The Loquacious Limey

ABC sued for ‘Lost’ royalties

thelimey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:38:39 +0000

A struggling TV producer, whose credits include Baretta, The Man from Uncle and a whole list of old shows you would never have heard of is now suing both ABC and Touchstone Television, claiming he was the source of one of their biggest hits – Lost.

Anthony Spinner, 79, claims he was paid $30,000 by ABC in 1977, to create a pilot for what grew into ‘Lost.’ The result was so poor it was rejected. Three times. Most recently in 1994. Ten years later, ABC created what he now claims is a plagiarized replica – and Spinner now wants a cut of the bank.

A comparison of the two shows does turn up some matches – Mr. Spinner’s version featured a plane bound for L.A, which crashes on a jungle-like island, and the survivors then recall and revisit their previous lives through ongoing flashbacks. There’s a Doctor, a military type, a drug addict [like Charlie,] a token minority character [Sayid?] a female lead with a criminal record, and even a love-triangle sub-plot.

Given such wide similarity, why, you might ask, did this man wait five years to do anything? According to the plaintiff, he did try to sue back in 2005 – but that suit was denied for ‘procedural reasons.’

Now he wants a cut of the royalties, plus a share of the profits – and a fat check for ‘damages.’

But bear this in mind – Many people who have encountered this story believe it’s no more than a patronizing effort by Disney to gain free publicity – and thus better ratings – for the show’s final season this year.

If you know the show, you make the call.

Source: PRI

Ryan Reynolds to get green light for Lantern?

thelimey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:18:28 +0000

Comic book adaptations have been a bankable bet for the major studios, and another much-hyped one is now in the works; Warner Brothers are in the final stages of casting for their live-action version of DC Comics’ ‘The Green Lantern.’

They’ve already spent five months on this, trying to find the one actor who can truly portray the movie’s rare hero, Air Force pilot, Hal Jordan, who is chosen by a dying alien to take his place in a cosmic police force named ‘The Green Lantern Corps.’

After weeks of screen tests the search has narrowed to three likely stars – Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake. But the studio lost their hold on the three early Monday, which means the actors can now do other work.

And that means Warners are now racing the clock…which doesn’t help much.

Another factor against them is the ballooning cost – ‘Lantern’s budget is already forecast at $150-200-million. Warners are naturally worried by this, and are trying to cut down the budget before signing a star.

You can see why they’re taking their time – the casting for this is a cluster of thorns. Bradley’s new movie, ‘The Hangover,’ has earned the same suits that are making this choice over $200-million in only five weeks. Meanwhile, Ryan’s work in ‘X-Men’ has made him a sure-fire bet to win box-office gold. But Justin’s biggest outing so far was in Mike Myers’ pain-fest, ‘The Love Guru.’ And a turkey like that is no way to win roles.

Those skilled at the genre agree the Green Lantern should ideally be black, and not chosen by fame but for having the skill to convey the full depth of the role. And if the suits up at Warners think JT could do that, they must be enjoying some excellent weed.

The longer they wait, the more this will cost. But they can’t make up their minds, so who would you pick?

Source: THR

Photo by: Riverblog

Scooby Doo meets the Smurfs

thelimey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:41:11 +0000

It’s been rumored for months that Hollywood’s fresh out of ideas, and here at last is the proof – They’re making a movie starring that vast, swirling void of irrepressible suckage commonly known as the Smurfs.

Raja Gosnell, who helmed both the Scooby Doo movies and last year’s Drew Barrymore comedy, ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua,’ has just signed on to direct for Columbia Pictures, and the script is coming from J. David Stem and David Weiss, who wrote Shreks 2 and 3.

“With Raja coming aboard, we now have a brilliant director who has proven he has a deft touch,” Jordan Kerner, the movie’s producer, who has been working on making this happen for the past seven years, told the Hollywood Reporter. “And we feel positively Smurfy to be working with him.”

For those too young to remember this peculiar virus, the Smurfs were created in 1958 by a Belgian cartoonist known simply as ‘Peyo.’ They first hit fame in 1981 when Hanna Barbera created no less than 256 cartoons of the little blue guys, that were shown in this country by NBC.

With their high, squeaky voices and floppy white hats, stars such as Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the evil Gargamel soon had half the world transfixed in their spell, and despite their rather saccharin appeal the blue Belgian blobs have sold over 10-million albums in the last three years alone.

And when this new film is released – in 2D and 3D – on December 17 of next year, you’ll all get the chance to guess why.

Photo: Kate Butler

After Al Franken, could Alec Baldwin be next?

thelimey — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:07:01 +0000

In welcome relief from the news that Sarah Palin is quitting her job, her SNL co-star, Alec Baldwin, announced he now wants one just like it.

With a performance of scenery-chewing bravura so deftly delivered in NBC’s ‘30 Rock,’ the famously liberal Hollywood star has subtly rebooted a stagnant career, and now wants to turn all the new-found attention into a Congressional bid for mid-2012. “The desire is there, that’s one component,” he told a reporter for Playboy. “The other component is opportunity.”

Asked if one option might be to take over when that other Hollywood actor vacates Sacramento, Alec was quite clearly reluctant, “But I would have to live in California,” he said, clearly choked by the thought. “And who wants to live in California??”

As for who would be his ideal opponent, Alec’s first choice is Joe Liebermann, the former conservative Democrat. But Joe’s from Connecticut, and the 51-year old actor’s roots and first love are firmly focused on his hometown of New York. “Here anything can happen,” he said. “People get offered lucrative deals and want to make money for their retirement – They mess up. Unfortunately, an opportunity for me may mean bad things for someone else.”

And the man knows about messing up – During a bitter custody battle with ex-wife, Kim Basinger in 2002, Kim’s lawyers leaked a voice-mail in which Alec called his 12-year-old daughter a “thoughtless little pig.”

On the upside, his fitness for politics is just as unvarnished; When his SNL tenure gave him the chance to meet Sarah Palin, he unofficially re-christened her, ‘Bible Spice’ – but was quick to admit he wouldn’t want hers to be the finger that got close to the button.

With SNL teammate, Al Franken now in the Senate and ‘House’s Kal Penn [Dr. Kutner] being released from the show to promote the arts in the White House, Alec is certainly on the cusp of a trend. But this is the man who, on his Huffington blog, called former-VP, Dick Cheney, ‘a lying, thieving Oil Whore,’ and ‘a murderer of the US Constitution.’

So his sense of diplomacy might just need a tweak before he reaches D.C.

Source: Times

Photo by Nesri

Pamela Anderson may return in Baywatch redux

thelimey — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:03:08 +0000

Twenty years after it first left a tide-mark on America’s screens, Paramount have announced plans to produce a big-screen remake of that waterlogged soap known as ‘Baywatch.’

When NBC debuted the show in September ‘98 the public reaction was so universally bad, it was canceled after only one season. But like all monsters, it came back to life and did ten more years in worldwide syndication, airing in a record 148 separate countries.

This time the plot is quite new.

Paramount paid seven-figures [!?!] for the rights in 2005 and wanted a serious remake. But all that is gone. Their new plan was to hire 33-year old writer / director Jeremy Garelick [who has never seen the show] to redo the script, direct the movie and make Baywatch his own. “It felt like the template to do a movie similar to ‘Stripes’ and ‘Police Academy,’ the comedies I loved growing up,” Garelick told the Variety bods

The result is a script in which two unlikely lifeguards try to fit in among the lightly-tanned torsos on an as-yet unchosen California beach. The suits at Paramount loved the new plan – and now Baywatch as slapstick is in pre-production.

To give you a clue how bad this thing was, the original series, best known for the debut of Pamela Anderson, whose impossible figure had women worldwide scouring liporexall reviews, holds an unenviable record as the longest-running show in US-network history to never win a single Emmy.

None of the show’s cast will star in the movie, but David Hasselhoff and Pamela may make cameo nods.

T.J.Hooker receives unearned parole

thelimey — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:03:11 +0000

As if we needed more cop shows, it’s now been announced that the 80’s dimmest detective, T.J. Hooker, is being prepped for the big screen.

Another syrupy creation of the late Aaron Spelling, the original show, starring William Shatner and Heather Locklear, was a critics piñata from its ABC debut in March ‘82 until its merciful death four-years later.

So naturally, they’re bringing it back.

“The series was the poster child for TV cop shows in the 80’s, with great stunts, so we think there’s a fun movie to be made from it,” Ryan Heppe, one of the movie’s producers told Variety’s scribes.

Charles Russell – who directed Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s 2002 snoozer, ‘The Scorpion King’ – is on course to direct, but no actors have been cast for the new feature as yet. Find a good fat burner supplement and they could call in James Kirk?

Harry Potter actor admires Emma Watson

thelimey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:29:48 +0000

Joining a select brotherhood that only comprises every sentient, non-gay male on the planet, Harry Potter star, Rupert Grint has confessed he has quite a crush on fellow star, Emma Watson.

Rupert, whose work as Ron Weasley has made him a millionaire at the age of just 20, is quite coy on the news, “A lot of people think there’s something going on between us because I have to kiss Emma on film.” he says. “I’ll be honest – it’s not something I’m dreading. As for who has the worst crush on her – me or Radcliffe – I’d rather not say.”

But Rupert confirms that the much-lauded smooch, shown in ‘Half-Blood Prince,’ which bows on July 15, was a ‘weird’ experience. “We’ve known each other for ten years, so it was a bit like kissing my sister,” he told News reporters.

That must be one smokin’-hot sibling.

But not all his success has been schmoozing and spells; The redheaded actor, who has a deep fear of spiders, has also experienced the down-side of fame, “It’s taken me years to get used to being recognized in the street,” he admits. “But the most terrifying thing was a newspaper photo of a book-burning in the deep south. There was picture of me on the fire, because those folks thought the films endorsed witchcraft. That’s when it hit me how big all this had become.”

On the upside, Mr. Grint, who earns $6-million a film, has now left his hand-prints at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, alongside most of the Hollywood greats.

But Rupert has not let either fame or the money affect him too much; While most famous actors have fleets of fast cars, Rupert’s transport of choice is a broken-down pickup, and a working ice-cream truck for when he needs fun.

And he’s also no fool about love, “I know I could use the fame to meet women, but I don’t want to meet a girl who’s trying to take advantage of that. And I don’t Google myself because the results are too scary.”

You have to love it – At an age when most of us were seeking a treatment for acne, he has more money than most of his fans put together, and women just standing in line. Oh, that we all had his problems…

Photo: Sean McGrath

Quincy Jones announces plans to save Vibe

thelimey — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:14:03 +0000

The music world has been far from immune to a failing economy, but one recent victim of this unwelcome downturn may be about to be saved.

Yesterday, the once-popular hip-hop and urban culture magazine, Vibe, announced plans to shut down. And with no sign of a phone booth, or even his cape, iconic producer Quincy Jones is now on a mission to save it from doom.

Having founded the shingle in 1993, Jones says he’s ‘dismayed’ by the way it’s been handled since he sold it in 2006. “They just messed my magazine all up,” he says sadly. “But I’m gonna get it back. You better believe it.”

Facing sales of under one-million copies and withering debt, current owners, the Wicks Group slashed salaries and even changed to quarterly publishing in a bid to save money – but none of it helped. Chief bean-counter, Angela Zucconi, confirmed the mag’s closure late Tuesday, and said their fifty employees would be laid off at once.

And that’s when Q got the news.

The 76-year old guru is now deep in discussions to revive his creation, and has major plans to update its overall view, “We gotta get into the 21st century, you know?” Jones said. “Print and all that stuff is over. They’re over the same way as the record business. We have got to get into this century.”

Quincy is the same creative savant who turned ‘Bad’ and ‘Thriller.’ into platinum sales. If anyone can save Vibe, this is the man.

Perhaps when he’s done he could fix NBC?

Source: NME

Michael Jackson, 1958-2009

thelimey — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:33:29 +0000

‘Good-night, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest’

Ryan Reynolds to co-star with a coffin

thelimey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:58:28 +0000

After weeks of high-profile promotion for his current venture, the Sandra Bullock two-hander, ‘The Proposal,’ Ryan Reynolds has now signed on to spend six weeks in a box.

The 32-year old Vancouver-born star of X-Men is said to be eager to put his skills to the test, and has now agreed to make a new Indie film simply called, ‘Buried.’ In it, Ryan plays a civilian contractor based in Iraq, who is kidnapped by unknown assailants and rendered unconscious. When he recovers, he finds himself encased in a coffin, with just a cellphone, a candle, a knife…and that’s all.

Oh, and just to mix in some stress – he’s in uncharted desert

The movie is Ryan’s first foray into independent productions and will be shot entirely at locations in Spain. No release date has been floated as yet, but production begins in Barcelona next month.

Source: Variety

Barbara Streisand to cut new Jazz disk

thelimey — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:57:16 +0000

In a welcome return after three-years of silence, Barbara Streisand is releasing an album.

Winner of no less than ten Grammy’s, the 67-year old singer, turned actress is teaming with singer and pianist, Diana Krall in an all-studio album of Jazz standards and skits. Due out in September, the album, ‘Love Is The Answer’ is said to showcase the New York-born star as ‘a cabaret and jazz singer of emotional clarity, depth and maturity,” according to Columbia Records, the home to all Bab’s recordings since mid-’63.

From her debut as a minor voice on the Broadway-cast album for, ‘I Can Get It for You Wholesale,’ in 1962. Barbara’s audience appeal has been unswerving. Already the only artist in history to score Billboard #1’s in four different decades, Bab’s new disk will be her first collaboration with Diana’s quartet, and a welcome reunion with songwriter Johnny Mandel, who worked on her double-platinum CD, ‘Back to Broadway’ in 1993.

No playlist for the new disk is available yet, but with 72-million albums already sold you can be sure that her choices will meet unbounded success.

Farrah Fawcett and Ryan to be man and wife

thelimey — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:49:21 +0000

In a story whose implicit love and conviction is diluted only by how rare such tales are, it’s been reported that Ryan O’Neal and long-term love, Farrah Fawcett, are finally planning to be man and wife.

“I’ve asked her to marry me, again – and she’s agreed,” O’Neal, 68, tells ABC’s Barbara Walters, in an exclusive interview for ‘20/20′ on Friday.

Ryan has proposed several times since the couple first met in mid-1980, but the 62-year old actress has always politely declined. “I used to ask her to marry me all the time,” he explains in the ABC show. “But it got to be a joke; We just joked about it.” With his lover now in advanced stages of cancer, his latest proposal proved a welcome success. “I promise you, we will marry,” he tells Barbara, firmly. “Absolutely.”

The former ‘Charlie’s Angels’ star has been battling cancer for over three years and is now “fighting for her life,” according to Ryan. But humor helps keep them sane – Ryan often teases that he’ll dress like a gigolo for their wedding day. “You know? A little thin mustache and slicked-back hair. We have fun, we tease about that.” he explains.

It’s not known yet if their son, Redmond, 24, will share the big day. He’s still in rehab after being arrested in April, but Ryan is applying for short-term parole so Mother and Son can share time before Farrah must leave.

In the last few minutes Farrah was admitted to hospital and is ‘not doing well.’ according to a source close to the couple. Her overall condition is said to be deteriorating, but it’s believed she will be well enough to leave some time today.