Elizabeth Banks and Mark Wahlberg at the premiere of 'Invincible.' (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

Will Valerie Get Her Own Emmy?

How did Lisa Kudrow choose which episode of 'The Comeback' to submit to the Emmy®-nominating committee? According to awards-show expert Tom O'Neil's blog, 'Gold Derby,' she was planning on entering 'Valerie Gets Her Own Special Episode,' but switched to 'Classic Leno' when she heard it was his preferred choice. Stay tuned Sunday to see if he was right. Either way, Kudrow will be headed to Romania in October to film the romantic comedy 'The Deal' opposite William H. Macy—the story of a suicidal producer (Macy) and a movie exec (Kudrow). Star crossed indeed. (photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com)

[Gold Derby]

[RTE Guide]

Bubbles Rap

Hip Hop bounces to 'The Wire'

Village Voice music writer Tom Breihan gets juiced when he spots Andre Royo (Bubbles on 'The Wire') on his commute to work, and the sighting sets him to musing about his favorite show's impact on the music scene. While Breihan cites 'Scarface' as hip-hop's most popular reference point, the Baltimore-based dramatic series "really caught on with rappers mostly because it examines outlaw life in really gripping and thought-out ways."

The Wire's executive producer David Simon, always in search of authenticity, has hired musicians such as Method Man, Fredo Starr and Big G from the Backyard Band to fill vital roles on the critically-acclaimed crime saga. And as the blog Narrowcast illustrates, rap stars have eagerly employed Wire actors in their videos. Adds the Voice's Breihan: "The show is a more naturalistic and detailed look at the day-to-day life of street-corner dealers than anything else that's made its way through the pop-culture fog." (photo: Mark Sullivan/WireImage.com)

[Village Voice]

[Narrowcast]

Rain Man

Chris Noth signs on to save the Rainforest

Activists, radicals and rabblerousers...or just those interested in an enlightening night of cocktails...are invited to join Big himself on September 9th, as Chris Noth, Whoopi Goldberg and John C. Reilly team up to co-host a benefit for the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the group the Wall Street Journal dubbed "the most savvy environmental agitators in the business." RAN aims to end our oil addiction, protect endangered forests, and promote human rights and sustainable finance. Tickets to the benefit, to be held September 9th at Noth's Plumm nightclub in Manhattan, start at just $100. For more information, visit www.ran.org/give/ny. (photo: Gaye Gerard/WireImage.com)

[Eurweb]

Rough Love

Alba loses tooth in Dane Cook "love" scene

His battle-worn Tourgasm buddies send their sympathy. Working with Dane Cook is not for the fragile, as Jessica Alba learned while shooting some hot and heavy scenes with the comic It-boy for their upcoming film, 'Good Luck, Chuck.' The actress chipped one tooth and lost another. "We're smashing our faces together, it's not the slowest, most romantic love scene," she told TV's 'Extra.' But maybe Cook, who plays a dentist in the film, was just practicing some extractions... Despite her missing teeth, Alba won the Teen Choice "hottie" award on Sunday. "If you truly want to be hot, be yourself," she told the crowd. Gapped teeth and all. (photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

[TMZ.com]

Dawes Actor

Quinn to play champion of American-Indian

Aidan Quinn has signed on to star in 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,' an HBO original movie based on Dee Brown's best-selling book of the same name. The film depicts the displacement of American Indians during the U.S. westward expansion in the later 1800s. Quinn plays Senator Henry Dawes, who was responsible for the Dawes Act, designed to convince tribes to cede tribal land rights in favor of individual land allotments. (photo: Stephen Lovekin/WireImage.com)

[Reuters]

Mr. Maher Goes to Washington

Real Time host ready for more political funny business

With our current topsy-turvy world, news junkies have been hankering for the August 25th return of 'Real Time with Bill Maher.' But none more so than the comedian himself, according to the New York Post. "When movie stars are getting pulled over and they start spouting anti-Semitic rants, it's a tough day to be on the sidelines."

Of course, with the fall midterm elections coming in November, the war in Iraq, corruption in Washington, terrorism and an unpopular president, Bill Maher will have plenty of fodder for his left and right winged guests to chew on. On Friday, October 6, Maher will even enter the belly of the beast when 'Real Time' airs live from D.C.

Maher added that, for a comedian, the "news is a great wellspring of material. For me, I never thought there was anything better than the news. . . . It's always changing." (photo: Jesse Grant/WireImage.com)

[NY Post]

[Real Time with Bill Maher]

Paula Patton at the NY premiere of 'Idlewild.' Check out our premiere party slideshow. (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

Idol Wild

Stars turn out for the NY premiere of 'Idlewild'

OutKast's Big Boi and Andre 3000 joined their stylish co-stars at the NY premiere of 'Idlewild' on Monday night. The movie chronicles two struggling musicians during the Prohibition era, with big musical numbers— and big stars, including Patti LaBelle, Ben Vereen, Macy Gray, Ving Rhames and Terrence Howard. The NY Times Magazine charts the similarities between the movie's two stars and the characters they play, calling their relationship as much a marriage as a friendship—one in which every adolescent dream shared has come true.

The pair's red carpet dreams could be glimpsed outside the Ziegfeld on Monday. But the stars are giving back—proceeds from the premiere benefited the Hinton Battle Theatre Laboratory. (Tony-award winner Battle choreographed the film's dance numbers, creating "swop," a hybrid of swing and hip hop.) (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

[NY Times Magazine]

[Playbill.com]

Birthday Woman

Kim Cattrall turns 50

A belated happy birthday to Kim Cattrall, who turned 50 August 21. As TMZ reports, getting your AARP card never looked so good. She's still steaming up the screen—her Nissan car commercial was pulled in New Zealand for being too suggestive. And this October, the sexy siren will be appearing on stage in London at the Donmar Warehouse in 'The Cryptogram,' by David Mamet. (photo: George Pimentel/WireImage.com)

[TMZ.com]

[ABC News]

Adams Family

Hanks & HBO tap Giamatti for John Adams miniseries

Paul Giamatti has been cast to play young John Adams in an HBO miniseries based on the David McCullough bestseller. Produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman ('Big Love,' 'Band of Brothers'), Giamatti will play the founding father (known for his temper, some say) back when he was a lawyer in Massachusetts, mobilizing the colonies to revolt against England. Shooting begins in January in Virginia, and the series is scheduled to air in March 2008. (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

[Virgin.net]

Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook backstage at the Teen Choice Awards (photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com)

Statuesque

Deadwood leading ladies offer up trophies

HBO took home 17 Creative Emmy® Awards on Sunday night, more than any other network or cable channel. Leading the pack was the HBO film 'Elizabeth I,' garnering five awards, followed by 'Bagdad ER' and 'Rome' with four apiece. Pictured here, Robin Weigert and Paula Malcolmson ('Deadwood' 's Calamity Jane and Trixie) cleaned up nicely as presenters, doling out awards for Outstanding special visual effects and lighting direction. (photo: John Sciulli/Wireimage.com)

[Now Playing Magazine]

Trophy Afterlife

Patricia Clarkson takes home an Emmy® for 'Six Feet Under'

Clarkson was named outstanding guest actress in a drama series for a second time for her role as Sarah O'Conner, Ruth Fisher's sister, on the last season of 'Six Feet Under.' The show also won for outstanding prosthetic makeup for the series finale 'Everyone's Waiting.' (photo: John Sciulli/Wireimage.com)

[E online]

Attaboy Tony

Gandolfini stays home with exclusive production deal

James Gandolfini has signed a three-year exclusive production deal with HBO. The three-time Emmy Award®-winning actor will develop and produce original television programming for HBO and will also have a first-look deal for feature projects at HBO's distribution company Picturehouse.

With his business partner, Alex Ryan, a former Paramount exec, Gandolfini is setting up a production company called Attaboy Films. Already in development is the Barbara Turner penned biopic 'Hemingway,' with the acclaimed Philip Kaufman ('Quills,' 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being') attached to direct and Gandolfini playing the legendary writer. The drama focuses on the fiery romance between Hemingway and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn.

Also in the works for the Attaboy crew is a documentary chronicling the stories of soldiers in Iraq titled 'Occupation Iraq' with HBO Documentary Films. (photo: Bobby Bank/Wireimage.com)

[Access Hollywood]

Jeremy Piven poses with rapper Common at a Los Angeles event to kick off their Gap ad campaign. (photo: John Sciulli/WireImage.com)

Bono, Rosario Become 'One'

Stars join anti-poverty campaign

Rosario Dawson joined Hollywood and music industry heavyweights for the launch of the newest T-shirt from ONE, The Campaign to Make Poverty History. The project (in association with EDUN, the socially conscious clothing brand created by Ali Hewson and Bono) will help bring fair trade and AIDS treatment to factory workers and their families in Lesotho, Africa - where the shirts are made. Others involved in the campaign include Naomi Watts, Kate Bosworth, Q-Tip, Gary Oldman, Gabriel Byrne, Peter Sarsgaard, Jimmy Fallon, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams. Check out the hot Ts at ONE. (photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com)

[ETonline]

Wig Wag

Jeremy Irons thanks his lucky dogs

Sure his agent is great, but Emmy-nominee and 'Elizabeth I' paramour Jeremy Irons would like to pay tribute to his pups, Dottie and Dora, for being a "huge help and an enormous source of encouragement" on the set of the Elizabethan drama. "They help in ways a director can't. You know, girlie things, hairdos and such. Dottie would wag when she liked Helen Mirren's wig, subtleties like that." The Oscar winner will be heading to LA for the Emmy awards this Sunday, August 27th. "If he wins, let's listen for Dora and Dottie getting a mention in his thank-you," suggests syndicated columnist Liz Smith.

[Baltimore Sun]

He Walks the Line

Dority Goes Nashville

He's best known as Dan Dority on 'Deadwood'... and as Cameron Diaz's mentally challenged brother in 'There's Something About Mary'... but W. Earl Brown also has some musical chops. He's the lead singer of Sacred Cowboys, an LA-based country band that recently recorded 14 songs and is currently in Nashville mixing them with Johnny Cash's longtime engineer. "We are playing footsies with some record companies," says Brown, sounding a bit like the Man in Black himself. "In a month or six weeks time, if we don't have something concrete, we'll press it ourselves." Though he's always been suspicious of actor-musicians and vice versa, as Brown sees it, "there are different technical skills, but any artistic pursuit - painting, writing, poetry, music - is self-expression. I have always loved the quote, 'Love the art within yourself, not yourself within the art.'" (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[Tennessean.com]