The Doctor in the Hallway News Report 02.06.08
Posted by Ben Moser on 02.06.2008
WGA hammering out a deal? Amy Adams crushing Ben Stiller? Lindsay Lohan dumping her friends? It's the most violent Doctor in the Hallway News Report ever! Read it, or I'll force you to live in the Monday between Super Bowl Sunday and Super Duper Tuesday forever!
Hi kids, and welcome to the Doctor in the Hallway News Report. I was going to start things off with the schadenfreude paragraph that's due now that the Patriots are the 3rd best 18-1 team in the history of the NFL, but it already seems hollow. Man, the Super Bowl just doesn't seem as Super when you have no strong feelings beyond annoyance at the two teams involved. It's like having to choose between not watching Rambo IV and not watching Meet the Spartans...except someone was making you find some enthusiasm for the other one. Bad times.
On the other hand, NHL play and college hoops are officially kicking into extra high gear now. So that's good times.
And now? News times.
These pants make me look striking
As the lawyers work overtime to hammer out the details, scenarios are emerging that could -- underline could -- bring an end to the WGA strike as early as next week. Insiders strongly emphasize that many aspects remain to be ironed out in the contract being drafted between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, and that the process could be derailed by even a seemingly small dispute over contract language.
But after guild toppers briefed members of the WGA West board and WGA negotiating committee Monday on the status of the negotiations, it's clear that the process has the wind at its back. The WGA is hoping to have a draft contract to present to the boards of the WGA West and WGA East and negotiating committee by Friday, and to hold informational meetings with members of both branches over the weekend.
In an email message to members late Monday the WGA's negotiating committee chief John Bowman notified members of the upcoming informational meetings and said neither the negotiating committee nor the boards would take action on the contract until after those meetings. If the broad strokes meet with approval, the WGA boards may vote on whether to call off the strike, now entering its fourth month. Insiders said if the sentiment at the weekend membership meetings is generally supportive of the deal, the WGA boards could move quickly on a vote to call off the strike while the weeks-long ratification voting process is held.
Bowman urged caution in his message about concluding that a deal has been reached. "While we have made important progress since the companies re-engaged us in serious talks, negotiations continue," he wrote. "Regardless of what you hear or read, there are many significant points that have yet to be worked out."
Everyone seems to be putting on the brave face while still allowing for the possibility of another breakdown in talks. It's kind of like in those zombie movies where the cast thinks they've finally escaped their rotting pursuers, except the hero still has a troubled look on his face as if he knows that their troubles are just beginning. That's either the end of the movie or the start of the part of the movie where things start going really wrong. That looks about like where we are with the strike. Still, any news is good news on this front.
Adams crushes Stiller
Amy Adams is in negotiations to star opposite Ben Stiller in 20th Century Fox's Night at the Museum 2. Pic kicks off when the artifacts from the Museum of Natural History are boxed up and sent to the archives at the Smithsonian in Washington. Adams will play an undetermined historical figure who has a crush on security guard Larry (Stiller).
Did this movie really warrant a sequel? I mean, a spin-off movie about the dinosaur bones at the water fountain would be nice...but a full-on sequel? I think Adams could be a pretty huge deal in Hollywood, and I desperately want to see her get out there and exercise her acting chops, but this kind of role isn't even some light cardio.
"I won this role easily, I had a leg up on the competition."
Messing around with Humboldt
Debra Messing is rounding out the ensemble cast of the Latino family drama Humboldt Park. In Alfredo De Villa's film, Messing plays the wife of John Leguizamo's character and joins him on a trip back to his parent's home. Executive producer Freddy Rodriguez, Alfred Molina, Jay Hernandez, Mercedes Ruehl, Luis Guzman, Melonie Diaz and Vanessa Ferlito also star.
Messing has been way off the radar lately, and this doesn't look like the kind of flick that's going to get her back on it. Still, she's good for a fish-out-of-water type of character so if anyone important is paying attention to her performance in this flick, it may lead to something a little juicier down the line. If she can't line up some quality work, I hope she bows out gracefully(see what I did there?).
And then, he discovered felt!
Empire Film Group, Inc. has acquired the motion picture production and distribution rights to Henson, an original screenplay by Robert D. Slane that chronicles the life and achievements of Muppets creator, Jim Henson. According to Marketwire, Henson covers the life of puppeteer, filmmaker and entertainment mogul Jim Henson, from his early fascination with television as a teenager, through his spectacular career and life achievements.
Side note: this movie is going to be done with live action stars. The twist? The Muppets will have their hands up the humans' asses this time around!
LiLo wants new friends, but not you...still not you...never you
Lindsay Lohan has been forced to dump some of her closest friends since leaving rehab six months ago - because she can no longer trust them to help her stay sober. The former party girl insists her summer stint at the Cirque Lodge in Utah has turned her into a new and better person. And she's had to make drastic cuts in her entourage to make sure she's never tempted to drink or take drugs again. In a revealing new interview for Britain's Glamour magazine, the Freaky Friday actress says, "There are friends that have been hard to hang out with because they've gone done a different path. It's hard because I'm the kind of person who wants to trust everyone. I'm fine being alone during the day, but I hate being alone at night. I like having friends around me." But Lohan insists the choices she's making now will help people who dislike her to realize she's not all bad: "(People think) that I don't have my head in the right place... and probably that I'm not a good person."
Nonsense, LiLo...we don't think you're a bad person. We think you're a bright star in the industry that made a string of bad alcohol and coke-related choices to try to wipe your mind clean of the fact that you had sex with Wilmer Valderrama. It's just that you kept making those choices once you'd wiped those memories clean. But now that you're cleaned up and ditched the bad influences? It just makes for a better E! True Hollywood Story when the accolades start rolling in and people start using the "comeback" word.
Either that, or you'll just start to burn out again, catch up to your old friends, drunk-dial Valderrama, and get knocked up while people make bets as to whether or not you can catch up to Britney's particular brand of crazy. I bet you can if you put your mind to it.
"From now on, the only coke I'm doing is diet coke! Or whatever's offered to me at a trendy bar."
This week's installment of CHEER UP, BEN AFFLECK!
I may have had to go to page 2 of a google news search to find anything that wasn't about your brother, but CHEER UP, BEN AFFLECK! You'll always be the tallest one in your family. From celebrity-gossip.net:
Doting father Ben Affleck was spotted on a rare trip out with daughter Violet earlier today, as the two made a trip to the local Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up.
Yep, you've stunted her growth as a person by feeding her coffee; but if your brother's newfound fame is an indicator, you'll never be able to stunt her growth as an actress...even by directing her!
That'll do it for this week...
If you can track down a showing of How to Rob a Bank, I think that might be a pretty good time. Otherwise, entertainment prospects for the next seven days are limited to your television set in the form of Lost and American Gladiators. If a Boston-area sports fan tries to sell you on their hard luck story, kick him in the shin. And, as always, don't do anything I wouldn't do...
