Hollywood Highlights

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Fourth grader’s dating book gets a movie deal

Alec Greven is only 9-years-old, but he knows a thing or two about sweet talking girls. The Colorado fourth grader wrote a self-help pamphlet for his fellow students at the age of eight. “How to Talk to Girls,” was a big hit at a school book fair. Publisher Harper Collins snatched up the dating book and released it last month.     […]
Sunday, December 7, 2008

Reese & Vince still hot at the Box Office

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaugh are on a roll. Their romantic comedy movie, “Four Christmases,” is  number one at the Box Office for the second straight weekend. Moviegoers apparently are looking for laughs and romance wrapped up in the spirit of the holidays. “Four Christmases” earned an estimated $18 million this weekend, which brings the film’s domestic total to around […]
Thursday, December 4, 2008

Suspect denied bail in the Jennifer Hudson family murder case

The estranged brother-in-law of singer/actress Jennifer Hudson is being held without bail today after a hearing in Chicago where prosecutors laid out some of the evidence in the case. 27-year-old William Balfour, an ex-con and husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, is facing three counts of first degree murder. Prosecutor LuAnn Snow says Balfour shot to death Hudson’s mother, 57-year-old Darnell […]
Thursday, December 4, 2008

2008 Grammy nominations: new artists and old favorites

British singer/Grammy nominee Leona Lewis   Something new for the Grammy nominations. Last night, the Recording Academy had the 51th Annual Grammy nominations announced during a televised live concert aired on CBS. The star-studded affair took place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Most of the media attention went to hip hop artist/rapper Lil Wayne who got eight nominations, Coldplay received seven, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Ne-Yo […]
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Director Roman Polanski wants sex charge dropped

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski’s attorneys copped a plea in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday. The lawyers reportedly filed a 239 page motion to have a 30-year-old sex with a minor case dismissed. On what grounds? Well, Polanski’s legal team claims a recent documentary,”Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” shows there was misconduct by the prosecutor and judge in the case. Los Angeles District Attorney’s spokesperson […]
Monday, December 1, 2008

An arrest in the murder case of Jennifer Hudson’s three relatives

Chicago police this afternoon announced the arrest of a suspect in the brutal homicides of actress’ Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and young nephew. William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister, was handed over to detectives by prison officials today. The bodies of Hudson’s mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson and brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered in their South Side Chicago home about a month ago, on […]
Sunday, November 30, 2008

“Four Christmases” wins the race at the holiday box office

Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon has quite a bit to smile about this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Witherspoon stars with Vince Vaughn in the new romantic comedy, “Four Christmases” and it’s the number one movie in the country. Witherspoon won the best actress Oscar in 2006 for playing June Carter in “Walk the Line.” Nevertheless, the actress knows her way around a […]
Friday, November 28, 2008

Writers dispute settled at Tyler Perry Studios

Terence Long/WGA –  Writers picket Tyler Perry Studios, October 4, 2008   Super-successful independent producer and now studio owner, Tyler Perry, has reached an agreement with the Writers Guild of America-West to allow his writers to work under a WGA contract. The settlement was reached with the aid of the NAACP-Hollywood Bureau and was announced on the WGA-West website Wednesday, November 26. It […]
Saturday, November 22, 2008

Negotiations break down between SAG and the Producers

            Even with the help of a mediator, negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the producers imploded early this morning. SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been haggling over a contract for months. The meeting with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez was seen as a last ditch effort to avoid a strike by the union’s […]