Since one of my friends is an idiot who watches more television than Billy Baldwin in Sliver ("Get a life!"), I got hooked on American Idol during the 2005 season, which boasted what may have been the most talented class of finalists in the show’s history. Of course, the winner was some prematurely graying jackass who appealed to the inner-mediocrity of the contest’s target audience. You’re already screaming "I don’t care!" Just give me a second, okay?
The only reason I stuck with the show that season is pictured to your right. Katharine McPhee wasn’t just unsettlingly gorgeous, she was also talented (and no matter what you think of the competition, the girl really can sing). Though a hot pop star is nothing new, McPhee possessed a pleasingly voluptuous figure and a set of pipes that could keep your kitchen sink free of rust for twenty years. I know that makes no sense, but this girl is fine enough to reduce a guy to uninspired non-sequiturs.
Since falling short of the American Idol crown, McPhee’s has gotten way too skinny, released a CD of lousy music that has her singing against her torchy strengths and allegedly flirted with Scientology. Nothing’s less attractive than that latter indiscretion, but, if the rumors are true and Anna Faris is indeed a member, perhaps this empty-headed dalliance helped get McPhee cast in her first major feature.
Regardless of wacky beliefs, there’s no denying that McPhee can do serious damage in front of the camera, while Faris remains a talented comedienne in search of a meaty role in a genuinely funny movie. I hope this untitled project directed by Fred Wolf and produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions is the vehicle that spares Faris the indignity of further Scary Movies. The screenplay was written by the Legally Blonde chicks (Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith), and, per The Hollywood Reporter, "centers on a Playboy bunny (Faris) who gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion and becomes the house mother to the lamest sorority on campus." And there goes the hope. Rumer Willis is in it, too.
The untitled film begins shooting later this month.