The Justin Files, 8/29 Weekly Wrap Up

Randy and Simon who?
Remember when we were wondering who this "Randy Jackson" and that "Simon Cowell" guys were, and now they're household names? Just keep that in mind when the new season of American Idol starts and Kara DioGuardi is introduced as the fourth judge. It'll now be two guys and two girls on the panel. For a little background, Kara DioGuardi is a grammy-nominated songwriter, she's written songs for Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Santana, Miley Cyrus, and many others.

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When Kid Rock speaks, people pay attention
Well, not normally, but the rocker actually had something pretty intelligent to say this week. When asked about his choice for president, he responded, "I truly believe people like myself. . .should keep their mouths shut on politics. . .at the end of the day let me tell you what I'm good at: I'm good at writing songs and singing - what I'm not educated in is the field of political science". John Voight, Jane Fonda, are you listening?

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Just kidding, guys!
Remember the other week when I told you about Tori Spelling dropping out of the new 90210 series because she found out that Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth would be making more than her? Apparently she's swallowed her pride and has quietly entered into talks with the producers on a new deal. I'm guessing reality set in when she got home and didn't find any voicemails offering great career opportunities.

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Quick Hits
* Mackenzie Phillips had a bad day at LAX this week. She was pulled aside after setting off a metal detector and apparently became uncooperative. It was at that point that baggies and balloons allegedly filled with heroin and cocaine fell out of her waistband. Officials also apparently found nearly three dozen syringes on her.

* I already reported the rumor that Johnny Depp could be playing The Riddler in the next Batman installment. This week another Batman casting rumor came out, and it's an interesting one. How would you feel about Cher as Catwoman?

* X-Files and Californication star David Duchovny has entered rehab. But it's not for drugs or alcohol, his reps confirm that he has entered treatment for sex addiction. The star released a statement asking for, "respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family".

The Justin Files, 8/22 Weekly Wrap Up

At least we don't have to suffer through corny nicknames anymore
Ever since Ben Afflek and Jennifer Lopez became a couple and were dubbed "Bennifer" oh those many years ago, we've had to deal with "Brangelina" and, most recently with John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston, "Janiston" (a bit of a stretch?). But no more, last week we had the rumors of their breakup, this week those rumors were confirmed. By who, you may ask. An anonymous "source", or worse, Perez Hilton? Surprisingly it was John himself who said, "I ended the relationship. . .because I don't want to waste somebody's time if something's not right" he went on to say that she is, "one of the most lovely people I've ever met".

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Hollywood people aren't all bad
Here's a touching story, you may recall that when Heath Ledger died he was in the middle of shooting a new movie. A trio of A-list stars stepped in to complete his role; Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell have all decided to donate their paychecks from the job to Heath's young daughter, Matilda. When the actor died he had apparently left behind an old will that did not include Matilda. The trio of actors felt that the money should rightfully go towards taking care of her. The director of the movie, Terry Gilliam, called the move, "extraordinary".

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Who's gonna be hoofing it next?
A source is claiming to have compiled a full list of the "stars" (and I use the term loosely with some of these people) who will be prancing on the next season of Dancing with the Stars. The list, allegedly, looks like this: Kim Kardashian, Lance Bass, Toni Braxton, Brooke Burke, Susan Lucci, Hannah Montana actor Cody Linley, actor Ted McGinley, Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath, 82 year old Cloris Leachman, Comedian Jeff Ross, of course you have to have a football player so they have apparently enlisted Warren Sapp, and they've gotten into the Olympic spirit with sprinter Maurice Green and newly minted gold medalist Misty May-Treanor.

Take the list with a grain of salt, but I'll be happy to say I told ya so if it's true when the actual contestants are announced on Monday.

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"Oh hey, about that movie..."
One of the bigger stories last week was the fact that Warner Brothers has decided to push the next installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from it's planned November release to next July (conspicuously to the same weekend that The Dark Knight, another WB property, opened this Summer and made enough money to support a medium sized country). There's only one problem, the studio didn't bother to give the heads-up to Entertainment Weekly, which just happens to be a sister-division of parent company Time Warner, Inc. So EW went ahead and released their annual fall movie preview with the boy-wizard gracing the cover. Maybe the ole' company email was down that day.

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Quick Hits
* Phil Collins has set a new record in his homeland. It's not going to be one he'll brag about though, a British court has ordered he pay an unprecedented $46.76 million to his most recent ex-wife. That's $2 million more than Paul McCartney recently had to cough up to Heather Mills.

* Congrats to Point artists Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, they welcomed a new baby boy to the family this morning. Giving Apple Martin and Coco Arquette a run for their money, the new bully target has reportedly been dubbed Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale.

* For the Sopranos fan in your family, check this out - The Sopranos: The Complete Series will feature all 86 episodes on 28 discs, two discs of bonus material, two soundtrack CDs, and a 56 page album. The whole thing weighs in at 10 pounds and will set you back $400. It'll be out, naturally, just in time for the holidays, on November 11th.

The Justin Files, 8/15 Weekly Wrap Up

A sad weekend
It was a shocking weekend for many when news of the untimely deaths of comedian Bernie Mac and music legend Isaac Hayes came out. Mac had been in the hospital fighting pneumonia for a little while. His people had said that he was getting better and was looking forward to going home. Hayes was found unresponsive next to his still-running treadmill. His doctor said that he had apparently suffered a fatal stroke. He had also suffered a stroke back in 2006.

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About to get kicked out? Turn to Trump!
How's this for a weird twist to Ed McMahon's home foreclosure woes...apparently Donald Trump has offered to buy the home and lease it to the former Carson sidekick, effectively making him Ed's landlord. The strange part, the two men don't even know each other. Trump said that when he had heard the story he thought "it would be an honor" to help. My guess is that the honor to Trump is the publicity he's drumming up.

(full disclosure - I was a student at the Ed McMahon School of Mass Communications at Quinnipiac University, Ed and I go way back)

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No 90210 for Tori
It looks like there won't be a homecoming party for Donna Martin in the upcoming Beverly Hills 90210 update on The CW Network after all. Tori Spelling was reportedly upset about the fact that her pay, $10,000 - $20,000 per episode, was dwarfed by the alleged compensation for fellow returnees Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth, reported to be between $35,000 and $50,000 per episode. Tori apparently demanded equal pay, the network said no, Tori walked.

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Quick Hits
* It looks like wedding bells will be ringing for Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi this weekend. According to US Weekly, the two will marry in a "small, intimate ceremony" in California.

* Blogs are buzzing about the rumored breakup of John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston. The two haven't been photographed together in weeks, John is on vacay in Mexico while Jen is back in LA working, and a "source" says that she is already seeing someone new. Well, with that evidence it must be true.

* Dark Knight star Christian Bale is off the hook. He will not face charges in the alleged assault involving his mother and sister. Officials say there was simply not enough evidence.

The Justin Files, 8/8 Weekly Wrap Up

Thankfully Miss Daisy wasn't in the car
Ok, ok, so the joke may be tasteless but Morgan Freeman is fine after his late night weekend car accident, so I can get away with it.

Apparently the Dark Knight actor was driving close to midnight last Sunday when he fell asleep at the wheel, drifted off the road, and flipped into a ditch. Rescuers had to use the jaws of life to remove the Hollywood icon from the wreck. He was in the hospital for a couple days, underwent surgery for injuries suffered in the crash, and was released.

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The Mary-Kate mystery
At the start of the week word started going around that Mary-Kate Olsen was demanding immunity before cooperating with federal investigators who were looking into Heath Ledger's death. You may remember that the former Full House star was the first person called when the actor's body was found. So the big question was, why would she need immunity? Well, we may never know, by Thursday the feds had abruptly closed the case.

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How rich is really, really, really rich?
Well we can ask these TV stars. TV Guide has come out with it's list of the highest paid television stars. Here are just a few - David Letterman brings in $32 million a year. Simon Cowell's bad behavior is rewarded to the tune of $50 million a year. And the richest? No surprise, Oprah apparently rakes in $385 million a year. I did a little quick math, that's roughly $732.50 every minute of every day. Eating, sleeping, etc.

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Quick Hits
* It seems like everyone's having twins these days! Brad and Angie, J. Lo, Rebecca Romijn is expecting, and now word that Lisa Marie Presley is pregnant with twins. Her mother, Priscilla, says that twins run in the family. She has younger twin brothers, and Elvis had a twin brother who died at birth.

* Speaking of Elvis, his favorite performance costume has become the most expensive piece of Elvis memorabilia ever sold at auction. Pre-sale estimates had the peacock print jumpsuit going for between $275,000 and $325,000. It fell right in the middle and sold for $300,000....this despite the bacon grease stains and faint peanut butter odor.

* Finally, it seems that Britney Spears will not star as a killer stripper in a Quentin Tarantino remake of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. Her rep said that she is, "concentrating on recording her next album".

The Justin Files, 8/1 Weekly Wrap Up

A little movie you may have heard of
The Dark Knight continues to dominate the box office three weeks after it's initial release. It destroyed the competition after the first weekend, taking in $155 million, compared to Mamma Mia! (the #2 movie) and it's haul of $27.5 million. Batman was still going strong by the second weekend, bringing in an additional $75.6 million. As of today, it's the highest grossing movie of the year so far, with a take of $342.6 million. To put it in perspective, Titanic, the highest grossing movie of all time, was only at $112.5 million at this point in it's release. In other words, The Dark Knight is out pacing Titanic by more than 3 to 1.

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Shia in trouble again
Indiana Jones co-star Shia LaBeouf is in trouble again, and this time it's a little more serious than lighting up in a no smoking area. He was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of DUI, and taken to the hospital where he underwent, "extensive hand surgery". It turns out that the accident wasn't his fault, the other driver had run a red light while Shia was waiting to make a legal left turn, but obviously the DUI charge will stand.

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Miley is in the news this week too
Miley Cyrus made some waves this week when she speculated that this may be the last season for Hannah Montana, her super-successful Disney Channel kiddie-comedy. Disney execs didn't comment beyond stating that the show is still currently on their schedule.

Miley also made waves on the auction circuit when a Connecticut dad shelled out nearly $17,000 so his 11 year old daughter could meet the teen star at a movie premiere. The same auction also saw a t-shirt she wore in a video go for $3,500 and autographed pictures - personalized of course - went for around $1,000 each.

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Quick Hits
* Jon Bon Jovi is a happy camper, his Philadelphia Soul won the Arena Football League Championship over the weekend. A victory rally was held in Philly on Thursday, and Jon promises a victory concert in the not too distant future.

* It looks like People Magazine has won the bidding war for the exclusive first pictures of Brad and Angelina's twins. Reports put the price tag between $10-$15 million. The couple will reportedly donate the proceeds to charity.

* Finally, we'll take this one with a grain of salt for now. Some gossip rags are reporting that another Batman movie is already in the works, and that it'll feature Johnny Depp as The Riddler. Considering the success of The Dark Knight there's little doubt that there'll be another sequel, but there aren't any reliable sources on this story. I'm just reporting it so I can say that you heard it hear first if it's true.