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Vol. 14
No. 14
Pick Hits
At The Movies
Leatherheads
In 1925, Dodge Connolly (George Clooney) is a charming, brash
football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed
stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces
certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag
ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally
capture the country's attention. Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford,
America's favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced
multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and
unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true,
and Lexie Littleton aims to prove that's the case. A cub journalist playing in
the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in
Carter's war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become
serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections. As the new game of
pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge
must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams.
Finding that love and football have a surprisingly similar playbook, however, he
has one maneuver he will save just for the fourth quarter.
On DVD
Alvin and
the Chipmunks
In a tree farm, three musically inclined chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore,
find their tree cut down and sent to Los Angeles. Once there, they meet the
frustrated songwriter David Seville (Jason Lee), and despite a
poor house wrecking first impression, they impress him with their singing
talent. Seeing the opportunity for success, both human and chipmunks make a pact
for them to sing his songs. While that ambition proves a frustrating struggle
with the difficult trio, the dream does come true after all. However, that
success presents its own trials as their unscrupulous record executive, Ian
Hawke, plans to break up this family to exploit the boys. Can Dave and the
Chipmunks discover what they really value amid the superficial glamour around
them?
The Buzz..
Arrested
Development star Will Arnett is the latest addition to the cast of
the Kristen Bell vehicle When In Rome. Directed by Mark
Steven Johnson (Daredevil), the romantic comedy stars Bell as a successful
single girl who can't find love. Everything changes when she goes to a wedding
in Rome and steals magical coins from a Fountain of Love. Suddenly, she has more
suitors than she knows what to do with.
The return of the freshman season of ABC Family's Greek on scored the
network its best ratings ever for an original series in adults 18-34 and women
18-34. It gained triple-digit increases in time period levels in the target
demos from the previous year, a whopping 289 percent in adults 18-34, and hit a
high of 1.4 million total viewers for the series.
In an unprecedented show of solidarity with Axl, everyone in America will
receive a free can of Dr Pepper if the album ships some time in
2008.
The writers who tapped much booty on Pirates of the Caribbean are looking to
generate some Silver on The Lone Ranger. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio are
taking a shot at a live-action big-screen version of The Lone Rangers. The
franchise focuses, as the title suggests, on the one Texas Ranger to survive an
ambush by a group of outlaws. That Lone Ranger and his Native American buddy and
rescuer Tonto (and his trusty stallion Silver) fight for freedom wherever
there's trouble. Wait. That's G.I. Joe. Well, it's nearly the same thing, as The
Ranger, his mask and his silver bullets have become iconic images since the
franchise premiered on the radio in the 1930s.
Britney’s lil’ sis Jamie Lynn Spears is engaged, according
to one of her fiance’s cousins. The 16-year-old Zoey 101 star, who confirmed
that she was pregnant in December, is reportedly getting hitched to her
boyfriend and baby daddy Casey Aldridge. She was spotted this week wearing a
hefty diamond ring.
Justin Timberlake will soon have an even stronger connection to
the world of pro sports since his infamous Superbowl performance of '04. J.T.
will host the 2008 ESPN ESPY awards, which celebrates the year's best
sports moments. The singer said that he'll try his best, if only to avoid
getting roughed up by the athletes backstage.
Fresh off a starring role in the fourth Rambo movie, Julie Benz is
joining another aging franchise, landing a lead in Saw V. David Hackl,
production designer on the last three Saw films, is directing the new film,
which will start shooting on March 17 and will slash its way into theaters on
October 24.
Don’t expect Madonna to sing Holiday or Like A Virgin on tour ever again.
Madonna recently gave an interview on Z100-FM in New York and said she’d
reconsider if someone was wiling to pay her $30-million.
Velvet Revolver is at odds after singer Scott Weiland
announced to Scottish fans that they were witnessing the band's last tour ever.
Drummer Matt Sorum responded to the claims by releasing a
statement saying that Velvet was indeed going through "more turmoil lately".
Weiland issued his own statement describing Sorum as immature and said that he's
looking forward to rejoining his Stone Temple Pilot band mate's on their
upcoming reunion tour.
Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas is ready to claim
the title of Busiest Writer in Television. Thomas has landed his third pilot
order in the past couple of weeks, this time for a dramedy at ABC about a family
of thieves. The network has ordered a comedy pilot called Five Year Plan from
writers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman.
Tommy Lee has helped land a friend a spot in the Guinness Book of
World Records simply by getting a tattoo while he was high. Lee actually set
a record yesterday by getting inked in-flight at an altitude of about 40,000
feet. He and tattoo artist to the stars Mario Barth were flying
from Burbank to Miami in a private G4 jet so Tommy could spin records at the
Winter Music Conference, when Tommy had Mario add some new work to his
impressive tattoo collection. Guinness reps certified the artist as the first
person ever to perform a tattoo at high altitude.
Oliver Stone has picked Elizabeth Banks to play
Laura Bush opposite Josh Brolin's George in the untitled film
about the life and presidency of our latest commander-in-chief.
Tobey Maguire is set to produce an adaptation of the comic book
Afterburn. Afterburn is published by Red 5 Comics and only premiered back in
January, from creators Paul Ens and Scott Chitwood, with artist Wayne Nichols.
The plot focuses on a postapocalyptic Earth, where the only people in the
Eastern Hemisphere to survive a solar flare are mutants and freaks. The main
characters are treasure hunters acquiring pre-apocalyptic antiquities like the
Crown Jewels and the Mona Lisa.
Elisha Cuthbert has booked a new TV gig, one that ought to keep
her safe from mountain lions, terrorists and nuclear attacks. Cuthbert has
landed the female lead in CBS' one-hour romantic-comedy pilot Ny-Lon
marking the actress' first potential regular television gig since 24.
HBO is beefing up its late-night offerings, adding a pair of comedy
series to its lineup this summer. The Australian import Summer Heights High
and the animated show The Life and Times of Tim are both scheduled to
premiere in June and will air back-to-back on Fridays.
Recent Oscar nominee Hal Holbrook is making a house call to NBC's
ER, doing a guest appearance on the first night of sweeps. Holbrook,
coming off his Academy Award-nominated turn in Into the Wild, will play a cancer
patient who has a strong effect on Luka (Goran Visnjic). The episode is
scheduled for Thursday, April 24.
He's already been parodied on Saturday Night Live, and soon
Project Runway winner Christian Siriano will earn
another stamp of pop-culture approval. Siriano, along with Runway judge and Elle
fashion director Nina Garcia, will appear on ABC's Ugly Betty
during May sweeps, upping the fierce quotient on the show by a notch or two. The
pair will film their cameos in early April, and the episode will air during May
sweeps (an exact date hasn't been set).
The Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records over an
alleged illegal use of their image in a promotional campaign involving Pepsi.
The Pumpkins say that their “credibility” with fans was tarnished after their
music and name was used in the campaign. The band was signed to Virgin Records
for 17 years before they broke up in 2000.
Move over Dolce & Gabbana, Paul Wall and Travis
Barker want you to know about their Expensive Taste. That's
the name of the new clothing line by the diamond-mouthed rapper and the ex-Blink
182 drummer. The fashion label is based on the unlikely duo's rap supergroup of
the same name. Let's hope it's more popular.
Lindsay Lohan's career might not be dead after all. The actress has
landed herself a killer role, having signed on to star in the upcoming flick
Manson Girls. Lilo will portray Nancy Pitman, a real-life story about
a cult follower of killer Charles Manson. |