains of Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt news (I refuse to do that name-combining thing), you can find some other celebrity activity this week:

• More celebrities considering adoption: Rumors have been flying that Madonna is in the process of adopting a year-old boy from Africa. She doesn't actually have the child yet, and Malawi law prohibits non-residents from adopting the country's children, so we'll see what happens.

When my Cinematical editors asked me if I'd assume responsibility for our weekly gossip column, I was a little worried. I admit that I am not as familiar with the world of celebrity goings-on as I ought to be: I don't have cable so I can't watch red-carpet galas, blind items confuse me, I mix up all the little blonde actresses, and the merest glimpse of Paris Hilton gives me a rash. But I'm willing to learn, so bear with me while I dive into the world of celebrity gossip and relate the week's prime pearls of news.

• I'll start with celebrities I enjoy watching in movies and can recognize easily: George Clooney and Ellen Barkin. They're filming Ocean's Thirteen right now -- I'm so pleased Barkin's in the film, as I haven't seen her since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- and are being linked as a romantic item. Barkin's a bit older than Clooney, so it's a pleasant change from the usual news about celebrity men dating much younger women. (Sympathy to my sister, who still believes some day Clooney will turn up in Covington, LA and claim her as his soulmate.)

These days, whenever a studio says a film's plot is being kept hush-hush, under lock and key, and with a big, burly bodyguard standing watch, it's even more of a reason for "the internet" to uncover the truth. That being said, the folks over at Latino Review got their hands on a draft of Ocean's 13 and essentially let the fat cat out of the bag.

For those of you extremely out of the loop, George Clooney and his band of merry A-listers are returning for yet another fancy, good-looking heist sequel ... only this time without Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Recently, it was announced that Al Pacino will play a casino owner in 13 alongside another new addition in Ellen Barkin. Oh, and how can we forget those Ali G rumors too.

Without giving away too much of the plot (you'll have to travel to Latino Review for that), the gang is back in Vegas and up to their old tricks again. According to the script review, with words like 'cool,' 'fun' and 'light-hearted,' the film looks very promising. Just so you're warned, it carries tons of major spoilers, so if you're not interested in finding out who gets naked first, then I suggest waiting until the film hits in summer of 2007.

[via JoBlo]

Reporting the casting news on an Ocean's Eleven sequel is pretty much a full-time job, but we can handle it. Not long after learing that Julia and Catherine were out and that Ellen Barkin was in (and also that George Clooney apparently has a soft spot for Ali G), we now hear reliable reports that the surprisingly diminutive Al Pacino has been cast as a casino owner in Ocean's Thirteen. (I saw him at a film festival once, and he's actually kinda tiny!)

Definitely returning for a third heist-fest are Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Mac, Cheadle, and Garcia. Toss Pacino and Barkin into the mix and you've got almost half the cast you'll need for a new Ocean adventure. Variety reports that the always-busy Steven Soderbergh plans to begin shooting Thirteen on July 21st, in and around such dazzling locations as Las Vegas and Los Angeles, but also that plot details are being kept under wraps. (Clooney's also switching screenwriters again; Ocean's Eleven was written by Ted (Matchstick Men) Griffin; Ocean's Twelve by George (The Sentinel) Nolfi; the third is presently being written by the successful duo of Koppelman & Livien, best known for Rounders -- although they also wrote Walking Tall, Knockaround Guys, and Runaway Jury.)

Expect the inevitably star-studded Ocean's Thirteen to steal into movie theaters in summer of 2007.

Okay, so the last time I spoke about JLo here on Cinematical, things didn't go so well. People thought I was being very mean and awfully unfair towards Mrs. Lopez-Noa-Judd-Almost Affleck-Anthony. Perhaps I can redeem myself here. Or not. As Martha reported the other day, Steven Soderbergh and company are returning, yet again, for Ocean's 13. The funniest thing about these sequels is that, as the numbers get higher, it's just that many more people they need to cast. I'd love for this thing to go to Ocean's 26 just to see which random actors show up. I'd imagine myself saying things like, "Holy crap, is that a digitized Marlon Brando? Sweet!"

While most of the cast is returning for a sequel, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones will stay behind. Supposedly, the script didn't call for their characters, but something tells me that's a load of craps. Ya know, like the game? With Ellen Barkin signed on to play a love interest to Matt Damon's character, there's room for one more female to fight over heartthrobs George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Unfortunately, it appears as if Angelina Jolie will not be showing up (Ain't that a bummer?), but Jennifer Lopez is now one of the names being thrown into consideration. Of course, this comes via a "Super Secret Inside Source" over at JoBlo, so take it all with a grain of salt for now.

Honestly, I really enjoyed Lopez's shifty performance in Out of Sight. Coincidentally, her co-star in that film was none other than George Clooney. Now, if her role alongside Danny Ocean is similar, then I'm down with giving her a shot. Ocean's 13 will start shooting (primarily on five soundstages in Burbank) this July 21st.