Variety reports that Clifton Collins Jr. (Thief) and Chris Hemsworth (I've got nada) have joined the cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek feature, playing the right-hand man to Eric Bana's villainous Nero and Captain Kirk's father, George (George?!), respectively.... Entourage's Kevin Dillon is Lisa Kudrow's husband in Hotel for Dogs, a kid flick in which an orphaned Emma Roberts runs a sort of B&B for strays.... Marcus Nispel, who revved up the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise in 2003, is thisclose to signing on to reboot Friday the 13th. Please tell me he's gonna get Harriet Sansom Harris to play the Betsy Palmer part. She'd be wild! — Ben Katner
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Victory! Entourage's Kevin Dillon has been tapped to play the title character in the 300-spoofing National Lampoon's 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus Wallace Leonidas.... Also per Variety, Natalie Portman joins Brothers' Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in a love-triangle drama based on a 2004 Danish film.... Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) will direct Twilight, an adaptation of the best-selling young-adult fantasy series.... Both Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are in talks to just suck it up and reunite for the fourth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise.... Also per the Reporter, Wallace and Gromit will appear in a new half-hour short set at a bakery and titled Trouble at the Mill.... Music-video vet Sam Bayer will helm a remake of the 1987 vampire flick Near Dark.
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Question: A few months back, while discussing the Emmys, you wrote about The Office's Dwight (Rainn Wilson) having been nominated over Jim (John Krasinski). While Dwight is required to be more over-the-top, you said, Jim was more deserving of a nod. Having just finished Season 2 on DVD (I admit I haven't yet seen Season 3), I have to disagree. If you remove Dwight's bizarre antics from the show, Jim wouldn't have a chance to bring out his quirky expressions and dry sense of humor. I think it's a similar case with Ari and Johnny Drama on Entourage. Although Ari would still be funny trading barbs with Eric and Lloyd, I think Ari's cunning really ramps it up when he's insulting Drama. What's your take on this?
Answer: Every straight man (and I mean that in the classic comedy sense, not the Ari-vs.-Lloyd sense) needs a foil, and vice versa, I suppose. Emmy nominations and awards often go for broadly comic characters and performances (see Jack and Karen on Will & Grace), and to that degree,
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Question: I'm so pleased with this year's Emmy picks for supporting actor in a comedy. I had figured that Neil Patrick Harris would be overlooked, and seeing his name on the list is great. He's truly great in his role and, to me, he's had a harder job than most TV actors, since he had to break the stigma of Doogie Howser, M.D. I know when the show started, I was convinced he'd still always remain Doogie to me. But Barney really is as awesome as he considers himself to be, and NPH is hilarious. Also, while I adore The Piven/Ari to no end, I am so happy about Kevin Dillon being nominated for Entourage. I feel like the four other guys are too often overshadowed by Piven, so this is great. The only thing I have to complain about in this category is that I don't know who I want to win! Way to go, Emmys, on getting this right! Do you have a favorite, Matt?
Answer: This really is one of the more satisfying categories, although some still gripe that Jon Cryer is a co-lead actor, not a
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Before we start tonight congrats are in order Emmy nominations were announced this week and in addition to Entourages nomination for best comedy Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon were nominated in the best-supporting-actor category Way to go boysTonights episode left me kind of cold as once again Turtle and Drama went off to deal with some nonsensical situation This time it involved Turtles cousin Ronnie and a sports auction and Eric and Vince disagreed over Vinces next project For all the Billy Walsh haters I am quickly becoming one of them by the way it looks like he will be sticking around to direct Vinces next film though Eric is taking a pass on the producing gig I do need someone to explain to me how to differentiate between Eric the producer from Eric the managerWhile Eric and Vince tended to their oddly interdependent relationship Ari tried to help Lloyd mend his broken heart Naturally being Ari his motivations were purely selfish and hi
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