Entertainment Journalist: Will Work For Food!

I've had a great day today. Besides getting a lot done in the office and in general, I've had the pleasure of meeting one of the most normal people in the industry - Jamie Cullum. Now a lot of
people give him crap for just doing what he does and I think that sucks. He has a new single out soon called Photograph and it's a great way to be introduced to his work - just in case, somehow, his work has passed you by. I know Steve and Johnnie over at WGN Radio in Chicago are fans and they read my blog (P.S. Guys, I have some hot Jamie news if you want to give me a call..). Anyway, I turned at the rather swanky members club, The Electric, in Notting Hill this afternoon to speak to Jamie and, bless him, because I was hungry, he let me have some of his lunch - he had Whitebait in breadcrumbs and Cheese-On-Toast... if you're interested. We talked for ages and to be honest, I could have sat there all chatting all afternoon, but hey... what can you do. Also, he's doing a US tour really soon - in fact he's going to be playing one of my favourite on May 10, Hard Rock Live in Orlando - so please do go along and see him if you can. Also, check out his myspace page and this too - just discovered it but it's cool - radio blog club.

In other news, Snoop Dogg was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London; critics seem to have nailed a stake through the heart of Elton John's latest Broadway show, Lestat; J.J. Abrams is really p*ssed about somebody leaking the news that he'd going to be making a new Star trek movie; and what in the sweet name of all that is good is going on in the Charlie Sheen-Denise Richards divorce? For God's sake, think of the kids?!
Seriously, come on people.

And finally, this is my story of the day - David Hasselhoff is to star in a pantomime in South London this winter. The last time I went to see a panto was to see Sir Ian McKellen as Widow Twanky at The Old Vic - (it was Kevin Spacey's idea... his best one in years). Anyway, expect tickets to be like gold dust. It will be a riot. I am so there! And for those of you wondering who Bobby Davro is... well, that's showbiz!

Anyway, I'm spent... have a good one.

The biggest let down EVER!

So for the last few months over here in the UK we've been bombarded with adverts - on buses, on billboards, on banner ads on the net, on the TV - telling us that Ricky Gervais was going to be on The Simpsons. 2.2 MILLION of us tuned in last night to see what was effectively being billed as the best episode ever... and it sucked! And it seems I'm not alone in thinking that way either... read this. Disappointing.

One thing that wasn't a disappointment was the new British movie, Confetti. You can watch the trailer here. I comes out in the UK at the beginning of may and in the US at the end of the same month. The whole thing is improvised. It stars Martin (The Office, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy) Freeman and a host of other excellent British comedy stars but the show is stolen (big time) by the two gay wedding organisers. They are hilarious. It met the main cast of the film last week, so when I've got my interviews up I'll post links. It's really really funny.

Other things you might like to know about that have come up in the last few days include: Will Smith crashes a Bar Mitzvah (Getting Yiddish With It?); Comedies are dominating this years MTV Movie Awards; Samuel L Jackson has had bits of his new movie, Snakes On A Plane (no prizes for guessing what it's about), reshot so that he could swear more; and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had a baby - a girl. I won't link to that story because if you aren't aware of that story then you're either dead or really don't care one bit. anyway, congrats Tom. He's been in Rome today ahead of the premiere of MI3 there tonight but no word yet on if he'll be in London for the premiere here tomorrow.

And now a plug for a friend... every Monday through Thursday, a longstanding friend of mine has a show on a radio station in Brighton, England called Juice. He runs a music school by day - and has a co-host, Ace from the excellent 90's rock band, Skunk Anansie. It's on between 8 and 10pm GMT and you can listen in by going to the website here. Tell him Simon sent you...

And I think that's it... til next time... er... bye.

Everybody's blogging for the (four day) weekend!

Yay! As much as I love it, work is over for another week - and it's only Thursday! That can't be a bad thing. Here in the UK we're about to embark on a four day weekend because it's Easter so we get Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday off. A truly sweet deal.

Anyhow, what a crazy few days it's been in the world of entertainment. You might have read or heard about Britney's latest slice of parenting drama with her son fracturing his skull. If not, click here. She's in the clear - and I'm not saying she's a bad parent because kids can be a
handful and accidents do happen - but I would put money on her having some sort of breakdown/crisis in the next 18 months. She aint sexy anymore apparently, she sure as heck aint exactly been tearing up the charts with hot new material and she appears to spend all her time holidaying in Hawaii, being entertained by dwarves and just behaving a bit erratically. My solution to the problem? I hate to see families split up but I say get rid of K-Fed! From where I'm standing, it all appears to have been going downhill since they hooked up.

On a more positive note, great to hear this week that Mel Brooks is going to turn another of his movies - Young Frankenstein - into a musical. This is great news as I love The Producers... yes, even the movie remake of the stage show of the film. I haven't watched the movie in years but I have fond memories of it. Maybe we can expect to see Blazing Saddles on Broadway by 2010? That would be excellent. But hey, I'm still excited that Wicked, Avenue Q and Spamalot are heading my way later this year.

'Diamond' Dave Lee Roth is having a bit of a career nightmare right now. He's got a morning radio show in the US and it seems to getting a lot of criticism. I haven't heard it but can it really be that bad? I'm going to try an tune in at some point over the next few days and find out for myself. Please Dave, say it aint so...

In other news, the very pregnant Angelina Jolie is being guarded by lions, a prison guard is in deep trouble after showing inmates Brokeback Mountain, another person has died after experiencing one of my favourite rides at Walt Disney World in Orlando and if you click here you can see a picture of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson enjoying a brew with friends... at the age of 15! Actually, Happy Birthday Emma, because she turns 16 on Saturday (15.04.06)... have a drink on me! Oh... you already have ... *hic*

And finally, here's a gag reel from Tom Cruise and JJ Abrams that's been pushed out to promote Mission: Impossible 3. You can watch it by clicking here. I would LOVE to get to interview the Cruise one day... I am dying to know what goes on in his head. He is so bizarre sometimes that I think half the stuff I hear (and... er... write myself) can't be true so I would just like to, for once, be able to report something that actually came out of his mouth, to me, personally, to my face, that wasn't speculation or PR spin! I think it would one of the most interesting people I would ever get to speak to. I've been a fan since I was a kid and would just love to be able to have a holds barred chat with him. I'd love to hear how he feels about all the stuff that's written about him too... it must suck being attacked and mocked all the time (even though he does kind of bring it upon himself sometimes). I could go on about this all day but I won't. All I'm saying is Tom. get your people to call me when you're in town at the end of the month and we can talk. Come on man, I even love Cocktail... and because of you I call the things at the end of my laces 'fluggle-binders'... I'm 32 for C*****s sake! Damn it Tom, let's boogie...

Anyway, have a great weekend... a great Easter... a great Pesach... and I'll catch you again real soon.

Gene Pitney (1941 - 2006)

Really sorry to hear about Gene Pitney dying today. I have to admit, I wasn't his biggest fan (more of a Neil Sedaka man myself) but it's always a shame when an icon dies. The only positive thing about it is that he was found dead - fully clothed - almost as if he just laid down to rest and *puff* - that was it. We'd hope peacefully and after what, having read what some reviewers - at his last gig in Cardiff, Wales just a few hours earlier - said was one of his best. A sweet (as sweet as death can be) deal for someone who appears to have been very well thought of by fans and contemporaries. He did do some cool stuff like '24 Hours From Tulsa', ' Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' and 'A Town Without Pity'. Looks like he passed on while he was still on top. Kick ass!

In other showbiz death news, the former drummer with one of my favourite bands of the 90s, The Wonderstuff, has died. You can read about it here. Not a household name but any loss of life is saddening.

Laterz... hopefully with happier news!

A-ha! Morten and me chat about the good old days

Boy oh boy! What a week! It's a been a really doozy. So let's work backwards. Today I met one of my all time musical favourites - Morten Harket, the lead singer with legendary Norwegian band, A-ha. I have been a fan of the band since 1985 and always wanted to interview them. Well, last night I got 'the call'... and by 1pm today I'd crossed another 'Would Like To Meet...' off my list. In 1986, my older brother took me to see them in Cardiff. Earlier this year I took my younger brother to seem them in London - almost 20 years to the day. It's like a bonding thing I guess. Needless to say, they were awesome. I have to say that meeting Morten - who is lovely and, being totally comfortable in my heterosexuality, he is also a very good looking man. I can totally see why generations of women have been obsessed with him. He is very smart, very polite, very handsome and very interesting to talk to. It was an absolute pleasure. Anyway the picture on the left is me, with Morten. I think perhaps I have the biggest sh*t-eating grin ever committed to camera, but I have to admit that I was pretty impressed with myself... P.S. This is a terrible picture of me and the jumper makes me look fat so apologies..

Anyway, A-ha have also been confirmed as one of the acts at this years Guilfest in Guildford, England, so it should be a classic year for the event. It usually sells out so don't waste any time! even if you just go to see A-ha you won't be disappointed. Trust me... And if you haven't already got hold of their new album - Analogue - then you have to. It's excellent. I swear!

So, Narnia is out on DVD. It was released on Monday here in the UK and in the US too I think. Brokeback Mountain got released on DVD too this week.. so I guess in US videostores this week you've got two cowboys coming out of the closet and four kids going in. Funny how things turn out... Anyway, last Wednesday there was a big launch event in County Hall on London's South Bank. It was a pretty sweet do. Loads of great drinks - LOVED the lycee cocktails! - and some very tasty food, although there could have been more of it. Anyway, a great night and met a few cool people. It was great to see the Narnia kids (some of the older ones) taking full advantage of the free bar... but I won't tell if you won't... Needless to say I (and a colleague) drank our fair share and then left with a rather generous goody bag. So, thank you Disney!

Okay, trailer time. Check this out! I stumbled across it by accident the other day and it looks pretty funny by all accounts. It's called Keeping Up With Steins. It's due out in the US on May 12th - no word yet on a UK release. And what sort of entertainment-journalist-and-blogger would I be if I didn't post a link to this - the teaser trailer for The Simpsons movie! And finally, for those of you who haven't seen the superb British comedy, Kinky Boots - which is due a US release later this month - here is a trailer for that too. It really is a superb little film with a great soundtrack. It's a limited release that really is worth hunting down. It was in my top three films of last year. I really say enough good things about it.

Also, I see a NY movie theatre has pulled the trailer for the new 9/11 movie United 93 because people got upset. I totally understand and sympathise but realistically, will there if be a good time for movies like this to be made and shown? Probably not, but I think now is as right a time as any... You can read more on that story here. It was a horrible horrible even that shocked me to the core - and still does today - but I think the sooner we face the demon the better it will be.

If you're interested, here is my rather damning feature on Basic Instinct 2. I clearly couldn't be too far off the mark as it only took $3.2 million dollars on it's opening weekend in the US. The original took the equivalent of $20 million plus when it opened in 1992. I don't know what that means, but it must mean something!

Okay. I'm done. I got a dog to feed and laundry to do. Isn't showbiz grand? Stay safe...