testing captions

Gossip boy Chace Crawford and Julia Roberts’ niece Emma are two of the stars rounding out director Joel Schumacher’s return to independent film, “Twelve,” the teenage drama that will close out the Sundance Film Festival this week.

In the movie, based on the bestselling novel by wunderkind author Nick McDonell, Crawford plays a high school dropout who starts dealing drugs after his mother dies of cancer. Unlike his pretty-boy alter-ego on the CW network, Crawford's character in this film is the outsider looking in on the Upper East Side teenage debauchery. “Twelve” could be retitled, “Gossip Girl: Raw.” FULL POST

testing captions

Maybe NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin didn’t get the memo about how NBC was spinning the creation of "The Jay Leno Show."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Gaspin told reporters at the National Association of Television Program Executives conference that the decision to create “The Jay Leno Show” wasn’t wholly financial, as NBC President and CEO Jeff Zucker has previously stated. (By creating a talk show five nights a week, NBC didn’t have to shell out for pricier hour-long dramas.)

“The primary focus,” Gaspin said, was to keep Leno from going to ABC. FULL POST

testing captions

Who knows how long it’s been since Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan have reached out to one another, but in light of the tragedy that has struck Kerrigan’s family, Harding told her former rival in a statement that she understands how she feels.

“Tonya extends her deepest sympathy and condolences to Nancy and her family,” Harding’s representative, Linda Lewis, told CNN.

“Tonya's beloved dad, Al Harding, passed away this past April, so she understands the grief Nancy and her family are experiencing at this difficult time,” Lewis said. FULL POST

testing captions

Former Milli Vanilli singer Fabrice Morvan is probably the last person you'd expect to criticize the "authenticity" of today's music.

“It’s not about being authentic anymore, it’s about being entertaining,” he told USA Today. Morvan added that he and fellow Vanilli member Rob Pilatus were "scapegoats" in the whole lip-syncing controversy.

Back in 1990, after winning the Grammy award for best new artist, the group and then producer Frank Farian admitted that the pair weren't actually singing on their Grammy-winning album, which caused The Recording Academy to strip them of the honor. FULL POST

testing captions

The studio behind the record-breaking box office hit “Avatar” attributes the film’s enormous success to moviegoers embracing director James Cameron’s message of respect for life and a hope for a peaceful planet.

“Its success results from the efforts of literally thousands of people, who over the course of several years worked to bring James Cameron’s vision of Pandora to life. The themes of protecting the environment, respecting life, and yearning for a peaceful planet have united moviegoers worldwide,” said 20th Century Fox spokesperson Natalie Johnson in a statement.

“Avatar” is now the highest-grossing movie of all time. James Cameron’s 3-D epic adventure eclipsed worldwide box office sales of the previous top-selling flick, Cameron's “Titanic,” on Monday, making $1.859 billion at the box office compared to “Titanic’s” $1.843 billion. The difference between the two? A mere $16 million. And “Avatar” will only continue to bring in cash. The film has only been in theaters for 6 weeks. FULL POST

testing captions

The "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon had more than 83 million people glued to TVs on Friday, as more than 100 celebrities banded together to raise money for Haitian relief.

The global telethon aired commercial free on more than 25 networks and was also streamed live online, making it the most widely distributed telethon in history. So far, "Hope for Haiti Now" has raised an estimated $61 million in donations from around the world.

On Sunday, "Hope for Haiti" set a new record for donations contributed by the general public during a disaster relief telethon when it hit $57 million, and the “Hope for Haiti Now” album on iTunes had the biggest one-day pre-sale order in the history of iTunes.

If you somehow missed the telethon – perhaps you were watching one of the few networks that didn't air it – and you still want to give, head to hopeforhaitinow.org to donate.

testing captions

“If anybody tells you they expected any of this they’re lying,” Mackie told CNN during an interview to promote another movie, his Sundance film “Night Catches Us” this week. “It was a hard movie to make and by the time everybody got to the end of the shoot everybody was happy that it was done. We were happy making the movie but there was nothing easy about it.”

After two-and a half months of a grueling location shoot in Jordan, Mackie says the cast walked away having lost a lot a of weight with some great tans. FULL POST

testing captions

David Hyde Pierce is probably best known for his Emmy-winning role as Dr. Niles Crane, the uptight brother on the long-running sitcom, “Frasier.” So it shouldn't be a surprise that his character in his first feature film-starring role in the psychological thriller “The Perfect Host," starts out as very Niles-like.

Pierce plays Warwick Wilson, an adorably neurotic, vaguely effeminate man with impeccable manners, O.C.D., and a love of fine wine. A bank robber played by “24’s” Clayne Crawford talks his way into Wilson’s home and uses it as a place to hide out, just as the perfect host is preparing a dinner party. That’s when facades begin to crumble and the audience gets a peek at an entirely different side of Pierce. FULL POST

testing captions

The nine remaining women are in two RVs, traveling up California's Pacific Coast Highway to have more adventures with Jake.  Our hero, meanwhile, is traveling by himself on his motorcycle.

We start with a one-on-one date in a vineyard, and Jake has chosen Gia as his betrothed for the day.  Vienna thinks New Yorker Gia and Southerner Jake may not mix, but Gia believes they will click.

The date begins with Jake and Gia playing hide-and-seek in a vineyard, then a game of spin the bottle.  This is like watching fourth graders on a "supervised" date.  I half-expected to see someone's parents hiding in the bushes. FULL POST

testing captions

Day 8, 8 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Last week, many of the "Bauerites" on this blog mentioned the addition of "Mr. India" himself, Anil Kapoor. Kapoor is well known as one of the biggest names in Bollywood and across the globe after his award-winning performance in "Slumdog Millionaire."

After last night's episode, I am here to make amends for any prior blog (OK, one) that was sans kudos for Mr. Kapoor. President Omar Hassan has become one of this season's most intriguing characters, and Kapoor delivers an endearing, believable performance as the troubled President of Kamistan.

I thought the show did a great job setting up Hassan's character in the first four hours, and then added layer upon layer of his thick dilemmas in last night's episode. So far, Hassan faces a country in turmoil, a failing marriage and his brother's plot to have him killed all in the five hours elapsed thus far. FULL POST