Archive: November 2010 (251-260 of 486)

Nov 12 2010 09:00 AM ET

Matt Damon on 'True Grit,' his charity work, and raising four girls

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Ray Tamarra/FilmMagic.com

Is it me, or is Matt Damon the busiest guy in America? He’s got two movies (Hereafter and True Grit) out this fall, he devotes much of his time to the charity he co-founded (Water.org), and as of last month, he’s got four daughters. Recently, Damon put aside some time to talk to EW about all the things that are keeping him plenty busy — but plenty passionate — at the moment.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why is Water.org so important to you?
MATT DAMON: Every 15 seconds, a kid is dying because he or she doesn’t have access to clean water and sanitation. It’s pretty staggering. In America, you can just walk over to the faucet and get a drink of water. So it’s hard to wrap your brain around the notion that there are little girls who can’t go to school because they’re spending their days gathering water. Dehydration is a ridiculous way to die in this day and age.

Did having kids yourself make you more passionate about this issue?
I feel like it’s deepened. It’s very hard to go to these places like India, Ethiopia, and Kenya and not connect to all of these kids as your own. Once you’ve had children, it’s very hard to turn your back on a child.

Judging from the trailer for True Grit, it seems like you’re the movie’s comic relief. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 12 2010 12:01 AM ET

TV Insiders podcast: EW experts weigh in on Conan's first week and pick the funniest person on 'Modern Family'

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Filed under: Modern Family, Reality TV, Television, TV and tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Image Credit: Meghan Sinclair/Team Coco; Mitch Haddad/ABC

New network, new start time, same old Conan. Or is it? The TV Insiders are here to break down the first week of Conan and tell you (and him) what is and isn’t working so far on O’Brien’s new TBS talk show. Michael Slezak and Annie Barrett join yours truly to hand out our grades for week number one. Listen on, and see if you agree. But that’s not all we’re debating this week: We also give our picks for the funniest Modern Family cast member. (How will Mike and Annie take it when they learn how clearly right I am and clearly wrong they are?) There are also plenty of reality shenanigans to be discussed and dissected. You will sit in stunned silence as someone on our panel admits to actually rooting for Survivor‘s most hateful contestant ever NaOnka. And we will sit in stunned silence as we try to figure out how Bristol Palin has made it all the way through to the Dancing With The Stars final four. Is she the worst final four contestant ever? We’ll let you know! You can download all the insanity straight to your mp3 player, or click on the video player below to enjoy all the podcast magic on your screen right here, right now. Plus, if you have a question for the TV Insiders, you can tweet it to @EWDaltonRoss. And now, herrrrrrrrrrrrrrre’s Conan!

Nov 12 2010 12:01 AM ET

Under-appreciated Entertainer of the Year: Round 1 rages on with players from 'Parenthood,' 'Grey's,' 'Top Chef,' 'Runway,' etc.

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Filed under: Music, Top Chef, TV and tagged: , , , ,

Underappreciated-Entertainers-6BImage Credit: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Rahim, Anderson, Derry, Guerra) Roger Arpajou; Saeed Adyani; Lifetime Netowrk; David Geisbrecht/Bravo“I feel under-appreciated. Now girls, help me out, if you know what I’m talkin’ about,” sang Christina Aguilera on the aptly titled “Underappreciated,” a terrific but lesser-known cut from 2002′s underrated Stripped CD. And sadly, that’s a sentiment familiar to the 64 participants in EW.com’s first annual Under-appreciated Entertainer of the Year single-elimination bracket tournament.

As Day 6 of our first-round matchups continue, you’re going to have some brutal choices to make: Project Runway‘s Mondo Guerra and Top Chef‘s Tiffany Derry already got robbed on their respective reality series this year, yet one won’t even survive the initial duel of this bracket game. Parenthood‘s Peter Krause has done incredible work on a show that’s struggling in the ratings, while Sara Ramirez somehow fails to get the same awards-season love as many of her colleagues on ABC’s hit Grey’s Anatomy. Alas, you can only vote for one of ‘em.

We’re also showing mad love to some musicians and movie actors who deserve bigger commercial and/or critical success than they currently receive. In the former category, we’ve got Ray LaMontagne facing off against The Gaslight Anthem, and in the latter, it’s Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) taking on Joe Anderson (The Crazies).

Click here to check out our entire bracket of 64 reader-picked competitors, then cast your ballot on Round 1, Day 6′s match-ups in our highly scientific polls after the jump.Underappreciated-Entertainers-6AImage Credit: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Krause, Ramirez, Gaslight Anthem, LaMontagne) Chris Haston/NBC; Adam Taylor/ABC; Ashley Maile Record 20875480 READ FULL STORY »

Nov 11 2010 07:15 PM ET

Look out, Adam Sandler! It's Donkey Kong's Space Invading Frogger!

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Filed under: Movies, News, Videogames and tagged: , , , ,

Adam-Sandler-PixelsImage Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com Adam Sandler’s production company Happy Madison has reportedly set veteran Sandler-ite Tim Herlihy (Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer) to pen an adaptation of the 2010 viral video short Pixels for the big screen. The short, by writer-director Patrick Jean, depicts an attack on New York City by a horde of candy-colored ’80s videogame characters that would be rather horrifying if it wasn’t so gosh darned adorable. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Happy Madison is hoping the feature version will be a kind of 21st century Ghostbusters, which is already as smart and welcome a concept as Sandler’s company has ever produced. Check out the original film and tell me you can’t see Sandler, Chris Rock, and Kevin James racing around Manhattan trying to fend off/escape Donkey Kong’s bounding barrels of doom:  READ FULL STORY »

Nov 11 2010 07:03 PM ET

'Winnie the Pooh' trailer: Pooh loves alternative rock and 2-D. We rejoice.

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , , ,

Check out the trailer for the new Winnie the Pooh movie after the jump. Go ahead. I dare you not to smile.

Watching Pooh’s gang (!) frolic together in 2-D made me realize how much I miss seeing cartoon characters without a digitized rubbery sheen. The simplicity and innocence of this trailer is appealing in almost inexplicable ways. (I said almost.) Yes, 3-D came to us to help make the movie experience more realistic. That’s the theory, right? Yet, oddly enough, before seeing this trailer, I wouldn’t be able to tell you the last time a mint-colored grassy knoll looked so soft and cozy or the last time I noticed the subtle shadows cast by cartoon trees. It could be the Keane music making me over-emotional, but I don’t think that’s the case.

I want to see this movie, PopWatchers. If for nothing else, I want to support the old days, the preservation of pure cartoon filmmaking, and the tribute to an increasingly rare art. Winnie the Pooh, I thank you.

What about you, readers? Will you be taking your kids (or yourself) to see Winnie the Pooh when it comes out next year? (Someone please say yes so I’m not that creepy adult who goes to a kids’ movie alone.) READ FULL STORY »

Nov 11 2010 06:50 PM ET

'The Season of the Witch' trailer: Nicolas Cage still rocking dirty hair

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Filed under: Movies and tagged: , ,

It looks like Nicolas Cage is still following his stylist’s advice and washing his hair every other day (see also: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) for his upcoming medieval flick Season of the Witch. (And now I have Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” stuck in my head. You’re welcome.) Peter Goddard and Dominic Sena’s belabored project — an early trailer hit the web about a year ago — will get a Jan. 7 release date, which could either mean it’s a must-see for the new year, or something that might aggravate your lingering hangover even more. Cage plays a soldier who returns home to the Black Plague and is thus enlisted to transport a witch (Claire Foy) accused of spreading the sickness to a group of monks who allegedly will rid her of her evil, with help from his trusty partner (Ron Perlman). Come for the blank Cage stares, stay for the creepy masks (which fall somewhere between V for Vendetta and Eyes Wide Shut). READ FULL STORY »

Nov 11 2010 06:20 PM ET

'Saturday Night Live': Scarlett Johansson and Arcade Fire sizzle in photo still (Exclusive)

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Filed under: Television, TV and tagged: , ,

SNL-Scarlett-JohanssonImage Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCIt doesn’t need to be said, but this exclusive photo still from Saturday Night Live‘s upcoming promo is steaming. Why? Well, because, for one, Scarlett Johansson — multiple-time People‘s Most Beautiful finalist and this Saturday’s host — is front-and-center. And, on top of that, she’s backed by indie favorite Arcade Fire (So hot right now) and Sexy Shannon Kristen Wiig. In fact, the only thing missing in this photo are some classy marble columns.

Read more:
Scarlett Johansson’s ‘SNL’ promos: An Iron Man
Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson to host ‘SNL’ in November

Nov 11 2010 06:15 PM ET

Excess Hollywood: Warner Bros. nabs rights to Brad Thor series

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Filed under: Movies, News, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,
  • Warner Bros. has acquired rights to Brad Thor’s Scot Harvath novels. The thrillers surround Harvath, a former Navy SEAL who investigates terrorism threats. Thor’s The Lions of Lucerne will likely be developed first by the studio, which hopes to make films akin to the Jason Bourne franchise. Hey, we hear a certain actor is available! [Variety]
  • Rob Thomas, Veronica Mars and Party Down creator, will pen Fox’s Little In Common, about three families who meet through their children’s sports leagues. Who’s already setting their DVRs? [Deadline]
  • Don’t shake your TV screens: Disney has ordered Ant Farm, a live-action series about a middle school musical prodigy who is accepted to the Accelerated Natural Talent (ANT) program. [THR]
  • Working Title is developing a film that will star a present-day Merlin. Please tell me that’s not David Blaine. [THR]
  • Cliff Chamberlain, a Chicago theater actor, has been cast alongside Ana Ortiz in Fox’s Outnumbered pilot, about a pair of exhausted parents. [Deadline]
  • Deadwood proved he can draw. But now he’s got Luck too: W. Earl Brown will play a trainer in several episodes of HBO’s horse racing series. [Variety]
  • Ralph and Joan Singleton have acquired rights to Kathy Charles’ book John Belushi is Dead, which centers on a “pink-haired” woman who delves into some of Hollywood’s most notorious deaths. [Variety]
  • Fox 2000 has picked up Julianna Baggott’s dystopian novel Pure, the first book in a trilogy about a cataclysmic event that separates the world into two different groups: those who have been “scarred,” and those who remain “Pure.” Is this the cataclysmic event? Because I’m still scarred. [Deadline]
Nov 11 2010 06:00 PM ET

Billy Ray Cyrus is the Benjamin Button of real life

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Filed under: Music, Television, To Care or Not to Care and tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

billy-ray-cyrus-mulletImage Credit: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images; Ron Galella, Ltd./WireGuess which photo of Billy Ray Cyrus is current! It’s tough, right? The former ballroom dancer has seemingly aged 20 years backwards. What’s his secret? Divorce? That’s him on the left, sprouting a mid-life crisis mullet at last night’s Country Music Awards. The teased mop on top, George Michael-esque triangle beard, and wacky background colors scream “early ’90s” … but I guess not quite as loudly as the denim shirt on the right.

Mid-life Mullet: Is it James Dean or Jason Priestley, PopWatchers?

Read more:
Billy Ray Cyrus, wife divorcing

Nov 11 2010 05:40 PM ET

Dino De Laurentiis: Remembering the ever-impolitic movie producer

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Filed under: Movies, News and tagged: ,

Dino-DeLaurentiisImage Credit: Keith Hamshere/Getty ImagesYou don’t make nearly 150 films over seven decades without ruffling a few feathers. And Dino De Laurentiis, who died last night at age 91 in his home in Beverly Hills, ruffled enough to stuff a king-sized mattress. Years ago, during auditions for Jessica Lange’s part in his 1976 remake of King Kong, he called Meryl Streep “a pig.” At least the producer had the courtesy to do it in Italian, even though it turned out Steep spoke the language fluently (“I’m very sorry that I disappoint you,” she shot back). When Jodie Foster declined to do a Silence of the Lambs sequel, De Laurentiis famously dismissed the actress who had won an Oscar playing Clarice Sterling as “not sexy” enough for the role. In 2006, this reporter personally witnessed De Laurentiis’ motivational techniques on the set of Hannibal Rising. The small old man with the big booming Italiano accent wobbled into the soundstage in the middle of a scene, banged his cane on a table, and shouted at the crew, “Film-a faster!”

Whatever works. And whatever else you can say about De Laurentiis, he produced some great movies, starting with Fellini’s early work in Italy in the 1950s, and moving on to iconic Hollywood productions like Barbarella in the 1960s and Death Wish and Serpico in the 1970s. He also made some not so great movies, like David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Dune, and Madonna’s 1993 thriller Body of Evidence. But De Laurentiis was always amusing, even if the films he made sometimes weren’t. “Submarina movies, they always make-a de money,” he said in 2000, right before the release of U-571, a submarine movie that didn’t. He was, in many ways, the prototype for the flamboyant, bombastic producer—without him, Harvey Weinstein and Joel Silver might not have been possible.

“Film-a faster!” would be a fitting epitaph on his tombstone.

Read more:
Film producer Dino De Laurentiis dies at 91: Report

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