Just as you can count on Christopher Walken to do some sort of dance in most of his films, and for John Cusack to suffer some kinda hideous relationship blow-out, so too can you rely on Jason Statham to be lumbered with a name that in real life causes young children to be bullied as mercilessly as red-headed step-children. Upcoming 1980s action throwback The Expendables continues the fine tradition, with The Stath going by the name "Lee Christmas." Orright, compared wiff 'is ovva character monikers, it's a bit pissweak even if you've nevva blown tha froff off a couple down the rubbity with anyone answering to that surname. Another nine -- all dumber -- after the jump.
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Warren Beatty has his very first brush with his favorite place on Earth! Plus, a madman delays the Oscars... for the love of a movie star... who then goes on to win an Oscar... in the very same movie that denies Beatty a statuette. If you can link 'em all together, you might be able to win at Jeopardy. And that's in the mix, too. As is Lauren Bacall's hit Broadway gay bar experience. Same day, different years. Confused? You won't be once you make the jump.
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· This elementary school retelling of Scarface is definitely not real. Does. Not. Matter. Is anyone else inspired to write an uplifting novel called Like Popcorn For Coke? Video after the jump: [Film Drunk via Vulture]
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Have you ever found yourself watching a Desperate Housewives rerun while wondering, "Why can't I ask Teri Hatcher for advice on the affair I'm having with my neighborhood plumber?" Well, now you can thanks to a new project launched by ABC's parent company Walt Disney Co. called "A Chick's Guide to Life." The actress (and a panel of experts) will offer real life housewives "solutions to the needs and obligations of today's modern woman" on the website GetHatched.com. [AP]
Amid all the warnings and concerns about 3D circulating in the medical community, parents may find a recent press release especially chilling. It appeared just prior to Friday's opening of How to Train Your Dragon, but its value resonates far beyond any single film or event. In a nutshell, moms and dads: Is your child physically equipped to join the 3D revolution?
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Movieline just heard from Israel Luna, the director of the suddenly-hot Tribeca fest entry Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives, a "transploitation" revenge thriller attacked by GLAAD last week. Said the organization then: "The film, its title and its marketing misrepresent the lives of transgender women and use grotesque, exploitative depictions of violence against transgender women in ways that make light of the horrific brutality they all too often face." Luna took issue with that description, though as he told Movieline today, the criticism has convinced him to change the film's trailer:
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The deal has been in the works for nigh on a year, so really, the consummation of Legendary Pictures' deal to reboot/remake/recycle Godzilla is less news than an opportunity to 1) launch a casting rumor that Taylor Lautner is attached to star, 2) preemptively bitch about Hollywood being out of ideas, 3) randomly daydream that Kathryn Bigelow might want to direct it as a dark, dystopic sci-fi drama, and/or 4) bash Roland Emmerich's 1998 adaptation. What did I forget? Anyway, this is happening. [Deadline]
So Jamie Foxx has this routine. Not like a joke or performance routine, but an actual schedule by which the Oscar-winner embroils himself in some outrageous Internet controversy, takes a few days to let it bleed out around said Internet, and then goes on The Tonight Show, where he'll place the whole imbroglio in some vague mea-culpa context before issuing an apology. The cycle renews itself every six months or so, from his Miley Cyrus gonorrhea debacle last April to the dissemination of his nude photo last October, and so naturally it's time for a new pseudo-scandal. Right on schedule -- thanks in part to Howard Stern -- it's arrived in all its massively NSFW, ignominious glory.
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It's an epidemic! Ever since Chloe Sevigny apologized for the last season of Big Love, making amends in the most backhanded way possible has become de rigueur in Hollywood. We already brought you J.D. Shapiro's apology for Battlefield Earth and James Cameron's apology/victory lap for Avatar -- now, let us hand you an apology for the 2006 CG film Monster House, in which its screenwriter Dan Harmon calls Steven Spielberg a moron.
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· In the wake of his big episode last week, Lost fans can now buy their very own Richard Alpert bobblehead. The eyeliner is already included.
· Might Rachel Weisz play the villainess in the next Bond movie, directed by her ex-flame Sam Mendes?
· Demi Moore tweeted her displeasure with Kim Kardashian using the phrase "big pimpin": "No disrespect...but a pimp and pimping is nothing more than a slave owner!"
· Magnolia has picked up the rights to the Kevin Kline/Paul Dano/Katie Holmes comedy The Extra Man.
· The NYDN says that Will Smith is meddling in Jada Pinkett Smith's show HawthoRNe. Honestly, it could use it.
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]
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?
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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.
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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.
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