Nice Bra, Lady GaGa

Lady GaGa premiered the much-anticipated, Steven Klein-directed video for “Alejandro” today – and I gotta say, trying too hard much?

The video clocks in at almost nine minutes, and while the singer’s single-handedly revitalizing the art of making videos, I can’t say this one is as exciting as the video for “Bad Romance,” or even the “Telephone” one.



Nice homage to Madonna, though, with your rifle-toting bra, girl. And your religious symbols. And your platinum blond short hair....

Assimilated

Last fall, Grey’s Anatomy introduced a foursome so polarizing it was only a matter of time until they exited the show.

All four made it through the season, though, but two met their maker during the bulletstastic season finale.

Now, one of the survivors, Dr. Jackson Avery played by the stunning Jesse Williams, is sticking around Seattle Grace for good, long while. The actor has been officially upgraded to series regular.

A deal for fellow Mercy Wester, Dr. April Kepner (Sarah Drew), is being worked on for the show’s seventh season.

Photo: Flixster.com.

Update: A deal for Sarah Drew to join the cast of Grey’s Anatomy full time has been reached.

She better not mean trouble for Meredith and McDreamy.

A Winning Combo

Sandra Bullock asked, “Can we please go back to normal?” at last night’s MTV Movie Awards (click here for a list of winners), and now the actress is leading the way by getting back to work.

Bullock reportedly will reunite with her Proposal co-star Ryan Reynolds – Hottie Alert! – for a new action comedy, tentatively titled Most Wanted.

The movie will revolve around a criminal (Bullock) being escorted to court by a U.S. Marshall (Reynolds) when they’re ambushed and forced to go on the run. Then they fall in love, I’m sure.

Given the success of The Proposal last summer, the outpouring of good will that permeates the Bullocksphere, and how H-O-T Reynolds is (he’s starring in the upcoming Green Lantern), I’d say this project is a surefire hit.

All they need to do now is to find a part for Betty White.

Photo: DailyRadar.com.

Simply Irresistible, Pt. 67

Sandra Bullock stepped back into the spotlight sooner than expected this weekend, showing up, looking fierce in a black leather dress, at the Spike TV Guys Choice 2010 Awards.

The actress was there to accept the Troops Choice Award for Entertainer of the Year, which is chosen by members of the military.

“Let’s be honest here, just for a moment. We’re all going to be honest, right?” she joked. “Did I win this for being entertainer of the year, or did I win this because of the spectacular I.E.D. [improvised explosive device] explosion that became my personal life?!”

Love it!

Photo: EW.com.

Taking Flight

Loving this piece of casting news.

Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner is thisclose to signing on to The Avengers, joining Marvel MVPs Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury).

The actor would play Hawkeye, a villain who turns Avenger, in the Joss Whedon-directed project.

Photo: CinemaVeryTasty.com.

What’s the Word? Oh Yeah…Yummy!

Last night, Ricky Martin made his first major public appearance – an oh-so-handsome one, no less! – since coming out of the closet.

The singer attended amfAR’s Inspiration Gala at the New York Public Library, where he was recognized for his philanthropic efforts.

Kylie Minogue hosted the event, which brought out “All the Lovers,” if you will: Cheyenne Jackson was also in the house.

Photo: People.com.

Well, Since He Has the Time...

Ooh, this is the kind of news I like.

Daniel Craig reportedly is in talks to star as journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the Hollywood adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The studio behind the project has not confirmed the news.

The movie, which David Fincher will direct, will bring to the silver screen the first book in Stieg Larsson’s best-selling Millennium Trilogy.

Craig was supposed to begin work on Bond 23 this fall, but the movie is stuck in financing limbo. Up next, though, is Cowboys & Aliens.

Photo: TheCinemaSource.com.

Mad Science

The new sci-fi thriller Splice is…kinda funny.

A good thing since it’s not necessarily edge-of-your-seat exciting through and through as much as it is often distractingly unbelievable in an oh-no-they-di’n’t sort of way. So thanks for the chuckles. But also a bad thing since, well...it’s supposed to be...uh...scary.

Adrien Brody – Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, lest your forget – plays Clive Nicoli, a scientist so laid-back it made me question his aptitude for the genetic experiments he conducts.

He works for a pharmaceutical giant at this research lab called NERD (which, cleverly, stands for Nucleic Exchange Research and Development) with his longtime girlfriend Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley), who’s obviously smart, yet aggroyingly stoopid.

Together, this couple of brilliant, hipsteresque people of science are on the cutting edge of DNA splicing – on the brink of something truly revolutionary, of a discovery that will write their ticket. Clive is so laissez-his-gf-faire, though, you’d think they’re working on simple math, not something that could change the world for the horrendous.

Anyway, already one of their experiments has proven a success. By splicing together several animals, Clive and Elsa have created a couple of slug-like life forms that may hold many riches for their pharmacompany employer. That, in turn, means they have to focus completely on the task at hand, but scientific curiosity cannot be helped, and soon Elsa is deciding, for the both of them, that they should see if they can splice anything with human DNA.

Just for funsies.

Working off the grid, they play god, momentarily considering their moral or professional obligations, but ultimately manufacturing a one-of-a-kind creature that is greater than the sum of its parts: a rapidly developing animal/human hybrid that may be a step up on the evolutionary ladder.

Or their undoing.

The female creature they name Dren (think about it) awakens some odd maternal feelings in Elsa, evokes something far-from-paternal in Clive – the movie features a controversial sex scene, which got plenty of laughs at the screening I attended – and poses a threat to them all.

The movie starts out a taut something, but ends up a borderline ludicrous something else. It switches genres on the audience a little bit in an unseemless way that left me confused. I appreciated that it didn’t turn into a kill-one-a-time joint, but, like Dren, it just felt overstuffed, y’ know.

My Rating **

Photo: Warner Bros.

R.I.P. Blanche

It’s a sad, sad day for Golden Girls fans: Rue McClanahan has left the building. The erstwhile Blanche Devereaux was 76.

“She passed away at 1 a.m.,” her manager said. “She had a massive stroke.” May she rest in peace in heaven in the company of Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur.

The actress – a triple threat, she did film, theater (Wicked), and, of course, TV – had been in ill health for some time. She had a minor stroke last fall after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

Betty White, the lone Golden Girl left, said upon hearing of the sad news, “Rue was a close and dear friend. I treasured our relationship. It hurts more than I even thought it would, if that’s even possible.”

I know what she means.



Update: Click here for more celebrity reaction to McClanahan’s passing.

Bro

Cutie patootie extraordinaire Paul Rudd is going to star in My Idiot Brother.

The Clueless and I Love Your, Man star will play an idealist dealing with his overbearing mother who crashes into the homes of his three ambitious sisters and brings truth, happiness, and a sunny disposition into their lives while also wreaking havoc.

I can’t think of anyone better for the role.

Photo: EW.com.

In On the Story

Jason Patric is joining Diane Keaton in the HBO comedy pilot Tilda.

Ellen Page is also on board for the half-hour comedy pilot about a powerful and much-feared Hollywood blogger, playing a studio assistant the titular character takes under her wing.

Patric will play the mastermind behind a media empire.

Photo: Yahoo! Movies.

What a Gleeful Occasion

Time for best wishes: Jane Lynch has gone and gotten married.

Glee’s Sue Sylvester wed psychiatrist Dr. Lara Embry last night in Massachusetts.

“They were very happy. There was lots of smiling,” a source said.

Sweet!

Perhaps now that, since Glee is such a hit throughout the country, more and more people will hear of the happy news and think it’s cool that these two ladies got hitched, that it is something that every happy couple has the right to do.

Photo: CelebriFi.com.

Loverstastic

Kylie Minogue is back with a cute little breathy song called “All the Lovers,” the first single off her upcoming album Aphrodite, due out July 5.

“‘All the Lovers’ had to be the first single,” the singer said. “It sums up the euphoria of the album perfectly. It gives me goosebumps, so I’m really excited to hear what everyone thinks of it.”

The video was released today, and it’s...interesting.

I knew the treatment for it called for people to run to one another and like, take their shirts off and start making out and whatnot, but then I saw that La Minogue emerges from under a flesh pile all goddess-like. She reminded me of Maryann, the maenad from the last season of True Blood.

And Maryann was all about euphoria. I’m glad Kylie channels her energy better.

Photo: Idolator.com.

Desert Master

It was a battle for the ages: Whose movie would I see over the Memorial Day weekend, the Sex-y ladies’ or SILF Jake Gyllenhaal’s?

Well, I saw Sex and the City 2 (again) on Friday – not ’cause I thought I’d like it more the second time around…I just needed to be mildly amused for three hours – and Gyllen-yum’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time today. I didn’t care for it all that much. Its star’s biceps is another story.

Set in the legendary lands of Persia, this adaptation of a videogame strives for Pirates of the Caribbean-like fun, but comes up short. Like Johnny Depp’s franchise, this one, too, is a Jerry Bruckheimer joint, so it’s plenty action-packed and effects-driven, but there’s only so much you can do in the desert, y’ know.

So the focus has to be on the story, which is not all that rich.

Gyllenhaal plays the free-spirited, non-noble-blooded Prince Dastan, a buff and tan hunk with long hair. He was spotted at a market as a child by the king, who adopted him because of his extraordinary exhibit of bravery and generosity – and knack for Parkour – saving a fellow street rat.

All grown up (I’ll say), Dastan and his older brothers get along famously and do battle together. It is on a journey to overtake the holy city of Alamut that his final destiny begins to manifest itself. The princes attack the city, on the recommendation of the king’s brother Nazim (Ben Kingsley), and take it, alright, but not without there being fateful consequences. Worse, they don’t know they’re doing their uncle’s evil bidding.

Oooh.

Dastan, being the adopted son, is scapegoated when the king is murdered, so he partners with the Alamutian princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton, in a role that, if you close your eyes for a second, sounds exactly like the one she played in Clash of the Titans) and escapes prosecution and certain death.

Together, they race against dark forces to clear Dastan’s name, prevent Nazim’s power grab, and safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the fabled Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

It all sounds so much more exciting than it is, though.

Honestly, the only thing that kept my attention was Gyllenhaals’ physique, not only because it’s ridikolously aspirational but because it entertained. They guy’s leaping from roof to roof, doing battle with swords, riding horses – the heroic works. Except for choice bon mots here or there, all of which were featured in the movie’s trailer, it is up to Jakey’s broad, defined shoulders to bare the weight of a big blockbuster built...on sand.

My Rating **

Photo: Walt Disney Pictures.

A Break for Iron Man

The Avengers movie Joss Whedon is helming – yay! – definitely will call upon Iron Man, but don’t expect to see Robert Downey Jr. suit up in his shiny armor until the movie comes out in 2012.

Iron Man director Jon Favreau has confirmed neither Tony Stark nor his alter ego will appear in next summer’s Thor or Captain America: The First Avenger.

He also said he’s keen on seeing just how the 2012-due blockbuster will bring together all these superheroes, as well as, potentially, the Hulk.

“I’m not sure where The Avengers goes,” Favreau said. “There is no shooting draft written yet. It’s gonna be a big undertaking for Marvel…. All that has to inform one unified vision in [the movie]. It’s a very exciting prospect.”

Up next for Favreau is Cowboys & Aliens starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Afterward, he will take on a third Iron Man. (The sequel is in theaters now.)

Photo: Paramount Pictures.

R.I.P. Easy Rider

Dennis Hopper has lost his battle with prostate cancer.

The Easy Rider writer-director-star died today in Los Angeles. He was 74.

I will always remember him as the villain in Speed and 24’s first season.

Photo: LiveForFilms.com.

R.I.P. Arnold

Gary Coleman, the erstwhile Arnold Jackson from Diff’rent Strokes, died today in a Utah hospital. He was 42.

The actor suffered an intracranial hemorrhage after falling at home on Wednesday, and slipped into a coma yesterday.

No one ever said “Whatchoo talkin’ about, Willis?” the way he did, and no one ever will. Let’s remember him today for that, and not for his run-ins with tabloid infamy, OK.

Photo: ScrapeTV.com.

From the Runway to the Screen

Now that Megan Fox is off the third Transformers movie, someone’s got to replace, and all eyes are on Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

The British stunner reportedly “has read for the part and is a frontrunner for the role” as Shia LaBeouf’s new girlfriend.

Just what the world, and Michael Bay, needs: another model-cum-actress.

Photo: Fashionista.com.

Xd

Wanted star James McAvoy is enrolling in X-Men: First Class.

The Scottish actor will star as Charles Xavier in the movie, which will be directed by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Kick-Ass) and chronicles the younger years of Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr before they became archenemies Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen).

The studio will announce who will play Lehnsherr soon.

X-Men: First Class will open on June 3, 2011.

Photo: The-Little-Owl.com.

The Next Gen

Scream 4 is about to start shooting, but casting is underway and taking shape.

Hayden Panettiere and Ashley Greene are said to be in the running for roles in the next round of movies, and now comes news that Emma Roberts has joined Never Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette in the fourthquel.

Roberts reportedly will play primary heroine Jill in Scream 4, which will revisit Sid’s good ol’ Woodsboro hometown.

“I’m so excited to be part of this groundbreaking franchise,” the young actress said. “It’s the perfect opportunity for me to do something completely different than I’ve ever done before.”

Director-producer said the up-and-comer was chosen for her “talent, beauty, and range, [which] will add immensely to the sophistication, intensity, and fun of the Scream franchise as it returns to the screen once more.”

Hey – maybe they can get aunt Julia Roberts to cameo or som’in’.

Photo: GossipTeen.com.