Celebrity Chatters

Directed by Il Postino’s Michael Radford, Flawless has all the elements of a slick, old-timey heist movie, including lots of neato early-1960s costumes. However, though I was enamored with shots of Demi Moore’s gorgeous charcoal-colored suits against a backdrop of crisp menswear, the film totally drops the ball in terms of developing tension around this old-fashioned diamond heist.

Flawless opens in a modern-day cafe where a young female journalist is interviewing an elderly woman (Demi Moore in old-person make-up) named Laura Quinn. Quinn describes a 1960s London where the young Quinn (Moore) is the lone businesswoman at the fictional London Diamond Co. As you’d expect, an educated, unmarried, ambitious woman at this time is not exactly a welcome addition to the team, and we quickly understand that this character is an outsider. We’re then introduced to someone else on the outside looking in: Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), the company janitor who sees Quinn as a potential accomplice to stealing the company’s diamonds.

To read where I think this good-looking film falls short,

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Well, it looks like 21, the film about MIT students who take Vegas by storm, was a safe bet as it easily won the top spot at the box office. However, the overall weekend box office total was down 17% compared to last year, Variety reports. 21 earned an estimated $23 million, beating Horton Hears a Who and firmly establishing Jim Sturgess as a viable leading man.

Compare these results to another new release this weekend: Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, who is a household name. Another box office casualty in a long line of Iraq War-related film flops, Stop-Loss only earned $4.5 million, coming in at No. 8.

Which brings me to the other box office disappointment this weekend, Superhero Movie. Could it be that Round One of Harvey Weinstein vs. Fanboys‘ fanboys goes to the geeks (more on the feud here)? Protesters gathered on both coasts where Superhero was playing, though in L.A. it appears Weinstein was prepared with guards. One protester told the Hollywood Reporter:

Guards were everywhere. At one point, I counted nine, no joke. They hired a whole force and whenever someone showed up looking around for the protest, they were surrounded by guards and told to leave instantly or be arrested. I guess you can’t really hold a protest on private property.

Ultimately the film came in the third spot with a measly $9.5 million. Is this a little bit hilarious to anyone else?

Finally, Run Fat Boy Run starring Simon Pegg came in thirteenth and only earned an estimated $2.3 million here in the U.S. The movie grossed $22.6 million in the UK last fall.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

It’s only Monday morning and already we have a Bad Idea of the Week! And yes, this is entirely rumorific right now, but the mere thought of it is so appalling to me, I had to vent.

Madonna. Remaking. Casablanca.

Of course, the remake — possibly set in a modern war zone like Iraq — would be a starring vehicle for the Queen of Pop herself. Apparently, a “source” told the Daily Mail, “Madonna is talking about taking the Ingrid Bergman role for herself, even though Bergman was in her 20s when she played Ilsa and Madonna is nearly 50.” Um. Yeah. To see what else there is to say about this,

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Some of you were superstars at my quiz about fake TV pilots last week, so I decided to try to stump you again. Once again, the questions below are descriptions of TV shows that could be coming soon to a major network or cable channel near you. Once again, some of the shows are honest-to-pete real series or pilots, while others are mere ideas in my mind. Here’s the new twist: This time, all the descriptions are of reality shows.

Reality shows are getting more and more ridiculous, as last week’s news about ABC’s show about people falling proves. Can you tell which of these really have a shot at coming to a small screen near you? Good luck!

Source

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Welcome to Buzz Brainteaser, the trivia feature on BuzzSugar! Every weekday I’ll test your knowledge about TV shows, music and movies. If you enter in the correct answer, you win points!

Name the movie in which a character says this grace:
“Bless us, oh Lord, for these thine gifts which we are about to receive. And uh. . . ye Lord, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of no food, I shall fear no hunger. We want you to give us our day of daily bread. And to the republic for which it stands, by the powers vested in me, I pronounce us ready to eat. Amen.”

Big stars! Lots of slime! Silly good times had by all! It can only mean one thing: Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards were back yet again over the weekend, and I have to say, I’m impressed with the turnout. Big stars walked the orange carpet to promote big films, including Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf, who showed up to get the kids pumped for the return of Indiana Jones.

However, to this crowd of tweens, no one — not even Harrison — could hold a candle to the superstar bonanza that is Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. Apparently the screams were off the hook (as the kids say) when those acts took the stage. Oh, and then there was the moment when Heidi Klum was hoisted into the air on a cable and, as Reuters put it, “had to pop balloons with spikes attached to the derriere of her jumpsuit.” That’s fierce.

As for the actual honorees, Cameron Diaz took home the Wannabe Award for being a role model and raising awareness about environmental issues, which is certainly a step up from her previous Kids’ Choice Award for burping. To see who else the kids voted for, just

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• Fox has a repeat of House and is new with New Amsterdam
• NBC is new with Deal or No Deal, My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, and Medium
• CBS is new with The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and CSI: Miami
• ABC is new with Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor
• The CW has a repeat of Gossip Girl and is new with Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious
• MTV is new with The Hills
• VH1 is new with Flavor of Love 3 and Snoop Dog on Storytellers
• ABC Family is new with Greek
• TLC is new with Jon & Kate Plus 8
• WE is new with High School Confidential
• Comedy Central is new with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
• Late-night highlights include Helen Mirren on Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, Jodie Foster and Cedric the Entertainer on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC, and Bob Costas, Marc Maron, and Moby on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on NBC

I was excited last year when This American Life, my favorite radio show, came to Showtime. Seeing how the show’s audio-only stories translated to a visual medium was totally fascinating.

Now, on May 1, there will be a chance to see This American Life on an even bigger screen, as it comes to theaters nationwide for one night only. The theater version will be like the show’s occasional touring stage readings — but on a very large stage, indeed, one that reaches hundreds of cities simultaneously. Basically, they’ll film one show and send it via satellite to select theaters, live. (Well, not live on the West Coast, because it would have to start at 5 p.m. But it’s live everywhere else.)

Tickets go on sale April 4, but for now, you can check out the complete list of participating theaters. It really is a long list, considering that not all that many theaters have the capacity to broadcast a live, digital satellite feed. “Everywhere we can show it,” the producers say, “we are.”

Also cool: Show creator Ira Glass will take questions during the broadcast. Want one of them to be yours? Here’s how.

While we’re at it, there’s no word yet on when the TV show’s second season will premiere on Showtime, but I’ll keep you updated.

Photo courtesy of Showtime