News

According to the New York Post, Steven Martin has his eye on Amy Schumer and Laura Benanti to take his new play to Broadway. Meteor Shower, which broke box office records at San Diego's Old Globe last summer and went on to play at the Long Wharf Theatre, will be directed by 2017 Tony nominee Jerry Zaks and produced by Joey Parnes.

Some actors manage to catch lightning in a bottle twice. It’s impressive enough to find your niche in Hollywood’s A-list even once. Occasionally, an actor will reinvent him/herself and begin a new phase of their careers that will be even more successful than it was before. Here are nine actors who had a cinematic rebirth.

Liam Neeson- Neeson has had a long career, and the early part of it was in dramatic roles. An intense dramatic actor, he apeared in films like The Dead Pool, Dark Man, Schindler’s List, Rob Roy and Les Miserables. His career rebirth came after playing Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars-Episode one: The Phantom Menace. After that, he got more offers for actions parts and recreated himself as an action hero in films like Gangs of NY, Batman Begins, Taken, Clash of the Titans, the A-Team, Unknown, the Grey, Taken 2,...

Gender swapping in remakes is becoming the new norm in Hollywood these day. With the all-female “Ghostbusters” and an “Ocean’s Eleven” starring Sandra Bullock on the way, MGM is adding a female-led “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” to the list.

Fresh off her “Absolutely Fabulous” cameo, Rebel Wilson has just committed to star in the remake of the 1988 comedy starring Steven Martin and Michael Caine. Per Variety, the updated version will bring con artistry to the 21st century and feature two female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, who compete to swindle a naive tech prodigy out of his fortune.

The script is being written by Jac Schaeffer. Roger Birnbaum and Wilson are set to produce. No director is attached at the moment.

Read More: It’s Official: ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ Gets Release Date; Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson Join Cast

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” was a remake of the 1964 film “Bedtime Story,...

Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” leads the race for the 70th annual Tony Awards with a record 16 nominations, including Best Musical. George C. Wolfe’s updated reinvention of the 1920s musical “Shuffle Along” earned 10 nominations, while the musical revival “She Loves Me” followed with eight. Miranda alone picked up multiple nominations, for his lead role as founding father Alexander Hamilton as well as for his score and book for the hip-hop retelling of American history. Also Read: 'Hamilton' Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda Freestyles About Puerto Rico Crisis (Video) In the top category, “Hamilton” will compete against four challengers: Steven Martin and Edie.

The American Film Institute has announced that the recipient of the 2016 AFI Life Achievement Award is composer John Williams. This is the first time in the 43 year history of the Life(time) Achievement Award that a composer has been chosen. Last year's recipient was Steven Martin, and the first recipient ever was John Ford in 1973. The AFI Life Achievement Award was established to honor a single individual for his or her lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television. Williams certainly deserves it, as he has been a composer for over 50 years working on so many classic films, earning 49 Oscar nominations and 5 wins over the years. And he still has a few more Star Wars scores in the works. "John Williams has written the soundtrack to our lives," said Sir Howard Stringer, Chair, AFI Board of Trustees. "Note by note, through chord and chorus, his genius for...

As you probably know, David Letterman said goodbye to latenigth TV last night. Letterman has delivered tons of unforgettable bits and interviews over the years, but my personal favorites are his Top Ten lists and, sure enough, Letterman included an especially epic, star-studded one during the final episode of the Late Show. Check out "Top Ten Things I’ve Always Wanted to Say To Dave" for yourself below: It's hard to pick a favorite amongst Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters, Steven Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Peyton Manning, Tina Fey and Bill Murray, but I'm always especially amused by Carrey's antics, Fey was spot-on as usual, and the look on Seinfeld's face when Louis-Dreyfus came out and said, "Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale," was absolutely priceless. But, as funny as the segment was, it also evoked some serious nostalgia...

Fans of Steven Martin may recall that the comedian and actor has a history with Disney in more ways than one. Martin has starred in Shopgirl (which he also wrote), Bringing Down the House and two Father of the Bride films (a third has been rumored but debunked by the actor himself), all from Touchstone Pictures, which can be found under the Disney banner. But decades ago, before he got famous, Martin actually worked at the Magic Shop at Disneyland, and even performed magic in his early comedy career. And now he'll get his magical groove back as THR reports he will lead the family comedy Magic Camp. Here's a video of Steve Martin doing magic as The Great Flydini from "The Tonight Show" in 1992: The original script comes from Diary of a Wimpy Kid writers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, but they're not only producing the film as...

What’s new, what’s hot, and what you may have missed, now available to stream on Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.

streaming now, before it’s on dvd

Elysium: Neill Blomkamp cements his science-fiction credentials as a filmmaker with a genre vision the likes of which we haven’t seen since the socially conscious Sf of the 1970s; this is smart popcorn cinema with something to say [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video]

new to streaming

Red Obsession: sly and sometimes funny, this is a microcosm of the economic state of the world — the West faltering and China ascending — seen through the prism of France’s boutique wine industry [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video]

post-turkey Thanksgiving treats

Addams Family Values: featuring Wednesday’s subversive Pilgrims vs. Indians pageant [at Amazon Instant Video] The Ice Storm: one 1970s turkey day turns tragic; the great cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Kevin Kline, Christina Ricci, and Elijah Wood [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video] Pieces of April:...

Blu-ray Book Release Date: Oct. 9, 2012

Price: Blu-ray $34.99

Studio: Warner Home Video

The Director’s Cut of director Frank Oz’s (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Little Shop of Horrors, packaged in a Blu-ray Book, includes the 20-minute alternate ending in color. The alternate ending was previously available only in black and white on a limited number of DVDs.

Nominated for Academy Awards for its visual effects and the song “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space,” the Oscar-nominated 1986 musical movie was digitally remastered for the Blu-ray release, which also offers rebuilt sound mixed in Dolby 5.1, as well as a remastered copy of the original theatrical version of the film.

Based on the play, Little Shop of Horrors stars Rick Moranis (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) as a nerdy florist who gets romance and success help from a giant man-eating plant, except that the plant is hungry.

Steven Martin (The Big Year), Tisha Campbell-Martin...

Amy Adams has nabbed three Oscar noms, led Disney features, worked with directors like Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols and David O. Russell, but is just now prepping her first producing effort. THR reports that she’ll also star in an adaptation of Object of Beauty, the 2010 novel from none other than funnyman Steve Martin. Check out a synopsis of the novel below.

Lacey Yeager is young, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. Groomed at Sotheby’s and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness. Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heights–and, at times, the dark lows–of the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.

Adams is a rare figure in Hollywood,...

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences was clearly aiming to mix things up a bit (for better or for worse) when it assigned Brett Ratner with the task of producing the 84th Academy Awards ceremony. Sure enough, the story broke over the Labor Day weekend that Ratner wanted Eddie Murphy to handle hosting duties for the 2012 Oscars.

Reports are now in that Murphy has indeed accepted the job – one that many fans were hoping that the likes of Billy Crystal (who has hosted the Oscars multiple times, in the past) or Kevin Spacey would land instead.

Deadline‘s scoop on Murphy agreeing to lend his talents to next year’s Oscar ceremony has been officially confirmed by the AMPAS. He will follow in the footsteps of fellow comedians like the aforementioned Billy Crystal, Steven Martin, ...

Click to continue reading Eddie Murphy Will Host The 2012 Oscars [Updated]...

[1] In January, I had the awesome opportunity to visit the set of The Muppets. Over the course of the week, I'll be posting some of the round table interviews we conducted on set with the cast and crew. We've posted interviews with Jason Segel [2], Amy Adams [3], and today we bring you an interview with co-writer Nicholas Stoller (who also directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek). Here is a short excerpted quote: We wanted to do a complete return to those first movies and to The Muppet Show. From the beginning we wanted to have that tone. When you watch The Muppet Movie, it hasn’t aged at all. It could have been made yesterday. It feels like an episode of The Simpsons in a weird way, without any cynicism. I would say that’s the only difference. It’s pretty amazing. Most things from 1980 feel like...

Getty Tina Fey, left, and Steven Martin in Los Angeles on April 19.

“Star Wars,” Sarah Palin and “Saturday Night Live” were just three of the topics that came up during a talk with “30 Rock” writer-actress-producer Tina Fey at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Interviewed by fellow comic Steve Martin, Fey spent most of the evening recalling important episodes from her career, many of which are addressed in her new memoir “Bossypants.”

After walking on stage, Fey,...

Joaquin Phoenix is circling a lead role in the upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for 20th Century Fox. He would play Henry Sturgess, the President's mentor who teaches him how to kill vampires.

Phoenix is close to inking a deal project which would have him starring alongside Benjamin Walker, who was cast last week as the title character. Timur Bekmambetov is directing the film adaptation of the Seth Grahame-Smith novel whose producers include Tim Burton.

This role would mark his first film since he starred in I'm Still Here, the mockumentary directed by Casey Affleck that was purported to follow Phoenix as he embarked on career as a rapper. I have been a fan of Phoenix since he first starred in Parenthood with Steven Martin. My favorite performance of his is Walk The Line with Gladiator a close second.

The role of Henry would be a great one for him in my opinion.

See, I thought I was the only guy who watches Steve Martin plucking away on his banjo on Letterman and thinks to himself, "What I wouldn't give to see that man get back to comedy." Apparently, a whole lot of people at the 92 Street Y in Manhattan agreed with me, and they let Martin know about it. In the middle of an interview!

On Monday night, Martin appeared at 92Y at a public interview conducted by The New York Times Magazine's Deborah Solomon. Martin has just published a new novel called "An Object of Beauty," and it -- and its subject, the art world -- dominated the conversation, much to the chagrin of the assembled audience, who apparently were expecting something more along the lines of an arrow through the head gag. According to the New York Times article about the event:

"Midway through the conversation, a Y representative handed Ms.

Filed under: TV News

The comedy force known as Betty White will be bringing her star power to help honor humor goddess Tina Fey.

Where can you see this very dynamic duo? PBS, of course. According to TV Guide, White, 'Mad Men' star Jon Hamm and a bevy of 'Saturday Night Live' stars and alumni will assemble to honor Fey at Nov. 9 at the ceremony for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, Steven Martin, Lorne Michaels and Jennifer Hudson will also be at the ceremony to honor Fey. Michaels won the award in 2004.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments...

Okay, time for the postmortem. Did any award surprise you? (Nominees and winners here.) Who gave the best speech? (It was Sandra Bullock, wasn’t it?) Which movie do you feel like you really have to see now? What was the funniest moment of the ceremony? (Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr. on writers, I think.) The most cringe-inducing? What did you think of Steven Martin and Alec Baldwin? (They were often gone for such long stretches that I forgot they were hosting.) If you were caught up in the Cablevision/ABC fiasco, how did you watch? And perhaps someone can explain to me why the cinematography nominees didn’t get clips -- could the category be more visual? -- and why Governors Award winners Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman didn’t get to speak, but we were treated to 37 or so long minutes of interpretative breakdancing? What did you think of the Oscars?...

The Oscars are coming. Steven Martin and Alec Baldwin host the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on March 7. Nick Allen and Jeff Bayer break down the nominees, the snubs, and the expectations of this year’s Oscars.

Click Here for complete coverage on the 82nd Annual Academy Awards

He Said (Nick Allen)

I was going to expand on the whole “ten Best Picture nominees” Bs business until I realized that my ulcer developed from all the Avatar buzz still needs to rest, and that I should focus on the other movies that are very lucky to have come out in 2009 instead of the many, many years before it (where such a rule was not in place). Looking at the “Best Picture” list specifically, you can almost see Academy Voter #1 sitting in front of his/her ballot and thinking, “yeah, District 9 wasn’t that bad,” and giving the small box next...

Why, hello, folks! Another week means another week closer to December, which means it’s another week closer to Oscar bait movies. Aren’t you curious? I know you are, so let’s begin!

First up, we have 2012. It’s one of those natural disaster movies, but this time, on a global scale. The whole thing is based on the end of the world that in turn is based on the Mayan calendar. Expect super visual effects in the likes of things blowing up, giant tsunamis, raining meteors, skyscrapers collapsing, and Godzilla. Oh wait, scratch that last one.

Okay, sure this isn’t Oscar bait. But still, if you’re feeling like July in November, go for it! Oh, yeah, 2012 stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, and Amanda Peet.

The second of the two wide releases this week is Pirate Radio. In the 1960s, a bunch of DJs went on a boat,...