Entertainment News from Eye On Weho

Eye on Entertainment
Nathaniel Grey
Entertainment Editor
July 1, 2011

Kelsey Grammer Goes Into Politics

Best known for his comedic performances, Kelsey Grammer joins the STARZ network for the new Fall series Boss. Gus Van Sant makes his TV directorial debut on the pilot which focuses on Grammer as the mayor of Chicago. Troy Garity, Jane Fonda's son, has joined the cast. Some may remember the Showtime movie A Soldier's Girl in which Lee Pace played transgender Calpernia Addams while Troy was her soldier boyfriend. *** The Gay network HERE TV, brings new chapters of Dante's Cove: The Book of Tresum in late fall. This time, protectors of the book seek to unify the houses of the sun and moon. Remember, when letting the sun see YOUR moon, always use a good SPF. Debuting around that time is She's Living for This, featuring Drag superstar Sherry Vine in a salute to 70s variety shows complete with music, skits and short films. Wonder what she'll tug on when saying goodnight. Another new show is Go Go Boys in which 4 sexy club dancers show viewers the wild side of the NYC underground nightclub scene. Underground? Doesn't that make them gophers in jockstraps? In September, this GLBT focused network will premiere Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS: A Look Inside. This one hour special gives the audience a rare backstage look at some of best talent on the Great White Way. It will feature conversations and day-in-the-life perspectives of those involved with this wonderful and hopefully one day, no longer needed fundraiser.

Producer/director Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow) is one of the busiest guys in Hollywood. Among his to-do list is the long awaited film version of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy as well as two sequels to Independence Day. There is also The Zone which details an alien invasion, nothing new for Emmerich but what will be unique in it's relatively low budget of only $5 million. Which is Lindsay Lohan's monthly budget for jewelry that she doesn't really pay for. His most immediate project, scheduled for an Oct. 28th release, veers away from his traditional Sci Fi themes. Titled Anonymous, it's described as a period piece thriller about who was the true author of Shakespeare's work. The cast consists of out actor Derek Jacobi (The Borgias,) David Thewlis (Total Eclipse,) Jamie Campbell Bower (Camelot,) Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck,) her mum Vanessa Redgrave and Xavier Samuel (Newcastle.) Having mentioned Jamie Campbell Bower, AMC has chosen not to re-new his series Camelot for a second season. Though ratings weren't bad, just average, there seems to have been a schedule problem with some of the principal cast members so combing that with average ratings seemed like it wasn't worth the gamble of a second season. AMC brass felt that the audience for this show had already moved on to A Game of Thrones. ***

Proof that Hollywood is running out of original ideas, Columbia has hired writer John Hlavin to do the script for a film based on the board game Risk.Why not? They already made a TV version of Operation. I think it's called Grey's Anatomy. Hlavin is best known for his past work on The Shield. Other seemingly futile project include the Fox remake of Daredevil using Fringe writer-producer Brad Caleb Kane for a script with David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse) as director. Then there is the amazing news that Dwayne The Rock Johnson is joining Channing Tatum for another G.I. Joe movie with French actress Elodie Yung playing Jinx, a new member of the squad. Really? *** Believe it or not but producer Galen Walker has purchased the TV rights to The Cabbage Patch Kids with plans to stage an animation reboot of the franchise. Sure they were popular in the 70s but today? The last time I saw a Cabbage Patch doll was on an episode of Hoarders. ***

Dane DeHaan, who plays Jesse, the out Gay teen on HBO's In Treatment has the film Jack and Diane coming to theatres next year. The story offers two girls, of the film's title, who meet in New York and rapidly fall into an intense relationship destined to fail as one is leaving the country in 7 days. The titled roles are played by Juno Temple (Atonement) as Diane and Riley Keogh (The Runaways) as Jack. Riley is the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and granddaughter to Elvis. She also joins another celebrity offspring in the form of Jane Fonda's son Troy Garity (Soldier's Girl,) for the movie The Good Doctor. Orlando Bloom plays the alleged good physician who finds a new purpose in life after treating a girl for kidney disease. With a nod toward Munchhausen's syndrome, the doctor fears loosing the patient who boosted his self esteem so he makes sure she has enough illness to keep her in the hospital and near to him. Wow, Orlando playing a bad guy? What did he do over the summer, join the Tea Party movement

While so many have been criticizing LOGO's The A-List for displaying a poor example of the Gay community, others having been praising the point that it shows how the Gay community can be just as dysfunctional as any other reality show, especially when compared to Real Housewives of... (insert city name here) programs. But I have a different beef with LOGO. I want to know why The Click List gives so much air time to the annoying and obviously self-indulgent music videos of Khalid Rivera. Seriously, is the guy the lover of a LOGO executive or has a sugar daddy who pays the network to play his embarrassing performances.

Tom Hardy, who played the gay character of Handsome Bob in RocknRolla has been cast as Bane in director Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Also confirmed are Christian Bale in the title role with costars Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. Filming began in April for a planned July 2012 release. Hardy is also taking over from Mel Gibson in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road. Also in the cast are Zoe Kravitz (X-Men: First Class), Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man) and Charlize Theron. This project doesn't begin filming until January and they expect an end of that year release. Crossing fingers. ***

Andrew Levitas has come a long way from roles in Hellbent and Pyscho Beach Party. His latest role is that of Executive Producer of the film Homework starring Emma Roberts (Valentine's Day,) Michael Angarano (The Forbidden Kingdom) and Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) But with there being NINE Executive Producers on the project I'm not so sure that's a title he should be adding to a business card. But that might depend on what the buy-in percentage was to get an Exec Producer title. It also brings to mind the too many cooks analogy which may explain why the picture has yet to get a distributor or release date. *** Richard Chamberlain has been cast in the independent comedy A Perfect Family, written by Paula Goldberg (Out at the Wedding.) The story focuses on a devote Catholic wife and mother trying to win an award from the church designating hers as the perfect family despite all the red flags that hers couldn't be more opposite. Also featured are Emily Deschanel (Bones,) Kathleen Turner and Jason Ritter (The Event.) Wait a minute, Kathleen Turner? Doesn't this sound all too similar to John Waters' Serial Mom? *** Adam Sandler finds success in show business a drag. Which could be the reason he's wearing a dress in his next movie Jack and Jill. Under the eye of his I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry director Dennis Dugan, Adam plays brother and sister twins. Set for a November release, joining Adam are Katie Holmes and Al Pacino as himself and Dana Carvey with the eyebrow raised casting of Regis Philbin and Shaquille O'Neal. Maybe they're going for a Fellini feel?

Until next time, I'm Nathaniel Grey and I was born this way.

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