Taking Names

Coppola's reflections

Francis Ford Coppola will follow up his directorial return, "Youth Without Youth," with a vaguely autobiographical film, the director told Associated Press Monday.

Mr. Coppola, who is putting the final touches on "Youth," his first film in a decade, plans next to produce and direct "Tetro."

Set in Argentina rather than Mr. Coppola's native New York, "Tetro" will follow the rivalries born out of creative differences passed down through generations of an artistic Italian immigrant family not unlike Mr. Coppola's. Matt Dillon is slated to star, and production is scheduled to begin in Buenos Aires late this year.

"I think at this age, I'm more disposed to look at my life in terms of dramatic material," says the 67-year-old filmmaker -- known best for helming the acclaimed "Godfather" film trilogy.

Mr. Coppola is newly active in films after a dormant decade following 1997's "The Rainmaker." The change was sparked partly by his abandonment of his long-planned futuristic epic "Megalopolis," which he has shelved in place of smaller, more personal films.

"I always wanted to be a filmmaker who wrote his own original material," he says, recalling his earlier movies "The Conversation" (1974) and "The Rain People" (1969).

He says he hopes to write and direct films at the pace of Woody Allen -- something he can finance partly because of the success of his wine business. "I view this as the career I always wished I could have," Mr. Coppola says. "Now, I'm in a place where I can be my own patron."

Couples and crushes

Just in time for Valentine's Day, ECrush.com reports that teens polled on the Web site said that Paris Hilton and Napoleon Dynamite (as played by actor Jon Heder) were the most wanted V-Day romances, giving new meaning to "Beauty and the Geek," the Detroit Free Press notes.

Other poll results:

• 28 percent said Jessica Alba is the most crush-worthy female celebrity.

• 23 percent said Zac Efron is the most crush-worthy male celebrity.

• 28 percent said Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the most romantic celeb couple, while Beyonce and Jay-Z were next in line at 18 percent.

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from Web and wire reports.