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Trailer for "Edison" film is now available Fans can now see how "Edison," the movie, looks. Producers have created an "Edison" movie Web site, www.edison-movie.com, that features a trailer of the long-delayed film. In "Edison," singer Justin Timberlake plays a journalist who uncovers a secret clan of corrupt cops. Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and rapper LL Cool J also star. A representative for the producer of "Edison" has previously said that the movie is not based on Edison, the Middlesex County township. "It's more coincidence than anything," said "Edison" publicist Barbara Chomos to the Home News Tribune last year. The title was chosen to reflect a "very glassy, electronic and powerful city. It's a city that looks like it has new money." Members of the local Edison police department have been involved in a series of incidents since the early 1990s that have made headlines. These include a patrolman who agreed to forfeit his badge in 1997 after pleading guilty to assaulting an elderly neighbor; a cop found guilty of robbing a bank, and an officer who was accused and cleared of flaunting his naked body in a Maryland hotel room. The department was also the focus of a "60 minutes" report in 2000. Mayor-elect Jun Choi referred to the movie "Edison" during his primary campaign. LL Cool J plays a cop with a conscience in "Edison." "The character is a guy who's tormented by a lot of the decisions that his fellow police officers are making," LL Cool J told www.ctv.ca at the Toronto premiere. "He's literally, emotionally, spiritually and psychologically torn to pieces in having to work with these people." David Burke, known for his work on television shows such as "Wiseguy" and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," is the writer and director of "Edison," which is being produced by Millennium Films. The movie was filmed in early 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was originally scheduled for a 2005 release. Early reviews have panned to movie and there is no date for a release. A call to a publicist for "Edison" was not returned. Nigels 11 Chris played two shows in LA, on the 22nd and 23rd, with the group Nigels 11. Justin's Slumber Party Just days after dining with girlfriend Cameron Diaz at hip eatery Nobu in Miami Beach, Justin Timberlake had a boys' night out with music-producer pal Timbaland at the Secret Society party at South Beach club BED. The fatigue-hat-sporting singer chatted with pals on his oversized mattress in the slumber-themed venue. Several times through the night, Timberlake left his bed to dance on the main floor and was hardly noticed by the packed crowd of revelers. He showed off his moves and sipped cocktails until nearly 4 a.m.
SCENE IN THE TROPICS Justin Timberlake, in Miami recording his new album with legendary producer Timbaland, partied at Privé Thursday night in the company of Paris Hilton's friend and producer, Scott Storch, and all the members of the band Korn. Despite hanging with a hard-core hip-hop and hard-rock crowd, Justin still broke out a few moves from his boy band days, laying down a carefully choreographed routine to Young Jeezy's Soul Survivor with lots of shoulder pops and fancy footwork reminiscent of the NSYNC days. Timberlake was also keeping his drinks PG -- he opted for soda instead of bottles. All-Star Comics Send Up Celeb Tell-Alls Want to hear Fred Willard relate an *NSYNC member's most embarrassing moment? Jay Mohr recount David Cassidy's first taboo mash session with his Partridge Family sister? Julie Brown rehash Madonna's first time with a teenage boy? Bravo's new comedy special, Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words (premiering tonight at 10 pm/ET), offers up those unlikely reenactments and more, as some of today's funniest folk read straight from actual published tell-alls. (One of the spoofed authors, Star Trek's George Takei, is even on hand to hear his tome taken for a riotous ride.) Occupying a spot on the lineup for the event is Saturday Night Live alum Kevin Nealon, who had this to say about his recitations, the hazards of bunk skunk and his favorite commercial spoofs ever. Timberlake Wrangles Black Snake Moan You'd think the former *NSYNC star would hit a few notes in his first major movie, which happens to be about one man's love for the blues. But that's not the case with Black Snake Moan, director Craig Brewer's follow-up to Hustle & Flow. Brewer tells IGN FilmForce, Timberlake "doesn't sing. He gives a terrific acting performance. He's really someone that I've always wanted to work with. He's done a fantastic job on my movie. I'm really excited that we're working together now." The real shining star of Black Snake Moan is Samuel L. Jackson. "He sings and plays his own guitar," says Brewer. "He also recorded his own tracks." As for the particulars of the story, "it's about this older, black Memphis bluesman who has kind of been retired and he's now returned," says Brewer. "He kind of helps this girl. He finds this one white, redneck girl, who is kind of like the town floozy. He kind of nurses her back to health. He believes it's kind of curing her nymphomania. That's Christina Ricci, and her boyfriend is played by Justin Timberlake. He's in the Guard and he's going off to Iraq. Justin's from Memphis, as am I. And he's just terrific in the part. I really can't go into much more detail about it." After receiving critical acclaim for the rap-based rawness of Hustle & Flow, Brewer says the same music-loving intensity will propel Black Snake Moan. "I thought it was about time to do a real blues movie. The kind of blues that I know. A blues movie that really reflects the blues music, where I'm from. It's got a lot more sex in it, a lot more anger, a lot more raw emotion to it. You know, a lot like rap." Having completed principal photography, Brewer is currently editing Black Snake Moan in Los Angeles. "It's going pretty good," he says. "I'm looking at another couple of weeks of editing. We'll have the movie out sometime next year." Odds and Ends Today, boy-bander-turned-Broadway star Joey Fatone is slated to become the newest inductee into Planet Hollywood's Wall of Fame. Unlike many of Central Florida's shooting stars, Fatone, who achieved worldwide fame with 'N Sync before graduating to New York's Rent, both went to school here (Dr. Phillips High) and continues to live here. Up next for Fatone: a movie with Whoopi Goldberg and Donald Faison (Scrubs), scheduled for release next year. Celebs from 'depths' of their very souls "Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words" offers the monumentally self-absorbed smugness of such celebrated memoirists as Burt Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, David Cassidy, Sylvester Stallone, Kenny Loggins, 'N Sync, Ivana Trump and George Takei. Gaseous passages from the works of these literary lions are amusingly performed by Fred Willard, Cheryl Hines, Kevin Nealon, Andrea Martin and Jay Mohr, the last of whom, oddly enough, has written his own self-aggrandizing book, reminding one of the old adage about glass houses and stones. Hilarious as this can be - and it's pretty ripe stuff - perhaps the funniest thing about it is the generously politic description of the show from Lauren Zelaznick, president of the cable network Bravo, who calls "In Their Own Words" "a refreshing and unique look at the many layers of celebrity culture." Which is the nicest possible way of saying, "These celebrities have not only lost all touch with reality, but they want to prove it to their incredulous readership." One quibble: How could they possibly have overlooked Klaus Kinski's epic of self-loathing - heck, of everything-loathing - which its publisher originally withdrew due to legal concerns? "Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words" premieres at 10 tonight on Bravo. Secondary Items ... Some musicians picked up promotional bling and glam to wear onstage. Slash from Velvet Revolver was head over heels with his special black Tie Evolution hat featuring a skull and crossbones. Hope there's nothing psychic about that gift! And why did Joey Fatone pick out a vintage Melamed telephone belt? "It reminds me that my dad used to work for the phone company," he said... Holiday favorites from the A&E staff *NSYNC: Home for Christmas By Christy Gordon How is it possible for an album to be simultaneously the best and worst collection of Christmas songs of all time? Ask Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Joey Fatone, also known as *NSYNC, one of those so-called “boy bands” we should have forgotten about five years ago. Actually, most people probably have … and yet, there is an undercurrent of Calvin students rallying after “Home For Christmas,” a compilation of holiday standbys and seasonal tunes written specifically for *NSYNC to croon over. And croon they do. These boys’ voices have never been all too impressive, and yet, there is just something likable about generically attractive teens and twenty-somethings singing about kisses at midnight on New Year’s and the love in our hearts on Christmas Day. Back in the day, Justin (the only one with any sort of notable solo credibility, as it were) and those other guys were tops on “Total Request” — yes, it was sans “Live” at that point — and Billboard and were plastered, teen-magazine-cutout style, on prepubescent girls’ walls all over. However, nowadays, listening to “Home For Christmas” is all about reminiscing, missing those days of singers who didn’t write their own material and awful holiday films starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Hearing “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” again is, in some ways, like reliving childhood nightmares and the first time the secret of a puppy-love crush is revealed. It is not necessarily a good feeling, and yet you enjoy it nonetheless. No matter how embarrassing it might be to admit it, this album has undeniable appeal, even for the most vehement of Scrooge types everywhere.
I live in Los Angeles Working for Microsoft in its Santa Monica office has its weird aspects. For instance, yesterday I left the office, laptop backpack in tow (REAL programmers carry their laptops in backpacks specially made for the purpose), and boarded an elevator with three other people coming down from an upper floor. Now, the Microsoft office in Santa Monica shares space with MTV, Lion's Gate Films, and EMI music, so I see many strange and beautiful people walking around yammering into trendy-looking cell phones, or jetting off to buy more cars and expensive clothing…you know, typical LA pastimes. Anyway, I boarded the elevator, and noticed that the people inside were wearing what looked to be expensive leather jackets. Why'd they look expensive? Heck if I know. I just know they looked a lot more expensive than the leather jacket I bought at Sam's Warehouse. Yes, I had to LEARN to buy shirts at nice stores to offset the pants I buy at Target. As I said, I AM a programmer. So, I looked up, and noticed people around me looked…familiar. Then a name popped into my head: "Lance Bass." Omigod, I'm sure you're all saying, you ran into Lance Bass, former member of the band N'Sync and the guy who ALMOST became the first rock star to ride a rocket ship into outer space? Yes, indeed. Frankly, I have no idea why I remembered his name. I must have been a teenage girl in a past life, which makes no sense, because his attempt to orbit the earth couldn't have been more than four years ago, and I don't remember being a teenage girl then, but I was in Europe at that time, so anything's possible. Goatee-man was also on the elevator with me. I don't know Goatee-man's name, but I seem to recall that there was a guy in N'Sync with a goatee, and his face was familiar. Standing next to goatee-man was a large man who had taken the goatee thing to exciting new levels, as his was as long as my forearm. Okay, perhaps I exaggerate, but it made me want to grab it and treat his head like a Venetian Carnevale mask, which would probably be a rude thing to do to a (possible) member of N'Sync. All good things must come to an end, and we reached the ground floor, where they promptly left to do important things, such as eat, leaving me with the realization that seeing famous people is a bit like having Bugs Bunny burst out of your TV set and offer you a carrot. Cartoons aren't supposed to do that, and neither are the people who live on MTV. What does this have to do with technology? Ummm…it happened in the building where Microsoft has its offices. Read my previous blog for a serious and sober discussion of issues related to South Korea's recent decision in its antitrust investigation of Microsoft.
At Pure in Las Vegas ... At Pure (Caesars Palace) on Tuesday: Toby Keith, Lance Bass,
Joey
Frosty The Showman JC was a guest host for Q100's Frosty the Showman last night, introducing The Backstreet Boys.
Palms recording studio ... Lance Bass of 'N Sync attended the private unveiling of the Palmes recording studios on Monday.
Justin's New Restaurant Justin Timberlake is expanding his business empire by launching a new Italian restaurant in midtown New York City. The pop star, who co-owns the hip Los Angeles diner Chi, is teaming up with club owner Eytan Sugarman and celebrity chef Mario Curko to open Destino. Sugarman, the brains behind New York's Suede club, says, "It's going to be a real-deal restaurant."
Notes From All Over ... Kathy Griffin says that she went to Lance Bass’ house for Thanksgiving. “I go every year,” she told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Shannon Elizabeth was there and brought a Tofurkey, she said, and so were Macaulay Culkin and his sweetie Mila Kunis, but she noted that the couple “didn’t eat though, they just chain smoke for Thanksgiving.” ... Eclipse show puts its competition in shade A LONG-running Blackpool summer show has scooped an international
showbusiness award.
DisneyHand Ride-A-Thon mixes fun with fund-raising ...Ah, but it's no dream, folks. It's the DisneyHand Helping Kids Shine Ride-A-Thon, a Greater Orlando Children's Miracle Network charity event that's annually held after-hours at the Magic Kingdom. All in an effort to raise funds for Orlando's own Shands Children's Hospital & the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women. The evening's events started -- appropriately enough -- out in front of Cinderella Castle. Where the evening's 5,500 participants were all welcomed. And then Nsync's Joey Fatone helped lead the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Mickey Mouse (Who officially turn 77 this past Friday). Then -- with an explosion of fireworks -- this year's Ride-A-Thon was officially underway ... Justin's Passion for Fashion Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez, move over. There's a new pop star turned designer in town. Justin Timberlake recently celebrated the launch of his new clothing line, William Rast, at Beverly Hills boutique Kitson. And he's serious about being a designing man. "I didn't want to come out with anything trendy," the stylish singer – who sported a green hat, hunter-style jacket and jeans at the event – told us about the "lifestyle brand" of chic T-shirts and jeans he created with best friend Trace Ayala (and named after their grandfathers). "We started it this way so we could go somewhere, so we could expand." The guys are thinking big: Plans are under way for William Rast underwear, cologne and Italian suits. "But that's something that comes with time," says Ayala. "We're focused on the next step." Adds Timberlake: "I wanted to have a basic collection that we could always fall back on." In the meantime, Timberlake, who showed up at the party solo
(girlfriend Cameron Diaz was in London promoting In Her Shoes),
is busy with a couple of other little things: recording his sophomore
solo album (the follow-up to 2002's multiplatinum-selling Justified)
and voicing his role as a young prince alongside Diaz in Shrek
3 (just one of several movies he's juggling). Says Timberlake:
"I'm always psyched for work!" Rent Stage Cast Sparkles on Screen ...Barkin (see above) and Ronald Perelman attended the big screening at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan last night with their kids, and the house was packed with friends and family, including Joey Fatone of *NSYNC, who has played Mark on Broadway. "A fat Mark," Joey joked. In fact, he’s very svelte now and looking for projects while Justin Timberlake is recording a new album. Then *NSYNC will get back in the studio themselves...
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