Rabu, 12 Januari 2011

Conan O'Brien Doesn't Want To Do His Show "Forever"


TBS executive Michael Wright has told Conan O'Brien that they are satisfied enough with his show's performance that he can have a home on the network "as long as he wants to do it". However, Conan O'Brien has reportedly stated that he doesn't want to do the show "forever". Conan said at some point, years from now he'll move on down the road.




But, don't worry fans. Conan will be around for many years.




Conan also revealed that David Letterman gave him a friendly holiday phone call to see how he was doing. Neither addressed Jay Leno it seems. Both have some bad blood against the "Chinster" it seems. Letterman left NBC because he passed over by NBC as the TONIGHT SHOW host, despite the wishes of Johnny Carson, and Conan O'Brien had his major problems with NBC last year when his TONIGHT SHOW ratings fell below Leno's old version of the show.




TBS and Conan O'Brien appear to make a perfect match.




MGM Out Of Bankruptcy: New James Bond Film Due Nov 9, 2012


Serious financial problems that forced the bankruptcy of MGM resulted in a huge delay in the production of the #23 installment of the James Bond series. However, the financial situation over at MGM was cleared up on December 20, when $500 million in financing infused the cash-strapped company with enough funds to restructure. Spyglass Entertainment executives, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will also take over as corporate heads of the new MGM.


The financial problems that brought down the legendary MGM indicate just how much of a high risk business the entertainment industry is. Producers invest millions in movies, with the hopes that box office receipts will at least pay for the production costs. And the salary of stars seems to be ever increasing, only adding to this high risk game. The public needs to support the movie industry by attending films and buying their DVDs and show their appreciation for the industry. Few businesses are as high risk as the movie business. You invest so much with so much uncertainty. Equally, the record business is a tough one as well. At least one out of ten new cds needs to sell well enough to prevent the business from losing money.


Now that MGM is back in business, the long delayed production for the new James Bond film can continue. Actor Daniel Craig is expected to return for a third time as James Bond, and it is hoped that director Sam Mendes will continue on the project as well.

Selasa, 11 Januari 2011

Michael Jackson's Doctor Will Stand Trial For Involuntary Manslaughter


A Los Angeles judge has ruled that Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray must stand trail for involuntary manslaughter for causing the death of the singer. A six day preliminary hearing was held, where 20 witnesses presented their testimony, leading to the ruling by Judge Michael Pastor that enough evidence existed that the doctor should stand trial on the manslaughter.


In other bad news for the popular Los Angeles physician, his license to practice medicine was also suspended by the judge. However, the legal team for the doctor believe that suspending his license will make it more difficult for him to pay their legal fees, impacting his ability to have a fair trial.

Definitely Not Barbie


No, this isn't S&M Barbie. It's from ZC, a doll manufacturer from Shanghai, China that produces some outrageous and wildly detailed action figure dolls. And none of them are anything like Barbie. No, not even close. They range from biker girls, to bank robbers, to spy girls, to professional killers, to leather clad girls with handcuffs and a dog collar and chain around her neck. These dolls are definately not for the little kids. They're as adult as you can get.


Several companies produce these outlandish highly detailed action figure dolls. Cy Girls and Evolution are two other brands. Evolution figures are anatomically correct as well, parts you find missing from Barbie. A Cat Woman figure by another manufacurer, BX from Hong Kong, is a very detailed figure, quite similar to that movie villianess with a very well designed leather-like costume. It's one heck of a collector's item toy.


If highly detailed tough girl dolls who rock masks, guns, knives, leather or whips & chains is your sort of thing, then you can't do any better than ZC Girls. These are some of the wildest adult collector toys ever made.


While Barbie aspires to be a housewife or doctor, some ZC girls aspire to being a professional killer, a spy or even a sex slave. Outrageous.


You can find a wide range of ZC Girls dolls and action figures over at Ebay, where many are available on a "Buy It Now" basis, shipped directly from China to you. If Barbie is too tame for your tastes, and you might like to collect these strange and unusual action figure dolls. But to some folks, these might just bizarre if not sometimes creepy.

Senin, 10 Januari 2011

Crooner Rod Stewart Turns 66


Former soccer player turned rock star, turned crooner, Rod Stewart has turned 66 today. At one point in his early career he was the lead singer of The Ray Davies Quartet, which later became The Kinks. Rod Stewart then moved on to become lead singer of The Jeff Beck Group for a time, later moving on to become the lead singer of Faces and having a successful solo career. His later solo music reflected the disco music craze of the late 70's and eventually became known as a more easy listening type rocker in recent years.


Rod Stewart has also been one of the most successful ladies' men in rock music ever, having many relationships with many beautiful women.


Congratulations for your long career in music. Happy birthday, Rod.

Minggu, 09 Januari 2011

Leonardo Di Caprio Will Star As J. Edgar Hoover In Upcoming Clint Eastwood Film


Leonardo Di Caprio will star as controversial former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in a new film by Clint Eastwood that will open later this year. However, some are unhappy that the film will depict a claimed gay affair between Hoover and Associate FBI Director Clyde Tolson. And it is not certain whether the alleged cross-dressing of Hoover will be depicted in the film as well.


It will interesting to see how the film will also handle allegations that Hoover was soft on organized crime because of claims are that one organized crime family had blackmail material on the former FBI Director. A wife of both Lewis Rosenstiel and mob-friendly lawyer Roy Cohn(who was also an associate of Senator Joe McCarthy), Susan L. Rosensteil also claimed that Hoover was dressed as a woman when Hoover, Lewis Rosensteil and Cohn, had a sex party with three young blond boys.


Hoover was a mix of good and bad. He brought many bank robbers and serious criminals to justice on one hand. On, the other hand, some serious character questions remain about his own personal conduct, with some allegations far beyond simple gay relationships.


The former crime fighter had a tough guy image on one hand, on the other hand, some rotten allegations exist, where the new Clint Eastwood film should hopefully balance the two Hoovers.


Hoover was probably a sort of flawed hero, however too much power, including over presidents, made him a fearsome and sometimes reckless force with not enough oversight over his actions. A good man and a bad man all at the same time.

Sabtu, 08 Januari 2011

The Crazy World Of Jared Loughner


Jared Loughner has made himself an instant celebrity today by his deranged actions at a Safeway store in Arizona when he shot 18 persons including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge and a nine year old child. According to a background check, Loughner had a previous 2007 arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia, as well as a citation for running a stop sign. That's a great combination, problems with drug use and automatic weapons. Nothing can possibly go wrong there, huh?


Loughner, a former community college student, left a wealth of crazy and warped messages on the Internet just to prove just how deranged he really was, including a gem where he seemed to view himself as a "terrorist" of sorts. Some reports claim that was rejected by the military after he attempted to enlist.


Yet, he seemed surprisingly literate for someone who wrote such weird and rambling messages on the Internet, including "No, I won't pay debt with currency that's not backed by gold or silver! No, I won't trust in God!". Give half a chance, he acted like a complete nut job screwball. Then again, his long list of claimed favorite books sounds mostly like any garden variety of classics from any junior college library. Probably a majority of college students have either read these books or perused the Cliff's Notes versions to pass some English class. Some books like PETER PAN or ALICE IN WONDERLAND were probably read as a child. There was really nothing to prove that he was any Einstein genius here.


His posted MySpace stocking cap hat photo looked especially goofy. It has that "I've never had a girlfriend" look just reeking from it. A nerd's nerd for sure.


His politics are little difficult to sort out. His thinking was so confused and crazy, yet some liberals and conservatives have both done some unhelpful finger pointing today, instead of just offering their best wishes or prayers.


Loughner did have some bizarre views that might indicate some mental health issues such as paranoid schizophrenia, where he believed that the CIA was reading MySpace, yet posted nonsense such as his views on being a "terrorist" of sorts. He never made a great deal of sense with his warped and confused logic.


Several things might result from the crazed actions of Jared Loughner today. Some politicians may offer less "town hall" type activities and accessibility to the public. Increased security is likely to result at many "town hall" meetings. Increased gun control legislation is likely to be presented at state and local levels since a member of congress was harmed. America became less free and open today because of a lone screwball.


Jared Loughner, a complete loser nobody found a very dubious path to fame today. That's one heck of a path to celebrity status.






Kennedy Series Starring Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear Won't Air


The History Channel spent millions of dollars to produce a series about the Kennedys starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes as John and Jackie Kennedy, but has decided not to air the series. The History Channel spent millions more on this series than any other show it ever produced. Now, the question is what happens to this expensive eight part series.


Once completed, the History Channel was unhappy that series appeared to be highly fictionalized and was criticized as unhistorical and grossly inaccurate by some former Kennedy Administration officials and by some historians. Further, political pressures by some political liberals as well as Kennedy family fans including a petition drive helped to put a lid on the project.


A few years back, CBS produced a miniseries about Ronald Reagan, but once again political critics put a lid on the project. The series never aired on CBS, but was later sold to Showtime and played on this pay TV cable channel.


Networks seem to run into problems when they want to air political fiction. Pressure groups from the right or left often quickly attempt to censor projects they think might not project them in some positive light. They can care less that that the whole intent of film is to entertain, not brainwash someone into their own thinking.


Freedom of expression isn't totally dead in the United States. But, censorship of major projects proves that freedom of expression often hangs by a thin thread. And that's wrong. Filmmakers shouldn't have to satisfy to political tastes of critics. They're only job is to entertain us.


Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear are major actors. This series needs to air somewhere so the public can make up their own mind as to whether this is a good film series or not. Censorship sucks. For too many years, some churches and political forces have forced their own opinions on filmmakers and the American public, forcing artists to work in narrow constraints so not as to offend some pressure group. Filmmakers cannot make good products if they have to satisfy pressure groups, rather than concentrate on good filmmaking.


Some preview scenes such as the assassination in Dallas scene have an eerie appearance, where the film looks very interesting. Regardless of the critics, I'd like to be allowed to judge this film for myself, thank you.

Jumat, 07 Januari 2011

Chloe Sevigny Manages To Shock Once Again


As if actress Chloe Sevigny didn't establish a lifetime shocker standard low with her BROWN BUNNY blow scene with that grimy looking Vincent Gallo guy, now she's dating Pauly D from JERSEY SHORE. I'll say that once again just so that the shock can really set in.....she's dating Pauly D from JERSEY SHORE.


The two were photographed at a Knicks game the other night.


In just two seasons on the air, JERSEY SHORE has managed to horrify the viewing public by introducing us to the likes of Pauly D, a disc jockey, and the Lindsay Lohan wannabe, Nicole "Snooky" Polizzi. Her arrest at Sunset Heights Beach for disturbing the peace will be aired during a season three episode of the popular MTV show.


Sadly, the new series just started to tape on January 6 for upcoming episodes. This means that you might want to schedule a root canal in coming weeks when the new episodes will air. As for me, I'm just grateful my house burned down and I don't have cable TV right now.


SS Trike Recreates The Big Wheel


SS Trike makes just about the coolest motorcycle trikes of any U.S. brand. Strangely, they look much like the kid's big wheel all grown up. But, that's where the resemblance ends. SS Trikes might well set you back a good $30k or better with options. However, the low center of gravity gives these bikes excellent stability, and road-ability. And the 2-speed automatic transmission also helps make riding these trikes just as easy as any car. There's no clutch to mess with, so don't go looking for one. There ain't one. Nada.




However, the automatic transmission is race quality and excellently coverts all of that power from that big 117cube SS x-wedge engine to those 14inch rear tires. The big wheel on the front is a whooping 24inch size.




SS Trike has a variety of models, but each are eye-catching quality and design. They even have some nice models with flames that look much like a hot rod, especially with those 1950's inspired Chevy hot rod cues in the rear styling and taillights.




Despite the price tag around $30, SS Trikes are actually a bargain of sorts. Compared to spending $100k to custom build a bike this good, the engineers at SS Trikes have done all the hard work, mating the very best performance and quality components together. The result is a powerful trike that's a thrill to ride.




You only live once. Go for it.




Kamis, 06 Januari 2011

Legal Crap: Cat Fight Erupts Over Kitty Litter Ads


Who could have ever guessed that a high stakes legal battle would erupt over kitty litter. But the makers of Arm & Hammer have filed suit against Clorox over some kitty litter ads that they claim are deceptive and seem to show that cats prefer one brand over the other. But, the makers of Arm & Hammer claim the research is flawed that attempts to show cats favoring Fresh Step over Super Scoop.


I suppose some judge will have to decide whether one brand fights odor better than another, or whether this lawsuit is just a bunch of crap.

Conan O'Brien Wins People's Choice Award


Conan O'Brien continues to amaze and confound the critics. Despite his move to cable TV, a horde of fans voted him their favorite talk show host to win the 2011 People's Choice Awards for Favorite Talk Show Host. That was an amazing upset over favorites such as Ellen Degeneres or Oprah Winfrey. Like a phoenix who reemerges from ashes as great, Conan O'Brien has emerged from what he admitted could have been a "horrible" year to this great honor.


Fans of the red headed comic continue to carry him on their backs. Nearly 175 million votes were cast this year on-line for the People's Choice Awards voting. Conan O'Brien proved real strength among this demographic, scoring this convincing victory.


Congratulations to Conan O'Brien for this great victory.

Why TRUE GRIT Deserves Major Award Nominations


The producers of TRUE GRIT are hoping to garner some award considerations for the great new big screen adaptation of the 1968 Charles Portis novel. Indeed, the buzz is that the producers of SOCIAL NETWORK are in fear that this may make a late run at Oscar consideration and virtually shut out their film. However, TRUE GRIT is far superior to the catalogic SOCIAL NETWORK, which I found factually interesting, but not overly appealing as a film. The new 2010 version of TRUE GRIT is a far superior film overall by any standard of measurement against SOCIAL NETWORK. TRUE GRIT is more than worthy of major award nominations, including best picture, best actor and best actress, whereas SOCIAL NETWORK is not.


TRUE GRIT has excellent acting by both Jeff Bridges and young actress Hailee Steinfeld. Both more than deserve best actor nominations. Jeff Bridges has reinvented the U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn role as his own great characterization. The alcoholic washed-up-has-been gunslinger Marshal pulls together the best of what he has left to prove to be a loyal and devoted honorable, but flawed hero. He proves himself to be the far moral superior to Texas Ranger LaBouef(Matt Damon) who seems to quickly use his position of authority in an abusive and unsettling way against the young Mattie Ross character. From their very first meeting, LaBouef seemed inclined toward wanting some inappropriate actions toward the Young Mattie Ross, wanting either to kiss her or administer some discipline to the stubborn and determined Ross. In fact, it was Cogburn who quickly put a stop to this sort of conduct by LaBoeuf a little later in the story, when he was disgusted by LaBouef abusing his authority against the young girl by giving her some harsh punishment by a riverbed for following along with the pair of trackers . Cogburn made it clear that he was perfectly willing to shoot LaBouef if this sort of inappropriate conduct continued. Inside, Cogburn was actually a deeply moral and decent man, despite his tough alcoholic exterior. He was a selfless servant of young Mattie Ross, while LaBouef simply wasn't as trustworthy a man as you would expect, but someone who would abuse his badge or position of authority if the opportunity only knocked. It quickly became clear who was the moral superior of the two.


More of the character of Cogburn was clear when he went on that desperate ride to get medical help for the young girl after a snakebite, and after the horse collapsed, ran with the young girl for what seemed like miles. The Coen brothers have recreated TRUE GRIT in 2010 as a masterwork of a Western. Both the film and the actors deserve major award nominations here. This is one of the great Westerns.


Jeff Bridges' acting as the latest incarnation of "Rooster" Cogburn is certainly as great as the performance of John Wayne that won him the best actor award at the Oscars in 1969. If John Wayne won for this role, Jeff Bridges deserves the same honor. This is Jeff Bridges at his very best here, capturing a great character that is wholly unrecognizable from other many other film roles he has portrayed.


Of course, TRUE GRIT is all about the story of young 14 year old Mattie Ross and her mission to capture for trial and ultimate hanging the drifter farmhand, Tom Chaney, who killed her father. And young actress, Hailee Steinfeld, is really the big star here where the story is all about her determined search for justice. Hailee Steinfeld is just plain excellent in this role. She's a fantastic young actress with a very promising career ahead. Her performance is far superior to that of Kim Darby in the 1969 film.


Part of what continues to make TRUE GRIT such a great western story is that it is so inspirational to young viewers. Mattie Ross is a real inspirational character. And young Hailee Steinfeld plays the character with such strength, intelligence and wisdom beyond her years, her only moment of weakness being when she is reduced to a crying little girl by LaBouef's abusive discipline by the riverbed. If LaBouef was attempting to knock this stubborn young girl down a peg, then he only temporarily succeeded. But, Cogburn sure didn't like this at all. The three were a team in his view and needed to be at their best game, and the frictions between LaBouef and Ross needed to stop if the three were to succeed in tracking down and capturing Tom Chaney. The three would face many perils in the frontier. Afterall, Ross was his boss, and Cogburn was nothing but the loyal employee.


The character of Mattie Ross is a tough, intelligent and very determined girl. And the grown up Mattie Ross narrates her life story here, where she ends up sadly losing an arm to a snakebite. Each retelling of TRUE GRIT takes some liberties or embellishes the original Charles Portis novel. But, the new Coen brothers film has made the story even more "gritty" and tougher than the 1969 film version. It's an excellent retelling of the story by the reclusive author of the novel. Charles Portis is seldom seen in public, but has to love this new version of his classic story. The Coen brothers certainly did justice here to this great novel.


My appeal is for those who make Oscar nominations and other award nominations to nominate TRUE GRIT for best picture, best actor and best actress considerations. And for other upcoming awards, please nominate this film and actors. Good westerns don't come much better than this. TRUE GRIT is a very good film.

Senin, 03 Januari 2011

Hollywood Superbabe Anne Francis Dead At 80


Anne Francis was a great actress. Her short lived series, HONEY WEST, set the stage for more action private eye and spy series such as the JAMES BOND series and THE AVENGERS to feature tough females clad in skin tight black jumpsuits. HONEY WEST may have only lasted for just 30 episodes, but it had lots of style. And her pet ocelot(also called the dwarf leopard) in the series had that exotic wild animal look. The show may not have lasted long, but it inspired more tough female roles in so many more shows.


Anne Francis died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. But in the late 50's and early 60's, she was one of the hottest blond actresses of them all. She just exuded sex appeal. She was perfect as the tough but very sexy HONEY WEST.


But, Anne Francis was also a major star in the classic sci fi film, FORBIDDEN PLANET, and was also featured in classics such as BLACKBOARD JUNGLE and other pretty decent films. She also appeared on THE MAN FROM U.N.L.C.E. and other TV shows as well.


It's so sad to see the death of this league major babe. She was so fine. One of the most beautiful and sexy women ever to appear on the small or big screen. Her little trademark birthmark by her mouth gave her such a distinctive beautiful look.

Before Howard Stern There Was MIDNIGHT BLUE


Howard Stern would like you to believe that he was the innovator of the outrageous talk show format. However, New York City's public access cable channel J ran the highly controversial talk show MIDNIGHT BLUE, from 1974 until 2003. Hosted by Al Goldstein, the outrageous publisher of SCREW, a sexually oriented weekly newspaper type magazine with a strong following in NYC, MIDNIGHT BLUE had a very long run until it ultimately was done in with money and bankruptcy problems in 2004.


MIDNIGHT BLUE managed to draw many of the same popular favorite celebrities who would tour THE HOWARD STERN SHOW in later years, including Tiny Tim, Al Lewis and Gilbert Gottfried.



And although the show was content censored and would not be totally sexually explicit, it never failed to offend and outrage many who wanted it off the air, although it had a strong following of loyal fans in the greater NYC Manhattan area. The show even introduced what was purported to be a sex movie starring Barbra Streisand. But, Barbra Streisand was a good sport about the claimed sex movie, discounting that it was not her in the film during a 1977 PLAYBOY interview. Her manager also strongly denied that it was Barbra Streisand in this film as well. But, the woman in the film does have a strong resemblance.



At one point, Time Warner had hoped to silence shows like MIDNIGHT BLUE by scrambling them. However, Al Goldstein himself testified before the U.S. Supreme Court, ultimately winning his case to keep such outlandish cable TV shows on the air for any person who cared enough to watch. Other outrageous cable TV personalities continued to battle with censorship struggles though.


One of the most notable was Jim Spagg, who ran into some censorship problems in the Atlanta area, but then moved to the Portland, Oregon area to host a number of outrageous cable TV shows that featured nudity. The former Catholic school student and U.S. Marine gained a number of fans though, however his show was interrupted for some months when he was forced to serve jail time in Georgia on obscenity charges for selling a couple of mainstream adult video tapes to an undercover cop. While Spagg's program was mostly just nudity, which law experts argued was constitutionally protected, Spagg stepped over the line by 2003 featuring some outrageous home video of him using the toilet. Cable access officials decided that banning Spagg from the channel for use of some copyrighted material was the easiest legal way to get him off the air and avoiding a cash draining legal battle with the kooky cable TV host.


But, outrageous personalities such as Al Goldstein and Jim Spagg found out that cable TV gave them a medium to present outlandish television. But, it had to be Howard Stern that perfected that formula.


Howard Stern did improve many things beyond what Al Goldstein or Jim Spagg did. He knew how to make money for one thing. By comparison, Al Goldstein was actually broke and homeless by 2004. But, Howard Stern owes a lot of credit to raunchy cable TV pioneer All Goldstein for showing him how to do an outrageous talk show. Howard Stern simply improved on that idea, and made lots of money doing it.


Because so few folks have ever seen the MIDNIGHT BLUE show, a line of DVDs is on the market capturing some highlights of the show including the best celebrity moments. But for many years MIDNIGHT BLUE provided laughs and entertained. It had a good long run before cancellation.

Minggu, 02 Januari 2011

DVD Review: MACHETE


One of the best parts of this job is to watch a really good movie. And indeed, MACHETE is a very good movie. Once again, Robert Rodriquez has created a real gem that has the look and feel of those old grindhouse theater cheap exploitation films of the 60's and 70's. Rodriguez proves that he's a talent equal to Quentin Tarantino in every regard here, creating a thrilling and violent film.




Actor Danny Trejo is just excellent here, playing the ultimate tough guy. He has the right look, and he's a fine actor. And his excellent supporting cast of Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan, Don Johnson, Jessica Alba and Robert De Niro sure don't hurt either. That's some star power here.




The DVD comes out Tuesday with a more violent director's cut than the normal theatrical version. I viewed an advance copy of this film, and was well pleased. This is a very worthwhile motion picture.




Lindsay Lohan contributes an interesting nude scene here. However, a Jessica Alba nude scene was reportedly computer generated, as this actress doesn't like doing nudity in films. But, the inclusion of the nudity does add to the cheap grindhouse appeal of the film, and appears to be an integral part of the art of this film.


Reportedly, Jessica Alba was wearing white underwear which was digitally erased to create the illusion of nudity for this film. Whoever would have ever guessed that some nerd would invent the computer just so he could digitally erase girl's clothes? Talk about a real labor of lust.


But, more seriously, part of what makes MACHETE such a great film is that so many top name actors were willing to star in a high quality production written and shot to look like a really cheap B film. That's art. The result here is so good. Robert Rodriguez knows that he created something great here. In fact, he's at work on a sequel right now.


The Bottom Line: Don't miss this great film here. This is a real classic for Robert Rodriguez. Shot for a mere $10.5 million dollar budget, this film really satisfies. +++(Three Stars, very good. Buy this film on DVD).

Chinese Automaker Attempts To Buy Pininfarina


Chinese automaker, BAIC(Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation) is attempting to buy the legendary Italian design firm Pininfarina. This might prove as an important step toward China marketing a new breed of world class automobile designs. China currently produces nearly three times as many automobiles as the United States does, and is also the largest motorcycle producer in the world as well.




BAIC currently markets a reworked Chinese version of an old Saab design as the C71EV. But, BAIC would love to break out as the premiere Chinese brand, with beautiful models they could probably export.




In 2008, Andrea Pininfarina CEO of the company was killed riding a Vespa, which opened the door to offers to buy out the legendary Italian design studio. If BAIC's bid fails, other Chinese brands and two Indian brands are interested.




Pininfarina has done design work for many brands, including show cars for Cadillac since the 1930's as well as many exotic concept designs. One strange 1960 Pininfarina three-wheeled concept car has been offered for $3 million at auction as an example of the value of the Pininfarina produced designs.




Will Smith May Become Major TV Force


Will Smith is working behind the scenes on two new TV shows which he will produce. One takes place in China, where a young female college student moonlights as a crime fighter. Smith is working with Chinese-born filmmaker Eva Jin on this so far unnamed project, and a pilot episode may be filmed soon by Will Smith's production company.


A second Will Smith production hopes to be a TV version of his megahit movie HITCH. HITCH was a huge box office success and grossed over $368 million from it's $70 million dollar production budget. The film was a romantic comedy about a match maker, and was really loved the public, making it one of Will Smith's biggest hits.


Will Smith debuted on NBC in 1990 on THE FRESH PRINCE OF BELAIR, which NBC used to replace the sagging ratings of the Alien puppet comedy, ALF. THE FRESH PRINCE OF BELAIR ran for nearly six seasons.


In it's second season, ALF peaked at #10 in the ratings, with the strength of Paul Fusco as the both the puppeteer and the voice behind the sharp-witted wisecracking alien, ALF. But, by season four the comedy series had seemed to "jump the shark", and NBC looked for something fresh and hot to lead off the once coveted NBC 8:00 Monday night slot. Will Smith has been a hot Hollywood property ever since, making lists of one of the wealthiest celebrities under 40 before. Will Smith is just 42 right now.


THE FRESH PRINCE OF BELAIR opportunity was a real lifesaver for Will Smith. He was a successful rapper before the TV show, but had grossly underpaid his taxes, and had to pay a $2.8 million penalty and back taxes besides having property seized by the government. It left him basically broke, so doing the TV show was absolutely necessary.


Will Smith has proven that he can be a top dog no matter what he does. He's been a huge success in music, TV and movies. Now, he plans to take on TV production. Who doesn't expect him to strike gold once again?

Sabtu, 01 Januari 2011

New Book By Former Playmate Paints Unflattering Portrait Of Hugh Hefner's Lovelife


Former Playmate Izabella St. James has captured a pretty unflattering portrait of Hugh Hefner's PLAYBOY lovelife world in her latest kiss and tell book. The former girlfriend of Hugh Hefner reports that sex with the PLAYBOY empire king was too much like sex with a "dead fish," with him just laying there lifeless in bed, and a girlfriend hopping on-board for a 1 minute ride. She had higher hopes that he knew things that other guys didn't. But, those dreams were quickly dashed.


And if this lifeless sex wasn't near bad enough, it seems that the dogs at the PLAYBOY mansion weren't house trained and would often whiz or mess at will all over the house, giving it a very nice aroma. When girlfriends would stop by the bedroom for their weekly $1,000 allowance from Hef, they would often step right into the latest dog poop that was left laying around.


Hey, there's nothing like sex with some 84 year old man and the powerful aroma of stale dog urine to really set the mood. Talk about romance!

Chrysler Will Sell The Fiat 500 By Year's End In 2011


Chrysler's Mexican-built Fiat 500 will be sold by Chrysler dealers year's end according to industry sources. At a price reported to be around $15,500, the 500 will be much cheaper than the BMW Mini Cooper which generally tops the $20k entry price range. With Italy's Fiat having a 20% investment in Chrysler, it has plenty of management leverage over the automaker, dictating where certain models will be built to cut overhead costs although Fiat isn't really investing any money into Chrysler itself. The Mexican plant still produces the PT Cruiser, which was slated to stop p production this past Summer. But in coming weeks to months, expect production to shift to the new Fiat model.


Some U.S. taxpayers may be disappointed to learn that their Treasury Department investment in Chrysler seems to be only guaranteeing jobs in Mexico. However, things just aren't as bad as they may seem here. Chrysler repaid those $1.5 billion TARP government loans back in July 2009, at interest rates reported to be around 13%. Chrysler claims that it used to funds to help over 85,000 Chrysler customers finance vehicles through their dealers. The Treasury Department made some good money off the deal. Chrysler is still in business. And 85,000 customers are driving cars they bought on credit because they didn't have the cash on hand to buy them by writing out a check. It was a win-win-win for everyone.


Now, the next step for Chrysler is whether Fiat's reintroduction into the U.S. will prove any better than their failed previous attempts. Fiat's have always sold well worldwide, except in the U.S.