Ready are you for the weekend? How about Oprah stepping down in 2011? Didn’t see that one coming at all. Thanks for all your great Jeff Bridges feedback yesterday — I promise you won’t be disappointed with his efforts in Crazy Heart. (And yes, yes, next time we’ll include Starman in the poll!) In other movie news, a new article in Forbes magazine cites movie stars as an investment – as in, if you invested in them what you’d get back in return — based on their salary. More on this later but for now, just know that the most overpaid star in Hollywood today if you factor in his big salary, is Will Ferrell. Just saying. And now we head to the cineplex. Specifically flicks you might want to catch this very weekend. Maybe even tonite. And of course, you knew it was coming. It’s the elephant in the living room. Or rather the vampire in the living room. The movie franchise that makes hundred year old people very, very sexy. It’s outsold just about every other movie opening out there — and fans are beyond excited. I’m talking of course about the Twilight Saga: New Moon. But before we get to today’s poll, I’ll mention what else is playing, because there are indeed a few other fun movies opening this weekend. How about Planet 51? This is an animated feature with the voices of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gary Oldman and John Cleese. I’ll see that. Then you might want to check out The Blind Side which is probably going to make people feel really, really good. I cried during the trailer. Sandra Bullock stars. Nic Cage is in Bed Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans…and that’s a very controversial violent remake of another very controversial violent film. If you see it let us know what you think. Now back to New Moon. It’s the whole gang: Edward, Bella and Jacob plus tons of forbidden love and a whole new crew of werewolves and vampires. What could go wrong? Which leads me to wonder which of these stars might be the most genuinely interesting conversationalist? Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of New Moon’s 3 stars would you most like to have lunch with?
1) Kristen Stewart
2) Taylor Lautner
3) Robert Pattinson
10:43 am on November 20, 2009
It’s Thursday, and we’re spending time this week looking at the PCA Fave Lady Movie Star noms (you all had LOTS to say about Sandra Bullock AND Anne Hathaway…whenever I think I’ve gotten a suitable cross -section of films you remind me that Ella Enchanted and While You Were Sleeping should have been a players in our daily poll. Good call.) Now, turning to the actors, it’s been revealed that Johnny Depp is People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. Again. This is a distinction he shares with very few gents, as in George Clooney and Brad Pitt. So bravo to Johnny D: great actor, undeniable looker, philanthropist, and by all reports a genuinely committed father of two (not that common in Hollywood, you’ll note) — plus, a PCA nominee too. So there’s that. Now on to our poll. Which has to do with an amazing performance I saw today in a movie you’ll definitely want to catch. It’s all about a down-on-his luck country music singer. It’s called Crazy Heart, and I was curious because I’d heard some quiet Oscar buzz about this little film. Apparently, even though we might think this year’s Best Actor Oscar race is clear (more on that later) this movie features a performance that could change that. A role belonging to none other than Jeff Bridges. Brother of Beau, son of Lloyd, arguably one of the most well-liked men in Hollywood who’s been Oscar-nominated 4 times (First time? 37 years ago) and has never won. Plus, JB’s long been referred to as “the Most Underrated Actor in America”. So today, I want to throw out the idea that quite possibly he’ll get nominated again for this movie. Where he (opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell) is so good you cannot take your eyes off him. And if he gets nominated, you heard it here first. With this in mind, and because we’re going to hear a lot more about Crazy Heart (which hits theatres mid-December) let’s focus our poll upon the work of its star. Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which Jeff Bridges movie is your favorite.
1) The Big Lebowski
2) The Contender
3) The Fabulous Baker Boys
4) Iron Man
10:28 am on November 19, 2009
It’s Wednesday. First of all, Happy Birthday, Owen Wilson. Did you watch Dancing With The Stars last night? How about (or I guess too bad about) Joanna Krupa? How about what’s left? (according to reports, NOT dancer Julianne Hough, for one thing) Wait til next Tuesday when you guys can vote on Donny, Mya and Kelly. Did you all buy Kris Allen’s CD? But here’s the what: did everyone who bought Kris Allen’s CD this week also buy Carrie Underwood’s last record? These are the kinds of questions I wonder about. Which is why I’ve given quite a bit of thought to the actual PCA nominees…which were announced last week and, as someone who’s genuinely curious about what gets people excited, I’m hoping to find out which of the nominees you care about most — and why. The best way to do this of course is to examine their various movies/TV hows/albums. Which brings us to today’s poll. This week we are looking at the Peoples Choice Favorite Movie Actresses. The nominees are Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston and Kristen Stewart. We’ll get to Kristen Stewart later on in the week when her big movie New Moon opens, so tonight, let’s take a look at Anne Hathaway. She’s young, she’s gorgeous, she’s almost channeling an Audre Hepburn thing — pretty elegant one, our Anne — and given her charisma, her age and her genuine acting chops, it looks like she’s got many many more films ahead. Plus did you know that she is actually a top notch singer too? But for now, let’s take a quick peek at a few of the films she’s done — to see which you all liked most. With this in mind, voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of these Anne Hathaway movies is your favorite.
1) The Princess Diaries
2) The Devil Wears Prada
3) Rachel Getting Married
4) Bride Wars
10:35 am on November 18, 2009
If you’re an American Idol fan, ’tis the season because this past year’s finalists ALL have major albums coming out.The big one, of course, is this week’s release from Idol Kris Allen – most recently one of the stars who announced Peoples Choice Nominees. Then don’t forget Adam Lambert delivers his disc “For Your Entertainment” on the 23rd of this month, and December 1st we ‘ll get the latest from Allison Iraheta followed about a month later with Danny Gokey’s solo record. In movie news, today Hollywood was all abuzz with the Twilight Saga: New Moon premiere…Twihards from all over literally camped out for days just to get a glimpse of their favorite vampires, werewolves and heroines (and the people who love them). If you weren’t there for the fandemonium, New Moon hits theatres for the rest of us on Friday. Thanks for all the feedback on your favorite Sandra Bullock movies…as we get nearer to PCA Day on January 6th will be talking more about what you like best from the other noms, so stay tuned. And speaking of staying tuned, it is after all Tuesday and this means another look at who’s left on Dancing With The Stars. Last week most of you correctly predicted that Aaron Carter would go home, and again, as the field thins the plot thickens. So now, lets take a look at tonight’s elimination round. Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which one of these couples will get sent home tonight.
1) Donny & Kym
2) Joanna & Derek
3) Kelly & Louis
4) Mya & Dmitry
10:33 am on November 17, 2009
Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Did you see any movies? Were you one of the folks who lined up to make 2012 a smashing success — the John Cusack-starring apocalypta-pic blew everyone else away at the box office with a massive $65 million opening weekend haul…wow. This was actually a lot more than the pundits expected, and very good news for director Roland Emmerich (the man who made The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, and Independence Day). Who knew 2012 would do so well? Oh wait. I forgot. We were warned. Guess Mayan Calendars are about to become this year’s hot holiday gift.So now we move forward with more on our People’s Choice Nominees. Last week we asked you all about Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman and Brad Pitt movies. It turns out, you all had PLENTY to say about which of these fellas’ flicks you liked best. Thanks for your feedback. We’ll get back to the other two gents and their movies in a few days (Robert Pattinson’s got a pretty big opening thiscoming weekend with his Twilight Saga: New Moon). But before we look at his movies and Ryan Reynolds’ movies (BTW, just caught The Proposal — totally diverting fun), let’s look to some of the gals who scored nominations last week: Anne Hathaway, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Kristen Stewart and Sandra Bullock. And because I’m thinking about The Proposal, let’s examine some of Sandra Bullock’s performances and see which ones you all found most memorable. And remember, I can only list four, so if you think one of her best was omitted, just let us know. With this in mind, voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which Sandra Bullock film is your favorite.
1) The Proposal
2) Speed
3) Miss Congeniality
4) Two Weeks Notice
10:31 am on November 16, 2009
It’s Friday…what a week. For one thing, PCA nominations came out (more on today’s Favorite Male Movie Star nominee in a moment). But first, how about Taylor Swift (also a PCA nominee, by the way)?! This little starlet swept the CMA’s and demonstrated that you can be young and funny and apparently very gracious too — as we learned during last weekend’s SNL. Hard to imagine that this young lady’s star could be any more on the rise, but it looks like we’ll be watching her sparkle for many years to come.
Couple of movies opening this weekend …some quite interesting but only one looks like a cash cow. Essentially it seems nobody wants to get in the way of 2012 (remember, we were warned) because there’s an apocalyptic-Mayan-Calendar-based-John-Cusack-end-of-the-world vehicle with “box office champ” written all over it. We also have a movie opening called Pirate Radio, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman that’s all about a 1960’s radio station that broadcast from a ship off the coast of England. Then, for the family (but it looks smart too…I’m betting you could catch this on a non-kid date and enjoy it as well) called The Fantastic Mr. Fox with the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray. I tend to think these guys make pretty good movie choices. You might also watch Woody Harrelson in The Messenger, or perhaps you’ll catch a cool little movie called Dare with Ana Gasteyer, Emmy Rossum and Sandra Bernhard. Or maybe you’ll just get lots of popcorn, forget about plausibility and make Roland Emmerich (director of 2012) even richer. Which I suspect lots of folks will. I thought the trailer was pretty wild.
Now for today’s poll. The past two days we’ve asked about two of the Favorite Movie Stars — Brad Pitt and Hugh Jackman. Now let’s look at Mr. Johnny Depp and find out which of this movie star’s films are your favorites. Once again, I’m tossing out 4 random Depp films. Voice your choice in todays featured poll and tell us which of these listed is your favorite.
1) Edward Scissorhands
2) Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
3) Finding Neverland
4) Pirates of the Caribbean
11:08 am on November 13, 2009
Still excited about our PCA Nominees…specifically this week we’re talking about Favorite Male Actors…from Movies. Yesterday we asked you which Brad Pitt movie you liked best. Among the remaining nominees, we have Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson and Ryan Reynolds.
Oh wait…we need to touch on TV news. Apparently the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse was cancelled and I know that there were lots of you who will be more than disappointed by that turn of events. Similarly, in other Hollywood gossip, Office Space and Sex and the City star (among other things) Ron Livingston just married his Standoff costar and Rachel Getting Married star Rosemarie Dewitt — congratulations to these two.
But back to sizing up PCA nominees. Today let’s take a look at Hugh Jackman and his many, many credits. A bona fide movie star, hoofer AND singer, Hugh’s participated in just about every form of entertainment there is. Now we are going to give you 4 random films of his to consider. So voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which of Hugh’s movies is your favorite.
1) Australia
2) Swordfish
3) X-Men Origins: Wolverine
4) Someone Like You
10:45 am on November 12, 2009
What a day …hope you caught the news from yesterday morning’s PCA Nominees Press Conference — so many stars to choose from …so many actors, actresses, singers, shows and movies. Now begins the countdown til our January 6th broadcast, when the 2010 PCA winners will be announced. And the best part, of course, is that YOU will decide who takes home EACH trophy. It’s all about you. (Me? I have to say I was absolutely thrilled that Twilight and members of its awesome cast were nominated as I am an unabashed fan but we’ll get to that later. While we’re at it…9 days from today is the New Moon premiere.)
But wait — TV news — did you see that Aaron Carter was summarily sent home from Dancing With The Stars? Now only Donny, Mya, Kelly and Joanna remain for the final hoof-off.
Now back to the People’s Choice Awards. Where to start with our 2010 nominees…how about Favorite Movie Actor. One of the most popular categories ever. In this group we have 5 guys, each of whom enjoys a more than devoted fan base, to say the least. The 5 are Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, and Ryan Reynolds. (2 Americans, 1 Canadian, an Australian and an Englishman). Each inspires a tremendous following, all have starred in hit movies, and all have — to a greater or lesser degree — pretty good acting chops. That said, let’s base our poll today on the work of one of them (we’ll get to the others down the road)…and see how you feel about this guy’s (multiple) movie credentials. First up, let’s take a look at some of nominee Brad Pitt’s films. He’s done a great many of them, so we’re going to try and pull a reasonable cross section for you all to think about and vote on. (In fact, I’m sure you will all suggest countless other BP pics that weren’t included. But let’s just consider a few for now.) So why not voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of these Brad Pitt movies is your favorite.
1) Fight Club
2) Mr. and Mrs. Smith
3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4) Ocean’s Eleven
11:07 am on November 11, 2009
Today’s the day! Get ready for the big news as we reveal the NOMINEES for the 2010 People’s Choice Awards! And of course, that’s “revealing” courtesy of special guests Jeff Probst, Sofia Vergara, Cat Deeley, and Kris Allen. I’ll be tweeting from the event so stay tuned and you’ll know as soon as we know just who’s headed for January’s big show.
In regular TV news (as opposed to DWTS news – it is Tuesday, after all), we have good news if you’re a fan of The Forgotten (that’s the new Christian Slater drama). It seems ABC hasn’t forgotten about this rookie show and they’ve gone ahead and ordered more episodes. Unfortunately, they didn’t grant the same wish for Eastwick, starring Rebecca Romijn, and so the future of that one looks pretty bleak. Now, on to Dancing With The Stars because the fact is, as our celebrity hoofer field gets thinner, the plot gets thicker. There are just 5 couples left, and tonight one of them won’t exactly be kicking up their heels. Last night, Mya and Dmitry triumphed with 59 points out of 60 for their two dances. For that reason, we’re not going to put her in today’s poll as a possible vote-off. But as we get down to the wire, who’s going home? Now, voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which one of these 4 couples you think will get booted off the show tonight.
1) Aaron & Karina
2) Donny & Kym
3) Joanna & Derek
4) Kelly & Louis
11:19 am on November 10, 2009
Happy Monday. So it’s official…the People’s Choice Awards race is about to begin — our PCA Nominations Press Conference is tomorrow morning, right here in Los Angeles. And, to lend a hand with the hoopla we’ve enlisted the help of some very special guests to announce the 2010 nominees, including Kris Allen, Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara, Jeff Probst, and Cat Deeley. Over the past few weeks about a zillion people weighed in, and you’re about to find out which stars are now in the final running to take home trophies. (Don’t forget, these folks are in the race for one of the brand new Waterford trophies you also voted on). Plus, yours truly will be tweeting live from the press conference …so you’ll get the scoop right when it happens.
So back to the Monday stuff. In movie news, (as we predicted) Jim Carrey’s latest, A Christmas Carol got off to a strong start this past weekend as box office champ with an estimated $31 million dollar haul. A Christmas Carol is also expected to do nicely right on thru Christmas itself. (Then, keep an eye out for a few more end-of-the-year films expected to hit major box office pay-dirt, like The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Avatar). The Michael Jackson film This Is It also made more money in theaters this past weekend — great buzz on that one – and George Clooney’s new film did pretty well too. In TV news: did anyone happen to catch Taylor Swift hosting Saturday Night Live? Expectations were high for Taylor, especially after all that Kanye West nonsense from the MTV Awards. Turns out? The girl is an unquestionable talent, but I must say I didn’t know how funny she is, too. This of course got me thinking about other SNL guest hosts, and it occurred to me that maybe you all would have something to say about a few of them. So how about you voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which recent SNL host — besides Taylor — was your favorite.
1) Ryan Reynolds
2) Gerard Butler
3) Megan Fox
4) Drew Barrymore
11:11 am on November 9, 2009
