Tonight on The Hour, we've got motorcycles and movies! First off, to talk Oscar noms via satellite is Richard Roeper, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and former co-host of 'Ebert & Roeper'. Though his eight years sitting next to Roger Ebert might be the way most of us know him, he's also the the host of "Starz Inside," a monthly documentary series, and he reviews new movies every week for Starz and on richardroeper.com. His newspaper column has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times since 1987 and has been syndicated to newspapers throughout the world – and here's something you might not know - in 2000, he was named as one of People Magazine's 50 most eligible bachelors. He and George will discuss this year's nominees and changes to the nominations - including the move up to ten best picture nominees.

Then, we have Paul Teutul Sr. in the red chair, the owner of Orange County Choppers and the star of 'American Chopper'. He's been building custom motorcycles for years, and he opened Orange County Choppers in New York State in 1999 with the help of his son, Paul Jr. In 2002, 'American Chopper' hit TV, with family drama – arguments between Jr. and Sr. – often taking the spotlight from the bikes. Now, the two Pauls are in the middle of a lawsuit over the ownership of OCC, and he'll be talking to George about that, along with the show, and bikes, of course!

By the way, if you haven't seen the nominees, check out our list from earlier today... And if you're looking for our handy Oscar Pool Scorecard AND Drink Coaster, it's right here!

Comments or questions about tonight's show or guests? Leave them here!

The Oscars are coming on March 7th, and this morning, the nominees were announced! Ahead of tonight's Oscar chat with Richard Roeper, the nominees are below. And if you want to have an Oscar Pool, or just keep score along with The Hour, download our Oscar Pool Scorecard!

Congrats to Hour guests Morgan Freeman, Anna Kendrick, Jason Reitman, Anika Noni Rose and Nick Hornby for their nominations! And congratulations to all the Canadians nominated: James Cameron, with nine nominations for 'Avatar'; Jason Reitman with six nominations for 'Up in the Air'; transplanted South African Neill Blomkamp with four nominations for 'District 9'; Christopher Plummer for supporting actor in 'The Last Station'; Anastasia Masaro for Art Direction for 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'; Patrice Vermette for Art Direction for 'The Young Victoria'; and Monique Prudhomme for Costume Design for 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'.

How do you feel about the nominations? Let us know!

Continue reading "82nd Academy Awards Nominees" »

OK, this is a questionable claim, but all I'm asking is that you give it a fair shot.
I've watched this video about 6 times and I've gone from finding it shitty and disturbing to full blown amazing.
It's like a four minute Scooby-Doo mystery in which you've gotta figure out if they're for real or not.
Regardless, Ninja has some of the most amazing flow I've heard in a long time.

I think this video gives more clues as to what they're really about.
For the record, Ninja MC'd under another name up until a year or two ago...

If you need more, check out their website, it's well done - http://www.dieantwoord.com/index.html

Tonight, we have two amazing women from two very different worlds. First, fabulous figure skater and ice dancer Shae-Lynn Bourne. With her partner, Victor Kraatz, she's won no less than ten Canadian championships and one World title in 2003 - the first North American team to do so. The pair competed in the Olympics four times, including in 1998 in Nagano, where their performance was so flawless that their lack of medal sparked a major judging controversy. Shae-Lynn now skates professionally in tours like 'Stars on Ice' and works as a coach and a choreographer. She also partnered Claude Lemieux in the CBC hit 'Battle of the Blades', finishing second - not bad! With that kind of coaching skill, don't be surprised if she tries to show George a thing or two.

Also, we have media heavyweight Arianna Huffington - who you've likely seen or heard on TV in the past. Founder of 'The Huffington Post', a blog that's quickly become a 'must-read' for the political left, as well as a place for celebrity bloggers to speak their minds (like George Clooney), she first made a name for herself as author of several books. A former 'right winger', Arianna's politics began to change in the Nineties, and she not only began speaking out in favour of leftist policy, but also made forays into acting on shows like 'Roseanne' and 'The L Word'. In 2003, she ran as an independent against Arnold Schwarzenegger in the race for California governor. Only a few years later, she launched 'The Huffington Post'... and the rest, as they say, is history.

If you've got comments or questions about the show or guests tonight, leave them here!

Tonight on the show, we've got one of the most recognizable faces of the Seventies, and and perhaps the most recognizable voice in the country. First up in the red chair - Melissa Gilbert. Star of 'Little House on the Prairie' as Laura Ingalls, she was one of the youngest performers to every get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Aside from practically growing up on camera, Melissa has starred in more than forty made-for-tv movies and mini-series, and served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005. She's stopping by the chat with George about playing Ma Ingalls in 'Little House on the Prairie - The Musical' and her memoir, 'Prairie Tale'.

Also on the show, we have Ron MacLean - who, if you're a hockey fan, or Canadian, likely needs no introduction. For over twenty years, he's been the face and the voice of Hockey Night in Canada. He got into broadcasting in high school doing radio work, then moved on to the weather and then sports. He moved to CBC in '86, hosting Toronto Maple Leafs games - but moved into full-time hosting duties after Dave Hodge caused some controversy at the network. He quickly became an integral part of HNIC - something proved when he looked set to leave in 2002 over a contract dispute, and the public outcry was so great that the bumps were smoothed out and he was resigned. Look for he and George to chat about hockey and the Canadiens - what else?

Something to say about the show or guests? Say it here!

Tonight on the show, first up is Kent Annan, of Haiti Partners. Kent has spent the last six years working in Haiti - first living there, then travelling there regularly from his home in Florida. He's worked in Western Europe, Albania and Kosovo to work with refugees there, then moved to Haiti with his new wife for two and a half years. He'll be discussing the situation in Haiti, before and after the earthquakes, and well as his new book, 'Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle'. Be sure to click through below to watch a powerful video that Kent created about his work in Haiti.

Next to take the red chair is Colin Mochrie, one of Canada's best-known comedians. Though he's done films and television, improv is his specialty. He spent seven seasons on the British version of 'Who's Line Is It Anyway?' before joining Drew Carey's American version, which introduced Colin to most of North American. Since then, he's replaced Rick Mercer on 'This Hour Has 22 Minutes', hosted the Canadian 'Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?' and does a touring improv show with his 'Whose Line Is it Anyway' co-star Brad Sherwood. Coming up next, he and Deb McGrath - a.k.a. Mayor Popowicz on 'Little Mosque on the Prairie' are taking part in a special called 'Love Letters.'

Have something to say about the guests or the show? Let us know!

Continue reading "Tonight: Colin Mochrie and Kent Annan" »

Want to find out how smart you are? How you measure up against the country? Tomorrow night is your chance!

Join George and his co-host Carole MacNeil on Test the Nation: IQ this Sunday, January 24th at 8 PM on CBC. They'lll have in-studio teams to measure your smarts against, like nerds, politicians, twins, atheists, believers and athletes. And from 3 PM tomorrow, you can even take the test online, ahead of the show!

Check it out at http://www.cbc.ca/testthenation/ - and watch tomorrow night at 8 PM!

We can now give you some more details on Friday night's Canada for Haiti special, including some of the celebrities lined up appear on the show!

Who's going to be there? Aside from our hosts Cheryl Hickey, Ben Mulroney and our very own Strombo:

K'Naan, The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan, Eugene Levy, Tom Jackson, Wayne Gretzky, Pamela Anderson, Sandra Oh, Steve Nash, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida, Justin Bieber, A Simple Plan, Hugh Dillon, Céline Dion, Barenaked Ladies, David Foster, Measha Brueggergosman, James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Rachelle Lefevre, Joshua Jackson, Jason Reitman, Norman Jewison, Alex Trebek, Rick Mercer, Mike Holmes, Nelly Furtado, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor-General Michaëlle Jean.

Canadians can show their support by donating during Canada for Haiti:

- Online at CanadaForHaiti.com
- Toll-free at 1-877-51-HAITI (42484)
- Text AID to 45678 (carrier charges may apply)

Funds will go towards a coalition of Canadian NGOs, including Canadian Red Cross Society, Care Canada, Free the Children, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Quebec, Plan Canada, Save the Children Canada, UNICEF Canada and World Vision Canada.

Watch Canada for Haiti LIVE on Friday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. ET/PT, 8 p.m. AT/MT, 8:30 p.m. NT, 9 p.m. CT on CBC Television, CTV, Global Television, MTV, MuchMusic, and National Geographic Channel.

You can also tune in on the radio and online. CBC Radio 2 will broadcast Canada for Haiti starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT/CT, 8 p.m. MT/AT, 8:30 NT, hosted by Garvia Bailey. Go to CBC.ca/frequency for local station information.

On the web, CBC.ca, CTV.ca, GlobalTV.com and MuchMusic.ca will stream a live video feed of Canada for Haiti online.

Gracing the red chair tonight is the lovely, talented and very funny Jann Arden. She's releasing her tenth studio album, 'Free', which is pretty amazing for any artist, particularly one with such strong roots in Canada. One of our most well-loved singers, her trademark sound of sadness and heartbreak is often at odds with her hilarious sense of humour - but that doesn't seem to affect her popularity, with seventeen top ten singles, eight Juno awards and over two million albums sold. She'll be visiting to chat about her album, and as an avid Twitter user (@JannArden), she'll also be asked to explain some of her more candid tweets. Trust me - you won't want to miss that.

Also on the show tonight, the author of 'Three Cups of Tea', Greg Mortenson. His story is a pretty amazing one - after a failed attempt to climb K2 (the world's tallest mountain) in 1993, he was found sick and lost by the villagers of a remote Pakistani village. They helped him recover, and when he found they didn't have a school, he promised he would build them one. Over the years, Greg has managed to build or support 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and give an education to 58000 children, 44000 of them girls. Due to that, he's had death threats from extremists both Islamic and American, and has even been kidnapped by the Taliban. He'll be talking about his new book, which continues his story, 'Stones into Schools'.

Also, if you haven't yet heard, CBC is joining with CTV and Global to broadcast an hour-long special live this Friday night - Canada for Haiti. Hosted by George, Cheryl Hickey and Ben Mulroney, it'll air from 7 PM to 8 PM, and some serious talent is being lined up. So make your Friday plans for a little later this weekend, and tune in to help those who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes in Haiti.

Got something to say? Post it here!

I admitted to my former NKOTB-worship yesterday, and if you watched the show, you might have noticed I'm not the only one...

For evidence, I submit one photo of Pete, as Joe asks him for directions:

And courtesy of Darby Wheeler, a shot of Jesse with the NKOTB shrine built for the occasion:

Okay, well. Maybe I am one of the few who got excited, other than the screaming fans. But they were sure fun to have in-studio.

Tonight, you might want to turn down the volume a little, because there'll be a rowdy audience in-studio - George is talking to Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block fame. He pretty much grew up along with his fans (of which, I admit, I was one), starting in the group at twelve and achieving worldwide success by the time he was fifteen. After 80 million records and several tours, NKOTB broke up in 1994, but Joey didn't stop performing. He went solo, landed the lead in 'Wicked' on Broadway, joined the cast of 'Boston Public' for a season and kicked off the first season of 'Dancing with the Stars', coming in third place. Then, as you might have heard, the New Kids got back together again in 2008 and have been touring both together and solo since. Joey's latest album, 'Here We Go Again', is available on iTunes, and he and the other guys will be playing Radio City Music Hall on June 18th. He'll be sharing some lessons he learned from being in a boy band.

Also on the show tonight is a man who's made history, Bishop Vincent Nguyen. Not only has he become Canada's youngest bishop, but he's also the country's first bishop of Asian decent. His road to such distinction wasn't exactly an easy one. He was born in Saigon and was nine when the city fell to the communists, then came to Canada as one of a wave of 'boat people' arriving from Vietnam in the 1980's. He always wanted to be a priest, which isn't too surprising given his great-great-grandfather was a martyr to the faith. He'll talk a little bit about how his mother used that for guilt, as well as more about his incredible life.

As always, if you've got comments about our guests or about the show, leave them here!

Tonight on the show, one of Hollywood's most bankable actors and one who's played not one but two iconic roles - Harrison Ford. You likely know him as either Han Solo from 'Star Wars' or the main character from the 'Indiana Jones' movies, but honestly? The guy has such an extensive career it might almost be easier to name movies he's not in. He's played a CIA operative in 'Patriot Games' and 'Clear and Present Danger', the President of the US in 'Air Force One' (remember 'Get off my plane'?), an detective investigating an Amish community in 'Witness', and a recovering amnesiac in 'Regarding Henry'. It's difficult to imagine a role he can't play - which is why it strikes me as odd that he's only playing a doctor for the second time in his upcoming film, 'Extraordinary Measures'. The first time? 1993's 'The Fugitive'. He and George have a great chat - definitely not one to miss.

Also in the red chair to offer his take on the global recession is journalist and author John Cassidy. Having covered finance and business for the Sunday Times of London, the New York Post, and now the New Yorker, he's something of an expert - and in his new book, 'How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities', he examines the roots of the current economic crisis. He'll explain where and when the issues with the 'free market economy' began, and what might be done to fix it.

Questions? Comments? Leave them here!

The National Post is asking Toronto personalities what their political platforms would be if they were running for mayor - and they kicked off the series by talking to George.

What would Toronto look like with Strombo running it? Check out the article here.

The CBC has just put together a new Haiti Relief site, with all the information you need on Hatian relief efforts. Visit it at:

http://www.cbc.ca/haitirelief/