People

By Michele Orecklin

CAMERA SHY

Recluses come in two varieties: those who live in 8-ft. by 10-ft. shacks in Montana and those for whom top Hollywood talent begs to work--for scale. The latter category includes directors Stanley Kubrick, who kept Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on a movie set for almost two years, and TERRENCE MALICK, the anti-social filmmaker who hasn't directed a movie or agreed to be photographed (until now) in 20 years. Malick has made only two films, Badlands and Days of Heaven, but his reputation has grown in inverse proportion to his output, enabling him to draw Sean Penn, John Travolta, George Clooney and Woody Harrelson to Australia to shoot The Thin Red Line, due out at Christmas, about the 1942 battle for Guadalcanal. Look for Jean-Claude Van Damme in a Thomas Pynchon-scripted vehicle next summer.

ONLY THREE CALORIES PER TOID

We know it's not nice to mock an eating disorder, particularly one that's been vigorously denied. Fortunately, someone else did it for us. In its year-end issue, the normally obsequious TV Guide did a takeoff on an ad for Altoids, the ubiquitous mint, starring CALISTA FLOCKHART. Never mind, Ally. Life ain't all roses for self-described "fat girl" actress Camryn Manheim either. Is INSTYLE the only irony-free magazine left?

DO NOT SMELL THIS PAGE

Giving new meaning to the term "mixed medium," an artist who layers his canvases with acrylics, oils and elephant dung last week received Britain's top art award, the Turner Prize. CHRIS OFILI, born in England to Nigerian parents, said a trip to Africa inspired him to use the excrement, sometimes decorated with glitter and beads, in his otherwise brightly colored paintings. Originally, he imported the pachyderm parcels from Zimbabwe, but now he uses the more readily available domestic variety he finds at the London Zoo. Proving how multifaceted feces can be, Ofili rests his works on resin-coated balls of the stuff.

MAYBE THEY'RE JUST ANNOYING

Remember how popular ANNE HECHE was before she started dating ELLEN DEGENERES, and what a big star DeGeneres was before she came out? They do. DeGeneres told the Los Angeles Times last week that their careers have suffered since they went public with their relationship. Two days later, the couple said they were firing their agents, packing up the plants and moving out of town. According to their (still gainfully employed) publicist, Simon Halls, the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. "They're not quitting the business, but they've both been working very hard and are planning to take a break," says Halls. "It was a wistful thing...but there's fantasy and then there's reality." Nothing like a dose of reality to kill a perfectly healthy persecution complex.