Archives for September, 2011.

Avril Lavigne is Not Pregnant

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 5:39 pm on September 30, 2011

September 30, 2011

Avril Lavigne is not pregnant and she’s insulted by rumours that she is.

The Canadian bubblegum punk star made headlines yesterday (Thursday, September 29) after she was photographed wearing a loose-fitting top, which, of course set the gossip flying that she has a bun in the oven (it doesn’t take much).

But Lavigne set the record straight to Access Hollywood. “Oh my god, that was yesterday! I was out getting my nails done with my girlfriend and I had a poncho on,” the 27-year-old said. “There was a whole thing online that I was pregnant.”

“I’m like, ‘ How insulting!’’ she added. “So no, I’m not. Obviously!”

Lavigne, who divorced fellow Canadian musician Deryck Whibley and is now dating former The Hills star Brody Jenner, 28, says she doesn’t have plans to start a family anytime soon.

She recently released the video for her new single “Wish You Were Here.”

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Rocker Apologizes for Onstage Tantrum

Filed under: Music, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 1:08 pm on

September 30, 2011

Post-punk rocker Ian McCulloch has apologized to fans after he stormed off stage at a Glasgow gig.

McCulloch was performing with his band Echo & The Bunnymen — probably best known for their 1984 album Ocean Rain, which featured the single “Killing Moon” –  on Wednesday, September 28, when he apparently let some emotional issues get the better of him.

The Scottish Daily Record reports that McCulloch got irritated with the crowd’s poor timing as they clapped along, and told them off. He then complained about something to do with a birthday cake and challenged a heckler to a fight. The Record says he then stormed off stage but returned and apologized, saying he’d received bad news, then played one song and stormed off again.

The following day, McCulloch told the Record, “There were things which happened backstage that should have stayed backstage, but didn’t.

“I was very upset due to personal issues I can’t go into. What went on backstage made it worse and it got too much.

“It spilled on stage and I can only apologise. I am gutted and feel terrible for letting down our amazing Scottish fans.

“I hugely regret it and want to say sorry through the Razz to everyone we disappointed. I hope we can make it up to you all in some way and we will look at how to do that in the near future.”

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Jason Biggs Worth a Lot More than Mena Suvari

Filed under: Entertainment, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 12:20 pm on

September 30, 2011

The American Pie gang may be getting back together again for the upcoming American Reunion, but some cast members will be getting a bigger slice of the pie than others.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, producers of the comedy were bound and determined to keep costs low and to make the flick for less than 2003’s American Wedding, which had a budget of $55 million.

Producers reportedly managed to pull off the feat by moving locations to Georgia and playing ‘hardball’ when negotiating star’s salaries. Though most of the original cast will be returning for the new flick, their price tags vary wildly, according to sources who spoke to THR.

The sources say stars Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott are receiving $5 million each, plus points on the box office, while How I Met Your Mother’s Alyson Hannigan (who has arguably had the most successful post American movies career) will get a cheque for $3 million, as will SCTV vet Eugene Levy.

Their second-tier co-stars apparently won’t be making nearly as much. Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Natasha Lyonne, Jennifer Coolidge, Mena Suvari and Shannon Elizabeth are all said to be earning $500,000 to $750,000 for their work.

At the bottom of the salary list? That would be tabloid magnet Tara Reid, who THR reports will be paid $250,000 to join the rest of the cast.

American Reunion is scheduled for release in April 2012

(Photo b PR Photos)

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Idris Elba: I Don’t Want to be ‘Black James Bond’

Filed under: Entertainment, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 12:07 pm on

September 30, 2011

Idris Elba, of the acclaimed HBO TV series The Wire, says he would love to play James Bond – with one condition.

Elba says reports he’s in contention for the role once Daniel Craig retires from the part are simply old rumours. Nonetheless, the British star says he likes the idea, with one caveat.

“It’s a rumour. It’s a very old rumour,” Elba tells NPR’s Morning Edition. “My dad and I were talking about this the other day. I would do it, but I don’t want to be called the first black James Bond. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The star says he thinks the colour of his skin should have nothing to do with his ability to play the legendary 007.

“Sean Connery wasn’t the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn’t the blue-eyed James Bond,” he reasons. “So if I played him, I don’t want to be called the black James Bond.”

Craig is currently shooting his third adventure as Bond with director Sam Mendes, though it’s not known if the star has signed up for a fourth flick.

Elba, who played criminal mastermind Stringer Bell on The Wire and Asgardian sentry Heimdall in Thor, just wrapped shooting on Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi thriller Prometheus.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Kellie Pickler Revisits Painful Childhood with New Single

Filed under: Country, Music, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 11:58 am on

September 30, 2011

American Idol contestant turned country music star Kellie Pickler says she revisited her poverty-stricken childhood while recording her new single Mother’s Day.

The Albermale, North Carolina native tells TheBoot.com that writing the new song with husband Kyle Jacobs forced her to revisit painful memories from her past.

“In shooting the [Mother's Day] video in particular, going back to those childhood moments, seeing my father struggle with his alcoholism and drug addiction… Looking at it now, as an adult, that’s not normal,” says Pickler. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to be. I got to hit a whole lot of places, a whole lot of my past in shooting this.”

Pickler says returning to those dark times made her realize how far she’s come.

“When you remember things as a child, and then you go back to those places, it’s kind of like when I go home to Albermarle. There’s certain places that I wish that, as an adult, I had not gone back to, because to remember them as a child, it wasn’t as bad. I didn’t realize how bad the situation was until I went back as an adult.”

The star tells The Boot that, though her past may have been bleak, she’s since learned to find happiness.

“I have the most amazing, amazing friends, that I cherish and value. I have a really, really close group of friends that I surround myself by, and those people know who they are. They really keep me Kellie.”

Kellie Pickler’s new album Tough, will be released later this year.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Helen Mirren: Action Star

Filed under: Uncategorized — D.I.S.H. @ 11:53 am on

September 30, 2011

Dame Helen Mirren says that at 66-years-of-age, she’s happy to become Hollywood’s least likely action movie star.

The famous British actress won an Best Actress Academy Award for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, the 2006 drama about the monarch. These days, however, you’re more likely to catch Mirren punching out villains and firing off weapons than playing genteel old ladies.

Mirren stars in the upcoming thriller The Debt as a retired Israeli spy whose past catches up with her. The flick is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov and includes Mirren’s first fight scene.

The star tells the BBC that as follow-up to last year’s hit action comedy RED, she’s happy to reinvent herself as an action hero.

“For a very long time girls weren’t allowed to have fight scenes, it just didn’t happen,” Mirren tells the network. “Now they can and Angelina Jolie does them all, but for a woman of my age a fight scene is pretty rare.

“I called it ‘The Geriatric Fight’ – when you go down it’s very hard to get up again. We wanted it to be very realistic, they are both old but they are fighting to the death.”

The Debt, co-starring The Help’s Jessica Chastain and Avatar’s Sam Worthington, is in theatres now.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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L.A. Reid: Biggest Regret is Dropping Lady Gaga

Filed under: Music, Pop, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 11:45 am on

September 30, 2011

X-Factor judge L.A. Reid says the biggest mistake he ever made in the music business was dropping Lady Gaga from his record label.

The famed producer and music exec tells Access Hollywood he was enchanted by the star when he first met her as a young unknown looking to establish herself as star.

“She played piano, she had on white go-go boots – like, all the way up to here, thigh high boots – she sat down at that piano, she played and she sang,” Reid recalls. “When she was done, I said, ‘You are an amazing artist, a true star, and you will change music,’ and I signed her. Her name was Lady Gaga.”

Their relationship took a rocky turn however, when Reid later heard Gaga’s first recordings under the new deal.

“A few months later, I got her demos, and it was a work in progress, and I was having a bad day,” he says. “I’m telling you, I was having a bad day. And I said, ‘You know what? I really don’t like it. Let her have her freedom, let her go find her career.’ It was the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

Nonetheless, Reid says he “redeemed” himself not long after by finding another pop music superstar in Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber.

“I felt bad, but I swear to you, like a month later Justin Bieber came and redeemed me, so, you know, I survived it all. But I’m a little bit jealous, because the Twitter following, for example, the biggest ones are Bieber and Lady Gaga, so I would have felt like the king of the world! Instead I felt like half the king.”

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Country Stars Pay Tribute to Mark Twain

Filed under: Country, Music, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 8:59 am on

September 30, 2011

An all-star selection of country artists are paying tribute to author Mark Twain with a two-disc CD set titled Mark Twain: Words and Music.

Music News Nashville reports that the release combines music and spoken word to tell the true life story of the author. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, Twain is best known for writing the classics ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’ The latter is often called “the great American novel.” He is also known for his travel writings.

The project, written and produced by Carl Jackson, was originally intended to be released last year, to commemorate ’2010 — The Year of Mark Twain,’ and the 100th anniversary of the author’s death, but was delayed until this year to allow time for more artists to participate.

According to Music News Nashville, Jimmy Buffett, who is releasing the project on his label, Mailboat Records, provides the voice of Huck Finn on the recordings and Clint Eastwood fills the role of Mark Twain. Garrison Keillor provides the narration, while more than a dozen artists contribute their singing voices. Among them: Brad Paisley, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow and Ricky Skaggs.

The CD, which includes a 40-page booklet that details Mark Twain’s life, can be purchased here.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Daughtry Announces Album Title

Filed under: Music, Rock, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 8:57 am on

September 30, 2011

Daughtry has announced details about the rock band’s highly anticipated third album.

Frontman Chris Daughtry recently posted the release date on his Twitter page, but now it’s been made official. The record will be called Break The Spell and will be released on November 21st — five years to the day that Daughtry released their self-titled debut. That album went 5x platinum in the U.S. and 2x platinum in Canada.

The first single from Break the Spell, “Crawling Back To You” has been playing on CHUM FM Toronto and two tracks have been released to radio in the U.S.: “Renegade,” and “Crawling Back To You.”

A statement says, “Break the Spell is a gleaming showcase for front man [and former American Idol contestant] Chris Daughtry’s powerful, emotionally resonant voice and knack for relentless melodic hooks and big, anthemic choruses.”

The album is produced by Howard Benson, who has worked with Motorhead, Sepultura and Kelly Clarkson, and who produced Daughtry’s two previous albums.

“Going in to the writing sessions, we said, ‘Let’s not try to sound like anything. Let’s just write, and see what happens,’” says Chris Daughtry. “We came up with some pretty interesting tunes that sound nothing like anything we’ve done before. Even though some of them didn’t make the album, the process stretched us and took us to new places. It was an absolutely inspirational experience.”

In other Daughtry news, the band is featured on the upcoming ZZ Top tribute album A Tribute From Friends with a cover of “Waitin’ For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago” due out October 11th.

(Photo by PR Photos)

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Mortal Kombat Reboot Details

Filed under: Entertainment, Sympatico — D.I.S.H. @ 8:56 am on

September 30, 2011

The classic video game Mortal Kombat will soon be taking the fight back to the silver screen.

New Line/Warner Bros. have announced plans to reboot the movie franchise based on the game, with director Kevin Tancharoen at the helm.

Former choreographer and music vid director Tancharoen created a short film called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth that became a viral video smash back in 2010. The director then followed-up by helming the webseries Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

Tancharoen tells ComingSoon.net the gig is the fulfillment of a life-long obsession.

“It’s very exciting!” he tells the site. “I’m so happy that I’ve been a gigantic fan of this title since I was a little kid. This is a dream come true for me.”

The director says that with his dance background, he’s perfectly suited for shooting the complex fight scenes required for Mortal Kombat.

“The idea has been floating around even before I made the short film,” he says. “I was on the mixing stage at Warner Bros. and I had heard about Mortal Kombat and went, ‘Oh my god! That’s amazing! I know how to do that. I know how to do fight sequences. I know how to choreograph it’… Then, after the web series did so well, we started talking seriously with New Line about doing a film. They were like, ‘The numbers are proven and they really like the style and the storytelling.’ They said we should go for it.”

The first Mortal Kombat movie, released in 1995, was a box office smash that spawned the less successful sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997.

Mortal Kombat is set to shoot in 2012 for a big screen release in 2013.

(Image: Midway Home Entertainment, Inc. Source: Wikipedia)

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