Archive: October 2010 (111-120 of 590)

Oct 26 2010 11:50 AM ET

Matt Lauer to interview George W. Bush

lauer-george-w-bushImage Credit: Judi Bottoni/NBC; Bob Levey/Getty ImagesGeorge W. Bush is sitting down with Matt Lauer to give his first one-on-one TV interview since leaving the White House. The interview will air Monday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m., and then Bush will appear live on Today Wednesday, Nov.  10. Not coincidentally, Bush’s memoir Decision Points comes out that week.

Lauer talked about the interview on The Tonight Show last night, saying that he and his people had been pursuing the interview for over a year. “When you stop and think about what President Bush experienced in office, from 9/11, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Hurricane Katrina, and so many other things, the financial situation — it should be really interesting,” Lauer said. READ FULL STORY »

Oct 26 2010 11:30 AM ET

'Hawaii Five-0' Bingo: Week 2

hawaii-five-0Image Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBSThere’s an old rule of drama that states, “If a gun gets introduced in the first act, it has to go off by the third act.” Well, last night Hawaii Five-0 taught us a similar, but rather more awesomer, rule: “If Kevin Sorbo gets introduced in the first act, he’s guaranteed to be a suspect by the end.” The onetime Hercules shared the cameo spotlight with YouTube phenomenon Aidan Laprete Powell, who serenaded Kona and her hippie crush. (Hippies are evil, but he owns a sniper rifle, so we’ll allow it.) Also, Steve and Chin Ho rode dirt bikes, Pearl Harbor was referenced, and the episode began with that truly rare type of murder where every single witness is wearing a bikini (see picture above.) The victim was shot on a surfboard, and Chin Ho made a special point of noting that he fell “Back…and to the left.” A double reference to JFK and Seinfeld? 90′sgasm! Also, when Steve and Danno interrogated a couple of suspects, there was a rainbow shining over the city behind them. A FRICKING RAINBOW.

Alas, Five-0 players went home empty-handed last night, just one car crash (or O’Loughlin chest sighting) away from a Bingo. Check out the board after the jump.

READ FULL STORY »

Oct 26 2010 11:05 AM ET

'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' trailer: Watch it here

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never has its first official trailer, and baby, baby, baby, ooh, it has very adorable footage of a Biebs as a toddler. The 3-D biopic/concert film opens February 11, so I hope Twitter has braced itself.

READ FULL STORY »

Oct 26 2010 10:41 AM ET

Anti-Defamation League to Rob Reiner: Comparison of Tea Party followers to future Nazis 'inappropriate and offensive'

Rob-ReinerImage Credit: Janet Van Ham/HBODirector Rob Reiner is taking heat for comments he made on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, evoking the name Hitler while discussing the Tea Party. As you see in the clip below, the conversation starts with Reiner and Maher agreeing that there has never been an election cycle with more ignorance than this one (which Maher joked was good for his show). “You never get into a political discussion unless you bring the word ‘Hitler’ in. You have to have ‘Hitler,’ so let’s put ‘Hitler’ out there. Here’s ‘Hitler,’” Reiner said, as Maher and the audience laughed. Reiner noted that Hitler never got more than 33 percent of the vote in Germany (“Well, he only had that one election, let’s be honest,” Maher cracked), but he was charismatic. “And they were having bad economic times, just like we are now. People were out of work, they needed jobs, and a guy came along and rallied the troops. My fear is that the Tea Party gets a charismatic leader. Because all they’re selling is fear and anger. And that’s all Hitler sold. ‘I’m angry,’ and ‘I’m frightened,’ and ‘You should hate that guy over there.’ And that’s what they’re doin’.”

While the audience may have applauded Reiner’s analogy, the Anti-Defamation League definitely did not. ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman issued the following statement: “Regardless of one’s views of Tea Party adherents, likening them to potential Nazis and implying that all they need is another Hitler is inappropriate and offensive. There is simply no comparison between followers of the Nazis, a fascist regime that perpetrated the slaughter of millions of Jews and others in the Holocaust, and followers of a democratic political movement in the United States. Such comparisons only serve to trivialize the Holocaust and are deeply offensive to Jews and other survivors, as well as those Americans who fought valiantly against the Nazis in World War II. Such Nazi analogies also demean the American political system in an election season when the rhetoric has already turned nasty and divisive. We hope that Mr. Reiner will reconsider his words and take them back.” (A rep for Reiner, who is Jewish, could not immediately be reached for comment.)

Watch the clip below and weigh in. READ FULL STORY »

Oct 26 2010 10:10 AM ET

Exclusive: Kara DioGuardi and Jewel headlining new singer-songwriter competition for Bravo

Kara-DioGuardi-JewelImage Credit: Bob Charlotte/PR Photos; PRN/PR PhotosBravo has greenlit Going Platinum, a 10-episode reality competition for singer-songwriters that’s set to premiere in 2011, EW has learned exclusively. And if you think the concept sounds a bit like American Idol, wait until you hear who they’ve cast! Kara DioGuardi (who sat alongside Simon Cowell in seasons 8 and 9) will be head judge, while songstress Jewel (a guest judge on Idol’s season-6 auditions, as well as a former Nashville Star emcee) will host and provide feedback to contestants, too.

But before you dismiss Going Platinum as a knockoff, consider this: READ FULL STORY »

Oct 26 2010 10:00 AM ET

PopWatch Confessional: Why can't I just be evil in videogames?

Categories: Videogames

I love playing big, epic videogames with endless possibilities. I spent months this year binging on nonlinear adventures like Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect, and, most recently, Fallout: New Vegas. In all these games, you face a series of moral choices. You can donate money to the kindly old nun, or you can shoot her and steal her donation box. You can eradicate the vile spider-alien species, or you can prevent genocide by letting the vile spider-aliens live (but only if they promise promise promise not to kill anybody). The Fallout games occupy the far extreme of this style — is “Moral Compass” a genre? — by turning practically every choice, every line of dialogue, into an ethical quandary. Will you negotiate with the mercenary? Or will you break his head open with a hockey stick?

I tend to play these games for 60-70 hours. Unfortunately, I don’t really feel like I take full advantage of them. Because PopWatchers, I have a confession to make: I cannot, for the life of me, bring myself to do bad things in choose-your-own-moral-compass videogames. I always donate money to the nun. I always let the spider-aliens live. No matter how much New Vegas tries to tempt me, I just can’t bring myself to break the bad guy’s head open with a hockey stick, when there’s even the slightest possibility of talking my way out of it. READ FULL STORY »

Oct 26 2010 09:40 AM ET

'Walking Dead' executive producer Gale Anne Hurd talks about making AMC's new, no-holds-barred zombie show

Gale-Anne-HurdImage Credit: John M. Heller/Getty ImagesHad a killer cyborg come back from the future and prevented the birth of producer Gale Anne Hurd, then the history of movies over the last 30 years may well have been very different. For one thing, we might not be familiar with the concept of killer robots coming back from the future to prevent people being born, given that Hurd was responsible for shepherding the first Terminator movie to box-office success back in 1984. Since then, Hurd’s credits have included such sci-fi epics as Aliens, The Abyss, and both Hulk movies. For the past year, Hurd’s attention has been directed at the small screen and Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead comic. The show — which is exec produced by Hurd, Darabont, and Kirkman, amongst others — debuts this Halloween as part of the AMC’s annual Fearfest extravaganza.

Judging by the two episodes EW has seen, the show is every bit as gore-drenched as its source material, which tracks a band of folks as they try to survive in a world overrun by “walkers” without losing their own humanity. “Let’s face it, the zombie’s modus operandi is to kill and consume people, so we do have to have some of that,” says Hurd of her latest project, which stars Love Actually actor Andrew Lincoln. “And the humans are in a position where they need to dispatch zombies, and that can be with shovels, guns, axes. You name it. But it’s really pretty interesting, because every show has kind of a different take. The second one has a lot of action, But the third one actually has a lot of character development, and we spend a lot less time with zombie attacks.”

One notable aspect of the adaptation is how slowly Darabont — who directed the pilot — is making his way through Kirkman’s still ongoing saga. While not short of zombie mayhem, the first two episodes really just cover the events featured in the first two issues of Kirkman’s comic. Which means that, if the TV show proves a success, Hurd and Darabont will not run short of zombie adventures any time soon—the comic version of The Walking Dead has already reached issue #78. “And Robert’s said that he has at least 250 issues in mind,” explains Hurd. “So I think we’re in good shape.”

After the jump, the producer talks more about The Walking Dead—and what exactly she intends to do, come the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

READ FULL STORY »

Oct 25 2010 08:00 PM ET

'Dancing With the Stars': Week 6 is liiiiiiiiiiive!

DWTS-judgesImage Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABCWelcome back, DANCMSTRs! Week 6′s theme is “Rock and Roll.” The Harold Wheeler Ensemble could bust out a hearty rendition of “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do Foxtrot)” at any moment. Hold on to your sequined hat!

Discuss the DWTS performances here and nominate your Hidden Gems of the Week. And don’t miss Derek’s weekly EW.com check-in! READ FULL STORY »

Oct 25 2010 07:13 PM ET

Eve Plumb, a.k.a. Jan Brady, shines Off Broadway in 'Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage'

miss-abigailImage Credit: Carol RoseggJan Brady…Off Broadway? Well, sorta—the actress who played everybody’s favorite middle child, Eve Plumb, last night opened the silly and sweet new Off Broadway production Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage. The play was written by Ken Davenport and Sarah Saltzberg, the clever minds behind Altar Boyz and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, respectively. The show is super fun and, at less than 90 minutes, the perfect romp for an evening out with friends. Plumb (pictured here with costar Manuel Herrera, who plays her lusty assistant), plays “a retro relationship maven doling out advice about how to improve your love life,” as I write in my A– review. The best part of Plumb’s performance? Her spot-on delivery. Plumb serves up  old-school bon mots on relationships “with deft timing, a wink, and a nudge,” making Miss Abigail’s Guide totally “worth following.”

Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky

More Stage coverage from EW.com:
Review: ‘Wings,’ starring Jan Maxwell

Oct 25 2010 06:43 PM ET

Uwe Boll's new movie is called 'Blubberella': Yes, really.

Categories: Movies

I once spent an unpleasant month trying to lose 25 pounds so I could box German director Uwe Boll. The infamously craptastic filmmaker — and onetime amateur pugilist — had challenged critics to, literally, get in the ring with him, but insisted that his opponents weigh less than 200 pounds. (Yes, yes, I’m a big fat bastard — please feel free to tell me something I don’t know.) Eventually, my superiors at EW banned me from battling Boll, on the grounds that having one of their staffers sweatily duke it out with The World’s Worst Director, and probably suffer a massive coronary in the process, was “beneath the dignity” of this fine organ. I guess they had a point. As a result, Boll sent an email calling me a “p—y,” which I though was a bit rich coming from someone who didn’t want to fight an overly lardy entertainment journalist, but there you go.

Anyhoo, while Boll may insist on a weight requirement for real-life opponents, it appears he has no problem depicting hefty superheroes on the big screen. The news broke today that one of the director’s upcoming movies is called Blubberella, which stars Lindsay Hollister as “The first female fat superhero….She will kick major a— with her major a–.” Ah, isn’t the language of Shakespeare a wonderful thing?

To be honest, I first assumed this was all some kind of Internet hoax. READ FULL STORY »

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