By Romeo San Vicente
Elijah Wood will turn 'Saucy Gay'
Elijah Wood's suddenly very busy again. Now that the two "Lord of the Rings" prequels have titles ("The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again"), release dates (December 2012 and 2013, respectively) and a cast that includes co-stars like Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry and Lee Pace, Frodo's keeping at least one foot in real world. Wood will appear as the "saucy gay friend" in a new comedy called "Celeste and Jesse Forever." Starring "Parks and Recreation"'s Rashida Jones and "Saturday Night Live"'s Andy Samberg as a divorcing couple trying to stay friends in the process, Wood will be on hand to do all that stuff that saucy gay friends in movies do for their favorite gals: hand-holding, cocktail-prepping and shoe-shopping. We promise not to be offended by the stereotypes as long as his character is genuinely funny and gets to be more than a punchline himself. Got it, filmmakers?
Miley Cyrus has the last 'LOL'
Just a few days ago Miley Cyrus had some Twitter fun at the expense of anti-gay politician Rick Santorum by publicly scolding him online (she also went after conservative-owned/progressively-marketed chain Urban Outfitters) and made it clear that pop star support for LGBT rights doesn't begin and end with Madonna, Kylie and Gaga. So if anyone out there wants to support Miley where it counts, at the box office – her film career outside of projects with the name Hannah Montana attached hasn't exactly set the world on fire – it would help to be aware of her two upcoming projects. She's just finished shooting two comedies, one called "So Undercover," where she plays an FBI agent (OK, stop snickering) who goes undercover in a college sorority, and it co-stars "Glee"'s Mike O'Malley, Kelly Osbourne and Jeremy Piven. She's also wrapped "LOL," a high school saga of peer pressure, cell phones and parents who just don't understand. That one features Demi Moore, "Hung"'s Thomas Jane and Gina "Showgirls" Gershon. The kid has shown that she's all right, now let's hope her movies are, too.
Jane Lynch's Emmy plans are all set
With the Emmy Award telecast moving to Fox this September, it only makes sense that the network would want to build the brand by selecting one their own as host. No, not Ryan Seacrest. He's already juggling two dozen gigs. The powers that be have selected "Glee"'s Jane Lynch. And, really, who could be better? The Emmy-winning actor is a natural pick: effortlessly funny, appealing to a variety of demographic slices of the audience pie and in bad need of a venue to break out of the Sue Sylvester rut her show's been digging all season long (so don't expect any formal track suit/tux combo). She can also sing, so when that goofy "here are the nominees in song" bit that every award telecast thinks is so great comes along, they won't have to bring in the "Glee" kids to help her out. Come to think of it, though, it is Fox; they just might do that anyway. Find out Sept. 18.
Lisa 'Queen of Mean' Lampanelli heads to Broadway
We already loved comic Lisa Lampanelli for causing a one-woman ruckus in opposition to the Phelps family and their tax-exempt Westboro Baptist operation (a group she calls "a $#*!!y sign-making company" instead of a church) by donating $1,000 to Gay Men's Health Crisis for every protestor who came to her recent show in Topeka, Kansas, a move that earned the group $50K. But now the self-described "Lovable Queen of Mean" plans to keep on giving as she heads to Broadway. There she'll co-create, along with writers from Billy Crystal's show "700 Sundays," a one-woman show based on her book "Chocolate, Please." No word on a date yet, but it's a lock that it won't feature any dangerous aerial stunts or annoying Bono songs. Save your ticket money for this one.
