TV and Movie News

HBO Dominates the Emmy Nominations. HBO again leads the pack with a monsterous 109 Emmy nominations for the 2003 Emmy Awards, riding on the strengths of its two most popular and critically lauded shows. The SOPRANOS pulled in 13 nominations, including Best Drama, Best Dramatic Actor and Best Actress, but were beaten out by the upstart SIX FEET UNDER , who came in with a healthy 16 nominations (down from 23 last year). The show is favored to win the Best Writing for a Drama Series. Other of my favorite shows that received nods: ALIAS got 11 nominations and 24 - Season 2 received 10 (including Best Actor), CSI for Best Drama, and AMAZING RACE for best Reality Program - yeah!!. Here are links to the USA Today article and the CNN article.

Ignored: Unfortunately, SCRUBS and BUFFY both got passed over and received no nominations. And for you fans of irony, the ANNA NICOLE SMITH show did get one nomination - no, not for most frightening star, for Best Title Design (must be that yapping dog Sugar, but the MAD TV credits for Anna are funnier!)

24 - Season 3. Jack gets a new partner this year - I bet he doesn't get any sleep, either! How do these people get along without any sleep or eating anything? They never show them eating or drinking or anything (much less any other NECESSARY BODILY FUNCTIONS) but I guess they're okay. The latest rumor says the show will pick up about three years after the cliffhanger and will follow the same real-time format. To read about the actor cast as Jack's new partner, hop over to this article. Ain't It Cool News is reporting that "The third “24” season will pick up three years after the second, at which point Kim Bauer will be in CTU’s employ. And so will her daddy, Jack. The third-season opener, like the second-season opener, will unfurl commercial-free."

Pirates of the Caribbean. Cause = Effect. It wasn't a surprise, based on the STRONG $46 million opening weekend, but Disney has apparently fast-tracked a sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean. What a fun film that was! Go see it if you have haven't. "Josh Spector over at The Hollywood Reporter says that Disney is in early development on a sequel to PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. According to Spector, the studio has already locked the principal PIRATES players including director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and cast members Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. As well, the movie's screenwriters, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, are thinking about where they could take the characters in a second adventure. One week after its bow, the film is approaching the $80 million dollar mark at the box office." Here's a story over at Cinescape.

Lord of the Rings. This cartoon proves that Sauron has lots of time on his hands. Maybe he got bored, sitting up there in Barad Dur with only Gollum and some doofy Orc to talk to. Is this what they're going to build at the former WTC site? I like the fact that the designers are Chelsea-based firm of Shelob, Morgoth & Balrog, LLP. Read more...