Amanda Seyfried is a world-class crier, Channing Tatum has a magnificent body, and everyone has seen The Notebook. And yet I have mixed feelings about Dear John, the upcoming adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks book of the same name:
I just can’t get excited about this, and I like a good cry. Is this moistening your hankies, PopWatchers, or are you writing “no thanks” to Dear John?
From this week’s cover:
Though outsiders wondered whether Michael Jackson could pull off the physically grueling task of mounting 50 concerts, Jackson’s collaborators were reassured as they watched some of the world’s best young dancers struggle to match his moves. Still, the pop star did look awfully thin. “I was always handing him Boost drinks and meal-replacement things,” says choreographer Travis Payne. “We all encouraged him to eat as much as he could. But at the same time, I understand: When you eat a lot and then you dance, it hurts. It was all for his art, I think.”
Jackson had insisted on retaining a full-time private physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who was paid through the show’s budget to oversee his medical needs. Dr. Murray is now the focus of a manslaughter investigation. “Michael was very confident in the doctor,” Randy Phillips, president of concert promotion firm AEG Live, says. “I actually tried to talk him out of hiring him. I didn’t want to spend $150,000 a month on a doctor, since we were playing in London, which has phenomenal medical resources. It was the first time Michael and I had cross words with each other. He admonished me that he needed a doctor 24/7, the same way Barack Obama did, because his body is what fuels this whole business. Michael prevailed on that. And I guess, looking back, we know why.”
For more on the upcoming Michael Jackson movie, including exclusive photos, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, Oct. 16.
The Internet hills are alive with talk of, well, Meghan McCain’s hills. Last night, the 24-year-old daughter of former Republican Presidential candidate John McCain posted a photo of herself on her personal Twitter page captioned “my ‘spontaneous’ night in…” which showed her clutching an Andy Warhol biography to her rather spectacular expanse of nearly chin-grazing bosom. The image quickly garnered attention far outside her 63,500 followers — and resulted in a rash of emotional tweets from McCain herself, including: “so I took a fun picture not thinking anything about what I was wearing but apparently anything other than a pantsuit I am a slut,” and “why I have been considering deleting my Twitter account, what once was fun now just seems like a vessel for harassment.”
Today, she posted an apology, calling the episode “an embarrassing experience but also a learning one,” and tweeting, “I have clearly made a huge mistake and am sorry 2 those that are offended.”
Some commenters were not amused, including one melissajenna who wrote, “You knew you were posting a nearly NSFW [not safe for work] photo, so don’t pretend like you’re surprised at people’s reaction.” Another said, “You don’t have to pull cheap gags like this to get attention. Leave this to the Paris Hiltons of the world.” The picture has since been removed.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Should McCain be held to a different standard than fellow Twitterers like Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry and Lindsay Lohan, who’ve been known to post a boobalicious pic or two? Or is all this just a tempest in a D-cup?
Photo Credit: Twitpic.com
You had me at Merritt Wever, The Missing Person. Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, and the moodiest, darkest clips I’ve seen in ages? I’m filing The Missing Person under “trailers that knocked muh socks off.”
Looks good, right, PopWatchers? You’ll pay for the whole seat but you’ll only need the edge, etc. etc.
The third season of VH1′s addiction reality show Celebrity Rehab promises to be a doozy when it kicks off in January. This time out, Rehab-ers include former country star Mindy McCready, Mackenzie Phillips, Kari Ann Peniche (of McSteamy nude-tape fame), Heidi Fleiss, and Tom Sizemore.
McCready — who endured a major downfall after her multi-platinum breakthrough in the mid ’90s, complete with jail terms and suicide attempts — tells EW that it was quite an experience. Though she says she went on CR just to get “a big fat check,” she now credits the three and a half weeks she spent taping it this summer with saving her life. “I have put myself in harm’s way in almost every relationship I’m in,” she says. “I know now. I am a beacon for anybody that wants to take advantage of me.” She’s also come away with a fresh perspective on the scale of her problems, thanks to the misadventures of her CR cohorts. “I thought I was the most messed-up person on the planet,” McCready says. “I’m not even close.” During the show’s friends-and-family weekend, McCready sang a song she wrote in jail called “I’m Still Here.” Witnesses say it was phenomenal. Even Tom Sizemore cried.
For much more on Mindy McCready, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, October 16
On Monday, Annie announced that Ted Danson now owns her Sunday night with HBO’s Bored to Death. Earlier today, Slezak praised Shelley Long’s hilarious guest turn last night on ABC’s Modern Family. Doing the math, I now have a window to post this classic clip of Sam and Diane getting together in the March 1983 season 1 finale of Cheers. Diane’s leaving the bar to accompany Sam’s brother to Europe. But she returns to Sam’s office. I don’t want to spoil it if you don’t remember how the rest unfolds. I’ll just say that no matter how many times I watch it, I still howl as loud as the studio audience does when it gets to 6:13. Do you have a favorite finally!-they-get-together! scene from TV? Hit us with it.
Taylor Swift will host Saturday Night Live on Nov. 7, and it doesn’t take a comic genius to guess that her opening monologue will be interrupted. The question is: After a few of the cast members — or perhaps popular recurring hosts like Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin? — take their shots at her, will Kanye West actually pop up? Good PR move if they’ve kissed and made up. Or like press.
Swift’s said producers asked her over the summer if she’d like to host, and she’s been thinking of sketches ever since. I’m looking forward to seeing what she and the writers come up with: If you follow her on Twitter (“Getting photobombed by Daniel Craig = Priceless”), watch her MySpace videos (sample below), or remember her acting on SNL last January, or that “Thug Story” rap video from June’s CMT Music Awards, you know she’s got a good sense of humor and a willingness to “go there.”
Any sketch ideas you’d like to pitch her? I’d love to see a Celebrity Rehab-like sketch for headbangers. The girl is a big fan of the hair toss, and it’s got to stop. I’m also gonna need a Kellie Pickler cameo (they’re BFFs).
A few weeks ago, I began a project comparing Dan Brown’s latest blockbuster crypto-thriller The Lost Symbol to ABC’s crypto-drama Lost. My sketchy hypothesis: Even though they are completely different stories, both entertainments share similar mystic / mythological / philosophical / conspiracy theory-ish reference points. I envisioned an academic endeavor with absolutely no redeeming intellectual value, that wallowed in being ridiculous and illogical. Just me, screwing around for geeky-silly giggles. Whoo-hoo! Screw screw screw! Giggle giggle giggle!
Naturally, given the great ambition and high stakes I set for myself (read: sarcasm), I found this project pretty easy to back-burner when my editors decided to assign me, like, real work (see: this week’s feature on Where The Wild Things Are, opening this Friday, and — taking off my impartial journalist’s hat for a sec — one of the best films of the year). Still, I have always remained tickled by the prospect of connections (loose or otherwise) between Lost and The Lost Symbol, and with extra time again on my hands, I return to the game with vigor and restored sense of fun: I’m finding that Brown’s slow-starting story is much more enjoyable when read through the cracked lenses of my bizarre Lost bifocals. To wit (or not): READ FULL STORY »
