Weekend To Do/Rumors-News 02/01/08

Goodaye Everyone:

Hope you all had a good week.  This is Superbowl Weekend coming up and all of New England is pumped for the PATRIOTS to beat the NY Giants on Sunday night!!!!  Wonder how many people will miss work on Monday?

OK, let’s see what I can ‘dig up’ for you:

In Theaters

The Eye with Jessica Alba – I know I’ve seen something very similar to this years ago.  Hopefully it will be suspenseful.

Michael Clayton and Juno are back in theaters this weekend (Oscar push).

Cloverfield (got good reviews even though the ‘camera shaking’ may bother you)

27 Dresses – I’ve got a few friends who have seen this and enjoyed it.

Over My Dead Body – Eva Longoria Parker – This pic looks really lame.  And I like Eva on Desperate Housewives too!

On DVD

Bordertown, J. Lopez, A. Banderas, Martin Sheen – Drama, thriller

OK, it’s subtitles but it looks like a really good movie….

The Nines – Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Elle Fanning – Drama – This movie consists of 3 short films, each featuring the same actors in different and sometimes overlapping roles.  Got good reviews.

TV News

HBO – In Treatment – on 5 nights a week – 9:30PM for a 1/2 hour each night.  It stars Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects) as a therapist who has a session with a different patient each night.  Some of his patients are Melissa George (remember her from the cop series years ago that she was in with John Stamos – kinda like Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  Can’t figure out why they didn’t give it more of a chance!), Blair Underwood (just seen in Dirty, Sexy, Money), Josh Charles (6 ft. under), Embeth Davidtz and two others.  I have to admit that I watched the first 2 episodes last night (with Melissa George and Blair) and it was excellent.  Don’t think I could watch more than that a night and maybe every other night.  These people are pouring out deep, dark secrets for you to hear.  No flashbacks or other scenes.  Just one on one.  Great acting.  Also on ON DEMAND on Premium Channels to watch at your convenience.

STARZ is developing a series based on the Oscar Best Picture, CRASH, from a few years ago. 13 episodes have been filmed and it will be on later this year.

Celebrity Apprentice has been picked up for a second season.

CBS

A new cop series (13 episodes) has been ordered…name “Flashpoint”

It is about an elite Big City Response Unit (SRU).  It will start later this year on both CBS and CTV (Canada’s broadcast network).  It takes place in Toronto.

Movie News

The movie VANTAGE POINT will be promoted on both LOST and the Superbowl!  That must be costing the studio a fortune!  The film is due in theaters on February 22.  I have shown the trailer for this in an earlier blog.  It looks like a really intriguing movie about the assassination of the President. – Is he dead? – Alive? – An imposter? – Who shot him?

Gerard Butler (300 – PS I Love You) has joined Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses – Knocked Up) in a comedy about a battle of the sexes.  It’s called THE UGLY TRUTH and it is scheduled to start shooting in April.

NEWS

Ethan Hawke and his BFF are expecting.  He has two children with former wife, Uma Thurman.

Chloe (of 24) is preggers in real life.  Mary Lynn and her BFF are expecting this summer.

Chris Noth (L&O, Criminal Intent) and his BFF, Tara Wilson, welcomed a son, Orion Christopher on Jan. 18 in LA.

Daniel Baldwin and his wife, Joanne Smith-Baldwin have a new daughter, Avis Ann, born on Jan. 17 in LA.

There’s GOTTA be something in the water in LaLa Land!  Soooo many babies.  Next will be J Lo, then Halle; this summer – Nicole, Gwen and I wouldn’t doubt if Gwyneth had an announcement soon that she was going to have a third child!!!  I realize some are not conceived in LA but it just seems like a lot of babies in the last few months!!!

Keifer has finished his 48 days in jail.  He now has to wait for the WGA strike to end before going back to work for the next season of “24″.  “Be careful Keifer….no partying now!!!”

Seems the ‘angioplasty’ that Paul McCartney was reported to have had is a FALSE statement.  Paul says he had a slight medical problem a year ago and it was taken care of.  He’s just fine now and looking forward to 2008!!!

Christian Brando, 49, son of Marlon died last Saturday after dealing with pneumonia.  Christian had a pretty tragic existence when he killed his half sister Cheyenne’s boyfriend, Dag Drollet back in 1990.  He plead guilty to manslaughter.  (His dad took the stand in his behalf, even crying at one point but it didn’t save Christian from doing time).  He was never the same after that.  Poor Cheyenne committed suicide and that plagued him the rest of his life.  Very sad.  I wonder how the rest of Marlon’s children wound up?  He had about 9 of them I believe.

New Kids on The Block are getting back together!  (I remember years ago when they were so popular.  My neice was in LOVE with Joey McIntyre and used to beg my sister to take her in to Dorchester (Pam lives in Woburn) to a little variety store where she was told that Joey ’sometimes’ goes to!!!!  My poor sister; she was a trooper though.)

Norah Jones is taking most of 2008 off.  She worked very hard last year promoting her CD, going out on tour, and made her movie debut in My Blueberry Nights.  Smart girl to just kick back and relax.

60 Minute Reporter Mike Wallace had triple bypass surgery last week.  Doctors say the 89!! year old’s operation was a great success.

Well, I guess that’s it for this week.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

GO PATRIOTS!!!!

Talk to you next week.  Joanie

AI Week 3 – Auditions 5 & 6, 01/29-30/08

Hi Everyone:

Just heard that Britney was taken away by ambulance last night with the police following.  She went to UCLA Medical Center.  After Monday night’s breakdown I think she was ready to sign herself in.  Let’s hope she finds the strength to stay there, get better, and be allowed to see her sons again.  Also….”Brit, get the paparazzi away from you!”

OK, that said:  (I’ll do more on my Weekend To Do blog) let’s review the last two nights of AI:

Tuesday, Jan. 29th in Omaha, Nebraska – over 10K hopefuls waited in line.

Paula’s plane was late getting in so Simon and Randy did some of the judging.  Simon was ‘hitting’ on Randy.  For ex: “Randy I like those purple sunglasses!” etc.

First up was Chris, 25 – gay as they come.  Brought gifts for the judges.  However, it did him no good.  He had no voice.  Simon DID like his personality though and asked which Fox affiliate was in Omaha.  He told Chris to get ahold of the manager because he wanted to see him on the “red carpet” from the Fox station in his area.  If there was any problem, he said to contact him and he would take care of it.  Chris was on Cloud 9; leaping and jumping all over the place.  He was soooo happy.

No sign of Paula yet.

Jason – 21 from Iowa – NO!

They then did a bit on a group of people all trying to sing the same song and they ALL “Forgot The Lyrics”.  It was pitiful.

Then came Rachel, 23 who’s an arm wrestler.  She was beating everyone (ohhhh, here comes Paula – not looking too well either!)  She had a good voice too and they voted her thru to Hollywood

Sarah, this girl is a lady wrestler in the ring.  Mighty scary in goth clothing and makeup.  Unfortunately she had no voice….NO

OK, Simon said, “You think you can do this Ryan…come on over and sit in for Paula and you’ll see how difficult it is.”  Of course Ryan had to zing him back by saying, “Oh good.  I’ll see how little work you do for all the money you’re raking in!”

Up comes Samantha, 22 who ‘imitates’ Norah Jones – she was good but what else can she do?  Ryan says “Yes” and they thru him out and the other 3 voted her in for Hollywood.

Then came a few Yes’s   Elizabeth, Denise, Michael, Angelica

Showed a few seconds of Chris Daughtry singing.

Then came David Cook, 24 (who hopes to be the rocker this year)  YES

Johnny in the Gold Lame Jacket who sang(?) SHOUT – Awful – GO HOME

Now Paula’s got the hiccups!

Another group sang, “Stuck in the Middle With You” (all I can think of is that scene from Reservoir Dogs with Michael Madsen when I hear this song!) – They’re alllll bad.

Last for Day One is Leo, 23.  He said his mom was hoping one of her daughters would be Homecoming Queen.  Little did she know it would be HIM!  He was funny AND had a good voice.  YES

19 OKs for the day….now on to Miami

Beautiful Miami where we had another 10K people dying to be the next American Idol.  They were all singing Gloria Estafen’s song, “Rhythm is gonna get you”  It was fun.  They did a little Miami Vice theme too.

Hey, there’s Rueben Stoddard who has lost 85 lbs. and is going to help out this season on AI.  He is also rehearsing to be in the musical, Ain’t Misbehavin’.  He looks good.

Here comes Paula in a VERY short leopard dress(?) and high red heels.  Simon says, “Don’t you think that dress is a little short Paula?  You look like a slut!”  Randy thought she looked cute.  The dress WAS short.  Anyway, she certainly wasn’t ‘all there’ in Miami!  Shouldn’t comment too much on this though because at least she knew where they were.  Unlike Randy and Simon who had no idea where they were!

OK, first up is Sharon, 18 who works in her folks meat company.  She’s desperate to go to Hollywood.  Unfortunately, she has no talent.  She sings a Janis Joplin song and Simon says, “Ya know I had a very late night last night and that piercing sound is giving me a headache.”  They all ask if anyone has EVER told her she has no voice and, of course, her answer is NO!!!!  Bye bye Sharon

Next came Robbie, 25 who is a ‘rocker type’ – Good voice – YES.  It was funny, when he walked out of the room with the yellow piece of paper, his family and friends sprayed him with silly string….it was cute!

Ghalib, 27 – YES   He had really nice eyes and reminded me of Antonio Banderas…just not as cute!  He kissed EVERYONE on the way out.

Simon asked someone to check Paula’s “cup”!

Then came two rather large girls who were BFF.  One loved Randy and one loved Simon.  Corliss, 20 sang “Take Five” for Randy.  He dug it.

Britney was terrific and do you think I can remember the song she sang?  We were all singing it too.  Anyway they have great personalities as well as good voices so it was YES for both.  One could be the Mandisa of S7!

When they left, Simon said, “Both doors!”  Not very nice.

Then came Suzanne, 21 who is a single mom.  Very nice voice and beautiful eyes.  YES

Ramela, 19 YES (even though Simon said she reminded him of a singer in a hotel lounge!)  By the way, Ramela’s ‘idol’ was Jasmine Lewis from a few seasons ago.  Ramela wants to be the first Asian to win AI.  Boy is she tiny!!!!

Day Two in Miami

Syesha, 20   YES Natasha, 29  YES    Ilsy, 28 YES (she sang At Last by Etta James and was terrific!!!)

Ben, 26 – a whole lot of NO here

Julie, 16 – OK, this girl had appeared in a show called American Juniors when she was 12 and thought she was going to slide right thru to Hollywood (she came from New Hampshire, by the way).  What an obnoxious, self-centered, confident little darlin’ this one was!  Unfortunately she did NOTHING for the judges and they all voted NO but told her she should go to Hollywood and become an actress.  She had it all, beauty, confidence, ego…etc.!  Julie was NOT a happy camper and wouldn’t take NO for an answer.  I thought they’d have to have her escorted out!!!

She was one who talked to the camera the whole way out of the building.  She looked right in the camera and said, “DON’T watch AI!!!”

Brandon, 20 – This guy was horrendous – He was making Simon nauseous to the point where he wanted/screamed to “Get him out of here!!!!”

All in all 27 Yes’s for Miami – next week we’re on to Atlanta, GA

Talk to you then, Joanie

Last Weekend – 01/29/08

Hi Everyone:

I thought I’d do a quick recap of my ‘exciting’ weekend!

Watched Garth Brooks’s special.  He was awesome!

Watched the figure skating.  Love Tanith and Ben who won the dance competition.  It was amazing that Evan and Johnny were TIED for first place!  Scott Hamilton explained, “It’s like when you toss the coin at a football game and it winds up standing up!  IMPOSSIBLE!!! Yet this happened.”  Felt very badly for Kimmie Miesner.  Hopefully she’ll do better next time around.

Watched TORCHWOOD on Saturday night.  It was excellent.  It will repeat this coming Saturday night at 9 on BBC (chanel 241 on Comcast) and a new one will be on at 9PM.  Give it a shot.  I bet you’ll like it too.

On Sunday we had snow so I stayed home and watched A MIGHTY HEART again.  I still can’t believe Angie wasn’t nominated for an Oscar.  (by the way….is she preggers????  I saw her on the SAG awards and she was wearing a “J Lo” type of dress, her boobies were bigger and she was glowing…????).  On Sunday night I taped Masterpiece Theatre (Jane Austen story) and the SAG Awards and watched The Russell Girl on channel 4.  It was wonderful.  Amber Tamblyn is such a good actress.  I was so disappointed when they took Joan of Arcadia off the air.  I remember Amber when she started her career playing Emily Quartermaine on ‘my’ soap, General Hospital.  She’s turned out to be a beautiful and talented woman.

HBO – Just wanted to let you know that they started a new series this week.  It is called IN TREATMENT and stars Gabriel Byrne as a therapist.  It is on 5 nights a week at 9:30 each night.  (you can also watch it On Demand any time).

OK, SAG Award winners (I’ll just give you the winners and forget who else was nominated…after all, they lost!!!)

FILM

Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Pic:     No Country for Old Men

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor:         Daniel Day Lewis

   Daniel gave a very moving acceptance speech and dedicated his award to Heath Ledger.  Daniel doesn’t do many pics any more.  He’s content to stay home with his family (in Ireland, I believe) but when he does decide to do a pic, it’s usually a terrific performance.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor:     Julie Christie (who gave a heartwarming speech.  Can’t believe she’s been off the radar all these years) She had a ’shoutout’ for the Writers’ Union too.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Javier Bardem – now here’s guy who’s actually handsome when not in character.  He was very humble in his acceptance speech and grateful to the Coen Brothers for convincing him to take the role and also taking a chance since he’s Spanish.  He did a great job.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Ruby Dee – God love Ruby.  She’s been around forever.  She and her late husband, Ossie Davis did a lot of stagework over the years.  This was her first nomination and win.  She was very touched by the audience’s reaction (personally, I think she’s got the Oscar locked).  American Gangster was a pleasure to work on and it brought her back to where she grew up…same streets, etc.

Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Pic:  The Bourne Ultimatum

TV

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in Drama:  James Gandolfini

Outstanding Perf. by a Female Actor in a Drama:  Edie Falco

Outstanding Perf. by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series:  Alec Baldwin

Outstanding Perf. by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series;  Tina Fey

Outstanding Perf. by an Ensemble – Drama:  The Sopranos

Outstanding Perf. by an Ensemble – Comedy:  The Office

Outstanding Perf. by a Male Actor in a TV Pic or Miniseries:  Kevin Kline

Outstanding…..Female:  Queen Latifiah

Stunt Ensemble for a TV Series:  24

Lifetime Achievement Award went to Charles Durning.  This was so wonderful and interesting.  The man is in his 80s and still has it!  Denis Leary came out to pay tribute to him.  They then showed a retrospective of his career and spoke about his service in WWII and how he was the only man left of his squad in Normandy.  He’s the most decorated, living actor in a war.  It was Audie Murphy who previously held that distinguished  record. Audie has since passed.  Burt Reynolds then came out to talk about the wonderful times he had with Charlie and then Charlie got up to speak.  He was very grateful to the SAG people.  He never writes anything down; it’s all from the ‘cuff’.  Very funny man.  It shows you what perseverance he had.  He was told time and time again that he didn’t have it to be an actor and still he plodded ahead.

OK, that’s it for now.  AI is on tonight and tomorrow night with more crazies!!!  I’ll do my review on Thursday.

Take care.  Joanie

Weekend To Do – News/Rumors 01/24/08

Goodaye Everyone:

Well it’s been quite a sad week for us.  Heath Ledger was a terrific actor and I think his rendition of The Joker in Batman, The Dark Knight will be one we won’t soon forget.

I first remember seeing Heath in the 1999 movie, Ten Things I Hate About You, which was another rendition of The Taming Of The Shrew – with a teen spin.  He was terrific in it.  I then saw him in The Patriot and he was wonderful playing Mel Gibson’s son.  Mel, by the way, was very sad to hear of Heath’s passing.  He, like many others, felt Heath was a good guy who had a lot of talent.  Heck, at 28, he had many, many years of good pics ahead of him.  I read an article earlier this week that said, “One thing that Heath wanted more than anything was to reach mid-age and spend time with his grown daughter.”  He adored Matilda (named for the Australian song) Rose.  I, myself, feel that the breakup with Michelle, Matilda’s mom, last September left him in a deep depression.  We don’t know why they broke up….it’s none of our business…but my heart goes out to Michelle because now she will have to bring up Matilda, who is 2, without truly knowing her dad.

Heath was in the midst of making a Terry Gilliam (Monty Python) pic, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.  Christopher Plummer, who was filming the movie along side Heath said that there were a lot of long days and nights in frigid weather and Heath never complained.  He even did most of his own stunts.  He did have a terrible cold that was hard to shake though.  Poor Terry is left now with a $30M pic with much work to be done and nothing but questions on how to accomplish it.  Terry had a problem years ago with a movie called, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” starring Johnny Depp.  Weather and budget were factors in closing down that pic.

I’m not going into autopsy results, etc.  Nothing but speculation.  We’ll miss you Heath.  God Bless.

TV NEWS

Showtime:  More BROTHERHOOD!  A third season has been contracted.  Eight more episodes will be made.  The show will continue to be filmed in Providence, RI.  No Date on when it will resume shooting.

BBC:  Torchwood is back this Saturday, Jan. 26th at 9PM for another season!!!  Can’t stress this enough cause it’s a really good show.

The Moment of Truth – You’ve gotta be kidding.  I watched all of 15 minutes of this the other night and had to turn it off.  Imagine hooking yourself up to a lie detector and telling millions of people your most private thoughts…not to mention, embarrassing questions that could bring down a marriage in more ways than one….No Thank You

By the way, on a side note, I watched CELEBRITY APPRENTICE last week and found it amusing…think I’ll give it another shot this week!!!

IN THEATERS

Rambo (puhleez!)

Untraceable (looks good)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (LTD)

The Air I Breathe

ON DVD

The Game Plan (for kids)

The Hunting Party (with Richard Gere)

Saw IV (Director’s cut)

Torchwood, The Complete First Series

NEWS

Scott Hamilton (Olympic Skating Champ) and his wife Tracie welcomed a second son, Maxx.  He weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz., 20″ lg.  Maxx has a four year older brother, Aidan.  Scott and Tracie live in Nashville, TN

Tom (Brady) and Giselle (Bunchen) were partying at BUTTER in NYC on Monday night (sans cast!).  Two tables down from them was Giselle’s former BFF, Leo DiCaprio.  It might be noted that Leo never looked up the whole time they were there…just kept text messaging.

Just heard that Beyonce will do a duet with her idol, Tina Turner at the Grammy Awards show on Feb. 10th.  They’ll probably open the show.

Also just read that Beyonce rented a ‘house’ for $250K in AZ for the Superbowl!!!!  Must be nice.

The WGA and AMPTP are resuming talks and I guess the Writers’ are revising one of their demands in the contract they are fighting for.  The SAG Awards will go on uninterrupted so that could be THE awards show of the season!

RUMOR

Denise Richards has partnered with Ryan Seacrest to do a reality series with her two daughters with Charlie Sheen.  Concept is:  How to cope after a divorce, how to bring up children on your own.  -  Charlie says, “Not on my watch you won’t!”  Expect a court fight over this one.

Britney, Britney, Britney….we need not go there!

I guess it’s a short “Weekend” this week.  Still feeling very sad.

Take care and we’ll talk again next week.  Joanie

AI Auditions – Week 2 – 01/22,23

Hi Everyone:

Is it just me or is Season 7 auditions boring?  OK, there are a few that stand alone but, as for the rest, it feels like a waste of time.  Just imagine how the Judges feel???

2nd Week – Day 1 in San Diego

12K people auditioned

1.  Tatiana, 24 YES (even though Simon found her obnoxious)

2.  Perry, 27 He’s a single dad whose wife died a while ago.  Really cute boy, 4 years old.  YES – this guy is good

3  Michael, 28 from Australia – Sounded good to me….YES

4.  Then it started to go wayyy down hill:

     Marat, 22 NO           Chris, 19, NO               Tehilla, 19 NO

    Valerie, 20 NO  (she thought she was Mariah Carey…not)

Commercial:  Ya know, I’m not a big Bill O’Reilly fan but I bounced to his station and he was talking about the Oscar noms for Best Pic.  This is what he had to say:

Atonement – too depressing – don’t care to see it

No Country For Old Men – the first 3/4 was good, then it won’t downhill

There Will Be Blood – Daniel Day Lewis will probably win for Best Actor but 2 hrs. and 40 minutes of OIL is a bit much for me

Michael Clayton – wasn’t interested in that one

Juno – really good movie

Then Bill said something that will ‘endear’ me to him from now on:  The Best Pic of last year was AMERICAN GANGSTER.  Unfortunately, they glorified Frank Lucas’s life as a drug lord and Denzel or Russell weren’t called on for their terrific performances plus the movie was great.

You Go Bill!!!!

Back to the ‘painful’ auditions:

Monique, 24  NO     Christopher, 22,  NO  Neither one would leave.  I think that is going to be the big ‘theme’/catchphrase this Season.  Last year, it was “Other Door”; this year it’s, “Guys, take this person to a safe place.”

And, last but not least, for Day One is Samantha, 20  A big YES.  She and her sis both LOVE Simon and sis was sitting next to Simon while Sam sang.  It should be fun in Hollywood!!!!

DAY TWO

Surfed stations again and caught this guy who said that, as of this moment, we have 19B in credit card debt and 14B in mortgage debt.  Cheerful way to start the night!

OK, let’s see if we can find anyone tonight:

1.  Blake (he’s auditioned almost every Season), 22 NO  His mom says she wants this more than he does.  It was his 11th audition.  Hang it up Blake!!!  Get yourself a day job.

2.  Sarah, 24 – Simon called her the ‘female’ William Hung!    NOOOO

3.  Alberto – OK, this guy was just plain scary.  He had a HUGE fan that said ‘biggest AI Fan”, puhleez.  The fingernails were pretty scary too.  He was just plain awful.  Paula must be going for the gay audience cause she wanted him to sing another song.  Simon went crazy, “PAULA, give it up.”

4.  Aaron, 28 – “Leave Me Alone!”  terrible – NO

5.  David, 16, had a problem a few years back with a vocal cord but he did well enough to be chosen to go to Hollywood

Oh, here’s another catchphrase for the season…Randy’s “100M % YES”

6.  Carley, 23 from Ireland – nice voice, (tattoos on her arm; hubby all over)   YES

31 Yes’s for the 2 days.

Then we went to Charleston, SC where 10K people were hopeful of becoming the next AI.

1.  Rasharde who thought of himself as the black Clay Aiken…..NO

2.  Deanna, 27  NO

3.  Crystal, 26 and Randy, 27 who met on the AI blog and couldn’t keep their hands off one another….no voices though.  NOOO

4.  Michelle, 26   YES  and her bro Jeffrey, 24 also a YES  (there was a bit of discussion among the judges cause Paula was Yes on Jeffrey but No on Michelle.  Simon said, “Paula, you can’t separate these 2.  It’s YES for both.”

(While all of this was going on, I flipped to Deal or No Deal where they had ‘8′ Million $ slots.  The girl finally…in the end….took $470K..big payout)

5.  Amy, 16 – chearleader – This girl had a good voice and was VERY confident of herself.  She was also ‘celibate’ and was preaching her convictions to the Judges.  They gave her a YES (reluctant for Simon who thought she was annoying).  They all wanted her to talk to Ryan about celibacy though!!!  (she reminded me of the Gordon girl of a few seasons ago whose big song was God Bless The Child.  She also was obnoxious but she hung in there until like the last 14 or so).

6.  London, 24 – she took care of her father when he was dying of cancer.  Lovely voice.  A big YES from the Judges.

Day Two

Lindsey, 28 – this girl is in the Air Force and flies jets!  No voice though.

Aretha, 22  NO…..but she won’t leave the stage    Go Home Aretha….

Joshua, 20 – Oh My God  This guy sang Jennifer Hudson’s song, “I Am Telling You” and was just plain awful!!!  He kept singing and singing…..

Oliver – this guy came with his wife who went into labor while they were in line.  He rushed her to the hospital and then came back later to audition WITH his wife and new baby girl, Emma Grace.  Unfortunately Oliver missed just by a little bit.  I thought he was good.

23 in total were chosen in Charleston.  Next week we’re on to Omaha, NE.  Let’s hope we see more YES’s than NO’s there!!!!

Talk to you then.  Joanie

A Few “New” Thoughts – 01-22-08

Hi Everyone:

I was going to leave this for the end of the week but let me just say, that I am NOW offiicially thru with Carrie Ann and Bruno – Dance War.  What a lameless, disappointing 90 minutes last night’s show was!  The only good performances, in my estimation, were Elizabeth and Zack; the rest just fell by the wayside.  They’ll definitely have to ‘kick it up’ a notch for next week; for those of you who are still around to watch!!!

OSCAR NOMINATIONS:

Just thought I’d throw these out to you.  Just read them.

Here we go:

Best Picture

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

My pic:       JUNO – upset!!!  (great pic)

Best Actor

George Clooney, Michael Clayton

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd

Tommy Lee Jones, In The Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

No Denzel???? For American Gangster

     A few surprises here (Tommy/Viggo).  My pic:  Johnny Depp!!!!

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth, The Golden Age

Julie Christie, Away from Her

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Laura Linney, The Savages

Ellen Page, Juno

   Another surpise (Laura), still I think it will be another upset:  Ellen Page!!

or, for old times’ sake:  Julie Christie

Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James…

Javier Bardem No Country for Old Men

Hal Holbrook, Into The Wild

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War

Tom Wilkinson, Michael Claytor

   My pic:  I’m torn between Casey and Tom; either one is good for me.

Best Supporting Actress:

Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There (she’s becoming the ‘new’ Meryl Streep!)

Ruby Dee, American Gangster

Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

     My pic:  Let’s give it to Ruby Dee who, in her 80s, is still a wonderful actress!  – glad to see the nom for Amy Ryan

Best Director:

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jason Reitman, Juno

Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will be Blood

  No Ridley Scott for American Gangster??

     More surprises here:  My pic – Once again, upset, Jason Reitman!!!

Best Original Screenplay:

Diable Cody, Juno

Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl

Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Christopher Hampton, Atonement

Sarah Polley, Away from Her

Ronald Hardwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

As you know, there’s more but those are the ‘biggies’.  I was surprised that there weren’t more noms for Atonement (Kiera/James?).  Anyway, I’m sure I’ll have more to say once I’ve digested the list of nominations.

Talk to you soon.  Joanie

Weekend To Do/Rumors-News 01/17/08

Hi Everybody:

There’s lots to talk about this week so let’s get started:

First, let’s do the BAFTA Award Nominees (these are the British Oscars)

1.  Best Pic

    Atonement

   American Gangster

   The Lives of Others

   No Country For Old Men

   There Will Be Blood

2.  Best British Film

   Atonement

   The Bourne Ultimatum

   Control

   Eastern Promises

   This Is England

3.  Best Director

   Joe Wright – Atonement

   Paul Greengrass – The Bourne Ultimatum

   Florian Henckel – The Lives of Others

   Joe/Ethan Coen – No Country For Old Men

   Paul Anderson – There Will Be Blood

4.  Best Leading Actor

   George Clooney – Michael Clayton

   Daniel Day Lewis – There Will Be Blood

   James McAvoy – Atonement

   Viggo Mortenson – Eastern Promises

   Ulrich Muhe – The Lives of Others

5.  Best Leading Actress

   Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth, The Golden Age

   Julie Christie – Away From Her

   Marion Coultiard – LaVien Rose

   Kiera Knightley – Atonement

   Ellen Page – Juno

6.  Best Supporting Actor

   Javier Bardem – No Country

   Paul Dano – There Will Be Blood

   Tommy Lee Jones – No Country

   Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War

   Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

7.  Best Supporting Actress

   Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There

   Kelly McDonald – No Country

   Samantha Morton – Control

   Saoinse Ronan – Atonement

   Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Those are the major awards anyway.  Gives you an idea of what the British think….

In Theaters

27 Dresses

Cloverfield

Mad Money

Cassandra’s Dream (ltd)

Also, Untraceable will be out Jan. 22 and looks wicked scary!

On DVD

Good Luck Chuck (Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Dan Fogler)

Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob)

Extras - The Complete Series

New Babies

Christina and hubby Jordan Bratman have welcomed a son, Max Linon Bratman on Sat., Jan. 12 at 10:05PM, 6 lbs. 2 ozs. and 20.5″ long.

Nicole Richie and BGG Joel Madden have welcomed daughter, Harlow Water Kate Madden on Fri, Jan 11.

Courtney Thorne-Smith and hubby Roger Fishman welcomed son, Jacob Emerson Fishman on Fri, Jan. 11th.

David Allen Grier’s wife made him a proud papa for the 1st time at 51!

Kimberly Williams (Father of the Bride movies) and Brad Paisley became parents for the first time to healthy baby boy.

David Spade???? – who knows

Matthew McConnaghey – and here we thought all this time that he was gay! Looks like he’s just proven us wrong.  He and his BFF, Camilla Alves are expecting in 6 months….

TV News

The Bachelorette will be coming back to ABC in March….we now know how desperate the stations are to fill our airwaves!

FOX has OK’d a new series called, “Inseparable” from Invasion creator, Shaun Cassidy and ABC Studios.  This is a modern day Jekyll/Hyde take about a partially paralyzed forensic psychiatrist with a split personality whose alter ego is a charismatic criminal.  This series was first developed in the ‘03/04 season at CBS thru Universal.  The WGA strike has caused the show to stop a rewrite by Cassidy.  FOX is moving forward with the casting though.

The Real Housewives of the OC are going to have another group in NYC.  On BRAVO, 3/9.

BBC – Torchwood will start it’s new season on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 9PM.  If you have this station…watch it.  It’s cool and, guess what, all you Buffy lover’s out there will be glad to see that “Spike”, James Marsters, will be part of the new season.

Movie News

The WGA has reached an ‘interim’ agreement with Spyglass and Media Rights Capital.  This ,as the Writers’ Strike enters it’s 11th week with no end in sight.  This is the same deal as the Weinsteins, UA and Worldwide Pants  which allows production to start up again and, when the strike is finally over, they willl ALL honor the contract drummed up by all.

Chris Nolan, director of Batman, The Dark Knight, says that tragic figure, Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) is the backbone of the movie.  You shouldn’t expect a lot of laughs from this one.  Due Out:  July 18

Looks like Will’s son, Jayden Smith (who was with him in Happyness) has been cast in the new version of The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Jennifer Connolly as his stepmother, Keanu Reeves as Kaoutu and Kathy Bates as well as new Golden Globe winner, Jon Hamm (Mad Men).  Shooting has started on this film.

Christian Bale has joined Johnny Depp in Michael Mann’s movie, Public Enemies.  Bale will play Melvin Purvis, the legendary FBI agent who caught, John Dillinger (Depp).  Production is slated to start in March.

This just in…production has come to a grinding halt on THE JUSTICE LEAGUE new movie.  Seems like WB let the options lapse on the young actors set to play the League.  With the WGA strike going on, who knows if and when this movie will ever take place.  WB said they are hopeful.

News

Looks like the Eddie Murphy/Tracy Edmonds marriage is OVAH!  It lasted 2 weeks.  Since it took place in Bora, Bora, it is not legal.  Rumor has it from the minute they married they fought for a week….THIS IS CALLED MARRIAGE PEOPLE!!!!

Sad news, figure skating champion, Christopher (the Showman) Bowman is dead at 40.  How sad.  Chris came in 7th in the ‘88 Olympics and just missed the podium coming in 4th at the ‘92 Olympics.  I wonder if his life would have been any different if he had won that Bronze medal?  Chris was always so much fun to watch.  He got on that ice and never met a camera he didn’t like.  He’d wink and wave, etc.  Very sad.

Also, another sad death to report.  Brad Renfro, only 25, is dead.  Brad was discovered at the age of 12 for the movie, The Client with Susan Sarandon.  He struggled (as Chris Bowman did) with drugs and alcohol for years.  Brad had just finished a movie with Wynona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton.

And lastly….just a thought for you AI fans…Kat McPhee, Taylor Hicks and Rueben Stoddard have all been dropped by RCA records.  I guess winning or coming in 2nd, does not always guarantee you a career!!!  I have to admit that Chris Daughtry has done well for himself but has copped an attitude with AI that’s not pleasant.

Have a great weekend everyone….GO NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS who are now 17-0 (best season EVAH for any football team!!!!)

Joanie

AI – Week One – Philly/Dallas

Goodaye Everyone:

Wellll, they’re baaaaacccckkkk!!!  OK, Simon looks like he’s taken off some weight but still has the tight T shirts to show his nipples!  What’s with Randy and the ‘Elvis’ sideburns?  Other than that he looks good.  And Paula, well what can anyone say about Paula…she’s the same head in the clouds, kind hearted gal she’s always been.  Ryan is still gay…..

OK, first night it was Philadelphia and boy did we see some strange people.  I won’t copy all my notes on everyone that auditioned, just the highlights.

1.  Joey Catalano, 19 who has lost 200 lbs. in the past year.  Not an Idol ‘looker’ but a very good voice….YES

2.  Melanie, 26 – YES

3.  James Lewis, 22 – Sang GO DOWN MOSES and I thought Randy and Paula would fall off their seats.  OMG was this guy funny or what, not that he meant to be.  A definite NO.

(By the way, the SAG Awards will take place as planned on TNT, Jan. 27th)

Commercial:  VANTAGE POINT  we did a trailer on this a while back.  Looks really good…Opens 2/22..

4.  Jose, 23 YES (guess I liked him cause I had it in caps!)

5.  Temptress, 16 – now this was a ‘big’ girl and she was doing this for her mom who is also a very big person and is confined to a wheelchair and needs oxygen to breathe.  Temptress was a lovely girl but had no voice.  When they told her NO, she was devastated cause she didn’t want to go out there and disappoint her mom.  Randy and Paula gave her a group hug and then all 3 went out with Temptress and told her mom what a wonderful daughter she had but just wasn’t ready for AI.  Nice moment.

6. Oudi, 28 – God No….he sang the same note thru the whole song.

They then did a segment where a bunch of them tried to sing I Love Rock and Roll….sad.

7. Alexis, 23 Now this was a strange gal.  She had been told she sang like Janis Joplin or Pat Benatar….not.  She had wild eye makeup too.  Anyway, she was very nice UNTIL they told her NO!, when she walked out the door she became a crazy woman.  Screaming about Simon, giving him the finger, etc.  Her grandmother and grandfather were with her and tried to calm her down….no such luck!

(jumped on to The Biggest Loser.  Boy they have to do some tough stuff)

One Tree Hill is back….dropped watching it after the first season.

8.  Angela, 26.  Her daughter has “Retts?” syndrome and is doing all of this for her.  Beautiful voice.  Glad to see that she got a resounding YES

Here’s a strange quote from Simon…”If someone close to me has something good happen to them, I find it very hard to ‘celebrate’ with them.  This country loves to celebrate each other…I can’t see being happy for anyone I know who gets GOOD NEWS”  OK, Simon.  Well, we know a little bit more of your ‘inner feelings’….for what they’re worth.

More terrible contestants…

Day 2 in Philly

1.  Milo – OK, talk about strange.  This guy (who’s 39!) comes in and sings this atrocious song, No Sex Allowed and they actually let him sing the whole song…then Simon threw him out.

2. Christie Lee Cook, 23 – this gal is a ‘cage fighter’ as well as trains horses.  She sold a special one to come on the show and audition.  She may be able to get it back cause she was GOOD.  A big YES!

Breaking News:  Mitt Romney takes Michigan…that’s a shocker!!!

3.  Now here’s another strange one for ya….Ben, 27.  This guy walks in looking like a Pharoah type guy with the whole costume.  Paula says you should get the hair removed off your body and come back.  Simon says why should he do that?  Why are we even bothering?  Sooo, the guy gets the hair waxed off of him (and it looks mighty painful), comes back, opens his mouth and gets like 3 notes out and Simon says, NO!  please leave.  He felt very uncomfortable with this guy….

4.  Paul, 32 – Here’s another strange one.  He wrote a song for Paula and talk about a STALKER…this guy was creepy.  He kept coming closer and closer to the desk and Simon was really getting nervous.  Finally he said, GO and the guy wouldn’t leave so they had to ‘escort’ him out the door…

5.  Beth, 28 – Yes but barely

Commercial:  Who in the world would want to sign up for this new show called MOMENT OF TRUTH where they hook you up to a lie detector?  Very weird…of course people will watch it!

Trailer for Cloverfield:  Looks scary.

6.  Christine, 24 OK, another weird one.  This gal came in dressed as a sex kitten Princess Lea.  No looks and no voice.  Bye, Bye (Simon says, as she walks out the door, “Give my love to the Wookies(?)”

7.  Brooke White, 24 – Simon loved her…tries to seduce her!  No, no Simon…Good voice though.  A resounding YES from the Judges.

So, all in all, 29 went thru in Philadelphia…out of thousands.

On to Dallas

13K auditioned in Dallas, the home of Kelly Clarkson and boy did we hear a lot of her songs.  In fact, one of them was sung so much that Simon said that he now offically HATES it.

Someone delivered a baby while waiting to audition too!  That was fun.

Let’s get started.

1.  Jessica Brown, 24 – a big YES

2.  Alaina, from Tulsa, OK – Must have had a good voice…YES

Some terrible ones.

Switched on to Deal or No Deal and there was Ellen DeGeneres.  She’s so funny.  The woman had 6 chances to win a million…lost all of them in the end and wound up with about $37K.  Too bad.

Giants/Packer – NFC title – the ‘other’ Manning brother.  This coming weekend.

3.  Bruce, 19 Here’s another strange one.  He came with his father who has a necklace with a heart on it.  Bruce has one with a key.  Story is that WHEN Bruce finds the woman for him, he will give her the heart necklace and KISS her on his wedding day….talk about off the wall.  Did NOT pick him to go forward.  They DO want him to start kissing some girls though.

4.  Pia, 24 nice voice YES

5.  Brandon, 21 Yes (this guy may be the one who looked kinda geeky but was very nice…had a great smile)

6,  Kayla, 24 – this girl was in a terrible car accident and lost the sight of one eye.  She has a wonderful positive attitude and the Judges loved her.  They were hesitant in letting her go thru (Simon was insistant on a YES) and they finally agreed.

More terrible songsters

7.  Kady, 18 – I got a WOW here so I’m guessin she was good YES

8.  Douglas – this guy was absolutely insane.  He would NOT leave.  Had absolutely not a shred of talent.  Simon finally had him ‘escorted’ out.

9.  Angela, 24 beautiful girl, newlywed..to a model who is also gorgeous.  Sad thing is she had no voice.  Hubby thought so which is a good thing.

10.  Colton Swan 18, from OK.  This guy is a real cutie and can sing YES

Commercial with Jimmy Durante singing “Make Someone Happy” talk about a guy with no voice that didn’t stop him!!!

11.  Drew, 24 – this kid is a farmer and it showed him on his farm where he lives with his family.  He’s adorable and sounds kinda like George Strait.  The Judges were mixed but finally said YES.  Think they made a good choice.  He reminded me of the little kid (was it last year?) who always wore the cowboy hat.  Didn’t get past the group round though.

12.  Nina, 24 – another pretty girl – yes

13.  OK, we now have the William Hung of Season 7!!!  Renaldo, 44 who came in dressed like a bird with Simon on his hat.  He wrote a song called I Am Your Brother (or something like that) and they allllll sang it again and again and again.  They even brought Ryan in to join in with the singing.  They then gave Renaldo a group hug and told him to ‘get a life’ or something like that…..

All in all, 24 went thru in Dallas, out of 13K…kinda makes you wonder where the talent is???

Next week the Judges are in San Diego.  Maybe there they will find the next Idol.  One could only dream…..

Talk to you then, Joanie

Golden Globe Winners & Bruno and Carrie Ann 01-15-08

Goodaye Everyone:

Thought I’d send this off today.  Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I know I did….the New England Patriots are now 17-0…bring on the Chargers!

Let’s do some Golden Globe Winners first.  Just a thought, I certainly hope after this catastrophe last Sunday night that the WGA and the unions get together and iron this contract out.  I feel bad for all the nominees as well as the winners.  Coulda been the “Big Moment” for some of them!

Best Actor – TV Comedy Series

David Duchovny for Californication (I had chosen Alec Baldwin)

Best TV Comedy Series

Extras (I had chosen 30 Rock)

Best Actress TV Comedy Series

Tina Fey (for 30 Rock)   Got one!

Best Director for Motion Pic

Julien Schnaebel for There Will Be Blood (I believe)

Best Actor – Musical/Comedy Pick

Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd (his 7th try!)  Got another one!

Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical

Sweeney Todd – (I chose Juno)

Best Drama Series for TV

Mad Men (excellent pick)

Best Actess Motion Picture

Julie Christie for Away From Her (I chose Angie)

Best Actor Motion Picture

Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood (I picked Denzel)

Best Picture – Drama

Atonement!  (take that No Country!!!!)

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Pic

Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There (I liked Tilda)

Best Supporting TV Actor

Jeremy Piven – Entourage (I kinda liked Kevin Dillon)

Best Actress TV – Drama

Glenn Close – Damages (I definitely was rooting for Edie Falco)

Best Supporting Actress TV – Mini Series

Samantha Morton – Longford (got another one)

Best Actor TV Drama

Jon Hamm for Mad Men (I’m excited even though I picked Michael Hall)

Best Animated Film

Ratatouille

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Pic

Marion Coutillard for LaVien Rose (a shocker – I thought Ellen Page or Nikki Blonsky would win…not to say this girl isn’t talented.  In fact, I see an Oscar nod in her future!)

Best Supporting Actor – Motion Pic

Javier Bardiem for No Country (chalk up one for this pic)

Best Supporting Actress – Mini Series

Queen Latifah

——————————————————————————————

OK, let’s go to:  Carrie Ann and Bruno in Dance Wars 2nd Week

Last night the 2 chose their teams.  It was very fair the way they did it and I like the way this show moves along at a fast pace.  All of the boys and girls were talented.  They sent home Max (who I liked in auditions) and Corinna (who looked like a Britney clone!)

Bruno’s team consists of:

Zack

Philip

Tony

Kelsey

Charity

Lacey

Carrie Ann’s team consists of:

Qis

Chris

Bradley

Allysa

Mariel

Elizabeth

I think that all in all, Carrie Ann has the younger group.  Of her choices, I like Elizabeth and Bradley…they seem to have a lot of charisma.

Of Bruno’s team, I think that Zack (who I think will go all the way) and Lacey are probably the best although I think his strength is more in the boys than the girls.

Let’s see what next week will bring!!!!

Talk to you later in the week.  Joanie

Weekend To Do – Rumors/News 01/11/08

Goodaye Everyone:

Well my son sent me an article this morning saying that the WGA strike is in Day 67 with no end in sight.  Seems that the negotiators, for the other side, are on vacation!  That’s OK.  Now we’re not only going to have the Golden Globes ‘announced’ on Sunday afternoon at 3PM on NBC, by people from the Foreign Press reading the winners, the Oscars are fast coming upon us!!  Many, many people will be out of jobs and for what????  As George Clooney said the other night…..”Come to an agreement already and let’s get back to work!”

On DVD this week:

3:10 To Yuma (with Russell and Christian…a must see!)

Zodiac (it stars Ione Skye who is the daughter of 60s icon Donovan and he has a song, “Hurdy, Gurdy Man” coming at a pivotal point in the movie)

Sunshine

In Theaters

The Bucket List (out everywhere at last)

Atonement (same thing)

(Next week:  27 Dresses and Cloverfield)

By the way, my friends say that P.S. I Love You is really good and they all cried!!!!

TV News

Showtime’s DEXTER will be back on Sunday, Feb. 17th!!!

AI will begin it’s Season 7 in Philadelphia and Dallas this coming Tuesday,

Jan. 15h from 8 to 10PM.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be shown on line as well as TV.  It runs in August from the 8th thru the 24th.

Reminders:

Have you seen the commercial for the new series, Eli Stone which starts on Thursday, Jan. 31st at 10PM…the show reminds me of Ally McBeal who used to see ‘visions’ of Barry White, dancing babies, etc.  This guy sees Geoge Michael!!!!  Guess I’ll have to check it out cause I’m definitely a George Michael fan….

MONK and PSYCH are both back this Friday, Jan. 11th on USA starting at 9PM.

COMANCHE MOON starts this Sunday, Jan. 13th on NBC.  This is Part One of Three.

Masterpiece Theater starts its Jane Austen anthology this coming Sunday too.  (Isn’t it something!  For weeks we get reruns and nothing good and then all of a sudden – BOOM! – there’s so much, you have to choose from it’s ridiculous).   This will be 6 novels – over 4 months – new productions of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility along with Emma (Kate Beckinsale) and Pride and Predjudice (Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle (Close to Home).  Also Miss Austen Regrets starring Olivia Williams based on Austen’s letters.  – GET THOSE TiVo’s programmed!!!!

Now I know TV is in desperate times when A&E bring back The Two Coreys for another season!

Steven Spielberg will be presented the Cecil B. DeMille (Golden Globes) award next year because of the WGA strike.

MOVIES

Philip Noyce is going to direct Scarlett Johansson in Mary, Queen of Scots which will start to film in April.  No Release Date as yet.

Kate Winslet will replace Nicole Kidman (now that she’s preggers) in Stephen Daldry’s (The Hours) film, The Reader.  Ralph Fiennes will co star in this drama about a teen (German) who falls for an older woman.  Kate was the first choice for the film.  She had to go off to do another film and then Nicole was busy.  When Nicole freed up to do the film, she found out she was going to have a baby and Kate was again available.  So it all worked out in the end!

OK, let’s end with the People’s Choice Awards

Best Female Star                       Reese Witherspoon

Best Male Star                           Johnny Depp

Best Film Leading Lady               Drew Barrymore

Best Film Leading Man                Joaquin Phoenix

Favorite Movie                             Pirates 3

Favorite Male TV Star                   Patrick Dempsey

Favorite Female TV Star                Katherine Heigl

Favorite Female Singer                  Gwen Stefani

Favorite Male Singer                      Justin Timberlake

Favorite Singing Group                   Rascal Flatts

Favorite TV Talk Show & Host:        Ellen DeGeneres

Have a great weekend everyone.  Talk to you next week.

Joanie