Jamie Foxx to play Frank Sinatra

What could be the biggest piece of colour-blind casting in Hollywood history, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx is supposedly tipped to play Frank Sinatra in the upcoming Martin Scorsese helmed biopic, just recently greenlit.

Other actors supposedly up for the highly saught after role include singer turned actor Harry Connick Jr and frequent Scorsese collaborator Leonardo Di Caprio. Foxx, 41, most famoulsy known for his Oscar winning role as music legend Ray Charles, is being called the perfect bit of casting.

Playing Ray Charles might not have been that much of a stretch, but Ol' Blue Eyes? Seriously! Let's get real for a second and acknowledge the elephant in the room. He's black. Sinatra was white. Wow! I'm just dropping truth bombs everywhere, aren't i?!? Perhaps the Robert Downey Jr role in Tropic Thunder had some serious effects on those Hollywood power meetings.

I can only guess who'll be cast as the members of the Rat Pack, and other members of the famous Sinatra clan. I predict here and now that Halle Berry will play Nancy Sinatra, Eminem will play Sammy Davis Jr and Beyonce will play Mia Farrow. With the Foxx casting, it almost credible, if not consistent.

Articles have been surfacing all over the internet within the last couple of days, prompting a gossip-rumour frenzy. "Are we being punk'd?" one site ponders. Is this just another prank? Or is it seemingly legit, just like our friend Joaquin's hip hop career? We'll soon find out.

Britney's Va jay jay Malfunction

Oops, she did it again!

In a world full of frequent wardrobe malfunctions, troubled pop diva Britney Spears was recently heard uttering the words "My pussy is hanging out" at a concert, which thanks to the wonderfully advanced technologically charged aged world that we live in, was captured on video camera footage.

This brings a timely reminder to the wonderful world of wardrobe malfunctions. Let us remember two important wardrobe malfunction-ees of the last few years:

Axel Whitehead
Former Australian Idol runner up, and current Cleo Bachelor of the Year and Home and Away star, exposed himself at the 2006 ARIA awards, thus prompting his firing from music show Video Hits.

Janet Jackson
One of the famous Jacksons caused what is now referred to as "Nipplegate" at the 2004 Superbowl in the US, which thus prompted FFC regulations to bring in a 7 second delay which would deprive us of more similar moments. Jackson claimed to be unaware of what was going on, but later admitted to be responsible for the slippage of boobage.



And now for the clip of the moment: (The gold moment occurs around the 33 second mark.)

Scarlet Johansson Dumped

Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut has been axed from the upcoming feature film New York, I Love You, a follow up to the 2006 collection of short films Paris je't aime (Paris, I Love You.) A variety of directors and actors had made little short segments for the upcoming film (including Zack Braft, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner and Shekhar Kapur.) The segment, starring Kevin Bacon, was apparently not fitting for the rest of the film, and will now only be included as a DVD extra.

Now this is not the first career failure Scarlett has endured. Let us not forget her 2008 debut album of Tom Waits covers Anywhere I Lay My Head. If you haven't seen it, or need reminding, check out this clip. I'll let the music (or for lack of a better word) speak for itself.

Julia Roberts and her F*&? filled Tom Hanks speech

This just in!

Julia Roberts gives an expletive filled speech at a tribute to Tom Hanks in New York on Monday night (New York time, obviously).

It pretty much speaks for itself. It's a bit of a roast and less a toast (i.e. raise your glasses for the bride and the groom), which is always refreshing when you're dealing with someone with the star level magnitude of Tom Hanks. So sit back and enjoy this foul mouthed tirade! And a suggestion for Roberts. I think she needs to give another heartfelt impassioned speech to someone else on a similar A list high power level. And that person might be Oprah.

Lightning Strikes Martha Stewart

Not only is she a self proclaimed domestic goddess, but now she's a triple time lightning strike survivor. She really can do it all!

Martha Stewart, 67, claims to have been electrocuted three times recently, during electrical storms, while being inside and completing (of course) some domestic chores. It's like reading that Martha Stewart was killed when 10 carpet rolls fell on her while she was undertaking a summer project in the Hamptons. If she's going to be killed, it will be while being Martha Stewart to the nth degree.

Now Martha claims that she was doing the dishes and got struck in the stomach. And then was struck two more times while being on the phone and holding a metal rod. Now, I've heard of lightning striking twice, but three times?!?!

If you've seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, then you may recall the man who was struck by lightning seven times. Perhaps Martha is on this path. But for now, here's some videos of lightning, striking!

*Okay, so this is not exactly new news. And there has already been an article written on this at the vine (click here to read it). However, I felt I needed to write about it with a bigger Lynchian emphasis.

If you're a David Lynch fan, then you will understand how fitting it is that he has directed the new Moby music video "A Shot in the Back of the Head". From reading the title of the song, it is clear that a magical collaborative dream team effort has occurred. There's Lynch, with his fascination with the head and it being smashed, kicked, shot, cutting its ears off, etc. and then there's Moby, specifically with this disjointed, dark tune. And put together in this clip, is just a visual feast for the (dark) eyes and a treat for all of the Lynch fans out there.

Even if you're not a fan of David Lynch's movies (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and TV show Twin Peaks) you will be able to realise that watching this clip is a similar experience to watching Lynch's work. His dream like images are felt on a different level here. In "Shot in the Back of the Head" it feels like you are watching a labyrinthine disjointed tale of love, loss and murder, all through the shots of a dark, messed up set of animated shots and distorted images.

I could go on for hours about everything Lynch, but for now, here is the Moby clip again for your enjoyment!

Barrymore shines in Grey Gardens

Movie adaptations are always tricky. Whether you're adapting from a book, poem, song, short story, or remaking a classic film, there lies certain problems within the undertaking that can cause irreparable damage within the final product. Over six months ago, when I heard about the HBO remake/adaptation film of one of my favourite films of all time, I got skittish. But now after a sneak peak, I can rest assured that this could be one of the TV events of the year.

In 1975, the Maysles Brothers (Albert and David, of previous Rolling Stones-fan dying at concert documentary-Gimme Shelter fame) released a groundbreaking, fly on the wall style documentary (also known as Cinéma vérité for all you cinephiles and cinephile wannabes out there!)

The doco was about the pairing of an eccentric mother and daughter, living in an old, dilapidated mansion called Grey Gardens. But the pull was that this mother and daughter pairing were the great Aunt and cousin of former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (or the original Jackie O!) These former women of high class New York society had been living in squalor. And when press caught wind of it, a flurrying sensation was caused and Jackie herself came to help clean up the mess. A few years later, the Maysles came to film them, still living in their festering squalor with roughly 20 feral random cats wondering the premises, just "doing what they do". And henceforth the film Grey Gardens was born.

These two ladies were the original crazy old cat ladies you always heard about. And just to add to Little Edie's (the daughter) eccentricities, she donned a head scarf at all times to hide her hair that had previously fallen out, thus creating the unforgettable image of Little Edie (seen to the left) and the one of the woman that lies behind Grey Gardens.

But enough about the old, and in with the new. Some time ago, I heard that a film version was being made of Grey Gardens. Already a successful Tony award winning musical had been made. However this film is not an adaptation of the musical, it's a movie of the whole story of the Beales, spanning 40 years.

The first thing that I noticed was the casting choices. The brilliant Jessica Lange was to play Big Edie, which seemed like a very apt choice, as Lange is simple put, amazing. But then I read that Drew Barrymore had been cast as the one-of-a-kind Little Edie. This seemed like a risky choice for both the studio and Barrymore to make. Well, luckily, I have to say that my faith has been restored. If you check out the following clips you will see Barrymore as you've never seen her before. Over a years worth of vocal training, and much preparation has lead to what shall hopefully be a masterful performance. To judge for yourself, take a sneak peak at the trailer embedded below.

As a fan of the original cult doco, all I can say is that I'm relieved and beyond excited to see this hopefully magnificent adaptation of a truly unique and amazing story.

Originally slated for a theatrical release, HBO will be premiering Grey Gardens this Sunday night in the US. Who knows when we'll get it. I pray as soon as humanly possible, but with the past track records of getting anything decent on our screens, this could prove a more difficult task.