A Love-Hate Relationship With Birds
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Turkeys, cardinals, bald eagles—love ‘em! It’s those darned starling/crow look-alikes—not to mention those maddening finch/robin sound-alikes—that ought to be stuffed.
Book Review: A Martin Amis Retread
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
The book takes its title from the Russian writer Alexander Herzen’s contention that a departing social order leaves behind not a fully formed replacement but a “pregnant widow,” not yet ready to birth the new mode of being. Set mainly in 1970, the novel concerns the aftereffects of the sexual revolution, a time when everything was changing. But, as Amis sees it, 40 years on, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Book Review: Rev. Martin Luther King’s Assassin
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Ray seemed an especially unsatisfying suspect. A lifelong but not especially successful crook (he had spent almost half his adult life behind bars), he was clever enough to engineer his escape—by squeezing himself into a breadbox going out on a delivery truck—from a maximum-security prison in 1967. On the other hand, he was so witless that after shooting King, he had no escape plan more elaborate than jumping in his car and driving away. Even so, he managed to elude law officers for two months before he was caught. Some of Ray’s success was just dumb luck, but most of it can be attributed to the fact that he was astonishingly forgettable. Landlords, employers, prison guards—even his own sister—had trouble remembering a single memorable thing about him. As for what drove Ray to kill King, there too the evidence comes up short. While he was certainly a racist (he worked to get George Wallace on the ballot in California), he had no history as aviolent criminal, and there is nothing that explains exactly what pushed him to get in his car in mid-March 1968 and drive from Los Angeles to Atlanta and then on to Memphis, where, only four hours before the shooting, he rented a room in a boardinghouse overlooking the Lorraine Motel, where King was staying.
Roger Ebert: Why I Hate 3-D Movies
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
3-D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood’s current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the moviegoing experience. For some, it is an annoying distraction. For others, it creates nausea and headaches. It is driven largely to sell expensive projection equipment and add a $5 to $7.50 surcharge on already expensive movie tickets. Its image is noticeably darker than standard 2-D. It is unsuitable for grown-up films of any seriousness. It limits the freedom of directors to make films as they choose. For moviegoers in the PG-13 and R ranges, it only rarely provides an experience worth paying a premium for.
Curtis Stone Whips Up Well Wishes for Bret Michaels
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Chef Curtis Stone visits "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" today and talks about the health condition of his "Celebrity Apprentice" co-star Bret Michaels.
He reports the latest status of the Poison singer recovering from a brain hemorrhage, telling Ellen, "I think he’s sort of stabilized a little bit. It’s a really serious thing that’s happened to him."
Curtis fondly remembers being introduced to Bret. He recalls his first impressions: "He’s sort of this gentle, cool character and talks really lovingly about his family."
Count Her In: ‘Glee’’s Dianna Agron Cast in ‘I Am Number Four’
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Dianna Agron is adding big screen billing to her resume. The "Glee" star has joined the cast of the film ‘I Am Number Four,’ according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The story centers on nine aliens who beam down to Earth, escaping invasion by a rival species on their home planet. Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) tries to go incognito as a high school student, but finds out his disguise did not fool his nemesis. Though already dating a classmate, Dianna gets swoon by her visiting alien peer, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Adapted from an upcoming young-adult sci-fi book by James Frey and Jobie Hughes, Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay are producing ‘I Am Number Four’. Director D.J. Caruso will say "take one" next month in Pittsburgh. Sharlto Copley and Teresa Palmer also star.
‘The Biggest Loser’ Makeover Week: Check Out Mike!
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
It’s "Biggest Loser" makeover week with each of the final six contestants getting a $1,000 shopping spree and a new ‘do from celebrity hair stylist Jonathan Antin, who is the new head judge on Bravo’s "Shear Genius."
ET has a sneak peek as Michael Ventrella tries to cope with the fact that despite having lost 183 — he now weighs 343 pounds, down from his starting weight of 526 pounds — he still needs to shop in big and tall stores. The particular store he is at is out of his size in almost everything he likes and he is very disappointed.
"It is pretty tough to be here by myself. Everybody is together. It is no different than when I was 526 pounds — shopping by myself," Mike says. "There is a lot of stuff that I like and the stuff that I like still doesn’t fit."
Oprah Challenges Viewers to Enter the ‘No Phone Zone’
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Oprah Winfrey has a message for drivers — get off the phone — and she’s getting some of her celeb friends to come along for the ride.
On Friday’s episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Lady O is challenging her viewers to enter the "no phone zone," promising to not use their phones while driving. Celebs like Elton John, Oscar winners Mo’Nique and Jeff Bridges, "Glee"’s Jane Lynch, and more have already taken the pledge.
On why this became a mission for her, she explains,"I saw a story in the New York Times last year about a mother who had lost her daughter, had just spoken to her several minutes before she was killed by someone driving and using a cell phone. I said to the producers, ‘We should do something about this because I see a lot of people, while I’m being driven, driving and texting.’"
Dame Elizabeth Taylor Celebrates With the Royals
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Dame Elizabeth Taylor spent the day with royalty on Thursday.
She joined the heir to the British throne Prince Charles, as well as his father Prince Philip, for a celebration at Buckingham Palace to mark the occasion of the theater at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama being dedicated to her late former husband Richard Burton. She sat next to Prince Charles during the festivities.
The Dame wore a Galliano gown that was made for her, along with the famous Krupp diamond, a 33-carat plus sparkler given to her by Burton, in addition to also wearing her famous pear-shaped pearl "La Peregrina."
‘Glee’ Success Inspiring Madonna to Write New Music
Apr 30, 2010 Entertainment
Madonna says she’s filled with "Glee" now that the show’s "Power of Madonna" soundtrack has rocketed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart.
"I’m thrilled to be Number One… It’s such an honor," the Material Mom says. "It makes me want to go back into the studio and write more songs."
"Glee"’s recent Madonna episode featured the cast performing 10 of the superstar’s songs.