Queen of the weekend
Queen Latifah is all over the 'House'
By Todd Leopold
CNN
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Steve Martin and Queen Latifah star in "Bringing Down the House," opening Friday.
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ON CNN TV
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(CNN) -- She was once Dana Owens, a working-class girl from Newark, New Jersey. Now she's Queen Latifah -- and this weekend she's queen of all media.
Eye opener
Latifah, who first hit it big in the late '80s with her brassy, feminist raps, later became a TV star with "Living Single." But 2003 has become the true breakout year for the 32-year-old Queen.
This weekend, she co-stars in "Bringing Down the House," playing a woman prisoner who contacts uptight lawyer Steve Martin over the Internet and proceeds to turn his placid life chaotic. She's still in theaters with "Chicago," in which she plays an unscrupulous prison matron. That performance earned her both an Oscar nomination and a SAG Award nomination for best supporting actress. The Screen Actors Guild awards are Sunday night.
Latifah is also the guest host on Saturday's "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 11:30 p.m. ET). If she moved her birthday up a week -- it's March 18 -- this could truly be a Queen Latifah celebration.
On screen
• Also opening nationally this weekend is "Tears of the Sun," an action movie starring Bruce Willis. Willis plays a special operations commander who goes into Nigeria to rescue a doctor, played by Monica Bellucci.
• In limited release: "Laurel Canyon," in which Frances McDormand plays a free-wheeling L.A. record producer meeting up with her conservative son, played by Christian Bale; and "The Safety of Objects," based on a story by A.M. Homes, about four suburban families and their challenges.
On the tube
• Holy reunion! Get ready for a "Return to the Batcave" (CBS, Sunday, 9 p.m. ET), in which the stars of the '60s TV series, Adam West and Burt Ward, go in search of the stolen Batmobile and run into some of their nemeses.
• The entertainment industry's stars come out for yet another awards show, this time to honor themselves, at the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (TNT, Sunday, 8 p.m. ET). The SAGs are closely watched by Oscar observers because actors make up the largest branch of the Motion Picture Academy.
Sound waves
• Everclear's new release, "Slowmotion Daydream" (Elektra, March 11) is the group's first album in three years. Expect more grunge-filtered '70s rock.
Paging readers
• Jeffrey Deaver has kept readers up at night with his thrillers. His latest, "The Vanished Man" (Simon & Schuster, March 11) is another tale starring investigator Lincoln Rhyme, this time searching for a magician accused of murder.
