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R.I.P Corey Haim

10 Mar

One of the most popular and recognizable stars of the 1980′s has died today.  Corey Haim, star of movies License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream and Lucas, was 38. 

Haim’s cause of death is still unconfirmed, but he has fought a lifelong battle with drugs.  Haim was apart of a phenomenon known as “The Coreys,” with his friend and co-star Corey Feldman.  They had many rough patches in their relationship over the years and even tried to work things out through the A&E reality show, The Two Coreys.

I grew up in the 80′s and loved Haim’s films.  Sadly, I can’t say this news is shocking as his drug battles have been just as associated with him as his film work has.

Heap of Hollywood 3/09/10

9 Mar

Heap of Hollywood is your chance to read about some of the latest news and casting updates around H-town!

 
News:
*NBC has renewed 30 Rock, The Office and Community.
*CBS has ordered a 2nd season of Undercover Boss.
*Hilary Duff is about to pen young adult novels for
  Simon & Schuster Books.
*Dancing With the Stars has named Brooke Burke as their new
  co-host.
*The Sopranos head honcho, David Chase, is set to direct his first
  feature film about a 1960′s rock band.
 
Casting:
*Viggo Mortensen will be playing Sigmund Freud, replacing
  Christoph  Waltz, in The Talking Cure.
*Liam Hemsworth has signed on to Arabian Nights.
*Liv Tyler & Patrick Wilson are joining The Ledge.
*Anna Faris & Chris Evans have signed on to What’s Your Number?
*Jonah Hill is replacing Demetri Martin in the Moneyball adaptation.
*Lee Daniels’ newest project, Selma, will include Lenny Kravitz,
  Robert De Niro and Hugh Jackman.

 

Additional information courtesy of Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, FirstShowing and Deadline.

Introducing Jimmy Kimmel And The Handsome Men’s Club

8 Mar

Premiering last night after the Oscars, Jimmy Kimmel introduced the world to a secret society known as, HMC: Handsome Men’s Club.

Kimmel, host of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is famous for his hysterical videos such as “I’m F*cking Matt Damon” and the followup, “I’m F*cking Ben Affleck.”  He took his affinity for having celebrities making fun of themselves to a whole new level.  He included TV and movie actors, athletes and musicians in his latest work of comedic art.

The ”members” of HMC are: John Krasinski, Tony Romo, Keith Urban, Taye Diggs, Josh Hartnett, Gilles Marini, Matthew McConaughey, Ted Danson, Lenny Kravitz, Ethan “Handsome” Hawke, Patrick Dempsey, Rob Lowe, Sting, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

The video begins with the group deciding whether to admit three new members.  First, Kimmel shows pictures of Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson.  Every HMC member votes that they should be inducted, but Kimmel, who is the President, overrules them saying that they aren’t handsome yet, only “cute.”  Liev Schrieber was also voted in and again overruled because of having red in his beard.

The group is fed up with Kimmel’s antics and decide to remove him from the group for not being “handsome.”  After leaving, the story jumps to Kimmel in bed, having had what appears to be a very bad dream.  He is laying next to Affleck relaying his dream, when the camera pans to Jennifer Garner, who is on the other side of Kimmel in bed.  All she says is, “…it’s getting embarrassing.”

Kimmel did a great job with this video piece.  It was funny, creative and who doesn’t love to watch actors not take themselves so seriously.  Krasinkski wins points as having “filled the quota for cute.”

Check this out, you won’t be disappointed.

Carrie’s Oscar Wrap Up

8 Mar

Last night’s 82nd Academy Awards was one for the record books.  When anyone looks back on this year’s Oscars, the one thing that will stand out is the fact that it was the year a woman finally took home the Best Director prize.  I was 14/24 (53%) on my picks.  I bombed on the short film categories and was unexpectedly wrong in the screenplay categories as well.  If you haven’t seen the winners yet, check out my winner list.

Kathryn Bigelow has now created a brand new era for the potential of female directors.  It doesn’t surprise me that Avatar didn’t walk away with any of the top prizes.  Although the film showcases excellence in technology, it doesn’t achieve that same feat in storytelling and character development. 

Here is a breakdown of my pros and cons for the night.

Pros:

*I think there were a lot of great parts to the show.  The John Hughes tribute was beautiful.  Molly Ringwald epitomizes what Hughes’ movies were all about and for her to be there made the tribute all the more special.  After the highlight reel, it was wonderful to see a handful of the people Hughes helped make famous.  However, half of them looked like time hasn’t been so nice to them.  Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Macauly Culkin all were looking a little on the rough side.  In addition to Ringwald, no proper Hughes tribute would be complete without the face of Jon Cryer’s “Duckie,” Matthew Broderick’s “Ferris” and Anthony Michael Hall’s “Brian/Farmer Ted.”

*Oscar producer, Adam Shankman,  made good on his promise of making the show more current and entertaining.  His collection of dancers were phenomenal during their performances, especially the big number during the Original Score category.  There is a tiny part of me though that isn’t sure the Oscars are the right medium for Shankman to show off his So You Think You Can Dance favorites.

*I really liked how the seating arrangement was different than the standard straight rows.  The stage was really nice, but I was waiting for someone to trip.  At the beginning of the show, the stage reminded me of what old bandstands used to look like.

*Ben Stiller took a risk as he came to present the Best Makeup category dressed as a Na’vi character from Avatar.  His personal commentary made it work.  Tina Fey and Robert Downey, Jr. definitely win the best presenter prize in my book.  They were sarcastic, funny and had great chemistry.

 *My favorite dressed celebs included Kristen Stewart, Anna Kendrick, Cameron Diaz, Rachel McAdams, Meryl Streep and Elizabeth Banks.

Cons:

*Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin definitely had some humorous moments, but I can’t say they were a total win for the show.  The opening played it kind of safe.  They announced a variety of actors, said something witty and then clapped.  And clapped some more.  The opening by Neil Patrick Harris was alright, but I wasn’t entirely surprised.  There had been rumors of his participation for a days now.  As much as I love NPH, I’m not sure why he did the opening.  That should be reserved for the hosts and if they can’t handle an opening number, maybe they shouldn’t have the job.

*All of the acting categories were as expected and that can make things kind of boring.  Deep down I was hoping for an upset or two in an acting category, but that didn’t happen.

*ABC‘s pre-show red carpet needs A LOT of work.  There are so many on-air journalists that could have done a better job.  Kathy Ireland was terrible, just terrible.  It was excrutiating to watch her talk to the actors.

*My pics for worst dressed celebs are Sarah Jessica Parker, Miley Cyrus, Charlize Theron, Vera Farmiga and Jennifer Lopez.

Heap of Hollywood

3 Mar

Each week I’m going to try to make a post that has a variety of Hollywood news.  It will consist of casting, news and anything else I just want to touch upon.  Enjoy!

Casting: (Courtesy of firstshowing.net)

*Neil Patrick Harris has joined Smurfs: The Movie.  I know I’m not the only one who thinks this is awesome news!

*Marion Cotillard has joined Woody Allen‘s untitled movie co-starring Owen Wilson.

*Joseph Gordon-Levitt has replaced James McAvoy in Jonathan Levine‘s movie, I’m With Cancer (which I’m hearing is looking for a new title).  McAvoy had to drop out of the film, which is currently in production.

*Justin Timberlake has signed on to Bad Teacher, which will have him co-starring along side ex-Cameron Diaz.

News: (Courtesy of deadline.com)

*The Hurt Locker producer, Nicolas Chartier, has been banned from attending Sunday’s Academy Awards.  The decision was made after having written a note asking voters to vote for the smaller Best Movie nominee over a big-budget movie such as Avatar.

Other:

American Idol‘s Top 10 girls were pretty rough tonight.  I didn’t have much to say other than that.  Writing about the problems with this season’s contestants is starting to get a little redundant.

Coupling Up On Dancing With The Stars

2 Mar

Last night, I announced who the eleven celebs competing for dancing glory would be.  Earlier today, it was revealed which professionals the stars would be paired up with.

Pamela Anderson/Damian Whitewood
Niecy Nash/Louis Van Amstel
Shannen Doherty/Mark Ballas**
Erin Andrews/Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Nicole Scherzinger/Derek Hough
Kate Gosselin/Tony Dovolani
Chad Ochocinco/Cheryl Burke
Buzz Aldrin/Ashley Costa
Evan Lysacek/Anna Trebunskaya*
Aiden Turner/Edyta Sliwinska**
Jake Pavelka/Chelsie Hightower*

 

*My least favorite pairings

**My favorite pairings

Revealed: Dancing With The Stars Cast

1 Mar

Earlier tonight, ABC announced the top eleven dancers to be featured on the next installment of Dancing With The Stars.  The cast consists of athletes, actors, reality stars and journalists.  Those competing for the mirrorball trophy will be:

Pamela Anderson                                  Chad Ochocinco
Niecy Nash                                               Buzz Aldrin
Shannen Doherty                                  Evan Lysacek
Erin Andrews                                        Aiden Turner
Nicole Scherzinger                             Jake Pavelka
Kate Gosselin

 

The cast of eleven has dwindled down from the last installment of Dancing, which topped out at sixteen contestants.  I am confused about some of the choices for this new season, but we’ll get into that.  Let’s start with the ladies.

Pam Anderson- This had been rumored for weeks, so it wasn’t a big surprise to hear her name.  She hasn’t done much lately that has garnered positive praise, so I bet she’s hoping this is a step in a better direction.  I can’t wait to see how they fit her, um, breasts into these dancer dresses.

Niecy Nash- I don’t know too much about her, as I haven’t seen Reno 911.  I have seen her do some hosting work on E!, so I expect her to be a little eccentric and willing to say how she feels.

Shannen Doherty- This is one celeb I cannot wait to see.  Not only does she have a rumored “wild child” past, but she could be a firecracker and a loose cannon.

Erin Andrews- I think she is only here because of her recent controversy with a peeping tom. 

Nicole Scherzinger- I feel like this show might be a step down for her.  Although, she did participate in NBC’s Sing Off, does she really need to be doing this?

Kate Gosselin- I will start by saying that this made me a little ill.  She has eight kids last time I checked and an ex-husband who is not around much.  Who is going to take care of these kids, who live in Pennsylvania, while mom is in California dancing?  I’m sure the show will find a way to pimp out the kids and get them on TV as much as possible.  She will have a fan base, but the public could be sick of her constant tabloid presence.

Now, on to the men.

Chad Ochocinco- This is going to be entertaining for sure.  He is not one to hold his tongue back and I could see some interesting situations taking place between him and the judges.  I’m thinking he’s going to need one of the tougher professional women to reign in his personality.

Buzz Aldrin- He is the token older man.  He’ll have a built-in rooting audience, I think.

Evan Lysacek- Fresh off his gold medal from the Vancouver Olympics last week, he might have a new fan base to help push him along.  He’s still relatively unknown though.

Aiden Turner- Following in the steps of his former All My Children castmates (Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison), Turner will be the fourth soap opera contestant for the show.  He could be a wild card.

Jake Pavelka- He was the last cast member to be announced.  I was not thrilled with this decision.  I personally have no desire to see The Bachelor on Monday nights anymore after tonight.  There were so many other ways the show could have gone with this final pick.

Overall, I think the group of celebrities are pretty lackluster.  I hope to be proved wrong, but who knows.  Here’s to season 10 of DWTS…

Emilie DeRavin & Robert Pattinson Interview

28 Feb

Check out this Remember Me interview from MTV featuring Emilie DeRavin and Robert Pattinson.  It’s actually got some funny moments in it.  I’d say Pattinson looks a lot more comfortable in this setting than in previous press junkets. 

Josh Horowitz asked some good questions of the two and didn’t focus too much on Pattinson’s Twilight past, which was kind of refreshing.  Make sure to listen to what Pattinson says about the difference in sexuality between this film and his current film in production, Bel Ami.

If you want to read more about Remember me, take a look at my last post.

Late Night Love

28 Feb

While the recent late night battles took place, Jimmy Fallon remained loyal to NBC and to his friendships with both of the men involved in said battles: Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien.  Fallon is an upstanding guy and he will be celebrating Late Night’s one year anniversary on Monday March 1.

I’ve been a fan of Fallon’s since his popular Saturday Night Live days.  He always reminded me of the young, drunk college buddy, reminiscent of the Adam Sandler days of SNL.  His success on SNL lead him to what he hoped to be a promising movie career.  That didn’t work out so well for him – anyone remember Taxi?

Lorne Michaels, executive producer of both SNL and Late Night, saw something in Fallon and it could easily be said that Michaels has been Fallon’s guardian angel. 

I remember Fallon’s first show and it was kind of painful.  He was so nervous, rightfully so, with his first guest being none other than Robert De Niro.  He was visibly sweating in the opening monologue and he was kind of spastic while interviewing De Niro.  His first audience participation game was the fan favorite, “Lick It For 10.”  That was enough to guess what kind of show he wanted to make.

I’m not the biggest fan of “Lick It…” but he has definitely made Late Night his own now.  His house band is The Roots.  The Roots!  They bring such an added comedic presence to the show.  Fallon has nailed his parody programming such as, “The Real Housewives of Late Night,” “Late,” and “6-Bee.”  I’ll admit my favorite bit he does is, “Friday Night Thank You Notes.”  It’s funny and the jokes are usually spot on.

He has so much fun with his guests; my favorite being when he plays charades with them.  He commonly refers to his guests as “buddy,” and I just find that so endearing.  He laughs at himself all the time and it reminds me of all those times he’d lose it during a sketch on SNL.

I DVR Fallon every night and I’ve been going through some withdrawals since he’s been on hiatus during the Olympics.  I was lucky enough to get a sample of his ‘Thank You Notes’ during the late night coverage this past Friday.  Fallon made an appearance and it was a nice surprise.  I look forward to new episodes beginning Monday March 1.

Fallon may not be the best comedian or the perfect late night host, but his humor and desire to have a good time, make him a must watch.  I’ve said this to people before, but if I’m ever having a down day, all I have to do is watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and I can guarantee I won’t feel so bad anymore.

Heartbreak For The Osmonds

27 Feb

 

Reports surfaced earlier today that singer/actress, Marie Osmond, had suffered every mother’s worst nightmare.  It was reported that her teenage son, Michael, had committed suicide by jumping off a building.

Osmond’s brother, Donny, released a brief statement through Entertainment Tonight this morning.  He said, ”Please pray for my sister and her family.”  Later in the day, through her publicist, Marie confirmed that her son had died, but did not give any indication as to the cause.

Marie Osmond has publicly discussed her and her son’s past battles with depression and regardless of the circumstances surrounding her loss, I hope she stays strong and I can only wish the best for her and her family.

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