February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
In “Pride and Glory,” which is slated for a theatrical release in 2007, Colin will play a member of a staunch family of NYPD officers which is torn apart by a corruption scandal. Playing opposite him as the family patriarch will be legendary bad boy Nick Nolte, whose most recent headshot came courtesy of the California Highway Patrol, who busted the “Beverly Hills Cop” star on suspicion of driving under the influence back in 2002. It’s a safe bet that the area around the film set will be party central for the duration of filming – let’s just hope there are plenty of taxis on hand.
The film, written by Gavin O’Connor and Joe Carnahan, and directed by O’Connor will reunite Colin with his “Minority Report” co-star, British actress Samantha Morton.
When you’re a teen celebrity, life proceeds at a rather hectic pace. I mean, between dating Wilmer Valderama and/or Jared Leto (which they’re all required to do at least once), smashing up their SUVs while fleeing paparazzi and lip-synching to the wrong backing tracks, there’s not a lot of down time, you know?
Okay, maybe, as a member of the non-teen, non-celebrity nation, you don’t know, but trust me – it’s a tough life. Just ask blond poppet Hilary Duff. While she’s managed to keep a lower profile than Mary Kate, Lindsay and Ashlee, the poor girl is still, like, burning the strawberry-scented candle at both ends. In a conversation with the nice vee-jays — can you still call them vee-jays if they don’t play videos? — at MTV, 18-year-old Hilary admitted that the past year has left her feeling burned out. In a scant 12 months, she mounted a concert tour, released an album and acted in, like, three movies.
“It’s the type of exhaustion that, like, one night of sleep doesn’t fix, you know?” she sighed. “I was supposed to take September off for my birthday, but it didn’t happen.”
Congratulations are in order for TV talk show host Conan O’Brien and his wife, Liza. The coupe welcomed their second child, a son whom they named Beckett, last week. The NBC press release confirms that he’s a bouncing eight pounds, four ounces — but neglected to say whether he’ inherited his father’s trademark red hair. The O’Briens also have a 2-year-old daughter, Neve.
It’s not quite throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but rumors abound that Katie Holmes is thinking about chucking her acting career after she gives birth to Tom Cruise’s little nipper. London’s Sun newspaper quotes a source close to the actress, who laments that the “Dawson’s Creek” cutie doesn’t know what she’s giving up. “She is at the perfect age for so many screen roles and has completely closed the door on a promising career.” While it’s tough to imagine the actress succumbing completely to Cruise control, she is (reportedly) taking those Scientology studies very seriously . . .
Mariah Carey’s career comeback continues at an alarming rate. While sometimes, it’s unclear whether her head and her ego can fit in the same zip code – as in last summer’s London hotel incident, when she refused to make her entrance until the staff laid down a red carpet and candles (at 2 a.m.), it’s still nice to see her collect awards for her singing. The multi-octave diva won four Vibe Awards on the strength of her best-selling album, “The Emancipation of Mimi”: Artist of the Year, best R&B Song, R&B Voice of the Year and Album of the Year.
The folks at IRMA (the Irish Recorded Music Association) continue to follow the lead of litigious American record labels, slapping fines and threatening letters on 50 individuals and companies in Ireland. The (alleged) crime: illegal file-sharing and downloading of copyrighted music files.
As the Echo went to press, IRMA chairman Willie Kavanagh announced the organization’s renewed efforts against piracy, which he called Phase II of the plan.
“Despite a fall off of up to 50% in illegal activity in April-June following our initial campaign, the numbers have substantially increased in the July-September period,” he said in a statement on IRMA’s official web site. “Any one of these individuals engaged in illegal file sharing could be connected to some 2-3 million others at any one time on the Internet.” Translation: pony up the 99p for iTunes, kids.
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Some people plan trips to Ireland to coincide with family functions, fleeting good weather and sporting events. But if, like me, you’re more interested in hunky pop singers, circle June 9, 2006 on your calendar, and reserve your flight right now.
Robbie Williams will do one concert at Dublin’s Croke Park Stadium as part of his World Tour 2006 and, given the itinerary, it might be the closest he gets to the U.S. So far, America is not on the tour schedule – heck, he said he wouldn’t even release the album here – so if you’re a fan, you now have your marching orders. Tickets go on sale on Nov. 25 at 8 a.m. Irish time (that’s 3 a.m. New York time).
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from the dulcet-toned Irish singer Brian Kennedy, but happily, he’s back in the news. The Belfast-born singer will perform Ireland’s entry in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Greece next spring.
Brian’s official web site, www.briankennedy.co.uk, confirms that Brian, an accomplished solo artist and a former featured star of “Riverdance,” will sing an original composition chosen from entries submitted by the public. The list will be narrowed down to four selections, and the public will vote for the winner during a special telecast. Then all he has to do is hop a flight to Athens, toss those curly locks, open his mouth and, well, Bob’s your uncle. I mean, it’s not like anyone could possibly out-sing this guy – not even if they make him warble “My Lovely Horse.” (Which, by the way, would be an inspired choice. I’m only saying.)
For their part, the RTE hierarchy professes to be thrilled at the prospect of having a contender in the saddle (or harness, or whatever) for Ireland, after years of finishing at the bottom of the heap.
“I believe he will do us proud in Athens and enable us to give it our very best shot,” said Kevin Linehan, Commissioning Editor for Entertainment Programmes. Which would be a ice change from the 2005 competitors, Donna and Joseph McCaul, who didn’t even make the semi-final cut.