Archive: September 2010 (111-120 of 588)

Sep 24 2010 06:52 PM ET

'Saturday Night Live': New York governor David Paterson to appear?

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Filed under: Television, TV and tagged: , ,

David-Paterson-SNLImage Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images; NBCHe may be a lame duck, but at least New York governor David Paterson is keeping his famous sense of humor. The NY Times is reporting that the governor will be appearing on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live season premiere. You’ll recall that Gov. Paterson has been the butt of multiple jokes on SNL, including Fred Armisen’s portrayal of the visually-impaired Paterson as a bumbling Mr. Magoo-style buffoon.

Armisen’s version of Paterson was called outright offensive — not to mention decidedly unfunny — in some quarters. So it’s a nice move of his to venture onto SNL‘s turf to respond. Will the real Paterson and the fake Paterson meet à la Tina Fey and Sarah Palin? And will Paterson show everyone up? READ FULL STORY »

Sep 24 2010 06:35 PM ET

'Wall Street': Whatever happened to the rest of the crowd?

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Filed under: Movies and tagged:

John-C-McGinley-Wall-StreetThe new stars of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street sequel are Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan, but ex-jailbird Gordon Gekko bumps into an old friend at a swanky Manhattan benefit. Why, if it isn’t Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox, who appears to have rebounded quite well from his own crimes two decades ago! But if greed really is good, then I want more than just a Bud Fox cameo. I want needy chatterbox Marvin (John C. McGinley), who certainly would have his own CNBC financial talk show by now. I want Sir Larry Wildman (Terence Stamp), who would still be shooting daggers at Gekko from across the room. And I want steady soothsayer Lou Mannheim (Hal Holbrook), who, judging by his long-term strategies, could still be cruising along on three percent returns.

Astute observers might recognize Sylvia Miles, who returns as a New York City real estate agent, but which original character do you most wish was still in the mix in 2010? Martin Sheen’s idealistic Carl Fox? Daryl Hannah’s Martha-Stewart-wannabe, Darien? I’ve got to go with seen-it-all Lou, who once advised Bud, “Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.”

Sep 24 2010 06:15 PM ET

'Law & Order: Los Angeles': News from the set!

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Filed under: Television, TV and tagged:

law-order-laImage Credit: NBCLaw & Order may be gone after 20 seasons and 456 episodes, but it certainly didn’t sound the death knell for the long-running franchise: It paved the way for Law & Order: Los Angeles, a veritable reboot of the courtroom series that will premiere this Wednesday on NBC. EW was invited to check out the set in downtown Los Angeles and learn about the show.

The move to Los Angeles was crucial, says Executive Producer Christopher Misiano, who wants to depict the entire city beyond Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Each episode will be named for and set in various neighborhoods of L.A., including shows about hipster haunt Echo Park, the oil rigs of Hondo Field, and suburban Sylmar. Celebrity plots and cameos will be kept to a minimum, though, so don’t expect Justin Bieber to stop by and mouth off to the cops.

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 24 2010 06:00 PM ET

'Lone Star' creator writes an open letter to fans: 'We're going to have to pull off a minor miracle'

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Filed under: TV and tagged: , , ,

LONESTARImage Credit: Bill Matlock/FoxLone Star is fast, funny, ambitious television. Comparisons abound when you’re trying to describe the show — it’s a little bit Mad Men, a little bit Dallas, a sprinkling of Profit, plus a lot of Sopranos, because the oil industry is just the mafia with fried food and southern accents. Our own Michael Slezak compared it to The Great Gatsby. It’s the best kind of network TV: Smart as a cable show, but with a mass-appeal hook. (Bored of the oil industry stuff? Here, have some sex!) It’s hard to sum up Lone Star in just a couple sentences, which might explain why it got so few viewers when it debuted on Monday.

The death clock is already ticking. Gordon Ramsay is probably readying another reality show to fill the Monday-at-9 p.m. time slot. But the show’s creator/exec producer isn’t admitting defeat yet. On his blog, Kyle Killen has written an open letter to fans: “For [Lone Star] to survive we’re going to have to pull off a minor miracle. Statistically, new shows tend to lose viewers in their second week. We’re aiming to gain them. In fact, screw it, let’s just double our audience.” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 24 2010 05:50 PM ET

Style Hunter: Nick's fashion arm sling on 'CSI'

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

csi-nick-slingOkay, technically, I don’t think we’ve had any readers emailing us asking where they could get an arm sling like the one Nick Stokes (George Eads) donned on last night’s season 11 premiere of CSI. But this press release was too good to pass up. Nick was sporting the Cashmere King arm sling from Sling Couture: “For the first time in medical fashion history, Sling Couture grants consumers an opportunity to effortlessly accessorize business, daytime or evening ensembles. Hand sewn embellishments range from sequins and crystals to crystal lace trim. Available in sizes small, medium and large, arm slings and cast covers also include monogram options and are ideal recovery and pick-me-up gifts for individuals who have suffered an arm or shoulder fracture, injury or procedure,” the release says. Prices range from $19.95 to $49.95 — the Cashmere King (which is actually flannel) is on sale for $25.95.

P.S. Sling Couture also does fashion face masks. I imagine those are a harder sell to TV procedurals.

Sep 24 2010 05:44 PM ET

'Oprah': Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (officially) gives away $100 million on show

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Filed under: TV and tagged: ,

oprahImage Credit: George Burns/Harpo ProductionsWith the button-pushing Facebook movie The Social Network‘s premiere only a week away, the company’s real-life CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on today’s Oprah Winfrey Show to donate $100 million to the Newark public school system. As Oprah ruefully noted during the segment — which also featured New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Newark mayor Corey Booker — the news had already leaked two days earlier, so some of the announcement’s impact was blunted. Still, it was undoubtedly a huge chunk of change for an often beleaguered city. (Booker said at one point that a full half of Newark’s public school kids don’t graduate high school.)

What I found interesting was that while The Social Network buzz was undoubtedly lingering in the background, the show was actually about a whole other movie that’s been making waves: Waiting for “Superman”. In fact, today was Oprah’s second show this week devoted to the lauded documentary about the crisis in American education. And the focus stayed there throughout, even as Oprah got a never-before-seen peek into Zuckerberg’s modest, rented house in Palo Alto, Calif., that he shares with his girlfriend. (Oprah briefly brought up the “unauthorized” Facebook movie without ever mention its title, and Zuckerberg shrugged it off, saying “It’s a movie. It’s fun. A lot of it is fiction. Even the filmmakers will say that.”) Another interesting wrinkle: Oprah noted that Zuckerberg had initially intended to make the donation anonymously, but that when she heard the news from Booker, she said “Is he crazy?” and convinced Zuckerberg to announce it publicly. She also explained the timing of the news, saying that it would have happened much earlier had it not been for her show’s airing schedule. Me, I couldn’t care less why Zuckerberg is donating so much — I just think it’s very cool he did.

Did you watch? Is Zuckerberg aligning himself with “Superman” and trying to ignore…the unauthorized Facebook movie? What are your thoughts on him post-announcement?

Read more:
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg to make a $100 million donation to Newark’s public schools
The full ‘Social Network’ trailer hits: Will you friend the Facebook movie this October?
‘The Social Network’ new commercial: Zuckerberg as mean Josh Lyman

Sep 24 2010 05:32 PM ET

Abigail Breslin adds singing to her resume

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Filed under: Movies, Music, Those Crazy Kids! and tagged: , , , ,

She can act. She can sing. What’s next? A line of handbags? Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin took to the stage last week at the Toronto Film Festival to debut a song from her indie flick Janie Jones. ”Not that I think I’m a great singer or anything, but I do like to sing,” Breslin told EW earlier this month. ”I’ve never really done it before — I’ve only really sung at my church Christmas party.” (Watch video of her performance here.)

Following her musical debut, Breslin told SPIN she had no intentions of pursuing an album at this time, but might someday. Oh, and she’s quite the jokester. When asked if she had Bieber fever she responded with this quip: “No, no. I just went to the doctor and they said I was very healthy.”

What do you think of Breslin’s voice? The 14-year-old is growing up fast. Should she further explore music or just stick to acting? Sound off below.

Read more:
Abigail Breslin sings! And More Exclusive EW First Looks

Sep 24 2010 05:23 PM ET

Mustaches that changed the world: Whose would you nominate?

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Filed under: TV and tagged: , ,

Hitler-Burt-ReynoldsImage Credit: Carlos Marino/Getty Images; Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett CollectionAs I mindlessly shaved my stubbly face this morning (it was Friday after all), I didn’t bother to consider how my actions might impact the future course of human events. Those orphaned specs of hair lurking in my sink will never tickle my daughter’s belly or grow natty with lunchtime pizza grease. More importantly, they will never invade Poland, invent the theory of relativity, or win seven Olympic medals.

It was impossible not to ponder such what-ifs after reading the 20 Mustaches That Changed History, The Atlantic‘s gallery of iconic soup-strainers. Aaron Perlut, chairman of the American Mustache Institute, compiled the eclectic list that dared weigh the global impact of historic facial hair. It’s a fun but puzzling collection, especially since the momentous headline resides above a photo of Hulk Hogan. Perlut defends his selections throughout, but it’s rather discombobulating to see that Burt Reynolds ranks one spot ahead of Hitler. To be fair, it wasn’t Hitler’s mustache that began World War II, just as it wasn’t Reynold’s ‘stache that drove the ambulance in the Cannonball Run. But Hitler’s crimes so offended the world that his mustache rightfully disappeared from the face of the earth — that is until Michael Jordan decided it was time to bring it back.

But I’d like to nominate three crumb-catchers that have made as great an impact as Reynolds’: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 24 2010 05:22 PM ET

Excess Hollywood: 'Human Centipede Part 2' snagged by IFC

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Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: , , ,
  • Christopher Lloyd will appear in Time, The Fourth Dimension as an eccentric professor whose work focuses on various dimensions and space-time. Will bending the space-time continuum stop this? [Variety]
  • IFC announced in a press release that it has picked up rights to 2011′s The Human Centipede Part 2, the sequel to The Human Centipede that is being touted as “100 percent medically inaccurate” and “what really will be the sickest movie of all time.” Says director Tom Six in the release: “I like to say Part 1 is like My Little Pony compared to the film we’re editing now.” So that means fresh-breathed Minty was the top?
  • Michael Nyqvist, one of the stars of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has been tapped to play the villain in Mission: Impossible 4. [The Wrap]
Sep 24 2010 05:00 PM ET

Heather Locklear to star in possibly the best Lifetime movie ever

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

Heather-LocklearImage Credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.comHeather Locklear is a favorite with Lifetime viewers who are women 18 and over. (So there are other Lifetime viewers?) Proof: In that demo, 2008′s Flirting With Forty, co-starring Robert Buckley’s abs, rated in the network’s top three original movies, and 2007′s Angels Fall, co-starring Johnathon Schaech, was one of the top ten most-watched telecasts in the history of the channel. You can bet Lifetime has high hopes for He Loves Me, a psychological thriller Locklear will topline for 2011. As will viewers once they read the synopsis: SHE GOES INSANE! Said plot: “By all appearances in He Loves Me, Laura (Locklear) believes she leads the idyllic life. She’s a successful Seattle real estate agent, presumably happily married to one of the city’s leading cardiologists and mother to their darling six-year-old daughter. When Laura begins to suspect her husband is cheating on her, she is devastated by his infidelity, despite having a torrid affair of her own. Desperately trying to save her marriage, Laura’s mysterious past begins to emerge, making her more paranoid, delusional, and violent in alarming ways. As her mental state continues to unravel, whoever gets in the way of Laura’s myriad of fantasies becomes expendable — no matter who they are – revealing the shocking dream world that insulates her from reality.“

Affairs, delusions, and, I assume, multiple homicides — heaven. A new contender for best Lifetime movie ever? Or what would you need them to throw in to secure the title?

Read more:
‘Flirting With Forty’ is my new favorite Lifetime movie
The PopWatch Confessional (Vol. 3)

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