Chuck Reed, Brother of Atlanta Mayor debuts theatrical presentation of Eugene O'Neill's classic, "A Long Day's Journey Into Night at Atlanta" 14th Street Playhouse, Stage 2 on March 24

check them out on facebook as well www.facebook.com/griots-fire-productions-llc

 

Ex-Raider Smith charged with murder

Former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith and two other men were charged with murder in the death of a man more than two years ago. Smith, 43, who lives in Fontana, Calif., was charged along with 41-year-old Charles Honest of Los Angeles and 32-year-old Dewann White of Bloomington, Calif., in the Oct. 7, 2008 death of 31-year-old Maurilio Ponce. Authorities said Ponce was beaten and shot several times and his body was dumped in a poppy field about 11 miles west of Lancaster, which is about 70 miles north of LA. Smith appeared in Lancaster Superior Court Thursday, and his bail was recommended at $1.05 million. Honest and White were scheduled to appear Friday, with a recommended bail of $1 million. Smith, who was living in Marina Del Rey, Calif., at the time of the murder, played for the Raiders from 1991 to 1997. He was selected out of the Univ. of Arizona with the 11th overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, and recorded 57.5 sacks during his career.

Director admits 'Transformers 2' was no good

Moviemaker Michael Bay has accepted his "Transformers" sequel was "c**p," insisting the 2007-2008 writers strike turned the film into a rushed mess.  He says, "We made some mistakes... When I look back at it, that was c**p. The writers' strike was coming hard and fast. It was just terrible to do a movie where you've got to have a story in three weeks.  "I was prepping a movie for months where I only had 14 pages of some idea of what the movie was. It's a B.S. way to make a movie." The film's star Shia LaBeouf has agreed with his director's comments. When asked about "Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen," the actor recently said, "We got lost. We tried to get bigger. It's what happens to sequels. It's like, how do you top the first one? You've got to go bigger. "Mike went so big that it became too big, and I think you lost the anchor of the movie... You lost a bit of the relationships. Unless you have those relationships, then the movie doesn't matter. Then it's just a bunch of robots fighting each other."

Sheen fired from `Two and a Half Men

Charlie Sheen was fired Monday from "Two and a Half Men" by Warner Bros. Television following the hard-living actor's bouts of wild partying, repeated hospitalizations and a bitter media campaign against his studio bosses. The action was taken after "careful consideration" and was effective immediately, the studio said in a statement. No decision has been made on the show's future without its star, Warner spokesman Paul McGuire said. Sheen, 45, who has used TV, radio and social media to create a big megaphone for himself, was not silent for long. He responded by referring to his bosses with the F-word and, "They lose," followed by the word "Trolls." Asked if he planned to sue, Sheen texted back, "Big." As for his next move, Sheen texted, "A big one." Last month, Warner canceled the remaining eight episodes of what was intended to be a 24-episode season of "Men," citing Sheen's public behavior and rants against Lorre.In a series of interviews, including with ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" show, Sheen boasted about his "epic" partying, said he's fueled by "violent hatred" of his bosses and claimed to have kicked drugs at home in his "Sober Valley Lodge." He glorified himself as a "rock star from Mars" with "fire breathing fists" and "Adonis DNA" and talked about his home life with two women he nicknamed his "goddesses." The actor, who was among TV's highest-paid at a reported $1.8 million per episode for "Men," brashly said at one point that he would ask for $3 million if he signed a new contract for future seasons.
 a pregnant Victoria Beckham, didn't think we would see it, lol.

Guy Ritchie And Jacqui Ainsley Expecting A Baby

The 29-year-old model and the "Sherlock Holmes" director have a baby on the way; the due date is in September. This is the director's third child. He has two sons, Rocco, 10, and David, 5, with ex-wife Madonna, whom he divorced in 2008. Ritchie is currently working on the "Sherlock Holmes" sequel. Meanwhile, Ainsley has modeled for Lynx, Boux Lingerie, Samsung, Sunsilk, Virgin Atlantic, Cosmopolitan and Tatler and appeared in "Die Another Day."



'Rango' No. 1 at box office with $38 million
Paramount's "Rango," the animated Western starring Johnny Depp and directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy), lassoed the year's biggest three-day opening so far with $38 million. In second was the romantic sci-fi thriller "The Adjustment Bureau," which collected $20.9 million. The fantasy romance "Beastly" snared third place with $10.1 million.

Jill Scott Inks Distribution Deal With Warner Bros. Records

After over 4 million records sold and numerous awards across music and film over the past decade, three-time Grammy Award winning singer/actress Jill Scott is proud to announce that she has entered into a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records. The unique relationship with the iconic label bolsters the Jill Scott brand into the next phase of her successful career. Jill's eagerly awaited fourth studio album, The Light Of The Sun will be released later this year.

Alec Baldwin Joins 'Rock Of Ages' Cast

The man who plays pent-up, suit wearing Reaganite executive Jack Donaghy in "30 Rock" has signed on to play a has been rocker and night club owner in the upcoming film version of "Rock of Ages." The film's director, Adam Shankman, tweeted, saying, "So, based on info I got today, I'm gonna confirm Alec Baldwin as Dennis in Rock Of Ages. Hollah." Dennis is Dennis Dupree, the one-time rock icon hanging on to his glory days. It was reported back in December that he was offered the role.
Baldwin will join Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough and Mary J. Blige in the film.

Emma Watson drops out of Brown University (for now)

Emma Watson, who famously enrolled at Rhode Island's Brown University in 2009, Monday announced that she'll be taking an indefinite leave from her studies at the Ivy League school. In a message posted on her official website, Watson writes about her difficulty "being a student AND fulfilling my other commitments." "I've decided to take a bit of time off to completely finish my work on Harry Potter (the last one comes out this summer) and to focus on my other professional and acting projects," writes Watson. "I will still be working towards my degree... it's just going to take me a semester or two longer than I thought : )."



TV NEWS

Comedian Mike DeStefano, who made it to the last rounds of NBC's "Last Comic Standing," has died, his manager confirmed; he was 44. The HIV-positive comedian, who often joked about addiction and disease, died of a heart attack.  He appeared on the the "Opie and Anthony Show," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Comedy Central's Live at Gotham" and at the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival and the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He placed fourth on "Last Comic Standing." The comedian also performed in stage shows, including one, "A Cherry Tree in the Bronx," that was to have had a special sneak preview performance at New York's Barrow Street Theater on Wednesday.

Anthony has joined the cast of TNT's "Hawthorne," the hospital drama starring Jada Pinkett Smith.

He reprises the role of Detective Nick Renata, the character he played as a guest star in two episodes last season. Renata and Pinkett Smith's Christina Hawthorne hit it off as he investigated crimes involving the hospital. The show returns for a third season this June.


Law & Order: Los Angeles 2.0.  A retooled version of Dick Wolf’s latest franchise extension will return to NBC’s schedule with a two-hour episode on Monday, April 11 at 9/8c before settling into its regular Monday 10/9c time slot the following week. When the dust settled, original cast members Skeet Ulrich, Regina Hall and Megan Boone were gone. Additionally, Alfred Molina’s DA character, Ricardo Morales, will now work the detective beat alongside Corey Stoll’s TJ Jaruszalski. And Alana De La Garza will reprise her role as ADA Connie Rubirosa from the L&O mothership. Terrence Howard remains as DDA Jonah Dekker.



NBCs Harry’s Law completes its freshman run on April 4



Brothers & Sisters and Everwood alum Emily VanCamp is returning to ABC as the star of a potential new primetime drama, Revenge. VanCamp has landed the lead in the project, written by Swingtown creator Mike Kelley and directed by Phillip Noyce. It’s described as a contemporary re-imagening of The Count of Monte Cristo from a female perspective and centers on Emily Thorn (VanCamp), a mysterious young woman who comes to the Hamptons to exact revenge on the people who destroyed her family.


Hank Azaria has been tapped to star in NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot Free Agents. The project, based on the UK series of the same name, explores the attraction between on-the-rebound PR execs Alex (Azaria) and Helen (TBD).

"Mad Men" star January Jones has ruled out ever portraying Grace Kelly in a movie biopic, saying she's convinced it would destroy her career. The actress has frequently been compared to the legendary Hollywood beauty.  Jones said, "I've been offered a couple of TV movies playing Grace Kelly, and there was no way I would touch them with a 7-foot pole. It would be career suicide. No one would watch them and come away saying anything other than, 'She's so not Grace Kelly.'"

ROLANDA WATTS CHARGED WITH DUI

former talk show host and actress Rolanda Watts was arrested and slapped with a DUI charge over the weekend. Watts was busted after midnight on Saturday in Hollywood.  She was taken to jail in Van Nuys and held on $15,000 bail. She has since been released, but has to appear in court on March 30.

No Alcohol or Drugs Involved in David Arquette Car Crash

David Arquette’s Friday auto accident was not a result of drugs or alcohol, authorities have determined.
“No alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash whatsoever,” Beverly Hills Police Dept. spokesman Lt. Tony Lee said in a statement. “It appears that the accident will be Mr. Arquette’s fault for driving on the wrong side of the roadway.”

Joran van der Sloot to Plead Guilty to Killing Stephany Flores Ramirez

Joran van der Sloot will plead guilty to killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez in Peru last May, but will argue temporary insanity, according to reports. The Dutchman, 23, will try for a reduced sentence using the "violent emotion" defense, his lawyer, Maximo Altez, said. The lawyer argues that Van der Sloot killed Ramirez on May 30 after becoming enraged when he realized she had looked at his laptop and learned of his connection to missing American teen Natalee Holloway, who disappeared from the island of Aruba in 2005. Ramirez, a Peruvian business student, was found bludgeoned to death in a Lima hotel room. Van der Sloot stands accused of first-degree murder – in Peru that means a 15- to 35-year sentence if convicted. But if his insanity defense holds up, Van der Sloot could serve only 20 months of a 3-5-year sentence, Altez says.

Rihanna not interested in 'Bodyguard' remake

Rihanna has no interest in filling Whitney Houston's shoes in the upcoming remake of "The Bodyguard" because she refuses to play a singer on the big screen. The pop star is set to showcase her acting talents in the upcoming science fiction film "Battleship" and hopes to follow up her debut with more film roles. But when asked if she was interested in "The Bodyguard" remake, Rihanna told OK! magazine, "Absolutely not. I want to separate the two. I hate it when singers do singing movies all the time because you can never look at them as anybody else."