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Morgan Freeman in serious condition after accident

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday after being seriously injured in a car accident near his home in Mississippi.

Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Freeman, 71, is in serious condition. The hospital is about 90 miles north of the accident scene in rural Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris Meyer of Memphis when the car left a rural highway and flipped several times shortly before midnight Sunday.

“There’s no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved,” Williams said. He said both Freeman and Meyer were wearing seat belts. The woman’s condition was not immediately available.

Freeman was airlifted to the hospital in Tennessee.

Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32 soon after it happened about 5 miles west of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.

McFerrin said it appeared that Freeman’s car was airborne when it left the highway and landed in a ditch.

“They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle,” McFerrin said. “He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point.”

McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor.

When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, “no freebies, no freebies,” McFerrin said.

Freeman won an Oscar for his role in “Million Dollar Baby.” His screen credits also include “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Dark Knight,” now in theaters.

He was born in Memphis, Tenn., but spent much of his childhood in the Mississippi Delta. He is a co-owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.

The hospital where Freeman is being treated is commonly known as The Med, and is an acute-care teaching facility that serves patients within 150 miles of Memphis.

Bardem says no to ‘Killing Pablo’

An interesting development at today’s press junket for Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Vicky Christina Barcelona when ComingSoon.net spoke to the film’s star Javier Bardem and asked him about Joe Carnahan’s Killing Pablo, for which the Oscar-winning actor was attached to play the title role of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

It was reported by Variety last October that the Yari Film Group was fast-tracking the film with Bardem playing the lead role and Christian Bale to co-star. When ComingSoon.net spoke to Carnahan earlier this summer, he was already talking about his trip down to Colombia to start preparing in order to shoot the movie in the fall. (At the time, he said nothing about the casting.)

In February, the National Ledger cast some doubt on whether Bardem would play the role, but it seemed more like Bardem hadn’t decided what he wanted to do yet, saying “Those credits are up in the air” even though Bardem was still listed to play the role on IMDb.com, having presumably been Carnahan’s first choice for Escobar.

With that in mind, ComingSoon.net asked Bardem today how he was preparing for the role, to which we were informed that it was “a mistake” and that it “wasn’t true” he was going to play the part in Carnahan’s movie. Since we presumed everything was in place for casting with the Variety report and Carnahan’s own progress on moving into production, we’ll have to wait and see who Carnahan gets to fill the role if Bardem is out. There’s been no word from Bale on his own part in the movie despite having spent the past few weeks doing press for The Dark Knight.

Justin Timberlake will host the Oscars?

Say those six words when you get to the gates of hell and you’ll immediately be ushered to the VIP section.

I think it’s pretty effin’ disgusting that the producers are even considering allowing this douche bag host the Oscars. How long are the Oscars? Like 15 hours? Imagine sitting through 15 hours of Justin Timberlake. There isn’t enough booze and drugs on the planet to get you through that.

A source told The National Enquirer (via CM) that the producers were impressed with Justin after watching him host the ESPY Awards. They thought he was “naturally funny.” And me thinks the producers are “naturally high.”

They also think Justin could bring in a younger audience. The source went on to say, “Justin is more than a singer, he’s a song-and-dance man – and turned in a performance (at the ESPY Awards) any comedian would envy. Our first question was, ‘Can we get him?’ Justin does it all, and knows how to work a star-studded audience.” Song-and-dance man? Since when is this douche Gene Kelly?

This may be the perfect time to end the Oscars awards show. It’s been a good run, but it’s time to call it a day the minute you start to consider Justin Timberfake as a host. Instead, they can hand out the awards in the parking lot of Bob’s Big Boy after Sunday buffet brunch.

‘The Dark Knight’ still dominates the box-office

“The Dark Knight” fended off a strong challenge from the new “Mummy” sequel to lead the North American box office for a third weekend, and is on track to become the second-biggest movie of all time.

The Batman blockbuster earned $43.8 million for the three days beginning Friday, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said on Sunday. Universal’s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” followed with $42.5 million.

The Walt Disney Co. political comedy “Swing Vote” came in at No. 6 with just $6.3 million, the latest disappointment for its star, Kevin Costner, who has not had a $100 million movie since 1992’s “The Bodyguard.”

The total for “The Dark Knight” rose to $394.9 million. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, said it expects the film to add at least $100 million, surpassing the $461 million haul of 1977’s “Star Wars” and its two reissues, the current No. 2 movie of all time in the United States and Canada. The $601 million record, held by 1997’s “Titanic,” seems watertight. Adjusted for inflation, though, “Titanic” ranks at No. 6, far behind “Gone with the Wind” at $1.4 billion, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

“The Dark Knight” will add yet another record to its impressive tally on Monday or Tuesday, when it breaks $400 million, which would be its 18th or 19th day of release. The old record of 43 days is held by 2004’s “Shrek 2.”

Internationally, “The Dark Knight” has earned $205 million, Warner Bros. said. Top markets include Britain with $50 million and Australia with $32 million.

MUMMY BIG OVERSEAS

Pundits had predicted that the “Mummy” movie could open to upwards of $50 million domestically, roughly in between its two predecessors, but the critically mauled Brendan Fraser film was a little bruised by the Batman juggernaut.

It marks the follow-up to 2001’s “The Mummy Returns,” which opened to $68 million. The franchise relaunched in 1999 with a $43.4 million bow for “The Mummy.”

Universal said “The Mummy” was big internationally. The film, co-starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, opened to $59.5 million from 28 territories. Top markets included Russia and South Korea, each with about $13 million. Because the action is set in China, and the Olympic Games kick off in Beijing on Friday, Universal has been cross-promoting the movie with its General Electric Co corporate sibling NBC, which holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the games.

Fraser has had a low profile since appearing as part of the ensemble in the Oscar-winning 2004 movie “Crash.” But he now has two movies in the top 5, with Warner Bros.’ “Journey to the Center of the Earth” at No. 5 with a four-week total of $73.1 million.

“Swing Vote,” in which Costner plays a hard-drinking oaf whose vote will determine the outcome of a U.S. presidential election, was released as a counterprogramming attempt. Disney distribution president Chuck Viane billed it as “a thinking person’s movie,” but it ended up being one of the worst openings of Costner’s career. Reviews were mixed.

Disney’s only summer success, the Pixar-produced cartoon “WALL-E” has earned $204.2 million after six weeks, and will pass the $206 million haul of last year’s “Ratatouille.” But it will end up as only the sixth-biggest of Pixar’s nine productions.

Despite the strong performance of “The Dark Knight” and “The Mummy,” overall sales fell for the second consecutive weekend, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers. The top 12 films grossed $149 million, down 10 percent from the year-ago period. Year to date, revenues are flat at $5.9 billion, while the number of tickets sold is down almost 3 percent.

Will Ferrell defends ShowBizCafe’s ‘Step Brothers’ negative review

ShowBizCafe.com, the first Spanish language film website to have a radio movie segment on FM in the US on the ‘Luis Jimenez Radio Show’ (he’s like the Howard Stern of the Spanish world). Comedian Will Ferrell phoned in to promote his new film ‘Step Brothers’ (we had given it a bad review the week before) and we had the tough task of confronting him on our negative review to his face! Talk about a tense moment. Click on the video player to listen to the interview in English.

Listen to Showbizcafe.com on ‘The Luis Jimenez Radio Show’ on ‘105.9FM La Kalle’ in New York, Los Angeles 1020 Radio AM, San Francisco La Kalle 100.7-105.7 FM, Chicago La Kalle 93.5 – 103.1 FM, Dallas La Kalle 99.1 FM, Fort Myers

Johnny Depp to be in third Batman film?

With The Dark Knight bringing in over $400 million for Warner Brothers, it’s no surprise that everyone is trying to figure out the casting of the sequel. The latest casting rumors, courtesy of WENN have Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman being eyed for the roles of the Riddler and the Penguin, respectively.

The role of the Riddler has previously been tackled by Frank Gorshin in the television version of Batman, with Jim Carrey wearing the question-mark covered tights in Batman Forever. Meanwhile, the Penguin was handled on television by the incomparable Burgess Meredith, and a distinctively disgusting Penguin was played by Danny DeVito in Batman Returns.

A source told the Enquirer that “(Producers) are convinced that the role of the Riddler is perfect for Depp. Johnny’s a pro. He’ll be able to take direction from director Chris Nolan and still make the character his own. And what better Penguin is there than Philip Seymour Hoffman.”

While it’s hard to argue against either Depp as the Riddler or Hoffman as the Penguin, when one considers the original source, it’s probably best to consider this one firmly in the ‘rumor’ category for now.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 – 4 scenes of the film

We have 4 scenes with the 4 lovely ladies of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2″ from Warner Bros. The film is defintely targeted towards women, young women who are becoming independent and have a great sense of friendship. The film is a bit too long and the resolution doesn’t come quick enough for us, but it is still a decent watch and not bad at all. Here are the 4 scenes of the film and let us know what you think!

Angelina Jolie to play ‘Catwoman’ in next Batman film?

The 33-year-old actress – who gave birth to twins Knox and Vivienne earlier this month – is said to be in final negotiations with studio bosses to play the feline villain who first appeared in the Batman comics.

It is not clear whether she would play the role in the current Batman film series, starring Christian Bale as the caped crusader, or in a spin-off film as Halle Berry did in 2004’s Catwoman.

Actress Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the Batman TV series from 1966 to 1967, has given her blessing for Jolie to play the part.

“Angelina would own the part,” Newmar, now 74, said.

“My industry friends tell me she has already made enquiries about the role. I can understand how it would pique her interest. Catwoman is Batman’s one true love.

“She is tremendously popular with women because she’s both a heroine and a villainess.”

Other actresses to take on the role of Catwoman include Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992 movie Batman Returns, and Eartha Kitt who took over from Newmar in the TV series.

Jolie was recently tipped to be starring in The Thomas Crown Affair 2 alongside Pierce Brosnan and has reportedly been ordered by studio bosses to put on weight for the role.

ShowBizCafe.com makes history!

SHOWBIZCAFE.COM BETA VERSION 2.0

Hello movie lovers and welcome to ShowBizCafe.com! For those of you who don’t know us, we are the first fully bilingual, English and Spanish, website devoted to movies in the world wide web. Our main objective is to highlight the great work Hispanics do in Hollywood and Latin America.

What is ShowBizCafe.com?
– SBC.com is the first dedicated film website developed specifically for US Hispanics who are Spanish dominant and English dominant, featuring breaking news, exclusive video, interviews and movie reviews.
– SBC.com celebrates today’s cinema and theater while highlighting the best and brightest of Hispanic talent.
– Target audience: US Hispanic movie-goers with internet access.
– Launched Winter 2007

What makes SBC.com unique from other movie sites?
– Written completely in Spanish and English.
– Content covers Hollywood and Latin America while highlighting Hispanics in film.
– No other Spanish language film site offers video and text reviews in Spanish about today’s Hollywood films.
– Unique weekly video segments like “Viernes de Estreno”, a video program highlighting the weekends opening films. Also, video reviews of your favorite movies.
– The only site of its kind for Spanish dominants and bi-culturals.
– The site is 100% dedicated to movies
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SBC Partners and Associations:
– People en Espanol Magazine: SBC is the exclusive film review content provider for the #1 leading Hispanic magazine.
– Morning Radio Program “The Luis Jimenez Show” nationally syndicated to 7 cities and based out of New York City’s, 105.9FM ‘La Kalle’, Univision Radio.