Entertaining Posts: 09/14/11

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"Twilight" trailer reveals vampire baby on the way

LOS ANGELES | Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:04pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - So much for chastity in the world of the "Twilight" vampires.

The movie trailer for "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" has been released, and it shows that the franchise's heroine Bella Swan and her vampire lover Edward Cullen finally get intimate -- after marriage, of course.

The trailer released on Tuesday for the upcoming fourth film in the series shows the wedding of the previously chaste Bella and Edward, their steamy honeymoon and Bella's difficult pregnancy with a half-human, half-vampire baby.

Fans seem to have taken a liking to the trailer in which a panicky Edward describes his bride's pregnancy by exclaiming, "It's crushing you from the inside out." The trailer has already been viewed over 130,000 times on YouTube.com.

The "Twilight" franchise became an instant hit when the first movie came out in 2008, appealing to an audience of mainly teenage girls and young women. The series tells of the love between young Bella and Edward, but until this latest chapter the pair had not consummated their relationship.

The films based on the books by Stephenie Meyer and produced by independent studio Summit Entertainment have made a total of $790 million at U.S. and Canada box offices, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

Summit has decided to break the last book in the series into two films from director Bill Condon, with "Part 1" slated for release on November 18 and "Part 2" coming out next year.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Charlie Sheen to Matt Lauer: Tiger Blood was "silly"

By Kimberly Potts

Wed Sep 14, 2011 3:49pm EDT

LOS ANGELES - NBC News has released excerpts from "Today" host Matt Lauer's upcoming interview with Charlie Sheen, in which the actor says he is still sober, feels calmer than he was earlier in the year, and is in the midst of reconciling his relationships with his former spouses Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller.

In the sitdown with Lauer, which will air on Friday morning's "Today," Sheen discusses his public meltdown in March and ouster from "Two and a Half Men" in March.

"I don't really know what happened. It was one of those things where the planets were aligned, perfectly or imperfectly. I said some stuff and then it caught such traction globally and instantly that I couldn't really put out the fire," Sheen tells Lauer.

"It was like being shot out of a cannon into another cannon and then being just shot out of that one. It was like from one moment to the next I didn't know what was going to happen. It was pretty exciting."

Lauer asks: "Exciting, or was it scary at times?"

"Both, both, yeah," Sheen answers. "But … I don't believe in fear, and defeat is not an option, and I had to live by those mottos. Regardless of how I felt. But yeah, looking back on it, I don't think I would trade it, but there are portions of it I would have amended a little bit."

Like?

"Just, I don't know, the tiger blood … it was so silly and people took it so seriously, and I figured, alright, I'll continue to give the people what they want, you know?"

Sheen also chats about his upcoming TV projects, including, of course, Monday night's Comedy Central roast.

And then there's the matter of his ex-wives and children, which the former sitcom star (his character, Charlie Harper, will be killed off in the September 19 season premiere of "Two and a Half Men") says is a major part of his attempt to "get back in touch with some more reality."

"I'm seeing my kids a lot more, mending fences with Denise and Brooke, just trying to move forward and prioritize what matters," Sheen tells Lauer. "You know, just really get back in touch with some more reality and some more … It's what I call the moments inside the moments. I think that's where the life is, you know, it's in those quiet moments. It's not the giant TV deal or the big party or the award or whatever, it's the memory of your child's smile at the end of the day that sort of brings that one lonesome tear, you know that tear, right Matt?"

Few sure winners seen at the Emmy Awards

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Sep 14, 2011 1:22pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If there are any sure bets at this year's Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, they are "Modern Family" again being crowned TV's best comedy series and Kate Winslet winning for her role in "Mildred Pierce".

Most everything else is up for grabs at the TV industry's highest honors in what awards watchers call one of the closest Emmys in years.

"There are a lot of predictions, but no sure bets and that's why the Emmys is packing some excitement this year," said Todd Gold, managing editor of Xfinity TV. "It is full of outstanding shows from networks to cable, and premium cable."

Even critical darling "Mad Men" cannot rest on its laurels as a three-time best drama winner, despite its 19 nominations.

But the stylish 1960s advertising drama faces a threat from HBO's new prohibition era series "Boardwalk Empire", which not only won Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild prizes earlier this year but walked off with seven trophies last weekend at the creative arts portion of Emmy Awards.

"It looked as if 'Mad Men' was going into this year's Emmys as the inevitable winner. But all of a sudden, we have a real race here," said Tom O'Neil of awards websites TheEnvelope.com and Goldderby.com.

And don't count out HBO's fantasy series "Game of Thrones", based on the best-selling novels by George R.R. Martin.

"Game of Thrones" may skew too young for the older, more traditional members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, who make up the bulk of Emmy voters. But Gold called it "by far the most exciting series of the past season. It was big and bold. It broke barriers and extended the boundaries of what a dramatic TV series can be. It was like a big movie every week."

ROOKIES VS. VETERANS

Five of the 2011 drama and comedy series contenders are first time nominees, while the acting categories feature a slew of Emmy rookies including hot pick Timothy Olyphant ("Justified"), Martha Plimpton ("Raising Hope") and possible upset winner Melissa McCarthy ("Mike & Molly").

But old timers like departing "The Office" star Steve Carell -- a five-time loser -- and Ed O'Neill of "Modern Family" stand good chances of finally winning an Emmy.

"Will Carell get a parting gift as he leaves 'The Office'? He might get a goodbye hug," said O'Neil. As for the "Modern Family" actor who was snubbed at the Emmys in 2010, "There is a perception in Hollywood that Ed is overdue," O'Neil said.

Competition in the best actor drama slot is also fierce in the absence of triple winner Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad""

The "Mad Men" of the 1960s advertising drama have never won an acting Emmy. But after a strong fourth season, Jon Hamm's conflicted Don Draper was seen as leading the pack this year for best actor in a drama.

Until, that is, Steve Buscemi's corrupt politician in "Boardwalk Empire" muscled in. "Buscemi is an actors' actor. They just love him. He is a star of indie films and just the kind of thespian that Emmy voters like," said O'Neil.

While cable TV shows dominate the drama series nominees, network television has the lock on comedy this year.

A repeat win for ABC mockumentary "Modern Family", with 17 nominations, is a near certainty, although Gold described NBC's "Parks and Recreation" as the choice of hipsters.

"'Modern Family' is perhaps the first mainstream comedy about a family for years that has the opportunity to be a long-running classic," said Gold.

Last year's pop culture phenomenon "Glee," on the other hand, "had a soft second season. It was full of guest stars and stunts and it didn't consistently deliver in the way fans expected," Gold said.

However Jane Lynch, who also hosts the live Emmy ceremony on Fox television in Los Angeles on Sunday, looks sure to take home a second trophy for her supporting actress turn as sarcastic cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester in "Glee."

As for Winslet, she is seen as a shoo-in for best miniseries actress for her role in HBO's much admired "Mildred Pierce", which leads all Emmy nominations with 21 nods.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Winehouse Foundation launches on late singer's b-day

By Alice Baghdjian

LONDON | Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:13pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - A charitable foundation was launched in memory of British singer Amy Winehouse on Wednesday, marking what would have been the artist's 28th birthday.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation aims to help young people in the Britain and abroad with problems including ill-health, disability and addiction - causes close to the "Back to Black" singer's heart, her family said.

"Amy was very generous and we kept coming back to the thought of how much she loved children," Winehouse's father Mitch said in a statement.

"It seemed appropriate that the focus of our work should be with young people, those who are vulnerable either through ill health or circumstance. Amy touched millions throughout the world and I know she will continue to, through the Foundation," he said.

The launch of the foundation coincided with the release of Winehouse's final recording, "Body and Soul," a duet with 85-year-old crooner Tony Bennett.

Proceeds from sales of the track are to form one of the first major donations to the charitable fund.

The hit album "Back to Black," one of only two released by Winehouse during her brief career, earned the singer five Grammy awards and featured her most famous single "Rehab."

As well as her music, the beehive-haired star was infamous for her long struggle with alcohol and drug addiction, although a toxicology report showed she was not taking illegal drugs at the time of her death.

(Edited by Paul Casciato)

JK Rowling among UK hacking inquiry "core" figures

By Michael Holden

LONDON | Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:18am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling and actor Hugh Grant will be among more than 50 "core participants" at a public inquiry into press standards set up after the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm.

They were among a list of politicians, celebrities and sportsmen who applied for the status and were included on a list announced on Wednesday by Brian Leveson, the senior judge who is heading the judicial inquiry.

All say they have either had their phones hacked or have suffered misreporting or unwarranted press intrusion into their private lives.

As core participants, they have a right to legal representation and to ask for questions to be put to witnesses, and can also submit closing submissions to the head of the inquiry.

News International, the British arm of Murdoch's News Corp which is at the center of the phone-hacking allegations, was also granted core participant status.

The inquiry was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in July in the wake of the furor surrounding phone hacking allegations at the News of the World newspaper.

News International shut the paper down amid an outcry over claims journalists on the paper had paid investigators to hack into the voicemails of murder victims.

Among those named as core participants are former minister Tessa Jowell, former England soccer player Paul Gascoigne, actress Sienna Miller and the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

London's Metropolitan Police force and media groups Northern and Shell Network, Associated Newspapers, and Guardian News and Media, which along with News International publish nearly all Britain's national papers, are also on the list.

An application by Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International and one of those to be arrested by police investigating the hacking allegations, was turned down.

Part one of Leveson's inquiry will focus on the relationship between the press and the public, and the relationship between media organisations, the police and politicians.

It will then look at the extent of wrongdoing by News International and other newspapers, and failures in an original police investigation into phone-hacking.

Cameron said he hoped the first part of the inquiry would report within 12 months.