HOLLYWOOD—With less than 40 days of summer left, your multiplex is the cinematic equivalent of a day at the boardwalk. On August 13, “Eat, Pray, Love” stars Julia Roberts in the Oprah-endorsed best-seller about finding peace—and Javier Bardem—after divorce. The same day also brings us “The Expendables.” It’s the dirtiest dozen ever, as Sylvester Stallone and a crew of mostly ’80s stars take on a tin-pot dictator. The other choice would be “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” where Michael Cera fights for true love, literally, in this comical, book adaptation about one man versus all his girl’s exes.
With the recession still in shambles, a movie that will perhaps bring hope and dreams to fruition is “The Lottery Ticket” on August 20. Bow Wow’s won a mega-jackpot of $350 million. Now all he needs to do is keep his friends from stealing him blind. We also have on the same day “Nanny McPhee Returns,” starring Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Just what we needed: another in-vitro story with “The Switch,” starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, premiering on August 20.
Talk about “Going the Distance.” It stars Drew Barrymore as a journalist in a bi-coastal romance with real-life on-again/off again beau Justin Long. The movie should be interesting and is being released on August 27. The same day brings us, the title says it all, “Piranha 3-D.” The catch of the day guest stars Elisabeth Shue and Ving Rhames. Last but not least is “Priest.” It’s buff and tough looking-for-vampires, and stars Stephen Moyer. It seems that Screen Gems moved the release date up from October 1, to August 27. The slot apparently opened up because the studio pushed back “Resident Evil: Afterlife” to January 14, 2011.
Speaking of January, the talk around the water cooler is all about “American Idol,” which returns with Season 10 in January. What is going on with Idol? Ellen DeGeneres gracefully exited “Idol.” She had the good sense to realize that she never fit in as a judge, since her experience in the music business was limited. Ellen appeared to suffer emotional distress when criticizing the contestants. She was too nice, and just couldn’t express herself constructively. She seemed extremely nervous when it was her time to critique, and it became quite evident that she wasn’t going to be the new “Idol” star and enable the show to survive the departure of Simon Cowell. Honestly, I don’t think the show will survive without Simon. Simon’s gone, Paula’s been gone, Ellen’s gone, rumors are circulating about Kara. Oh, if I were Kara, I would be exploring other options and quickly.
Rumors are circulating that possible replacements are Jennifer Lopez, Elton John and Justin Timberlake. Granted, the show has been the biggest draw on TV, attracting 18 million viewers in an average week. However, after nine seasons, the show has started to taper off and is beginning to seem quite predictable. The show without Simon most likely will crash and burn. There is only one Simon Cowell.
Rose’s Scoop: It is hard to believe that no one seems to know anything about the New York Post celebrity gossip queen Cindy Adams. It has been months since the paper has been printing, “Cindy Adams is unwell. She will return soon.”
