Oct 31 2008
By Monica Haynes / Friday, Oct. 31
There will be a private memorial service Monday in Chicago for the mother, brother and nephew of Jennifer Hudson. The invitation-only service will be held on the South Side, reports The Chicago Tribune.
A public memorial service is scheduled for Sunday, reports Entertainment Tonight. However, no time or location was given.
Neither the singer/actress nor her sister, Julia, are expected to attend this service which is open to members of the community who want to pay their respects.
We just can't even imagine the agony Jennifer and her sister are going through. Just keep them in your prayers.
Oct 30 2008
By Sharon Eberson / Friday, Oct. 31
Happy treating, with no tricks.
What does David Tennant's departure mean for the "Doctor Who" series? The most recent incarnation of the Time Lord says he will leave Who-ville after filming four TV specials. Tennant (seen in AP photo) announced his departure on Wednesday night during the National TV Awards in London.
Appearing via video link, Tennant said: "I'm very excited because in January I go back to Cardiff to do four new specials which will see me through to 2009 - but when it returns in 2010 [in the UK] it won't be with me. . . . "It's been the most brilliant, mad, amazing, life-changing time over the last three and a half years. There is a whole 2009 before I leave. Thank you for watching it, loving it, and being so enthusiastic."
I was a big fan of Christopher Eccleston, who helped revive the franchise, too, so I hope there's a next regeneration.
* * *
After Scott Mervis complained in his PG blog Pop Noise! that Bruce Springsteen hadn't produced a Halloween song, the slick music video "A Night With the Jersey Devil" magically appeared on the boss' Web site. Coincidence?
Earlier this week, Bruce and his family were forced to announce that they would not hold their annual elaborate Halloween display at their Rumson, N.J. mansion. The couple said they were worried about people's safety because the event attracted too many visitors.
* * *
"Project Runway" may be headed to Lifetime network, but that doesn't mean Bravo won't walk the runway walk anymore.
While the channels battle in court over "Project Runway's" future, Bravo said on Thursday that it has ordered a design-competition series called "The Fashion Show," in which viewers pick the winner and the prize includes a retail deal. Casting calls will be held starting next month and are set for Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York, with potential contestants required to bring examples of their work, The Associated Press reported. The series' air date was not announced.
"The Fashion Show" is designed to complement another "Runway"-related show, "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style." Bravo also is developing "Celebrity Sew-Off," which would give the famous a chance to display their design skills.
"Project Runway" has been caught in a struggle involving NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, the Weinstein Co. and the Lifetime channel. NBC Universal sued Weinstein after the production company made a reported $150 million deal with Lifetime for the series that features model Heidi Klum as host.
The sixth season of "Project Runway" was expected to start airing in January on Lifetime, depending on the outcome of the suit. As Heidi would say, "In fashion, one day you're in and the next day you're out."
Oct 29 2008
By Sharon Eberson / Friday, Oct. 31
Ewwwwwwwwwwww. I've been saying that a lot lately at the movies.
Normally, you couldn't possibly get me to a movie with scenes that will go down in the annals of gross-outs on film. I'm getting a little sick just thinking about some of what I've seen. And what's weird is, I'm not talking about gory horror flicks or films of the "Jackass" variety. No, these three movies were must-sees on my list, so I gutted it out and managed to hold down my dinner.
The only movie I threw up at (what, you never throw up at movies?) this year was the monster-and-mayhem film "Cloverfield," and that was all about the jerky, hand-held camera work and my motion sickness (yes, I was the woman in Barbara Vancheri's review who made a beeline for the bathroom).
Noting that I did not see "Saw V" or any of its predecessors, here are the three scenes that will make my all-time list as the grossest displays on screen that I have managed to sit through:
Spoiler alert! Movie's names are first, so if you haven't seen it, you may want to wait to read it.
1. "Tropic Thunder" -- The movie I've laughed at the most this year, because my un-PC meter must be out of wack. The fake guts hanging out of a soldier in one scene were laughable even to my weak stomach. But then came the decapitation scene. That's when the director (played by Steve Coogan) is blown to bits, with only his head is left intact. Ben Stiller's character assumes the head is a movie prop, in the context of the script, and proceeds to stick has hand inside before he realizes that it might just be the real thing. Gross!
2. "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" -- I've heard people talk about the vomit scene in "Trainspotting" when the bathroom scene in "Nick & Norah" comes up. (Oops. Didn't mean to say "comes up.") Anyway, this scene involves a very drunk young women vomiting into a bus station toilet -- and a piece of chewed gum. All I could think of as I watched was, actress Ari Graynor deserves at least an MTV Movie award for pulling this off. Discussing this scene, a colleague asked, "What about the gross-out scene in 'The Exorcist'?" That was pretty bad, but there was nothing realistic about. It's the touch of realism that makes rate high on the ICK meter.
3. "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" -- It's in theaters starting on Halloween, so beware of a spoiler here. There's a scene that director/writer Kevin Smith calls "the [poop] shot" that he said his movie couldn't do without. It's one I could have done without, personally, and it's one of two scenes that almost cost the movie its R rating. At least it goes by quickly, which is the best I can say about it. I wish I had been able to ask Smith, during his Q&A at The Oaks last weekend, why he felt it was necessary to the film, which otherwise has a sweetness amid the occasional graphic sex, jokes about anal sex and other crude comedy you'd expect from the director of "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy." He also did the sentimental "Jersey Girl," too, remember, and gave George Carlin roles in that film and "Dogma" . . . but I digress.
This is about gross-outs, after all. And "Zack and Miri" will always have a special place near the top of my gross-out list.
What are your top (I don't think best or worst applies here) gross-out scenes? Please comment below.
Oct 29 2008
This just in . . .
London (AP) -- Russell Brand quit his BBC radio show after he and fellow performer Jonathan Ross were suspended indefinitely for leaving lewd messages on the voice mail of a 78-year-old actor. Also under threat is the reputation of Britain’s state-funded national broadcaster, which allowed Brand’s routine to make it to air.
Oct 29 2008
By Sharon Eberson / Wednesday, Oct. 29
What's up with this Russell Brand character? Does his crazy hair affect his brain, or what?
The established Brit comedian (seen in Associated Press photo) made a splash in this summer's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and since has set about blowing it just as his has career seemed to be on the rise on two continents.
First, he offended most people within airshot as host of the MTV VMAs by poking fun at the Jonas Brothers because of the abstinence rings they wear. Jordin Sparks and others denounced the comments about the sibs' promise rings, but Joe Jonas was forgiving, saying just, "I think he needs a hug." Brand also referred to President George W. Bush as "that retarded cowboy fellow."
Perhaps, I thought, something was lost in the translation of humor from across the pond. Not so, it now appears, because he's gotten himself into another vast vat of hot water over there.
Brand and his BBC radio partner Jonathan Ross were indefinitely suspended by the BBC and denounced by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown -- plus some 18,000 listeners who called to complain -- after the pair pulled what they said was a prank on 78-year-old actor Andrew Sachs, known for playing Spanish waiter Manuel on "Fawlty Towers."
On their Oct. 18 show, on state-funded BBC Radio, Brand and Ross aired calls to Sachs in which they claimed, in crude terms, that Brand had slept with Sachs' granddaughter.
Funny stuff, right? Wrong.
The pairs' apologies were not accepted, and now Brand and Ross are suspended and facing an investigation by Britain's media regulator.
PG staff writer Tim McNulty did a story a while back about the final frontier of comedy, about the un-PC places comedians are daring to go. Humiliating unsuspecting individuals for the comedians' own amusement wasn't one of the things on the list -- folks from Don Rickles to Sacha Baron Cohen have been getting laughs (and backlash) for doing it for a long, long time.
Perhaps the problem is the setting, as radio shock-jock Don Imus learned when he was fired for racist remarks made "in the name of comedy."
When is "in the name of comedy" not a credible defense?
That's a question Russell Brand may want to ask of Andrew Sachs.
Oct 28 2008
By Sharon Eberson / Tuesday, Oct. 28
It's a touch choice.
On the one hand, I'm a fan of the lyrical escapism of ABC's "Pushing Daisies," which has the critical love you'd hope for for a show so original and whimsical. On the other hand, I seem to be one of only a handful of people watching. And now "Pushing Daisies" stands alone in its time slot against the half-hour of TV time bought by presidential candidate Barack Obama on the other networks (not including The CW, which will air an episode of "America's Top Model.")
Apparently ABC delayed too long in agreeing to sell Obama's campaign the time slot Wednesday night, so the campaign took its roughly $1 million that the half-hour would have cost elsewhere. The Washington Post said that ABC has already begun airing promos telling viewers, "Wednesday you have a choice -- get political with the other networks or" watch "Daisies."
Of course, my DVR will be at work one way or the other.
While it will be business as usual for ABC, CBS will air "The New Adventures of Old Christine" at 8:30 instead of 8, and NBC will air a 90-minute edition of "Deal or No Deal." Fox's plans are a little more in flux, thanks to the rain-shortened Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night, according to Zap2it.com.
Later Wednesday, at 9 p.m., Obama's rival, Sen. John McCain, will appear on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Oct 27 2008
Post-Gazette TV editor Rob Owen was on the set of scary movie "Sorority Row," which filmed a graduation scene in Oakland yesterday. Read more about it -- and see more pictures from the set -- at http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/tunedin/archive/2008/10/27/set-visit-sorority-row.aspx
Oct 26 2008
For video from Kevin Smith's appearance at The Oaks on Saturday, visit http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/
By Sharon Eberson / Sunday, Oct. 26
Kevin (bleepin') Smith apologized for being a few minutes late to the Q&A after his film, "Zack & Miri Make a Porno," had its local premiere at the Oaks Theater Saturday night.
If it had been at one of the Pittsburgh places he has grown familiar with while filming here, like the Target at the Waterfront, he might have found his way around the traffic. But Oakmont was new to him.
"And you know, you've got a lot of (bleepin') bridges here," he said.
OK, we all know Kevin Smith talks dirty. F-bombs seem to be the "like, you know" of his sentences - and he throws in sexual references with an equally casual attitude. So quoting the man isn't easy. And I wish I could do so more, frankly, because he can be very funny. You can imagine him as a stand-up comic, cracking up large crowds on college campuses . . . well, that's if this making movie thing doesn't work out.
He answered questions for 45 minutes on Saturday and would have stayed longer but the Oaks had a 10 p.m. showing of "Beetlejuice." The folks who had made a $50 contribution to the Pittsburgh Film Office and local cast and crew were then able to share a drink with Smith at the Alto Bar in Shadyside.
Prudes weren't welcome Saturday night, and when he called on a young girl for a question and got her age as 16 - she said she was there with her dad - he made light of it, but even he was shocked. The movie barely escaped an NC-17 rating, for, as he explained, "excessive thrusting" and a shot so gross, well, if you go, be prepared.
There's a sweet love story in "Zack and Miri," too, by the way.
Wish I could tell you about what he had to say about Ben Affleck's reaction to the movie, having to do with the "(bleepin') shot" at the end of a naked Jason Mewes, but I blush just to think of it. I will tell you that he praised Pittsburgh's filmmaking community, saying he'd come back to work with the crews here whenever the opportunity might arise.
Here's some of what Smith said, most of it cleaned up as best I can.
Asked about his next film project, a political movie titled "Red State, he said he's still looking for financing. It's a movie that's dark and offers little hope, he said. In fact, "it's is so bleak it makes ‘The Dark Knight' look like Beverly Hills Chihuahua."
He gave a very detailed description of how he won an R rating after the MPAA slapped his movie with an NC-17 rating. He'd twice appealed ratings before, and this was the first time that, because of a rule change, he could use other movies as examples that argued against the ratings board's objections. Citing a sex scene between Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke in "Taking Lives" and a disgusting scene in "Jackass 2," he found that the MPAA members and NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) members "were buying it," much to his surprise. He felt like Jack (bleepin') McCoy from "Law & Order" - so much so that he was ready to make a deal while "the jury" was still out before the door opened and he found out he had won his case.
Smith has put on a lot of weight, which he blamed on Pittsburgh's pierogies and other rich food, citing Guillifty's and Primanti Bros. as favorite stops along the road to calories. He said he began coming to Pittsburgh in 1989, when his girlfriend was at CMU. He would take a nine-hour train ride from New Jersey to be with her ... there's more to that story, but there's just so much one can say on a family news site.
"Zack and Miri" was an idea brewing since the 1990s, and he discovered his leading man when he saw Seth Rogen and fell in love with his brand of comedy in "40-Year-Old Virgin." Smith planned to give the script to Rogen and that he, Smith, could make Rogen a leading man and "ride his coat tails for a while," but then "Knocked Up" came out, and he thought he was too late for late. He tried anyone, even thought they'd just met once, when they bumped into each other and chatted for a few minutes at the Weinstein Company offices. Smith sent Rogen a flattering e-mail and said "I know you don't need material and you can write your own things, but I hope you'll read this script." Rogen shot an e-mail right back, Smith said. Rogen wrote that when he had come to Hollywood, one of his aspirations was to be in a Kevin Smith movie. "Nothing has changed, so send the script," Rogen said, according to Smith. The director was genuinely moved as he told the story, although he said if he seemed to be tearing up, it was more likely that he was sweating.
The director/writer/editor told of long nights working at "The Cork," the old Cork Factory in the Strip where he did a lot of editing after-hours.
He apologized for the fact that people might say Pittsburgh doesn't look good in the movie, but he had chosen to write about a couple of people down on their luck and November and December, so it couldn't be helped.
Along those lines, he noted that he might seem like a genius now that the movie is coming out and the story is about people with little money and dead-end jobs and how they have to find ways to raise cash - which is why they make a porno.
Someone asked if there was a problem getting Brandon "Superman" Routh to play a gay man and the lover of a porn star in the film. Smith said he casually asked Routh if there was some sort of morality clause in his contract and Routh said, "What, do you think this is 1941 or something?" The only problem would be if he were to play another superhero. Smith had considered Jason Lee for the role, but Smith's friend was too busy with "My Name is Earl."
Smith writes comic books - his miniseries "Batman: Cacophony" comes out next month, with the character Onomatopeia who Smith created for his Green Arrow series - and he was asked if he would be at the Steel City Con here this weekend.
Sadly, Smith said there was only one flight out of Pittsburgh to L.A. the next morning, and he would be on it. He'd been on the road a lot and missed his daughter, Harley Quinn (named for the Batman character).
There were no bleeps necessary in that sentence.
PHOTO: Kevin Smith on the set of "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." PHOTO CREDIT: Darren Michaels/The Weistein Co.
Kevin Smith has an active Web site and "smodcast" that gives you an idea of how his "view askew" brain works. Both have a lot of "Zack and Miri" at the moment. No need to say that they're meant for adults only, is there?
Oct 24 2008
By Sharon Eberson / Friday, Oct. 24
Moviefone.com knows how to get the vote out: It asked its readers to vote on the best movie President of the United States.
With a whopping 271,323 votes, 24 percent of the 1.1 million total, the winner was Harrison Ford as President James Marshall in "Air Force One" (1997).
All of the picks were fictional, negating portrayals such as Josh Brolin's of George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's "W.," the biopic of the sitting president in theaters now.
According to the site, Marshall won on the strength of his physical strength: "Platform: Never negotiate with terrorists -- even if they've hijacked Air Force One and are holding your family hostage. Instead, simply take a cue from Bruce Willis in ‘Die Hard' and pick your captors apart piece by piece. See, the "zero tolerance" policy works!"
Morgan Freeman's as President Tom Beck in 1988's :Deep Impact" was next with 176,303, or 16 percent.
The rest of the list, in order of popularity
3. Michael Douglas in "The American President"
4. Bill Pullman in "Independence Day"
5. Kevin Kline in "Dave"
6. Dennis Quaid in "American Dreamz"
7. Bruce Greenwood in "National Treasure: Book of Secrets"
8. James Cromwell in "The Sum of All Fears"
9. Jack Nicholson in "Mars Attacks"
10. Jeff Bridges in "The Contender"
11. Kelsey Grammar in "Swing Vote"
12. Gene Hackman in "Absolute Power"
13. Peter Sellers in "Dr. Strangelove"
14. Billy Bob Thornton in "Love, Actually"
15. Terry Crews in "Idiocracy"
16. Jack Warden in "Being There"
* * *
Last night's prime-time "Saturday Night Live" skit featuring Tina Fey as vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin and the return of Will Ferrell as President George W. Bush was another example of how we can't get enough of parody and impersonation in an election year.
That's what's happening on the small screen. On the big screen, "W." is the latest in a long line of movies trying to find the heart and soul of a real American president.
The St. Petersburg Times did its own list of top film presidents - ones who actually held the office. The story said that Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt are the most popular lives to adapt to screen - "nobody's interested in making movies about James K. Polk and Rutherford B. Hayes," wrote Steve Persall.
His favorite George Washington portrayal was by Barry Bostwick in "George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation."
"Yes, Brad Majors from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show' is the best father of our country ever filmed."
* * *
Head over to Slate.com for "Black Presidents: A pop culture survey." The list of TV and films includes the obscure satirical drama "The Man," which in 1972 imagined the first black president of the United States. Joseph Sargent directs a Rod Serling script, adapted from the Irving Wallace novel, that had Douglass Dilman, portrayed by James Earl Jones, as president pro tempore of the Senate. He makes it to the Oval Office after the president and the speaker of the House die in a ceiling collapse. "Unavailable on DVD, 'The Man' is now a rarity, and yet it clearly forecasts the screen existences of subsequent black presidents."
Oct 22 2008
By Sharon Eberson / Wednesday, Oct. 22
The votes are in, and the winner in Blockbuster's poll of best fictional American president is . . . Dennis Haysbert's President David Palmer from "24," the Fox TV series that's scheduled to return with a two-hour TV movie on Sunday, Nov. 23.
The late, great President Palmer had the vote of 1 in 6 out of more than 9,000 as their fantasy pick as a write-in candidate for next month's election.
After Palmer came Geena Davis' President Mackenzie Allen on "Commander in Chief" and my pick, Martin Sheen's President Josiah Bartlet, from "The West Wing."
Movie presidents mentioned included Harrison Ford as President Marshall in "Air Force One" and Bill Pullman as the president and fighter pilot in "Independence Day."
Gotta love James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos," but Sheen was robbed of an Emmy when he didn't win for his 2001 overall performance, in particular his angry church scene when his faith was shaken by shootings aimed at his staff and by the death of his beloved secretary, Mrs. Landingham. (The episode itself won an Emmy for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Series, and the show won, too.)
Also gotta love another character by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin: Michael Douglas' President Andrew Shepherd, who faces off against Richard Dreyfuss (who seems to be having oodles of fun these days as Dick Cheney in "W.") and falling for Annette Bening in "The American President."
Who do you think is the big or small screen's best fictional president?
Talk among yourselves by commenting below.
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