Hope everyone had a fun and festive 4th of July. Here’s a special Independence Day shout-out to our girl Sandra Bullock. Her divorce from he whose name shall not be spoken was finalized last week here in Austin and there have been quite a few Sandra sightings in the capital city lately – driving through for burgers at P. Terry’s, dinner at her restaurant Bess, and shopping at kids clothing boutique Izzy and Ash.

Welcome to Austin Louis! Let’s get you suited up in some Longhorn gear!

Rumor has it you know who is hot on her Louboutin heels, but not to worry Sandra. We in Austin won’t mistake “having your back” for stabbing you in it. Don’t mess with Texas.

And it’s movie premiere time…….Predators debuts Wednesday night at the Paramount! Adrien Brody fans get psyched! Maybe you’ll get a kiss like Halle Berry did at the Oscars. Okay….maybe not, but it’s something to aspire to!

Happy star gazing!

Hello Austin Celebrity Confidential fans!
Please excuse my absence….I was on vacation in Italy and Malta. It was dreamy….and NOT to worry- I got my share of celebrity scoop while I was there.
I went to a prayer service at the Vatican led by….you guessed it…..Pope Benedict XVI.
I’d say he’s pretty famous. Here he is driving through St. Peter’s Square before it started. I love a papal drive-by! It was a great experience.

And in Malta, I stayed at the same hotel that Madonna stayed in while she was filming Swept Away. The staff told me they couldn’t believe how tiny she is in real life! Steven Spielberg also stayed there while filming scenes for Munich. His entrances/exits to and from the hotel were pretty elaborately planned out due to the throngs of press and fans who were staking out the place while he stayed there.
I even managed to visit a movie set while I was there….well sort of….we sailed by the set of the 1980 movie Popeye starring Robin Williams. It was built for the movie and then converted into a theme park called Popeye Village.
And just to squeeze in a little more celebrity news out of the tiny Mediterranean island, I had dinner at a restaurant called Assaggi- the owners and chef trained with Gordon Ramsay of “Hell’s Kitchen” fame.
So there you have it- I wasn’t TOTALLY slacking on my vacation. Managed to get at least a little local scoop.

But now back to Austin- there’s no place like home!
And there was no place like Austin Studios Friday night for the Make Watch Love Film event! It was a great night honoring Moody Anderson (proprietor of Texas Traders- supplier of props for many movies filmed in Texas) and also celebrating the release of the new book called Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids- Thirty Years of Filmmaking in Austin. The author, Alison Macor, was sweet enough to sign my copy and I can’t wait to read it!
Honorary hosts were Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater, and Elizabeth Avellan……Elizabeth is co-owner and VP of Troublemaker Studios (the artist formerly known as Los Hooligans which she founded with the artist formerly known as her hubby- Robert Rodriguez). What a sweet and gracious lady!
It was a great night celebrating 30 years of film-making in Austin. Can’t wait to see what the next 30 bring!
Hint……there’s a premiere coming up at the Paramount in a few weeks so more to come on that soon
Ciao y’all!

Ah, Austin. So many celebrities in such a short time! Mischa Barton checking out Muse, Verne Troyer  (Mini Me) spotted at at Gruv, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Robert Duvall at the premiere of Get Low at the Paramount, Ryan Phillippe power smoking 2 packs of smokes on the deck at the Four Seasons……And of course,

Girl Power!

Fresh off their NYC premiere Kristen Stewart , Dakota Fanning, and Cherie Currie were in town to promote The Runaways, the movie based on the first all girls rock group. Kristen portrays Joan Jett and Dakota plays bombshell vocalist Cherie Currie.  Sadly Joan Jett was not here due to “exhaustion.”

 And I am very excited I got to meet David Garza! I have loved his music for so long. So many great albums, especially This Euphoria featuring one of my favorite songs of his “Discoball World.” David attended the University of Texas here in Austin and has had a very long and successful career. In 1999 he came in second behind only Stevie Ray Vaughan as “Austin Musician of the Decade” (Austin Chronicle). Oh, and we have the same dentist so I  think that’s pretty cool too

I was  FAR less excited about the FOUR FREAKING HOURS I shivered in line waiting to get in to the Perez Hilton party! And we STILL hadn’t gotten in so I had enough and bounced. That was ridiculous. Thanks for the pneumonia-fest Perez. I am still shaking from the cold. He tweeted an apology and promised a bigger venue next year……..but how about some security and a check-in process and some extra staff at the door?? Madness. That little #$%&*@

Happy Spring fever! Already excited for SXSW 2011!!