Archive: January 2010 (231-240 of 461)

Jan 16 2010 11:00 AM ET

John Travolta in 'From Paris With Love': Mr. Clean or Genie?

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , , ,

I know John Travolta’s supposed to look like a gun-toting badass FBI agent in his new film, From Paris With Love (see trailer), but all I can think of when I see the commercials on TV is how much he resembles Mr. Clean. It’s uncanny, really — he’s even got a single earring in his left ear. It’s as if he’s about to materialize into my kitchen and mop my floors. Lemon fresh!

Alternatively, he also looks like he’s about to burst into song and grant me three wishes a la the Genie in Aladdin. Though in terms of questionable facial hair, he’s got a goatee instead of a chinstrap (thankfully).

I think the photo speaks for itself, PopWatchers, but do you agree with my assessment? Who else do you think Travolta looks like in From Paris With Love?

Jan 16 2010 10:00 AM ET

James Cameron on how 'Avatar' technology could keep Clint Eastwood young forever

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , , ,

Sure, it’s terrific for turning human actors into big blue alien Na’vis. But the photorealistic CGI technology James Cameron perfected for Avatar could easily be used for other, even more mind-blowing purposes—like, say, bringing Humphrey Bogart back to life, or making Clint Eastwood look 35 again. “How about another Dirty Harry movie where Clint looks the way he looked in 1975?” Cameron suggests. “Or a James Bond movie where Sean Connery looks the way he did in Doctor No? How cool would that be?”

In a way, Cameron has already pulled off this trick: Sigourney Weaver appears to drop 20 years whenever she slips her consciousness into an alien body in Avatar. But Cameron’s facial scanning process is so precise—zeroing in to the very pores of an actor’s skin—that virtually any manipulation is possible. You may not be able to totally replace an actor—“There’s no way to scan what’s underneath the surface to what the actor is feeling,” the director notes—but it is now theoretically possible to extend careers by digitally keeping stars young pretty much forever. “If Tom Cruise left instructions for his estate that it was okay to use his likeness in Mission Impossible movies for the next 500 years, I would say that would be fine,” says Cameron. Less fine, at least to Cameron, is bringing long dead stars back to life. “You could put Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart in a movie together, but it wouldn’t be them. You’d have to have somebody play them. And that’s where I think you cross an ethical boundary…”

We have few boundaries here at EW.com. So if you could use Cameron’s death-defying, age reversing technology any way you’d want, what would you do with it, PopWatchers?

(For more on James Cameron and the secrets of Avatar, pick up the current issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands now.)

Photo Credit: Weta

Jan 16 2010 09:00 AM ET

This Week on Stage: 'Circle Mirror Transformation' is a gem

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We finally caught up with the Off Broadway hit Circle Mirror Transformation (pictured at left) and boy are we glad that we did. Ditto for the reinvention of the David Lean movie Brief Encounter that wraps up this weekend at Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse. These little shows are both stunners…and will certainly tide us over until the coming wave of big openings. (We’re particularly excited about The Pee-Wee Herman Show in L.A. — you can read more about the plans for the production in the profile of Paul Reubens in this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly.)

If you’re looking for some live theater, check out the EW.com Stage hub for up-to-date news and reviews; or consult this handy guide below, which includes links to all of our stage reviews of current shows. (Note: The reviews are typically of the show’s original casts.)

BROADWAY

The Addams Family — Musical; opens 4/8/2010

All About Me — Musical Revue starring Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein; opens 3/18/10

American Idiot — Musical; opens 4/20/2010

A Behanding in Spokane — Comedy starring Christopher Walken; opens 3/4/10

Billy Elliot — Musical; opened 11/13/08; EW grade: B+

Bye Bye Birdie — Musical Revival starring John Stamos; opened 10/15/2009 – 1/24/2010; EW grade: C+ READ FULL STORY »

Jan 16 2010 03:33 AM ET

'Idolatry': Time travel, evil twins, and Fantasia Barrino spice up our discussion of this week in 'American Idol'

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Filed under: American Idol and tagged: , , ,

Hello, Idoloonies, and welcome to the fourth season premiere of Idolatry (in seven parts), featuring a discussion about the ninth season premiere of American Idol and an interview with the magnificent Fantasia Barrino. Part One is as loopy and ambitious as Idolatry has ever gotten, but if you can follow along with a subplot featuring Japanese scientists and text messages from the future, I promise you’ll get a shocking revelation from my cohost Kristen Baldwin that will rock the Most Important Show on the Internet* to its very core. After that, Kristen and I get into a discussion about contestants who suffer from Boyz II Men syndrome, Idol‘s forays into stereotyping southerners as incestuous hillbillies, Kara DioGuardi’s all-purpose uselessness (the gift that keeps on giving), and the chart prospects of “Pants on the Ground.” Then, in parts 5-7, I get ‘Tasia to dish how she approaches her tributes to the great ladies of soul, why she’s hoping for pop crossover success, and what it means to “get ugly.” Press play below for the whole shebang, and when you’re done watching, head on down to the comments to let us know what you think. Oh, and in case I haven’t said it enough times this week, do follow me on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak. (Also, check out my full recaps of Idol‘s Boston and Atlanta audition episodes.) Holla, hey-ey!

*According to unnamed sources known as my mother.

Jan 15 2010 07:02 PM ET

Golden Globe Awards: We live-blogged it!

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Filed under: Golden Globe Awards and tagged:

gervais2Image Credit: Albert L. Ortega/PR PhotosEditor’s note: Whew! The Golden Globes are over (right on time, too!), but you can still experience the magic of our live blog by clicking the “Replay” button on the widget below. Warning: It’s chock-full of spoilers, as is our list of Golden Globe winners. Also, rate these 30 Golden Globes gowns, peruse our list of the night’s best-dressed stars, and relive the night’s best and worst moments. Coming soon: Our full report from backstage!

Hey, PopWatchers! The 67th Golden Globes are happening this weekend, and as usual, we’re offering our own brand of comprehensive coverage, from the red carpet to the final curtain.

It all starts at 7 p.m. ET this Sunday, when Annie Barrett, Mandi Bierly, and Meeta Agrawal kick off our live blog with their red carpet coverage. For the first time, we’ll be offering a live video stream of the stars’ arrivals at the Beverly Hilton.

At 8 p.m. Margaret Lyons and Thom Geier take over to live-blog the awards broadcast, with a little help from John Young reporting from backstage. Also, be on the lookout for tweets from other EW staffers on the scene in L.A., including Michael Ausiello and Dave Karger. And come back early Monday morning for our recap of the show’s best and worst moments, and photo galleries of the night’s hottest fashions.

In the meantime, gather your snacks and prep for the big night with our full list of  2010 Golden Globes nominees, this year’s biggest snubs, who we think will win in the  TV and movie categories, and a look back at the best Golden Globes looks from the last decade.

For an e-mail reminder to join our live blog, scroll down and enter your address into the widget below. See you on Sunday!

Jan 15 2010 05:13 PM ET

U.S. Figure Skating Championships begin: PopWatch on Ice laces up!

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , , , ,

Attention fellow figure skating fans who have not actually paid attention to the sport in four years: It’s time to start caring! The U.S. Figure Skating Championships — which help determine who represents the red, white, and blue (and spandex and sequins) in Vancouver — start today in Spokane, Washington. Those of you with the Universal Sports channel can check out its schedule here (you can catch the men’s and pairs short programs live tonight at 12:30 a.m. ET). For the rest of us, here’s NBC’s lineup:

This Saturday, 4:30-6 p.m. ET: Pairs Free Skate (Live), Pairs Short, Men’s Short
This Sunday, 4:30-6 p.m. ET: Men’s Free Skate (Live)
Saturday, Jan. 23, 3-6 p.m. ET: Free Dance (Live), Ladies Short
Saturday, Jan. 23, 9-11 p.m. ET/PT: Ladies Free Skate (Live)
Sunday, Jan. 24, 4-6 p.m. ET: Recap of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships
Sunday, Jan. 24, 9-11 p.m. ET/PT: Exhibition of Champions and announcement of U.S. Olympic Team

We just had our first official meeting of EW’s “Special” Olympics Team to discuss our figure skating coverage, aka PopWatch on Ice. (A logo is in the works. We’re in it to win it.) In the meantime, check back here on Monday when we’ll dissect the men’s and pairs competitions. Evan Lysacek (pictured, right) has decided to put the quad back into his free skate. Drama! And the best promotion for Sundance Channel’s new eight-part series Be Good Johnny Weir (premiering Monday at 10:30 p.m. ET) would be having Weir (pictured, left) make the team.

Photo credit: Junko Kimura/Getty Images (2)

Jan 15 2010 04:18 PM ET

Clip du jour: The Internet is made of cats

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Cats! Cats! Cats! Cats! Cats!

This seems like as good an explanation as any, PopWatchers.

Jan 15 2010 04:01 PM ET

'Avatar' director James Cameron on making a 'fool' of himself at the Oscars

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Avatar may be the front-runner for Best Picture at the Oscars this year — it’s already been nominated for Golden Globes, Directors Guild, and Producer Guild awards — but director-producer James Cameron isn’t so sure he’d be a welcome sight on the red carpet. “After jumping up and making a fool of myself with my acceptance speech [for Titanic], I’m sure nobody wants to see me at the Academy Awards again,” he says. “Or maybe they want me to win again to see if I can make an even bigger fool of myself.” Even if he doesn’t take home a statue, though, Avatar’s $1.3 billion grosses are already making him feel like King of the World. “Let me put it this way,” he says. “All those naysayers, the nattering nabobs of negativity, the people who were saying the movie looks bad before they’d even seen anything — you have to learn to ignore them. That’s something I learned on Titanic. But yeah, it’s satisfying that I was able to prove them all wrong.”

Proving everyone wrong didn’t come without an insane amount of hard work. Avatar took so many years of dedication that Cameron barely had time for swine flu. “I took a half day off,” he says. “I took a day off about once every seven weeks, when I started slurring my words. I did get frustrated and cranky. But then one day, I just sort of bitch-slapped myself. I told myself, ‘You’re f—ing rich. You don’t have to do this. You could be off doing deep-sea exploration. So you better find a way to love it.’ The next day, I came to work whistling. I was slapping the grips on the back. It lasted till about noon.”

Photo Credit: Mark Fellman

For more on James Cameron and the secrets of Avatar, see this week’s Entertainment Weekly, on stands now.

Also on EW.com:
‘Avatar’: 11 Burning Questions
This Week’s Cover: Cameron’s plans for an ‘Avatar’ sequel

Jan 15 2010 03:49 PM ET

Anyone else think the Golden Globes are better than the Oscars?

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Filed under: Golden Globe Awards and tagged: , ,

Listen, I love the Academy Awards. Love watching them with friends and a bottle of cheap champagne. Love talking about them for the entire year before they happen. Love the fact that winning an Oscar apparently makes you live longer and have lots of kids. But if we’re talking about pure enjoyment, I’m a Golden Globes guy. I have no idea what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is, or why they seem to think that “Comedy” and “Musical” are one and the same. I realize that they just love throwing nominations at a specious array of big-name stars: How else do you explain all the nomination love for Nine?

But if it’s little more than a slapdash, fame-besotted celebrity booze cruise, the Golden Globes are also the most enjoyably old-fashioned pageant left on TV. Here’s a few reasons (besides the free-flowing social lubricant) why I prefer the Globes to the Oscars:

1. The Golden Globes are on the right side of history

Globe haters love to point out the questionable past winners (call it the Pia Zadora Paradigm). But the HPFA arguably has a better track record than its more prestigious sibling. Look no further than three of the greatest miscarriages of Best Picture justice in Oscar history: Crash beating Brokeback Mountain, Shakespeare in Love beating Saving Private Ryan, and Ghandi beating E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

All three losers have become essential classics, while the three winners’ reputations have all suffered (or, in the case of Crash, fallen into the toilet bowl of Starz Original Programming). Well, the Golden Globes gave their best Motion Picture -– Drama award to Brokeback, Ryan, and ET. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 15 2010 03:26 PM ET

Chelsea Handler's 'Jersey Shore' interview is the one in which they discuss penetration

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Filed under: Jersey Shore, Reality TV, Those Crazy Kids! and tagged: , , , , , ,

Of course it is. The Situation, Snooki, and Pauly D, who say they’re from Jersey Shore but are really from New York and Rhode Island, trashed it up on Chelsea Lately last night. I love how Chelsea came into the interview completely enamored by Snooki and her peculiar physique — “I was excited to see that body in person and I’m pleased by what I see” — but clearly couldn’t care less about the guys. “And…you’re…The Situation.” BURN. She also talks about gang bangs.

Have any of you read Chelsea’s books? She is not kidding when she says she wished she could have starred in a mid-’90s version of Jersey Shore. She pretty much did, except there were no cameras. Read My Horizontal Life for further details.

Jersey Shore recap: Hook-ups, left hooks, and the best lines from last night

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