Monday, February 28, 2011

Oh, Oscar – Good Ol’ Predictable Oscar

Awards season is over – that is, of course, for now – with
The King’s Speech taking home Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), and Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler) last night.

The film’s star, Colin Firth, won Best Actor, while
Black Swan’s Natalie Portman won Best Actress (the industry darling also nabbed an Independent Spirit Award for her buzzy role on Saturday, btw).

The Fighter’s Christian Bale and Melissa Leo were recognized for their supporting turns.

For a complete list of Oscar winners, click
here.

Now, as for my Oscar highlight…. Nope, it really, seriously wasn’t seeing the kinda overrated James Franco and the beyond-lovely Anne Hathaway hosting the evening (although she acquitted herself way more nicely than he), or the
pretty dresses some of the ladies wore, but my girl G.P. singing a little bit of “Coming Home” from Country Strong. Because she can do no wrong – and that’s that.

Photo: EW.com.

Friday, February 25, 2011

The Party Don’t Stop

The boys are back – and a little worse for the wear, from the looks of it.

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis are set to get into more trouble – they’re going international, to Bangkok! – in the upcoming The Hangover Part II.


The teaser for the movie hit yesterday and can be found here (the movie looks...epic), and you know where you’ll find the laughs, so look for them on Memorial Day.

Photo: ReelMovieNews.com.
The Good Teacher

As promised, Gwyneth Paltrow is headed back to TV’s Glee this season, and you can expect to see a sex-ier version of her substitute teacher Holly Holliday when the show returns from a one-week break on March 8 (she’ll be tackling sex ed this time around).

And to build on the flirtation between Holly and Matthew Morrison’s Mr. Schue we picked up on last November, G.P. and the actor will be cutting a mean rug thisclose to each other.

“We lock up in that frame and then it cuts right to us doing a tango to Prince’s ‘Kiss,’ Morrison said. “[We shot] on the auditorium stage with candelabras all around us. I had never done the tango before. We’re kicking in between each other’s legs. She was so scared the whole time, like, ‘I’m gonna kick his balls. I’m so sorry, Matt.’ I was like, ‘Get in there!’”

I would!

Photo: EW.com.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

If You Can’t Do…

Cameron Diaz is one (
hot) Bad Teacher.

The actress has reunited with her ex,
Justin Timberlake, for a raunchy-ish comedy in which she plays a terrible, terrible educator – she cusses! she smokes the marijuana! she grades her students using four-letter words! –trying to bag his rich-guy character so she can get out of her hell-hole job, while enduring the taunts of an irreverent co-worker.

Check out the red-band trailer, and tell me this doesn’t look like the f---in’ s---:



Expect this one in the middle of summer, y’all.
Judge Adam?

Well, this is kinda surprising.

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine – and Cee Lo Green – reportedly is in serious discussions to join Mark Burnett’s for-NBC singing competition The Voice.

Ew, a reality competition show at this stage in his career? Is Levine not a viable commodity anymore? Because he sure looks like he is, y’ know what I mean?

I mean, hello!

No deal is in place yet, though, but word is the network is keen on landing current, relevant artists such as these two, which kinda sweetens the whole thing, IMHO.

Photo: Last.fm.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Fair Warning

Looks like Lindsay Lohan is facing jail time.

Again.

L2 went to court bright and early yesterday for her grand theft hearing, where she was told she would “be treated exactly the same as everyone else. No better, no worse,” and that her “case does involve jail time, period.”

Ay, caramba!

Lohan is accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace from a Venice, Calif., jewelry store – and she is seeking a plea bargain that could keep her from another behind-bars stint.

Here’s to hoping. I am kinda ready for all of us to turn the page on this one, and give Linds another chance, already. If she is serious about her recovery (and about staying on the straight and narrow in every sense) I’d be happy if she came back to us.

Photo: AP.com.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What...a Salute

Beth Ditto, the singer-songwriter who first busted onto the scene as the face and the voice of the indie rock band the Gossip, is going solo.

And to transcend her tremendous hipster cred, girl has gone and tapped into the pop goddess within to earn herself some new fans while paying respect (the right way) to the Queen of Pop with the video for her “I Wrote the Book,” the lead single off her upcoming debut EP.

The ditty is a fun time and a half, but the obvious-nod-to-Madonna video...well, darn, if it’s not only a clever move but, clearly, a...nope, I got nothing else. It’s just smart. Super-good smart.

Photo: HardCandyMusic.com.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Touched By an Angel

Patrick Wilson is coming to TV.

One of the biggest gripes I’ve developed with Hollywood during the last decade is it hasn’t made the Tony-, Emmy-, and Golden Globe-nominated actor a big ol’ star. Sure, it’s showcased him handsomely in movies like Hard Candy and Little Children (which also featured quite a bit of his body), but it has yet to find him a vehicle worthy of his everything.

But now that’s about to change.

Wilson is set to play the lead in a CBS drama pilot written by Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) that Jonathan Demme will direct, playing an ultra-competitive surgeon whose life is changed forever when his ex-wife dies…and begins teaching him what life is all about from the great beyond.

I gotta say I would prefer the guy did cable (so we can see his tush and be all edgy with the cussing), but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

Photo: PatrickWilson.org.
A Flattening Role

Black Swan breakout Mila Kunis is
headed for Oz.

The It Girl is joining, or already has joined the hotly anticipated Wizard of Oz prequel that James Franco is doing (in the titular role), as Theodora, the future Wicked Witch of the West.

Y’ know, the green-skinned one.

Production on the movie is set to begin this summer.

Photo: CelebrityWorldFashion.blogspot.com.

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Bane of Thor’s Existence

A new trailer for Thor starring that steaming H-O-T dish Chris Hemsworth is revealing that the Norse god has a thing for...Pop Tarts?

Yep, and by the look of his arms I’d say it’s working for him.

But, nah, the new preview is also giving audiences our first good look at the trio of villains the guy will face on his humbling mission to protect Earth.

Summer, can you get here, already?

Photo: Top10Movie.net.
When BFF Love the Same Guy

In the upcoming Something Borrowed, Ginnifer Goodwin (pictured here, second from left) and Kate Hudson play best friends, but Hudson is set to marry Colin Egglesfield (first from right), for whom Goodwin has totally fallen HOH, y’ see.

It’s a problem, and here’s the trailer that tease-shows you just how complicated things could get (because you also have to consider John Krasinski is also featured in the movie, and well...he’s dreamy enough that he will factor in this love conundrum, of course.

Right?

The rom-com is due out on May 6.

Photo: AceShowbiz.com.
Mrs. Vampire Hunter

The most slaying first lady in literature will be played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The actress has been tapped to play the Mary Todd Lincoln to Benjamin Walker’s Honest Abe in the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter adaptation.

Winstead, a relative newcomer, has been seen in movies such as Live Free or Die Hard (as Bruce Willis’ daughter) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Photo: TheWallpapers.org.
Now, That’s What I’m Talking About, M.P.

Michelle Pfeiffer news is my favorite kind of news.

The actress, who’s working on parts in the sure-to-be-a-hit New Year’s Eve and the buzzy indie Welcome to People, is closing in on a role in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows.

Pfeiffer would join a cast led by Johnny Depp that includes Eva Green, playing Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the matriarch of the Collins family (Depp will portray the vampire Barnabas Collins).

Burton’s real-life partner, Helena Bonham Carter, is also being eyed for a role in the project.

Photo: EW.com.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Heeere’s Brit-Brit’s L-eh-tast

It’s been the most anticipated pop arrival since the...last one two seconds ago: Britney Spears’ video for “Hold It Against Me.”

Back yet?

So cheeseball, right? And pained and tired...kinda like the promo picture here, no? Not It, honey.

Photo: EW.com.
If You Do It Once and Then Twice, You Gotta Do It Thrice

Sarah Jessica Parker is keen on more Sex.

Carrie Bradshaw’s alter ego is not ruling out a third Sex and the City movie at all – in fact, the actress is saying it more than likely will definitely happen. In time. You hear, Kristin Davis?

“I think there’s one more story to tell. I know there is,” she recently
said. “I’d definitely tell that [third] story, and I know Michael [Patrick King, the movies’ writer-director] would do it right. But maybe not now.

“Maybe in five years, you know?”

As long as they edit themselves I say strap on the Choos and go for it.

The powers that be at the franchise’s studio seem supportive.

“Personally, I’d love to see it,” an executive said last year. “We’re sitting back and watching what happens.”

Photo: Warner Bros.
That Voice

Adele’s Unplugged was announced a while ago, and now it’s here – just in time to draw attention to her latest, 21.

And althought the tie-in is obvious, I don’t and I can’t mind it one bit: the girl deserves to have everyone hear her, alright.

Here’s a tease from her upcoming special, during which the singer tackles Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman”:

Lassoed

It won’t be Charisma Carpenter, or Morena Baccarin, or anyone else whose name had been tossed into the mix – it’ll be Adrianne Palicki.

The Friday Night Lights alumna will play Wonder Woman (and not one but two alter egos) on David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman pilot.

Palicki not only will pulled super-duties as the titular crimefighter, whom Kelley has “reinvented” as an L.A.-based vigilante, but also mega-billionaire CEO Diana Themyscira, and Diana’s “plain” assistant, Diana Prince.

I’m not sure making things rather...complicated is the way to go, but I trust there’s a reason and that it just may work like gangbusters.

Photo: AdriannePalicki.org.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Vampire Hunter

Welcome, Benjamin Walker.

The star of the Broadway show Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson has beat out the likes of Eric Bana for the lead role Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the cast of which is taking shape fast, y’all.

The Hurt Locker’s Anthony Mackie is thisclose to joining Walker in the Tim Burton-produced feature as Will, Lincoln’s best friend.

Ditto Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!), who’s in the running to play Honest Abe’s mentor, Henry, who, in the book, is also the one who reveals Lincoln’s true, vampire-staking identity to the story’s narrator.

Photo: TheCraptacular.com.
The Chels Identity

So Chelsea Handler’s Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea is being turned into a comedy pilot for NBC, right.

Former That ’70s Show star Laura Prepon has signed on to play the funny gal’s alter ego in the project, which recounts her life in her roaring twenties.

The humor comes from the character o.k.a. Chelsea Hanson’ drink- and sex-having, so funsies all around, I bet.

Photo: Celebs101.com.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Joining the Force

Jamie Bamber, the towel-twirling enthusiast from Battlestar Galactica, is taking a break from Law & Order: UK to come back stateside to star on a pilor for NBC.

The actor will play a detective on the series hopeful 17th Precinct, a cop-drama-meets-sci-fi proposition.

Stockard Channing is already on board, so here’s to hoping Bamber will add an irresistible som’in’ that will make the powers that be schedule this for the fall, alright.

Photo: JamieBamber.co.uk.
The Boy Is Amazing

And so more is revealed.

It was announced yesterday that the new Spider-Man movie – the one helmed by (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb – will be titled The Amazing Spider-Man, a tip of the hat to the 1963 comic book that launched the Marvel superhero.

Herewith is the first official photo of Andrew Garfield as the webslinger.

The sure-to-be blockbuster is scheduled to dazzle audiences on July 3, 2012.

Photo: EW.com.
Accenting Gotham

Well, clearly, when Christopher Nolan sees something he enjoys quite a bit, he works to keep it around.

The director
has tapped another of his Inception stars, Marion Cotillard, for a role in his third – and final – Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, reuniting the actress with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy.

No word on what character Cotillard will be playing, but she’s
due on set early this summer, after the birth of the baby she’s expecting with fiancé Guillaume Canet. And she will have a sexy French accent for sure.

Photo: Ykone.com.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Simply Irresistible, Pt. 73

Gay men still on a
Lady GaGa-induced high are rejoicing today now that photos from Out’s latest cover boy, Glee insta-fave Darren Criss, have hit the Internet.

The newcomer gives ’em what they like by
flaunting this six-pack abs inside the magazine’s annual Hollywood Issue on sale next week.

Looking good, guy – and good for you for coming out as – sorry, fellas – straight.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.
The Shrink Is Back In

James Tupper is set
to reprise his role as Dr. Andrew Perkins on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy later this season.

The actor’s
character, a psychologist who was first brought in to perform evaluations on the residents after last season’s mass shooting, will return for a multi-episodic arc (I bet he will stir the pot where it comes to Kim Raver’s character and her marriage to Scott Foley’s recurring for-insurance sick husband).

Sounds – and looks! – like the end of the season will be a handsome one, huh.

Photo: E! Online.
The British Hail the King

The King’s Speech was the big winner at the
BAFTAs over the weekend, taking Best Film, Best Actor (Colin Firth), and supporting honors for Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin won Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for
The Social Network.

Click
here for a complete list of winners.

Photo: The Weinstein Company (The King’s Speech).
Forgetting Fierce!

Haters will be hating, but I hearted seeing Gwyneth Paltrow make her Grammy-performing debut last night.

The Oscar winner joined Cee Lo Green and a troupe of Muppets on stage to slink around in pink-feather earrings, a black catsuit, and some colorful high, high heels while they did his “Forget You.”

Another live-TV performance for G.P., another home run. Click here to see the goodness. See you at the Oscars, girl.

Oh, yeah...some awards were given out last night, too, with Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year for The Suburbs, and Lady Antebellum taking both Record and Song of the Year for “Need You Now.”

Photo: EW.com.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Hang Tough, Liz

Elizabeth Taylor is in the hospital.

The legendary Hollywood icon was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment of congestive heart failure some time this past week.

Does anyone have an update on her condition, know is she is going to be A-OK? Because she has to be, you know.

Photo: HollywoodDreamland.blogspot.com.

Update: Liz Taylor is still in the hospital, reportedly resting comfortably.

“At this stage,” her rep said, “with her history, they’re going to want to keep her in for a while just to make sure theyve fixed what they need to fix.

Get well soon, Purple Eyes!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Time to Rock, Tom

Could this be the comeback he’s been waiting for?

As rumored, Tom Cruise is set to star as womanizing rocker Stacee Jaxx in Adam Shankman’s big-screen adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical Rock of Ages.

Also attached to the movie is Gwyneth Paltrow, and Mary J. Blige, too.

If he comes on board, Cruise would get his song on to the tune of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” and other numbers, including “I Wanna Know What Love Is.”

This sounds promising – provided that dude can carry a tune.

Photo: TheRoyston.wordpress.com.
Meet the Class

The first trailer for the prequel X-Men: First Class is out, and it is looking political (in this mythology, JFK had a little help during the Cuban missile crisis):



The blockbuster, starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones, and Kevin Bacon, is due in out in theaters on the June 3.
Expirationally

Ryan Gosling is thisclose to signing on the dotted line to headline a remake of Logan’s Run.


The original 1976 film, based on the novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, depicts a dystopian world which prevents overpopulation by killing everyone who reaches the age of 30.


Gosling would play the part of Logan 5, a character first embodied by Michael York.


Photo: GQ.com.
The Sound of Just Being

Lady GaGa’s “Born This Way” is here – and it’s a delicious pop-y dance confection.

It’s not a “Bad Romance”-style vanguard piece, but it’s a thumper of a gay anthem with great lyrics about being who you are, so it’s on the right track, alright.

It’s got me doing a shoulder thing today (yeah, I’ve got my paws up)....

Photo: EW.com.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Gods Are Coming

Tarsem Singh’s upcoming Immortals, f.n.a. War of Gods, is looking mighty good.

And that’s because it features a beyond-ripped Henry Cavill (the man who will be the next Superman, pictured here) as Theseus, Kellan Lutz as Poseidon, Freida Pinto as the priestess Phaedra, Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans), and plus Mickey Rourke as the villainous King Hyperion.

Shallow, huh – but honest.

Photo: FirstShowing.net.
Represent

Ricky Martin and Kristin Chenoweth are set to receive special honors at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards, in recognition of their efforts to promote equal rights and understanding of the LGBT community.

Martin will receive the Vito Russo Award at the organization’s New York ceremony on March 19, while the Cheno will be honored with the Vanguard Award at the L.A. event on April 10.

“Ricky coming out was a game changer for many gay and transgender Latino children, who for too long, did not have many out gay people to look up to,” said Jarrett Barrios, the president of GLAAD. “And when allies like Kristin take powerful stands against anti-gay sentiments in the media, it sends an important message of equality.

“It is a privilege to honor such a talented and conscientious advocate for fairness towards the LGBT community.”

Hear, hear.

Photo: JustJared.BuzzNet.com.
Parents’ Worst Nightmare

There is nothing scarier for a father or a mother than their child getting hurt.

In Trust, directed by David Schwimmer, Oscar nominees Clive Owen and Catherine Keener play the parents to a 14-year-old girl who makes a connection with a boy over the Internet using the new computer her folks have gotten her for her birthday.

Except this seemingly innocent e-rapport quickly escalates into something that’s anything but and into something devastating.

The indie drama is due to open on April 1, and I cannot wait to see the goods Schwimmer has, or Owen and Keener embodying something truly harrowing (because I think they will knock it outta the park, that is).

Photo: MurphsPlace.yuku.com.
Adoring Adele

She goes by one name, and she has the goods to back that up – and then some.

Adele is back with a follow-up to her debut of two years ago, 19. Her sophomore effort, 21, is an affecting love letter to the one who got away...the one who “changed” her into the person she the singer is at the moment.

You probably have heard the record’s lead single, “Rolling in the Deep,” but I am completely feeling the last song on the CD, “Someone Like You.” I could have written that song, but, of course, I didn’t. I’m still changing into the me I’m going to be at any moment, and so I listen to the song, and I think of that, and wait.

I heart it when a song, an artist, can make me feel that way. Have a listen. You’ll get it then:

Witch

It seems it’s the season of the witch.

Charlize Theron and Julia Roberts are set to play the Evil Queen in two separate Snow White-related movies, Angelina Jolie is forever rumored to be in the running to portray Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis, and, now, Famke Janssen (pictured at right) is getting in on the trend.

The X-Men actress has signed on to play the leader of the witches in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

I think Janssen will do a bewildering job. She’s got the look for the part, and best of all, the right allure. I approve.

Photo: Examiner.com.

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Leading Choice

NBC is moving forward with its Americanization of the British, Helen Mirren-starring procedural Prime Suspect, and the Peacock has its heart set on one actress to lead it: Maria Bello.

“There may be interest in me doing it, but I haven’t read anything yet or talked to anyone in depth about it,” the Golden Globe-nominated actress said. “I’m possibly interested. Definitely nervous to even think about taking over for Helen Mirren. C’mon! How could anyone compete with her? Didn’t she do about 10 of them and win an Emmy every time?

“I’m open to things right now. I’m just trying to go with the flow of my life, and I’ve been going back-and-forth to Haiti trying to help out. That has felt good, but I am also wanting to do something spectacular with my life, work-wise, and [Prime Suspect] may end up being it.”

Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) is overseeing the stateside reboot, and while I would adore to see, say, Connie Britton in the role of Tennison, I think Bello would bring a certain intensity and strength that I would welcome for sure.

Photo: FullIssue.com.
It’s a Wild West, Alright

I never tire of any things Daniel Craig, so when a new trailer for Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens hit the Twitterverse before the Super Bowl, you know I was on it like white on rice:



The western-meets-sci-fi adventure, which co-stars Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde, is due out on July 29 – and I am quite figuratively already in line.
Mo’ Lindsay, Mo’ Trouble

Just when one begins to consider that Lindsay Lohan may be reaching the other side of the tunnel, something else happens.

The starlet will be charged with one count of felony grand theft later today, stemming from reports that she allegedly stole a necklace worth $2,500 from a store in Venice, Calif., last month. Linds is due in court early afternoon PST.

L2, btw, is still on probation from her 2007 misdemeanor DUI. Last year, she spent three months in the big house after violating her parole and was in rehab through the holidays.


Photo: CelebritiesWonder.net.

Update: And there she was in court, clad in going-out white, pleading not guilty to the felony charge before her.

That’s our Lindsay Lohan being Lindsay Lohan....

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Starting Over

Movie trailers aside, the commercals during the Super Bowl last Sunday also included a preview of one of the TV shows I’m anticipating the most later this season: Terra Nova.

Makes sense since the game aired on Fox, which will be the home of this Steven Spielberg-exec-produced show about a family who travels back in time to course-correct the mistakes of our race (only to run into lots of trouble...and dinosaurs!).

The Jason O’Mara-led would-be epic will premiere in May.

Photo: TheHollywoodNews.com.
Blast from the M Past

DVDs for everyone!

Madonna is giving her fans what they’ve long wanted: a trip down memory lane.

The Queen of Pop’s camp has announced plans to release the “Blond Ambition Tour” on both DVD and Blu-ray, as well as the “Virgin Tour” and a remastered “Girlie Show.”

Yay – but what about the “Re-Invention Tour”?

Photo: Guardian.co.uk.

Update: It seems it was too good to be true: Madonnas manager, Guy Oseary, debunked the rumor of the DVDs this evening.

Monday, February 07, 2011

And, Lastly, the Writers Have Cast Their Vote

The Producers, the Directors, and the Actors all have made their picks of the best for the year that was super-clear, and, now, so have the Writers.

Inception and The Social Network won Writers Guild of America awards over the weekend, with Christopher Nolan winning best original screenplay for the dreamworld mind-bender and Aaron Sorkin taking hom best adapted screenplay for the film about the little site known as Facebook.

On the TV side, AMC’s Mad Men (Drama Series), Modern Family (Comedy Series), and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire (New Series) all did well for themselves.

Photo: Warner Bros.
OK, So What’s the Deal?

So if you watched the Super Bowl last night but don’t know what’s the what with a sack or a punt, then you probably were in it for the commercials (or the pre-game divas, or the halftime show).

Among the movies that debuted brand new trailers during the big game was J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Super 8, which didn’t reveal a whole lot more than the teaser did last summer. Check it:



We got shots of the cast, though, so that was something (always good to see Kyle Chandler!). I guess we will find out more on June 10.

Friday, February 04, 2011

Flo’s Coming to Tinseltown

No Dido? No problem!

One of my favorite singer-songwriters, Dido, is up for an Oscar later this month, for the
127 Hours song “I Rise,” right, but the songbird won’t be able to make it to the ceremony, unfortunately.

The powers that be, undeterred, have turned to the next best thing for a sub: Florence Welch, the frontwoman of the Grammy-nominated – and amazing! – Florence + the Machine.

Welch will
pinch-hit for Dido at the show, performing the song with Oscar-winning Indian composer A. R. Rahman – and later in the evening, she (and the Machine) will turn it up at Elton John and David Furnish’s annual Oscar party benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Way to go, red!

Also
slated to take to the Oscar stage this year is Gwyneth freaking Paltrow, who’ll perform “Coming Home” from Country Strong, as well as Tangled stars Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, and Randy Newman (who wrote a song for Toy Story 3).

Photo: InterviewMagazine.com.
Lurking Around

Eva Green, a.k.a. Casino Royale’s Vesper Lynd, has designs on a starring role opposite Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows.

Depp is set to star as the vampire Barnabas Collins in the adaptation of the 1960s gothic TV soap opera, with the creepstastic Jackie Earle Haley eyeing the part of the con man Loomis.

Green
would play the witch Angelique, and do quite the bewildering job at it, IMHO.

Photo: TheCinemaSource.com.
Well on Their Way

Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund are officially On the Road.

The first images of the adaptation of the novel by Jack Kerouac have hit, showing Stewart in character as Marylou, and Hedlund as Dean Moriarity

“[She is] incredible, and in this everyone is going to get to see how hard a worker she is, the devotion that she puts into her work,” the Country Strong scene-stealer said of the Twilight Saga star. “Her performance is going to be exposed highly in this.”

The film, co-starring Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Elisabeth Moss (AMC’s Mad Men), Steve Buscemi, and Terrence Howard, is due out on Dec. 10.

Photo: Yahoo! Movies.
America’s Sweetheart Goes Dark

Move,
Charlize Theron – there’s another Evil Queen in the horizon.

Julia Roberts is in serious
talks to play the same role Theron is being courted for (for another movie) in The Brothers Grimm: Snow White.

Brett Ratner is producing this project.

Photo: Product-Girl.com.


Update: It’s on: Julia Roberts will play the Evil Queen in one of two new Snow White movies.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Work It, Girlfriend

Amber Riley, a.k.a. powerhouse-voiced Mercedes on TV’s Glee, is gracing the pages of Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood Issue – and she’s lookin’ all sorts of spectacular in the
photos.

The magazine has the actress giving major Chaka Khan, and has even launched a Facebook campaign for the show to devote an episode to the Queen of Funk.

That’d be kinda swell, actually…I live for Mercedes solos.

Photo: EW.com.
An Honor for Harry Potter

Well, ain’t this nice.

The British Academy of Film and Television
will honor the Harry Potter franchise with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema honor at the BAFTA Awards on Feb. 13.

Author J.K. Rowling and David Heyman, the movie’s producer, will accept the honor on behalf of the franchise starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint (pictured at right), which has grossed $5.4 billion worldwide since the first Potter film was released 10 years ago.


Photo: GetTheBigPicture.net.
Simply Irresistible, Pt. 72

Boy, is she ready to bloom.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has got it going on – she’s a total looker, has an enviable bf (Jason Statham), and is about to make her high-profile screen debut in this summer’s
Transformers threequel.

And, as evidenced by these
British Vogue photos, the Victoria’s Secret stunner-turned-actress can give good face.

Photo: HuffingtonPost.com.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Consulting

I loathe to say it, but Kristen Bell has had a hard time breaking through and becoming the star the sorely missed Veronica Mars promised she’d be.

After that little-seen TV show ended its too-short run, the actress went on to take on a thankless role on Heroes…and to mediocre big-screen projects that did little to elevate her to American Sweetheart status.

Oh, and she was squandered in Burlesque. And girlfriend can shake it and sing. Don’t remind me of that terrible example of underutilization….

But I digress.

Now, much like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bell is eyeing a return to the tube.

She
has signed on to play a sharp Ivy League grad that works alongside a cutthroat consultant (Don Cheadle), to whom she’s reluctantly attracted, on the Showtime pilot House of Lies.

I hope the powers that be will make her character super-clever, and sassy, and that, given she’ll be on premium cable, she’ll have quite a hilarious bite to her. She deserves it.

Photo: DaemonsMovies.com.
Simply Resistible

So Britney Spears
has revealed, via Twitter, that her upcoming seventh album – y’ know, the one featuring her IMHO-kinda-eh smash single “Hold It Against Me” – is titled Femme Fatale.

“I’ve poured my heart and soul into this album over the last 2 years,” she said. “This album is for you, my fans, who have always supported me and have stuck by me every step of the way! I love you all!”

Well, that’s nice, but that title….

The pop tart may have started out a hypersexualized being, but I don’t think she’s ever been thought of, really, as sexy.

I mean, look at the CD’s cover art. It just ain’t there, sweetheart. And it just doesn’t hint at any substance, just overstylization.

Photo: EW.com.
G.P.’s Headed to the Grammys

Gwyneth Paltrow and Cee Lo Green have something to say to folks who watch awards shows: “F--- You.”

The duo, who most recently appeared on screen together on SNL, will perform at this year’s Grammy Awards airing live on Feb. 13.

Paltrow and Green will be joined on stage by puppets from the Jim Henson Company.

Now I am definitely watching the show.

Photo: HuffingtonPost.com.
This Bites

It seems that Becki Newton will not return to TV the way we all had hoped.

The actress’ NBC anthology series Love Bites has seen its share of obstacles getting off the ground, from early behind-the-scenes shake-ups to an episode reduction that didn’t scream of confidence on the part of the Peacock.

Now comes word that Newton has an offer to star in at least one comedy pilot – in fact, the whole cast reportedly has been told they may go try out for other shows (Greg Grunberg already has landed a role in a A&E’s pilot Big Mike, for instance).

Awww....

I hope we get to see what has been shot, perhaps over the summer? I love me some Becki Newton, and I very much would like to see what could have been.

Photo: FanPop.com.