“Semi-Pro” first look
Angi Bruss and I give you a sneak peek at the new Will Ferrell sports comedy “Semi-Pro” in this video. I’ll have more on “Semi-Pro” Friday in the Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman and here on BAM’s Blog.
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Tim and Kanye tickets
Tickets for upcoming concerts featuring hip-hop powerhouse Kanye West and country music star Tim McGraw are going on sale Saturday, creating the potential for the weirdest confluence of fans ever to hit the Ford Center.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, tickets go on sale for the Oklahoma City stop of the “Tim McGraw ‘08 Live Your Voice Tour.” McGraw, along with special guests Jason Aldean and Halfway to Hazard, will play the Ford Center at 8 p.m. May 30.
Tickets will go on sale at noon Saturday for the OKC date of West’s “Glow in the Dark Tour.” West and special guests Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco will perform at 7 p.m. April 29 at the Ford Center.
You can buy the tickets at the U.S. Army Box Office at Ford Center, by phone at 235-8288 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
For more information, go online to www.okfordcenter.com.
-BAM
After “Blood,” Dano gets romantic
After having his creeps-inducing turn in “There Will Be Blood” overshadowed by Daniel Day-Lewis’ fierce, milkshake-slurping performance, Paul Dano has signed on to executive produce and star in a quirky romantic comedy called ”Gigantic.”
The indie also will star Zooey Deschanel (”The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Dano will play a mattress salesman who falls for a woman he meets at his store.
“Gigantic” will be the feature debut for director Matt Aselton, who wrote the script along with first-time screenwriter Adam Nagata. Production is tentatively scheduled to start next month in New York.
After “Gigantic,” Dano will star in the indie “The Good Heart,” reuniting with Brian Cox, with whom he co-starred in 2001’s “L.I.E.” In “The Good Heart,” Cox (”The Bourne Supremacy”) will play a crusty barman who makes a homeless man (Dano) his protege.
Dano, who played the freaky preacher Eli Sunday and his twin brother Paul in “There Will Be Blood,” will next be seen in Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” The movie, which is in post-production, was originally slated for a 2008 release, but word on the Web is that it has been moved back to fall 2009.
-BAM
Garfield goes missing
My friend and colleague George Lang tipped me off about this hilarious deconstructionist blog “Garfield Minus Garfield” in which some brilliantly sick (or sickly brilliant) mind has gone to the trouble to painstakingly remove Garfield from many “Garfield” comic strips.
The result is the bizarrely surreal, and surprisingly sad, illustrated tale of Jon Arbuckle, a man who clearly teeters on a thin edge between sanity and insanity — and often tumbles head first into the pits of bonkerdom.
Better visit the blog with all speed, as flights of lawyers are surely readying to take wing and obliterate this otherworldly Web creation.
-BAM
10 times the Reba
Apparently, the Academy of Country Music can’t get enough of Oklahoma’s favorite redhead.
Oklahoma native and country music superstar Reba McEntire will host the Academy of Country Music Awards for an unprecedented 10th time this spring.
The 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 18 on CBS.
“I am celebrating my 10th anniversary of hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards,” McEntire said in a news release. “I’m excited to honor country music’s greatest talent at this spectacular awards show.”
McEntire is a country music icon who has notched hits songs for more than 20 years and sold more than 50 million records in her multifaceted career, which has included 33 No. 1 songs, 29 albums, many awards and countless performances. She also starred on Broadway in the revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” and was nominated for a 2004 Golden Globe for her starring role in the TV sitcom “Reba.”
Her current album, “Reba Duets,” debuted at the top of the pop and country charts last fall and has already notched a top two single and platinum-level sales.
She has won 11 Academy of Country Music Awards and has received 41 nominations. In 2001, she was given the first Academy of Country Music/Home Depot Humanitarian Award for her philanthropic work. In 2003, the academy awarded her the title of “Leading Lady”to recognize her as the all-time leading winner in the top female vocalist category, which she has won seven times.
McEntire was born in McAlester, raised on a working cattle ranch in Chockie and attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University. She lived in the Sooner State until 1987, when she moved to Nashville a decade into her music career.
-BAM
Miley and Billy Ray to host CMT Awards
There’s good news today for tween girls and those with an “Achy, Breaky Heart.”
“Hannah Montana” star and teen singing sensation Miley Cyrus and her dad, actor/country recording artist Billy Ray Cyrus, will be the hosts for the 2008 CMT Music Awards, the show’s organizers announced today.
The father-daughter duo also will perform during the awards show, which CMT will air live April 14 from The Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville.
“Miley and I are so excited to be hosting the CMT Music Awards,” Billy Ray Cyrus said in a news release. “We know it will be a fun-filled night with a lot of great music performances.”
The CMT Awards are fan-voted, and voting continues on CMT.com.
The network announced (and BAM’s Blog reported) last week that Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith also will perform at the show. Other performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The news release noted that Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus are set to start production this spring in Nashville on “The Hannah Montana Movie.” Then, they will begin taping the third season of the wildly popular Disney TV series.
-BAM
Monday Catchy Quote
A catchy quote from a movie, television show or other source to brighten the beginning of your week:
Billy: No matter what I say, it draws controversy. It’s sort of like the abortion issue.
- Click here to learn the source.
-BAM
Belated Oscar praise
I didn’t catch the name last night, but I wanted to call attention to a great performance at last night’s Oscars.
Jamia Simone Nash, 11, (pictured at right) sang “Raise It Up” from the movie “August Rush” with the Impact Repertory Theatre of Harlem at the ceremony. The song was one of the best original song nominees.
My favorite of the five original song stagings was the elegant simplicity of Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard’s performance of “Falling Slowly” from their movie “Once,” which won the Oscar.
But I thought Nash showed incredible promise and great poise under the pressure. Hopefully, we’ll see more of her in the future.
-BAM
My Oscars scorecard
My Oscar predictions were published in The Oklahoman and NewsOK. Here’s how they compared with what actually happened tonight:
Best picture
BAM’s Should win: “Atonement.”
BAM’s Will win: “No Country for Old Men.”
Actual winner: “No Country.”
Best director
BAM’s Should win: Jason Reitman.
BAM’s Will win: Joel and Ethan Coen.
Actual winner: Coen brothers.
Best actor
BAM’s Should win: George Clooney.
BAM’s Will win: Daniel Day-Lewis.
Actual winner: Daniel Day-Lewis.
Best actress
BAM’s Should and will win: Julie Christie.
Actual winner: Marion Cotillard.
Best supporting actor
BAM’s Should and will win: Javier Bardem.
Actual winner: Javier Bardem.
Best supporting actress
BAM’s Should and will win: Amy Ryan.
Actual winner: Tilda Swinton.
Best documentary feature
BAM’s Should win: “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” which is impossible because, inexplicably, it did not get a nomination.
BAM’s Will win: “No End in Sight.”
Actual winner: “Taxi to the Dark Side.”
Best animated film
BAM’s pick: “Surf’s Up.”
Actual winner: “Ratatouille.”
Best adapted screenplay
BAM’s pick: Sarah Polley, “Away from Her.”
Actual winner: Coen brothers, “No Country.”
Best original screenplay
BAM’s pick: “Juno,” Diablo Cody.
Actual winner: “Juno,” Diablo Cody.
-BAM
Oscars roundup
Here’s how the 80th annual Academy Awards shook out:
The big winner, not surprisingly, was “No Country for Old Men,” getting the prizes for best supporting actor (Javier Bardem), director and adapted screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen) and best picture (the Coen brothers and fellow producer Scott Rudin).
“The Bourne Ultimatum” also got three awards in the technical categories of sound editing, sound mixing and film editing.
“There Will Be Blood” won two Oscars: best cinematography and best actor (Daniel Day-Lewis). The French biopic “La Vie en Rose” got two: best actress (Marion Cotillard) and best makeup.
Multiple nominees “Atonement,” “Juno” and “Michael Clayton” each netted a single Oscar. Dario Marianelli won best score for “Atonement,” Tilda Swinton was named best supporting actress for “Michael Clayton,” and Diablo Cody got best original screenplay for “Juno.”
After that, the winners are pretty spread out:
- “Ratatouille” – best animated feature.
- “Sweeney Todd” – best art direction.
- “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” – best costume design.
- “Taxi to the Dark Side” – best documentary feature.
- “Freeheld” – best documentary short.
- “The Counterfeiters” (Austria) – best foreign language film.
- “Once” – best original song.
- “Peter & the Wolf” – best animated short.
- “Le Mozart des Pickpockets” - best live-action short.
- “The Golden Compass” – best visual effects.
-BAM
