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Children's book based on Holocaust story is pulled (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:55 pm Children's book based on Holocaust story is pulled (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:55 pm Tara Reid's Romp into Rehab Causes Controversy - FOXNews
Source: Google News - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:25 pm Michael Lohan and Lindsay at peace with each other - WELT ONLINE
Source: Google News - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:14 pm Ricky Gervais is far from unpleasant - CNN International
Source: Google News - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:03 pm 'American Idol': The Best Of 2008, By Jim CantielloOn the eve of the new season, we take a look back at our favorite 'American Idol' videos of 2008. David Archuleta Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images The seventh season of "American Idol" will...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:00 pm T.I.'s 'Swagger Like Us' Collabo And More Top Underground Songs Of 2008Big Boi, Shawty Lo and Joe Budden also make the list.By Shaheem Reid T.I. Photo: Getty Images/ Evan Agostini "No one on the corner got swagger like these four guys." Lil Wayne was correct; it...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2008 | 1:00 pm Dick Clark, 79, is still rockin' New Year's Eve (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:58 pm Dick Clark, 79, is still rockin' New Year's Eve (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:58 pm Dick Clark, 79, is still rockin' New Year's Eve (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:58 pm Dick Clark, 79, is still rockin' New Year's Eve (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:58 pm Star isn't really so unpleasantRicky Gervais says he's not sure if the lead in "Ghost Town" -- an anti-social, cynical dentist named Bertram Pincus -- was written for him. And he's not sure he wants to know. But in reality, Gervais is a courteous and thoughtful interview.Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:54 pm Barbra Streisand Guests on CBS EARLY SHOW 12/30 - Broadway World
Source: Google News - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:51 pm French fashion designer Ted Lapidus dies at 79 (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm French fashion designer Ted Lapidus dies at 79Ted Lapidus, the fashion designer who redefined chic with the 1960s unisex look, has died in France. He was 79. President Nicolas Sarkozy, in an homage to the designer, said Lapidus...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm Palin's daughter gives birth to son named TrippThe daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has given birth to a son, a magazine reported Monday. Bristol Palin, 18, gave birth to Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston on...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:08 pm 'Terminator' to be preserved in US film registry (AP)AP - One of Arnold Schwarzenegger's most famous one-liners will be back for generations to come, now that 1984's "The Terminator" has been selected for preservation in the nation's film archive.Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:06 pm 'The City' premiere: Hits and misses - Entertainment Weekly
Source: Google News - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 12:01 pm Is Oprah's Golden Touch Tarnished? - ABC News
Source: Google News - Entertainment | 30 Dec 2008 | 11:14 am Hits, misses on quest for Oscar gloryNEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - It's the time of year when everyone in the movie business makes lists. Critics compile their top films, and Academy members rank their favorites.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 30 Dec 2008 | 10:37 am Hits, misses on quest for Oscar glory
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The Killers, Weezer, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Beyonce - the
year's best clips, as voted by the readers of Rolling Stone 1. The Killers - "Human" 2. Radiohead - "House of Cards" |
HAIR
• Prince William has a new beard, warranting the nickname Prince "Hairy." He was also the runner-up for the Beard of the Year award. How did we miss this until now? [Off the Rack/People]
• Apparently Smooth Away hair-removal pads are great for removing girl 'staches. [Spoiled Pretty]
MAKEUP
• One blogger on typeface made out of individual false eyelashes: "No, it's not a font that you can install on your computer — yet — but it's an inspiring example of the creative things people make out of everyday items." [BellaSugar]
• Oh, and this blogger spent $95 on a Claudio Riaz eye-shadow brush and totally regrets it, obviously. [Beauty Snob]
FRAGRANCE
• More recently blogged thoughts on the awesomely important topic of John Galliano's new perfume: "It is far from wicked and is quite prim and proper. The violets are sweet with a strange baby doll head effect. It could be off-putting to many. The iris note … has a Chanel-like quality." [Blogdorf Goodman]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: beauty marks, fragrance, hair, john galliano, makeup, prince william
Peter Kraus worked hard in the three months he spent at Merrill Lynch this fall — and the $25 million in bonus cash he earned for his troubles was just enough to allow him to afford to buy Carl and Barbaralee Spielvogel's apartment at 720 Park for $36.63 million, twice what they paid for it two years ago. And it is worth it. According to Brown Harris Stevens:
The baronial living room has 11' ceilings with exquisite crown molding, a wood burning fireplace and intricate parquetry floors. The formal dining room is grand for entertaining but cozy enough for family suppers with its wood burning fireplace. The beautiful in-laid floors are repeated here and the dental crown molding, plaster relief encircling the chandelier and rich Venetian plaster walls make for a stunning room. The library off the living room is paneled in rich mahogany and has a third wood burning fireplace.
Did you see that? Baronial. The kind of word that brings to mind, like, royalty. Also robber barons. Plus, the Realtor notes, the apartment has "heavy, six-panel doors," which will come in handy when the clamoring hordes of starving angry peasants descend on the building.
AllianceBernstein CEO pays $37M for pad at 720 Park Avenue [Real Deal]
720 Park Avenue [Brown Harris Stevens]
Earlier: Merrill Exec Scores $25 Million for Three Months Work
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: Big Swinging Dickheads, merrill lynch, peter kraus
Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week: The Consultant With a 100 Percent At-Work Sex Life: female, 25, single, straight, Midtown West
DAY ONE
7:15 a.m.: Think about male co-worker in the shower and get butterflies. Realize I have to look hot today for the annual company meeting as I have not seen him since we hooked up last week at a work function.
7:32 a.m.: As punishment for not trying to see me between then and now, I decide to tease him with a killer outfit. Looking perfect would be too obvious, but I leave the apartment pretty pleased with myself.
11:30 a.m.: Last time I cared how a specific guy thought I looked was for a frat boy my junior year of college. Usually I make a point of deleting guys’ phone numbers at the smallest sign they’re not perfect; co-worker is shockingly still in my contact list. This must be love.
11:47 a.m.: Remind myself not to let my crazy out just yet … want him to feel the same way about me first.
1:30 p.m.: Arrive at company meeting. He sits behind me, so I make whispered jokes to girl co-workers so he knows I am not only sexy but hilarious as well.
3:03 p.m.: Wonder if co-worker is thinking about how this conference room’s podium compares to the one at the hotel we had sex on last week. I cave and text him this thought.
3:09 p.m.: He responds. He was thinking the same thing.
8:15 p.m.: Pub after work with co-workers. The whole evening has been one big game of foreplay. The knowing glances from across the room are making playing hard to get increasingly difficult. It doesn’t help that I cannot stop thinking about his tongue.
8:17p.m.: Realize I am wasted and should vacate the premises before speaking to any more superiors.
10 p.m.: Come up with seemingly amazing plan on the way home: I will text co-worker and ask him to come over. He will assume it’s for sex. Instead, he is walking into a Define the Relationship (DTR) talk. HA. Fool.
10:32 p.m.: He comes in, still in his full suit. I can’t help myself; I’ve never taken off a guy’s tie before. In the midst of hot make-out with clothes flying everywhere, I remember my plan. Shit.
10:47 p.m.: Stop the make-out to begin the DTR. I assume he said things I wanted to hear as I remember very little of the conversation. What I do remember is the amazing oral/sex/vibrator action that followed. Whatever he said, it was probably worth it.
11:35 p.m.: No orgasms on my part, but it’s okay. Give my first blow job since high school. Remember why I stopped in the first place.
DAY TWO
7:12 a.m.: Holy hangover, Batman.
7:15 a.m.: Co-worker and I kiss and he leaves. As I make my bed, I wonder if he noticed I, at some point during the night, got my period. Figure if I didn’t, it is unlikely that he did.
1:16 p.m.: Obsess over events of last night via e-mail with roommate. Says she: He’s using you, he’ll never give you what you want, he’s just saying things you want to hear. Promptly ignore.
2:30 p.m.: E-mail girlfriends from college. Most common inquiry: How the hell have you gotten away without giving head since HIGH SCHOOL? Honestly, I never really thought about it.
5 p.m.: Turns out this makes me kind of a hero/revolutionary to my girl friends. And I quote: "Props to you homegirl. I'd take any excuse to never have a dick in my mouth again"
7:37 p.m.: Head to Landmarc for dinner with roommate and her aunt. Have still heard nothing from co-worker but attempt to forget about it with several glasses of wine.
9:32 p.m.: Text from co-worker. ‘How was your day?’ Spent it agonizing over you, asshole. Reply ‘Good, out to dinner at Landmarc. Yours?’
9:47 p.m.: He responds ‘with who?’
9:49 p.m.: I respond ‘with a friend. I don’t think you have met him.’ Game on.
11:30 p.m.: Masturbate. Orgasm four times. I heart vibrators.
DAY THREE
9:45 a.m.: While checking Internet news, come across article that says a new study has linked oral sex to mouth and throat cancer. Of course I see this two days after I break my six-year-long fellatio strike.
11:53 a.m.: Am seriously horny while bored at work. Think about how I can get him to play a little rougher. The soft crap is all good, but sometimes I just need to be dominated.
12:50 p.m.: Remember still having period. Wonder where on the ‘going to hell’ scale sex on the rag hits.
2:19 p.m.: Debate texting him a fantasy. Decide against it. Must remember to play hard to get. And don’t want him getting the idea that bj’s are on the daily menu. Especially now that my health is involved.
3:59 p.m.: Attractive British client I always catch staring, finally comes over to talk to me. He wears a ring which makes me fantasize about an illicit international affair. He smells of cologne and tea. Oddly, married men have held a certain sexual curiosity for me lately that I never expected.
DAY FOUR
7:22 a.m.: Remember I have yet another work function with co-worker tonight and have to look effortlessly great again. This is exhausting.
4:06 p.m.: Contemplate the ethics of e-mail flirting with my married client, which is clearly happening.
4:08 p.m.: Realize I am contemplating my ethics on a somewhat frequent basis. Wonder if this is a sign of my adaptation to life in New York City.
5:18 p.m.: Co-worker texts that he has ‘dinner plans in midtown tonight’ so he can’t make other co-worker's birthday drinks downtown. I had this coming, but the feeling of nausea is overwhelming. I simply like him too much for this casual bullshit he wants.
5:22 p.m.: Feeling blue. Recall annual review conversation with my boss earlier in the day. He says everything is great but the one area I need to work on is my professionalism, both at work and at social work events. The dance-floor make-out session with an executive client comes to mind. Or the screaming match I got into with other co-workers. This causes me to bail on drinks so I can go home and wallow in self pity.
DAY FIVE
10:24 a.m.: Wallowing nearly complete. Happy in my decision to stay in to ensure I refrain from dramatic texting, which has become my new means to make a desperate fool of myself.
11:21 a.m.: Despite my morals, I miss married Brit’s attention. Thank God Brit is back in London.
5:28 p.m.: After a long day of listening to the Love, Actually soundtrack, decide I am done with co-worker. Change to "Womanizer" and feel empowered. There is no mood Britney cannot lift me out of. Plan to bring home a hot stranger to prove how over co-worker I am.
6:43 p.m.: E-mail from Brit. Asks about why I smooth my dress/skirt over my ass before every time I sit down. Continue to contemplate where the line is with married men.
DAY SIX
8:30 a.m.: Working on the weekend … nothing is worse. Well, not hearing from co-worker is worse.
2:15 p.m.: Another e-mail from Brit telling me I have a lovely ass and he is only human; it is not his fault he couldn’t stop staring. My God … should stop this incessant flirting, but the need to feel wanted by someone is simply overwhelming in the light of rejection.
DAY SEVEN
10:06 p.m.: No word from co-worker. Am over feeling sad, on to being pissed. He does not know, however, that I have mentally cut him off. How am I supposed to relay this if he refuses to get in contact with me? Well … it is times like these I refer to my personal mantra: On to something bigger and better, literally and figuratively.
TOTALS: One act of intercourse; one act of fellatio; one act of cunnilingus; four acts of masturbation orgasm; five slightly inappropriate e-mails with married client.
Filed Under: britney spears, love actually, Sex Diaries
"Starting Over" is thoughtful and sophisticated — or at least, it is for this Atlanta garage-punk quartet, whose cover art for their forthcoming album, 200 Million Thousand, is apparently designed to make fans hurl. The band shares what sound like New Year's resolutions — "find cupid," "keep moving," and, um, "drink some more beer" — adding to their usual ramshackle noise some chiming, Byrds-y guitar. Up until the moment that they close the track with a burst of feedback, you might even think they'd forced themselves to actually start rehearsing.
Download "Starting Over": Stereogum
Read more posts by Ehren Gresehover
Filed Under: black lips, music, right-click
You know who probably doesn't need to worry about getting laid off anytime soon? Members of American Apparel's legal team. Because enumerating their lawsuits as of late is not unlike counting the number of Christmas cookies and frosted nuts we ate last week. The latest suit involves American Apparel's ex–chief of European operations Bernhard-Axel Ingo Brake. He alleges he was fired after he complained about the company's employment practices in Europe. He also claims Dov Charney verbally promised him more than $1 million in bonuses and commissions, which have yet to reach his bank account.
Brake also says Charney paid employees under the table to evade taxes and let the women employees he liked best (you knew they'd come up eventually) mishandle company funds and waste resources — far from the best interests of American Apparel's shareholders. Not to be outdone, American Apparel has filed a lawsuit of their own against Brake in German court. They say he was fired for embezzling money from the company and also allege that he hired his mistress for a high-level position in Switzerland, the duties of which went unfulfilled. Additionally, they claim Brake went against the company's nepotism rules by hiring his daughter to work in a store and then paid her random bonuses. Eh, we'd say the worst crime in all that would be putting any woman in a position in which she might have to interact with Dov Charney. Just typing that feels like cause for a shower.
American Apparel and Former Exec in Legal Battle [WWD]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: american apparel, bernhard-axel ingo brake, dov charney, dov smarmy, lawsuits
Tom Brady did not propose to Gisele Bündchen on a flight from Teterboro to Boston, the NFL star's father told the Boston Globe, responding to detailed rumors that Brady had proposed on a private jet "bursting with white roses and champagne," per the Daily News, on New Year's Eve. "We don't know a thing about it," Tom's dad said. "We talked to him and there's nothing to say. It's rumor, rumor, rumor. Must be a slow news day." It would have been cool if he'd added, "Roses? That shit is gay and that only happens in the movies," but he didn't. Anyway: Assuming the old man's not a crafty liar, this must be kind of awkward for Gisele, right? [Boston Globe]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: gisele bundchen, The Most Important People in The World, tom brady
Melora Hardin isn’t one of those sunglass-wearing, no-pictures-please, how-dare-you-look-at-me actresses. In fact, she’s flattered if you recognize her as Baby from the short-lived TV version of Dirty Dancing or as the woman who asked Ross to talk dirty on Friends or any of the many parts she’s taken on since childhood — including, of course, Jan Levinson, the no-nonsense corporate executive turned Michael Scott love interest turned unstable single mom on The Office. With filming of the show now on hiatus, the Joffrey-trained dancer is filling her time not with candle-making but with musical theater, and tonight she’ll make her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago the Musical. Hardin spoke with Vulture about tackling the iconic stage role and why Jan isn’t evil.
How did this part come about?
Well, I sort of thought one day I’d like to use all these skills that I’ve been honing my whole life. So I kind of talked to my manager and my agent about the idea of using those skills and we said, “You know what? Why don’t you go audition for Chicago?” And so I did. And Barry Weissler was very excited and offered me the part right on the spot and was sort of like, “Where did you come from? How do you have all this training? How come you haven’t been in New York? Why aren’t you doing Broadway?” So that was a pretty nice way to be received.
Why Roxie and not Velma?
I actually auditioned for both roles, and they said, “Oh, you’re a Roxie.” I think she has a wonderful kind of naiveté to her, a knowing naiveté. I guess just that she’s so hungry — they both are. Both Velma and Roxie are hungry for fame and publicity, and that’s the thing that makes them feel alive. But I really would have played either part.
What was it like for you learning the Fosse choreography?
I love it. I really have that kind of dancer work ethic in me, and I really love trying to create those lines and finding the right way to do it. It’s very unique and specific to Fosse, and at the same time it’s subtle. It’s really quite fun.
So, you play Jan on The Office. She has definitely gotten more neurotic and quirky. Was that something you talked about with the writers, or was it just gradually introduced into the scripts?
I feel like we have a beautiful dance on the show where the writers pick up on the things I’m bringing to the character and I kind of am surprised by what they’ve given me. And together we kind of collaboratively have created this downward spiral that I feel is such a joy, obviously, to play as an actor. You just rarely see a woman like that on television. I’ve really had one of the best dramatic arcs — she really has changed so much and continues to change.
We recap the show every Friday morning, and we get very invested in the characters. And so we’ve called Jan a witch and a monster and evil because of what she’s done to poor Michael. Would you care to defend your character?
[Laughs] Yeah, I don’t think she’s evil at all. I don’t think she’s wicked. I think she’s just really desperately trying to find herself. I think she doesn’t always make the right choices in doing so. She comes from having worked her way in a man’s world, comes from like a loveless, cold marriage. She’s kind of created the persona of being the woman of steel, having no feeling, and then Michael kind of comes in and suddenly says, “I don’t really care about all your defense mechanisms. I’m just gonna come like a bull in a china shop crashing through, and I love you anyway.” And I think that was just very seductive to her. And that I think has been translated into many different mandates. Just like how do I fix that? Well, I get a boob job. And then I get back together with Michael and live in Scranton and try to have the white picket fence and I have a candle business and I get pregnant and we have a dinner party … we try to have like a normal couple relationship. She’s tried everything. I really do see it as it’s just her way of trying to damper the pain that’s underneath all of her actions. And she does have like a soft, gooey center, and I think Michael appeals to that. She’s trying to find that in herself, but she’s looking in all the wrong alleyways. I just want to know who her psychiatrist is. He’s doing a really bad job.
You also have a movie with Zac Efron coming up and one with Miley Cyrus. Now you just need to hang out with the Jonas Brothers or something…
[Laughs] I know! That’s what I said to someone. I’m like, “I’m going to be the oldest teen idol ever.”
Read more posts by Lori Fradkin
Filed Under: Chat Room, Chicago, Melora Hardin, The Office
Former police commissioner Bernie Kerik, who was celebrated last week as an "American hero," today pleaded not guilty to the two new charges added to his amazingly lengthy indictment, which alleged he had aided and assisted in the preparation of false tax returns and made false statements about a home loan. [NYT]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: Ballsy Crimes, bernie kerik, every time we look at this man we think of 'an apartment overlooking ground zero'
In case you didn't catch Beyoncé's new "Diva" video over Chrismukkah, know that she rocks some fierce Gareth Pugh in it. Yes, she remains to Pugh like a moth to flame. And this might shock you: Grazia reports little sister Solange introduced Beyoncé to Pugh. Solange. Though we have bemoaned the seeming awkwardness of Beyoncé's new avant-garde fashion choices, we are prepared to embrace them, because frankly we are kind of in love with the "Diva" video. True, it's pretty cliché minus the clothes, but it's so enjoyably ridiculous that it manages to justify (the badness of) the song itself. The part where she busts out the fan made of money is one of the best things we've seen all winter. Go ahead and judge. Our love knows no shame. [Grazia]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: beyonce knowles, diva, solange knowles, we don't think we're ready for this jelly
In a rare artistic endeavor not involving Scarlett Johansson, noted clarinet impresario Woody Allen performed yesterday at Sala Kongresowa, Warsaw's biggest concert hall, in front of an audience of 3,000. "We will do our best to entertain you," he told the audience before he and his New Orleans Jazz Band launched into a two-hour show that featured plenty of solos from the man himself. [AP]
Read more posts by Jessica Coen
Filed Under: directors, jazz, jazz hands, music, woody allen
Forget the fact that Bernie Madoff managed to run a $50 billion Ponzi scheme over God knows how many years without detection: Whoever managed to go into the backyard of his Palm Beach home and steal the sculpture he kept there is a genius.
The theft occurred sometime between 3 p.m. on Dec. 19 and 11:30 a.m. last Sunday, a week after Madoff confessed to ripping off $50 billion from investors in a decades-long Ponzi scheme. The five-foot, copper artwork overlooked the Madoffs' inground pool, and portrays two young lifeguards sitting on a raised stand.
Clearly, this thing was not stolen for its looks or its value (It cost only around $10,000, way less than the average Madoff victim invested.), it was stolen out of principle, as a massive eff you. But by whom? It couldn't have been a senior citizen — copper is not the heaviest of metals, but at five feet, the statue still would have been too heavy for anyone not drinking Cocoon juice to lug it off on their lonesome. So we guess what we're saying is...anybody see the Fairfield Greenwich boys this weekend?
Bernie Madoff a Ripoff 'Victim' [NYP]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: Ballsy Crime, bernard madoff, bernie madoff
AP - "Fidel's Last Days" (Shaye Areheart Books, 268 pages, $23), by Roland Merullo: Fidel Castro must die. So says a shadowy but powerful group called the Orchid, which has put a plan in motion to finally do what Castro's enemies have failed to do for almost 60 years.
(Ed. Note: The following article contains mild spoilers, for those of you whose commenter fingers are already twitching with anticipation.)
Last week, as per Christmas tradition, Hollywood released a slew of the year's best films to both be considered for the 2009 Academy Awards, as well as to rake in the last $10 left in our nearly rabbit-eared pockets. And as part of my own Christmas tradition (which you can read more about here), I slapped on my best Juicy tracksuit (you know the one!) and headed to the movie theater to catch an evening screening of the latest David Fincher opus The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Benny Butty (as I -- an idiot -- prefer to call it) is the charming tale of a boy born old, who grows physically younger as the years pass and his brain soaks heavy with wisdom and life lessons. Now, it should be noted that Benjy Butts is played by none other than Brad Pitt, a man whose real life visage has also shed layers of those pesky "age lines" as the years have passed.
The movie is nothing short of charming, if not an hour too long. The digital effects which render a "young" Benjamin into a tiny old man are riveting, and the supporting cast easily makes up for Brad Pitt's lack of charisma. (Though Cate Blanchett's over-articulated American accent can make one want to, how do you say, slap a bitch? She makes Kate Winslet in Titanic sound like Foghorn Leghorn.)
But let's face it, ladies, there is a very clear part of the film that we were all looking forward to. Yes, the halfway point, when the old man CGI make-up melted off to reveal the one and only face of Pitt, which never fails to giddify. It seemed that half the seats in the theater emptied the moment that infamous motorcycle shot appeared, as the ladies in the crowd clear melted to the floor. And while these sizzling hot moments were some of the highlights of the movie, I did take issue with one of the director's choices: That of Benjamin Button's mid-life wardrobe.
See, as an elderly man-child growing up in the middle of a nursing home, Benjamin dressed his face age -- i.e. like a miniature little old man. Tiny pants, button downs, wingtip shoes and adorable suspenders. About an hour and a half later, Benjamin is now in his mid to late 40s, perhaps even older. And even though he has fallen into a bit of button money, the transformation from old man to SIZZLING F**KING HOT BRAD PITT is a bit jarring, thanks in large part to his new wardrobe.
We're talking GQ CENTERFOLD MATERIAL here people. Even though it's the 1960s, he is a walking Prada/Gucci ad. Every suit cut to perfection, trademark Pitt Porkpie Hat cocked just so. It's the kind of stuff that would be worn by a billionaire gay playboy on the Amalfi coast in the year 2009. It is NOT what a fashion backward face-morphing mute would choose to wear in New Orleans. For authenticity's sake, they should have suited Pitt up in some patchwork overalls, a dirty white tee (or no tee, just free-nipplin' it), chewin' on a piece of straw while spitting on his own shoes. He STILL would have looked amazing!
This being said: Thank you, David Fincher and Brad Pitt, for throwing common sense to the wind and dressing up Brad Pitt in the finest threads modern haute couture has to offer. Historically accurate? Not really. Vaginally accurate? Definitely. Let me know what you guys thought of the film in the comments.
As a side note, I also caught Fincher's 2007 movie Zodiac on cable this weekend, and it's pretty much incredible. But please, do not do what I did and watch it at 4 am. You will baaaziguhlly never sleep again.
"It seems like there's an awful lot of yelling, and this year yelling's been replaced by sarcasm and snarkiness." —Anderson Cooper on the current state of cable news shows [LAT]
"I would definitely be working at Denny's or something." —Common on trying to live solely off royalties [A.V. Club]
"He's divorced, doesn't have a lot of friends, messed up career-wise a few times and very self-righteous. I immediately wanted to play around with this guy." —Tahmoh Penikett on his character in Dollhouse [LAT]
"Security stopped me at the door and I had to explain who I was. That was a bit embarrassing." — Chris Martin on getting into his own concert [NYP]
"The Eagles are still touring an album from 1976! In 25 years, we'll be like the Eagles even if we don't make another album." —Kintrell "Krispy Kream" Lindsey of hip-hop duo the Knux [LAT]
"I'm lucky to be able to fit into that young-woman category in his mind, so I hope he keeps writing for young women." —Scarlett Johansson hopes that Woody Allen hasn't yet tired of casting her [LAT]
"If, say, we wrote some songs that sound like Rick Springfield, a week later they've all turned into Children of Bodom songs." —Mikey Way on My Chemical Romance's creative process [MTV]
"I like to party, but I'm not a huge partier and sometimes it's alienating for me being around people doing crack for the one night of the year, metaphorically speaking. I'm more of a guy who likes to go out of town and play banjos in the snow on New Year's Eve." —Akron/Family's Miles Seaton [Gothamist]
Read more posts by Stan Park
Filed Under: Quote Machine
No one is safe in this economy, not even Chanel. The house of quilted-handbag fame plans to cut 200 jobs — 10 percent of its production team — effective Wednesday, as the luxury sector brazens the credit crisis. The house will cut sixteen jobs from the Chanel boutique on rue Cambon in the heart of Paris' fashion district. Others affected include staff on fixed-term and temporary contracts. The Guardian reports that some are calling the layoffs Chanel's "worst crisis" since Coco herself let the entire staff go at the start of the war in 1939.
The announcement is no great surprise considering Chanel recently called off its too-fabulous-for-the-times Mobile Art Exhibit. Chanel says it's just not selling enough stuff these days and confessed it didn't make sense to pursue ventures "where we weren't selling anything." (Yes, it was chock-full of sense before the market tanked.) Chanel's in a pretty full boat, it seems. Louis Vuitton has delayed the opening of a giant store. Bulgari is too nervous to give a financial projection for 2009. And Prada "shocked" Milan over Christmas when they put up sale posters in their store windows. Didn't they hear they can put things on sale and not tell anyone about it until they walk into the store? We know times are tough, but that is just kind of, well, embarrassing. You know those Europeans are so judging them.
Chanel sheds 200 jobs as sales of luxury items decline [Guardian]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: bulgari, chanel, economy, louis vuitton, prada, tis the season to be broke
2. Window Washer Santa
3. Army Santas
5. Motorcycle Santas
6. Palestinian Demonstrator On The
West Bank Santa
7. Reluctant Church Kid Santa
8. Bad Surfer Santa
9. Sea Lion Trainer Santa
10. Street Cleaner Santa
11. Baby Penguin Santas
12. Private Lapdance Area Santa
13. Creepy Mask Kid Santa
14. This Thing Santa
15. Big Fat Sand-ta
16. Parachute Santa
17. Blocked By Vibrant Old People Santa
18. Prince Albert Of Monaco
19. Elephant Rider Santa
20. Also Elephant Santa
While entertainment journalists traditionally use the last week of December as a time to look back wistfully on the year that was, New York Times entertainment writer Michael Cieply chose to go grinchy and summed up this year a bit differently. Rather than counting down his favorite films or performances of the year in typically boring top-ten fashion, instead he decided to frame 2008 as the year in which media hype (driven largely by Internet wags) outweighed the public's actual appetite for so-called cultural phenomena. So you thought that Twilight was, like, the biggest thing since Gossip Girl? Wrong-o! If you reference Box Office Mojo's altogether sobering chart for all-time box office adjusted for ticket-price inflation, you'll find that it was less popular than Robin Williams's thoroughly maligned 1996 film, Patch Adams. Remember when everyone couldn't stop talking about Sex and the City? Turns out that Carrie Bradshaw and her posse of Cosmo-sipping fortysomethings couldn't hold a candle to the menopausal fiftysomethings that populated the First Wives Club.
Even The Dark Knight, which is edging its way toward Titanic's spot as the No. 1 grossing film in box-office history (domestically speaking), seems to be a bit overrated when viewed through a wider historical lens. After all, who would've thought that Heath Ledger's Joker would still be trailing Jar Jar Binks by nearly $70 million? But just when you thought that Cieply was through harshing your post-holiday buzz, he goes back to the Twilight well once more, citing another stat that shows that Twilight was as popular on a percentage basis as Congo was with American audiences in 1995. Gosh, who knew that Laura Linney and Dylan Walsh were the original Bella and Edward?
Blockbuster Openings, Lackluster Box Office [NYT]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: First Wives Club, Harsh Truths, Movies, Sex and the City, The Dark Knight, Twilight
We've seen rumors about this in the British tabs before, but it's back, so here goes: Topshop owner Sir Philip Green is reportedly wooing Christina Aguilera to design a collection for his chain. The enormous success of Kate Moss's line shall not stand alone. A source tells the Mirror, “Philip loves her style and believes she would add something new to TopShop. Christina is the blonde bombshell who is into pop whereas Kate is the rock chick and model." Thanks for clearing up their occupations, anonymous source. On that note, we've been thankful that Christina has avoided designing things people can wear for some time. If we do say, she seems to be in the midst of a fashion/image crisis right now. The Studio 54 jumpsuits and Hot Topic lingerie she wears onstage, the permanently bold lip color, the thick black eyeliner she probably tattooed on in secret — it's like she landed at a Madonna concert from Planet Moulin Rouge and thought that was how we do things on Earth. Well, Moulin Rouge came out at the end of the VHS era for goodness sake. Upgrade yourself, honey!
Top Shop boss ready to sign Christina Aguilera in £4million deal to design new fashion range [Mirror]
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: Celebrity (Non-)Designers, christina aguilera, kate moss, sir philip green, topshop
Something terrible has happened in Sweden... again. Each year, as per sad tradition, local Swedes band together in creating a gigantic, resplendant Christmas Goat named Julbock. And, in a story that could easily have been penned by a genius Golden Girls scribe, year after year local Swedish vandals decide to get their perverted rocks off by setting this giant hay goat on fire.
How many times has this giant flammable creature gone up in flames, exactly? Mmmmm what if we told you 23 times? Twenty. Three. Times. And somewhere in St. Olaf, a little girl named Rose Nylund cries.
Grab a slice of C-cake, don your favorite silk robe, and dig into this article. This would be really sad if it weren't so -- no, wait, it's not really that sad:Christmas straw goat burned down again in Sweden A giant Christmas straw goat that has been targeted in a violent Christmas tradition for four decades in Sweden was burned down yet again on Saturday, an official said. "It was set on fire early in the morning; it's very sad," goat committee spokeswoman Anna Ostman said. Vandals have burned the 43-foot (13-meter)-high goat 23 times since it was first set up in the central Swedish city of Gavle on Dec. 3, 1966 to mark the holiday season. The traditional yuletide goat has also been smashed several times, run over by a car and had its legs cut off. A year ago the goat made it through the holiday season. Authorities in Gavle have tried to protect the goat using fireproofing chemicals and security guards. But only 10 of the goats have survived beyond Christmas since 1966. The goat is a centuries-old Scandinavian yule symbol that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts to Swedish homes. Many Swedes place a small straw goat underneath their Christmas trees, or hang miniature versions on the branches.
OK... Let's start with GOAT COMMITTEE SPOKESWOMAN. Whose beard do I have to comb to get that job? (Answer? This guy's.) But more importantly, how crime free does Sweden have to be for this to be considered a violent crime? They know it's not a real goat, right? Frankly, if this is how the local Swedish murderers and baby-snatchers want to channel their rage, BY ALL MEANS LET THEM. Take it from an American, if this is the worst that happens to your nation this holiday season, you should rejoice.
How about we look at the bright side, Sweden: Your country is pretty awesome. Not only do you celebrate Christmas with easily my favorite barn animal, the mighty goat, but you also are home to both my favorite do-it-yourself furniture wonderland and band.
So they might try to burn down your unexplainably strange gigantic Christmas straw goat, Sweden, but they will never burn down your contemporary clean-lined spirit.
A happy belated birthday to the most talented singing sensation ever to take the stage! American Idol's true winner turned 18 yesterday, which means David's of legal age to marry. So if you'll excuse us, we need to step out and buy something in a little blue box. But is he the brilliant- or princess-cut type? Oh, who are we kidding — he's BOTH. [Confessions of an 'Idol' Addict]
Read more posts by Jessica Coen
Filed Under: american idol, consummations, david archuleta, special days
Is it the time of year or something? Seems like everyone is acting suspiciously calm and functional, as though every remotely famous person suddenly decided, "This Christmas, I think I'll relax on being a piñata for the world." They're leaving me hanging here, blindfolded, wielding a stick, wearing this awesome party hat. So here's a memo, celebrities: let a little candy out...in the form of a shart on camera. Somebody's gotta step up (down?) and shart publicly for our amusement, for the love of MimiCoco. Just a little gas followed by some mass.
You celebrities can take the shart to whatever extremes you please; whether it sounds like letting the air out of an untied balloon, a cat purring, or the off-Broadway musical Stomp. You can't lose: sharting is the new vadge-flashing, the new Jizz In My Pants (yep, it's over already) the new Jennifer Aniston-ing -- but with a higher level of excellence and elegance. Those of you with your own lingerie lines, I urge you to rise to the occasion and seize your chance to shine.
But wait, my plea for on-camera shartage need not extend only to the rich and famous. Dear readers, this is your chance to be famous too! Leapfrog over a celebrity mid-photo opp and shart it out loud, and I will personally Photoshop orange cleavage onto you to ensure your newsworthiness. In Say Anything, shartmaster John Cusack says, "I am looking for a 'dare to be great' situation." This is it.
When you think of the goodies that might await you inside your stocking on Christmas morning, you imagine any number of things: candy, lottery tickets, Santa pencils, chapstick, or whatever other knick knacks your mom found lying around at 3 a.m. on Christmas Eve. You don't imagine morbid survival tools. Well, that's exactly what my sister's friend got in her stocking this year: The Life Hammer, otherwise known as the only thing that will save you from a horrifying death should you ever happen to drive your car off a bridge into a body of water. (Apparently, somebody really got into Michelle's list of retardedly genius gift ideas, which included this uplifting, inspirational item!)
From Michelle's description, I knew this tool was special, but now that I know someone who actually received it, I have had the great pleasure of reading the detailed instructional sheet that comes with it. And I can attest that The Life Hammer is AMAZING. I have transcribed the exact wording for you (and I even found a commercial for this thing), but first, let me set the scene. You've just accidentally driven off the side of the road into a lake. As the car is sinking, you remember that you have The Life Hammer, which you shoved into your glove compartment after leaving your mom's house on Christmas. Once you get it out, you realize that this thing is by NO means self-explanatory, and is harder to open than a rusty swiss army knife. So you get the Life Hammer manual out, and start to read frantically:
HOW TO ESCAPE:
1. Stay calm, don't panic!
2. POP your seatbelt button to release it. If it's jammed, cut it diagonally from the top to bottom with the help of the Life Hammer's blade.
3. OPEN. If your door won't open, lower the window quickly. If it's stuck, grab your Life Hammer.
4. Place one hand protectively in front of your eyes, and swing Life Hammer hard against the bottom corner of the window. It will shatter after one or two blows.
5. GO with precaution, get out fast!
Okay okay okay okay. First things first: basically, these instructions tell me that I, in fact, probably won't even NEED the Life Hammer - because I should theoretically be able to unbuckle myself and roll down the window before I drown. I love how the instructions basically slow you the f*ck down by having you try a million OTHER things before resorting to actually using the item that is in your hand. I mean, shouldn't you kind of be panicking and allowing the adrenaline that is pumping through your veins to do its damn job (to allow you to act without thinking too hard about it)? Oh, and be careful: the Life Hammer will very likely send hundreds of tiny shards of glass directly into your eyes!
Also in the manual: "Never put Life Hammer in the trunk or glove compartment." Oops, that's what everybody did!
As promised, here is the commercial, which is one step away from that SNL life insurance commercial for old people (the one where they convinced the old people that robots will kill them?):
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