If you were under the impression that A&E's new reality series Kirstie Alley's Big Life would chronicle its star's extraordinary efforts to shed a hundred pounds while simultaneously launching her Organic Liaison weight loss plan, Movieline regretfully informs you that you were wrong. The series actually documents a few random plots pulled from Kirstie's Howard Hughes-ian day-to-day life, only instead of watching as she stacks that hundredth empty milk bottle in her projector room, cameras follow Kirstie as she berates her staff, pathologically obsesses over her weight and counts the pug-sized rats she rescues from the walls of her home. After the jump, Movieline adds up the fat content from last night's episodes of the series that should have been titled Kirstie Alley's Claustrophobic Life Inside a Lemur-Infested Mansion.
more »
Yesterday, we noted Battlefield Earth screenwriter J.D. Shapiro's mea culpa for penning, in his words, the suckiest movie of all time. (Which you can read in its entirety here.) Not to be outdone (and no doubt fueled by Avatar's still-stinging Best Picture snub), super-competitive director James Cameron has issued his own imaginary exclusive apology to Movieline.
more »
If it feels like it's been a little while since Edward Norton last starred in a film, at least you get double the actor in Leaves of Grass. Norton plays twins Bill and Brady Kincaid In Tim Blake Nelson's indie dramedy -- one an Ivy League professor, the other a tattooed pot dealer. Acting opposite oneself isn't an easy thing to do, but at least Norton has always been a consummate multi-tasker on his sets, often screenwriting (as he did on Louis Letterier's The Incredible Hulk, which Nelson also starred in), directing (Keeping the Faith), or producing.
Shortly after Leaves of Grass had its Austin premiere at South by Southwest, Norton rang up Movieline to discuss the perils of split-screen, his long-promised adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn, and his bemusement at becoming a fanboy headline.
more »
It was always just a matter of "when," not "if," we could expect to see a screen adaptation of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Exposes the Hidden Side of Everything, the celebrated best-seller by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. But how would they do it? New Yorkers will find out next month as the documentary Freakonomics will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (which announced the selection this morning), but let it suffice to say it's the equivalent of Valentine's Day for nonfiction filmmakers. Oh -- and not to be outdone, Amanda Seyfried is dropping by as well.
more »
If you've ever watched a movie where the projector broke down before the third act -- and you loved it! -- Disney/Pixar has a promotion that's tailor-made for you. The studio is setting up a college road show tour of free Toy Story 3 screenings, but the catch is that only the first 65 minutes will be shown. If that means it ends before a Randy Newman song plays in full, I'm in! [Upcoming Pixar via Slashfilm]
You have to hand it to these Olympic-size fools: The contestants on Celebrity Apprentice pad the show's 120-minute runtime with enough self-doubt, theories about Cyndi Lauper's medicine cabinet and idiocy to make this schmaltz kamikaze bearable. Last night, medal-decorated athletes Summer Sanders and Michael Johnson led their teams in campaigns against identity theft (worst challenge ever, by the way), but the No. 1 moment of the night has nothing to do their middling Powerpoint presentations. Quick, pile in after the jump before Don Trump Jr. slicks you into his gelatinous 'do, compromising your identity forever.
more »
Tina Fey has long been a journalist's dream: a smart, funny, well-known actress who gives great quote. Put her on your cover and you're guaranteed at least a dozen clever lines that will be quoted ad infinitum on the blogs; call her for comment on a story and she'll toss off a zinger that could have been devised by the 30 Rock writers room. In short, you can always count on Tina Fey to say something awesome -- so why is her publicity firm trying to clamp down on that?
more »
What's with all the lying celebrities these days? You'll remember that Chloë Sevigny not only apologized for her comments about the most recent season of Big Love being "awful," but also expressed displeasure with a certain journalist she accused of "provoking me" and taking her words out of context. Alas, said journalist recorded the conversation as journalists are wont to do, resulting in just the latest sad chapter in this whole Chloë cluster-eff. Decide for yourself, I suppose, but between her and John Corbett, just a little bit of unaffected candor would be nice right about now. Anyone? [AV Club]
If a part of you died when MADtv was yanked off the air in 2009, and your heart grows heavy every time you hear the name Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson uttered in conversation, then Jamie Foxx has got the project for you. In between urbanizing Laverne & Shirley for the big screen and romancing Kirstie Alley long-distance, the Oscar-winner is planning to reinvigorate the "urban-flavored sketch comedy show" genre that he helped pioneer during his days on In Living Color. Details after the jump.
more »
Buried in the middle of a Washington Post survey of the friction Glenn Beck inspires at Fox News, find this jaw-dropping nugget: "More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers." Yet another excellent reason to invite James Cameron over. Just saying. [Washington Post via THR]
LAT critic Kenneth Turan offered an interesting piece on Sunday addressing one of the dirty little secrets of film criticism and journalism in general: Conflicts of interest when it comes to covering the work of "people I know well." The occasion was the upcoming L.A. release of The Exploding Girl, which Turan wanted to support based on the lead performance of Zoe Kazan -- the daughter of Hollywood lifers (and Turan pals) Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord. "I haven't just seen all of Zoe's film work and much of what she's done on stage," Turan wrote. "[I]f I had to I could comment knowledgeably on her key role in the Windward High School production of Little Shop of Horrors." And self-imposed rules and basic journalistic ethics be damned, he's going to review her indie breakthrough anyway. I think I have a problem with this.
more »
Another week, another televised opportunity for Conan O'Brien that his $40 million exit contract from NBC prohibits. This time, the Conan-event that could have been is the 2010 Tony Awards. CBS reportedly approached the patron saint of screwed Tonight Show personalities to host and Coco was forced to graciously decline, citing contractual obligations to his former employer. Only now, NBC is responding to the claims, saying it was your darling Coco who did not want to host the June 13 ceremony.
more »
More breaking news from Australia, where the entertainment-industry action is so hot right now that people will do just about anything to break in. Take Brenton Jarrett, an industrious 38-year-old bloke whose impersonations of Skeet Ulrich and Johnny Depp's brother have gotten him into various mix-ups with the law over the years. Now police say he's back as Joshua Hitchcock -- grandson of Alfred (whose only child, as it happens, turns 82 this year) and mastermind of a fake Cheers remake that's a better aphrodisiac than you might think.
more »
Liam Hemsworth may have landed a starring role opposite Miley Cyrus in The Last Song at age 19, but that doesn't mean that his young career hasn't had its fair share of false starts. The Australian native thought he got his big break when he was cast in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming The Expendables, but being cut from the film made him nearly throw in the towel. Next, Kenneth Branagh flirted with the idea of handing him the title role in the big-budget Marvel adaptation Thor, but instead chose his older brother Chris. Still, The Last Song soon came along -- as did a high-profile romance with Cyrus -- and now Hemsworth is the hot property Hollywood's always intended him to be.
Just as he was being cast in a new 3D adaptation of Arabian Nights, Hemsworth sat down with Movieline to discuss what exactly went down with The Expendables, why he think his brother beat him out for Thor, and the racy, naked role he had before he made his way to America.
more »
· As tax season peaks nationwide, Fox is filing a few extensions to the cast of its upcoming comedy pilot, Tax Man. The latest addition to the workplace comedy, set in a Fresno IRS office, is Martin Short. The actor, fresh off an arc on FX's Damages, will play the loud jerk supervisor -- the Jack Donaghy or Michael Scott of the tax world -- and will be joined by David Krumholtz and Judy Greer. [THR]
CBS figures out how to say Sh*t My Dad Says, the Salahis return to a nightmare near you, and more TV Bites after the jump.
more »
