Entertainment: February 2008 Archives

"In a time when the world is searching for enlightenment, one man is in a position to help." The man: Mike Myers. The position: Not exactly the Lotus.

Check out this hilarious trailer for Mike Myers' new flick The Love Guru. The Austin Powers star plays Pitka, the "second best guru in India," who, after being raised outside of his country by gurus, returns to the States in order to break into the self-help business. His first challenge: To settle the romantic troubles and subsequent professional skid of a star hockey player (played by 40 Year Old Virgin actor Romany Malco) whose wife left him for a rival athlete (played by Justin Timberlake).

The film, which gives Timberlake a pumped-up-in-the-trunks, Boogie Nights-style 70's porn star makeover, also features Jessica Alba (as Jane Bullard), Gandhi star Ben Kingsley (as Guru Tugginmypudha), and Daily Show funny man John Oliver (as Dick Pants). It promises some light-hearted enlightenment, and features the best transcendental invention ever: a motorized guru cushion so you can mediate on the go. Anyone know where we can buy one of those?

If player fails to load click HERE to view.

The Daily Mantra is glad to see new episodes of one of our fav shows, Medium, back on air. We’re loving the way the writers switched things up, with D.A. Manuel Devalos’ downfall making way for the entrance of Anjelica Huston’s mercenary character, Cynthia Keener (though we’re a little upset about seeing less of hunky detective Lee Scanlon played by actor David Cubitt).

In a recent TV Guide interview, Huston revealed there may be more to the seemingly cold-hearted Ms. Keener than we have initially been lead to believe. “Yes, Cynthia is flinty and weird, but there's a reason for that,” says Huston. “She harbors a dark secret and is on a quest. She needs money because of a personal interest I won't divulge. There's something very strongly at stake. In the end, you'll see she's actually a pretty good egg. I like that my character starts out being quasi-skeptical about Allison's powers, then starts to believe in them to the point where it unites the women.

When asked if she was “into this psychic stuff” the actress, who played who has played numerous supernatural characters, replied, “Oh, absolutely! I find it very fascinating. I don't want to sound like a page out of the National Enquirer, but I have some psychic powers of my own, a modest sixth sense, if you will. I think a lot of women have it, certainly not as acute a gift as Allison's, but we've got it! We weren't burned at the stake for nothing!”

Star Trek fans will have to wait an extra few months before their future begins. The new incarnation of the USS Enterprise had been set to blast off on December 25, 2008 (see previous story) but Star Trek XI's release is now being delayed until May 8, 2009.

"Summer is where you see the Star Wars and the Transformers," said studio spokesman Michael Vollman. "Star Trek is in that league." With the new release date, the stage is set for a battle of epic proportions between Star Trek XI and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is scheduled to open the week before. "Star Trek is in fantastic shape. This is all about box-office potential," said Vollman.

Click HERE to view official trailer.
Click HERE to find out which Star Trek leader those in the know think should be the next American president.

The Daily Mantra paid our respects to Aretha Franklin at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles last night. After randomly catching The Blues Brothers on TV the night before, and shopping at Whole Foods to the sounds of "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" yesterday, when some free tickets materialized at the last minute (thanks Ken!), we took it as a sign that the Universe wanted us to go see her, and we're certainly glad we did.

After the storm in a tea cup at the Grammys, when Beyoncé referred to Tina Turner as "The Queen," which upset Franklin since "The Queen of Soul" is a title she has long laid claim too, it was notable that the Nokia Theatre master of ceremonies kicked the performance off by introducing the legendary singer as the "Empress of All Music" (top that Beyoncé).

The night's performance seemed effortless to Franklin, who didn't break a sweat as she busted out classic after classic. When you watch the Aretha wannabes on American Idol, they always make you aware when they're going for a tough note, conveying the difficulty of the feat they're about to achieve as if to highlight their skill. While our new American Idols push and strain to attain pitch and volume, Franklin's only challenge is the fight to hold back and control her overwhelming vocal power.

The true magic of a great performer lies in making it all look so easy, rather than making the audience hit the edge of their seats every time they sense a challenging note coming along as today's so-called idols do. With the finale came a gospel choir, as if to underscore the fact that Franklin's talent doesn't lie in soulless vocal gymnastics, but is born of spirituality, and impassioned pleas to a higher power to raise all our spirits to a better place.

Lost in Lost? Help is at hand, for viewers of the show at least, if not for those stuck on the island. Lost-Pedia is an unparalleled resource for all things Lost, hosting 3,575 articles, and counting, related to the enigmatic ABC series. If you've lost the plot, as Hurely did in last night's season premiere, you can fill in the blanks thanks to the kind folks at AOL, who are hosting all three previous seasons in HD online. With flash-forwards being the new flashbacks, even the most avid follower of the fortunes of Oceanic Flight 815 might need some enlightenment from Lost guru/blogger Daniel, who hosts a Lost Diary Q&A each Monday. Can't wait for the next episode? Oceanic Air promise to take you to "places you never imagined." Try booking a flight with them at FlyOceanicAir.com. And remember what's lost can be found. Join the search at Find815.com.