October, 2008

Rumors have been put to rest once again regarding Jennifer Aniston’s suspected pregnancy.  Reconciliation with her boyfriend John Mayer, 31, from their split in August has inevitably started up the rumor mill again for Jen.

Being in a relationship apparently qualifies her to be pregnant. Previously speculated fathers of her “supposed child” include Vince Vaughn, Paul Sculfor, and Sex in the City’s Jason Lewis.

Recently In Touch claimed on its cover that Jen, 39, “looks pregnant” and speculated that the Aniston and Mayer reunion was due to a pregnancy.

“It’s not true,” a souse close to Mayer told Usmagazine.com.

Nonetheless, the couple can’t seem to get the tabloids off their case.

I’ve read a few negatives reviews on the new NBC espionage series, “My Own Worst Enemy,” and I have to tell you – I don’t know WHAT show those guys are watching!

I’ve watched it from the beginning and have even re-watched online (mainly because I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed and I often need clarity when it comes to espionage). But my point is that Slater is at his best as Edward/Cool King of Spies vs. Family Man/Henry the Clueless.

Here’s the scoop: Henry is a great guy. Dull, but great. He’s a devoted family man, “taking one for the team” as his job is apparently quite lame.

Then there’s Edward. Dear, homicidal-but-for-the-cause Edward. Yeah, I dig Edward (a lot), but clearly he has issues. (I mean that whole bedding a woman before putting a bullet in her head…well, I’m not into it all that much, but who am I to judge?) I tend to think these two guys could be great friends – if they weren’t the same person.

Ok, here’s the deal: Edward and Henry occupy the same body. Rather, it’s actually Edward’s body (thus Edward’s real life), and Henry is actually a “cover” to give Edward some normalcy in society. Except that Henry knows nothing of his “cover” until that stupid chip malfunctions (o’ the chip!). The chip was implanted in his (their) brain, courtesy of some twisted, clandestine government agency. (Isn’t that just the way? No wonder there’s no trust in the government!)

Anyway, imagine the worst-case scenario as Edward the Ultimate Spy snaps out of the actual reality, only to become Henry, the sappiest husband this side of Petticoat Junction.

Still, the show is thrilling, suspenseful and boasts a great cast. And in the three episodes shown there were plot twists thicker than curdled milk.

So like I said, those other folks – I don’t know WHAT they’ve been watching to give poor reviews to NBC’s best new series, “My Own Worst Enemy,” ‘cuz I just can’t stop watching. The show is great. And Christian Slater is still hot.

With “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” setting a box office record opening for a musical with $42 million last weekend, it doesn’t look like movie musicals are dead.

The all-time best movie musicals like “The Sound of Music,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Grease,” and “West Side Story,” thrived in the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s; but, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any movies worth singing about lately. Read on for the best movie musicals to be made within the last decade.

5. Sweeney Todd (2007) Sure most musicals are uplifting, but Sweeney Todd does not lack in musical quality. Based on the Broadway musical, Tim Burton’s dark drama set in Victorian England about a murderous barber out to revenge the man who exiled him and stole away his wife and daughter boasts soaring, melodramatic songs sung by Johnny Depp whose singing is as good as his acting.

4. Walk the Line (2005) Not only does this biography of Johnny Cash tell a moving story, it has the music to match it. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon – as Johnny and June Cash – not only portray the country duo to a hilt; they perfectly capture their singing styles. All together this makes great storytelling and a great soundtrack. Witherspoon won an Oscar for Best Actress.

3. Once (2006) This low-budget film starring real life performers, rather than professional actors, wasn’t a hit at the box office, but the Academy noticed it. Earlier this year, Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard were awarded with Best Song with the titular “Once.” It’s a simple film that tells the love story of two characters who aren’t even given names through the songs they write, rehearse and record in the course of a week.

2. Moulin Rouge! (2001) Unlike “Once,” this movie musical is stylish, glitzy, and over-the-top, which is what makes it so much fun. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor play star-crossed lovers in 1899 Paris. Kidman is Satine, a prostitute at the underworld night club (the titular Moulin Rouge) and McGregor is the idealistic, romantic poet who sings beautifully heartbreaking songs to his beloved Satine in a film reminiscent of “Romeo & Juliet.”

1. Chicago (2002) One of a handful of movie musicals to win Best Picture, “Chicago” boasts an all-star cast of Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly and Queen Latifah; spectacular, jazzy songs and dance numbers, and an intricate, tantalizing story of love and murder set in 1920s Chicago. Zeta-Jones won Best Supporting Actress.

Only a legend with Paul Newman’s status could pull off something like this. Newman, who died in September, held an annual fundraiser for his kids’ camp, and the very elite of Hollywood appeared for a dramatic reading of The World of Nick Adams, in tribute to the late, great Hollywood thespian.

Celebrities like Warren Beatty, Danny Glover, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Bonnie Raitt and Sean Penn joined 2,500 others to benefit Newman’s Painted Turtle camp, which hosts children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

Over the years, Newman and his Newman’s Own brand have donated more than $250 million to children’s charities. A true legend leaves a lasting mark and effects others in a positive way even after his demise, which makes Paul Newman one of few real legends the glitzy land of Hollywood will ever know.

Academy Award–winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, along with several family members, identified the body of yet another slain relative, her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.

The overwhelming tragedy was the second time in three days that Hudson was forced to make a trip to the morgue.

The second grader had been missing all weekend after an unidentified assailant fatally shot Hudson’s mother Darnell, 57, and her brother Jason, 29, on Friday.

Police discovered the slain boy in an abandoned white Chevy Suburban on Chicago’s West Side according to the Chicago Tribune.

Julian was found slumped over in the back seat and shot in the head. Detectives to believe he had been shot in the vehicle. Police don’t know precisely when he was killed, and said they are waiting for more information from the medical examiner’s office reported the Tribune.

“I think they’re pretty optimistic,” Superintendent Weis said when asked whether authorities expect to solve the crime.

“You’ve got two crime scenes…I’m very confident that our forensic technicians will go through both areas with a fine-toothed comb, and I suspect that we’ll have some evidence that will link us to the killer.”

William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister Julia, has been in police custody since Friday night as a “person of interest.” He has denied involvement in the crime but has since reportedly stopped responding to authorities. No charges have been filed.

A candlelight vigil took place Monday night drawing hundreds of mourners on the block where the shootings took place.

After three long days of intense search throughout Chicago, the family Jennifer Hudson received the worst possible news: that the body of a 7-year-old male found in a white SUV on Chicago’s Southside was indeed the nephew of the Oscar-winning actress.

Julian Hudson was taken from his grandmother’s home on Friday, following what police termed a “domestic disturbance.” Inside the home was the body of Hudson’s mother and older brother. Julia Hudson, Jennifer’s sister and Julian’s mother, discovered the bodies and immediately notified authorities, having realized her son was nowhere to be found.

A statewide search quickly ensued, and Jennifer Hudson offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of her beloved nephew.

What a tragic end to a young life, an entire family, and to its community, which stood in support of the Hudson family throughout this entire ordeal.

Our thoughts are with those who mourn over this senseless tragedy, and certainly with the Hudson family, while we respect their privacy during what is bound to be a difficult healing process.

Your mom has probably read Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees.

Hell, you may have read The Secret Life of Bees.  Like most best-selling books, a film adaptation apparently was needed.

With an all star cast, this latest film “from the best-selling book” is a worthy adaptation.  Of course the book is better, they always are.  Always.  But the film stands on its own quite well.

The women in the film are all powerful and strong in their own right. Jennifer Hudson also shows that her mediocre part in Sex and the City was perhaps just bad writing not bad acting.

Is Secret Life of Bees worth the price of admission?  For a Sunday matinee? Sure.  Otherwise…mmmmm not so much.

There has been much hoopla lately about Josh Brolin and his portrayal of current Commander-In-Chief, George W. Bush.  I think it’s time Positively Celebrity weighed in on the matter, don’t you?

The Good: Josh Brolin and Thandie Newton are amazing.  Everything you have heard about his portrayal of W. is true.  He is spot on, especially during the scenes where W. is talking to Congress or the ”American People.”  His vocal intonation and mannerisms are eerie in their accuracy. 

Thandie Newton not only looks identical to Condoleezza Rice, she also sounds like her.  I wish she would have had a bigger speaking part rather than standing in the wings for most of the film.

The Bad: The narrative structure is all off.  Josh Brolin in a recent interview was impressed Oliver Stone was able to get the film edited in two and a half months.  I hope Oliver (yes, I AM on a first-name basis with him) releases the film on DVD in a director’s cut to offer more depth. 

The story is of the current war on terror and the process leading up to it.  Interlaced through the film are vignettes detailing W.’s life starting with a hazing at Yale.  A great idea, in theory. The problem is the vignettes are not really related other than showing how much George Junior and Senior don’t get along.

So, rush to see it?  No.  Wait for it on DVD and hope they have expanded the story of W.’s childhood.  If not, fast forward through all of that and just watch the bits on the war on terror.

Guns N’ Roses long awaited “Chinese Democracy” will finally hit stores on November 23 exclusively at Best Buy.

This album arrives after endless speculation, the leaking of songs by a blogger and the subsequent arrest of the individual. Hard rock fans have been anticipating this album for over a decade.

Guns N’ Roses last released original material with the classic Use Your Illusion albums which came out in 1991. It’s been a long time coming, indeed, and this album won’t satisfy every Guns N’ Roses fans expectations. That would be impossible; but then, that’s Axl Rose’s problem to deal with and after all the hoopla of an inevitable tour and certain platinum status, it will seem relatively minor.

I would like to tell everyone to go see the film W. for its stunning depiction of a presidency gone awry; but that would be dishonest and I wouldn’t want to be anything more like our current president.

It’s not all bad. The film is at times a fascinating character study of a flawed human being. Josh Brolin is uncanny as George W. Bush and James Cromwell turns in an admirable performance as his father, the one person W. strives to impress and gain acceptance from.

Where the film goes wrong is in its altering portrayals of W., past and present. The film starts present day, then puts us back in W’s Yale fraternity rush of 1966, then back to present day, then back to Bush’s alcoholic college days, his early political career, where he meets Laura, back to present day, to 1977, to 1986, back to present day. I’m being a little facetious and inaccurate here, but you get the picture that the script jumps around a lot, making for a frustrating viewing.

Oliver Stone has a good track record with political fare, (JFK and Nixon are both seminal films), and that’s part of the reason why this effort is so wearisome and disappointing. W. is, at once, a patchwork of ideas and a juxtaposition, portraying an incompetent president whose chief motive in life is to one-up his father. Brolin succeeds in portraying a W. that we, ultimately, empathize with – simply for his shortcomings if anything else.

Make no mistake about it, our president was a booze addled misfit who, unfortunately for all of us, sought his father’s approval in the political arena. In the eight years since his inauguration, our country couldn’t be worse off.