Blogging Bella

`Twilight’ sequel speeds ahead for November 2009

Okay, I’m super excited about this prospect.  Having just gotten home from seeing Twilight, I can’t wait until New Moon is out.  I, like many, was not expecting much when watching it.  I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the film.  It wasn’t the way the books were, but it was well done.

My concern about New Moon, however, is that there is a new director (Chris Weitz) for it.  The actors are apparently going to be the same, which makes me happy.  I was impressed, for the most part, with the casting.  I didn’t like the casting for Eric and Angela.  Otherwise, they nailed them pretty head on.

I can’t wait until November now! I also can’t wait until July for Harry Potter.  Whee!

Will Smith: It’s all about helping others

“If there’s a message, it’s ‘you gotta help somebody.’ Even if it’s somebody’s car breaking down, use your cell phone. Something little like that. We gotta help one another to get the quality of life we’re all striving for,” he said in an interview with the Star Tribune.

Should this really be a shock to anyone? I mean, honestly, he may have had a bad reputation when he was younger and rapping, but he was just a kid and has long since grown up.  Having grown up in the spotlight, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that he’s making movies that have such a strong message.

“It’s cool to have the goal of being the biggest movie star in the world. But why? It’s been revealed to me that the question is: Whose life is better because you woke up today?”

Everyone needs to ask themselves that question.  Whose life is better because I’m in it.  But also, ask who makes your life better by being in it.  I know that without my husband, mother, friends and family, my life would be so much worse than it is now.  Without some of the people in my life, I don’t know what I would do.

I may not have a lot of people close to me in RL, but I have friends whom I wouldn’t trade for all the money on earth and without them in my life, I’d not be the person that I am today.

Abdul chides Fox, `Idol’ producers over stalker

Paula Abdul says the Fox network and “American Idol” producers knew Paula Goodspeed had stalked her, and allowed the woman to audition for the show anyway.

I don’t blame her for being upset about Goodspeed being allowed to audition.  I also think that something needs to be said for Simon’s part in it as well.  He can be downright cruel to contestants and no one ever knows their true mental state when they face the judges.  I can pass a board of psychiatrists exams with flying colors, but after facing the judges and hearing the horrible things that Simon says to the contestants, I’m not sure my mental state would be the same.

If they knew, and I’m sure that it was fairly well known, that Goodspeed was stalking Paula, then they should have kept her out.  Especially if there was a restraining order in place.  I mean, why would she make up the fact that someone had been stalking her through her fan club for years? Idol gave Goodspeed the chance to finally get face to face with Paula and that should have been stopped in it’s tracks.  It seems like they thought it would be funny to let her through and let Simon have his say with her.

Idol and Fox need to step up and take responsibility for their roles in this tragedy.

Jay Leno staying on NBC in prime time

Jay Leno is staying at NBC, and he’s moving to prime time.

The network announced Tuesday that Leno will host a show five nights a week at 10 p.m. Eastern, after he leaves the “Tonight” show next year. The network had announced nearly five years ago that Conan O’Brien would move to “Tonight” and succeed Leno.

What??? Why is he coming to Prime Time? I thought that when he left the Tonight show, he would actually retire like a normal human being.  I can tell you right now that I won’t watch whatever show he does.  I can’t stand the Tonight show as it is.  I don’t see why he thinks that it’ll even be a smart move to go to Prime Time.

Leno in a prime time slot, he’ll definitely need to learn to censor himself, for sure.  I don’t think that he’ll last long on a prime time show.  Unless he’s acting in some crappy comedy.  We’ll see though, some people seem to think he’s the second coming.  I do understand why, however, NBC wants to keep him.  With Conan O’Brien taking over, they need to make sure that Leno doesn’t end up on another station and steal all the Tonight show viewers.

Now, can someone tell me why they chose Conan O’Brien? I don’t get it.

Kennedy Center honors Streisand, Freeman, Daltrey

Barbra Streisand is visiting the White House on Sunday but says she’ll play nice. “Art,” she says, “transcends politics this weekend.”

Art should always transcend politics.  There are two ways about it.  No matter how you feel, no matter what else is going on, people need to put aside their feelings for things like this.  Without the arts, there would be no movies, no music, no television, no literature, no entertainment.

Without entertainment, where would be? We would work, eat, sleep, and live a pretty shabby existence.  It’s hard to fathom that anyone could live without the Arts in their life.  Even the Internet wouldn’t exist as it does today.

The singer and actress this year is a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, along with Morgan Freeman, country singer George Jones, dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who.

I’m surprised by a few of these recipients, but in a way, it’s about time, especially for Morgan Freeman.  Jones, however, shocked me.  I didn’t think that he would ever get honored.  I mean, how many times can someone “No Show” and still have that level of respect garnered upon them by the country?

‘Twilight’ takes $70.6M bite out of box office

This doesn’t surprise me.  I do wish that more people would be far more tolerant of Twilight.  I keep hearing people whine and complain about the movie and books. They get bent out of shape because the vampires aren’t the same as what Anne Rice wrote about.  That’s because Stephenie Meyer is not Anne Rice.

I know the books aren’t the most fabulous work of fiction.  But really, in this day and age, what is? There are very few original ideas out there.  What matters is that people are reading books.  BOOKS.  Not playing games, not surfing the net, not causing trouble.  READING BOOKS.   This, my friends, is a good thing.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Pete Wentz have baby boy

Congratulations to them.   Why is this such a big headline though? Don’t celebrities have babies every day? Oh right, Ashlee has a bad reputation, so she’s big news.  I wish people would get over it and move on.  Just because they’re celebrities, doesn’t mean they’re any different than you or I.

Money speaks volumes, even if you don’t say a word. That much is obvious from reading the entertainment headline.  Why? I just don’t understand it.  I will never understand it either.  Maybe if I was a celebrity, I would finally understand.  Nah, probably not.

Vampire fascination helps HBO to well-timed hit - Yahoo! News

You bet it’s well-timed.  With all the hype over Twilight, HBO was smarter than they’ve been in a long time when they chose to air True Blood.  Personally, I haven’t watched it yet.  I watched the first few minutes of the first episode and ended up having to go do something else.  I have read part of the book series, so I’m looking forward to being able to sit down and watch it.

Another well-timed show, I have to say, is Legend of the Seeker, which is loosely based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series.  In a time where sci-fi and fantasy is doing well in the market, Legend of the Seeker fits in well.  As does Valentine, which is basically about the  Olympic Gods and Goddesses living in modern times.

I think the tide is changing for television.  I think the days of shows like the Cosby Show and Full House is well gone, and now shows like Heroes and Medium are coming to the forefront.

Julianna Margulies says she won’t be back at ‘ER’ - Yahoo! News

With them bringing everyone they can back for the final season, I have to say I’m a tad disappointed by this news.  However, I’m incredibly proud of her for making the decision to leave the past as it was.  I don’t really understand why they felt the need to bring people back who had been gone for years.

For instance, Anthony Edwards (Dr. Mark Green) left the show via death by a brain tumor.  Now, he came back this season and everyone speculated how they were going to bring a dead man back.  I give them credit for it being tasteful and only as a flashback scene.   But was it necessary? What is the point in bringing back people now? Is it for ratings?

I wish that they could leave well enough alone and go out gracefully.  They don’t need the faces for ratings, they did well without them. Let it go.

“Twilight” film franchise looks ahead - Yahoo! News

You have no idea just how happy this makes me.  I love the series of books, but wouldn’t you think that it would be smarter to wait to find out if the first one was a flop before signing on for more? I can understand wanting to get a jump on the movies so they can come out quicker, but I don’t think it’s very smart to sink money into something that might be a sinking ship.

Now, I will say that I am highly looking forward to the movies and hope that they aren’t a big disappointment.  I’m not really a fan of their casting for Edward and Bella.  We’ll see, though, if they turn out to be well cast.