An Education helmer Lone Scherfig is among the favorites for a Best Director Oscar nomination this year, which would be great news for anybody. That doesn't mean she wants to follow up with more sensitive indie fare. "I want to blow some things up," she told a reporter at this week's Education premiere in New York. "Everyone sends me scripts with these sweet stories and romances. I've made six films and have done that already. I want to make a movie with chases and explosions." Great! Two words, Hollywood: James Bond. [Risky Biz]
Yesterday, BET announced an eight-part docu-series starring Michael Vick, the disgraced NFL quarterback who served 18 months in prison on federal dogfighting charges. The press statement was immediately met by outcries of disgust and revulsion that a television network would "reward" Vick with a contract. Still, if we've learned anything from cable's treatment of famous criminals (MTV's Road to Redemption: 45 Days To Go), it's that they will get reality shows. The only thing strange about BET's Untitled Michael Vick Project is its late timing.
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CBS dramas NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife have been picked up for full seasons following strong ratings on the network's Tuesday night block. The quick renewals were expected, thanks both to those ratings successes and to CBS drama viewers, who have long accepted nothing but quirky detectives and harried middle-aged women looking to make right in this world. Other expected fast renewals include ABC's FlashForward, Modern Family, and Cougar Town, which fulfill that network's need to vindicate the memories of Eli Stone, Step by Step, and Cashmere Mafia, respectively. [EW]
As well all know, Twitter is kind of like a brightly lit dance floor: It might seem fun to use it at first, but stay on it long enough and you are bound to embarrass yourself. Few Twitter-adept celebrities seem to have learned that lesson, because while there's a certain thrill to removing a publicist middleman and getting a star's uncensored thoughts, it's counterbalanced somewhat by discovering that John Cusack can't spell or that the Kleenex Eli Roth is showing you in a TwitPic was not used for sneezing.
Still, this is a dark day, because the absolute wrong celebrity has decided to leave Twitter. Miley Cyrus, what have you done?
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Since we broke the news Stateside yesterday morning of Harry Connick Jr. being bamboozled on Australian TV by the Jackson Jive -- a Jackson parody act consisting of white men in Afros and black painted faces -- it's gone on to dominate headlines in Australia and abroad. It sparked another heated culture war right here on our own doorstep, too, with much sparring and name-calling lobbed about in our comments sections between the Jive apologists -- a very vocal minority who live in a colorblind utopia, where the application of black shoe polish to one's face is simply a testament to one's deep commitment to craft -- and the outraged, with some highly educational lessons about Australian history sprinkled in along the way.
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Amazing, really, that Halloween is very nearly upon us. It seems like just yesterday we were putting the final touches on our Texas Polygamist Bride of Frankenstein costumes and heading out into the nippy fall air. And the costume guides have begun! Some are already anticipating the costumes we'll be seeing too much of, others offering some off-the-beaten-path suggestions. We here at Movieline prefer to walk a line right down the middle: suggestions not so obscure you'll have to explain who you are all night, but then not so obvious that you'll be asked to pose with all the other Jon & Kates for an evening of group portraits celebrating your lack of originality.
That said, we thought we'd kick things off with three quick and easy ideas just for the ladies.
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Amid all the recent turbulence and turnover afflicting Universal and Disney, a few interesting milestones were reached. For starters, Disney's new boss Rich Ross (pictured at left) became the first openly gay man selected to run a Hollywood studio. Across town, new Universal co-chair Donna Langley is the first British woman appointed to a similar post, and only the second Brit ever (after Columbia chairman David Puttnam 20 years ago) to oversee a major. Congratulations to both -- and don't screw this up. [LAT, The Guardian]
· Whip It may have crashed and burned last weekend, but HBO isn't deterred from getting in the Ellen Page/Alia Shawkat business with the planned series Stitch N' Bitch. Their co-star Sean Tillman -- a/k/a briefs-rocking indie overlord Har Mar Superstar -- will join the ladies to write and produce the tale of two "painfully cool" hipster girls who flee from Williamsburg to Silver Lake in the pursuit of artistic happiness. All three principals may appear in the show from time to time, but expect a pair of new faces to be cast and, of course, summarily gotten over by the show's target audience before cameras even roll. [THR]
Venom fills in some blanks, Lionsgate finds a hundred million bucks in its couch, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· Pop culture scientists hunting for new species in the YouTube wilds found a particularly rare breed that had been hiding for months. They named it Viera hornium in honor of the game-show host it uncannily resembles; check out their hot and bothered discovery in the video after the jump. [via BWE
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Seeing as Spider-Man 4 is perpetually in development and/or just! about! to shoot!, now seems as good a time as any to give the film's resident script doctor Gary Ross something else to do. Sony has reportedly tossed the franchise's long-rumored Venom spin-off Ross's way, entrusting the Pleasantville and Seabiscuit director with his own mega-budget tentpole while the studio likely regroups without Raimi. And one minor change: Don't look for Topher Grace to reprise his role.
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When I saw the trailer for Couples Retreat a few months ago, most of the primary couples' problems seems like old hat to me, but I was struck that one subplot appeared to involve Jon Favreau vigorously, enthusiastically cheating on his wife (Kristin Davis) and that Universal would actually advertise that. This is one of the lead characters of a big mainstream comedy, and he's picking up some floozy over hot wings and banging her in the restaurant bathroom! I was impressed that a seemingly by-the-numbers comedy would go all the way with the infidelity idea instead of stopping at mere "temptation," and I was curious to see how the story would play out when I went to a screening of Couples Retreat last night.
Well, guess what?
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Our friends over at The Playlist noticed a recent announcement about a mysterious new film from director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker) called Beginners, set to star Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer. What's this project about, they wondered? Well, you know how we like to shed light on secret loglines at Movieline, and we do have the script, so here's the exclusive plot synopsis: McGregor plays a young man rocked by two announcements from his elderly father (Plummer)...one, that he has terminal cancer, and two, that he's coming out of the closet. The role of Plummer's handsome younger boyfriend has not yet been cast, but we're frankly shocked that the famously gay-friendly McGregor (soon to be seen canoodling with Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris) isn't playing that part instead. [The Playlist]
While CBS ratings may have benefited from David Letterman's admission of interoffice romances last week, the National Organization for Women is urging the network to recognize Letterman's "abuse of power" and "take action immediately to rectify this situation." The feminist organization released a statement yesterday, criticizing the Late Show host's "objectification of women in the workplace," a strong sentiment that concluded on a defeated note: "With just two women on CBS' board of directors, we're not holding our breath." [CNN]
Here's a surefire way not to keep your job as a waiter at Beverly Hills power-loxery Barney Greengrass: Tweet the fact that Hung star Jane Adams dined-and-dashed. That's what Jon-Barrett Ingels did after Adams realized she had no cash to pay her $13.44 lunch check. She promised she'd return moments later but never did, leading Ingels to tweet: "Tues: Jane Adams, star of HBO series "Hung" skipped out on a $13.44 check. Her agent called and payed the following day. NO TIP!!!" About a month later, when she'd caught wind of the tweet, she came back in and handed Ingels $3. Despite damage-control follow-up tweets like "For the record I think Jane Adams (Hung) is a great actress!!" he was sh*tcanned. He's been chronicling his unemployed life on his Twitter page, where you can spy him holding a sympathy-inducing baby. [HuffPo]
· Heroes: still on! Or, at least, on long enough to promote this upcoming same-sex smooch between Hayden Panettiere and Madeline Zima.
· 24 helmer Jon Cassar is boarding the DreamWorks action film Motorcade and hopes to snag Ryan Reynolds to play...well, we're assuming the title role.
· Marlon Wayans has supplanted Eddie Murphy as Bill Condon's pick to play Richard Pryor in his upcoming biopic of the comedian.
· Frances Bean Cobain is not a fan of Ali Lohan, and she made it known with a rant on her Twitter. Before you judge Frances's numerous grammatical and spelling errors, just remember who her mom is, and how this writing is practically gifted in comparison.
· How excited are you that New Line is prepping a new iteration of National Lampoon's Vacation, with David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) set to direct? Not very? Mr. Dobkin, I've got Randy Quaid on Line 1. Enjoy that call!
