Entertainment blog - news about music and movies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —

As the father of three girls, Tim McGraw understands the challenges that face dads who want to please their daughters.

So the children’s book he’s co-written with Tom Douglas has some simple advice: As long as you’re spending time with them, it doesn’t really matter what you do.

“My Little Girl,” to be published Tuesday by Thomas Nelson, tells the story of a father - in a dark cowboy hat, of course - who spends a fun day with his little girl Katie doing … nothing in particular.

They stop by the farm co-op, gaze up at the clouds and play on a tire swing.

The 41-year-old country singer said he enjoys spending time with his daughters - ages 11, 10 and 6 - but if he did what they liked doing, he’d be spending a lot of time shopping at the mall or getting pedicures.

“It’s something that as a father you kind of have to sacrifice what you want to do, because boys do what you want to do. If I want to go to the farm and shoot guns or ride four-wheelers in the mud when it’s 40 degrees … the girls aren’t really interested in doing that,” he said.

But McGraw said he’s found that his daughters like coming along while he does simple, everyday stuff, like running to the grocery store or stopping by the office.

“Do what you have to do in your regular routine and take them with you. It makes all the difference in the world,” he said.

McGraw’s wife, Faith Hill, wrote in the forward: “I hope this story provides quality time for fathers and daughters to enjoy each other’s company and make memories reading together.”

While Hill loved the book, McGraw said, his daughters were far less enthusiastic.

“If it doesn’t have Chris Brown or the Jonas Brothers involved, they don’t care,” he joked.

—

On the Net:

http://www.timmcgraw.com/

Bond star Daniel Craig has admitted to having plastic surgery to fix injuries sustained while filming the latest Bond film, ‘Quantum of Solace’.

Craig servered his fingertip and had eight stitches on his face after a co-star accidently kicked him in the face.

The star told Elle magazine: “It’s a stupid inconvenience because we had to stop filming. But they gave me an excellent plastic surgeon.”

In the same interview he also said that all men have a crush on 007’s boss, M, who is played by Dame Judi Dench in the Bond films.

“M’s gorgeous. All men have thought about her at least once in their lives. The great thing about Judi Dench is that she’s the matriarch of British film. She has an innate power about her. And yes, Bond needs a woman like M to contain his nonsense and say, ‘Look, 007, you’ve been an idiot!”

LOS ANGELES —

Sunday’s Emmy Awards had one of its smallest audiences ever. It seemed somehow appropriate for an awards show that showered honors upon “Mad Men” and “30 Rock,” series with critical acclaim and lousy ratings.

Nielsen Media Research’s preliminary estimate was that 12.24 million people watched Sunday’s show. If that number holds up when more complete national ratings come in, it will be less than the 2007 and 1990 shows, which were both slightly under 13 million.

The Emmys had some tough competition with a Dallas-Green Bay football game and “60 Minutes” interviews with John McCain and Barack Obama.

Still, it’s an ominous sign for TV’s new season, which opens Monday.

Cerys Matthews has revealed that her new studio album is “cinematic” and “abstract”.

Speaking at the Q Awards, Matthews said that she is finishing work on the record before heading out on tour with ex-Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton.

“I’ve know Paul for a long while from doing the festivals,” she said. “We always said we would tour together at some point, but in 2008 it is finally happening.”

Speaking about her new material, Matthews said: “It’s more cinematic and it’s a bit more abstract from what I’ve done before. Plus they’ll still be a tiny, tiny American influence in there.”

When asked whether she would give any advice to fellow Welsh singer Duffy, she replied: “It’s gone really fast for her, hasn’t it? She’s gone massive all around the world. It must be like a whirlwind, but I bet she’s enjoying it. She obviously loves singing.

“But I don’t give advice. I’m the last person to give advice!”

Matthews’s last full studio album was 2006’s Never Said Goodbye.

Liberal Heathens Defeat Persecuted Conservatives at Box Office
10/6/08 at 11:17 AM

Comment

1Comment

Comments

Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate

As if the blockbuster success of Beverly Hills Chihuahua weren’t proof enough of our national godlessness, Bill Maher’s Religulous is also a hit! Despite rampant noncontroversy, the Larry Charles–directed, faith-mocking doc earned $3.5 million playing in just 502 theaters — a per-screen average of $6,972 — nearly outearning oppressed right-winger David Zucker’s Michael Moore–skewering An American Carol, which opened on 1,639 screens and made just $3.8 million (its PSA was a paltry $2,325). So, basically, Obama is as good as elected.

Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]
Earlier: Bill Maher’s ‘Religulous’: Where’s the Outrage?

Country crooner Gary Allan [ ] takes a good look ahead into 2009 with a casino-heavy performance schedule running through next February.

The singer continues on the road Thursday night (10/30) in Asheville, NC. Allan currently shows about 20 dates on his itinerary through the early months of next year. Details are below.

Allan continues to support last year’s “Living Hard,” his seventh studio set for MCA Nashville. The record peaked at No. 3 on The Billboard 200, boasting three singles–”Watching Airplanes,” “Learning How to Bend” and the current “She’s So California”–that landed on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs list.

Streaming samples of “She’s So California,” which debuted at No. 39 on the Hot Country Songs chart, can be heard–along with other tracks from “Living Hard”–at Allan’s website.

Last year, Allan also released “Greatest Hits,” a 15-track career overview that included his biggest hits from his first six albums, along with two new songs, including “A Feeling Like That,” which peaked at No. 12 on the country singles chart.

[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

October 200830 - Austin, TX - Nutty Brown CafeNovember 20081 - Alpharetta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre6 - Montgomery, AL - Montgomery Performing Arts Center7 - Kinder, LA - Coushatta Casino Resort8 - Fairhope, AL - Oak Hollow Farm20 - Effingham, IL - The Rosebud Theatre21, 22 - Harris, MI - Island Resort & CasinoDecember 20085 - Davenport, IA - Great River Hall6 - Merrillville, IN - Star Plaza Theatre7 - Rochester, NY - Mayo Clinic Center Auditorium11, 12 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues13 - Wendover, NV - Peppermill Wendover CasinoJanuary 200930 - Bossier City, LA - Horseshoe Casino Riverdome31 - Robinsonville, MS - Horseshoe CasinoFebruary 20096 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center20 - Norman, OK - Riverwind Casino21 - Dallas, TX - State Fairgrounds27 - Elizabeth, IN - Horseshoe Casino

Affleck Opens Up About Lopez Split

Ben Affleck has opened up about his high-profile engagement to Jennifer Lopez - insisting the pair was “too accessible” to the media.

Affleck and Lopez - both now remarried with children - began dating in 2002 after meeting on set of their film Gigli.

The former couple split shortly before they were due to wed in September 2004 - marking the end of a media circus that surrounded their relationship.

He says, “I think Jen and I made a mistake in that we fell in love, we were excited and maybe too accessible. I don.t think either of us anticipated the degree to which it would take on a world of its own.”

The actor is expecting his second child with actress Jennifer Garner - whom he married in 2005 - later this year.

Lopez married latin singer Marc Anthony in 2004 and gave birth to twins in February.

Reality television star Jade Goody has revealed that she has started planning her funeral following her recent cancer diagnosis.

The former ‘Big Brother’ star, who is battling cervical cancer, told OK! magazine: “Most people plan their weddings. But I’m planning my funeral.”

“Some people say they don’t want people crying, but I want people to cry over me. And I don’t want anyone to have a booze up when I’m dead. They should have a cup of tea and be crying.”

“I’d want to have an open funeral and let everyone who wanted to come along.”

“If there’s one thing I would look forward to about dying it’s that I’d want to be looking down on my family and continue to be part of their lives.”

Goody also spoke about finding religion, saying: “I’ve never been a God person, but now I pray every time I go to bed and say stuff like: ‘Let me see my children grow’.”

Referring to her funeral planning, Goody said: “Maybe at my funeral someone could send me a wreath in the shape of a Marmite bottle with the words underneath, you either loved her or hated her.”

The star also said that she had cut her hair in preparation for chemotherapy, saying: “I’m going to look like a boiled egg!”

“Chappelle’s Show” has spoiled me, probably forever. Any time I watch comedy that tackles race head-on, I can’t help but compare it with Comedy Central’s brilliant, short-lived sketch show, which brought us the concept of the sports-style “Racial Draft” for celebrities and explained just what it is that makes white people dance. Little on TV since has been as consistently truthful or as devastatingly funny.

But “Chappelle’s Show” is dead, we have to move on, and you can’t fault Comedy Central for trying again. And there is some hope for “Chocolate News,” the new David Alan Grier vehicle Wednesday nights. Though it’s billed as a faux news show, it’s really an outlet for the sketch comedy Grier honed, years ago, on “In Living Color.” He also promises it will be “the only source for pure, uncircumcised realness from an Afro-American perspective.”

Whether it will deliver pure funniness is, at this point, less clear. On last week’s premiere show, he goofed on the idea of a token white news correspondent and did a moderately funny bit playing Maya Angelou, who recited her proposed inaugural poems for both Barack Obama and John McCain.

In the funniest sketch, Grier played a bloated rapper named Phat Man, hired to do public-service announcements for the federal government’s No Child Left Behind program.

The sketch that most captured the Chappelle spirit — uncomfortably-funny-but-hitting-at-some-deep-truth — proposed an “N-Word Treaty.” Two groups, the N-Word Task Force and the Caucasians for the Fair Usage of the N-Word Commission, tried to negotiate a list of equivalent epithets for white people, most of them involving multiple bleeps. They discovered, in the end, that it’s not possible.

The final punch line delivered one of those “ooh” moments that makes you glad people on TV are still willing to take risks. Credit Grier for trying, credit Comedy Central for adding another voice to the mix, and keep hoping that a show like this eventually hits its stride.

‘Rock Witchu’ star Janet Jackson has put rumors of a breakup with longtime boyfriend Jermaine Dupri to rest.

“Baby, they say you broke up with me because I threw up on you,” Dupri says on a recent video released to fans to which Janet responds laughing off the rumors about the producer throwing up on the ‘Discipline’ singer at his birthday bash.

“How lame is that. Because you threw up on me… well, there’s no real love there, is it?” says Janet.

Feeling better after several postponed ‘Rock Witchu’ tour stops, Jackson thanks fans for their love and support via the Youtube video.

“I want to thank you for all your messages and all your love and support when I wasn’t feeling very well. I’m a lot better now.”

Jackson continues the North American leg of her ‘Rock Witchu’ tour through the end of the year with a second leg to be announced at a later date.