ENGINE TROUBLE Notice something strange in the poster for The Wings of the Dove? Behind the early 20th-century love triangle of Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, and Alison Elliott floats a distinct anachronism: a Venetian motorized water bus -- with headlights no less. Though the film, based on the Henry James novel, was updated from 1902 to 1910, water buses had not yet been introduced in Venice. Miramax admits historical fidelity was compromised for art's sake. ''It was the best [poster] shot of Venice we had that incorporated the cast, the water, and the gondola,'' says a studio spokeswoman, who notes the creative department blurred the background but couldn't ''obscure the image completely.'' At least Bonham Carter's not using a cell phone. -- Jessica Shaw
CLASS ACT ''We busted out of class, had to get away from those fools/We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school,'' sings Bruce Springsteen in ''No Surrender,'' which might explain why he has blown off every high school reunion since graduating from New Jersey's Freehold High in 1967. But on Nov. 28 the Boss was ready to reminisce about his glory days and dropped in on about 60 ex-classmates holding their 30-year reunion at a Holiday Inn in Tinton Falls, N.J. ''There was a big gasp when he walked in the door,'' says Gina Kabak, owner of Reunionz International, which organized the event. ''I don't think they ever thought he would come. They were just kind of gobbing all over him.'' After an awkward start -- organizers had to scramble to put together a yearbook-photo name tag, and the DJ tactlessly spun several Springsteen tunes -- things settled down and Bruce spent three hours posing for photos and catching up with acquaintances. Why the change of heart? ''Bruce's wife, Patti [Scialfa], told me she attended her reunion,'' says Kabak. ''I think she talked him into going.'' -- Rob Brunner
RUFF CUTS Talk about putting on the dog. Hollywood has become pooch happy -- at least in name. Besides this month's Robert De Niro-Dustin Hoffman political satire Wag the Dog, a litter of upcoming films are barking up the same tree: Patrick Swayze's actioner Black Dog; werewolf thriller Bad Dog; comedy Dog Park; Mary Stuart Masterson's indie drama Dogtown; Sundance entry Lawn Dogs; and Matthew Modine's directorial feature debut, If...Dog...Rabbit. Canine-titled films are not new -- Dog Day Afternoon, The Dogs of War, Reservoir Dogs -- but it may be time to tell directors to heel. ''Every filmmaker is entitled to use the word dog once in their career,'' argues Dogtown writer-director George Hickenlooper. ''I think it may become a requirement.'' But before you start growling, he says, consider the alternative. ''I prefer dog to hamster.''
