Wednesday’s here. Wow, you guys really DO care about Jay Leno’s first guests. Or, I should say, you really, really don’t like some of them, do you? Had no idea you felt so strongly – as ever, thanks for commenting. Since Jay is back next week, I’m thinking beforehand we might toss out some of the other guests — possibly less objectionable – just to gauge your tune-in meter. Because apparently Simon, Sarah and those Jersey Boys (and Girls) aren’t gonna do it for you. In general news, we have a baby announcement from someone who’s had a few (babies, that is) – actor Gary Busey – age 65. Gary and girlfriend Steffanie Sampson ( 40) are thrilled to have brought Luke Samson Busey (tipping the scales at six pounds, seven ounces) into the world. Gary’s also the father of Jake, who arrived in 1971. Congratulations. In daytime news, it seems Snoop Dogg is appearing on “One Life To Live” – for the second time as a guest star. He’s going to act and sing a new song today. The mega-successful rapper explains he was always a big fan of OLTL growing up, and he’s long had an affinity for the popular drama, set in the picturesque town of Llanview. In TV News with a Medical Bent: we have reports that Charlie Sheen will be taking a leave of absence from his hit show “Two And A Half Men” – in order to go into drug & alcohol rehab as a “preventive measure”. In other TV News with a Medical Bent: it seems Kiefer Sutherland’s on his way out of a medical facility and back to his hit show. The actor was given a clean bill of health after kidney surgery which halted production on “24”. He and the show have been given the A-OK to start shooting again, so get ready for more of Jack Bauer taking on terrorists, counterterrorists, counter-counterterrorists and any other baddies who pose a threat to the US of A. Speaking of baddies, I’ve been participating in lots of discussions lately about movie bad guys. As in, what makes a great villain, who plays a great villain, can an actor who plays a great villain ever play anything else, etc. Nor do I mean the characters – this is all about the guys who play them (and you’ll note these fellas play lots of them because they’re pretty awesome). So now voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of these actors is your favorite bad guy?
1) Sir Anthony Hopkins
2) Alan Rickman
3) Jack Nicholson
4) Jason Isaacs
9:43 am on February 24, 2010
It’s Tuesday. Love your comments on our if-the-Oscars-were-tomorrow poll. You sure do like your movies – and you sure do like The Blind Side. Is there anyone on this continent right now who’s not crazy about Sandra Bullock & the awesome year she’s having? They say everyone loves a comeback – but I say, not necessarily true. Why do we love a comeback with some stars, and yet we can’t wait to see other actors or actresses fade into oblivion? Which brings me to TV news. Here’s the what. Let’s say you really, really love a TV show. You love the characters, the plot, you’re up to date on every episode. Maybe you even watch it repeatedly on DVR. You know all the behind-the-scenes stuff, and you can’t wait for the new season. So what happens when you invite the cast of your beloved TV show to a little shindig you’re having – and they show up at your house? Cool! Sounds like fun, right? Like a dream come true. Right? Unfortunately, if you’re me or pretty much anybody I have ever met – it’s also pretty unlikely. Make that impossible. Not gonna happen. Unless of course you happen to be the First Lady of the United States. And you absolutely love the show “Glee” (and let’s face it, like Sandra Bullock – who doesn’t?) And maybe even your husband – the President – thinks “Glee’s” kinda cool too. Turns out? It can happen. So now the cast of “Glee” will be showing up for a very special command performance at the White House’s Easter Egg Roll on April 5th. (That’s a week before the show returns to our non-famous, celebrity-free living rooms). So yes, sometimes if you really love a show and you happen to be in the right place at the right time with the nation’s top job, you get to have any old cast you want at your little party. Speaking of someone’s little party, let’s talk about Jay Leno. After all that nasty drama with Conan, we know Jay’s returning to late night TV. And when it comes to guests invited for his first week back, let’s just say they’ve got some real doozies scheduled. As in, let’s make them today’s featured poll. So voice your choice and let us know which of Jay Leno’s first guests you’re most excited about?
1) Simon Cowell
2) Sarah Palin
3) The Cast of Jersey Shore
9:35 am on February 23, 2010
Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Did you catch any of the Olympics? Did you have an unnatural desire to a) dust off those skis b) convince a teenager to teach you to snowboard c) rent the DVD of The Cutting Edge or d) visit Canada soon/never? And how about Tiger – will the press leave him alone now that he has a) apologized and more importantly b) finally been spotted with a golf club in his hand? (If a smile and a 9-iron don’t say business-as-usual, we’re not sure what does). Here’s movie news. As predicted, Shutter Island shut out everybody else at the box office. The Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio insane asylum thriller pulled in nearly $41 million dollars for the weekend win. That’s a super-welcome victory for the folks behind the film since it was supposed to come out in theaters months ago. And we know that typically when they futz around with a movie’s release date, that’s usually a bad sign. Previous box-office champ Valentine’s Day made about half that much. In celeb nuptials Hilary Duff has gotten engaged to hockey player Mike Comrie, and if you want to see her engagement ring up close, you have only to sift thru about 3000 pictures of it currently floating around the internet. Happy Birthday to actors Drew Barrymore and Thomas Jane. Now, continuing on with our Awards’ season push, this weekend was the BAFTA Awards – that’s the British Oscars, where a great many actors and actresses we’ve been buzzing about for the last few months showed up to collect trophies across the pond. Did certain UK films/stars enjoy a home-court advantage? Yes and no. For example, the plot is getting very thick in the Best Picture category. That’s because The Hurt Locker – a seemingly unstoppable war movie about a team of guys who have to dismantle bombs – took the Best Picture Trophy. Plus, the BAFTA Best Director Award went to The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow – the former Mrs. James Cameron. Another American, Kristen Stewart, beat out several Brits for the Rising Star Award. This means that Oscar Day — March 7th — may deliver quite a showdown (if only they left the voting up to The People like some other Awards Shows we know). With this in mind, let’s wade thru all the clutter and take a look at Oscar with YOU as voter in mind. Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us this: if the Oscars were tomorrow and YOU had to select the Best Picture winner from these movies which one would you choose?
1) Avatar
2) The Blind Side
3) The Hurt Locker
4) Up In The Air
10:00 am on February 22, 2010
Ah, Friday! (Today, if you happen to run into actor Benicio Del Toro, be sure to congratulate him on The Wolfman and wish him Happy Birthday. Similarly, should you encounter Jeff Daniels or Justine Bateman, tell them the same thing – but you can leave out the Wolfman stuff and just go with ‘Happy Birthday’). Will you tune in and watch the US go for more Olympic gold? Or will you venture out and catch a movie, since the coast is clear and we’re finally past the behemoth that is Valentine’s Day (both the actual “holiday” and the blockbuster film. Although despite conflicting opinions on the movie itself, the one thing everyone agrees on is the fact that Taylor Swift does a very nice job acting. She’s funny & totally adorable in what amounts to a self-parody – a role frequently screwed up by folks with twice her age and movie experience). In TV news, because it’s never too early to start talking about “Dancing With The Stars” hoofer Brooke Burke is reportedly up for the co-host spot that Samantha Harris vacated. Burke revealed this, tweeting to fans about her upcoming screen test. Now, if you do decide to venture out and catch a movie, you have a couple of options. At your local cineplex you might see the Roman Polanski-directed thriller The Ghost Writer starring Ewan MacGregor and Pierce Brosnan. Or, you might catch the latest film to star “Gilmore Girls”‘ Alexis Bledel called The Good Guy. But the movie that’s going to bring home all the bacon this weekend — maybe even unseating Valentine’s Day & Dear John & Avatar for 1st place? Shutter Island, the super-creepy film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a US Marshall investigating a series of disturbing events at a “home for the criminally insane”. (When’s the last time you heard people refer to “the criminally insane” describing a movie and really, really bad things didn’t start happening?) Will you see Shutter Island? In fact, this is the 4th time DiCaprio has worked with director Martin Scorcese. So voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which one of these other DiCaprio/Scorcese movies you liked best?
1) The Aviator
2) The Departed
3) Gangs of New York
10:08 am on February 19, 2010
It’s Thursday, so why not talk about “comeback” news. First, Tiger Woods is having a press conference tomorrow. Apparently the golf champ is planning to come clean about – or at least apologize for – some of the less-than-smart decisions he may have made recently to do with various ladies who aren’t his wife or the mother of his children. Stay tuned for that one. The location? A golf club. Guess they wanted to make sure he was on friendly turf. And now here’s another comeback story (this one’s a lot less thorny than Tiger’s). Last week the original sultry, smokey-voiced, queen of cool Sade came out with a record, “Soldier of Love”. Her first since 2000. And even though popular wisdom says nobody buys records anymore, apparently somebody did. Like about half a million people because the lady’s come roaring back in a big way. She sold 502,000 copies – that’s just shy of Susan Boyle. So doubters beware, Sade’s en fuego. Of course with Idol now getting to the good part, how does everyone think Ellen’s doing? Could you see her knocking heads with Howard Stern? Idol champ Kris Allen is going to appear on the results show next week to help raise money for Haiti. And another former Idol alum – Danny Gokey – reportedly has a pretty catchy song on his hands, “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me” – you might want to check it out and let us know what you think. Bad news for Oscar-nominated singers however – evidently they’re canceling those live Best Song performances in this year’s Oscars broadcast (maybe to save time because how else can they announce the 28 Best Picture nominees?) Now even though Hollywood is distracted by the upcoming March awards, there are still movies coming out weekly and recently we’ve seen a spate of movie “couples” who seem awfully cute together but who also – um – happen to have movies to promote. Is it a coincidence that they have a “fling” right around the release date? Or is that just the way love works? Some seem like publicity stunts, while others might just be the real deal. So here now are 4 rumored “couplings” featuring attractive people who all happen to be in movies together. Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which one of these “couples” is your favorite.
1) Jennifer Aniston & Gerard Butler
2) Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
3) Taylor Lautner & Taylor Swift
4) Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens
9:58 am on February 18, 2010
It’s Wednesday. Happy birthday to actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Hal Holbrook and celebutante Paris Hilton. And now for some TV news. So everyone gets a little nervous when their favorite shows get taken off the air, and the networks can be really fickle when it comes to keeping or axing the stuff we love. Fortunately we have some good news for fans of the CW. If you were at all worried about “Supernatural” and “Smallville” (was anybody really worried??) fear not, they got renewed. Now there’s drama among
writers at “Supernatural”, but I’m thinking so long as nobody touches hunky bros Jared and Jensen, this won’t matter too much. Also in the No Surprise category: “Gossip Girl” and “One Tree Hill” will also be delivering lots more brooding drama/great hair/sex & scandal for their fans, and brand new shows like “90210″ and “America’s Next Top Model” are also safe. In late night news, how about the fact that Kevin Eubanks, Jay Leno’s bandleader, is calling it quits? Apparently true. So Jay returns, Kevin sticks around for a few shows, and then he moves on. Again, not sure what that’s about but we’ll stay tuned for Kevin’s next move. We also have reports that John Melendez will no longer be Leno’s announcer – quite
mysterious but it seems like the Leno/Conan trainwreck is continuing to roll along and it’ll be interesting to see if the New Old New Tonight Show will arrive & conquer again. Plus, chat-queen Barbara Walters has announced that even though ABC has asked her to keep doing her popular Oscar Special (where she interviews the stars that everyone wants to interview), this year’s program will be her last. Why? Babs says it’s a
been there done that type of thing. Does the fact that Oprah’s got her own extremely popular Oscar Special coming down the pike have anything to do with this? Hmm. What we do know is that both Barbara and Oprah have a genuine knack for interviews, and both manage to get a whole lot out of people who don’t necessarily want to give out much. With this in mind, let’s consider this for a poll today. Let’s say you could sit down with a big, high-profile star and ask them absolutely
anything. You’d have to keep their answers private but still, they’d
have to come totally clean to you on whatever burning questions you throw at them. With this in mind voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us:
which one of these stars would you pick to have a 100% truthful/ no-fibs-allowed/anything goes one-on-one conversation with?
1) Tom Cruise
2) Angelina Jolie
3) Tiger Woods
4) George Clooney
9:45 am on February 17, 2010
Welcome back to Tuesday…hope you had a fantastic Long Weekend! With Valentine’s Day behind us (get ready for the 1/2 price chocolate) we now proceed into spring. Here’s the cue for bars & pubs across America to start planning their Green Beer/St. Paddy’s specials. Did you see any movies this weekend? Did you eagerly go see/convince someone special to attend and/or get dragged to Valentine’s Day – the movie? If you were part of that gang, you contributed to the comedy’s box office triumph. You were semi-responsible for its $65 million dollar haul. Behind it, Percy Jackson & The Wolfman each brought in over $30 million apiece. So maybe in the end, love really does conquer all. Moving on, we have two entertainment obituaries. First, Doug Fieger, whose name may not ring a bell but his hit songs probably do; he was the lead singer for The Knack, the band behind “My Sharona” and “Good Girls Don’t” among others. Fieger succumbed to cancer at age 57. And English novelist (and former jockey) Dick Francis, who wrote lots and lots of bestselling crime thrillers (about jockeys who inadvertently become sleuths) has also passed away, at age 89. In nuptial news, it seems Joel Madden & Nicole Richie are now officially engaged (they’re the ones who have been together for 3 years with the 2 children). Congrats. In less-than-savory headlines, filmmaker Kevin Smith’s ripping mad at Southwest Airlines for ejecting him from a flight on account of his size, and musician John Mayer is swimming in apologies over various indiscretions (hopefully, one might be his apparent inability to pipe down a teensy bit). But let’s talk about yesterday’s national holiday celebrating the guys who have presided over our fair land. Or at least, for the purposes of today’s poll, we’ll look at some of the actors who have played the guys sitting in the Oval Office. Of which there have been many in both TV and film – we’re going to give you some of both to consider. So now, voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which of these actors played your favorite President?
1) Martin Sheen (The West Wing)
2) Kevin Kline (Dave)
3) Dennis Haysbert (24)
4) Michael Douglas (The American President)
9:47 am on February 16, 2010
Happy Valentine’s Day weekend! In news today we have a) a sad passing in the fashion community, b) some unplanned New York hospital visits (but everyone’s okay), and c) new movie openings. First up, heartbreak during New York’s Fashion week: British designer Alexander McQueen has died of an apparent suicide at the age of 40. McQueen won numerous design awards and dressed many stars, counting among his many fans Sarah Jessica Parker, Katie Holmes, Madonna, and Kate Moss. The fashion community remains stunned by his death, and mourns the loss of one of its own groundbreaking stars. We also have reports that both former president Bill Clinton, and ‘30 Rock’ star Alec Baldwin wound up in New York hospitals this week. Clinton was treated for chest pains, while Baldwin agreed to come in after someone phoned 911, calling the actor “unresponsive”. Clinton is recuperating and is said to be in “good spirits.” Meanwhile Baldwin has also returned to work – but not before winding up in yet another paparazzi scuffle. Hope he can stay out of trouble until March 7th (when he and Steve Martin cohost the Oscars). Happy birthday to actress Christina Ricci; the deadpan & delicious star of the Addams Family, The Ice Storm and Speed Racer (among others) is 29 years old today. Now: at the box office, you essentially have 3 choices. Valentine’s Day is coming up and depending upon your perspective, you can either embrace it, avoid it, or hope that it will slip quietly past like some unwanted flu. So, at the cineplex, you can either dive in headfirst and actually see Valentine’s Day (Kutcher, Alba, Biel, Roberts, T. Swift, T. Lautner, Cooper, etc), OR, you can join up with guys, teens and horror fans and catch The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro). If neither of these appeal we do have another choice: you might want to find some kids who are missing the Harry Potter series A LOT and take them to see Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. This of course got me thinking about some of the great guilty pleasures of cinema – the marvelous and often bittersweet romances that many of us will happily watch more than once. Know any? Here goes: take a peek at today’s featured poll and let us know which of these movies is your favorite love story?
1) Titanic
2) The Notebook
3) Shakespeare In Love
4) Twilight
10:15 am on February 12, 2010
It’s Thursday – we’re almost there! And boy, do you all have some serious opinions about “American Idol” (thanks for the feedback). Seems very few of you are fans of Howard Stern: The Music Judge. Although maybe he likes it that way. In TV news, an obit. Captain Phil Harris, the man who piloted the crab-fishing vessel on the hit series “Deadliest Catch” has died, following complications from a stroke. He was 53. In happier news, tennis ace Boris Becker and his wife Sharlely welcomed a son – Amadeus Benedict Edley Luis Becker (who wants to monogram that kid’s shirts?) It’s the couple’s first child (Becker has 3 others from previous relationships). Congratulations. And did you know that a certain embattled former late-night host quietly bid adieu to his unwatched (and some felt, unwatchable) prime time program this week? Neither did I. But we do have some casting news — to do with TV shows that many of us, or at least older people we might be related to, loved. In fact, there’s quite a trend in Hollywood these days to take chestnuts from the 60’s and 70’s and turn them into big ticket movies – with varying results. So now, they’re hoping third time’s the charm for hunky Australian actor Alex O’Laughlin, who was most recently the star of TV’s “Three Rivers “(which was canceled, although a few people liked it) and before that starred in “Moonlight” (also canceled, although a TON of people liked it). Now they’re bringing back a TV classic: “Hawaii Five-O”, and Alex will star as Detective Steve McGarrett (indelibly etched in people’s minds by the late Jack Lord, he of Windblown Hair & Rugged Chin fame). So we’ll be eager to see their take on that iconic show. Then get this one – evidently Susan Sarandon’s got her eye on “The Big Valley” – as in, the Oscar-winner is currently in negotiations to star in the role Barbara Stanwyck originated as matriarch in the classic 1960’s Western saga. Will you buy tickets to see that at your local cineplex? In fact, with all the studios planning to remake, reboot, relaunch and reimagine everything, let’s take a look at a few other hot shows and see which ones might tickle your fancy on the big screen. Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of these shows you’d most like to see made into movies:
1) Lost
2) Glee
3) Supernatural
4) House
9:39 am on February 11, 2010
Wednesday’s here. Let’s start with music. The record companies know the commercial jackpot otherwise known as Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Thus, there’s quite a bit of music out there on the
romantic side of things. For example: the soundtrack to this week’s new movie
Valentine’s Day features 2 songs from Taylor Swift that will, I’m pretty certain, jettison that album right on up the charts. Then there’s the latest from a lady who, years ago sent an awful lot of people racing to the nearest smokey lounge to sip martinis –
Sade. She’s back with “Soldier of Love” – her first release in 10 years. Also, in the same Sultry Chanteuse vein we have new remixes from
Norah Jones.
It’s that time of year, after all. In movie news, Tom Cruise has signed on to star once again as the gun-toting/cliff-scaling /motorcycle -riding/aquarium-smashing/tuxedo-wearing Ethan Hunt in the next
Mission: Impossible movie. Meanwhile, we have reports that Fox has “greenlit” the brand new movie version of
“24” so Jack Bauer will be heading to a big screen near you. Not that you should hold your breath – just because a studio says “yes, let’s turn that into a big movie!” doesn’t mean it gets done in a timely fashion. Or at all. On to TV: what did you think of Ellen DeGeneres’ big night judging on “American Idol”? Did she knock it out of the park? Speaking of “Idol”, the Hollywood rumor mill is now entirely awash in gossip over
who will replace Simon Cowell next year when the mega-busy Brit steps down. And these are pretty massive shoes to fill. Several names are being tossed around as possible heirs to that throne.Two of the contenders, Guy Oseary and Tommy Mottola, may not be household names. Yet. (However, all you need to know is that the first one is Madonna’s right-hand man and a major-behind-the-scenes player, and the other is a record exec and the man who discovered – and married – Mariah Carey). The others reportedly in contention may be a little more familiar to us (see names below) .
Voice your choice in today’s featured poll and let us know which of these guys you could see taking over when Simon Cowell leaves “Idol”:
1) Elton John
2) Jamie Foxx
3) Howard Stern
9:48 am on February 10, 2010
