ACTOR MATTHEW ("Match Point," "The Lookout") GOODE, who is starring with Emma Thompson in the new "Brideshead Revisited" film, will be in town for a special screening July 9 at a downtown theater. There will be an after party at the new Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar. The evening is sponsored by Miramax and Chicago Link Productions.

CONGRATS to good pal James Bell, who was just named president and CFO of Boeing Corporate, a division of Boeing Co. Bell had been executive vice president and CFO.

OSCAR WINNER Sidney Poitier gets a Lifetime Achievement award at the Chicago International Film Festival's Black Perspectives Tribute Oct. 18 at the Chase Auditorium. WFLD-Channel 32 anchor Robin Robinson will again host, and because of Robinson's father's lifelong friendship with Poitier, Sidney agreed to drop by. Johnson Publishing's Linda Johnson Rice is the special guest interviewer.

ROCKIN' OUT: CAFE BIONDA, owned by Joe Farina, was the hot spot last Thursday when primo longtime manager Pete Schivarelli of the famous rock band Chicago hosted an elegant throw-down dinner for the band members as well as the fabulous Doobie Brothers. His other guests at the trendy eatery were CBS officials out of New York, including Maggie Rodriguez, co-host of the CBS "Early Morning Show," which the rockers appeared on from start to finish on Friday.

IN MY TUESDAY column I wrote about the heated feud that is taking place between actors/directors Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee whereas Lee accuses Eastwood of not showing any African Americans in his back-to-back World War II movies "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima."

DID YOU KNOW that famous actors/directors Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee are at each other's throats? Eastwood -- whose movies include "In the Line of Fire," "Magnum Force," "Unforgiven," "A Fistful of Dollars" -- has been accused by director Spike Lee of not having African-American actors in his recent World War II movies, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima." Lee -- whose movie credits include "Inside Man," "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X" -- is quoted as saying, "Eastwood should be ashamed for not having blacks in those movies." At the Cannes Film Festival last month, Lee said, "He did two films about Iwo Jima back to back, and there was not one black soldier in both of those films."

THE SCOOP: TOP DESIGNER MARIA PINTO, who is responsible for potential first lady Michelle Obama's classy wardrobe, is excited to report she's opening her first retail store, on North Jefferson Street in the West Loop this summer. The designer, whose creations are worn by socialites and movie stars, is having a moving sale from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 18 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 19 at 19l5 N. Clybourn, with great bargains to be had by lucky shoppers.

SEN. JIM WEBB (D-Va.) will be speaking at a Union League luncheon on June 20. The freshman senator is hyping his new book, A Time to Fight, and is visiting in conjunction with the league's ongoing "Authors Group" series. Webb has been mentioned in news reports as a possible candidate to be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's running mate.