October, 2008

He’s starred in movies with Kate Winslet, Ellen Page, Annette Bening, and now with Anne Hathaway in this weekend’s “Passengers,” but you may not yet know about Patrick Wilson.

His first big film role was playing an accused pedophile in “Hard Candy” with Page followed by “Little Children” with Winslet in which he played a philandering husband.

Before that the 35-year-old actor from the South was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in HBO’s “Angels in America” and was nominated for two Tony Awards for his work on Broadway.

 “When I moved , I said the only things I wanted to do was originate the lead in a show, and if it was a musical, then do the recording, and get nominated for a Tony,” he said per Internet Movie Database. “So now that I’ve done all that, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe I should dream higher.”

From the looks of his blossoming movie career, it seems he has indeed dreamed higher.

In “Passengers” he plays a mysterious plane crash survivor who gets romantically involved with the grief counselor (Hathaway) assigned to counsel the five survivors until she suspects he may have more to do with the plane crash.

Right before that he starred in last month’s “Lakeview Terrace” and next stars in the highly anticipated comic book adaptation, “Watchmen,” opening next year.

But he hasn’t given up his Broadway career. Currently he’s starring in “All My Sons” with John Lithgow, Katie Holmes and Dianne Wiest.

“I would never ‘abandon’ Broadway. I do want to expand my horizons and do more film work, but I’m interested in good roles, wherever they may be,” he said according to IMBb. “I refuse to acknowledge the gap between theater and film. I want to do both. On both coasts. So I will…unless I never get a job again, in which case I’ll go back to my first career choice: chimney sweep.”

He’s married to fellow Carnegie Mellon graduate, Dagmara Dominczyk, and two years ago they had a son, Kalin Patrick, whose initials are tattooed on Wilson’s arm.

Trailers Reveal Too Much – I guess it is more of a pet peeve than an actual cliché.  But the showcase of wit is inevitable in a trailer these days, just like the disappointment that will follow when the film is ruined for you.

Say you have seen the trailer for the latest Will Ferrell or John C. Riley film – at first, the few repeated punch lines are hysterical but distress sets in once it is revealed that the only funny moments were already in the trailer.

Repetitive Words – “I’ll never let go, Jack. I’ll never let go.” “That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over.” “We’ll get there, Pop. We’ll get there.”  The “repeating of the last words” phenomenon is for emphasis and now occurs in just about every single movie out there. Sometimes it makes a little bit of expected sense, but sometimes it will be a line that doesn’t mean a whole lot making it stand out as the one line that’s repeated.  Wouldn’t it be funny if this was how people really talked?

Everyone Knows How to Use a Gun – Recently “Eagle Eye” gave a prime example of an untrained individual having the ability to acquire a random gun, know how to shoot it and hit their target.  Is this an unknown skill all people have in their subconscious or just an easy way to off people on the movies?

“Revealing the Whole Plan” Speech – So, it’s nearing the end of the movie, the bad guy has a hostage thinking he’s about to get away with his genius plan when he divulges to the good guy (and the audience) why and how he’s pulled it all off.  No one can stop this monologue from coming no matter how much screaming at the movie screen is done, the speech will still pour out of the bad guy’s mouth like a…well…script!

Always in Make Up – Isn’t it odd when a woman in a movie wakes up or is sweating to death at the gym and she still has a full face of complete make up on? They sport full on lipstick, fake lashes, dark eye shadow, etc at the most non-make up wearing moments.  If it were that easy, it would save a lot of time getting ready for work, but make up smears and wears off on its own. And what do real women do? They take off their make up!

On the heels of her national breakthrough tour, Jennifer Hudson and her family are faced with the worst of tragedies. On Friday Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, age 57, and Donerson’s oldest son, Jason, age 29, were found dead by Jennifer’s sister, Julia, in Donerson’s home. Both had been shot multiple times.

As if things couldn’t get worse, Julia’s son (Jennifer’s nephew) is missing from the home, where he spent the night with his grandmother. He is just 7 years old. The Hudson family went public to plea for the child’s safe return.

From the beginning of her career, Jennifer Hudson credited the loving support and continued encouragement from her family. It was in fact her mother who suggested Hudson audition for American Idol, which helped to launch her career.

Since appearing on AI, Hudson has gone on to appear in films, notably Dreamgirls, which garnished an Oscar, as well as several other films. Her latest film, The Secret Life of Bees, is now appearing in theaters nationwide and also stars Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Dakota Fanning and Sophie Okonedo.

Remember the days when going to the airport was also a fashion statement? After decades of air travel around the world that style has been reduced to sweatpants and t’s. But not for our celebrity jet-setters!

Victoria Beckham shows Americans how to fly chic. Posh channels the 1950s airport style in this Audrey Hepburn with a pixie cut, Chanel bag and fitted black and white dress.

The always sharp looking Jonas Brothers touch down in Paris, looking Euro ready in suites and ties.

In Black Orchid jeans and her luxe Cartier “Marcello” bag, Halle Berry at LAX reminds us why she was recently named the sexiest woman alive.

High school sweethearts, Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron leave Paris in a la mode with skinny jeans, black tops and hot boots. 

Eva Mendes brightens up a gloomy London at Heathrow International with her sunshine yellow, dress and thigh-high boots. Sexy, stylish and so ready to fly!

Rumors have swirled since March of the huge 12-year deal rock giants U2 signed with promoters Live Nation.  Now we know the details, and U2 is riding the stock market wave with the rest of the world’s investors.

The Irish superstars will receive 1.56 million shares of Live Nation stock.  When they signed the deal in March, those shares were worth around $19 million.  Since then, the wildly fluctuating markets have made the deal worth as much as $27 million mid-summer and as low as $15 million in recent days.

In exchange for the shares, the promotion giants will run U2’s website, their merchandising and book all their tours for the next 12 years.  Universal Music, however, will still release U2’s albums, making this deal significantly different from the high-profile 360 deals Live Nation has signed with artists such as Madonna and Jay-Z.  

Live Nation is owned by Clear Channel, both of which are often criticized for practices that are seen as monopolizing.  It is estimated that the company will make billions from the U2 deal alone.

Levi Stubbs, lead singer of Motown greats The Four Tops, passed away after a long battle with cancer on October 17.  He was 72.

Stubbs’ baritone voice gave The Four Tops performances a grit and an aching urgency that set them in contrast to the other Motown groups like The Temptations or The Miracles.  Stubbs lead such classics as Baby I Need Your Loving, I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), Reach Out (I’ll Be There), Midnight Flower, and Standing In The Shadows Of Love.

Stubbs also voiced the part of the meat-eating plant Audrey II in the movie version of Little Shop Of Horrors.

Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer in the mid-Nineties and had a stroke shortly after.  Two of the other Four Tops died before Stubbs, leaving Abdul “Duke” Fakir as the lone surviving member of the soul greats.

Swagger is more than a concept in hip-hop; it’s a trait inherent in any artist with pride in his rhyme skills who has earned the right to boast about being an MC. Every artist who has impacted hip-hop in the past thirty years of the art form has presented some element of swagger. From Run DMC and LL Cool J to Jay Z and Kanye West, swagger is a form of behavior that has encompassed the better part of three decades of rap music.

T.I. is more than the latest rap artist to boast of his swagger, he’s the most promising. If Jay Z, (who boasts of walking like a ballplayer) is the Michael Jordan of swagger, T.I. is the LeBron James, exhibiting the same knockout punch of God-given ability and effervescent creativity as LeBron (only in a much different endeavor). He has even dubbed himself as The King (of the South), which is comparable to LeBron, who’s renowned as King James.

As T.I. proves on “Paper Trail,” he’s a legitimate superstar in his own right, well deserving of all the swagger he exhibits on the mic. “Paper Trail” is much more than an affirmation of one artist’s vanity, it is the best rap album of the year (so far) and the best of T.I.’s career.

T.I.’s lyricism on “Paper Trail” focuses, for the most part, on his well documented legal troubles, offering a startling depiction of an artist repentant for his mistakes but contemplative and hopeful while facing an uncertain future. As the chart-topper with Rihanna proves, T.I. just wants to “Live his Life” as one thankful for what he has in life and ever hopeful that good things are still to come. “Paper Trail” is just that, a “paper” trail blazing record deserving of all the success it garners for hip-hop’s most promising and troubled artist.

Still no word on whether or not you need to start rationing your shows you have saved on Tivo.

At a meeting held Sunday, the Screen Actors Guild’s national board of directors voted in favor of officially requesting a federal mediator to help negotiate the contract dispute between the actors union and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

The actors guild wants union coverage and residual payments for shows made for the Internet, as well as protection for actors during work stoppages, according to the Associated Press.

Actors in prime-time shows and movies have been working under the contract that ended on June 30 in avoidance of another strike.

SAG’s board said on Sunday that the bargaining committee could send a strike authorization vote to its members only in the event mediation fails, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“We hope mediation will help move this process forward,” said SAG National President Alan Rosenberg. “Economic times are tough for all Americans, but we must take a stand for what is fair.”

Meanwhile, the AMPTP has not changed its contract demands, per the Hollywood Reporter. “No matter what SAG does — whether it be authorizing a strike or following a different approach — it will not change the harsh reality that currently confronts our industry,” it said.

Nick Hogan, son of wrestling star Hulk Hogan, was a free man as of 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning after serving 160 days for felony reckless driving.  His sister Brooke greeted him upon his release. 

“I can’t even tell you, as a sister, how exciting this is for me,” she blogged on her celebrity MySpace page prior to her brother’s release.  “Nick and I are like best friends…and I can’t believe how long I’ve gone without him.”

Hogan, 18, had pleaded no contest last May to reckless driving charges stemming from an August 2007 crash that left his best friend, John Graziano, in critical condition.

Originally sentenced to serve eight months jail time, Hogan was released three months early due to his good behavior behind bars UsMagazine reports.

(Channeling Anne Hathaway: RUN AS FAST AND AS FAR AS YOU CAN!) Looks like Anne Hathaway had the right idea when she kicked her ex, Raffaello Follieri, to the proverbial curb (regardless of what The Donald had to say about it).

The latest in a long line of “He did WHAT?!” moments came when Follieri sent the judge a picture of himself and the pope – in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. It didn’t take. Maybe because the judge isn’t Catholic, or maybe because he is.

In any event not even an ‘up close and personal’ photo op alongside the pope impressed either the judge or the prosecutors on the case. And why would it? Though it might be a valuable item in the eyes of some, it pales in comparison to the millions Follieri cheated out of investors.

2008 hasn’t been particularly good for ‘Poor Anne’. First, she had to break off any connection with this creep (for obvious reasons). Then there was that Get Smart movie. Good news is things can only go up from here….