1. Buffy No More?
Us Weekly is reporting that Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar has legally changed her name. I know this is a shocker for many because who doesn’t love the three name moniker? I tried to pull it off but “The Blot Says…” just doesn’t roll off the tongue like “The Blot” does. The story is that for her and hubby Freddie Prinze, Jr.’s fifth wedding anniversary, SMG had her last name officially changed to Prinze. No word on whether or not Gellar will use Prinze professionally or stick with her signature three part name. (Zap2it.com) Gellar’s latest movie Southland Tales, written and directed by Donnie Darko’s Richard Kelly and also staring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Seann William Scott and Justin Timberlake arrived in select theaters this past weekend.2. Acclaimed Filmmaker Kevin Smith Finds His Leads
Variety is reporting that The Blot’s favorite writer/director and creator of all things ViewAskew (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma) Kevin Smith has cast the lead roles in his new film Zack & Miri Make A Porno. The role of Zack will be played by newly christened comedy super star Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, Superbad, 40-Year-Old Virgin) and the role of Miri will be played by Elizabeth Banks (Invincible, 40-Year-Old Virgin). Smith hasn’t had much success with movies not centered in the ViewAskew universe, i.e. Jersey Girl, but hopefully this film will be able to showcase Smith’s unique style of writing and comedy genius. (Link)
3. Japan wants Panettiere…and not for a celebrity appearance.
When The Blot saw this one the first thing I thought was “What?” Evidently Heroes’ star Hayden Panettiere traveled to Japan and joined a group of Americans and Australians to protest the slaughter of Dolphins and Whales by Japanese fisherman. (Link) I’m guessing they knew they were breaking some laws because the article says they hightailed it out of Japan as soon as the protest was over. Now Japan has a warrant out for Panettiere. Normally I’d side with Panettiere and against animal cruelty but if it means getting rid of the cheerleader’s horrible storyline in Heroes this year maybe we should extradite her. HAHA, The Blot’s just kidding…but only because Heroes has gotten so much better in the last few weeks.4. Celebrity Apprentice Contestants Announced
I, like most of America, used to love The Apprentice. Then sometime after the second season and before the end of the third season the show lost its allure. I’m not sure why exactly, it could be any number of reasons…whether I just got tired of Donald Trump, or the contestants just weren’t as appealing, or (and I think this might be the real reason) the show just got played out and was no longer original. Then again it could be because the competitions seemed to just be rehashed and the product placement became unbearable. Regardless when I heard there was going to be a celebrity edition my interest got piqued again. That is until the lineup came out.
You know a show has hit rock bottom when it’s draining the Reality TV landscape for contestants. At one time The Apprentice was on top of the Neilson ratings…that time has definitely passed us by. I don’t know if this counts as “celebrity” in your book, but bringing back first season contestant/Surreal Life cast member Omarosa just doesn’t cut it. Stephen Baldwin is kind of a name, but after seeing him embarrass himself on Celebrity Mole for a few seasons his allure is pretty tarnished too. About the only person I’m excited to see compete is former heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis, who always came across as a pretty bright guy. If you’d like to read through the full list of contestants, which includes the likes of Kiss front man Gene Simmons (who also has his own reality TV show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, on A&E) and Olympic gold medalist softball pitcher Jennie Finch, you can check out the Yahoo article here.
Thanks to Whitney at Pop Candy for a few of these headlines...you can find headlines like these every week day at USA Today's Pop Candy blog.
