SkimIt
To paraphrase Heidi Klum: In the entertainment world, one day you're in, and the next, you're out. Some of the celebrities you'll see in this space each week (should) have the spoils of fame and fortune to show for the years that they were in, but may have found themselves closer to being out of the loop recently before climbing their way back toward the top.
You know how some actors seem incapable of turning down whatever role is put in front of them, no matter how silly or insignificant? (Looking at you, Eddie Murphy.) When it comes to directing, Sean Penn is the exact opposite. While he's clearly talented as a director -- each one of his films is critically acclaimed -- the fact that he's only directed four movies since 1991 speaks to Penn's selectiveness in attaching himself to projects.
So it's kind of a big deal that, five years since his last turn in the director's chair (Into The Wild, again critically acclaimed), Penn is reportedly close to a deal to direct Crazy for the Storm, a script based on Norman Ollestad's memoir about a harrowing survivalist experience that happened to the author when he was just 11 years old.
Landing Penn to direct would obviously be a huge win for the producers, but even tougher might be casting an actor who would be believable in the lead role. Not too many child stars give off a tough-kid vibe, especially in this generation of Justin Bieber look-alikes.
Matthew Modine
Timing can be everything in Hollywood. At 53 years old, Modine was comfortably chugging along, working in some good but not spectacular movies with regularity, when suddenly in 2012 he's enjoying a popularity he hasn't known in years.
While Modine is currently co-starring in The Dark Knight Rises, this also happens to be the 25th anniversary of his career-defining film, the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece Full Metal Jacket. Modine sat for a new commentary for the special-edition Blu-Ray, which is getting a lot of attention. And if you've read Full Metal Jacket Diary, which Modine published in 2005 as a reflection on the journal entries he made back in '87 while filming the movie (and recently re-released as an iPhone app), you know there was a lot of craziness going on behind the scenes.
Not too long ago we had Reid in this space, predicting that her reprisal of her American Pie character in American Reunion would spark a career comeback for the actress with an up-and-down past. It looks like it worked, because recently Reid joined the cast of the indie comedy Last Call alongside Travis Van Winkle and Ryan Hansen. It's not the home-run project Reid may have been looking for (after all, Tom Arnold is in the movie), but at least it's something.
As dark and thought-provoking as the London Olympics opening ceremony was at times, Sunday's closing ceremony was planned as something a bit lighter and less abstract. Case in point: The Spice Girls finally reuniting in full force -- with Victoria Beckham to boot -- as a badly-kept surprise performance to co-headline with The Who. If you followed these Olympics via the American media, you knew it was only fitting for the group that made "Girl Power" a global catchphrase to get a featured role in the London send-off, as NBC and other U.S. outlets consistently beat us over the head with their own "Girl Power" stories of female athletes making a statement at the Olympics.
It's okay if you've lost track of Milano since her tenure on Charmed came to an end, as the former child star has been everywhere and nowhere at the same time: An indie movie here, a short-lived TV project or failed pilot there, a sitcom guest appearance or two thrown in the middle. There was a rumor that she was slated to appear in a third Ghostbusters film, but that has yet to materialize. Milano even wrote a book a few years ago.
So the news that Milano is on board as one of the stars in the upcoming ABC drama Mistresses -- a remake of the BBC series that follows the scandalous love lives of four female friends -- is the best news to come around in a while for her fans. With the backing of a major network and building off a show that is already popular in the UK, Milano looks like she's poised for a lengthy run on a quality show for the first time in a long time.
