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X-Men: The Last Stand, Hugh Jackman | SHARP-TRESSED MAN The third time is indeed a charm for Wolverine (Jackman), Storm, and the mighty mutant gang

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X-Men: The Last Stand

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''Why wouldn't I call him?'' responds Ratner, flustered. ''We spoke a thousand times on the phone. We were friends.'' Really? ''I mean, we didn't hang out. We were friends over the computer.''

Certainly, for a man who has starlets coming to his Beverly Hills mansion at all hours of the night, establishing solidarity with the comic-book-reading crowd could be tough. ''He throws great parties, he drives expensive cars, and he dates supermodels,'' says Simon Kinberg, who co-wrote the screenplay for Last Stand. ''Believe me, I understand resenting that.''

Brett Ratner spins the steering wheel furiously, spiraling his Bentley down to the exit level of an L.A. parking structure. Minutes later, he busts a heart-stopping U-turn searching for an alternate route to Wilshire Boulevard.

Traffic is backed up and Ratner's got a lot on his mind. (A) After spending hours on color correction, he's still fretting over the levels of magenta in the fourth reel. ''It's like letting go of your child,'' he says. (B) Chris Tucker's getting cold feet about starting Rush Hour 3 later this summer. ''I never wait around for Chris,'' he says. ''If you wait around for him, you'll be like him: You won't be working.'' And (C), most pressing at the moment: He's late for a red-carpet date at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. ''I'm going to the Mission: Impossible III premiere with Maggie Q,'' Ratner boasts. ''The hottest girl in the movie.''

He's minutes away from the theater when his girlfriend, Alina, calls. Still smarting from all the Lohan gossip, Ratner opts to dodge the bullet and emphasize his other date.

''Baby, I'm going to the premiere of Mission: Impossible right now,'' he says over the phone. ''I'm going with my new friend Neil. Maggie Q asked me to go with her and I said no because I didn't want you to get mad at me.... Neil from Entertainment Weekly, the magazine.... I just told you: NEIL. He's a man.''

Originally posted May 19, 2006 Published in issue #878 May 26, 2006 Order article reprints
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