Cate Blanchett Rewrites the Book On Scandal by Brad Balfour In Notes on a Scandal, a high-school teacher Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) starts an affair with one of her students, Steven (Andrew Simpson), and is discovered and emotionally blackmailed by her colleague Barbara (Judi Dench, receiving a Best Actress Oscar nomination for this film). As adapted … Continue reading
Kathryn Hahn Pictures of Lily by Deborah Wagner Have you ever met someone and just instantly known that they were special and that you could become fast friends? Well, that sums up speaking to Kathryn Hahn. This talented actress, now in her sixth season playing Lily Lebowski on NBC’s popular Sunday night drama Crossing Jordan, is as … Continue reading
Paul Greengrass The Director Flies UNITED 93 by Brad Balfour If you have seen director Paul Greengrass’s earlier docu-fiction feature, Bloody Sunday – which captures that fateful day in Derry, Northern Ireland, when thirteen unarmed protestors were gunned down by British troops sparking “The Troubles” there – you would know that he can handle this assignment. So despite all the … Continue reading
Kathy Najimy – Mother, Activist, Actress… by Jay S. Jacobs You couldn’t have made up Kathy Najimy’s life story if you tried. She was not rich, nor did she have formal theatrical training. She was not a supermodel, nor did she have connections in show business. Yet, through a combination of smarts, talent, quirky humor and tenaciousness, … Continue reading
Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson and Chris Noonan Getting to Know Miss Potter by Brad Balfour Copyright ©2007 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 9, 2007. Though Miss Potter doesn’t seem to be a film that would be interesting to anyone but say, a Zellweger or McGregor completist, this biopic about the creator of the world’s most … Continue reading
Taylor Hicks Blue-Eyed Soul Man by Jay S. Jacobs There aren’t too many people in the world who were in any way helped by Hurricane Katrina. For Taylor Hicks, however, surviving the horrifying storm did play a strange role in catapulting him to fame. You see, Hicks was in New Orleans the night before Katrina hit the … Continue reading
John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky Kings of the Hill by Jay S. Jacobs Copyright ©2007 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 26, 2007. There’s a dirty little secret that Hollywood doesn’t tell all the people who move there in pursuit of wealth and power from working in television. Even if you get involved with a popular show … Continue reading
Helen Mirren Presents a Queenly Performance by Brad Balfour For Golden Globe-winning actress Helen Mirren, playing Her Majesty Elizabeth II in The Queen wasn’t such a stretch since she had already given a masterful rendition of another monarch with her uncanny portrayal of Elizabeth I in the 2005 British mini-series. The 61-year old Mirren’s experience in preparing … Continue reading
Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Anton Yelchin and Shawn Hatosy This Team of Actors is Down in the Dogs by Brad Balfour Talk about going against type. After Nick Cassavettes made the treacly The Notebook, few believed he could go on to direct the likes of Alpha Dog – a nasty, unrepentant documentary-like drama about some pretty … Continue reading
KEN WATANABE CINEMATIC SURVIVOR by Brad Balfour With Oscar-nominated Japanese actor Ken Watanabe playing General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima, director Clint Eastwood assured audiences that he employed a actor equal in stature to the commander who held the island of Iwo Jima for several weeks against overwhelming odds. The Battle of Iwo Jima … Continue reading
PopEntertainmentblog.com 