17 Aug 2014

The 9 most unconvincing Canadian characters in movies

Maybe the accent is just a bit off

Sometimes when non-Canadians play Canadians, you can’t believe it. Maybe the accent is off. Maybe someone that famous just can’t be Canadian. Like these people:

Outside in the parking lot it is 90 degrees and not yet noon. Inside the Premier Orlando 14 theaters at Orlando Fashion Square, it's cool, dark and half-price admission.

Little boys are chasing each other around the lobby like unchained dogs. A man holds his granddaughter in his arms while waiting in line for concessions. A busy young couple with tickets to see Lucy makes the Sunday morning matinee their date night.

I hate 3D movies. I mean, I really, seriously hate them.

As a movie junkie, I despise them so much that I have stopped going to see movies, because too often the only option on a Saturday night is to subject yourself to this abuse of the cinematic art form. So-called traditional showings have been relegated to midday presentations.

Holdover tent-poles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy maintained the top spots at the weekend box office, while the new openers trailed behind. But, while it was expected that Let’s Be Cops and The Giver would open in the teens, the biggest surprise of the weekend was The Expendables 3, a franchise pic which should have easily opened in the $20 to $25 million range, but instead floundered with an estimated $16.2 million.

LUC Besson has been dubbed the most “Hollywood” of French film-makers.

With good reason. None of the 80 or so movies made by his firm EuropaCorp has registered particularly highly on the scale of Gallic dreariness.

In Taken, nobody ever stared pensively out of café window while smoking a fag. There were no kooky girls with bobs in The Transporter, no long debates about the meaning of human existence in Hitman.

Sylvester Stallone still blames his rivalry with fellow action man Arnold Schwarzenegger for his movie flops, because he only signed on for roles in Rhinestone and Stop or My Mom Will Shoot over fears the Terminator star would grab the parts if he didn't.

The movie veterans have become great friends and they co-star in the Expendables film franchise but Stallone admits there was a time he hated the Austrian bodybuilder-turned-actor.

Alex Rodriguez has finally found a home in Los Angeles — and its former owner is Meryl Streep.

Sources tell us the Yankee slugger has bought a modern midcentury mansion in the Hollywood Hills from the Oscar-winning actress and closed on the deal Thursday.

Summer baby! Christina Aguilera gave birth to her second child on Aug. 16 with fiancé Matt Rutler. Congratulations to the new mom and dad!

Congratulations are in order for Christina Aguilera, 33! She welcomed a baby girl on Aug. 16 with fiance Matt Rutler. Christina is already a mom to 6-year-old Max, and this is her first little girl. We’re sure she’ll be just as pretty as her mommy!

When the issue of amplification came up at a Hollywood Bowl patrons' breakfast in 1935, one man strongly admonished the institution against attempting "to improve God's perfect handiwork."

"So long as we are in charge there will be no mechanical devices placed there," Mrs. Leiland Atherton Irish, executive vice president and manager of the then Southern California Symphony Assn., assured him that early August morning.

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon received the Emmy for outstanding guest actor in a comedy, helping “Saturday Night Live” earn top winner honors at Saturday’s Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre.

Fallon won for hosting “Saturday Night Live,” winning in a field that also included Steve Buscemi (“Portlandia”); Louis C.K., also for hosting NBC’s “SNL”; Gary Cole (“Veep”); Bob Newhart (“The Big Bang Theory”); and Nathan Lane (“Modern Family”).

Justin Bieber starred in a shirtless dancing and singing video on Aug. 16. In a shocking twist, Justin’s on-again love Selena Gomez makes a cameo in the video!

Justin Bieber, 20, just cuddled up publicly with Selena Gomez, 22, on Aug. 11, but it looks like the two young lovebirds are already making videos together to declare their love! In a video that Justin posted — and then quickly deleted — the star runs toward and sings to a girl who looks just like Selena. We snagged the video before it was deleted so you could watch!

The female icons of Hollywood's golden age were glamorous and – thanks to studios' image control – untouchable. But was fame any easier to deal with than in today's internet age?

At the Oscar ceremony 10 years ago – the one where Peter Jackson's third Lord of the Rings film hauled away another sack of precious gold – it was still possible to say that Old Hollywood was being celebrated alongside modern Hollywood. Dotted around the auditorium at the Kodak Theatre that night were several of the venerated faces of motion pictures' golden age. At one point, Tom Hanks stepped up to present a special tribute to the comedian Bob Hope, then aged 101, and later Julia Roberts made a similar presentation to a 96-year-old Katharine Hepburn.

Police search Brit pop star Cliff Richard's home in latest look at allegations of past abuse

The pop singer Cliff Richard seems not to have been the first person to learn on Thursday that police were searching his apartment in Berkshire, England, in response to allegations “of a sexual nature dating back to the 1980s [that] involved a young boy under the age of 16 years.” Richard issued a sharply worded denial, calling the allegations, that had circulated on social media for some time, completely false. “Up until now I have chosen not to dignify the false allegations with a response, as it would just give them more oxygen.

PLUS: Chelsea send Victor Moses to Stoke on loan and Aston Villa sign Elche's Carlos Sanchez

The summer transfer window is open, and agents and club representatives are plotting their next moves.

Get the latest transfer news, gossip and rumours from the Daily Mirror and plenty more newspapers and websites below.

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Norwich City are considering a £4m bid for Kris Commons - as Celtic are linked with a move for Ghanaian winger Wakaso Mubarak from Russian outfit Rubin Kazan.

Full story: Scottish Express

PLUS: Samuel Eto'o is holding out for a dramatic late swoop from Arsenal and Tottenham offer Michael Dawson in their latest bid to land QPR striker Loic Remy

The summer transfer window is open, and agents and club representatives are plotting their next moves.

Get the latest transfer news, gossip and rumours from the Daily Mirror and plenty more newspapers and websites below.

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United are preparing a £24m bid to beat Chelsea to the signing of Roma's 27-year-old Morocco defender Mehdi Benatia. (Sunday Express)

The Old Trafford side have been asked to include winger Nani, 27, on a loan deal if they are to have any chance of signing defender Marcos Rojo, 24, from Sporting Lisbon. (Sunday Times)

BROOKLYN, MI — Just a few miles from Michigan International Speedway was the sound of pounding on a mat accompanied by the cracking of a hand to a chest as a crowd cheered.

The AWWL Big Time Wrestling promotion and its wrestlers entertained campers Saturday night at Kooters Creekside Campground with their high-flying moves during the bone-crunching action.
A majority of the guests are in the area for NASCAR at MIS, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to see some pro wrestling for the affordable price of $10.

Daniel Radcliffe wants to be friends.

That’s what he tells Zoe Kazan at the beginning of the new romantic comedy “What If,” which is currently in theaters. And that’s what the star of the “Harry Potter” movie series is still telling the world, one reporter at a time.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel is scheduled Monday to announce a new multi-million dollar semi-professional baseball stadium that will be constructed within the next two years just west of downtown Utica.

In addition to the 2,500-seat stadium, the developer also has plans for a new 500-spot parking structure, and a mixed-use retail and condominium project.

Experience the Jasper County Fall Festival this Friday through Aug. 24 at the Jasper County Fairgrounds in Rensselaer and enjoy numerous events and activities. Entertainment includes live music, a demo derby, mud drags and tractor pulls. Attendees will also enjoy craft, antique and home décor vendors. Visit www.jaspercofallfestival.com.

TORONTO - Two men are in hospital Sunday after an early morning stabbing in the city’s Entertainment District.

Toronto EMS confirm the men, described as young adults, were rushed to hospital by paramedics shortly after the incident. Police and EMS were called to the scene at 3 a.m. in the Peter and Adelaide Sts. area.

The recent closure of Xbox Entertainment Studios by Microsoft MSFT +1.19% as an effort to refocus the company signaled that the company’s digital TV ambitions on Xbox was likely coming to an end. Outside of a few existing projects in the works like the high profile Halo: Nightfall, it seemed that Xbox would not focus seriously on TV show content for its players going forward.

Let’s Be Cops may be the summer’s next R-rated comedy hit - providing ticket buyers completely disregard the critics pumping it full of lead.

The 20th Century Fox release starring Jake Johnson (New Girl) and Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Endings) as two Los Angeles losers who pretend to be cops after dressing up for a party has been nearly universally panned in reviews summing it up as, simply, not that funny.

Town makes a banner featuring a quote from Robin Williams' performance in Aladdin to urge the world to help them

People in war-torn Syria have made a touching tribute to Robin Williams.

Those living in Kafranbel, in north west Syria, have created the banner to mark the Good Will Hunting star's death in the hope it will draw international attention to the the ongoing bloodshed in their country.

Comedian Katt Williams has a new comedy special premiering on HBO this weekend. Directed by Spike Lee, "Priceless: Afterlife" is his second HBO stand-up special.

You can have Bill Cosby in the palm of your hand. And Jim Jefferies will tickle you at your discretion.

Netflix is announcing performances by both comics and three more, set to roll out this fall. It's the latest in the original-content initiative from this subscription Internet channel.

Here's the lineup, with each program going online at 3:01 a.m. Eastern:
• "Jim Jefferies: BARE," premiering Aug. 29. Taped at Boston's Wilbur Theatre, it finds Jefferies weighing in on diverse topics such as politics, new fatherhood, orgies and Neil Diamond. (It will join the first season of Jefferies' FX comedy series "Legit," now streaming on Netflix.)

Vikki Stone plays 20 instruments and Des Bishop taught himself Mandarin – can comedy get any harder?

The concept of Instrumental, Vikki Stone's new show (Underbelly), seems challenging enough to begin with: Stone, a classically trained musician, attempts to play 20 different instruments as a backing track, often several at once thanks to the magic of looping. The English standup burst on to the fringe in 2011, combining her impressive musicianship and energetic delivery in startlingly explicit comic songs about wanting to do filthy things to Phillip Schofield. There's more of that this year, but it quickly becomes clear that the mad dash around the instruments is a cover for something else. "This is a show about trying and failing," she explains.

EXCLUSIVE: Made In Chelsea’s cheating Alex Mytton could be heading to the Celebrity Big Brother house if Fran Newman-Young gets her way.

The new series of CBB almost upon us and a few reality TV personalities have been rumoured to be going in the house this year.
Is there a chance we could be seeing a Made In Chelsea star among the new crop of housemates? Well during an exclusive catch up with Metro.co.uk, Fran says the MIC lot would be great, particularly Alex and Spencer Matthews.

Monday night will see a new set of celebrities enter the famous house - but we want to know now

Luisa Zissman has met the new batch of celebrities and at least one of them is "amazing".
After Luisa's outrageous shenanigans earlier this year the Apprentice star is now Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother's roaming reporter/presenter/panelist/interviewer.

Sometimes in Hollywood, it just isn’t meant to be. Celebrity couples often breakup and makeup, but many end up at war. Check out our gallery of feuding celebrity exes!

Celebrity breakups in Hollywood just keep on surprising us! Even those couples you were sure were going to last forever sometimes end up splitting. From Naya Rivera, 27, and Big Sean, 26, to Chris Brown, 25, and Karrueche Tran, 26, many celebrity couples’ breakups result in an all-out war! All is fair in love and war, right?

Strictly Come Dancing favourite James Jordan is set to appear in the Celebrity Big Brother house tomorrow after being dumped by the BBC.

Jordan was sacked amid reports he had clashed with judge Craig Revel Horwood, and rumours BBC execs thought he and wife Ola, 31, dominated the show.

The Celebrity Big Brother 2014 line up rumours are coming thick and and fast now, but just who will be on CBB this year?

The new series of CBB begins on Monday and will apparently feature everyone from the usual Z-list tabloid wannabes to ex soap stars, TV presenters and a token TOWIE cast member.

China’s TV and film watchdog has ordered a dull diet of nationalist fare ahead of the country's National Day in October

There’s nothing like coming home from work, plopping down in front of the TV and watching some relaxing antifascist and patriotic fare. That’s exactly the kind of prime-time programming China’s TV and film watchdog is ordering up for September and October, according to state media. One reason for this propaganda blitz? National Day falls on Oct. 1 and a line-up of TV shows glorifying, say, the Communist Party’s fight against the Japanese during World War II, will hopefully usher in a wave of jingoistic pride among citizens.

A series of interesting piracy maps are making headlines this week. According to the data, "Cuban Fury" is the most downloaded film in Florida while "Awkward" beats Game of Thrones as most-shared TV-show in Texas. Amusing results, but are they accurate?

Piracy is a hot topic, so when there are statistics to report the media is usually all over it. This week a series of intriguing maps has been doing the rounds.

Over the past few months, there's been a lot of coverage of , particularly given that Latino audiences are disproportionately driving box-office ticket revenues. The Wrap on the subject.

If you want to see Latinos on-screen, the place to go might not be TV or the box office, but YouTube, , and other online outlets.

Starz has handed down another early TV show renewal. They’ve ordered a second season of Outlander after just one episode has aired. Season two will likely start airing next year and will have at least 13 episodes.

The opposite of time-lapse photography would seem to be slow motion, but there is an alternative: elision. You can lose time or hide it, put it away for two years or nine years, and then invite it back for a visit. Movies (and novels) do this regularly as a matter of narrative efficiency: you cut out the ‘and then and then’ and go straight to the next chosen moment, from the take-off to the landing say, without the details of the long flight. But they don’t always invite you to ponder the missing minutes or years, as Richard Linklater’s films do.

This week in movies you missed: Perhaps you noticed that Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac: Vol. I played for a week at Merrill's Roxy Cinemas this past spring. Perhaps you didn't. Anyway, the theater never booked Vol. II of the Danish provocateur's new duology about sexual obsession, so those who hoped for a big-screen experience were left, er, hanging.

Well, now Netflix Instant subscribers can stream the rest of Nymphomaniac (or the whole thing, at least till the director's cut comes out). It's also available for rental at Amazon and other VOD outlets. So I gave myself the two-night von Trier immersion experience.

In this week’s new releases, Jeff Bridges stars in "The Giver," the film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal-winning young adult novel. The film receives three stars. "Let’s Be Cops" fails to capitalize on the chemistry between its two comedic stars, Damon Wayans, Jr. and Jake Johnson.

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