Saturday, September 6, 2008
Toot! Toot! All Aboard The Britney Comeback Train!
11:00AM Seth | Oh. Ma. Ga. Ladies and gentlemen: Britney Spears, lean, mean, and executing complicated choreography. Is she actually going to perform at the VMAs? You’ll just have to tune in to our liveblog—from the actual theatre, all live-like!—to find out. [MSN Video] “The item in today’s ‘Drudge Report’ is categorically untrue,” Winfrey wrote. “There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show…I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.” Translation: That lipstick-wearing pitbull gets this lipstick-wearing pitbull ratings, not the other way around. [ABC News] Because we can never get enough, here’s an entire gallery of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist star Michael Cera looking adorable next to someone else. [Getty Images] Let Mary Hart take you on a tour of ET’s all-new, state-of-the-art, super-duper hi-def set! Yup, that oughta hold ‘er for another 50 years. [ET Online] And finally, we’d like you to meet John Travis, the indestructible singing delivery guy. We just hope it’s never on the road. [YouTube] More »
‘Crash: The Show’ To Capitalise On Weekly Racist Cliffhangers
10:45AM Seth | Out of the 2006 Oscars came many things, among them an unlikely two-horse sprint—one gay, one racist and mangled—between Brokeback Mountain and Crash for Best Picture. Crash would win, its tapestry of bigoted Angelenos embarking upon a futuristic death race for ultimate ethnic supremacy striking a chord in many Academy voters. Some time passed, and news came down the transom that Crash would become a weekly TV series on Starz. (While Brokeback Mountain: The Series never really progressed past the point of some preliminary interest at that network’s specialty offshoot, Gayz.) Well, friends, we’re thrilled to now present for you the Crash series trailer. It might not have Matt Dillon and Sandra Bullock, but it does have Dennis Hopper—who told us personally about his enthusiasm for the series (“We had an orgy the other day. For me it’s a joy,”), and who in it delivers what is sure to become his signature phrase (”OOOhhh—I’m scared of a black man with a gun!”) with admirable aplomb. [Crash] More »
Jeff Zucker and Steve Tisch: Can 80,000 Booing NFL Fans Be Wrong?
10:30AM STV | Touted as a historical television fundraiser and awareness drive across three networks (Fox is sitting it out — stay classy, Rupe!), tonight’s Stand Up For Cancer event was momentous enough to commandeer halftime during Thursday’s NFL season opener at Giants Stadium. But it wasn’t quite momentous enough to keep the sold-out crowd from cascading jeers onto unpopular Giants co-owner/Oscar-winning producer Steve Tisch and innocent bystander Jeff Zucker, whose eventual introduction and comments were only slightly better regarded than his host’s, according to a Defamer operative in attendance. (Seriously — did Zucker’s infamous My Name is Earl introduction get around to that many people?) A fan captured the video featured after the jump, featuring plenty of middle fingers, chants of “asshole” and a much more benevolent welcome for Zucker-preceder Christie Brinkley. Tough crowd, indeed. [YouTube] More »
Lipo in Sixth Grade? Hey, Why Not!
10:15AM Defamer Hollywood | Now that those exhausting political conventions are finally over, we can get back to the issues that really matter to hardworking Americans: sex addiction, huge breasts, and plastic surgery! That’s right, it’s time for another installment of Dirt Sandwich, prepared by Defamer videographer (and viable third party candidate) Molly McAleer. What’s her platform, you ask? Why, it’s to make sure that ordinary people have access to both universal health care and celebrity clip montages. After all, when that phone rings at 3AM, we need a candidate who knows how to deal with Jennie Garth’s dramatic 10-pound weight gain, not one who’ll have to learn about it on the job. That’s the kind of experience you’ll be getting from Molly McAleer on Day One — won’t you cast your vote today? Jump! More »
For Just $10 Million, Jerry Seinfeld Gave Microsoft This Shoegazing Stumper
10:00AM Defamer Hollywood | In its bid to top the deceptively simple “I”m a Mac/I’m a PC” ad campaign of its rival, Microsoft went big, hiring auteur Michel Gondry to direct a commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld alongside Bill Gates (update: we’ve been informed that though Gondry shot at least one commercial for this campaign, this particular ad was crafted by director Bryan Buckley). For his involvement, Seinfeld was handsomely compensated to the tune of $10 million — a big number, but small potatoes compared to the whole ad campaign’s rumoured $300 million budget. For that kind of cash, you might expect the end result to be an orgy of CGI with all participants covered in a thick sheen of liquid gold. However, Microsoft had something considerably quieter and more head-scratching in mind. Take a look at the lackadaisical proceedings and then try to physically restrain yourself from bolting out the door to buy a PC. That is what’s being advertised, isn’t it? [Microsoft] More »
9:25AM STV | When the Wild Things Are: For those waiting for a shred of good news to emerge from the long industrial nightmare that is the Where the Wild Things Are release date saga, today might be your day. Warner Bros has reportedly announced Spike Jonze’s troubled fantasy will finally land in theatres on Oct. 19, 2009 — almost a year after its original date, which Warners scuttled for re-shoots that didn’t seem help matters much as they dragged on. It’s too long a wait for us to hold our breath, but we’ll keep quiet from here lest some WTWTA curse abides. You can never be too careful. [Coming Soon via Vulture] More »
Quentin Tarantino Chokes the Life – And the Money – Out of Bitter Germans
9:05AM STV | Hollywood can’t win for losing these days with the German people, whose extra-defending litigious streak has nothing on the wounded national pride recently suffered after readings of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards screenplay. While the thing has gathered dust on our computer desktop since midsummer, it’s being voraciously consumed in Starbuchsens, on MeinSpace and around other social-gathering hotspots around the country; the ensuing national controversy condemns “scenes of vengeful Americans bashing, scalping, shooting and strangling German soldiers” and — worse yet — the almost certain state subsidies promised to the Deutschland-based production: More »
‘Spider-Man 4′ Exclusive Accidentally Outs Closet Fangirl Nikki Finke
8:45AM Seth | While regular Nikki Finke readers know she don’t do geek, you’d be forgiven for assuming from today’s column that she occasionally dabbles in dweeb: Watch as she churns a Spidey Wiki’s worth of Peter Parker biographical material cross-referenced with the latest villain indexes into the mother of all Spider-Man 4 exclusives, its vital insider information fed to her in the basement of a Century City parking structure by an anonymous figure known only as Deep Flack. The basics: Spider-Man 4, based on a screenplay by Zodiac writer Jamie Vanderbilt, is a go, with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire on board. Kirsten Dunst’s character is in the script, but hasn’t yet signed on. The “black costume” won’t return. They may shoot 4 and 5 back-to-back. As for villains, well, we’ll leave you now to Finke’s capable deductive services: More »
7:50AM Defamer Hollywood | While these parts have been known to house a predatory cougar or two, nothing could have prepared us for the family of bobcats who have moved into a foreclosed home in Lake Elsinore. The brood — at least two adult cats and three kittens — have lived in the house for weeks, sunning themselves on an outside wall and hanging out by the koi pond. “They are great neighbors,” said local Scott Brown, “and as long as they don’t want to baby-sit my kids, it’s not a problem.” That’s how it starts, Scott, but before you know it, you’re forced to drag your autistic young brother through the house in a desperate attempt at survival. Be wary. [LAT] More »
