Amar'e Stoudemire To Produce Hollywood Fright Flick

Amar'e Stoudemire must be counting on an NBA lockout next season.  It's not like the New York Knicks forward doesn't already have enough projects on his plate, but now you can add the title of film producer to his resume.  The Knicks star will be going Hollywood and producing "The Strangers 2," a sequel to the scary 2008 original "The Strangers."

No, the followup isn't about Isiah Thomas returning to the front office or the playoff sweep by the Boston Celtics--even thought both of those story-lines are pretty spooky to Knicks fans.

Stoudemire is in talks with Relativity Media honcho Ryan Kavanuagh to executive produce "The Strangers 2."  In other words, Stoudemire is putting money into the production and will get a director's chair with his name on it.



The original film was a $9 million production which grossed over $80 million worldwide.  It starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a young couple terrorized by three weirdos in masks.

The 6'10' Stoudemire talked about his new venture at a party in Manhattan.  "Ever see 'The Strangers?'  It's a scary movie...It's crazy," he said.  Cue the slasher music.

Relativity Media has also backed and distributed other films including "Bridemaids," "The Fighter" and "The Social Network."

Stoudemire hasn't been idle or laying low this off-season.  He is currently filming "Entourage" in Los Angeles and recently filmed a cameo in Garry Marshall's "New Year's Eve" in New York City.

Not only is the Knicks star giving James Franco a run as the busiest guy in Hollywood, he is launching a clothing line with Rachel Roy this fall.  Did I mention, he's a rapper too.  Who isn't these days.

If Stoudemire really wants to be Cecil B. DeMille and  produce a blockbuster, he should get Chris Paul to join Carmelo Anthony and himself on the New York Knicks.  Stoudemire could call it "Three Amigos 2."

That's something New Yorkers would kiss him "on the veranda" for.  Okay, the lips would be fine.

Carmelo Anthony Set To Appear On "Saturday Night Live"

Carmelo Anthony will hone his comedic chops on "Saturday Night Live" tomorrow.  According to the New York Post,  'Melo will make a guest appearance on the live show to be hosted by Elton John. 

"SNL" executive-producer Lorne Michaels was spotted courtside at Monday night's Knick game against the Orlando Magic, but according to reports, the two didn't mention 'Melo's upcoming appearance.

A spokesperson for "SNL" said, " We never confirm guest stars."

Elton John will be the host and musical guest for this Saturday's show, but it's any body's guess if 'Melo will show up with his own supporting cast for the segment.

Melo's teammate Amar'e Stoudemire could make an appearance at the studio.  It seems like he hasn't really been seen at Madison Square Garden in a while.

LaLa Vasquez, 'Melo's wife and reality show fixture, is a pretty good bet to be there.  The "entertainer" is always looking for the spotlight.

Anthony is no stranger to the camera.  He was in Common's video "Be" and shot the movie "Amazing" this past year with Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard.

"Amazing" was shot in Bejing, Shanghai and New York and is directed by an award-winning Chinese director.  The NBA players star alongside many of China's leading actors in a basketball-themed film about young people  achieving their dreams through hard work.

NBA players who tread from the court to the stage are a rare breed.  Some score--Ray Allen in "He Got Game"-- while others foul out--Shaquille O'Neal in "Kazaam."  Rick Fox is unforgettable in anything.

Melo's star power at the Garden had dimmed in recent weeks during the Knicks losing streak.  Maybe a Derek Jeter style appearance in drag is just the wake-up call he needs.  Although Jeter did have a championship ring to accessorize his skirt and high heels.

Here's hoping 'Melo finds his inner funny-bone and skips the all-night wrap-party.  He's got  a game against the Cavs on Sunday.  Now they're funny.

New Jersey Nets: Kiss Those Forty-Three Cent Seats Goodbye

New Jersey Nets tickets went on sale yesterday for their future home in Brooklyn.  The long delayed Barclays Center is scheduled to open in the summer of 2012 and start hosting the Nets that season.  The team is offering  a variety of "All-Access" seating packages which run from $99 (in the lower deck) to $1500 (courtside) per game.  The team's new slogan should be "Come For Vujacic; Stay For A Kardashian."

The Nets are offering the few die-hard season-ticket holders first crack at the 4,000 All-Access premium seats which offer perks like unlimited food and soft drinks, private entrances, concierge service and early access to the arena.

If you are one of those Nets fans, in the witness protection program at Newark's Prudential Center, and are used to snagging a 43-cent ticket on StubHub, fugeddaboudit.  There will be 2,000 tickets priced about $15 at the team's new location, but the chances of snagging a bargain-basement Nets ticket for the newer and trendier Brooklyn locale will be out of the question---no matter how bad the team is.

The flash factor alone will go through the fast-rising roof top.  The Knicks may boast their Big-Three, but the Nets have Jay-Z.  The rap star mogul and a state-of-the-art arena.  That means Beyonce and a slew of celebrities not named Woody, Dustin or Spike.  The curiosity factor will draw new Nets fans in droves, even if the 43-cent tickets will have as much of a chance as a Net victory.

Years of legal haggling and zoning red-tape had turned the 18,000-seat Barclays Center project into a construction quagmire even the woeful Nets front office couldn't get into.  But it was the Nets image which has really gotten stuck in the mud.

New majority owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, and his partner, Jay-Z, took over a team that hadn't contended since 2006-07 season and failed to land a big-name player last year.  Deron Williams is a start.

The Nets watched as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony played footsie with the Nets big aspirations, only to be left at the PATH station.  The Knicks had the hubris to taunt their incoming rivals by placing a billboard of their prized player, Amar'e Stoudemire, staring down at the giant hole at the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic--the site of the Nets new home.

The Nets are counting on luring fans, new and old,  by not charging personal-seating licenses. They said the All-Access deals are just as good and will allow purchasers first-shot at buying tickets for other non-Nets events like concerts and boxing matches.

"I think this is the best entertainment buy in all of New York," claims Brett Yormark Nets CEO, "Especially when factoring the ability to see top acts like Madonna before tickets hit the secondary market."

If you are a Nets fan, that is definitely a perk---maybe the highlight of the deal---especially when you have to commit to purchasing the locked-in priced seats for the first three years. 

The average price of a current Nets ticket is $60---one of the lowest in the league.  The new average price at the Barclays Center will be around $132--more than the Knicks current average ticket price of $88 and one of the highest in the league.

The Nets cross-borough rivals price will be rising next season after the Knicks announced a 49% increase to cover the on-going renovations at Madison Square Garden. 

The Los Angeles Lakers currently get an average price of $113 per seat--the costliest ticket in the league.

It's hard to believe the Nets, in their inaugural season will be getting more than Kobe and company, but if more money means more wins...Go Kris Humphries.

Patrick Ewing: If Only I Had a Carmelo...

Patrick Ewing claims current New York Knicks super-star Amar'e Stoudemire has an easier road to an NBA title than he did because none of his teammates were as good as Carmelo Anthony.

According to the New York Post, Ewing thinks he could have won a championship if former Knicks GM Ernie Grunfeld and Garden president Davis Checketts had brought in a better supporting cast.

The 11-time All-Star was asked who was the best player he ever played alongside with and Ewing replied," Second best teammate?  John Starks, Allan [Houston], Spree [Latrell Spreewell], Oak [Charles Oakley].  But they're not Carmelo"

While Ewing, an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic, may be endearing himself to the current Knicks team, it sounds like a jab at the former Knicks management for his brilliant, but NBA Championship-less career.  It sounds like he wrongly took the blame for the lack of an NBA title because he didn't have his own second fiddle.

Ewing is on the short list of Knicks head coaching prospects if current coach, Mike D'Antoni fails and believes the current Knicks brass is on the right track by bringing in an additional super-star like Anthony mid-way through the season to compliment Stoudemire--a perk he never had.

Yesterday, Ewing professed his admiration of Anthony before the Magic's 116-110 victory in Orlando.

"A great player. A great player," Ewing said.  "New York hasn't had two bona fide superstars since Willis [Reed] and Earl [Monroe] and Clyde [Frazier].  Those guys are two bona fide superstars."

The closest Ewing ever got to getting an NBA Championship ring was in 1994.  After battling center Hakeem Olajuwon and leading the Houston Rockets, 3-2, Ewing's second-banana, Starks, went ice-cold and shot 2-for-18 in game seven while the Knicks wilted away.  It still burns at Ewing.

"I can't worry about that now," said Ewing.  "I've been retired 100 years.  It feels like 100 years."

The Hall-of-Famer had a lot of good things to say about the third part of the Knicks Big-Three, Chauncey Billups.

"Everyone kept talking about him as a throw-in," Ewing said.  People overlooked him when he first started.  He's played great games. He's won championships."

While Ewing was surrounded by rugged lunch-buckets players like Starks and Oakley during his playing days, he now says he would have welcomed an offensive super-star player like Anthony and advises Stoudemire to count his blessings.

Ewing believes Stoudemire and 'Melo can co-exist in New York.  "They both have to share it, he stressed.  "You can't worry about it.  The city's big enough.  There's enough spotlight to go around."

That spotlight was always shining on Ewing during his 15 seasons at Madison Square Garden and it highlights his retired #33 jersey hanging from it's rafters.

Listening to him reminisce, it sounds like Ewing wishes he had someone to share the limelight with back then.

Knicks Declare Billboard War On Nets

By Tony Mangia

The New York Knicks have taken action against the New Jersey Nets by placing a billboard on a warehouse near the Brooklyn construction site of the Nets' new arena...two years before it's planned completion.  The obscure Knicks billboard looks like retaliation for the giant poster promoting the Nets and it's new billionaire owner.  That sign was hung with a pigeon's eye view of Madison Square Garden last July. 

The Knicks billboard features new Knick star Amar'e Stoudemire glaring out from in front of the Manhattan Bridge with "Brooklyn Represent" written underneath and "YOU, US, WE, NOW" scrolled along the side with the team emblem.  The Knick's  newest acquisition and face of the team could be a dig at the Nets inability to land a big-name free-agent this off-season.

The Nets billboard, which hung from a Manhattan building on 33rd Street, was much larger and featured Nets owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z staring directly down at the Garden.  The Knicks owner, James Dolan, was so incensed by the huge sign, he filed a complaint with the NBA.  He claimed it gave his Jersey competitors an upper hand in recruiting free-agent LeBron James last summer.

Dolan probably wishes he could have tacked Carmelo Anthony's face onto his new black and white promo.  The Knicks haven't commented on why they put one up near the Nets future home, but did say they put similar ones up around the New York Area.  They probably won't have to worry about putting any up near the Nets' current home, the Prudential Center, in Newark.  Today, on opening day,  some tickets on Stub Hub were going for .45 cents.

The Nets CEO Brett Yormark called the Knicks billboard a "defensive measure."  "I'm glad to see they know where Brooklyn is," he said.  "Clearly they know what's coming.  It's fair play."

The "YOU, US, WE, NOW" slogan is a bit confusing.  Maybe the Knicks should have slapped a head- shot of their Russian center, Timofey Mozgov, to lure some of his comrades from Brooklyn's Russian enclave in  Brighton Beach.  The big man has recently done a public relations tour there. 

The Nets' new Russian owner isn't waiting until the new arena's ribbon-cutting to entice his Russian fanbase.  Prokhorov is publishing a Russian-language magazine called "S.N.O.B."  The magazine is geared to generating Net fans within the community.  The name is an acronym for the Russian words, "Accomplished , Independent, Educated and Thriving."  A Bloomberg report said the  Nets owner--who is already well-known in Russian society--has already sunk $100 million into the project.