No, not the latest bloated-budget Hollywood thriller, but something much closer to home: The Providence Effect, an award-winning documentary about Providence-St. Mel, a small school in Chicago's gritty East Garfield Park that has achieved an incredible 100% college acceptance rate against all odds.

Oprah deserves at least some of the credit; she gave the school $1 million to help fund the educational juggernaut that has been called the future of education. Obama meanwhile visited the school in 1998 and gave an incredible inspirational speech that showed he was destined for the highest office in the land.

The movie centers on the equally inspiring journey of the school's principal Paul J. Adams III, who has challenged the Chicago school system for 30 years with his revolutionary approaches to teaching, and also founded the Providence Englewood Charter School. Of course the Obamas and Oprah have been sent copies to view in their personal screening rooms, but the film opens in select theaters nationwide this Friday.

Poet Lloyd Goffe has filed one of the most outrageous lawsuits I've seen in a while. He's suing Oprah Winfrey for $1 trillion. He says that Oprah plagarized portions of his book "A Tome of Poetry" and repackaged a poem called "Pieces of My Soul" and published it under her name. The lawsuit alleges that Oprah confessed to doing this in April 2008. Goffe says that since Oprah sold more than 650 million copies of her work online at a $20 each she therefore owes $1.2 trillion. The Cleveland Leader has the rather ridiculous documents.

[Thanks, Ben!]

Working for Oprah certainly has its perks. The AFP is reporting that Oprah Winfrey celebrated her 55th birthday in Barcelona with 1,700 of her employees and their families. The party took place over the weekend at Poble Espanyol, a popular tourist destination with shops, bars and restaurants. Her lucky guests will spend three days in the city before embarking on a 10-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Norwegian Gem liner sailing to Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Malta. The ship has 11 bars and lounges, 12 restaurants, pool, hot tubs, a beauty salon, spa, casino, cigar club, library and even a bowling alley. Oprah is said to be spending around $5,400 per person on the cruise.

Last month we reported that stationer Mrs. John L. Strong, one of the world's leading boutique luxury brands whose customers included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Oprah Winfrey and the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor, was shutting down after 80 years. Many of them were caught out short when the New York-based firm abruptly ceased all its operations; as a result the costly handcrafted metal dies and engraving plates (above) used for luxurious engraved stationery which customers had stored at Strong's for decades may never be recoverable.

Another luxury stationer, Dempsey & Carroll, is coming to the rescue. It is actually a much older establishment than Strong's, founded in 1878 by engraver John Dempsey and businessman George D. Carroll in New York. The firm soon became a society staple, providing the best in engraved cards and writing paper to the city's Gilded Age elite, a tradition continued to this day. Through the end of the year D&C is extending a special offer of reduced cost for custom engraving to all former Mrs. John L. Strong clients placing new orders, and has set about recreating their precious stationery.

Dempsey & Carroll custom stationery is created using hand-engraved steel dies and copper plates made to specification. Words and images are cut into the metal in an incuse fashion, a method similar to that used in manufacturing coins that has changed little since the 16th century process of engraving ascended to an art form. D&C is one of only a handful of stationers still using these distinctive hand-engraving techniques to create beautiful luxury paper products with their own unique stamp of history and tradition.

Stationer Mrs. John L. Strong, one of the world's leading boutique luxury brands whose customers included Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, is shutting down after 80 years. The company has decided to close its Madison Avenue atelier, its boutiques, web site, catalog, wholesale and corporate businesses due to the recession, the Times reports.

Nannette Brown, the company's chief executive and creative director, said that an inability "to finance the business's expansion plans combined with a challenging retail and economic environment, left the company with no alternative but to close." Efforts to sell the company also failed. "This is a sad day for Mrs. John L. Strong," Brown said in a statement, "and a sad day for luxury as the world has become increasingly bereft of unique, hand-finished products." Indeed.

How would you like to be a fly on the wall for this event, a secret meeting of some of the world's biggest givers? On May 5, Bill Gates, David Rockefeller Sr., Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffet and other leading philanthropists met in New York to discuss the world's problems. The high-profile confab was organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Details of what the group discussed have not been made public but according to IrishCentral.com, each philanthropist was given 15 minutes to talk about their view of the future and how the team, which has donated billions to charitable causes, can help at a time when charity donations are falling. What is particularly compelling about the group assembled, which also reportedly included Eli Broad and Michael Bloomberg, is that most of them have their own foundation and areas of focus when it comes to philanthropy. I can't help but imagine this meeting as some sort of Justice League scenario complete with flapping capes. Sounds more compelling than any summer blockbuster.

Usually Oprah is the voice of the middle class but this weekend in a speech to Duke University's graduating class, she let her wealth show. She told the students that it's "great to have nice homes." She also loves her private plane and said "anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn't great is lying to you."

She's right of course and like Robert Frank said in The Wealth Report, it's nice to see someone being honest about the perks of wealth, of which the ability to travel wherever, whenever, in perfect comfort is one of the best. Now we just need to see Oprah say this on her show which she likely will not do for fear of alienating her core audience. With all of the bashing the private jet industry has gotten lately and the resulting fall out, causing the loss of thousands of jobs, the industry could use a little help. The NY Times recently noted that many former private jet users are changing their travel strategies due to both monetary issues and the pervasive feeling that private jet travel is now somehow wrong. Oprah has always had a soft spot for the underdog and right now the private jet industry finds itself in that position.

Smallbone of Devizes, the luxury British handmade design firm that has built bespoke kitchens for celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Dustin Hoffman and Elizabeth Hurley, is up for sale due to the economic downturn. The company, founded by Charles Smallbone in 1976, cited a drop in orders and concerns that a recent financing package "will not be sufficient" to rescue the company, the London Telegraph reports. Trading in the company's shares has been suspended while they look for a buyer. Smallbone, which has expanded into the US in recent years, caters to the top end of the luxury kitchen design market, with the average kitchen going for about $60,000 and the top of the line costing several times that. Smallbone is the latest in a line of UK "heritage brands" including Hardy Amies and Royal Worcester that are in danger of extinction due to the sad state of the economy.

In an "of course she does, and I can't believe I didn't know this sooner" moment, I discovered that Oprah has an online store as well as a real one in Chicago. There are indeed some nice items in the Luxury Gift Ideas section that weren't too expensive (but, alas, weren't too original, either). Some go to help a good cause, however, like the Beaded O Bracelets, handcrafted of glass beads by women in Rwanda. Check out the gallery for some other gift ideas from a woman who knows how to gift.

Today's home is a classic Chicago apartment in a beautiful home on Lake Shore Drive. It also may or may not belong to Oprah WInfrey. The Real Estalker reports that this three-bedroom sixth floor apartment may be the one Oprah was rumored to have picked up in 2006 for $5.6 million. The home has ten foot ceilings, a inner foyer, grand reception, living room, library, dining room, solarium, butler's pantry, wine room, gourmet custom kitchen, laundry room, office/3rd bed, en-suite guest bed and master suite. The pet friendly building has a 24/7 doorman, a work out room, private storage space, and heated garaging for two automobiles. It is listed for $6 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Each year a list of the top thirty celebrity donors is compiled through public records and released. No big surprise as to the top donor -- Oprah Winfrey -- who last year donated over $50 million largely in support of health care and education. The list includes such giving regulars as Paul Newman, Angelina and Brad, and Lance Armstrong and other lesser-known philanthropists including David and Valerie Robinson, Isabel Allende, and Hugh Hefner?! The amount of dollars donated ranges from $50,200,000 to $724,825. Its good to see where some of those big earners spend their money and which causes are getting the celebrity attention.

I had no idea that Oprah Winfrey had a car collection but she does and she's auctioning off three vehicles from her private collection: a red 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing formerly owned by the DuPont family, a 1988 Rolls-Royce Corniche II Convertible given to her by John Travolta and a 1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante to benefit her school in Africa. The action will be held by by Gooding & Company and will take place at Pebble Beach on Saturday, August 16th and Sunday, August 17th. The auction catalogs are available for $100, which includes viewing and auction admission for two, while general admission is set at a price of $40 per person.

The 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing is estimated to sell for $600,000-800,000, the 1988 Rolls-Royce Corniche II Convertible is estimated at $70,000-100,000 and the 1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante is estimated at $50,000-65,000. Of course, because of the celebrity provenance, it is Oprah after all, these cars could sell for more. The vehicles will be on display August 13th through August 17th. The cars will be sold without reserve and 100% of the proceeds go to her school in South Africa.

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls – South Africa, is located in a suburb outside Johannesburg and provides education for girls. It opened in January 2007 and offers a private learning and residential environment for approximately 450 girls in grades 7-12, Oprah has already donated more than $40 million toward the creation of the Academy.

[Thanks, Ashley]

Minnesota Mom Jill Youse started sending her own breast milk to Africa in 2006, soon after which she began helping other moms around the country do the same through her organization, the International Breast Milk Project (IBMP). In just the past couple of years IBMP has successfully shipped over 85,000 pounds of milk to infants in Africa, primarily babies fighting illnesses that often abate when breast milk is introduced. Youse set up a program for women who have suffered the loss of an infant through the Madison Cassady Program , so that grieving mothers who still had milk stored in their freezers didn't have to throw it all away. Also distributed in the U.S. to children born prematurely or whose mothers cannot produce milk, donations are made easy for moms. Coolers and the necessary equipment arrive shipped to their doors and are later picked up and sent to babies in need. Even FedEx has chipped in to provide transport for the mothers' milk. Recognized as one of "Earth's Mothers" by Oprah Winfrey a little over a year ago, Youse and IBMP are revolutionizing how new moms think about breastfeeding, convincing them to add a few more mouths along the way.

The economic news may be dismal but Auction Napa Valley still managed to do quite well, coming in 5% over last year and raising $10.35 million for local charities. The weekend event in Napa Valley, California drew guests from around the world to bid on barrel futures, one-of-a-kind wines, winery vertical collections and rare bottlings of Napa Valley wines that were often partnered with vintner-hosted events, luxury items and travel. Jay Leno served as the host of the Live Auction and guests included Congressman Mike Thompson and first time attendee, Oprah Winfrey. Check out some of the fun in the gallery below.

If you've ever fumbled with your keys on a dark night or with your hands full of packages (just like those poor women on Lifetime TV who don't quite get safely inside), you need this.

SmartScan from Kwikset offers the first biometric, keyless technology in a deadbolt designed to fit the décor and standard installation on your residential door. This commercial-grade technology uses biometrics to scan your unique fingerprint, down to the subdermal layer, to unlock your deadbolt without a key.

Fingerprints are read, once users "enroll" in the unit, by just swiping a finger under the sensor. If you're having work done in your home, you can change the normal 24/7 family setting to a temporary access setting that sets days of the week for contractors. Control even more with restricted access that sets time and days of the week, good for regular visitors, such as babysitters or housekeepers. Up to 50 users can be entered, and the administrator can easily enroll or delete users.

This standalone system does not require external wiring and installs like a conventional deadbolt with just a Phillips screwdriver. There's extra security with ANSI Grade 1 security features and back-up key usage. No prices on the Kwikset site, but on Home Depot it's $199.

As seen on The Oprah Winfrey Show. And we know how much Oprah loves her luxury items.