This has to be one of the most inventive, well put-together bits involving the subject of break-ups in the history of videos. Okay, so that’s pushing it a bit, but this “Movie Title Breakup” video is an absolute must-see. Written, directed, edited, and starring Ryan Hunter, this nearly four minute video features a pregnant woman (played by Jenn Lyon) having dinner with her spouse. As the dinner goes on, the charges of infidelity fly until the waitress (Maggie Ross) has had enough and steps in to shut them up.
Will the world’s most popular pig and the frog of her dreams exchange vows in the upcoming Muppets Most Wanted adventure coming to theaters on March 21, 2014? Or is Miss Piggy posing in a fabulous Vivienne Westwood Couture wedding dress designed just for her as a way of throwing off the audience?
Neither Miss Piggy nor Kermie will provide the answer to the question on everyone’s lips, but Miss Piggy did say, “You’ll have to see the movie to find out.” She’s such a tease.
“Vivienne Westwood is fabulous—just like moi,” added Miss Piggy. “When I asked her to design this wedding dress for moi’s new movie Muppets Most Wanted, she was thrilled and I was thrilled. The only one a bit ‘iffy’ about it was the Frog.”
Disney, along with revealing Miss Piggy’s possible wedding dress, offered this info on her Muppets Most Wanted outfits:
In the film, Miss Piggy wears a Vivienne Westwood couture Long Ivory Court wedding gown, with corset detailing and paillettes made from recycled plastic bottles, accessorized with an ivory tulle veil. Piggy also entrusted the designer with additional looks for the film, including a Vivienne Westwood couture Harris Tweed houndstooth check coat and matching beret worn in a scene set at the Tower of London. Miss Piggy also chose a long silver hand-embroidered floral lace gown for a very special number in the film.
The Muppets Most Wanted Plot: Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine — the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog — and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais.
The film stars Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon and Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard.
He’s back! Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman has been tapped to host The 68th Annual Tony Awards to be held on June 8, 2014 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Jackman hosted the 2003, 2004, and 2005 Tony Awards, so he’s no stranger to this hosting gig.
“We are thrilled to have Hugh Jackman return to host the Tony Awards,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment. “Hugh is the ultimate performer – actor, singer and dancer – he does it all, second to none. He is a consummate entertainer and the one you want out there hosting your live television event.”
“We are excited that Hugh will be joining us, once again, at Radio City Music Hall to host The 68th Annual Tony Awards,” said Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League and Heather Hitchens, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing. “Hugh is an extraordinary talent and loyal supporter of the Broadway community – whether he is on-stage or in the audience – and we are honored to have him back as host.”
This year’s nominees will be revealed on Tuesday, April 29th.
Details on Hugh Jackman’s Career [Courtesy of CBS]:
Hugh Jackman is an Academy Award® nominated, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning actor, who has made an impression on audiences of all ages with his multi-hyphenate career persona, proving that he is as successful on stage in front of live crowds as he is on a film set. The Australian native made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the X-Men series, a role he reprised in the enormously successful X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine. He reunites with the X-men team for X-Men: Days of Future Past, which is set for release in May 2014.
Jackman’s other feature film credits include Prisoners, Les Misérables, for which he earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical as well as his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, Rise of the Guardians, Real Steel, Australia, The Fountain, The Prestige, Scoop, Happy Feet, Flushed Away, Deception, Someone Like You, Swordfish, Van Helsing, and Kate and Leopold, for which he received a 2002 Golden Globe nomination.
Most recently, Jackman appeared on Broadway in Hugh Jackman – Back on Broadway in the fall of 2011. Additional credits include A Steady Rain in 2009 and The Boy From Oz, for which Jackman received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards. Previously, Jackman appeared in Carousel at Carnegie Hall, Oklahoma! at the National Theater in London (Olivier Award nomination), Sunset Boulevard (MO Award – Australia’s Tony Award) and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (MO Award nomination).
Jackman’s continued dedication to the Broadway community was feted at the 2012 Tony Awards where he received a Special Award from the Tony Awards Administration Committee, recognizing his accomplishments both as a performer as well as a humanitarian.
Jackman’s career began in Australia in the independent films Paperback Hero and Erskineville Kings (Australian Film Critics’ Circle Best Actor award and The Australian Film Institute Best Actor nomination). In 1999, he was named Australian Star of the Year at the Australian Movie Convention.
Shailene Woodley has been named the 2014 CinemaCon Female Star of Tomorrow Award winner and will be presented with the honor next month in Vegas. The annual gathering of theatre owners and industry professionals will take place at Caesars on March 24-27th, with the awards ceremony taking place on the 27th during the CinemaCon Big Screen Achievements Awards ceremony.
Woodley delivered an amazing performance in 2013’s The Spectacular Now and will star in the much-anticipated 20th Century Fox film adaptation of the heartbreaking novel, The Fault in Our Stars, hitting theaters on June 6th. Woodley will also be seen starring in the sci-fi action film Divergent coming to theaters on March 21st.
Mitch Neuhauser, Managing Director of CinemaCon, announced Woodley’s award, saying, “With an award-winning and awe-inspiring performance opposite George Clooney in The Descendants already under her belt, Shailene Woodley has already proven that she is a rising star to watch in Hollywood. With upcoming starring roles in 20th Century Fox’s The Fault In Our Stars, as well as Summit Entertainment’s Divergent series Woodley will be one young star to be reckoned with and we could not be more pleased to honor her with the ‘CinemaCon Female Star of Tomorrow Award.’”
Details on The Fault in Our Stars:
The Fault in Our Stars is about Hazel (Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Elgort), two extraordinary teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional and a love that sweeps them on an unforgettable journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous, given that they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.
The Fault In Our Stars, based upon the number-one bestselling novel by John Green, explores the funny, thrilling and tragic business of being alive and in love. The film also stars Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Nat Wolff, and Willem Dafoe.
WB announced the addition of four more actors to the cast of Gotham, based on the DC Comics characters. The new dramatic series is set to star Southland‘s Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon in an origin story that centers on Commissioner Gordon and the famous Gotham villains (don’t expect to see Batman popping in to save the city). Bruno Heller (Rome) and Danny Cannon executive produce the new show, with Cannon directing the pilot from a script by Heller.
Joining McKenzie are Robin Lord Taylor as The Penguin, Zabryna Guevara as Captain Essen, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth, and Erin Richards as Barbara Kean.
The Gotham Character Descriptions, Courtesy of WB:
Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin): With the brains of a chess grandmaster and the morals of a jackal, Oswald Cobblepot is a low-level psychopath (for gangster Fish Mooney) who hides his sadistic lust for power behind an exquisitely polite demeanor.
Captain Essen: Gordon’s boss at the GCPD Homicide Squad, Captain Essen balances the two worlds of police and politics with a Machiavellian skill that’s as much corporate litigator as cop.
Alfred Pennyworth: A tough-as-nails ex-marine from East London, Alfred Pennyworth has loyally served the Waynes. Now, in the wake of their tragic deaths, he’s fiercely protective of the young Bruce Wayne.
Barbara Kean: A sophisticated emergency room doctor, Barbara is the fiancée of James Gordon, joyful but with an edge of vulnerability. She stands by her future husband…which can be difficult in a world as corrupt as Gotham.
Lifetime’s moving forward with the thriller The Lottery set to star Marley Shelton, Michael Graziadei, David Alpay, and Martin Donovan. The scripted series was written and executive produced by Timothy J Sexton (Children of Men), and Danny Cannon directed the show’s pilot episode. Cannon and Dawn Olmstead are also on board as executive producers, with Lifetime giving the conspiracy thriller a 10 episode order.
“The Lottery is one of the most provocative and original concepts we’ve ever seen,” said Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lifetime. “Tim Sexton’s unique dystopian thriller represents an exciting new direction for Lifetime and continues cable’s position on the leading edge of bold, high-quality scripted drama.”
The Lottery Plot:
Set in a dystopian future when women have stopped having children, The Lottery reveals a world staring down the barrel of impending extinction. Remarkably, 100 embryos are successfully fertilized and a national lottery is held to decide the surrogates. As conflict, control and mystery over this global crisis unfolds, the government’s interests and power begin to dominate, igniting a highly controversial debate over our fundamental and personal freedom to raise a family.
Shelton plays Dr. Alison Lennon, the brilliant fertility specialist whose scientific breakthrough may have life-and-death consequences. Graziadei is Kyle, a recovering alcoholic and single father of one of the last children born in the country. Alpay stars as James, Alison’s colleague and lab assistant, with Martin Donovan taking on the role of Darius Hayes, a calculating government official willing to use any strategy to achieve what he believes is the greater good.
Eric Church (Photo Credit: John Peets / 2014 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.)
Eric Church has spent nearly two hours in an old church-turned-recording studio in East Nashville, playing his new album, The Outsiders, for a group of Nashville media reps gathered to hear his latest offering. And when the listening session ends, the sense of satisfaction and, yes, pride that Church exudes as he answers questions about the project is undeniable. And justified.
The album, Church’s fifth (four studio and one live), is ambitious in its musical and lyrical scope and fearless in continuing the mission of Church and his producer Jay Joyce to push the boundaries of Country Music. Whether by adding a 90-second instrumental section to the end of the title cut and first single (written by Church and Casey Beathard), cleverly reflecting the lyrics in the melody of “Roller Coaster Ride” (Church, Jeff Hyde, and Ryan Tyndell), pulling no punches in describing a passionate reunion with his wife after a long road trip in “Like A Wrecking Ball” (Church and Beathard) or including a powerful three-and-a-half-minute spoken word section during what he describes as “the trilogy” near the end of the record, the album is unpredictable.
“For this record, we did ‘A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young’ (Church and Jeremy Spillman) first,” said Church, speaking later during a quiet moment on his bus. “Then we did The Outsiders. And I’m looking at these two very different things, thinking, ‘What is this? Where are we going?’ I hate to use the word ‘artistic,’ but it was just so damn artistic, I couldn’t wait to see where it was going from there.”
“(The project) is a whole entity,” producer Joyce explained. “But we’ll sit back and think, ‘What is this little family (of songs) missing?’ And we’re smart enough to stand back and let the record reveal itself. Sure, you’ve got to show up and do the work. But Eric came into the studio with three new tunes this time, so you’ve got to allow for a great song at the last minute. On the last record, I think it was ‘Springsteen’ (Church, Jeff Hyde, and Ryan Tyndell) that came in at the last minute. This time it was ‘Wrecking Ball.’”
Joyce knows to expect these last-minute arrivals because he understands Church’s work ethic. The man and his co-writers wrote an astonishing 121 songs in preparation for The Outsiders. Other than family time spent with his wife Katherine and their 2-year-old son Boone, or cutting and splitting wood on the 800 acres they own west of Nashville, writing and otherwise making music is Church’s life — so much so that while he’s involved in suggesting and approving marketing strategies to promote the music, he abstains from another key marketing activity: social media.
“I’ve always kept it about the music,” he said. “I’ve always kept it about ‘this is what I’m good at.’ But it’s allowed our fans to empower themselves. Instead of me tweeting or me getting on Facebook, they do it. Then the next person does it and it spiderwebs. Some people have dogged me for not being on Twitter or Facebook, but we have the same impact. The people are doing that for us. They have a sense of ownership.”
Church’s manager, John Peets, couldn’t agree more. “We have always come from the perspective that music is for people,” he said. “Eric has always written and played for the people in the room. Once you release a record, the music is theirs. We respect them and count on them to spread the word.”
Church even made consideration of his Church Choir fan base a factor in releasing the title cut as the album’s debut single. “Could we have come first with another song off this record that might have been a big hit? Sure. But we didn’t, because I wanted to make a statement that that’s not what this is about. It’s about making sure that we’re pushing boundaries and honoring where we come from. I wanted to make sure that the people who built this foundation hear this record and go, ‘This is the one we’ve been waiting on. This is when they were fully in the screws,’” Church noted, using the golf term that means hitting in the sweet spot of the club.
“I believe with any artist, there’s that moment when you’re writing your best, singing your best and playing your best,” he continued. “The producer’s producing his best and playing his best. There’s that ‘in the screws’ moment. I think we started to hit it with Chief. And I think we hit it on this one.”
“When I make albums, I want to lay my head on the pillow 20 years from now and not regret one thing,” he noted. “I want to have stayed true to my musical and moral compass, because that’s what I trust, regardless of what’s popular or whether you get rich or famous. It’s about looking back and being proud of the work you’ve left behind.
“I may be the most rock ‘n’ roll-influenced artist in the format,” Church concluded. “I’ll admit I love to listen to Pantera. But I revere Country Music. I don’t just do it. I revere it. And I want to make albums to put up on the Country Music shelf with all the Country records I revere and go, ‘This is what we did.’”
Bruno Mars participated in one of Ellen DeGeneres’ classic hidden camera pranks, with Ellen feeding lines in Bruno’s ear as an unsuspecting nurse tries to help him out with a throat problem. The poor nurse has no idea what she’s gotten herself into as Bruno proves to be a very effective actor, even crying on command.
Who would want to live in America’s inhospitable deserts? The men featured in History’s brand new series No Man’s Land, that’s who. Premiering on March 9, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT, the unscripted series follows five men who opt to live off the land, making their homes in the desert. Battling crippling heat, predators, and unpredictable weather, the No Man’s Land stars take up residence in hostile environments to prove they have what it takes to survive off the grid.
The No Man’s Land Desert Dwellers:
Continuing traditions passed down through generations, Jason carves out a living from the sparse resources of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, forging knives, tools and simple machines, and finding food wherever he can. Protecting his family is his number one priority.
David is a hardened desert veteran who braves Utah’s parched Red Rock Canyon Country to fulfill demand for rare and valuable desert stones. He depends on an annual summer rock harvest to support his large family, including 21-year-old son Leo who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Charlie Acuña is descended from the White Mountain Apaches and has honed his primitive skills for decades. He has always dreamed of challenging himself to live off the land, and he’s finally putting himself to the test in New Mexico’s northern desert.
In the searing, cactus-choked canyons of Texas’ Chihuahuan desert, feral longhorn cattle live free and breed. It’s Howdy’s job to round up the most ornery steers, born mean in the loneliest reaches of the Lone Star State. But as the world around him changes, this veteran can only battle the desert for so long, and it could be just a matter of time until Howdy has to hang up his spurs.
California’s Death Valley is one of the hottest places on Earth, known to reach temperatures of over 130 degrees in summer. Rick Gibson is a former Navy man who left his city life behind in order to live by his own rules. Rick makes a living here in the hellish but beautiful Mojave landscape, scavenging deep underground into the area’s abandoned mines, looking for valuable relics of the Valley’s bygone era, surviving on his wits and skill where few would dare to tread.
Bob Costas tried to fight through his eye infection but handling NBC’s Olympic primetime and late night hosting duties has proved to be too much for the anchor. Viewers have seen Costas’ eye infection grow worse since the Opening Ceremonies, and now the infection has spread to both eyes.
It’s got to be uncomfortable for Costas – and, honestly, now it’s at the point where it’s also uncomfortable for viewers – so NBC’s tapped Today host Matt Lauer to take over for Costas.
This eye infection (maybe he shouldn’t have been washing his face with the water from the Sochi hotel faucets) has put an end to Costas’ streak of Olympic primetime shows. The February 11th primetime Olympics broadcast will mark the first time since 1998 that Costas hasn’t been the host, ending his streak at 157 nights.
“Bob has been a real trooper, but needs a night off. We’re fortunate to have such incredible talent to draw upon within the NBCU family, including Matt, someone I’ve worked with for many years,” said NBC Olympics executive producer Jim Bell. “Now I know how Chuck Daly felt with the 1992 Dream Team, substituting one Hall of Famer for another.”
“I saw Bob in the hotel this morning, and if ever there was a guy who looked like he needed a night off, it was him,” said Lauer. “I’m happy to keep his chair warm. Although I might Purell it before I sit in it!”
Here’s the statement from Bob Costas, courtesy of NBC:
“It was becoming increasingly noticeable and uncomfortable, but if it was just that, I would have continued. We in broadcasting are lucky to have the jobs we do, and at one time or another, we’ve all gone on the air feeling less than our best.
The difference is that last night and into this morning, it got to the point where, as a practical matter, I simply couldn’t do my job because my eyes had become so blurry, watery and sensitive to light.
If it was just discomfort, I’d be there. I’m receiving excellent treatment…it’s a viral infection, and all you can do is try to manage the symptoms while the virus runs its course. But I’m hopeful that those symptoms will improve in the next couple of days and I can return to the broadcast.
Also, the last thing I want is to go through the rest of my life owing Matt Lauer a bunch of favors.”
Stumble It! 
Lifetime’s moving forward with the thriller The Lottery set to star Marley Shelton, Michael Graziadei, David Alpay, and Martin Donovan. The scripted series was written and executive produced by Timothy J Sexton (Children of Men), and Danny Cannon directed the show’s pilot episode. Cannon and Dawn Olmstead are also on board as executive producers, with Lifetime giving the conspiracy thriller a 10 episode order.
Who would want to live in America’s inhospitable deserts? The men featured in History’s brand new series No Man’s Land, that’s who. Premiering on March 9, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT, the unscripted series follows five men who opt to live off the land, making their homes in the desert. Battling crippling heat, predators, and unpredictable weather, the No Man’s Land stars take up residence in hostile environments to prove they have what it takes to survive off the grid.
