AP - The nation's capital got in the holiday spirit Sunday night when music legends Neil Diamond and Mary J. Blige performed for President Barack Obama at the annual "Christmas in Washington" concert.
AP - The nation's capital got in the holiday spirit Sunday night when music legends Neil Diamond and Mary J. Blige performed for President Barack Obama at the annual "Christmas in Washington" concert.
US actress Meryl Streep arrives for the screening of her latest film "Julie & Julia" at the Rome Film Festival in October. The Golden Globe nominations are announced on Tuesday. "Up In the Air"... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 14 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am
US actor Morgan Freeman plays former South African president Nelson Mandela in the movie "INVICTUS". Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 14 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am
Australian actor Sam Worthington stars in James Cameron's big-budget fantasy blockbuster "Avatar", which has yet to be released in the United States but has generated strong early reviews following its... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 14 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am
The field of contenders for the race to the Oscars takes shape here Tuesday as nominees for the 67th Golden Globes are revealed, offering vital clues to which films may strike awards season Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 14 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am
Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire's child star Azharuddin Ismail plays with a hen inside his shanty in Mumbai earlier this year. Rags-to-riches drama "Slumdog Millionaire" is the only film in the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 14 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am
Reuters - "The White Ribbon," Michael Haneke's powerful depiction of a German village on the eve of World War I, conquered the European Film Awards on Saturday, beating out Oscar champ "Slumdog Millionaire" to win the top trophies in the best film and director categories. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 14 Dec 2009 | 12:37 am
DiCaprio the Horrible: Mel Gibson and Leonardo DiCaprio have signed on to William Monahan's untitled drama set in a world of Vikings. Gibson is set to direct and DiCaprio will star as a Viking. Little else is known about the project. “This will be an awe-inspiring story, created with some of the industry’s finest cinematic talent and I am just over the moon to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill,” producer Graham King said in a statement. We're hoping this is a Hagar the Horrible adaptation. [BF Deal Memo]
On the Road: Thomas Haden Church will star in Zombie Roadkill, a horror comedy on the on-demand network FearNet. Haden Church will play a park ranger who teams up with a teenager to escape a devilish highway where roadkill comes back to life as flesh-eating zombies. The show will be produced as six five-minute episodes and ensure that raccoons haunt your dreams for the rest of your life. [Variety]
Molly O! Oh Molly: Kathleen Turner will star in a one-woman show about Molly Ivins, the commentator and columnist who gave George W. Bush the nickname "Shrub." Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, which debuts at the Philadelphia Theater Company in the spring, will be based on Ivins's writings. That's where the "kick-ass wit" part comes in. [Variety]
Here Comes Camelot: The History Channel has given the greenlight to The Kennedys, an eight-hour miniseries about America's most storied political family. The project was crated by 24 co-creator and executive producer Joel Surnow. Stephen Kronish, a former co-executive producer of 24, has written all eight scripts. The mini-series will open in 1960 with the presidential election of John F. Kennedy and end in 1967 with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. It will also include flashbacks to their lives as younger men and focus more the on the brothers relationships with each other and their father than the big political stories of the time. As we understand it, there were a few of those. [THR]
Teens, Wolves: Tyler Posey, Tyler Hoechlin, Crystal Reed and Dylan O'Brien will star in MTV's remake of Teen Wolf, the best movie ever made about a basketball playing werewolf. In MTV's version a high school nerd suddenly gets new powers that allow him to attract ladies and turn into a wolf. It's also a "dramatic thriller with a buddy-comedy element at the center and a romantic plot line." There's also a touch of period drama, some court procedural and just a little sci-fi. [THR]
President Obama has invited the heads of America's biggest banks to hang out at the White House tomorrow, and like any good host he spent the day before the party talking trash about his guests on TV. "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street," Obama said on 60 Minutes last night. He said he's frustrated with big banks that pay huge bonuses while the rest of the country suffers through double digit unemployment rates. "Some people on Wall Street still don't get it," he said.
Larry Summers, who's pretty certain the recession is over, also lashed out at Wall Street. "They don't get in some cases that they wouldn't be where they are today, and they certainly would not be paying the bonuses they are paying today, if their government hadn't taken extraordinary actions."
Things just got worse for Tiger Woods.
Accenture announced Sunday that it's dropping the 33-year-old scandal-ridden golfer from its advertising efforts, E! News has...
President Barack Obama's half brother in China says he has not accepted requests to be in the movie "Let the Bullets Fly" because he wants to focus on his writing and charity work. Mark... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 13 Dec 2009 | 10:09 pm
The Boston Society of Film Critics announced a pretty commanding sweep for The Hurt Locker in their annual awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing). However, while the BSFC doesn't announce runners up, a source informs us that the Coen brothers' A Serious Man, which ultimately took home only one award (for Best Screenplay), actually put up a pretty decent fight, coming in second in balloting for Best Picture, Editing, and Cinematography. (The Hurt Locker was second in line for the Screenplay category.) But perhaps the best evidence of The Hurt Locker's strength was that Kathryn Bigelow had almost no challengers to her Best Director crown; she won the award on the first ballot, which we understand is pretty rare for this group of critics.
Although we're told it was a fairly uneventful voting session, there were some other competitive awards: Precious's Gabourey Sidibe was a close runner-up as Best Actress to winner Julie & Julia's Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci was a surprising runner-up to Inglourious Basterds's Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor. (Because Tucci didn't win, however, the BSFC did not have to go the extra step of determining which of his performances, Julie & Julia or The Lovely Bones, the award would have been for.)
There was one tie: Precious and Star Trek both took the Best Ensemble award, with A Serious Man (again) as runner up.
Along with Bigelow's director win, there were some other awards where the decision was more clear cut: Mo'Nique easily beat Up in the Air's Anna Kendrick for Best Supporting Actress, and Up won Best Animated Film relatively handily over The Fantastic Mr. Fox, says our source.
One category where there was a bit of a split field was Best Documentary, which went to The Cove, although we're told there were numerous other contenders, including Food, Inc., La Danse, Every Little Step, and Burma VJ. That said, our source informs us that most of the group was happy with The Cove taking home the prize.
All in all, though, we're told this was a pretty friendly session, and not particularly contentious; the voting apparently didn't go to a third round on any of the categories. We'll see if the same can be said after the New York Film Critics announce their awards on Monday.
Sorry, ladies. Those of you who haven't been treated to Tiger Woods in the buff won't be getting a peek anytime soon. At least from the folks who brought us a nearly naked Levi...
In its three short months of existence, The Jay Leno Show has had enough product mentions to top Nielsen's list for "product placement activity" in 2009. With 1,015 mentions, Leno beat out the WWE Monday Night Raw and its 787 mentions and The Biggest Loser and its 704 mentions. That's right, not a scripted show in the top three. Zucker wins! [Variety]
Sometimes it takes a pillage to bring together talent like this.
Leonardo DiCaprio has signed on to director Mel Gibson's upcoming film about Norsemen, according to Variety. William...
President Barack Obama is giving himself "a good solid B-plus" grade for his first year in office. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday night, the president claimed... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 13 Dec 2009 | 9:21 pm
Citigroup is close to cutting a deal with regulators that would allow it to repay its bailout money and be the last of the large Wall Street Banks to leave TARP. That way the company will be able to stop paying its executives a lot of money and start paying them an ungodly amount of money. [NYT]
Wow. Just...wow.
Anyone else feel as if your stomach catapulted out of your mouth while watching tonight's fourth season finale of Showtime's Dexter? It was...horrifying. To say...
A lot of critic's groups and film associations will begin announcing award winners this week and the fun started today with the Los Angeles Film Critics, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, the New York Film Critics Online and the American Film Institute. The biggest winner? The Hurt Locker, which was named best picture by L.A., Boston and AWFJ. Other big winners include Mo'nique (Precious) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds). Check out Cinema Blend's list of all of the winners and some of the runners-up, who are really just the first losers.
As Tiger Woods weighs John Daly's advice to "go to Oprah," global consulting firm Accenture has become the first company to drop its endorsement deal with the skank-loving duffer. Today Accenture released a statement saying, "After careful consideration and analysis, the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising." By completely cutting ties with Tiger, Accenture is taking things a step further than Gillette, which says that it will limit Tiger's role in its marketing but not phase him out completely. Yeah, it's definitely time to call Oprah. [WSJ]
The 2009 version of Hollywood's Black List surfaced this weekend and it's topped by a biopic about the late Jim Henson. An index of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood, the Black List is compiled by surveying film executives who list their ten favorite unproduced scripts written in 2009. This year 311 execs participated and their favorite was Christopher Weekes's screenplay for The Muppet Man, a biopic about the hand behind the muppets. Vulture buddy Nikki Finke cautions that the Black List is "not a 'best of' list'," but rather "a 'big dick' measuring contest for the Hollywood agencies and their motion picture lit departments." Even still, it's a pretty interesting read, if only to learn about The Voices, the story of a schizophrenic bathtub factory worker who speaks to his foul-mouthed pets.
The Black List 2009: Full Roster [Deadline]
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was left bloodied and confused after being hit in face with a statuette at the end of a rally today. A 42-year-old man, who follows a long line of people who have thrown things at political figures, stands accused of hurling the object at the womanizing PM as he was signing autographs in Milan. Berlusconi was immediately ushered into his car after being hit, but quickly emerged, apparently to show that he wasn't badly hurt. And also to bless the world with some awesomely gruesome pictures.
Hollywood heartthrob Johnny Depp suspects he'll never get used to receiving awards for his acting work. Depp, best known for his Oscar-nominated role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 13 Dec 2009 | 6:06 pm
The Hurt Locker hasn't made a bajillion bucks. It doesn't star George Clooney. It's about a war that nobody wants to see at the movies. Basically, it's got one thing going for it:...
In anticipation of a 2010 election that might see his own party push him aside, Governor Paterson is attempting to re-make himself. The first step is getting everyone in Albany to call him "Governor," not David. The rest of the process includes getting him to shave that silly beard, buying him fresh suits, getting him fresh haircuts, and trying, as difficult as it may be, to get him to cut out the wisecracks. That last one has proven difficult if Paterson's recent quip about taking a leak on the Legislature is any indication.
Gov. David Paterson's handlers are reinventing him for 2010 [NYDN]
Front Page: Monahan to pen untitled period drama -- Mel Gibson will direct and Leonardo DiCaprio will star in an untitled period drama about Viking culture.
Did the Florida Department of Children and Families pay a visit to Casa Woods this weekend?
The agency is refusing to confirm its agents, accompanied by a local sheriff's deputy,...
At last night's Video Game Awards, Harmonix announced that Green Day will be the next band to receive its own Rock Band game. Of course, Green Day isn't the first band to get its own Rock Band game (The Beatles: Rock Band came out in September). But Green Day is the first band with an album named after diarrhea to get its own Rock Band game. [MTV News]
Call it half a smile. The first Broadway revival of "A Little Night Music," the enchanting, moonstruck musical based on the Ingmar Bergman film "Smiles of a Summer Night," is a curious... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 13 Dec 2009 | 5:21 pm
Front Page: 'Coraline,' 'Precious,' 'Sugar' make list -- American Film Institute announced Sunday its official selection for the AFI Awards, including the top 10 in both film and television.
Sorry, hands. CGI is still king.
The old-fashioned Princess and the Frog grossed an old-fashioned $25 million Friday-Sunday, per estimates, a take more line with Disney's last,...
A roving camera caught up with the celebs at this week's Fraggle Rock fashion event at Kitson. And perhaps more surprising than the fact that an '80s TV puppet show has a fashion presence...
One year ago this very weekend, a report surfaced that claimed that Summit Entertainment was considering dropping Taylor Lautner from the Twilight sequel, New Moon, because the then 16 year-old was reportedly too "baby-faced" to effectively portray the increasingly snarly character of Jacob. Well, Lautner responded to this criticism by packing on some 30 pounds of muscle (most of it in his abs) and by waging a very effective (and very public) battle to keep his job. This commitment to the franchise impressed Summit and they allowed Lautner to appear in the sequel and, over the last twelve months, emerge as one of the hunkiest young heartthrobs in Hollywood. So, it's kind of a fitting twist that Lautner would get a chance to host Saturday Night Live this weekend and get the opportunity to prove once again that he's more than just a baby-faced sufferer of restless leg syndrome.
While we had previous knowledge that Taylor Lautner's allegedly restless legs were capable of allowing Lautner to spontaneously backflip whenever he feels like it, we had no idea that he would go all Tony Jaa on a Kanye West mannequin just minutes into his monologue:
We haven't seen aggression like this on the stage of Studio 8H since John Belushi and Michael O'Donoghue booked Fear as the musical guest way back in 1981. And as far as the host's athletic ability is concerned, the wall-flipping Joseph Gordon-Levitt is likely eating his heart out at this very moment.
As for the rest of the episode, well, there isn't much to say. Lautner proved himself to be an adequate host by the sheer fact that he never flubbed a line or missed a cue, but on the other hand, he was unable to elevate any of the material or really ever connect with the audience. It's not like we expected the 17 year-old to deliver a Baldwinesque performance his first time out of the gate or anything, but we were hoping that he would show a flash of something to help prove that he's got more tricks in his arsenal than dimples and a six-pack. And the best we can say for the evening's musical guest, Bon Jovi, was that it took us nearly a full minute to hit our fast-forward button on our DVR during both of their performances. Frankly, we think that the show missed out on a potentially hilarious skit by having Bon Jovi interact with their nemeses in Jon Bovi in some fashion, but if we were to wager on why this didn't come to fruition, we'd lay our money on the domineering Jon Bon Jovi spiking it.
Having said that, we couldn't be more excited to witness new castmember Jenny Slate finally have another breakthrough evening. Not only did she absolutely ace her Elvis impression in the Show Choir skit, but her work as Tina Tina the doorbell entrepreneur went over so well that we wouldn't be surprised to see this become a recurring character:
AP - Sarah Palin has returned to Alaska to end her national "Going Rogue" book tour in her home state. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 1:11 pm
The website The Examiner talked to Bryce Dallas Howard this weekend, who replaced Rachelle Lefevre in the Twilight Saga: Eclipse in a way that seemed a little fishy (on the part of Summit Entertainment, not Howard) to a lot of Twilight fans. When asked about what it was like to replace another actress, Howard answered in pretty much the most classy manner imaginable:
"The jury is still out, because Rachelle [Lefevre] really created an incredible character and is exquisite. I fell like the uproar that occurred was really appropriate, because part of the joy of seeing a franchise, it’s almost like a television series. You’ve seen the actors grow with the franchise. And [Lefevre’s] unavailability [to do "Eclipse"] was really, really, really unfortunate. Advice? Gosh. Just to do your best and be über-respectful. She won that role for a reason. I hope to honor everything that she created."
It's so unusual to hear one actor sound so graceful and generous toward another. Opie must have raised her right.
This weekend, Chicago's Second City company celebrated their 50th anniversary with an all-star night of comedy. The Colbert Report fansite No Fact Zone has some detailed fan write-ups and photos focusing on the reunion of Colbert and Carell, including what sounded like a pretty hilarious Colbert Report panel discussion moderated by Wait Wait Don't Tell Me's Peter Sagal. [No Fact Zone]
"Princess Tiana" attends the opening of "The Princess and The Frog" the ultimate Disney experience at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, in November 2009. Disney's groundbreaking "The Princess and... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 13 Dec 2009 | 11:57 am
Lawrence H. Summers, President Obama’s top economic advisor, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos today that "Everyone agrees that the recession is over" and predicted good news for jobs based partially on November's surprisingly low unemployment numbers, saying “Most professional forecasters are looking for a return to job growth by the spring." Hope!
Recession is Over [This Week with George Stephanopoulos via YouTube]
In his Op-Ed today in the New York Times, columnist Frank Rich says that Jason Reitman's George Clooney-starring drama Up in the Air can do more to fix our country's economic wounds than anyone is doing in Washington right now. Rich lays out his case (while not spoiling the movie, it must be pointed out):
"Here is an America whose battered inhabitants realize that the economic deck is stacked against them, gamed by distant, powerful figures they can’t see or know. “Up in the Air” may be a glossy production sprinkled with laughter and sex, but it captures the distinctive topography of our Great Recession as vividly as a far more dour Hollywood product of 70 years ago, “The Grapes of Wrath,” did the vastly different landscape of the Great Depression."
Rich goes on to argue that "[Up in the Air] makes palpable the cultural and even physical chasm that opened up between the two Americas for years before the financial collapse." Having seen the movie, this argument isn't all that far-fetched, actually. Up in the Air opens wide on Christmas Day, and will at least do more to heal our country than, say, its weekend-box-office competitor It's Complicated.
Warner Brothers has cut a new, longer trailer for their "sword and sandals pic" coming in March, and in addition to having something slightly resembling a beginning, middle, and end, this trailer loses the much-ridiculed original tagline "Titans. Will. Clash." in favor of the less passive "Damn. The. Gods."
Ashley Dupre, the former call girl turned Tiger-commentator debuted her new job today as a love and relationships columnist for the New York Post. This should surprise no one. The column so far is utterly unremarkable aside from its author. [NYP]
NBC 4 has a report on several families in NY and NJ suburbs who are competing to be the last family to turn on their furnace this season in hopes of winning the "No Heat Award" offered by a local website. The contest follows the honor system, and families are allowed to use fireplaces and space heaters (and slankets), and last year's winners (a tie between two families) went all the way until January 1 without turning on their heat. They plan to use the money they save on a vacation. The whole report is pretty adorable, except when the reporter says "Despite the occasional fire, they believe it helps the environment." Eek, let's not be so fire-casual!
Reporters were allowed brief access to American student Amanda Knox in her Italian jail cell today, where she revealed that the night of her conviction on December 5th for the 2007 murder of roommate Meredith Kercher, she was "feeling horrendous" but the guards "held (her) all night." Amanda also said that she hopes to continue the classes she started in Perugia in 2007, saying "I miss stimulating conversations." While this report is slightly less vague than the quotes Amanda gave ABC last week, the report, which also mentions the jail's unusually luxe amenities (such as private bathrooms with bidets and free weekly salon services) notes that:
"The visit was arranged by Fondazione Italia USA, which promotes close relations between the two countries, in an effort to heal any rift over accusations that Italy's justice system is unfair."
The story goes on to mention that Amanda shares her cell with a 53-year-old New Orleans native who is serving four years on drug charges.
British actress Kate Winslet has won the Best European Actress award while "Das Weisse Band" ("The White Ribbon") picked up the prize for best European film at the European Film Academy's annual awards... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:43 am
Things just got worse for Tiger Woods.
Accenture announced Sunday that it's dropping the 33-year-old scandal-ridden golfer from its advertising efforts, E! News has...
Sorry, ladies. Those of you who haven't been treated to Tiger Woods in the buff won't be getting a peek anytime soon. At least from the folks who brought us a nearly naked Levi...
Sometimes it takes a pillage to bring together talent like this.
Leonardo DiCaprio has signed on to director Mel Gibson's upcoming film about Norsemen, according to Variety. William...
Wow. Just...wow.
Anyone else feel as if your stomach catapulted out of your mouth while watching tonight's fourth season finale of Showtime's Dexter? It was...horrifying. To say...
The Hurt Locker hasn't made a bajillion bucks. It doesn't star George Clooney. It's about a war that nobody wants to see at the movies. Basically, it's got one thing going for it:...
Did the Florida Department of Children and Families pay a visit to Casa Woods this weekend?
The agency is refusing to confirm its agents, accompanied by a local sheriff's deputy,...
Sorry, hands. CGI is still king.
The old-fashioned Princess and the Frog grossed an old-fashioned $25 million Friday-Sunday, per estimates, a take more line with Disney's last,...
A roving camera caught up with the celebs at this week's Fraggle Rock fashion event at Kitson. And perhaps more surprising than the fact that an '80s TV puppet show has a fashion presence...
