Author: Adam Markovitz (1-10 of 143)

Feb 4 2010 11:45 AM ET

'The Lost Symbol,' 'Enchanted 2,' and 'Fast and Furious 5': Which sequel has you psyched?

Categories: Movies
Movie-sequelsImage Credit: Hanks: Zade Rosenthal; Adams: Barry Wetcher; Diesel: Jaimie TruebloodGet ready for some serious déjà vu at the movies. Studios just announced sequels to three major hit franchises: The Da Vinci Code, Enchanted, and Fast and Furious. But which one are you most excited about? Let’s go through the pros and cons of each:

The Lost Symbol
Pro:
The book sold a million copies in its first day.
Con: No, hang on a sec. A MILLION COPIES. Think about it. That’s nuts. But sadly, EW’s Thom Geier gave the book a C+ review. Unless the movie can do better, Symbol might get lost at the box office.

Fast and Furious 5
Pro: Talk about momentum, the fourth F&F was the series’ biggest hit yet, racing to a $343 million haul worldwide.
Con: Can the patented F&F formula — car chases, hot bodies (the automotive kind), and hot bodies (the non-automotive kind) — really hold up for five movies, or are moviegoers ready to shift gears?

Enchanted 2
Pro: Amy Adams‘ star has only risen since she got her big break as Enchanted’s oblivious princess.
Con: Now that Gisele has learned the ropes of the real world in the first movie, what’s left for her in a sequel? Dealing with the recession? Traveling back to fairytale land? Trying to break into the biz in L.A.?

Personally, my vote goes to F&F5 — I’m a sucker for goofy action movies that don’t pretend to be anything else. But I’m sure more than a few of you out there disagree. So take our poll and fire away in the comments!

More on EW.com:
‘The Lost Symbol’ movie adaptation in the works

‘Enchanted’ sequel in preproduction

‘Fast and Furious’ fifth installment on the way

Jan 31 2010 02:00 PM ET

Happy birthday, Justin Timberlake! Five things JT gave us this year.

Categories: Justin Timberlake

When I heard that Justin Timberlake turns 29 today, I panicked. I totally forgot to buy him something! But what does a person get for the guy who has everything? A new pair of snazzy glasses? A round of golf at a Dubai course shaped like his own face*? An agreement to never speak the name of his latest straight-to-DVD movie?

But then I realized, it’s not about what we can give Justin. It’s about celebrating what Justin has given us during his 29th trip around the sun. It’s what he’d want. (It’s also much cheaper.) So without further ado, here’s a list of five great things JT did this past year.

1. “Dead and Gone” live at the Grammys, an awesome duet with T.I. (be sure to tune in to tonight’s ceremony at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and check out EW’s live blog!)

(Read full post)

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Jan 30 2010 02:05 PM ET

'Jersey Shore': Where should they go for season 2?

Just as we were getting ready to return to an untanned, GTL-free life where “situation” is just another noun, MTV announced that Snooki, the Situation, JWoww, and the rest of the gang will back for another season of Jersey Shore this summer. The catch? The cast will ditch Jersey and “find themselves in a new destination.”

Rational reaction: Obviously, the northeast was out of the question if MTV wants to shoot during the winter for a summer premiere.

Actual reaction: Are you kidding me with this?! Jersey was practically the show’s 10th castmember! (note: count includes Angelina and the duck phone) Where else could they go? (Read full post)

Jan 28 2010 11:11 AM ET

Oprah buddy Nate Berkus' Twitter backgrounds are cool, but the one we really want is...

Categories: Art, Oprah Winfrey, Twitter

No mortal could ever afford to hire Nate Berkus, Oprah’s official VP of Aesthetics and Tousled Hair (okay, we made up the title), for a home design job. But here’s some good news: He’ll do your Twitter page for free! The designer just released a line of backgrounds for the site, available for download on his Facebook page. So now when you RT @Nate_Berkus‘ pearls of wisdom (e.g., “Im at chelsea market in nyc….artisinal foods are so fascinating”), you can rest assured that the words will feel at home on a page decorated by the man himself. So far, there’s only one pattern (in five colors) available: a crisscrossing, pastel rope-looking thing (pictured) that makes it look like your tweets are locked inside a Nantucket linen closet. I guess it’ll have to do until Berkus releases the pattern his fans really want: a tiled image of himself, shirtless, holding a labradoodle puppy in one hand and a thornless rose in the other. Get crackin, Nate!

What’s the verdict, PopWatchers: Will you download Berkus’ designs?

Jan 20 2010 03:17 PM ET

20 Years Ago: 'China Beach,' 'Lonesome Dove' win big at Golden Globes

When Suzanne Somers shimmied through a rendition of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” on the Golden Globes telecast on Jan. 20, 1990, she underscored the obvious: In what other business — and at what other awards show — could one find Audrey Hepburn (accepting a lifetime achievement honor) rubbing elbows with a dorky 16-year-old kid named Neil Patrick Harris (there to plug Doogie Howser, M.D.)? Too bad Robert Duvall missed the entire thing. The legendary thespian snagged the trophy for Best Actor in a TV Miniseries or Motion Picture for playing lovesick cattle rancher Gus McCrae in the epic Western miniseries Lonesome Dove (which also won Best Miniseries), but skipped the ceremony. Still, he considers the role his most important ever, which is saying something coming from a six-time Oscar nominee (and winner for 1983’s Tender Mercies). “It’s my signature part,” says the 79-year-old actor. “Let the English play Hamlet and King Lear. I’ll play Augustus McCrae.”

Other big TV winners at the event included Ted Danson (for Cheers), Jamie Lee Curtis (Anything But Love), Ken Wahl (Wiseguy), Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote), Murphy Brown (Best Comedy Series), and the Vietnam-set medical drama China Beach (Best Drama Series), which gave a then-33-year-old Dana Delany her first lead role. “It was one of those jobs where I would drive to work in the morning and think, ‘I don’t know if I can pull this off,’ ” recalls the Desperate Housewives actress. “That’s such a great feeling as an actor, to have that challenge every day.”

On the movie side, Best Comedy champ Driving Miss Daisy earned acting trophies for stars Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, while Tom Cruise took home the prize for his role in the night’s Best Drama, Born on the Fourth of July. The winner’s circle also boasted future A-listers Michelle Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Denzel 
 Washington (Glory), and Julia Roberts (Steel Magnolias). But the event’s biggest surprise had to be Vegas icon Wayne Newton crooning “America” to a bewildered audience. Somers was right: It really is like no business we know. –Additional reporting by Tanner Stransky

ABC Photo Archives

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Jan 7 2010 09:50 AM ET

'She's Out of My League' trailer: How would you rate it?

Categories: Movie Trailers, Movies

It might not have any big name stars or a built-in franchise fanbase, but the upcoming comedy She’s Out of My League (out March 12) has one of those catchy, super-simple premises that marketing dreams are made of: What if a 5 started dating a 10? In this case, the 5 is Kirk (Jay Baruchel), a nebbishy airport security guard, and the 10 is Molly (Brit hottie Alice Eve) a blond bombshell. He finds her phone; she finds him oddly endearing; mismatched romantic mayhem ensues.

Keeping with the pic’s theme — and its morally questionable website, which asks you to calculate your own hotness based on factors like “muffin top” (-2) and “no underwear” (+3) –, we figure it’s only fair to crunch the numbers for the movie’s just-leaked trailer (see below).

No A-list stars (-1)
Super sidekick Krysten Ritter (+4)
Inevitable comparisons to Knocked Up (-1)
Attempt at coining the term “moodle” (-1)
Use of Weezer’s “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” (+2)
Random polar bear cameo (+2)

So overall, we’ll give it a 5, like Kirk. But that’s not to say the movie itself won’t snag a 10 this March. Your turn, PopWatchers: How would you rate the trailer?

Jan 4 2010 02:25 PM ET

Tiger Woods' 'Vanity Fair' cover: Intense or intimidating?

The cover of this month’s Vanity Fair has one of the most striking images I’ve seen in a while: a shirtless Tiger Woods pumping iron with a razor-sharp glare pointed straight at the camera. The accompanying story was written without Tiger’s participation, and the photos were taken pre-scandal by Annie Leibowitz, who told VF: “Tiger is an intensely competitive athlete — and quite serious about his sport. I wanted to reveal that in these photos. And to show his incredible focus and dedication.”

But is “focus” what comes across here? Tiger’s expression also seems more than a little menacing to me, but maybe that’s just a result of the fallen sports idol’s post-scandal image? What do you think of the bad-boy-Tiger cover, PopWatchers?

More Tiger Woods:
News: ‘Vanity Fair’ on Tiger Woods: ‘A sex addict who could not get enough’

Jan 4 2010 11:52 AM ET

'Avatar': Is it worth seeing twice?

Categories: Avatar, Movies

As Avatar cruises past the $1 billion mark, it’s starting to look like James Cameron might end up with the two highest-grossing movies of all time (not taking inflation into account, of course). But Titanic charted a very different course into box office history, taking a leisurely 44 days to hit $300 million — a feat Avatar equaled in just over two weeks. Clearly, pricey 3D tickets are giving Avatar a (lanky blue) leg up. But if memory serves, Titanic had an advantage of its own: repeat views. I remember classmates arguing over who had seen the movie more times, resorting to impromptu quote-offs to prove their claims. Avatar has earned plenty of raves, but is it inspiring the same level of obsessive devotion?

Full disclosure:  I had a great time at Avatar. I got sucked into the story, oohed and aaahed at the 3D, got a little misty at the end…and then felt pretty satisfied to live my life as a one-time viewer.

So here are my questions for you, PopWatchers: Will you see Avatar more than once? If so, what makes you want to go again? Is it the story? The 3D spectacle? Let us know in the comments!

Photo Credit: Avatar: WETA; Titanic: Merie W. Wallace

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Dec 29 2009 12:37 PM ET

What gets an R-Rating? It's complicated...

Categories: Movies

Bodies pile up like dirty socks in the PG-13 Avatar, but Nancy Meyers’ classy comedy It’s Complicated got an R-rating from the MPAA. What gives? According to the New York Times, board members were uneasy about a sequence in which Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin smoke marijuana at a party with no negative consequences. Seems a little strange to us, since plenty of other movies have shown similar illegal activities without tragic ends. Here’s a look at a few highlights (sorry, couldn’t resist). (Read full post)

Dec 17 2009 01:16 PM ET

Ashton Kutcher's 'Beautiful Life' moves to YouTube: Will you watch?

After becoming the first new 2009-10 show to get axed for low ratings in September, Ashton Kutcher’s model soap The Beautiful Life is coming back to life online. Three full-length episodes (two previously aired, one new) were posted on YouTube today, with two more set to debut on Dec. 21.

While most of the buzz around the show’s original run focused on star Mischa Barton’s off-screen woes, Kutcher & Co. are betting that the show’s TV-quality production values could make it enticing for Web viewers. But the fact remains: Nobody watched the show when it was on TV (with America’s Next Top Model as a lead-in, no less). Are our standards really lower online?

What do you think, PopWatchers: Could Beautiful have a second life on the Web? Or should Ashton just let it die already?

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