Health issues and touring commitments have combined to postpone Aerosmith's next album, according to guitarist Joe Perry. Aerosmith's tour, the group's first since 2007, starts in June with ZZ Top.
AP - Drew Lachey is hosting a new HGTV competition series with a hefty mortgage payoff prize. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 4 Apr 2009 | 11:24 am
Reuters - India's Satyam Computer Services Ltd has extended the deadline for submitting bids for the scandal-tainted software services firm to April 13 as bidders sought more data, board member said on Saturday. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 4 Apr 2009 | 10:19 am
A judge who barred Madonna's second adoption from Malawi on Friday said she had "a gripping temptation" to approve the adoption, but decided doing so would open doors to child trafficking, court records show.
AP - Two counts of vehicular manslaughter have been filed against the driver of a runaway big-rig that rolled down a mountain highway into a Los Angeles suburb, killing a girl and her father.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are still meditative about their trip to India. The two remaining Beatles are sharing the stage Saturday night when McCartney headlines Radio City Music... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 3:31 am
LOS ANGELES - Golden Globe viewers on the West Coast don't have to worry about online spoilers next year: the show will air live nationally for the first time. The Hollywood Foreign... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 3:18 am
LOS ANGELES - Nick Lachey is hosting a new HGTV competition series with a hefty mortgage payoff prize. The cable network said Friday that "HGTV's $250,000 Challenge" will give five... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 3:04 am
Jackie Earle Haley has gone from Little Children to teen tormentor.
The Oscar-nominated actor will don Freddy Krueger's signature striped sweater in the upcoming revamp of A...
Tom Braden, the creator and co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," which pioneered the talk-show format that pitted a conservative against a liberal, died Friday at age 92.
Nick Lachey is hosting a new HGTV competition series with a hefty mortgage payoff prize. The cable network said Friday that "HGTV's $250,000 Challenge" will give five neighboring... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 2:14 am
Golden Globe viewers on the West Coast don't have to worry about online spoilers next year: The show will air live nationally for the first time. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 2:09 am
Golden Globe viewers on the West Coast don't have to worry about online spoilers next year: The show will air live nationally for the first time. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 1:31 am
A publicist says actor Josh Hartnett has been released from a Los Angeles hospital after recovering from gastrointestinal problems. Publicist Susan Patricola said Friday that the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 1:24 am
The second Sex and the City movie may not be as big as the first.
We're sure the box office will be just as major, but I'm told there's been a delay in getting Mr. Big to...
housewife. An early financial backer of composers like John Adams and Phillip Glass, she also collected the works of artists including David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Dan Flavin and... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 1:09 am
DETROIT (Billboard) - It was rapper 50 Cent's proposal to play some shows with pop-punkers Fall Out Boy this month. But he didn't have to ask twice. Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 4 Apr 2009 | 1:08 am
Even if Levi Johnston were not one to kiss and tell, Sarah Palin was apparently already in the loop.
The 19-year-old father of Palin's first grandchild tells Tyra Banks that the GOP...
Rumer Willis is spreading her wings as an actress with a gritty role as a lady of the evening for her guest-starring role on Medium.
"It's a little strange for me to have the...
This week, the world reacted with sadness to Twilight star Taylor Lautner's tragic diagnosis with Restless Leg Syndrome. (Did you know it makes him awkward on dates?) To put things in perspective, though, RLS is not, technically, the worst thing in the world. What's worse?
• All the summer movies not good enough to go on this list.
After the CEOs from the nation's biggest financial institutions went to meet with Obama last week, they told everyone they'd had an amazing time. "It was fabulous," JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon said. But, as usual, the CEOs were full of lies. Politico today spoke to "a person who attended the meeting," and he says they didn't have a good time at all. In fact, they had a terrible time. They went there thinking that behind closed doors they were going to bro-down with the O-man, maybe shoot some hoops, but instead he ushered them into a room, gave them a glass of water (no ice, even!) and started acting all, like, serious and stuff.
"My administration," he said to them, "is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."
We like to imagine that here Vikram Pandit said, "Thanks, dude," and Jamie Dimon slapped him upside the head.
Then the president kept talking, talking. It was almost like he thought he was better than them or something. He went on about bonuses and how the public was angry. "The signal from Obama's body language and demeanor was, 'I'm the president, and you're not,'" the attendee said.
They waited for snacks to appear, but none did. No one refilled their waters. This was an outrage, we imagine. We also imagine that Ken Lewis's stomach audibly rumbled, and he blushed.
"The only way they could have sent a more Spartan message is if they had served bread along with the water," the source tells Politico, and we would like to highlight that he said the inclusion of bread would make it extra Spartan, because that feels indicative of just how far these guys' heads are up their asses. Anyway, they weren't going to say anything, but when they saw these pictures of Obama yukking it up at the G20 they were pretty steamed.
There was no group photograph taken of the CEOs with the president, which typically happens at ceremonial White House gatherings but not at serious strategy sessions.
They went all that way and they didn't even get a picture that proved once and for all that they had a black friend. That is just not fair.
As much as we, along with the rest of the known universe, flipped for “Throw Some D’s” back in 2007, we never thought that, two years later, we’d still be talking about Rich Boy &mdash despite his smash, the scrawny, drawled-out emcee seemed a little too personality deficient to really sustain a career. Slowly but steadily, however — first with the pretty great “D’s” follow up “Let's Get This Paper,” then with the even greater “Chevy a Monsta,” and now with the even more greater, “It’s Over” &mdash Rich Boy’s made his case for relevance. He still doesn’t seem like he’d make for very good dinner conversation (turn-ons: a variety of cars; turnoffs: haters) but his knack for picking incredible beats, and then not doing too much with them, has gone unbroken. This time it’s Drumma Boy — tossing spacey, skeletal snare rolls over cheesy guitar licks, a surprisingly potent combination &mdash who's helping Rich Boy sound better than he has any right to.
This just in: Carine Roitfeld may, on occasion, wear Topshop and Urban Outfitters under her fabulous white shag coats. (Not that we've ever witnessed such a thing.) But you can rest assured that the French Vogue editrix doesn't buy the cheap stuff herself. At an April 1 dinner at Balthazar to celebrate the launch of Topshop's stateside flagship, Carine's daughter, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld admitted, "I don't think [my mom's] been in Topshop, but maybe when her assistants shop in Topshop for themselves and they see something my mom would like they would get it for her." Julia, whom we've spotted in cute finds from Urban Outfitters, says she wouldn't even attempt to take her mom to a store like that, but that Carine sometimes requests cheap clothes off her daughter's back. "She would see me, for example, with this jacket, which is Topshop, and she'd be like, 'Oh my god, I love your jacket! Where is it from?' And then she'd be like, 'Oh, okay. Can you go get me the same?' That's how it would work. She doesn't have time to shop. She's too busy. So if she sees something she likes on me, she kind of sends me to get it."
Lucky for Carine, her daughter doesn't have universally expensive taste. "I don't like the look of wearing all expensive clothes," she said. "I like expensive stuff not for the price or the name but maybe because I like the design better." Julia says she wouldn't necessarily wear Topshop to the Met, like Kate Moss did, in bold and product-placement-y fashion a few years ago. "I would wear it more to casual than fancy parties," she said. "But for going out at night to clubs, it's perfect."
(Playbill) Playbill - Roundabout Theatre Company audiences will begin pondering the absurdity of one of humanity's most vexing rituals on April 3 with the first preview of the new Broadway production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at Studio 54. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 3 Apr 2009 | 11:07 pm
Turns out Guy Ritchie isn't one to kick Madonna when she's down.
Despite the wild assortment of less-than-flattering adjectives the duo supposedly used to describe each other in...
The British brand Topshop opened its first store on American soil this week in Soho, bringing another option for inexpensive, fast-fashion shopping to New Yorkers. At one of three parties thrown in its honor, Rosario Dawson confessed that she's a huge fan of dressing for less. "Some of my best compliments are on a $15 Ross dress," she told us. "Ross gets you a weird look, but I've rocked two or three good pieces from there over the years." View our Party Lines slideshow for more tales of cheap fashion worth fighting over.
While we'll likely never know the true story (Streisand's flacks refused to comment), we're hopeful that Babs will make it up to Baz and the rest of the Oscar team next year by agreeing to participate in a showstopping "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" duet with Hugh Jackman. After all, that would be the righteous thing to do.
In summers past, the Noel family — Fairfield Greenwich founder Walter Noel; his wife, Monica; and their five fabulous daughters and their families — have gathered together at their 7,000-square-foot house in Lake Agawam, an exclusive enclave in Southampton. But now that they've lost billions of their clients' money to Bernie Madoff, had their assets frozen, and been charged with fraud, well, the summer of 2009 is going to have to be a little more low-key. Sources tell Daily Intel that the Noels are looking to rent their property to the highest bidder. The three-story house — built in 1885 by McKim, Mead and White and reportedly christened "Dolphins" — has ten bedrooms, nine-and-a-half baths, six fireplaces, and a heated pool, and will set you back $350,000 for July and $375,000 for August. (Entry to the nearby Bathing Corporation of Southampton is likely not included, since, according to a recent Vanity Fair profile, the Noels’ membership application to the beach club was denied.) It's a hefty sum, to be sure. But the stories you'll get from staying there? Priceless.
We need your help, Vulture readers! Some of our TV recaps are wildlysuccessful and score us tons of page views and lucrative advertising. Others, less so. What do you think of Rescue Me? Do you watch it? Should we recap it when it comes back next Tuesday? Remember, if you answer 'yes,' you have to promise to read our posts. We certainly wouldn't want another Generation Kill situation, after all.
Commenter Julie Stone, with Chanel Iman waiting for their walk-on roles on Gossip Girl. We KNEW you guys were this hot.
It's time for our weekly recap of the recap! This week, making a thing of it, Daily Intel's Commenter from back-in-the-day, Comfortably Smug, rounds up the best of the comments from this week's reality index. If you're a regular commenter and you'd like this unpaid honor, email us at intel@nymag.com
The absence of secret societies, legal wrangling over Bass Industries, and other distractions in last week's episode of Gossip Girl elevated our hopes for a late-season return to form. There were the breakups, hook-ups, make-ups, and ragers that had initially formed the foundation of the Gossip Girl we fell in love with so long ago. Nate with B, Serena gone wild, and Chuck getting his allotment of cardio exercise gave us exactly what we needed to keep breath bated while we wait for the show's return later this month. (And Chris and Jessica realize that they misheard what Vanya said about Dorota, but you have to understand, they have old-fashioned TVs, and everyone knows it's impossible to hear asides when they're not in HD.)
Special note. We'd like to take this time to congratulate the lovely miss Julie Stone for being the first Daily Intel commenter to appear in an episode of The Greatest Show of Our Time as a member of Poppy's entourage. Bravo!
Realer Than a 16-Year-Old Willing to Ruin Her Own Birthday Just to Be Contrarian:
• Plus 2 for Self Absorbed Dan describing his one fan to three girls at the
party. —ISGOODATMATH
•Plus 2 for Dan wearing a tshirt from The Strand. Because of course he would. —ELISECB
•Vanessa being both relevant and entertaining deserves lots of plus points —CALLME
•Plus 2 for Chuck standing on the stairwell like Lucifer at the party and making Vanessa do his bidding. He like, loves watching shit burn down. —MAGNOLIACAKE22
•Overwhelming sexual tension is right. Because Chuck was a total sleaze in the elevator and yet you could tell Vanessa knew she was going to tap that Bass. Plus 10 —CBASSLUV
• Plus 5IAMBLAIRWALDORF_BLAIRWALDORFISME
• Plus 20: Things UES love waking up to? The Nikkei on the rise? —A1B2C3
• Plus 3 for Chuck's evening routine — his silk robe, slippers and scotch by the fire. It never gets old to me. He probably has a standing reservation in the living room and the rest of the family knows to avoid that room between the specified hours. —PURPLEANDGREEN
• Plus 2 for Blair's transformation from last episode, sartorially at least. I adore that she completely changes her fashion and styling based on her current plan for world domination. Don't we all? Last week she was all about scorching earth and burning down the house so it was trenchcoats, Herve Ledger, pale skin, and dark red lips. Now she has decided to reclaim the Vanderbilt ring so it is pastels, plaids, soft curls, loose hair buns, and dewy make- up. So very pre- Kennedy Jackie. Most perfect as she plays the role of dutiful "friend" and future senator's wife. I hope Blair and Tripp's fiancee bond. I am betting they share a lot in common. —KRISSNW704
• Plus 5 for Nate telling Vanessa she's become like Blair, since history shows that he needs to be judgey when he dumps a girl. Plus 3 more for him having no problem judging Vanessa for acting like Blair while at the same time getting back together with Blair herself. —EMMYLOSER
• Plus 10 for Jenny turning 16 and thus having to have an eating disorder whilst being contrary to absolutely everything that your family does for you, because that's what 16 year olds do. No she doesn't want a catered party, she wants to have chilli gas all night and awkwardly play Twister with her gay besties and pretend she doesn't want to mount them out of Little J loneliness. —KDOW3
• Vanessa gives Chuck the sad faced morning after lie about not wanting love and this being JUST about sex. Chuck agrees. Vanessa smiles. She's been BASSED. Plus 5 —HEADBANDS_OF_INSPIRATION
Faker Than a Lothario Forgoing Postcoital Skin-on-Skin Contact for Night Attire of Any Kind:
• Minus 1 for Serena Poppy Barcelona. Unless Gossip Girl Narrates and Woody Allen Directs. Then Plus 3. —ISGOODATMATH
• Minus 2 for Lily's surprise that Serena was going on vacation without letting anyone know. Serena is EXACTLY like Lily. Who just up and left for Boston on a whim without so much as a thought to her TEENAGE children back home?? Like Mother like Daughter. —ANNIE_IN_NY
• Also, I can't believe I forgot to add this, but Blair kept talking about the ducks, which wouldn't have been there when it was snowing, and then we saw her wandering around among geese instead. —CHRIS ROVZAR (NY MAG) [Ed: Thanks Smug!]
• People in Boston would never have any idea what area code 718 is. People in 212 don't even know what the hell 718 is. Minus 5 —FSUZANN
• Just a thought - maybe if Rufus actually stayed at the Gallery and worked, instead of running uptown to tell Lily everything in person, Dan and Jenny would have more than a CD collection for a college fund. Points: Minus 5 — BLAIREDITH
• Dear Vanessa: Don't feel too special — Chuck will do anyone wearing purple with a pulse. I'm sure if Grimace showed up at the Palace with a proposition and pills, he would get Chuck-ed a few times too. Points: Minus 1 —BLAIREDITH
• Okay, so is this Chuck's strategy for picking up women who aren't hookers? Wait until Nate dumps them under pretty messy circumstances (i.e. Nate's dad being a raging coke addict and a white- collar thief, Nate possibly cheating on Vanessa with Blair), have them drink some alcohol, wait until they are vulnerable and feeling like there's no way they can get Nate back, then whisk them away so they can have sex? Minus 10 because he's Chuck Bass and Chuck Bass shouldn't have to make do with Nate's sloppy seconds. —JNP1013
• Dom 96 WAS NOT a good vintage. Minus 10 points to both of you for not doing your research!! —BLAKWDOW3 [Smug's note: Right you are, it's actually the 98 that is the more celebrated vintage. Ed's Note: We've had it. It's good. Deal with it.]
• Victoria's Secret Beauty signed Christian Siriano to do a limited-edition makeup collection called Christian Siriano for VS Makeup. Now he's competing with Heidi Klum, who also has a makeup line with the brand. Catfight! [WWD]
HAIR
• Corpus Christi, Texas tops a list of the 13 worst cities for hair in the United States because the humidity and lack of hair salons leads to overwhelming frizz. Be warned. [Total Beauty]
• Gossip Girl hairstylist Jennifer Johnson uses Bumpits on Leighton Meester's character to create a bouffant. We thought only Sarah Palin used those. [Elle]
• Sudiobo makes combs that are shaped like knives. They are called "Combmandos." Snappy. [Ferrari Murakami via Refinery29]
SKIN
• La Mer's new Body Refiner product contains 1.75 karats of pure diamond dust and costs $110. But is it really full of diamonds? Or just bullshit? [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
Two big titles lost some staff members this week, and we learned how many magazines were born in the first quarter of the year compared to how many died (both numbers are larger than you think, and the difference smaller). Plus, one editor has some bracing advice for journalism students.
• Hachette Filipacchi’s Women’s Day cut six people from their editorial staff. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
• 101 magazines died in the first quarter. 95 were born. We’re speechless. [MediaInk/NYP]
Front Page: Studio lays off 1,900 jobs or 2% of workforce -- The Walt Disney Co. said Friday it has cut 1,900 jobs at its U.S. theme parks, or about 2% of the total workforce, as part of a wider restructuring announced in February.
The Mets have agreed to terms on a contract with former Yankee (and Tiger, Brave, Dodger, Marlin, Padre, and Brewer) Gary Sheffield. The outfielder, who was released by Detroit on Tuesday, is currently one home run shy of 500. [ESPN]
Well, when they both wear pink, obviously it's confusing.
No matter how convincing we found Piper Perabo as the dim but chatty security guard in Neil Labute's reasons to be pretty, we still hear "Can't Fight the Moonlight" in our head whenever we see her. So even at the show's opening night, we had to ask if she had plans to dance on any tables. "Maybe Marin [Ireland] and I will dance on the bar; it depends on how many martinis we have." Really? "No, I got it out of my system in that movie. I like hole-in-the-wall bars, but I stay in my seat."
It turns out we're not the only ones who can't keep Piper's personality straight. She told us that, oddly enough, she frequently gets "mistaken for Picabo Street, the skier." "I think it's because we have weird P names," she explained. "But it helps in the airport, because they always think I'm an Olympian, so they help with my luggage." Wait, aren't Olympians the ones who don't need help carrying luggage?
You really can find the father of your children on national TV.
Onetime Bachelorette Trista and her hubby Ryan Sutter, whose 2003 nuptials and subsequent baby-making proved to...
The newest addition to In Treatment, Hope Davis, has long been a critical favorite for her turns in About Schmidt, American Splendor, and Synecdoche, New York. In the HBO show, which premieres this Sunday, she plays Paul Weston's [Gabriel Byrne] former patient Mia, who returns to therapy as a 42-year-old, childless attorney. Davis is currently getting raves for her role in Broadway's God of Carnage, and Vulture caught up between performances to chat about her character, what happens when Byrne gets antsy, and, yes, her
onstage vomiting.
How did you get involved in the show? Did you watch it last season?
I watched some of it last season. I was away working for a few weeks and I was in a nice hotel and I got completely sucked into the show. I found it deeply engrossing, and I just couldn't take my eyes off. Then the guy who ran the show this year, Warren Leight – we've known each other for a long time. We ran into each other on the street, and I said, 'What are you doing?' And he told me and I said, 'I love that show. I watch it.' And then he called and said, 'Do you want to do it?'
What interested you about Mia?
It's a story line for any person who's ever been single in the world. You can relate to that feeling of, 'I'm alone and I'm always going to be alone and this is not what I want and I don't know how to change it.'
How did you deal with the show's intensity?
It is a very intense show, it's not meant to be watched hours at a time. But we had a lot of laughs, especially near the end when Gabriel started getting really punchy. I mean, the man sat in that chair for almost four months and listened to people's problems, and by the end, he was getting a little wacky. He would pretend at the end to throw little fits, or he would pretend that somebody stepped on his foot.
Does being on a show like this make you more prone to self-analysis?
Nooooo! [Laughs] No, it's not where I tend to go personally. I have not spent years in therapy; I tried therapy in my mid-twenties, and it did not go very well. I just thought, 'This is so not for me. I would rather talk to one of my girlfriends.' I'm not at a point in my life when I'm analyzing too much. I have young children, and I'm just pretty much crazed.
You play a Brooklyn mother in God of Carnage. As a Brooklyn mother yourself, do you relate to her?
No, I mean, she's a Wall Street person. I don't have an iPhone or BlackBerry — I couldn't possibly exist in that world. I'm way too disorganized. Neither character particularly resembles me as far as the way I lead my life.
A lot has been said about your vomiting scene. What's been the audience's reaction so far?
They're completely shocked! I'm sure there are people who find it off-putting, but if you've had children, it's like vomit and poo — none of these things upset you anymore. Even though they've read the reviews and they know it's coming, I think they forget about it. You're not expecting it to come when it comes, and they are just rolling in the aisles.
I know you're secretive about how the vomiting's actually done, but what was your reaction when you first saw that in the script?
Well, you read it and you think, 'Oh, I wonder if she squirts some stuff into her mouth and then yaks onto the table.' When Matthew Warchus, our director, explained to me how catastrophic the spray is, I laughed for about five minutes solid. I mean, it takes four people to make that vomit happen. Yasmina Reza, the playwright, said, 'I don't want someone just like spitting out a mouthful of goo. I want a real projectile vomit.'
Have your kids seen the show?
No, my children are too little, 4 and 6. This is about marriages falling to pieces and lots of bad words.
We prefer to ignore Miley Cyrus, but it's only increasingly apparent that the brand she's founded on bubble-gum smacking, singing badly, fake highlights and never saying an intelligible thing to the media, is corrupting female youth culture as we know it. And we're concerned. Because we don't have kids now but we might go to Laos to adopt one some day (we hear their court system is less rigid than Malawi's) and we want to bring her back in good conscience. Last night at the premiere of Hannah Montana: The Movie in L.A, the young actresses dressed and behaved in ways that were so inappropriate we wondered if they were not actual people, but artificial beings harvested from $4 lipstick, glitter glue, and genetic material in Billy Cyrus's secret cellar. If you're feeling brave, see the horror in the slideshow.
Front Page: Comedy about Easter Bunny's replacement -- Illumination Entertainment has fast tracked "I Hop," a comedy that will be the Universal-based family film supplier's first live-action feature.
Chris Brown is due to face the music in court on Monday—or he can just turn on his radio today.
Smoke Jumpers, a little-known hip-hop act, is attempting to raise its profile with...
The Downturnaround was walking around Herald Square yesterday and noticed something eerie. The sidewalks were as madly clogged as ever, but all of the stores were nearly vacant — even Foot Locker. The salesgirl at Billabong looked like she was about to string herself up. The Downturnaround was not pleased to see such a desperate scene, not only because it pains us to see human suffering, but because it made us question ourselves and the optimism that is our defining trait. Understanding the government's multi-trillion-dollar effort to rescue the economy is above our pay grade, but whatever it is, we realized, it's going to take a long time before it filters down to pedestrians and they start to feel comfortable enough to buy their daughter a prom dress or themselves a pair of irresponsible shoes. This is no good. We're as happy as anyone else about the end of profligacy, but we also know that as long as American consumers stay locked up stuffing money into their (old) mattresses, the whole world economy is like one very leaky boat. Every last job in the world ultimately depends upon people buying things, most of all us Americans.
So, inspired by the German government's incentives for people to scrap their old beaters and buy new cars (which boosted auto sales 40 percent last month), we propose that the Obama administration also get creative in boosting consumer spending. We know it can't be done like the Bushies did, by mailing out a bunch of checks that were deposited directly into savings accounts. So the Downturnaround humbly proposes a Gift Card Stimulus — in which the government sends out virtual money to all Americans under a certain income threshold, with the stipulation that it disappears if they don't spend it within six weeks.
We would add one other stipulation: No buying guns. End-timers may not use our dough to build up their arsenals. Sorry, freaks.
Honestly, we thought of this scheme ourselves, but we just Googled it and it turns out someone else recently had a similar idea, which restored our optimism a little. Perhaps a popular movement is afoot!
• No, this Gisele Bündchen & Tom Brady vs. Bridget Moynahan feud isn't over. Word today is, Bridge is still upset over Gisele's baby-stealing comment. "She...
It's finders keepers, for now.
A Los Angeles judge has denied Michael Jackson's bid to have nearly 2,000 pieces of clothing, furniture and other memorabilia returned to him,...
Robert De Niro's nanny might not think he's such a good fella.
Alexis Barry has sued the actor for more than $40,000 in unpaid overtime, saying he fired her after she threatened...
First, used cars. Next:The new Goya chef! And what lady doesn't look forward to her yearly drive by pap smear? (silence. cough.) Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 9:00 pm
The first reviews of the D-Box Motion version of Fast & Furious are in and, exactly as you would expect, they are unqualified raves. Comedian Paul Scheer gushed that it is "Only the best way to see a movie ... EVER!", and fellow Human Giant cast member Rob Huebel described the experience thusly: "The writer of that movie should kill himself. The inventor of DBOX vibrating seats is going to be President of the USA.” Consider us sold! [Paul Scheer]
Elle just launched a new Shoe Diary blog. It promises a daily peek at the fabulous shoes in the fashion closet at Elle as modeled by Elle staffers, like Anne Slowey. We love shoe porn, but is this the right time to start this blog? The shoes on there now are by Christian Louboutin/Rodarte (pictured), Versace, and Nina Ricci. We hope they throw some stuff in there that doesn't cost at least half our rent. [Elle Shoe Diary via Racked]
Anil Kapoor, the Indian actor who captured America's heart as the game show host in Slumdog Millionaire, will star in the upcoming season of 24 as "a leader from the Mideast who comes to the U.S. for a peacekeeping mission." Aaaaand I think we all know what that means...
Here's Kapoor in real life:
Front Page: Growth potential seen in rentals, Blu-ray -- It's clear the DVD biz has fallen since its peak in 2006, when the format generated approximately $24 billion from sales and rentals.
Despite today's earlier disappointment in her ongoing quest to adopt a Malawian orphan, Madonna is not giving up. She instructed her lawyer, Alan Chinula, today to file an appeal on the matter. There is no set date for further court action, but reports say that Madonna has had her eye on little 4-year-old Mercy James for over a year now, and is prepared to wait. If she really wants to take the girl home with her, she should settle down to wait nearby for about eighteen months, or the minimal residency requirement for international adoptions — which was the sticking point in today's court ruling — but we're not holding our breath. Meanwhile, continuing her public goodwill effort, Madonna visited a local village and even briefly took off her sunglasses. This would be a grand gesture if it only revealed her eyes without makeup, but the fact that it also betrayed even a hint of emotion, well, that's major, as they say in the U.K. Somebody get that woman a baby before she starts knitting, or worse, dressing her age!!
Like most people, you probably stopped watching ER years ago; maybe when Clooney left, maybe when Carter started spending all that time in Africa, maybe when Romano got killed by the same helicopter that had chopped off his arm a year earlier (I wish I were making that up). But as you may have heard, the series drew to a close last night after fifteen years, and while it was emotionally satisfying, it won’t go down in history among the great series finales.
Old viewers just returning were in luck: Newer characters’ stories were wrapped up in the last few weeks, so we could nostalgically welcome back former favorites. The first few years of the series were seen through the eyes of John Carter, trust-fund medical student. In (too) many subsequent seasons, “new” Carters were introduced, and so it was in the finale: Mark Greene’s now twenty-something daughter Rachel tours the hospital to see if she wants to do her residency there. (ER also has a history of bringing in talented new actors and then not quite knowing how to make them fit — Kellie Martin, Omar Epps, Jorja Fox, Sara Gilbert. Last night they inexplicably introduced The Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel; she stands around with her gigantic blue eyes and looks really sad when patients die.)
Rachel’s visit, though, coincides with the long-delayed opening of Carter’s family-funded medical center, which results in a reunion of the long-missed Peter Benton, Susan Lewis, Kerry Weaver, and Elizabeth Corday. Carter takes Rachel Greene under his wing, doing for her what Mark Greene did for him as a student. It all sounds contrived, but deft acting and genuine affection for one another by the actors kept it from being maudlin or silly. But still, not enough was at stake: Many well-remembered storylines have long been resolved. That closing ‘Breathe Me’ montage from the finale of Six Feet Under would have taken the entire second hour of the show on ER; many farewells have already been said.
ER’s strength has always been the realistic practice of medicine by flawed (and heroic) human beings, and the finale avoided any of the over-the-top theatrics of some previous heavily-hyped episodes: There were no trains crashing into cars crashing into buses crashing into a fuel tank while an escaped prisoner played by Ewan McGregor menaces everyone. Instead, the focus was on the perhaps hackneyed, but still affecting, circle of life: Babies are born, old and young people die, some are healed and some are beyond hope.
Series finales tend to take a few well-worn routes, ending with a gotcha moment (Newhart, St. Elsewhere, Roseanne) or the old gang saying goodbye one last time, because everything’s changing (Mary Tyler Moore Show, MASH, Cheers). ER chose to follow the ‘life goes on’ model, which may be true to life but isn't very memorable: a few touching interactions, a few jokes, and, in the waning moments, another major trauma rolled in and Dr. Carter and Dr. (Rachel) Greene taking their spots alongside the rest of the staff to do their jobs and try to save some lives. It was the only real way, if not a very dramatic one, to end such a sprawling show. And to answer your question, no, we don’t know whether Tony Soprano was whacked.
While everyone is hard at work getting ready for the premiere of the new season of Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins next Friday, Paul took some time out of his busy day to discuss his lunch regimen.
Keep an eye out for more Video Blogs with PFT, and remember to tune in next Friday, April 10th at 11pm for an all new Best Week Ever. Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 8:30 pm
After reading the Tweets of a possibly suicidal woman last night, Demi Moore and a few other brave Twitterers sprang into action and alerted the authorities in San Jose, CA, of the woman's troubling situation. As thankful as we are that said woman made it through the night unharmed, we're just as grateful that it was Demi behind the wheel and not some good for nothing ghost Twitterer. Celebrities rule! [Buzzfeed]
What compels a grown man to recreate a Britney Spears song using nothing but American sign language and his own pectorals? Other than the fact that he's a hot tranny, my guess is that he did it... because it is awesome. And what a tease with those suspenders!!
Here is Brit's single "If U Seek Amy", set to a sign language dance.
ps: All white people should dance this way. It looks so natural! Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 8:15 pm
Famed director David Lynch is known for his predilection for severed ears, dancing midgets, and nightmarish dream sequences. Yet he's also involved in something slightly less creepy: the David Lynch Foundation, which teaches children how to meditate. On April 4, he's hosting the 'Change Begins Within' concert at Radio City, reuniting Paul and Ringo for the first time since the Concert for George in 2002. Vulture caught up with Lynch at the swanky Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle for a sneak preview of the event. Naturally, Lynch had two cameramen filming as we interviewed him.
How did an artist like yourself — who's associated with making films that are considered to be pretty dark — get so interested in meditation?
I always say that books and films and music reflect the world in which we live, and we live in a dark and troubled world. I got interested in meditation because I heard this word 'enlightenment' and I wondered if it was true that a human being had a potential for more and more that could be unfolded. My first experience with transcendental meditation proved to me that there was a way to get there and it was beautiful.
What do you remember about that experience?
I remember as if it were yesterday. It was as if I was in an elevator and someone cut the cables. [Makes a boom sound]. Within I went. And waves of bliss, so deeply beautiful and powerful, and I wondered, 'where has this experience been?' This is something so powerfully beautiful, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. That kept me meditating through the years.
The goal of the concert is to teach a million children to meditate. How realistic is that?
We're going to need a bunch of money to do it. I've heard that the figure is $50 million. They think they can teach a million kids at fifty dollars a head. They plan to teach 300,000 in South America, 300,000 in India, and the rest will come from the rest of the world.
A lot of people associate meditation with the The Beatles. Is that why you wanted Paul and Ringo to do the concert?
Paul and Ringo were with Maharishi in 1968 in India. It's been pretty quiet since then. The fact that Paul and Ringo are so enthusiastically coming to this concert, to me is a very important thing.
I hear you're planning a documentary about the founder of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who passed away last year. Can you talk about that?
No. [Laughs]. It's such a huge project. Maharishi was in the world teaching for fifty-three years and brought out so much knowledge. The trick will be to tell that knowledge in such a way that people understand it and are thrilled by it.
Is it going to be hard to make a film that's so close to your heart without it turning into propaganda?
You could look at it like that, but I think that knowledge is knowledge and people should know what's there.
What else can we expect of you?
I love to paint and I'm going to be painting. I love to take pictures and I'm going to be taking pictures. I love to make music and I'm going to be making music. And at the same time working away on this film about Maharishi.
London obsession/TV presenter Alexa Chung is moving to New York to further her television career. Rumor is she got a gig with MTV. We wonder if MTV plans to bring back House of Style permanently and has learned models who can't read cue cards don't make the best hosts. Because surely Alexa's smart enough to not take a V.J. position for some sort of new Total Request Live-type show, illustrious and career enhancing though those are (Carson Daly can vouch for that). British people are really sad Alexa's decamping for New York. The 25-year-old former model is one of London's biggest style obsessions. Grazia reports her new pad is close to fellow Brit Agyness Deyn's in Williamsburg. She looks like she can swim with the hipsters. We're curious to see how she'll do on The Scene over here. We never understood why London was so obsessed with her, but when it comes to fashion people moving here our philosophy is the more the merrier! Anything to take some of the attention off Peaches Geldof.
Wearing a plaid green A-line spring skirt from her new fashion line, paired with a black patent leather belt and black leather gladiator sandal stilettos, "Sex and the City" actress Kristin Davis is the perfect combination of sweet and fierce when we meet up after her fashion show at the Belk department store in Atlanta, Georgia.
We're big fans of Una Pizza Napoletana in the East Village and its irascible, tattoo-covered owner Anthony Mangieri. (The no-nonsense, authentic pizza joint made it to the top of our Cheap Eats list a few years ago.) So, needless to say, we got a little excited when we stumbled upon this intriguing documentary short about Mangieri and his philosophy of pie, that presents him — accurately, we might add — as a kind of hardcore pizza monk. True to the attitude of the place, Fabrizio Galvagno and Julia Haslett's Pure & Simple is itself a bare-bones work: We watch Mangieri over the course of a day at his shop, as he describes how he came to be such a purist about authentic Neapolitan pizza. The result is simple, but also kind of hypnotic. Not to mention mouth watering. If you like this, we also recommend another short by Haslett, Hurt & Save, which is available online via our friends at IndiePix.
Actress Demi Moore's frequent postings on Twitter put her in the middle of a life-and-death drama Friday when a woman sent her an online message threatening suicide.
Paul McCartney, David Lynch, and Rongo Star (SIC) meet up for Lynch's 'Change Begins Within' Foundation, and hopefully for some amazing, cryptic Beatles-scored film project that isn't this crap.
(Ed. Note: Might I say that I was really blown away this week. Thanks to all of you and Intern Erin for her help!) Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 6:51 pm
Front Page: Theater biz woos auds with marketing ideas -- No time to grab a pre-theater cocktail? Don't fret -- at Broadway tuner "Rock of Ages," you can drink during the show. And then play a round of vidgame "Rock Band" at intermission.
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker films scene at the "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" movie set in Mid Town Manhattan in March 2009 in New York City. A Hollywood studio is working on a second "Sex and the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Apr 2009 | 6:34 pm
Fashion Wire Daily - Miley Cyrus wore Alberta Ferretti to the premiere of "Hannah Montana: The Movie," her first big live-action starring vehicle, a navy minidress with a high-waisted belt; quite the coup for that designer, as well as BCBG, which furnished her cropped black leather jacket. Miley's other main accessory was her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, who co-stars in the movie that jumps their wildly successful television show to the big screen.
Alert: MObama removed her Thakoon coat in France revealing ... more Thakoon! The dress is custom-pixelated floral-silk jacquard. We think this is a remarkably flattering cut for her and love what the sleeves do for her arms. Now if only Carla would strip down. It's nothing she hasn't done before.
Olivier Theyskens presented a stunning fall 2009 collection for Nina Ricci, but he left the house March 10 after being pushed out by Puig Fashion Group, which owns the label. The industry remains flabbergasted that Puig let Theyskens go six months before his contract was set to expire in October. Anna Wintour even voiced her disappointment in her April Vogueeditor's letter. Puig said in a statement announcing the dismissal that the brand "wishes to re-orientate its development strategy for the years to come." Oh, why reorient when the Theyskens fall 2009 development strategy was so, so lovely?
But Theyskens is out, and there's nothing we or Anna Wintour can do about it. He will hopefully move on to bigger and better, while Puig head Mario Grauso — whose thought process we will never, ever understand — said he plans to announce Ricci's new designer "within the next few weeks." Fashion Week Daily reports a "well-placed industry insider is '99% sure'" Copping will pick up where Theyskens left off. Copping designs under Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton. We're sure he's a lovely, talented man, but there is probably no way for him to fill Theyskens's shoes next season. And we do not envy him that challenge, though we wish him the best of luck.
Robert De Niro appeared at a club opening in South Africa yesterday, alongside the likes of Matt Damon, Mariah Carey, and his Casino co-star Sharon Stone. And while there were only two photos taken of De Niro by himself, the expressions made in both pictures could easily sum up Robert De Niro's entire rainbow of emotion. So much so that we were compelled to spend way too much time making the following image:
Bonus animated GIFNero ahead.
It's like a little animated friend who'll tell you to "shut the f*ck up" all the time. Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 5:30 pm
One month ago Roberto Cavallisaid his licensing deal with Ittierre SpA was "as good as finished." The contract doesn't expire until 2010, but Cavalli was upset about the state of his fall 2009 Just Cavalli line. Ittierre, which had to file for the Italian equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, shipped the samples for the runway show late. So Cavalli canceled his Just Cavalli show and loudly blamed Ittierre for it at the small, no-frills presentation he staged instead. He also said half of what Ittierre sent was of really crappy quality. Ittierre even planned to sue Cavalli for all the nasty things he said about them. But WWD reports today that within 24 hours, Cavalli could sign a deal to renew his contract with Ittierre for five years.
The change of heart could have something to do with Cavalli selling a stake in his brand. Yesterday, we learned he was in talks to sell a 20 percent stake to an Italian private equity firm. Smoothing things over with Ittierre strengthens Cavalli's position in those negotiations. But who knows if that will happen since, as this Ittierre business only proves, this man is so unpredictable. Like — dare we say — an animal in the wild.
"The Haunting in Connecticut" earned $23 million and a second-place ranking the first weekend of its release. But Carmen Reed lived the story in real life, and she'd just as soon keep it in the past.
We're down to the Final Four of 90s Movie Madness, after bidding farewell to #1 seeds Billy Madison and American Pie, as well as the upstart Home Alone and the unlucky Reality Bites, which would've been a sure Final Four entrant if it could have avoided tournament juggernaut Clueless (we'll chalk that one up to the Selection Committee).
Is a Clueless / Wayne's World Finale inevitable? Or will the Clerks fans (or Scream fans - ??) rally for their 90s cause? Vote away after the jump -- the Finals will take place on Monday to coincide with that other lesser tournament also going on:
Vote away, and feel free to spend your weekend indoors angrily arguing catchphrases and fashion trends in the comments:
(Poll embeds via XversusY.com) Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 5:00 pm
Madonna was Photoshopped quite a bit in a promotional shot for her Hard Candy album, if you can believe it. The "before" shot shows her wrinkles, tired eyes, and a greater fraction of her real age than the "after" shot, where her nose appears half as big (plastic surgery only goes so far). She also glows like radioactive material in the "after" shot, while her breasts appear rounder. She looks like a painting, not a real human. Then again, who can be sure she's a real human anyway? [World of Wonder via Jezebel]
Front Page: Indian actor to make U.S. TV debut on show -- Indian film star Anil Kapoor, who made waves here as the game show host in "Slumdog Millionaire," is next looking to make a similar splash on U.S. small screens.
Every year right around this time, the internet and Walgreen's alike are bombarded by everyone's favorite (?) globs of adorable tasteless food-colorized globs of synthetic marshmallowy goop called Peeps. This year, the internet has already given us the Peeps Office Contest, Peeps lip balm, and literally about 100 other similar instances designed to entice us into buying this sh*tty candy with creative crafts campaigns on a medium where tasting things is impossible.
This leads me to ask a question I've asked many times in my life:
Who actually likes Peeps and why?
The question isn't "Does anyone actually like Peeps?", because I have a bunch of friends who insist upon genuinely loving them every year, at an approximate rate of "8 Friends Who Hate Peeps : 3 Friends Who Love Peeps," but every year I think to myself "eh, they're cute, I like marshmallow things, maybe I'll enjoy -- awww God this already terrible and it's been in my mouth for half a second..." and wonder if I'm tasting a different object than the devout group of Peeps-defenders.
I love toasted marshmallows and s'mores, I love all kinds of crazy synthetic Easter candy (if it's anything egg-shaped, it goes in my throat, no questions asked), but I've just never been bitten by the Peeps bug (literally or figuratively), and I'm genuinely intrigued when someone vehemently defends them, which is often.
Talk amongst yourselves (remember that????????) -- leave all Peeps love / hate / hate of Peeps lovers or vice versa in the comments! Source: Best Week Ever | 3 Apr 2009 | 4:30 pm
2009s "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit stunner Jessica Hart has an all-natural glow, an itty bitty body and perfectly proportioned pegs, but the bikini babe does have one little "flaw" that is sometimes deemed "too big" for the modeling world Source: FOXNews.com | 3 Apr 2009 | 4:28 pm
Actor Clint Eastwood attends the Modern Master Award at the 24th Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January 2009 in Santa Barbara, California. A new luxury hotel with some of the most expensive... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Apr 2009 | 4:12 pm
The media regulator fined the BBC 150,000 pounds on Friday for lewd phone calls made by its highest-paid presenter Jonathan Ross, seen here in March 2009, to a veteran actor. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Apr 2009 | 4:02 pm
AFP - Supermodel Naomi Campbell lashed out Friday at what she sees as latent racism in the fashion industry, which she said gives preference to "blond, blue-eyed models" over black women.
Jackson signed a contract last summer with Julien's Auction House of Los Angeles to move everything out of his Neverland Ranch Source: FOXNews.com | 3 Apr 2009 | 3:17 pm
Front Page: Fest to world preem doc about making of film -- The Cannes Film Festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Federico Fellini's "La dolce vita" with the world preem of a documentary about the making of the maestro's classic Palm d'Or winner.
The Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver bassist, who's now back to fronting his other band, Duff McKagan's Loaded, is also busy these days writing a weekly financial column Duffnomics.
Mexican rock legends Café Tacuba announced details of their 20th anniversary world tour today. The trek will take the Grammy and Latin Grammy winners to 20 cities in Central and South America, the U.S. and Europe.
A ground-breaking deal between leading US and French film groups to produce an interactive thriller that will premiere exclusively on MySpace highlights a new dawn in the entertainment world. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 3 Apr 2009 | 2:04 pm
The NCAA says Motown legends The Temptations will sing the national anthem Monday night before the men's basketball national championship game at Ford Field in Detroit.
Madonna will not be allowed to adopt a second child from Malawi, a 4-year-old girl named Mercy James, the African country's High Court ruled on Friday.
Jackie Earle Haley has gone from Little Children to teen tormentor.
The Oscar-nominated actor will don Freddy Krueger's signature striped sweater in the upcoming revamp of A...
The second Sex and the City movie may not be as big as the first.
We're sure the box office will be just as major, but I'm told there's been a delay in getting Mr. Big to...
Even if Levi Johnston were not one to kiss and tell, Sarah Palin was apparently already in the loop.
The 19-year-old father of Palin's first grandchild tells Tyra Banks that the GOP...
Rumer Willis is spreading her wings as an actress with a gritty role as a lady of the evening for her guest-starring role on Medium.
"It's a little strange for me to have the...
Turns out Guy Ritchie isn't one to kick Madonna when she's down.
Despite the wild assortment of less-than-flattering adjectives the duo supposedly used to describe each other in...
You really can find the father of your children on national TV.
Onetime Bachelorette Trista and her hubby Ryan Sutter, whose 2003 nuptials and subsequent baby-making proved to...
Chris Brown is due to face the music in court on Monday—or he can just turn on his radio today.
Smoke Jumpers, a little-known hip-hop act, is attempting to raise its profile with...
• No, this Gisele Bündchen & Tom Brady vs. Bridget Moynahan feud isn't over. Word today is, Bridge is still upset over Gisele's baby-stealing comment. "She...
It's finders keepers, for now.
A Los Angeles judge has denied Michael Jackson's bid to have nearly 2,000 pieces of clothing, furniture and other memorabilia returned to him,...
Robert De Niro's nanny might not think he's such a good fella.
Alexis Barry has sued the actor for more than $40,000 in unpaid overtime, saying he fired her after she threatened...
Robert De Niro appeared at
Every year right around this time, the internet and Walgreen's alike are bombarded by everyone's favorite (?) globs of adorable tasteless food-colorized globs of synthetic marshmallowy goop called Peeps. This year, the internet has already given us the 
