Cheeta, the 76-year-old chimp named the oldest living, non-human primate by The Guinness World Records, has a lot going for him.
He's retired. He lives in Palm Springs. And he's had prominent roles in a number of Hollywood hits during his lifetime, including the Tarzan movies and the 1967 comedy Doctor Doolittle.
So why is Cheeta sad?
Because he can't get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, despite trying six separate times. This year, his handlers have launched an online petition to get supporters to urge the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to give him a star in 2009.
The petition notes that Cheeta's canine colleagues Lassie, and 1920s stars Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart are immortalized on the boulevard, along with fictional animals Kermit the Frog, Godzilla and Donald Duck.
Help Cheeta reach his dream here. You know he'd do it for you.
There's been a lot of talk lately about The Incredible Hulk, but we mustn't neglect the family of that other Hulk -- Hulk Hogan. His daughter, Brooke, says she's "totally freaked out" by her 48-year-old mother's new boyfriend. Why, you ask? Because not only is he 29 years her junior, but he's also a former schoolmate of Brooke's. "He was a grade under me," she says.
Linda Hogan filed for divorce from the Hulkster in November after nearly 24 years of marriage. The couple's son, Nick, is serving an eight-month sentence after pleading no contest to causing a crash that seriously injured his friend.
"You know, I thought we were one of the normal Hollywood families," Brooke says. "It's crazy watching it all fall apart, but I hope for the best."
OK! Magazine reports that Britney Spears is on the list of potential Emmy nominees for her appearances on How I Met Your Mother. The list includes 40 other actresses, but how did this performance manage to crack the top 50?!
Dallas/Fort Worth Airport is turning into a spaceport this weekend, as the Hilton Regency DFW hosts FedCon, a science fiction convention that will feature stars of Farscape, Battlestar Galactica and, of course, Star Trek.
Representing Deep Space Nine will be Robert O'Reilly and J.G. Hertzler, who played the Klingons known as Gowron and Martok. And Garrett Wang, who played Ensign Kim on Voyager, will also be onboard.
But the Star Trek show with the biggest contingent will be the most recent one, Enterprise. Dr. Phlox, Commander Tucker and Ensign Mayweather -- a.k.a. John Billingsley, Connor Trinneer and Anthony Montgomery -- are all scheduled to attend.
In their honor, give a listen to this little ditty.
Skaar: Son of Hulk, a new comic book series written by Greg Pak, debuts today. To promote it, Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited is offering a free summary of Pak's previous Hulk sagas, Planet Hulk and World War Hulk.
I saw an advance screening of The Incredible Hulk on Monday night with an audience full of comic geeks and movie fanatics who'd been in line since the morning. People really love that big, green hunk of anger! And they went absolutely nutzoid before the film started, when free t-shirts were thrown out. But you want to know about the movie, yes? Here's the lowdown:
How does it compare to the 2003 Hulk movie?
Hulk was an overlong, emotional thinker that focused on the science of the green monster's origin and felt more like a meditation on comics than an adaptation of them. The Incredible Hulk continues the story, but takes a completely different tone that will make fanboys and blockbuster buffs a lot happier. There are combat and explosions galore, with a little bit of a love story thrown in.
And the new stars?
Scrawny Edward Norton may seem an unlikely choice to play Bruce Banner, but like Robert Downey Jr., his brains matter more here than his brawn (and the brawn is well taken care of by CGI). Norton's facial expressions and mannerisms contain a subtlety that might not come easily to your average pretty-boy actor. As his love interest and partner-in-science Betty Ross, Liv Tyler perfects the wide-eyed -- yet slightly damaged -- comic book dame.
What about the supporting players?
William Hurt effectively transforms himself into the hard-hearted general, and Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother Where Art Thou) gives my favorite performance of the movie as a scientist who sets out to help Bruce Banner overcome his Hulkness. But everyone will be talking about Tim Roth, in the role of a British fighter who gets some gamma up in his system and decides he wants to be a monster, too.
There's another monster?
Yeah, and he. Is. Awesome. In case you can't tell from the trailers, he's the bad hulk to Hulk's good hulk, and both hulks fight in a climactic, hulkalicious scene. It's like WWE on crack.
Any other keen observations about the green guy?
Well, compared to the new villain, he's not as scary-looking. He actually has lovely teeth.
Does he say, "Hulk smash!"?
I refuse to answer that.
Are there many different locales featured?
Off hand, I can think of Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Virginia and New York City.
Are there any surprise cameos?
Depends on what you consider a surprise, but yes, there are cameos. Certain comic-book legends, former Hulks and even another blockbuster movie character pop up in unexpected situations.
How many times did the audience break out into applause?
I counted four, not including the insane free T-shirt incident.
How many audience members were wearing Minnie Mouse ears, inexplicably?
One.
How many audience members were painted green?
Sadly, none.
How many broadcast movie critics breezed into the theater seconds before the lights went down?
One. That Gary Cogill has this screening thing down to a science!
As you can tell from my review, I'm not a Hulk expert. But Dan Koller is, and you need to read his story from today's Quick on the many faces of Hulk.
Two updates on local comic book artist Brian Denham. He's drawing an X-Files comic that will be released next month to coincide with the new movie. And he's scheduled to appear at the FedCon science fiction convention this weekend.
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