Jan 2 2013 08:33 PM ET

Video mocks celeb participants of gun control PSA

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One gun rights supporter who took issue with a recent celebrity-filled gun control PSA has posted a now-viral video response that puts the spotlight on what he calls a “hypocritical industry.”

Late last month, Mayors Against Illegal Guns posted a video PSA on YouTube that featured a host of famous faces — including Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Beyonce, Michelle Williams, and Amy Poehler –  calling for stricter gun control laws, and it has, to date, received over 6.3 million views. Just days ago, YouTube user “Mike Hunt,” who declined to provide his real name and claims not to have any affiliations, posted his own video — a parody of the original that was edited to include many of the same actors in fictional gun-filled situations. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 2 2013 06:16 PM ET

Royal Mail to release 'Doctor Who' stamps

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Image Credit: Royal Mail/AP

Sure, bow ties are cool, but stamps are even cooler.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, Britain’s Royal Mail is releasing a series of stamps featuring the 11 actors who have held the title role, the British postal service announced Wednesday. Everyone from William Hartnell, who first portrayed the Doctor from 1963-66, to Matt Smith, the current star, will be included.

And don’t forget about those pesky foes: Daleks, Oods, Weeping Angels, and a Cyberman will all get their due on a miniature sheet with Second Class stamps, along with a stamp featuring the Doctor’s time travel machine, TARDIS.
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Jan 2 2013 05:47 PM ET

'Downton Abbey' star Dan Stevens crowned Britain's best-dressed man by GQ

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Image Credit: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

British GQ has released its annual list of Best Dressed Men in Britain 2013 and the most dapper man of this new year is (drumroll please)… Downton Abbey‘s Dan Stevens. Yes, he of the aquamarine eyes and swoon-worthy sideburns has beat out favorites like David Beckham and Prince William to land at the top of the list.

While we certainly have no qualms with Matthew Crawley being named top dog (he sure looks good in uniform, doesn’t he?), the list — comprising 50 people in all — did contain a number of surprises and, well, outright misfires. Take a look at GQ’s full gallery here, then see if you agree with our objections (and additions) below!
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Jan 2 2013 02:49 PM ET

Samuel L. Jackson dares interviewer to say the n-word -- VIDEO

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No one knows how to make white men squirm quite like Samuel L. Jackson.

A post on Reddit last night has unearthed a prime example. Two weeks ago, the Django Unchained cast sat down with Jake Hamilton, host of Houston’s Emmy-winning film show Jake’s Takes, at a press junket. Things went smoothly enough until Hamilton approached Jackson with a question about the movie’s controversial use of the “n-word.” Jackson insisted that Hamilton, who is white, say the word out loud; after Hamilton repeatedly refused, they moved on. It was uncomfortable.

“The most awkward moment was just seeing everyone in the room freeze, and waiting to see what my reaction was going to be,” Hamilton says today. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 2 2013 01:06 PM ET

'Peter and the Starcatcher' heads Off Broadway

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Peter and the Starcatcher may be closing on Broadway later this month, but the Tony Award-winning play has found a new home Off Broadway at New World Stages.

Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the Peter Pan prequel tells the story of the orphan who became The Boy Who Never Grew Up. The play first debuted in March 2011 at New York Theatre Workshop before heading to Broadway in 2012, where it will close on Jan. 20. The show will transfer to its new Off-Broadway location this spring.

“We have had an amazing run on Broadway, and audience demand continues to grow,” said lead producer Nancy Nagel Gibbs. “In fact, last week we had our highest grossing week ever. Our transfer to New World Stages allows the ‘little show that could’ to continue to inspire and enchant even more audiences.”

A national tour is scheduled to begin in August.

Read more:
‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ gets box office bump even before Tony wins
Tony Awards: Check out the full list of winners here!
Broadway critical list: ‘Magic/Bird,’ ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ struggle out of the gate

Jan 2 2013 12:26 PM ET

Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Simpson team up in new Weight Watchers ad -- VIDEO

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Toss the tryptophan and hang up the ham hocks – 2013 is the year to take control of your body.

In a new ad for Weight Watchers’ “Expect Amazing” campaign, Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Simpson talk up the program’s healthy impact on their figures.

“It lets me be me,” Simpson says. Hudson follows, “And I naturally became a healthier me.”

Both women currently serve as official spokespeople for the company. Hudson signed on in 2010, losing 80 pounds with the regimen; Simpson joined in May 2012 and shed 60 pounds after the birth of her daughter, Maxwell. Her involvement has been temporarily suspended, though, during her second pregnancy, which she confirmed over the holidays. She will resume her contract — which is reportedly worth $4 million — after she gives birth.

The commercial begins airing tomorrow. Watch it below: READ FULL STORY »

Jan 2 2013 10:42 AM ET

Russell Crowe responds to Adam Lambert's 'Les Mis' criticism

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Russell Crowe has stepped up to defend Les Misérables after American Idol finalist Adam Lambert skewered the movie via Twitter.

Over the weekend, Lambert released a multi-tweet review of the film in which he said while “visually impressive,” “the score suffered massively with great actors PRETENDING to be singers.”

Ouch. (He also singled out Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks, who played Eponine, as the exceptions to that assessment.)

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Jan 2 2013 09:00 AM ET

This Week's Cover: Inside the making (and remaking) of NBC's 'Smash'

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The show that everyone wanted to love — and everyone loved to hate — is back. And guess what? It’s good. This week, Entertainment Weekly gets an exclusive inside look at NBC’s ambitious overhaul of their musical drama, Smash. (Click here to buy the issue.) There’s a lot riding on it for a lot of people, first and foremost the show’s 10(!) executive producers, including Hollywood’s biggest director, Steven Spielberg; Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (the Oscar-winning Chicago); and Tony-winning composing team Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray). This impressive pedigree made Smash the most high-profile premiere of 2012, and the series started strong with a stellar pilot, which followed the team behind a new Marilyn Monroe musical called Bombshell, including the two starlets vying for the lead, Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy (Megan Hilty). Then several things went wrong. Like Ellis (Jaime Cepero), the sweater-vested sexually ambiguous assistant to Broadway producer Eileen (Anjelica Huston). Or the wardrobe of Bombshell‘s lyricist, Julia (Debra Messing), which featured a collection of distractingly large — and ugly — scarves. “I thought it was really shocking, that it offended some people to their bone,” says Messing. “There were some virulent things written about these scarves.” Jokes Hilty, “Who knew that Debra Messing’s scarves would become a drinking game? When I heard that, I was like, Really?”

New showrunner Joshua Safran (Gossip Girl) got the gig after selling NBC on his plan for the new Smash: More star power (Jennifer Hudson! Liza Minnelli!), more ambitious plotting, more original music (including tunes from a new Rent-esque project called Hit List), and absolutely no more scarves. Judging by the first three episodes, Safran has given Smash some much-needed mood stabilizers to eradicate its whiplash tone and character shifts, and the new players — like bad boy songwriter Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan), a love interest for Karen, and Broadway superstar Veronica Moore (guest star Hudson) — bring fresh energy to the storytelling. Basically, this season could be retitled Smash 2.0: Go Big or Go Home.  “Some things you’ll fail with because being audacious doesn’t always fly,” says NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt. “But I think we have to be audacious or we’re dead.”

Watch footage of EW’s cover shoot below with stars Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty alongside Smash newcomer Jennifer Hudson, who appears in three episodes this season. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 1 2013 04:16 PM ET

Kathy Griffin kisses Anderson Cooper's crotch... for good luck?

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How low can she go? That was the question for CNN viewers early Tuesday morning as they watched comedian Kathy Griffin drop to her knees and plant a smooch on Anderson Cooper’s pants zipper during the live New Year’s Eve broadcast from Times Square in New York.

CNN has made a New Year’s Eve tradition of matching the bottled-up Cooper with the uncorked Griffin, who is essentially an imported disaster to keep things interesting for the breaking news pro. Griffin stripped down to her bra during last year’s broadcast, for instance, a searing memory that had Cooper twitching with anxiety as soon as this year’s edition began at 10 pm on Monday. “I’m sweating already,” admitted the man who has covered atrocities in Rwanda, bedlam in Lebanon and calamity in Louisiana. Griffin didn’t calm him with her response, which hinted at her future target:  “I’m going to tickle your sac.” Shortly after midnight, Griffin casually lowered herself to Cooper’s crotch and delivered a kiss that was audible to the television audience.

To add a touch of the surreal to the seamy stunt, Griffin’s maneuver was apparently inspired by a report by a CNN correspondent in Eastport, Maine, who was explaining with a weird gusto the briny local tradition of kissing a giant sardine on the final night of the year.

With all the chum in the water, Griffin wasn’t about to let her victim off the hook  and the broadcast devolved into a strange dance in confined quarters – it was like Life of Pi but this tiger was wearing lipstick. “You’re scaring me,” Cooper said in a flat voice of a victim who can’t process the horror in front of them. He added: “This is getting to be the night bad things happen.”  That may be the perfect soundbite to promote next year’s broadcast or, come to think of it, an efficient catchphrase for any holiday with spiked punch.

Read More:

Looking back: Dick Clark and New Year’s  — VIDEOS
Cheers to 2012! Pop culture cocktails to ring in the new year
Seacrest on Dick Clark: ‘I’ll always be indebted to him’

Jan 1 2013 09:45 AM ET

'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest': The 5 best moments

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Image Credit: Lou Rocco/ABC

“Seacrest, the show must go on.”
-Ryan Seacrest, minutes before midnight in New York, recounting the classic showbiz-ism that Dick Clark used to say to him

To usher in 2013, Ryan Seacrest took the helm on ABC’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. Seacrest was the pre-determined heir, having hosted alongside Clark since 2005. While this was the first New Year’s Rockin’ Eve without Clark, who died in April, the longtime host was everywhere – even in the confetti (seriously, people wrote tributes to Clark that were printed on pieces of the confetti that was dumped on Times Square). Other things happened, sure. Jenny McCarthy lost her voice around 10:15pm. Fergie’s hair transitioned from Veronica Lake to Bamm-Bamm as the evening went on. Seacrest almost got pummeled with the balloons everyone was holding. Carly Rae Jepsen performed in Times Square. Justin Bieber performed in Los Angeles. MC Hammer even showed up out of nowhere. But there was no question: the evening belonged to Dick Clark.

And for that reason, many of the best parts of the broadcast were in the two-hour tribute to Dick Clark, when Jenny McCarthy and Fergie hosted a countdown of the top 30 moments in American Bandstand history, interspersed with live performances, celebrity tributes, and great moments from Rockin’ Eve history.

READ FULL STORY »

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