Entertainment News
Entries from April 2010
The Huffington Post provides us with a slideshow tribute to some lovely ladies who have done justice to skin-tight catsuits. (In the interest of fair play, they also include Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno!) Click here to view
Leonardo DiCaprio will star as private eye/treasure hunter Travis McGee in Oliver Stone's film version of The Deep Blue Goodbye. The film will be based on one of John D. MacDonald's series of McGee paperback thrillers that were all the rage in the 1960s. Rod Taylor played McGee in the 1970 film Darker Than Amber. For more click here
James Cameron will produce a 3-D remake of the classic 1966 sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage with Paul Greengrass the favorite to direct. The film concerns a race against time by a team of scientists who are miniaturized and transported into the body of a dying man to prevent his death, as he possesses top secret information. Stephen Boyd and Raquel Welch starred in the original. No casting has been announced for the remake. For more click here
By Lee Pfeiffer The trailer for the forthcoming all-star action flick The Expendables has been released and it looks pretty good. I was never much of a fan of the "blue collar super heroes" who permeated 1980s cinema, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. The mercenary movie stars Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke - and they even dusted off Dolph Lundgren and Eric Roberts. The film also has cameos from Bruce Willis and The Governator himself, returning to the screen for the first time since serving in political office. We're not expecting The Professionals, but what emerges looks like fun. Click here to view the trailer.
We know that Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure story The Three Musketeers is dusted off every couple of decades and made into a movie. However, the three French swordsmen are particularly hot right now with two major 3-D productions in the works. One bit of good news: they probably won't hire Charlie Sheen, who starred in the bizarre 1990s version. Click here for details.
In an amusing column, writer Daniel Askt makes a plausible case for the how Jack Benny's habits as a penny-pincher can be adapted to help everyone rally to solve the international recession. Click here to read
MSNBC contributor Tom Scalfani poses the question of whether The Beatles split up prematurely 40 years ago this month. Most fans would argue "yes", but there were plenty of extenuating circumstances including in-fighting and the feeling among the lads from Liverpool that that were creatively drained, at least in terms of collaborative projects. Click here to read
In an interesting article in the Huffington Post, writer Aladdin Elaasar discusses Will Smith forthcoming action film The Last Pharoah in the context of how the tale of an ancient rule fits in with the dilemma of Egypt's current political problems. Elassar also covers the legacy of other films relating to ancient Egypt. Click here to read
One of our favorite comedies is Woody Allen's 1984 charmer Broadway Danny Rose in which the Woodman plays the most inept talent agent in New York City. Clients include balloon folding acts and a penguin who ice skates while dressed as a rabbai. He finally lands a major talent: a big, dopey Italian lounge singer named Lou Canova who can belt out shlocky crowd-pleasers like Agita. Lou was played by an unknown real life lounge singer named Nick Apollo Forte who was terrific in the role - though rumor had it he was only playing himself and had not even been familiar with Woody Allen prior to filming. The film made him a pop culture figure for a while, as Woody Allen fans would repeatedly sing Agita - a catchy embarrassment that only Forte could do justice to. However, Broadway Danny Rose would be Forte's one and only film. Whatever happened to him? Well, he's still singing in lounges and even played the Sands in Atantic City. In keeping with any client of the hapless Danny Rose, Forte also moonlights on the side, serving as captain of a deep sea fishing vessel he owns! We're not making this up, folks. The cheerful Forte's varied activities can be found at his official web site by clicking here. It's enough to tempt us to go fishing - almost, but not quite. (Thanks to "Corn" Brinkman for the tip on this article.)
Sir Michael Caine is not generally known for wading into political waters, but he caused a stir when he recently made an appearance with David Cameron, the conservative leader who is trying to unseat Gordon Brown as prime minister in the May elections. Caine was lending his support to a Tory program designed to prevent youths from drifting into juvenile delinquency. Caine made the most of the event, even making a quip based on his classic crime caper The Italian Job. For more click here
The Hollywood Reporter has an excellent article on the enduring legacy of martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Click here to read
In one of the longest periods of gestation between an original film and its sequel in recent years, Rowan Atkinson will reprise his role as Johnny English, the bumbling anti-James Bond. The original film, released in 2001, bombed in the States but was a major hit in the international market. For more click here
The incident may not rival the hard feelings between France and America when DeGaulle was president of the republic, but Woody Allen has set off a tempest with his announcement that he has decided not employ Carla Bruni, France's glamorous first lady, in his next film. Allen is shooting a movie about French life and had virtually promised Bruni previously that she would be in the film. He has now decided to go with Oscar winner Marion Cottillard instead. Allen diplomatically said that he was concerned that Bruni's duties as first lady might interfere with filming, but insiders speculate that her reliance on Botox has detracted from her natural beauty. For more click here
The next time you wonder why Nicholas Cage keeps making lousy movies, consider the fact that the one-time acclaimed actor simply has to rake in big bucks just to maintain anything like a movie star lifestyle. In the last year, his financial woes have brought him to the brink of ruin and have resulted in highly publicized and embarrassing news stories. Cage is suing his former business manager, claiming he kept him in the dark about the state of his finances. However, one wonders just how naive Cage could have been: in the last week he lost two homes and properties in California that had a combined amount of almost $26 million in debt. The homes were auctioned off but there were no takers so the bank now has possession of these assets. For more click here
Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Universal has canceled the drug-themed thriller Cartel just weeks before it was to begin filming in Mexico. Star Josh Brolin will be paid his full seven figure salary. Universal is getting skittish regarding bankrolling certain movies due to the fact that the studio has released a large number of flops recently. There were also concerns that the $40 million production would have logistical problems filming in Mexico, which is currently in a state of virtual war between government forces and powerful drug cartels. For more click here
If you are among the more enlightened fans of The Three Stooges, you will have realized long ago that Shemp Howard was a comic genius who was overshadowed by his brother Curly. In fact, Shemp was one of the Stooges before Curly but left for a successful solo career. He rejoined the act after Curly suffered a stroke. Shemp fans can be the loneliest guys in town, but his family has set up a great site extolling his life and career. It's called Shemp Company and it's a goldmine of photos and trivia. Click here to access.
Gone are the days where big studio releases could bank on sex to sell a major film. Last Tango in Paris, Fatal Attraction, 9 1/2 Weeks, Basic Instinct were all pop culture sensations that brought in big box-office. However, as Brent Lang of The Wrap site writes, the abundance of sex on the web has diluted the shock value of erotic-themed mainstream movies. Most have ticket sales that are- well- flaccid. Click here to read
A top-secret script for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was erroneously left by someone in a British pub near Leavesden Studios, where the film is in production. An enterprising individual who found the script realized its value and sold it to The Sun, one of the UK's biggest tabloids. The paper says the script was left by a member of the crew who went on a boozy binge with his crew mates. The careless person has not been identified but he must be sweating bullets, as such scripts are generally numbered or otherwise encoded in order to identify people who might leak or sell key information from major films. Although star Daniel Radcliffe occasionally joins the crew at the pub, he's off the hook as he wasn't there on the evening in question. To its credit, the Sun didn't divulge any plot spoilers but did say the film will deviate substantially from the book. The paper then returned the script to Warner Brothers. For more click here
The bizarre disappearance of Patrick McDermott, former boyfriend of actress/singer Olivia Newton-John has been solved: he is alive and well and doesn't want to be bothered. McDermott mysteriously vanished on a 2005 California fishing trip and private detectives have been searching for him ever since. Finally, McDermott provided proof that he is alive and, like like Garbo, wants to be alone. Detectives refused to divulge his whereabouts, so the mystery behind the vanishing remains unsolved. For more click here
Even in death, Orson Welles looms larger-than-life. A long lost recording of him narrating a story about a dog who saves Christmas will be utilized on the basis of a forthcoming 3-D children's film. For more click here
Word is out that Leonardo DiCaprio is the front-runner to star in Clint Eastwood's forthcoming bio pic of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. For more click here
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