
I was thinking recently that Lipstick Jungle was just starting to get good at the end of its short Spring season, and it was a shame the show wouldn't have much buzz going into the Fall. Well, hello, instant buzz: TV legend Mary Tyler Moore is joining the show as a guest star, playing the mother of Wendy Healy (Brooke Shields).
Moore will make her first appearance in the show's Sept. 24 premiere playing Joyce, a high-powered businesswoman who — now retired — pushes Wendy to reconsider her work-life balance. According to NBC:
Having blazed a trail for working women back in the 1970s and 1980s, Joyce challenges Wendy's idealistic notion of "having it all" — leaving her overachieving daughter in a tailspin.
Few people know working women on TV better than Moore, who said in NBC's press release that "It's been great fun to watch the strong female characters of Lipstick Jungle go at it week after week." Granted, if I would have picked one NBC character who could be Moore's daughter, it would have been 30 Rock's Liz Lemon — but that might have been a little too on-the-nose.
Lipstick didn't quite live up to my expectations in the Spring, but a lot of that could have been blamed on the writers' strike, so I'd love for the show to come out strong in the Fall. This casting news seems like one step in that direction. What do you think?
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A New York Times article full of mystery and intrigue sounds like it could have come straight out of J.J. Abrams' imagination — which is perhaps why Abrams and Paramount bought the rights to the article and plan to make a movie out of it. Written by Penelope Green, the NYT piece tells of an old New York home where the owners "discovered secret panels and hidden clues that led them on a mystery-filled scavenger hunt." Variety has more details:
The Fifth Avenue home, described as a giant '20s-era co-op with Central Park views, was gutted several years ago at the behest of a couple, who later moved in with their four children. An architectural designer who oversaw the rehab job left behind a series of messages, games and treasures, unbeknownst to the family, who eventually unraveled a mystery that featured a poem, a book, a soundtrack and a host of historical figures.
In this latest example of a newspaper or magazine article catching the eye of a producer, Paramount ponied up somewhere in the mid-six figures for this true-life tale. It sounds like the story is right up Abrams' alley, though I wonder if this one will be a family-friendly adventure-type story. I think it could do quite well in that genre, don't you?
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This week, the American Film Institute announced its choices for the
10 greatest movies in each of 10 genres, ranging from fantasy to epic to mystery. To create the list, AFI chose 50 films in each of the categories, then handed out ballots to 1,500 greats from the film community, who narrowed the choices down to the final winners. Lists like this are simply meant to be debated, of course, so I'm curious to hear your take on which films are deserving and which were left out. To check out which films topped AFI's list, just hit "Start."

Sienna Miller will play Marian to Russell Crowe's Sheriff of Nottingham, BBC News reports today. Miller confirmed recently that barring any actors strike, she'll take on the role of Maid Marian in a version of the Robin Hood story titled Nottingham. Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland is crafting the script (he won the little gold man in 1997 for L.A. Confidential) and Sir Ridley Scott is reportedly signed on to direct. BBC News describes the plot:
The movie is a twist on the classic story, with the Sheriff of Nottingham cast as a sympathetic figure up against a not-so-heroic Robin Hood.
I know there are some mixed feelings out there about Sienna Miller, so tell me: What do you think about her playing Maid Marian?
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It may feel like the Summer movie season kicked off ages ago what with the smash success of Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the Sex and the City movie but really, we're just getting started, folks. My summer is going to be packed with movies and I figured yours might be, too. That's why I'm giving away $200 worth of Fandango tickets every Friday this June!
You still have time to take my newest quiz, which focuses on trivia about the Hulk now that the new, box-office topping edition of The Incredible Hulk has hit theaters. You must take the quiz before 5 p.m. PDT on Thursday, June 19 to be entered. You just have to log into your TeamSugar account and take the quiz to be entered — it doesn't matter how well you score.
If you don't win, don't worry — I'll post a new quiz every Friday till the end of June. But why hold out for the next one when you can take the Hulk quiz right now? If you don't have a TeamSugar account, what are you waiting for? Go here to sign up. For the official rules, click here — and good luck!

Another day, another trailer for a movie from this year's Sundance Film Festival. Today's features Matthew Broderick and Alan Alda as an uncle-nephew duo in Diminished Capacity. The plot is this: "A man (Broderick) suffering from memory [trouble] takes a trip to a memorabilia expo with his Alzheimer's-impaired relative (Alda) and his high school flame (Virginia Madsen), where the trio plans to. . . sell a rare baseball card."
I didn't get to see this one at Sundance, but my friend Molly did and she said it was pretty good. Sad, of course, but also touching and well-acted. Diminished Capacity opens in limited release July 8. To check out the trailer, read more