JACKI Weaver, the actor who proves that being a mature-age woman isn't a hindrance to Hollywood acclaim, can't put a foot wrong. She is starring in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Uncle Vanya in New York with Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Richard Roxburgh, with critics hailing the cast as ''uniformly brilliant''. Far from turning up her nose at smaller projects after winning international acclaim for her role in Animal Kingdom, Weaver plays the lead role in a short film called Lois - and, to be precise, it's eight minutes long. Written, produced and directed by Alexandra Schepisi, daughter of Fred Schepisi, the film is the shortest of the shorts screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival's ''Australian Shorts'' program. With runny mascara smudged under Weaver's eyes for the film's poster, the scene is set for Lois to be ''tipped over the edge'' after receiving a letter. Weaver won't be at Russell Street's Greater Union cinema on August 11 for the screening because she will be in the US filming Labor Day, a drama starring luminaries Tobey Maguire, Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Schepisi will have her day of labour because she's expecting her first child with husband Jeremy Rouse.
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Umpire strikes back in Howzat!
CELEBRATING the 1970s moustache, crimson cricket balls ferociously rubbed near groins and stained white trousers, Channel Nine's two-part series Howzat! Kerry Packer's War also tells the story of Kerry Packer's revolution with World Series Cricket. Actor Lachy Hulme, who plays the fearsome media mogul, bowled into a screening yesterday with Damon Gameau (Greg Chappell), Ryan O'Kane (Jeff Thomson), Adam Zwar (Peter McFarline) and producer John Edwards. The testosterone-fuelled series will screen after the Olympics, so expect promotions with hypnotic repetition during the ad breaks when millions of eyeballs are watching. The chant of the era ''Lillee, Lillee'' will be relived with Matthew Le Nevez playing the hirsute fast bowler.
Life is a buffet of bonhomie
DERRYN Hinch is looking healthy and rosy-cheeked, a state for which wife Chanel is taking credit. ''It's all my home cooking,'' she said. Well, imaginary cooking, because Chanel - wife number five - is not the apron type. Hinch explained: ''I've got a 27-year-old liver.'' The Human Headline was enjoying healthy servings of food from Crown's Conservatory buffet, a luxury version of the all-you-can-eat indulgence with abundantly stocked seafood station and Indian tandoor oven. One guest admiring Hinch's vitality was John Parker, a buffet aficionado who told Hinch he had to deviate from the radio host's renowned soup diet, one with wine as the main food group. Others sampling the fare were Ann Peacock and father Andrew Peacock, senior socialites Lillian and Richard Frank, eminent Toorak plastic surgeon Chris Moss and wife Andrea, and 3AW brekkie co-host John Burns, who was quenching his thirst in preparation to board Royal Brunei Airlines for the Olympics. It's an alcohol-free carrier but passengers can take duty-free bottles on board and a glass will be provided.
Bieber thinks outside the box
RADIO babe Fifi Box won't forget the moment when Canadian fringe sensation Justin Bieber told her she looks like Cameron Diaz. To be precise, he said: ''You look a little bit like Cameron Diaz.'' That's the There's Something About Mary actor, minus the upright fringe from that stiff hair gel. The Fox FM host had a Bieber-induced ''OMG'' moment, exclaiming: ''Oh my God! Are we recording?'' Just to be sure, she asked Bieber to repeat it. The frenzy has subsided, but with sidekick Jules Lund already in London for the Olympics, Box is heading there after having a revolving roster of celebs filling in. Brian McFadden, Megan Gale, Wil Anderson and Matt Preston proved why they've got good radio voices. In London, the Foxy one will respond to ''Fifi'' or ''Cameron''.
