People: Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Jeff Timmons
Hollywood came to the fictional Lake Wobegon as Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan and other stars gathered for the world premiere of "A Prairie Home Companion," the movie version of Garrison Keillor's folksy radio show. The city of St. Paul, Minnesota, rolled out the red carpet to welcome back the stars who filmed "Prairie Home" under Robert Altman's direction. Earlier in the day, Keillor, who plays a radio-show announcer in the movie, recalled the filming as "a great deal of fun" and low-key. "I don't expect to have that much fun anytime soon. I'm hoping there might be one more time, but I don't know when it will be," Keillor deadpanned at a news conference that included Streep, Lohan and Altman as well as Virginia Madsen, Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly and Lily Tomlin. For a comic movie, Altman, 81, said "A Prairie Home Companion" has a serious theme - and he hinted at what the movie is really all about. "This film is about death. Everybody dies," said Altman, a five- time best director nominee who received an honorary Academy Award in March. Set on the last night of the radio show before the station's new corporate owners shut it down, "A Prairie Home Companion" features Madsen as a white trenchcoat-wearing Angel of Death, whom Keillor described as a "beautiful, ethereal character." (AP)
Tom Cruise hopscotched through Manhattan during a fast- paced promotional tour for the premiere of "Mission: Impossible III."
Cruise traversed the city - catching rides on a fire truck, helicopter, motorcycle, speed boat, sports car and subway train - to hit three screenings of the movie and make two publicity stops. Hundreds packed Times Square on Wednesday to greet Cruise, 43, who appeared on MTV's "Total Request Live" for the start of the tour. "You're a wonder of the world," the host Vanessa Minnillo told Cruise.(AP)
Jeff Timmons of '90s boy band 98 Degrees has been arrested on charges of drunken driving and driving without a valid license, Brevard County, Florida, sheriff's officials said. The authorities pulled over Timmons's white Mercedes on April 23 when they spotted him speeding, according to a report. Timmons, 33, said he was from out of town and didn't have his driver's license, the report said.(AP)
In her latest film, "Freedomland," Julianne Moore plays a woman whose son was kidnapped. In real life, Moore is helping the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to keep kids safe. Moore was set to lend her celebrity to the cause Thursday in Los Angeles to kick off the center's new Power of Parents program - a Web site with free safety information for parents. The site encourages parents to practice safety skills with their children and keep photos and basic physical details about their kids handy and up-to-date. Moore has two children, Cal, 8, and Liz, 4, with her husband, Bart Freundlich.(AP)
Today in Culture
A Huckabee-Colbert ticket in 2008? Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas raised that prospect in a recent appearance on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." The show is hosted by Stephen Colbert, who sends up fads and fashions. On the show Tuesday night, the target was healthy living, which has been a theme of Huckabee's during his current term as chairman of the National Governors Association, after adopting a running regimen. The Arkansas governor traded quips with Colbert from the start. He told Colbert in jest that he embarked on his diet-and-exercise regimen after he "kept getting letters from people who said they wanted to see less of me."Huckabee, who has said he is considering seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2008, was pressed by Colbert to declare if he would do so. "If you run as my running mate, Stephen, we could change America," Huckabee responded. (AP)
The "Baywatch" actress Donna D'Errico has filed for divorce from her husband of nine years, the Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx.D'Errico cited irreconcilable differences, according to court documents. (AP)
Céline Dion has returned to performing at Caesars Palace after a viral infection that made her dizzy caused her to cancel six shows last month. The singer had labyrinthitis, an inflammation of the inner ear often accompanied by an impaired sense of balance. (AP)
