Katherine Heigl Needs to be "Knocked" Down a Peg

Katherine Heigl has made me look like an ass; and I hate looking like an ass. In the past two years, Heigl has earned reputation for being a bit of an arrogant bitch. But I always defended her, time and time again, because she was a gorgeous, fearless actor who was finally getting the break she deserved in “Grey’s Anatomy”—my favorite show on television (Sorry, “Supernatural”).

I applauded her for standing firm on contract negotiations when she and several of her co-stars weren’t be paid as much as the usually annoying Ellen Pompeo and the ducky Patrick Dempsey ($150,000+ an episode? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!)

I thought she was being a good friend when she brazenly spoke her mind about Isaiah Washington’s shenanigans at the Golden Globes.

I thought she was wonderfully charming when she accepted her Emmy last year.

I thought she was terrific in “27 Dresses.”

I thought she was misquoted when she said that “Knocked Up” was a bit sexist, even though, she made these comments to a magazine about the movie that launched her into an entirely different echelon of fame.

Then she released this statement: "I am truly grateful for the honor that the Academy bestowed upon me last year. I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the Academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

To borrow from those soft-core “Gossip Girl” ads, WTF? Not only is this a great disrespect to the writers of “Grey’s”—who wrote that gut-wrenchingly emotional storyline, created the character Denny Douquette, and basically helped her get that Emmy. But she is assuming that her work would even be nominated this year, when “Grey’s” was off its game and jumping dozens of sharks. (Callie as a lesbian?!)

It is no secret that Heigl wants off “Grey’s” to focus on her film career, nor is it a secret that the writing has severely lacked in the past year. While I admit that the writers turned her character into a raving lunatic who actually used her surgical skill to save a deer’s life, the statement was a proverbial slap to the face of the show that launched her career. I love Heigl’s talent, and I can even understand that she’s frustrated with the quality of the show (that seems to be finding its way back to bright and shiny by this season’s end), but without “Grey’s” she wouldn’t have had a film career to focus on, or a shiny Emmy sitting above her fireplace. And will someone please tell her that “27 Dresses” wasn’t that great?

To the commonfolk of America, who can’t throw a temper tantrum when their dream jobs go awry and are worried about their (crappy) job security and how they will afford gas this week, she is coming off more like a spoiled brat who didn’t get her way, and not a talented actress who wants to do the honorable, respectful thing.

"Made of Honor": A Movie Review

I went to see “Made of Honor” not because I find Patrick Dempsey oh so dreamy, but because it looked like a cute rom-com that would inspire and nurture my inner hopeless romantic. I’m a sucker for sappy, New York-based movies that promises pretty dresses, squishy confessions of love and flowers in bloom. Unfortunately, “Made of Honor” is a mindless fluff of a romantic comedy that would have come dangerously close to plagiarizing the plot from my Julia Robert’s “My Best Friend’s Wedding” if they had lifted any of the endearing moments, acts of sheer desperation or chemistry between co-stars that made the 1997 vehicle such a success.

Patrick Dempsey plays Tom, the inventor of the coffee collar, who is now ridiculously rich and has nothing to do but drive his cool cars around Times Sqaure, bed gorgeous women, and create ridiculous rules for his one-night stands for no explained reason. Although I’m sure it stems from his father’s never-ending string of marriages and divorces. Michelle Monaghan played Hannah, Tom’s supposed best friend. As we’ve seen in the trailers for the movie, Tom thinks he has the “perfect set-up” because he can sleep with beautiful women at night and spend his free time with Hannah during the day as they have done since they first met in college.

When Hannah, a restoration artist, leaves for six weeks to go to Scotland, it is only in her absence, that Tom realizes how much Hannah means to him and how much he actually loves her, which is something he could only say to bitches of the canine variety. Hannah comes back engaged to a Scottish Duke, and she asks Tom to be her Maid of Honor for a destination wedding in just a fortnight.

The entire idea of a man being a bridesmaid could have triggered thousands of stereotypical gay jokes because of most men’s intrinsic homophobia, but thankfully the movie handled that aspect with an open-minded sophistication that made for a lot of smart laughs. Dempsey, who has built a career on being the sensitive, sexy metrosexual, can hold his own in a scene with five other women, but also exudes some well-groomed masculinity that people won’t see in “Grey’s Anatomy.”

All is fair in love and war, but Dempsey’s Tom never got the memo as he never played dirty to stop the wedding. He agreed to become the MOH in order to “destroy the wedding from the inside out”, but he never really did anything that crazy to sabotage a marriage that was obviously based on purely on physical attraction and nothing more. In “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” Julia’s desperation over losing her best friend and the love of her life made her do absolutely terrible things, like almost ruining her best friend’s career, in order to keep Michael (Dermot Mulroney) from marrying Kimmie (Cameron Diaz).

I felt the chemistry was a bit lacking between the two stars, and that probably stemmed from the fact that they look more like siblings than lovers, and not because they are bad actors. The screenwriters also make Hannah’s betroved seem perfect in the beginning, but then tear him down by time they reach the vivid green of Scotland, which weakens the entire idea while saving Dempsey from looking like a backstabbing, selfish schmuck for ruining his best friend’s wedding.
Ultimately, “Made of Honor” was really made as yet another vehicle for Patrick Dempsey, who’s careening towards overexposure, and lacked the drama and yearning of its girl-centered predecessor. “Made of Honor” is, however, a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

I'm Over Patrick Dempsey aka McDreamy

I made out myself as a total TV nerd when I confess that I’ve seen just about every episode of Grey’s Anatomy on the day it originally aired. I’ve been a fan since the beginning—when it was marketed as a mid-season space-filler on Sunday nights.

Like a good little Greymate, I fell into the romantic and angst-infested relationship of Mer and Der. Der was sweet and sensitive, but still a rockstar in the OR and in the budoire. Then his wife showed up, and he, for the sake of television and sexual tension, decided to stay with his cheating shrew of a wife. And that seemed honorable in a fall-on-your-scalpel sort of way. McDreamy lived up to his name even outside of the fictional Seattle Grace. He fathered not one, but two baby boys and drives racecars.

Fastforward to his 2006 Golden Globe nomination, and cue my *tires screeching to a halt* WHAT? reaction. The nomination came during the whole tragic and beautiful Izzie-Denny-LVAD arc, and the lukewarm Mer and Der plotlines were washed away from viewer’s tears from Denny’s Shiva. That’s when I realized that out of all the outlandish, “dark and twisty” Grey’s characters, Der was probably the weakest actor and/or was the flattest character. He spineless warbles between the “I’m a NEUROSURGEON” sternness and the sappy-sensitive whisper he does when Meredith is being mean to him.

Four episodes into this season, I’m tired of the sappy-whisper, which is all Der has done thus far. Alex, who has testosterone to spare, needs to pull Der aside. and show him the finer things about being a man: the screaming, the unprompted asshole-ness, the sleeping with other women to make Mer jealous, the sleeping with George’s skanky Syph-Nurse. It makes those rare moments of sensitivity all the more special. Mer is not the type to melt in a fit of giggles at Der boasting he wants to marry her and “die in her arms at 110”. She’s a tough almost-surgeon who needs to get over her daddy issues, one of which is a living breathing younger sister.

Patrick Dempsey was on the cover of my Entertainment Weekly, the Photo Issue. And the Greymate in me was excited, hoping he’d drop Grey’s tidbits, but the rest of me yawned, because McDreamy just makes me McSleepy. They could have picked Milo Ventimiglia and his Heroic new torso or Denzel Washington or even the real-life tranny on Dirty Sexy Money, because even she seems to be more of a man right now.

"He really needs not to talk in public" Katherine Heigl

In the beginning, Isaiah Washington seemed to handle his dismal from the break-out hit, “Grey’s Anatomy” with a surprising amount of class and dignity. When Washington was released from his contract earlier this month, he took the high road and did a very dignified interview with Entertainment Weekly. He actually took responsibility for his actions for the first time in a year. And I forgave him a little bit. I hoped he’d get another job and learn from this whole ugly experience. How stupid I was.

He’d made two tremendously bad and highly publicized mistakes using the word “faggot” in reference to T.R. Knight. There was one on-set kerfuffle, but it boiled down to “he said, he said” which left room for doubts on both sides. The second infraction was completely televised and took place at the Golden Globes and hundreds of members of the press. It also ignited the latest nearly seven months of scathing coverage that overshadowed the show’s win for Best Television Drama.

Recently, Washington is blaming everyone but himself. It was T.R. campaigning for his release and turning his castmates on him (If he called him that horrible word, he reserves the right to campaign harder than Barack Obama for his firing). It was ABC making him jump through proverbial hoops for their on sinister pleasure, and then dumping him (Disney owns ABC and having a purportedly homophobic man on their payroll doesn’t exactly fall into their squeaky clean image). Now, it is because he is black.

As a black woman, I understand that the thought always lingers somewhere in the back of your mind when you’re denied a job or ignored by a salesclerk. In this situation, however, Washington needs to put his race-card away. He deserved to be fired after his unprofessional and disturbing behavior at the Golden Globes.

Also, I’d hope that if T.R. Knight or the angelic Patrick Dempsey referred to Washington a nigger in the exact same situations, they’d be fired as well. For now, I really just want Washington to own legendry problems with anger and move on from this. He has a fabulous actor and I’d hate to see his shortcomings keep a black man down.


Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19466829/site/newsweek/page/0/

Last Mishmash- Song in ABC Promos

In case you were wondering who sings the song used in the ABC promos for May Sweeps, I’d like to enlighten you. It is the severely under-celebrated JC Chasez. Not Justin, the other guy. “Something Special” was a track off his first and sadly under-promoted solo debut “Schizophrenic.” The CD is nothing short of a multi-genred genius. He’s a fantastic singer/songwriter and has a voice that’s big, booming, emotive and unforgettable. He’s all those things too!

Check out his old album “Schizophrenic”. I recommend “100 Ways” (if you listen to just one song, LISTEN TO THIS ONE!) “Right Here By Your Side” (my FAVORITE), “Dear Goodbye” (Best Break Up Song Ever), “She Got Me” (Very MJ-ish, but not in a perverted, baby-dangling way), “One Night Stand” (Hilarious!), and “Come To Me” (it’s a techno song about phone sex!).

Also, check out his new singles, “Until Yesterday” and “You Ruined Me” on AOL’s music page.