from justin to kelly Tagged Articles at Cinematical

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.