Hollywood loves talking dogs. And I guess a lot of moviegoers love them too, because otherwise Hollywood wouldn't keep making them. Later this summer, we have a super-powered talking dog in Underdog and in two years, we'll be getting a super-sized talking dog movie called South of the Border. I say super-sized because the live-action Disney movie is going to have a lot of talking dogs in it. Drew Barrymore will be voicing the lead dog, a pampered Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe, who ends up lost in Mexico while on vacation with her owner (Piper Perabo). As you'd expect, the little dog meets a bunch of new friends to help her find her way.

Most of the other dogs will be voiced by Latino actors, including Salma Hayek, who plays a spirit guide who helps Chloe learn her Hispanic roots, and George Lopez, who plays another Chihuahua who attempts to woo Chloe. Other unspecified roles have been cast with Cheech Marin (who voiced the cartoon Chihuahua character in Disney's Oliver & Company), Paul Rodriguez, Plácido Domingo, Edward James Olmos and Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo. Andy Garcia will also be voicing a dog, one which doesn't seem to be of the Latino variety. The Cuban actor is voicing an ex-K-9 German Shepherd. I assume that the character will have a German accent (as long as they're going so racial) and that he will end up the true love interest for Chloe -- though I don't think this is physically appropriate.

After spending most of the last few years sailing through the space frontier as Admiral William Adama on Battlestar Galactica, Edward James Olmos is heading back to film for a bilingual adaptation of the The Crystal Frontier, a collection of stories by leading Mexican novelist, Carlos Fuentes. However, this isn't a tale about space ships, sparkling stars and amazing voyages -- it's about U.S./Mexico border issues. That's not too surprising considering the success that other Mexican filmmakers have had recently.

The book centers on a Mexican oligarch named Leonardo Barroso and the people he has affected. However, it's about more than just border skirmishes, and it's bound to make some people's blood boil. According to the Library Journal: "The outrageous racism of Fuentes' Anglo characters, such as Miss Amy Dunbar and border patrol Dan Polonsky, may seem excessive and stereotyped, but it is also hard to deny that such attitudes exist along this troubled border."

Olmos describes it as "a sociological study of humanity in Mexico and the U.S. We probably won't do all nine stories because it would be too complex, but it's a great commentary on what's going on along the border." It will be interesting to see if the actor keeps the stereotypes in his commentary, or if he tries to deal with the subject in a more subtle manner. The actor/director plans to shoot the film this August, obviously along the border, as well as in Mexico City and New York, with hopes to release the project in 2008.

Harvey Keitel is apparently just like the characters he plays in the movies - irrational and slightly unhinged.  Keitel's ex-wife, Lorraine Bracco, just finished penning her autobiography entitled, On the Couch.  The book details some of the Pulp Fiction star's crazier outbursts.  For instance, he sent Lorraine's third husband, Edward James Olmos, a machete with a two-foot blade and got his nine year old daughter to tell Olmos, "Daddy said you'd know what to do with it because you're a Mexican."  I didn't know machetes were exclusively Mexican.  I think a clearer and more delicious message could have been sent via a two-foot burrito or a machete-shaped pinata.  Fun for the whole extended family!

In a special Hollywood episode of Little People, Small World, Jeremy Piven and Stephen Dorff butted heads at the NYC hot-spot Bungalow 8.  The boys were all hopped up on V.I.P. treatment and testosterone after attending a P.Diddy party and apparently were feeling quite combative.  Dorff ticked Piven off by skipping ahead of him in the bathroom line and then mouthed off about being entitled to do what he wants!  Then Piven said, "You're a has-been" to which Dorff retorted, "At least I am a movie star - you're only on TV!  Cable TV!".  Oh, snap!  Security separated the twosome before they could further dissect each other's resumes.  For the record, it's cooler to guest star on Father Dowling Mysteries than co-star on Ellen, and a toupee is never acceptable.  

Canadian couple, Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morissette have officially ended their two year engagement.  If Reynolds wants to keep his relationship off the airwaves, he better steer clear of movie dates with forward women and doing anything ironic/not ironic at all.