day 3.121

what i love (this week)

the song

i think christina aguilera's bionic is one of the most overlooked albums of the last year. maybe it was the lead single? maybe it was the marketing? i don't know why this album tanked, but i really think everyone should give it another listen. "bionic" is one of the most get-stuck-in-your-head worthy songs, well, ever.

the movie

i'm kind of cheating here. technically, this is a miniseries. but it came from netflix, so it counts. right? i read this book (joyce carol oates' blonde) over the summer - all 738 pages (in, like, size 9 font!) - so i was very interested in seeing how someone adapted something so massive and intricate into a movie. fyi, blonde's a fictional take on the rise and fall of marilyn monroe. while it's not perfect, it's keeping me entertained (i still have another disc to watch). a big screen version is being planned for next year, with naomi watts in the role of marilyn. now that should be interesting.

tv show

obsessed.

the look

dying - josh duhamel as justin bieber.

day 2.342

what's the story, morning glory?

rachel mcadams is back! it seems like the woman who brought us regina george has been absent for a while now, but i'm glad she's back. especially in morning glory. the movie follows becky (mcadams), a down-on-her-luck tv producer who gets the chance to bring a struggling morning show back to life. the movie has a very similar spirit to the devil wear prada, which shouldn't be much of a surprise because the same person wrote both movies. it's very witty, very sarcastic and very relatable, especially for anyone in or about to be in the tv biz. while it's a little predictable, there are still some twists that make it worth watching. the supporting cast - namely diane keaton and harrison ford - help bring the whole flick together. morning glory passed my watch test (i think i only looked at the time once or twice) and made me laugh harder than i have in a long time. definitely check it out.

life as we know it as i saw it

this movie's been out for a while, but i thought i'd still but my two cents in. especially because i was pleasantly surprised. i was half-expecting to be entertained, half-expecting to be out of my mind like i seem to be in every other katherine heigl movie. but life as we know it was 100% entertaining. when complete opposites holly (heigl) and messer (josh duhamel) are forced to co-parent their god-child, sophie, after the death of her parents, everything and anything seems to go wrong, as you'd expect. but through laughter, sex and wine they're able to make it all work. life as we know it is one of the most predictable movies i've probably ever seen, as i think you'd expect, but, like morning glory, there are a couple of plot twist that kept me interested and involved. life as we know it strikes the perfect balance between out-right comedy and drama, giving everyone something to relate to. i don't know how much longer it will stick around in theaters, but definitely catch it before it wanders off into the waiting-to-be-on-dvd abyss.

day 55

another day, another celebrity blogger

michael urie, who plays marc on ugly betty, has launched his own official site, michaelurie.net.  click here to check out his introduction video. with the launch of this official site, michael joins the ranks of recent web additions like mishca barton and whitney port.  off his site, you'll be able to find links to basically everything and anything marc does, likes, or thinks about.  there are plenty of ugly betty-centric links, like an "ask amanda and marc" section, podcasts, and webisodes.  he also has links to some of the other ub cast members pages, like becki newton (amanda), vanessa williams (wilhelminia), ashley jensen (christina), and christopher gorham (henry). now we'll just have to see if michael will keep the site updated or if it will be a fleeting moment in the history of celeb websites.

they tried to make her get a divorce

amy winehouse's husband, blake fielded-civil (aka blake incarcerated), has filed from divorce from the "rehab" singer.  amy, who has recently become sober and has been looking healthier on vacation in st lucia, does not have a prenup with the dead beat druggie who she professed her love for at the grammys. that means it will probably be a very messy divorce; blake will probably go after winehouse's money, which she probably won't want to part with.  amy has also professed to at least one out-of-marriage affair, which gives grounds to blake to go after even more money.  blake's lawyer even admitted that he told his client to go after the split on the grounds of adultery...this should be a very interesting couple of months in the new year.  i guess this means we'll probably have to wait even longer to hear more music from winehouse? or even at all? 

box office buzz

it looks like what is old is new (and popular) again.  clint eastwood's first on screen appearance since 2004's million dollar baby, gran torino, took the top spot at the box office this weekend, besting should-be-blockbuster bride wars. eastwood's flick brought in $29 million, as compared to hudson and hathaway's $21.5 million.   torino played at roughly 500 less theaters than bride wars, meaning it was able to pull in a whole lot more money per screen than the chick-centric comedy.  what's also interesting is that gran torino was in its 5th (yes, the number five) week in theaters, albeit this was the first of which it was in wide release.  the two movies were joined in the top ten by horror flick the unborn (which is sure to fade quickly), marley and me (its first weekend not at number 1), and the curious case of benjamin button.  while the economy is slowing down, the movie business is still doing just fine. 

i now pronounce you fergie duhamel 

josh duhamel and fergie (real name stacy ferguson) tied the knot on saturday in malibu, california.  some of the celebs in attendance included mario lopez, rebecca romijn and hubby jerry o'connel, and fergie's nine costar kate hudson.  the couple was married on a vineyard at sunset and wore dolce and gabanna.  hopefully marriage won't jinx the couple's relationship, which has been going strong since 2004 with an engagement in december of '07.  

show departures

ashley jensen (christina) of ugly betty is headed off the abc dramedy.  the star recently asked out of her contract after the show moved to new york.  no word as to whether or not she'll get the go ahead with the leave, but it will probably happen. because no decision has been made yet, there's no casting news as to who may take the tailor/closet master's character's shoes, but jensen should stick it out for the rest of the season to finish up the wilhelmina/bradford baby mamma story line...either hayden panetierre or ali larter is set to leave the nbc faltering show heroes.  it hasn't been confirmed as to which star has asked out of her contract, but with hints like "one of the bigger female cast members" and "she has a name in hollywood," it is bound to be one of the two.  however, if the star does want to come back, it looks like her character's death at the end of this season will be "easily reversible," which makes me believe it's hayden who wants out - she's "indestructible" on the show and a death scene could easily go either way.  

tonight is the golden globes ceremony, so we'll all get to see who wins what and who is bound for oscar gold.  

day 32

black eyed las vegas wedding

josh duhamel and fergie (nee stacy ferguson) are set to tie the knot the weekend of january 9-11th, according to access hollywood. the hollywood power couple have been dating since 2004. along with the impending nuptials, the couple have a variety of projects in the works.  duhamel has two films, transformers: revenge of the fallen and when in rome, slated for release in 2009.  fergie is working on both music and films, with the musical film adaptation of broadway's nine slated for 2009 and working on a new album with the black eyed peas and another solo record.  

hilton robbed

paris hilton's la home was robbed early friday morning.  the star was night home at the time, but close to $2 million worth of jewelry was stolen from the property.  no word yet on what exactly was taken, or if any of the valuables were hilton family heirlooms.  doubtful paris is allowed to touch any of those...the story is still developing, but it is likely that the robbery is related to the string of burglaries in the westside area over the past couple of months. 

twilight-ers want lautner

thousands of devoted twilight readers and viewers are actively campaigning all over the net to keep taylor lautner in the role of jacob in the planned sequel, new moon. talk has been that lautner would be replaced in the role by 20-something actor michael copon, as the character is the major love interest in the second film and must appear "more mature." lautner has apparently promised the producers that he would gain at least 15 more pounds of muscle (he is a martial artist) before the second film starts production - in 12 weeks - in order to appear more mature.  fans want to keep the franchise's integrity, including catherine hardwicke's original cast vision.  there's no reason taylor has to be removed from the role and he seems willing to do anything to hold on to the part.  the creative minds behind the films better make their decision fast...fans have been attacking copon's facebook page with messages telling him to stay away from the part and are willing to protest the next film if the original jacob is not included in the second movie.