In the end, The Playboy Club has proved to be more trouble than it was worth for NBC, having caused tension from its racy content in the Mormon market of Salt Lake City, specifically, and with the uptight folks at the Parents Television Council generally. Considering the show only lasted two weeks, NBC is probably kicking themselves for forfeiting goodwill with both affiliates and lobbyists only to see their show die on the vine.

However, all is not lost. We can still look back at The Playboy Club in fondness with our gallery featuring Amber Heard and…all those other fine, fine actresses.

Enjoy it. It’s all we have left.

While The Playboy Club might never be the show that Mad Men is, or even the show that Small Wonder was, it’s got some hot girls that we’re going to show you. Namely, The Playboy Club features Amber Heard, Laura Benanti, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Naturi Naughton, and Leah Renee Cudmore. There are also some very attractive men, but you’ll have to find those pics on your own.

Indulge in some mildly suggestive states of undress. It’s Friday! Unless you happen to be reading this on some other day. In which case, read this instead.

At any rate, enjoy these pictures quickly before the show gets cancelled.

In their explanation, the head of the CEO of KSL-TV, Mark Willes said, “Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand.” Well, a lot of other affiliates would claim that decomposing bodies in dumpsters isn’t exactly consistent with their brand, but they air “CSI” because, you know, it’s fiction.

NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt tried to assuage the fears of affiliates at upfronts, by promising the show was “tame compared to what you’d see on’Jersey Shore‘,” and in doing so, probably turned off everyone else in the nation that doesn’t live in Utah.

“The Playboy Club” will air at 10 PM EST starting in September. Except in Salt Lake City, where it will air at never.

“The Playboy Club” will put on rabbit ears and pretend-flirt with you. Chad Hodge’s series stars Eddie Cibrian and Amber Heard, and will explore the sexy world of 1960s Playboy bunnies. Va-va-voom or va-va-blatant”Mad Men“-rip-off? We’ll soon find out.

Is the Big Bag Wolf bad enough to mess with the police? “Grimm” is a cop drama that takes place in a world where fairy tale characters are real. This sounds an awful lot like the graphic novel series Fables, so if you like that premise, definitely read Fables, so you can complain about how much better Fables is.

Finally, I’ve been lying awake at night for years wondering when somebody would make a police procedural with a “Sliders” twist. Now it’s happening and I can finally sleep. “Awake” stars Jason Isaacs as a detective who has an accident, causing his life to split into two realities: one where his wife dies and his son lives, and the other where his wife lives but his son dies. He should just hop to the universe where the sky rains donuts. “Awake” is showrunner Wonder Woman” series was not picked up. David E. Kelley‘s invisible jet has been shot down. Hopefully, this will leave Adrianne Palicki free to wear sexier, less-outrage provoking outfits in the future. (EW)

But if the prospect of nipples being broadcast all across America’s golden shores makes you a little nervous, don’t worry – Some are speculating that this is probably for some kind of DVD marketing gimmick, where you can buy the first season of “Playboy” with all the boobs shoved back in, “as God intended,” they might say. On the other hand, given NBC’s recent pledge to push the envelope, it’s possible we’ll be getting some side-boob action at the very least. Fingers crossed! (via Variety)

“‘The Rum Diary’ tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Depp). Tired of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local San Juan newspaper run by the downtrodden editor Lotterman (Jenkins). Adopting the rum-soaked lifestyle of the late ‘50s version of Hemingway’s ‘The Lost Generation, Paul soon becomes entangled with a very attractive American woman, Chenault (Heard) and her fiancée Sanderson (Eckhart), a businessman involved in shady property development deals. It is within this world that Kemp ultimately discovers his true voice as a writer and integrity as a man.”

So it’s not a sequel or anything, but Depp is playing ANOTHER character based on Hunter S. Thompson. No matter what, it’s probably better than The Tourist. (via Deadline)

Drive Angry is sleazy, vulgar and crass. The execution is seriously misguided, but I like the idea of it enough to carry me through. I’m like that, I’d rather see a cool idea fail than see something typical succeed technically. Offensive is better than mediocre.

Milton (Nicolas Cage) blasts some bad guys on the road in graphically 3D shots, so immediately you know it’s that kind of movie. Cage owns the screen with his Elvis-y swagger and hints of his Peggy Sue Got Married voice. When he sips coffee in between kisses he stole from a stranger, that’s action hero cool. He gets a wound to his eye, just wears sunglasses over it.

However, I would say that even in an exploitation movie, beating up a naked woman and throwing her onto the street is not okay. Even when the person delivering the beating is also a woman, that’s not okay. I’m all for outrageous, but you can just sense the tone is malicious there. And making the female lead a tough girl doesn’t make it feminist. It’s still just a male fantasy of the tough cookie.

Milton hooks up with the tough cookie Piper (Amber Heard), another waitress from that vulgar diner who’s leaving her cheating fiancé in his car. (The mistress is the recipient of above beating.) The Accountant (William Fichtner) is following Milton and you quickly get the hint that neither Milton nor the Accountant are from an earthly plane.

Between Milton and The Accountant you have spiritual characters talking shop. The film may not be mature enough to give them anything worthwhile to do, but I like the idea of having them in the movie. The script does a good job of discussing their business vaguely, and both actors bring a certain unreality to their body movements.

I was offended on behalf of Michael Davis when the film threw in a sex scene shootout, but it’ll be okay. Anyone who Googles “naked sex gunfight” will find the scene from Shoot ‘Em Up and see it’s way better. The difference is Davis clearly loves women and protects her in that scene. Drive Angry director Patrick Lussier uses her as a prop.

Drive Angry make Paul Verhoeven look like a feminist. There are lots more naked women but the film manages to make nudity ugly with the cultists jiggling in the background and the lover grinding on a fully clothed Milton. All the dialogue is tits, dick, balls in a gross, trailer park-y tone. Even the soundtrack sings about pussy in “Fuck the Pain Away.”

The pursuit is simple. Jonah King (Billy Burke) killed Milton’s daughter and wants to sacrifice his baby granddaughter to Satan. Yet the plot can’t handle it. The Accountant enlists two cops for absolutely no reason and they serve no purpose in the story. The action provides no fast-paced thrills. It’s all slow motion violence for 3D. Cage sells the gun poses but there’s no flow.

Just keep telling yourself, “Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage, Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage.” It’s like a whole movie of the bear suit scene from Wicker Man.

Director: Patrick Lussier

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard

Synopsis: A vengeful father escapes from hell and chases after the men who killed his wife and kidnapped his daughter.

Release Date: February 25, 2011

After the false start a few years back that only resulted in a Rose McGowan with sexy red hair poster, it looks like the project is back up. Producer Avi Lerner has revealed that Simon West will direct the project, and shared his hopes that Amber Heard will hold a prop sword toward the heavens while screaming triumphant very soon.

“We’re talking to a few girls for the role of Sonja but we just finished a movie called  Drive Angry with Amber Heard, and I want to see her. She’s my favourite for the role. Amber is the new Red Sonja… but she doesn’t know it yet! When you write it she’ll get the shock of her life! She’ll call me and say ‘How dare you talk to Empire before you talk to me?!’”

Ah. Publicly shaming young actresses into chain mail bikinis. A Hollywood institution since the Silent Era. (Empire)

Brian Grazer and his weird hair will be serving as executive producer along with Francie Calfo and Chad Hodge, who also wrote the pilot. What started off sounding like a disposable Friday or Saturday-night drama has been given a dash of legitimacy by Heard’s interest, which could expand the audience base to from just nostalgic perverts to nostalgic perverts AND horny teenagers. Way to go, NBC marketing!

Heard has recently made a name for herself, having wrapped on John Carpenter‘s The Ward and Nicholas Cage‘s Drive Angry 3D, so this move could prove beneficial for both the show and the actress in expanding their appeal. That said, the fact that this concept isn’t going to be airing on pay cable makes me so mad that I want to chuck my laptop out the window. (Variety)

Not content with just featuring walking Internet meme Nicholas Cage in their film, the producers of Drive Angry have found a new way to get your attention, should you be one of those people that has found a way to tune out all things Cage-related.

That new way is a “motion poster,” which acts as an embeddable video/image hybrid. It’s probably not anything you’d want to look at longer than you would a traditional static poster, but seeing as how it’s new, it should be good for some novelty value initially. So if you’re one of those people that complains that a Amber Heard‘s hair isn’t moving in a poster, or flames aren’t flickering, then this is your Woodstock. Just make sure to close the window when you’re done taking in all the motion-glory, as the repetitive sounds of flames burning is pretty damn annoying.

It’s safe to say that this is gimmicky enough to only be a viable marketing ploy for action or kids movies, but don’t rule out this being used to show some girl taking her top off should those American Pie movies ever emerge from straight-to-DVD hell. (Vulture)

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Amber Heard, Danielle Panabaker, Mika Boorem, Jared Harris

Synopsis: A thriller centered on an institutionalized young woman who becomes terrorized by a ghost.

Release Date: January 21, 2011

Reviews of The Ward are unique in that they accuse Carpenter of being derivative of himself, which could be seen as both a  blessing and a curse. His techniques harken back to his 1970′s heyday of films such as Starman, Halloween, and Escape from New York, but, like a copy of a copy, the word on the street is that The Ward just isn’t that sharp, rarely leaving convention to tell a story the plot of which has been recycled early and often.

The film begins, as many horror movies do, with a half-naked woman named Kristen (Amber Heard) running through the woods. She is eventually caught by authorities and thrown into a psychiatric ward in response to a number of fires she had set. Once institutionalized, she is haunted by the ghosts of a former patient and stumbles on to a mystery as to what became of the former patients.

Jump scares abound as Kristen negotiates the hospital, still half-naked, we pray. Much of the context sounds painfully derivative of not only Carpenter’s work, but many of the B-grade psychological thrillers that have trickled out in recent years. No US release date is set for the film, but the movie drops in Britain on January 21st. (/Film)

^{Let’s raise a little hell.}

Looks like Amber Heard is now Hell’s go-to girl when it is breaking loose. Last week we all had a good laugh at the Drive Angry 3D trailer, starring Heard and Nicolas Cage, and today there’s news that she may join the on-again, off-again Hellraiser remake. It’s reported that lazily-named director Christian E. Christiansen has signed on, and that producers hope to get Heard for their new teen-friendly take on the franchise. We’ll keep you posted as the more sanitzed Heckraiser heads toward a start date. (Bloody Disgusting)

_{How you gonna mess with Nic Cage‘s hair like that?!}

Summit has dropped the trailer for Drive Angry 3D. Patrick Lussier directs Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, and David Morse in what looks like another Ghost Rider with a car standing in for a chopper.

Cage plays a guy who breaks out of hell (what? how? what?) to get revenge against the cult that killed his daughter and took her baby. William Fichtner is the Devil‘s right-hand-man sent to bring him back. I gotta say, it’s perfect casting with Fichtner. There’s something always twitchy with that guy. I could totally see him doing Satan’s bidding.

Drive Angry 3D crashes into theaters February 11, 2011.

Check out the trailer after the jump…

Drive Angry: Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

Bad news about Hell, you guys. It’s going to break loose. All of it. I know we’ve all been working hard to keep it intact, but unfortunately Nicolas Cage and his leadfoot have just angrily driven through all our well-laid plans. Very sorry.

Why they chose this awkward interaction between Cage and Amber Heard for this Drive Angry poster is beyond me. She looks uncomfortable and he looks pissed. He must have tried to kiss her and she pulled away. Now he’s driving her back to her parent’s house. Also, what’s with the flames? You’d better replace your radiator, bro. (ShockTilYouDrop)

With production slated to begin soon for X-Men: First Class, Matthew Vaughn had better start convincing some attractive people to wear silly costumes. If this rumor is to be believed, he’s doing exactly that. The Playlist picked up on a story in Production Weekly that 20th Century Fox has "strong interest" in bringing Amber Heard on to play a younger Mystique and former Bond Girl Rosamund Pike to play Moira MacTaggert. At this point consider this news merely a rumor. But to be certain someone had better check Amber’s crevices for residual blue bodypaint. Then and only then, can we be certain she tested for the part. I nominate myself.

And speaking of camera tests, the same article reports that Magneto shoe-in Michael Fassbender is not interested in testing for the role. What’s his problem? Fear of helmet hair? They have CGI to correct that, Michael.

Amber Heard has experience playing the “naughty hot chick” and the “nice hot chick.” She starred in All The Boys Love Mandy Lane,” which no one had a chance to see, and The Informers, which is worse than bamboo chutes in the peehole.

A word from Amber: “I love to cook. When I’m away I miss my pots and pans and my spices.”

Then giiiiit in the kitchen, woman! Sorry, I had to take that one. Feel free to flick off the screen.

More spicy pics of Amber after the jump.

National hero Amber Heard will be stretching her acting abilities to the brink of snapping by pretending to be attracted to Nicolas Cage in the upcoming Drive Angry. Cage plays a crazy, road-ragin’ grandpa on the hunt for those who murdered his daughter and kidnapped his grandbaby. Heard will play a diner employee who joins Cage during the high octane rampage. The splatterfest is being directed by My Bloody Valentine 3D‘s Patrick Lussier and, yes, it will be in ass-puckering 3D.

This 3D craze is really pushing itself too far. Nicolas Cage popping off-screen is terrifying enough to clear a theater. It would be like showing Encino Man a documentary about the railroads. (THR)

The trailer for The Stepfather remake (or is it reimagining?) hit the web today, and it sets a tone not unlike other horror/slasher movie trailers.  Expect quick cuts and flash frames to raise the tension, and Amber Heard in a bikini to raise, well…  The film basically follows the premise of the original except this time the kid is a boy, he has younger siblings, and his soon-to-be stepfather is the guy from Nip/Tick and not the guy from Lost.  Oh, and Amber Heard is in a bikini.

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Cast: Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Amber Heard

Synopsis: Michael Harding returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?