Harry Potter theme parks opens in Florida

By macleans.ca - Friday, June 18, 2010 at 10:54 AM - 2 Comments

If hippogriffs, Twiward Tournament and Ollivander’s wand shop sounds familiar to you, then the just-opened Harry Potter theme park in Florida may be your next vacation destination. The 20-acre Wizarding World is within the Islands of Adventure complex in Orlando Florida. In it includes Harry Potter favourites including a Hogwarts Express train and Zonko’s joke shop. The park was designed in close collaboration with Harry Potter author, JK Rowling as well as the production designer and supervising arts director of the Harry Potter film crew. However, the waiting times are predicted to be formidable—queuing time is predicted to be up to five hours.

The Guardian

Rufus Wainwright's opera opens to mixed reviews

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 1:37 PM - 2 Comments

Rufus Wainwright’s first opera, Prima Donna, made its North American debut at Luminato last night. And as the reviews tumbled in, they were as mixed as last year’s reaction to the opera’s European debut at the Manchester International Festival. A Toronto Star critic called the staging a “dramatic wreck,” adding that “you can’t get a Louis Vuitton clutch from a Loblaws grocery bag.” The Baltimore Sun’s critic wrote “it’s a valiant effort, to be sure, and Wainwright should try another.” The Globe, meanwhile, asserted that while the director and cast soar, the orchestra falls short. Still, it concedes “Wainwright has deftly made a virtue of his outsider status in the world of contemporary opera.”

The Toronto Star

The Baltimore Sun

The Globe and Mail

Founding member of BTO charged with sexually assaulting child

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 1:26 PM - 3 Comments

Guitarist Timothy Gregg Bachman appeared in court Monday on charges of sexual interference with a person under 14, touching a young person for a sexual purpose, and sexual assault. The charges relate to incidents that allegedly began in 2000 when the complainant was just 11 years old. Bachman, 58, was one of three brothers who founded the blockbuster band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, famous for their hit Takin’ Care of Business. Bachman toured with the band off and on before settling into a career as a realtor in 1991.

Abbotsford News

Rue McClanahan Dies

By macleans.ca - Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 11:37 AM - 28 Comments

Stage and TV actress Rue McClanahan has died of a stroke at the age of 76. She was best known for her role as the man-hungry Blanche Deveraux on the hit show The Golden Girls. She also played roles on Maude and Mama’s Family. On The Golden Girls, she was originally considered for the role of Rose, the ditzy character, with Betty White the choice to play Blanche; the two decided to switch roles. McClanahan’s death leaves White as the only surviving member of the Golden Girls cast.

People

Double the fun

By macleans.ca - Monday, May 31, 2010 at 1:40 PM - 0 Comments

A spokesperson for Céline Dion has confirmed the Quebec singing star and her husband, René Angélil, are expecting twins. According to Kim Jakwerth, Dion’s pregnancy comes after a sixth in-vitro fertilization attempt and acupuncture treatments aimed at helping her conceive. “Céline is just hoping for a healthy pregnancy,” Angélil says. “She was hoping for one baby and the news that we are having two is a double blessing.”

Montreal Gazette

Dennis Hopper dead at 74

By macleans.ca - Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 3:06 PM - 1 Comment

Dennis Hopper, the veteran actor and director who changed the course of American movies with his film Easy Rider, has died at age 74. The cause of death was described as complications from prostate cancer. After spending many years as a character actor in films and television, including a small part in Rebel Without a Cause, Hopper made his directorial debut with the low-budget Easy Rider, the first U.S. movie to become a mainstream hit by appealing directly to the ’60s counterculture. The movie was a tremendous box-office hit and opened up a new era of experimentation and directorial freedom in Hollywood. While Hopper never achieved the same success as a director, he continued to be in demand as an actor, noted for his roles as psychopaths in hits like Apocalypse Now and Speed.

LA Times

Gene Simmons accused of sexual assault

By macleans.ca - Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 12:43 PM - 3 Comments

Make-up artist Victoria Jackson has filed a civil lawsuit against KISS frontman Gene Simmons, alleging that the singer groped and grinded against her while wearing his costume. The suit’s spiked chest plate jabbed her in the face as he  behaved in “a lecherous and inappropriate manner,” the Telegraph reports. Simmons’ spokesman, Allan Mayer, said said the singer “categorically denies” the allegations.

Telegraph

Gary Coleman dead at 42

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 28, 2010 at 3:11 PM - 0 Comments

Gary Coleman, the child star of the hit TV series Diff’rent Strokes, has died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 42. Coleman was taken to a Utah hospital yesterday in critical condition, went into a coma later that day, and died today. Coleman became an instant star when he was picked to play the youngest of two black children who are adopted by a wealthy white man on NBC’s Diff’rent Strokes. He became so popular that the writers quickly rebuilt the entire show around his character, working his catchphrase “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” into every episode.

People

'Sex and the City 2' receives scathing reviews

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 11:42 AM - 14 Comments

Fans have waited with bated breath for the Sex and the City sequel, which premiered in New York on Monday night, but critics are tearing it apart, the Belfast Telegraph reports in a round-up of reviews. The first online review, from Ed Gonzales of Slant Magazine, awarded it 1.5 stars out of four. On Rotten Tomatoes, he called it a “fascist, superficial assessment of the Sex And The City girls’ intelligence and insults them as the women we came to know them as on television [sic]” Variety’s Brian Lowry said the movie “overstay[ed] its welcome,” while the Hollywood Reporter called it a “two-hour fashion show.” It was also called “anti-Muslim” due to its portrayal of Abu Dhabi. In one scene, the main characters are rescued by Muslim women who strip off their burkas, revealing stylish Western outfits. They are also portrayed singing a karaoke version of “I am woman” in an Abu Dhabi nightclub, which the Hollywood Reporter called a “scathing portrayal of Muslim society.”

Belfast Telegraph

Warrant issued for Lindsay Lohan’s arrest

By macleans.ca - Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 3:29 PM - 6 Comments

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Lindsay Lohan after she didn’t attend a mandatory probation hearing in Los Angeles today, the Toronto Sun reports. Lohan was to appear in front of judge Marsha Revel at the Beverly Hills Courthouse, but was stranded in Europe after losing her passport during a trip to France for the Cannes Film Festival. This follows reports she’d failed to complete court-ordered alcohol education classes after a 2007 arrest. The probation hearing went ahead, but the judge didn’t accept her excuse and issued an arrest warrant. Her bail is set at $100,000.

Toronto Sun

Lynn Redgrave dead at 67

By macleans.ca - Monday, May 3, 2010 at 12:02 PM - 2 Comments

Lynn Redgrave, the Oscar-nominated actress from the famous Redgrave acting family, has died at the age of 67. Redgrave received her first Academy Award nomination for the film, Georgy Girl (playing a role that had been turned down by her sister Vanessa). Lynn has appeared in many stage productions in London and New York, having famously performed two one-woman shows, Shakespeare For My Father and Nightingale, about her life and family (including her father, actor Michael Redgrave). Redgrave’s death comes a year after the tragic death of her niece, Natasha Richardson.

ABC News

Sacha Baron Cohen bought with a goat…and $20m

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 11:13 AM - 0 Comments

Paramount knows the way to Borat’s heart—$20 million and a goat. That’s what the Hollywood studio is reportedly paying British comedian Sasha Baron Cohen for his next film, the tale of a deposed foreign dictator lost in America and his goat-herder doppelganger. Interest in the script—co-written by Cohen and the writers behind the TV series Curb Your Enthusiasm—was high, with several studios bidding and driving the price up to dizzying heights, $20 million plus 20-30 per cent of the gross. Paramount finally triumphed by sending a goat dressed in a studio t-shirt to Cohen’s house.

Live long and prosper

By macleans.ca - Friday, April 23, 2010 at 12:10 PM - 1 Comment

Leonard Nimoy has decided to retire. And this time the 79-year-old actor is serious when he says he’s done with Mr. Spock. In last year’s Star Trek movie, he played an older version of Spock while Zachary Quinto played a younger version. “I want to get off the stage. Also, I don’t think it would be fair to Zachary Quinto,” he says. “He’s a terrific actor, he looks the part, and it’s time to give him some space. And I’m very flattered the character will continue.” Nimoy went further, stating that his recently wrapped scenes in the TV show Fringe are the end. “I’ve been doing this professionally for 60 years,” he says with a laugh. “I love the idea of going out on a positive note. I’ve had a great, great time.”

Toronto Sun

When everyone’s a critic

By macleans.ca - Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 12:06 PM - 0 Comments

There’s nothing film critics love to talk about more than the Death of Film Criticism, with the possible exception of the Death of Cinema. And no wonder. Newspapers are dumping reviewers left and right. Variety has cut loose its veteran film and theatre critics. And the garden of critical discourse that flowered with Francois Truffaut and Pauline Kael is being paved over with the likes of online algoriths like Rotten Tomatoes.com. Now A.O. Scott, senior film critic at the New York Times, brings some perspective to the crisis with a wry reflection on the future of his metier. Although Scott’s lofty post at the Times seems safe, he hasn’t been immune from the scourge—Disney recently cancelled his TV show, At the Movies, ending the bloodline that began with Siskel and Ebert. But Scott takes a refreshingly sanguine view, underlining the irony that the victim of this latest “murder” was once vilified as the original culprit—“two thumbs up” punditry was the remote ancestor of Rotten Tomatoes. But Scott argues that no one can kill argument. “The future of criticism is the same as it ever was,” he concludes. “Miserable, and full of possibility.”

New York Times

Ricky Martin is out of the closet

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 11:26 AM - 3 Comments

Is it still news if everybody already knows? Apparently. Former music superstar Ricky Martin (remember him? What about Menudo?) has come out of the closet. After years of sometimes coy denials, Martin posted a statement on his website yesterday. “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.” Martin explains that his two adopted sons inspired him to go public. And there’s also the memoir he’s writing…”These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed,” writes Martin. Larry King is on line one.

Ricky Martin Music

Sarah Palin in final talks for reality TV show

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 12:05 PM - 3 Comments

You wonder if Alaskans are getting worried by the degree to which Sarah Palin defines their state in the minds of outsiders. The former governor is now reportedly close to a deal with Discovery Channel for a travelogue-style reality show, in which she will guide viewers around the Alaskan outdoors. Super-producer Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) is behind the project, and plans to shoot the series in high definition. The question now is whether it will be worth the cost. Palin is reportedly asking something in the range of $1.2 million per episode, and Discovery was forced into a bidding war with rival A&E Networks for the program, which is conceived as a pricey, high-end production.

The Hollywood Reporter

You. Must. Watch. This.

By macleans.ca - Friday, March 19, 2010 at 1:38 PM - 15 Comments

In a break from his normal show’s pattern, Jon Stewart became Glenn Beck to show the insanity of the Fox host’s ideology—Beck’s latest riff is that any Christian who believes in social justice is actually a follower of Stalin or Hitler. As Stewart says: “If you subscribe to an idea, you also subscribe to that idea’s ideology and to every possible negative consequence that that ideology even remotely implies when you carry it to absurd extremes.”

Comedy Network

Jessie James is sorry for "caus[ing] my wife and kids pain and embarrassment"

By macleans.ca - Friday, March 19, 2010 at 11:24 AM - 5 Comments

Jessie James, Hollywood’s sorriest horn dog, has his tail between his legs. Yesterday, the celebrity mechanic apologized publicly to his wife, Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, for his extra-marital amour: “There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me. It’s because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way.” It all came to a head this week, when Michelle “Bombshell” McGee, 32—a tattoo-covered stripper with a five-year-old son and an alleged addiction to
“pills, booze and stripping”—went public, revealing that she had an 11-month-long affair with James while Bullock was filming her blockbuster hit, The Blind Side. Bullock reportedly moved out of her home on Monday and has canceled plans to attend her film’s premier in London. Meanwhile, “Bombshell” has been making the media rounds, posing for pictures clad only in panties and a hot pink push-up bra.

New York Post

TV's Davy Crockett Dies

By macleans.ca - Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 5:16 PM - 0 Comments

Fess Parker, the actor who became one of TV’s biggest stars in the ’50s when he played Davy Crockett, has died of natural causes at the age of 85. In the title role of Walt Disney’s television series about the legendary frontiersman, Parker set off a worldwide Davy Crockett craze, immortalized in a series of 1955 Peanuts strips where Charlie Brown was obsessed with the character. The show was one of the biggest merchandising bonanzas in TV history up to that point, spinning off lunchboxes, ersatz Crockett rifles and coonskin caps, and a celebratory theme song, “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” recorded by Parker. He also starred for Disney in the famous tearjerking feature film Old Yeller, and in the ’60s, after leaving Disney, he starred in Daniel Boone, another long-running series about the “wild frontier.” He retired from acting in the ’70s and went into the real estate and wine businesses.

New York Times

Oakville baby spurs Lohan lawsuit

By macleans.ca - Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 12:17 PM - 2 Comments

McAllister Kerr, a bubbly, hyperactive tot from Oakville who is just learning to speak, is at the heart of a $100 million (U.S.) lawsuit filed against the brokerage firm E-trade by Lindsay Lohan’s representatives. McAllister plays a smooth-talking, computer enhanced baby who explains to his girlfriend that he didn’t call her last night because he was busy on E-trade. In the course of his explanation, the other toddler jealously asks if he was hanging out with “that milkaholic Lindsay”—the seemingly innocent line at the core of the suit. Lohan’s representatives say she has single name recognition, like Madonna or Cher, meaning the simple use of Lindsay is a reference to her, and that the commercial is supposed to parody her life. The company that made the ad, for its part, says the name was picked as an in-joke about someone on its accounting team, while McAllister would rather do handstands and play with his toys then speak out on the issue.

Toronto Star

Actor Corey Haim dies

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 11:14 AM - 1 Comment

Canadian actor Corey Haim, who became a teen superstar in Hollywood in the ’80s thanks to roles in movies like The Lost Boys and License to Drive, has died at age 38 of an “accidental drug overdose.” After playing a recurring role on the CBC kids’ series The Edison Twins, Haim began to get roles in U.S. television and film, leading to breakout roles as a troubled teenager in Lucas and a troubled vampire teenager in The Lost Boys. He was frequently confused with Corey Feldman, an actor who was the same age and also had a part in The Lost Boys. Haim’s career began to falter as he got older and as he began to have a drug problem. In the ’00s, Haim tried to overcome his addictions, moved back to Toronto, and staged a comeback, including a reality show called The Two Coreys about his and Feldman’s lives as former child stars. Early today, his mother, with whom he was staying on a visit to Hollywood, called 911 on his behalf; he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Haim had already suffered a “drug-induced stroke” in 2001.

TMZ

Entertainment Weekly

Plummer didn't win an Oscar—again

By macleans.ca - Monday, March 8, 2010 at 10:47 AM - 0 Comments

Fans of Canada’s own Christopher Plummer had to grit their teeth last night when he was edged out, as Plummer himself had predicted, in the best supporting actor category by  Christoph Waltz, for his Nazi turn in Inglorious Basterds. It’s crazy that Plummer has never won an Oscar (as he should have for his performance in 1999 as TV journalist Mike Wallace in The Insider). Still, the lack of Academy Awards doesn’t stop him from being a living monument to wit and insight. Two Oscar-week interviews find Plummer in vintage form. On Helen Mirren: “Of course I’ve always been mad about her. The sexiest Cressida ever.” On his nominated role as Tolstoy in The Last Station: “There was very little to go on, so I tackled it as a rather ribald Chekhov play.” Aside from the newspaper Q & A, he’s at his best in Shakespeare—and he’ll be back at Stratford, Ont.’s festival this summer to play Prospero in a new production of The Tempest.

Montreal Gazette

The Telegraph

Is 'Precious' a "Racist Freak Show"?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 11:41 AM - 2 Comments

Critics have generally seen Precious, a film about an overweight, abused, HIV-positive girl who triumphs over everything, as a gritty and tough movie. The same critics see The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock as a rich white Southern woman who adopts a black kid, as condescending or even racist. Critic Charles Taylor argues that these critics have it exactly backwards: Precious, is a “racist freak show” that piles misery on top of misery and “negates every idea of black progress,” leaving audiences with the idea that black urban life is a horror show. And he says that The Blind Side, which is based on a true story and doesn’t sensationalize it, is more honest about the problems black people face in American society as well as portraying characters who “act like human beings and not ideologues.”

Independent Film Channel

Andrew Koenig found dead

By macleans.ca - Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 8:16 PM - 0 Comments

Andrew Koenig, the Growing Pains actor who was missing in Vancouver for the past two weeks, has been found dead at the age of 41. Police confirmed that a body was discovered in Vancouver’s Stanley Park that was “believed to be that of Andrew Koenig.” The actor, son of Star Trek‘s Walter Koenig, played Kirk Cameron’s best buddy “Boner” Stabone for the first four seasons of Growing Pains, before leaving the show. (His character was written off the show in an episode where he joined the Marines.) His father said his son stopped taking his anti-depressants last year and was “probably in a very depressed state.” “My son took his own life,” Walter Koening confirmed tearfully at a press conference shortly after the body was found. He had cleaned out his Los Angeles apartment before going to Vancouver, and was reported missing after he missed a flight that was scheduled to take him back to Los Angeles.

L.A. Times

Associated Press