Celebrity birthdays: Jon Stewart, Ed Harris
Today’s post is a short one, as we all recover from our Thanksgiving feasts. Happy 46th birthday to The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. Also, actor Ed Harris, who was recently named Director of the Year at the Motion Picture Club's Awards for his new film, Appaloosa, turns 58.
(photo by Gavin Bond/Comedy Central)
Tell us: What was your worst Christmas gift?
We just finished the first major holiday of the season, and I hope you all are recovering from any Turkey overload you may have experienced. Now that it's officially Christmas season (or at least that's what the stores want you to believe), USA WEEKEND's annual gift guide is in newspapers now. Cover girl Miranda Cosgrove, star of Nickelodeon's hit iCarly, shares her shopping tips and secrets and we share the best gift ideas for 2008. We wondered about our readers' own gift-getting experiences, because while the season is certainly about the spirit of giving, sometimes the givers are a little misguided. So tell us in the comments below: What was your worst Christmas gift?
November 27, 2008
Celebrity birthdays: Jaleel White, Caroline Kennedy
Turkey and cake? We’ll have to ask 32-year-old actor Jaleel White -- who has come a long way since his suspender-wearing, nasal-voiced Urkel days -- whether Thanksgiving and birthday celebrations mix well. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, turns 51 today. Lastly, happy 23rd birthday to actress Alison Pill (at right), whose new movie, Milk, hit theatres yesterday.
(photo by Joan Marcus)
November 26, 2008
Celebrity birthdays: Tina Turner, Natasha Bedingfield
Happy birthday to the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, Tina Turner (at left), who, at the age of 69, is strutting her stuff on stage tonight at her New Jersey concert. Actress Tammy Lynn Michaels turns 34 today, and singer Natasha Bedingfield, who gave a show-stopping performance at this past weekend’s American Music Awards, turns 27.
(photo by Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY)
'DWTS' winners: Brooke Burke and Derek Hough
Brooke Burke, model and television host, won the Dancing With The Stars mirror ball Tuesday night, along with her pro partner Derek Hough. Warren Sapp was the runner up and poor Lance Bass took third. Tell us what you think. Did the right pair win?
November 25, 2008
Celebrity birthdays: Christina Applegate, Bush twins
Happy 27th birthday to Jenna and Barbara Bush, who just last week showed their predecessors -- incoming presidential daughters Malia and Sasha Obama -- their rooms in the White House. Samantha Who's Christina Applegate (at right), who overcame breast cancer earlier this year, turns 37 today and fellow actress Jill Hennessy turns 40.
(photo by George Kraychyk/Twentieth Century Fox)
November 24, 2008
DWTS big finale is tonight
OMG! Where's my head today? I almost forgot to mention that tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC is the first part of the two-part finale of Dancing With The Stars Season 7. While I have not followed as closely this season as I did in Season 6 - when I actually went to Los Angeles and hung out with some of the couples — I'm glad to see the high quality of the competition left for tonight's show. Warren Sapp is no Jason Taylor but he's got game. Lance Bass (at left, with partner Lacey Schwimmer) is worthy of our attention. And Brooke Burke is, well, let's just say I want to BE Brooke Burke. Except for right this minute, because as I write this she is probably on the DWTS lot in her trailer getting all nervous. Or maybe she's introducing her kids to Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys; both singers are performing tonight.
Thanks to my friend Louis van Amstel, the pro dancer whose most recent partner was Priscilla Presley, I know what to look for tonight. Technique, of course, though most of us can't judge that as well as the real judges can. But it's also about showmanship and the fan base a celeb dancer brings in. As Louis said to me several weeks ago, Brooke is definitely the best dancer but is her fan base strong enough to out-foxtrot Warren Sapp? Watch tonight and tomorrow we'll predict together who will take home that gawdy mirror ball.
(photo by Kelsey McNeal/ABC)
Meryl Streep's colleagues love her
Happy Thanksgiving week all. This week's holiday means here at Who's News we are Windexing the crystal ball as we plan coverage of the award season that follows. Which of the year-end movies will produce Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Oscar nominees? One who no doubt will earn another nomination (from all three) is Meryl Streep (at left) for Doubt, which opens Dec. 12 and we previewed for you last week. Our L.A. writer Nancy Mills went to a press event for the movie that included all the stars but turned into a Streep lovefest. Click read more below to get a full report.
November 21, 2008
Kathy's Weekend Outlook: See a movie
Finally, the film is out. In fact, Twilight, the movie with which it may have seemed we were obsessed (see our interviews, exclusive cover story and poster), began showing at 12:01 a.m. today in theaters around the country. Fandango was reportedly selling tickets at the rate of five per second. Now we want to know what you think. Post your own reviews of the film in the comments and we'll run some of the best next week.
Two other new and wildly different films are also worth checking out this weekend. First there's the animated adventure Bolt, with voices by John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, which we told you about earlier. Then there's Slumdog Millionaire, about an impoverished Indian teen who makes it onto the Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire but is more concerned with reconnecting with his childhood love. It's been getting rave reviews — many critics are calling it their favorite film of the year.
I'm a little bit of a photography nut, so am really excited that Google and Life have teamed up to make all of Life's photos available online. There are literally millions — many of which were never published — and you can search by date or person or event. One of my favorites is this one of JFK and Jackie Kennedy walking to his inauguration in 1961. Let's hope president-elect Barack Obama will have warmer weather come this January 20th.
Speaking of hoping for warmer weather, I'll be up bright and early to participate in the Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walk here in Washington, D.C. It's also the end of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, but charities across the country need help, especially during the holidays. So if you've got some time, consider volunteering for a few hours this season.
Lots of funny TV on this weekend, too. First there's Tim McGraw hosting Saturday Night Live. We're still missing Tina Fey, but apparently McGraw is the first country star of the millennium to host the show -- which seems odd since country has been so big on the charts lately but worth checking out. Then on Sunday Stephen Colbert (at left) brings us his holiday special, Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! Guest stars include Jon Stewart, Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello and the show itself is supposed to be hilarious, so set your TiVos.
Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson Wentz are going to have an exciting weekend: She gave birth to their son, named Bronx Mowgli, last night. Fellow editor T.J. Walter interviewed Wentz last week and you'll be able to read the full story in our Dec. 14 issue, but here's a timely tidbit. Wentz told us that his parents "OD’d me on the library, and I was pretty loaded up when it came to children’s books," which helps explain his son's creative name: Mowgli is the name of the lead character in The Jungle Book.
(Bolt photo courtesy Disney; Kennedy photo by Paul Schutzer/Life; Colbert photo by Kristopher Long/Comedy Central)
ABC kills 'Daisies' and more
Lots of news from the TV world today. Our friend Kristin Dos Santos at E! reports that Pushing Daisies (at left), Dirty Sexy Money and, my favorite, Eli Stone are dead. Check out Kristin's report here and tell us in the comments below what you think. Which, if any, will you miss? Should ABC have killed something else instead?
(photo by Adam Taylor/ABC)
