Archive: April 2010 (1-10 of 677)

Apr 30 2010 07:27 PM ET

'Nightmare on Elm Street': Music video veteran Samuel Bayer discusses his debut film

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: ,

SAMUEL-BAYERImage Credit: Dale RobinetteAt the age of 48, Samuel Bayer (pictured, left) finally has a feature film under his belt. The director of this weekend’s A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, Bayer has spent the past 20 years helming one hit music video after another. His debut video was for Nirvana’s 1991 anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and from there, Bayer has crafted videos for everyone from Melissa Etheridge and The Cranberries to Green Day and Justin Timberlake. Although the story of a music video director transitioning into a film career isn’t a new one (see Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and David Fincher), the jump from three-minute exercises in style to 100-minute motion pictures is an intimidating one. Bayer called EW.com to chat about his first stab at the silver screen, and why he felt it was time that someone revisited the 1984 horror classic.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what is the transition from music videos to feature films like?
SAMUEL BAYER: It is a marathon compared to a sprint. If I ever read people saying the movie feels like a music video, then I failed miserably. I really tried to concentrate on story and make the characters as dimensional as I possibly could. It’s a very different discipline.

What about A Nightmare on Elm Street made you feel it would be appropriate to be your debut film?
There’s something very appealing, and yet very terrifying, about the prospect of rebooting a franchise. What really appealed to me, and what Michael Bay, one of the producers, explained to me when I took this on, is you’ve got a movie that’s got a very wide release. You’ve got a studio behind it. A decent budget. It’s a really nice support system for a director on his first feature film. I think the terrifying part about this is you’re remaking a beloved franchise and you’re recasting an actor to play the lead.  READ FULL STORY »

Apr 30 2010 06:41 PM ET

Disney's 'Lemonade Mouth' could be next 'High School Musical.' So who's the next Zac Efron?

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Filed under: News, Television, Those Crazy Kids! and tagged: , , , ,

Lemonade-MouthWith that name, I would think probably not. But I’m not 14, so what do I know? But late last night came the news that Disney Channel has ordered an original movie based on the novel Lemonade Mouth, which centers on five high schoolers who form a band “using unusual instruments” after meeting in detention. (It sounds a little like School of Rock-meets-Stomp-meets-The Breakfast Club to me, which is kind of perfect, since the author, Mark Peter Hughes, shares a surname with Breakfast‘s director.)

I’m going to take issue with the fact that a ukulele is believed to be an “unusual instrument” — Lee DeWyze would take their ukulele and raise them a bagpipe! (The other instruments used in the band are apparently a trumpet, bass, and a conga drum.) But I’m less concerned with the plot of this soon-to-be tweener sensation — which is being hailed as the next High School Musical — and more concerned with who would be cast in the flick. Because teen girls everywhere need another Zac Efron.

So who should fill his shoes and topline Lemonade? Zack or Cody? iCarly‘s Nathan Kress? Since I’m 25 and unable by law to find anyone under the age of 18 attractive, fill me in, kids. Who’s hot these days?

Apr 30 2010 06:25 PM ET

'Castle' cliffhanger: It's too early for Richard and Kate to get together. Right?

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Filed under: Castle, Television and tagged: , ,

castleImage Credit: Karen Neal/ABCNathan Fillion has confirmed to E! Online what Michael Trucco — who’s recurring as robbery detective Tom Demming, wooing Beckett, and making Castle realize his feelings for her — hinted to us last week: The second season of Castle will end on an emotional cliffhanger. “I would say it’s left open. There’s no indication either way,” Trucco said when asked if there was a chance of him returning in the fall. ”What I can tell you is that obviously, there’s some decisions to be made in terms of these relationships. Things start to ramp up, get heightened, and a major wrench gets thrown into the works… Hearts will be aching, that’s all I can say.”

Fillion seemed to give a more straight forward response when E! asked if Beckett and Castle will get together: “I believe that’s called jumping the shark. Moonlighting did a very valuable lesson there.”

I agree that Season 3 is too soon for Beckett and Castle to become a couple. I vote they give us a kiss, and she pulls back. That seems to be the MO lately: The Good Wife, Bones… You give us little something to get our hearts racing, but nothing that releases the sexual tension, nothing from which the characters can’t recover. Win-win.

What’s your vote? How far should Castle and Beckett go?

Read more: Exclusive: Michael Trucco on storming Nathan Fillion’s Castle

Apr 30 2010 06:15 PM ET

BREAKING: Kim Kardashian does not enjoy the company of burritos!

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Filed under: Food and Drink and tagged: , ,

Kim-Kardashian-burritoImage Credit: Janet Mayer/PR Photos; John E. Kelly/FoodPix/Getty ImagesKim Kardashian took to her blog yesterday to fight back against a story in the National Enquirer that said she was caught in flagrante burrito on a recent airline flight. “First of all, I absolutely hate burritos!” the woman often seen on magazine covers explained. “Secondly, I have never brought Mexican food on a plane. This never happened and these quotes made me laugh so much…This is just hysterical!” Um, Kim Kardashian, what’s with such shocking information, so casually disseminated? Does not like burritos? Does not understand. Naturally, I must work through my conflicted feelings in poetry form.

On Kim Kardashian and Her Rejection of a Tasty Dish
Kim Kardash does not eat burritos
I object, I must raise a veto
Beans and cheese, tortilla and meat, oh
Too delish! She can’t take the heat, oh

She does not eat them on a plane
Apparently not on a train
But in the dark? Her secret shame?
I wish, I hope, but do not blame

For if the lady doth not feast
On these delights like a hungry beast
If her appetite for Mex has ceased
There’s more for me, to say the least

(Follow my ridiculousness on Twitter @EWMichaelSlezak.)

Apr 30 2010 05:28 PM ET

PopWatch Confessional: Kevin James is a total hottie.

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , ,

kevin-jamesImage Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesThis morning’s news that Salma Hayek is likely to sign on opposite Kevin James in the action comedy Here Comes the Boom may not make sense on paper. Hayek is, after all, an Oscar nominee/internationally recognized sex goddess; James is a husky former sitcom actor who is at least partially responsible for the criminally unfunny I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.

But I admitted something to my editor a little while ago, and now he’s forcing me to share it with you, in the spirit of “that would make a good PopWatch item.” (And here I keep thinking it’s more in the “I’m going to get a lot of grief from my husband this weekend” column.) Either way, here goes a dark period in my marriage nothing…

A Kevin James-Salma Hayek onscreen romance would totally work because Kevin James is a total hottie. A stone-cold fox. A full barrel of sexytimes. He is rated T…for Tap That. He should come with a warning label: Makes you put your thing down, flip it, and reverse it. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 30 2010 04:59 PM ET

Next 'Batman' sequel scheduled for July 2012

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Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: , ,

dark-knight-previewThe Dark Knight sequel finally has a release date. Almost two years after the killer clown crime epic dominated the box office and spawned a million Halloween costumes, Warner Bros. has announced that the still-untitled Batman 3 will be released on July 20, 2012, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (In other news, I’m going off the grid from July 19, 2012 through August 1, 2012.)

There’s not a whole lot of information about the movie, which is still in the very early planning stages. Director Christopher Nolan and writer David Goyer have always been focused on presenting a more realistic take on the Batman mythos, so we’re probably not going to see Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, or Clayface. Even though he’s a bit more outlandish, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Riddler, if only because his presence could pump up Batman’s mystery-solving detective side. But what do I know? None of my films have ever grossed over a billion dollars.

PopWatchers, what would you want to see in Batman 3? And what should they call the thing? I’d go with something vintage, like Shadow of the Bat, but I remember reading a rumor that it might be called Gotham City, which would be nifty.

Apr 30 2010 04:44 PM ET

Conan O'Brien on '60 Minutes': Will too much NBC-Leno talk turn him into a victim?

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , ,

60-minutes-conanImage Credit: CBSLet me start by saying I am a huge Conan O’Brien fan. HUGE. So much so that if he had no choice but to broadcast his show from a cockroach-infested 7-Eleven on the wrong side of the tracks — or in a turkey pen with John Tesh — I would still tune in every night.

So that’s precisely why I’m a tad worried about Coco’s 60 Minutes interview this Sunday. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 30 2010 04:29 PM ET

Betty White wants to host the Academy Awards: 'Type, nerds!'

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , ,

We know Betty White fatigue hasn’t worn in yet. (Right? Right?!) So here’s another post. NBC has released two new promos for her May 8 Saturday Night Live hosting gig. The first is a familiar riff on the young men/man in her life, the second is her thanking fans on the Internet for scoring her the SNL honor and suggesting where they focus their efforts next… Watch after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 30 2010 04:00 PM ET

Free Comic Book Day: Iron Man, Superman, and the Tick are on sale for nothing

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Tomorrow is the ninth annual Free Comic Book Day, also known as  “Christmas on Steroids.” You can track down a participating store near you over at the FCBD website, along with a list of the free comics. As usual, some of the comics being offered are a bit suspicious. (Oh hooray, Shrek and Toy Story tie-ins! Finally, I can enjoy the characters without all the eye-popping animation or the hilarious voice acting!) However, there are some diamonds in the free bin, including an Iron Man/Thor crossover illustrated by muscular artist John Romita Jr. (Opening line: “Came the day the Thunder God stood on the beach in Thailand.”)

If I were you, though, I’d set my sites on the FCBD special edition of The Tick #1, the first issue of the hilarious mock-superhero series that later spawned a cartoon and a beloved, short-lived Patrick Warburton TV series. Also, Archie and the gang are going to the beach! Wow!

Apr 30 2010 03:20 PM ET

David Letterman addresses sex scandal on 'Live! With Regis and Kelly'

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Filed under: Television and tagged: , , , ,

Prompted by a playful arm squeeze from Regis Philbin, David Letterman addressed his sex scandal of fall 2009 for the first time outside of his Late Show studio on this morning’s Live! “It was not a tragedy; it was just stupidity,” he said.” Letterman proceeded to channel Annie Lennox with a broken glass metaphor that blew Reege’s mind. Video after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

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