Pitt plays dumb in ‘Burn After Reading’

Toronto – Brad Pitt has wanted to work with the Coen brothers for ages. Then he got wind of the birdbrain they had written for him to play.

“I’ve been knocking on the brothers’ door for a few years, so I was really happy when they called me,” Pitt told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, a day after Joel and Ethan Coen’s comedy “Burn After Reading” premiered there.

Pitt’s character, an ignoramus in way over his head on a blackmail scheme, is among a gaggle of boneheads in “Burn After Reading,” whose cast includes his and the Coens’ frequent collaborator George Clooney, plus John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins and Joel Coen’s wife, Frances McDormand.

Opening in theaters Friday, the movie casts Pitt and McDormand as fitness trainers who stumble on a disc containing classified documents and try to extort cash from the ex-CIA analyst (Malkovich) who was the origin of the leaked data.

President Reagan’s son returns to radio

Seattle – Ron Reagan, the liberal son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is going back on the radio.

Starting Monday, “The Ron Reagan Show” is scheduled for live broadcast from Seattle’s KPTK-AM, Monday through Friday, with national syndication through Air America Radio.

Reagan, 55, previously was host of a talk show on KIRO-AM in Seattle and was moderator of KPTK’s Town Hall Forum, “We The People.”

The Seattle resident also participated in Air America’s coverage of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

London calling at NY Fashion Week

New York – Designers at New York Fashion week heard London calling – from 1975.

The looks of the London youth movement in the years when mod morphed into punk dominated runways Saturday in the second day of spring previews. Short skirts and tight pants kept the skinny profile fresh, paired with – what else? – edgy black.

Charlotte Ronson played on the theme to a crowd that included Lindsay Lohan in a denim corset dress with bright blue pumps.

Rag & Bone designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville were taken with the era after watching the Anton Corbijn film “Control” about the British band Joy Division. Their collection Friday wasn’t the only ones inspired by the era’s nonconformity, and the Fashion Rock concert featured a tribute to punk led by Fergie.

New York Fashion Week runs through Sept. 12, with more than 100 shows over eight days.