Chasing After the Girl

Jessica Alba is at that stage in her career in which she is no longer playing the girl but rather the gal chasing the girl, knowwhatImean.

So, with any luck, this will be a more interesting st(age) for the actress.

I enjoy her, so I hope so.

Up first is a villainous part in Barely Lethal opposite Hailee Steinfeld and Samuel L. Jackson.

Alba will play a sent-to-get-her former associate of the True Grit Oscar nominee, who plays a 16-year-old assassin whose only way out of her trade is to fake her own death.

Production on Barely Lethal is scheduled to begin October.

Photo: SpaWeekBlog.com.

Off to Follow Moses

You guys – the s---’s about to get biblical for Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul.

The Emmy-winning actor is one of the heavy-hitters in talks to join Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton in Ridley Scott’s Exodus. He would play a Hebrew slaved named Joshua who follows Moses (Bale) to freedom.

Meanwhile, Ben Kingsley and John Turturro are also being courted for parts in the project, while Sigourney Weaver has been cast as Tuya, Ramses’ (Edgerton) mother.

Cameras are set to start rolling on this one in September.

Photo: LaineyGossip.com.

The New Shopgirl

It’s gonna be an Oscar nominee for an Oscar winner, thankyouverymuch.

Rooney Mara is going to join Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’s forthcoming Carol, the adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel centering on the blossoming relationship between two period women: an unhappy wife and a department store shopgirl dreaming of a more fulfilling life.

There’s a road trip involved. It’s anybody’s guess at this point whether a cliff is at the end of it.

Btw, Jane Eyre’s Mia Wasikowska was previously set to play the shopgirl.

Photo: People.com.

Fast and Furious Russell

Well look at that: Kurt Russell is not done with Hollywood.

And Hollywood ain’t done with him, either.

In fact, Russell – last seeing being one mean mofo in Grindhouse’s Death Proof – is being courted for one of today’s healthiest franchises, one that one make him part of the Expendables. The actor in talks to be featured in the follow-p to Fast & Furious 6, in a shrouded-in-secrecy part that was originally offered to Denzel Washington.

The L.A.-set Fast & Furious 7 will be directed by James Wan (The Conjuring) and is being prepped for a 2014 release, if memory serves.

Am I alone in seeing an opportunity for Goldie Hawn to play the cougarrific chick who waves the flag during the inevitable drag race sequence here?

Photo: Google.com.

Rocket Raccoon Has a Voice

One franchise ends for Bradley Cooper – terribly – and another begins.

So goes life in Hollywood.

Indeed, the Coopster has jumped on the Marvel bandwagon and is set to do the voice work for Rocket Raccoon, one of the characters in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy starring Chris Pratt, Zoë Saldana, Benicio Del Toro (who will be playing the Collector), Lee Pace, and Glenn Close.

The actor will be popping both his animated and his superhero cherries with the summer 2014 release.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

K. Stew Does the Fragrance Thing, Too

Yo, Robert Pattinson – your ex Kristen Stewart is moving into your turf.

Although, technically, I think she got into the fragrance-hawking game first (she reportedly has been at it since last year).

Anyway, behold K. Stew’s latest ad for Balenciaga’s Florabotanica.

Très chic, girl. Très chic.

Photo: BeautyScene.net.

Lamar Odom’s Headed to a Different Kinda Court

Personally embattled NBA star Lamar Odom was arrested on a DUI charge in L.A. in the wee hours this morning.

Someone release a new pic of North West double-pronto!

Nah, all joking aside, the arrest caps a not-so-good news week for Odom – and his wife, the funniest Kardashian, Khloé.

The couple is at the center of lots of speculation related to the basketballer’s health troubles. They say he’s been binging on cocaine, that he’s gone MIA, that she’s devastated – you know...the works.

Hope Odom will get it together and get well soon. Khloé – the one Kardashian that has escaped me in all time out on red carpets – seems like a hoot (who turned it around herself). I can tell she is a bit of a tough cookie, but I will say it anyway: Stay strong, girl.

Photo: ABCNews.Go.com.

The Baby Pea Is Here!

Let’s hear it for new parents Fergie and Josh Duhamel!

Their son Axl Jack – what...a semi-normal name! – was born in L.A. yesterday.

I’ve got a feeling that that’s gonna be one rockin’ kid.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

Just Because, Pt. 95

Dear Sandra Bullock and George Clooney,

You two looked like such a gorgeous couple at the Venice Film Festival premiere of your upcoming Gravity earlier this week.

Please, consider doing us all a favor and date.

Just a thought.

I mean, look at yourselves.

Swoon much?

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

See Adam Levine in His Underwear

We get it, Behati Prinsloo – you get to see your fiancé Adam Levine in his undies and beyond.

Not need to brag, beeyotch.

But...thank you for sharing this silliness.

Thank you so much.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

Queen of the Glass Castle

This is Jennifer Lawrence’s world, and, yeah...we’re just living in it.

That girl already has an Oscar, a couple of successful franchises that will keep her in jack forever, a cute back-on bf, a to-die-for relationship with a buzzy director, a drive that will not quit, and the September 2013 cover of Vogue. Not to mention a fantastic personality.

She has it all.

But Vogue is what brings me to this bit of news: J. Law is dead-set on also having staying power in Hollywood.

Buried toward the end of the fashion bible’s story on Lawrence is the fact that she is working on an adaptation of Jeanette Walls’ 2006 best-seller The Glass Castle.

This on top of her producing work on Serena, in which she stars with her Silver Linings Playbook leading man Bradley Cooper, and the forthcoming The Rules of Inheritance.

As I said once before: the more J. Law the better.

Photo: Vogue.com.

Update: J. Law is not producing Serena.

No, Not Michael Douglas and CZ-J!

Jeez, I took a nap yesterday afternoon and woke up to find out that Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are taking a break from each other.

OK, it’s my fault for letting a 20-minute snooze turn into a three-hour situation, but still – c’mon!

I mean, I really thought that, May-December jokes be darned, these two really would be together forever.

Which they still might.

The couple only has separated for now, with neither Douglas not CZ-J filing for divorce or legal separation (they have two children together, a son, 13, and a daughter, 10).

Seems, however, that recent life events – his cancer, her bipolar II disorder struggles – have taken a toll on the relationship, so the two are taking a little time to reassess the future, each on their own. For now. Fingers crossed.

Photo: IMDb.com.

Ultron Catches a Spader

And we have us an Ultron!

James Spader has been cast as the villain of Joss Whedon’s forthcoming Avengers sequel, The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The star of NBC’s upcoming The Blacklist, I guess, will voice the sentient, power-hungry robot created by Dr. Henry Pym, a.k.a. Ant-Man, another Marvel character who’s also getting his own movie and will be featured in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Ultron, however, reportedly will not be part of the Ant-Man project. If memory serves, he will be a creation of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) that goes rogue.

So J.A.R.V.I.S. (Stark’s robotic sidekick voiced by Paul Bettany) doesn’t become Ultron then, huh.

Photo: IMDb.com.

A Friend in Scandal

Lisa Kudrow is coming back to TV.

The Friends star who, yes, is technically on the tube right now (on Showtime’s Web Therapy, right?), is making her way back to network this fall now that she’s booked a part on the sudsy hit Scandal.

The Emmy winner reportedly will recur as a politician on the show’s third season. (A friend is hoping she will play “Attorney General Valerie Cherish.”)

Welcome back, lady.

Photo: ConstantContact.com.

Demi Lovato Goes Gay

No Heather Morris? No problem.

Ms. Santana is getting a new love interest in the form of Ms. Demi Lovato on TV’s Glee next season.

Indeed, as confirmed by the fan-favorite character’s portrayer, Ms. Naya Rivera, out on the red carpet at the MTV VMAs last weekend, Lovato will guest on the upcoming fifth season of the show as someone Santana & Co. will meet in New York.

The two are expected to sing “Here Comes the Sun” on the upcoming Beatles tribute episode.

Photo: TimesUnion.com.

We Have Us a Messalla

And in further Hunger Games: Mockingjay casting news, Evan Ross has landed a big opportunity to be known as something other than Diana Ross’ son.

Or Ashlee Simpson’s new bf.

The actor – whom you may remember from a turn on The CW’s 90210 – is gonna play Messalla in the 2014 and 2015 blockbusters.

In case you are not familiar with Suzanne Collins’ books, Messalla is the assistant to Cressida (Natalie Dormer), the Capitol film director who flees the establishment to chronicle Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) revolution.

Photo: Wohoo.co.uk.

Sole Survivor

So does this mean the Governor is gonna meet his maker or som’in’ come the upcoming new season of AMC’s The Walking Dead?

I ask ’cause his portrayer, tall glass o’ British water David Morrissey, has landed the lead on a potential new show for the cabler.

Morrissey has been tapped to star on Line of Sight, the story of a National Transportation Safety Board investigator and sole survivor of a mysterious plane crash who is on a quest for answers.

For the time being, the actor will work on the show’s pilot while he carries on with production on the fourth season of the zombie smash.

After that time will tell what happens to the Governor. Or to Line of Sight, for that matter – at this point it is anybody’s guess whether the pilot will go to series.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

Merchant of Life

He’s sexy and we know it.

Come this awards season, though, Matthew McConaughey will prove, in his most physically demanding role yet, that he’s a fine damn actor (something he’s been really working toward since 2011’s The Lincoln Lawyer).

So get ready then for Dallas Buyers Club, a.k.a. the film for which the Shirtless Wonder dropped out of Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

In it he stars as a real-life AIDS patient named Ron Woodroof who, back in the ’80s, stood up to the medical establishment by smuggling life-saving meds into the United States for himself and for others living with the disease. And in it he looks to be quite great.

I mean, I’m totally expecting an nomination-caliber performance, with a carefully orchestrated Oscar campaign to go with it.

McConaughey has not only the talent to go the distance on this one. He also has the charisma and the powerful A-List friends (including his Wolf of Wall Street buddies Scorsese and DiCaprio) to help him boost his odds.

Mark my words: We will be talking about this one well into next winter.

Dallas Buyers Club, co-starring Jennifer Garner and Gael García Bernal Jared Leto, is due out on Nov. 1.

Photo: TheNosebleeds.com.

Is Derek Shepherd Running Off with Cristina Yang?

Somebody stop the bleeding over on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy, please.

We’re already losing Sandra Oh at the end of next season, and although, no, Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd is not running off with Oh’s Cristina Yang – she wouldn’t do that to her person, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) – the actor might not stick around for a potential eleventh season.

“I think it depends on renegotiations, quite honestly,” Dempsey has told David Letterman. “I could stay, I may go, who knows?”

One issue that will inform his decision-making process? Whether producers work out a schedule that allows the guy to keep racing his cars (The Demps is a racing fiend).

“When you’ve been on a show for 200 episodes, it’s about surviving,” he told Dave. “It’s like being in a band – you’re given one specific note that you can play. I’m grateful I have the gig, but it’s not the same as being in a race car.”

You heard the guy, Shonda Rhimes. Let him have his speed (and surprise him with some exciting new notes to play; and, you know...tweet some support for Patrick Dempsey: Racing Le Mans, which is airing tomorrow night on Velocity by Discovery), he’ll let us have some more McDreamy.

Photo: SanFrancisco.CBSLocal.com.

Eminem Goes Berzerk

Oh, in case you missed it last night during the VMAs, Eminem is back, yo.

The modern-day poet announced that his new album MMLP2 is coming out a day before my birthday this Nov. 5

You already may have heard Slim Shady’s song for the new Call of Duty: Ghosts videogame, “Survival,” but here’s “Berzerk,” the official first single off his upcoming eighth album:

Cowboy Lover Man

Well, clearly, cable’s where it’s at if you were on TV’s Fringe the past few years.

Anna Torv is already starring on a potential new HBO show, and now Joshua Jackson has signed on to lead a little something new – a one-hour drama – over at Showtime.

The erstwhile Pacey Peter is gonna star on The Affair, as a the Long Island-cowboy-corner of a complicated love square that also involves Dominic West (HBO’s The Wire) and Maura Tierney.

The Affair, which counts among its powers that be folks that cut their teeth on HBO’s gone-to-soon In Treatment, will be told separately from the male and the female perspective.

Photo: AceShowbiz.com.

Enter the World of Divergent

The MTV VMAs earlier tonight were a mixed bag until Justin Timberlake decided to own the show.

The pre-show performers were a joke an affront to my generation (I felt old, yo – WTF is an Austin Mahone?).

Awards were presented before the show, sans proper acceptances.

Lady GaGa opened the show with an unfortunate extreme close-up.

I could go on and on (I liked the Miley Cyrus-Robin Thicke performance – I dig what those two do; I loved that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won an award for “Same Love” and that they invited Jennifer Hudson to perform the song with them; and hearted the amazing backdrop that Katy Perry got her “Roar” to...’cause New York does it better).

There was something for movie fans, too: The first trailer for Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet made its debut during the show.

And I ate it up, hook, line, and sinker. Check it:

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Divergent will arrive in theaters on March 21. Just in time to then win plenty of MTV Movie Awards.

President of Pop JT Owned the MTV VMAs

So that long-awaited and much-anticipated N’SYNC reunion came to be on tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards, and it was awesome.

Not as awesome as the absolutely show-stopping performance by the Jimmy Fallon-annointed President of Pop – and Video of the Year winner, for the fantastic “Mirrors” – Justin Timberlake, though.

That was, well...I couldn’t possibly begin to tell you, so watch.

I am. Again and again until MTV takes this amazing situation off the Web on some silly claim.

And click here to find out who took home the 2013 Moonmen (winners included Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Pink, and Taylor Swift).

Not that’s how you receive what is essentially a Lifetime Achievement Award. By showcasing that for which you are being honored. And taking numbers.

#FTW! 

Photo: HuffingtonPost.com.