(AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)
Billy Ray must be beside himself.
Mark McLeod a 53-year-old man decided that he was in love with 16-year-old singing star, Miley Cyrus and had decided she ought to become his wife.
McLeod showed up at a March book-signing for Miley. He declared his love to her in a video that was posted on the Internet. He claims that the singer communicates with him via secret messages in her photos and “Hannah Montana” television show.
In June McLeod was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct when he crashed the set of a Cyrus’ movie, “The Last Song,” that was filming in the Tybee Island area in the state of Georgia.
He told the police he and Miley were secretly engaged after “our eyes met at her concert and we both knew.”
He said “Nobody will ever be able to keep us apart.” McLeod claimed Miley’s father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, had given his blessing for the marriage….CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE
Hollywood Vampires and D.C. Draculas
In Culture, Movies & Entertainment, entertainment on July 20, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Johnny Depp to Play Carol Channing?
In Celebrities, Culture, Movies on July 19, 2009 at 7:59 pmby James Hirsen
I’m not kidding.
Johnny Depp is making a play for the lead role in a movie biography of singer-actress Carol Channing.
Forty-six-year-old Depp was out promoting his latest flick, “Public Enemies,” when the subject of future role choices came up.
According to the U.K. Daily Mirror, the actor is ready to get in touch with his inner songstress.
“My dream role would be to play musical legend Carol Channing in a biopic of her life,” he explained.
“I love her, I really do. She’s amazing,” he added. “With all the digital technology available these days, I could probably pull it off.”
Jack Sparrow-turned-Dolly?
Well, he got the mascara thing right but he’s going to need some major hair highlighting help from Kojo.
Jackson, Lennon and Elvis
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment and Media on July 5, 2009 at 9:07 pmby James Hirsen
Media coverage of the death of Michael Jackson has reached a fever pitch with his memorial service that is scheduled to take place this week in Los Angeles.
Fans from all over the world have registered for the chance to receive tickets to attend the event, although only 11,000 people will actually be allowed into the Staples Center.
All three networks will broadcast live coverage of the service with their primetime attendant anchors present at the arena.
The cable news channels will feature wall-to-wall coverage of the event, too, and the memorial service will likely be the lead story on the evening news everywhere.
As we have all witnessed, numerous stories of significance involving foreign policy and domestic legislation have been shunted aside in favor of Jackson interviews, retrospectives and specials. This is part and parcel of what our celebrity loving country has come to expect.
Regrettably, the tragic scenario has played out a number of times before. A music icon dies suddenly and unexpectedly, and under a mysterious set of circumstances. Along with Jackson, two other legendary stars come to mind, and their passing had the same dramatic effect on the public and the culture.
It was a chilly December day when John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono finished a routine recording session. They had no idea how deep a darkness would soon fall.
The world at the time was consumed with things other than a former Beatle’s solo career. A new leader, Ronald Reagan, had just been elected President of the United States, with a full slate of issues ahead of him that included a faltering economy and enemies abroad.
As John and Yoko returned to their Manhattan apartment at the Dakota, a disturbed fan, Mark David Chapman, sent four hollow point bullets racing Lennon’s way. Police took the legendary musician to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The media behaved quite differently the day the Lennon music died. The New Media was not yet in force. Cable news programming was still in formation. Much of the public heard the word of Lennon’s death from Howard Cosell during a broadcast of “Monday Night Football.”
Still, news of the former Beatle’s passing spread fast. It was the lead story on all of the major networks and above the fold in newspapers around the world.
As the sad news traveled, crowds gathered outside the Dakota. Much like the throngs who mourned for Jackson in New York, London and L.A., Lennon fans sang songs and recited lyrics in his honor. Yoko Ono asked the mourners to return the next Sunday for a memorial for John. That Sunday, Central Park was overrun with over 100,000 people. A similar gathering took place in John’s hometown of Liverpool with 30,000 people in attendance.
Many radio stations played Lennon music exclusively for several days in a row.
Although John’s death was similar to Michael’s in terms of public reaction, media coverage and cultural impact, another pop music icon passed on under much more eerily parallel circumstances.
His career was fading. His performances had fallen far below expectations with the resultant criticism from the entertainment press. He appeared unhealthy, but he and his handlers decided it was time for a summer comeback tour.
Just like in Jackson’s case, the tour never happened. In August of 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead on the floor of his Graceland home by his fiancee, Ginger Alden.
His death was the lead story on all of the broadcast networks except for CBS, which made it second to a Panama Canal story, possibly because Walter Cronkite was away on vacation.
For years insiders at the CBS newsroom were said to have repeated the words “remember Elvis,” because the network felt as if it had been remiss in its coverage of the star.
The day the Elvis music died dominated the media cycle for weeks on end. Much like the death of Jackson, the cause of Elvis’s death would remain a mystery and consume massive amounts of media airtime.
Early reporting indicated that Presley died from a cardiac arrhythmia, which fit with the excess weight he was carrying. But an autopsy of the legendary singer showed large quantities of a host of drugs including Morphine, Demerol, Valium, Codeine and Quaaludes, some of which were also found in Jackson’s home.
The passing of Jackson, Lennon and Elvis invites the kind of speculation that, like their iconic images, goes on forever.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A. in media psychology, is a media analyst, teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University, and professor at Trinity Law School.
Lisa Marie Presley: Michael Jackson Feared Elvis-like Death
In Celebrities, Culture, Music on June 28, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Those close to Michael Jackson are searching their memory banks for clues to explain the tragic loss.
Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, remembered a warning sign from years past that she had received, which in light of emerging information surrounding Jackson’s death is unsettling.
Lisa Marie, in a post on her MySpace page, revealed a conversation she had with Michael when she was married to him. She remembered how, during the discussion, the talk turned to the manner in which her father had died.
“I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did,” Michael confessed. The pop singer was alluding to the tragic death by overdose that Elvis suffered.
Lisa Marie blogged that she had immediately “tried to deter him from the idea at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.”
According to Presley, she grew tired from “her quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior.”
She added, “His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn’t know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.”
Farrah Fawcett, Angel in Waiting
In Celebrity News, Culture on June 26, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Farrah Fawcett, Angel in Waiting |
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It’s not a typical celebrity passing. In American pop culture terms, Farrah Fawcett was an icon. She burst onto the Hollywood scene with her sparkling smile, sweet nature and blonde windblown tresses that set hairstyle trends for a decade. Farrah’s image adorned magazine covers galore, but more importantly her poster was tacked onto teen lockers, shop halls and office walls. All-American places. All-American dream girl. She was cheerleader, prom queen, sorority sweetheart and pageant winner all rolled into one. And she graced her way right on up to full-fledged movie star. Farrah’s career, from “Charley’s Angels” to the reality genre, was a shining example of an actress who lithely coped with a changing media landscape. Amazingly, the role that defined her fame, that of glamorous detective Jill Monroe who took assignments from the mysterious Charley, only lasted a year. The TV show was such a hit Farrah became part of that unusual celebrity club of those stars known by their first names only. If you said Farrah, folks knew exactly who you were talking about. Like Betty Grable in an earlier era, Farrah became the pin-up girl of her generation. The photo of Farrah in a red bathing suit quickly became the biggest selling poster of all time with an unprecedented 12 million copies sold. Farrah proved she was more than just a pretty face when she took a part in an Off-Broadway play called “Extremities,” and she received critical acclaim. She then tackled a difficult subject in “The Burning Bed,” a TV-movie about an abused woman. It earned her an Emmy nomination. She starred in another complex made for TV film, “Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story.” And she garnered a second Emmy nomination for a miniseries “Small Sacrifices.” More critical praise for her acting came from her portrayal of a wayward wife to Robert Duvall’s character in “The Apostle.” When she appeared as herself in the 2005 reality show, “Chasing Farrah,” the public had a glimpse of the deep love she and Ryan O’Neil shared. The tender relationship supplied a sort of tonic to the public, which offset the disappointing failure of marriages that is so widespread from Hollywood to D.C. Looks like the Angel got her wings. |
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Stephen Colbert Out of the Conservative Closet?
In Culture, Politics, Television on April 19, 2009 at 9:35 pm
After a parody of the National Organization for Marriage’s “Gathering Storm” ad was featured on his show, a new theory emerged about cable satirist Stephen Colbert.
Could the Comedy Central star’s bits really contain right-of-center messages, making him a genuine closet conservative?
NOM released a statement to the press in which the group’s president, Maggie Gallagher, posited, “I’ve always thought Stephen Colbert was a double-agent, pretending to pretend to be a conservative, to pull one over on Hollywood. Now I’m sure.”
Colbert’s cable character, who is a loosely modeled caricature of Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, began the segment by showing the original NOM video in its entirety.
The comic shared that he “loved” the footage because it was “like watching The 700 Club and The Weather Channel at the same time.”
“Thank you Stephen for playing our ad in full on national television-for free. HRC eat your heart out. Plus we all had a great chuckle, too!” NOM Executive Director Brian Brown said.
Colbert pointed out that New York Governor David Paterson had introduced a bill to legalize gay marriage and cracked that he “thought Massachusetts would be a gay promised land, a ‘Gaysreal’ if you will, but then the same-sex chickens came home to gentrify their roost.”
He also snapped that gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed in New York because “it’s hard enough as it is to get a wedding announcement in the Times.”
James Hirsen is a N.Y. Times best selling author, commentator and news analyst
Tweeting with the Stars
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment and Media, law on April 5, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Lately Twitter has been getting a terrabyte’s worth of celebrity buzz.
After a tweeting addiction got pinned with the blame for John Mayer’s breakup with Jennifer Anniston, Mayer opined that posting on the micro blogging social network is “inherently silly and inherently dumb.”
He proceeded to put up a non-silly and fairly astute post on the subject of self-esteem.
“Living by the power of other people’s suggestion will slowly kill you. Genuine self esteem isn’t a roller coaster. It comes from within,” Mayer texted.
Look for esteem or something like it to end up in a new Mayer song.
Meanwhile Demi Moore’s Twitter wits may have helped save a life.
A distressed woman had sent the “Charlie’s Angels” star an ominous Twitter message that read: “Getting a knife, a big one that is sharp. Going to cut my arm down the whole arm so it doesn’t waste time.”
The alert actress and Ashton Kutcher spouse forwarded the terrible tweet to her 350,000 Twitter followers, adding this supplemental message: “Hope you are joking. Everyone I was very torn about responding or retweeting that woman’s post but felt uncomfortable just letting it go.”
Demi’s followers sprang into action and contacted the police who were able to find the woman and prevent the potential suicide.
“Thanks everyone for reaching out to the San Jose PD,” Moore later tweeted. “I am told they are aware and no need to call anymore. I do not know this woman…”
“It is my understanding that the situation was not a joke and that through the collective efforts here action was taken to provide help!” Moore added.
It just goes to show that social networks can be used for more than mere amusement.
They can be twitterly important and at times tweetastic.
BTY, I’m a twitterer, too, and if you’re so inclined please forward me your choicest news twips and H-tweets.
Twanks.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University and professor at Trinity Law School.
Barack Obama Raises the Dead
In Culture, Music, entertainment on January 5, 2009 at 8:42 amThe remaining members of legendary jam band “The Grateful Dead” were not getting along very well.
Fans of the group, who are known as “Deadheads,” were concerned that they would never again be able to sit cross-legged on a concert floor as their favorite San Fran group let loose with one of their trademark hour-long tunes.
But now, no doubt to the Deadheads’ delight, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzman, the original members of the Grateful Dead, have announced that they will do a tour in April 2009.
These days the group is simply known as “The Dead.” Interestingly, members haven’t toured together for four years.
Why the reconciliation? Barack Obama, of course.
The four rockers got together in October 2008 to perform at Penn State for an Obama fundraiser.
Three of the band members played an earlier Obama money generator in February 2008.
Hart told Rolling Stone that the Obama fest “broke the ice” and added, “We were able to let some of these skeletons in our closet just fall away.”
Elton John Slams Prop 8, Lauds Civil Unions
In Culture, Politics, celebrity on November 16, 2008 at 9:39 pmElton John and David Furnish may have had a ceremony to solidify their commitment, but John recently let the world know, “We’re not married. Let’s get that right. We have a civil partnership.”
John distanced himself from the protests that are taking place in cities across the U.S. “What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage,” he said.
John and Furnish came to the U.S. for the annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
“I don’t want to be married. I’m very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership,” John advised.
“The word ‘marriage,’ I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships,” John added.
The dinner-fundraiser was hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who hasn’t yet indicated whether he agrees with the legendary rocker or not.
Carrie Underwood Down On Celebrity Politicking
In Celebrities, Culture, Politics on November 10, 2008 at 9:01 am
Like the rest of us, Carrie Underwood watched as Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lindsay Lohan, Matt Damon, Bruce Springsteen and Sean “Diddy” Combs publicly campaigned for our new president-elect, Barack Obama.
The country star didn’t much like what she saw and has voiced her opinion about fellow celebrities who use their fame to bring attention to political candidates.
“There is someone I do support, but I don’t support publicly. I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate,” she told TV Guide.
According to Underwood, voters ought to make up their own minds rather than listen to the recommendations of the famous.
When celebrity endorsements are taken too seriously, Underwood suggested that “it’s saying that the American public isn’t smart enough to make their own decisions.”
She then noted, “Music is where you go to get away from all the BS.” click for more…
Will Ferrell to Play Bush on Broadway
In Culture, Politics, entertainment on October 21, 2008 at 10:27 amBefore Tina Fey created the Sarah Palin knockoff, Will Ferrell gained fame for his “Saturday Night Live” impersonation of President Bush.
Now the comedic film star has plans to bring his presidential mimicking to the Broadway stage.
“You’re Welcome America – A Final Night With George W. Bush” will enable Ferrell to make his stage debut in a one-man show.
The actor will collaborate with “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights” writer Adam McKay for a performance that’s scheduled to open in 2009.
Ferrell generally approached his SNL Bush in a lighthearted way.
A quote attributed to Ferrell may fuel some optimism for the Broadway Bush character: “I’m no tortured, anger-stoked, deeply neurotic comic. Just a pretty low-key normal guy – a, ‘Hey, the glass is half-full’ kind of a guy. But please keep it quiet, or I may never work again.”
Homer Simpson to Endorse Obama
In Celebrities, Culture, Politics, entertainment on October 12, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Barack Obama is set to receive an endorsement—sort of.
The support will reportedly come from iconic cartoon character Homer Simpson.
In an upcoming episode of the Fox animated series, which is scheduled to be aired two days prior to the election, Bart’s dad will explain his support for the Dem candidate.
“Obama cares about people like me,” Homer declares. “I haven’t been blessed with intelligence, a strong work-ethic, or sound moral judgment. But I have needs. An Obama administration will make it easier for guys like me to get what we need.”
Homer attempts to vote using an electronic voting machine.
“It’s time for a change,” he says as he repeatedly pushes the Obama button on the machine. But instead of votes for Obama, the machine indicates half a dozen votes for John McCain.
Ultimately the voting machine devours Homer whole, while he screams, “This can’t happen in America.”
If McCain wins the election, don’t be surprised if Dems use the “machine ate my hubby” excuse to launch a lawsuit.
‘Commander in Chief’ Creator Rod Lurie Seeks Veep Candidate Credit
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics on September 2, 2008 at 8:03 amRod Lurie, creator of ABC’s 2005 television series, “Commander in Chief,” attended the Democratic National Convention and cheered for his candidate of choice, Barack Obama.
The producer then gave his assessment of John McCain’s pick for vice president.
“People who understand politics know anything is possible,” Lurie told the Hollywood Reporter.
“Picking a woman is an absolute strategic idea from McCain’s point of view. He’s not talking about governing right now. The idea of this woman [Palin] actually facing down Putin and negotiating with Medvedev is idiotic,” he added.
In the pilot for Lurie’s cancelled TV show, an experienced GOP presidential candidate chose a young unknown woman to be his running mate.
“It’s unbelievable isn’t it?” Lurie asked. “I think that Geena [Davis] and I need to be paid royalties by the Republicans.”
After Davis’ character succeeded to the White House, she was criticized for lack of experience. But the TV prez proved her detractors wrong.
The dismissal of Palin’s experience by the Dems and many in the mainstream media is unseemly, especially in the light of Obama’s thin resume and the media’s lack of perusal.
Palin definitely has defenders such as America’s mayor Rudy Giuliani, who while appearing on “Face the Nation” praised the former two term mayor, conservation commission chair and current governor of Alaska, and pointed out that when talking about the readiness issue, Obama is the one who has “never run a city, he’s never run a state, he’s never run a business, he’s never administered a payroll, he’s never led people in crisis.”
Giuliani also noted that Obama “had to put all that emphasis on somebody [Biden] helping him because he’s never had a record of executive experience.”
Clooney Worried Star Power Harms Obama
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics on August 22, 2008 at 8:02 am
Michael Moore’s Obama Advice
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, entertainment on August 19, 2008 at 6:38 am
Michael Moore usually can’t stay quiet during a political campaign season. And this year is no exception.
In an attempt to insert himself into the current presidential contest, Moore has released a book called “Mike’s Election Guide 2008.”
In an excerpt on his Web site, the “Sicko” filmmaker posts a formula for a Barack Obama loss.
Titled “How The Democrats Can Blow It …In Six Easy Steps,” Moore sets forth a “blueprint for losing the most winnable presidential election in American history.”
Along with items that he claims will cause the presumptive Democrat nominee to eventually lose (like “saying nice things about McCain,” picking “a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican” and “writing speeches for Obama that make him sound like a hawk”) is something that signals a new level of self-absorption even for Moore. Step number six reads, “Denounce me!”
According to Moore, if Obama distances himself from him, it would be a fatal error, politically and strategically.
The “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” documentary maker writes that “Obama, at some point, might be asked this question: ‘Michael Moore has endorsed you. But he recently said (fill in the blank with some outrageously offensive line taken out of context). Will you still accept his endorsement, or do you denounce him?’”
Moore answers his own hypothetical in the following way: “So Barack, by denouncing me, you can help McCain get elected. Because when you denounce me, it’s not really me you’re distancing yourself from — it’s the millions upon millions of people who feel the same way about things as I do.”
The only problem for Moore is that the millions upon millions of people who feel the same way he does live on Planet X and usually vote the Tin Foil Hat Party.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood: http://www.youtube.com/user/NMHollywood
Angelina Jolie Tilting Toward McCain?
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Politics on August 12, 2008 at 7:38 pm
As Hollywood celebrities queue up for presumptive Democrat nominee Barack Obama, one superstar is giving the Obama campaign some shivers.
It’s none other than Brad Pitt’s main squeeze—Angelina Jolie.
In a statement to Variety, Jolie indicated that she hasn’t made up her mind about whom she’s going to support.
Then came the scary part for Dems. She seems to be leaning McCain’s way.
“I have not decided on a candidate,” Jolie said. “I am waiting to see the commitments they will make on issues like international justice, refugees and how to address the needs of children in crisis around the world.”
It just so happens that Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Her endorsement would certainly have some clout, as she is well known and respected for her humanitarian activities.
Sounding like a staffer from the McCain campaign, Jolie penned an op-ed in the Washington Post in which she made the case for staying in Iraq.
She wrote, “Today’s humanitarian crisis in Iraq — and the potential consequences for our national security — are great. Can the United States afford to gamble that 4 million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of Middle East, won’t explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder?”
“What we cannot afford, in my view, is to squander the progress that has been made,” Jolie added.
You may recall that not too long ago she and Pitt spoke out in favor of gun ownership.
Jolie’s father, Jon Voigt, has endorsed McCain, and he recently criticized Obama in an op-ed that was published in the Washington Times.
In a campaign season where Hollywood celebs are presumed to be in Barack’s camp, so far Jolie has refused to jump aboard the Obama train.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said, “I think people assume I’m a Democrat. But I’m registered Independent and I’m still undecided. So I’m looking at McCain as well as Obama.”
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood @ http://www.youtube.com/user/NMHollywood
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Global Warming Reality Show
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on August 4, 2008 at 9:25 am
Now that she has co-starred in the mega-blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” is Maggie Gyllenhaal going to Disneyland?
No, she’s celebrating her cinematic success by taking a job as a judge on an online reality show to, of all things, fight global warming.
It’s called “Climate Matters.”
Contestants will be submitting ad-length videos to convince the next occupant of the White House to take action against climate change.
The winner will get a $3,000 Visa gift card, and the Top Ten videos will be broadcast on various eco-oriented Web sites.
A number of filmmakers have agreed to be judges including an Emmy-winning documentary producer, Rory Kennedy.
The “Simon Cowell” role on the panel of judges has yet to be filled, but a certain Nobel Prize winning recipient is rumored to be begging for an audition.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Mars Cancels Mr. T Ad Over Nutty Allegation
In Advertising, Culture, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on July 27, 2008 at 9:02 pmIn another example of special interest group meddling of the PC kind, candy bar maker Mars has had to cancel a Snickers advertisement, which was running in the U.K. and featured Mr. T.
According to the gay advocacy group, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the candy company pulled the ad after some “communication between the HRC Workplace Project and Mars.”
The HRC Workplace Project issued a statement applauding Mars for taking “swift and appropriate action” in canceling the ad.
In the commercial, a man was engaged in speed walking, an activity that may sometimes appear to be deficient in the macho department.
Mr. T poked fun at the man, who was subsequently shot at by a Snickers cannon.
The last scene featured Mr. T proclaiming the Snickers slogan: “Get some nuts.”
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Miley Cyrus’ Achy Breaky Makeover
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, entertainment on July 20, 2008 at 9:31 pm
News stories about tween phenom Miley Cyrus are becoming more and more disturbing.
Millions of young girls follow the star’s every move and imitate her to a T.
Parents are growing weary at having to field questions over Miley-related news stories that are slowly morphing Hannah Montana’s alter ego into a broken Britney clone.
Girls of primary school age, still clutching teddy bears, are having to reconcile their idealized image of the Disney star with that of a semi-nude picture on MySpace and suggestive photos in Vanity Fair.
Either Miley herself, or perhaps her handlers, think that giving the teen idol a bad girl makeover may serve to broaden the scope of her career.
Maybe it’s time for Miley’s conservative leaning dad, Billy Ray, to be a little more proactive in the protection department.
Parents the world over would appreciate it.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Robert Redford: Obama ‘Not Tall On Experience’
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on July 15, 2008 at 2:47 pmRobert Redford recently journeyed to Dublin, Ireland to receive an honorary degree from Trinity College.
The actor-director expressed doubts about Barack Obama and the Dems’ chances of winning in the fall.
“I’m not confident of anything,” Redford told the Irish Times. “I’m hopeful.”
Redford acknowledged Obama’s resume deficit.
“I think Obama is not tall on experience . . . but I believe he’s a really good person,” Redford said, adding that the Dem presumptive nominee is “smart. And he does represent what the country needs most now, which is change.”
Redford sees the election of Obama to the presidency as a must win for the Democrats, or it will mean the end of Hollywood’s favorite political party.
“I hope he’ll win. I think he will. If he doesn’t, you can kiss the Democratic Party goodbye . . .,” Redford lamented.
According to the Sundance Kid, it’s all about “new blood.”
“I think we need new voices, new blood. We need to get a whole group out, get a new group in,” Redford said.
Michael Moore’s Hometown Cracks Down on Saggy Pants
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, entertainment on July 10, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Michael Moore’s ‘Hometown’ Cracks Down on Saggy Pants
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics on July 1, 2008 at 10:31 amAlthough filmmaker Michael Moore was born in Davison, Michigan, an upper-class suburb 10 miles away from Flint, Moore claims Flint as his hometown.
Michael best beware the next time he steps foot in Flint because local cops are patrolling to see whose pants need raising.
Flint police chief David Dicks released a statement announcing the city’s new campaign against saggy pants, meaning trousers that have that nasty habit of slipping below the waistline.
Anyone who wears either pants or shorts that are on the descent will be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, which could get the person 93 days to a year in the slammer and/or a $500 fine.
Dicks explains that those who expose their underwear and claim that it is a form of self-expression are no longer practicing free speech.
Not even in a big old orange jumpsuit.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media and entertainment law at Biola University.
Dr. Phil Scolded by George Michael
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Music, Politics, entertainment on June 29, 2008 at 6:47 pm
In front of a star-studded audience, Dr. Phil McGraw was recently taken to task by of all people George Michael.
While at a Los Angeles concert performance by Michael, Dr. Phil was chewed out over his non-sunny expression.
“I probably shouldn’t say this but it’s very me,” Michael announced from onstage.
“Dr. Phil is here, and in the sea of faces he has this miserable look – he’s been doing it for the last hour,” the singer added. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but maybe you need to see someone about that.”
Some of the concert attendees started booing the daytime TV advisor.
Celebs in the audience who may or may not have booed included Bo Derek, Pink, Sharon Stone, Randy Jackson, Cyndi Lauper and Kathy Griffin.
Guess this means all Michael concertgoers have to don happy faces or risk being singled out as sour pusses.
Barack Obama’s Tinseltown Trip
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, entertainment on June 9, 2008 at 9:38 pmCome late June, Barack Obama will be traveling to Tinseltown.
This time he’ll arrive as the presumptive Democrat nominee.
Now that the primary is over, Hillary’s Hollywood contingent is expected to open up its coffers for Obama.
A fundraiser is set to be held at the Los Angeles Music Center, with invites going out to the wealthiest Dem donors in So Cal.
In all probability, the H-bash will add megabucks to Obama’s already sizable war chest.
During the 2004 presidential campaign season, dreary John Kerry was able to raise $5 mill at a celebrity-laden event, which was held at one LA Music Center venue, the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Although John McCain has more buddies in Hollywood than any Republican since Ronald Reagan, any attempts to match or even come close to what Obama will tap from Tinseltown are likely to fail miserably.
As Chad Griffen, veteran political advisor to Rob Reiner, told the Los Angeles Times, “I can’t imagine anyone in the entertainment industry going from Hillary Clinton to John McCain.”
Some Operation Chaos devotees might beg to differ.
Ellen DeGeneres to Wed at Bush Ranch?
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, entertainment on May 27, 2008 at 6:01 amAfter the California Supreme Court lifted a law banning same sex marriage, Ellen DeGeneres announced her plans to marry longtime companion Portia de Rossi.
During a taping for an appearance on Ellen’s show, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain informed DeGeneres that they don’t exactly see eye to eye when it comes to same sex matrimony.
“We just have a disagreement, and I, along with many others, wish you a lot of happiness,” McCain said.
DeGeneres replied with a question: “So you will walk me down the aisle?”
After the audience laughter subsided, McCain responded, “Touche.”
The following day President Bush’s daughter, newlywed Jenna Bush Hager, also taped a show for Ellen.
During the taping, after Jenna showed Ellen a wedding pic, the TV talk show host noted, “So, the ranch was a great place to get married – it looked like nobody could fly over and get pictures or bother you, really.”
“So, can we borrow it for our wedding?” “Can we get the ranch?” DeGeneres asked.
Without missing a beat, Jenna responded, “Sure.”
Sitting right next to Jenna and listening intently as the Bush family ranch was booked for the wedding of Ellen and Portia was—First Lady Laura Bush.
Dustin Hoffman’s Accidental Stardom
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Politics, entertainment on May 12, 2008 at 11:02 amWhen it comes to Hollywood stars, Dustin Hoffman has never been typical.
His alienation from the world of glamour started when he was just a kid.
“In school, I was not in the ‘in’ group,” Hoffman tells Readers Digest. “For a long time, I carried that with me. My success was thrust on me – I always called it a freak accident because I entered acting with no thought of fame or fortune.”
By Hollywood standards, it seems that Hoffman has a unique home life, too. He’s been married to the same woman, lawyer Lisa Gottsegen, for 27 years and has six grown children.
Despite having contributed to the Obama campaign, Hoffman doesn’t seem to be particularly enamored with any of the candidates who are seeking the Oval Office.
“The fact that the other candidates don’t touch on real issues — they’re politicians. Their honesty goes only so far,” Hoffman says. “How wonderful it would be to have a candidate who was intent on saying what he or she really believes.”
The actor recently let his skepticism seep out to a TMZ.com video paparazzo who had been pursuing him in Beverly Hills.
When asked to name his favorite presidential candidate, Hoffman replied, “William Howard Taft.”
Richard Gere’s Kiss Off India’s List
In Culture, Hollywood, Politics, celebrity, film, law on March 16, 2008 at 8:21 pmRichard Gere is in the clear.
The highest court in India has ordered that an arrest warrant against the actor be suspended.
Indian Supreme Court Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran have indefinitely stayed the warrant, which had been issued against Gere for allegedly violating public obscenity laws.
It turns out that while at a 2007 AIDS awareness event, the actor publicly embraced Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and gave her a big kiss.
Hindu activists had filed three cases against Gere and Shetty, alleging that the two had offended the sensibilities of India’s culture.
An unauthorized spokesperson for Gere suggests that the actor should never have been held responsible for his slippery lip behavior since he has an inherent condition that causes him to offend sensibilities the world over.
Paul McCartney’s Head-turning Fish Tale
In Culture, Music, Politics, celebrity on March 16, 2008 at 8:16 pmWe now know how Paul McCartney came to be a vegetarian.
Those who thought there was something fishy about the former Beatle’s commitment to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have been proven right.
McCartney is now part of the celebrity team (along with Pamela Anderson, Casey Affleck, Alicia Silverstone, Forest Whitaker and others) that PETA is using to advance its causes.
A new PETA poster that is promoting vegetarianism features the famed bass player from Liverpool and reads as follows: “Many years ago, I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realized, ‘I am killing him – all for the passing pleasure it brings me.’ Something inside me clicked.”
Paul probably wishes something inside him had clicked before he took Heather Mills as his bride.
‘10,000’ Thumbs-down for Film Critics
In Academy Awards, Culture, Media, entertainment, film on March 10, 2008 at 8:40 amFilm critics gave the prehistoric adventure film “10,000 B.C.” some scathing reviews.
The San Francisco Chronicle called the movie “completely ridiculous.”
The Washington Post said it was “just plain nuts.”
The New York Post said audiences would be “sorely disappointed with this bloodless PG-13 adventure.”
The USA Today called it a “bombastic bore.”
Despite the hurling of insults by film critics, the public ignored the gibes and flocked to theaters anyway. The cavemen confrontations with woolly mammoths, saber toothed tigers and other prehistoric predators were just too compelling.
The flick was #1 right out of the box, with a weekend take just shy of $36 mill in North America and just over $25 mill overseas.
In the most explicit terms, the Newark Star Ledger warned anyone who was even thinking of seeing the film to “Yabba-dabba-don’t.”
In a clear response, no doubt to the chagrin of film critics across the nation, the public “Yabba-dabba did.”
Angelina Jolie Wants Troops to Stay in Iraq
In Angelina Jolie, Culture, Hollywood, Media, Politics, celebrity, genocide on March 2, 2008 at 10:41 pmHollywood celebrities are known for supporting candidates who campaign on the promise to bring the troops home from Iraq.
But Angelina Jolie, in her capacity as a UN Goodwill Ambassador, visited Iraq and had the opportunity to meet with the military genius responsible for the success of the “surge,” General David Petraeus. And the actress-diplomat is now distinguishing herself from most of the Hollywood Left.
In an op-ed titled, “Staying to Help in Iraq,” Jolie writes about speaking to the general and how she is “pleased that he has offered that support.”
“General Petraeus also told me he would support new efforts to address the humanitarian crisis ‘to the maximum extent possible’ — which leaves me hopeful that more progress can be made.” Jolie adds.
As for the surge, Jolie explains, “I can only state what I witnessed: U.N. staff and those of non-governmental organizations seem to feel they have the right set of circumstances to attempt to scale up their programs. And when I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq. They have lost many friends and want to be a part of the humanitarian progress they now feel is possible.”
Sounding like Bill Krystol, Jolie asks: “Can the United States afford to gamble that four million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of the Middle East, won’t explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder?”
It appears as though Jolie is affirming what military leaders have been saying; that not only will humanitarian progress be halted if the U.S. pulls out, a humanitarian calamity will ensue.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor and teacher of mass media law at Biola University.
Academy Rejects Public’s Fave ‘Juno’
In Academy Awards, Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Oscars on February 24, 2008 at 9:22 pmThe Oscar trend continues with members of the Academy seemingly living in a different universe than the film-going public.
Mostly shunned at the 80th Annual Academy Awards was the uplifting, light-hearted surprise hit “Juno” (won Best Original Screenplay), but honored with major awards were two dark and violent offerings; this despite the fact that “Juno” had a significantly greater box-office take than any of its competitors.
“No Country for Old Men,” a story about an insane murderer, took Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture trophies, while “There Will Be Blood,” the tale of a brutally sadistic oil tycoon, was the recipient of Best Cinematography and Best Actor gold statues.
Hollywood ignored the box-office and turned a blind’s eye to a recent Reuters/E-Poll survey as well, one in which “Juno” beat the competition again. In a poll of 1,100 adults, 29% of respondents chose “Juno” for best picture, 25% picked “No Country For Old Men” and 20% “Atonement.”
More significantly, the survey confirmed the growing gap between fans and Academy voters. About 72% said the Academy’s best film choices were influenced by critics and Hollywood insiders.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor and teacher of mass media law at Biola University.
Britney Spears Files a Civil Rights Lawsuit
In Culture, Music, celebrity, entertainment, law on February 18, 2008 at 6:59 amAttorney Jon Eardley, who purports to represent Britney Spears, has filed documents in an L.A. U.S. District Court to move Britney’s conservatorship case from the Los Angeles County Superior Court to federal court. Eardley maintains offices in Washington, D.C., Jericho, NewYork, and Whittier, California.
Eardley claims in court papers that, without due process, Spears “is being confined by the conservator to the private prison of her own home,” and he contends that this is a violation of her civil rights.
After Britney twice spent time in a psychiatric ward, Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz placed her in a temporary conservatorship under her father Jamie and his attorney Andrew Wallet. The order will continue until a scheduled hearing on March 10.
“I see the case as a civil rights case,” Eardley told People magazine. “These are issues of confinement. Very serious confinement. Not allowed to contact her friends. Not allowed to use the phone. Not allowed to come and go as you please. Bodyguards controlling you and so forth.”
Under the terms of the conservatorship, Spears lacks the capacity to hire her own lawyer without the approval of her conservators.
Spears’ civil rights case is unlikely to be heard by the federal court.
When an individual is determined by a court to be unable to handle his or her own affairs, a conservatorship is established. By definition, anyone who is placed in a conservatorship could claim that his or her civil rights have been violated.
This area of the law, though, is handled exclusively by state courts, and therefore a federal judge would be extremely reluctant to get involved.
Interestingly, a copy of Eardley’s filing was delivered to the L.A. Superior Court by Spears’ former manager Sam Lufti’s publicist, Michael Sands.
Sands also handled publicity matters for Mark Vincent Kaplan, the lawyer who represents Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline.
With this cast of characters the only question is: When will the “Six Degrees of Britney” game come out?
In other celebrity-related legal news, Paris Hilton is being investigated by the L.A. Department of Animal Services
It turns out that during a recent appearance on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Hilton made mention of the number of dogs that she owns.
“I have 17 dogs — lots … They all sleep in my bed – well, not all of them, but I let some of them,” the heiress divulged.
Paris explained that she has so many dogs because “they keep having babies, and I feel bad about giving them away.”
Officials from the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services apparently watch the “Ellen” show, because after the revelation they showed up at Hilton’s home to inspect.
The city of L.A. has an ordinance that allows three pets per home unless the pet owner happens to be a commercial breeder.
Since Hilton wasn’t at home at the time of the officials’ visit, they left a “notice to comply” [with the law] form for her perusal.
While contending with her pet violations, Hilton has also had to deal with some stinky reviews of her new movie, “’The Hottie and The Nottie.”
Users of the Internet Movie Database voted the flick the worst movie ever made.
On a scale of 1-10, film fans gave it a 1.2—not a hottie, but a really big nottie.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor and teacher of mass media law at Biola University.
Suspension Coming for Keith Olbermann?
In Culture, Entertainment Business, Hillary, Media, Politics on February 10, 2008 at 10:29 pmHoward Wolfson, communications director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, called it “disgusting” and “beneath contempt.”
He characterized it as something that “should never be said on a national news network.”
He also brought up the Chris Matthews apology, the one in which the “Hardball” host said he was sorry for suggesting that Hillary’s political success was due to her spouse having had an affair with an intern.
“At some point,” Wolfson said, “you have to question whether there is a pattern at this particular network.”
What’s the “it” that has Wolfson so exercised?
Well, Wolfson’s remarks were about David Shuster and the comments the fill-in host made about Chelsea Clinton’s campaign role. Shuster used the words “pimped out” in reference to the campaign’s use of Chelsea to recruit Democratic Party super delegates in support of her mother.
Most would agree that the remarks were regrettable, but what about the “pattern” to which Wolfson referred?
The subject network here is none other than MSNBC. But the unnamed perpetrator of the “pattern” is one of its most outspoken and opinionated hosts, Keith Olbermann.
Olbermann is billed on NBC and MSNBC as a journalist. He has called one of his favorite targets, Fox News’ “Factor” host Bill O’Reilly, a “passive-aggressive racist.”
This is the same Olbermann who in narrating an NFL play described a punt return by Roscoe Parrish, a wide receiver who happens to be African-American, as “Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles at its finest.”
Olbermann also described a supposed conversation between Bill Clinton and Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor of Hispanic descent, in which Clinton was “asking Richardson for an endorsement and then, ‘would you please pass the guacamole?’”
The “Countdown” host also said that the Bush administration was an example of facism, claiming that it was similar to The Third Reich, and compared Fox News to the Nazis as well.
Meanwhile Shuster profusely apologized to the Clintons and in return was given a suspension.
The suspension was apparently not enough for Hillary. The senator and presidential candidate wrote a letter to president of NBC Steve Capus, which stated that “no temporary suspension or half-hearted apology is sufficient” for the language that Shuster used.
Hillary also asked Capus to “look at the pattern of behavior on your network that seems to repeatedly lead to this sort of degrading language.”
As long as Capus is looking, maybe he ought to take a glance in Olbermann’s direction.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor and teacher of mass media law at Biola University.
Jessica Simpson and Celebrity Superstition
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood, Jessica Simpson, entertainment on January 28, 2008 at 7:06 amJessica Simpson is not happy about a recent article in OK! magazine.
The singer-actress has directed her attorney to dispatch a retraction demand to OK! over a piece that claimed Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo called it quits in his relationship with Simpson because his team lost in the playoffs, which put the kibosh on the Cowboy’s bid to play in the Super Bowl.
In the letter, Simpson’s lawyer, John Rosenberg, characterized the OK! article as a “personal attack masquerading as journalism.”
Simpson’s spokesperson, Cindi Berger, let the press know that, according to her, the story was “fabricated,” and “made up.”
The OK! article implied that Simpson is bad luck, a charge that could have real life ramifications.
One thing that looms large in sports locker rooms as well as in Hollywood dressing rooms is superstition.
Holy habits, favorable foods and even charmed undergarments have been known to play a part in the rituals surrounding both stadium and studio activity.
Here’s a sampling of star-sized superstition and bad luck deflection from the sports and entertainment worlds:
-When Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships, he wore his lucky college gym shorts underneath his Bulls uniform.
- Tiger Woods believes there’s a lucky charm in the color red. When in 1997 the golf sensation won his first Masters tournament, guess what color he was wearing?
-Wade Boggs was known as the “Chicken Man” because he would eat poultry before every game. The baseball great also took exactly 150 ground balls during practice, entered the batting cage at exactly 5:17 p.m. and began sprinting at precisely 7:17 p.m.
-Pitcher Turk Wendell would brush his teeth between every inning.
-Hockey goalie Pelle Lindbergh would wear an old Swedish-made orange T-shirt under his equipment. Each time the shirt started to fall apart he would have someone mend it. Between periods he would only drink a Swedish beverage called Pripps that was delivered by a special team trainer.
-Hockey player Patrick Roy routinely talked to the goalposts during the game.
-Tennis player Goran Ivanisevic would always attempt to be the second person to get up from his chair on the change-over and would avoid stepping on any of the lines. When he won, he would repeat all the events of the day, going to the same restaurant, ordering the same food and talking to the same people.
-Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, refused to attend the premiere of the fifth film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” Since he was unable to make previous premieres due to scheduling conflicts, the actor skipped “Phoenix” to avoiding jinxing the box-office.
-Cameron Diaz has some treasured lucky charms and methodically knocks on wood.
-Geoffrey Rush brings a plastic Daffy Duck figure to awards shows. In 1997 the actor was nominated for his role in “Shine.” He brought Daffy to the Oscars and picked up a gold statue.
-Cate Blanchett keeps her “Lord of the Rings” elf ears on her mantle for luck.
-True TV host Star Jones never puts her purse on the floor.
-Legend Eartha Kitt won’t stay in a hotel room above the 8th floor.
-Robin Williams has a lucky carved ivory figurine that belonged to his father.
-Meat Loaf travels with two stuffed bears.
James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor and teacher of mass media law at Biola University.
Tom Cruise Makes His Own Pact with Writers
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood, Politics, Tom Cruise on January 6, 2008 at 9:03 pmStudio heads are fuming.
Executives who run the movie biz are members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a group that represents hundreds of movie studios and production companies, and negotiates with entertainment industry trade unions like the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
Interestingly, the WGA has made a deal with Tom Cruise and UA that is similar to the agreement that the union cut with David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants.
By making the first interim deal with the WGA, UA now has a competitive edge over the rest of the Hollywood studios. But this has also created a situation that has weakened the position of the AMPTP and created pressure for other companies to make side deals with the writers’ union, which plays right into the hands of the striking writers.
To that end, the WGA is pursuing similar side deals with the Weinstein Co. (owned by former Miramax Films founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein) and Lionsgate.
The UA deal helps its distributor and majority shareholder MGM because needed product will be supplied to the company.
Because MGM is a member of the AMPTP, in a desire not to break ranks with the group, MGM CEO Harry Sloan had been pleading with Cruise and his sidekick Paula Wagner not to make their own deal with the WGA.
Could it be that there are some second thoughts about making Tom Cruise the head of United Artists film studio?
Meanwhile the awards shows are also feeling weakened and pressured as a result of the writers’ strike.
“What would the N.F.L. be without the Super Bowl?” one movie exec told the New York Times. “They will find a way to make it [the Oscars] happen.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
The Oscar folks started getting nervous when the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced that the actors who were nominated for Golden Globes, in a show of support for striking writers, would not be attending the ceremony.
It could be that the only one walking the red carpet will be Al Gore.
Let’s face it. Awards shows aren’t really about honoring peers. They’re about the public’s insatiable desire to have another opportunity to star gaze. That’s the draw, and that’s what brings in the big bucks.
For the Academy, it translates into around $50 million in Oscar-related revenue. ABC TV brings in scores of millions in ad money each time the golden boy mugs for the camera.
Winning an Oscar can also give a boost to a film, in box-office terms, of 5 to 10 percent.
All of the dough means that keeping actors (who also happen to be SAG union members) away from the awards shows is the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) ace in the hole in getting concessions from execs and ending the strike.
‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ Credits Dem with Cold War End
In Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood, Movies, Politics, entertainment on December 16, 2007 at 8:22 pmHistory indicates that a prominent conservative’s steadfast actions are what led to the Cold War end.
It was the late great Ronald Reagan who was the key player in the engineering of U.S. victory following the prolonged tension-ridden period during which we were at odds with the then-Soviet Union.
A current film once again illustrates that acknowledging Reagan’s triumphs doesn’t sit all that well with liberal Hollywood.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin of “West Wing” fame (who, incidentally, is up for a Golden Globe but is refusing to cross the writers’ strike picket line) and director Mike Nichols, who’s best known for “The Graduate,” found a book to adapt to the big-screen that credits a Dem with the Cold War win.
“Charlie Wilson’s War” is based on a non-fiction book by George Crile, which profiles a 1980s congressman named Charles Wilson, a.k.a. “the liberal from Lufkin.” Representative Wilson was a pro-abortion, Equal Rights Amendment-supporting Democrat.
Tom Hanks plays the Texas rep who was involved with covertly funding Afghanistan’s Mujahideen rebels in opposition to the Soviet Union. He was urged on by born-again socialite and mistress Joanne Herring, who is played by Julia Roberts.
Entertainment Weekly gave the quintessential Tinseltown take on the flick, praising it as “a journalistic satire of realpolitik in which our jerry-rigged alliances, which looked strategic at the time, end up biting the U.S. in unforeseen ways.”
But the publication did take a small swipe at the movie in the following way: “Charlie was right to fight his war…All of which sounds a little too close to recently made rationalizations for a certain other war.”
Not surprisingly, the critics are heaping praise on the film. It has been nominated for 5 Golden Globes and is also on most of the Academy prognosticators’ Oscar lists.
The Golden Globes may be a predictor of what happens at the Oscars in more ways than one.
Globe nominations were recently announced, but the six-week old writers’ strike may all but eliminate any reason for the public to watch the telecast.
Writers, presenters, nominees and, of course, red carpet walkers could be agonizingly absent.
Globe producers are trying to get a waiver from the Writers Guild of America to exempt the January 13 ceremony at the Beverly Hilton, promising to use the event to express solidarity with the picketers.
If the requested waiver is denied, many of the nominees who don’t want to be labeled Ellen DeGeneres-like strikebreakers have already declared that they won’t cross the picket line and will therefore boycott the Globes ceremony.
David Duchovny, of “X-files” fame who’s nominated for “Californication” told the Hollywood Reporter, “I would never cross picket lines. I would probably send a stunt double in.”
“Grey’s Anatomy” producer Shonda Rhimes, “Eastern Promises” director David Cronenberg and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” writer Ronald Harwood have also said they will boycott the Globes if there is no waiver.
“Samantha Who?”’s Christina Applegate who’s nominated for the new comedy has decided to attend despite the picket lines. Applegate summed up her feelings about being nominated for a Globe while the writers are on strike.
The actress said, “It stinks.”
Barack Obama’s Oprah Card
In Culture, Hollywood, Obama, Oprah, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on December 2, 2007 at 8:38 pmJust as the polls show that the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is getting tighter, over the primary hill comes a player in the Obama campaign who just may deliver the Dem nomination to the Illinois senator.
For the first time in her career, daytime TV icon Oprah Winfrey is endorsing a candidate for the White House.
What’s even more astounding is that Winfrey is touring Iowa with Obama, and she’s luring even bigger crowds than the charismatic candidate and his wife have been drawing.
Hillary is fighting back with an in-house celebrity of her own, former president and First Gent wannabe Bill Clinton.
In the Oprah vs. Bill battle, there’s really no contest.
Bill prevaricated in a recent comment about his supposed opposition to the Iraq war, a clear negative for his wife.
Meanwhile Oprah has a huge influence track record with her vast audience of 8.6 million fans.
Her message about Obama is simple and clear: “I know him well enough to believe in his moral authority,” Winfrey told the Hollywood Reporter.
Lady O’s endorsement certainly has the potential to work big-time for Obama.
Obscure books turn into massive bestsellers with a mere Oprah mention.
And when it comes to endorsements of individuals, let’s just say Oprah was able to take an unknown jury consultant from Texas, transport him to Beverly Hills and make a mega-TV star out of him.
She did just that with a guy named—Dr. Phil.
In more presidential primary news, as the Writers Guild of America strike drones on, late-night talk shows are featuring monologues with rerun jokes on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s run for California governor, Scooter Libby’s pardon and President Bush’s pretzel mishap.
As a result, the current presidential primary candidates have been spared being the target of late-night wisecracks.
One candidate in particular is benefiting from the humor vacuum: Dem frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
The Center for Media and Public Affairs keeps tabs on Jay Leno, David Letterman and fellow jesters via a joke-tracking database called “Punchlines.”
From Jan. 1, 2007 to Oct. 10, 2007, the former First Lady was the subject of 186 late-night jokes as reported by the Los Angeles Times. All of the other Dem candidates combined chalked up a mere 197 quips.
Three non-candidates did better than Hillary with their joke counts: Vice President Dick Cheney (197), Paris Hilton (258) and late-night perennial punching bag George W. Bush (826).
Here’s a sampling of some late-night Hillary horseplay:
Jay Leno’s comment on the Clinton marriage: “Sen. Clinton said that as president she would bring the troops home. The troops? She can’t even get Bill to come home.”
David Letterman’s fashion quip: “Hillary is dressing sexier and sexier. Yesterday she was seen shopping at Victoria’s Pantsuit.”
‘Party of the Rich’ Dems and Hollywood
In Celebrities, Culture, Hillary, Hollywood, News and politics, Politics, entertainment on November 25, 2007 at 10:00 pmAccording to a recent study, there’s a new “party of the rich.” It includes a whole lot of Dems, which means it includes a whole lot of Tinseltowners, too.
“The demographic reality is that the Democratic Party is the new ‘party of the rich,’” Michael Franc recently noted in the Financial Times of London.
Franc, an officer at the Heritage Foundation, conducted a study, which helps explain why wealthy Hollywood is chock-full of die-hard Dems.
Examining the net worth of folks in states and congressional districts, Franc determined that the majority of the nation’s wealthiest congressional districts were represented by Democrats and more than half of the richest households are in the 18 states in which Dems control both Senate seats.
Franc’s study also showed that, contrary to Democrat characterizations, “the vast majority of unabashed conservative House members hail from profoundly middle-class districts.”
While Dem candidates’ eyes must remain firmly fixed on the wealthy, they’re all simultaneously pandering to the working class.
Apparently, the Dem presidential candidates don’t want the same thing to happen to them that happened to Ellen Degeneres
The comedic talk show host recently found herself in the doghouse with striking writers.
The mistake Degeneres made was crossing the picket lines and doing her talk show despite the writers’ strike.
Because of a looming second strike by CBS’s newswriters, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson have all said they will pull out of a scheduled CBS News presidential debate if CBS’s newswriters join the screen and TV writers in a strike.
The CBS-sponsored debate is supposed to take place in Los Angeles on Dec. 10.
Edwards already posed with picketers in L.A., and his campaign also indicated that he and wife Elizabeth will pass on an upcoming scheduled appearance on ABC’s “The View” because of the writers’ guild strike.
In a released statement, Edwards called on “all of my fellow candidates and their campaigns to do the same.”
The Obama campaign said that if news workers were striking “Barack Obama will not cross the picket line to attend the debate.” Obama’s wife Michelle also cancelled a co-hosting appearance on “The View” because of striking writers.
The Clinton campaign followed suit, noting that “America’s unions are the backbone of America’s middle class, and I [Hillary] will always stand with America’s working men and women in the fight to ensure that they are able to earn a fair wage.”
Richardson jumped on the debate-skipping bandwagon, too. “His actions when it comes to the strike are more important than what he says at the debate,” his spokesperson said.
Hollywood Celebrities Hide ‘Scarlet R’
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Politics, entertainment on November 18, 2007 at 10:06 pmA recent incident involving Teri Hatcher has once again put the dirty little secret about one of Tinseltown’s oppressed minorities in the spotlight.
Apparently concerned that the “Desperate Housewives” star might possibly be labeled with the “Scarlet R,” in a letter to the Washington Times Hatcher’s attorney included the following: “Please be advised that Ms. Hatcher is not a Republican.”
This is all strangely reminiscent of something I reported on back in 2004, when, in the political sense, Details magazine “outed” Mandy Moore.
The response from Moore’s publicist at the time said it all. It stated: “Mandy is not, nor has she ever been, a Republican.”
The truth of the matter is Hollywood folks like Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford can shout their ultra-liberal views to the rafters while right-of-center stars must whisper, or better yet, cork it altogether.
In Hollywood, being branded a Republican may not only be hazardous to your social calendar, it can put the kibosh on your career.
Even those who in the past may merely have been supportive of Republican candidates must sometimes dodge the “R” ball. Bruce Willis and Tom Selleck’s representatives have indicated that both prefer to be known as Independents, while Kurt Russell and Drew Carey favor the Libertarian label.
“The Price Is Right” host Carey said, “It automatically hurts me if I said that I supported the war in Iraq and I support the troops.”
Patricia Heaton, star of the new hit “Back to You,” remembers having dinner with Hollywood friends and being met with stony silence after she let it be known that she was voting for now-President Bush. “You’d think I’d cr***ed in the middle of the table,” Heaton said.
Multiple Emmy nominee Ron Silver explained, “Since speaking in support of George Bush I’ve become increasingly disadmired by members of my profession.”
In a place where connections are indispensable to success, you live liberal or die. And you wait for John Wayne to ride back into Hollywood.
While waiting, there’s one thing you don’t want to do—patronize movies the likes of Mark Cuban and Brian De Palma’s “Redacted.”
Cuban is a billionaire, owns the Dallas Mavericks, heads a film company and TV channel and recently lasted a few rounds on “Dancing with the Stars.” But the guy apparently doesn’t understand the responsibility that comes with a media megaphone.
Neither does movie director Brian De Palma. When there’s a war blazing and our bravest are in harm’s way, it’s irresponsible at a minimum to produce and distribute material that endangers our troops and their mission.
Cuban and De Palma, in my opinion, have done just that with their deplorable film “Redacted.”
The movie focuses on real-life atrocities committed by soldiers. It presents one-dimensional villains dressed up in U.S. military uniforms. A brutal rape and murder scene is the centerpiece of the movie.
To punctuate the propaganda for the enemy, the film ends with a gruesome montage called “Collateral Damage,” in which pictures of dead Iraqis are projected on the screen and whose identities have been “blacked out” apparently due to legal concerns.
The film recklessly communicates that this kind of brutality by members of the American military is the norm and that the U.S. administration is engaged in a cover-up.
Omitted from the film is the fact that all five of those involved in the actual incident were arrested and charged for the crime. Three have been sentenced to prison for the rest of their lives. And the ringleader was ejected from the Army before the crime was ever reported. That soldier will face the death penalty in a Kentucky federal court.
De Palma has hit the rape theme before, in a 1980s anti-Vietnam war movie called “Casualties of War.” The director explained that “the premise for both wars [Vietnam and Iraq] is essentially the same, and that’s why this particular atrocity has occurred twice.”
“The rape case in ‘Casualties of War’ was a very dramatic metaphor for our involvement over there, in which we raped a country and then left,” De Palma said.
How people who have been given so much can commit onscreen libel of the military is despicable. How they can do so at a time of war is unconscionable. How they can sleep at night is a mystery.
Hollywood Writers’ Strike Draws Politicians’ Attention
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood, Media, Television, entertainment, law on November 11, 2007 at 11:26 pmMaybe it’s because if Los Angeles were a state it would be the 4th largest economy in the nation.
Or maybe it’s because the entertainment business generates more than $30 billion annually.
Anyway here they come, politicians to the rescue of Hollywood’s writers’ strike.
Former movie star and current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former labor negotiator and current L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former president and current Hillary stumper Bill Clinton have all offered their services as mediators. Even Jesse Jackson is here cheerleading the picketers and posing for the press.
The governor seems poised to jump in like an action hero, the mayor has already met with reps from both sides, rumors are rampant that Hillary would like Bill to take a trip to the Left Coast and Jesse has the pompoms at the ready.
The problem is that the writers don’t trust Arnold because he’s been chummy with studio execs, the execs don’t trust Villaraigosa because he used to work for unions, no one believes Clinton is going to leave the Hillary campaign when it’s in trouble and Jesse just continues to float from one activist photo-op to another.
One exec described the writers’ decision to strike as having “declared war.” The writers want a bigger share of DVDs and a piece of the Internet and cell phones. The studios say that the revenue from new technology is an unknown speculative projection, and therefore they can’t lock in on a percentage.
A simple solution would be to give the writers a share when the revenue reaches a specified level. If both sides could conceptually agree, it would be the start of talks that could lead to a resolution, and thankfully, more to watch than reruns and reality shows.
Come to think of it, Hollywood really needs someone to settle the strike who’s apolitical, able to communicate in monosyllables and is experienced in bringing emotionally charged sides together. Sounds like a job for Dr. Phil.
Jimmy Kimmel Gets the Rush Limbaugh Treatment
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Television, sports on October 21, 2007 at 9:54 pmABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was essentially fired from his position as comedic color commentator on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
After two editions of the show, Kimmel was let go for a quip about former QB and announcer Joe Theismann, in which he said that Theismann, who was let go last season, was “watching from his living room with steam coming from his ears.”
The next day, Monday Night Football producer Jay Rothman characterized Kimmel’s joke as “classless and disappointing,” adding that “it was cheap.”
Rothman confirmed Kimmel won’t be back.
This is reminiscent of 2003, when ESPN bowed to pressure and accepted Rush Limbaugh’s resignation after the talk show host directed commentary at the media about quarterback Donovan McNabb’s overly favorable press coverage.
Sports talk used to be the last bastion of freeform ranting.
Looks like PC-itis has really infected the announcing booth when a commentator gets let go for expressing an opinion and a comedian gets fired for telling a joke.
On another ambiguously funny note, Stephen Colbert was teasing as usual when he announced that he’s a candidate for the U.S. presidency.
But the law could create some serious trouble for the satirical talk show host.
Congress has created a load of complex election laws that Colbert may have already triggered with his latest politically charged prank.
The Comedy Central notable executed the necessary documents to have his name added to both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in South Carolina. In addition, he set up a Web site for his budding campaign while at the same time declaring that he was crossing out the part of an oath stating that he would not “knowingly violate any election law.”
Colbert appears to be mildly serious. He indicated that he has sought the advice of an election law firm, Wiley Rein. The caricaturist switched to his campaign site a petition seeking signatures from the show’s Web site, based on his lawyers’ recommendations.
If Colbert actually follows through as he has promised and pays the fees ($2,500) and collects enough signatures (3000), campaign finance laws will expose his show and network to violations that could even involve criminal penalties.
To the extent that Colbert’s cable show promotes his candidacy, it could arguably be viewed as an illegal “in-kind” contribution from Comedy Central.
The whole problem might be mitigated if Colbert would do something he almost never does—admit it was just a joke.
Nicole Kidman’s Faith Shifts ‘Golden Compass’’s Needle
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood, Movies, Nicole Kidman, entertainment, religion on October 14, 2007 at 9:27 pm“The Golden Compass,” a film adaptation of the first book in a trilogy by author Phillip Pullman, is stirring unrest in some Christian souls.
Pullman is a militant atheist, and he’s made it known that he detests religion.
Just as J.K. Rowlings’ “Harry Potter” series grew progressively darker as she churned the books out, Pullman has things in his trilogy growing progressively more anti-religious.
The heroes of the story are engaged in a rebellion to kill God. In the third and final book, they succeed in their efforts.
Nicole Kidman, who stars in “The Golden Compass,” spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the film. She told the magazine that she was raised Catholic and that the Catholic Church is part of her “essence.” She added that she wouldn’t be able to do the film if she “thought it were at all anti-Catholic.”
The sweet result is that the religious message put forth in the film version of the book “has been watered down a little,” according to Kidman.
Based on the footage that I have seen, Christians are not likely to be offended by the movie. Still, the Catholic League intends to conduct a nationwide two-month protest of the film.
Christian groups are right to be concerned. The movie could lead children to read the books, which contain potentially faith-damaging material. Additionally, Pullman is an excellent writer and uses cliffhangers to induce readers to continue on to subsequent books in the trilogy.
But, in my assessment, a boycott is an ill-advised approach in this instance. Controversy has been a key element in film promotion over the past few years, with PR firms seeking to generate loads of it in the hopes of boosting ticket sales.
“Compass” is not as well known as “Potter,” but controversy will provide it with the publicity it needs to rise to a higher tier within the fantasy realm. This plays right into the hands of the studio.
Boycott or not, Christian organizations should focus on educating the public on the difference between the film and the Pullman books and encouraging parents in particular to monitor and guide their children in the selection of literature and media.
Faith and film have come together in a big way for another Tinseltown figure. Have you heard of Christian director Tyler Perry? Hollywood sure has.
With a production budget of only $6 million, Perry’s “Madea’s Family Reunion” grossed over $63 million. And similarly, with a production budget of a mere $5.5 million, his “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” took in $50 mill.
Most recently, the Lionsgate film “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?” clobbered George Clooney’s legal Oscar dreamer “Michael Clayton,” Cate Blanchett’s regal sequel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and Mark Wahlberg’s criminal thriller “We Own the Night.”
“Married”’s cast includes Janet Jackson.
The positive themed flick brought in $21.5 million as opposed to Clooney’s “Clayton,” which pulled in $11 million as did “We Own the Night.” Blanchett’s “Golden Age” took in $6.2 million.
It turns out that box-office cash has slipped for the fourth straight weekend. The best dozen films of the past weekend brought in $85.5 million, off 14 percent from the same weekend last year.
If there’s one thing that can make Hollywood find religion it’s the Almighty Dollar.
Rosie O’Donnell’s Terrorist Fans
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Politics, Rosie, Television, Tom Cruise, entertainment on September 30, 2007 at 9:18 pmTerrorist leaders are weighing in on Rosie O’Donnell’s geopolitical rantings.
Ramadan Adassi, the terrorist head of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, has said that he agrees with O’Donnell’s views. And Ala Senakreh, the West Bank Chief of the same terrorist group, is inviting Rosie to come on a fact-finding visit and live with them for a while.
“We welcome Rosie O’Donnell to stay among us and to get to know the truth from being here,” Senakreh said, according to author Aaron Klein.
O’Donnell’s rep says the idea that terrorists have picked Rosie for their pin-up poster is “absurd.”
But when you look at Rosie’s statements, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched.
Assisting in making the monsters appear cuddly, O’Donnell said, “Don’t fear the terrorists. They’re mothers and fathers.”
Helping to take the terrorists off the hook for the events of 9/11, she informed folks that the buildings were brought down in order to get rid of documents that incriminated Enron and other corporations.
Relieving the Iranian government of responsibility, the blustering blogger suggested that the Bush administration orchestrated the kidnapping of fifteen British sailors as a pretext for war.
Lending a hand to terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who had confessed to more than 30 terrorist plots and the 9/11 attack, O’Donnell spread the word that the confession had been coerced via U.S. torture.
And who could forget when Rosie announced that our country had treated the Guantanamo inmates “like animals” and subjected them to “torture … on a daily basis.”
What does her rhetoric portend?
Rosie will be back on the tube real soon—on Al Jazeera.
The former object of Rosie’s affection, Tom Cruise, apparently intends to construct a $10 million bunker under his home in Telluride in order to keep wife Katie Holmes and daughter Suri safe from an intergalactic alien attack.
Cruise does have some interplanetary experience. After all, he starred in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 flick “War of the Worlds.”
According to Star Magazine, Cruise plans to hunker down in a bunker because of his devotion to the Church of Scientology. He reportedly believes that “an evil revenge attack” is being plotted by Xenu, a dethroned galactic potentate.
The structure will purportedly be “a self-contained underground shelter” with high tech air purifying capability.
Cruise’s rep denies the report and says it’s “completely untrue.”
Even though Hollywood publicists aren’t anxious to admit their clients have concerns over interstellar invasions from outer space, politicians are chomping at the bit to have another shot at a guest worker program.
L.A. Mayor Turns to Hillary for Extra-Marital Advice
In Celebrity News, Culture, Hollywood, Media, News and politics, Politics on September 30, 2007 at 9:13 pmLos Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s trysts with a local reporter have caused him a world of trouble.
The once skyrocketing star of the Democrat Party recently admitted to having an extra-marital affair with Telemundo anchor Mirthala Salinas, who had been assigned to cover his mayoral-related activities.
Interestingly, Villaraigosa is seeking the sage advice of another Dem who presumably has some familiarity in how to deal with the infidelity issue.
During a recent episode of Michael Eisner’s CNBC talk show, the former Disney exec referred to the mayor as the “Hispanic Clinton.” Villaraigosa disclosed that he and Hillary Clinton had had the opportunity to discuss the affair that brought an end to the mayor’s marriage.
Eisner asked, “She’s [Hillary] never — because you were very close to her before it came out that you were having martial problems, let’s say. She’s not annoyed at you like she was annoyed at her husband?”
Villaraigosa replied, “We actually had a very good conversation about that…I’ll just say this. In life we sometimes make mistakes. There’s no question that we have to accept responsibility for those mistakes. I have.”
Ironically, Eisner also interviewed the blood spitting KISS rocker Gene Simmons.
And it was Simmons who praised the sanctity of marriage.
Brad Pitt’s Southern Sadness Suspicions
In Brad Pitt, Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Music, celebrity, entertainment on September 23, 2007 at 7:46 pmBrad Pitt has been out promoting his latest flick with the long-winded title, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Pitt shared some of his thoughts on being a dad. He also talked about how fatherhood has helped him overcome a sadness that he has had since he was a boy growing up in Missouri.
Pitt’s onscreen character Jesse James also grew up in the Show Me State, which evidently spurred the actor into examining his past and the region of his childhood.
Pitt spoke of something he characterized as the South’s “congenital sadness.”
“It’s something that I feel in my grandparents, in the people I’ve met, in a Southern way of life,” Pitt said.
Interestingly, he sees the Christian faith as an antidote for Southern woe.
“It’s something pervasive, an undercurrent that I think Christianity answers,” Pitt professed.
Jessica Alba’s Kissing for Dummies
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Movies on September 9, 2007 at 9:32 pmShe’s one of the hottest female stars and he’s one of the hottest stand-up comics.
Jessica Alba and Dane Cook appear together in the Lions Gate film “Good Luck Chuck,” which is about a guy who discovers that every girl he gets involved with marries the next man she dates.
In the movie, Alba plays the role of a woman that Cook’s character himself would like to marry.
In real life, Alba actually handed Cook some new comedy material on a silver platter when she was asked about the love scenes that she did with the comedian.
“Kissing? Well…,” Alba tells Fox News, “I don’t really remember. It was like kissing a dummy.”
Puppet puckering aside, Alba is a romantic when it comes to the way stories are told in movies.
“The films I do always have a happy ending,” she says, adding that she hopes “it reflects back to real life.”
Ali Larter Gets Real for the Emmy Awards
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Movies, entertainment, fashion on September 4, 2007 at 7:53 amOne actress is bucking a longstanding Hollywood trend.
While other stars spend hours having their hair coifed prior to walking the 59th Primetime Emmy red carpet, Ali Larter will be readying herself by “going real.”
The “Heroes” actress and co-star of “Resident Evil: Extinction,” the third and final installment of the movie series that is based on the video game of the same name, is collaborating with Dove Hair Care and foregoing a professional hairstylist.
Instead, just like the average person, Larter will be doing her own hair for the event.
Her mission is to inspire women to start loving the hair they have and not comparing it to the unattainable images seen in the media and Hollywood.
Typically, a squadron of cosmetologists spends hours of glam-up time per star to achieve the results seen at red carpet events and photo shoots.
Of course, most folks are unaware of the extent to which the beauty brigades have teased, tugged and twirled to attain the hot hairdos.
Unable to meet high hair expectations, countless viewers feel as though their self-esteem has been flat-ironed. Larter and Dove Hair Care are out to change that.
Interestingly, nearly 60 percent of women believe that the images in the media set the standard for beautiful hair, according to a recent survey done by Impulse Research.
Larter is getting the word out that “there is a lot of work that goes into Hollywood hair.”
“I am doing all of this to help women realize the potential of their own hair and feel more confident every day,” she adds.
Rosario Dawson”s Horrifying Movie Choice
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Movies, Movies & Entertainment, entertainment on August 26, 2007 at 11:21 pmRosario Dawson (“Sin City”) was apparently shocked by the graphic cruelty displayed in her latest movie, “Descent.”
The film is another addition to the Hollywood dung heap of flicks that focus on suffering, torture and cruelty while packaged as entertainment.
“Descent” includes a brutal rape scene in which Dawson portrays a victim who eventually goes after her attacker and with the help of a friend imposes an even more vicious form of revenge.
“It was horrifying for me to watch it,” the actress tells the World Entertainment News Network and acknowledges the need to warn people of the dreadful content before they line up at the box office.
“But it’s also really amazing how much the affect is. It really humanized a lot of us who are part of this experience because it brought up a really deep conversation that most of us don’t ever want to talk about,” she adds.
Torture flicks humanizing? Next she’ll be telling us that mindless flicks boost the IQ.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’’s Ellen Pompeo Chides the Media
In Culture, Grey's Anatomy, Media, celebrity, entertainment on August 12, 2007 at 10:32 pmNot one to get into the tabloids for her excessive partying, “Grey’s Anatomy”’s Ellen Pompeo is sharing her thoughts on the topic of fame and responsibility.
“I just worry about the girls who look up to me,” Pompeo tells Los Angeles Confidential Magazine.
Pompeo is concerned on two fronts.
With the extreme emphasis being placed on thinness, the actress doesn’t want her fans to deprive themselves of nutrition. “I don’t want them to think I starve myself or don’t eat, and that to be like me that’s what they have to do.”
She explains that she is naturally on the slim side and finds the media to be “irresponsible” on the subject.
Pompeo is also concerned about the “famous for being famous” phenomenon.
“What are we doing to this younger generation?” Pompeo asks. “We’re so focused on the wrong things. We’re teaching young girls that this is what they should be focusing on: rich and famous girls who are rich and famous for nothing.”
After the coverage of young women like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, Pompeo has a succinct message for the tabloid press: “I just think the media should take this country in a different direction.”
Papa Gorbachev’s Got a Brand New Bag
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Media, Media, News and politics, fashion on August 5, 2007 at 8:12 pmHollywood is not the only place former communists are drawn to.
Louis Vuitton, the French manufacturer of chichi leather goods and other high-end paraphernalia, has chosen its new celebrity rep.
If you’re thinking Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johansson or Reese Witherspoon, you’re off the mark. The latest face of Louis Vuitton is actually Mikhail Gorbachev.
Not just a former Soviet leader and environmental activist anymore, Gorbachev will be featured in a Louis Vuitton ad campaign for the designer brand.
The commie chic celeb will have some big-name co-stars in the advertisements, like legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve and supermodel Steffi Graf and her tennis champ spouse Andre Agassi.
Gorbachev will be seen riding in a car with a Louis Vuitton bag at his side, and in the background will be the oh-so-untrendy Berlin Wall.
Rod Stewart’s Profanity Peeve
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Media, Social and Politics, live earth on July 15, 2007 at 3:10 pm
There was one prominent celebrity at Al Gore’s Live Earth concerts who focused on a different kind of environmental contamination.
Veteran rocker Rod Stewart was appalled at the profane language that polluted the global festivities.
Comedian Chris Rock’s vile vernacular at the London venue necessitated U.K. TV and radio personality Jonathan Ross to issue an apology to the viewing audience.
“I listened to people effing and blinding during the Live Earth Concert last weekend and it just sounded so cheap,” Ross remarked.
The lewd, crude language prompted Stewart to promise his audience that he’ll personally pay up if he curses while performing.
“If you hear me swear on stage I’ll give you all a tenner [10 British pounds],” the legendary singer pledged.
Greenpeace Slams Live Earth
In Culture, Gore, News and politics, Politics, entertainment, global warming, religion on July 8, 2007 at 2:41 pmAl Gore’s enviro-gelical concert campaign has received the usual criticism from Right-of-center sources, but disapproval is also coming from some unexpected places.
Matt Bellamy of the band Muse described the concert as “private jets for climate change.”
John Buckley of Carbon Footprint, an organization that helps companies reduce their carbon dioxide emissions estimated that Live Earth would produce about 74,500 tons of carbon emissions.
Greenpeace, perhaps the best known environmental activist group in the world has slammed Live Earth because automobile manufacturer DaimlerChrysler was a sponsor of the Hamburg portion of the event.
The name of the maker of one of Hollywood’s favorite rides, the Mercedes, brought Shakira, Snoop Dogg and Enrique Iglesias to the Gore-fest.
“We think the concert is good, but it’s absurd to have a company like that [DaimlerChrysler] as a sponsor,” a spokeswoman for Greenpeace Germany, Sonja Koch, told Reuters.
Greenpeace has yet to object to a sponsor of the Live Earth Web site, Chevrolet.
Will Al Gore’s Kid Use the Prius Defense?
In Culture, Entertainment and Media, Gore, Hollywood, News and politics, global warming, law on July 4, 2007 at 9:28 am
So what if Al Gore’s son was arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after being pulled him over for speeding.
Al Gore III, 24, had his mind on the future of the earth. He was driving a Toyota PRIUS. He was doing about 100 miles per hour on the San Diego Freeway, apparently testing the hybrid car’s gas mileage.
The police found some marijuana, Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall. Gore Jr. was probably depressed over climate change.
Roseanne Barr e-Mimics Rosie O’Donnell’s ‘View’ Views
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Star Celebrity Gossip!, Television on July 2, 2007 at 7:34 am
With the vacancy on ABC’s “The View” still up for grabs, Roseanne Barr is doing her best Rosie imitation on her Web site.
Barr, whose name has been mentioned as a possible replacement for O’Donnell, has this advice for Congress: “Impeach the president and the vice president, they are traitors to America, and so are all of their supporters. Impeach! Anyone in congress who refuses to save our union from these traitors by doing nothing needs to be recalled.”
The comedienne also puts out the following pleas: “Save our troops!!! Save our schools and hospitals and jobs. Feed our hungry and poor!”
No lefty rescue roster would be complete without at least one mention of Katrina. “Save the drowning people in New Orleans!” Barr blogs.
The national anthem decimating diva fails, however, to provide any ideas on how the saving should take place.
Barr closes her post with a non-partisan wisecrack and smacks the media in the process: “Anyone who mentions Paris Hilton one more time must die!”
Natalie Portman Wants to Stop the Killing in Rwanda – Of Gorillas!
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Rwanda, genocide on July 1, 2007 at 9:36 am
Natalie Portman publicly used her fame to express concern for the travesty happening in Rwanda, but instead of focusing attention on the 800,000 human beings massacred in the 1994 genocide, and those who continue to be killed, she and other celebs concentrated on gorillas.
Portman joined other international celebrities at a ceremony to provide names for 23 baby mountain gorillas living in Rwanda.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature there are only 720 mountain gorillas surviving in the wild, in parks that straddle Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo.
Don’t get me wrong I want to protect mountain gorillas from threats.
But let’s protect the humans first.
Steven Spielberg Crumbles under Heavy Hillary Lobbying
In Culture, Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Media, Hillary, Hollywood, Movies & Entertainment, News and politics, Politics on June 19, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Hillary Clinton’s people have been going after Hollywood director Steven Spielberg in a big way.
Ever since the Left Coast showed the love for Barack Obama, the Clinton camp has been in lobbying overdrive.
Last February, Spielberg, David Geffen and their partner Jeffrey Katzenberg co-sponsored an Obama fundraiser that roped in a whopping $1.3 million.
For weeks Clinton staffers have had their sights set on Spielberg, partially because of the director’s fondness for Hillary’s hubby. They were resolute. They had to get an early endorsement to avoid the impression that the entertainment industry had gone gaga for Obama.
They basically nagged the director, repeatedly pleading for him to declare his support for the New York Senator. He may even have received a call from his old bud Bill Clinton.
If Spielberg had endorsed Obama, it would have been viewed as a rejection of Hillary, much like Spielberg’s partner Geffen has publicly affirmed.
In a statement released through Hillary’s campaign, Spielberg said that he had become familiar with the Democratic candidates and that he was convinced “Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate to lead us from her first day in the White House.”
The grab for Hollywood cash is of great interest to Democrats who in the 2006 election cycle received 63% of the $23 million donated, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The media are filled with stories about how Hillary has now won the Tinseltown money battle.
But with Obama backers like George Clooney, Lawrence Bender, Geffen, Katzenberg and Oprah Winfrey, it’s way too early to say where the most Hollywood dough will eventually go.
Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’ Stunts
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Movies & Entertainment, News and politics, Social and Politics, law on June 17, 2007 at 7:16 pm
In a transparent move to promote his “Sicko” film, Michael Moore showed up in Sacramento, California, and testified at a briefing hosted by former actress of “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” and current state senator Sheila Kuehl to advocate a so-called universal health care system. The event was followed by a rally and screening of Moore’s film.
“I’d like to see executives of these companies in a perp walk in handcuffs,” Moore muttered.
Then the frustrated filmmaker granted the town of Bellaire in his home county the privilege of paying $40 per ticket for a sneak peek at his movie and, for an additional sixty bucks, the chance to attend a party where he autographed film posters, surgical gloves and bandages. The money went to the Democratic Party.
“I am anticipating the onslaught of attack,” Moore told reporters at the event.
In a kind of comical karma, Moore’s “Sicko” film has been pirated. The public can now view the thing for free thanks to its wide availability for downloading on the Web at no cost.
Ironically, in 2004 Moore told a Scottish paper, the Sunday Herald, he was happy that people engaged in copyright violations.
“I don’t agree with the copyright laws and I don’t have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they’re not trying to make a profit off my labor. I would oppose that,” Moore said.
“I do well enough already and I made this film [“Fahrenheit 9/11”] because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening.”
More words for Moore to eat on the eve of his “Sicko” release.
On another Moore hypocritical note, I reported a while back on how filmmakers Debbie Melnyck and Rick Caine had set out to film a biography of someone they truly admired. However, while producing “Manufacturing Dissent,” the two made a discovery that their hero, Michael Moore, was far from the person, or for that matter the professional that they had imagined.
During their movie making experience, Melnyck and Caine learned about Moore’s fabricated persona; in particular that he did not grow up in working class Flint, Michigan, but in Davison, a wealthy nearby suburb.
They discovered that Moore was not removed as editor of Mother Jones for political reasons as he has claimed, but was fired for bad editing. They learned that Moore shot footage of himself and interspersed it with other events to imply things that never actually happened (such as Moore asking Roger Smith, former CEO of General Motors, a question at a shareholders’ meeting).
The most devastating information unearthed, though, is that Moore actually did speak with then-GM chairman Roger Smith, whose supposed evasion is the central premise of “Roger & Me,” but withheld the footage from the film. (Premiere previously reported this but “Manufacturing Dissent” actually displays footage of Moore interviewing Smith.)
“Anybody who says that is a (expletive) liar,” Moore told the Associated Press when confronted with the charge at his Michigan “Sicko” sneak preview.
Moore also admitted that he had “a good five minutes of back and forth” with Smith at a 1987 shareholders’ meeting, as reported by Premiere magazine in 1990. But Moore claims that was before he began working on “Roger & Me” and had nothing to do with the film.
By evading interviews with Melnyck and Caine, Moore and his staff behaved like the corporate targets that Moore despises. At one event, the filmmakers’ soundboard was unplugged while other reporters were allowed to tape. At another event, a staffer kicked the filmmakers out of an arena and threw their camera to the ground.
An indication that the makers of “Manufacturing Dissent” had a serious change of heart about Moore was revealed in the tagline used to market the film. It read: “Michael Moore doesn’t like documentaries. That’s why he doesn’t make them.” A slogan that appeared on movie posters also conveyed their dampened sentiments: “It’s Never Been so Hard to Get Michael Moore in Front of the Camera.”
Because the criticism of Moore came from self-described “progressive liberals,” who were originally motivated by their admiration for Moore before they reluctantly concluded that he was not what he appeared to be, the mainstream press actually treated the film more favorably than similar polemic material from the Right.
Moore’s talent has been to bring humor, a brisk pace and controversy to the documentary genre. “Manufacturing Dissent” demonstrated that Moore also brings fabrication.
Can we expect Moore of the same from “Sicko?”
Campbell Brown will Bring New Viewers to CNN
In Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Media, Media, News and politics, Television on June 16, 2007 at 10:16 am
It’s been rumored for months. CNN is obtaining the services of veteran broadcast journalist Campbell Brown.
Two things are likely. One: Paula Zahn’s spot may be given to Brown. Two: CNN’s ratings will go up.
Brown has extensive experience in hard news, but also has the kind of media image and personality that viewers love.
NBC Shows the Love for Rosie and Gore
In Celebrity News, Culture, Hollywood, News and politics, Politics, Television, celebrity, entertainment on June 10, 2007 at 6:51 pm It seems Rosie O’Donnell is a mixed bag.
The actress, TV host and sometimes comedienne has been known to spout half-truths, fling rude affronts and lob conspiracy theories in between her laugh lines. She’s also, at times, alienated the Heartland, given sponsors a major headache and frazzled the nerves of media conglomerates and their shareholders.
But Rosie has also been known for roping in a lot of viewers. And at a time when television is suffering a general decline, network producers are taking note.
The controversial May 2007 episodes of “The View” in which Rosie participated brought in larger audiences than in any other month that the decade-long Barbara Walters show has been on the air. The show averaged a record 3.8-million viewers.
In Rosie’s current situation, replacing Paris Hilton on “The Simple Life,” getting Paula Abdul’s spot on “American Idol” or taking Katie Couric’s CBS anchor job don’t seem to be in the offing. However, speculation is emerging about where Rosie may turn up in her post-“View” career.
One major network executive reportedly wants O’Donnell for either a daytime spot or a primetime game show slot, according to Foxnews.com. Recently announced new head of programming for NBC Ben Silverman has let it be known that he’ll do whatever it takes to obtain the services of the former “View” cast member.
NBC is in desperate need of ratings. Judging by its imbalanced network news division and cable channel MSNBC’s lack of impartiality, a decision to cater to its most leftist viewers appears to have been made.
The ex-Queen of Nice may very well end up on the cockeyed Peacock Network. Since quitting “The View” three weeks prior to her contract’s expiration, Rosie has been working on a memoir to be released in Fall 2007 titled “Celebrity Detox.” During a recent speaking engagement, she explained that her memoirs will be written in the same style as her blog.
In another skewed signal, NBC’s parent company, NBC Universal, has set aside a mind-boggling 75-hours-plus of broadcast time for Al Gore’s “Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis.”
On July 7, NBC will devote all of its primetime to the Gore event. CNBC will provide an additional 7 hours of coverage and Bravo, another18 hours. MSNBC will cover the Gore event via special reports with correspondents reporting live from New York and London.
“Live Earth” will also be featured for 22 hours on the Universal HD channel, with another hour on Telemundo and 2 hours on Telemundo’s cable network, mun2.
It makes you wonder if all the face time is going to prompt Gore to enter the Democrat campaign follies.
Diary of a Mad Hilton?
In Celebrities, Celebrity Crime, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, law on June 3, 2007 at 8:08 pm
As Paris Hilton (minus her pet Chihuahuas and cell phones) readies herself to spend 23 days in the slammer at the L.A. Century Regional Detention Center, she’s also busy prepping a new book.
The former high school dropout has made a lot of money turning headlines into bottom lines. The Internet home sex video that served to inflate her fame quotient appeared just prior to the premiere of her reality TV show “The Simple Life.”
Now Paris is planning the release of a prison diary, which is apparently set for later this year, according to the New York Daily News. This means Paris’ punishment will end up stuffing even more dollars into her already heavily padded pockets.
The hotel heiress wisely stayed away from the Hollywood party scene as she came to grips with her inevitable jail time.
She did, however, manage to make a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards where she let it be known that she opted for harder prison time than she had to.
“I did have a choice to go to a pay jail,” Paris indicated. “But I declined because I feel like the media portrays me in a way that I’m not and that’s why I wanted to go to county, to show that I can do it and I’m going to be treated like everyone else. I’m going to do the time. I’m going to do it the right way.”
While in prison, Paris will reportedly receive special treatment for her own protection. And she’ll also be assigned to a section of the prison facility that is separate from an area where hardened criminals are held.
She will allegedly have one handpicked cellmate who has been incarcerated for a traffic related offense.
Her grand entrance into the prison will likely resemble a red carpet affair. Every imaginable media are sure to be present, snapping pictures, streaming video and profusely punditing.
The big question is who’ll be first to get the shot of the quintessential party girl in her non-designer jumpsuit.
While Paris’ fortunes may be going up, another Hollywood star’s career may be headed south.
Charlie Sheen wants the public to know that reports about him nixing the narration of a questionable 9/11 documentary are wrong.
The “Loose Change-Final Cut” film deals with the same ideas that Rosie O’Donnell has been pushing; the theory being that some of the buildings that collapsed on Sept. 11 were not brought down by aircraft but rather were destroyed by explosives, which were planted inside the structures.
“My views and convictions regarding the events of 9/11 have not wavered. I still firmly believe the citizens of this great country, especially the family members of those tragically lost, deserve a much more accurate and thorough investigation surrounding the horrific events,” Sheen said in a press release.
“The suspicious fact that certain relevant testimonies were not included in the Keen Commission’s final report, discredits the majority of their findings,” Sheen added.
Sheen advocates a “bi-partisan, democratically selected panel” to investigate the matter, “not some tepid rehash of Bush-serving lap-dogs cherry picking evidence to support erroneous and fictional ‘Magic Bullet’ explanations.”
“I’m baffled as well by the fact Bin Laden’s crimes listed on the FBI’s most wanted list DO NOT include those of 9/11,” the actor railed.
Evidently, Sheen is undecided about whether he’ll volunteer to be the poster boy for the “Loose Change-Final Cut” flick.
“I await the newest version to be presented to me, at which point I will make my decision to participate (or not) based on the film’s content and merit,” Sheen shared.
Governator Goes After Copyright Pirates
In Celebrities, Celebrity Crime, Culture, Hollywood, Media, News and politics, law on June 1, 2007 at 2:28 pm
After having their arms twisted by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Canadian lawmakers cried “uncle” on new laws to terminate video pirates.
According to the Canadian Press wire service Schwarzenegger has beem lobbying Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the piracy mess.
Arnold is acting as a mercenary for Hollywood to stop the loss of profits due to pirates who tape movies in theaters.
But will legislation help in the age of the Web?
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Conservative Clothing Line
In Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, News and politics, Politics, celebrity, fashion on May 28, 2007 at 7:25 pm
With the number of delinquent and/or jailed female pop stars on the rise, somebody had to start urging young women to quit dressing like trollops.
Well, Sarah Jessica Parker has.
The former “Sex and the City” actress is now an unofficial spokesperson for a return to modesty.
Parker has launched a new clothing line, and she is taking the opportunity to encourage folks to cover up.
Parker’s new Steve & Barry line of affordable female fashion consists of exclusively conservative attire.
“There’s not going to be any inappropriate midriff showing, regardless of your age. I really don’t care for it,” Parker passionately proclaimed to the Female First Web site.
“I feel like, as a culture, we have seen enough damage done by it. It’s provocative in a way that I just don’t feel comfortable with,” she added.
It turns out that Parker’s new line of apparel is a bargain in more ways than one.
The cost of the clothing has been held down; this despite the fact that in order to create attire that reflects the desired class and refinement, more fabric is needed.
And just think, if celebrities actually clean up their outfits and their acts, taxpayers’ jail bills may go down.
That’s “Advertainment”
In Culture, Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Media, Media, Television on May 21, 2007 at 8:44 amWhen it comes to TV audience, size matters. And nowhere does it matter more than in commercials.
New stats are on their way from Nielsen Media Research that will reveal how many people are tuned in during TV ads. This has the industry scrambling to find new ways to keep eyeballs glued to the set for the latest car, clothes and Viagra commercials.
Approximately one-fifth of American households have digital video recorders (DVRs), which makes it oh-so-easy to fast forward through all those commercial spots.
ABC network has responded via an arrangement with cable companies Cox Communications, Inc. and Time Warner Cable, Inc. to stop the nasty little viewer practice.
But a more promising trend has come along, and it fits the short attention span of today’s TV watchers, whets the entertainment appetite and effectively pushes product at the same time.
I call it “advertainment.”
Some clever broadcasters have come up with a way to combine short programming with big name talent while integrating a commercial message.
For example, the Fox network recently aired a series of shorts in which the storyline centered around a taxi driver. In between commercials, viewers were treated to animated clips of a cabby named Oleg.
“It’s something that pops up that is unexpected and the viewer says, ‘What the hell is that?’ It may keep them around for a while longer,” Jon Nesvig, Fox Broadcasting’s president of sales, told the Wall Street Journal.
This fall NBC will air similar programming to that of Fox, which will feature Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld has reportedly taped 20 short episodes for the network, which are part entertainment and part commercial.
I predict another trend for this fall—campaign advertainment.
Picture this. The score is Bears 17, Packers 3. In pops Hillary with a Closet Palooza promo, telling everyone how pleased she is now that she has her new closet organizer with its roll-out sock drawers, built-in hamper and double pant racks.
Or smack dab in the middle of a “Heroes” episode, John Edwards arrives to give Quaker Oats a plug as a skin exfoliator.
Or as “Grey’s Anatomy”’s George and Izzie are exchanging furtive glances, in walks a cranky John McCain applying HeadOn directly to his forehead.
That’s advertainment, and it’s coming to a plasma near you.
Michael Moore’s PR Dream Come True
In Celebrity Crime, Culture, Entertainment Business, Movies, News and politics, Politics, celebrity on May 13, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Michael Moore is ecstatic.
Premiering May 19 at the Cannes Film Festival, Moore’s new film, “Sicko,” is set to debut in U.S. theaters in June.
As if choreographed to a tee, the Bush administration has given the factually challenged filmmaker the thing that he needs the most to generate publicity—controversy.
Predictably, after the news broke about him being under investigation for a possible violation of the U.S. embargo of Cuba, Moore immediately issued an attention getter of a response, which invoked the name that has lefty mega-cyberspace bang for the buck: George Bush.
The U.S.Treasury Department is looking into Moore’s production trip to Cuba because he allegedly failed to get permission to conduct business in the Communist country.
Evidently, Moore received a form letter from the Treasury Dept. Each year the government sends out hundreds of such letters seeking additional information when sanctions violations appear to have occurred.
In characteristic propaganda-like fashion, Moore posted on his Web site an “open letter” to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, which took a routine and foreseeable investigation and turned it into another set of Moore’s patented Bush administration conspiracies.
“First, the Bush Administration has been aware of this matter for months (since October 2006) and never took any action until less than two weeks before SiCKO is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and a little more than a month before it is scheduled to open in the United States,” Moore wrote, transparently trying to link the release of the film to the Treasury Department’s timing.
Not content with one conspiracy, Moore added another. He implied that a corporate conspiracy exists as well.
“Second, the health care and insurance industry, which is exposed in the movie and has expressed concerns about the impact of the movie on their industries, is a major corporate underwriter of President George W. Bush and the Republican Party…” Moore explained.
“For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community. These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care. I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me — I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help…,” Moore added.
He then demanded that the Bush administration call off the investigation.
Moore’s fantasy-filled “Fahrenheit 9/11” premiered at Cannes in 2004 while he sought PR using his disagreement with the Walt Disney Company. Disney decided that the film was detrimental to its brand and refused to let subsidiary Miramax release it.
Miramax owners Harvey and Bob Weinstein ended up releasing the film on their own and later left to form the Weinstein Co., which is now the distributor of “Sicko.”
Harvey Weinstein has joined in on the publicity revelry.
“The timing is amazing. You would think that we originated this. It reads like a fiction best-seller,” Weinstein told the Associated Press. “This is ‘Fahrenheit’ all over again. ‘Let’s pressure somebody.’ Last time it was Disney, this time it’s direct,” Weinstein said.
“It’s like the Bush Administration had Mickey Mouse as part of their investigative team,” Chris Lehane, a Weinstein Company consultant told Time magazine.
The Weinsteins have put David Boies on the “Sicko” case, the lawyer who lost Bush v. Gore in 2000.
It should come as no surprise that Cuba, a communist dictatorship that jails dissidents, arrests reporters and lacks free elections, is defending Moore.
Cuba described Moore as a victim of censorship. “Any resemblance to McCarthyism is no coincidence,” the Communist Party newspaper, Granma, read.
According to the Cuban paper, in investigating Moore American officials confirmed “the imperial philosophy of censorship.”
Simon Gives LaKisha the Kiss of Death
In Celebrity News, Culture, Music, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment on May 10, 2007 at 10:20 am
Will Arnold Pardon Paris? (He let Tookie Fry)
In Culture, Hollywood, Media, News and politics, celebrity, entertainment, hilton, law, paris on May 8, 2007 at 5:48 pmOJ Kicked Out of Steak House
In Celebrity Crime, Culture, Hollywood, Media, OJ, celebrity, law on May 8, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Prison Break for Paris Hilton?
In Culture, Hollywood, Media, celebrity, gossip, hilton, law, paris on May 6, 2007 at 6:49 pm
It looked like a red carpet event.
Outside the courthouse, cameras flashed and fans swooned.
Paris Hilton showed up 20 minutes late for her probation violation hearing, dabbing on makeup prior to waltzing in.
Evidently, Paris thought she could use the Debra LaFave defense in court; that her prominent presence in the courtroom would make the judge realize that she was far too beautiful to go to prison.
It may have worked for LaFave, but not for Hilton. Los Angeles Judge Michael Sauer, apparently unimpressed with Hilton’s celebrity status, sentenced her to 45 days in the slammer. She was ordered to report to her new accommodations on June 5.
Hilton’s home for a potential month and a half will be a cell in a Lynwood, California detention center for women. Like her fellow inmates, she’ll wear an orange jumpsuit and be confined to a 12-by-8 foot space. If she wants to primp, she’ll have to use the polished metal plate that’s provided to see her reflection.
She won’t be eating any gourmet meals either. The incarcerated heiress will get only one hot meal per day, with two other cold fowl-based ones.
TV execs are already buzzing about the potential for a “Paris in Prison” show. But the possibility still exists that she’ll escape punishment.
After an appeal is filed, Paris may be allowed to remain free on bail. Or she may follow the pattern of another celebrity.
In 2006, then “Lost” actress Michelle Rodriguez started a 60-day jail sentence for violating probation after a driving-under-the-influence arrest in Hawaii. She was released in mere hours due to an overcrowded prison situation.
Hilton’s mouthpiece, renowned celeb counsel Howard Weitzman, has indicated that he will file an appeal. His defense is his client’s fame and the two-tiered justice system it purportedly produces.
“She’s been selectively targeted in my opinion to be prosecuted because of who she is,” Weitzman said.
After hearing her fate in court, Hilton told photographers gathered outside her home, “I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwanted and I don’t deserve this.”
Still, in terms of public behavior, Paris has been pushing the envelope for a long time.
The fact of the matter is she presented a real danger to the public when she was driving in an intoxicated state and was put on probation instead of jail. The court gave her conditional mercy.
When Hilton ignored the conditions of her probation, she chose jail for herself. She’s not being punished for being Paris. She’s being punished for committing a crime.
Richard Gere Apologizes for Dip Slip
In Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on May 3, 2007 at 2:02 pmIt all started when, in front of thousands of onlookers at an AIDS function in New Delhi, India, Richard Gere grabbed Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and took her for a lip-lock and extreme dance dip.
The public reaction to Gere’s behavior was that of outrage.
The actor didn’t respond in the normal Hollywood fashion by issuing an apology, appearing with Dr. Phil and racing to rehab.
He did, however, after the public burning of effigies of him and issuance of an arrest warrant, decide that it was a good time for him to say he was sorry.
Gere issued a statement of “sincere apology” addressed to his “dear Indian friends.” But he also held out one of his film roles as an excuse.
He said that the way he kissed Shetty was influenced by his movie “Shall We Dance.”
“My clumsy attempt at a ‘Shall We Dance’ move was a naive misread of Indian customs and I assure you nothing more.”
I believe that instead of “Shall We Dance” Gere meant to say “American Gigolo.”
Rosie O’Donnell Bolts for Broadway?
In Culture, Media, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on April 30, 2007 at 10:20 pmEven though she is leaving “The View,” Rosie O’ Donnell has already lined up a new gig on Broadway.
Word has it that O’Donnell is in negotiations to play a part in the musical version of the novel “Les Miserables” and hopes to snag the role of Madame Thenardier.
O’Donnell’s part would be a supporting role, that of the wife and partner in crime to a con artist innkeeper.
Since O’Donnell didn’t seem to like playing a supporting role to Barbara Walters on “The View,” if she gets the Broadway part it probably won’t take long for her to go after the starring role and maybe even add ad lib a few lines about a conspiracy between Donald Trump and John Edwards’ hairdresser.
Bill Clinton Hooks Up with Rachael Ray to Battle Obesity
In Celebrities, Culture, Media, Politics on April 29, 2007 at 8:07 pmWhen he’s not playing “Fundraiser-in-chief” for his wife’s presidential bid or campaigning for an “Ambassador to the World” gig, former president Bill Clinton tries to get his mug on the tube every chance he gets.
The latest cause he’s gotten involved with is remedying childhood obesity and to get the job done he’s paired up with TV cuisine queen Rachael Ray.
Clinton appeared on an episode of Ray’s show and together they fixed a bowl of turkey Bolognese with whole wheat pasta.
“I love to cook,” he said. “I used to cook a lot.”
The show was the vehicle of choice to announce that Ray will work with Clinton’s Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organization the former prez created to combat diabetes and childhood obesity.
This is the same Alliance that coerced soft drink and food manufacturers to sell healthier products in school vending machines and assisted schools in shaping up their lunchroom menus.
Clinton told Ray’s audience of his lifelong struggle to stay slim and his weakness for fast food.
“I’ve got a scar down my chest to prove it,” he said, referring to his 2004 quadruple bypass surgery.
Clinton emphasized the importance of addressing the obesity issue, and the consequences of failing to, by using a term that for the ex-prez could be a bit risky.
After describing all of the perils of unchecked obesity, Clinton said, “It will be immoral if we let it happen.”
Sheryl Crow Says We Use Too Much Toilet Paper
In Celebrity News, Culture, Hollywood, Music, Politics, celebrity on April 23, 2007 at 7:41 am
Singer Sheryl Crow is concerned about the way you wipe your butt.
Crow says you should use “only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required.”
On her website, Crow writes, “I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting.”
I’ve got a better idea. Let’s wipe our rear ends with Sheryl Crow CDs.
Salma Hayek Denounces The Bible.
In Culture, Movies, Politics, celebrity, entertainment, religion on April 22, 2007 at 3:10 pm 
Unmarried and pregnant Salma Hayek has a new vocation, theologian. The actress has decided to sound off on the contents of the Bible. Seems she’s doesn’t agree with the way the Good Book treats women.
“I don’t like the way the Bible views women – this thing about the Virgin Mary conceiving a child without having sex – so if you conceive a child by having sex, there’s a subliminal message that there’s something dirty about it,” the actress told Marie Clare magazine.
“And this is what makes us divine,” Hayek added.
“I mean, the possibility of creating another life should remind women that we are creators, that we are made like God in our ability. There is nothing greater than to create another human being.”
Feminists are ecstatic over Hayek’s idea that women are like God. By applying a woman’s “right to choose” to interpreting the Bible she’s created “the right to pick and choose.”
Michael Moore’s Cuba Stunt
In Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood, Media, Movies, Politics, celebrity on April 16, 2007 at 7:34 amJust is case anyone thought Michael Moore had taken an early retirement from his unethical approach to movie making, a report from the New York Post shows the filmmaker is seeking to undermine one of the nation’s institutions once again.
Moore’s production company has engaged in a scheme designed to bolster the ridiculous argument that medical care in Fidel Castro’s totalitarian dictatorship is superior to health care in the United States.
As part of Moore’s latest film “Sicko,” which deals with the subject of American health care, the deceptive director transported Ground Zero workers with respiratory ailments to Cuba to prove that the care provided in the U.S. is inferior to the care offered at Fidel’s centrally planned “paradise.”
In typical Moore fashion, the factually challenged filmmaker used ailing 9/11 workers as pawns to apparently satisfy his personal ambition.
An ill worker who was allegedly promised to be taken to Cuba was left behind by Moore. Michael McCormack, a disabled medic, was contacted via phone.
“What he [Moore] wanted to do is shove it up George W’s rear end that 9/11 heroes had to go to a communist country to get adequate health care,” McCormack told the Post.
Moore went to Cuba minus McCormack.
“It’s the ultimate betrayal,” McCormack said. “You’re promised that you’re going to be taken care of and then you find out you’re not. He’s trying to profiteer off of our suffering.”
In a tape of a telephone conversation between McCormack and a Moore producer, a female voice indicated, “Even for the people that we did bring down to Cuba, we said we can promise that you will be evaluated, that you will get looked at. We can’t promise that you will get fixed.”
Moore’s popularity in communist Cuba has been solid ever since a pirated version of his movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,”was shown on state-owned TV.
John Edwards’ Phony Fox Attack
In Culture, Media, News and politics, Politics on April 10, 2007 at 7:09 amFor the second time in recent months, Dem presidential candidate John Edwards has cancelled his participation in a debate because of Fox News Channel’s involvement.
Since August 2000, the former North Carolina senator went on FNC 33 times without objection.
In what seemed like a desperate attempt to distinguish himself from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, when far-left activist groups like MoveOn.org started pressuring him Edwards bowed to bloggers’ demands.
“We believe there’s just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform to advance the right-wing agenda while pretending they’re objective,” Edwards’ deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince whimpered to the Associated Press.
The Edwards campaign suggested that the carefully coiffed candidate is “’looking forward to a different debate hosted by the institute and CNN in South Carolina in January 2008.”
Based on his quick cave-in to pesky lefties, Edwards has shown that for either of his Americas, when push comes to shove he’ll roll like a baloney sausage.
Disney Queasy About Keith Richards’ Ash Remarks
In Culture, Hollywood, Movies, Music, celebrity, entertainment on April 8, 2007 at 9:04 pmDisney is having some PR problems.
Mickey and Minnie’s corporate boss is also in charge of “The View,” the program that’s enabling Rosie O’Donnell to spout her enemy-pleasing inanity.
The company also has Rolling Stone Keith Richards contracted to appear in an upcoming sequel, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
Richards’ recent comments about snorting his deceased father’s ashes mixed with cocaine likely had executives applying “Head On” directly to their foreheads.
The rocker who made news last year after falling from a coconut tree now claims he was only joking about the nasal experience.
Senior vice president Dennis Rice told U.K. music magazine NME, “When (a senior Disney publicist) forwarded the (Richards) story to me, I thought ‘How are we going to spin this?’”
The Disney exec evidently doesn’t subscribe to the old adage that any publicity is good publicity.
“Keith won’t be doing a lot of publicity for this movie,” Rice divulged.
Keith Richards Sucks Dad Up His Nose
In Celebrity Crime, Celebrity News, Culture, Media, Music, Social and Politics, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on April 3, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Rolling Stone Keith Richards may have indulged in a host of illegal substances in his life, but, hey this is not something to be bragging about.
“The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father,” Richards told the British music magazine NME.
“He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared,” he said. “… It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive.”
Richards’ father, Bert, died at age 84 in 2002.
It’s bad enough to be boasting about sucking up blow, but mixing it with your departed dad’s remains is ghoulish.
Rosie O’Donnell’s Weird Science
In Culture, Hollywood, Media, Politics, celebrity, entertainment on April 1, 2007 at 10:05 am
Continuing in her bid to destroy the credibility of Barbara Walters and ABC, Rosie O’Donnell’s factually deficient and irresponsible comments on “The View” are increasing in both frequency and outrageousness. Maybe she’s been hanging upside down too long
Drawing on her apparent science background she lectured viewers on the events of September 11, 2001. “I do believe that it’s the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel,” O’Donnell confidently affirmed. “I do believe that it defies physics that World Trade Center tower 7—building 7, which collapsed in on itself—it is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved. World Trade Center 7. World Trade [Center] 1 and 2 got hit by planes—7, miraculously, the first time in history, steel was melted by fire. It is physically impossible.”
Rosie’s weird science prompted a response from Popular Mechanics magazine.
-Steel was weakened – not “melted.” The crashes destroyed support columns and ignited raging fires that weakened the steel structures so that the towers could no longer support their own weights. Building 7, which had fuel tanks located throughout, including two 6000-gal. tanks in the basement, collapsed because fires weakened its steel structure.
Steel melts at about 2,750 degrees Fahrenheit—but it loses strength at temperatures as low as 400 F. When temperatures break 1000 degrees F, steel loses nearly 50 percent of its strength.
-The North and South Towers weren’t knocked down by they were “hit by planes.” In fact, both towers remained standing for more than a half-hour after the planes hit.
- Tower 7 wasn’t hit by a plane, but was severely damaged due to debris from the collapse of the North Tower. (Which is when the fires started.) In early photographs of building 7 smoke and debris obscured the pictures so that the first reports from FEMA did not take into account the extent of damage due to the debris from the collapsing 110 floor North Tower.
After additional studies, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) indicated that the debris from the North Tower hit building 7 with the force of a volcanic eruption. Almost a quarter of the building was carved away from floors 11 and higher. The NIST has found no evidence of a blast or controlled demolition.
But lack of evidence doesn’t stop Rosie. Her blog claimed that “the British did it on purpose” to provide an excuse for war. She spoke out on “The View” cocerning the British sailors held hostage by Iran, “There were 15 British sailors and Marines who apparently went into Iranian waters and they were seized by the Iranians. And I have one thing to say: Gulf of Tonkin, Google it.”
Memo to Rosie: You have become “The View’s” and America’s albatross. Google it.
John Travolta’s Global Warming Lecture
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Movies, News and politics, Politics on March 30, 2007 at 11:38 amJohn Travolta preached to Brits, asking them to “do their bit” to reduce global warming, while admitting “I fly jets,” according to the London Evening Standard.
He talked about using “alternative methods of fuel” to help the environment.
The former Vinnie Barbarino owns five jets and his own private runway. During the last year he flew 30,000 miles and produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions.
Perhaps drawing on his religion, Scientology, Travolta said that the solution to global warming could be found in outer space.
Sean Penn: ‘Iraq is not our toilet.’
In Culture, Politics, celebrity on March 25, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Wondering where Sean Penn has been?
The Oscar-winning actor recently surfaced at a town hall meeting.
Penn was evidently emboldened by events of the day before in which the House voted 218-212 to withdraw troops from Iraq by September 2008.
Hundreds gathered at the meeting to get an earful of anti-Iraq war talk. They would not be disappointed.
Penn was present along with Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee, a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus.
Maybe the many “Impeach Bush” signs that were displayed by people outside that inspired Penn to let the insults fly like a pizza pie.
“You and your smarmy pundits — and the smarmy pundits you have in your pocket — can take your war and shove it,” Penn wailed about the president to applause and cheers. “Let’s unite not only in stopping this war, but in holding this administration accountable.”
While Rep. Lee told the crowd that the war was “illegal and unwinnable,” Penn tried to finesse the support of the troops as he proceeded to undercut their mission.
“Let’s make this crystal clear: We do support our troops, but not the exploitation of them and their families,” Penn said. “The money that’s spent on this war would be better spent on building levees in New Orleans and health care in Africa and care for our veterans. Iraq is not our toilet. It’s a country of human beings whose lives that were once oppressed by Saddam are now in ‘Dante’s Inferno.’”
Nice to know Penn was educated in the classics at Ridgemont High.
Leo DiCaprio in Production on Global Warming Flick
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Movies, News and politics, Politics, Star Celebrity Gossip!, entertainment, gossip on March 14, 2007 at 8:19 am
Leonardo DiCaprio gazed on as the Academy showered affection on Al Gore as he accepted an Oscar for his global warming lecture.
Now DiCaprio is in production on his personally penned documentary on the same gaseous subject.
Global warming is not only the number one environmental challenge we face today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity,” DiCaprio elucidated.
The movie will be released in late 2007.
With the alarmist title “11th Hour,” the flick will examine the global environment and like Gore’s flick will present solutions to the eco-problems of the world.
I wonder if solutions will include buying phony carbon offsets like Gore and Hollywood entertainment companies do.
Tom Cruise and Sumner Redstone Friends Again?
In Celebrities, Culture, Entertainment Business, Hollywood on March 6, 2007 at 9:44 amEvidently, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone wants to be Tom Cruise’s bud again.
A while back Redstone publicly severed the business ties between Cruise and Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures, citing the actor’s eccentric behavior and Scientology-based feud with Brooke Shields.
Cruise has since taken the position of heading well-known Hollywood studio brand United Artists.
The two former pals reportedly haven’t spoken since the falling out.
But Redstone recently told People magazine “he [Cruise] was a great friend,” adding that he looked “forward to being his friend again.”
Redstone even attempted to downplay Cruise’s embarrassing eviction from the Paramount lot. “What happened was, I just gave an interview to The Wall Street Journal. In the course of it, they asked me what was going on. I said, ‘You know, he would no longer be in the lot,’” Redstone stated.
“They treated that like I was firing him. I didn’t fire him! I had nothing to do with it. But they treated it explosively. And I didn’t like it,” Redstone said.
Valerie Plame Flick on the Hollywood Docket
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Politics on March 5, 2007 at 8:34 pmWarner Bros. has acquired the life rights of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame and husband Joseph Wilson.
The studio is reportedly developing a movie that will tell the story of Plame’s supposed outing.
Plame’s upcoming book “Fair Game,” for which Simon & Schuster reportedly paid Plame an advance in the neighborhood of $2.5 million, will be the basis for the feature.
Akiva Goldsman and Jerry and Janet Zucker will co-produce the flick. (The Zuckers got to know Plame and Wilson because of their common interest in embryonic stem cell research, a.k.a. cloning.)
There’s one glitch that may give Plame and her Hollywood friends a headache. Before her work can be published or made public in a film, the CIA has to approve.
Hope the CIA opts to preserve Valerie and Joe’s privacy and nixes both projects.
TV Land’s New Pitchman – Bill Clinton
In Celebrities, Culture, Politics on March 5, 2007 at 1:30 pmBill Clinton was hired as a pitchman for the TV Land cable network. The ex-prez and current Hillary campaign advisor is slated to speak at an event in March to unveil new programs for the family friendly network.
Leo DiCaprio to Film Enron Movie
In Celebrities, Culture, Politics, celebrity on February 25, 2007 at 10:03 amLeonardo DiCaprio seems to be taking a political turn in his acting career.
After watching George Clooney take home one of those little golden statues and being a nominee for an Oscar this year for the politically correct “Blood Diamond,” DiCaprio’s next film deals with a subject sure to please the Left.
The new flick will focus on the favorite business saga, the story how the energy company Enron went bust. Of course the movie will spotlight the company’s donations to the Bush campaign.
Take a wild guess when this film titled “Conspiracy of Fools” is likely to come to a theater near you? Yep, just in time for the general presidential election and also in time to give a boost to the Democratic nominee, whoever she may be.
“Hound Dog” and Dakota Fanning
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media on January 23, 2007 at 12:09 pmI hear the rape secene may have been edited down to make it less graphic. The producers are trying to make the film seem noble by claiming to raise awareness and provide toll free phone numbers for rape victims. This misses the primary point that for millions of kids, Dakota is one of them and a symbol of innocence.
It isn’t merely Dakota’s psyche we are concerned with here.
It is irresponsible to place any child in the position to deal with the emotions of a rape victim, but it is also irresponsible to use the notoriety of the most famous 12 year old of our time to get publicity for a movie and it’s tragic to justify this mindless choice as a way to win an Oscar.
Gloria Allred’s Got a Brand New Target
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, News and politics, Politics, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on November 30, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Gloria Allred always seems to be attached to a highly publicized news story.
Knowing that there are no genuine lawsuit possibilities raised by the facts of this case, Allred has come up with a creative way to seek money for the two men who were directly insulted by Michael Richards’ racist outburst.
Allred has insisted to the media that Cosmo Kramer’s alter ego meet with her clients, Frank McBride and Kyle Doss, in front of a retired judge to apologize and allow the judge to decide on compensation.
Allred claims that concerning her clients, Richards “went after them,” “singled them out,” “taunted them,” and “did it in a closed room where they were captive.”
Anyone held captive in today’s comedy club’s deserves some big bucks.
Maybe this lawsuit should be called a crass action.
A.P.: Colombian rebels want Denzel Washington, Oliver Stone, Michael Moore to help negotiate with government
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Movies, Movies & Entertainment, News and politics, Politics, Social and Politics, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on November 10, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Marcia Cross Wants Her Trash Back
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Movies, Movies & Entertainment, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on November 8, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Celebrities have to be careful about what they discard.
“Collectors” routinely search through dumpsters of the famous, hoping to find some treasures among the trash.
“Desperate Housewives”’s Marcia Cross is desperate to have her trash remover return some pictures to her that she had placed in the round file.
A man who was hired to haul away some refuse reportedly found over 200 pictures of Cross, some of which captured the actress enjoying an outdoor shower.
The actress’s attorneys are threatening to file a lawsuit. They’ve indicated that Cross tossed the photos by mistake.
But an agent for the trash collector is asserting the venerable legal doctrine of “Finders Keepers.”
Cross recently got married and is pregnant with twins.
‘Borat’ Confounds Hollywood Experts
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Movies, Movies & Entertainment, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on November 6, 2006 at 9:18 am
As Sacha Baron Cohen’s Kazakhstani alter ego Borat would say, “My movie is bringing glorious takings of much American dollars at box office.”
According to the studio estimates of 20th Century Fox, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” took in $26.4 million during its opening weekend, mystifying experts and beating the highly favored Disney flick “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” which stars Tim Allen.
“Santa Clause” ended up in second place with a $20 million take.
Another film that was supposed to beat “Borat” is Paramount-DreamWorks’ animated comedy “Flushed Away,” which features the voices of Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, but the movie landed in the number three spot with $19.1 million.
Theaters were jam-packed with “Borat” fans because “Borat” was released in only 837 theaters, a reflection of execs’ low expectations for the comedy.
In stark contrast “Santa Clause” and “Flushed Away” were on 3,458 screens and 3,707 screens, respectively.
“Borat” averaged $31,511 per theater while “Santa” and “Flushed” averaged less than $6000 per screen.
Needless to say, Fox plans on increasing the number of “Borat” screens ASAP.
Why the success for the highly satirical comedy?
The Internet has been buzzing with feedback on the flick with most of the comments indicating that throughout the movie audiences were in hysterics.
Disney Sticks with Mel Gibson
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Movies, Movies & Entertainment, Star Celebrity Gossip!, celebrity, entertainment, gossip on November 5, 2006 at 4:26 pmDisney Sticks with Mel Gibson
The Walt Disney Company has indicated its firm support for Mel Gibson’s upcoming epic, “Apocalypto.”
Disney execs undoubtedly saw what I did when viewing the movie, which Gibson co-wrote, produced and directed.
It’s a highly entertaining film that’s part “Road Warrior,” part “Braveheart,” with a highly original setting and story.
The movie will have audience appeal, particularly in the coveted 18 to 25 age group.
The suits at Disney see the potential of “Apocalypto” overcoming the recent coverage of the DUI charge and anti-Semitic remarks, which Gibson apologized for and explained on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Disney spokesman Dennis Rice told Reuters, “If it’s a good movie, people are going to see it. … One of the great things about Mel Gibson is that he is a great filmmaker and he has a proven track record.”
Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations for Disney, acknowledged that controversy will be a factor in marketing the Gibson film.
“I don’t know how that cannot be a factor,” Dergarabedian said. “His personality has come into play … but if it’s a good movie that will hold it in good stead.”
Previously Unreleased ‘Madonna’ Video
In Culture, Hollywood, celebrity, entertainment on October 27, 2006 at 7:22 am
Celebrity War in Missouri
In Blogroll, Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, celebrity, entertainment on October 25, 2006 at 9:35 amMichael J. Fox can’t shill for big biotech without being opposed this time….
Tax the Celebrity Rich
In Celebrities, Celebrity News, Culture, Entertainment and Media, Hollywood, Music, News and politics, Politics, entertainment on October 9, 2006 at 9:02 amWe’re all familiar with the Democrat mantra “Tax the Rich.”
Perhaps the time has come to adopt a new slogan, “Tax the Celebrity Rich.”
If put into motion, the tax plan could raise a lot of dough and possibly even reform some really bad behavior.
Let’s take a look at the way some of Hollywood’s Most Pampered have recently been conducting themselves in public.
After warming up with a nasty Nicole Richie co-star feud, Paris Hilton apparently revealed some Tanya Harding tendencies at a posh Hollywood nightspot.
“The Simple Life” actress reportedly got into a physical altercation with former Playboy Playmate and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Shanna Moakler.
According to the hamburger-hawking Hilton, Moakler insulted her and then punched her in the mouth.
But Moakler claimed that she was actually shoved into the heiress and that Hilton’s ex, Stavros Niarchos, twisted her wrists and then proceeded to use her body as a shot glass, dousing her with a drink.
Recently, on two separate occasions, Avril Lavigne expressed her dissatisfaction with celebrity photojournalists by spitting on them.
The most recent incident occurred as Lavigne was leaving a celebrity hangout and a paparazzo tried to get some pics.
Beckoning one of the photographers, Lavigne reportedly said, “Hey f*****, come here,” and then spat on him.
The rock singer has apologized for offending her fans but not for offending the photographers at which she hurled lugies.
Earlier in the year, Brandon Davis, grandson and presumed heir to oil magnate Marvin Davis and then-pal of Paris Hilton, rattled off a laundry list of invectives at actress Lindsay Lohan, another one of Hilton’s bicker mates. The potty-mouthed patter was caught on camera.
After he finished smearing Lohan, who had been publicly feuding with actress Hillary Duff, Davis landed a knockout punch. He whacked Lohan in the wallet.
“She’s worth about $7 million, which means she’s really poor,” Davis said.
A propriety vacuum exists, in part, because of the manner in which current tabloid faves are covered by the press. Celebs who act the most reprehensible get the most attention from the entertainment media, thereby encouraging more of the rotten behavior.
You have to admit, the behavior is very taxing. So why not assess it for some needed revenue?
A nice hefty tax bill might be just the solution for modifying the impudent and ill-mannered behavior of our errant celebrity youth.
Bill Clinton Ignored Ashton Kutcher
In Celebrity News, Culture, Hollywood, Media, Politics, celebrity on October 8, 2006 at 12:46 pmBill Clinton may have erupted in anger on Fox News Sunday when questioned about his administration’s pursuit of bin Laden, or lack thereof.
But there’s typically not a whole lot of questioning when it comes to the former prez’s pursuits of the amorous kind.
Ashton Kutcher, star voice of the animated “Open Season” and co-star of “the Guardian,” told “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno about an unpleasant meeting he once had with Clinton.
Evidently, Kutcher and his wife, actress Demi Moore, had dinner with the former commander in cheat.
According to Kutcher, Clinton ignored him. “I met Bill Clinton once but he didn’t really talk,” Kutcher said.
Kutcher went on to explain that Bill was too busy. “He was hitting on my wife.”
Guess it makes sense. Moore was, after all, the star of “Indecent Proposal.”
Al Franken’s Backup Plan
In Culture, Media, Politics, celebrity on October 5, 2006 at 6:34 pmOh, the many faces of Al Franken.
The guy has visited and entertained the troops and deserves mega-credit for that.
But ever since he entered the world of politics, Franken has become caustic, cranky and generally unfunny.
His much touted talk radio career is currently on life support.
Air America Radio is close to bankruptcy and recently had to endure the sordid publicity surrounding a Bronx charity that improperly lent money to the radio network.
The New York City Department of Investigation discovered that the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club had transferred $875,000 to Air America in the period leading up to the network’s launch in March 2004.
The charity recently had to pay the city back $625,000 ($250,000 the charity allegedly misused and $375,000 in overpayments).
Investigation into the matter continues and more shoes may drop.
Meanwhile Franken is entering the political arena and the movie-making one as well. He has set up a political action committee and established residency to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.
He also has a documentary, “Al Franken: God Spoke,” which has been released just in time for the mid-term election campaign.
The movie starts out with a scene that invokes the film’s name, with Franken dressed up as Moses and letting viewers know that he’s on a mission from God.
The best movie moments are from Franken’s “Saturday Night Live” days and his standup routines. But the bulk of the film is all about Al–Al as a guest on cable, Al at a beltway party interacting with Republicans, Al promoting his book, Al hyping Air America and Al engaged in various behind-the-scenes rants.
The problem is, though, Al doesn’t wear very well.
The same qualities that he claims to abhor in his right-wing foes are displayed throughout the flick.
Stubborn disregard for facts, fondness for nasty personal attacks and endless supply of whiny voiced complaints makes “Al Franken: God Spoke” a must skip movie.
Madonna’s ‘Crucifixion’ Act May Get Go Ahead from NBC
In Celebrity News, Culture, celebrity on September 25, 2006 at 6:15 pmTwo NBC television shows are receiving very different treatment.
The TV network is censoring one program that has positive religious content while at the same time it is resisting calls to exclude religious imagery of a derogatory nature, which appears in another one of its slated programs.
In the first instance, NBC eliminated faith-oriented material from a well-known and highly popular animated children’s program called “VeggieTales.” In the second instance, the network is reportedly still contemplating whether or not to air a Vegas-style crucifixion act, which is part of a Madonna concert that NBC plans on broadcasting during the November ratings sweeps.
Madonna is apparently irritated with the criticism that has come down the pike about her staged scene from her “Confessions” tour. Evidently, the material girl, who often asks for respect for her own faith, Kabbalah, doesn’t understand why there would be hesitancy over the proposed TV airing of the centerpiece of her show, where she wears a crown of thorns while suspended from a large cross.
Many religious organizations, including the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, have gone on record to let NBC know that including Madonna’s rock-mock crucifixion is unacceptable and insulting.
Meanwhile NBC has removed religious references from “VeggieTales,” which was recently added to its Saturday morning line-up.
Co-creator of the show Phil Vischer wrote this on his Web site: “I’m not at all happy with the edits. I didn’t know I’d need to make them when I agreed to produce the show, and I considered dropping out when I found out just how much would need to be removed.”
Vischer told the Los Angeles Times, “When the first edit notes came back, I thought, ‘This is going to be difficult because the stories were going to fall apart.’ This has implications for ‘VeggieTales,’ which would have been nice to talk about in the beginning.”
Initially the network claimed that the religious references had to be removed from the children’s show because of time concerns. But in a written statement NBC changed its story. It indicated that the reason for the cuts was that the network did not want to be seen as backing a particular religion.
“NBC is committed to the positive messages and universal values of ‘VeggieTales,’” the statement said. “Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages, while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view.”
Alan Wurtzel, an NBC broadcast standards executive, told the New York Times that there was no double standard at work with regard to the shows and that the network was evaluating each show separately.
“We had to make a decision about where it went further than we considered appropriate.” Wurtzel said.
Madonna also spent some time issuing explanations to the press. The singer’s statement claimed that her appearance on Christ’s cross in her concert “is no different than a person wearing a cross or ‘taking up the cross’ as it says in the Bible.”
“My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole,” Madonna explained, adding that she believed in her “heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing.”
Madonna also said that she is using sacred Christian imagery “to bring attention to the millions of children in Africa who are dying every day [or] are living without care, without medicine and without hope.”
Although NBC claims that it is still deliberating, TV Guide Magazine reported that NBC entertainment chief Kevin Reilly said that Madonna’s crucifixion imitation would probably be in the show because Madonna felt strongly about it.
Liz Rosenberg, a spokeswoman for Madonna, said in an e-mail message to the New York Times that Madonna would not want this number to be censored. She predicted that Madonna “will not back down.”
If NBC does allow Madonna’s Jesus imitation to be aired while justifying the removal of faith references from “VeggieTales,” the tragic message the network will be sending is that it is fine to depict God on TV as long as you’re making fun of Him.
Rosie O’Donnell on a ‘View’-less Path?
In Culture, Hollywood, Media, celebrity, entertainment on September 18, 2006 at 2:23 pmOnline bookies are calculating the odds.
Will Rosie O’Donnell, the newest co-host of ABC’s “The View,” be fired, quit or otherwise exit the chitchat stage before her first-year contract is up?
After having to apologize for disparaging statements that she made on her blog about head hostess Barbara Walters, as an encore O’Donnell insulted a lioness’ share of the program’s audience with this statement: “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam.”
The family members of numerous beheading victims would beg to disagree as would Christians the world over.
As outrageously offensive as O’Donnell’s statements are, equating evangelical Christians and traditional Catholics with Muslim extremists is fairly routine on left-wing blogs, Air America broadcasts and “Real Time with Bill Maher” panels.
But they also reflect the widely held beliefs of the current far left-leaning Democrat base.
Since the late 1990s O’Donnell has given over $100,000 to political campaigns and organizations, with $74,000 going to candidates with a “D” attached to their names, $27,800 going to left-oriented special interest groups and $1,000 going to the Elizabeth Dole For President Exploratory Committee Inc.
Wonder if O’Donnell was aware that, when it comes to “radical Christianity,” Dole regularly stands up and testifies.
Bono, U2 and Supply Side Economics
In Celebrities, Culture, Hollywood, Music, News and politics, entertainment on September 17, 2006 at 12:21 pmBono has just taught the world a lesson.
With all the press attention given to the U2 lead singer’s humanitarian lobbying efforts to fight poverty and disease in the Third World, you might think his global instruction was about altruism.
Not this time. Instead by his actions Bono has revealed what he really feels about taxes. He has also demonstrated how dramatically one’s behavior can be affected when the issue becomes personal.
The rocker and his U2 band have moved their business empire from Ireland to Holland to avoid paying the new high tax rates, which have been imposed by the Irish government on music royalties.
If Bono, whose estimated worth is said to be in excess of $700 million dollars, wants to save on his tax bill, that’s understandable. The problem is that this is the same guy who has consistently urged the U.S. government to use its own citizen’s tax dollars to finance other nation’s social programs and forgive Third World countries’ debts.
Typically, when money from the United States has been doled out in the past to developing nations, the track record of appropriate application has been appalling, with the exception of some minute amounts of money that have actually been used to accomplish original objectives. In some cases, corrupt dictators have actually robbed the charity piggy banks and/or squandered their contents.
In an interview with the UK Daily Mirror, British television talk show host Graham Norton launched a harangue against the Irish rocker for his apparent hypocrisy.
“People like Bono really annoy me,” Norton said. “He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes. And then he’s asking me to buy a well for an African village.”
Norton has his own hefty tax bill to pay, thanks to a new multimillion-dollar deal he just signed with the BBC. He has a couple of suggestions for projects that Bono could effectuate in his own homeland.
“Tarmac the road outside your house, you tight-wad! Or pay for a school in Ireland,” Norton remarked. “I’ve never met Bono and now I probably never will. But if I do meet him I’ll ask him because I think it’s a hard thing to justify.”
Even Labor Party finance spokesperson Joan Burton chimed in. She told the Guardian, “Having listened to Bono on the necessity for the Irish government to give more money to Ireland Aid…I am surprised that U2 are not prepared to contribute to the exchequer on a fair basis along with the bulk of Irish taxpayers.”
What Bono and U2 have done is what businesses always do when faced with excessive taxes—seek jurisdictions with low, or better yet, no taxes.
Governments always need more money, and the easy answer for generating revenue is to hike tax rates. But as sure as water flows downhill, individuals, and the businesses they own, will leave the tax-hiking jurisdiction for more friendly terrain, taking their revenue right along with them.
Another Bono lesson for Ireland and other nation states: If the Emerald Isle hadn’t tinkered with its tax law, Bono, U2 and other businesses like them would still be providing jobs, opportunity and yes, revenue.
