Archive for February, 2011
Is it me or was this year’s Academy Awards ceremony a little bit on the boring side? While I must admit that my negative attitude could be the result of me losing my Oscar pool by one stupid category, I still think that this year’s ceremony was missing something. Or maybe a few things. Where was the drama? The amazing dresses? Sure there were some beautiful pieces worn by Jennifer Hudson, Penelope Cruz and of course Anne Hathaway but I still think Hollywood’s finest were going through the motions. Clearly I can’t get enough of Jeff Bridges or Robert Downey Jr. but I seriously thought the stars were going to bring more of their A-game to Hollywood’s biggest night. Here are the highs and lows:
-I was excited to see James Franco and Anne Hathaway double team the Oscars but it was Hathaway’s show. Did Franco hit some pineapple express on the bong before going on stage? He could barely open his eyes and acted as if this gig was just another day on General Hospital while Hathaway worked overtime to be fun, clever and cute.
-Kirk Douglas – Tough to watch but he was very funny. Exploitation or giving a true legend the chance to be in front of his fans?
-Melissa Leo – Congrats! The Fighter was one of my favorite movies of the year – in fact I thought it was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time – and Leo was one of the reasons it was so good. Way to drop the “F” bomb in front of millions of people. Alice Ward would be proud.
-Why were Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem dressed like twins?
-Loved David Seidler’s speech when he won Best Original Screenplay for The King’s Speech. I felt for him just like I felt for Colin Firth’s character.
-Anne Hathaway is a triple threat – a great actress, funny and she can sing! J-E-A-L-O-U-S!
-I liked the idea of the history theme but it felt forced.
-I love that Robert Downey Jr. is not afraid to laugh at himself – he is fantastic in every way.
-Loved Tom Hooper’s mom story when he won Best Director. Is it me or does he kinda look like James Cameron?
-It doesn’t get any classier or more legendary than Eli Wallach. (See The Holiday circa 2006).
-Always happy to see Jeff Bridges – so cute and so cool. And yes, I realize he’s old enough to be my father but whatever – he’s awesome.
-Is it me or does Sandra Bullock get funnier and cooler every year?
This year was interesting as there were so many quality movies to choose from – my favorites were without a doubt The Fighter and Social Network – but I really wish that Oscar night had done the movies justice. I’m thrilled that Christian Bale won for Best Supporting Actor – he was the force of that movie – but I’m honestly over seeing Best Actress winner Natalie Portman’s face. Maybe next year Hathaway will host the Oscars on her own and maybe cinema’s most dramatic people will actually show some more emotion.
Shonda Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice Rhimes has done it again. She has managed to create another show about hot doctors saving lives while trying to keep their emotional baggage at bay – but this time they don’t work in an expensive Seattle hospital or at a wellness center by the beach. Instead, these doctors are “somewhere in South America” and are doing a Doctors Without Borders thing in an effort to run away from their problems.
Here’s the deal so far…
There are the newbies:
-Dr. Lily Brenner is the goody goody who lost her fiancée in a tragic car accident and has her eye on a fellow doctor from the minute she arrives in the jungle.
-Dr. Mina Manard (who is played by Meryl Streep’s daughter) is no-nonsense and is constantly looking for the best cases. She accidently killed a kid in an E.R. she used to work for in the United States and is doing some “time” in the amazon to pay for her mistakes.
-Dr. Tommy Fuller is the screw up who is estranged from his family and got into plastics before going to the jungle.
The vets:
-Dr. Ben Keeton is the resident hottie who occupies all kinds of cliché. He looks like Sawyer from LOST, has a drinking problem, lost his wife and kid a few years ago and has many women who have their eye on him. He keeps his wife on life support so her trust fund can bankroll the clinic – saying this guy has series issues is the understatement of the year.
-Dr. Otis Cole is a recovering addict who apparently was in so deep he can’t even take medication during dental procedures. He and Dr. Zita Alvarez are “dating” and are both equally hard on the new doctors.
-Charlie is the very charismatic local kid who helps out at the clinic by translating for the doctors still learning Spanish.
-Dr. Ryan Clark is by far the most annoying person on the show – and happens to be dating Dr. Keeton.
I find it interesting that Rhimes uses some of the same actors she’s used on Grey’s on Off The Map. Jason George (Dr. Cole) played Bailey’s love interest, while Valerie Cruz (Dr. Alvarez) played the wife of a patient who suffered a severe nail gun accident – a case that seriously hit home for Meredith. There have also been several guest patients visiting the amazon that also played guest patients in Seattle. Clearly, these actors love working with Rhimes – or it could be that ABC pays really well.
So far so good with this show even though it’s not reinventing any wheels just yet. But what it is doing is keeping my interest by providing great acting that is taking place in an exotic locale that does not include polar bears or black smoke. Since I’ve recently deleted Private Practice from DVR because I couldn’t take the never-ending depressing storylines, I’m hoping Off The Map continues to please.
After two decades of bad behavior with no consequences in terms of his popularity and ability to work, everything changed yesterday when Charlie Sheen’s extremely popular television show Two and a Half Men was canceled for the season. The cancellation was due to Sheen’s extended rant on the Alex Jones Radio Show on which he discussed his mental curing abilities, ninja training and magic fingertips. The most consequential part of Sheen’s rant was his verbal lashing of Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre — whom he later challenged to an ultimate fighting match.
Sheen’s craziness inspired me to list the 10 nuttiest celebrities in Hollywood. Here we go….you can’t make this shit up!
1) Charlie Sheen – Although this is the abridged version, Sheen’s rap sheet makes the Robert Downey Jr. of the 90s look like a saint:
• Jan 28, 2011: Sheen again checks into rehab to deal with what ails him.
• Feb. 23, 2010: Sheen voluntarily checks himself into rehab, a move his rep referred to as simply a “preventative measure.”
• 2009: Sheen is arrested on felony menacing charges and spends Christmas in a Colorado jail after wife Brooke Mueller tells cops the actor threatened her with a knife. Sheen ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanor third-degree assault and was ordered to spend 30 days in rehab, undergo domestic abuse counseling, and was placed on probation.
• 2005: Denise Richards files for divorce and publicly accusing Sheen of carousing with prostitutes and gambling, while discussing his drug and alcohol problems.
• 1998: Sheen enters lockdown rehab after being hospitalized for a drug overdose which was necessary after his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in for violating his parole.
• 1997: Sheen pleads no contest to battery charges brought by former girlfriend, model-actress Brittany Ashland, who claims Sheen threw her onto his kitchen floor and split her lip. He earned a year’s suspended sentence, two years’ probation and a $2,800 fine.
• 1995: Two words: Heidi Fleiss.
• 1990: Sheen accidentally shoots then-fiancée Kelly Preston in the arm. That same year he enters rehab for the first time to treat an alcohol addiction.
2) Mel Gibson – Being anti-Semitic is completely unacceptable. End of story.
3) Lindsay Lohan – When you steal, get caught doing drugs, are in and out of rehab and constantly find yourself in court you could call yourself Charlie Sheen – that is if you actually made money being an actor. Go away Lohan. Just go away.
4) Kanye West – “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” Either Kanye needs to never attend award shows or he needs to learn how to sit down and shut up. I’m thinking the former is more likely.
5) Naomi Campbell – Just because you’re pretty doesn’t mean you can throw things at people. Put down your copy of Mean Girls before you hurt another assistant.
6) Michael Richards – Being racist is completely unacceptable. End of story.
7) David Hasselhoff – There is a reason why Comedy Central chose you to be the latest idiot celebrity to be roasted. Actually there are several reasons which include but are not limited to: Baywatch, self-tanner, the drunken cheeseburger home video, Knight Rider and calling yourself “The Hoff.”
Casey Kasem – Nobody likes a dog hater. Get a grip.
9) Britney Spears - Shaving your head and then attacking members of the paparazzi with an umbrella doesn’t exactly make you the best role model for your kids, nor does it make the public like you. Thank you for getting your act together – or at least your public image – so the world could move on to other crazies.
10) Paula Abdul – If it walks like a nutjob, talks like a nutjob and acts like a nutjob then it’s probably a bag of nuts.