J-Lo Gets High Pay For American Idol Stint

Image by pamhule via Flickr

Jennifer Lopez gets a relatively hefty paycheck for signing up for the American Idol panel. Reports say she's getting some $12 million plus perks for filling in the seats left vacant by Paula Abdul and recently by Kara DioGuardi. With the earlier departure of Simon Cowell, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler took up the third spot on the judge's ring to complement the only remaining original Idol judge Randy Jackson.

In another story, singer George Michael suffered a double whammy over the weekend. He smashed his Range Rover into a photo shop in north London while driving under the influence of cannabis and was subsequently charged and sentenced for an eight week jail term.

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Oscars Nominees - The Top 10 for 2010

The yearly Academy Awards is moving the buzz circles once again as the 2010 Oscars shines its spotlights on a total of 10 films for the best picture category, the most nominations since 1944.

This year's nominations are a curious mix of the critically acclaimed and the popular blockbusters. James Cameron's science fiction hit "Avatar" and Kathryn Bigelow's war drama "The Hurt Locker" are pitted against each other with 9 nominations including best picture and best director.

The animation "Up" is nominated for both best animation and best picture categories. Other luminaries in contention are Sandra Bullock as best actress for "The Blind Side" going up against Oscar mainstays Meryl Streep for "Julie and Julia" and Dame Helen Mirren for "The Last Station". For best actor, Morgan Freeman gets the Academy's nod for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in "Invictus", as well as George Clooney for "Up In The Air" and Jeff Bridges, who earlier won the best actor award in the Golden Globes for his role in "Crazy Heart".

The nominees for best picture are:

• Avatar
• The Blind Side
• District 9
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up In The Air

The 82nd Academy Awards will air March 7th and will be hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

The Iron Man Cometh

"Damn! I thought this was
gonna be 'Phantom of the Opera'"
Acclaimed Oscar nominee Robert Downey, Jr. suits up as Marvel's invincible superhero "Iron Man". He plays the role of Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist by day and high-tech vigilante Iron Man as the need-to-take-out-the-bad-guys arises.

Downey is poised to again showcase his versatility as an actor in what is set to be another blockbuster movie franchise from Marvel and Paramount. Question is - can the 40-something performer and known recovering substance-abuser capture the cult following of the Iron Man aficionados and sci-fi curious moviegoers in what is expected to be a grueling summer for movies come 2008?

From Marvel's official website, President of Production at Marvel Studios Kevin Feige said of Robert Downey Jr. that he is "an ideal fit to play such a complex character as Iron Man. We could not think of another actor better suited to bring one of Marvel's crown jewels to the big screen and be the centerpiece of our first independently produced feature."

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Robert Downey, Jr. was nominated at the Academy Awards for his role in the 1992 film "Chaplin" where he acted out the life-story of the iconic silent-movies star. Controversy plagued the talented thespian during the late 90's as he was incarcerated several times for drug-related offenses. Notably, he came out in a guest role in the hit television series Ally McBeal where he was nominated for an Emmy and eventually winning an award in the 2000 Golden Globes.

"Will Downey finally conquer?"

Downey is also a recording artist having performed alongside Sting and Elton John. You can visit robertdowneyjrmusic.com for a sampling of his 2004 album "The Futurist".

Iron Man will be pitted against some very formidable opponents on screen as well as on ticket sales. The Summer 2008 line up will also feature "The Incredible Hulk", "Kung Fu Panda", the Will Smith starrer "Tonight He Comes", "The Dark Knight" with Heath Ledger playing the Joker, and last but certainly not the least, the return of the swashbuckling archeologist in "Indiana Jones - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

Iron Man opens May 2, 2008 in cinemas worldwide. See the official trailer at www.ironmanmovie.com.

Choose "Your Own Emmys!" Winners

Last month we ran a poll for the "Daily Dotventures" community's own Emmy picks. Its a couple (of hundreds) short of an impressive turnout but there were interesting choices there. See the official tally below.

Ahem, and the winners are...

For Best Comedy Series, its a tie between "The Office" and "Two and a Half Men" with 3 votes a piece. Last year's winner was "The Office". Will it pull a two-in-a row win or will 2-1/2 men manage an upset this year?

For Best Actor in a Comedy Series, its Steve Carell with 4 votes. Tony Shalhoub, last year's winner for "Monk", comes in second.

For Best Actress in a Comedy Series, its yet another tie for Tina Fey in "30 Rock" and Mary Louise Parker in "Weeds". Emmy winner for 2006 Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in "The New Adventures of Old Christine" didn't get a nod from our voters unfortunately.

For Best Drama Series, "The Sopranos" led the polls overwhelmingly. Recent news have hinted that they would most likely be taking home the Emmy prize this year. In 2006, it was "24" that received the Emmy for Best Drama Series.

For Best Actor in a Drama Series, enigmatic James Gandolfini seems to be a runaway favorite. Lets see what "24" lead actor Kiefer Sutherland, winner in last years Best Drama Actor category, will have to say about that.

For Best Actress in a Drama Series, its going to be a close race between last year's awardee Mariska Hargitay of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" and Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer".

Will the Choose "Your Own Emmys!" selections be the real winners on Sunday? Ryan Seacrest hosts the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards and its happening in just a few hours.

The Fourth Indiana Jones Movie Announced

Young Emmy award winning actor Shia LaBeouf, who will be playing Indiana Jones' son in the movie, announced at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards the official title for the fourth sequel of the swashbuckling film franchise.

The eagerly anticipated installment to the blockbuster series will be called "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

With Executive Producer George Lucas (alongside Kathleen Kennedy) and Steven Spielberg directing, the two famous filmmakers collaborate once more to tell the adventurous tale of one of Holywood's iconic characters. Harrison Ford, now in his senior years at 65, returns to don that old fedora hat for the role that probably made archeology a sexy career option when the first "Indy" film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" came out in 1981.

In 1984, the prequel "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was released which featured Kate Capshaw (now Mrs. Steven Spielberg) opposite Harrison Ford.

The third Indy movie, released in 1989 as "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", was probably the most memorable of the first three films as Sir Sean Connery played Henry Jones Sr., father to Indy Junior.

Eighteen years after father and son Joneses rode off into the sunset with friends, we find Indiana Jones in yet another action-packed escapade, this time as the father to his son which will be played by Shia LaBeouf (that's Sha-ya Luh-Buff).

Flop or fly, I will not miss this movie event for anything. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" opens May 22nd in 2008.

Visit www.indianajones.com for more of IJ-4.