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Pregnant Angelina Jolie at CannesThe cast of Kung Fu Panda including Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffma make an appearance at the Cannes festival. Angelina Jolie confirmed that she is pregnant with twins. Jack Black joked that she is carrying triplets. Posted on May 15, 2008 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati These three young kids could be the next stars to come out of the High School Musical phenonmenon. They are Matt Prokop, Justin Martin and Jemma McKenzie-Brown. They have been casted to play sophomore "Wildcats" in Walt Disney Pictures' upcoming film, High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
Commenting on the announcement, Ortega said, "Peter Barsocchini's exciting script for High School Musical 3 called for the addition of three sophomore characters, so we set out on a massive casting search across North America and England to find just the right young actors to play the parts. We think these talented performers will bring lots of humor, new twists, and musical fun to the film. Jemma was one of the many young actresses that we met in London, and she impressed us with her singing and dancing, in addition to being very exciting and effervescent. Matt has a terrific personality, and a great sense of comedy and fun. And Justin had a great presence and charisma, besides being a wonderful comedic actor who could really dance. I am confident that the three new actors joining our original cast will help to bring great musical thrills, surprises and a lot of fun to Senior Year and the halls of East High."If they get to perform in any of the musicals then they are sure to become stars as teens replay the music videos over and over and over again on YouTube. It won't be long before they each have their own tube of High School Music hand cream. Posted on March 24, 2008 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Ryan Gosling Was Fired So, what's the real reason that Ryan Gosling left the film The Lovely Bones? According to Page Six, Ryan is a real diva and director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings) couldn't stand him. So Peter fired Ryan two days into the shooting. THOSE old "creative differences" are to blame for director Peter Jackson's firing of Ryan Gosling from "Lovely Bones." "Peter couldn't stand Ryan," said one source. Though Variety reported that Gosling had "stepped down" and was replaced by Mark Wahlberg, our source said, "Ryan cut his own hair, and was fighting with wardrobe. He was so demanding . . . Peter booted him two days before filming started." The flick is based on the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold. A rep for Gosling did not return calls.After starring in the very odd Lars and the Real Girl, then breaking up with Rachel McAdams, Ryan is starting to get a reputation that's not great. But how bout Marky Mark taking the initiative and stepping into the role? We swear, he's the hardest working man in show business now. Hopefully, he and Peter Jackson will get along just fine. Posted on October 23, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Writers Write, Inc. has added a new blog to its blog network called FantasySFBlog.com. Fantasy/SF Blog is a daily blog covering what's new and interesting in the worlds of fantasy, SF, and horror, including books, movies, TV and gaming.
Recent posts include: RSS subscription informaton for the Fantasy/SF Blog can be found here. Posted on August 15, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Amid Controversy Tom Cruise Begins Filming Valkyrie Despite extreme unhappiness from certain quarters in Germany, Cruise is going forward with filming his World War II movie, Valkyrie, in which he plays a Nazi who tried to assassinate Hitler.
Filming started Thursday on a movie starring Tom Cruise as the real-life mastermind behind a plot to kill Adolf Hitler, amid German grumbling about the high-profile Scientologist playing a national hero. A spokeswoman for Babelsberg Studios outside Berlin told AFP that director Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects") had begun shooting "Valkyrie" on location in the region surrounding the German capital. German officials have baulked at the choice of Cruise to play Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, who was executed by firing squad in 1944 after the failed assassination attempt.Cruise is flying home from the shoot to attend a welcome party for David and Victoria Beckham co-hosted by Will and Jada Smith. It's an A-list invitation list with studio heads and lots of stars, and no press will be allowed. Posted on July 19, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati After her DUI arrest Lindsay Lohan checked into Promises rehab facility, which led to speculation that her newest movie would be canceled. But Lindsay lucked out. According to People, the film's producers Rob Hickman and Shirley MacLaine are not firing her. The producers of Lindsay Lohan's next film, Poor Things, plan to keep her on the cast and will juggle the shooting schedule to accommodate her rehabilitation stint, they told PEOPLE on Wednesday.If Shirley MacLaine wanted her off the film, Lindsay would be off the film. So that was a nice gesture. But Lindsay better not mess up this last chance. Posted on May 30, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Matthew McConaughey is the Surfer Dude ![]() Matthew McConaughey continues to shoot his new film, Surfer Dude, on a Los Angeles beach. In this shot, Matthew appears to be...ok, we have no idea what he's doing. Trying to light a fire with gasoline, perhaps? Other shots show him dancing around the ensuing fire, hurling palm fronds and cursing the heavens. We have no idea what this movie is about, but IMDB.com says it's a comedy that also stars Willie Nelson. Groovy. (Image courtesy of Flynetonline.com.) Posted on May 23, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Easter Horror at the Movies Some families got a nasty surprise on Easter weekend. When they took their kids to see a screening of The Last Mimzy they instead were shown graphic scenes from The Hills Have Eyes 2, a horror film with lots of violence and mutants. The story starts in Holtsville, New York, at the Island 16 theatre. According to National Amusements, the owner of the theater on Long Island, The Hills Have Eyes 2 was scheduled to be shown at 10:25pm in the same theater as The Last Mimzy, which was scheduled for 8pm. Someone jumped the gun and put The Hills Have Eyes 2 in early, causing havoc. If you haven't seen The Hills Have Eyes 2 (and consider yourself lucky), the film opens with a graphic birth of a mutant by a battered woman who is then killed. It's hideous and immediately disturbing - the kind of thing that many adults are unlikely to forget, much less their toddler children.The theater apologized, but that's one Easter weekend that no one will soon forget. Posted on April 12, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati ![]() The post office has released the new Star Wars stamps. They include: Darth Sidious (The Emperor), Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chewbacca and Han Solo, C-3P0, Princess Leia and R2-D2, Boba Fett, Yoda, Darth Maul, Stormtroopers, X-Wing Starfighter, Millennium Falcon, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Queen Amidala. The post office is allowing you to vote on your favorite stamp: they don't do this voting thing often: remember the Thin Elvis or Fat Elvis Stamp Vote? So, it allows us to feel we have some control over our postal service and its upward spiral of rate hikes. Anyway, the winning stamp will get its own special sheet. The Queen Amidala and Princess Leia stamps look kind of fuzzy to us, but the Millennium Falcon, Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers look crisp -- and pretty cool, actually. You can vote for your favorite Star Wars stamp here. Posted on March 29, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Nicole Kidman in Car Crash Nicole Kidman was escaping from zombie aliens on the set of her new film, when the car she was in had a nasty crash. US Weekly says that there were actors hanging off the hood during the action scene. Luckily, Nicole was not seriously injured and reportedly returned to the set the same day. Although reportedly some crew members were slightly injured. Oscar-winning Australian actress Nicole Kidman and seven other people were injured when a high-speed film stunt went wrong in Los Angeles today. Kidman suffered minor injuries on the set of an alien thriller in Los Angeles when her car crashed into a light pole during filming, police said.You can see the video of the crash here. It was a very nasty crash, no question. We're glad no one was seriously hurt, although it looked like Nicole was shaken up. And we're not sure how "minor" the crew's injuries really were. Posted on January 26, 2007 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Outrage Over Angelina Jolie Playing Biracial Mariane Pearl Angelina Jolie is in Pune, India filming A Mighty Heart, the screen adaptation of Mariane Pearl's book about her husband's death. Daniel Pearl was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who was killed while investigating a terrorism story in Pakistan.
Some groups are furious that Jolie has been made up to look like Mariane Pearl, who is biracial. The groups say Jolie is acting in blackface and it is an affront to people of color. The film, simply called "A Mighty Heart," will tell of Pearl's experience after her husband was abducted by Islamic extremists in Pakistan in early 2002. A month later, his captors released a video depicting his murder. Pearl, who is reportedly of Afro Cuban/Dutch heritage, was pregnant with their son Adam at the time.But Mariane Pearl has repeatedly said how happy she is to have Jolie playing her. Mariane Pearl went through hell when her husband disappeared, was tortured and then killed. It's her story to tell: shouldn't she have the last word? If Mariane wants Angie in the role, it's her business and no one else's. Posted on October 12, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Luke Wilson's Crucial Stunt Double Luke Wilson discusses the onerous chore of choosing his own butt double for his love scene in his new film, My Super Ex-Girlfriend. Luke Wilson was terrified when he found out he had a nude scene in his new film My Super Ex-Girlfriend and was thrilled when the producers eventually decided to call in a body double. The star had let himself go and was panicked at the thought of disrobing in front of the camera.He did an excellent job of choosing his stand-in: Ted Casablanca quotes one viewer who was simply amazed by Wilson's posterior in the film. Alas, it appears that it wasn't really his. Posted on July 25, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati The Return of the Retrosexual You've heard of the metrosexual man, the well-groomed, straight guy who always looks his best. But the retrosexual man is making a comeback -- he's the guy with a pot belly, messy hair and a heart of gold. Think Jack Black in Nacho Libre. Well, it's certainly back, especially in Hollywood, where being a bit hairy and showing a little paunch isn't necessarily such a bad thing anymore. Behold, the era of the everything-old-is-new-again "retrosexual" is upon us. And the celebrity set is leading the charge.We think Van Parys is right: this is just a sneaky way for men to look like slobs. Nice try, though. Posted on July 24, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Tom Cruise Named Most Powerful Celebrity Forbes magazine has named Tom Cruise as the most powerful celebrity in its annual list of the 100 most powerful Hollywood players. Couch-jumping, cradle-robbing Tom Cruise soared to the No. 1 spot in Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 Power List. The "M:i: III" star trounced last year's Forbes topper Oprah Winfrey, who fell to third place. The celeb roster, which hits newsstands today, ranks big shots based on the size of their paychecks and the amount of attention they get.So Tom Cruise is the most powerful celeb, eh? Then why can't he get little Suri a $5 million photo deal? Because we'd really like to see a picture of the little tyke. Posted on June 16, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Writers Write, Inc Launches WatchersWatch.com We love to watch! TV, Film and video, that is. We're happy to announce the launch of WatchersWatch.com, our new blog about what's hot in movies, television and videos. What's hot this week at WatchersWatch? Why it's the Da Vinci Code, of course. Dan Brown's international bestseller opened in wide release Friday, May 19, 2006 and has already made $224 million worldwide in its first weekend, making it the second biggest opening weekend of all time. You can find our Da Vinci Code review roundup, the scoop on the new fall TV shows and much more at: http://www.watcherswatch.com Posted on May 21, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Tom Cruise Causes Bomb Scare In L.A. People magazine reports on Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible III marketing disaster: A Mission: Impossible III marketing scheme went haywire--literally--Friday when a Los Angeles Times reader in Santa Clarita mistook his friendly neighborhood newspaper rack for a device on the verge of spontaneous combustion. In this day and age, you really can't blame the guy for being a bit concerned when he inserted his quarter, opened the lid and saw a small plastic box with a few wires poking out of it sitting on top of the papers.And if a mere citizen had left a suspicious plastic box with wire sticking out of it in a newsrack? Why, they'd have been arrested, of course! Posted on May 2, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati J.J. Abrams To Direct New Star Trek Film J.J. Abrams has agreed to direct a new Star Trek movie, which is nothing but good news as far as we're concerned. "Mission: Impossible III" director J.J. Abrams is going from Cruise control to warp speed. A couple of weeks before the arrival of Tom Cruise and `M:I3,' Abrams has committed to produce the 11th "Star Trek" feature film and there are plans for him to direct as well, Paramount Pictures announced Friday. Abrams also will write the script with his "Mission Impossible III" co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick said.So, let the casting ideas begin... Posted on April 24, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati A Failure to Launch? Bucking the trend, Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post gives the new Matthew McConaughey/Sarah Jessica Parker film Failure to Launch an enthusiastically positive review:
The movie is expertly, professionally calibrated. I loved the way it played the main relationship between Tripp and Paula off against a minor one (Kit and Bartha's Ace), one for laughs with a little poignancy, the other for sheer laughs.Sublimely enjoyable, eh? Meanwhile, most of the other critics were not so kind. Based on the trailer, we're thinking it's a rental. Posted on March 10, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Daniel Craig Says He Never Wanted to be James Bond Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse on the James Bond front, it does. Daniel Craig now says he never wanted to be Bond any way and that he's just doing the film for the money. Daniel Craig never wanted to be James Bond. The 38-year-old made the admission after receiving hate mail from hardcore fans of the spy franchise. He revealed: "I never really wanted to do James Bond. "Don't get me wrong, I want to make big movies and I want to make as much money as I possibly can, but there's not a tremendous emotional challenge." The 'Layer Cake' star also revealed that he's worried about being blamed if 'Casino Royale' is a flop. He said: "It's a dodgy place to be walking. I don't really want to get the rap for destroying that franchise.George Lazenby??? He was awful as Bond. Someone at the production company better put some tape over Craig's mouth, pronto. Everytime he opens his mouth, another million comes off the box office take. Posted on March 8, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati James Bond to Drive Ford in Casino Royale The latest news about the Casino Royale film, starring Daniel Craig as 007, is that James Bond will be driving a Ford in the movie. Softpedia says Ford paid $14 million to have 007 drive a Ford Mondeo. We are waiting to see if the Gap will pay money to supply Bond's wardrobe. The more we hear about the new James Bond the less and less he sounds like a sophisticated spy and the more he seems like a weird guy living in the suburbs who likes to strip naked.
Inside Line says James Bond will be driving a Ford in Casino Royale and he will also be driving an Aston Martin. The Inside Line quips, "What this means to you: Bond apparently becomes a two-car man in the upcoming film, with one grocery-getter and one babe magnet." Let's hope the Aston Martin stays in the film (even if Craig can't drive it) because with no Q and no gadgets the film desperately needs something. Posted on March 7, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Brokeback PEZ Dispensers are Going Fast In honor of the Oscars this Sunday, some crazed crafter with way too much time on his hands is now selling his orignal Brokeback PEZ dispensers on Ebay.
Here's what the Seller has to say: That's right, cowboys: Pitch your tents and get ready for the fireworks! Now you have the opportunity to own the only pair of Brokeback Mountain PEZ Dispensers in the world!As of today, the bidding is at $96.00 -- and there are still 6 days left to bid. And no, we're not even a little bit tempted. (Hat tip to Dlisted). Posted on March 3, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Daniel Craig and the 007 Curse The Sun reports on the latest disaster to befall Daniel Craig: the man who would be James Bond in the new film, Casino Royale. He's now got a terrible sunburn and "wants to scratch constantly." Jinxed James Bond star Daniel Craig has been hit by a nasty bout of prickly heat. He suffered sunburn while topping up his tan before filming in the Bahamas. New 007 Craig wanted a healthy glow for the movie, but ended up James Burned — and now can’t stop itching.To review his amazing debut so far as the world's greatest assassin: 1) He said it scared the shi** out of him when he had to ride in a motorboat on the Thames River to his first press conference; 2) He then admitted that he's scared of guns. 3) In his first fight on-set, a stuntman knocked out his front two teeth and he had to fly in his dentist from England to Prague to fix them. 4) Filming had to stop when he admitted he couldn't drive a stick shift car (James Bond drives the classic stick-shift Aston Martin in the film), and now; 5) He has a terrible sunburn and has to scratch constantly. We're actually starting to believe there's some kind of OO7 Curse going on here...we're terrified to see what will happen next on the Movie Set From Hell. Posted on February 28, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati China Bans Human-Cartoon Collaborations Those grumpy Chinese censors are at it again. This time they've banned the practice of live actors appearing in the same scene as animated ones. China has announced a ban on TV shows and movies that blend animated elements with live-action actors, a move aimed at nurturing local animators and apparently curbing the use of foreign cartoons.The censors claim that the move is to protect Chinese children from the corrupting effects of subversive Western cartoons such as Blue's Clues, but it may be that something more sinister is really going on. After all, allowing human-cartoon interaction is just the first step towards the creation of some kind of cartoon cyborg. And no one wants that. Posted on February 23, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Eva Green is the New Bond Girl The BBC reports that French actress Eva Green has been selected to be the new
Bond girl.
The 25-year-old will play femme fatale Vesper Lynd in the movie, which will also see Daniel Craig's first performance as the suave secret agent. Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: "After an extensive search we found the perfect actress." Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen will play Bond's nemesis, Le Chiffre. Work on the movie is already under way in Prague.The bad guy is Danish??? This doesn't have anything to do with the Danish Mohammed Cartoon Controversy, by any chance? Posted on February 17, 2006 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati King Kong Looks Real Says Zoo Director
Everyone's waiting to see how Peter Jackson's King Kong stacks up against Lord of the Rings. We know at least one thing: King Kong looks quite real, according to the Director of the Bronx Zoo.
Gorilla expert Dan Wharton, director of the prestigious Bronx Zoo, saw a preview screening yesterday and said Jackson's gorilla looked entirely authentic.In addition to creating a realistic giant gorilla, Weta Digital had to use 5,000 computers to recreate New York in the 1930s, by digitally erasing all buildings built after that time. In fact, they had to get their own substation because their power needs were impacting the nearby town of Miramar. Posted on December 5, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Ferrell and Heder Headed for Blades of Glory The Hollywood Reporter declares that Will Ferrell will team up with Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder to star in the skating comedy Blades of Glory. Blades revolves around a pair of world-class men's figure skaters who are banned from the sport after their disgraceful brawl during the Winter Games in Salt Lake City. After three years of toiling in obscurity, they attempt to put aside their feud and exploit a loophole in the terms of their suspension, partnering to compete in the only category open to them -- pairs figure skating.Works for us. Posted on November 18, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Liger Kittens Born
Deb: What are you drawing? Napoleon Dynamite: A liger. Deb: What's a liger? Napoleon Dynamite: It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic. Napoleon must be stoked today because a new litter of ligers was born in a Russian Zoo. Three liger cubs have been born in the Novosibirsk Zoo to unusual parents: an African lion and a Bengalese tigress, the zoo’s director Rostislav Shilo told RIA Novosti Monday. The cubs are called ligers, a term derived from their parents’ species, lion and tiger.No word yet on what magical skills the ligress possesses. Posted on November 17, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Kung Fu Hustle Wins Taiwan's Golden Horse Award Kung Fu Hustle won five trophies in all, including best film, at the awards show which is the Chinese-speaking world's equivalent of the Oscars. Yuen Qiu won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film which is the highest grossing local film in Hong Kong history.
Martial arts comedy Kung Fu Hustle led the winners at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-speaking world's leading film awards. Kung Fu Hustle is a hilarious movie. And the martial arts scenes are awesome. Rent it immediately if you haven't seen it. Posted on November 14, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati The Iranian Police and the Alluring Mannequins The Morals Police (and that's not a joke, that's really what they do) in Iran have decided that plastic mannequins are "too alluring" and are forbidden. Towards that end, the police in Northeastern Iran have been raiding women's clothing stores and absconding with the mannequins (65 have been impounded so far).
We think that the fact that these guys find mannequins "too alluring" says more about their own unusual proclivities than the morals of the women who shop at those stores. Or, perhaps the 1987 Kim Catrall movie, Mannequin, has just made its way to Iranian pay-per-view and has incited a million unseemly mannequin fantasies. Newsflash: the mannequins aren't going to turn into Kim Catrall, and Iranian women aren't going to be happy about this. Posted on November 1, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati 50 Cent Billboard Removed After the success that Eminem had in his film 8 Mile, a thinly disguised biography of the Detroit rapper, the movie industry was happy to give rapper 50 cent a try. But the billboard for the movie had parents furious in gang-ridden Los Angeles. After numerous complaints, the distributor of Get Rich or Die Tryin' has pulled down the billboard. The billboards show 50 Cent holding a gun in his left hand and a microphone the other.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich wrote to Paramount Pictures urging them to take down the posters. The company said it had taken down one poster near a Los Angeles nursery school, and planned to remove more.OK, perhaps this was not the most appropriate billboard to have hovering over a nursery school. We can see that. Which just begs the real question: who handed out crack to the marketing team at Paramount? Nursery school kids can't even get in to see the film -- that's just a waste of ad money. At least build a giant billboard that hovers over the target demographic for the film. Geez. Posted on October 29, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Star Wars Expands to Live Action TV The Star Wars universe continues to expand. Revenge of the Sith is being released on DVD, and Lucasfilm has just
opened a digital animation studio in Singapore. Lucas is also expanding its popular Clone Wars cartoons which air on Comedy Central.
Lucasfilm's Star Wars spin-off TV series Clone Wars is the studio's first project. This is an extension of an existing Cartoon Network show, whose five-minute episodes will now be extended to half-hour programmes following the battles led by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and other Jedi knights against the Army of the Republic (which feature in the cinema franchise at the end of Episode II: Attack of the Clones). It is planned that the series will be completed next year.Live action Star Wars TV show directed by Lucas, eh? That should certainly be interesting. Posted on October 27, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati The Bond Fiasco Widens Just when you thought that whole James Bond Casting Fiasco couldn't get any worse, it does. The new James Bond, Daniel Craig, has announced that he hates guns. Oh, and he doesn't like his martinis stirred. He likes them "straight up." Daniel Craig will have a problem playing the new James Bond - because he hates guns. The actor will wield 007's famous Walther PPK in the movie Casino Royale. But he revealed in OK! magazine: "I hate handguns. Handguns are used to shoot people and as long as they are around, people will shoot each other. "That's a simple fact. I've seen a bullet wound and it was a mess. It was on a shoot and it scared me. Bullets have a nasty habit of finding their target and that's what's scary about them."What in the world is he talking about? Bond likes his martinis, "shaken, not stirred" which is how they should be made. A shaken Martini is "straight up" -- the ice is strained out when the drink is poured. So, he couldn't tell a properly made Martini from a Boilermaker and he hates guns. This does not bode well at all. Posted on October 26, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Is the New Bond a Dud? We were shaken and stirred to our very foundations by this horrifying report by The Daily Mail about the goings-on at the press conference to announce that blondie Daniel Craig is the new James Bond.
It was the sort of tricky situation that James Bond would have defused in a second. Daniel Craig, on the other hand, didn't have the benefit of a witty script. Or even a little wit. At a press conference to unveil him as the sixth 007 he made a less than suave impression when asked who he would prefer as a Bond Girl - Kate Moss or Sienna Miller. For a man said to have had both in his little black book, he might at least have ventured a reply. Instead he shifted in his seat uncomfortably before muttering: "I'm not going to get into that."Riding in a motorboat "scared the sh**" out of James Bond? And what was with the attack of Tourette's Syndrome when reporters asked about his affairs with Sienna Miller and Kate Moss? Now, picture Pierce Brosnan sailing through the same interview with witty, Bondian rejoinders. Yes, it's all too clear, isn't it? Posted on October 17, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Blond, James Blond It seems like the search for the new James Bond has been going on longer than the series itself. The lastest word is that a new James Bond has been chosen to replace Pierce Brosnan: Daniel Craig. And he's blond.
It's a little premature... but it seems that the new Bond has indeed been chosen. Although of course, until anything is revealed to us officially, we shall issue a pinch of salt with this news.Of course, this is probably just another rumor. We won't believe that anyone has been cast until the martini's been shaken, stirred and drunk. Posted on October 11, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Severed Fingers Too Much For MPAA
Zap2it reports on the MPAA's smackdown on the trailer for the upcoming film, Saw II. The MPAA said "no way" to the trailer, which features severed fingers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the MPAA announced on Friday (Aug. 19) that its Advertising Administration didn't approve the materials that Lions Gate sent out to a number of web sites. The Advertising Administration, entrusted with reviewing all advertising and publicity materials submitted by producers and distributors for a film rating, would apparently have taken issue with the presence of chopped fingers in the ads.Lions Gate is not really unhappy that its trailer has been nixed by the ratings board. All the publicity has given fans of films featuring lots of severed fingers the heads up that they need to bookmark October 28th to see Saw II. The new poster (seen above) now merely features someone who is in desperate need of a good manicure. Posted on August 23, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Heder Up For Napoleon 2 The Chicago Tribune reports
that Napoleon Dynamite star John Heder might be up for a little more tetherball.
Despite having shot down hopes before for a "Napoleon" sequel, Heder expressed a possible shift in the winds.We hope the rest of the crew is listening and they really make a sequel because that would be flippn' sweet. Posted on August 15, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Send in the Clonus
Scott Weinberg at Rotten Tomatoes reports that not only was The Island a box office disaster, it is now the target of a copyright infringement lawsuit. Apparently, The Island has quite a few similarities to a prior film, Parts: The Clonus Horror (somehow we must have missed that one).
Scott Weinberg writes: "Sci-fi geeks have been telling about it for weeks, but the similarities between Michael Bay's The Island and Robert Fiveson's Parts: The Clonus Horror are about to be aired in a federal court ... barring a quick settlement, of course.An excellent point. Which leads us to ponder star Scarlet Johansson's response to an interviewer's question about the moral implications of growing a clone of oneself. The ever-practical Scarlett replied: "She could definitely go to the gym and the supermarket, fold the laundry and prance around in clothes, so I could see beforehand how I'd look in things." Posted on August 11, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati GSN Turns Dodgeball Game Into Hit Show
Remember the hilarious film called Dodgeball starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn? Well the GSN cable network has taken the idea from the film and turned Dodgeball into a real sport. Even more surprising is the fact that people are watching GSN's Extreme Dodgeball -- it's the number one show on the network for ages 18 to 34. The teams, which compete for a championship victory prize of $170,000, have ridiculous names like the Chicago Hitmen, New York Bling, L.A. Armed Response and the Philadelphia Benjamins. An Associated Press article has more about the "new" sport.
"Our version of dodgeball has moved away from the fourth-grade game and moved toward the NBA more than anything else," says executive producer Mark Cronin in the newly designed arena at Hollywood Center Studio. "It's an exciting sport to watch and it's an exciting sport to play." Posted on August 5, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati The Real Story of the Dukes of Hazzard
E! reporters have outdone themselves for their incisive interview with the cast of the upcoming film, The Dukes of Hazzard. The brilliant questions. The searing follow-ups. The insightful commentary. This is what investigative journalism is all about.
E!: [The] Daisy Dukes--how do they fit?We smell Pulitzer.... Posted on August 4, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati David Manning Fake Critic Lawsuit Settled A settlement has been finalized in the class action lawsuit against Sony motion pictures. The lawsuit was brought by furious fans who felt they were tricked into seeing the Heath Ledger film A Knight's Tale, because of fake quotes from the nonexistent critic named "David Manning." Manning called Heath Ledger "this year's hottest new star."
A US judge has finalised the settlement of a lawsuit brought by disgruntled movie-goers who accused Hollywood's Sony motion picture studio of using a fake critic to trick them into seeing mediocre films, lawyers have said. Sony Pictures Entertainment agreed to pay USD 1.5 million to resolve the class-action suit filed in 2001 claiming the studio invented a bogus critic to heap praise on its movies, the movie-goers' attorney Norman Blumenthal said yesterday.So, what ever happened to to the brightest new star of the year, Heath Ledger, anyway? Haven't heard a peep out of him. Of course, when your studio has to pay out $1.5 million to grumpy moviegoers because your film sucked so much that they sued over it...well, that is embarassing. We'd hide, too. Posted on August 3, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Harry Potter and the Special Effects Complexion
If only Dumbledore could do something about teenage acne. Harry Potter film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are growing up, which means good news and bad news for the films' producers. The good news? They are growing up attractive, thank heavens. The bad news? Here comes the acne, which is exacerbated by long hours under hot lights with heavy makeup. Luckily, the special effects guys are here to save the day.
The special-effects wizards working on the Harry Potter movies made something disappear: the stars' pimples. The teenage actors are plagued by the bane of many adolescents, according to IrelandonLine, which quotes a source as saying, "We have had to employ a special effects man to go through every frame clearing up their complexions."Digital alteration is becoming more and more common: remember all that retouching of Drew Barrymore's bum in Charlie's Angels? Sounds like a growth industry to us. Posted on July 27, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati The Island Sinks at Box Office "Sci-Fi Gets Sexy!" screams the cover of Entertainment Weekly, which features a lachrymose-looking Ewan McGregor and a befuddled-looking Scarlett Johansson in possibly the most un-sexy cover shot in recent memory. The two (who look much better in the trailers) are starring in The Island, a futuristic thriller about cloning. And an island. Ok, we haven't actually seen it yet, but the trailers looked great. Unfortunately, it appears that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wedding Crashers kicked The Island right in the archipelago this past weekend: The Island only made $12.4 million, coming in at fourth place. That's a big disappointment for Dreamworks. Still, it's puzzling...Obi Wan plus Scarlett Johansson in a white catsuit, plus motorcycle stunts and cloning. What's not to like?
Posted on July 25, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Lindsay Lohan News Update There's been so much breaking Lindsay Lohan news in the last couple of news cycles, that it's been hard for fans to keep up. To summarize:
Posted on June 24, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati X-Men Accuse Sony of Mutant Infringement
E reports that the X-Men are really unhappy. 20th Century Fox and comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises pulled out the big gun lawyers and filed a whopping lawsuit which accuses Sony Pictures and Revolution Studios of infringing on the X-Men copyright and generally violating all applicable laws. The fuss is over a new Sony movie called Zoom, which stars Tim Allen as an aging superhero called out of retirement to teach a school of talented but untrained mutant children. Sound familiar? Sony also has moved the release date of Zoom to just three weeks before the next X-Men movie, which debuts on Memorial Day, 2006.
"Zoom's release in May 2006 immediately before the release of X3 (or any release in proximity to the release of X3) is an unfair attempt by Sony and Revolution to manipulate the market and trade off the time, energy, resources and effort Marvel have invested in X-Men," court papers state. The complaint seeks monetary damages as well as an injunction forcing Sony to postpone Zoom's opening. Fox and Marvel are also asking for a court order requiring Sony to strip Zoom's screenplay of any X-Men-like material. Sony, Revolution and their attorney, Bert Fields, declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Zoom, which hasn't begun shooting, is based on a graphic novel by Jason Lethcoe and stars the Home Improvement thesp as Jack, aka Captain Zoom, a former superhero called out of retirement to train a group of teen wannabes with mutant powers at a private academy to battle bad guys. The only problem is he's lost his own powers. The film costars Courteney Cox as a scientist with the secret agency in charge of the superhero school and Chevy Chase as the head of the agency.Zoom, which is a comedy, sounds like a cross between Spaceballs and Galaxy Quest. Posted on June 23, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Lindsay Lohan and the Computer Generated Plastic Surgery The Times takes a break from reporting on world affairs to
make fun of uptight American movie-goers who apparently were highly offended by the generous size of Lindsay Lohan's bustline at the screenings of Herbie Fully Loaded. The answer: digital plastic surgery.
Lohan, 18, had finished work on the fourth sequel to the 1968 film The Love Bug, about a sentient Volkswagen Beetle, when reports from test screenings indicated that some parents felt she came across as somewhat sensual for a family-oriented film. Disney technicians went though scenes showing the actress jumping up and down at a motor racing track and altered them with a computer program — reducing her bust by up to two cup sizes and raising the necklines on her T-shirts. Lohan is said to have been amused by what technicians call her "digital boob job." "I don’t know how Renée Zellweger kept swelling and shrinking for Bridget Jones: it’s no fun," she said recently. "Bring on the computer guys."Don't you just love the British newspapers? "Loose bosomry" indeed.... Posted on June 10, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Learn to Dance with Napoleon Dynamite
These dance lessons will make your wildest dreams come true.
For those of you who have been yearning to learn how to
obtain the sweet dance skills of Napoleon Dynamite, your prayers have been answered. You can learn awesome moves like the
Little Teapot spin, Pepto Bismol, Snappy Dresser, Pass it On
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the moves, and the video can be played in slow motion to make it easier. One caveat -- if you try these moves in front of someone who has never seen the hit indie film, Napoleon Dynamite they might.... freak out. But, Gosh! Who hasn't seen Napoleon Dynamite?
Posted on May 24, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Revenge of the Sith Lives Up to the Hype So, does Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith live up to the hype? You bet it does...and then some.
Lucas has taken quite a bit of criticism over the years for the quality of the dialogue in the films. For Episode III, playwright Tom Stoppard gave an uncredited assist -- and it shows. It's a dark film that has a more linear plot than Episodes I and II: the film reveals the tragedy of how Anakin Skywalker succumbs to his fears and goes to the dark side, eventually becoming Darth Vader. Helping along on his dark journey is the incredibly talented Ian McDiarmid, who gleefully plays Chancellor Palpatine as if he were in one of Shakespeare's plays (Hamlet, perhaps, with him as Iago?) at the Old Vic on London. He skillfully plays on the young man's emotions and fears, gently and subtly nudging him down the wrong path. It's a powerful and terrifying performance and if Hayden Christensen weren't up to the task, the film wouldn't work. But he is up to the task, and has grown quite a bit as an actor since Episode I. Young men are impulsive and emotional (even those with Jedi training) and Christensen plays Anakin as teetering on a knife edge of destruction. As the film opens, Anakin and Obi Wan Kenobi are on a mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from the General Grievous: in a lengthy masterpiece of non-stop action, they rescue the Chancellor. But the Republic is still at War, and Palpatine quickly takes Anakin under his wing, filling his head with dangerous ideas that will have tragic consequences. When Palpatine eventually makes his move, Anakin makes a choice that will change many lives. Lucas does an incredible job of tying up all the loose ends: how and why Anakin went to the dark side (the breathtakingly tragic moment of his transformation into Lord Vader is the most moving scene in any of the six films), why Luke and Leia were separated at birth, why Vader didn't seem to know he had any children in Episode IV: A New Hope, why Yoda went into exile and where Princess Leia got the idea for the double-bun hairstyle she favored. John Williams does a fantastic job with the musical score, incorporating many elements of the first three films. The cinematography is gorgeously dark, and the city of Coruscant is a marvel. Even the throwaway shots are full of technological sleight of hand and intricate details. Lucas brilliantly and gradually alters the look of the fighters, the interiors of the ships and the look of the clone soldiers so that by the end of the film, they are quite close to the familiar look of the original Star Wars, released in 1977. This is clearly the film event of the summer. Posted on May 23, 2005 Permalink | Digg this | Blogs linking to this post: Google | Technorati Massive Star Wars Sick Out Threatens U.S. Economy The New York Post just had to blab to employers that all t |