In the wake of the recent cancellation of his eponymous Fox show, it looks like comedian/actor Martin Lawrence has quite a bit more than "nothing" to lose - his freedom, for starters. Regularly in trouble with the law, Lawrence, star of TV's "Martin" and the 1995 action blockbuster "Bad Boys," was sentenced to two years probation and 240 hours of community service on Sept. 17, in Los Angeles. Lawrence pleaded no contest to battery charges stemming from a March incident in which he was arrested for hitting an unidentified man in a nightclub after the man allegedly bumped into him. And the woes don't end there: Lawrence is still slated to pay an undisclosed amount of money to his victim.
Following another lousy performance by one of his films - both in the box office and, more surprisingly, with critics - ubiquitous director Oliver Stone seems to be slowing up a bit. The creator of "U-Turn" has big plans for the future, howe
"Who, me?" Comedian Martin Lawrence has run afoul of the law in recent weeks.
ver. According to Entertainment Weekly, Stone hopes to direct a film tentatively called "NFL," about the pro sports league. He also hopes to film the script he has written as a sequel to 1996's hit "Mission:Impossible." The original, directed by Brian De Palma, starred Tom Cruise as spy Ethan Hunt. A chance to work again with Cruise, the star of his 1989 film "Born on the Fourth of July," is reported to be Stone's biggest reason for doing the film. More important, it would seem, is a chance to get his career back on track.
Just because you're rich doesn't mean you're invincible. Just ask Steven Spielberg, director of some of the most profitable films of all time and one of the wealthiest men in the entertainment industry. Spielberg suffered a minor shoulder sprain when he was involved in an automobile accident on Sept. 23. His wife, actress Kate Capshaw, and their driver suffered no injuries. Spielberg's latest film, the slave ship mutiny saga "Amistad," is scheduled to open later this fall.
The name may not ring a bell, but the face certainly does. After 15 years of starring as "Fred the Baker" in Dunkin' Donuts commercials, diminutive, mustachioed actor Michael Vale is calling it quits. Entertainment Weekly recently reported that Vale's final spot for the pastry chain aired on Sept. 28, the last in a string of more than 80 memorable advertisements.
Music
The Straits Times reports that Janet Jackson's long-awaited new album, "The Velvet Rope," has been banned in Singapore. The reason? Well, it appears that Singapore's Office of the Controller of Undesirable Publications feels that three songs about abuse, homosexuality and sexuality are not in the best interests of Singapore's people. Perhaps Jackson will now sell only 10 million copies of "The Velvet Rope," not 10.1 million.
According to USA Today, Strong Island's favorite son, Billy Joel, is "following in the footsteps of Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney and Joe Jackson" by having written some classical compositions. Russian pianist Yuliya Gorenman performed this collection, called "Reverie," on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" on Monday.
Actor Warren Beatty "is slated to rap over tracks by the atmospheric mixmaster DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill in his upcoming movie, 'Bulworth,' due out in early '98," reports Addicted to Noise. Beatty plays a congressman who, according to Muggs, "goes to this club, and he's up for three or four days. He's delirious, he smokes weed and everything. And he's having this big old fundraiser with all the big oil people from the world," says Muggs. "He just loses his mind and flips out and starts rapping."
SELECT reports that "American dates for The Verve begin on November 1st, and are expected to attract a group of crazed fans who are convinced (that lead singer Richard) Ashcroft is an otherworldly priest of voodoo, and that live The Verve shows are, in the words of one source, 'going to open some sort of time tunnel to an alternate universe.'" (Be sure to catch the group at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit on Nov. 10).
- Compiled by Daily Film Editor Joshua Rich and Daily Music Editor Aaron Rennie.
