Michael Douglas ready to take on Lee; a wiser Pauly Shore; and Pinball Hall doles out 100K

By John Katsilometes

Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 | 10 p.m.

Filing from The Kats Report Planet Hollywood Starbucks bureau, where earlier I purchased a tall Caffe Americano with extra ice for Holly Madison.

I’ve been doing a lot of doing and not enough writing lately. As they say in the pest extermination business, let’s remedy that rat now:

• Michael Douglas’ disclosure to Matt Lauer on "Today," which will be run at length on the Jan. 23 episode of "Dateline NBC,” that he’s now “tumor free” in his fight against throat cancer is good news for the next phase of The Liberace Museum collection. Douglas fell ill as he prepped for the role in the upcoming Stephen Soderbergh bio pic, leading to concern that the project -- and all of his future projects -- might be tabled. Not the case. Douglas says he’s limbering up his fingers for the movie, which is reportedly going to start shooting in late spring or early summer.

Matt Damon, who portrays Liberace's lover Scott Thorson in the film, has said there would be location shooting in Las Vegas, and possibilities could be Liberace’s former showrooms at the Riviera and Las Vegas Hilton, along with The Liberace Mansion off Shirley Street, across Tropicana from UNLV. Damon added that he was looking forward to visiting The Liberace Museum. But he said that in July, at Don Cheadle and Annie Duke’s Ante Up for Africa charity poker tournament.

Of course, the museum has since closed, but pieces of the collection are expected to go on tour this year. It might be too late to save the museum, but 2011 could be the year Liberace’s brand is finally revived.

• Just as I thought it, Pauly Shore said it: “Did you ever think Pauly Shore would ever say, ‘When I was your age?’ ”

Not exactly.

But this line from “Vegas Is My Oyster” at The Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms on Sunday night reflected Shore’s somewhat graceful aging process: “When I was your age, we didn’t illegally download music! We went to the record store and actually stole the effing albums!”

It is so true that the younger generations are so, shall we say, lazy when it comes to music piracy.

As Shore inferred, he has spent a career behaving as someone in his early 20s, but Shore turns 43 on Feb. 1. “Vegas Is My Oyster” came off as advertised, a carnival of comics and adult-film stars that included Bree Olson (she of the wild Charlie Sheen Vegas Vacation), the reliably hefty Faizon Love and the equally reliably addled Andy Dick, that airs in the spring on Showtime. Shore put the whole thing together and starred in the stage show and in many of the recorded packages that will stitch the show together. It was ragged at times, but Shore is a good stand-up comic. He says his dad, Sammy Shore, will be used in the special. It’s worth a look-see, if only to check out Dick’s weird appearance. I said this during the show and also tweeted it, but I’ll write it again, as “overkill” is mi amigo: Put Andy Dick in The Lounge at the Palms just to see what happens. Charge $20 a ticket, and thank me later.

• From the charity bureau, applause (and quarters) for Pinball Hall of Fame owner Tim Arnold, who last week donated $100,000 to The Salvation Army. That brings the total donation by Arnold’s nonprofit organization to more than $700,000, dating to its infancy in 1990. Arnold says he's feeling better after a scare with his heart six months ago, after which a stent was implanted in his troublesome ticker. It's a lot like fixing an old Bally's pinball machine, actually, a skill that has become a lost art.

Also, if anyone out there has a line on sneeze guards, contact the Las Vegas Rescue Mission (main number is 382-1766). The LVRM is looking for sneeze guards with poles, a rolling salad and buffet bar (also with a sneeze guard) and a large commercial soup kettle. All of this is to properly serve meals to those in need.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.