Adrian Grenier, Jaime Pressly and Kevin Connolly during the premiere of ABSOLUT Los Angeles in Hollywood. (photo: Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com)

Mia in Wonderland

As a troubled gymnast on 'In Treatment,' Mia Wasikowska's character "Sophie" was pushed to do some serious self-reflection. Now Wasikowska is going all the way through the looking glass, playing Alice in Tim Burton's take on 'Alice in Wonderland.' Burton's version will be typically off-kilter, presented in 3-D with a mixture of live action and CGI. "It's such a classic and the imagery is so surreal," Burton said. "The stories are like drugs for children. It's like, 'Whoa, man'. So I think it's an interesting challenge." (photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com)

[guardian.co.uk]

Missionary Position

'Borat' director Larry Charles has one directive for 'Religulous,' his new documentary with Bill Maher: "I want to offend everybody. I don't just want to offend one group. In that sense I am not discriminating against anybody." With a goal like that, it appears that the two comedians' collaboration is kismet — if you believe in that kind of nonsense, anyway. "In fact, up until we worked on this project, the pair of us had undergone parallel lives without meeting each other," Charles says. "We'd even slept with the same women. Then when the project came around it was easy for us to get along. We got the money together quickly and started shooting quickly. No notes or meetings." (photo: John Shearer/WireImage.com)

[The Independent]

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly sing karaoke on MTV's 'TRL' in New York City. (photo: Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic.com)

Still Life with Parker

If you don't know a lot about art, but know what you don't like, 'American Artist' may be the new reality show to add to your Tivo list. Sarah Jessica Parker hopes to do for the art world what 'Project Runway' has done for fashion. Her production company is behind the new show for Bravo that will follow artist contestants as they compete in their various mediums and face a panel of experts who will judge whether their latest painting or sculpture is so last year. (photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com)

[Huffington Post]

Fancy Footwork

As fight fans await Saturday's highly anticipated welterweight championship between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, Mexico's Margarito (pictured) predicts the bout is "going to come down to whose rhythm we are going to dance to." Against two-division champion Cotto — who is legendary for starting slowly but delivering an unstoppable barrage of mayhem in the later rounds — 'The Tijuana Tornado' says, "I need to start my pace fast and see if he can keep up."

But Cotto, now considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, doesn't appear to be too bothered by Margarito's furious approach, "I will use whatever I need to use to win this fight," said Puerto Rico's newest boxing hero. "Until I get in the ring... I don't know what style will win this fight — move or box. But I will try to use everything and I always feel better when I do that." (photo: Will Hart)

[ESPN.com]

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Lance Bass during the Angel Beach/GHD hair care party at Project Beach House in Malibu. (photo: Chris Polk/FilmMagic.com)

Viking Expansion

Brad Pitt and George Clooney look out. Sweden's five-time Sexiest Man, Alexander Skarsgard (son of actor Stellan) is coming to America. The actor is already showing his range — playing Sgt. Bradley 'Iceman' Colbert in 'Generation Kill' airing now, and 1000-year old Nordic vampire Eric on the new HBO series 'True Blood' starting in September. For his role as 'Iceman,' Skarsgard drew what he could from his experience in the Swedish military, but admits that well wasn't very deep. "It's . . . Sweden. We shoot flowers. I mean, we haven't been in a war in almost 200 years. I was training for something I knew would never happen. Who's going to invade Sweden?" (photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage.com)

[LATimes.com]

Monkey Business

In real life, and as Larry David's wife, Cheryl Hines is a real shiksa. But somehow playing a marsupial in the new animated 'Space Chimps' brought out her inner Jew. "They actually told me that they didn't want me to sound like a chimp. They just wanted my regular voice. But Barry Sonnenfeld, who's one of the producers, kept giving me directions like, 'More chimp, less Jewish.' It seemed odd because I'm not Jewish. Then I thought, 'Why can't a chimp be Jewish?'" (photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage.com)

[Parade.com]

Robert Wisdom, Deirdre Lovejoy and Jamie Hector arrive at the The 24th Annual Television Critics Association Awards in Beverly Hills. (photo: Amy Graves/WireImage.com)

Ball Juggles Premieres

Some writer's claim to channel the Almighty through their pen, Alan Ball has a more earthly muse. At the Provincetown Film Festival screening of his forthcoming film 'Towelhead,' adapted from the novel by Alicia Erian, Ball said: "I tried to remain completely true to the intent and tone and spirit of the novel. I merely transcribed it." The coming-of-age story about Jasira, a 13-year-old Arab-American girl bows the same week in September that his new HBO series 'True Blood' premieres. "It will be a very busy week," noted Ball. (photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

[New England Blade]

[For more on 'Towelhead']

The Art of War

Soprano family soldier Furio Giunta certainly showed a softer side (when he wasn't busy busting kneecaps, that is), so it comes as no surprise that the actor who played him, Castelluccio Federico, nurtures an inner artiste of his own. Slightly more shocking: A painting he made of James Gandolfini and Edie Falco — modeled after the 15th-century portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino — has sold for $175,000 and set a high-water mark for 'Sopranos' memorabilia. "They're actually looking at each other but kind of have that 1,000-yard stare, looking past each other. The idea came in the fourth season, when they separate," Castelluccio said. "I never even thought of it as a 'Sopranos' thing. Painting is my life. I love acting and creating characters, but if acting left tomorrow, it would be OK because I still have my painting." (photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage.com)

[Reuters.com]

Debi Mazar at The Tarina Tarantino Pink Party in Los Angeles. (photo: Alexandra Wyman/WireImage.com)

Down with the Count

There will be no demands for a recount this time; Kevin Spacey is pleased with the 11 Emmy® nods that the HBO Film received, including his for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries of Movie. Ironically, he'll be going head-to-head with Tom Wilkinson, who played his rival, James Baker. "For me, 'Recount' started with a phone call from Sydney Pollack over a year ago," Spacey said. "He had been a friend of mine for many years and we never had the chance to work together. I was so excited about the prospect of working with him as a director. When he had to pull out, it was a devastating blow. But he said, 'You've got to stay with it.'"

Director Jay Roach (nominated for Best Director) stepped in and guided them all to a successful finish. Says Roach: "We hoped to make it both suspenseful and entertaining. We were trying to get the history right, to know what really went on. I think the script captured all those elements [screenwriter Danny Strong was also nominated]. It said every vote should count." (photo: Eamonn McCormack/WireImage.com)

[Daily News LA]

[See the other HBO nominees]

Hot Air

On 'Entourage' it would be Ari Gold making the call, but who rang Jeremy Piven in real life to tell him about his 'Entourage' Emmy® nod? The actor told Variety how he heard the news: "I was sitting in a hot air balloon somewhere over the Indian Ocean and I had nothing but a rusty compass in my hand and I was shivering and carrier pigeon delivered the news to me ... or my publicist called me." (photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

[Variety.com]