The Love Guru

On the day when we celebrate Hollywood's finest, let's also take a moment to celebrate its worst. The 2009 Razzies were presented on Saturday, dinging The Love Guru with the title of Worst Picture and putting three separate awards in Paris Hilton's hands.

Hilton was named both Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actress, plus she nabbed a share of Worst Screen Couple for The Hottie and the Nottie. Meanwhile, The Love Guru ended up with three total awards as well, adding Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay to its haul. Amazingly, The Happening emerged unscathed, despite its four nominations.

To check out a full list of (dubious) honorees, just read more

• According to her father, Amy Winehouse has been diagnosed with emphysema connected with her smoking cigarettes and crack cocaine. — PopSugarUK
• Get Smart opened in the number one spot at the box office this weekend, with The Love Guru only coming in at fourth, after second-place Kung Fu Panda and third-place Incredible Hulk. — BuzzSugar
• Tom Brokaw will be hosting Meet the Press through the November elections, filling the vacancy left by Tim Russert's death. — CitizenSugar
• Ellen DeGeneres gave Portia de Rossi a pink diamond engagement ring, and the couple has set a date for their upcoming wedding, part of which will be aired on Ellen's show. — People
• Timbaland and Monique Idlett had their second wedding ceremony Sunday night on a private island in Aruba. — Us Weekly
• A paparazzi photographer is suing Woody Harrelson for $2.5 million, accusing the actor of assaulting him and breaking his camera two years ago. — AP
• Ellen DeGeneres, Rachael Ray, and Tyra Banks won Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday night. Check out the full list of winners. — BuzzSugar
• ICYMI, comedian George Carlin passed away of heart failure yesterday.

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Looks like enough people were craving the silly fun of an updated Maxwell Smart story this weekend, making the Steve Carell-Anne Hathaway comedy No. 1 at the box office. The Mike Meyers comedy The Love Guru was expected to show Get Smart some stiff competition during the opening weekend for both movies. Instead, The Love Guru brought in $14 million to Get Smart's $39 million, and failed to crack the top three.

At No. 2 was Kung Fu Panda, which bumped the more recent Incredible Hulk to third place. The Love Guru came in fourth, followed by M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.

This weekend the crown will most likely go to Pixar's latest (and much-promoted) project, WALL-E about a little robot with the saddest, most endearing "eyes" ever. The action flick Wanted, however, may entice that coveted young male demographic, and will probably do quite well for itself.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

I'm having a hard time with the old axiom "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" while figuring out how to share my thoughts on the new Mike Myers comedy (and by the way, that categorization is a stretch) The Love Guru. I have to be honest, I've been sitting on this for a few days now, and I'm hard-pressed to find a single decent thing to say about it. There is juvenile, there is crude, there is downright not funny. . . and then there is this movie.

In addition to the general unfunniness, watching The Love Guru is practically unbearable due to the desperation that permeates the entire film. It's hard to tell if Myers realized most of the shticks were lame, or if he felt that because he's Mike Meyers people will laugh, so he has carte blanche to go as low as he's ever felt like going. The camera is so close to his face for so much of the film, we see every bit of manic energy going into each line, and he uses this intense stare to practically will (or beg?) us to find it all hilarious. It's sad. And uncomfortable. Not even Justin Timberlake in speedos with a funny Canadian accent can salvage this attempt at humor.

If you're curious about what I found specifically mind boggling about this movie, read more

Justin Timberlake left his lady at home but still made a cute pair with Mike Myers at the premiere of The Love Guru in LA last night. New mom Jessica Alba also had to sit this one out, but her costars were more than willing to take care of the talking, joking, and funny faces. JT dished about getting another acting role under his belt but made it clear that music is still his passion, saying, "I'd love to be a two sport athlete, if you're asking me what I'm hoping for. I don't think I could ever walk away from music." It's nice to hear the pop star won't be leaving his first love, especially since lately it seems he's enjoying the opportunity to play such well-endowed characters.

Lots more to see, including Romany Malco, Verne Troyer, and Mariska Hargitay, so just read more

Okay, I'm willing to give The Love Guru a huge chance based on the cast alone: Mike Meyers (natch), Romany Malco (Conrad from Weeds!), Justin Timberlake (dressed all funny and bewigged), John Oliver (hilarious British guy from The Daily Show) and Ben Kingsley (funny because of, you know, his Oscar-winning performance as Ghandi). Oh, and Jessica Alba's in it too.

The new trailer for The Love Guru looks silly in the Austin Powers kind of way, though less charming and less humorous. Still, I have sorely missed Mike Meyers in recent years and it's oddly comforting to see him back in action. According to IMDB, Meyers plays a guru who travels to the U.S. in the hopes of breaking into the self-help business. "His first challenge: To settle the romantic troubles and subsequent professional skid of a star hockey player (Malco) whose wife left him for a rival athlete (Timberlake)." The Love Guru opens June 20. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think, read more

• USA Today has the first photo from Mike Meyers' next comedy The Love Guru.
• David Chase talks — sort of — to the Associated Press about the finale of The Sopranos.
• Juno writer Diablo Cody has yet another project in the works: a supernatural comedy titled Jennifer's Body that will star Megan Fox, writes Hollywood Reporter.
• In a super-slow week for album sales, Bruce Springsteen topped the charts again, Billboard reports.
• The Futon Critic has a slew of ABC scheduling updates: Men in Trees is moving to 8 p.m., October Road is coming back in November, and Dance War starts in January.
• The Zac Efron movie 17 just got a lot cooler with the addition of Leslie Mann (Knocked Up) to the cast, as ComingSoon reports.
• Champion tennis player Maria Sharapova is pitching a drama about female tennis players to the CW, Variety reports. Hey, anyone else remember Phenom?
• According to ComingSoon, Billy Bob Thornton will join Shia LaBeouf in the thriller Eagle Eye.
• Zap2it has introductions for the new cast of The Amazing Race.
• Billy Ray Cyrus has landed himself a movie role in the family drama Flying By, writes Hollywood Reporter.

I just love this guy.
John Oliver is one of the greatest, funniest, dead-panniest parts of "The Daily Show" so I am thrilled to see that he's been cast in a real movie!

However...
Said movie is The Love Guru, in which Oliver will star alongside Mike Myers, Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake. In addition to Oliver, Meagan Goode and Ben Kingsley have joined the cast.

What are they all doing in this movie?
Good question! Oliver has been cast as a gentleman named Dick Pants, a "manager whose goal is to get the Love Guru on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' to settle a rivalry between his client and Deepak Chopra."

Kingsley, who's been making odd choices lately, is playing "Guru Tugginmypudha, the ashram leader who teaches the title character (Myers) how to love himself and how to wear a chastity belt."

Meanwhile, Goode is playing a woman named Prudence who trades one hockey boyfriend (Romany Falco) for another (Timberlake).

So...
There's no shortage of cheeky names and silly premises, but I'm probably still going to see this — especially now that Oliver's climbed on board.


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