'Idol' hopefuls at New Jersey tryouts are split on who should sit at the judges' table.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by MTV News staff
Jennifer Lopez
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
It seems like every day brings some new bit of "American Idol" insider information or speculation. With the ratings juggernaut being down two judges — Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres — and the future uncertain for Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson, the rumor mill has been in overdrive.
The first round of rumored replacements — Elton John, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Simpson — have fallen through, and Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler's names have since dominated the conversation.
Following up on fans' reactions to DeGeneres' exit and Ryan Seacrest's recent comments that the judges might not be officially in place for weeks, MTV News hit up the "Idol" auditions in New Jersey on Tuesday (August 3) to see what the aspiring singers...
By Kara Warner, with reporting by MTV News staff
Jennifer Lopez
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
It seems like every day brings some new bit of "American Idol" insider information or speculation. With the ratings juggernaut being down two judges — Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres — and the future uncertain for Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson, the rumor mill has been in overdrive.
The first round of rumored replacements — Elton John, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Simpson — have fallen through, and Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler's names have since dominated the conversation.
Following up on fans' reactions to DeGeneres' exit and Ryan Seacrest's recent comments that the judges might not be officially in place for weeks, MTV News hit up the "Idol" auditions in New Jersey on Tuesday (August 3) to see what the aspiring singers...
- 8/3/2010
- MTV Music News
'Dead' men walking: Klein, Busey, Durst
NEW YORK -- Chris Klein, Jake Busey and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst are starring in Jason Wiles' dark comedy Play Dead.
Klein will play Ronnie Reno, a former TV action hero in dire need of a comeback. On his way back from a failed audition, he winds up snowbound in a remote Nevada town run by scary meth dealers, including Merle (Busey), and their henchman (Durst). When he finds the body of a dead FBI agent there, life imitates Reno's art as he is forced to reunite with his former co-stars, including Devon Michael Beach), to save himself and the terrorized townsfolk.
The feature is written by Wiles and Shem Bitterman, whose 10-year-old daughter Annabelle will play one of the endangered residents. Bitterman, Wiles, Kurt Tuffendsam, Mark Koetting, Michael O'Shea and Tom Rooker are producing the project with executive producer Brent Herrin.
Wiles is best known as Maurice Bosco Boscorelli on NBC's long-running series Third Watch. He recently directed the drama Lenexa, 1 Mile with co-writer/director Bitterman.
Klein will play Ronnie Reno, a former TV action hero in dire need of a comeback. On his way back from a failed audition, he winds up snowbound in a remote Nevada town run by scary meth dealers, including Merle (Busey), and their henchman (Durst). When he finds the body of a dead FBI agent there, life imitates Reno's art as he is forced to reunite with his former co-stars, including Devon Michael Beach), to save himself and the terrorized townsfolk.
The feature is written by Wiles and Shem Bitterman, whose 10-year-old daughter Annabelle will play one of the endangered residents. Bitterman, Wiles, Kurt Tuffendsam, Mark Koetting, Michael O'Shea and Tom Rooker are producing the project with executive producer Brent Herrin.
Wiles is best known as Maurice Bosco Boscorelli on NBC's long-running series Third Watch. He recently directed the drama Lenexa, 1 Mile with co-writer/director Bitterman.
- 12/21/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'Little Boy Blue'
With his torso buffed and tanned and his hair clipped and dyed Nazi blond, John Savage is a convincing icon of brutality in "Little Boy Blue", a garish and sordid melodrama of abuse, incest and revenge set in dusty rural Texas.
The Savage character, Ray West, doesn't just have a short fuse, he seems to have no fuse at all. The second anything ticks him off, Ray's fury accelerates from zero straight to 60. Ray's behavior is too blunt and predictable to be deeply scary.
A central miscalculation is the way the character of Ray's oldest son Jimmy Ryan Phillippe) has been conceived. There's nothing in his personality as we see it to indicate that he's a product of grotesque abuse. For a kid who's been forced to make love to the maddeningly passive woman he believes to be his mother (Nastassja Kinski, as sinuous as ever) while his dad watches and gratifies himself, he's a remarkably alert and sweet-souled lad; sad and angry, perhaps, but otherwise unscarred.
Phillippe's performance is impressive, but the portrayal doesn't make a lick of sense in the overall context of the movie. Jimmy's sensitivity and his stubborn sense of duty are really just givens in "Little Boy Blue". Without them, his heroic decision to turn down a sports scholarship to stick around and protect his younger brothers (Devon Michael and Adam Burke) would be all but inexplicable. Jimmy's been arbitrarily dropped into a hellish situation that in real life could never give rise to anyone remotely like him.
"Little Boy Blue" is supposed to be a thriller, a dirt-road noir; Jim Thompson with a snootful of crystal meth. But director Antonio Tibaldi isn't a clear or a crafty enough storyteller to pull it off. Some crucial nuggets of information are withheld strategically to set up the big surprises. (Ray's past does finally catch up with him, and then Shirley Knight wades in as a gunslinging matronly avenger.) When even basic facts are so confusingly presented that its hard to tell which obscurities are intended and which are inadvertent, we're too busy scratching our heads to register much suspense.
LITTLE BOY BLUE
Castle Hill
Director: Antonio Tibaldi
Producer: Amedeo Ursini
Screenplay: Michael Boston
Executive producer: Virginia Giritlian
Director of photography: Ron Hagen
Editors: Antonio Tibaldi, Tobin Taylor
Music: Stuart Copeland
Production designer: John Frick
Costume designer: April Ferry
Color
Cast:
Ray West: John Savage
Jimmy West: Ryan Phillippe
Kate West: Nastassja Kinski
Doris Knight: Shirley Knight
Nate Carr: Tyrin Turner
Traci Conner: Jenny Lewis
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The Savage character, Ray West, doesn't just have a short fuse, he seems to have no fuse at all. The second anything ticks him off, Ray's fury accelerates from zero straight to 60. Ray's behavior is too blunt and predictable to be deeply scary.
A central miscalculation is the way the character of Ray's oldest son Jimmy Ryan Phillippe) has been conceived. There's nothing in his personality as we see it to indicate that he's a product of grotesque abuse. For a kid who's been forced to make love to the maddeningly passive woman he believes to be his mother (Nastassja Kinski, as sinuous as ever) while his dad watches and gratifies himself, he's a remarkably alert and sweet-souled lad; sad and angry, perhaps, but otherwise unscarred.
Phillippe's performance is impressive, but the portrayal doesn't make a lick of sense in the overall context of the movie. Jimmy's sensitivity and his stubborn sense of duty are really just givens in "Little Boy Blue". Without them, his heroic decision to turn down a sports scholarship to stick around and protect his younger brothers (Devon Michael and Adam Burke) would be all but inexplicable. Jimmy's been arbitrarily dropped into a hellish situation that in real life could never give rise to anyone remotely like him.
"Little Boy Blue" is supposed to be a thriller, a dirt-road noir; Jim Thompson with a snootful of crystal meth. But director Antonio Tibaldi isn't a clear or a crafty enough storyteller to pull it off. Some crucial nuggets of information are withheld strategically to set up the big surprises. (Ray's past does finally catch up with him, and then Shirley Knight wades in as a gunslinging matronly avenger.) When even basic facts are so confusingly presented that its hard to tell which obscurities are intended and which are inadvertent, we're too busy scratching our heads to register much suspense.
LITTLE BOY BLUE
Castle Hill
Director: Antonio Tibaldi
Producer: Amedeo Ursini
Screenplay: Michael Boston
Executive producer: Virginia Giritlian
Director of photography: Ron Hagen
Editors: Antonio Tibaldi, Tobin Taylor
Music: Stuart Copeland
Production designer: John Frick
Costume designer: April Ferry
Color
Cast:
Ray West: John Savage
Jimmy West: Ryan Phillippe
Kate West: Nastassja Kinski
Doris Knight: Shirley Knight
Nate Carr: Tyrin Turner
Traci Conner: Jenny Lewis
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 5/28/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.