Archive: July 2010 (401-410 of 583)

Jul 12 2010 05:19 PM ET

Roman Polanski: Is his legacy affected?

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Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

By now you’ve all certainly heard the news that Roman Polanski is a free man, thanks to Switzerland’s decision not to extradite him to the United States to face the criminal justice system regarding his 33-year-old conviction for having unlawful sex with a minor. Now that this chapter in the Polanski personal drama saga appears to be closed, how much damage has been done to the legacy of this Oscar-winning director? Will this scandal forever overshadow all the fine films he’s made? Or will he be known as a filmmaker first, and a statutory rapist second? I can recall being in the Kodak Theatre when Polanski won the Best Director Oscar for The Pianist in 2003, and despite all the renewed interest in the sex case that season, there seemed to be genuine excitement in the auditorium over his victory. But Polanski’s detractors can also be forgiven for thinking he’s a criminal who never really had to pay for his crime.

Where do you all stand? And how do you think, years down the road, people will remember him?: As a director, or as a fugitive? Or both?

Read more:
Roman Polanski exclusive: First look at interview included in ‘Ghost Writer’ DVD

Jul 12 2010 04:25 PM ET

Alexander Skarsgard proves he'd make an excellent stripper

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If you read my recap of this week’s True Blood, you’re aware that I’m less than impressed with the strippers in Bon Temps and Jackson. I think perhaps Eric needs to take the stage. Below, watch a video of Alexander Skarsgard dancing behind the scenes of the comedy Beyond the Pole (not a stripper film, unfortunately, but a mockumentary that follows inexperienced adventurers to the North Pole). He playfully molests, licks (!), and strums one of his co-stars. Notice all the bottles of alcohol in the background. Hilarious and kinda hot (my vote), or a tad disturbing?

READ FULL STORY »

Jul 12 2010 03:55 PM ET

Kitty Kelley's unauthorized Oprah bio to become movie: Who should play the Queen of All Media?

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oprahKitty Kelley’s scandalous, very unauthorized Oprah Winfrey biography will be getting the movie treatment, EW has confirmed. Oprah: A Biography has been optioned by Larry Thompson, who brought us biopics about Lucy and Desi Arnaz, Sonny and Cher, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor — with the project on track to debut around the same time as Winfrey’s Sept. 2011 sign-off. The book, which Winfrey dismissed as a “so-called biography,” included hints at drug use, a secret birth father, and a liaison with John Tesh in the talk queen’s past — so while it won’t likely get a prime promotion spot on Oprah’s couch, it certainly isn’t likely to be dull.

The bigger question: Who might play Oprah? I’d want to see a Viola Davis or a Jennifer Hudson — an actress with enough spirit, spark, and gravitas to take on the Almighty Oprah — but, honestly, I can’t think of anyone who’d want to incur her wrath by daring to do so. Do you have any thoughts, PopWatchers? And do you even want to see Oprah’s life played out on the small or big screen? And most importantly of all, who could play John Tesh?

Jul 12 2010 03:29 PM ET

'Tosh.0' attracts 2.4 million viewers: The best pop culture clip show out there?

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daniel-tosh-computerImage Credit: Ian White/Comedy CentralCould Comedy Central ever have known what a hit Tosh.0 would become when they launched it in June 2009? A web-clip show modeled after The Soup, Tosh.0 features comedian Daniel Tosh offering his spin on viral Internet videos, and in just one year, the program has grown from “3-year-old crying over Justin Bieber” levels of notoriety to “Charlie bit my finger — again!” levels of fame. Now, in its second season, Tosh.0‘s most recent episodes have garnered more than 2 million viewers, with the most recent airing achieving a huge 2.4 million. This is a far cry from the first season average, which came in at just above a million viewers, so it’s no surprise that Comedy Central has already renewed the program for a third season, set to debut in January 2011. Still, I’m wondering: In a television landscape inundated with pop-culture clip shows like The Soup, The Dish, and Web Soup, why is Tosh.0 blowing up?

Is it the host? Clearly, audiences are on board with Tosh’s brand of frat star/web geek humor, and while some write him off as obnoxious, he has a knack for making pop culture accessible to the uninitiated. READ FULL STORY »

Jul 12 2010 03:15 PM ET

Jon Hamm talking about what makes a woman sexy is sexier than a photo of Jon Hamm

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Jon-Hamm-and-Rebecca-HallImage Credit: Nathaniel Goldberg/W MagazineJon Hamm and Rebecca Hall — co-stars of The Town, the upcoming Ben Affleck-directed Beantown-set cops-and-robbers drama — grace the August cover of W magazine. You’ll want to peruse the photos first, naturally, but read the interview, and you might be shocked to find that there is something sexier than a picture of the Mad Men star sporting stubble: Hamm saying, “I played Winnie-the-Pooh in first grade.” Hamm discussing what makes a woman sexy. The topic arose when W asked Hall if she’d classify Hamm as a man’s man or a ladies’ man. She said she wasn’t sure: He can hang with the boys and play sports and talk to women about emotions and shoes. ”Absolutely. Can and do,” Hamm confirmed. “I was raised by a single mother. I think the definition of a man’s man has shifted in recent times to this sort of fratty bro, different from the older version, which was aloof and distant — Gary Cooper or Cary Grant or James Bond. Now it’s a little vulgar, kind of lowbrow, adolescent. I’m not that guy. Part of being an adult is treating women like women.”

“The grand pendulum has swung backwards a little bit. Women are allowing themselves to be objectified as ‘empowerment,’” Hall said. “I suppose to some degree you have to go through that phase of, like, ‘Look, I can make myself a sexualized object.’ Still, I just hope that it’s okay for women to read and be bright and talk about interesting things and be sexy.”

“To be able to read and talk about complicated things is sexy,” Hamm said. “It’s not just having a pair of bolt-on tits.” READ FULL STORY »

Jul 12 2010 02:51 PM ET

Lunchtime Poll: That Allen Cook is such a deer

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If you don’t know who Allen Cook is, you probably weren’t obsessively refreshing our live blog of Michael Slezak’s appearance on today’s The Young and the Restless (video below). That’s for the best. Allen Cook is obviously the American Idol-inspired name of a hack entertainment reporter from “Celebrity Weekly” on a soap opera. Vote below!

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Jul 12 2010 02:46 PM ET

Kathryn Morris joins 'Moneyball,' Marlo Thomas will 'LOL'

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excess-hollywood

  • Cold Case star Kathryn Morris has joined Moneyball, playing second wife to Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane, while Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) has signed on to play ball player Scott Hatteberg. Hatteberg played for the Oakland As, but now that Pratt’s on board, perhaps they’ll change their name to the Oakland Scrotation Marks? [THR]
  • Marlo Thomas will play grandmother to that other girl Miley Cyrus in LOL, which follows a heartbroken teen and mother who both attempt to move on with their lives, the producers of the French film remake announced in a press release.
  • Disney has renewed Good Luck Charlie for a second season, the network announced in a press release. The series is about three teens who must take care of their new baby sister, and is thankfully not a prequel for Good Luck Chuck.
  • Showtime has announced that Shameless will premiere Jan. 9, while Matt LeBlanc’s Episodes and Californication will debut Jan. 10. [THR]
  • Peter Serafinowicz will be a regular on the new Fox series Running Wilde, playing immature playboy Steve Wilde’s (Will Arnett) neighbor and frenemy. It’s only a matter of time before he discovers his weakness. [Deadline]
Jul 12 2010 01:42 PM ET

Roman Polanski exclusive: First look at interview included on 'Ghost Writer' DVD

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Ever since his arrest by Swiss authorities back in September, Roman Polanski has been quiet. He’s refused to talk about the decades-old case against him, his feelings about being held under (posh) house arrest in Gstaad, Switzerland, he even kept mum about his last movie, The Ghost Writer, which unceremoniously came and went from theaters back in March. Since Polanski is back in the headlines today with the news that he will not be extradited to the U.S. to face an outstanding warrant for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor dating back to 1977, we thought it might be a good time to share an exclusive first look atexcerpts from an interview the infamous, Oscar-winning Polish director gave to accompany The Ghost Writer DVD, which hits stores on Aug. 3.

There are no Perry Mason-style revelations here. No mea culpas or tears. In fact, Polanski doesn’t address his personal troubles at all. He just talks about shooting the Pierce Brosnan/Ewan McGregor thriller — his first project since 2005′s Oliver Twist. And maybe that will have to be enough for Polanski fans and haters. At least until he emerges from his four-star, alpine-chalet prison any second now as a free man…. READ FULL STORY »

Jul 12 2010 01:12 PM ET

Today in Beauty Products: Smell like Bruce Willis, paint your nails like Bella

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bruce-willis-twilight_240.jpg Who wants to settle for simply watching his or her favorite stars and films? It’s critical that we can also be as close to them as possible — be exactly like them, if possible — in a way that would be totally creepy and borderline illegal if we were, say, their roommates. Well, good news! Into the pantheon of products that help us to emulate our favorite pop cultural artifacts comes two new entries: READ FULL STORY »

Jul 12 2010 12:45 PM ET

'Next Food Network Star' recap: Dumped like a truck

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next-food-network-starThe logical progression of eliminations continued this week on The Next Food Network Star, confirming my underlying belief that the no-nonsense selection committee of Susie Fogelson, Bob Tuschman, and Bobby Flay actually has its eye on, well, finding the next Food Network star, not just keeping contestants around to fulfill pre-determined roles as “sweetheart,” “bitch,” “funny guy,” “dude with simmering rage issues,” and “chef so smarmy you’d want to douse his concoctions in Purell before eating.”

Oh yes, speaking of Paul…”Hell-oooo, lay-dees!” READ FULL STORY »

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