Photos have begun circulating, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 blog and elsewhere, of the final dress rehearsal at the Staples Center for Michael Jackson's This Is It comeback tour.
· Have you grown tired of wearing Patrick Dempsey's last signature fragrance, Unscripted? Good news: He's launching a second, called simply, Patrick Dempsey 2. He explains: "I thought, why don't we just go with '2′ and make this about being a couple."
· Dimension is negotiating rights to a remake of An American Werewolf in London, John Landis confirms to Bloody Disgusting. Also: "Despite Michael's tragic death, the Thriller lawsuit continues."
· Gossip Girl / rumored foot-fetish-sex-tape star Leighton Meester is in Cobra Starship's new video, in which she breaks the cardinal Music Video Starlet-Eye-Candy Rule: Thou shalt not sing.
· Liza Minnelli gave French gays the thrill of their lives yesterday, riding a float in Paris's gay pride parade. Here's video of her commemorating the 40th (she says 50th) anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. That Liza Mee-neh-lee -- does she know her audience or what?
· Next in the Oscars firing lane is Best Song category, of which head of the Academy's music branch Bruce Broughton said, "We're trying to improve the quality." That basically means that any song not to earn a minimum 8.25 score from music guild members will not be eligible. It's getting hard out there for a shmaltz-writing pimp.
Almost a year and a half ago, what sounded like an elaborate hoax stormed the Web, readying filmgoers for the CGI renaissance of everyone's favorite three-apple-high mushroom dwellers, the Smurfs. Then Sony announced its pick-up of the live-action/animated Smurf project, flinging us further down the rumor-rabbit hole and teasing your stoner neighbor who desperately sought a plan, a release date, anything. Today, he gets his wish -- and we get a new, exclusive glimpse at the masterpiece in progress!
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Now that Universal has lifted its embargo, Seth and I can finally talk about Brüno, the controversial Sacha Baron Cohen comedy out July 10. And, unlike so many of the people who natter on endlessly about this film, we have two advantages: we've actually seen it, plus we're gay (which, as you may have heard, is a subject this film either satirizes, mocks, celebrates, or defends, considering the perspective).
So what do we think of the Brüno firestorm, having now seen the film? Read on!
OK, seriously, this has to stop: Death has claimed its fifth American celebrity in a week, yesterday taking master impressionist, vocalist and comedian Fred Travalena. He was 66. Travalena had been diagnosed with and treated for non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2002; it went into remission a year later before the cancer returned in 2008. He died Sunday at his home in Encino.
While the comic likely knew his greatest success a generation ago, David Letterman didn't welcome him as "Mr. Everybody" in 2006 for nothing. That clip and your remembrances after the jump. And God? Please? Enough.
It should probably be enough for critical pariah Michael Bay that his reviled Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned a staggering $201.2 million over its first five days of release. But the man will apparently stop at nothing to validate his taste, even if it means taking down his distributor's other summer blockbuster in the process.
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· The concert promoter behind Michael Jackson's would-be comeback tour says now that the late King of Pop's last rehearsal was recorded with high-definition video and multi-track audio, thus introducing the possibility for a posthumous CD/DVD combo. Assuming the ghoulish promoter, AEG, can vouch in court for its rights to the material, I'm sure the classy title, Michael Jackson: Live! One Night Only isn't far behind. [The Wrap]
After the jump: Stars fade at the box office, another Kurtzman/Orci sighting at Paramount, and much more Hollywood Ink.
As sure as Flower Kid's affection for Megan Fox, America this weekend declared its unwavering love for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Its opening crushed every competitor in sight, bowing only to The Dark Knight among the biggest five-day grosses ever. But a few other films managed to draw what scant viewers remained; join me now in commemorating their achievement.
Time for Skids to invest in a second gold tooth! Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen continues its relentless, incoherent assault at the box office, racking up $36.7 million yesterday and a monstrous $125.9 million since its midweek opening. In counterprogramming news, My Sister's Keeper actually managed to open OK, while Away We Go barely cracked the Top 10 in its expansion.
Friday figures after the jump:
Wow. That was some kind of week. Three of the year's biggest news stories landed on our desks in quick succession -- but not even Gooby can prepare you for the crushing grief of Michael Jackson's demise. Reflect with us after the jump.
Usually, the award for the five best commenters of the week would go to our wittiest readers, and sure enough, they were in fine form this week.
But you guys. Let's talk about the crazy Michael Jackson commenters who showed up yesterday, OK?
I mean, no matter what, it's a sad thing that the man died, and certainly, I don't want to indicate that every Michael Jackson fan is cray-cray in the head-head, but the ones that are were certainly commenting a lot yesterday! Thus, today's five best comments are the enthusiastically semi-literate ones that your editors passed around in disbelieving IMs. You must admit, they are kind of epic.
Much like last week's devastating Pixar house-call story, Brett Ratner's remembrance today of Michael Jackson requires little embellishment, comment or elaboration. Which is good, because my jaw is locked open. Let it suffice to say that they bonded over Chris Tucker's dance moves from the first Rush Hour film, enjoyed their own dance-offs at Neverland Ranch and, when they finally felt at ease with other, hung around in their pajamas and made movies.
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· Film School Rejects pressed Transformers scribe Roberto Orci about Skids, the gold-toothed breakout star of our summertime: "I'm not easily offended, but when I saw it, I thought, 'Someone's gonna write about that.'" Who would do that?
· Other delightfully candid quotes today include Liza Minnelli on Michael Jackson: "I'm sure when the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose. So, thank God we're celebrating him now."
· Also, Lisa Marie Presley revealed that Jackson told her he was sure he'd die young. Thanks, I'm sure he wanted that shared.
· Paul McCartney paid a somewhat more on-topic tribute to Jackson, calling him "a massively talented boy man." Seems accurate.
· Scriptshadow posted the Steven Soderbergh draft of Moneyball yesterday, but the link was torpedoed by Sony just as it was about to pick up steam. Hmm, what does that situation remind me of?
Yesterday was not a good day -- not a good day for anyone, but particularly not a good day for guerrilla character comics with massive movie premieres at the Chinese Theater that blocked access to the Walk of Fame star of the victim of the most shocking and monumental musical icon death since John Lennon's. Add to that fact that the movie itself had a scene in which the victim's sister is humiliated for comedy bloodsport, edited out at the eleventh hour, and you start seeing why Sacha Baron Cohen was so subdued on last night's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
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