• George of the villa: George Clooney in a small Italian town means tourists. Tourists mean developers. Developers mean pissed-off locals. Pissed-off locals mean a pissed-off George. And no one wants that.

• Speaking fee: NBC may pay Paris Hilton $1 million for her first sit-down after she's out of jail, but Ryan Seacrest gets to talk to the heiress for free.

• Would he?: Neurotic filmmaker Woody Allen is, uh ... going to, ummm ... direct an opera in L.A.

• Closure: After five tumultuous years, Bush Administration officials are nearing a decision to close the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay.