Today at Flavorpill, we were incredibly sad to hear that Captain Beefheart has died at the age of 69. We found out that Jim Carrey will host the first Saturday Night Live of 2011. We came across the year’s most baffling top albums infographic. We discovered that watching Fox News actually makes you dumber. We concurred with Garfield’s non-take on Lasagnagate. We read a sentence from Gwyneth Paltrow’s forthcoming cookbook. We were depressed by the practicality in these kids’ letters to Santa. We saw what happens when Christmas decorations go too far. We loved this slideshow of photos of a pre-Dude Jeff Bridges. We crushed even harder on Kathleen Hanna after we heard her tell the story behind “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” And finally, we wished that we lived in London, where Elisabeth Moss and Keira Knightley are starring in a West End revival of The Children’s Hour.

1. According to the NY Post, Jim Carrey is renting studio space from Julian Schnabel. Says a source: “Jim is working on a large abstract canvas. His work is actually quite good.”
2. NBC may be moving 30 Rock to a 10pm time slot to make way for the return of Parks and Recreation and a new comedy, Perfect Couples. [via EW]
3. “My whole goal is to reintroduce magic to hip hop. We watched this wizard do his thing. Y’all supported him. And he’s an official Roc Nation signee.” Jay-Z on signing Jay Electronica to Roc Nation
4. Michael Jackson’s first official posthumous single — “Hold My Hand” — is here. A different version of the song leaked back in 2008, but this one is supposedly a lot better. [via Vulture]
5. Watch the five most ridiculous moments from last night’s premiere of Sarah Palin’s Alaska — including its unfortunate theme song. [via Gawker.tv]

Bonus link: Download the New Girl Talk Album, All Day

Forbes has come out with a list of Hollywood’s most overpaid actors for 2010. To do this they looked at the 36 highest-earning actors in the movie business and compared the actor’s pay with what their last three films made earned (with a cutoff date of June 1, 2010). The resulting number comes in the form of amount the studio has made for every dollar they paid the star (for example, for every dollar Will Ferrell was paid, his last three films returned an average $3.35). Click through for the top 10 and our slightly over-the-top analysis.

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It’s time for Screech (Dustin Diamond) to stop making pornos, and get in on the Saved By the Bell reunion train. No stranger to the financial problems, is now being sued by an energy company. You gotta read the fine lining on those contracts: apparently utilities weren’t included, Screech.

Remember when Michael Vick was one of the NFL’s highest paid players? (We don’t either.) Well, now the ex-Atlanta Falcon-er is behind bars for his dogfighting operation and claiming bankruptcy. Ew. Read More »

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival marks an important anniversary: The Big 2-5. However, not everyone is celebrating. In this economic climate the buyers seem to be exercising caution before placing the golden bet. [NYDN]

Evidenced by to the multitude of stories referencing it, the economy is surely having an effect on Sundance, but has it gotten bad enough that Emmy Rossum has given up acting to wait tables? Her short-lived waitress gig at the MySpace Cafe is actually to benefit Global Green, an environmental charity. Rossum is in Park City supporting Dare, a drama which costars Zach Gilford. [LAT]

Jim Carrey has had a plethora of roles in his day, but we see him in a new light in I Love You Philip Morris, where he plays Ewan McGregor’s gay lover. The film, a poignant and unique love story with enough twists to keep the audience enthralled, appears to be getting good reviews, but perhaps more importantly, what was Carrey’s review of McGregor’s kissing skills? “A dream come true,” he jokes. [HuffPo]

Speaking of witty retorts to reporters’ questions, John Krasinski had an interesting answer when asked what it was like directing himself. Krasinski panned, “I’ve never worked with a bigger diva.” The film in which The Office star plays dual roles is an adaptation of the late David Foster Wallace’s work, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. The author, who took his life last fall just after the film wrapped, never had the opportunity to see the finished product; Krasinski, a longtime fan, hopes it honors his memory. [NYT]

The first weekend of Sundance is over and there is no shortage of assorted, celeb-infused soirees to report. The Bon Apetit Supper Club dinner hosted an eclectic crowd Saturday night. From Rupert Isaacson, whose journey to find a cure for his son’s autism is captured in the documentary, Over the Hills and Far Away, to Mike Tyson, who is the subject of James Toback’s, Tyson. The former fighter, well known for his antics and legal trouble, will choose to abstain from many of the festival’s parties, because he is cautious to avoid the troubles that his last round of celebrity brought him. [Variety]

Another unlikely pairing was Jim Carrey and 50 Cent at the Vitaminwater house party who did a duet of “In Da Club” in celebration of Carrey’s birthday. Also in attendance was girlfriend Jenny McCarthy, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Cuba Gooding Jr., Paris Hilton, and rounding out the bunch, Wesley Snipes. [EOnline]

Over at the Rock Band Lounge, where newlywed Nick Cannon was doing the DJ honors, according to party-goers, Mariah Carey debunked rumors of a baby on the way by having a little too much to drink. The culprit, wed wine. However, Mariah’s rep says the rumors are false. [NYDN]

With all the dinners and parties the stars have to stay in shape somehow. For Uma Thurman, it’s no problem, because apparently she never misses a workout. It is reported by fellow passengers that mid-flight on the airplane from New York to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Thurman did a twenty minute yoga and dance routine in the aisle. Other stars are more inclined to take advantage of the fresh Park City powder by hitting the slopes. [ContactMusic]

Aside from stalking the halls at Flavorwire, Erik Davis contributes to Fandango.com and is also the editor-in-chief of AOL Moviefone’s Cinematical.com, one of the longest-running and most popular movie blogs online. He’ll be bringing us his industry reports from Sundance throughout the festival, and can be reached with tips or questions at erik [dot] davis [at] gmail [dot] com.

When it comes to a major festival like Sundance (celebrating its 25th anniversary this year), the word used most in conversations amongst film nerds is ‘buzz’. But ‘buzz’ is a tricky animal, because it can come from anywhere, is often unreliable and won’t, under any circumstances, stick around to say it’s sorry after steering you in the wrong direction. Read More »

Last year Hamlet 2, sold to Focus Features for a cool $10 million making it one of the biggest deals ever to go down at Sundance. The year before Little Miss Sunshine went to Fox Searchlight for the same hefty price. The first film, most of you probably didn’t see, but it was kind of funny — just not $10 million funny. (This was our favorite part.) The latter won two Academy Awards and that year’s Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature. Go figure.

So what films are poised to land this year’s double-digit deal given the current economy? Variety has a few starry-eyed ideas about it here; we provide a cheat sheet for the buzziest flicks after the jump.

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Leckey wins Turner art prize: Artist Mark Leckey won the UK’s Turner Prize yesterday, one of the most prestigious and contentious prizes for art. He is known for his film installations, inspire by pop culture entities like Blade Runner, Felix the Cat, The Simpsons and Jeff Koons’s work. He took home $37,000 and hopes to start making a television show. [Reuters]

10 Things remade for TV: ABC Family’s set for a new show that we didn’t think would reemerge past middle school. The 1999 flick 10 Things I Hate About You is being made into a TV series starring Ethan Peck (Gregory Peck’s grandson), who reprises Heath Ledger’s role, Lindsey Shaw and Meaghan Jette Martin. We love this almost as much as we love our Prada backpack. [THR]

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Whether or not JOHNNY CASH stand-in JOAQUIN PHOENIX goes through with his half-baked plan to become a real rocker, someone needs to take a stand against celeb vanity bands (KEANU and BILLY BOB were bad enough, but now CBS dinosaur BOB SCHIEFFER is getting in on the action!).

Of course their sons and daughters are another thing entirely; it turns out some of them are actually pretty awesome.

After the jump, we take an in-depth look at four budding Hollywood-baby bands — none of whom were on this horrible MTV show — including the daughter of a pet detective, a National Treasure’s evil offspring, a punk squawker with a history of violence, and the Sundance regular’s kid.

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