Shoot ‘Em Up

Shoot ‘Em Up, starring Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci and Paul Giamatti.

Directed by Michael Davis

Official site

A New Line Cinema film

Release Date: 9/7/07

Synopsis
A gritty fast-paced action thriller that kicks into high gear with a memorable opening scene and never relents. Clive Owen stars as Mr. Smith, a mysterious loner who teams up with an unlikely ally (Monica Belluci) to protect a newborn baby from a determined criminal (Paul Giamatti) who hunts them through the bowels of the city.

Trailer
Editorial from Rotten Tomatoes:

“Just when you thought you’d seen every action sequence Hollywood could imagine, Michael Davis comes up with “Shoot ‘Em Up.” The film stars Clive Owen as a gunfighter carrying a newborn baby through hails of gunfire for the entire film. Though he could have cheated by using a doll for most shots, Davis actually found a way to incorporate real infants.

“If we would have shot here in LA, the rule of shooting with an infant is that they can only be in front of the camera for a half hour a day,” said Davis. “I didn’t know that. But, when we went up to Canada, the babies could work for eight hours a day. They can work 15 minutes on in front of the camera and then they need a 20 minute break. But, we had twins so virtually we could have a baby whenever we wanted. It eased it up a lot.”

“Of course, some shots just have to be created with digital effects, but audiences will be hard pressed to pick those out. “We got very lucky. There’s a few doll shots. There are a few or a number of digital face replacements where we videoed the baby’s head. But, we got really lucky. A lot of the time, whenever possible, I had the live baby. We just couldn’t cheat it. It was a great call on our part. We were really nervous about working with babies and action and all of that.”

“Even in some of the big gunfights, Owen is holding the real baby. The trick is to not actually fire the guns. “The babies were not around when we fired live loads, but obviously now you could do the digital muzzle flashes. We could have the baby around. We just cheated it. It was a combination of about how tight we were and what the action was. The mom that we got was a total sport. She was there all the time and let us do whatever we wanted with the babies within reason.”

So You Think You Can Dance

Goodaye Everyone:Another hot/humid one here in New England!!!!

Last night over 6.5 million voted for a guy and a gal to ‘ease on down
the road’ to Chorus Line Heaven!!!

Cat Deeley looked beautiful wearing a soft beige, handkerchief, short
number with her hair done up with flowers, etc.

The Top 10 started the show dancing to an Imogen Heap(?) number. Looks
to be contemporary (from Mia?). They had paint on their faces and were
leaping all over the place. It was cool though!

Here’s an appearance on Letterman

Ohhhh, one comment here! Ya know how Cat says every week to the people
in the bottom group, “You have to DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE”? Well it’s from
the song from Flashdance… trust me.

Nigel talked about Wade’s routine from the night before of how some
people were ‘offended’ by it. It was an anti-war solo and each of the
Top 10 had a word that signified how they felt about the world. It was
NOT a protest about the military. Good Lord… people, what is wrong
with you??? It shouldn’t have offended anyone..

Next we had the special guest, “MIKA“? Have no idea who he is. Looks
English to me. I guess I’m just getting too old for this kinda music!
Cat said she LOVED him… she can have him.

(note from Jamie: he’s huge in UK right now)

OK, here we go….let’s take the 5 Girls first:

Sabra – SAFE
Jaimie – Bottom 4
Lacey – SAFE
Lauren – Bottom 4
Sara – SAFE

The 5 Guys:

Neil – SAFE
Danny – SAFE
Dominic – Bottom 4 (?)
Kameron – Bottom 4
Pasha – SAFE

Then the 4 danced (even though voters had already chosen who was going
home).

Lauren - SAFE for another week; Jaimie – Going home….

Dominic – SAFE for another week; Kameron - Going home….

So there you have it for another week. Now we are down to “8″!!!

See ya next week.

 Joanie
————————————————————————
The Next Best Thing

Before I start this show, let me just ‘comment’ that the hostess here
and Cat on ‘Dance’ have both gotta be 6′!!! They are soooo tall.

OK, this is the FINAL week. America has voted for the Next Best Thing.
Let’s see who they chose.

First up: The 2 Elvis’s – WOW they are both terrific. I’d have a hard
time choosing between the two of them!

Next was: Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand (I understand they
perform together in Vegas!) – Liked him…not her.

Then we had: Paris and George – They did a magic trick. She’s cute
but just not strong enough performance; he, on the other hand, was a riot!

Then came: Lucy and Robin – They danced like a couple from Dancing
With The Stars and were very funny!!! Enjoyed them both. Have no idea how
to choose between these two either.

Last we had: Little Richard and Tina Turner - They were singing away
when the curtains opened above the stage and…who should appear…but
the REAL Little Richard!!! Still looks good for his age and did a
great job.

By the way…$100,000 to the winner of this competition.

OK, so here we go: Top 5 were – George, Elvis, Elvis, Frank, Lucy

4th runner up – Lucy
3rd runner up – George
2nd runner up – Elvis (younger one)
1st runner up – Frank
WINNER: Elvis (the sexy black leather outfit one)!!!!!

This show is a LOT of fun and I hope they bring it back next year.
———————————————————————–
OK, that’s it for this week.

Have a great weekend and we’ll talk again.

Joanie

Weekend To Do/Rumors – 07/27/07

Hi Everyone:

Once again, lots of news this week:

TV NEWS

Boston Legal - Saffron Burrows has been signed for the full season of Boston Legal. She’ll play Lorraine Weller, a sexy, classy litigator who once had an affair with Alan Shore (James Spader) – who hasn’t!!!!???
The chemistry is still there and becomes a distraction in the courtroom.
Look for Boston Legal on Amazon!

24 - Cherry Jones (a wonderful stage actress who has won several Tonys and also played Matt Damon’s mom in Oceans 12) has been tapped to play the woman President in the new season of 24. I certainly hope it is more exciting than last year’s storyline!!!!
Look for 24 on Amazon!

House – Now that all of House’s interns have moved on…here are the new interns for this coming season. Olivia Wilde (The O.C.), Kal Penn (from Harold and Kumar), Peter Jacobson (Good Night and Good Luck). Wilde will play a young doctor called ‘13′ (kid you not) who will work very closely with House (doesn’t say how closely!).
Look for House, M.D. on Amazon!

Drew Carey has been signed on as the new host for The Price Is Right. I just heard that he is going to take the show cross-country. That could be a lot of fun!!! Congrats to you Drew. Loved your Drew Carey show and also the other show, Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Series Renewals:

Hell’s Kitchen – Season 4
So You Think You Can Dance – Season 4

MOVIE NEWS

Tom Cruise - He’s in talks to play the title role of Edwin A. Salt. This is a spy story that’s tailor-made for Tommy. The movie is inspired by the real-life story of FBI Agent-turned-Russian spy Robert Hanson, who is fingered as a Russian sleeper spy, and subsequently sets out on a mission to not only prove his innocence, but also reunite with his family. Cruise has 4 pics in the process this year, both comedies; Men and The Hardy Boys and these two…

1. Lions for Lambs – Directed by Robert Redford. It stars, not only Tommy and Robert but also Meryl Streep as well as other prominent actors. It’s a powerful story that looks into the news, politics and a nation divided on how to explore human consequences of a complicated war. (sounds up to the minute to me)
Release Date: 11/09/07

The second movie Tommy is working on is Valkyrie – directed by Bryan Singer. Stars Tommy as well as Kenneth Brannagh, Bill Nighy, Patrick Wilson, Stephen Fry, Tom Wilkinson and Eddie Izzard. Tommy plays a Colonel Claus von Stauffenberz who is a flashy, German officer who bravely tries to bring down the Nazi Regime.
Release Date: 08/08/08

DVD RELEASES

The Host – A mutant emerges from Seoul’s Han River and focuses its attention on attacking people. Action/SciFi (see Jamie’s review here)
Buy The Host on Amazon!

Number 23 – Drama/Mystery – Jim Carrey….oh Jim, Jim, Jim how you have slipped into oblivion with these terrible pics. (Did you know that he and Nic Cage are best friends??? Are they consulting each other on these awful pics they’re making???? Does anyone in LaLa Land care enough to help these guys???) Anyway, I digress. Jim plays a man obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him and his obsession increases, more things seem to arise…all around the #23.
OK…hey….wait a minute…this movie was directed by Joel Schumacher. THAT EXPLAINS IT!!!!
Buy Number 23 (Unrated Infinifilm Edition) on Amazon!

Perfume: The Story of A Murderer – Crime/Drama/Thriller Based on a Best Selling novel, this movie received 9 awards. It is the story of a man with a ‘nose’ for beautiful scents. It all goes bad though when he looks for the perfect perfume! I heard that it is a very intriguing movie. Worth a look…
Buy Perfume – The Story Of A Murderer on Amazon!

Tempted - This movie was made in 2001. It is a Drama/Thriller and stars Burt Reynolds (OK, don’t hold that against it) and Saffron Burrows (from Boston Legal). A dying rich man hires a ‘hunk’ to tempt his wife to see if she truly loves him. Supposed to be ‘hot’. I know we’ve seen movies with this same storyline before but I bet it’s worth a rental!!!
Buy Tempted on Amazon!

RUMOR

Zachary Quinto (of Heroes) may play Spock in the Star Trek movie?
Sooo many rumors on people playing different roles in this movie I think it’ll be a miracle if it’s even made… JJ Abrams!

Eddie Izzard (The Riches) has replaced Jeremy Piven (Entourage) as the insane Schadenfrenden(?) in the Weinstein Co., IGOR. IDW will create a serial comic outlining the film’s history plus prequels and sequels, followed by a full color tradepaperback collection. Ya know, I was gonna go on with this but it is FAR too confusing and I’m reading what I wrote!

This is an animated feature (if and when they make it). Voices are: John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jennifer Coolidge, Arsenio Hall(!), Jay Leno, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes and others (I guess that’s what caught my eye…all these people!!!!) Of course none of this will happen until the Fall of 2008….and we have trouble remembering yesterday…never mind Fall of 2008!!!!

Ray Stevenson (ROME) has been signed to play The Punisher. Previous actors to play this role were Dolph Longren and Thomas Jane (Patricia Arquette’s hubby). Ray will next be seen in OUTPOST – a horror, action flick.
(for a full article on The Punisher and his movies, click here)

IN THEATERS THIS WEEKEND

The Simpsons Movie
No Reservations – Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart
I Know Who Killed Me (hurray, hurray, hurray to see this movie….it could be the last movie Lindsey Lohan is in!)

COMMENTS

One Sad – One Fun

Sad First: Last weekend we all lost a wonderful, caring Christian woman by the name of Tammy Faye (Bakker) Meisner. Tammy was 65 (the age I just turned this month.) Tammy fought a few long battles with cancer. (God how I wish someone would find a cure for this terrible disease that takes so many wonderful people from us). She was a kook but a loving, sincere kook who believed everything she did was to help people and ALWAYS had an upbeat way about her.

I remember Tammy Faye and Jim years ago when they had the PTL Club. I never sent any money to Heritage USA but I was mesmerized by Tammy Faye. She would do makeup shows (and, of course who better!) and hairstyling, fashions, etc. She always ended the program with a song.

We will miss you Tammy Faye and know that you are now in Heaven where you belong, at peace and out of the terrible pain you were suffering.

Footnote: There was a movie a few years ago, kind of a documentary…called The Eyes of Tammy Faye which is well worth renting….

OK…a Fun Note: Last weekend I went to see HAIRSPRAY. I highly recommend this movie. It is soooo much fun. The girl who plays Tracy Turnblatt is extraordinary and WHO could turn down a chance to see John Travolta in probably the best movie he has made since GREASE. Everyone does their own singing and dancing.

Once again…flashback! I remember running home from school (high school) and turning on the tv to watch American Bandstand with Dick Clark.

I was holding my breath to see if Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi were going to be featured. There was Peggy, Patti and so many more that were like an extended family to me.

LOVED THE MOVIE!!!!

Well, once again, I have rambled on more than I should. Hope everyone, including Robin Thicke, has a wonderful weekend.

We’ll cya next week!!!

Joanie

So You Think You Can Dance – Top 10 – 07/25/07

Morning:

I apologize ahead of time if this is an abbreviated review. A little tired last night and again today….

Cat stepped on the stage with a slate blue, toga, short number that was smoking! She looked terrific.

She said if you go to Fox.com/dance you’ll be able to get the tour dates for the Top 10 Tour. We’ll have to try it out.

Mia Michaels sat in last night with Nigel and Mary – The Mouth!There was no voting among the judges tonight because now that the group is down to the Top 10, they will do SOLOS and America will vote to see which girl goes home and which guy goes home. The SOLO number was choreographed by Wade Robson (with a little help from his very pretty wife). He wanted to make a statement so each dancer was asked to pick a word which best symbolized how they felt about what the world needed to come together. They all wore the same white shirt and pants and painted the word on the back of their shirts.

I will say this before I go any further – the judges were hoping that the dancers, even though given the ’structured’ steps by Wade, would come up with a little of themselves in the solo.

OK, let’s do the SOLOS first.

They all danced to Waiting For the World to Change by John Mayer

Jaimie – didn’t rock my boat – was OK
Dominic – how I love this kid – thought he was very emotional
Sara – strong performance
Pasha – like him a lot too but he struggled with his solo
Lauren – thought it was good enough to keep her until next week
Neil – Great lifts and expression – good job
Sabra – she’s in my finals – excellent job
Kameron – didn’t really do it for me tonight although the judges liked him
Lacey – awesome – she’ll be around for awhile
Danny – WOW what leaps, what stretches, what a job!!!

Now I’ll tackle the duos:

Lauren chose Pasha’s name out of a hat (we’re back to that again!)
They danced a hip hop number choreographed by Shane Sparks.
Thought they did a great job. Shane taught them some awesome moves. Pasha’s really not into hip hop but he came thru. Lots of Fun. Kinda Transformerish…. When the judges were asked their ‘opinion’, when it came to Mary, Mia and Nigel put their hands over their ears and she surprised them with a SILENT tamale yell!!!

Sabra chose Kameron’s name and they danced a contemporary number choreorgraphed by Tyce Diorio – song was Amazing Grace.
Sabra was absolute perfection in every way; Kameron struggled to make it thru.

Lacey chose Danny and they danced a Samba which was choreorgraphed by Dmitry Chaplin, one of last year’s top 10 dancers. This guy is ‘hot’!!! Anyway, I thought it was the WOW/WHOA factor. They were STEAMING all over the floor. It’s a wonder you didn’t need a cigarette by the time they finished. EXCELLENT JOB.

Jaimie chose Dominic and they were given a Viennese Waltz to do. This was choreographed by Toni Reopath. It was a Linda Eder song. Have no idea where Toni was going with this one. What her thought process was? She certainly didn’t help Jaimie or Dominic. It was silly and blahhhh.

Sara chose Neil and they danced a Disco number which was choreographed by D. Sanchez. Song: Knock on Wood - This couple seemed to have a lot of fun together and it certainly showed on stage. They blended very well and were very lively. Good Job Judges liked them a lot too.

There you have it. My choices of who will go home tonight…very tough.
I think it will be: Kameron and Jaimie but, at this point, you never know.
—————————————————————————————–
As usual, I taped The Next Best Thing and only peeked when they went down to the Top 5…..Frank, Elvis, Elvis, Lucy and George!!! Have no idea who won. We’ll all know tomorrow.

Talk to you then. Stay Cool Robin Thicke!!!!

Joanie

So You Think You Can Dance – Top 12 Results Show – 07/19/07

Goodaye Everyone:

Last night was certainly interesting and fun. We started off with Cat in a scrumptious pastel short dress with killer heels! She looked good. I think she’s growing on me!

The Top 12 danced to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and they all did a great job.

OK, tonight is definitely an important one because we are cutting 12 to 10 and those 10 will go on tour later this year.

First Up were:

Dominic/Sabra SAFE
Anja/Danny Bottom 3

Then came:

Jaimie/Hok Bottom 3
Pasha/Sara SAFE

Neil/Lauren Bottom 3
(That was a surprise to me even though I didn’t like Contemporary dance)

Lacey/Kameron SAFE

In between all of this you had Jason Samuel Smith do a wonderful tap number which reminded me of Savion Glover (probably the most talented tap dancer evah!!!!) (I have to say here…the kids in the audience really annoy me every week. Maybe it’s because I’m old and I don’t go to any more concerts but they were screaming ‘non-stop’!)

You also had Enrique Iglesias (Anna Kournikova’s main squeeze!) sing. He’s adorable and is just as hot as his dad Julio!!! (whom I’ve seen many times in concert and screamed at…so there you have it I guess!)

Now the Bottom 3 had to do the ole’ DANCE FOR THEIR LIVES bit.

First Up was Anja – thought she did pretty good.
Danny – He’s a terrific dancer
Jaimie – Beautiful lines and splits
Hok – Very talented but ‘one dimensional’
Lauren – pretty good
Neil – He’s improving each week

In the end it was Anja and Hok who went home. I could understand Hok but not Anja. It must have been a very tough decision to choose which girl. Hok is soooo talented; he plays the violin, draws beautifully and is also a great dancer. I’m sure he’ll find himself in a ‘chorus line’ someday!

There were over 5.5 million votes cast on Wednesday night.

OK, so there you have it….your Top Ten for next week are:

Neil and Lauren
Danny
Jaimie
Pasha and Sara
Lacey and Kameron
Dominic and Sabra

Next week will be BIG cause everything will be scrambled and rebooted the rest of the way!!!

Have a Great Weekend…

Joanie
—————————————————————————————–
One comment on Don’t Forget The Lyrics - That guy’s voice was great. Once again, the $350K mark was the highest he could go this week.
It’s still too professional for my taste….The Singing Bee is better.
——————————————————————————————The Next Best Thing

OK, now this show had the Top 10 perform last night and at the end of the show, you could call in and VOTE for your favorite and the Best will be chosen next week…which tells me it’s the end of the show..duh!!!

First Up: The 50’s Elvis – Donny Edwards – singing Blue Suede Shoes
He was terrific. I saw Elvis in concert many years ago and
this kid reminds me so much of The King. – GREAT JOB

Next came: Lucy – Suzanne LaRouche – She did a phone skit that was
very funny. She IS Lucy. Once again, GREAT JOB

Then we had: George W. Bush – John Morgan – this guy was sooo good
and he played the guitar, harmonica and sang the,
“Freedom Boogie”. Another GREAT JOB

Next was: Tina Turner – Cookie Watkins – Sang Proud Mary
She was terrific but not as good as the first 3. Don’t think
she’ll be the winner.

Then came: Little Richard – Garry Moore – WOW Another GREAT
JOB. He sang Tutti Frutti and you’d swear it was Little
Richard. He even ‘channeled’ Jerry Lee Lewis (who I
also saw in concert years ago) when he pushed the stool
aside and stood at the piano before taking the front of
the stage.

Up next was: Barbra Streisand – Sharon Owens – Now the judges
LOVE her but I just didn’t feel she hit all those notes the
way Babs would. The judges were all moved by her.
Not me. Don’t see her winning.

Then we had: Paris Hilton – Natalie Reed – Here’s another one who
just didn’t ‘bring it’! She’s adorable but not WINNER
material!

After her was: The 60s Elvis – Trent Carleney – This guy is wicked
sexy and had the Black Leather Outfit on from
E’s big ‘68 Comeback Special. He sang Heartbreak
Hotel and had all the moves. Another GREAT JOB

Then came: Robin Williams – Roger Kabler – He not only had Robin
down pat but also did impressions of DeNiro, Walken,
PeeWee and a few others WHILE he was doing
Robin. In my Top 3!!!

Lastly we had: Sebastian Engardo – Frank Sinatra – I thought he did
a good job as Frank which is not easy to do. He was
more convincing to me than Babs was! Liked him.

OK….so here’s my Top 3 — Robin – Elvis, 50s and Elvis, 60s -
Winner???? I think Elvis 50s (could be Robin though)
Either way these top 10 were allll very talented.

CYA next week. And….we all hope Robin Thicke has a great weekend!

Joanie

Weekend To Do/Rumors 07/20/07

Hi:

Lots of TV News this week:

Nip/Tuck: Rosie O’Donnell (who, rumor has it has also been offered a guest spot on Friday Night Lights), will be in Episode 4 of the series this Fall and more after that. I think I wrote that Oliver (Huff) Platt will play her love interest. Rumor has it that her character (Dawn Budge) is so popular there’s talk of a spin off!!! (You Rock Rosie!!!)

on Amazon:

Nip/Tuck – The Complete First Season
Nip/Tuck – The Complete Second Season
Nip/Tuck – The Complete Third Season
Nip/Tuck – The Complete Fourth Season

A&E has announded the cast of Michael Chrichton’s ANDROMEDA STRAIN (remake) – Good Cast – Benjamin Bratt, Ricky Schroeder (24), Eric McCormack (Will and Grace), Andre Braugher (Thief) as well as others. Filming started on July 3rd in Vancouver. This will be a “Scott Free” production which means that the Scott brothers have a hand in this one! (I ’smell’ Emmy!!!)

on Amazon:

The Andromeda Strain

Army Wives – will be back for a second season on Lifetime. It’s slated to start running in the Spring of ‘08. This is a great series for those of you who haven’t caught it yet.

Law and Order: Criminal Intent – Alicia Witt (Mr. Holland’s Opus and the Upside of Anger) will be joining the cast this Fall. She will play Det. Logan’s (Chris Noth) partner while his old partner (Julianne Nicholson) is out on maternity leave (in real life). This show will now be on cable: USA – and it will premiere on Thursday, Oct. 4th at 10PM.

Criminal Minds: – Well folks, sad news to report – our beloved Mandy Patinkin has asked producers to free him of his contract with the show and they have conceded (I’m sure reluctantly). I guess 2 seasons is it for Mandy who did the same thing years ago when he was on Chicago Hope. 2 Seasons and an Emmy and he was gone…. Wonder what he will do now? Wonder who they will get to replace him? Not that they could!!!

Kingdom – This is a new series from CBS. Just booked. Its about knights and castles and 4 friends havin’ a good time…when one of them discovers that he is a King and heir to the throne. King Lucas is his name. No cast or time as yet…I’ll keep you posted.

Pushing Daisies - ABC - Here’s another new series I just heard about. It will be on Wednesdays at 8PM. It is the story of a man who has the power to bring people back from the dead so they can tell the police who killed them. Didn’t we do this last year with Raine…with Jeff Goldblum? I thought that was a good show, by the way.

CSI: CSI and Without A Trace will ‘crossover’ next fall with Peterson and LaPaglia in each other’s shows.

MOVIE NEWS

Looks like X FILES 2nd movie is one step closer to fruition. David Duchovny was promoting his new series on Showtime, CALIFORNICATION, when he was asked about it. He said he was looking forward to seeing a script next week. Sounds promising..fingers crossed.

on Amazon:

The X-Files – Fight the Future (Widescreen Edition)
The X-Files – The Complete Fifth Season (Slim Set)

Bond 22: Read that is going to have more humor than Casino Royale. Daniel Craig wants to put his own ‘face’ on 007 by showing his softer side – works for me!…if there’s lots of action!

on Amazon:

Casino Royale (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 1 (The Man with the Golden Gun / Goldfinger / The World Is Not Enough / Diamonds Are Forever / The Living Daylights)

DVD Releases:

Factory Girl - Story of 60s “IT” girl, Edie Sedgwick (rumor has it that Katie Holmes was offered this role first but Tommy said NO!) starring Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Jimmy Fallon. Edie had it all…looks, money, education (Harvard grad), Boston bred but then she met Andy Warhol and became part of his ‘universe’. Spiraling down….from there. Good Movie

on Amazon:

Edie: Girl on Fire
Edie Factory Girl
Factory Girl (Unrated)
Ciao Manhattan (Ws Dol)

Race You To The Bottom - Drama/Romance “R” – Story of two 20 yr. olds in love – she’s straight/he’s gay. It’s said to be a breakthrough in the new ’sexual fluidity’ changing our ‘in the box’ structured, straight couples. Sounds different (hadn’t heard of this movie before). Different….

IN THEATERS THIS WEEKEND:

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
with Adam Sandler and Kevin James

Hairspray
with John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pheiffer and others

Sunshine
not sure what this one’s about but I hear it is good…Help Jamie!

OK… Sunshine is a 2007 sci-fi film directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and written by longtime collaborator Alex Garland (28 Days Later, the Beach). The story concerns a space crew attempting to re-ignite a dying sun. It’s both a suspenseful thriller and moralistic tale about the future of humanity and the ethical questions on space travel.

The ship’s crew is an ensemble cast of Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh. The film opened in April to critical success but was a box office failure.

I guess that’s it for this week. Have a great weekend everyone. I’ll be going to see HAIRSPRAY!!!!

Joanie

So You Think You Can Dance – Top 12 – 07/18/07

Goodaye Everyone:

Hope you are all having a good week.

It’s getting down to the ‘nitty gritty’ at “So You Think You Can Dance”. This is the last week the couple’s will dance together… next week it’ll be a whole new ballgame!

By the way, the Top 10 go out on tour when the show is over. They hit over 50 stops. We’ll have to make sure we know how to get those tour dates and places!

Cat looks adorable. She has a short ‘hot’ pink dress on and those shoes are to die for!!!

This week’s guest judge is choreographer Wade Robson (my fave). It’ll be interesting to see how he judges these couples considering that he has worked with most of them in previous weeks. You also have Mary (the mouth!) Murphy and Nigel.

Let’s get started – First Up is Sabra and Dominic – Jive
This was choreographed by Tony Meredith and his partner Melanie.
Song: I Do The Jerk by Ryan Shaw – WOW! They were excellent. Dom did a ‘great’ lift with Sabra at the end. It was FUN, FUN, FUN. Great way to start tonight’s show…. Judges loved it too.

Next we had: Jaimie and Hok – Broadway
This was choreographed by Tyce Diorio – Song: Mr. Bojangles
They did a nice job but they didn’t blow me away. It certainly wasn’t the best they’ve done. Left wanting…..Do I see Bottom 3? Wade was not impressed! Although he really likes Jaimie. Judges agreed.

Commercial: Soooo Ace Frehley(?) has been reduced to Dunkin’ Donuts commercials….’sad’!

Next couple to dance is: Sara and Pasha – Jazz
This was choreographed by Mandy Moore. Song: Body Language by Queen – I’m beginning to LOVE this couple. They’ve only been together for 2 weeks and they just blend right into each other. As Pasha said, “Sara never lets up…she always wants to rehearse!” It certainly showed last night. Loved the suspender bit. It was a little ‘Fosse-ish” and that’s never a bad thing!!! Judges didn’t ‘love’ it but thought they were good.

Up Next was: Lauren and Neil – Contemporary
This was choreographed by Mia….oh boy, let’s see what she’s got goin’ on with this number! – Song: Let the Drummer Kick(?) – I’m not crazy about contemporary numbers and I wasn’t really moved by this one. I like the couple but I, myself, see them in the Bottom 3. Judges however were blown away by them….it’s gotta be me!

Then we had: Anja and Danny – Foxtrot
This was choreographed by Jean Marc (uh oh….not a good sign!)
Song: It Had To Be You (great song) Well poor Anja had ankle problems and even though the judges didn’t address it, I could see it (with my amateur eyes). She was struggling! Danny however was AWESOME. The split he did was the best I’ve ever seen. Judges thought they were great. Mary gave them a ‘hot tamale’ shoutout….(help us all!)

Commercial: Switched to Larry King for a minute and there was Tammy Faye Baker with her hubby. She’s gotta weigh 80 lbs. if that and could hardly talk. I’d be surprised if she made it thru the week. Valiant fight for your life Tammy…straight to Heaven for Tammy….just my opinion.

Last we had Lacey and Kameron – Hip Hop
This was choreographed by Dan Karaty (a sometimes judge too)
Song: Here I Come by Fergie – It was cute but I gotta say that I was not impressed and see them in the Bottom 3. Not so much Lacey as Kameron. He just didn’t ‘bring it’! Judges agreed. Bottom 3?

Another Commercial: Back to Larry King - He’s got Daniel Baldwin on. Boy, Daniel looks terrific. He spent 90 days in rehab and is taking it one day at a time. Goes to a lot of 12 step meetings. We’re pullin’ for you Daniel. Let’s hope each day finds you clean!

One more commercial: This one on Uniball 207. Seems that there is a lot of check fraud goin’ on out there and if you use this pen, NO ONE can make changes to the check… interesting.

OK, my fave 2 couples were Pasha and Sara and Sabra and Dominic
Bottom 3?

Jaimie/Hok
Lauren/Neil
Lacey/Kameron

CYA with the results tomorrow.
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The Singing Bee - Watched and STILL like it better than Don’t Forget The Lyrics – Of course, I love Joey but it just seems more ‘real’ to me than Wayne Brady’s show. That guy he had on last night sounded like a pro to me. Great voice… just my opinion…

Joanie

So You Think You Can Dance Results Show – 7-12-07

Goodaye Everyone:

It’s another beautiful, low humidity day here in New England!!!!

Well last night’s show held no surprises for us but let’s recap.

First of all, here comes ‘our’ Cat with a lovely pastel blue dress and her hair is swept back in a few braids. Very nice.

The group started out with a dance from HAIRSPRAY called You Can’t Stop The Beat. Adam Shankman did the choreography and it should clips of him teaching the dance and he was a riot! The guy is pretty limber considering he’s in his 40s!

OK, let’s bring out 2 couples:

Sabra/Dominic SAFE
Anja/Danny Bottom 3

Lacey/Kameron SAFE
Sara/Pasha SAFE
Shauna/Cedric Bottom 3

Hok/Jaimie Bottom 3
Lauren/Neil SAFE

Well I wish I could guess lottery numbers as well as I guess Bottom 3s!

They then ‘danced for their lives’ and Cedric and Shauna went BYE BYE BYE! Cedric can go call Debbie Allen now who promised him a sholarship if he got bumped off the show.

The kids went to the premiere of HAIRSPRAY and had a great time. Can’t wait to see this movie!!!

To top off the night we had Hilary Duff ’singing’??? STRANGER. Love the microphone with the ‘echo’ effect in it. Where would some of these kids be without the high tech sound equipment they have nowadays???

OK, see ya next week for DANCE.

Ohhh, by the way, ya know how I keep talking about the little boy who does the Verizon commercials (‘nice truck’)….well it turns out he’s 5 years old and the only reason he wanted to do this is because his 2 older brothers – 7 and 9 – are also in the business. They say he’s smart as a whip and is like 5 going on 30!!!
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The Next Best Thing – Final 15 to Final 5

First up we had: Garry Mor as Little Richard – Awesome
Next was: Roger Cabler as Robin Williams – Pretty Good
Then came: Sharon Orenz as Babs – just OK with me
Next was: Trent Carlin as Elvis – Very Good
Up Next: Jim Need as George W. – thought he was Good
Then came: Sandy Anderson as Dolly – WOW! It’s Dolly!
After her was: Paul Ross as Howard Stern – Could be Howard!
Then there was: Ann Kessel as Roseanne – one of my faves
After her we had: Sebastian Enjolder as Frank – Did a good job
After him we had: The Honeymooners – Ralph/Ed – not too funny
Then we had: Denny Murphy as Kenny Chesney – looks good
Also, they showed clips of Jack Nicholson and Rodney Dangerfield who, I thought were both VERY GOOD.

In the end the next Top Five Going Thru were:

Elvis Presley
Robin Williams
Frank Sinatra
Little Richard
Barbra Streisand

We’re now down to the Top Ten and we get to vote. CYA next week.
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Don’t Forget The Lyrics

This is on 2 nights and the host of Wayne Brady. Kinda like The Singing Bee but with more money and they bring someone on to the stage that had already been chosen.

Katie who was adorable if not a little kooky!!! She certainly knows her music though.

They have a running $ scale (much like Millionaire). The more songs you sing correctly, the more money you win. Also, you have a group of categories you can choose from. Then they give you 2 songs from that category. That being said, here’s how it went.

Rhythm and Blues: Stevies’song (and I didn’t write it down…sorry)
but she got it right: $2,500
Next Song was Joy To The World: $5,000
Then Came: Material Girl $10,000
Walk Like An Egyptian: $25,000
Once you reach this plateau…the money is YOURS TO KEEP.
ABC $50,000
Thursday’s Show:
Same girl, different songs. By the way, you have 3 lifelines and when you’re sure of the words you….LOCK IN THE LYRICS!

Here’s Katie, back one again, going for $1MILLION DOLLARS

Two Tickets To Paradise: $100,000
Jenny, Jenny (phone song) $200.000
How Do I Live Without You? $350,000
and here’s where she ran in to trouble – with the Rolling Stones – SATISFACTION – she wasn’t comfortable with her choice of words and walked with the $350K instead of taking a chance on $500K.

As a ’sidebar’, I thought Wayne and Katie ‘hit it off’ rather well!

My thoughts are that this show is drawn out far too much. Doesn’t move fast enough for me. Like The Singing Bee much better…short cash, but better entertainment!!!

That’s it for this week. Have fun this weekend!!!!

Talk to you next week.

I now have to go listen to my ROBIN THICKE CD… love that guy!!!

Weekend To Do List/Rumors/News 07-13-07

Hi

I went a little ‘crazy’ this week on “stuff”. Hope I don’t bore you to death with everything I have here.

TV NEWS:

SHARK – Kevin Pollack is joining SHARK in the Fall. He will be playing the DA who defeated Jeri Ryan (Shark’s boss) in the election. She, in turn, will go to work for Shark. Should be interesting!!!

FOX

Fox announced its schedule dates for the Fall for some new shows and others that we all watch:

Thursday, Sept. 13 – Kitchen Nightmares – 9PM to 10PM
Monday, Sept. 17 – Prison Break – 8PM to 9PM
Monday, Sept. 17 – K-VILLE – 9PM to 10PM (great timeslot!)
Wednesday, Sept. 19 – Back To You – 8PM to 8:30PM (good leadin)
Wednesday, Sept. 19th – Bones – 9PM to 10PM (an hour later this year)
Thursday, Sept. 25th – NEW AMSTERDAM 8PM to 9PM (great timeslot!)
Thursday, Sept. 25th – House – 9PM to 10PM (new night!)

Save this so you can mark it down on your calendars!

MOVIE NEWS

Russell Crowe’s movie 3:10 To Yuma has been pushed from Oct. 5th to Sept. 9th. A full month earlier (wahooo!). It will open ahead of Brad Pitt’s Jesse James movie and the Coen Brothers movie, No Country for Old Men. They wanted to be the first western to open this Fall. Lucky for us who will get to see Russell a whole month earlier! By the way, I noticed that Gretchen Mol is in his movie. I watched NOTORIOUS BETTY PAGE this past weekend and thought to myself that she should be getting more roles. She is not only beautiful but very talented…..and here she is in 3:10 to Yuma!

Well it looks like Kevin Spacey’s ‘retirement from movies’ didn’t last long. I read that Bryan Singer convinced him to do the new Superman: Man of Steel movie repising his Lex Luthor character. Of course, Bryan has several movies to direct before this happens. We probably won’t get to see the new Superman movie until 2009!

Kevin will also appear in TELSTAR which is the story of UK record producer, Joe Meek who was a ‘legend’ in England. Joe was a hit record producer. Con O’Neill will reprise his stage role as Joe. Kevin will play his financier, Major Banks. No Release Date as yet.
(For Jamie’s article on Joe Meek, click here!)

Katherine McPhee has been signed on not for one but two movies! The first is in an “Adam Sandler” produced movie on sorority girls (no title yet). It will start filming on July 23rd and will also star Rumor Willis!The other movie Kat will be in is entitled THE LAST CALLER. It is a dark comedy indie. Filming hasn’t begun on this one yet.

DVD RELEASES

Beauty and the Beast – The Second Season

Driving Lessons, Comedy/Drama – Made in the UK. Story about a young man (Harrry Potter’s Rupert Grint) brought up in a very straight-laced family who goes to work for a retired actress and he finds his true, inner self. They have adventures and he begins to enjoy himself for the first time in his life. (sounds like a remake of HAROLD AND MAUDE to me – but, then again, there are a lot of people out there who haven’t seen this movie so it could be worth a watch!)

The Astronaut Farmer – Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen (Bruce Willis in a small role) – Story about a guy who is an astronaut and has to give up his career to go home and take care of his father and the farm. Decides to build his own rocket to go to the moon. This, believe it or not, is a family-oriented movie and everyone will like it. Got good reviews!

Extras – Season Two

MOVIE REMAKES

If you liked Footloose years ago, you will be happy to know that Paramount is going to do a remake. Zac Efron (who is now in HAIRSPRAY) will play the Kevin Bacon role. (I’ve got to ‘throw’ this in. If you watched Will and Grace, didn’t you love the episode where Jack was stalking Kevin and Will was caught doing the Footloose dance and then did it with Kevin????) Of course, we all know that this is the movie that made Kevin a star. – No word yet on when filming will start.

THEATER RELEASES

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (I’m sure this will make MILLIONS at the box office this weekend!)

Talk To Me – Don Cheadle -
This will be in ‘limited’ release but it stars Don (and who doesn’t love Don!!!!) as a DJ in Washington, DC by the name of Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene. There’s a longgg explanation for this movie but suffice to say – it is funny, dramatic, inspiring and….real!

Captivity -
Starring Elisha (24) Cuthbert - this is a horror movie that has received a lot of controversy because of its violent content. They say that only ‘hard core’ horror fans should go see this one!

RUMORS/HAPPENINGS

Jonathan Silverman married Jennifer Finnigan in Greece on June 7. He recently appeared with is wife in her series, CLOSE TO HOME. He played Pete Durkin.

Are Meg Ryan and Matthew Perry canoodling? Seems they have gone from friendship to remance during their five month ‘hookup’. She’s 45; he’s 37 – I’m just sayin!

And last, but not least - THE QUEEN herself was involved in a documentary, “A Year In The Life” for BBC (which will be out later this year) and, famed photographer, Annie Liebowitz, asked that she remove her crown for a few pics saying, “It’s just too much for now.” The Queen stomped off muttering to herself that she had ‘had it’ with this nonsense. ALL caught on tape for your viewing pleasure the end of the year!!!

OK, well my hands hurt and your eyes must be killin’ ya so I’ll sign off for the weekend.

Hope you (and Robin Thicke) have a great weekend.

Talk to you next week.

Joanie

So You Think You Can Dance – Top 14 – 07/11/07

Hi Everyone:

Well it’s been a short while since Dance has been on (they must have been on vacation last week!) but we’re back on board. Here comes Cat. Tonight she has a pastel glitter number on with a Rachel Hunter kinda look! Actually, Rachel is probably as tall as Cat is. I saw her recently on a Vicar of Dibley episode and she’s gotta be 6′!

OK, tonight’s Judges are: Nigel, Mary and the guest judge is the director of the upcoming movie HAIRSPRAY, Adam Shankman.

The Judges talked (mostly Nigel) about letting Jessi go last week and, as much as they were sorry to see her depart, it is a competition and they felt that it was her time to leave. They were very happy to see that she was in good health.

All Right….with that said, let’s get started on tonight’s dance pairs:

First Up is Lacey and Kameron who danced a HUSTLE
This was choreographed by Maria Torres. Inner Life plays Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – They had some nice moves but I expected it to be a little bit faster pace. Lacey was great; Kameron struggled a bit. All in all though, they did a good job. Judges liked them.

Then came: Cedric and Shauna who danced a MAMBO
This was choreographed by Alex DaSilva – Danced a Tito Puente number.
I’m not a big Cedric fan because of his knocking off Jimmy and Ricky. He stumbled in the first half but picked it up the second half to impress the judges. I do see them in the Bottom 3 though.

Up Next was: Danny and Anja who danced a CONTEMPORARY number
This was choreographed by Tyce Diorio and it was a One Republic song.
They looked uncomfortable in this setting, I don’t know why. Danny leaps higher than anyone else I’ve seen but I just wasn’t moved by it. It wasn’t their ‘usual’ greatness. Judges loved them though…we’ll see what the public thinks.

Then we had: Sara and Pasha who danced a WEST COAST SWING
This was choreographed by last year’s winner…Benji Schwimmer (Lacey’s bro). Fatboy Slim song – I had never heard of this type of dance before so I was anxious to see it. Pasha was phenomanal and Sara looked good too. One of the best numbers of the night. Loved it when Pasha ’slid’ across the floor…that did it for me. Judges really liked it a lot too.

Up next was: Sabra and Dominic who danced a HIP HOP
This was choreographed by Shane Sparks (one of our former judges) and it was a NeYo song. – They did a good job. They certainly have come together as a pair and Dominic is more likable each week. Liked it as well as the Judges…especially Mary who did her “Tamale shout out” to them! (Sooo, Dominic has a crush on Cat! She betta watch out….)

After them we had: Jaimie and Hok who danced a WALTZ
This was choreographed by Toni Reopath and it was Sarah McLaughlin singing ANGEL. Now with that number you would think that they would blow away the competition but it just wasn’t there for them this week. Everyone loved their number a few weeks ago and I’m sure it would have been very hard to exceed that but they didn’t even come close. I hate to say it but I see them in the Bottom 3 this week. Too bad; they’re a great couple. The Judges were disappointed too.

And lastly we had: Neil and Lauren who danced a JAZZ number
This was choreographed by Wade Robson (tell me they didn’t LUCK OUT here!!!!) It was a Raisin Murphy song – Well they saved the best for last tonight because this couple was great. I guess if you luck out and get Wade to choreograph a number for you, then chances are you’re going to sail thru to the next round. This couple have really jelled together. Judges loved it too.

By the way, I thought Adam did a great job as the guest Judge tonight and I hope his movie HAIRSPRAY does well at the box office. He can count on me to go and see it!

McDonald’s commercial – Is that Paul Newman’s voice??? Driving me crazy!

Well let’s see who could be in the Bottom 3 tonight:

Cedric and Shauna
Hok and Jaimie
Danny and Anja

Who will go home is anyone’s guess but my money is on Cedric anyway.

Hillary Duff will be on tonight to sing STRANGER. I still see her as Lizzie McGuire!!!
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Quick comment on THE SINGING BEE with Joey Fatone.
Now we all know how much I love Joey so I was holding my breath that this would be a fun show and it is. The half hour went by really fast. The contestant that won definitely knew his songs and he won $50,000! Cool.
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One last thought, don’t you just love Robin Thicke?

Talk to you tomorrow.

Joanie