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Cassavetes Upcoming Slate - Alpha Dog Writer-director Nick Cassavetes ("The Notebook", "John Q") will be the artist behind A-Mark Entertainment, a new venture from entrepreneur Steve Markoff reports Variety. A-Mark launches with "Alpha Dog," a Cassavetes-directed murder mystery that's almost complete. Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake and Emile Hirsch star in the fact-based story of a drug dealer who masterminded the kidnapping and murder of his rival's teen brother. Cassavetes got involved so he could direct more than one picture a year. He has set "One Tree Hill" cast member Paul Johansson to direct Ashley Judd in "Unless That Someone Is You," a script Cassavetes wrote with his late father. Johansson previously directed "The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie." A-Mark has optioned Richard Zacks' book "The Pirate Hunter," to be used as a template for a period epic about Captain Kidd that Cassavetes will write and direct. Cassavetes has enlisted gaming expert Steve Forte for "Crossroaders,"
a pic about illegal ways to beat casinos, with Cassavetes writing
and directing. Cassavetes also hopes A-Mark will allow him to
realize a 10-year dream to direct his adaptation of the Tim O'Brien
novel "Going After Cacciato." Finally, A-Mark is involved
in "Rehab," the HBO series toplining Courteney Cox Arquette;
Cassavetes, who wrote and will direct the pilot, exec produces.
New songs There are now two new songs registered at BMI for
JC, Day Without You, and the newest one, Hot Section. Day Without You (Legal Title) BMI Work #7361639 Songwriter/Composer Current Affiliation CAE/IPI #
Songwriter/Composer Current Affiliation CAE/IPI #
Kids Alive! Music Program UMB Bank Pavilion, Maryland Heights, MO Rock 'N' Roll Auction & Preview Party New this year... If you can't attend the night of the auction, you can pre-bid on select items, and we'll bid on your behalf! Featuring Autographed Memorabilia from: J.C.
Chasez, among other musicians.
Black & White Party Hollywood Stars Step Out in Support of Film Preservation LOS ANGELES, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, February 25 at
7:30 p.m. The Film Foundation, co-hosts McG and Stephanie Savage, DJ Tony
O, and Trident White's $30,000 donation to The Film Foundation supports
the
Read Across America JC interview Teachers, students, parents, and celebrities will celebrate the birthday of the beloved children's author Dr. Seuss by reading a good book. "Read Across America," the birthday party for the master of nonsensical rhyme, kicks off on Wednesday. The year long program encourages kids of all ages to love reading. Last year, 45 million students in all 50 states participated. This year, the Barber brothers—New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Rhonde Barber—will co-captain the festivities. They'll spread the message: Kids who read and are read to do better in school and help build great public schools. Among the host of celebrities who are participating in the event are former *NSYNC pop star JC Chasez and actress Shelley Buckner, who will read Dr. Seuss classics to students in California. Read on for interviews with the celebrity pair. SN:What are your duties as an honorary chairperson? SN: What were your favorite books when you were young? SN: What do you like to read now? SN: Was there ever a book that you read that made you stop and
think and want to find out more or change your idea on the subject?
TIMBERLAKE WANTS JOHN SEX AND DRUGS JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE has refused to play SIR ELTON JOHN in an upcoming movie unless it includes sex and drug-taking. The CANDLE IN THE WIND singer personally chose the CRY ME A RIVER to play his younger self, but Timberlake was so aghast to discover the DISNEY script omits scenes of John's legendary partying in the 1970s, he's demanded a re-write. The 24-year-old says, "Knowing what a wild existence Sir Elton has led I thought, 'Wow, you're offering me that role?' "But when I read the script all the wild stuff had been
left out. I told the studio that it would have to be warts-and-all
so that's what it's going to be. I can't wait to get started."
Bit and Pieces Diana DeGarmo, the 2004 "American Idol" runner-up to
Fantasia
Ray Romano and his family, dining at Il Mulino (Forum Shops
expansion The Wallflowers, doing a photo shoot Monday for Rolling Stone
'N Sync's Lance Bass, at
PURE nightclub (Caesars Palace) on Monday. Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis, denied
ALBUM NEWS Coming this spring, a covers album from Styx called "Big
Bang Theory." Songs include The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus"
(already available at www.itunes.com), The Who's "I Can See
For Miles" and Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath"
. . . Country legends Johnny and June Carter Cash will be memorialized
June 7 with a couple of multidisc sets. Both "Johnny Cash
-- The Legend" and Carter Cash's "Keep On the Sunny
Side Her Life in Music" will include rare and well-known
songs, extensive liner notes and classic photos . . . Also in
June comes a greatest-hits set from Sugar Ray with two new tunes
. . . Melissa Etheridge is looking at October to release a greatest-hits
set including a few new tunes . . . Nelly Furtado reportedly is
at work on her third studio album for release by 2006 . . .
JC Chasez is working on his second
studio album, which he calls as musically eclectic as last year's
underrated "Schizophrenic" . . . One of the best
new overseas acts, Snow Patrol, is on an eight-week writing blitz
in Ireland and hopes to have a new album ready by the end of the
year.
JC on KIIS FM with Ryan Seacrest Transcript JC: What's goin on my man. ryan: How are you bro? JC: Hey. I...I...I was born in August! ryan: You just won a thousand dollars! JC: All right, sweet. Nice looking out. Ryan: But if you make over a hundred grand you have to give it back. JC: Ahh fair enough. Ryan: Is your annual salary over a hundred grand? JC: Umm... yeah I might have to give it back. Ryan: Okay. Thank you very much. At least... JC: Son of a... Ryan: At least you know you can afford rent. Talking about the ah, moneys on the ten. Gonna plug it there JC. Birthday game is at eight-ten now. Not eight-twenty. JC: It's all good. What's going on. Ryan: You still hitting the gym each day. Trying to bulk up. JC: Uh yeah. You know what. I'm...I'm gonna go to the gym right after this. Ryan: I passed JC on the street the other day, and uh, he was on his way to get all yoked. Ellen K: Oh really. And where were you Ryan. Ryan: I was on my way from getting yoked. Ellen K: Oh (laughs) Ryan: Or attempting too. Ellen K: Ryan is scaring me JC. He's saying that he wants to get on Creatin. I that how you say it. JC: Oh I don't take any of that stuff. Ryan: Well I was just kidding. I said it in jest Ellen. I wasn't serious that I was gonna take any of that stuff. I believe in all-natural supplements. JC: Yeah I don't try to bulk up. I'm just trying to stay thin man. Ryan: I hear ya. I mean maybe a little elcarneatin out of the bottle could help. Get a little extra burn. JC: Yo tryin to stay lean... Ryan: Do you watch what you eat. Do you take the rice off your sushi. JC: No no nono. That's the whole reason I go to the gym. So I don't have to worry about all that. Ryan: I just want to break the home run record. That's really the only goal... JC: Is that what you want to do? Okay good. (laughs) Ryan: JC is with us this morning and coming up tomorrow, I think it's a great thing you and other people are doing. They are going to read to two hundred first graders at Moffat elementary school in Inglewood. And do you know what book you are going to read? JC: Um no, I ah, I'm waiting to see when I get there what they have. Ryan: There's, there's no rehearsal ahead of time. It's just a cold read. JC: No man, I gotta read on the fly Dude. Ryan: Ah. Sometimes you gotta know how to read inflection... JC: I have to read the first grade level on the fly. (laughs) Ryan: Inflection is important with these kids. So make sure that you really pay attention. Now a lot of times the pictures can really help you with the sentence. JC: Yeah, yeah your right. I'm... I'm just hoping that, it's gonna be like... it's the like anniversary of Dr Seus or whatever so I hope I don't mess up too many of those words. Ryan: Well I have a great fallback book on my bedside is Danny and the Dinosaur. JC: Danny and the Dinosaur. All right. Ellen K: Yeah. Ryan: Depending on my mood it's either that or Tuesdays with Maury that I pick up to fall asleep. JC: There you go. (laughs politely) I mean it's an important issue. I mean there's no excuse for illiteracy now-a-days. Uh... I mean we live in the communication age where, you know there are more opportunities than ever, you know, for people again, who are literate... it it just doesn't make any sense in my mind. Ryan: Now here's the thing and young people listening right now are gonna go, what are you talking about dude, what are you saying Seacrest. I hated to read when I was really young. I spent a lot of time I remember Gentle Ben and the Martian Chronicles... Ellen K: The required ones. Ryan: The required ones yeah. And I was like Oh god I don't want to read, I have to read, but you do. You have to read it and then you end up, once you get older, absolutely looking forward to that time alone, peace and quiet, and actually sitting down with a great book or even, you know, Gourmet Magazine, I look forward to getting that in the mail each week. JC: Well it's just, again, we're in a different day and age. You know, before there was a million, I mean opportunities for people who didn't read. But your talking about something like the internet and, it's like, Hellloooo. Um. It's just something that's really important. And it's something that I guess a lot of people take for granted now a days. But for people who don't have opportunities... there's just no reason why... that anybody shouldn't be able to read. It's... it's just insane. Ryan: JC Chasez with us right now, and your working on your second solo album. JC: Yeah. I actually just got back from Atlanta uh, what, two days ago. And Uh, working with my buddy Dallas who I did the uh single Blowin Me Up with. And um, I've been in the studio actually... uh yesterday I worked with this guy named Billy Steinberg who has done work with some really cool stuff. He worked on a lot of the early eighties Madonna stuff. So this records gonna be really really cool. Ryan: Now Justin Timberlake said recently that uh... he thinks that you guys may get back together and do something as Nsync. JC: Yeah. Ryan: Is that true? JC: Well none of us are opposed to the idea. It's just a matter of that right now we're all working on our own projects. Ryan: So it's not really a material conversation at this point. JC: Yeah no. Right now we're all just enjoying what we're doing and, and being creative in our own projects and things like that. But the... the idea has never closed in any of our minds you know. It's just a matter of the right time of all of us. So... Ryan: JC Chasez with us. It's 102.7 KIIS FM. Now I wanna make sure, in case we do bump into each other there are no awkwardness... Um I know that Ellen talks about you and Eva all of the time. JC: Uh huh. Ryan: I try and stop her, you know that. Um, I fight her but she says Ryan this is my segment, I own it. JC: Yeah. Ryan: Any bones you need to pick with Ellen K or any of these reports false. JC: I... I'm you know I don't even stay on top of that sort of stuff. Ryan: Well the first report is that the two of you are dating. JC: Yeah no comments. Ellen K: The second report is that she's living with you. JC: Uh no. She's not. Ryan: Okay. And the third report...is uh, the first report again. (laughs) JC: No you know what, I just, I don't comment on my personal relationships cause I figure people are gonna say what they want to anyways. So I don't even bother. I've picked up, you know, a couple of those magazines and I would say 99 % of what I read is not true. Ryan: Okay Ellen... JC: Every now and then you see a speck of truth, your like Oh my goodness, they uh... they got something! Ryan: How did they figure out... how did they know I have baby blue towels in my bathroom. Ellen K: Would JC be mad at you if he knows you asked Eva out on a date? JC: Hey man. Watch yourself buddy. (laughs) Ryan: Hey come on now Ellen. Ellen tryin to stir the pot. Hey always a pleasure man. Good luck and let us know when the album is ready to play. JC: Yes indeed. I will. Ryan: JC. Thanks see ya. JC: Take care.
Foxx eats it all up Oscar still in hand, Jamie Foxx threw carb caution to the wind when Britney Spears' dad, another Jamie, brought out his Southern-fried specialties at the afterparty hosted by People mag editor Martha Nelson and producer Scott Steindorf. Spears played chef and served up fried chicken and mac and cheese
for an appreciative Foxx and "Ray" co-star Kerry Washington,
along with Wyclef Jean, Paula Abdul, Lance
Bass, Kyle MacLachlan, Cris Judd and others at Phil
Maloof's palatial Beverly Hills estate. Guests who weren't getting
foot or neck massages played blackjack or poker. The top prize?
A weekend at the Maloofs' Palms Hotel in Vegas.
Werewolf movie Cursed from the start The question with Cursed isn’t whether it’s stupid or not—it’s stupid—but whether it’s endearingly stupid or annoyingly stupid. And, while there is some appealing idiocy about the film as it goes on, Cursed firmly lands in the annoyingly stupid camp. Cursed stars Christina Ricci as Ellie, a young woman who works on the Late Late Show. Her parents were killed in a car crash, leaving Ellie in charge of her high-school-aged brother Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg). The two find themselves in a late-night auto accident (caused by an unnaturally large wolf beastie). One werewolf attack later they’re “cursed with the mark of the beast” and desperately need to search for the werewolf that attacked them or be forever damned to turn into hairy killers during the full moon. But it took years for Ellie and her little brother to be cursed onscreen; Cursed has a troubled history. Shot in early 2003, most of the film was scrapped and the movie was almost entirely reshot and rewritten. The fact that the film is merely a schlocky-bad horror film and not a boring and tedious horror film is probably attributable to the reworking. However, if you fish a sandwich out of the garbage and clean it until it looks nice, you still shouldn’t eat it. Even after everything, the film ended up being delayed an additional five months to the relatively dead month of February. The bumpy history of the production shows in the film, too. Scott Baio, who apparently had a large part in the original version, does literally nothing in the final film except get cut by Craig Kilborne from the Late Late Show, who in turn hasn’t been the host of Late Late for quite some time. The film does have some enjoyable moments; however, they all stem from the comedy generated by the wooden performances and ridiculous situations. From overly obvious pregnant pauses that go undetected, to special effects too unrealistic to shock anyone, Cursed almost endears itself to the audience enough to be enjoyable. However, about midway through, the film starts to be so stupid it gets annoying; everything is sold straight without the necessary wink and nudge. Perhaps if the ending had been just a touch more over the top with an unexpected twist on genre convention—such as Jimmy ending up with the guy who had a crush on him instead of the girl of his dreams—the movie would have worked better. But there are more problems with the script than the boring plot. Writer Kevin Williamson’s overly verbose dialogue may have sounded smart when we were in junior high watching Dawson’s Creek and Scream, but it’s quaint and shallow in 2005. At the same time, director Wes Craven seems to have lost all of the vitality that brought about New Nightmare and Scream in his mid-’90s resurgence. It almost seems like neither can admit that they’re washed up and making a cheese-ball movie like Cursed. Of course, a film doesn’t need to be intentionally bad to be enjoyable as cheesy comedy, but considering this one’s more or less a flop—even after a reshoot—it’s cursed to be no more than an average rental.
The troubled production of Cursed wasn’t without casualties. Not only did Scott Baio’s part get reduced to a joke—about his part being cut—but several other notable figures had their parts removed or rejiggered. Funny no one’s ever heard them complaining about getting the sack. Parts for C-listers Lance Bass, Omar Epps and Skeet Ulrich were allegedly cut because of scheduling mishaps. Mind you, Wes Craven might just have easily decided to cut their roles out of the film. A large subplot with a third main character played by Corey Feldman was removed from the movie to make the entire thing less complicated. The role of Jenny, played by Mya in the film, was initially played by Mandy Moore. Moore even shot most of her scenes before being replaced for mysterious reasons. Dawson’s Creek alumnus Joshua Jackson was added at the last moment in the pivotal role as Christina Ricci’s boyfriend. According to Ricci, the character of Jimmy wasn’t initially
written as her brother; that happened in the rewrite.
Springsteen to induct U2 into Hall of Fame Bruce Springsteen is to induct U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York later this month. Rolling Stone reports that Bono inducted Springsteen into the Hall of Fame in 1999. At the 14 March ceremony at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel Justin Timberlake will induct The O'Jays, Rod Stewart will induct Percy Sledge, Neil Young will induct The Pretenders and BB King and Eric Clapton will induct Buddy Guy. Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release
of their first album and approximately 700 music experts vote
on a panel of candidates selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame Foundation's nominating committee.
Read Across America INGLEWOOD: CTA President Barbara E. Kerr and NEA Executive Committee
Member Michael Marks will join the state’s honorary Read
Across America chairperson, actress Shelley Buckner, as well as
JC Chasez from the hit band
“NSYNC.” The 8:45-10-15 a.m. event is at Moffett Elementary
(Lennox School District), 11050 Larch Ave., Inglewood, 90304.
It includes reading and then a hands-on art lesson on drawing
the mischievous cows from the “Farmer McPeepers” book,
by the book’s illustrator, Steve Gray. School: 310-330-4943.
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