Still Ruling

REEL DEALS In last year's ''Charlie's Angels,'' Sam Rockwell seduced Drew Barrymore, then shot her and sent her tumbling out the window; she responded by blowing him up in his helicopter with a guided missile. But the two will kiss and make up in ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,'' based on the memoir of ''Gong Show'' host Chuck Barris. Rockwell will play Barris, who claims his bottom-feeding talent show was a cover for his career as CIA hitman, while Barrymore will play his love interest. George Clooney is making his directing debut (and also costarring as Barris's CIA spymaster), from a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (''Being John Malkovich'')....

Watch for a cameo by Michael Jackson in next year's ''Men in Black 2.'' (No, he's not playing a space creature.) ''We shot a small scene with Michael on Tuesday,'' director Barry Sonnenfeld tells Variety. ''He was charming, funny and really cool to work with''....

What is it with Robert De Niro and psychotherapy? He was supposed to start early next year on ''Scared Guys,'' in which he plays a therapist who must overcome his own phobia about leaving the apartment (he works via the Web) in order to prevent a neighbor's murder. Instead, he'll reprise his role as the Mob boss patient of shrink Billy Crystal in a sequel to ''Analyze This.'' Expect Crystal, director Harold Ramis and costar Lisa Kudrow back on board as well for ''Analyze That''....

Fox 2000 is in talks with Renée Zellweger to star in the romantic comedy ''Down With Love,'' playing a writer who falls for a womanizing journalist. Given her work opposite Hugh Grant earlier this year in ''Bridget Jones's Diary,'' that shouldn't be too much of a stretch....

Wesley Snipes will star in and produce ''When the Ride Is Ruff,'' an action thriller that sounds like a remake of ''The Warriors'' with motorcycles. Snipes will play a man who is blamed for the murder of a popular motorcycle club leader and must defend himself against the wrath of biker gangs nationwide. Shooting begins in February....

Saturday's Concert for New York fundraiser will feature not just pop performances and movie star appearances but also six short films meant to ''celebrate the spirit of New York,'' made by New York-associated filmmakers: Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Edward Burns, Kevin Smith, and Jerry Seinfeld. (OK, Smith is really a New Jersey-based filmmaker, and rookie director Seinfeld has never been considered a filmmaker at all, but why quibble? And did anyone think to call Sidney Lumet, who's been making movies about New York for more than 40 years?) Concert cosponsor Miramax is funding the films' production. The shorts and the rest of the show will air live and commercial-free on VH1 starting at 7 p.m. EST.

PASSING NOTES Jay Livingston, the composer and lyricist who, with partner Ray Evans, wrote the Christmas carol ''Silver Bells'' and many other standards, died of pneumonia Wednesday at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Livingston, 86, and Evans collaborated for 64 years and won Oscars for the songs ''Buttons and Bows,'' ''Mona Lisa,'' and ''Que Sera Sera.'' Their career as Hollywood songwriters took off in 1946, when their title hit to 1946's ''To Each His Own'' spawned five cover versions that made the Billboard chart simultaneously. They wrote songs for 12 Bob Hope films; ''Silver Bells'' came from Hope's 1951 movie ''The Lemon Drop Kid.'' The pair also wrote the TV theme songs for ''Bonanza'' and ''Mr. Ed.'' They continued to write movie music through 1990's ''The Godfather Part III,'' and their final project was an album with Michael Feinstein due out next year.