No Reservations

Before setting off on her India movie-making adventure, Catherine Zeta-Jones showed off her No Reservations in Tokyo. She looked smokin' hot, as usual, but this dress has nothing on that fiery little red number she wore to the NYC premiere of the movie. Neither her costars nor Michael was by her side for this one, but that dress is exciting enough to carry the event all by itself. Not many women can pull of floor length animal print and still look classy, but CZJ is definitely one of them.

To see more of CZJ just read more

In an attempt to score a lot of viewers, television holiday specials always seem to have the oddest premises — such as the infamous David Bowie/Bing Crosby pairing and the beyond weird Star Wars Christmas special. Well, this Christmas, we can add another "weird-but-amazing" special to the list: the No Reservations Holiday Special.

The Queens of the Stone Age have just performed "Silver Turkey Bells" for Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation special. While Bourdain was cooking up a full traditional meal in his Connecticut home, the Queens were down in his basement rocking out in the finest holiday sweaters. They then joined him for some holiday fun. They won't say exactly what will happen — we have to watch for that — but they have hinted to karaoke, surly adolescents, Japanese businessmen and violence. Or as Bourdain said:

“It’s a traditional Thanksgiving/Christmas meal with turkey, all the trimmings, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie … some Christmas carols … and a vicious brother-on-brother knife fight.”

I don't know about you guys, but I am counting down the days until this airs.

Source: Rolling Stone - Thanks to geeksugar for the tip!

Looks like Bart, Homer, Marge and the gang aren't just small-screen superstars anymore. The Simpsons Movie pulled in an estimated $71.8 million — the third-highest opening ever for an animated movie, behind only the two latest installments of the Shrek series — to run away with the weekend box office title. According to the Hollywood Reporter, that's well above the industry's highest expectations. Springfield must be so proud.

The cartoon family bumped I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry down to the No. 2 spot with about $19 million in sales. Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix stayed strong at No. 3 with $17 million and is now on pace to become the highest-grossing film franchise in worldwide box office history, topping Star Wars and the James Bond movies. Hairspray, meanwhile, grabbed another $15.5 million to capture the No. 4 spot.

Pleasant surprise No Reservations edged out Transformers for No. 5 with about $11.7 million (Transformers brought in $11.5 million). The weekend's other much-discussed new release, the Lindsay Lohan film I Know Who Killed Me, sneaked into the top 10, bringing in $3.4 million to finish at No. 9.

The Simpsons might not want to get too comfy on that couch atop the box office rankings, though. Next weekend, a man named Jason Bourne is coming to town.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Catherine Zeta-Jones looked perfectly put together strolling through NYC the other day, but we're still not over how hot she looked in her little red number at the premiere of No Reservations. We love CZJ, and are happy to report that our buddies Buzz and Yum were both pleasantly surprised by the film, and Yum even cooked up one of the movie's many delicious meals! If you're still not sold on the new romantic comedy with Aaron Eckhart, maybe you should stick to the No Reservations television show.

Pacific Coast News

Guess who was at the premiere of No Reservations? I'll give you a hint, think "watch what happens." Think you know who it is? read more

I'm about to say something shocking. I saw No Reservations (the film with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart, not the show with Bourdain) and I actually liked it. I originally agreed to join BuzzSugar (who also enjoyed the film), but almost backed out because I really wasn't interested. The trailer looked cheesy, and the story looked weak. However, it was the promise of upclose food pornography and hot kitchen action that made me stick with my plan. And you know what? I was really glad I did. Not only was the story well executed and the characters entertaining, the food talk was delectable and droolicious on such a large screen. When Zeta-Jone's character talks about quail, scallops, saffron, or any other various dish, my mouth would water like one of Pavlov's dogs and my tummy would rumble. In fact, although I ate right before the film, I left craving roasted quail, homemade pizza, creme brulee, fish, spaghetti and most importantly, scallops with saffron sauce. Luckily I've found the recipe they used to create Zeta-Jone's signature dish and now I'm going to share it with you. To check out the recipe read more

In No Reservations, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Kate, a hard-headed, controlling chef who refuses to let people into her heart. Going into the screening for No Reservations, I felt a little bit like Kate — prematurely wary that this movie would leave me feeling burned, so to speak. To my astonishment, it wormed its way into my heart by the end, gentle and sweet as a raspberry sorbet.

The sentimental drama (which is a remake of the German film Mostly Martha) begins with Kate talking to her therapist — about food. She's been ordered to see a therapist by her boss, the no-nonsense (but exceedingly accommodating with customers) restaurant manager Paula (Patricia Clarkson). As the story unfolds, we sporadically attend therapy along with Kate, who gradually opens up to her therapist. Structuring the story around these visits is a seemingly simplistic device that works exceptionally well to make the audience feel safe and satisfied. This way, there's a definite progression we can make with Kate as she begins to trust her therapist — along with herself. Yet therapy isn't the only aspect to this movie, so read more