Reuters - Anti-war film "Waltz with Bashir" may win Israel's first Academy Award on Sunday, bucking Oscar history in a foreign language film category that in the past has shunned animation and documentaries. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:15 pm
Reuters - A new novel tells the story of Khalid, a British teenager of Asian descent who travels to Pakistan for a family funeral only to end up in Guantanamo Bay, falsely accused of having links to Al Qaeda. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:12 pm
Reuters - A new novel tells the story of Khalid, a British teenager of Asian descent who travels to Pakistan for a family funeral only to end up in Guantanamo Bay, falsely accused of having links to Al Qaeda. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:12 pm
AP - A group backed by China is asking a Paris judge to suspend the sale of looted bronze relics included in an auction of the estate of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 20 Feb 2009 | 2:03 pm
Spider Pause: Rehearsals for Julie Taymor’s Spider-Man musical have been pushed back from this spring to the fall, with an opening now slated for the Hilton Theatre in early 2010. Apparently the push back has nothing to do with any newfound budget consciousness — the play’s currently at a cost of $31 million, the most expensive Broadway show ever &— but has “still-unresolved creative decisions.” Which is why we’re going to call this schedule shuffle the “holy shit, we just realized we’re making a musical out of Spider-Man” delay. [Bloomberg via Playbill]
Dennehy Does O'Neill Again: In less insane Broadway news, the Chicago production of Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms — starring Brian Dennehy, Carla Gugino, and Pablo “Nicky Sobotka” Schreiber — is coming to the St. James Theatre in April. Dennehy plays Ephraim Cabot, whose new wife (Gugino) has an affair with his son (Schreiber). Although knowing the work of these fine thespians, we wouldn’t be surprised if they were rotating the roles by the end of previews. [Variety]
Morgan Gets Animated:Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays the Comedian in Watchmen, is set to star in another comic-book adaptation, DC-Vertigo's The Losers. The plot revolves around a team of black-ops commandos who seek vengeance after barely escaping a death trap set by their own government. The movie will be directed by Sylvain White of Stomp the Yard— so is it too much to ask for a spinning-on-heads-centric, dance-off, commando-evil-government showdown? [Variety]
Girls on TV: Casting-of-female-leads-in-pilots news! Jenna Elfman will star in CBS’ Accidentally on Purpose, about a San Francisco film critic who gets pregnant as a result of a fling with a younger man, while Amy Smart is set for ABC’s See Cate Run, about a young lawyer who will one day be a top contender for president. In related news, Varsity Blues was on TBS again last night — does Smart really ever have to work again? [HR]
Spy Games:Stephen Gaghan will adapt Jon Stock’s espionage novel Dead Spy Running for Warner Bros., with McG attached to direct. No highfalutin metaphor in that title — apparently the book is called that because it starts off during the London Marathon, where some dude is running while strapped with explosives. Promising! Also, apparently Gaghan doesn’t get to direct anymore after Syriana, probably because studios like movies that make sense. [HR]
Combs to Croon?: Uh-oh: Sean "Diddy" Combs has a new album — called Last Train to Paris, a self-proclaimed combination of electronic, hip-hop, soul, and funk — coming out in September. Diddy says: “I'm ushering in a new movement called 'train music.' I am going to show the world a new refreshing side of me. [The album] is deeper than any other stuff I have ever made. It's a profound love story.” Yeah, we’re pretty sure that means he'll be singing. Damn you, Kanye! [Billboard]
AP - London Fashion Week got off to a gala start Friday morning, with champagne corks popping despite warnings that events would be toned down to reflect economic realities.
Reuters - The New York Post apologized on Thursday to those offended by an editorial cartoon that critics said was racist because it likened President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee.
AFP - British authorities granted dying reality television star Jade Goody her wedding wish Friday, allowing her husband-to-be to spend the night with her after they marry this weekend.
Reuters - Jade Goody, a young British woman who won fame on a reality television show, is playing out her final days in the glare of a celebrity-obsessed nation before she dies of cancer.
PRETORIA (Reuters) - There's an irony behind complaints that Oscar contender "Slumdog Millionaire" recycles cliches about impoverished India: it's based on a book by not only an Indian, but Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:30 pm
Author Presents Irreverent, Funny Commentary on Evolutionists' Top Ideas JONESBOROUGH, Tenn., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new book for anyone scratching... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:20 pm
A brash British reality show star whose ups and downs captivated the nation is approaching her death the same way she has lived _ on television. Dying of cervical cancer that has spread... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:10 pm
AP - Spanish tenor Placido Domingo on Friday won the first $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize for his "unrivaled" contributions to the world of opera, the award foundation said.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A unique hybrid of documentary and informative travel excursion, Kimchikhan aims to reveal the healthiest and tastiest cooking secrets in the Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 1:02 pm
The idea that Heath Ledger won't win in the best supporting actor category for "The Dark Knight" is so unthinkable, Tom Charity can only imagine mass walk-outs at the ceremony and riots breaking out across the country if it doesn't come to pass. See what other predictions he has.
HARROGATE, England, February 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Europe's largest bridalwear exhibition, BBEH, opens its doors on Sunday 8 March. Spread over four halls of the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:52 pm
'These days, everyone's kind of admitting to being a comic nerd,' frontman Gerard Way says.By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way Photo: MTV News Last... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:50 pm
Reuters - Sticking to what you do well is the best way to make it through a recession, say two British designers who have steered their businesses through previous economic storms and survived.
Spanish tenor Placido Domingo on Friday won the first $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize for his "unrivaled" contributions to the world of opera, the award foundation said. The late Swedish Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:33 pm
London Fashion Week got off to a gala start Friday morning, with champagne corks popping despite warnings that events would be toned down to reflect economic realities. The first bottles Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 12:30 pm
It was at Cecconi's last night that Madonna arrived with Jesus and a rabbi. Well, it was Jesus, her Brazilian boytoy, Michael Berg, her Kabbalah Center business partner.
AP - A dozen members of Heath Ledger's family have come to Hollywood, and though it's still not known whether any of them will accept an Oscar on his behalf, they're already celebrating the late actor's legacy.
AP - Leonard Cohen played his first U.S. concert in 15 years, returning with a two-set, six-encore, three-hour long performance that the singer called "a memorable evening."
Forget the guild awards. Forget the favorites. We're rounding up the theories—and starting some new ones—that say everything you think about Sunday's 81st Academy Awards is...
E! Online - Whew! Even we were tired after watching Jalapao and Timbira battle it out for immunity and fishing gear in a game of river basketball, which resembled the mud-wrestling scene in Stripes more than anything else, Thursday on Survivor: Tocantins.
Whew! Even we were tired after watching Jalapao and Timbira battle it out for immunity and fishing gear in a game of river basketball, which resembled the mud-wrestling scene in Stripes more than...
AFP - Designers at London Fashion Week, which starts Friday, have reacted to the credit crunch by toning down extravagant collections and opting for intimate showings rather than catwalk spectaculars.
You just know she uploaded those shots straight to her Facebook.
When Tori Spelling arrived at Christian Siriano on Thursday night, three things jumped out at us. First, her deep-teal Siriano cocktail dress was extremely pretty and flattering to her bustline — as well it should have been, as we believe he made it for her specifically and most recently fitted it to her that afternoon. Second, the erstwhile Donna Martin was wearing way too much makeup. At her age, shouldn't she have graduated to a more natural look? And finally, girlfriend is THIN. We think she's even less substantial than when she last played Donna and spent about four years in belly shirts. We were seated right next to a whole clutch of Christian's Project Runway castmates, and Kevin Christiana was sufficiently moved to lean over to us — people whom he doesn't even know — and remark that she is way too skinny. (He also told us that as soon as everyone in his season of Runway got a load of Christian's work, they knew they were screwed. That's got to be demoralizing when you're stuck in a continuous loop of not sleeping and having only eight hours to make dresses out of, like, flaxseed and Jacuzzi jets.)
Tori appeared agitated from the get-go, arriving through the normal entrance and tottering fretfully up and down the runway, guided by staffers and her own people. She wouldn't stop walking to sit down, which seemed curious, especially considering how almost seasick she looked while on her feet. We learned later from a girl who'd been trying to get an interview — and was roundly thwarted by Tori's bodyguard — that Tori was stressing out about her seat; apparently she had either brought a few pals that needed accommodating, or she didn't see/didn't want the empty berth next to Runway's (and Marie Claire's) Nina Garcia (who did seem to be wearing the skinny pants Christian talked about sending to her in his blog for Time.com). We're not sure in what universe one would prefer to sit next to Aubrey O'Day than to Nina, but maybe Tori lives in some sort of Bizarro America in which we all sneeze into twenty-dollar bills, the new 90210 is brilliant, and Danity Kane is the new Beatles. Staffers eventually solved the problem by bumping Ugly Betty's Mark Indelicato over to Garcia's left and putting Tori in his old place — but not before she burned a doughnut's worth of calories pacing the catwalk in worry. Calories she needs. Still, it worked out in the end: Tori got her photo op near the other famous ladies present, and Mark got to visit with Nina, who appeared delighted to see both him and his fuchsia cardigan (they must've bonded when she guested on his show). Everybody wins. Well, except us; had she taken her original seat, Tori would've been right in front of us, essentially, and we could've whispered sweet nothings like "Donna Martin GRADUATES!" in her ear. Boo.
Meanwhile, Katrina Bowden posed for fan photos looking similarly wee but exponentially adorable in a short version of the fabulous gray-and-chartreuse gown Christian made for Heidi Klum to wear on September's Emmy telecast. We maybe even liked her cocktail-length iteration of the gown better, but don't tell Heidi. We couldn't have even if we wanted to — Nina was the only Project Runway judge to show. Even Tim Gunn was AWOL. We're concerned. Is it possible that this, of all nights, was the one on which he failed to make it work? Is the wormhole collapsing in on us all? Maybe Tim just knew that Aubrey was going to show, with her tragic dog parked pitifully and pinkly in her lap, and decided his delicate constitution understandably couldn't handle it. Rounding out the familiar faces: America's Next Top Model's Miss J., and, representing for Bravo, Real Housewives of New York's LuAnn de Lesseps, whom we spied giving several dutiful press interviews that we assume were about which of her fellow cast members she most wants to shove off the Brooklyn Bridge. It explains why she talked so long: The list must be sizable.
Front Page: Majors make guild final offer -- Confounding expectations that SAG was nearing a deal, the majors and the Screen Actors Guild broke off three days of talks late Thursday with the congloms issuing a take-it-or-leave-it "last, best and final" offer.
Just to wind down the week on a trippy note, artist Jeremy Kost catches Alexandre Herchcovitch's muse telling the camera how she feels about herself ... in Portuguese.
The tears! The joy! The laughter!
When Fox President Mike Darnell promised reporters in December that the new season of American Idol would be more "raw," "intimate" and...
Musician M.I.A. performs at MoMA's 40th Annual Party in the Garden, in June 2008, at Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She's the songbird of the hit movie "Slumdog Millionaire" but in her native Sri... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 20 Feb 2009 | 3:21 am
Robert Pattinson has landed!
Our favorite Brit boy is here in Hollywood. As you must know by now, the Twilight star is going to be presenting at the Academy Awards on Sunday. (Nope, his...
From whence sprang Octomom...
The father of octuplet spawner Nadya Suleman questioned his own daughter's sanity and agreed that she needs major help—financially, at...
It's time for your daily dose o' male models! In this edition, artist Jeremy Kost captures the mannequins backstage before Victorianox, where they're prepping for the show like any model would: earnestly beatboxing. Biz Markie, watch out.
Late this afternoon, a mysterious e-mail appeared in our in-boxes from something calling itself WWWWD. Not knowing what in the world that might be, we naively opened the attachment and were greeted with Worldwide Womenswear Digest, a lovely spoof of WWD. In short: It's the Onion of the fashion world. While spoofs are generally massive failures or huge successes, WWWWD is top-notch. And we have absolutely no clue who's behind it. But we simply must share. Some headlines, and a download link after the jump:
• THE PARENT TRAP: Bee Shaffer shocked to learn most parents don’t have yearly hug limits
• Diane von Furstenberg Debuts Controversial Spinach Wrap Dress
• THIS JUST IN: ALEXANDER McQUEEN/Björk COLLABORATION FOR H&M SUSPECTED IN DUTCH SALMONELLA OUTBREAK
• YOUNG DESIGNER BECOMES STAR AFTER DRESSING THIRD-WORLD DICTATOR’S WIFE
• Equinox presents “Dumbells and Tiaras,” an art installation celebrating lunges, hosted by Sir Elton John at Equinox 92nd Street, NYC, February 18, 2009
• Disoriented Palestinian Refugee Walks Chanel by Mistake, Becomes Official Karl Lagerfeld Muse
Download the whole paper here and read all the articles! You need something to get you through the final day of Fashion Week.
Dancing with the Stars returns in just three short weeks for another round of celebrity salsa, cha-cha and disco-dancing, and you're not ready for the big premiere until you've seen these...
It's official. The Hayden and Milo rumors are out of control.
After multiple outlets reported the Heroes couple broke up because of their age difference (she's 19 and he's...
The Look Book met Irish musician Róisín Murphy near the tents this week, taking a break from wearing Givenchy. Though she describes her style as “sexy preppy,” her look is her own. “I never have a big concept, because I dress myself.” Watch the video to see what she makes out of Diesel, Alexander Wang, and Fendi.
I see on the Internet that Heath Ledger's Oscar would go to his kid, Matilda, but not until she turns 18. Why does she has to wait until she's 18?
—Gunnar, Kissimmee,...
From left, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Badgley Mischka, and Derek Lam.
Only one more day to go and the critics persevere: They're divided over Marc by Marc Jacobs, praise Badgley Mischka's drama without the bling, and find Derek Lam's collection safe but underwhelming.
Brian Reyes collaborated with Manolo Blahnik on shoes for his show today, but the models could barely walk in them. Many took their shoes off mid-walk. It was so bad, in fact, that the finale was done barefoot. We like this idea. For spring 2010 someone should throw sand on the runway as part of some sort of beach theme (ahem, Thom Browne). [Fashionologie]
TRAGEDY 2: British reality star Jade Goody has terminal cancer, and she might make the decision to die on camera. (NY Times)
GIRTH CERTIFICATES: The birth certificates for all 8 of Octomom's babies have been revealed. Amazingly, if you stack them up and flip them, you'll see the first 15 minutes of The Changeling. (OMG!)
PAMELTOE: Pam Anderson strutted her stuff as well as 27 pounds of artificial polystyrene filler down the catwalk at the Richie Rich fashion show this week. And by the looks of it, saggy pubic skin will be all the rage this summer! (Scandalist)
PREMIERE: Jimmy Fallon's first guest on his new late night show will be Robert DeNiro. And if you want to take the risk of asking me whether or not I'm excited... the answer is pretty simple: "Little bit." (Yahoo)
FULL CIRCLE ALERT: Lily Allen got the same "Ssh" tattoo on her finger that Rihanna has. Let's just hope she doesn't start dating some dude name Bris Crown. (Which is actually illegal in certain parts of Jerusalem.) (The Daily Mail)
Verizon Communications headquarters in New York City. Next New Networks and Verizon on Thursday launched a website where little-known bands and film makers can unite to create "music video masterpieces"... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 19 Feb 2009 | 11:56 pm
Front Page: California provides new film incentives -- After years of watching production lured away by government incentives, California's gotten into the game by approving a five-year $500 million tax credit program.
Similar to our stance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Vulture is steadfast in its commitment not to slag Joseph "McG" McGinty's upcoming foray into the high-stakes world of fanboy spankbait, Terminator: Salvation, until we see the film for ourselves. In fact, we found the fifteen or so minutes of unfinished footage we saw last month entertaining enough to make us forget Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ever happened.* However, while we don't have the same sort of zealous interest in the film that the disciples of Harry Knowles do, McG has been bending over backwards to make sure that the "Terminator faithful" (whatever that means) get their money's worth. So much so that MTV News is reporting that negotiations are currently underway with Linda Hamilton for her to play an important part in the film.
Hold on, before you get your panties all in a bunch, Hamilton's contribution wouldn't actually involve her either starring or making a cameo in the film. Rather, if all the t's get crossed and i's get dotted, she'll be contributing some sort of voice-over to the film:
“We are talking,” [Linda] Hamilton told us during a wide-ranging conversation for her Movie Badass selection. “I haven’t read it yet. I don’t know what direction they will go in.”
While she awaits the specifics in a script, Hamilton already knows what her role generally would be. “My contribution would be voice-over,” she said. “I would probably be very happy to loan my voice depending on what the material is. Wait and see. They’re already writing it. We’ve been negotiating it.”
If this plays out, everyone's a winner. Fanboys will get their Sarah Connor, McG will earn himself some goodwill, and Linda Hamilton will get to be in one of this summer's biggest blockbusters without ever having to endure the wrath of Christian Bale.
*In all honesty, though, we had already forgotten about T3 long before seeing this footage. We remember Claire Danes, the BabeBot and that's about it.
• The Times has, as suspected, suspended its quarterly dividend. This is bad news not just for the Sulzbergers, who will now have to live on the scraps of their previous wealth, but for all of us. [NYT]
• Playboy Enterprises reportedly lost $156.1 million last year, and CEO Jerome Kern said they’re “open to discussions” about selling the magazine. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• Women’s Health’s executive editor, Alison Gwinn, has left the magazine for the same position at O. Oh. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
If you cried sacrilege when you found out that Watchmen director, Zack Snyder, had altered the ending of Alan Moore's graphic novel, just wait until you hear what else he's changed. The film screened for press in Los Angeles last night, and a source tells Defamer that the faraway glimpse of pantsless superhero Doctor Manhattan's blue wiener in an early preview has indeed made the final cut. In fact, the movie contains several shots of said wang — not that fans of the original comic would ever recognize it.
Says Defamer's tipster:
There is indeed shitloads of blue wang. And it's huge. In the comic book, it's very average, and uncut, but the film is completely the opposite. Massive and circumcised. Given that it's digital, was it [Billy] Crudup or his agent that insisted on the impressive cut cock?
In the graphic novel, Doctor Manhattan's peen is modest and understated (do a Google Image Search), symbolizing the character's impotence in the face of human evil. Adding inches to its length or circumference undermines everything Alan Moore was trying to say about politics, society, and the human condition. At this point, the best we can hope for is that Snyder was more faithful with respect to testicle size.
AP - The tough girl who has been the muse for designers at New York Fashion Week has one rival who can't be tamed with mere leather, metallic hardware and shoulder pads: Mother Nature. For that, she needs a killer coat, which designers are happy to provide.
This is a recap of Top Chef Season 5, Episode 13 entitled "If This Is The Finale, How Come I Barely Give A Sh*t? Part I", originally airing February 18, 2008. If you didn't see the episode yet, meh, no biggie. Read on.-- Wow, how'd they get EMERIL LAGASSE to do a television appearance? That dude's so reclusive, he's like the J.D. Salinger of chefs! How'd they even track him down??
-- The only funny part of the Quickfire was the shot of Emeril lording over the competition from the house balcony, as though he was gonna snipe the losing chef and yell "Bam!" as the bullet connected. On a related note, he made it through the entire episode without saying "Bam" or "another notch." It was like watching a recovering coke addict happily sipping water in a nightclub.
-- Fabio wasn't in peak form last night, but he still had the best line of the episode by far:
"My car is-a piece of............................................pooooooooooooop........."-- Runner-up for best line of the night: Stefan, who I believe (and I rewound it on DVR twice, cause I just assumed I was wrong, but I kept believing I heard it), made the intense declaration "This is not a butt-rubbing contest."
-- Onto the Elimination Challenge... Each judge drank five cocktails? Carla's was non-alcoholic, but I was still hoping that by the end a slightly slurry Emeril would be talking about how Padma should "take off more than just her mask, heh hehh hehhh..." As always, I'm going to assumed that this happened verbatim and Bravo cut it out.
-- Real smooth, Hosea, making a 'hurricane' in New Orleans and repeatedly asking people if they want to try one. Even worse, then he kept going up to people in wheelchairs going "Yo, you want some crab legs? Seriously, you need some legs, they're AWESOME."
After the jump, a tearful farewell...-- Carla's certainly gone from "good dessert-maker" to "couple lucky weeks" to "legitimately good chef," putting herself in a great position heading into the Final Three. Unless more chefs come back from the dead, of course. Now I'm hoping that's the twist next week -- Zombie Jeff and Zombie Fabio return, and the secret ingredient is BRAINS. Or as Zombie Fabio would say, "You-a could put-a dees brains over monkey ass annit still taste good!"
-- I didn't really understand Carla's quote, "That's what all the men say, 'one second, Honey,'" but if Fabio had said the exact same words I would've thought it was the funniest thing ever, so I won't judge.
-- Oh! One more Fabio quote (don't know why I'm treating this like I'm speaking off the cuff, I could easily just cut and paste this up with the other Fabio quotes earlier in the post, but I also loved "Everybody wearing masks - it-a kind of remind me of an old porno movie, those masks." What old porno movie would that be? Eyes Wide Shut? Mask-F***ers? The Mask with Jim Carrey?
-- That being said, of all weeks to eliminate the fan fave, they chose a week where he probably out-cooked Stefan. Stefan's now sucked it up a few weeks in a row and is clearly resting on his laurels, but he'll have to either turn a heartwarming attitude 180 next week or he'll just simply lose -- Tommy C isn't gonna let someone who isn't taking the game seriously win, no matter how halfassedly good his food is. Bravo is still clearly trying to set up a Stefan/Hosea baldy rivalry showdown in the Final even though Carla's crushed them the last two weeks.
-- Bravo tried to outdo Lost with the non-secret secrets - in the preview clips from the finale, Padma says "...and you're gonna have a little help!" and a quick shot of three shadowy figures who are NEVER REVEALED. OOOOOOOOOOH!!!!! Who could they be???? Probably not three previously eliminated contestants from this season, as in every Top Chef finale INCLUDING THE ONE LAST NIGHT, right? Guess we'll have to wait and see! I can't even SLEEP!!!!!
FINALE PREDICTION:
Though the momentum may have shifted towards Carla, I predict Stefan is humbled by his subpar showings from the last two weeks and actually becomes a sympathetic character, embracing his new role as a semi-underdog and thanking the judges and his co-competitors too emphatically en route to a victory. Hosea has no chance, especially once he keeps asking people if they want to try his Lower Ninth Ward Flood Cake.
Episode thoughts, favorite lines, Fabio mourning, and Finale predictions -- leave 'em in the comments! Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:50 pm
AP - A South Beach modeling agency whose young image-setters once starred in an MTV reality show has closed its doors, the victim of an ailing economy. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 19 Feb 2009 | 10:40 pm
The New York Theater Workshop is considering bringing over a ten-minute Caryl Churchill play, Seven Jewish Children — a Play for Gaza, currently dividing London critics for reducing Israeli attitudes to dogmatic one-liners. The Times has focused on the controversy that NYTW faced when it canceled the similarly themed My Name is Rachel Corrie, but we're merely concerned about having to sit through even ten minutes of the indecipherable agitprop that began with last season’s 45-minute Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? [NYT]
The NBA’s trade deadline was today at 3 p.m., and the Knicks made a couple of minor moves, acquiring Chris Wilcox from the Thunder and Larry Hughes from the Bulls. None of the players involved have contracts that extend beyond 2010 — meaning they won’t affect the Summer of LeBron — but the Hughes trade is of note because it spells the end of the Jerome James era in New York. You’d be forgiven for not being familiar with James’s body of work as a Knick, mostly because he’s played a grand total of four games in the past two seasons.
Isiah Thomas’s curious decision to sign James in 2005 to a five-year, $30 million contract stands out even among the litany of curious Isiah Thomas decisions. Unlike fellow benchwarmers Stephon Marbury (a star just past his prime when he became a Knick) or Eddy Curry (a promising young player who never panned out), James was never terribly good, landing his contract pretty much solely as a result of a strong, out-of-nowhere performance in a playoff series while with the Sonics the previous season. So despite never averaging more than six points per game — and once being so down on his luck that he briefly played for the Harlem Globetrotters — Isiah snatched him up.
James, of course, has since become something of a running joke, a mainstay on the bench thanks to an impressive mix of injuries and the realization by current coach Mike D’Antoni that he wasn’t any good. (The Knicks tried, unsuccessfully, to convince him to retire last summer.) Yet James remained well liked by teammates thanks to a jolly demeanor, probably maintained because even he knew that he was essentially stealing Jim Dolan’s money. (His popularity is explained in this perfectly titled Times article, “Jerome James Has a Seat Reserved on the Knicks’ Bench.”) So good luck to you, Jerome. We hope the bench in Chicago is as warm as the one at the Garden.
Front Page: Lionsgate looking to end recent slump -- Lionsgate’s “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” is expected to lock up the top spot at the weekend box office as Perry’s most enduring character returns to a title role for the first time since 2006.
Front Page: 7.6 million viewers tune in for TNT's coverage -- TNT coverage of the 2009 NBA All-Star Game Sunday scored more than 7.6 million viewers, a 20% uptick over last year, highlighting a season during which the pro hoops league is putting up big numbers for all of its broadcast partners.
Now that Chinese Democracy has finally been released out into the wild, the pressure that Axl Rose once bore is firmly on the broad shoulders of Dr. Dre. His long-gestating Detox record has gone through fits and spurts of production dating back to 2004, but it's reportedly on track for a release sometime in the first half of this year. The demand for the record is so high that the first single, "Topless," leaked on DJ Envy's show on Hot 97 before Dre could even add his vocals to the song. Consequently, it sounds exactly as you might expect: unfinished. [MTV.com]
Here's a sample of the loveliness that comes from Iseman's lawyers. Practically poetry, no?
Words have an extraordinary power to wreak havoc on the life of a human being. Shakespeare, writing in Othello that "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls" marked his essential link between our reputation and our humanity. United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, writing centuries later, asserted this same fundamental truth when he wrote that the individual's right to protection of his or her good name "reflects no more than our basic concept of the essential dignity and worth of every human beign — a concept at the root of any decent system of ordered liberty." In a manner perhaps unique in the history of nations, we as Americans have embraced cherished First Ammendement principles to strike a delicate balance between the need to protect freedom of speech and the need to protect individual worth, dignity and humanity.
It gets worse from there. The Times is a little less high-minded, but no less spiteful, in its response to their response:
The commentary by Mssrs. Smolla and Allen gives readers a general sense of the case they would have attempted to make if their lawsuit had proceeded. But the first point to make is, the case did not proceed. It was settled without money changing hands, and without The Times backing away from the story. In the joint statement we are releasing today and in a "Note to Readers," we reiterate what we have said since the story was published: that article did not allege an affair or unethical behavior on Ms. Iseman's part. We stand by our coverage, and we are proud of it.
Yeah, and in case that wasn't enough, in the joint statement, we get this:
The Times and Ms. Iseman recognize that the article's publication generated a significant public debate concerning the privacy of people swept up in public matters. To further that debate, the Times has published a commentary, writted by W. Coleman Allen, Jr. of Allen, Allen, Allen and Allen, and Rodney A. Smolla, Ms. Iseman's counsel in the lawsuit, and available at www.nytimes.com, which further explores these issues.
If there is any one nugget of prose that encapsulates for us the mind-numbing stubbornness and pedantry of this entire process, it's the phrase "Allen, Allen, Allen and Allen."
Following a four-week ratings drop, last night's Lost posted better numbers than any episode since last April, meaning it will likely survive at least long enough to be killed off for good once American Idol's weekly results show moves into the same time slot on March 11. [HR]
Front Page: Gott gets gig as publisher -- Brian Gott has been tapped publisher of Variety in a restructuring of senior management that sees four other execs being promoted.
Front Page: O'Neill revival to play St. James in April -- The Goodman Theater revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms" has booked its much-discussed Rialto run, with the Chicago production transferring to the St. James Theater in April.
NBC has reported that suspected fraudster R. Allen Stanford has been found in Virginia by the FBI, but apparently despite the fact he has been charged with a "massive" fraud, he was only served with papers and is not in custody. What? More after the commercial break, we guess. Thanks, NBC. Stanford Found by U.S. Authorities in Virginia (Update1) [Bloomberg]
UPDATE: As a commenter pointed out, Stanford wasn't arrested because the case against him is civil, not criminal, which...whatever still seems weird. According to an FBI statement, he was found in "the Fredericksburg area." And according to a Bloomberg source, he was with "a girlfriend." Which caused us to picture the following scene...
Police cars, surrounding a Fredricksburg McMansion. Inside, a trio of FBI officers, guns drawn, wearing bullet proof vests, beckon each other toward the closed door of a bedroom, from which comes the sounds of muffled laughter. The rookies crouch by the door and nod at one another. Then, on the count of three, Rookie One kicks open the door. The camera flashes inside: We see a canopy bed with flouncy white linens in the background, on which reclines a woman with large, Dolly Parton in 9 to 5hair. And in the foreground: Cowboy boots, attached to on hairy, sunburnt legs. In the background the woman sits up and gasps, clutching the sheets to her heaving chest. In the foreground the camera pans up the legs slowly, slowly, then suddenly cuts back to Rookie One, who is covering his eyes. The camera flashes back to Stanford, who is wearing a ten-gallon hat, the boots, and, apparently nothing else. We get a close up on his face. He is chomping a cigar. "Well, Howdy, Partner," he says.
"I was 268 pounds — I've been there," Sweatin' to the Oldies star Richard Simmons said, speaking about the pressing national issue that is Jessica Simpson's relative fatness on Entertainment Tonight last night. To be sure, Simpson is probably not actually so fat as that, but whatever, said Richard, she basically looks like a whale, and thus his heart goes out to her, and he's helping her the best way he knows how: with prayer. "I pray for all those celebrities who are having a really tough time," he said. Good thing. Only God can save her now. [Us]
The first of four title tracks off the Decemberists' forthcoming The Hazards of Love may not feature the thundering, seventies-style metal that you'll hear on other parts of the album when it comes out in about a month, but it does showcase the band's velvety folk tendencies and Colin Meloy’s ominous, puppet-show-narrator voice. It also helps establish the disc's loose narrative, which concerns a lady named Margaret, her dude William, a "rake," and a forest queen. So start thinking that through — you'll need the head start.
[Ed: One of the rare (okay, not so rare) bonuses of having a bunch of fetching local students as your interns is that we have immediate access to the "kids these days." So when we heard about the ruckus going on at NYU today, we dispatched our Mike Vilensky to the scene.]
While tabloid reporters were stuck milling about outside the Kimmel Center today trying to get a peek at the student protest inside, certain NYU-affiliated reporters were able to flash their NYU I.D.s and slip upstairs. How often does that ever happen?
Inside the student center, spirits were high. As in, party high. The event even began with a dance party (featuring tunes by MSTRKFRT and Cypress Hill — "Insane in the Membrane," predictably, was a hit). Student Emily Stainkamp explained that the dance party was "kind of a diversion, kind of a galvanizing force." Other highlights from the wild rumpus include:
• A Gallatin junior going topless: For, you know, the good of the cause. (One NYU security guard remarked: "If people are looking at her, it could be sexual harassment.") UPDATE: It's catching on. two more girls, sporting signs that read: “Show your tits for TBNYU!” hung around for half an hour as TV news crews filmed their backs during interviews.
• A counterprotest, by protesters: Across the barricades, some scruffy guys held up "You Suck!" signs and threw the "Take Back NYU!" flyers back at students. The counterprotesters were members of Food Not Bombs, apparently.
• Downsized lunch service: Food was still served to protesters on the floor below the main protest. Can't have those kids go hungry! There are still a few dozen kids on the third floor of the Kimmel Center, with the rest of the protest having been moved outside.
• A surprising lack of stress on the part of the students: We asked Ellie Kahn, a Gallatin student, if she was worried she might be expelled for the cause. "I don't think it's going to come to that," she told us. "If they want to do that, that's not exactly a selling point for NYU. 'We expel people who try to express themselves'? I don't think so."
• An unsurprising lack of stress on the part of the school: "We're getting a messenger telling us that all the answers are 'No,' and not actual engagement," complained Kahn. "We're not getting any recognition. We want to negotiate the demands face-to-face!"
• Ooh, signage:
All of the students we spoke to — some of whom had graduated years ago, plus a couple of SUNY students and New School students — claimed they would stay "until the demands are met." "This is a sleepover for student empowerment," a pamphlet explained. "[It's a] party for participation in the University."
Dev Patel and Freida Pinto dropped by the set of Tyra today, and speaking as an American who watches daytime tv as part of my job and still usually can't make sense of Tyra, I can't begin to imagine what was going through the heads of those lovable kids...
Also, you may have had Barack Obama on your show multiple times, Ms. Banks, but BWE beat you to the punch on this one. Advantage: BWE.
(via Just Jared) Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:21 pm
It took nearly 20 years, but looks like New Kids On The Block has finally "made it", as they've received their portraits on the wall of The Palms restaurant in NYC today.
Above, we see member Danny Wood about to write something next to his pastelled visage. Which leads us to ask: WWDWS? Leave your guesses in the comments.
Related: 10 Signs NKOTB’s Jonathan Knight Was Gay 10 NKOTB Pictures You Should Never Forget Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 9:15 pm
AP - A large ghostly white bookcase, where memories are stored in book upon book upon book, dominates the stage of Broadway's Booth Theatre. On one side stands a white lectern.
Twenty-four-year-old Jena Malone has quietly built a reputation as a talented young actress while successfully avoiding the unwanted attention that usually comes with it. "I could have had a different path, but for some reason, I'm a dork. I never wanted that," says Malone, who has appeared in films like Stepmom, Donnie Darko, Cold Mountain, and Saved!, and onstage as Sister James in the Broadway version of Doubt. Now the Lake Tahoe resident is back in New York, starring with Lili Taylor in Eugene O’Neill’s four-and-a-half hour play cycle Mourning Becomes Electra, which opens tonight from the New Group. Vulture caught up with Malone on her day off last Sunday to see how she was holding up.
You performed for almost nine hours yesterday! Are you exhausted?
I’m totally exhausted. I think I threw my shoulder out last night, in, like, one of the many different fight scenes. It’s been sore for a bit, but I woke up this morning and was like, “Oh, shit.” At the end of Saturday night, I feel totally crazy, like someone could put me in a mental institution, but I also feel totally alive. And then I wake up on Sunday and I’m like, “Holy shit, my entire body hurts.”
As an audience member, I was a little worried about the long running time.
There are people that leave every night after the second play because it’s like ten o’clock and they’re like, “Okay, I’m done.” We just try to not take it personally.
What’s it like doing such intense scenes with so many screaming matches?
It’s hard to sustain yourself. I do a lot of warm-ups, I eat really healthy, I have to keep a certain amount of focus and let the tension go, because tension can build when you’re dealing with so much anger and aggression. In that space, it’s so small, you don’t need to be over-the-top loud. And I have amazing actors that are throwing things at me every night.
Are you able to separate yourself and kind of calm down during the times that you’re offstage?
Sometimes I can, yeah. I get offstage, and I’m like, “Screw this audience,” or, “Make me a sandwich.” But sometimes I’m like a fuckin’ mess and I just have to crawl into my little dressing cubbyhole and not really talk to anyone. That’s what so magical about the theater. You never know what’s going to happen. You really don’t.
Do you relate to Lavinia, your character?
I identify with her in the sense of wanting to keep her family together, wanting her mom and her father to get along, and wanting her brother to come home and everything to be good. I identify with her obsession with love; she’s been betrayed, but yet she keeps trying. So there’s a lot, but I mean, I’ve definitely never murdered anyone.
It’s pretty well-known that you were legally emancipated from your mom when you were just a teenager. Are you playing off that mother-daughter relationship and drawing on things in your own life?
I feel like every mother-daughter relationship is kind of universal in the sense that there’s a time of trust, there’s a time of betrayal, and there’s a time of reevalution. And then there’s a time of seeing eye-to-eye, which is the best time really. Me and my mom are so great now. We had our little spat when I was a teenager, but she’s one of the bravest people I know. So, yeah, I can’t help but pull from my own life in that way, but I’ve never hated my mother. I’ve definitely been disappointed with her, but disappointment only comes from when you love someone, right?
Front Page: 'Watchmen' actor to star in comic adaptation -- "Watchmen" star Jeffrey Dean Morgan is in negotiations to topline "The Losers" for Warner Bros. with Sylvain White directing.
Designer Stephen Shadley knows the entertainment industry. He grew up in Southern California, worked as a scenic artist and toured with Disney. He's also designed homes for stars such as Diane Keaton, Woody Allen and Jennifer Aniston.
This video of Rick Santelli freaking out on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has been making the rounds of the Internet since it aired on CNBC this morning, fomenting revolution among Capitalist Choads in its wake. Santelli is pissed off about the Obama administration's bailout measures so far, in particular the housing plan the administration announced yesterday, and he wants America to stand up and revolt before we turn into some kind of not-even-tropical version of Cuba. "You know," he yells, as the traders cheer him on in the background, "Cuba used to have mansions and a relatively decent economy. They moved from the individual to the collective. Now they're driving '54 Chevys." He then vows revolution before being cut off by a nervous-looking Carl Quintanilla. It's pretty awesome.
Until today, we can't really remember the last time the Pet Shop Boys came up in casual conversation. Although they've maintained a relatively consistent radio presence overseas, their 1993 album Very (side note: remember how cool that jewel case was?) was the last time they made a dent on the Billboard charts here Stateside. That's not to say we ever deleted them from our hard drives, mind you, it's just that they're not in as heavy rotation on our iPods as they were on our Discmans (Discmen? Discuss.) back in the nineties. But guess what? They've got a new record coming out on March 23 and, consequently, were asked to perform at last night's BRIT Awards across the pond. And wouldn't you know it, the Boys still have it in spades. Not only did their nearly ten-minute-long greatest hits megamix feature cameo appearances from Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers, but Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe put on an effects-heavy performance that's likely to have you grinning ear to ear.
A judge has ordered prosecutors to release sealed documents about wiretaps in the Eliot Spitzer scandal to the New York Times, which requested them back in December. "There is obvious interest in obtaining information about the origins of an investigation that led, ultimately, to the resignation of the governor of New York,” U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said in ruling for the paper today. You bet there is! The Times, which agreed to retract the names of the clients mentioned in the papers (boo), doesn't get them just yet, though. The U.S. Attorney first gets the chance to appeal. [City Room/NYT]
Douglas, who has served as the director of David Paterson's Washington office, will serve as special assistant to the president for Urban Affairs. Carrion, who was a two-term Bronx borough president, will be director of the newly fashioned Department of Urban Affairs. This is great for Douglas, and something of a consolation prize for Carrion, who in December was publicly boasting he'd get a full Cabinet position. [City Room/NYT]
Front Page: Talks may be about contract termination date -- A new deal for the Screen Actors Guild remained out of reach Thursday night, with SAG and the congloms continuing talks into the evening for a third consecutive day.
We were shocked when Kate Winslet's inevitable Oscar nomination came for her role in The Reader rather than for her role in Revolutionary Road, beloved by our own David Edelstein. But what did her husband, Sam Mendes, who directed Road, think?
"No. I mean, honestly, all I care about is that she gets recognized for an extraordinary year," he told us at the opening night of The Winter's Tale for BAM's Bridge Project on Monday. "Would I care if she didn’t win? Yes. I really want her to win. But frankly, she could win for reading the phone book and I’d be happy. I’ll be the first one up, cheering. When it gets to this stage, you know, all you want is for her to come out with something at the end of a long road."
Winslet's open campaigning, including her very honest declaration that she wants to win so she doesn't have to make that face where you pretend you're not disappointed, came as news to Mendes. "Is that what she said?" he said, laughing. "I haven’t read it all. Yeah, she’s done that face a lot over time. I’ve sat with her most of the times she’s done it. She’s good it, but I think she wants a break from that this year. Give her a break from Losing Face, everybody." America, Academy members, you know what to do.
Fashion Wire Daily - Just because it's cold out, or you've seen much of your 401K disappear before your very eyes, doesn't mean you should forgo looking glamorous. At least in Michael Kors' universe, this is the prescription for Fall 2009, which he showed on Wednesday, Feb. 18 in the tents at Bryant Park.
The following is a recap of Lost Season 5 Episode 6 entitled "316", originally airing February 18, 2009. Wait, really? "3:16?" Even I get that Bible reference, and I've never even seen a Bible, or any books for that matter. Might as well go ahead and title the episode "Jesus."YOU CAN APPARENTLY BUILD PLANES OUT OF MARIO 3 WARP WHISTLESThis week's installment of Took Us Five Damn Seasons But The Plot Finally Moves Forward opened in Ms. Hawking's underground Science Center, with the now-confirmed mother of Faraday illustrating to the Oceanic Two plus Desmond how to return to the island using a floor map and a pendulum (and presumably a visit to her Planetarium, in the deleted scenes). Hawking instructs the group to take a specific Ajira Airways flight to Guam that passes over the island's "future" location and to include as many of the original travelers as possible as well as any object owned by Jack's father.
When Jack reacts with skepticism, Hawking delivers THE MOST self-aware line in the history of Lost's many self-aware lines:
"Stop thinking how ridiculous it is!"
Gettin' a little defensive there, Lost producers? Might as well have had her yell into the camera "I know some of this is magical and stupid but just ignore the couple dumb plotholes and focus on the cool parts, alright? Seriously -- Ben is about to do some really crazy sh*t, so just keep watching, it's gonna be worth it. Anyway... So, Jack..."
The opening scene also marked the slowest, most obvious information reveal of the season -- Hawking explained that scientists tracked a number of electromagnetic disturbances, "But they were only interested in one," to which Sherlock Sun replied "...THE ISLAND?" As if Hawking was gonna reply, "No, actually, it was a flying castle in Scotland, not the magical island where most of this show has taken place and that I specifically brought you here to talk about."
Also, did anyone else find it a bit risky that Hawking kept the expansive, legendary 'island' equation on a damn chalkboard? She never thought to copy it to something more reliable? I was hoping the episode would end with her saying "Now it's time to return to -- oh crap! Someone drew a d*ck in the corner of the chalkboard. Guess we're never gonna find that island now. I kept telling myself, type that thing into Word and save it, but just keeeept putting it off..."
WHAT'VE YOU BEN UP TO?
Ben departs for a series of shady off-camera events after telling Jack that he has to uphold a promise to a friend -- "just a little loose end" -- which we first assumed meant his promise to Widmore that he was going to kill Penny, but Ben actually ended up trying to burgle a kid's booby-trapped home and took an iron to the face.
Meanwhile, Jack encounters a broken-down Kate in his really blue bedroom, who also suddenly wants to return to the island as long as Jack "doesn't ask what happened to Aaron." I'm guessing this means that Ben sent someone to reclaim Kate's surrogate son and either succeeded or, more likely, Kate had to hide him somewhere safe (though are there any characters left she can trust? Maybe Widmore?)
Jack then runs into Hurley at his airport gate, and Hurley also has decided to return to the island but also gets immediately defensive and won't explain to Jack what happened. Did Ben just rape everyone or something? Everyone was so horrified and eerily silent -- maybe next week's episode will lead to a Lost: SVU spinoff.
Sayid also boards the plane in the 'custody' of a female police officer, giving the group five of the Original Six, minus Aaron but plus a newly-bloodied Ben and -- why the hell not -- Frank the helicopter pilot. All these passengers plus Jack's dad's shoes on Locke's body scored them enough Similarness Points to warp off the plane and onto the island via their own fade-to-white Finalcut transition.
Next week's episode appears to focus on the life and death and life again of Locke (thanks for the Spoiler Alert, "Next week on Lost", but I imagine a flashback episode revisiting what suddenly convinced Kate, Hurley, and Sayid to fly Ajira is on its way.
JACK'S CONVERSATION WITH AJIRA AIRWAYS, THE UNCUT VERSIONAIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Why are you transporting Mr. Bentham's body?
JACK: Haha...his dying wishes.
AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Are you a family member?
JACK: Just a friend.
AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Who will receive him once he gets to Guam?
JACK: Me, actually.
[PAUSE]AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Sir, are you planning to have sex with this corpse?
[PAUSE]JACK: ...Yes.
THE BIG REVEAL
The episode concluded with Jack, Kate, and Hurley waking up on the island, only to be confronted by -- dun dun DUN!!!!!!!!!! -- Jin. We learned that Jin, the character who we learned to weeks ago is still alive, is still alive. Is "sh*t we already know" the new "plot twist?"
WORST LINE OF DIALOGUE IN THE SEASON SO FAR
Jack sits next to Kate on the plane and starts a conversation with, "This is pretty crazy, huh?" Apparently the original line in the script was "Soooooooo...how bout this weather?" but the producers decided to make it one one-billionth of a percent less small-talky.
I do like that Jack respected the "Fasten Seat Belts" sign and didn't go over to Kate until it turned off. You don't want to do anything too risky while you're attempting to warp off a plane onto a time-traveling island based on a decades-old mathematical equation on a chalkboard.
AND FINALLY
Did anyone else find Locke's note to Jack to be just a little childish?
Alright, Losties, episode thoughts, comments, predictions, favorite parts, etc -- leave 'em in the comments. Keep all stories of Ben molestation to yourself, though. Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 5:45 pm
A legal turf war has broken out between production company Morgan Creek and the estate of Tupac Shakur. Morgan Creek has sued Amaru Entertainment for backing out of an agreement to sell the rapper's life rights for a film adaptation.
Originally expected in April, Dave Matthews Band's as-yet-untitled new RCA album will now arrive June 2. The group has also announced its annual summer tour, beginning May 27 in Darien Center, N.Y.
Tatiana Del Toro had something else to cry about. The emotional 28-year-old crooner from San Juan, Puerto Rico, was one of nine "American Idol" semifinalists sent packing yesterday (Feb. 18).
Silver Foxes: A breed of man so rare and magnetic that few can resist their cloud-lined charms. Our obsession with salt-n-peps was long kept on the "DL", we we used to think it was "weird" or "strange". That is, until #1 on this list came around, and all the other grandpa-luvrs in the world felt confident enough to speak up and admit that silver foxes have pretty much got it all. Here, we've compiled our list of BWE'tv's 100 Hottest Silver Foxes. Pop a Werther's Original in your mouth and savor the flavor while you check these guys out.
100. Anthony Bourdain
99. Jeff Goldblum
98. Bill Cosby's Dad Earl Hyman
97. Benicio Del Toro
96. Bill Clinton
95. Gerard Butler
94. Charlie Rose
93. Christopher Lee
92. Daniel Day-Lewis
91. Christopher Walken
90. Pierce Brosnan
89. David Carradine
88. Dennis Hopper
87. Dr. Drew Pinsky
Make sure to check out Dr. Drew on his new MTV series Sex... with Mom and Dad, Mondays at 4pm ET/PT!86. Eric Dane
85. Ernest Borgnine
84. Gandalf the Grey
83. Dustin Hoffman
82. Geoffrey Rush
81. George Clooney
80. Billy Bob Thornton
79. Harrison Ford
78. Harvey Keitel
77. James Remar
76. ANTM's Jay Manuel
75. Jean Reno
74. Richard Gere
73. Jeremy Irons
72. The Just For Men Dude
71. Keith Richards
70. David Dickinson
69. Larry Fishburne
68. Michael Caine
67. Michael Douglas
66. Morgan Freeman
65. Paul Newman
64. Peter O'Toole
63. David Byrne
62. Rahm Emanuel
61. Antonio Banderas
60. Robert DeNiro
59. Sam Elliott
58. Mayor Sam Adams
57. Brewer Sam Adams
56. Sean Connery
55. Sean Penn
54. Steve Martin
53. Sylvester Stallone
52. Taylor Hicks (we had to)
51. Tim Robbins
50. Warren Beatty
49. Patrick Duffy
48. Alec Baldwin
47. Dennis Farina
46. Dr. Andrew Weil
45. Bear Grylls (allow us this one.)
44. Ben Stiller
43. The New York Times Editor Bill Keller
42. Bob Barker
41. Bob Uecker
40. Brett Favre
39. British Politician Brian Paddick
38. Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan
37. Charlie "Mr. Sideburns" Rich
36. Craig Ferguson
35. Frasier's Dad
34. George Washington
33. Monsignor George Ganswein
32. British Prime Ministier Gordon Brown
31. Jack Hannah
30. Jamie Lee Curtis
29. James McGreevey
28. John Laroquette
27. John O'Hurley
26. John Slattery
25. Portuguese Football manager Jose Mourinho
24. Keith Olbermann
23. Intervention's Ken Seeley
22. Larry David
21. Evan Farmer
20. Mark Ruffalo
19. Matt Roloff
18. Jon Stewart
17. Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan
16. Cal Ripken Jr.
15. French President Nicolas Sarkozy
14. Extreme Makeover's Paul Dimeo
13. Richard Dreyfuss
12. Italian Football Manager Robert Donadoni (name/man swoon)
Heard on The Today Show this morning, during a story about the gruesome chimp attack:
"Just because you dress them up in clothes, or let them ride in your car, does not make them hairy children. These are dangerous animals, and they belong in the wild." -- Mike Markarian, U.S. Humane Society
(pause) (sniff.) (slow exhale...) Let's just take a look at that again.
"Just because you dress them up in clothes, or let them ride in your car, does not make them hairy children. These are dangerous animals, and they belong in the wild." -- Mike Markarian, U.S. Humane Society
Thanks for the clarification, Mike. Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 4:15 pm
Two big moves on the Billboard Hot 100 give Atlantic Records ownership of the top two positions. As reported yesterday, a 58-1 rush puts "Right Round" by Flo Rida on top, while a 9-2 jump pushes "Dead and Gone" by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake into second place.
Ever since I created my Facebook profile a couple years ago, I check my Myspace about as often as I voluntarily watch my VCR, but last night, I was deleting my past several years worth of pornographic spam and came across this comment from my near and dear friend, OFFICIALHEAVYHITTERS.COM (Offish' and I go way back):
hey whats up what you doing for labor day weekend?
Well am partying it up .. and i want you to come party with me!
THIS WEEKEND WILL BE CRAZY i got Busta Rymes / SHAQ O NEAL / COREY GUZ FEAT LIL WAYNE "A M ILLE" .. KING MAGAZINE MODEL BDAY PARTY "MARIA VAZ" & MUCH MORE!!!
After the jump, my apology:
I cannot. Effing. BELIEVE I missed my chance to see Shaquille O'Neal host a show featuring The Gunz Brothers (villains from Super Punch-Out?) and Lord Tariq & Malashia (pronounced 'Malaysia?') I don't know what any of the words in this Myspace comment mean, including "hey," but I could've seen it for just $25!!!
OFFICIALHEAVYHITTERS, we've been close friends since way back in grade school, when I became your friend after everyone picked on you for having a bizarre and unwieldy first name that ended in "dot com" before anyone knew what that meant. So please, I plead of you, accept my apology for missing your comment, and I promise I'll do a better job of checking my Myspace spam comments in the future and being briefly amused by them before clicking delete. You have my word.
If you can pass this apology on to Shaq, too, I'd greatly appreciate it. Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 3:45 pm
Here is Mom-bout-town Jessica Alba spotted hitting the town with baby Honor Warren, who proves that looking like a giant bitch is actually a maternal trait. That baby's frown/brow is taking up nearly half her tiny face! Only an Alba, I swear.
("But she's a baby!" you say, "That ain't right!" [Grandfatherly laughter] Yoooouuu said it. [pipe puffing]) Source: Best Week Ever | 19 Feb 2009 | 3:10 pm
The hero of "Slumdog Millionaire," a poverty-raised teaboy seeking his lost love, works his way through the questions on the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" knowing that, at any time, he can lose and walk away with nothing. At this point, the movie appears unlikely to face the same fate.
Reuters - If women buy just one fashion item for autumn 2009, let it be long leather gloves or an over-the-top hat to freshen up their wardrobes, according to style experts at New York Fashion Week.
The collection was all about being bold, beautiful, and practical with loads of layers, flattering shapes, gorgeous prints, and the merging of unexpected pieces
Carsten Kurpanek bought a car. Then he and his girlfriend packed up their things and drove more than 2,000 miles to Los Angeles. Since then, it's been up and down as they've tried to succeed in the movie business.
Fashion Wire Daily - Designer Oscar de la Renta, like quite a few of his colleagues this week, dipped back into the Eighties in his fall 2009 collection staged Wednesday, Feb. 18, on Park Avenue in New York.
Forget the guild awards. Forget the favorites. We're rounding up the theories—and starting some new ones—that say everything you think about Sunday's 81st Academy Awards is...
Whew! Even we were tired after watching Jalapao and Timbira battle it out for immunity and fishing gear in a game of river basketball, which resembled the mud-wrestling scene in Stripes more than...
The tears! The joy! The laughter!
When Fox President Mike Darnell promised reporters in December that the new season of American Idol would be more "raw," "intimate" and...
Robert Pattinson has landed!
Our favorite Brit boy is here in Hollywood. As you must know by now, the Twilight star is going to be presenting at the Academy Awards on Sunday. (Nope, his...
From whence sprang Octomom...
The father of octuplet spawner Nadya Suleman questioned his own daughter's sanity and agreed that she needs major help—financially, at...
Dancing with the Stars returns in just three short weeks for another round of celebrity salsa, cha-cha and disco-dancing, and you're not ready for the big premiere until you've seen these...
It's official. The Hayden and Milo rumors are out of control.
After multiple outlets reported the Heroes couple broke up because of their age difference (she's 19 and he's...
I see on the Internet that Heath Ledger's Oscar would go to his kid, Matilda, but not until she turns 18. Why does she has to wait until she's 18?
—Gunnar, Kissimmee,...
-- Wow, how'd they get EMERIL LAGASSE to do a television appearance? That dude's so reclusive, he's like the J.D. Salinger of chefs! How'd they even track him down??
-- The only funny part of the Quickfire was the shot of Emeril lording over the competition from the house balcony, as though he was gonna snipe the losing chef and yell "Bam!" as the bullet connected. On a related note, he made it through the entire episode without saying "Bam" or "another notch." It was like watching a recovering coke addict happily sipping water in a nightclub.
-- Fabio wasn't in peak form last night, but he still had the best line of the episode by far:
"My car is-a piece of............................................pooooooooooooop........."
-- Runner-up for best line of the night: Stefan, who I believe (and I rewound it on DVR twice, cause I just assumed I was wrong, but I kept believing I heard it), made the intense declaration "This is not a butt-rubbing contest."
-- Onto the Elimination Challenge... Each judge drank five cocktails? Carla's was non-alcoholic, but I was still hoping that by the end a slightly slurry Emeril would be talking about how Padma should "take off more than just her mask, heh hehh hehhh..." As always, I'm going to assumed that this happened verbatim and Bravo cut it out.
-- Real smooth, Hosea, making a 'hurricane' in New Orleans and repeatedly asking people if they want to try one. Even worse, then he kept going up to people in wheelchairs going "Yo, you want some crab legs? Seriously, you need some legs, they're AWESOME."
After the jump, a tearful farewell...
-- Carla's certainly gone from "good dessert-maker" to "couple lucky weeks" to "legitimately good chef," putting herself in a great position heading into the Final Three. Unless more chefs come back from the dead, of course. Now I'm hoping that's the twist next week -- Zombie Jeff and Zombie Fabio return, and the secret ingredient is BRAINS. Or as Zombie Fabio would say, "You-a could put-a dees brains over monkey ass annit still taste good!"
-- I didn't really understand Carla's quote, "That's what all the men say, 'one second, Honey,'" but if Fabio had said the exact same words I would've thought it was the funniest thing ever, so I won't judge.
-- Oh! One more Fabio quote (don't know why I'm treating this like I'm speaking off the cuff, I could easily just cut and paste this up with the other Fabio quotes earlier in the post, but I also loved "Everybody wearing masks - it-a kind of remind me of an old porno movie, those masks." What old porno movie would that be? Eyes Wide Shut? Mask-F***ers? The Mask with Jim Carrey?
-- That being said, of all weeks to eliminate the fan fave, they chose a week where he probably out-cooked Stefan. Stefan's now sucked it up a few weeks in a row and is clearly resting on his laurels, but he'll have to either turn a heartwarming attitude 180 next week or he'll just simply lose -- Tommy C isn't gonna let someone who isn't taking the game seriously win, no matter how halfassedly good his food is. Bravo is still clearly trying to set up a Stefan/Hosea baldy rivalry showdown in the Final even though Carla's crushed them the last two weeks.
-- Bravo tried to outdo Lost with the non-secret secrets - in the preview clips from the finale, Padma says "...and you're gonna have a little help!" and a quick shot of three shadowy figures who are NEVER REVEALED. OOOOOOOOOOH!!!!! Who could they be???? Probably not three previously eliminated contestants from this season, as in every Top Chef finale INCLUDING THE ONE LAST NIGHT, right? Guess we'll have to wait and see! I can't even SLEEP!!!!!
FINALE PREDICTION:
Though the momentum may have shifted towards Carla, I predict Stefan is humbled by his subpar showings from the last two weeks and actually becomes a sympathetic character, embracing his new role as a semi-underdog and thanking the judges and his co-competitors too emphatically en route to a victory. Hosea has no chance, especially once he keeps asking people if they want to try his Lower Ninth Ward Flood Cake.
Episode thoughts, favorite lines, Fabio mourning, and Finale predictions -- leave 'em in the comments!
This week's installment of Took Us Five Damn Seasons But The Plot Finally Moves Forward opened in Ms. Hawking's underground Science Center, with the now-confirmed mother of Faraday illustrating to the Oceanic Two plus Desmond how to return to the island using a floor map and a pendulum (and presumably a visit to her Planetarium, in the deleted scenes). Hawking instructs the group to take a specific 
The opening scene also marked the slowest, most obvious information reveal of the season -- Hawking explained that scientists tracked a number of electromagnetic disturbances, "But they were only interested in one," to which Sherlock Sun replied "...THE ISLAND?" As if Hawking was gonna reply, "No, actually, it was a flying castle in Scotland, not the magical island where most of this show has taken place and that I specifically brought you here to talk about."
Also, did anyone else find it a bit risky that Hawking kept the expansive, legendary 'island' equation on a damn chalkboard? She never thought to copy it to something more reliable? I was hoping the episode would end with her saying "Now it's time to return to -- oh crap! Someone drew a d*ck in the corner of the chalkboard. Guess we're never gonna find that island now. I kept telling myself, type that thing into Word and save it, but just keeeept putting it off..."
WHAT'VE YOU BEN UP TO?
Ben departs for a series of shady off-camera events after telling Jack that he has to uphold a promise to a friend -- "just a little loose end" -- which we first assumed meant his promise to Widmore that he was going to kill Penny, but Ben actually ended up trying to burgle a kid's booby-trapped home and took an iron to the face.
Meanwhile, Jack encounters a broken-down Kate in his really blue bedroom, who also suddenly wants to return to the island as long as Jack "doesn't ask what happened to Aaron." I'm guessing this means that Ben sent someone to reclaim Kate's surrogate son and either succeeded or, more likely, Kate had to hide him somewhere safe (though are there any characters left she can trust? Maybe Widmore?)
Jack then runs into Hurley at his airport gate, and Hurley also has decided to return to the island but also gets immediately defensive and won't explain to Jack what happened. Did Ben just rape everyone or something? Everyone was so horrified and eerily silent -- maybe next week's episode will lead to a Lost: SVU spinoff.
Sayid also boards the plane in the 'custody' of a female police officer, giving the group five of the Original Six, minus Aaron but plus a newly-bloodied Ben and -- why the hell not -- Frank the helicopter pilot. All these passengers plus Jack's dad's shoes on Locke's body scored them enough Similarness Points to warp off the plane and onto the island via their own fade-to-white Finalcut transition.
Next week's episode appears to focus on the life and death and life again of Locke (thanks for the Spoiler Alert, "Next week on Lost", but I imagine a flashback episode revisiting what suddenly convinced Kate, Hurley, and Sayid to fly Ajira is on its way.
JACK'S CONVERSATION WITH AJIRA AIRWAYS, THE UNCUT VERSION
AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Why are you transporting Mr. Bentham's body?
JACK: Haha...his dying wishes.
AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Are you a family member?
JACK: Just a friend.
AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Who will receive him once he gets to Guam?
JACK: Me, actually.
[PAUSE]
AIRLINE EMPLOYEE: Sir, are you planning to have sex with this corpse?
[PAUSE]
JACK: ...Yes.
THE BIG REVEAL
The episode concluded with Jack, Kate, and Hurley waking up on the island, only to be confronted by -- dun dun DUN!!!!!!!!!! -- Jin. We learned that Jin, the character who we learned to weeks ago is still alive, is still alive. Is "sh*t we already know" the new "plot twist?"
WORST LINE OF DIALOGUE IN THE SEASON SO FAR
Jack sits next to Kate on the plane and starts a conversation with, "This is pretty crazy, huh?" Apparently the original line in the script was "Soooooooo...how bout this weather?" but the producers decided to make it one one-billionth of a percent less small-talky.
I do like that Jack respected the "Fasten Seat Belts" sign and didn't go over to Kate until it turned off. You don't want to do anything too risky while you're attempting to warp off a plane onto a time-traveling island based on a decades-old mathematical equation on a chalkboard.
AND FINALLY
Did anyone else find Locke's note to Jack to be just a little childish?
Heard on The Today Show this morning, during a story about the 
hey whats up what you doing for labor day weekend?
Well am partying it up .. and i want you to come party with me!
THIS WEEKEND WILL BE CRAZY i got Busta Rymes / SHAQ O NEAL / COREY GUZ FEAT LIL WAYNE "A M ILLE" .. KING MAGAZINE MODEL BDAY PARTY "MARIA VAZ" & MUCH MORE!!!
