Oh, I Die

Cutie patootie Brad Goreski is parting ways with Rachel Zoe.

Say it isn’t unstylishly so!

Zoe’s style director will be going bye on Friday, actually, but lest you think his departure is a bitter affair, think again.

“He did this with such class and elegance. And I get it. I just told him, ‘I’m here for you always.’ I don’t want to hire somebody for the purpose of [Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project], we just got lucky,” Zoe said. “No one’s ever going to be Brad to me.”

For his part, Goreski said he broke the news to the stylist a month ago after he realized the time is right now for him to fly solo and make a name for himself on hiw own right.

Photo: JustOut.com.

A Smart Spy...If You Know What I Mean

Lost MVP Josh Holloway may be rumored to be returning to TV, or at least wanted to, on a remake of The Rockford Files, but for now he’s headed to the big screen.

The actor is set to reunite with J.J. Abrams, who, of course, was one of the men behind the Island drama, on the Mission: Impossible fourthquel that Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is directing and Abrams is producing for a December 2011 debut.

Holloway has joined a cast led by Tom Cruise that already includes The Town’s Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames.

I hope he gets to bring some of that Sawyer charm to the role...without, you know, making him too Sawyer.

Photo: GreanTeaMovie..blogspot.com.

The Sweet Sound of Kelly Canter

It’s no secret I’m beyond-anticipating this winter’s Country Strong, starring my favorite golden-haired obsession, Gwyneth Paltrow.

As y’all should know, the Oscar winner plays a washed-up country singer trying to get her career back on track opposite Tim McGraw as her husband-manager.

Now, did you know the pair will duet on a song called “Me and Tennessee” in the awards-bait-y movie (Paltrow sings the title song, which is already getting play), and they reportedly turned to none other than her hubby, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, for songwriting tips.

“‘Me and Tennessee’ is a special song that perfectly fits the movie,” G.P. said. “It’s about a couple who are maybe irreparably damaged. But then the chorus is, ‘Then that old song comes on, together we’re singing, forever we’re singing, that old country song.’ So it’s about country music bringing people back together when they’re having a difficult time in life.”

Oh, Gwyn…if only it were that easy….

The Country Strong soundtrack, which I’m so buying since she says the genre can mend an’thin’, natch, is due out on Oct. 26. It features a song by co-star Leighton Meester, Faith Hill, Sara Evans, Patty Loveless, and Hank Williams Jr., among others.

Paltrow, btw, is expected to be seen on the small screen as soon as November on at least two episodes of Glee, and then, I should hope, hosting SNL, perhaps?

Photo: People.com.

A Villainess Found

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn has its bad girl.

Maggie Grace (TV’s Lost, Taken) has signed on to join Kristen Stewart, and tween sensations Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner in the final, two-part installment of the Twilight franchise, which is set to begin filming in November in Baton Rouge.

The actress will play Irina, a member of the Denali coven who blames the Cullens for the death of her lover.

The first part of Breaking Dawn is due in theaters on Nov. 18, 2011, while the second movie will wrap things up the following November.

Photo: HotAndGorgeous.com.

Update: Joining Grace as members of the Denali clan are MyAnna Buring, Casey LaBow, and Mia Maestro (TV’s Alias), who will play the female members of the undead family, while Christian Camargo (Showtime’s Dexter) will play its patriarch.

Ghostface’s Back!

Boy, am I counting the days to next April 15.

That’s when the much-anticipated Scream 4 will open, and we’ll get to catch up with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and good ol’ Deputy Dewey (David Arquette).

We’ve seen unofficial look-sees of the movie, but here’s the first official one at a scene involving Cox and Ghostface. (Look behind ya, Gale!)

Of where her character is on the fourthquel, Cox said, “I kind of gave up my job as [an] entertainment journalist. [And] I’m bored with my life [in Woodsboro, I presume] and my marriage [to Dewey].”

But then Sid comes back to town, and “things start happening, and I couldn't be more thrilled.”

Sounds like Gale, alright.

Photo: EW.com.

R.I.P. Old Rose

Academy Award-nominated actress Gloria Stuart, a.k.a. elderly Rose in Titanic, died yesterday.

She was 100.

Stuart had been battling lung cancer for many years.

Best remembered for her role on the original blockbuster of all blockbusters, the actress appeared in more than 40 films in the 1930s, including The Invisible Man and Poor Little Rich Girl.

Her memoir, I Just Kept Hoping, was published in 1999.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

MVP

Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumnus Marc Blucas is ready for some romance, cable-style.

The erstwhile Riley Finn will play the male lead and love interest of Callie Thorne in the USA Network pilot Necessary Roughness.

The show revolves around a shrink (Thorne) who becomes the therapist for a professional football team and is then, on the strength of her good work, sought after by other VIPs who all want her unique brand of tough-love therapy.

This show had me as soon as it cast Blucas, whose face I miss so on my TV.

Photo: TheCinemaSource.com.

L2’s Indoors October

Lindsay Lohan went to court again today (cute outfit, huh?), and again she was sent back to jail.

The so-called actress was sentenced to remain behind bars without bail until her next probation hearing, set for Oct. 22, on the heels of her admission last week that she f---ed up – pardon my French, but how else can it put at this point? – and violated the conditions of her probation by taking drugs.

Is anyone else nervous that L2 will be sprung (yet again) just days before Halloween?

Photo: People.com.

Update 1: Check out Linds’ latest mug shot. Does she have one with every hair color yet?

Update 2: You just can’t keep La Lohan in.

Just hours after her sentencing, girlfriend was granted, by a different judge, a writ of habeas corpus and set bail for $300,000 following an appeal by the actress’ lawyer. L2 left jail shortly before midnight Pacific time, but she’s still due back in court on Oct. 22.

Given all her troubles, I would’ve saved the money and taken the time to think....

Update 3: Lohan reportedly went into rehab, on her own, for the fifth time on Sept. 28 because she supposedly, “finally admitted she needs help to fix her addiction.”

On the Rotation

Cult TV icon Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is taking her act to Chuck.

The actress has signed on to guest star as the show’s newest Greta, a.k.a. the Buy More’s rotating undercover agent, on the fourth season’s eighth episode.

Olivia Munn originated the part in the premiere earlier this week. Other upcoming Gretas include Stacy Keibler and Isaiah Mustafa.

“Greta can be a guy or a girl, which is brilliant,” Chuck star Zachary Levi said. “The Buy More has been taken over by the CIA. It’s a fully functioning operation by the government, so there are these constant agents that are in the store.”

Up next for Glau is NBC’s midseason drama The Cape, starring David Lyons.

Photo: FanPop.com.

A Good Thing

So Helen Mirren is starring in this movie called RED, playing a retired assassin (RED stands for “Retired and Extremely Dangerous,” btw.)

It’s a comedic actioner opening on Oct. 15, and Mirren says she based her character on a very familiar domestic doyenne.

“[Martha Stewart] was, indeed, my inspiration even down to the hair, my Martha Stewart hair,” the Oscar-winning actress revealed. “She’s obviously not a retired assassin, but whatever Martha Stewart does, she does it really, really well.”

You bet she does.

“She’s a perfectionist, and I love her combination of feminine softness and an incredible strength of efficiency and practicality. I hope she won’t be insulted by this characterization because I am a big, big fan of hers.”

RED just got more must-y....

Photo: Terry Hines & Associates.

Living on the Edge

The multi-genre-dipping Elizabeth Banks is joining Sam Worthington on Man on a Ledge.

The movie, not to be confused with The Ledge (starring Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam, Patrick Wilson, Terrence Howard, and Liv Tyler), will see Banks playing an NYPD crisis negotiator called in to help in a crisis concerning Worthington’s character, a suicidal cop falsely accused of a crime.

The movie is set to co-star Jamie Bell (Defiance) as the amazing Aussie’s younger brother. Bell’s character is described as being up to no good right across the street from where all the drama is going down.

Sounds intense.

Banks will next be seen in November’s The Next Three Days opposite Russell Crowe, while Worthington will appear in winter’s The Debt with Helen Mirren.

Both are very dear to my heart, so to imagine them together on screen is making have a…moment.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

An Odd Couple of Ol’ Spooks

Holy Lost MVP reunion, TV Gods!

Emmy winners Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson are set to get back together on screen to star in J.J. Abrams’ latest, a show with the working title Odd Jobs.

NBC has scored the rights to the project, which will revolve around two former black-ops agents.

Whether this will be light fare or dark fare remains to be determined, but I know with the talent involved it sure will be worth a good, long look.

For his part, Emerson (pictured at right, at right) is thrilled.

“I really am amazed that what started out as some kidding-around on the set of Lost has turned into a network TV reality! I’m still reeling from this sudden turn of events,” he said. “I’m an actor who has never even succeeded in testing for a pilot and here I find myself involved in a project custom-built for Terry and me!”

Make it count, guys.

Photo: EW.com.

A Killer Departure

Rory Gilmore’s what?

Alexis Bledel has signed on to replace Carey Mulligan in the indie drama Violet & Daisy, playing a teenage assassin.

The movie, which will co-star Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) and James Gandolfini, is said to be very Thelma & Louise-meets-Superbad-meets-Pulp Fiction, and will mark the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious).

Talk about playing against wholesome type, gal pal!

Photo: MyOpera.com.

Young iGuest Coming Through

Miranda Cosgrove, the star of Nickelodeon’s iCarly phenomenon, will appear on an upcoming episode of TV’s The Good Wife playing a troubled pop star.

I wonder who’s serving as the basis for this role....

Cosgrove will play a new client of Alicia’s (Julianna Margulies) who is arrested on a DUI charge. Of course, over the trial, Alicia finds herself bonding with the misunderstood tabloid magnet.

The Good Wife returns to the tube next week, and I cannot wait. Cannot, I tell ya.

Photo: BackSeatCuddler.com.

The New Regime

Hollywood’s worst kept secret – that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler would be joining American Idol next season – is no longer a secret of any sort.

Lopez and Tyler are joining Randy Jackson, who will now be the new “anchor of the panel,” on the show.

Of the gig, Lopez said, “I’m a huge fan [of American Idol]. I kind of raised my eyebrows [when I was first approached about the gig], but my career has always been the type that changes and evolves.”

Lately it’s been kinda stale, though, love, but whatevs.

Photo: EW.com.

Hello, Mike Chang!

So file this one under Dayum!

Did you see how fah-fah-fah-fine Harry Shum Jr. looked on last night’s Glee second-season premiere?

I mean….

The actor recently posed for celebrity shutterbug Tyler Shields was scorching.

Photo: SocialiteLife.CeleBuzz.com.com.

Lois’s Mama

Smallville is kicking off its 10th and final season on the tube this Friday, and the powers that be are going all out for their swan song.

Already a bunch of all-time faves will be reprising their roles on the show, including James Marsters (Brainiac), Alan Ritchson (Aquaman), and V’s Laura Vandervoort (Kara/Supergirl).

Now comes word that the show has scored quite the meta guest: none other than Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher.

The actress will play Erica Durance’s Lois Lane’s mother.

Hatcher, of course, first became a household name in the TV world playing Superman’s soul mate on The New Adventures of Lois and Clark.

Photo: TopNews.in.

And the Song of Summer 2010 Is...

Katy Perry, come on down!

I have come to decide Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” not her ebullient collaboration with Snoop Dogg “California Gurls,” was the song of the summer that just ended because it’s a fun song about love.

That its video featured the abstastic Josh Kloss is just the cherry on top of it all.

Katy Perry - New Music - More Music Videos

The song just embodies everything that is oh-so-cool about summer, I think.

Kudos go to Robyn, whose “Dancing on My Own” came in at a close second, IMHO, and to Kylie Minogue, who gave us two worthy contenders, “All the Lovers” and “Get Outta My Way.”

Jonas on the Loose

Joe Jonas is taking the whole building the TV résumé thing seriously.

The Camp Rock star, who guested on Hot in Cleveland as Valerie Bertinelli’s son over the summer, will play himself in a November episode of 90210.

He will be on hand to accompany Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) to a magazine cover party thrown for her.

He also will give her some music-business advice.

And maybe, just maybe, he will throw her a flirt.

Photo: People.com.

G.P. Gets Glee

I like this a lot, because it’s pretty genius and because it reinforces a theory I have.

Gwyneth Paltrow is in talks to guest on TV’s Glee.

The Academy Award winner would be following in her BFF Madonna’s footsteps, in a way, by appearing on the show as, get this, a love interest for Matthew Morrison’s Mr. Will “Schue” Schuester.

Paltrow’s character, a substitute teacher who takes over New Directions while Mr. Schuester is out sick, would be seen in two episodes airing in November. The kids will love her, and Will...well, he will start to fall for her...further complicating his relationship with Emma (Jayma Mays, who will be keeping busy herself with John Stamos).

As for that theory I had....

G.P. is starring in a movie called Country Strong (that’s her as Kelly Canter at right) this holiday/award season, and she showcases her singing ability. Drawing attention to her pipes by guesting on a hit TV show about singing is quite the smart move. I dare say there is a machine at work here: a machine that wants her to get some awards lovin’ this season – and that the gamble just might pay off.

Photo: BittenAndBound.com.

The Friday Man at the Movies

Friday Night Lights Emmy Award nominee Kyle Chandler is starring in J.J. Abrams’ latest, shrouded-in-secrecy directorial effort, Super 8.

Chandler will be joined in next summer’s sure-to-be-hit blockbuster by Elle Fanning (who will be seen later this year in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere).

Principal photography on Super 8 began today, actually, in West Virginia. Details on the plot are still beyond-scarce.

Photo: Towleroad.com.

The Most Badass Mexican in the World

It was a good idea, and it sounded like it, too: What a cult-y thing to do, right, to turn one of the crowd-pleasing faux trailers especially produced for the 2007 Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-bill Grindhouse into a feature all its own!

Too bad that the shtick that worked so well in abbreviated form just doesn’t at more than 100 minutes – sorry, Machete.

The ultra-violent flick starring Danny Trejo, a tremendous presence and ever game for anything guy at 66 years old, plays the titular role, a renegade Mexican federale-turned-vigilante who’s never met a son a bitch he couldn’t slice and dice with mucho gusto.

The man, the legend known as Machete has left his native land and roams the streets of Texas, weathered by the memory of having seen his wife brutally slaughtered by a drug lord played by Steven Seagal.

That’s right: Steven freakin’ Seagal is all up in this joint, which Rodriguez co-directed and features Jessica Alba as an ICE agent, Michelle Rodriguez as a revolutionary, and Lindsay Lohan as a drug-addicted daughter of a crook.

Our anti-hero is trying to stay out of trouble, picking up an odd job here, another one there as a day laborer – all in a day in which Mexicans are being chased and taken out by a convoluted machine that involves a dirty Texan politico (Robert De Niro).

Machete lays on a pretty thick immigration layer. You know, for good measure and relevance.

As you can imagine, old habits die hard, and soon Machete is doing someone else’s bidding after he’s hired to off De Niro’s character.

But then he’s royally pissed when he finds out Seagal’s behind the plot.

Machete don’t like to be anyone’s bitch.

That’s when Machete finally turns into a revenge fantasy, but it’s also around the time you start wishing the guy would just get it over with and be done knifin’. The best idea in this movie is letting it end.

My Rating *1/2

Photo: 20th Century Fox.

Single White College Psycho Bitch

Leighton Meester has been testing the waters of film for a little bit now, with cameo appearances in Date Night and Going the Distance.

She also has dipped her foot into the music scene (hey there, “Somebody to Love,” and I see you, too, “Your Love’s a Drug”), yet her music career remains TBD.

Next winter, though, the Gossip Girl MVP is headlining her own movie, the thriller The Roommate, opposite Minka Kelly (TV’s Friday Night Lights).

Meester will play a deranged college freshman who becomes obsessed with her new roommate (Kelly). It’s all very Single White Female for the teen set.

The Roommate, which also features Easy A players Cam Gigandet and Alyson Michalka (TV’s Hellcats) is due out on Feb. 4.

Keep Your Strength, Andy

Andy Whitfield has left Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

The Aussie, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year, planned to go back to work on the Starz series’ second season after he was declared in remission over the summer.

He has been advised, however, to resume “aggressive treatment” for the disease.

“It’s with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus and all the wonderful people involved,” the actor said in a statement. “It seems that it is time for myself and my family to embark on another extraordinary journey. Thank you for the support so far.”

Starz has not made any decisions regarding the future of the series, but has extended “our concern and support to Andy and his family. We will address our programming plans at some later date.”

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a prequel to the series, will debut early next year.

Photo: Ones2Watch4.com.

Still Struggling

Lindsay Lohan can’t help herself.

Actually, she can…and she has…helped herself…to some coke. Allegedly.

The actress tweet-confirmed on Friday night that she, indeed, had failed a drug test.

“Regrettably, I did in fact fail my most recent drug test and if I am asked, I am prepared to appear before judge [Elden] Fox next week as a result.”

Girlfriend was sprung from her shortened 90 days in jail and 90 days in rehab last month. Judge Fox warned L2 at the time that under the terms of supervised probation she would be the subject of random drug testing in addition to intensive psychotherapy sessions, 12-step meetings and regular chats with a “chemical dependency mentor.” Any violation would result in 30 days in lock-up.

The saga continues….

Photo: VanityFair.com.

Update: A (new) bench warrant has been issued for Lindsay Lohan, a.k.a. probably the dumbest starlet in Hollywood. Or the sickest.

I mean, oh, dear – someone needs to tell this girl those aren’t collectibles. (This is the fourth bench warrant on her DUI probation case.)

Lohan is due in court on Sept. 24. Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Elden Fox will decide her fate then, in the wake of the actress’ admission that she, indeed, failed one random drug test (which came back positive for cocaine).

She reportedly failed a second one as well, this one for amphetamines.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Frak!

The trailer for Love & Other Drugs – the Edward Zwick-directed romantic dramedy starring Brokeback Mountain’s Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway – really did me in, especially the part around the 1:40 mark:



The movie, about a charming-yet-cutthroat pharmaceutical rep (Jakey-bear) who falls for a free-spirited woman suffering from Parkinson’s (Hathaway) while feverishly hawking Viagra, arrives in theaters on Nov. 24.

Sons of Anarchy

Ben Affleck is a big-time director now.

The actor, who was once known as the male participant in the tabloid firestorm that became Bennifer, is back behind the camera with The Town, his second helming effort.

He’s also more eager than ever to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, not just a matinee idol with a penchant for mindless blockbusters (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and romancing fellow A-Listers (Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, and his now-wife Jennifer Garner).

He’s an auteur now, so you better get with the program and wrap your head around that idea.

It’s a good thing that Affleck makes it so darn easy.

His directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone was met with lavish praise three years ago, and his acting was elevated to a new level after Hollywoodland the year before that. It’s almost like, post-Bennifer, the man decided to re-invent himself, which, I think I read recently, was a conscious decision on his part.

So kudos to him, and kudos to The Town, a star-studded Boston-set bank-robbers thriller that is not just all action, but also lots of heart.

Affleck, who also contributed to the script, plays Doug MacRay, a Charlestown career criminal and leader of a merry band of ace bank robbers.

The guy may be a bad boy, but he still lives and steals by a code: He and his fellow crooks get in quick and get out clean; they don’t hurt nobody; they play it smart. He’s also on personal path now that he has sobered up, and is still trying to be a sort of boyfriend to his druggy main girl (Blake Lively), as well as a father figure to her kid. But bank robbers are like leopards...they don’t just change their spots because they say so – he can’t just quit the biz and leave it all behind.

Doesn’t mean Doug won’t try, though.

After the gang’s latest job, they briefly take a hostage, the bank manager played by Vicky Cristina Barcelona’s Rebecca Hall, whom he soon starts befriending then romancing in order to keep tabs on her and make sure she’s not some loose end that needs taking of after they let her go unharmed but threatened.

That budding relationship will be the undoing of the gang, which includes the hothead played with aplomb by The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner, as it is now more vulnerable to the FBI investigation that’s right on their tail and led by Jon Hamm (AMC’s Mad Men).

The Town, with its accomplished mix of action and unexpected humor, is quite the feather on Affleck’s cap – one that should and will bring him lots of pride.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: Warner Bros.

Pretty Doctor Lady

Rachael Taylor, who co-starred in the first Transformers movie and a didn’t-go-anywhere pilot for HBO called Washingtonienne, has nabbed a multi-episode role on this season’s Grey’s Anatomy.

The role is still being conceived, and while the actress is not scheduled to debut until midseason, she will be playing a doctor.

A hot doctor, natch.

The seventh season of Grey’s Anatomy premieres on Sept. 23.

Photo: FusedFilm.com.

Promiscuous Girl (Ish)

Emma Stone is major...like, major major, and Easy A is her starmaker.

The actress plays Olive Penderghast in this clever twist on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter about a girl, who tells a lie, and a lie that spreads like wildfire in – what else? – the eat-or-be-eaten world of high school.

Olive, she tells us herself from the get-go (as the movie’s narrative comes from a feature-long testimonial she’s webcasting), is not a remarkable girl.

No one at her East Ojai, Calif., school knows who she is.

In fact, she’s pretty much the consummate high school sock (you know, the kind of kid to whom no one pays attention), which is odd because she’s quite the radiant beauty, and as a redhead you’d think she’d be bound to stand out.

Alas, she doesn’t, and Easy A asks to go with it, and, by golly, we do because the movie’s smart and ironic and funny....

Anyway, about that lie.

Olive has this BFF, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka, whom CW fans are getting to know through Hellcats), who’s kinda always up in her beeswax about boys and whatnot. So one day, just to shut her up, Olive tells Rhi that she spent the weekend with a guy from junior college and cashed in her V chip.

The truth is she spent her time at home, playing with her dog, painting her nails, and dancing and singing to Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocketful of Sunshine” like a big ol’ doof.

Rhi, of course, loves this salacious tidbit, and tells someone, who tells someone else, and pretty soon everyone at the school knows that Olive is no longer and virgin.

Some, mostly the boys, are all like, yeah about it, while others give her the stink eye, none more than the self-righteous religion freak Marianne (the hootlicious Amanda Bynes, taking a page from Mandy Moore’s character in Saved!).

At first, Olive is amused by the rumors and the silliness of it all, but then, when confronted with an opportunity to help a much-bullied gay satellite friend (Dan Byrd, from TV’s Cougar Town), she starts to see that there’s something about this lie that could work to her advantage.

So she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing, which, yes, sounds a little sketchy, but it also exposes the hyprocrisy of high school politics (the things that are said about this girl are outrageous, but she nevertheless walks the halls with her head held high, proud of the scarlett “A” she has sown on her clothes), a few skeletons, and a secret love Olive thought would go unrequited forever (hello, Penn Badgley!).

What I liked most about Easy A, other than the obvious (i.e., that it’s a tremendous showcase for the ebullient Stone), is it felt fresh, effortless, and whatever is the opposite of didactic.

That it features Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s just-too-cool parents is an added bonus.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: Sony Pictures.

The Power of Oprah’s Forgiveness

Oprah Winfrey kicked off her farewell season earlier this week – oh, by the by, did anyone notice the TV promos for it didn’t include any footage of the Big O at her heaviest?

I digress, I know.

Such a momentous occasion (you know her audience is calling this final season precisely just that) means there will be plenty of surprise moments coming up.

The book industry will get one tomorrow when Winfrey reportedly will announce Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom as her Oprah’s Book club official selection, which is particularly kinda jaw-dropping in light of the row the two had back in 2001 over The Corrections.

Bygones, huh….

Photo: ChicagoReader.com.

A New Kind of Sherlock

Sometimes I just heart PBS.

Coming up next on the network’s Masterpiece Mystery addicting schedule is a modern-day-set take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character titled, simply enough, Sherlock.

The sleuth, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, now roams the streets of contemporary London as the world’s first consulting detective, one who works with his new roommate, Afghanistan war vet James Watson (Martin Freeman) solving all manner of complicated crimes.

Three feature-length episodes of Sherlock will premiere on PBS beginning on Oct. 24:



With luck, we’ll get plenty more Sherlock for years to come.

Keri Does Sexy

It’s always kinda sorta jarring to see Keri Russell wearing something skimpy like this, but, you know what, I welcome the sight nevertheless.

The erstwhile Felicity – will I ever not call her that? – has a new show to promote (Fox’s Running Wilde), so she’s doing the exact opposite of what is expected of her to get the word out.

It’s a bit easy to vixen it up, but I get that Russell is playing a character in particular settings (this photo is from the new issue of Esquire), and that the realer her, the one we see, say, out on a red carpet is, perhaps, closer to the real her. Got that?

At the end of the day, I heart Keri Russell in any way she steps out of the house.

Photo: HuffingtonPost.com.

What Happens Next?

Clint Eastwood is playing with a little summer blockbuster-y F/X in his latest fall entry Hereafter.

The trailer dropped today, and as you will see that’s Matt Damon playing a reluctant psychic living in San Francisco, while Bryce Dallas Howard plays the object of his affection.

The movie, written by Peter Morgan (The Queen) follows three separate plotlines grappling with mortality. One of them is that of a Parisian anchorwoman who nearly died in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

“It’s about people dealing with tragedy in different ways,'” Eastwood said. “But it’s also got this hope thing going for it, too.”

Hereafter opens on Oct. 22.

Photo: EW.com.

In and Out…and In Again

Jennifer Lopez wants to keep people guessing.

Too bad she’s doing so with a lame career move, huh.

A rollercoaster month after negotiations to join American Idol as a judge broke down – a month during which Kara DioGuardi confirmed her exit from the show and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was (maybe) locked down – La Lopez reportedly has signed a $12 million contract to come on board, after all.

The entertainer’s demands had supposedly gotten “out of hand” originally, but it seems everyone involved was able to bring something agreeable to the table. Among the items that did not make the cut: movie and TV development deals that Lopez was said to have wanted included in her hiring package.

No word on whether Fox gave in and said OK to an unlimited supply of expensive white candles for her dressing room, but whatever they did do, she is “very excited.”

Tyler has yet to be confirmed.

Others names that have been tossed around to join staying-put founding judge Randy Jackson on the panel? Elton John, Shania Twain, Harry Connick Jr., and Chris Isaak.

Photo: EW.com.

The Day the Music Video Died a Little More

You know it’s a testament to how irrelevant a video awards show has become when instead of talking about the videos that won with any sort of actual recollection is trumped by the effect on the zeitgeist of a…meat dress.

Thank you, Lady GaGa.

(And, yes, I know that even going with that statement is kinda moot.)

Look, all I’m saying is MTV needs to refocus its Video Music Awards – itself, actually – if it shall insist on celebrating something that registers on its radar.

The fact that pop’s reigning princess walked away with eight awards (out of 13 nominations) is swell, but it sucks that no one seems to be talking about that, wouldn’t you say? I mean, I couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge the VMAs yesterday....

Photo: MTV.com.

Girl with the English Sleuths

Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is going to play the female lead opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes 2.

This will be Rapace’s first English-speaking role.

Details about her role are scarce, but word is she’ll play a French Gypsy.

Production on the sequel is set to begin this fall.

Photo: Tribune.ie.

The Return of a Country Queen

I want Gwyneth Paltrow to win another Oscar.

And y’ know what: Country Strong, her next movie, just might get her an invite to the big party next winter.

The facts are these (oh, how I miss Pushing Daisies – but I digress): In the movie G.P. plays a fading country star staging a comeback after a stint in rehab (behind the glamour is a drinking problem).

And as well all know, America, heck, the world likes a comeback story, so we should all love to root for Paltrow’s Kelly Canter, as the singer struggles to find her place back in a spotlight that now craves Chiles Stanton, a pretty young thing played by Leighton Meester (that Paltrow herself has been away from the spotlight and hasn’t headlined a project in a while is an added bonus):



Country Strong co-stars Tim McGraw as Paltrow’s husband/manager, and Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy), as the opening act who’s rooting for her on a more personal level than just a professional.

The movie, which features Paltrow singing again (super-smart to release the movie’s titular single during the Grammy qualifying months, btw), is due out, in limited release, on Dec. 22, and goes wide on Jan. 7.

Hot Mama Coming Through

New York Fashion Week got off to an unofficial start last night when Fashion’s Night Out: The Show brought out the lot of the world’s top supermodels to a runway that snaked around Lincoln Center.

New mama Gisele Bündchen was among the catwalkers strutting their stuff at the event, which drew out Gossip Girl fashionistas Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, Bar Refaeli, and Vogue editrix Anna Wintour, natch, among others.

Fashion Week officially kicks off on Friday, which is the same day Fashion’s Night Out is set to take over the Big Apple. Events are scheduled to take place across the country – Bal Harbour, I’m a-comin’! – and major fashion hubs around the world.

Photo: People.com.

Amy the Alumni Goes Live

Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler is going back to her where it all began, SNL, to kick off the show’s 36th season on Sept. 25.

She will be joined by musical guest Katy Perry.

I hope Poehler resuscitates her foul, fart-machine, one-legged character Amber for the show.

Photo: 89thAndBroke.com.

Update 1: Someone who will not be there to make us laugh alongside Poehler? Jenny Slate.

Slate, who joined SNL only last year (and quickly gained notoriety for accidentally dropping an F-bomb on her first show), will not be back this season.

Longtime cast member Will Forte is also leaving the show. He I am really sorry to see go....

Update 2: Click here to meet all four of SNL’s new cast members.