Robyn Ruled 2010, But Hardly Anyone Noticed

Every once in a while, a truly one-of-a-kind act pops on the music scene, and they are so fantastic, so f---ing original, so tremendous it almost goes without saying they will go unnoticed.

2010 was supposed to be Robyn’s year.

The Swedish import was supposed to explode – I mean, girlfriend put out not one, not two, but three albums and toured her little heart out.

Alas, as much as she connected with critics she failed to do the same with audiences (not to mention radio), at least, to any tangible degree, in the United States.

Which is a shame because the music she put out had substance, rhythm, and beat. It was contagious, amazing, and instantaneously addictive.

Those are some of the reasons The Guardian has named her “Dancing on My Own,” the lead single off her Body Talk Pt. 1, the best track of the year.

Listen – and see – for yourself why:



Heartbreak never sounded better, did it?

Sizing Up the Ring

Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam has his eye on a role as boxer in the indie thriller KIN.

The cutie-patootie is in talks – as is Olivia Wilde (TRON: Legacy) and Eric Bana – to star in Stefan Ruzowitzky’s (The Counterfeiters) next project.

Wilde and Bana would play fugitive siblings who encounter an ex-boxer (Hunnam) coming home for the holidays.

Production is set to begin in Canada in March.

Photo: TheLoveUMake.com.

A Little Bit of Sunshine

Country Strong is a-comin’ – and you know I can’t wait for it, alright, and that I just heart Gwyneth Paltrow in it, sight unseen.

Leighton Meester co-stars in the movie opening wide on Jan. 7, playing the young upstart giving G.P.’s character a run for her country-comeback money.

The Gossip Girl MVP also does some singin’ in the movie, tackling a couple of songs. One, titled “Words I Couldn’t Say,” about which I already gushed, is more of a slow jam, but on the other, the sunnier, flirtier “Summer Girl,” gal pal gets all girly girl on us with.

And I likey. Check it out:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Bouncy, huh?

Mama’s Ex

We’re getting a glimpse of Claire’s handsome past on TV’s hilarious Modern Family.

Matt Dillon has signed on to guest on the comedy when its sophomore season returns in the new year. He will play the (hot) ex-boyfriend of Julie Bowen’s character.

And to make everything even funner for us and for Claire (not!), the guy’s gonna bring his new gal pal along for the ride – Shelley Long, a.k.a. her mom.

I’m laughing already.

Photo: Details.com.

You Don’t Have to Ask, But We Can Tell Now

Ding dong, the era of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has come to an end

Yesterday, the Senate voted to strike down – at long last! – the 17-year ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military.

Welcome to the future, America.

The 65-31 decision – “the right thing to do” – was mostly Democrat-driven, but included eight Republican votes.

Sen. John McCain wasn’t among those in favor of the repeal, btw, saying it would cause “great damage” to the United States’ armed forces.

To which I say: Suck it, John McCain.

Your choice of running mate a couple of years ago didn’t show the soundest judgment, so go discriminate in your own house and let the country and its fine people move into a new era of inclusiveness, you ol’ bat.

President Obama, btw, hailed the action, saying it was “time to close this chapter in our history.”

Ditto, of course, a lot of celebs.

Now, can we do something about marriage equality and equal rights of all kind (including those that’d make it possible for binational gay couples to tie the knot) a reality, please?

Photo: Newsweek.com.

Presidential Slayer

Eric Bana is in talks to play the lead in the upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter movie.

That’s a book that’s being adapted for the big screen, right?

His Lincoln would sure have some sex appeal to him....

Photo: KayteEllisAgency.com.

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The Ballerina Identity

Director Darren Aronofsky has a knack for presence, for intrigue, for drama, and his latest, the psychological thriller Black Swan, sure brings it all in precise spades-y ways.

To echo the praise that has been lavished upon the film is to gush about its star, Natalie Portman, who embodies the aforementioned three elements beautifully. She adds layers of vulnerability and fierceness when her role as a featured New York City Ballet dancer on the verge of a mental breakdown calls for them during some of the moodiest, most intense 143 minutes committed to the big screen this fall. She is a mesmerize.

Portman’s Nina is this not-a-girl-doesn’t-yet-knows-she’s-a-woman-to-be-reckon-with-type of individual.

Her breed of ballerina is most controlled. Of everyone in the company, she’s always striving for a perfection that proves elusive to her even when it’s so close and evident to all she can almost touch it but not reach it. The competition she faces is stiff: She has to live up to her mother’s (Barbara Hershey) broken dreams, beware of the other girls, and fulfill her own ambition.

She can’t let go, though...give into her impulses – she speaks in what sounds like a whisper, if not a whimper for most of the film, seldom allowing herself to let the beast within loose – for she doesn’t know what could happen if she did.

When her director, Thomas (Vincent Cassell, in a slithery turn that I’m surprised hasn’t garnered him more attention this awards season), dangles the coveted role of the Swan Queen in his season-opening production of “Swan Lake” in front of her (after casting aside his former prima ballerina, the bombastic Beth played by Winona Ryder), Nina is both excited and afraid. She – and Thomas – knows that she can dance the heck out of the White Swan, but the most seductive Black Swan is less of a sure bet. She has to attack the role, as he puts it, but she struggles.

Thomas doubts Nina has the fire the role requires, that his would-be star can open up and blossom in time for opening night. The arrival of Lily (Mila Kunis, in a breakthrough showing), a shiny, more effortlessly confident new dancer from the West Coast only compounds Nina’s worries. Life begins to imitate the art (Lily mostly dons darker hues, while Nina is often clad in lighter ones).

Little by little, Lily catches people’s attention, threatening Nina’s standing and eventually becoming her understudy. Is she pulling an Eve Carrington? Is Lily, by freeing Nina’s innermost desires, playing her and setting her up for a fall...or is Nina imagining it all under the pressure of her most high-profile role yet?

Black Swan, in many ways, parallels the story of “Swan Lake,” and raises the question of how far would one go for their art.

The film delves into this noir fantasy in keys moments, blurring the lines between what is and what isn’t. It is a technique that Aronofsky mastered in previous films (like Requiem for a Dream), one that he puts to good use here. Without the committed performances of Portman & Co., though, this very easily could have descended into shtick or, worse, camp.

A character study of obsession, Black Swan, however, soars as an unlikely meditation on the cost of success.

My Rating ****

Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.

It’s...Complicated

I’d been looking forward to James L. Brooks’ How Do You Know, if anything because I’d seen on-set photos that suggested the movie would be cute – and how could it not be with a cast that includes the irresistible Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, the charmer of all trades Paul Rudd, and Jack freakin’ Nicholson.

Alas, what can I say...the movie is, surprisingly, not all that.

Witherspoon looks beyond-lovely in it, though, her hair so sunny and wavy and just the right length o’ sexy.

It’s actually a bit puzzling that How Do You Know doesn’t work. It follows a pretty standard rom-com-ish story – girl torn between boys, with a few bigger-picture conflicts tacked on for good measure – but it does so in such a messtastic way. The movie opens and we’re like, thrown into these people’s situations pretty quickly, almost without rhyme or reason.

There’s a disconnect between what the characters say, what we’re led to believe they’re essentially all about and moving toward, and what they seem to be doing on screen.

Take Lisa (Witherspoon), for instance. She’s this fantastic softball player, right, but we never see her playing the sport – she’s been cut from the 2011 Team USA. The presumption would be she’ll be trying to figure out her next step, but she’s instead happy to go through the motions.

Huh?

Alright, I can understand her ambivalence, but because we’re also told and shown that this is a woman who has a laser-sharp focus, who knows how to do battle on and off the field (her bathroom mirror is covered with feel-strong affirmations), it just seems odd that she goes down the road she does.

To see her in the throes of non-passion with Matty (Wilson), a vain big-time baseball player who’s fun and good in bed but completely dysfunctional in a grown-up relationship, it rings so against her nature it’ll make you wonder how she doesn’t realize she belongs with this other guy, George (Rudd), a legally embattled businessman with early onset neurosis facing a jail sentence for the sins of his boss/undeserving father (the underwritten Nicholson).

He’s really quite perfect – except for the federal inquiry that’s the thorn at his side, about which Lisa knows nothing. His outstanding nature is blemished by this unsatisfactorily explained wrongdoing, which has made him doubt himself so he doesn’t think he deserves Lisa. How he doesn’t realize she’s already his, that she just has to get there, immediately and do something to spare us the next 40 minutes of who will she pick? is a plot device that would work had Brooks written a story that captured his idea better.

That’s the central conflict of How Do You Know: how these folks don’t realize where they’ll end up when the audience already knows it...and how the movie’s writer-director didn’t service his actors the way they and we deserved.

My Rating **

Photo: Sony Pictures.

A Quite Sexy Orbit

Downey Jr. out.

Robert Downey Jr. is no longer feeling the Gravity.

The actor, who was supposed to star opposite Sandra Bullock in Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller, has been replaced by none other than George Clooney.

Cuarón could do worse, right?

Not!

Photo: Examiner.com.

Bening vs. Swank at the SAGs! Plus, Betty White!

Nominations for the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards cemented the frontrunner status of films like The Social Network and The King’s Speech.

Among the surprises of this morning’s announcement, however, was the unexpected redux in the Best Actress category, which sees surprise nominee Hilary Swank (Conviction) pitted against The Kids Are All Right’s Annette Bening.

Which means Swank may squeeze into the Oscars’ final five and put a damper, yet again, in Bening’s chances. Which is amusing in many ways, I guess.

Click here for the complete film categories.

On the TV front, it all came down to two words: Betty. White.

The It Lady received her first career nomination for her work on TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland. She and her cast mates also got an Ensemble nod.

The casts of some of my fave – 30 Rock! The Closer! Glee! The Good Wife! Modern Family! – are also vying for an Actor, so I’m happy.

Photo: TVLand.com (Hot in Cleveland).

Update: The Social Network’s streak continued on Dec. 20 when it received best dramatic movie, best director, and best adapted screenplay kudos at the Satellite Awards.

Colin Firth took home Best Actor in a Drama for his work in The King’s Speech, while Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) won best dramatic actress.

Click here for a full list of winners.

And go ahead and make the Facebook movie your No. 1 at the office pool.

The Ultimate NYC Girl to Do NYE

Sarah Jessica Parker is ready to party.

The actress has joined the star-studded cast of Garry Marshall’s New Year’s Eve. She will play Abigail Breslin’s mom in the sure-to-be-a-hit follow-up (but not sequel) to the director’s Valentine’s Day.

On a related note, Halle Berry and Zac Efron are in talks to come on board as well. The former would play a caterer, and the latter a bike messenger.

Photo: Elle.com.

The World Is His Stage

Matthew Morrison knows exactly what he’s doing while he’s on break from Glee during Christmas break and his summer hiatus: He’s going to rehearse and then on tour.

The artist a.k.a. Mr. Schuester is hoping to release his debut solo album in May, and eyeing a stint on the road once his hit TV show wraps up its second season.

“I’m gonna go all over the world,” he said. “I start band rehearsal in two weeks when we go on our little Christmas break.

“We’re almost done [recording. I’m really, really happy with it, and I can’t wait for people to hear it as well.”

Bring it, handsome. But leave the shirts at home. (Right?)

Photo: Details.com.

Making Home Sound Good

Yes, we all know I’m obsessed with Gwyneth Paltrow these days, alright, but, hey, with good reason.

I love how impeccable – and sexy! – she looked in her white Emilio Pucci dress at the Country Strong premiere last night.

And I love, love, love this other song she has on the movie’s soundtrack, the Golden Globe-nominated “Coming Home,” which I can’t stop listening to.

She sounds really frakkin’ amazing on it.

Photo: People.com.

Update: Oh, and guess who’s totally “interested” in starring in the movie version of Broadway’s Rock of Ages.

Yep – G.P.

“It sounds cool,” she said at the premiere. “I just got the script and I will read it on the plane home tomorrow. But it sounds like it could be fun.”

The musical, which tells the story of a young L.A. couple whose story through ’80s rock hits, has a couple of other big names attached to it: Tom Cruise and Mary J. Blige.

Do it, Gwyn!

The Cuddly Type

Mila Kunis, who’s gone from stealing scenes on TV’s That ’70s Show to earning major awards buzz (deservedly so) for her supporting turn in Black Swan, is not slowing down her big-screen takeover.

The actress recently wrapped the comedy Friends with Benefits opposite Justin Timberlake and is negotiating a role in Seth MacFarlane’s Ted.

Kunis, who does the voice of Meg on MacFarlane’s Family Guy, would play the girlfriend of a man (quite possibly to be played by Mark Wahlberg) who, as a young boy, wished his teddy bear could come to life. His wish comes true, and hilarity ensues.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

Time for a Risk

King’s Speech star Colin Firth is ready for a (remake of) Gambit.

The actor is in talks to star as a burglar planning to rob a billionaire with the help of a woman who looks just like the rich man’s dead wife in the revisit of the 1966 British Michael Caine-Shirley MacLaine vehicle.

Joel and Ethan Coen are behind the pens of the project.

Photo: FanPop.com.

The Ultimate Pirates Booty

Capt. Jack Sparrow (double-Golden Globe nominee Johnny Depp) is back, boys and girls, and he’ll be looking for the hard-to-find Fountain of Youth on next summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Won’t you join him on his new adventure?

After all, Penélope Cruz is, as is Ian McShane, Keith Richards, and Depp’s fellow franchise vet Geoffrey Rush, among others. Check it out:

Perhaps They Know Something We Don’t

The Hollywood Foreign Press announced its nominations for the upcoming Golden Globes, and the Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp critically panned, underperfoming starrer The Tourist did quite well, snagging Best Picture (Comedy or Musical) and acting mentions.

I guess the movie is better than they say....

Nah, the Foreign Press just couldn’t resist inviting those two to their party.

Among the other surprises: Emma Stone was singled out for Easy A! Yay!

Photo: Sony Pictures (The Tourist).

Update: On the TV front, what do Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, and The Vampire Diaries gotta do to get some awards love? That show delivered the thrills, the drama, and the sexy week after week this fall, and Dobrev in particular did an extraordinary job pulling off two very distinct roles.

Are You F---in’ Kiddin’, Oprah?

Oprah has gone and gotten Hugh Jackman hurt!

Alright, alright – it’s not like she did anything to him. The Aussie of my dreams agreed to make a spectacular entrance into the rechristened Oprah House while the talk-show hostess with the mostest did her thing Down Under…and the stunt went awry:



Aw, Hugh, are you OK? Can I get you anything? A rub? A “tissue”? A kiss?

One More Time for the Gleeks

It’s official: Gwyneth Paltrow is ready, willing, and able to grace TV’s Glee with her presence some time soon.

“I’m going to do one more [episode],” the Country Strong star said. “I signed up for two…so I’m excited.”

Ditto, G.P. Ditto!

Oh, and congrats on your star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, btw.

Photo: Celebrity-Gossip.net.

The Writer as Detective

The Raven is coming.

John Cusack is starring in John McTeigue’s upcoming fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in his stories.

Talk about having an insight into what’s going on, huh.

Photo: HuffingtonPost.com.

My…What a Big…Hammer

The trailer for next summer’s Thor is out – and it’s all about the 1:45 mark, so without further ado:

Hello, Chris Hemsworth!

Very Much the Season’s Like

The Social Network is on a roll.

Over the weekend, David Fincher’s Facebook film received Best Pictures kudos from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and the New York Film Critics Online, this on the heels of its receiving the honor from the National Board of Review.

Boston named Jesse Eisenberg Best Actor for his portrayal of Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg, while L.A. sided with Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), and James Franco proved irresistible to New York Online for his fascinating turn as trapped mountaineer Aron Ralston in 127 Hours.

Natalie Portman was named Best Actress by Boston and New York Online for her performance as a disturbed ballerina in Black Swan, while L.A. chose Mother’s Kim Hye-Ja.

Click here for more winners from these three groups.

127 Hours, Black Swan, and The Social Network also made the American Film Institute’s Top 10, along with The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter’s Bone.

Finally, Black Swan received a record 12 Critics’ Choice Movie Award noms earlier today, including one for Mila Kunis’ supporting part.

Photo: Columbia Pictures (The Social Network).

Update: Looks like The Social Network’s the one to beat.

The New York Film Critics Circle also has picked it as the best of 2010.

Peter Parker’s Frenemy

The principal cast of Marc Webb’s upcoming teenagefication of the Spider-Man property seems to be, at last, complete.

Relative newcomer Chris Zylka has been cast in the role of Flash Thompson, Peter Parker’s high school nemesis (but Spidey’s No. 1 fan).

He joins Andrew Garfield, who’s suiting up as the new friendly neighborhood webslinger, a gone-blond Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, a to-be-confirmed Sally Field as Aunt May, and Rhys Ifans as a yet-to-be-named villain.

Welcome to the big time, Zylka.

Photo: CinemaBlend.com.

Armani Aces

Tennis players are the new footballers.

Well, at least when it comes to them modeling undies.

Rafael Nadal is taking a lead from David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo and will don Emporio Armani Underwear (and Armani Jeans) for their upcoming Spring/Summer 2011 collections.

You can expect the first scintillating images to appear worldwide in February.

Photo: TennisPaparazziPhotos.blogspot.com.

Yay Baby Newton-Diamantopoulos!

Well, way to keep a secret.

Becki Newton and Chris Diamantopoulos are parents.

In fact, the actress – who will be seen...at some point next year in the NBC anthology Love Bites, which just got its episode order reduced from 13 to 9 – gave birth to a son in Los Angeles in early November.

Congrats, you beautiful two.

Photo: InStyle.com.

From Action Icon to Democracy Icon

Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies) could be turning political on us, at least on the big screen.

The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star is prepping to bring the story of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi to movie theaters around the world.

Yeoh reportedly met with the Nobel Peace laureate earlier this week. The actress spent a day with Suu Kyi as part of research for a project based on the life and work of the recently freed pro-democracy leader, who was released from under house arrest last month after more than seven years.

Luc Besson is said to be directing the biopic titled Into the Light.

May I suggest Damien Rice do the score? He has shown interest in the topic before....

Photo: BroadwayWorld.com.

Lunar Secret

Seems like the moon is hiding something...something robotic.

At least that’s what it looks like from the looks of the teaser for next summer’s threequel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon:

Transformers Dark of The Moon Teaser (1080p) from Michael Bay Dot Com on Vimeo

There isn’t a single glimpse of franchise star Shia LaBeouf in this preview, or newcomer model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (who replaced original leading lady Megan Fox), so I guess we’ll just have to wait and...uh...wait until the next preview to see them, and for July 1 to roll around to see what Michael Bay has in store for us.

And When the Ball Drops She Will Be There, Too

Valentine’s Day’s alumna Jessica Biel is looking forward to New Year’s Eve.

The actress has signed on to co-star in Garry Marshall’s next themed, New York City-set rom-com that, to be clear, is not a sequel to last February’s hit.

So Biel will not be reprising her role from Valentine’s Day, and neither will Ashton Kutcher, who also has RSVPd to the biggest party of the year.

She joins as cast that already includes Robert De Niro, Jake Gyllenhaal, Glee’s Lea Michele, Michelle Pfeifer, and Hilary Swank.

Btw, Modern Family MVP Sofia Vergara is also in talks to join the cast.

Production on New Year’s Eve is set to get started later this month.

Photo: ElleUK.com.

Teddy’s Latest

They were serious when they said Teddy’s coming out on 90210 would take.

Trevor Donovan’s character, who’s been inching out of the closet in recent eps, is getting a new love interest in newcomer Freddie Smith (pictured here), who’ll take over T lovin’ when Kyle Riabko, a.k.a. Teddy’s gay sensei Ian, departs the famous zip code later this season.

Smith, who’ll play a boy named Marco, will make his West Bev debut in February.

Photo: IMDb.com.

Zeus-ing Up Again

Liam Neeson’s camp has confirmed that the actor, indeed, will be in the upcoming Clash of the Titans sequel, Wrath of the Titans.

Cool – but it better not be in crappy 3-D…and it better feature Sam Worthington as Perseus, or I’ll be releasing the Kraken….

Neeson has gone on the record about the follow-up and promised it will have “some kick-a-- stuff and a very human story to it…it’s a whole revamping.”

Production on Wrath of the Titans is set to begin next spring.

Photo: VirginMedia.com.

Boozer

Tom Hardy, that Inception scene-stealer, is going back in time all the way to the Roaring Twenties for his next project.

The Brit will co-star with Shia LaBeouf in The Wettest County in the World, a movie based on a novel about a family of bootleggers in Prohibition-era Virginia that John Hillcoat (The Road) will direct.

Hardy, who’s rumored to be playing a character named Dr. Hugo Strange in Christopher Nolan’s final Batman chapter, The Dark Knight Rises, will be seen next opposite Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine in This Means War.

Photo: ReelLoop.com.

A Sci-fi Reunion

Director Neill Blomkamp (pictured at right, at left) is getting back together with his District 9 star, Sharlto Copley, but not for District 10...not quite yet, at least.

The duo and real-life BFF will work together again in the former’s follow-up, a political, socially conscious ensemble-cast project titled Elysium.

That’s cool and all, but you guys gotta promise the sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2009 apartheid allegory won’t be too long a-comin’, OK?

Alright then.

Photo: JordoMedia.com.

Update: Matt Damon is reportedly in talks to join the project.

This just got even more exciting....

Different Types of New Blood

When True Blood comes back next summer for its fourth season, it will feature lots of new faces, including familiar ones from The Good Wife, HawthoRNe, and Lost.

Neil Hopkins (pictured here), a.k.a. as Charlie’s brother on the Island drama, Christina Moore, and Chris Butler will all appear in multiple episodes on the HBO show, playing what I am sure will be very sexy characters.

Which goes without sayin’, but, oops, I just did....

Photo: blog.NewsOK.com/Nerdage.

Also Thinking Beyond the Club

Cory Monteith is not the only Gleek considering life after Glee.

Chris Colfer, a.k.a. Kurt on the hit TV show, is looking to star in Struck by Lightning, his big-screen debut, next summer.

And, get his, the actor actually wrote the script himself.

Talk about taking charge of your own future, huh.

The coming-of-age story is being compared in tone and spirit to the teen comedies of John Hughes, so that should be interesting and angst-y and sweet.

Photo: OnSugar.com.

Once You Go Elf...

Cate Blanchett is heading the call of Middle-earth once more.

The Aussie will reprise her role as Galadriel, which she first played in the first Lords of the Rings movie nine years ago, in the trilogy’s prequel, The Hobbit, which Peter Jackson is (at last!) ready to direct.

The most interesting part about the news is Blanchett’s ethereal elf character doesn’t actually appear in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit novel, so it’s safe to presume Jackson is taking some liberties balancing things out in his upcoming, male-heavy two-part project.

The Oscar winner joins a cast of virtual unknowns in the much-anticipated epic, which has yet to confirm the return of Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf.

Photo: Fashiontography.blogspot.com.

Thinking Beyond the Club

Cory Monteith is getting ready to graduate.

While the Glee star a.k.a. Finn may be signed on to the show that made him a star for a while, he is, smartly, laying the foundation for what’s next.

The actor – who will be seen opposite Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, and Selena Gomez in Monte Carlo next year – has signed on to star and produce an untitled “workplace comedy” that should help him further prove his mettle.

Good luck, guy.

Photo: FanPop.com.

Showman

Robert Downey Jr.’s warming up his pipes.

The actor will headline an untitled Warner Bros. musical about a couple of Broadway songwriters who take a job at theater camp when their breakthrough musical flops. No word on who his partner in singing-and-dancing crime will be, not yet, anyway.

Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, the Pulitzer and Tony-winning team behind the musical Next to Normal, will write the music for the project.

Photo: CeleBitchy.com.

United States of Halle

There she goes again, that Halle Berry.

The Oscar-winning actress is making another bid at the gold with her late-in-the-season entry Frankie & Alice, an indie in which she plays a stripper with multiple-personality disorder (her other two personas are a racist white woman and a small child).

From the trailer alone I can tell Berry is definitely a contender thanks to, indeed, another “gutsy,” and, yes, surprising performance.

The film, co-starring Stellan Skarsgård and Phylicia Rashad, opens in very limited release on Dec. 10, I believe.

Photo: DirectPreviews.com.

A Giver

Britney Spears made her fans’ day yesterday.

The pop tart tweet-announced, as birthday present from herself to us all (it was her 29th), that she’s got a new record coming out, y’all.

“My fans mean the world to me & waking up to all of your wishes really made me smile, so here’s something that I hope will make you smile,” she said. “I’m almost done with my new album and it will be coming out this March. I AM IN L-O-V-E WITH IT!”

Yay!

Photo: Sponkit.com.

What I Missed Since Last Month...

I’ve been busy Art Basel Miami Beach-ing it (or trying to since I’ve gotten kinda sick – urgh), and I, evidently, have missed a few things the last few days.

The nominations for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were announced, with a lot of Eminem, Katy Perry, and Lady GaGa thrown into the mix (Madonna’s “Revolver” is up for Best Remixed Recording, but the award would go to David Guetta...).

The National Board of Review named The Social Network the best film of the year. Click here for a look-see at the other films that made the group’s Top 10 list and its other awards.

And Olivia on TV’s Fringe, something amazing happened...but I haven’t watched it yet, so I better get.

Photo: Columbia Pictures (The Social Network).

A Coldplay Christmas

Coldplay are back – ish…not that they went anywhere – with a thoroughly them Christmas song posing as a break-up song.

Or vice versa.

Whatever it is, it’s called “Christmas Lights,” and I likey.

Brolin Switches Things Up

Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin (Milk) is stepping behind the camera for the very first time soon.

The actor is set to direct, produce, and star in a film adaptation of Pitz and Joe.

The project, based on a play by Dominique Cieri, will tell the story of a recently divorced woman caring for her brother, who is suffering from brain damage after a motorcycle accident.

Photo: CrazyDaysAndNights.net.