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Archive: October 2010 (291-300 of 590)

Oct 15 2010 05:15 PM ET

'Hangover 2' without Heather Graham... yeah, we're okay with that

Categories: Movies

hangover-graham Heather Graham will not return for The Hangover 2, a rep for Warner Bros. confirms. E!’s Online‘s Marc Malkin first reported the news, with a statement from a studio rep explaining that the story that takes Bradley Cooper’s Phil, Zach Galifianakis’ Alan, and Ed Helms’ Stu to Bangkok simply doesn’t allow room for her character, the Las Vegas stripper Stu married, to enter the picture. Even if you’re not a Graham fan, you have to admit she was great in the first film — but I don’t think anyone will be too upset over this. If there was ever a movie that doesn’t need the old ball and chain attached to it, it’s the Hangover sequel. As director Todd Phillips told EW last November while side-stepping a question about the film’s plot, “What people loved about The Hangover was not Las Vegas or the bachelor party but these three characters. I think you can take those characters and put them in other situations, and you don’t need the sell of Vegas and a bachelor party and all that other stuff.” (Still, Bangkok is a nice touch.)

Plus, even if Graham’s not in the movie, she can still show up at its premiere bra-less.

More Hangover 2:
Hangover 2 to get Bangkok dangerous
Hangover 2 photos surface: One of these Zach Galifianakis shirts is… just like the others

Oct 15 2010 04:40 PM ET

A classy new mash-up: 'Mad Men' theme song meets Nat King Cole's 'Nature Boy'

by Catherine Fuentes

Categories: Clip du Jour, Mad Men, Music, Television, Things That Are Awesome!, Things That Are Classy

Here’s something really cool to play at your Mad Men finale party: The VideosRecordedLive YouTube account uploaded their first video, a single shot live performance of a Mad Men theme song and “Nature Boy” mash-up. According to their YouTube page, this all came about because they “wanted to put lyrics” to what I consider to be the best theme song currently on television. Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy,” they felt, was the “perfect fit” for the theme song, “A Beautiful Mine” by RJD2, and I have to agree (watch a video of Nat King Cole performing the original “Nature Boy” here to refresh your memory). I think I like this treatment of “Nature Boy” even more than the one made famous in Moulin Rouge, but maybe I’m just on Mad Men overload right now.

Normally for me when I think mash-ups, I tend to think of something a little bit more Biggie and Miley — which does have a special place in my heart — but it certainly has a different vibe than this Mad Men theme song/”Nature Boy” twist. The “A Beautiful Mine” RJD2 song and the cover of Cole’s “Nature Boy” compliment each other perfectly, and the ’60s style live performance component fits not only both the songs, but the whole Mad Men vibe as well. Even the lyrics have me thinking about Don Draper — he certainly does feel “a little shy and sad of eye but very wise” this season. READ FULL STORY »

Oct 15 2010 04:15 PM ET

'Jackass': Johnny Knoxville's mother on her danger-seeking son with a 'heart of gold'

by Dan Snierson

Categories: Movies, Reality TV, Television

Image Credit: Tommaso Boddi/PR PhotosWhen you watch Jackass ringleader Johnny Knoxville get the stuffing knocked out of him by a professional boxer or take a sledgehammer to the groin, do you ever wonder: What must he have been like as a child? And what does his poor mother think about his daredevil-may-care ways? On the eve of the release of Jackass 3D, we went directly to the source for illumination. Lemoyne Clapp was kind enough to describe the experience of raising little Johnny (ne PJ Clapp), and how difficult it is to watch her son sacrifice his body for the sake of entertainment.

“I had raised two daughters, and PJ came 11 years later. He was completely different, but I thought it was because he was a boy and all boys acted like that. At 9 months old, he could climb up on his playpen and throw himself out on the floor. Luckily, we had carpet back then. But he never cried, even when he would get hurt.

When he was 2, he tried to put the cat in the washing machine. I happened to catch him doing it, and he said, ‘He’s duwty.’ He couldn’t pronounce his r’s…. When he was 14, playing baseball on a travel team, his teammates told me he was diving out the second-story window into the pool. That should’ve been a warning, shouldn’t it? But he’s got a heart of gold. He’s a sweetheart. I never heard him say a bad word till I saw it on TV. He never, ever sassed. I’d tell him when to come home, and it was ‘Yes, ma’am.’ He came home when he pleased sometimes, but it was always ‘Yes, ma’am.’ READ FULL STORY »

Oct 15 2010 03:50 PM ET

'Showgirls' director + 'Obsessed' writer = most awesomely bad movie since 'Showgirls'?

by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Horrifying But Hypnotic, Movies, Things That Are Awesome!

Image Credit: Suzanne TennerSome people would read the Variety piece announcing that Paul Verhoeven is set to direct Eternal, a script from David Loughery that “centers on a recovering alcoholic who believes that he’s cheated on his wife — only to discover that the other woman is a ghost who is in pursuit of his soul,” and go, “Pass!” But they’re not thinking this through: This is the man that directed Elizabeth Berkley to put ice on her nipples in Showgirls collaborating with the man who outlined the MTV Movie Award-winning fight between Beyoncé and Ali Larter in Obsessed (pictured). It’s going to be awesome. “The other woman is a ghost who is in pursuit of his soul” — there are no words, just the chills I got retyping that. You know the wife is going to end up throwing down with the paranormal slut, somehow. I need to know how.

Who else sees this project’s potential to be the greatest/most awesomely bad thing since Showgirls?

Oct 15 2010 03:25 PM ET

'Megamind': Watch the first five minutes!

by Tim Stack

Categories: Advance Advancement, Animation, Fall Movies, Have You Seen This?, Movie Trailers, Movies, News You Can Use, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell

Nick.com has unveiled the first five minutes of the new Will Ferrell/Tina Fey/Brad Pitt animated flick Megamind, due in theaters Nov. 5. Basically, it’s a prologue setting up the rivalry between Ferrell’s evil villain Megamind and Pitt’s heroic and well-coiffed Metro Man. Even in this tiny format, the movie’s quality looks great, meaning it will undoubtedly look even more striking in 3-D. (So perhaps it’s worth shelling out the extra cash, for you and your kids?) Enjoy the first five minutes after the jump: READ FULL STORY »

Oct 15 2010 03:00 PM ET

PopWatch Rewind Week 9: 'My Cousin Vinny'

by Darren Franich and Keith Staskiewicz

Categories: PopWatch Rewind

My Cousin Vinny is not the greatest movie Joe Pesci ever made, but it is unquestionably the Joe Pesci-est movie Joe Pesci ever made. One of five 1992 films featuring the diminutive actor (along with Lethal Weapon 3 and Home Alone 2), My Cousin Vinny stars Pesci as Vincent LaGuardia Gambini—clearly a name designed to evoke the best and worst of New Yawk Italian-Americans—a wannabe lawyer whose first case sends him into the murky waters of Broad Alabama Clichés to defend his young cousin, played by Ralph Macchio, when he is wrongfully accused of murder, much like Hilary Swank’s brother in this week’s Conviction. Along for the ride is Maria Tomei, in the performance that would win her an unfairly controversial Oscar, and a cast of brilliant supporting actors trying on terrible Southern accents. In the battle of stereotype-versus-stereotype, who will prevail?

DF: Am I the only one who thinks that, whenever Joe Pesci throws a tantrum in the movie, he’s this close to shooting Marisa Tomei in the face?

KS: It’s because of Goodfellas. We’re automatically conditioned to think that whenever Joe Pesci starts asking rhetorical questions, someone’s getting hurt. “What am I, a lawyer to you? Am I going to be litigating?” BAM! The essence of Joe Pesci is that when his fury and passive-aggression is released via violence, it’s horrifying. But when it’s just turned into frustration and exasperation, it’s hilarious. READ FULL STORY »

Oct 15 2010 03:00 PM ET

Ivanka Trump blogs 'The Apprentice': Episode 5

by Ivanka Trump

Categories: Reality TV, Television, The Apprentice

Image Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBCWeek 5! While I wasn’t there this time, I know that it was a particularly brutal episode, and to say the least I wouldn’t want to “walk in the contestants’ shoes” for this one….

Life and Its Curveballs
With Clint’s popcorn victory last week, he won the very exciting reward of meeting Steve Forbes – one of the world’s most accomplished and famous businessmen, and a close friend of my father’s. With good reason, Clint was thrilled at his good fortune. In their meeting, Steve talked to Clint about people who had withstood great adversity, such as Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman, and had managed to succeed. READ FULL STORY »

Oct 15 2010 02:50 PM ET

'Black Swan' international posters are as crazy awesome as the movie

by Tim Stack

Categories: Advance Advancement, Fall Movies, Have You Seen This?, Horrifying But Hypnotic, Horror, Movie Posters, Movie Trailers, Movies, Natalie Portman, News You Can Use, Things That Are Awesome!

It thrills me to see a film like Darren Aronofsky’s genius Black Swan get the gorgeous poster treatment. The U.S. poster is already stunning in its own right (left) but Empire Online has debuted the international posters for the Natalie Portman flick and I pretty much want ALL of them. The film is a throwback of sorts to the horror films of the 1960s and 1970s; think Rosemary’s Baby or Don’t Look Now. So, the retro-vibe of these posters just feels perfect in my mind.

I can’t stress enough how much I looooooved Black Swan, PopWatchers. The film, which hits theaters on Dec. 3, is a complete tour de force in terms of directing, photography, and acting—it’s a stunner. Natalie Portman is phenomenal as is Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder. The final 30 minutes of the movie are almost unbearably intense, but fly by like a fever dream. This is a movie people will be talking about. The less you know about its surprises the better. Check out the trailer below… READ FULL STORY »

Oct 15 2010 02:41 PM ET

'The View' hosts to revisit Bill O'Reilly controversy on Monday

by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Morning Madness, Politics as Entertainment, Television, The View

If you were wondering whether the ladies of The View addressed on-air Friday yesterday’s “fiery debate” with Bill O’Reilly that caused Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar to momentarily walk off the set (and Barbara Walters to scold them for it), we have the answer: They did not. As our commenters pointed out after I sat through the hour and muted the segment in which Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck watched a woman get a cortisone shot in an ingrown hair on the back of her leg, The View pretapes its Friday shows. Today’s was filmed before Thursday’s live O’Reilly interview. A rep for The View tells EW that the hosts “will weigh in” on the situation again on Monday.

For those of you not ready to let this debate go, read Ken Tucker’s take on how O’Reilly and Behar addressed the situation on their shows last night. (In short, Behar explained that, to her, O’Reilly saying “Muslims” attacked us on 9/11 and not “Muslim extremists” amounted to hate speech. He argued, “Did we say, in World War II, ‘We were attacked by “Japanese extremists”?’ [...] No: We said we were attacked by ‘Japanese.’”) For those of you who do want to change the subject, let’s discuss Walters’ body language during today’s interview with her self-proclaimed “boyfriend,” In Treatment‘s Gabriel Byrne. Legs crossed, facing him… She really does love him!

Oct 15 2010 02:37 PM ET

'Life Unexpected' cast campaigns to save their own show: Does it make you want to watch?

by Jennifer Armstrong

Categories: Fall TV, Life Unexpected, Television

Recent TV history is rife with passionate fan campaigns to save shows: Tabasco-for-Roswell, peanuts-for-Jericho, Subway-for-Chuck, etc. But in these Internet-fractured, dwindling-audience times, it’s increasingly become the producers and casts of the shows themselves who do whatever it takes to rally viewership. Joss Whedon crusaded to save Dollhouse before it even started; Lone Star creator Kyle Killen publicly (and, it seems, futilely) pleaded for viewers after the first episode tanked. Now the cast of The CW’s charming long-lost-kid-finds-birth-parents drama Life Unexpected is taking their underrated show’s fate into their own hands with a particularly intense flurry of efforts. They made their own posters (complete with little tear-off tags reminding viewers where and when the show airs. They created a funny, slightly salty “behind-the-scenes video” meant to go viral. (There’s nudity and unplanned pregnancy!) They made a Facebook page and a Twitter feed to talk directly to fans. Stars Kristoffer Polaha and Austin Basis stood on Wilshire Boulevard with “SAVE OUR SHOW” signs.