AmericanIdol Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Pardon me if I don't shed a tear that Paula Abdul will not be returning as a judge on the next season of American Idol. As a relentless cheerleader for the contestants, she was beloved, as a foil for the evil Simon Cowell, she was feisty, but her time has come and gone. (And I say that lovingly as a former high school classmate. OK, she never knew I existed, but still...) Producers have already lined up Victoria Beckham as a guest judge, but I think they should look to the fabulous film world for future guest judge-ships.

Here are my quick picks.

• Kevin Smith. He'd definitely be funny, could snap back at Simon's ferocity, and could dish out insults as needed.
• Drew Barrymore. She would bring Paula's positive vibe and be very kind when rejecting the talentless.
• Julie Andrews. The great star of The Sound of Music and The Princess Diaries returns in the The Tooth Fairy next January.
• Mel Gibson. Don't you want to see the grizzled, suicidal star of The Road Warrior and Lethal Weapon telling no-talents where they can stick their singing voice? His Australian heritage would also set him up for epic battles with Simon Cowell. And Edge of Darkness is scheduled for next January.
• Jennifer Lopez. The lady has been out of the film spotlight for a while, but will return in The Back-Up Plan. She knows her music, and could rival Randy in telling contestants "yo, dog!"
• Quentin Tarantino. Bring him back as a judge this time, not just a coach or "guest director."

Who do you want to see sitting on that infamous panel of judges?

A new clip from Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds aired last night during American Idol (read Elisabeth's dazzling report on that over here), but there was an extended clip that didn't play because it was too hot for TV. Well, Cinematical just received that second, longer clip in our inbox and snagged it to show you fine folks. What we do get out of this clip is our first look at Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech. Still can't get a good read on this flick, which is set to premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival, but I have a feeling there's so much gore, violence and nasty language that it's probably near impossible to cut together a true trailer for this puppy. Hopefully in the next couple months we get a few R-rated scenes to check out so we can see just how filthy Tarantino intends to make it. I will say that I'm looking forward to the creative ways in which Brad Pitt and his team of Nazi hunters brutally murder the opposition. Could this be Pitt's bloodiest role yet?

Inglourious Basterds hits theaters on August 21. Check out the clip below ...

Music lover and Quentin Tarantino did a guest stint on American Idol to "direct" the final seven competitors. Those hoping for an extra glimpse of Inglourious Basterds probably came away disappointed, although he did get a pretty fantastic introduction.

If you were hoping that by "directing" the singers, Tarantino might have forced them to fight ninjas or drown one another in a toilet, you'd be disappointed. Instead, the closest they got to the world of Tarantino was by singing movie songs ... and not even the kinds of songs the director puts in his films, but every overplayed "ballad" you've ever heard: I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Everything I Do, I Do It For You, Born to be Wild, Have You Ever Loved a Woman, Endless Love, Falling Slowly, The Rose.

Tarantino did try to beef up the performances (encouraging Anoop Desai to "kill" the aforementioned Bryan Adams tune was pretty funny), but no one seemed to take his advice much to heart. He's an obvious fan of the show though, eagerly awaiting to see what Adam Lambert does to rock classics. But it seems like if you're going to have Tarantino "coaching" your singers, they ought to be singing stuff he's picked, or stuff from his movies. How about performances of Stuck In the Middle, Hooked on a Feeling, and Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down.

Am I wrong? Then again, I'm not much of an Idol fan, so maybe I expect far too much out of a guest coach ... even when that coach is Tarantino. Was this really the best they could do with a category like movie songs?

A brand new trailer-ish preview for Hancock debuted on American Idol last night (see video above), and I'm still in the camp of people who are really looking forward to this one. I've spoken to some people who've seen a good amount of Hancock, and they say the flick is very heavy on special effects. Based on the original trailer and this preview, I'd say they're absolutely right. But this is a July 4th weekend movie -- am I the only one who expects a film that comes out over the July 4th weekend to be absolutely stocked with an unhealthy amount of special effects? Plus it's nice to see an original character sandwiched between a handful of established characters, not to mention the fact that Will Smith plays him.

Shouldn't have to say too much about the plot as the video above does a good job laying it our for us; the only thing I'm interested in seeing now is Charlize Theron's role in all of this. She's the only one who's been kinda absent in these previews. We know she's married to Jason Bateman's character, and, according to early script reviews, her and Hancock were supposed to have a little unspoken "thing" going on. Not sure if that's been removed or what, but here's hoping the next trailer shows us a little more of The Theron.

Hancock hits theaters on July 2.

The user-generated movie Faintheart begins shooting in the UK this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first of its kind, Faintheart was put together via MySpace as the previously announced "MySpace Movie Mashup"; the writer, director, cast and other members of the production were apparently found via calls on the film's MySpace page. Some, such as writer David Lemon and director Vito Rocco, won competitions voted on by members of the networking site and a celeb jury, which included Sienna Miller and Anthony Minghella. Other positions, such as storyboard artist, could be acquired through job postings on the film's MySpace blog. The movie does feature some professional stars, though, including Jessica Hynes (you know her as Shaun of the Dead and Spaced's Jessica Stevenson -- she recently changed her stage name), Trainspotting's Ewan Bremner and Eddie Marsan, who will be making up for this by appearing in Mike Leigh's next film. Now the movie, a romantic comedy centered on the world of Viking battle re-enactments, which is being produced by Vertigo Films and FilmFour, with backing from the UK Film Council and Screen VM, is ready to go.

If we've learned anything from ideas like Project Greenlight and Spielberg's On the Lot, we can assume that the mainstream reception of Faintheart will not be too favorable. After all, the public likes its movies made by executives, businessmen, lucky "talents" and really talented people who have put in their time without success before breaking out. The same thing has been learned with the music business. Just because a person wins American Idol, that doesn't mean he or she is going to have a #1 album (nor does it mean he/she would make a good movie). Sure, the internet has possibly been helpful in suggesting things to filmmakers here and there, but overall, we can't trust people who live on the internet to make important decisions. Can we? There have been other internet-based film competitions, including two involving Spike Lee -- Babelgum's Online Film Festival and LiveMansion: The Movie (which seems to be competing with MySpace for the "first online-community-made" tag -- but obviously MySpace has them all beat with brand recognition. But then I wonder, will Faintheart even use a "MySpace Presents" banner? Regardless of the brand recognition, some people are sure to think such a connection is silly.

Forget a singing career, American Idol appears to be a better jumping ground for acting. So far, one Idol contestant has gone on to win an Oscar, and now Season 5 runner-up Katherine McPhee is building up a movie career. Currently, she's working on the comedy I Know What Boys Like (aka the Anna Faris Playboy Bunny movie), in which she plays a pregnant hippie in need of a makeover, and she just told MTV that she already has her next project lined up. Titled Success, the indie drama begins shooting in November, and the singer-actress compared its dark style to that of the Coen Brothers and Jim Jarmusch. She also said it features great writing and well-developed, quirky characters. Unfortunately, she couldn't give away any of the film's plot or much else, really, but she did reveal a bit about her character, which she says is a nice, sweet girl who seems to end up having to compete for the attention of a guy, though she admits it is much more complicated than that. Could Success be the same thing as "the dark romantic comedy" The Last Caller, which was announced back in June as McPhee's big-screen debut? Maybe.

McPhee isn't about to concentrate solely on her acting career, though, and already has plans for her second album, with which she wants to become the female John Mayer. Of course, Mayer doesn't do movies in addition to making music, even though he should (he was a great Henry Higgins in 6th grade -- I should know, I played his butler -- hmm, I wouldn't mind playing McPhee's butler, but in real life ... ). Meanwhile, Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks probably won't last as long in the limelight, considering he had the lowest-selling Idol debut, and doesn't seem to be trying for a film career. I have to salute McPhee, who was also rumored to be considered for the role of Wonder Woman, for being able to transcend her Idol loss -- if for nothing else, hers and Jennifer Hudson's success with movies should certainly make everyone dismiss From Justin to Kelly as a reason not to go from Idol to Hollywood.

Hey, remember that fad about ten years ago to bring swing music back? Well, the music and the dancing may return to the spotlight once again thanks to a film called Love N' Dancing. The independent project, which begins shooting this summer, is being produced by a four-time U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion named Robert Royston (check out his pic!), along with Sylvia Caminer. Written by Tom Molloy, who will also co-star, the film follows a bored English teacher who partners with a West Coast Swing dancer in order to win a world title. Of course, she has a workaholic fiancée, who she likely abandons in order to fall for the dancer. Amy Smart (The Butterfly Effect) has been cast as the teacher.

Much of the popularity of swing back in the '90s was due to the success of Swingers, so there's a chance that this film could rejuvenate the past-time (look around L.A. and NYC -- swing isn't dead; it's only sleeping). However, if this means that we have to suffer through neo-swing garbage like "Zoot Suit Riot" again, I might have to kill someone. Love N' Dancing is being helmed by choreographer-turned-director Robert Iscove, whose American Idol-spawned From Justin to Kelly should give good evidence for why this new music-based film will not be the success that Swingers was. That and the fact that Vince Vaughn will not be in it.