Below are flicks from Whitney Houston's listening party that went down yesterday in New York. Whitney's new album is called "I Look to You" and is supposed to drop in September. Whitney is looking good!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
WHITNEY HOUSTON ALBUM RELEASE PARTY
ABC PARTNER'S UP WITH SHAQ...AGAIN
ABC is getting back into business with Shaquille O'Neal, picking up the new reality competish "Shaq Vs."
The show launches Aug. 18 at 9 p.m., and follows O'Neal as he competes against star athletes such as Olympic champ Michael Phelps in swimming and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football.
Alphabet has picked up five episodes of the hourlong show, with the possibility of a sixth. O'Neal is currently talking to Lance Armstrong about participating in an extra episode.
"Shaq Vs." is being turned around quickly: The show will start production this Wednesday.
ABC previously partnered with O'Neal on the 2007 summer reality series "Shaq's Big Challenge," in which the basketball star coached overweight kids on how to develop a healthier lifestyle. That show didn't make much noise, however, and didn't return for another cycle.
This time around, "Shaq Vs." will follow O'Neal and his weekly competitor as they go through the training process -- and even hold a press conference before the big day. O'Neal will train for a week leading up to each challenge; to keep the playing field level, he'll also negotiate a handicap with each opponent.
Other athletes facing off with O'Neal include tennis champ Serena Williams; boxer Oscar de la Hoya; baseball star Albert Pujols; and Olympic volleyball gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.
O'Neal will exec produce, along with Scott Messick, Perry Rogers and Dick Clark Prods.' Orly Adelson, Will Staeger and Barry Adelman.
The show launches Aug. 18 at 9 p.m., and follows O'Neal as he competes against star athletes such as Olympic champ Michael Phelps in swimming and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football.
Alphabet has picked up five episodes of the hourlong show, with the possibility of a sixth. O'Neal is currently talking to Lance Armstrong about participating in an extra episode.
"Shaq Vs." is being turned around quickly: The show will start production this Wednesday.
ABC previously partnered with O'Neal on the 2007 summer reality series "Shaq's Big Challenge," in which the basketball star coached overweight kids on how to develop a healthier lifestyle. That show didn't make much noise, however, and didn't return for another cycle.
This time around, "Shaq Vs." will follow O'Neal and his weekly competitor as they go through the training process -- and even hold a press conference before the big day. O'Neal will train for a week leading up to each challenge; to keep the playing field level, he'll also negotiate a handicap with each opponent.
Other athletes facing off with O'Neal include tennis champ Serena Williams; boxer Oscar de la Hoya; baseball star Albert Pujols; and Olympic volleyball gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.
O'Neal will exec produce, along with Scott Messick, Perry Rogers and Dick Clark Prods.' Orly Adelson, Will Staeger and Barry Adelman.
Sounds like a fun show.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
VIOLA DAVIS IN TALKS TO STAR IN "EAT, PRAY, LOVE"
Oscar nominee Viola Davis is negotiating to take a role in Columbia's "Eat, Pray, Love" opposite Julia Roberts and Richard Jenkins. Her scheduling is being worked out.
Ryan Murphy has written the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir and will direct the film about a woman (Roberts) who sets out on an international journey of self-discovery after enduring a terrible divorce. Plan B and Red Om Films are producing.
Davis, who was nominated this year for best supporting actress for her role in "Doubt," would play the woman's best friend, Delia.
Davis will next appear on the big screen in the Overture/Film Department thriller "Law Abiding Citizen," which hits theaters in March.
Ryan Murphy has written the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir and will direct the film about a woman (Roberts) who sets out on an international journey of self-discovery after enduring a terrible divorce. Plan B and Red Om Films are producing.
Davis, who was nominated this year for best supporting actress for her role in "Doubt," would play the woman's best friend, Delia.
Davis will next appear on the big screen in the Overture/Film Department thriller "Law Abiding Citizen," which hits theaters in March.
SIGH...still waiting on the day when actresses like Davis get to be the star of the movie and not just the 'best friend'...
Monday, July 20, 2009
HARVARD PROFESSOR GATES ARRESTED
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.
Police arrived at Gates’ Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had locked himself out of his house and was trying to get inside.
Police arrived at Gates’ Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had locked himself out of his house and was trying to get inside.
He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to the Cambridge police log.
Friends of Gates said he was already in his home when police arrived. He showed his driver’s license and Harvard identification card, but was handcuffed and taken into police custody for several hours last Thursday, they said.
The arrest of such a prominent scholar under what some described as dubious circumstances shook some members of the black Harvard community.
“He and I both raised the question of if he had been a white professor, whether this kind of thing would have happened to him, that they arrested him without any corroborating evidence,” said S. Allen Counter, a Harvard Medical School professor who spoke with Gates about the incident Friday. “I am deeply concerned about the way he was treated, and called him to express my deepest sadness and sympathy.”
Counter, who had called Gates from the Nobel Institute in Sweden, where Counter is on sabbatical, said that Gates was “shaken” and “horrified” by his arrest.
Counter has faced a similar situation himself. The well-known neuroscience professor, who is also black, was stopped by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect as he crossed Harvard Yard. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.
“This is very disturbing that this could happen to anyone, and not just to a person of such distinction,” Counter said. “He was just shocked that this had happened, at 12:44 in the afternoon, in broad daylight. It brings up the question of whether black males are being targeted by Cambridge police for harassment.”
Cambridge police would not comment on the arrest, citing an investigation into the incident by Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. A spokesman for Leone said Gates is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 26 and said the office could not provide details on the arrest until that time.
Friends said Gates is being represented by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has taken on previous cases with racial implications.
I gets the feeling there's gonna be hell to pay.
THIS WEEKEND AT THE BOX OFFICE...
Coming in first place, as expected this weekend was "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" which brought int a whopping $79.5 Million to bring it's total to $160 Million. 
In second place is "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" which brought in $17.7 Million dollars to bring it's total to $152 Million.
In third place is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" which brought in $13.8 Million to bring it's total to $364 Million.
Sliding in at fourth place is the spoof comedy "Bruno" which brought in $8.37 Million to bring it's total to $49.6 Million.
Rounding out the top five is the movie that won't quit, "The Hangover" which brought in $8.31 Million to bring it's grand total to $236 Million. Friday, July 17, 2009
JUDI ANN MASON DIES
TV and film writer and playwright Judi Ann Mason, who wrote for shows including "Generations" and co-wrote the film "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," died of a ruptured aorta July 8 in Los Angeles. She was 54.
Mason wrote for TV shows including "Good Times," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Sanford," "American Gothic," and "I'll Fly Away."
Writer Tina Andrews said Mason was inspirational to African-American and female writers, "So many of us are here as writers because she was there first willing to assist our journeys. I thank God I had her powerful shoulders to stand upon."
A Shreveport, Louisiana native and Grambling State U. alumna, Mason began in theater. She wrote more than 25 plays such as "Living Fat," for which she won the Kennedy Center's Norman Lear Award for comedy writing at age 19, and "A Star Ain't Nothin' but a Hole in Heaven," for which she won the first Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award in 1977.
She was barely 20 years old when she was hired as a writer on the CBS comedy "Good Times" by Norman Lear. "I never saw Judi Ann Mason without a smile. She brought it to her writing and her writing brought the rest of us to laughter. She was the ultimate upper," said Lear.
Mason also wrote extensively for daytime serials, serving as head writer for the writers' development program at "Guiding Light," writing for "A Different World" and becoming associate head writer on "Generations," the first daytime series to center around an African American family. Her telefilm credits include co-writing Lifetime's "Sophie & the Moonhanger."
Mason was a Writer's Guild member since 1975. She taught as a visiting professor at such institutions as the U. of Florida and the U. of Louisville.
Mason remained active in the theater world, serving as chair of the first Southern Black Theater Festival in Shreveport. Her latest play was "Storm Stories: True Dramas of Hurricane Katrina," which was produced in New York and elsewhere.
She is survived by a daughter, a son and three siblings.
A memorial service will be held Friday July 17 at 11:00 a.m. in the prayer chapel on the east campus of the Church on the Way, 14300 Sherman Way, Van Nuys.
2009 ESPY AWARDS
The 2009 ESPY's went on this week in LA at the Nokia Theater and lots of atheletes and celebs were in attendance. The show is supposed to air on Sunday July 19th. Check your local listings for times. Click below for more pics.
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