Once we run out of superlatives, box-office projections and brilliant Raimi vs. von Trier quips, there's apparently nothing left to discuss about Drag Me to Hell except whether or not Alison Lohman is having an orgasm on the poster. Thankfully, on this sleepy Friday afternoon, someone got to the bottom of it.
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· Angelina Jolie was smacked between the eyes on the set of Salt today, drawing blood. Coincidentally, one of Jennifer Aniston's Louboutins was found amidst the sandbags.
· TLC's Anatomy of a Divorce, er, Jon & Kate Plus 8 is being investigated for breaking child labor laws, a query akin to Rock of Love being investigated for botched implants.
· Megan Fox has confessed that she's so attractive, "If I show up and give any sort of performance at all, even a mediocre one, everyone will walk away going, 'Holy shit! Megan did a great job in that movie!'" Proof that she actually does listen to her publicist!
· Did noted Eastsider Shia LaBeouf get in a minor car accident in Los Feliz this week?
· On the next episode of Man vs. Wild: Bear Grylls vs. Pampered Hollywood Were-Beast Will Ferrell.
This just in: Legendary music producer/gun aficionado / lesbian talk show host / professed woman-hater / Dollytor -hairstyle-popularizer / recluse / eccentric / sixth Hives member / all-around-nutjob Phil Spector has been sentenced t 19 years to life for the shooting death of Lana Clarkson. An L.A. judge gave him 15 years to life for second-degree murder, and four years for personal use of a gun, and is ordering restitution payments. There's nothing particularly funny about this, so we'll toss the joke about Kara DioGuardi accidentally outing him on The View today. [CBS/AP]
A little over a month ago, Tyson director James Toback told Movieline he'd be moving back into the dramatic realm with his next feature, The Director. That may yet turn out to be true, but at least one report suggests he's hedging his bets with an even busier pal to bring one of the '80s most scandalous anti-heroes to the screen.
In 1898, a boyish German Jewish immigrant with a nose for talent put up a trademark on his door consisting of a W superimposed over a M, creating four consecutive Xs, and opened shop on his new venture as "William Morris, Vaudeville Agent." 20 years later, the William Morris Agency would incorporate, and proceed to dominate not just the vaudeville circuit, but every new and emerging form of entertainment. It wasn't long before they established a presence in early Hollywood, where they counted Al Jolson, the Marx Brothers, Mae West and Charlie Chaplin among their clients.
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Jeffrey Lyons, the veteran film and theater critic and co-host of the syndicated review program Reel Talk, will blurb no more. At least not at WNBC, where the 64-year-old was pink-slipped Thursday after 13 years of service. Joining him are his co-host Alison Bailes and producer Michael Avila. I know, I know: But what about Ben Lyons?
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If you attended last month's intriguing Tribeca talk with Dan Fogler, then you'll know that one good public interrogation deserves another. So Movieline is headed back to the Apple Store SoHo tonight for a chat with The Hangover director Todd Philips. It promises to be a funny, revealing glimpse into what's shaping up as this summer's surprise breakout hit, and at the low, low cost of free, you can't beat the price of admission. Details after the jump.
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· In what could easily turn out to be the most disappointing '80s redo since Mayim Biyalik's makeover, Girls Just Want to Have Fun -- the 1985 comedy in which Dance TV-addicts Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt became BFFs before BFFs even had a name. I hope it just picks up where the last one left off, following two gawky, virginal cougars' obsessive quest to make out with Adam Lambert. [Variety]
Next: The Audacity of The Family Guy, Just Car Crashes: The Reality Show, and Paul Verhoeven's psycho surrogate movie.
Welcome back to Movieline Attractions, your regular guide to everything new, noteworthy and three-dimensionally soaring to South America at the movies. This week, Pixar reasserts itself as Hollywood's Golden Child, Sam Raimi reasserts himself as horror's auteur nonpareil, and a cluster of holdovers vie for both titans' table scraps. Survey the battlefield after the jump.
· Chace Crawford says Footloose producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron put him through the ringer before casting him: "It was, like, five hours of the most rigorous tests ever," he said, but in the end, his angry-warehouse-dance relay was angrier than anyone else's, and he broke the world record for distance-kicking in the Sunday-Shoe-put.
· Jack Donaghy offers up a simple argument to refute those Prop 8 people: Let's take a giant leap and say Liz Lemon were to find a husband. Clearly her barren womb would prevent her from bearing children. Well that's the same argument they use to refute the gays.
Naming your film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn connotes a certain amount of self-confidence, and so does this move: the studios behind the Steven Spielberg-directed cartoon have set a U.S. release date in December 2011, months after the 3-D film will have opened worldwide. "The decision signals the two studios' belief that the property, which has been translated into 70 languages, shows stronger potential overseas than domestically," says Variety. Well, sure, but we think there's one even bigger reason for the surprising delay.
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I smoke. There, I said it. Not often, and in as much isolation as possible, far from everyone, where I don't have to hear/see/feel the loathing in the act. I know how bad it is for me, I know the risks it entails (how can you not in smoker-hostile NYC), and how disgusting you likely think it is, but it's my only vice, and I enjoy it. And in all sincerity, I can swear my inclination to smoke was never influenced by anything but stress, compulsion and curiosity. Which makes this whole crusade to vilify cigarettes -- and, ultimately, those who smoke them -- in movies totally baffling to me. More than baffling, really -- it pisses me off. Light up with me, and I'll tell you why.
When we theorized a while back that Up's Russell was the new Adam Lambert, we didn't know just how close Pixar's chubby hero would hew to Lambert's coy trajectory. Like a certain glam runner-up who's willing to don glitter and platform shoes but won't come out of the closet, clues are being dropped to Russell's ethnicity without it being confirmed outright.
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· Susan Boyle has flipped out yet again, and this time, the cops were called. One consolation: her four-letter-words were technically proficient, yet somehow still inspiring.
· Everyone's buzzing about Yo Teach, the fake NBC sitcom that's tangentially related to Judd Apatow's Funny People, but we'd kind of rather watch that than 100 Questions.
· TR Knight is really leaving Grey's Anatomy this time, you guys! He means it!
· Dustin Hoffman has just the solution for Sean Penn's yo-yoing marriage: handcuffs and chains.
· Asked to emcee an event opening in Turkey, Sharon Stone stumbled on the unfamiliar word "Azerbaijan" then channeled her inner Whitney Houston and began to shout, "Chaka Khan! Chaka Khan!" A joke is really unnecessary after that -- thank you, Sharon.
We know someone who'd take issue with outspoken flattist Ronald Bergan, and that's the multidimensional-cinematic-experience drum beaters at Market Saw blog -- "a blog focused on 3D Motion Pictures." They have been on the Avatar story harder than dorky glasses on a bunch of French people in tuxedos at the Up premiere. And look what they've turned up! Two glorious pieces of concept art, smuggled out of the production after they wisely sent in a decoy who looked like a cross between Linda Hamilton and the redheaded chick at the beginning of Titanic to distract James Cameron. If you don't want the experience to be spoiled, we suggest you not click ahead. For everyone else, though, get ready to have your minds blown by what looks to be something like Riven with a giant-bat infestation.
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