Opposites Attract

Katherine Heigl is intent on happening, and with her latest, The Ugly Truth (directed by Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law, and 21 helmer Robert Luketic), she just may be a step closer to succeeding in her quest.

America, your new Sweetheart wants you. Whaddya say?

OK, I’ll admit it: I thought this movie was going to, well…suck.

It didn’t.

Point 1 for star and executive producer Heigl.

Its trailer made this late-summer rom-com look so…cutesy and by-the-book, which it is in many levels. But it’s also surprisingly, say, risqué, more so than I thought it would be. (Heigl says “f---,” and “c---.” Gasp!)

It’s uptight-girl-meets-fun-loving-boy, see them resist each other only to, natch, eventually fall in love with each other. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.

Except, The Ugly Truth is packin’ a few surprises of its own, enough to elevate the standard-issue quality of its oft-amusing 95 minutes, but not enough to push the envelope and really make them memorable.

Heigl, who has been making confident trips to the big screen in recent years with 2007’s Knocked Up and last year’s 27 Dresses – leaving behind the comfort and numerous off-cam controversies of TV’s Grey’s Anatomy – is easy to watch as Abby Richter, a highly efficient Sacramento morning-show producer.

Abby’s a proactive gal: she knows exactly what she wants in every area of life, including men (and she has the checklist to prove it). Her problem is this square in which she leaves is limiting – she’s romantically challenged.

Actually, her real problem, or what she perceives it to be, is the arrival at work of public-access TV personality Mike Chadway (300’s Gerard Butler), a hardcore dude’s dude who’s unabashed in his preaching the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.

Both are archetypes of the most extreme kind. She’s a prude, he’s a crude. Obviously, it’s a match made in heaven, and you can guess what happens, so you really don’t need to watch what happens, unless you really want to see Heigl have on orgasm on screen.

At a restaurant table.

Courtesy of a pair of vibrating black lace panties given to her by Butler, which is part of a subplot involving Abby trying to be a different version of herself, naturally per Mike’s instruction, to bag her hot doctor neighbor (if she gets him, then he quits the show – and if you know your rom-coms, then you know this is a classic, if cliché contraption, and you should be shuddering at the thought of it).

Point 2 for chutzpah. And for pulling it off.

The movie does come alive when Butler’s on screen. He has a knack for putting the “man” in commanding when he dispenses borderline questionable advice. But he somehow makes it work, so a point for him, too. He and Heigl sizzle when they’re together, but in a so-so hamburger kinda way, not like a juicy steak. That’s an automatic half-a-point deduction right there.

And so I say that when a movie makes me hungry more than it leaves me with a bellyful of entertainment, you know it’s just OK.

And I know both stars can do better.

Adding up all the points I give The Ugly Truth…

My Rating **1/2

Photo: Sony Pictures.

Somewhere Over It Is Cheyenne

Broadway MVP and overall hottie Cheyenne Jackson – ask anyone – will star in the Great White Way revival of Finian’s Rainbow, starting previews on Oct. 8 for an Oct. 29 opening.

The show is about Irish fortune hunters in the mythical Southern U.S. state of Missitucky.

Jackson’s previous Broadway credits include Xanadu, All Shook Up, Aida, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Sounds like fall in New York just got a bit handsomer, what with Jude Law, and Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman also headed for the stage in the city.

Now, this is how you stimulate tourism.

Photo: BroadwayWorld.com.

Gwyneth Can and Does Cook!

I love that Gwyneth Paltrow made a video for her latest GOOP newsletter that clearly shows she can cook a chicken.

If Paltrow really thought she is better than the rest of us, people who like to give the actress grief over her newsletter, she so would’ve sat and pointed directions at a helper:



I’m so trying my hand at her roast chicken and potatoes (although I trust I won’t lose a tater)….

In Every Nation

Madonna’s Celebration is coming.

That’s the title of the Queen of Pop’s upcoming third greatest hits compilation, a double-CD set featuring many of her most successful single and new tracks produced by DJ Paul Oakenfold, such as “Celebration,” f.k.a. “Celebrate,” the remix of which I’ve heard and quite like.

The songs on Celebration have all been remastered and selected by Madonna and her fans. They cover the expanse of the Material Girl’s extraordinary career of hits including “Everybody,” “Express Yourself,” “Vogue,” and “4 Minutes.”

A DVD of M’s best videos, including a few never-before-available-on-DVD ones, will be released simultaneously.

“Celebration” will be released on Aug. 3. A video for the single, featuring M fans, was just shot in Milan and Barcelona. It was directed by longtime M collaborator Jonas Åkerlund (“Ray of Light”), and will be included on the DVD.

Celebration’s pretty-cool cover was created by street pop artist Mr. Brainwash, best known on the scene for “throwing modern cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to eleven.”

Photo: MadonnaTribe.com.

The Why

T.R. Knight, a.k.a. Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. George O’Malley, left the hit TV show because he had a “need to be fulfilled in my work.”

That’s what it all comes down to in a new Entertainment Weekly cover story out this week.

And you know what, I can respect that.

Photo: EW.com.

And He Expects You to Be Able to Tell the Date?

Gilles Marini, Samantha’s studly neighbor in the Sex and the City movie, sure knows how to tease.

The actor is putting out...a 2010 calendar, and photographer Fred Goudon, ever the giver (ever the savvy project promoter), has shared a few of the outtakes.

Grab a hanky and drool. Rinse and repeat.

Photo: E! Online.

Down the Rabbit Hole We Go

Alice in Wonderland is officially the 2010 movie I’m anticipating the mostest – sorry, SJP & Co., let’s see what you got in the Sex and the City sequel this fall.

I mean, look at what Tim Burton has created:



This is going to be amazing. Good for you, Mia Wasikowska!

Project Drama

The long-awaited sixth season of Project Runway – remember, now on Lifetime – is but a month away, but before the Aug. 20 premiere, the show will bring back eight superstar designers from years past, including Ulli Herzner, Santino Rice, Jeffrey Sebelia, Sweet P, and cutie patootie Daniel Vosovic (pictured at right) for a special two-hour all-star challenge.

The Project Runway alumni surely will bring on the drama as they match wits competing for a $100,000 cash prize.

Loves it.

Photo: PassportMagazine.com.

Sam’s the Man

As the season begins to wind down, I have to say it: It so was the summer of Sam (Worthington).

And the Aussie who totally stole Terminator Salvation from Christian Bale is not slowing down anytime soon. He’s got three movies nicely spaced out to open in the next year or so, and he’s just signed on to star in a remake of The Candidate, a recent Danish thriller.

The movie revolves around an attorney who goes after a group of blackmailers after he is accused of murdering a one-night stand.

In a nothing-is-what-it-seems fantasia reminiscent of David Fincher’s The Game, the mystery ends up tying back into the suspect death of his father.

Worthington running around (presumably) in a suit? Count me in!

Photo: GothamJournal.com.

An Offer She Couldn’t Refuse

Jamie-Lynn Sigler, a.k.a. The Sopranos’ Meadow, has been cast as Ugly Betty’s replacement.

No, America Ferrera isn’t leaving the show that made her a household name. Evidently, Betty – Spoiler Alert! – was promoted to features editor in May’s finale, which I’d know if I caught up with the second half of Ugly Betty’s last season, already. So Daniel (Eric Mabius’ character) is going to need a new assistant….

Cue in Sigler.

The actress will recur as Natalie, Daniel's sexy, spiritual, funny new assistant.

No word on whether she’ll be trouble, though.

Photo: About.com.

Divas: The Next Generation

After a few years, VH-1 is bringing back its Divas show this fall, and has enlisted bright young things Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, and – oy! – Miley Cyrus to headline the 2009 show, which will air live on VH-1 on Sept. 17 from the Brooklyn Academy of Music Howard Gilman Opera House.

Mmm…I really thought Alicia Keys would’ve made the cut.

Additional presenters and performers like, say, one of the veteran divas (clear your schedules, Celine, Gloria, and Mariah) will be announced soon.

“Adele, Kelly, Leona, and Miley have all captured the world’s attention with their talent and have earned their designation as VH-1 Divas this year,” said a network suit. “Don’t let some of their young age’s fool you – these women are among the best entertainers in the world and will continue to thrill music fans for a long time to come.”

As in previous years, VH-1’s Divas special will raise funds for the VH-1 Save the Music Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in American public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education.

Photo: VH1.com.

Happy Shiny Guy

Mika’s back on the scene, and he’s a Mika as ever.

The Brit’s new single, “We Are Golden,” is out there on the blogosphere for everyone to enjoy, and it’s classic Mika.

It’s cheery and happy, and I want some and more.

Photo: GetToTheFront.co.uk.

Tragedy in Marseille

Two people have died after a stage being erected for an upcoming Madonna concert collapsed at the Velodrome in Marseilles, France.

Charles Prow, a British worker, died today from injuries sustained in the accident. Frenchman Charles Criscenzo passed away yesterday. Eight other injuries have been reported.

Madonna has cancelled the July 19 stop of her “Sticky & Sweet Tour” in Marseilles. No reason for the accident has yet been reported.

“My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news,” she said in a statement. Further, in Udine, Italy, last night, the Queen of Pop addressed the accident, and struggled to make it through the show.

“Before I continue the show I want to take a moment to acknowledge and pay tribute to two people who lost their lives today. I don’t know if you’ve heard. Two men building my show in Marseille where we’re going next…the crane fell, and we don’t know why,” she said. “I hate to be associated with suffering. I want to pay tribute to their families. Let’s take a moment to appreciate our family, loved ones, friends around us.” She then asked the audience to give it up for them.
So sad, indeed.
Photo: Madonnalicious.com.
Update: Madonna visited with the family of the two Charlies over the weekend, on the day of the concert for which the stage was being erected. The reason for the accident remains unclear.

OMJ

Because you can never have too much Jake Gyllenhaal in your day, here’s a first look at the actor as Prince Dastan in next summer’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Can I get my tickets already?

Photo: EW.com.

The Fallen and the Left Standing

In the December drama Brothers directed by Jim Sheridan, Tobey Maguire plays a soldier sent to fight in Afghanistan.

Presumed dead, his black-sheep brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes caretaker to his wife (Natalie Portman) and children.

And just when Gyllenhaal and Portman’s characters begin to grow closer, Maguire’s re-enters the picture, and that’s when things begin to really unravel.

Photo: PhotoBucket.com.

If Britney, Lindsay, Mel & Co. Have Taught Us Anything…

It is that everyone likes a hot mess.

And if Cobra Starship have anything to say about it, everybody’s gonna love Hot Mess, their upcoming album out on Aug. 11, the eponymous single off of which you can listen to, again and again, over and over, here.

I’ve fallen for the group – hard – especially after listening and watching the video for “Good Girls Go Bad,” featuring Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester:



Spotted: Me, buying this CD ASAP.

Iron (Man) Is Good for Ya

Entertainment Weekly is celebrating Comic-Con this week with an issue featuring Iron Man 2 on the cover.

The second installment in the superhero franchise won’t hit the big screen until next May, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a first look-see at what new villain Mickey Rourke will look like, or check out Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.

Click here for more, more, more.

Photo: EW.com.

And the Emmy Nominations Go to…

First of all, I love that Chandra Wilson announced the Emmy Awards nominations this morning.

Love it, love her. And love that she’s a double-nominee (for her supporting work on Grey’s Anatomy and for her leading work in a miniseries) this year.

Now, on to the business at hand.

The nominations aren’t online just yet, but off the top of my head:

• Wow, there’s a lot more nominees this year, which makes room for Best Actress in a Comedy nominee Sarah frakkin’ Silverman.


• 24 was shut out of Best Drama, but not Lost. Yay. But where are the Island dwellers in the acting categories?


• Totally so heart that Gabriel Byrne (pictured at right) was nominated for Best Actor in a Drama for HBO’s In Treatment, my new TV addiction.


• No Ugly Betty in the major categories. Also, there is something worth nominating on The CW, and her name is Leighton Meester.


• Co-announcer Jim Parsons, from The Big Bang Theory, is kinda cute.

The awards show, which will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air on Sept. 20.

Photo: EW.com.

Update: Click here for a complete list of nominees, which includes Jennifer Aniston (for her guest turn on 30 Rock); Justin Timberlake (for his SNL guest-hosting and for co-writting the digital short “Motherlover”); and 30 Rock’s supporting boys and girl, Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer and Jane Krakowski.

Rollergirl

The trailer for Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It, has hit the WWW.

In the Oct. 9 movie, Ellen Page (Juno) plays Bliss Cavendar, a Bodeen, Texas, indie-rock-loving misfit who finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.

Barrymore, Kristen Wiig (TV’s SNL), Juliette Lewis, and Eve co-star in the ultimate-chick-flick-of-the-year-by-an-ultimate-chick movie.

Photo: Teaser-Trailer.com.

Would You Buy Avon from This Guy?

After he’s done with Broadway this fall, Hugh Jackman will go door-to-door in the Full Monty-ish Avon Man.

The I-already-like-it-a-lot comedy follows men who are laid off from their jobs at a car dealership, and one – probably Jackman – becomes an Avon salesman. While the venture is initially emasculating, the character eventually becomes a top seller due to his charm and good looks – uh duh! – and manages to coerce his buddies to join him in the endeavor to win a regional sales contest.

They so should shoot this in Miami – and use my house as a location.

Photo: PhotoBucket.com.

Potter vs. Voldemort: The Stage is Set

As a non-reader of J.K. Rowling’s oeuvre who so enjoys the Harry Potter movies, I have to say I cannot wait for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – a.k.a. the final movie in the blockbuster series…which will be split in two! – to come out: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince does that a great job at setting the stage for what’s to come.

Director David Yates, who took over the franchise with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is ushering the Potter Gang into young adulthood and the upcoming battle against He Who Must Not Be Named, with an expert hand.

In this sixth chapter in the saga – a darker entry, indeed – lines have been drawn and sides have been seemingly chosen. Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), whom we’re reminded often is the Chosen One, suspects that dangers may lurk within the school, and that one of the students has turned to the dark side, but Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) worries more about preparing him for the final battle that he knows is coming than with looking for a traitor. The former task is more important.

Together, the two work to find the key to unlocking Voldemort’s defenses (cue in the nifty liquid memories for his origin story), and to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected Professor Horace Slughorn (Moulin Rouge!’s Jim Broadbent), whom he believes knows more about the young wizard Tom Riddle, who grew up to become you know who, than he says.

As if this weren’t bad enough, the student body at Hogwarts is still facing an even trickier adversary: adolescence.

For one, Harry finds himself more and more drawn to the increasingly essential Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright), and for two, Quidditch MVP Ron (Rupert Grint) must contend with the advances of Lavender Brown, an eager fan, while Hermione (Emma Watson) must contend with her feelings and jealousy over Ron.

But hey, how about the Half-Blood Prince: Who is he? That you’ll have to watch, and watch you will, to find out.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a bridge movie leading to the end of a most-absorbing story. It’s also, quite possibly, the saddest movie in the franchise, so bring a hanky.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: Warner Bros.

Bridget’s Back!

Renée Zellweger has signed on to play her signature role of Bridget Jones again in an upcoming this installment of the British heroine’s misadventures.

I knew she was just looking for an excuse to let herself go and eat….

The untitled project isn’t expected to go into production until late 2010, and is likely to focus on Bridget’s attempt to have a baby in her 40s.

Photo: ScreenHead.com.

Get Ready to Scream

It’s not a rumor anymore: Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette will reprise their roles as Gale Weathers and Deputy Dwight “Dewey” Riley in an another Scream movie.

“We are doing Scream 4,” the actor confirmed today in New York City, where he’s hanging out in plastic box over Madison Square Garden on behalf of Feeding America. “Kevin Williamson is writing the script at this moment, and hopefully Wes Craven is going to direct.”

Williamson has said, however, that Neve Campbell has turned down the chance to play Sidney Prescott again, but Arquette said he hopes “Neve does it. I really hope so.”

One thing he was mum about, though, was the movie’s plot.

“Kevin has sort of put out the broad strokes,” he said, “but I don’t think I’m at liberty to share any of that.”

I’m excited.

Photo: Babble.com.

Mo’ Jo

The Melrose Place reboot coming to The CW this fall is already succeeding where 90210 couldn’t: in attracting former residents back to their stomping grounds.

Not only are Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro, and Josie Bissett, coming back, so is Daphne Zuniga, a.k.a. photographer Jo Reynolds.

Zuniga will guest star in at least two episodes when her character returns to town after enjoying success in her career as a professional shutterbug.

Photo: OneTreeHillBlog.com.

Just Because, Pt. 43

Who does Channing Tatum think he is, getting all six-packy on me in the new GQ?

I don’t need that s---.

The recently married Tatum, who stars in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opening next month, revealed to the magazine everything I didn’t want to know about his get-buff-for blockbuster diet – “just chicken and broccoli and brown rice. Four times a day. And egg whites.”

Which sounds like hell to me, but I will consider trying it. For a week.

Let’s see if these Hollywood ninnies know what they’re talking about, after all.

Photo: People.com.

They’re in Miami, Bitch

Miami looks awesome in Bravo’s latest reality guilty pleasure Miami Social.

As it is its wont, the Magic City has been lovingly photographed so as to look like a tourist guide come to life. It’s colorful, it’s hot, and it’s vibrant. It’s sexy. It’s It.

She is the Snow White to the rest of the country’s Queen in a way.

But you should have read or heard the response the show elicited in the weeks leading up to tonight’s premiere of Miami Social, bon mots so full of transference of vanity and wickedness for a city inhabited by the Miami Social Seven – mortgage banker George; his ex, Sorah, a realtor/property manager/remodeler; entertainment journalist Michael; fashion producer Ariel; photographer Maria; and reality-TV alumni Hardy, a nightlife impresario, and real estate agent Katrina, both of whom appeared in previous seasons of Big Brother and The Apprentice, respectively – I couldn’t help but wonder why folks were so worked up over it.

All the pretty people are here, Miami Social tells its rest-of-America audience. So are the gorgeous weather and the hot spots. Come on down to South Beach, and live like the “close circle of friends that make Miami spin.” They are the people you’ll want to be, after all.

Except these…seven dwarfs aren’t the best ambassadors Miami could ask for, and I guess that’s why folks weren’t so keen on the show. Those watching it are like the Prince, in love with the city, hoping they were the ones who get to kiss the life into the Magic City, perhaps. They were and are rather unimpressed with the Miami Social Seven, to the point of character assassination, and that’s not just because they’re shallow, as everyone I’ve talked to likes to say, or big fish in a small pond.

No – I thinks it’s because the Miami Social Seven are extremely ordinary. And they’re on TV?!

But in the show’s biggest ta-dah, each and every single one of the characters these people has become to fulfill their reality-TV destiny is – get ready to let out a gasp – totally human. Like, “Everybody wants this. Everybody wants to be us” by Miranda Priestly is the mantra by which they live, and they’re serious about their pursuit. Too serious in some cases. But they dare have real issues, and watching them deal is appalling at times, and aggroying, and just urgh.

OK, the rule of reality TV is that the bitchier characters are the most interesting, so let’s be done with less bitchy ones first, OK.

There’s George (a.k.a. Mopey), a dude so milquetoast I often found myself rooting for his crazy-chick girlfriend Lina. I mean, really, what she does to him by the end of the first episode is so rude and unbelievable (she disappears on him by going on a mysterious “work” trip), of course producers had to end the hour with Lina calling George asking for a ride home from the airport.

Sorah, George’s ex, I can only call Shrinky because she spends the first two eps listening to George bitch and moan about Lina, that is when she’s not analyzing her budding relationship with Gonzalo, a younger stud who lives in her building (where George also lives, for added Melrose Place-esque drama).

Then there’s Michael (a.k.a. Happy…as in Gay), whom I know offline (in the spirit of full disclosure). He’s looking for love in all the wrong places, the poor thing. Seriously, Rule No. 1, dude: Don’t hit or get worked up over your trainer. Stop trying to make that happen. It’s a good thing he’s quite sassy, and always good for a laugh because on the other hand is…

Ariel, or Really Happy…as in Bitchy Queen. He was prominently featured in the show’s promos because he’s shown barking “Get the fat girl out of my table!” atop “the Gans” (fab short for the Gansevoort South), the group’s hangout. Clearly the most polarizing villainous of them all, we’ll be watching what happens with Ari, who btw, quit modeling because he doesn’t like to be told what to do, and not because he got tubby and sweats too much and should shave his neck every once in a while.

Maria I call Kooky. She’s the Switzerland of the seven, and gets along with all. Switzerland, incidentally, is to where he ships her daughter for boarding school, which gives us one of the scenes Andy Cohen probably will revisit in the reunion: Maria pulling a Lorelai Gilmore (by way of Carrie Bradshaw), telling her tween, “No kissing with cold sores!” Hip, huh.

Finally, there’s Hardy, who’s a bit of cipher, made interesting (but then again no) not by his man-about-South Beachness but by his trophy girlfriend, who’s got baby fever (I trust she’s just a recurring character).

With a name like Hardy, you’ll agree he doesn’t need a dwarf name.

And then there’s Katrina (a.k.a. Strutty). A self-described workaholic who’s always lunching with Michael or gossiping with the other girls instead, she gallops into every scene dressed up to the nines in a confidence that cleverly disguises (and accessorizes) the unraveling of her marriage of the studly Ben (who should be upped from recurring character status but pronto).

If these are the people that make Miami spin, odds are you’ll get a bit dizzy. You may accuse Miami Social of being all style and no substance, but it’s reality TV that’s airing in summer, not a cerebral serial. Lost-ish they are, but Lost this ain’t.

Enjoy the show for what it is. And give these dwarfs a chance.

They’re in Miami, bitch, and they have feelings, too.

Photo: Bravo.

A Woman for Thor

Now this is inspired casting: Natalie Portman will star opposite up-and-comer Chris Hemsworth in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Thor.

The Academy-Award nominee actress will play Jane Foster, our superhero’s first love.

Production on the summer 2011 summer tentpole is set to begin early next year.

Photo: TheCinemaSource.com.

The Visitors

In next month’s Peter Jackson-approved District 9, extraterrestrial refugees are assigned to a restricted area of South Africa.

Bad things happen afterward.

They came to Earth almost 30 years ago, looking for shelter. Instead, humans rounded them up, and soon left them to be managed by a private company eager to capitalize on their advanced weaponry, which the aliens refuse to give up.

With tensions rising, the impasse comes to a head when a company operative contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. He quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, not to mention the most valuable since he is key to unlocking the secrets of the alien technology.

The only place left for him to go? Yep, District 9.

I think District 9 sooo has the potential to be a huge hit, a successful sleeper à la 28 Days Later.

Photo: Sony Pictures.

Ryan Reynolds Goes Green

Sorry, Brian Austin Green and Bradley Cooper – Ryan Reynolds is the one who will be playing the Green Lantern in an upcoming movie about the superhero.

(Justin Timberlake was also said to be in the running for the role, but that rumor has been denied.)

This is a big deal for Reynolds, who’s definitely having a moment, heck…a good summer, this year.

He appeared in the Wolverine prequel, from which he scored his own spin-off thanks to his winning turn as Deadpool, and the surprise hit The Proposal. He looked super-smoking on the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s Must Issue. And now this.

Let me hear you make some noise for Reynolds!

Btw, Green Lantern is part of an intergalactic police force with which he fights baddies using a magic ring that can conjure almost anything its wearer can imagine. Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) will direct the movie, which is reportedly slated to begin shooting in January. Expect the movie to hit theaters in summer 2011.

Photo: PhotoBucket.com.

So Outrageous

Watching Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to Borat, the very funny Brüno I was always amazed and amused, often laughing out loud, but rarely shocked.

And I’m sure Cohen wouldn’t have it any other way.

Look, it’s Saturday, and I don’t feel like writing about a movie that you really need to see to get.

Just know that Brüno, a gay fashionista, is the host of the top-rated late-night fashion TV show in any German-speaking country…but not, you know, Germany.

His mission? To become the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler.

His strategy? To crisscross the globe in the hopes of finding fame and love.

Brüno is a constant chuckle. It’s not quite fair to compare, but everybody will, so I won’t say it’s better or worse than Borat. What worked in Borat’s advantage was a sense of discovery that the audience has lost, which is probably why Brüno is more graphic (people seem to lose control in front of a dancing penis).

This summer season needed a little hilarious button-pushing, which Cohen provides in fashionable spades with this movie. Hello!

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: Universal Pictures.

A Tale of Two Js

In a summer of loud and obnoxious sequel blockbusters (not that they’re all forgettable and unnecessary – I’m really looking forward to the new Harry Potter), the movies that stand out are the quieter, unpressured ones, like The Hangover, or The Proposal, or Away We Go.

Then we have the triumphs that combine the best of commercial appeal and storytelling, like Up.

And then August comes around, and people get antsy. The weather gets agrroyingly unbearable. And it seems Hollywood releases nothing but dog for those, well…dog days.

One of the movies that I’ve been looking forward to the most this season, though, opens on Aug. 7: Julie & Julia, starring Doubt’s Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.

Adams plays Julie, a frustrated temp secretary who embarks on an ambitious year-long culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Her story, which takes place in 2002 Queens, is complemented by a narrative set in 1950s Paris, in which we see Child’s (Streep) rise to gastronomic greatness.

Sounds – and looks – delightful!

Photo: Columbia Pictures.

I Should Book My Flight Now

Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman will star in A Steady Rain on Broadway this fall. The play will open on Sept. 29.

Previews are set to begin Sept. 10 for a sure-to-be-hot-ticket 12-week engagement.

Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain follows a pair of Chicago policemen, but OMFG, with these two actors in it, it very well might be a play about two guys standing on a theater stage looking out into the audience.

I’m telling you: If it’s the last thing I do….

Photo: NYMag.com.

When Brüno Met Matt Lauer

Boy, do I wish I’d seen this live on Today this morning because, you know, I would’ve laughed a lot earlier (Matt Lauer’s a good sport, and I can’t wait to see Brüno):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Time to…

“Celebrate.”

That’s the name of Madonna’s new single, the lead-off of her upcoming third greatest hits album.

“Celebrate” drops on July 28.

Let me hear you make some noise!

Photo: MadonnaTribe.com.

Do It, Cameron!

Cameron Diaz is in talks to co-star opposite Seth Rogen in Green Hornet.

Michel Gondry is set to direct the summer 2010 movie based on a script by Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg.

And yes, I have clearly fallen all over again for Diaz. I cannot get enough of her this season.

Photo: GeniusHair.com.

Can’t Keep a Secret for His Life

This fall, Matt Damon will be The Informant! for director Steven Soderbergh.

In the very-Soderbergh-funny-looking drama, Damon plays Mark Whitacre, the vice president of an agri-business giant-turned-bumbling informant.

Click here to read more about the movie, which is based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history – and for which Damon put on quite a bit of weight.

Photo: Filmofilia.com.

Coulda, Woulda, So Frakkin’ Shoulda

Lindsay Lohan needs to fire her momager, Dina, or whoever is doing a poor job of managing her so-called career but right now.

Evidently, L2 turned down the role of stripper Jade in this summer’s sleeper hit The Hangover because it “had no potential.”

Us Weekly’s reporting that director Todd Phillips approached La Lohan to star in the hit movie, which has raked in $205 million so far, after their mutual agent campaigned on the actress’ behalf.

“The agent tried hard to get Phillips to consider her,” said a source, “and when he finally agreed, Lindsay said she didn’t like the script!”

I thought beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Oh well, her loss was Heather Graham’s win.

Photo: AskMen.com.

Yes, It’s Lovely

Maroon 5 has covered Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” for an iTunes celebration of Ol’ Blue Eyes.

If you didn’t think Adam Levine was swoon-worthy before, you will now.

Click here to listen to him sing to me. I mean, the song….

Photo: EW.com.

Nostalgia, Pt. 32

As family and friends prepare to say their final good-byes to Michael Jackson, today we remember the late King of Pop.

Yes, we’ve been remembering him every single day ever since we heard the news of his untimely death late last month, but today’s different.

Today’s final.

We remember MJ with a little more respect today, and as the Rev. Al Sharpton said we should this morning on the Today show, with a little more attention paid to the legacy of his work as one of the world’s most iconic entertainers.

Michael Jackson never was a visceral experience for me.

I listened and danced to “Thriller” at parties, and just FYI, I never dared recreate his moves in the video.

My older sisters used to needle me with a version of “Beat It” they’d reworked just for me.

And I never saw him perform live, although I once came close when he toured the world in support of his HIStory, a show that would not go on and make it to South America because of one his many legal troubles in the ’90s. I remember my mom went to return the tickets to this department store, and came back home with a new washer and dryer and a new sofa. “It was either that or store credit,” she told my dad, who was not amused.

The MJ I knew best wasn’t the headline-maker of “Bad,” “Billie Jean,” “Smooth Criminal,” or “The Way You Make Me Feel.” Sadly, I came to know him as the embattled headline-grabber who, on rare occasion, put out a good song like “Black or White,” or “Scream,” his duet with his sister Janet.

Once upon a time, at the height of his popularity, he was the King of Pop. Jackson reached across borders, bridged differences between people, and, indeed, made billions of people feel like one. He had such singular power. He cared about us, and we really did care about him.

Until the very day end, ever the consummate entertainer, Michael Jackson was good for a memory, for a laugh (be it well-intentioned or mean-spirited), so let’s let today mean something good.

In MJ’s words, let today be a day when “we stand together all around the world joined in a common purpose to remake the planet into a haven of joy and understanding and goodness”:



I think Michael Jackson truly wanted to make this world a better place. As he once again brings billions together, I can only hope we can all remember we can heal the world.

It’s what he would’ve wanted.

Long live the King!

Update 1: I thought Jennifer Hudson performing “Will You Be There” (the Free Willy song!) was fantastic.

Update 2: Seeing MJ’s daughter Paris address the crowd at the Staples Center moved me:

Just Because, Pt. 42

Fret not, Rupert Penry-Jones.

Christian Slater may be replacing you in the upcoming ABC show The Forgotten, but you’re such a cutie patootie, you shan’t have any trouble bouncing back.

Now, I gotta catch up with Penry-Jones’ BBC series, Spooks, or I won’t be a good new fan.

Photo: RadioTimes.com.

This Is What I Call a Snap and a Half

The funny just got redefined.

Queen D Kathy Griffin will serve as the Roast Master at Comedy Central’s Roast of Joan Rivers. The pairing is the first all-female Roast Master and Roastee in the franchise's history.

“It will be my distinct pleasure to honor a true comedy legend. The One and Only, The Great, Joan Rivers,” Griffin said. “I mean, not that Pam Anderson wasn’t a comedy legend or anything….

“Let’s just say it will be an evening of highs and lows.

“I will be roasting Joan with more gentleness and tenderness than her latest chemical peel, and, on the other hand, I will give her a verbal pap smear and God only knows what I’m going to find down there.”

The Roast of Joan Rivers will air on Aug. 9 – and I could set my TiVo now, you know I would.

Photo: TVGuide.com.

Cameron Does Madonna

Everybody wants to be Madonna, and Cameron Diaz is no exception.

The My Sister’s Keeper star has posed for the cover of V magazine in garb reminiscent of the Queen of Pop circa her True Blue re-invention – complete with a cheeky bra (you know the one) made of gaffers tape.

I think this is pretty rad.

Photo: People.com.

She’s Freaky and She Knows It

In the fine tradition of Heathers and Jawbreakers, here comes Jennifer’s Body.

Out on Sept. 18, this darkly comic movie written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody stars Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’s Megan Fox as a high school girl possessed by a boy-eating demon.

Check out the red-band trailer below (be careful where you watch it), and tell me if you’re not just tickled:



I’ve warming up to Fox lately – thank you very much, Harry Smith – so this movie just might make me too hot for her.

From M for MJ

As expected, the Queen of Pop honored the late King of Pop in concert last night:



I’m kinda loving that Madonna quoted Princess Selenia, the character she voiced in Arthur and the Invisibles, at the end there….

Stickier & Sweeter

Europe is so lucky.

Madonna is taking her “Sticky & Sweet Tour” back on the road this summer, starting today with a concert in London.

The Queen of Pop and her whole band have been busy rehearsing for the show (check out the pictures at right), which will be performed 25 Europeans cities through Aug. 2.

The 2009 leg of the tour is to feature some changes, including a couple of songs that were not performed last year.

Perhaps M will debut one of the three tracks she worked on with Paul Oakenfold for her upcoming third greatest hits album?

I want to go to there is all I know.

Photo: Madonnalicious.com.

Update 1: From the looks of it, Madonna plans to pay tribute to the late Michael Jackson during her show.

Well done, M!

Update 2: Click here to find out what changes have been made to the tour set list. I think you are gonna like them...and one of them might surprise you.

If They Took a Holiday

In the upcoming Couples Retreat (due out on Oct. 9), several funny people will make us laugh – the cast includes actor-director Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, the amazing and handsome and incomparable Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Sex and the City’s Kristin Davis, and maybe-A-List-material Malin Akerman.

The comedy follows four Midwestern couples who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort so they can work on their issues:



Now, doesn’t this look nice?

Nothing But the Lies

In the upcoming The Invention of Lying, the stupendous Ricky Gervais, whom I really think should be in every comedy that’s made from now on, trust, plays a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark living in an alternate reality in which lying is an impossibility.

Ew – having everyone constantly speaking the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences can’t be a good thing, can it?

Not for Mark it’s not.

When Mark suddenly develops the ability to lie, though, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards, and he easily lies his way to fame and fortune.

Alas, he soon learns that lies are like feathers from a pillow that’s shaken: they spread fast and far and before he knows it, he has a big mess to clean up, especially after his tallest tales start being taken as gospel.

And more importantly, he learns that he cannot fib his way into the heart of the woman (Jennifer Garner) he loves.

The Invention of Lying opens on Sept. 25.

Photo: GarnerWatch.com.

Whitney’s New Strength

“I Didn’t Know My Own Strength,” Whitney Houston’s comeback single, has leaked onto the Web – and I kinda like it.

I like that she kept it smooth, if a little rawer than usual, vocals-wise, and that she addressed right off the bat her demons.

“I lost touch with my soul,” she starts….

Oh, just listen to the song – she does it better than me.

Most of all I like that she made it through.

Photo: UsMagazine.com.

The Couple That Poses Together…

Last month, he scorched it solo in a new Emporio Armani Underwear ad.

Now this month, David Beckham is making some room for his wife Victoria, also an Emporio Armani Underwear model, to join him in all their gorgeousness and black-and-white glory on joint ads for the fall campaign.

The sexy ads will appear not only in fashion magazines, but also on billboards in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Milan, Rome, Paris, and Tokyo.

That is one effective way for Posh and Becks to conquer the world.

Photo: People.com.

Is Emmy Wooing NPH?

After seeing what he did for the Tonys last month, the Emmys want a piece of Neil Patrick Harris.

The actor, truly one of TV’s MPVs, is in negotiations with CBS to host this year’s 61st Annual Emmy Awards on Sept. 20.

The move would likely help critics forgive and forget (most ripped last year’s Emmy show a new one for their ill-advised use of five reality-show stars – including Heidi Klum and cutie patootie Jeff Probst – as co-hosts), not to mention it would provide a nice plug for Harris’ How I Met Your Mother.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

Update: He’s doing it!

Duff Up the Upper East Side

Hilary Duff has signed on for a multi-episode arc on Gossip Girl this fall.

Duff will play Olivia Burke, a movie star who enrolls at NYU in search of a traditional college experience – because, you know, movie stars who go to NYU have it sooo normal (here’s to looking at you, Olsen twins!) and ends up rooming with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr).

The actress, whose NBC pilot, Barely Legal, was no go, is slated to first appear on the third season’s fourth episode of The CW’s hit on Oct. 5.

Photo: FanPop.com.

To the Sky

Amelia Earhart believed “there’s more to life than being a passenger,” and come fall, we will learn more about the story of the woman behind the legend.

Directed by Mira Nair and starring Hilary Swank in the titular role, Amelia will explore the relationship between the famed first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and her husband, George Putnam (Richard Gere).

The biopic co-stars Ewan McGregor and Virginia Madsen. It’s set to open in limited release on Oct. 23.

Photo: Flickr.com.

Waiting for Kelly

Richard Kelly, the young director who wowed audiences and critics alike with 2001’s cult fave Donnie Darko, and took a bit of a stumble with his follow-up, the long-delayed Southland Tales, a couple of years, is back with The Box.

In the movie opening this fall, Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play a suburban couple facing a moral dilemma when they receive a gift of sorts that bears irrevocable consequences.

A small box has been left on their doorstep.

With the push of a button, someone they don’t know somewhere will die, and they will receive $1 million.

The caveat: They only have 24 hours to confront the depth of their own humanity and make their decision.

I saw the trailer for The Box last weekend, and I cannot tell you how excited I got. Waiting for Kelly has been rather excruciating because he’s one of those people whose work you really anticipate.

And when I read that Diaz and Marsden had signed on for this, I wanted to get my ticket right then and there.

Plus, I’m loving the period setting Kelly thought of for this one….

Photo: FirstShowing.net.