Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Talk Show

Well, not quite…Craig Ferguson will become an official U.S. citizen in a few weeks. However, as the talk show host mentioned on the Late Late Show Monday night, he did take the test to become a United States citizen and received a perfect score. Something a good portion of U.S. citizens probably could not do (end of commentary on American society).

His quest for citizenship actually began as a joke last year when Ferguson was named an honorary citizen by the mayor of Ozark, Arkansas. After that he began a campaign to get the same designation in other towns and cities. The campaign caught on and, as of this writing, Craig has been named as an honorary citizen of over 16,000 communities and 23 states nationwide.

Continue reading Craig Ferguson — U.S. citizen

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Filed under: News, Celebrities

Mike Wallace, the semi-retired 60 Minutes correspondent, underwent triple-bypass heart surgery over the weekend at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.

The 89-year-old Wallace, the oldest of the 60 Minutes correspondents, is recovering nicely, according to a CBS News spokesperson. The spokesperson added that the Correspondent Emeritus was already taking his first steps just two days after undergoing the procedure. Man, this guy is tough! It is unknown at this time if the surgery was planned or done after a checkup revealed an issue.

Continue reading Mike Wallace receives triple bypass

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Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges

AOL TV has an interview with Randy Jackson up right now. The interview asks a lot of good questions (i.e. “Paula gets a bad rap. Do you think you have to stick up for her?”) but gets a lot of vague answers from the Idol judge who is just as articulate in the interview as he is on the show. Catch my sarcasm?

If you’re a die-hard Idol fan, I would definitely check out the interview. But like I said, he skirts around some of the better questions using his signature crutch phrases like “You know what I mean?,” “You just never know. You know?,” and “It’s cool, man.” Very articulate, indeed.

He does, however, compare his new MTV show America’s Best Dance Crew to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video and he compares his new compilation album to a Quincy Jones album. That’s good for a laugh. Now, I’m not a gambling woman. But I’d bet his CD won’t be anything like a Quincy Jones album.

Let me know what you think…

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Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities

Jamie Lynn Spears is returning for the fourth season of Zoey 101, despite the sixteen-year-old’s public announcement of her pregnancy. This was intended to be the final season even before the announcement was made.

The season was filmed last summer, but there was concern that Nickelodeon would shelve it due to the controversy. Since Spears announced her pregnancy, the show has experienced a boost in ratings.

Continue reading Zoey 101 returning for fourth season

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Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities

Maybe it wasn’t exactly an epic journey, but let’s have some fun info from a day in the life of Annie anyway, shall we? Well, Monday afternoon, I shelled out a couple of bucks and jumped on a train to Washington DC. I already do so every once in a while to visit the museums, but this time I had an actual mission: to be an obnoxious fangirl in front of the Stephen Colbert portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.

From the looks of some photos on the Internet, the line to see the portrait can get pretty intense, but I guess crowds weren’t really flocking in on a Monday afternoon. Anyway, my friends and I were excited to be there but also a little disappointed. I’ve always known that the “painting” was just a digital image on canvas, but, up close, I was really blown away by how it really wasn’t much more than Photoshop filtered. I mean, brushstrokes weren’t even simulated. My friends and I, all of us being annoying artists, quietly whispered complaints back and forth about the detailing, because, come on, the Report couldn’t afford a real painter or even someone to do some tablet work on the computer? Hell, I would have done it for free. Arty nitpicking aside, people around us seemed to enjoy the Gallery’s blurb about the portrait, which I’ve included after the jump…

Continue reading Visiting the Colbert portrait in DC: an odyssey

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Filed under: Drama, Horror, Thrillers, Casting

I think what I like best about Julianne Moore is that she is this reliable actress that never really changes — in a good way. She’s usually in good movies (only some stinkers now and then); she gives great performances; she’s comfortable in her own skin (her lips haven’t double in size, nor has her skin gotten really taut*); and she’s known but not sensationalized. Now she’s headed for Shelter.

Variety reports that she will be starring in the upcoming supernatural horror thriller, which is being produced by Nala Films. Film details are being kept under wraps, but the project is coming from a script by Michael Cooney (Identity), and will be directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein (Storm) this March in Pittsburgh — for a solid $22-$25 million price tag.

Now, while they’re trying to keep plot details a secret, the project has been around for years and according to MovieWeb back in 2004: “Shelter follows a female forensic psychiatrist who specializes in debunking multiple personality disorder. When she discovers that her latest patient’s various personalities are all murder victims, she struggles to find a logical explanation for the man’s delusion.” As long as it’s better than Hannibal, I’ll be happy.

*Typo corrected thanks to Cath.

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Filed under: Action, Romance, Casting, Fandom, Movie Marketing, James Bond, Remakes and Sequels, Daniel Craig

Yes, I know what the actual title of this film is, but I think it’s so eye-poppingly awful that there’s a very good chance it will be changed at some point before release, so I see no need to mention it now. We’re talking about a film that has to be marketed internationally — surely cooler heads at Sony will step in and demand a title that’s reasonable? What was their second choice, by the way? James Bond in Footpounds of Complacency? Either way, someone needs to start minding the store over there because now the actors are going around giving away major plot details. It’s not often that I have to issue a spoiler warning over something an actor said while out promoting their film, but consider this that spoiler warning and beware. Speaking to BBC Newsround, Gemma Arterton, who I had incorrectly figured for a Moneypenny early on, says that her character, an MI6 agent named Fields, is tasked with trying to “keep Bond under control” in Bolivia, but for her trouble the character “sort of comes to a sticky end.” Thanks, Gemma.

Meanwhile, Mathieu Amalric is also talking up his character, the main villain, and says (another spoiler alert) that he’s going to get into physical training for a big fight scene with Bond that will come at the end the picture. Is Bond in the habit of engaging in fisticuffs with his main adversaries? Not really. Anyway, that’s also much more than I wanted to know, since for all we know this guy could have exited halfway through, like Le Chiffre. Based on the flurry of details that have emerged in the last week, I already think I have a good handle on exactly what will happen in this film, structure-wise, and that’s too much info. In other, less spoiler-filled news, Detroit News is also running a piece on the set design for the film, and informs us that a massive MI6 set — “a two-story suite of steel-gray furniture and frosted glass offices” — will be featured this time around.

[Via MI6]

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Filed under: Action, Casting, Deals, Paramount, RumorMonger, Comic/Superhero/Geek, War

My goodness, it seems like everywhere you turn somebody else is signing up for the big-screen adaptation of G.I. Joe. Variety reports that Dennis Quaid has now signed to star as General Hawk. You know, your typical ‘grizzled’ military man. He’s probably going to have a cigar chomped in his teeth for three-quarters of the film. The news came on the heels of official word that Channing Tatum had been hired to play Duke; the second in command of the elite team with ‘kung-fu grip’. Yesterday, Erik had also reported that Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) will be playing Zartan, but so far there is no official word.

It looks like Quaid is technically one of the biggest name stars in the cast, which includes Marlon Wayans as Ripcord and Sienna Miller as The Baroness. Some of the other ‘Joe’ characters who will be making an appearance are Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who will play Heavy Duty, Byung-hun Lee as Storm shadow, Ray Park as Snake Eyes, and Said Taghmaoui as Breaker.

So far, there aren’t many details about the plot, but what we do know is that Stuart Beattie’s script will focus on “A European-based military unit known as Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity (G.I.J.O.E.), a hi-tech, international force of special operatives that takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer”. There are still a few more spots to fill, but it looks like director Stephen Sommers has almost finished assembling his team. Just in time too, since the film is scheduled to start shooting next month. G.I. Joe is scheduled for release on August 7th, 2009.

UPDATE: IESB now says that David Murray (a theater actor, apparently) has landed the role of Destro in G.I. Joe. Destro is the main villain in the film, and is described as the “faceless power behind Military Armaments Research System, the largest manufacturer of state-of-the-art weaponry.”

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Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show

Here’s who’s on the late night shows tonight.

• Charlie Rose: a discussion of The State of the Union address
• The Daily Show: TBA
• The Colbert Report: TBA
• The Late Show with David Letterman: Jessica Alba, Julie Chen, and The Whigs
• Jay Leno: TBA
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jay Leno, Hannah Teter, and Wyclef Jean (repeat)
• Tavis Smiley: Drew Carey
• Late Night with Conan O’Brien: TBA
• The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Denis Leary, Bonnie Somerville, and Deana Carter
• Last Call with Carson Daly: Robin Coleman and Matt Costa

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Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Celebrities

Looks like Ian Ziering is just going to have a career that completely revolves around dancing on reality/game shows. Or hosting them.

After a failed attempt to take over Bob Barker’s job on The Price Is Right, the Dancing with the Stars alum will host Lifetime’s new reality competition show Your Mama Don’t Dance. The show will feature ten professional dancers who team up with their parents to compete for “an undetermined prize worth $100,000.” Why don’t they just give them $100,000 cash? Hopefully they won’t be stuck with 50,000 Your Mama Don’t Dance t-shirts.

Continue reading Ian Ziering dances over to Lifetime

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