Beyonce To Play Pink Panther Diamond Thief.

Excerpt:

Beyonce Knowles is the unlikely favourite to take the role of the chief suspect in the new Pink Panther movie.
The Destiny's Child superstar is in negotiations with MGM studio chiefs to play a diamond thief in the comedy movie remake, which will star Steve Martin and Jean Reno.

Don't Panic! The Beeb is reporting that they are casting for the movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Excerpt:

"Love Actually" star Bill Nighy and Martin Freeman (Tim from The Office) are set to topline sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Talking exclusively to BBCi FILMS, Nighy says he's been cast as alien planet designer Slartibartfast in the long-gestating adaptation of Douglas Adams' novel. Freeman will play Arthur Dent, the everyday Earthling thrust into an interplanetary adventure.

Nighy also states that a director isn't set yet, although hotshot music vid team Hammer & Tongs (aka writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith) were on board last High Noon heard. Fingers crossed, it sounds like this could finally liftoff.

No matter what they do, music sales keep plummeting. The only solution they've got left is to open the floodgates, allow P2P to take over and make free music ubiquitous but simply make money through product placement *within the songs*. I can just see the future lyrics now:

"They paved Paradise, and put up a parking lot.... Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got till it's gone, have a coke and put up a parking lot...."

Tough-Guy Actor Charles Bronson Dies at 81. He did some great movies... I can't believe he was 81!

Singer Barry White Dies at 58.

Comic Actor Buddy Hackett Dead in L.A. at 79...

Tim Burton may be directing the new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

A fan of Fawlty Towers has bought a cafe and is using the show as inspiration...arguing with customers and abusing the staff in the spirit of the show.

Yahoo reports: 'Untouchables' Actor Robert Stack Dies. He was 84. May he rest in peace.

ABC is 50 years old already. They will be having a celebration on the 19th featuring:

- Cast reunions from ABC's most beloved series, including Welcome Back Kotter, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Love Boat, The Mod Squad and NYPD Blue, among others.
- Fifty years of historic news events presented by such ABC news figures as Barbara Walters, Hugh Downs, Diane Sawyer, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Charles Gibson, Joan Lunden, David Hartman and others.
- Unforgettable moments and tributes from the world of sports, including appearances by legendary sports figures like heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, football All-Star great Joe Namath, sports announcers Al Michaels, John Madden and Jim McKay, Olympic gold medalists Carl Lewis and Dorothy Hamill and many others.
- Oprah Winfrey and Richard Chamberlain present unforgettable scenes from ABC's most acclaimed movies and miniseries.
- Clips from ABC's favorite comedy and drama series past and present.

StarWars.com announces that Chewbaca will return for Episode III of Star Wars.

Looks like some TV execs weren't thrilled with Adbusters campaign to turn off your tv for a week.

So that's why all the comedians made those jokes about Abe Vigoda during the Friar's Roast.

CNN Money has an article on Red carpet fashion and product placement, like the Bvlgari necklace Nicole Kidman is wearing.

For those of you who can't get enough of Dave Barry, check Dave Barry's Blog.

From April 23-27, Roger Ebert is hosting a Film Festival celebrating some "overlooked" movies.

I saw the Virginia Woolf movie THE HOURS last night. What bode for a good movie right from the start is that for the first time ever, I was the one and only person in the theatre! That was so cool. And they did a great job with the movie once you are able to follow what they are doing... Bravo.

I saw The Life of David Gale last night. Although I have loved many of Alan Parker's films, I felt the script was a bit too contrived for me and wound up a bit disappointed. However I enjoyed reading the Director's notes much more than the film. Very interesting stuff. The movie is about the Death Penalty.

The Academy Awards will be celebrating their Diamond Anniversary this year and you can expect to see a Diamond-related theme this year.

Johnny Carson is on TV Land right now. Enjoy!

Mr. Bean the cartoon is here.... Enjoy!

The movie was a lot of fun, almost as much as the book. The author and subject of the book/movie, Frank W. Abagnale has a few comments.

Yahoo! reports that "Rambo" Boss Richard Crenna Dies

Matrix fans, if you want to see a clip of Matrix Reloaded, check out this page at Celebhoo.com, a cool celeb site.

Well at least the trailer for Dumb and Dumberer acknowledges what the movie will probably be like.

Joe Strummer, frontman for The Clash, has died at 50.

Neil Diamond has been recording for 36 years, has been backed by the same band for the last 25 years, and at 61 years of age brought in 10,516 fans in a concert in Las Cruces. Not bad.

While Jennifer Lopez's new venture J-Lo Glow, undergoes a legal battle, I thought I'd mention that I like the Logo:

Just finished the 3 hour video part 1 of The Lord of the Rings : Fellowshop of the Ring. Nice set-up...a welcome improvement from the Star Wars / Star Trek films that have come out in recent years...

I learned from    -=oO[AsciiRock]Oo=-     WEB LOG                               that Sean Connery will be directing the next James Bond film. Hmm, maybe that will mean it will actually be a good film this time? Sean likes to do good movies...

Variety.com: Mel's big Max attack

Daily Variety reports that Mad Max will return. Filming begins in May for the latest in the Mad Max saga starring Mel Gibson. The film is expected to cost upwards of $100 million dollars to make.

Astoria Times does an article with Anna Berger of the Upper West Side, who plays the mother of mobster Paulie Walnuts in the Sopranos.

BBC NEWS: Callas letters sold to mystery buyer

Private letters revealing opera star Maria Callas' desire for revenge after she was jilted by billionaire Aristotle Onassis have sold at auction in Rome. The letters fetched more than £4,000 at a Christie's auction on Wednesday, selling to a mystery bidder.

Eleven lots of the opera singer's letters and photographs sold for £13,000, much more than was expected before the sale.

Days after Onassis wed the widow of assassinated US President John F Kennedy in October 1969, Callas wrote: "It's cruel, it isn't true - both should pay and both will pay, you'll see."

Callas died alone, depressed and unfulfilled, in Paris in September 1977. She was 53.
Onassis, who had once given her a $1m diamond ring, died in March 1975.
Written as her nine-year affair with Onassis was collapsing, Callas' letters also touched on the disillusion she felt and her battle to lose weight.

Or remember any of these?:

Sword of Justice with Dack Rambo of Dallas, as Jack Cole handing out those 3 of spades... Larry Hagman was in the pilot and Belinda Montgomery was in the second episode.

Remember Man From Atlantis with Patrick Duffy and the webbed hands and feet? Belinda Montgomery was in that one too. As was Victor Buono. Victor Buono was a great villain for the fun original Wild Wild West against Ross Martin and Robert "I dare you to knock this battery off my shoulder" Conrad.

Or the original TV version of Mission Impossible.

Anyone recognize this guy from SWAT?

Or any of the versions The Paper Chase with the brilliant John "We make money the old-fashioned way, we Eeeeeaaaarrrrnnn it" Houseman? The movie version starred Lindsey "Bionic Woman" Wagner....

Also fun was The Six Million Dollar Man, I still remember the original song before the show was repackaged and redone...there was later a reunion show with Sandra Bullock.

The Greatest American Hero was fun and finally, before the current Saturday Night Live, anyone remember the variety show Saturday Night Live? If I recall correctly, it starred Howard Cosell....

A 5 minutes preview of Star Trek Nemesis is now online at iFilm.

Charles sees Marines in Bond-style spectacular before 007 screening

Before the film, the Prince, wearing the uniform of a vice admiral, watched intently as actors and servicemen played out an 007 scenario. The plot centred around the kidnapping of a TV reporter who has uncovered a diamond smuggling racket.

George Lazenby made an appearance at the most recent grand opening of Die Another Day, the latest James Bond movie. Although you can argue about his performance as Bond, if you actually watched the movie, it was perhaps the best Bond Film from all of them. Although Goldfinger was great, and Spy Who Loved Me was the best of Roger Moore, Her Majesty's Secret Service was fun as a Bond Flick but was actually good as a Spy Flick too... it's worth renting for sure...

Joe Pantoliano is gone for good from Sopranos, but you will be able to catch him in Ben Affleck's turn as DareDevil. I liked this comic book when I was younger. Some talented people worked on it, including Frank Miller if memory serves...

Some other movies coming soon:

Gigli during the filming of which Affleck met and finally proposed to Jennifer Lopez..

Star Trek Nemesis without blogger Wil Wheaton who announced on his blog that his scene was cut...

Dumb and Dumberer a prequel without Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels ...

Batman Year 1, screenplay by Frank Miller which is a good sign...

Once upon a time in Mexico, the third in the trilogy of El Mariachi & Desperado, this film will have an all-star cast including Antonio Banderas, Pedro Armenduriz, Ruben Blades, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi, Cheech Marin, Eva Mendes, Mickey Rourke & Danny Trejo...

XMen2 with Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Bruce Davison, Kelly Hu, James Marsden, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Shawn Ashmore, Steve Bacic, James Bamford, Daniel Cudmore, Shauna Kain, Michael Reid McKay, Cotter Smith, Aaron Stanford, Katie Stuart, Connor Widdows, Peter Wingfield & Kea Wong...

Fantastic Four,

American Wedding which is the third in the American Pie Movies..

The Hulk which features a cameo of Lou Ferrigno who can be seen this month on HBO in the Pumping Iron movies... Sam Elliott and Jennifer Connelly will star... boding well for the movie is that it will be directed by Ang Lee of Crouching Tiget Hidden Dragon acclaim...

The Matrix Reloaded...

Arnold says I'll be back for Terminator 3...

and in the farther off future is The Amazing Spider Man 2

and even though Harry Potter 2 is now playing, Part 3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be in theatres in 2004.

I just ran across this story... Michael has been having a rough patch lately. But it really is too bad that the plastic surgeons that kept taking his money didn't Just Say No at some point. Now he's suing one of them, but no matter how much money he gets back, no one will be able to fix the damage that's been done...

TriggerStreet.com is Kevin Spacey's new site where screenplay writers around the world, known and unknown, can upload their screenplay, get critiqued by other screenwriters, and if they got good feedback ratings, get the attention of moviemakers and eventually funding... Great idea. I think Spacey is a great actor and after seeing an extensive interview with him on PBS, I'd say he's a great guy too. Good work Kevin.

In his words, this website is about him "sending the elevator back down", now that he got a ride up himself...

Rowling's legal team says the dust jacket of The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter gave the misleading impression it was officially endorsed.

Scotland on Sunday reports the cover's purple colour scheme, typography and use of star symbols would be thought to have given the impression that it had been approved by Rowling.

They may also want to do something about the blackmarket copies of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets going around the Internet.

Anne Geddes takes awesome baby pictures.
She's inviting you to send in yours.

"When I created my collection of designer baby clothes, I imagined how I would feel the first time I saw a baby on the street who was dressed in one of my outfits. And I was totally unprepared for the fact that people would go to so much trouble to send me their baby pictures - gorgeous photographs of their babies dressed in my clothing! So we all thought it would be a great idea to launch a monthly 'BABY PHOTO QUEST'!"

They didn't mention too much about the film, and although I'd love to see it, perhaps it's too soon to see a movie about women in racing as things stands today, Sarah Fisher notwitshtanding, Britney Spears is doing a movie about car racing and taking lessons in Las Vegas. For fans of racing, Danica Patrick is certainly one to watch, if she could only get a drive.

Whatever happened to the film they were talking about doing of Ayrton Senna? I'm still waiting... Formula 1 hasn't been the same without him.

Since I brought up the issue of violence on the Sopranos, may as well mention that I wasn't the only one.

I've been following the Jennifer Lopez engagement story because I wanted to get a good picture of her pink diamond ring for our readers. Well, now that she's "officially" engaged, you will be able to see her flash her ring on Primetime Live tonight.

Now I'm not going to get cynical as some others might try to make a connection to her engagement announcement at this time being fortuitous since she is releasing a brand new album on November 26....but I will say that I was surprised that people find it compelling tv to watch Entertainment Tonight. I happen to be flicking the channels as I saw a story on JLO come on...and really couldn't believe my ears to hear Mary Hart have an exclusive phone interview with Diane Sawyer, who had an exclusive interview with Jennifer Lopez.

I missed the first few minutes of the Sopranos last night because I went to see Femme Fatale with Rebecca Stamos and Antonio Banderas (mostly due to hearing that the plot revolved around diamonds). So I missed the beginning of the show with the other Antonio...Antonio Soprano...and I didn't find out why Ralph broke up with the character played by Leslie Bega (I think her character is called Valentina?)....

Anyways, it turned out to be a rather violent show. Interesting to see how society and culture changes in your lifetime. When I was a kid, I remember how scary Jaws was and I wondered if it would be too scary for me to see in the theatre. I saw it much later on video. Today they would probably censor the nudity, but other than that, it would and has been shown on TV without much if any violence removed. Nothing in the Jaws movie touches what was on cable TV on the Sopranos last night.

I could have done without it. I suppose the producers put it in because they wanted to show how brutal some criminals can be and to balance out the parts where they are likeable characters. As if to say, hey, these are still gangsters... Somehow the Godfather had some very graphic moments too, and heavy drama. Perhaps I still feel that since the manner this is brought to me is television, albeit cable and not a movie theatre, I expect a certain restraint...which made it more graphic (and effective?).

Madonna: Die Another Day, hear the title song.

72 year old Richard Harris passed away...

BRIT ACTING LEGEND DIES

Actor Richard Harris has died at University College Hospital in London, a spokesman for the family said.
"With great sadness, Damian, Jarid and Jamie Harris announced the death of their beloved father Richard Harris.
"He died peacefully at University College Hospital, London, at 7pm today," the spokesman said.
The 72-year-old actor had been receiving treatment for Hodgkin's Disease at the hospital after falling ill earlier this year.

Instead of Jamming camcorders in movie theaters it would be cool if they would jam cellphones in theaters.

Meanwhile, Cinea this week scored a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Advanced Technology Program to develop a system that it claims will stop audience members from videotaping digital movies off theater screens.

With a movie title like "The Ring" I had to see it. Not bad. But this entry has little to do with the movie, it has to do with this review of The Ring. Which also barely discusses the movie. But I did find the article interesting because it gives you an idea of how Reporters work. Well, a bit of an idea.

I was shocked tonight to see a trailer for the film Catch Me if You Can. I read the book years ago. It was excellent and illustrated a long time ago the lack of security on the airlines among other things. I never met anyone who actually read this book besides me, so it's surprising to see a decade later that Steven Spielberg made it into a movie with Tom Hanks and Leonardo. Even though he's not my favorite actor, from the clip he seems to do a good job at looking the part.

OK, is reality TV supposed to be real? The TV show Cheaters was caught cheating. They apparently hired people to act out the episode. So in a way, it is reality. The show is called Cheaters and that's what they did.

Does anyone actually believe any of the reality shows are real? I haven't seen more than a couple of minutes of any of them but I never much believed them. I got confirmation when a friend of mine was discussing another friend who was a body double on Survivor. Huh, you ask? Body double? But that's a reality show?? :)

Dallas is being remade into a movie. They better find an excellent JR, because Larry Hagman defined that role.