''American Idol'' recap: Catching us by surprise

What if hes got a point? I thought to myself. Well, hold on to your Orvis catalogs. Tonights hour proved thatIdolhas some worms left in its bait can. (Sorry, this fishing metaphor has me hooked through the gills.) Take, for example, Carly Smithson, the tattooed Irish songbird who closed tonights show. Anyhow, knowing all this, I approached Carlys audition with skepticism. Didnt she already get her shot at the Big Show?...

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 180 words · Maria Ray

''American Idol'': A wacky bottom three

The woman whose country-night rendition of Any Man of Mine was flawed, but hardly horrendous? This show should be rated R for Ridunculous! Not that I didnt see it coming, though. A lot of EW.com readers proved astute prognosticators, too. not everybody was down on this seasons countrified dude. Bucky did not do as badly as Mandisa, Paris or even Elliott last night, wrote Nic. Why is everyone so down on him?...

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 119 words · Maria Lynch

''American Idol'': Power rankings

Check out our rankings, then cast a vote for the singer that’s No. Jessica BrownProducers chose to highlight her one-time battle with meth addiction, butDr. NEXT PAGE: Nos. Brooke WhiteCall her Nanny McPlease! Her Corrine Bailey Rae number was a four-note snoozer! But what show are we watching when Simon gives Golden Tickets to undeniably middling vocalists? But her version of Whitney Houstons overdone Run to You was a hot mess....

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 93 words · Eric Stephens

''American Idol'': Previewing season 7

Last year we had nobody outstanding, he admits of the leggy, pony-hawked, and beat-boxing top 12. I promise its a different year altogether. He also swears the show wont be overtaken by guest stars like Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani. Weve got four or five splendid people coming, but were going to use less of them. Now that the apologies are out of the way, what else is new about season 7?...

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 174 words · Stephen Campos

''American Idol'': Taylor raises his game when it counts

But tonight, Im a little distracted. Maybe even mildly depressed. This isnt to say Elliott disgraced himself. Could it be he emptied his confidence tank seven days ago and couldnt afford to refill it? But, on the other hand, does that mean heshouldhave? But hes almost certain to head home Wednesday night. Yaminiacs: Start your five stages of grief now. Katharines closing number, I Aint Got Nothin But the Blues, wasnt exactly the stuff ofIdolmagic, either....

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 133 words · Tammy Perez

''Babel'': Brad and Cate's dark-horse Oscar contender

Brad Pitt sat nearby, slumped over on a rock, sweat pouring off him. Theres only one: See the village elder. I thought it was going to push me over the edge. Credit: Pitt & Blanchett Photograph by Martin Schoeller Suddenly, the 42-year-old actor leaps to his feet to demonstrate that crucial survival tool. Youve gotta find things to make you laugh during the shoot. Cate called it the Hungry Bum....

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 195 words · Margaret Baker

''Bachelor'' creator dishes on Brad's double diss

Oh no he didn’t! After all, this was season 11! Butlast nights finale, when Brad Womack dissed not one butbothfinalists, has everyone talking. Credit: Craig Sjodin It was a shock to the whole staff. When we knew how he wanted to play it, it was like a morgue around here. Usually at the finale theres a happy couple afterwards and theyre all drinking champagne. This time when it happened the staff just freaked out....

May 1, 2025 · 2 min · 415 words · Richard Ramirez

''Grindhouse'' should ax the competition this weekend

Kids are on spring break, offices are closed on Good Friday, and the competition is fierce. Well, sez me. Last time around, an impressive 86 percent of us correctly predicted thatBlades of Glorywould wind up at No. But can we do it again? and $66.2 mil (Vol. Considering the vast amounts of gore and movie-geek winks and nudges herein,Grindhousesmacks more ofKill Billthan anything else. Which bodes well for its second frame....

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 101 words · Nicole Murray

''Heroes'' returns: Fighting the future

(Seriously, people, come on!) Consider this a correction. Now, on to tonights episode, .07%. Could that be the percentage of people watching who believed that Peter might actually die? Of course he didnt, resulting in a very suspense- and emotion-free segment devoted to grieving over him. Until after the election. Like Angela Lansbury inThe Manchurian Candidatecold-blooded. The Petrelli family is in deep. To find out how deep, you should probably check out the NBC....

May 1, 2025 · 2 min · 262 words · Lisa Blevins

''Indy 4'' Q&A: Shia LaBeouf

Secrets, secrets, secrets! (Not that anybodys doing anything but talking speculatively at this point.) Now, anybody who follows film follows Steven, and what hes doing and whats next. Credit: David James/ © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved The problem is, at that time, Steven was working on about 16 different movies. So I went to [Spielbergs production company] Amblin, and I came into his office. I had started to think maybe I was going to the principals office....

May 1, 2025 · 5 min · 878 words · Sharon Owens

''Lost'': Locke finds more evidence

Well, balloon in tree is a lot more helpful than go around mountain. Now on to what proved a rather gripping installment ofLost. The timer counts down. Credit: Terry O’Quinn: Art Streiber Lockes legs are trapped beneath a blast door, so reluctantly, he explains the button to Henry. Henryappearsto prove trustworthy and wriggles through the vents, ostensibly to push the button. The timer counts down to zero, by the sound of it....

May 1, 2025 · 2 min · 366 words · Richard Harris

''Superhero Movie'' aims to topple ''Horton''

Can ‘‘Superhero Movie’’ succeed this weekend where all others have failed, unseating two-time champ ‘‘Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!’' from the top spot at the box office? Man, the voices of Jim Carrey and friends just wont shut up! Im talking, of course, aboutDr. Among them, I supposeSuperhero Moviestands the best chance of bumpingHortonout of first place. Okay, before I throw another metaphor into the mix, lets move on to the picks....

May 1, 2025 · 1 min · 115 words · Samantha Hammond

''Surf's Up'' directors catch the movie-penguin wave

After all, theyve already gone cuckoo for the animals in DreamWorks CG flickMadagascar. (Click here for Lisa Schwarzbaums review.) But we never really worried about it. Credit: LaBeouf: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com Kids are growing up with tons of reality TV, and theyre really used to the documentary style. So youre coming out at the tail end, as it were, of all these other penguin movies. We did wind up looking at some parts ofMarchas visual reference....

May 1, 2025 · 2 min · 286 words · Frank Patton