Elijah Wood and Brendan Fraser ... it's all about the feet

Okay -- Brendan first, then Elijah, okay? Because B comes before E, and F comes before W, maybe. Beside, this was the order I typed it in!

Journey to the Center of the Earth was one of the movies I enjoyed most in the recent ocean of 3D offerings, and a large part of the enjoyment came from the small fact Brendan Fraser plays this sort of role so well, with just enough gravitas to make you believe in the character, yet a flair for comedic timing that's second to none. So I was very sad to find that the second Journey moved (Mysterious Island, loosely based on another Verne idea) will be Brendanless.

Seems Brendan said "no thanks" when the company -- and it's New Line! -- tried to go back on the actor's fee. Promise him a certain figure, then actually pay a lot less. That's not the kind of thing any tradesman (and acting is a trade no less than plumbing ... it's just has a lot more glam and gets a lot more publicity) can go along with, so quite rightly Brendan put his hat back on and hopefully didn't slam the door too hard on his way out. Why would New Line pull this stunt? After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, they must be floating away on cash. (Then again, Peter Jackson had to sue them over non-payment of royalties, so ... go figure.)

In fact, he's signed to do a drama next. It's something called Seconds of Pleasure -- and to this point no one has the slightest idea what it's about, just that it ain't no comedy, and also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth and Ed Harris. Well, with a cast like that you won't go far wrong! So we can only hope it's a role that'll give Brendan the chance to flex his dramatic muscles rather than the ones he acquires (rather temporarily these days) in the gym in order to make the rambunctious big adventure movies.

So what does all this have to do with his feet? Absolutely nothing ... unless maybe the situation got him so uptight (and it'd sure do it to me!) that a nice pedicure sounded like a great way to relax...

It's a cute little story, (running here with more pictures -- but beware: Brendan ain't wearing his glamorous facade. He really is the guy next door in these pictures, so if you don't want your bubble punctured, stay on this page). Let me give you in a thimble. Lady pedicurist does a superlative job on his feet ... quotes her fee as $16. Being from Hollywood, Brendan heard "Sixty," not "Sixteen," and when the pedicurist was far too honest to let him overpay, he said words along the lines of "You need to charge more," and with a smile, paid the sixty bucks.

Cute, cute story, that, to which I have but one addition to make, after looking at the above picture: Brendan, sweetheart, put your glasses on. Squinting to read is bad for your eyes, gives you headaches, and ... God knows, everybody in the world wears glasses!

Except, I suspect Elijah Wood has switched, or is switching, to contact lenses, because you rarely see him in glasses these days, while his eyesight was notorious way back in the Frodo days.

But it really is about the feet -- again! Now, this news is so new, they haven't even updated the cast list for The Hobbit on IMDB. Go there, and you won't see the name of Elijah Wood mentioned, but (and I'm chuckling with glee!) I just saw a piece on mtv.com, and yep, there's a part in The Hobbit for Elijah. Now, he says it's a small part, which is fair enough -- especially since he's long been saying he wouldn't be putting the feet on again. Who would blame him, after seeing the routine he, Sean Astin and the other kids went through every day with those hobbit feet? Eep.

But it turns out that Elijah Wood will be back in the feet for a small part in both parts of The Hobbit, and with any luck at all they'll be able to dragoon David Tennant into the part of Thranduil, which is so close to a done deal, it's actually listed at IMDB. I would dearly love to see David Tennant as Thranduil.

Also watch out for Elijah Wood in Treasure Island, which is shooting in Puerto Rico soon-ish. Mind you, you might not recognize him! A dozen years ago he'd have been playing Jim Hawkins, but this time around (and doesn't this just show you how time flies?) he'll be playing Ben Gunn! Seriously! They're all good parts, but the cogs and gears of time never stop turning, do they?

Let's have some more pictures before I sign out for today. As I always say, it's not as if there's any shortage of them, so why be stingy?

So there you are -- a tale of four feet and five movies (The Hobbit is being done in two parts). And now ... lunch, while I watch some of the Tour Downunder on tv. Ahhh, the bliss of a day off...

David Tennant: Fright Night and Facelift. Whoooo!

Being rather a fan of David Tennant (who is my favorite of all the Doctors) I try to keep up with what he's doing whenever I have a spare hour ... which isn't all that often these days!

So, I search on "David Tennant" and ... well, I see this and I think to myself, "Good lord, they're remaking FACELIFT!!!"

And you're thinking to yourself, "What the bleep is Facelift, and why should I care?" Or else, "What the bleep is AG babbling on about now?!"

Well, it's like this:


And that's Martin Shaw as Zax in a 1984 Channel 4 SF musical called (!) FACELIFT. Zax was a magician ... a stage magician who had actual powers. It was a shoestring production, but it was amazing -- actually well worth remaking with modern technology. Get me going one day and I'll tell you about it!

But no, actually David Tennant is not actually starring as Zax in a remake of FACELIFT ... he's starring in a remake of FRIGHT NIGHT, in which Roddy McDowall played Peter Vincent, the vampire hunter:

And it turns out that Roddy McDowall is also one of my all-time favorite actors, so I'm happy as a clam here. Can't wait for the remake ... of FRIGHT NIGHT, that is. And you're so right, I'd love to see a remake of FACELIFT, and I wouldn't at all mind if David Tennant were to play Zax. Martin Shaw was very good in the part -- and what an oddball Zax was. Beautiful, but odd.

Twits, nuisances, lawbreakers: where does Twitter draw the line?!

Good gods, who'd be a celebrity? Look at what you're up against these days:

For four months, 19,637 people followed Ewan McGregor’s every move via the microblogging service. Or at least they thought they did. But come on people –Moulin Rouge 2?
While there are many fake celebrity accounts on Twitter, including those purporting to be Tina Fey and Hank Paulson, most are obviously bogus.

Ewan McGregor’s tweets, by contrast, seemed realistic, although there were signs that made some suspicious, including a post expressing a desire to make a Moulin Rouge sequel – something no real actor would contemplate.

The authenticity of the fake Ewan McGregor started to bug the real actor, who yesterday told The Guardian his people had requested that Twitter take down the posts.
Twitter said it would investigate but did not immediately relent.

Here's the story: Twitter takes down fake Ewan McGregor account

I mean, jeepers creepers, you can be Ewan McGregor -- THE Ewan, superstar and all-around great guy, and some BOOBY can do this to you, and Twitter in its infinite wisdom responds to your agent bvy saying they'll investigate.

Say what?!! Can we say, "Get that gibberish off your internet page before you get sued for your shirt?!"

Same sort of twaddle happened to David Tennant, too (oddly enough, I was just talking about this yesterday).

It's actually come to the point where any Tom, Dick or Mary could open a Twitter account, go out there and pretend to be -- oh, HM Queen, President Obama, the Pope, and Twitter would somewhat reluctantly INVESTIGATE when they're TOLD to remove the bogus twaddle!!

Is it just me, or is this getting past a joke? Like I said, who'd be a celebrity? Sheesh.

David Tennant: what's next?

Since delicious David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who after the upcoming spate of movies, I was wondering what he's going to be doing next. Well ... I'd been hoping for something major, but on thinking it over, the boy probably needs a rest after how many seasons of the show, plus holiday specials, plus movies ...?

So a gueststar appearance in Taggart is probably a good way to go:

Doctor, there's been a murder
DOCTOR Who star David Tennant is being lined up for a role in the crime drama Taggart.

The West Lothian actor, who recently quit his role as the Time Lord, had auditioned for the show 16 times without landing a part in his pre-Doctor Who days.

"I've been encouraging our producer to offer him a part as a doctor," Taggart star Colin McCredie was reported as saying.

I must watch out for that!

And I should imagine everyone out there is aware of the fake twittering going on, where some lunatic woman presends to be David, goes out there and saying outrageous things ... and people believe her!!! If it's news to you, click here ... but he warned, it really is stoopid.

Captain Jack and #11 ... John Barrowman meets Matt Smith

As everyone in this timeline has to know by now, David Tennant is turning in his Tardis keys at the end of the current season ... which means the Doctor is about to regenerate.

Is anyone out there old enough (come on, now, hands up, people: have courage!) to remember when Doctor #1 regenerated into #2?! Bill Hartnell turned into Pat Troughton. What, no takers??

Yo. My hand is going up. Fact is, there were some very good reasons to be there in the 1960s ... not that I had much choice about it, of course. My parents had made the decision ... or were taken by surprise. (When I appeared, it was probably more of a shock. I know: SHUT UP, AG, AND GET BACK TO JOHN BARROWMAN!!)


There's a very, very cute story running on The Daily Record right now. Let me quote you a little bit of it, and then you can click on over and read the whole thing (don't forget to come back here when you're done -- the eye candy is up later...)

JOHN BARROWMAN feels like he's cheated on David Tennant after meeting the new Doctor Who, Matt Smith.

Glaswegian-born John, 41, who plays Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, has become friends with fellow Scot David, who is quitting as the 10th Doctor at the end of the year.

But John, who is gay, hadn't met Matt until five minutes before our interview, and was clearly a bit giddy at the chance encounter.

He laughed: "I feel like I've had an affair against David because I've met the new guy. I liked him but, David, my heart is always with you."

John was in the BBC's London HQ to chat to me about his new variety show, Tonight's The Night, and met Matt in the press office.

John said: "He walked right past me and he and I sat and had a chat. He's got some big shoes to fill when David leaves, but he'll bring his own spin to Doctor Who.

"He's very handsome, very quirky but striking. I think he'll do very well."

There's a really good article following on from this, and here's your link: Exclusive: David Tennant is the best Doctor Who for me, says John Barrowman ... nice one!

And now, the aforementioned pictures, which is what you're here for anyway, right? Right. Here goes:





Woah! Nice one. Verrrrry nice one. Scots rock. (And I oughtta know, being one...)

So who's Matt Smith, and what's in store for us when he and Jack get onto the samde soudstage?? Click here to take a sneak peak...!

Look who's Hamlet now!

Hamlet. The mere sound of the word gives you shivers ... you're beset by horrific memories of your Ninth Grade classroom, where Miss Perkins goose-stepped up and down in front of the blackboard and her cringing students took turns making verbal compost out of Shakespeare. The entire year you were 15, you were sure you were allergic to Shakespeare ... every time someone started to read it, you got woozy -- or at least the English language stopped making sense, and everyone said it was your fault.

Then you grew up a bit and realized that if you wanted to see Mel Gibson in his latest flick, you'd have to slog through the whole thing again ... and it wasn't just Mel Gibson who was doing Hamlet.

Kevin Kline. Paul Gross. Kenneth Branagh. David Tennant!!

Is there no end to the list of luscious actors who've had a crack at the Crazy Dane?

Apparently not -- and the next one might surprise you. Jude Law is doing Hamlet in '09, directed by Kenneth Branagh.


You reckon I'm making it up? Shame on you! Click here, and eat your words.

Jude Law as Hamlet. Think of the possibilities...



Hamlet ... the word might make you come over goosey for different reasons, in a while! I've heard that David Tennant was the "best Hamlet in years," and someone who was in the audience at the Kevin Kline production a couple of times said KK never played Ham the same way twice. One night it was tragedy, the next night it was hilarious farce. Remember the line in The Last Action Hero: "Something is rotten in the State of Denmark, and Hamlet is taking out the trash."

One more cute Jude Law photo, and I'm done for today. No, not the nekkid one ... I'm not even convinced that one is JL. Somebody convince me.

Just what the Doctor ordered. So, where's Jack?!

You might or might not know that David Tennant ... the Doctor himself! ... looks just as good in high heels, skirts and lipstick as he does in a kilt. If all this is news to you, well -- scroll down and get your sense of humor online at the same time:



...oh, the kilt remark? I was joking, wasn't I? Well ... no, actually. Here you go:

Now, there's elegance. Style. Am I right, though, is that Cameron tartan? I don't don't a hell of a lot about the tartans so if there's somebody out there who knows, tell me! (You'll also have seen Captain Jack Harkness in a kilt, and -- how about Tom Baker, the Doctor from the late 1970s? He also looks a treat in a kilt ... and I've got the pictures to prove it.)