A Little Game Without Consequence, a dramedy that would have reunited Jim Carrey with Mask costar Cameron Diaz, has lost its two leads "due to amicable but substantial creative differences," the studio says in a statement. Carrey and Diaz reportedly wanted the film to retain a dark tone, while the studio was dead-set on something more commercial. This marks the third consecutive Carrey film to get sidelined.... Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte and Martin Short are in talks to join The Spiderwick Chronicles, playing the central kids' mother and a pair of otherworldly creatures, respectively.... Hard Candy's Ellen Page has the title role in Juno, a coming-of-age comedy also starring Arrested Development's Michael Cera.... Hustle & Flow helmer Craig Brewer tells the AP that he and Terrence Howard are working on a biopic about country crooner Charley Pride, which Howard will headline.
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Taryn Manning, Banshee
With her modest but pivotal role as Nola, pimp Terrence Howard's cornrowed pro in Hustle & Flow, Taryn Manning made folks sit up and notice. Now she's front and center in Oxygen's Banshee (premiering Saturday at 9:45 pm/ET), playing a tough-talkin' babe who steals cars with the greatest of ease. Alas, on one fateful night, she boosts the wrong ride, shifting into gear a deadly tale of revenge. TVGuide.com gave Manning a call — and caught this "tough gal" just as she was hollering down the hall to Mom.
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Walk the Line's Reese Witherspoon
While favorites Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) walked away with the top acting honors at Sunday's Oscars, Crash pulled an upset by lassoing the best-picture trophy away from Brokeback Mountain. In the supporting slots, Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and the never-fails-to-impress George Clooney (Syriana) grabbed gold. One of the night's other surprises came when rap group Three 6 Mafia's raucous "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" (from Hustle & Flow) merited the Academy Award for best song. (A complete list of winners can be found here.) Me, I couldn't help but be fixated on Keira Knightley's seeming inability to crack a smile for Jon Stewart. Geez, loosen up, girl.
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Question: Why are there only three songs nominated this year, and has that ever happened before?
Answer: The reason has to do with the current nominating practice for songs, which involves an averaged point system. Only songs that get an average score of 8.25 or better are eligible for nomination, and of the songs from 2005 films, the only ones that succeeded were "In the Deep" from Crash, "It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow and "Travelin’ Thru" from Transamerica. That said, there's also a stipulation that there have to be at least three nominations and no more than five, so if only two songs come up to snuff, there must be some back-up plan to get a third on the ballot.
Those are the rules now, but in the past they were clearly different: In previous years there have been as few as three song nominees (as far back as 1934 and as recently as 1988) and as many as
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Per the Hollywood Reporter, Adam Sandler and King of Queens' Kevin James are in talks to play firefighters who pose as a gay married couple in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) might direct.... Variety reports that Hustle & Flow's Terrence Howard has joined the cast of August Rush, costarring Robin Williams and Keri Russell, and is in talks to headline P.D.R., based on the true story of inner-city Philly swim coach Jim Ellis.
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Actor-rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, a part of Crash's SAG- and Critics Choice Award-winning ensemble cast (as well as a costar of the also-acclaimed Hustle & Flow), will guest-star on NBC's Law & Order: SVU on March 28, playing a nephew of Ice-T's Detective Fin Tutuola. "I have been a fan of Dick Wolf's Law & Order for a long time," Bridges says in a statement. "There was no way that I could turn down this amazing opportunity."
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Law & Order: SVU's Ice-T and Christopher Meloni
Actor-rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, a part of Crash's SAG- and Critics Choice Award-winning ensemble cast (as well as a costar of the also-acclaimed Hustle & Flow) will guest-star on NBC's Law & Order: SVU on March 28, playing a nephew of Ice-T's Detective "Fin" Tutuola. "I have been a fan of Dick Wolf's Law & Order for a long time," Bridges says in a statement. "There was no way that I could turn down this amazing opportunity."
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Lead actress nom Keira Knightley
Nominations for the 78th-annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning, and leading the herd was — yep — Brokeback Mountain, lassoing eight nods, including best picture, best director, and acting bids for Heath Ledger (in the lead category), Jake Gyllenhaal (supporting) and Michelle Williams. Challenging the cowboy romance for best-pic honors are Capote, Crash, Munich and Good Night, and Good Luck. The lead-actor race pits Ledger against SAG-Golden Globe winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Globe winner Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) and David Strathairn (Good Night), while the lead-actress contenders are SAG-Globe winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Globe winner Felicity Huffman (Tran
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