Entertaining Posts: 10/20/11

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Lindsay Lohan adds to troubles with morgue mishap

LOS ANGELES | Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:00pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan was late to her court-ordered community service at a morgue on Thursday, further jeopardizing her probation only one day after seeing it revoked for missing past appointments.

But a spokesman for the "Mean Girls" star blamed her tardiness, which caused officials to refuse Lohan entry into the facility, on media coverage and her own mistakes and said "everything is all cleared up."

The actress, 25, was on probation as part of her sentence for stealing a gold necklace from a jewelry store earlier this year. She had been ordered to perform 360 hours community service at a women's detention center and another 120 hours at the Los Angeles County Morgue, among other punishments.

But on Wednesday, a judge in the case was alarmed that Lohan missed several appointments at the women's center, so the judge revoked probation and ordered Lohan to start working at the morgue. A hearing to decide if Lohan violated probation and, as a result could go to jail, is set for November 2.

Lohan was expected to show up on time at the morgue on Thursday, but she showed up late and refused entry.

"Lindsay arrived at the morgue approximately 20 minutes late and will be returning for orientation tomorrow," Lohan's spokesman Steve Honig said in a statement on Thursday.

"Her lateness was due to a combination of not knowing what entrance to go through and confusion caused by the media waiting for her arrival. Lindsay spoke with the supervisors at the morgue, they showed her how to get in and everything is all cleared up," wrote Honig.

Thursday's events were yet another blow for the "Mean Girls" actress after her lawyer, Shawn Holley, told Judge Stephanie Sautner on Wednesday that Lohan would honor her commitments at the morgue, beginning Thursday.

Wednesday's hearing saw Lohan reprimanded by an angry Judge Sautner for having only completed a tiny fraction of her court-ordered community service and showing little regard for her commitments.

Lohan was ordered to complete 16 hours of work per week at the Los Angeles County Morgue over the next two weeks by Judge Sautner, prior to the actress' hearing on November 2.

(Reporting and writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

"Some Girls" reissue to include unreleased track

NEW YORK | Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:21pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An upcoming reissue of the classic Rolling Stones album "Some Girls" will include a recently discovered track which will also be released as a single.

"No Spare Parts," which was recorded in Paris and was recently discovered by producer Don Was for inclusion on the new editions of "Some Girls" due out on November 21, tells the story of a trip from Los Angeles to San Antonio.

It features Mick Jagger on electric piano, Keith Richards on acoustic piano, Ron Wood on pedal steel guitar, Charlie Watts on drums and Bill Wyman on bass, Universal Republic Records said Thursday.

The label said the song, first recorded by Chris Kimsey in early 1978, features a "country guitar twang, subtle groove and soulful storytelling," describing it as "a powerful and poignant acoustic tune."

"Some Girls," a 1978 release that featured "Miss You" and "Beast of Burden," went a long way toward reestablishing

the Stones' then-flagging youthful appeal. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts and No. 2 in the United Kingdom.

"No Spare Parts" is slated for a world premiere on October 20 on the "Ken Bruce" show on BBC Radio 2, and will be available the same day on U.S. platforms beginning at 10 a.m.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Jennifer Morrison puts new twist on TV fairy tale

By Jill Jacobs

NEW YORK | Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:18pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Jennifer Morrison, best known for her portrayal of Dr. Allison Cameron on "House M.D.," returns to television this Sunday, putting a new twist on the idea of a fairy tale life in "Once Upon a Time."

Set in the small New England town of "Storybrooke," the drama alternates between a land of make-believe, full of princes and evil queens, to a parallel world in modern-day Maine, where townspeople remain unaware they are part of a fantasy world.

Morrison portrays Emma, an abused foster child who is the abandoned daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Reuters spoke to her about the new series.

Q: Your new show is from the writers of sci-fi fantasy "Lost." Are there similarities between the shows?

A: "It's not so much that it's similar, but I do feel like they've taken some elements of the structure of "Lost" and used that to serve the storytelling in "Once Upon A Time," kind of similar to the way the viewer gets to know the character in "Lost" through flashbacks. Everyone is in reality and existing in reality and the flashback element flashes to fairy tale land when these people were actually the characters who we are suggesting that they are."

Q: What do you think will draw fans to the series?

A: "The show is incredibly unique and different from anything I know to compare it. I think it's kind of a combination of 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter.' It definitely has elements of good vs. evil and there's fairy tale characters involved, but it's also very grounded in reality and focuses on people's very real, very gritty relationships with each other."

Q: How did you prepare for Emma because there's not a lot of people who can claim to be the abandoned daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?

A: "I've been reading memoirs by people raised in the foster system, and trying to take bits and pieces from each memoir of those who have been through that system, forced to move from home to home, who have had abusive foster parents or have really kind foster parents, but did not know how to handle someone being kind to them since they were abused in the past. It's been really quite fascinating and heartbreaking to learn about these stories and how these kids have had to exist in that system."

Q: You trained in theater. How does your theatrical background figure into your work on "Once Upon a Time?"

A: "I've been acting for as long as I can remember. It's all I ever wanted to do. I was very lucky to grow up in a school with a great theater program, and I've been on stage since I was 5 years-old. I ended up going to Loyola University where I majored in theater, and then studied at Steppenwolf. I guess with "Once Upon a Time" specifically, there is a theatrical element to the storytelling, so I believe I can transfer some of my theater training to the show."

Q: Will Dr. Cameron be coming back to "House?"

A: "Playing Dr. Cameron was life-changing in all the most amazing ways and I loved being on that show and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I haven't been contacted by anyone from the show about it, but it's a door I'll always leave open."

Q: What kind of roles do you hope to play in the future?

A: "I feel like I couldn't dream up the great things that have happened in my life so far and I don't like to put restrictions or expectations on what's coming next. I'm always drawn to something different. I definitely feel like I am open from one job to the next and try to find the next adventure that has something new and different, hoping the next project will be even better than I can imagine."

Q: How do you spend your free time when not working?

A: "I love traveling, shopping, concerts -- I recently acquired a record player so I have been collecting vinyl albums."

Q: So what's on your iPod?

A: Been loving Bon Iver, and their older album, "For Emma, Forever Ago." St. Vincent and Dr. Dog are great, too.

Q: What would you be doing if you were not actor?

A: Probably teaching. My parents are both teachers and I've taught theater and dance in the past, and I do really enjoy the process and experience of teaching, so I guess in the back of my mind, I thought it would be nice to be a professor or teach theater at a college at some point.

Q: Do you have a favorite fairy tale?

A: I have several that I really love. I probably would have to say Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. Those are probably the two I was most fascinated with growing up.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)