Tom Sizemore by Mark Sullivan/WireImage.com
Tom Sizemore is set to Crash onto TV screens.The troubled actor, who spent the past year in prison for violating a methamphetamine conviction, has nabbed a recurring role on Starz's upcoming series Crash, The Hollywood Reporter reports.Sizemore will portray "unorthodox" Detective Adrian Cooper who stirs up trouble during a police-shooting investigation on the show, which is based on the Oscar-winning film.Already cast in the project, which will feature a new set of intersecting characters, are Dennis Hopper, Clare Carey (Jericho), Jocko Sims (CSI), Ross McCall (CSI: NY) D.B. Sweeney (Jericho), Nick Tarabay (The Sopranos) and Michael Fairman.Crash will be the first original series for Starz. — Joyce Eng
read more
Dennis Hopper by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
It’s one of the more intriguing ideas for the fall season: turning the Oscar-winning movie Crash into a weekly series, which the pay-cable movie network Starz hopes will put them on the map the way Mad Men did for AMC a year ago. (It’s scheduled to premiere Oct. 17.) But don’t go in expecting a sequel. The characters are all new, although as in the movie, they’ll reflect the racial and class tensions of Los Angeles as their lives intersect in unexpected and sometimes random ways.“I didn’t feel the need to go back to that movie and say, OK, what happens on the next day,” says executive producer Glen Mazzara (The Shield), who was hired to reinvent the movie into a series. “I knew instinctually what that movie felt like. … So it really comes out of the emotion that I felt when I watched that film. It really was just a feel of that film I was going for.”A brief clip reel was all that Starz was able to show critics, but the producers (inc...
read more
D.B. Sweeney by Araya Diaz/ WireImage.com
D.B. Sweeney (Jericho, The Cutting Edge), Nick Tarabay (The Sopranos) and Michael Fairman have joined the cast of Crash, the Starz channel's TV adaptation of the Best Picture Oscar winner. Previously, Dennis Hopper was announced to head the ensemble. Sweeney will play Peter Emory, a successful pre-bust real estate developer, Tarabay a police lieutenant having an affair with a fellow officer, and Fairman an overbearing father. — Matt Mitovich
read more
Dennis Hopper by Michael Buckner/WireImage.com
Dennis Hopper has joined the cast of Crash, the upcoming Starz series based on the Oscar-winning film. Hopper will play Ben, a music producer who's been around the block a few times and is waiting for his Next Big Thing. Hopper joins an ensemble that includes Clare Carey (Jericho), Ross McCall (CSI: NY) and Jocko Sims (CSI).While there are no direct character overlaps with the film, the 13-eppy drama — the first original series for Starz — will explore the same theme of "social tolerance" and examine the notion of the American dream through each character's journey. Will the addition of Dennis make the show an easier ride for you? Or does the small-screen adaptation sound like it'll crash on arrival? — Anna DimondUse our Online Video Guide to see some of Dennis Hopper's many on-screen moments.
read more
Despite already having two identities, teen phenom Miley Cyrus has legally changed her name, according to ET. The artists formerly known as Miley Cyrus will now be known as Miley Ray Cyrus (sound familiar?).... NBC's American Gladiators is doing so well that it's already set to expand to 90 minutes for two eps. Now, The Hollywood Reporter says, it will be enjoying a companion spin-off in the form of Gladiators 2000, a mid-'90s series featuring teen contestants that was hosted by none other than a young Ryan Seacrest (albeit pre-hair highlights).... Starz has greenlit a TV adaptation of Crash, which will be the network's first original series. The film's director, Paul Haggis, will be back to cowrite and produce, along with Don Cheadle and Bobby Moresco, among others. Let's just hope it fares better than, say, a certain Irish mob drama. — Anna Dimond
read more
I sure hope you didn’t skip 24’s literally explosive Night 2—seriously (as Shonda Rhimes would say), how dark is this new season already?—for the Golden Globes Monday night. All the flowing wine seemed to have loosened and thickened nearly everyone’s tongue, resulting in long speeches that combined with a sluggish pace and an epic number of ads to push the show beyond the 11 pm/ET cutoff time. (You know an awards show is badly time-managed when the seriously big winners are forced to hurry through their speeches.)Anyway, to have had a good time, it looks like you really did have to be there this year. And partake of the bubbly.Imagine the collective yawns and groans across the land when that international bummer Babel (this year’s overly contrived Crash) took home the best drama trophy, handed out by Arnold Schwarzenegger on crutches that could have been a symbol for the whole wobbly though star-studded evening.But enough about movies, with this except...
read more
I love talking about movies but Ive never been able to organize movie-night get-togethers So this is the next best thing On Tuesdays Im going to spotlight a DVD and suggest some virtual-discussion startersAs I was watching Bobby last week a movie that by the way I like rather better than most reviewers its reach outstrips its grasp but isnt ambition a good thing I couldnt keep my mind off Robert Altmans Nashville 1975 a model for successful multistrand narratives Its one of my favorite films ever I saw it when it opened at a now-vanished theater called the Baronet I showed it regularly during the five years I taught film historytheorycriticism and after all those viewings it retains the power to chill me with its distillation of the heart-wrenching gulf between ideals and actions between dreams and the grubby day-to-day reality of making it from sunrise to sunset without drowning in the troubles of the world I know what youre thinking You dont really l
read more
I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's confession-themed episode, as did my roommate Jason, who referred to the Lynette-Susan-Gaby-getting-drunk-on-the-porch scene as one of the all-time funniest and well-written scenes, and I agree. Just that scene alone had highlights galore, like Lynette confessing her innermost feelings about Tom: "I want him to have what he wants — if it's what I want. I'm a bitch with a capital C." Earlier, Gaby's line had us rewinding to watch it again: "I'm just gonna say it. Tequila makes me happy!" Then, after the neighbor couple walked by: "Yeah, we're drinking on the porch — you got a problem with that?" followed by: "Can I tell you guys something? I can only tell you guys." Susan: "Oh my god — here she goes again — what grade is he in?" And before that, Susan to Lynette: "Where were we?" Lynette: "You were trying to figure out how to kill Edie without doing time." Susan: "I wish Paul Young was still around. He’d know what to do." But th...
read more
Question: Which fall pilots would you deem worthy of my time?
Answer: I finished watching the last of the pilots over the weekend and I have fantastic news: For the first time in recent memory, the good fall shows easily outnumber the bad ones — at least based on the pilots I saw. As Desperate Housewives taught us, the second and third episodes tell us much more about a show's creative bones than a season premiere. With that said, here are the fall offerings that have the most FauxVo potential.
* Vanished (Fox) and Kidnapped (NBC): Among the things these two thrillers share in common: They both&
read more
Question: The Oscar voters seem to go out of their way to nominate the "little guys." Felicity Huffman was nominated for Transamerica even if the movie made less than $3 million at the box office. Why can't it be the same for the Emmys? If the Oscar voters were anything like Emmy voters, then Crash or Brokeback Mountain wouldn't even be on the list of nominations. I am especially nervous about the category for best actress in a comedy: I agree with you that Marcia Cross deserves to win. She makes the transition from a psychotic alcoholic to a caring mother look so freakin' easy! Unfortunately, I have a feeling that Teri Hatcher will also be nominated. She's a great actress, but there are actresses who are more deserving. Huffman is always great, but this season of Desperate Housewives belonged to Cross. Mary-Louise Parker will probably get nominated, too. Other nominees I'd like to see are Lisa Kudrow — sadly, I think the Emmy voters might pass on her, and though she was on HBO, her ...
read more
