[DailyWhat]

Read more posts by Edith Zimmerman

Filed Under: movies, brandon hardesty, celebrity impersonation, christopher walken, clickables, jack nicholson, video, willy wonka

[Playlist]

Read more posts by Edith Zimmerman

Filed Under: movies, amanda peet, catherine keener, clickables, motion picture trailers, nicole holofcener, oliver platt, please give, video

The region mopped up Sunday following a bout with high wind and heavy rains that uprooted trees, downed power lines and flooded some creeks and rivers. Accidents involving falling trees claimed five lives, while an off-duty say trooper died in a weather-related crash. Hundreds of thousands were without electricity.

The weather caused delays at airports throughout the region, and kept people hunkered down in their homes. Many Monday morning commuters were expected to face flooded streets riddled with debris.

“High winds are over, but the rain and flood threat remain in Mid-Atlantic and Northeast,” CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras said. “There are major travel delays — and more expected on Monday.”

More than a half-million customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut lost electricity at the peak of Saturday’s storm, which carried wind gusts of up to 70 mph. It came about two weeks after heavy snow and hurricane-force winds left more than a million customers in the Northeast in the dark.

“I spent most of the past few months clearing snow and ice out my driveway, sidewalks, front walks, and now we are picking up all these branches,” Jack Alexander stated as he and his family worked to clear debris from the front yard of their Egg Harbor City home. “It seems like we have had every type of weather event you could have this winter – I’m nearly afraid to see what else can happen.”

Farther north in Jackson Township, drivers were negotiating stretches of flooded roadways and detours caused by fallen trees and accidents.

“Fortunately it’s a Sunday, so there is not as much traffic to deal with” stated Vanna Hayes, a 32-year-old New York City resident who was in the area to visit relatives. “We wanted to go to Atlantic City last night, but we put it off because it looked like a monsoon was happening down there.”

Hundreds of people remained out of their homes in the northern Jersey community Bound Brook, where flooding is common.

Among those in a shelter were the Malik family, including eldest son Norbert, who celebrated his ninth birthday Sunday. His mother stated he had cried Saturday night because he was worried the storm would ruin his celebration. Instead, he stated it was the ideal birthday he ever had.

“I woke up, and I got to ride in a police boat, and then a truck and a small bus,” stated Norbert, accompanied by a new friend he had met at the shelter. “I came here and met all my friends and got to help the Red Cross people mix iced tea.”

About 400 Atlantic City, N.J., residents remained displaced for a second day Sunday as crews tried to take down a crane that snapped and twisted at the Revel Entertainment casino construction site, sending debris crashing through a window of a police cruiser but not hurting anyone.

The displaced residents live in a condominium complex and two apartment buildings near the site, and they were ordered to leave their homes due to safety concerns. They may not be able to return until Tuesday.

In Manhattan, Broadway’s sidewalks and trash cans were littered with hundreds of shattered umbrellas.

“Last night was wicked,” stated Ron Recoskie, heading out for brunch and shopping on the Upper West Side. “I’ve never seen so many umbrellas on the street.”

The New York Police Department stated it received its second-highest volume of emergency calls in a 24-hour period during the storm: 65,000 calls, most related to the weather, between Friday night and Saturday night, behind only the 96,000 calls received on the first day of a big 2003 blackout. The NYPD normally receives about 38,000 calls in 24 hours around Saturday.

In the New York-New Jersey area, airlines reported delays and scattered cancelations because of the bad weather.

At the storm’s peak, more than 265,000 customers in the New York City area and 235,000 customers in New Jersey were without power. The Philadelphia area reported 70,000 customers without electricity, while more than 80,000 customers in Connecticut sat in the dark.

PECO, an electric company serving the Philadelphia area, had assistance from crews from western Pennsylvania and Michigan, but some customers may have to wait until Monday for power to be restored, spokesman Fred Maher said.

Falling trees proved to be a deadly hazard.

A New Jersey woman was killed and three others were injured in Westport, Conn., after a tree fell on a automobile Saturday night during the storm, police said. Another woman died when a tree struck her as she was walking in Greenwich, Conn., they said.

Authorities in the suburb of Teaneck, N.J., stated two neighbors were killed by a falling tree as they headed home from a prayer service at a synagogue. The men – 49-year-old Ovadia Mussaffi, president of the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck, and 54-year-old Lawrence Krause – were struck by a massive oak tree around 7 p.m., Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli stated Sunday.

In Hartsdale, N.Y., another suburb, a man was killed when a massive tree crushed the roof of his automobile and entangled it in live wires. Brendan McGrath, 58, of Auburn, N.Y., was found dead in his 2009 Hyundai sedan. His wife, Mary, also 58, escaped from the passenger side.

In Rhode Island, an off-duty say trooper died in a crash early Sunday after his automobile hydroplaned in a massive patch of standing water left from the weekend’s storms, say police said. James Dougherty Jr., a 41-year-old detective sergeant, was killed in West Greenwich.

The storm also left damaged buildings in its wake.

In Uniondale, N.Y., the aging Nassau Coliseum lost three pieces of its aluminum facade about 90 minutes before the begin of the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders National Hockey League game.

Strong winds fueled a fire that started in a home in Ocean Grove, N.J., and quickly spread. At least four homes were destroyed, and a historic inn was damaged.

Flood warnings were issued for rivers in northern Jersey, including the Ramapo River at Mahwah and Saddle River at Lodi, where minor to moderate flooding was expected Sunday. A coastal flood advisory was in effect for the Jersey Shore.

In suburban New York City, the storm caused major erosion at Jones Beach, where the entire sand area was underwater Sunday, and all trails at Long Island’s say parks had to be closed because at least 100 trees had fallen. It will take weeks to restore the sand and clean the parks, say parks spokesman George Gorman said.

In northern New England, a wind advisory and flood watch were in effect for extreme southern Maine and parts of New Hampshire.

Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York and Samantha Henry in Bound Brook, N.J., contributed to this report.

The latest in the Duke of Edinburgh’s long line of gaffes came last week, when he asked Elizabeth Rendle, 24, a Navy sea cadet teacher and part-time barmaid, if she worked in a strip club.

“I just stated that I worked in a club and then he asked, ‘Oh, what, a strip club?’,” she told The Daily Telegraph newspaper. “Obviously I stated ‘No’ and then he stated ‘Oh, it’s a bit too cold this day anyway.’”

The comment prompted laughter from Rendle and her fellow cadets as they hosted the Queen and Prince Philip during a visit to their barracks in Exeter, England, on Thursday.

Though a source told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper that the gaffe was “typical Prince Philip” to deliver a “cheap joke or re-mark which lands him in trouble,” Rendle stated the 88-year-old royal did not offend her at all.

“I was quite surprised but I think he was just trying to lighten the mood,” she told the Telegraph. “I do not think he put his foot in it, it was a joke and I did not take any offense. I think he was just putting people at their ease.”

While Rendle was not miffed, the “strip club” re-mark is just the latest in a long line of blunders from Prince Philip.

During a visit to China in 1986, he warned a group of British students that “if you stay here much longer, you will all be slitty-eyed.” On a 2002 visit, he asked an Australian Aborigine if he was “still throwing spears.” Last year, he poked fun at a blind cadet’s choice of tie. After the Queen asked the boy, Stephen Menary, about how much sight he had left, Prince Philip chimed in, saying, “Not a lot, judging by the tie he is wearing.”

Here’s former Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day in an ad for Millions of Milkshakes (left) — and ex-con rapper Lil’ Kim at an event in NYC in 2006 (right).

One of them is African American.

We’re just sayin’.

Tags: Aubrey ODay, AubreyOday, Lil Kim, LilKim

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It was the moment Howard Stern fans were waiting for — JD showed up in Los Angeles on Friday night for his date with Ashley Dupre … and got a superstar’s welcome.

Stern gave JD $5,000 to spend on Ashley anyway he wanted — and he chose to fly out to Los Angeles for a night on the town. They went to Nobu for dinner but what we wanted to know … what were they planning for breakfast?

Tags: ashley dupre, AshleyDupre, date, dinner, howard stern, HowardStern, jd, nobu, video

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The two met in London while he was there directing the 2007 comedy ‘Run Fatboy Run.’ Schwimmer shot to fame playing Ross Gellar on ‘Friends.’

They recently have been living together in Chicago while working on a stage show called ‘Trust,’ a piece developed by Schwimmer and his writing partner Andy Bellin.

Schwimmer has been simultaneously editing the motion picture version of ‘Trust,’ which stars Clive Owen and just wrapped shooting in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the stage play, which plays through April 25 at the Lookingglass Theatre.

Filed under: Famous Couples – TV News

Graves, whose film and tv career spanned about 60 years, was perhaps ideal known for his Golden Globe-winning portrayal of IMF leader James Phelps on the iconic spy series, which ran for seven seasons on CBS. He later reprised the role in an ABC reboot, from 1988-1990.

Graves’ small-screen career dates back the mid-’50s when he landed a regular gig on the NBC Western drama ‘Fury.’ From then on, he became a regular face on television, with additional roles on ‘Whiplash,’ ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents,’ ‘The Dean Martin Show,’ ‘Fantasy Island’ and, more recently, the WB family drama, ‘7th Heaven.’

In the mid-’90s, Graves became the host of A&E’s ‘Biography,’ and received an Emmy for the 1997 special ‘Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow.’

Of course, Graves’ career was not just limited to television. The legendary actor also appeared in a number of high-profile films, including Billy Wilder’s ‘Stalag 17,’ opposite Oscar winner William Holden, and the 1955 thriller ‘Night of the Hunter.’

But it was the 1980 comedy ‘Airplane’ that earned Graves the most fame — and laughs — on the huge screen. Graves played Captain Clarence Oveur in the film and its 1982 sequel, and uttered such memorable lines as “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?”

Last October, Graves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honor his incredible career.

According to the Times, Graves is survived by his brother, actor James Arness (‘Gunsmoke), his wife, Joan Graves, whom he married in 1950, and his three daughters. He died just four days shy of his 84th birthday.

Filed under: Movie News – Celebrity Deaths – TV News

ABC confirmed Friday that White, 88, will play a school librarian whose disciplinarian flair comes out after one of the series’ stars fails to return several library books on time, People magazine reported.

The network stated the “Middle” season finale featuring White will film next week and is scheduled to air sometime in May.

Among White’s past TV appearances are roles in series such as “Boston Legal,” “The Golden Girls,” “”Ugly Betty” and “My Name is Earl.”

People magazine stated “Middle,” which follows the life of a middle-class family, stars Patricia Heaton, Chris Kattan, Atticus Shaffer, Eden Sher, Neil Flynn and Charlie McDermott.

Mel Gibson and Bill Monahan, the screenwriter behind The Departed, are currently hammering away on what might be Gibson’s last film ever: a Viking epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

“I saw it in my mind back when I was teenager. Seriously, it’s the first motion picture I wanted to make. And I think it will be the last film I direct. It’s the thing I have been going toward, in a way, since I was young, and I think when it’s done I may be finished.”

Gibson cited the need for a Viking motion picture because “it’s something the audience hasn’t seen in a long time.” Over 50 years have passed since Kirk Douglas’s The Vikings, and apparently The Thirteenth Warrior doesn’t count because, well, it starred Antonio Banderas.

People close to Gibson brushed off the suggestion that this film would be his last. He’s probably just taking a page from Brett Favre’s playbook to make sure the film is extra, extra epic. Viking epic.

Mel Gibson states Viking motion picture (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) may be his last [Hero Complex/LAT]

Read more posts by Zeke Turner

Filed Under: end of days, brett favre, leonardo dicaprio, viking epics, vikings epic