day 2.251

did she or didn't she?

rumor has it kate hudson got a boob job. if she did, those are the smallest implants i've ever seen. maybe she just gained a little weight in a certain area? or maybe she has a very skilled doctor. chances are we'll never know.

day 2.46

i give nine a 1

if you're interested in seeing nine, i don't advise it (unless you're trying to knock out entertainment weekly's 25 movies to see before the oscars list). a movie adaptation of the broadway musical of the same name, somehow gets lost in translation - in more ways than one. the musical itself was adapted from the italian film 8 1/2. in an attempt to recreate what is presumably the feel of the italian film, director rob marshall (who succeeded in bringing chicago to the big screen) get too bogged down in the intricacies of the film work that the movie itself lacks plot or character development. focused around 1960s italian director guido contini, played by daniel day lewis, the film is almost two hours of mess. lewis - along with costars judi dench, nicole kidman and penelope cruz - seems to be too focused on creating a character that has no depth than actually playing the part. the same four actors also have issues picking accents. dench's character, supposedly a parisian costumer, starts out with an italian accent, then a french one and ends the film with her normal british accent. in movies where fantasy is an integral part of the film itself, i don't understand why actors are forced (or choose) to try on a heavy accent on top of the one they already possess. just speak normally and we'll play along like you're all italian. ironically, sophia loren - the only real italian in the movie - speaks english the best out of those amongst her fellow actors doing an affectation of an accent. the acting in the film, aside from this picky bit, is exceptional. it's the lack of story or character development that leave you scratching your head and asking, "did i just see an art film?" the best moment in the film - kate hudson's performance of "cinema italiana," previewed in the trailer above - is the shortest musical performance and was written exclusively for the film. knowing "cinema italiana" doesn't appear in the original stage musical makes me even more weary of seeing it should it appear at a theater near me anytime soon. aside from the other show-stopping number - fergie as a hooker singing "be italian" - the music is relatively bland and does nothing to move the film along. mostly, the songs are extensions of random lines of dialogue that you wouldn't expect to have importance. dench's number is all about a certain costume that may or may not be used in guido's latest movie. marion cotillard, as guido's jaded wife, does the best acting job but gets saddled with two of the most head-ache inducing songs. penelope cruz's (guido's mistress) "a call from the vatican" is pretty much a burlesque performance. the one thing i found amazing was that cruz had virtually no accent while singing. i'd say someone puts on her spanish accent a little thick if she can sing in perfect english. kidman's song - which i can barely recall - is fine, but her part is so small. you'd expect the main character's muse to have a big role, but kidman doesn't speak a word of dialogue until the film's last 45 minutes. it's amazing she even got paid for the role as it was little more than a glorified extra position. all in all, skip nine and just listen to the soundtrack if you want a feel for the flick - it's (sadly) the best part.

day 362

surprise, surprise

in a shocking turn of events, kate hudson can sing! kate makes her musical debut in the movie version of the broadway production nine, out christmas day. the movie also features the vocal stylings of nicole kidman, fergie and penelope cruz. those three were all featured in the original trailer for the flick, but kate wasn't. now, we get a preview. while i'm sure kate was aided in post-production, she still belts it out. check it out above.

miley cyrus is the new justin timberlake

well, at least according to timbaland. the mega producer is on the verge of releasing his second record of collaborations, shock value 2 - out december 8th. the first volume helped relaunch nelly furtado's career and make keri hilson a household name. in a surprise twist, timbaland asked miley cyrus to provide vocals for "we belong to music." after working with the disney teen queen, timbaland told entertainment weekly that she has the same "it" as jt. must be something in the mouse house water. the second installment of the shock value franchise will also feature katy perry and justin timberlake.

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.