Friday, June 29, 2012

She Is Waiting

I guess we are going to have to wait for a follow-up to Adele’s 21 whatever time we were going to...plus another nine months.

That’s because the songstress is pregnant.

The 24-year-old Grammy winner confirmed the news herself today, saying she and her bf of about a year, businessman Simon Konecki, are “over the moon and excited” about their upcoming arrival.

Congrats and much health to you three.

Photo: PerezHilton.com.

TomKat Are Done

It’s the end of an era: After five years of wedded bliss, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are calling it quits.

What is it the age difference? The fact that her career has been at a standstill ever since she and he started seeing each other? Or was it the fact he’s a fa...bulous person with a winning smile and career on the upswing once again?

Who knows. All thats certain as of now is that it was Holmes initiated the split – she already has filed the divorce papers (so she means business...insert your own contract joke here if you like) – and that Cruise is deeply saddened” by it. Furthermore, the actress wants sole custody of their daughter Suri.

Damn, TomKat, I really was beginning to think you were gonna go the distance.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

No Bending Needed

Talk about a snub.

David Beckham, one of the highest-profile advocates of London getting the Olympic Games this year, has not been invited to play with the British soccer team at the Olympiad.

Clearly, it can’t be because dude’s no spring chicken: Becks may be 37, but he still plays – and looks! – hella fine.

Oh well...fine. Hell just have to remain stateside and give us something to talk about as he practices with the L.A. galaxy and sets trends for facial hair.

Photo: People.com.

The List, Pt. 38

In: Azealia Banks.

So Five Minutes Ago: Nicki Minaj.

O-V-E-R: Dismissing female rappers.

Photo: Style.MTV.com.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Boys Gone Wild

I think I know the answer to this question, but are you ready for some Magic Mike?

’Cause I know you know that I have been for quite some time.

Well, it’s almost June 29, at last – but the Steven Soderbergh-directed eye feast (my, you have earned your spot in heaven, S2!) is opening in less than six hours. So the noise you hear is the sound of thousands of ladies (and their gays) like, rushing to the nearest theater double-horny and double-pronto for a midnight screening.

What awaits them there is...a dramedy that totally surprises about friendship and not-so-young love?

WTF!

Wait, hold up – you probably thought this movie was just gonna be about this charming guy Mike (played by the beyond-irresistible Channing Tatum, proving once and for all that he has arrived) and his studly strippin’ band of bros (Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer among them) shakin’ their junk for the cameras, huh.

There’s plenty o’ that, but the powers that be have dared give the blockbuster more than titillation – they’ve come up with a whole story, based in part on Tatum’s pre-acting experiences as a real-life booty shaker.

The nerve.

Good thing, though, that, on its own, the story holds its own (light) weight. Looking past the bronzer that covers the façade of the main character and his nemesis, a cowboy-twangin’ old timer named Dallas played by Matthew McConaughey – oozing equal amounts of the smarmy and the sexy – the movie is a classically told story. It’s little guy trying to make good while bigger guy tries to keep him down (ish, on the sly) as he plots an equity-promising-never-delivering plan to head south to Miami, baby, and take the Magic City by storm.

Except both dudes spend a healthy chunk of their time on screen gyrating as, say, a homeboy (people, Tatum has the moves!) or a leather-clad, harness-wearing (H-O-T!) pseudo-svengali with a penchant for folky songs and saying “alright, alright, alright” like only a Texan macho man could, thankyouverymuch.

It’s obviously all good and dandy, except I get how the subject matter may give people pause. For audiences to see women strip is one thing, but for men to do the same, well...that’s like this new frontier. Mind you, there isn't any full frontal in Magic Mike (and if there had been it woulda been a bit of a cop-out). The closest we get to som’in’ akin to it involves Manganiello’s character and how he...uh...pumps himself up before going on stage, and the beyond-tease that he offers when he’s out there in as Big Dick Richie.

Serious, that’s his character’s name.

The A conflict comes from the fact that Mike, a part-time construction worker who’s the the star of Tampa’s Xquisite Male Dance Review at night, is pushing 30 and still chasing his dream of becoming a furniture designer. That’s rather commendable, except it’s evident that it’s also not gonna happen because the guy has shed his clothes for 1s – and the thrill of knowing and letting every lady who’s ever come out for a night on the town know he can have them – for longer than he should have now.

When he meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a clueless 19-year-old, he sees a chance to do something nice for someone who 1) kinda reminds him of himself at that age and 2) maybe, just perhaps, could be groomable into something of an heir apparent. As these things go, though, shy Adam emerges from his cocoon and becomes a butterfly that doesn’t know not to test his wings so fast and willy-nilly.

The “Kid,” as he’s nicknamed, gets in some unsavory trouble – y’ know, the sort that would come from hanging out in a strip joint, with characters whose personalities the script barely explores – right, Matt Bomer? (We hardly get to know his Ken, or Adam Rodriguez’s Tito, or Big Dick Richie, for that matter. They’re eye candy, and that’s about it.)

The B story is the rapport that develops between Mike and Adam’s older, has-it-together sister (newcomer Cody Horn). This young woman is kinda out of his league because she has it going on in a different way: she’s smart and employed and she’s smokin’ hot and she wishes Adam would live up to his potential.

Mike promises to look out after the Kid, but what he fails to realize is that now that he’s met her, he’s the one that needs taking care of, for he’s begun to change...to like, reprioritize, already.

Ultimately, what Magic Mike mines are the depths to which one is not only willing to plunge to have a good time and make an honest, albeit easy living, but to analyze how well they know themselves – and what kind of decisions they’ll make once an epiphany hits. (Toldja the movie would give ya something to ponder and not just recall when you get home and are taking a cold shower.)

For Mike, the choice isn’t 100 percent clear, but the reward is...and he may just have found it in a hopeless place he’s come to know as home but may not be where his heart is anymore.

My Rating ***

Photo: The Karpel Group.

Ann...Out

Hot damn, NBC – you did it again, and now, you’re like, officially the least classy network in the land (right, Conan?).

After a week of speculation, Ann Curry announced this morning that today was her last day as a regular co-host of the Today show, confirming the worstest of worst-kept secrets in the morning-TV world.

She fought tears and a ginormous lump of sadness in her throat to deliver a heartfelt eulogy to her short stint on the couch alongside Matt Lauer, Al Roker, and everyone else. There was no pomp, no circumstance for her send-off (for shame, Peacock!).

Curry also detailed her plans for the future, which mostly consist on a return to her first love – journalism of the first rate – thanked her co-workers and crew, and (this nearly got me to stop almost-crying to throw a shoe at my screen) she even went as far as to apologize to viewers for not being able to “carry the ball over the finish line.

Now, that was a classy gesture that NBC didn’t deserve. Clearly, there’s a good way to handle this sort of thing, there's a bad way, and then there’s the NBC way.

Good luck to you, Ann. You may get on my nerves a little from time to time, but you deserve the world, as well as the chance to present it to us in the dignified manner you so richly have earned.

Photo: TVRage.com.

...And then Girl Learns That Boy Used to Rob Banks

A little while ago, I shared one of the first images that made it onto the Web of Hit & Run, a new comedy by Dax Shepard (the dude had a hand on just about everything on the caper road comedy, on top of his Emmy-worthy gig on TV’s Parenthood).

The reason I was so keen on the comedy was Kristen Bell, who plays a young woman who finds out, while on the road, that her bf used to drive getaway cars.

Now that I have seen the red-band-trailer for the upcoming Aug. 24 release, which also features Bradley Cooper describing what a “c--- in your a---” feels like and a blue-talkin Kristin Chenoweth, I am totally sold.

This one looks like a raunchy good time, folks. Mark your calendars now. Get!

Photo: FlicksAndBits.com.

The (Hot) Commander

James Marsden may have 99 problems, but lack of work ain’t one.

The hook-up-in-Miami enthusiast – and total cutie-patootie – has been cast in 2 Guns, as a naval commander who will get to boss around Mark Wahlberg.

He joins a cast that also includes Denzel friggin Washington and Paula Patton.

Now, that is what I call a hot cast, people.

Photo: NYPost.com.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Olympics Get Mused

Up until now, when someone said Muse to me all I could think about was that rockin song (the name of which I don’t really know) and Kate Hudson.

I can happily say that I know think of the upcoming London Olympics, too.

The English trio has scored the privilege of having the official song of the 2012 games, beeyotches. (However, four other acts, including Elton John, also have recorded songs to celebrate the occasion.)

Titled Survival,” the thundering rock anthem dropped yesterday, making its debut on British radio and soon goin’ ’round the world to end up on this post. Matt Bellamy (Hudson’s main main – get it now?) said the ditty is all about conviction and having a determination to win.

Soar with “Survival” as we wait for the games to open in exactly one month, y’all.

Photo: ClashMusic.com.

Classic American with an Aussie Flair

Chris Hemsworth is so hot.

Yeah – I’ve got nothing else....

The Aussie is in the latest issue of GQ modeling oh-so-American T-shirts, looking hella fine and ripped and whatnot, but it is his picture in full denim that I found the sexiest, so I thought I’d share.

I love staring at as much skin as he’s willing to reveal, but I think leaving it to the imagination is so sexy, too.

Photo: GQ.com.

Eight Reasons Jennifer Aniston Has Moved On

Dayum, Justin Theroux – I knew from watching Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle that you have a sick body, but come the frak on!

I mean, lean much?

Evidently, the 40-year-old actor-screenwriter-director-producer-heartthrob runs a lot, and you can tell from six-pac...make that, eight-pack, that running works.

Score, Jennifer Aniston! Score.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

Meet Jack Reacher

Last summer, Tom Cruise made headlines when he was cast as Jack Reacher in One Shot, Christopher (Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Usual Suspects) McQuarrie’s adapation of Lee Child’s 2005 novel.

They were unkind headlines because Jack Reacher is meant to be this real tall guy, right – like, 6’5” – and Cruise is...not.

Clearly, though, from the looks of this sneak-peek look-see at Cruise in character, the actor is nevertheless quite the commanding presence.

And he makes me wish it already were time to meet Jack Reacher (that’s the movie’s new title – Potential Franchise Alert!), but, unfortunately, we gotta wait until Dec. 21 for that. Something tells me it’ll be well worth it.

Photo: EW.com.

On the Florrick Beat

Hot on the heels of the casting of Marc Warren as Kalinda’s bad-news ex-husband, the powers that be have announced that Kristin Chenoweth is coming to The Good Wife.

The petite powerhouse – last seen on the dearly departed GCBwill play a reporter covering the Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) campaign during the upcoming fourth season of the show.

Mmm...I wonder how the show’s writers will make the role sing (and I mean that literally – we all know Chenowith can bring it).

Photo: Luxist.com.

Update: My, my – the casting directors over at The Good Wife are keeping busy (and subtly letting us know they are friends of friends?).

They have gone and cast Nathan Lane on the show as well, in an unspecified recurring role.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Holy Golden Glow, Blake!

Oliver Stone’s Savages had its world premiere in L.A. last night, and, my oh my, did one of the film star’s, Blake Lively, looks stunning as she gave a major fashion moment out on the red carpet.

Seriously, girl – I’m more of a Kitsch Kraver, but you are seriously making it jiggle in that Zuhair Murad dress and those old-Hollywood golden tresses of yours.

Dayum!

Photo: EW.com.

Spice Girls Forever

For a quintet that was often dismissed as fluff, the Spice Girls sure have plenty of enduring Girl Power.

Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Baby, and Posh reunited once again, today in London, to promote Viva Forever!, a new musical based on their music.

The show, which is under the helm of Absolutely Fabulous’ Jennifer Saunders and is being produced by Mamma Mia!’s Judy Craymer, is set to open in December at the Piccadilly Theatre in the British capital. It will follow the journey of a girl following her dreams of stardom and the impact achieving it has on not only her but those around her as well.

Oooh, I hear London callin’, asking me to say I’ll be there....

Photo: People.com.

The Bad-news Ex

For three seasons, we have been wondering who Kalinda’s (Emmy winner Archie Panjabi) ex-husband is, and just why she ran away from him, on TV’s The Good Wife.

Come fall, we will start to find out.

British actor Marc Warren (WantedHustle) has landed the plum part of Kalinda’s never-before-seen manipulative, bad-news ex, a man who is as detrimental to my favorite cypher on TV as he is irresistible.

ER vet Maura Tierney is also joining the Julianna Margulies-fronted show, btw, playing a self-made millionaire who is also quite plugged into the show’s Chicago Democratic politics.

Photo: HeyUGuys.co.uk.