We learned a long time ago to always, always take Will Smith seriously. The man can do anything - fight aliens or zombies, be Ali, love German shepherds, etc. Mr. Smith is on a winning streak: last year I Am Legend made a truckload of money. Ditto last summer's Hancock (which we maintain was secretly Jason Bateman's movie, but whatever). But now we've come upon the trailer for actor's next film, Seven Pounds. The story, as far as we can tell, is about a man who did something really bad (we'll guess murderous drunk driving) and is possibly suicidal over it. But he looks for redemption when he decides to change seven strangers lives.  read more »

Uh oh. Last December we wrote about how much I am Legend freaked us out (seriously, we think the workout our heart got during the film qualifies as aerobic activity). The movie, based on the 1954 Richard Matheson book and starring Will Smith, laid out a vision of New York City almost completely wiped out of humans after the spread of a virus (thanks a lot, Emma Thompson!). The movie left us wondering if we should move to an apple farm in Vermont or, at the very least, go ahead and get that German shepherd.  Since the film made $584 million dollars internationally, it's probably not so surprising that  read more »

It's 2 AM and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully-lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to Bad Boys (starting @ 12:00 on HBO-Z - TWC 206)

Why we'll try to stay up and watch it: It's hard to remember now, but there was a time way back in the mid-nineties when Will Smith wasn't the biggest star in the world. It's true! In 1995, he was just another successful television actor trying to segue into movies. And what better way to start your career as an A-lister than with a hard-R action/buddy comedy where you get second billing to Martin Lawrence!  read more »

When Terrence Howard, the brown-eyed actor with the pencil mustache, arrived Wednesday evening at the subterranean level of Bloomingdale’s for the “Beat of Chic” party thrown by Vanity Fair, he was positively giddy. Thrilled, actually. Tonight he would perform songs from his debut album, Shine Through It, a combination of jazz and soft rock that he recorded with a group of musicians (subtly) called The Band of Kings.

"They greeted me as if I was George Clooney or something!" said Mr. Howard, seeming genuinely surprised by the attention he received upon entering.

"It's really a music lover's album," he told the Daily Transom. "I love flutes and clarinets and the viola. I love intricate arrangements that paint a picture. The music is intended to paint the most beautiful pictures."  read more »

Things went much as predicted this Fourth of July weekend. New Yorkers fell in love with a homeless wino with a penchant for busting road signs and throwing live whales into the ocean. Hancock landed on top of Manhattan's sales charts with an $850,956 box office showing. It was the same story nationally. Sony's film scored $66 million in ticket sales, putting it way ahead of Wall-E ($33.4 million) and Wanted ($20.6 million). Since first hitting theaters on July 2, Will Smith's jaded superhero has made a total of $107.3 million.

Much like his alky antihero, Smith is a force to be reckoned with.  read more »

Despite employing teachers who are members of the Church of Scientology and using teaching methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, administrators at Will Smith's new private school insist that it isn't a Scientology school.

Both Mr. Smith and Jada Pinckett Smith say they do not belong to the church and the New Village School's director, Jacqueline Olivier, told The Los Angeles Times' Carla Rivera that while some of its staff members are Scientologists, the school has no religious affiliation. Members of its staff are also Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.

"We are a secular school and just like all nonreligious independent schools, faculty and staff do not promote their own religions at school or pass on the beliefs of their particular faith to children," she said.  read more »

Last week, celebrity life coach Patrick Wanis, PhD, wanted to tell our readers his list of the Top Ten Celebrity Meltdowns of 2007.

Today, on the phone with the Daily Transom, he got a little more daring.

First up: recent news that Lindsay Lohan has started to use the paparazzi to her own advantage, setting up and pocketing proceeds from snaps of her own mug.

“I say kudos to her!” he said. “I was thinking last week, Why don’t celebrities just use their brain?”  read more »

So no action movie is ever going to take science seriously in its plotting. But I Am Legend, this weekend's top Manhattan movie, sparks some interesting ethical and scientific research issues.

Popular Mechanics decided to take on Will Smith head on: "Between a highly regimented schedule hunting deer in Times Square with his dog, Sam, and swinging a five-iron from atop a naval cruiser, Neville tries to find a way to reverse the virus using his own immune blood even as the Infected are closing in, setting traps and hunting him. But how much of this sure-to-be blockbuster Hollywood film (based on a famous sci-fi novel) is fact, and how much is fiction?  read more »

The lethal combination of Will Smith in the tentpole apocalypse-drama I Am Legend (No. 1), the nasty weather enveloping the Northeast, and nothing good happening on TV (which translates to nothing good saved for weekend DVR watching) created one of the healthiest weekends for Hollywood in some time. In Manhattan, who didn’t go to the movies? Each movie, save one, Enchanted (No. 8), averaged over the all-important $10,000 waterline, not to mention the behemoth $1 million-plus take of Legend, which broke the national box office record for a December opening with $76 million in receipts. Yowza!  read more »

Rumors suggesting that Will Smith is a Scientologist have been swirling and growing as he is seen in public more and more with Tom Cruise, a well-known member of the organization. There was even an item about it on Page Six today. But now, the likelihood that the I Am Legend star is in fact an L. Ron Hubbard disciple seems a bit greater. It turns out the Will Smith Foundation, which gives away hundreds of thousands of dollars to various causes, donated $20,000 to the Church of Scientology’s home-schooling program, called the Hollywood Education and Literacy Program. Recently on Access Hollywood, Mr. Smith reiterated what he told Men’s Vogue, saying, “I was introduced [to] it by Tom and I’m a student of world religion.”