LONDON - Coldplay, the Arctic Monkeys and Blur's Damon Albarn are donating items to be sold at a charity auction beginning Friday to raise funds for Haiti earthquake victims, auction... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 22 Jan 2010 | 2:58 am
Reuters - Conan O'Brien is now a free agent after his $33 million settlement with NBC was finally completed early Thursday morning -- but his hiatus probably won't last long. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 22 Jan 2010 | 1:02 am
On the penultimate Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien last night the host continued on his quest to waste NBC's money and spent $4.8 million on a skit involving Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. Jimmy Kimmel recounted the epic late night wars in the style of documentarian Ken Burns, while Jimmy Fallon weighed his post-Late Night career options. Finally, Jon Stewart used his moment of zen to show his support for Team CoCo. Watch our compilation to see what you missed.
The Greatest Movie on Earth:Sean Penn and Robert Pattinson are in negotiations to join Reese Witherspoon in the cast of Depression-era drama Water for Elephants. Adapted from Sara Guren's novel, the story is about a Cornell veterinary student (Pattinson) who drops out of school after his parents are killed and takes a gig as a circus vet. Witherspoon will play a beautiful equestrian, Penn would play her demented animal training husband and, since it's about a circus, Verne Troyer will have a role in there somewhere. [Variety]
Dead On:Isla Fisher, Andy Serkis and Tom Wilkinson have joined Simon Pegg in John Landis' horror-comedy Burke and Hare. The film is based on the true story of a couple of Britain's most notorious serial killers who sold the corpses of their victims to a medical school. Pegg is playing one killer while Serkis plays the other. Fisher will play Pegg's girlfriend and Wilkinson a corpse-seeking professor. Sounds like a real laugh! [Heat Vision/THR]
Yo Ho Ho:Rob Marshall has finally been confirmed as the director of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the series. The rumors of Marshall taking over for Gore Verbinski, who jumped ship after the third installment, have been around since August. But now that Marshall knows he won't be bothered by having to attend award shows, he's free to start work on this. [AP]
They Know Pilots: TNT went wild picking up pilots yesterday. To its already robust slate of dramas come Steven Spielberg's untitled alien invasion drama starring Noah Wyle, the George Clooney-produced Delta Blues starring Jason Lee and Rizzoli & Isles starring Angie Harmon. Each show has been given a 10 show order. Blues and Rizzoli will hit the air waves this year, while the alien show will arrive in 2011 because it requires more special effects and frankly, the world isn't ready for it. [THR]
It's Alive:Danny Boyle has plans to direct a production of Frankenstein at the UK's National Theater during the upcoming season. The stage is nothing new to Boyle, who directed many productions before venturing into film. Because he likes to cast real people, Boyle is now off to find a creature with bolts in its neck to play his lead. We wish him luck. [Variety]
Reuters - Unless a comedy by Noel Coward is played with perfect precision, it tends to have the taste of Champagne that has lost its fizz. Such is the case with the Roundabout's Broadway revival of "Present Laughter," playing at the American Airlines Theater through March 21. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 21 Jan 2010 | 11:45 pm
Reuters - You don't turn a poem into a movie and certainly not such a revolutionary, in-your-face, youthful and passionate work as Allen Ginsberg's "Howl." Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 21 Jan 2010 | 11:44 pm
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With Conan O'Brien departing NBC on Friday and Jay Leno resuming control of "The Tonight Show," NBC Universal TV entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin talked Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 11:43 pm
Kitty Kelley, biographer of the rich and famous, is getting ready to release an unauthorized biography on talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.
She's everything a boy would need
She's a girl with a curious hand
She's a girl with a curious hand
She's a girl with a curious hand
America: Where the bikinis are tiny, the innuendo obvious, and the centerfolds hold office. [HuffPo]
(AP)
AP - Coldplay, the Arctic Monkeys and Blur's Damon Albarn are donating items to be sold at a charity auction beginning Friday to raise funds for Haiti earthquake victims, auction organizers said.
AP - Coldplay, the Arctic Monkeys and Blur's Damon Albarn are donating items to be sold at a charity auction beginning Friday to raise funds for Haiti earthquake victims, auction organizers said.
Conan O'Brien is wishing he had been nicer to Ryan Seacrest.
"I thought about something today," he said Thursday during his penultimate monologue as host of The Tonight...
Among the many haters of President Obama's plan to curb the size of banks and limit their risk-taking is the diminutive billionaire we call Mayor. Last night Mayor Bloomberg strongly came out against Obama's plan, saying it would result in job loss and hurt the city. He demanded that members of New York's congressional delegation stand up to the administration. Senator Schumer has been unclear about his stance on the rules.
"It's a careful balance. You can't say do nothing because we all know the banks made mistakes, but you can't be so draconian that you cause job loss or make the institutions not function properly," Schumer said.
After railing against the President's plan, Bloomberg had an idea for those turds in Washington.
"I just find it sort of ironic that congressmen, senators who make more than double what the average person working in finance makes -- they're the rich ones and they're talking about trying to restrict bonuses and taxing the industries that are our lifeblood," Bloomberg said. "Maybe we should hold back their salaries for a decade or so and see whether the laws they pass work out."
Tiger Woods wasn't just whistling "Dixie" in Mississippi.
A source confirms to E! News that the beleaguered golfer did indeed check into Pine Grove Behavioral Health and...
•Robert Pattinson and Sean Penn are in talks to star in Fox 2000's drama Water for Elephants, about a depression-era veterinary student who leaves Cornell to join the circus. Penn would play a "charismatic but twisted animal trainer" married to equestrian star played by Reese Witherspoon. Pattinson would play the veterinarian. Penn could not be reached for this article because he is in Haiti saving people. Pattinson could not be reached because he's hibernating in a cryogenic beautypod until his creators defrost him for his next role. [Variety]
•Time to sort out the Late-Night Armageddon aftermath: Tomorrow is Conan O'Brien's last show. Jay Leno's back on Tonight after that. Conan gets $32 million straight-up—there's no 'offset clause' which would count money he earned at other networks against that sum, as we previously reported; $12 million goes to his staff and to pay for other "shut-down" costs. The "disparagement clause" means O'Brien can't say mean things about NBC until September, but then he will likely say mean things—maybe on Fox. But nothing's certain except he "wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible." [Variety]
•Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry has been brought back from the dead—in the form of a new TV pilot based on one of his ideas. The Questor Tapes sounds like a Twilight Zone episode: It's about "an android with incomplete memory tapes who searches for his creator and his purpose." The Questor Tapes was made into a TV movie in 1974, but according to Roddenberry's son, Gene Roddenberry always thought the idea could be "bigger than Star Trek." Our 13 year-old self is very excited about this. [The Wrap]
•Conan the Barbarian news: Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa will star in a remake of the old Arnold Schwarzenegger joint Conan the Barbarian. Goggle the guy: That is an impressive mess o' dreads. Ha ha, holy crap: Just read on his Wikipedia page that after filming season 4 of Stargate Atlantis he had his dreadlocks cut off because they were "causing him headaches" during action scenes. This guy's one to watch. [Deadline]
•Rob Lowe is leaving the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters. And the heart says... Whatever. [THR]
New York City's unemployment rate for the month of December hit 10.6 percent, higher than it has been in 17 years. That means about 425,000 New Yorkers tried and failed to find jobs in December. To top it off, a Melba Toast factory in the Bronx that employees 228 people is moving to North Carolina. [NYT]
A date with Rihanna apparently comes with a background check.
Domestic violence was not a factor in a restraining order filed against L.A. Dodgers star Matt Kemp by a former girlfriend...
Handsome-faced actor Rob Lowe plans to leave ABC drama Brothers & Sisters later this season because he doesn't feel like his acting abilities, or his handsome face, are being used to their full potential. If you recall, Lowe used the same reasoning in 2003 when he dropped out of The West Wing. Recognizing that Lowe's face is too handsome to allow him to go to another network, ABC says that it's now in talks with Lowe to create his own show.
So Jay Leno is aware of what's been going on at NBC.
The former Tonight Show host has finally, officially acknowledged that he's returning to the job he held for 17 years before...
AP - Beyonce and Madonna have been added as performers to Friday's multi-network "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon, and Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and former President Bill Clinton are among the participants.
The good people over at The Times City Room noticed something disconcerting today: animals are taking over the city. And it's not just coyotes. It's roosters, raccoons, swans, skunks and a baby goat. Here's the rundown: stray roosters are wandering the West Village; eight rabid raccoons have been found between 79th and 196th streets; skunks are attacking a Bronx housing complex; and Prospect Park swans are being more friendly to each other, but is it to gear up for a fight against humans? At least the goat seems to be friendly. But it is hyper-active, so escape is likely imminent.
Reuters - The problem with movies revolving around slackers is that they too often tend to be as aimless as their lead characters. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 21 Jan 2010 | 9:15 pm
Top British music acts offered Friday a dazzling array of gifts, from guitars to a live concert in your garden, to be auctioned off to raise money for Haiti's quake victims. Coldplay and Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 9:10 pm
Coldplay singer Chris Martin is pictured performing September last year at the Barcelona Olympic Stadium. Top British music acts have offered a dazzling array of gifts, from guitars to a live concert in... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 9:10 pm
The end of summer means more than just mad drama, hot tub hook-ups and a grill full of shriveled wieners.
So even as Snooki disparaged the season's last withered hot dogs, The...
Reuters - Conan O'Brien will end his short-lived stint as host of "The Tonight Show" on Friday after signing a $45 million exit deal with NBC that ends two weeks of embarrassing on-air bickering and allows Jay Leno to return to the flagship late-night comedy program. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 21 Jan 2010 | 8:44 pm
Weekly charts for America's best-selling recorded music as they appear in next week's issue of Billboard magazine. Reprinted with permission. (Platinum signifies more than 1 million... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 8:35 pm
• Rumor has it Danny Meyer and Ian Schrager are currently in "advanced talks" to open a restaurant on the roof of the Gramercy Park Hotel. [P6] • Will we see the classic tiki bar make a comeback in 2010? [NYT] • Minetta Tavern introduces brunch service this weekend. [UD] • New Tavern on the Green operator Dean Poll has yet to seal a deal with the union or city (or even finalize the name), but he's lined up a new GM. [P6] • Is it possible the restaurants in London are better than the ones here? [GS] • Two "disaster-relief socials" benefiting Haiti took place last night. [SF, HP] • NYC's oldest gay bar, Julius, has been shuttered by the DoH. [Eater] • Gwyneth Paltrow has a tasty Vietnamese salad she'd love to share with you.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Since "Extraordinary Measures," a tremulous medical drama about a father trying to save the lives of his children, is the first feature released by the... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 8:30 pm
Reuters - Since "Extraordinary Measures," a tremulous medical drama about a father trying to save the lives of his children, is the first feature released by the newly constituted CBS Films, it's all too tempting to describe the piece as a TV movie, reminiscent of those disease-of-the-week affairs that used to clog the tube.
Of all the enormous pop groups from the 90s, the Spice Girls most deserve a musical based on their music (sorry LFO) and, as luck would have it, they're getting one! Simon Fuller, who managed the Girls until 1997, is teaming up with Judy Craymer, who created Mamma Mia!, to bring Viva Forever to London's West End. Cryamer says she plans to "create a unique celebration of the band and its music, with its own flavour and joyful message," while excited Spice Girls fans everywhere say they plan to slam their bodies down and wind them all around.
James Franco thinks Spider-Man can go on without director Sam Raimi helming and star Tobey Maguire leading the web-slinging.
Columbia Pictures and Marvel Comics announced on Tuesday...
In a statement to NBC Bay Area, Phillips admits to the lengthy affair with Wilkins but adds that "the relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended and we both wish each other well."
I can assure you he portrayed himself as having been legally divorced in 2003. Their closeness and the fact that heir relationship was very public led no one to believe otherwise. They attended family & professional events as a couple, lived together for 8 years & bought a home about 2 years ago. I was a guest at numerous of their parties and he introduced her to numerous people, including his son, as his girlfriend
There was never any indication there was a third party in their relationship. Charles and YaVaughnie spent quite a bit of money on their estate so it doesn't make sense that things have turned out this way. The realtor at Coldwell Bankers and contractors at Genesis, Inc. and Bethe Cohen Design associated with the couple have nothing but glowing things to say about YaVaughnie and Charles. If he is married, YaVaughnie did not know. She believed him, as we all did, when he said he was divorced.
Which suggests this story could have major implications for Oracle outside of simply embarrassing its president. Phillips is essentially the public face of the company, and he's paid handsomely for it: He made $19.3 million at Oracle last year—$49 million since 2007. And according to SEC records, he's the beneficial owner of $80 million worth of Oracle stock. We'll see if that stock is worth a little less tomorrow.
Since YaVaughnie's site, which she described as a "gift" for Charles when she hired the web designer, keeps going down, we've added a few more pictures to our selected gallery to give you a taste of what she posted:
The National Enquirer is so proud of its coverage of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter and little baby Quinn that it plans to submit its work for a Pulitzer Prize. Barry Levine, the tabloid's executive editor, told the Washington Post that with Edwards' admission of paternity comes "vindication, finally." One problem with The Enquirer's dream of winning a Pulitzer, as Howard Kurtz notices, is that most of its significant reporting on the story happened in 2007 and 2008 and this year's Pulitzers will honor work done in 2009. Another problem is that it's The National Enquirer.
We are all very, very sad that this is the season finale (or "season finally" as ShamWOWW tweeted earlier today) and what better way to get over our bitter tears than by crying with a blog post full of your closest friends. Our tears will all join together into one virtual, salty hot tub of love that Snooki and The Situation will cavort in. But not only that, it will be the gestational fluid of a new generation of guidos, and they will be conceived right here in our grief.
So, let the keening commence and share your sadness in the comments section below. Type a little mass card for the show in the empty box and hit "Share." Then everyone can pray along with you. Keep refreshing the page to see what everyone else has to say and to respond to their comments. The show starts at 10pm on MTV and there is a "reunion show" (which was taped last week) right after it, so we'll probably be keeping the chairs warm at this wake until midnight.
Here are some scant joys for this most dolorous of occassions:
Drinking game: Be sure to take a shot every time the duck phone quacks, Ronnie gets arrested, Sammi Quiznos starts a stupid fight, someone says "situation," and Snooki sucks the juice out of a pickle—including The Situations/
Remembrances: Let us focus on the good times and share with us your favorite scenes, quotes, pictuers, and incidents from this very momentous season. The first one to post the animated Snooki punch .gif in the comments gets a spanking. But just one, cause my hands get sore.
Alright, guido and guidettes, see you in the comments. Let's live it up like it's Labor Day weekend and we just got a clean STD screening!
Two stints in Celebrity Rehab didn't take for Jeff Conaway. And now the reality for the Grease star is pretty grim.
Just ask his exasperated girlfriend, Vikki Lizzi, who...
Front Page: 'Miss Sunshine' producers tout 'Lucky,' 'Jack Goes Boating' -- "Little Miss Sunshine" producers-financiers Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf returned to Sundance this week with two films premiering at the fest plus a new slate of projects.
In last week's season premiere, the pacing seemed snappier, the editing sharper, and the designers more interesting, imaginative, and talented compared with last season. I'm sure tonight's episode will be another good one, so why not join our group live blog of the show and help rekindle the PR excitement? The show starts at 10 Eastern on Lifetime, and the live blog happens in the comments section below, where all are welcome to join in.
I expect that our participant ranks will be diminished somewhat due to the Jersey Shore live blog party going on across the Gawker hall—but that was true last week too, and it didn't prevent us from having a great live blog then. For a selection of some of my favorite comments from that one, click here. Highlights included the following:
Many of us were put off by the new look of the sewing room, which has been painted an ugly shade of pink. Maybe it was supposed to be the Pepto-Bismol Sewing Room and the sponsorship deal fell through at the last minute?
We noticed that one designer, Janeane, couldn't seem to stop crying, often inexplicably. I suggest we call her "Sanjaya Girl" from now on.
During a commercial for some shitty movie, commenter Old Ocho accurately observed: "Not all shitty movies are released in January, but all movies released in January are shitty."
Apparently, the show's producers ordered one too many retro Bettie Page-haircut women this year. I'm surprised they didn't just put the extra one in storage for next season.
Commenter katekate dubbed one designer, "Completely Unmemorable Brunette." I can't remember which designer that was, so I guess the nickname is a good one.
On the subject of nicknames, we got off to a good start on creating some for this season's designers. For example, Lizawithazee named Ping "Pong," unclevanya suggested "Aunt Bunny" for Anthony, and robina dubbed Janeane "Weepy McLifetime" (which is probably at least as good as my "Sanjaya Girl" suggestion). Speaking of Janeane, I propose we adopt "drink whenever she cries" as a new drinking-game rule. It might be the only one we need to get nice and drunk every week.
I don't have many "things to watch for" tonight because I didn't get a "highlight reel" DVD from Lifetime this week (they promise to send me one next week, though). Judging from the 30-second promo spot, the designers have to go to a farm and make clothes out of stuff like burlap sacks. That sounds like a promising departure from the all-too-common "go buy fabric at Mood and make something" challenges of last season, so I'm down with it.
OK, gang, let's get ready to live-blog. Have you all finished recalibrating your expectations yet? No? Well hurry up! The pre-show time frame will expire any minute!
There's some good news out of TV land tonight for all the Cablevision subscribers who've suffered 21 days without Paula Dean, Rachel Ray and Guy Feirei: Food Network is back. Cablevision and Scripps announced today that they finally resolved the contract dispute that caused Food Network and HGTV to go off the air on January 1st. Now you can resume your nightly schedule of watching three consecutive hours of Unwrapped with Marc Summers. [EW]
Reuters - Appropriately enough, "Blood" gets top billing over "Sand" in Starz's "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," which premieres on Friday night. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 21 Jan 2010 | 6:39 pm
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, whose victory over Creigh Deeds last November was part of a supposed Republican resurgence, has won the distinct honor of delivering the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address. In a statement announcing the decision, House Minority Leader John Boehner said McDonnell is a kick ass governor who "has offered common-sense economic policies in stark contrast to Washington Democrats' job-killing agenda."
For McDonnell's sake, let's hope his star turn goes better than Bobby Jindal's, who delivered the GOP response to President Obama's address to congress last year. Jindal's much-hyped performance was widely panned, though it's hard to dislike someone who so thoroughly resembles 30 Rock's Kenneth Parcell. Anyway, McDonnell should rest well knowing that the only way his performance could be weirder than Jindal's is if he lifts up his shirt and starts rubbing his beer belly a la Tracy Morgan.
Reuters - A funny thing happened to Paul Reubens on the way to his twilight years: He rediscovered the child within. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 21 Jan 2010 | 6:28 pm
Blog pioneer and soon-to-be NYU visiting scholar Dave Winer proposed an online revenue model for the New York Times. Our revenue model: We'll pay to see Winer and Carr fight. Or at least yell at one another.
New York's Mark Graham wants answers, goddammit, not excuses about whatever obsolete ritualistic crypto-pagan holiday the coroner's office celebrates in the last two weeks of December.
Here's hoping this money helps the Grazianos put their lives back together.
Linda Hogan, Hulk's ex-wife, has settled the negligence lawsuit brought against her by the family of...
A subsidiary of wrecked insurance giant AIG is now auctioning off the wrecked Airbus that Sully Sullenberger landed in the Hudson a year ago. [AIG Aviation]
Front Page: Director, museum topper embrace film in context of art history -- Last summer, Martin Scorsese took LACMA's Michael Govan to task after the org announced plans to shutter its film program.
So, are you still curious as to what exactly caused the untimely death of 32 year-old actress Brittany Murphy last month? So are we! Murphy passed away from as-yet-undetermined causes way back on December 20, at which point we were told that toxicology reports could take up to three four to six weeks (Ed. Note: We jumped the gun a bit, our apologies) to process. Well, it's not exactly as if we've been counting down the days on our calendar or anything, but when we saw her husband Simon Monjack and mother Sharon on the Today Show this morning, we were reminded that it's now been almost five whole weeks since her death. The interview was quite strange, as both parties repeatedly insisted that Murphy never even as much as touched illegal drugs and Monjack claimed that all of the prescription drugs that were found at the scene were for his personal use (save for the menstrual meds, natch).
However, the strangest and saddest moment of the interview came when Monjack revealed that Murphy became very depressed after Warner Bros. backed out on their offer for her to reprise her role as Gloria in Happy Feet 2 after rumors swirled that the Clueless star was becoming increasingly more difficult to work with. He then went on to bring the names of two of Hollywood's biggest stars into the story:
"The week before she died, they're making Happy Feet 2 and she was offered the role of Gloria and Warner Brothers pulled the offer...I would say to Brad Pitt and Mattie Damon who have been offered the movie, really think about Brittany before you do it."
We're not sure that laying a guilt trip on Pitt and Damon is the most effective way to get back at Warner Bros., but then again, what do we know? We'll continue to keep you posted if and when we can finally close the book on Murphy's tragic passing.
They're so pale, which leads us to believe they lasted past the summer!
There were many dramatic season-long arcs on Jersey Shore, which wraps up tonight with its season finale and reunion show: Pauly D’s obsession with “the business”; Mike’s failure to land a ten; Snookie’s love of farmers. And yet none so beguiled us as the relationship of Ronnie and Sammi “Sweetheart,” which emerged as one of the great romances on television today. According to Cristina Nehring, author of the controversial relationship playbook A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-First Century, the basic ingredients of a great love affair are passion, adversity, danger and suffering. Sammi and Ronnie's relationship certainly has had them all.
Passion: Though they weren’t a case of love at first sight (perhaps more like love at first Ron-Ron Juice), they were quickly drawn to each other by a strong, lustful attraction. “I’d pound out Sam, I really would, she’s fucking cute,” Ronnie poetically admitted to his rival for Sammi's affections, Mike the Situation. Sammi felt similarly moved to put her feelings into words at the club on the night of their first hook-up: “Ronnie is just fucking hot,” she told us, eyes aglow with, yes, passion. After dance-floor grinding and the exposing of Ronnie’s abs, the die was cast. “I was feeling Ronnie, I’m attracted to him,” said Sam, and after sharing a late-night sandwich together, they cuddled upstairs. Suck on that, Romeo and Juliet!
Adversity: After a lovely date at miniature golf, their relationship was tested when Sammi gave her number to her friend the cop. After she confessed that she gets flirtatious when she’s drunk, the couple endured their first fight. “You’re disgusting,” she said. “You’re like the rest of the Jersey girls I meet,” he countered. A weaker relationship would have been easily torn asunder by such accusations, but mere words and cop-ogling could not break their bond. Soon Ronnie was dropping his guard (and his towel) and telling her “You’re my girl.” Later, he confirmed that things had ended as all great nights of rekindled passion do: “We smushed.”
Danger: Pushing and fist fights and black eyes, oh my! Just when everything was going swimmingly, Ronnie’s temper flared up. At one point, he tried to quiet Sammi by gently pushing her aside as she was goading another couple on the Boardwalk. She freaked, he threw punches, and yet the couple made up again as Ronnie held frozen food to his face to stop the swelling. Needless to say, it must have thawed fast held so close to their burning love.
Suffering: When Ronnie made fun of Sammi’s toes, she tearfully confessed her foot insecurity. Unable to bear the pain such self-consciousness must cause her, he offered to suck on her deformed toes. Such podiatric sacrifice is rare in this day and age.
Will they stay together? Will they break up? Will they announce their engagement on the reunion show? We can only hope for their happiness, because if they can’t make it work, what hope do the rest of us have? So let’s all pray that they shall forevermore grind, fight, and suffer gladly. Together.
So this morning Obama announced his new plan to rein in Too Big To Fail banks, which we missed because we were out in the world doing some stuff for once. The plan, which was introduced via some absurdly cinematic tough-president talk ("My resolve to reform the system is only strengthened when I see a return to old practices at some of the very firms fighting reform. So if these folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have"), includes something called the Volcker Rule (so-named for former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, who thought it up). In a nutshell, the rule proposes that since banks have been proven to be unable to manage their risk, it should be managed for them, and that they should henceforth be prohibited from proprietary trading as well as owning and investing in hedge and private-equity funds.
It's more complicated than that, of course, like all of the other bank plans that have been floated by this administration that maybe we'll comb through once/if they actually start to seem real. But John Carney at Business Insider reports that so far, at least some bankers have already assessed the plan, found loopholes, and decided that it's actually not that big a deal: “This thing is about showing the public that Obama is standing up to Wall Street. So the rhetoric is heated. But the implementation will require far less change than people think right now," says a person Carney says is "familiar with the thinking at the upper echelons of one of our largest banks." Which, let's face it, could be anyone. But we believe it. As people familiar with the thinking of those in the upper echelons ourselves, we feel confident predicting they'll find a way to get around this. The only thing these guys love more than making money is being challenged to make buttloads of money, and with this plan it's like Obama just gave them a big, awesome, Rubik's Cube.
Add Leonardo DiCaprio to the list of stars whose hearts are even bigger than their bank accounts.
In advance of Friday's all-star telethon, the Shutter Island thesp has donated $1...
Long before it was all about the beard, it was all about the music.
More than a year before Joaquin Phoenix set a new standard for lethargy on Letterman and said he was abandoning the...
New York's scaffolds are about to get a makeover. Yes, those "sidewalk sheds" that you try to avoid walking under in case one of them collapses on your head when you least expect it (left!), may soon be a thing of the past.
It seems the city held a design competition "to create a new standard of sidewalk shed," and a total of 164 submissions were sent in. The winning entry: "Urban Umbrella," which a 28-year-old student at the University of Pennsylvania came up with and which, city officials suggested today, will be "great for pedestrians because there's more space to walk, run or shop than ever before."
Also? As you can see below, you'll soon be able to enjoy a sub-scaffold meal while construction workers overhead do demolition work, and you won't have to worry about pieces of concrete raining down on your plate of pasta.
Well, this is awkward. Not only is Taylor Swift’s new song, “Today Was a Fairy Tale,” featured on the soundtrack to unstoppable schlock-festValentine’s Day, in which Swift makes her big-screen debut alongside ex-boyfriend Taylor Lautner, but the song was obviously written during the Taylors’ all-too-brief time together. Just listen to these lyrics! “Every move you make, everything you say is right”? “You’ve got a smile that takes me to another planet”? “You wore a dark grey T-shirt”?! Most likely, Swift’s realized her mistake, and is sending the track out now (it was released on iTunes this week) as a subliminal makeup signal. Jeez, finally. Oh, and as you’ve probably guessed, it’s a total jam.
I went to add the movie Extract to my Netflix queue today, typed in the letters “E-X”, and this was Netflix’s immediate list of suggestions:
Extraordinary Measures? ThisExtraordinary Measures? Which doesn’t even come out in theaters until this weekend, won’t be on DVD for months after that, and is the movie Extraordinary Measures?
You could say they’re really going to some… big lengths… to get this movie up in advance.
I imagine Netflix just posts every major release before they’re on DVD, but for the sake of making myself laugh, I’m gonna imagine that this is the first and only time they’ve ever put a movie up this far in advance, solely because Netflix CEO John Netflix saw the trailer and Harrison Ford’s performance brought him to tears. Which he later tried to claim were tears of laughter, but we all saw him spacing out — nice try there, Johnny Netflix.
The former presidential candidate, who finally today admitted he was the father of his mistress's child, is in Haiti with a couple dozen doctors and aid workers. Of course, he made sure to get in touch with the White House before going, in case they wanted to make an announcement or something. This declaration, apparently, "was met with silence." [CBS News]
Typical Sundance Film Festival serendipity was already at play yesterday at JFK airport, in hour one of our journey west, when we met Nicholas Levis and Christopher Kikis, two of five producers for the Manhattan-based Ovie Entertainment. They’re best known for having produced Darkon, the documentary about live-action role-players that won the Audience Award at South by Southwest in 2006. They were headed to Sundance in order to announce the details of a long-gestating feature film called Promiscuous Stories, based on seven of the seventeen short stories available for appropriation on the Internet as part of Jonathan Lethem’s “The Promiscuous Materials Project.”
The project began several years ago, after Lethem wrote an ode to plagiarism and intellectual theft for Harper’s magazine. Soon, he’d made good on his word, taking a page from the Open Source community and offering up the rights to seventeen of his short stories for the price of $1 apiece. Lethem will have movies made of his novels — Ed Norton is adapting Motherless Brooklyn, which he’ll star in and direct, and both The Fortress of Solitude and his early cult novel, Gun, With Occasional Music, have been optioned — but only a handful of his 60 or 70 short stories have ever been optioned.
Several short films and plays, even some songs, have resulted from the “Promiscuous” project, but Ovie Entertainment is the first company to create a feature film from it. Their take involves stitching the stories together via a framework written by Ovie’s Cherise Wolas and director Dominic J. DeJoseph. The main story is a trip into the mind of a mad writer, and, says Wolas, “takes place in the future, where things like writer’s block can be fixed in a futuristic, creative laboratory.” The stories — which range from a noir detective thriller about a murderous joke teller to the tale of a writer named Jonathan Lethem interviewing a giant, talking crab — are fits of this man’s twisted imagination. A different, emerging director will helm each of the seven segments, with DeJoseph likely directing the overarching feature film, as well as the noir short, “The One About the Green Detective.”
Team Ovie hopes to drum up financing while at Sundance, but the film already has some backers, with production scheduled to begin this summer in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle (five of the seven filmmakers live in Manhattan and Brooklyn). So far, Dermot Mulroney is confirmed to play Lethem in “Interview With the Crab,” directed by Matthew Buzzell. Chris Parnell, who also has signed on, will likely play the “crab” — a sad man from an eighties TV show in a big puffy crab suit. Diedrich Bader will play the Major Domo of the crab’s house. Michael Badalucco plays one of the brothers in DeJosephs’s detective thriller. Norman Reedus, a music-video director and character actor who has a son with Helena Christensen, is directing a short about a party in which all the guests are holograms, and some turn into cartoons. And Amy Seimetz, who’s acted in a number of mumblecore movies, is directing a quirky, postapocalyptic story called “Sleepy People.” Ovie is still searching for an actor to play Trevor Lithium, the mad writer who brings it all together.
The other day we noted that the new fall 2010 men's collections contained a smattering of death themes. However, perhaps we were a little off, and the pervading theme that will bridge the Milan and Paris collections is actually a thing that may precede death and decay: violence. Dsquared2 sent bloodied models down their runway in Milan, and today in Paris, Jean Paul Gaultier sent dudes down the runway in boxing gloves and knee pads, their faces adorned with little nose casts and bloody scrapes. Gaultier himself strutted the runway made up to look battered and sweaty himself. Somehow the jolliness about everything violent or disturbing he puts on the runway makes it more fun than creepy, as does the fact that he didn't put greenish-white zombie makeup on his models' faces, allowing their angry vivaciousness to shine through.
Other trends that seem to be emerging in the pants department: meggings and sweats. Pants in Milan were notably slimmer than past seasons (Versace went wild with leather meggings). Gaultier showed velvet and leather meggings, sweatpants, and a sweat dress suit. Dolce & Gabbana and Giorgio Armani also showed sweatpants. So it looks like that trend is sticking around for fall. Perhaps unemployment has led to a rise in lazy dressing worldwide. Or perhaps this points toward a rise in athleticism and awareness of obesity rates. Because fashion collections mean so much for our culture. Or maybe yoga-obsessed designers are just tired of having to change before class and want to be able to practice their "lord of the dance" pose anywhere, anytime, in their leather bottoms if they please.
Because the current way to get Botox—exit home, get into vehicle, travel to doctor's office—is way too taxing and time-consuming, Los Angeles is now home to the first-ever "mobile cosmetic care service," in which a doctor comes to you—in a "nondescript SUV"—and is in and out of your place in ten minutes. Something tells us NYC won't be far behind. [Luxist]
Front Page: 'Tooth Fairy,' 'Legion' and 'Extraordinary' open wide -- Fox will add to its "Avatar" onslaught with Dwayne Johnson kidpic "Tooth Fairy" opening wide.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race is known for its tongue-in-cheek statement pieces, from its canvas “Birkin-style” knockoffs to a $1,000 white T-shirt embroidered in pearls. The latest is a take on a fox-fur stole, a piece typically at home on the runway or the Upper East Side. This fur-free version is made of black velvet, essentially leaving you with an oversize stuffed fox to drape around your neck. It’s available at Assembly for $300 — a small price to pay for looking this … smug.
Kanye West and Amber Rose attended the Louis Vuitton menswear show in Paris today wearing long, floor-length fur jackets (though one or both could be faux). Amber's even had a hood.
Doctors in Los Angeles told Brooke Mueller's mother it was a close call, but her daughter, who was hospitalized Tuesday, is now responding well to antibiotics.
Front Page: Investors accuse ex-Vivendi execs of mismanagement, lying -- Former Vivendi toppers Jean-Marie Messier and Edgar Bronfman Jr. will go on trial June 2 in Paris.
Jets owner Woody Johnson says he's endured a "brutal couple of weeks" since learning of the death of his troubled (and estranged) daughter, Casey Johnson.
So how is he holding up and reconciling his recent loss with the fact the Jets are having a tremendous season?
It's two different worlds. That's the way you can handle it. One really doesn't help the other. The other is reality—I lost a daughter. There's no way to bring her back. But with the team, Rex (Ryan) is doing amazing things for the franchise, for the New York Jets, for the city of New York. You see it, you feel it. I've never seen anything like it...
It's like Horatio Alger. Nobody believes you can do it, except we believe we can do it. We have that mindset. You see that in teams. You saw that in our Super Bowl team (in 1969). Nobody thought we could do it then. But this is a great perspective for us.
Parsons grad Jo Liu learned the industry ropes working with fashion designer Jen Kao, jewelry designer Tina Tang, and handbag designer Suen-Cooper. Last month, she launched her own downtown-cool, budget-friendly jewelry shop in Nolita, stocking the cases with designers from New York, Los Angeles, and Asia. The narrow space is artfully decorated, with display cases enclosed by refinished vintage frames, dusky gray walls, and a mix of antique and modern furniture. The spot originally opened showcasing pieces from Jo's own label, Littlesthings, and just three other lines; the selection has since expanded to a roster of ten designers. Most of the pieces extend outside of the typical semiprecious-stone/sterling-silver trinket array, with offbeat offerings like embellished sweater clips from Dirty Librarian Chains, body jewelry and ear cuffs by Armor, mixed vintage arrangements by Archive, and coral-like nylon-silicon bracelets by Nervous Systems. The wares span from $15 charms to $250 mixed-chain necklaces, but most hover in the affordable $50 to $100 range. Click ahead to check out some of our favorite pieces in store.
At the moment, all access points to the website for liberal-leaning talk-radio network Air America lead to a statement announcing that it is ceasing its live broadcasting operations today and proceeding with a bankruptcy process. A memo to staff announcing the closing from Air America chair Charlie Kireker also just hit our in-box, though no one at the network picked up when we called to check.
From: Charlie Kireker
Date: January 21, 2010 4:36:59 PM EST
To: All
Subject: Air America Operations
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.
The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business. This past year has seen a "perfect storm" in the media industry generally.
National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection. From large to small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel Broadcasting and closures like that of the industry's long-time trade publication Radio and Records have signaled that these are very difficult and rapidly changing times.
Those companies that remain are facing audience fragmentation as a result of new media technologies, are often saddled with crushing debt, and have generally found it difficult to obtain operating or investment capital from traditional sources of funding. In this climate, our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.
With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21% in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad.
And though Internet/new media revenues are projected to grow, our expanding online efforts face the same monetization and profitability challenges in the short term confronting the Web operations of most media companies.
When Air America Radio launched in April, 2004 with already-known personalities like Al Franken and then-unknown future stars like Rachel Maddow, it was the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world. At a critical time in our nation’s history -- when dissent on issues such as the Iraq war were often denounced as “un-American”— Air America and its talented team helped millions of Americans remember the importance of compelling discussion about the most pivotal events and decisions of our generation.
Through some 100 radio outlets nationwide, Air America helped build a new sense of purpose and determination among American progressives. With this revival, the progressive movement made major gains in the 2006 mid-term elections and, more recently, in the election of President Barack Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress.
Laws have changed for the better thanks to this revival.....but all the same our company cannot escape the laws of economics. So we intend a rapid, orderly closure over the next few days. All current employees will be paid through today, January 21. A severance package will be offered tomorrow to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure.
We will strive to assist affiliates and partners in achieving a smooth transition. Starting at 6 pm EST today, we will provide our affiliates, listeners and users a selection of encore programming until 9 pm EST on Monday, January 25, at which time Air America programming will end.
We are proud that Air America’s mission lives on through the words and actions of so many former radio hosts who are active today in progressive causes and media nationwide. In the years ahead, as we look back, we should all be proud of our passionate determination to assure that our nation’s progressive voice would be heard loud and clear. Through the hard work and dedication of current staff, and those who preceded you, a lasting legacy was forged which will now continue through other voices and venues.
Thank you.
Charlie Kireker
Chair, Air America Media
Today we received a press release starring Chris Brown, posing with Gianfranco Ferré designers Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, to announce he lent his star power to their men's show Sunday in Milan. Is this really something to brag about?
AP - Rigor and restrained luxury were the names of the game at Louis Vuitton, as the French megabrand delivered Thursday a fall-winter 2010-2011 menswear collection of razor-cut suits in charcoal cashmere and buttery leather.
AP - The French capital's menswear displays packed a serious punch Thursday, as heavyweight French designer Jean Paul Gaultier delivered his take on boxing garb — and slouchy longjohns established themselves as the discriminating man's legwear of choice for the fall-winter 2010-2011 season.
Wall Street may be raking in record profits right now. But unless bankers start go out and suddenly start spending those massive bonuses on meals, liquor, entertainment, clothing, and real estate, well, we're all pretty much screwed: "The city's unemployment rate soared to 10.6% last month from 10% in November, a sign that record Wall Street profits and hints of a national recovery have yet to reverberate through the local economy." [Crain's]
AP - It's not easy maintaining the fizz in the frenzy known as "Present Laughter," Noel Coward's delightfully frantic comedy about a narcissistic actor and the chaos that inevitably erupts in his posh London household.
Whoahoa! She looks good enough to eat, amiright?? Meaning that I literally would eat her dress, because it’s chocolate, and if this results in sexual repercussions then that’s completely incidental! By the way, I wrote the book on innuendo. Still looking for a publisher.
German supermodels in chocolate and chocolate-themed dresses in the gallery below:
AP - Street and urban wear designers are flocking to Berlin as the German capital — known for stressing shabby chic and original design over the traditional fashion labels — kicks off a week of fashion fairs and shows.
Someone date this lady! And get her a record contract!
When we heard that Countess LuAnn de Lesseps had recorded a single, we were thrilled enough. Another Real Housewife recording artist! But when we found out that it was called "Money Can't Buy Class," frankly, we almost passed out. It's like somebody's writing her jokes for her, except the script is her life! The best news of all is, she's going to be performing the song tonight, at the Borders in Columbus Circle. Please, please, please, readers, go! Videotape! Report! If there was ever a time for citizen journalism, it's now. Our Michelle Ruiz talked with the countess last night at Scott Barnes's About Face book party at the Gansevoort.
So, next season: who’s talking to who?
Oh my God, if I told you, then … you have to watch what happens! Obviously, but there are a lot of changes in the alliances and, um, I’m gonna be, well, I don’t know if I can say this …
You can!
You can! Go ahead! Um, well, you know I have my paperback book, which has just been released in January so I’m on a book tour, I have a signing tomorrow night at Borders, 7 p.m., and I’m singing, which a lot of people don’t know.
That’s right — we heard about that.
I do love to sing, and so —
So, on the show you’ll be singing?
We’ll have to wait and see, but I am singing this past fall, so that gives you a hint.
What style of music are you doing?
I’m going for like very dance … Dance. Dance music. That’s all I can say.
So are you going to go to Bethenny’s [Frankel’s] wedding?
Am I gonna go to Bethenny’s wedding? I suppose if I get an invitation, I will go. I would love to see that day. I’m not gonna crash.
It’s supposed to be happening relatively soon, right?
I don’t know, apparently she’s been out shopping for stuff.
Any etiquette for the pregnant bride?
I think that she needs to wear an empire waist.
Valentine’s Day is coming up … are you gonna have a date?
I hope I’m gonna have a date! I’ve been dating a bit, so I hope that I’ll have a Valentine.
How’s dating going? You hadn’t dated in a while.
I know! You know, it’s not easy to start dating after sixteen years of being married, um, so I’m going slowly, I’m not in a huge rush, but I have a couple of guys that are courting me.
You always give the Housewives dating advice — are you taking your own dating advice? Wait three dates before you kiss? What piece of your dating advice is coming in handy?
I’m taking my own dating advice. Expect a gentleman to come and pick you up for a date — never meet him somewhere. Let him come and get you and steal you away!
SKIN
• The creators of ME! Bath concocted a bath formula that costs $50,000 per bath (starting price), which is why it's called the Most Expensive Bath. Ingredients include water sourced from polar ice cap glaciers that are 15,000 years old, honey that costs $200 an ounce, organic Israeli Jojoba oil, and some 24-karat gold flecks to make skin glow. [Luxist]
HAIR
• Forget facial hair. Spiky hair is in for men now. Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, and Dominic Cooper all spiked their hair at the Sundance Film Festival this week. [Girls in the Beauty Department/Glamour]
MAKEUP
• Jennifer Lopez's makeup artist Scott Barnes launched his book last night, and the diva was there to support him. His book includes a section about the do’s and don’ts of self tanner, and Body Bling, his bronzer cream that J.Lo is obsessed with. [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
• Milani Cosmetics shows a way to create an Avatar-inspired makeup look without painting your entire face blue, as we've seen before. Instead use blue eyeliner, shadow, and lips ... so paint everything blue but your skin. [Beauty Blog/Teen Vogue]
• A preview of Yves Saint Laurent's new spring collection shows that light pinks and subtle blues are in for spring. [Mischo Beauty]
PLASTIC SURGERY
• Some plastic surgeons are offering consultations online and via Skype, a practice that's likely against the law because doctors can't diagnose patients across state lines. However, it allows people to consider the surgery and ask questions without ever physically meeting a doctor. [NYT]
NAILS
• Color Club's spring collection, Rebel Debutante, features nine new colors, spanning from bright purple to mint green to light gray. [All Lacquered Up]
AP - Globe-trotting designer Dries Van Noten deftly combined far-flung fabrics for a hybrid fall-winter 2010-2011 menswear look that managed to be chic, despite being equal parts naughty English schoolboy and couch potato.
Lara Stone for Louis Vuitton and Georgia May Jagger for Versace.
Guy Trebay of the New York Times noticed something about the spring campaigns. The models in a number of them — Louis Vuitton, Versace, Calvin Klein, Valentino, Miu Miu, and Marc Jacobs — are all lying supine. Why? An analysis must be done. Legs splayed, backs arched, lips parted, eyes smiling and a little stoned-looking, it's the kind of uncomfortable position women never adopt in real life naturally, save one circumstance:
“It’s obviously sexual,” [David Wolfe, the creative director of the Doneger Group, the trend forecasting company] said of the trend. “But the other thing I think of is animal psychology, because I do watch ‘The Dog Whisperer.’ When dogs or cats lower themselves to make themselves seem submissive, they are giving up their power and displaying their lack of aggression.”
Oh, sexy ads! Hot new trend, that. Wolfe added that the submissive stance may signify that fashion photographers want to portray traditional general roles. "Or," Trebay writes, "it could just be that the spring fashions were so restrained that they didn’t know what else to do." True. The message doesn't seem all that new to us. Women frequently are portrayed in submissive or vulnerable positions in fashion photographs. Perhaps we should be thankful the posing trend of the season wasn't this or this, or lying half-naked in front of a car, or lying half-naked on the trunk of a car while getting strangled by a grown man.
AP - Jean Paul Gaultier came out swinging Thursday with a boxing-inspired fall-winter 2010-2011 menswear collection that swapped the runway for a ring and saw bloody-faced models trade punches in front of the cameras.
Harold Ford Jr. campaigned north of the city for the first time today, making a stop at a diner in Rockland County to schmooze with locals and meet with Democratic officials. While at the diner, Ford made the rounds to every table, introducing himself and talking about the need for job creation. Though Ford has yet to declare his candidacy, he slipped up at one point and told two diners that he was "running for Senate." Of course, interrupting a stranger's breakfast to share your thoughts on the economy is just kind of rude if you're not running for something. [NYDN, City Room/NYT]
Body armor isn't just for rappers and security-obsessed paranoiacs. Thanks to the trend in all things militaristic, more and more people are picking up bulletproof vests, or jackets, shirts, and coats lined with bullet resistant kevlar. Even faux bulletproof vests are in, apparently:
"The trend to protective gear is pretty strong right now," said Richard Geist, the founder of Uncle Sam's Army Navy Outfitters in downtown Manhattan. "It's big with rappers, alternative types and even some women." Uncle Sam's sells protective gear to the military. But most of its clients are civilians who snap up authentic bulletproof vests for as much as $1,000 or trade down to look-alike versions stripped of their armored lining ($24). Real or fake, "the look is tough," Mr. Geist said, "and customers love it."
For people who want to project a bad-ass image, but don't want to be seen wearing a vest—real or otherwise—there are other options, don't you worry. Terrence Kelleman, the owner of a company called Dynomighty Design, sells T-shirts printed with a picture of a bulletproof vest, since "aggressive imagery has become a part of our urban environment."
Peter Philips, global creative director of Chanel Makeup, created a simple yet stunning spring 2010 beauty collection. Les Impressions De Chanel is a line of clean, classic neutrals that makes every woman feel pretty without piles of face paint. It's about enhancing, illuminating, and highlighting without tons of color — effortlessly chic and naturally beautiful. Here are five reasons why we love Chanel:
1. After seasons of crazy nail colors, it's refreshing to go back to the basics.
2. Natural is sexy. Sometimes the best kind of pretty is the one that doesn't make a splashy statement.
3. The powders are almost too pretty to touch.
4. Every season the house creates an item to covet. Remember how fast the Jade polish sold out this fall?
5. We're dying to see what Peter Philips has on tap for next season.
Empreinte De Chanel Radiant Glow Highlighting Powder (limited edition), $65; Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadow in Trace, $28.50; Le Vernis Nail Colour in Tendresse, $23, at Bloomingdales (1000 Third Ave., at 59th St.; 212-705-2000).
OMG Dad you can NOT tell a crowd of people that they should DATE me at your Massachusetts Senate election victory speech! You ALWAYS DO THIS!!! Everyone at school is gonna make fun of me now…just STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!!! [Runs upstairs to room - Uncle Jessie (Brown) follows her upstairs. Cue Stock piano music]…
With all the new faces that flood the market every season, it can be hard for any rookie to truly stand out. But newcomer Jakob Wiechmann had no such problems. The German opened the spring 2009 Givenchy show as an exclusive. Thanks to Riccardo Tisci's support, Wiechmann landed two back-to-back campaigns with the label, and his career has been packed with top-notch editorial and campaign gigs. The 20-year-old has already fronted Lacoste and Tim Hamilton, and appeared in the pages of Dazed & Confused and L'Officiel Hommes. Though he'll be sitting out the fall 2010 shows in favor of school, exams, and all that cool normal stuff, he's already lined up the spring cover of German L'Officiel Hommes.
The world's increasing infatuation with Jersey Shore is starting to get confusing. Are we collectively appreciating the show ironically or not anymore? In a blog post that seems like a frighteningly serious inquiry into how to get Snooki's "style," the burnt-orange Bumpit shunner reveals something terrifying:
StyleList: Can you describe your daily routine. How long does it take you to get ready?
Snooki: It depends where I go. If I run errands I dress casual, leggings with Uggs. Clubs take me a while. I would say two hours.
This is scary, because anyone confusing Jersey Shore infatuation with actual, meaningful feelings — and therefore taking her seriously — might view her plug of one of the ugliest breeds of footwear known to man as acknowledgment that the shoes are acceptable to wear in a setting other than a snowstorm.
She continued:
SL: We're assuming you like to shop. Where are your favorite spots to pick our your shore look?
Snooki: I love Bebe, Juicy, Armani and Ed Hardy. I love my Ed Hardy hats. As you can see on the show, I just wear them when I don't feel like doing my hair.
You know who's having a Fashion Week show? Bebe, for their new Kardashian line. Can the Kardashians make way for fellow reality star Snooki on the front row? Since they'll probably be behind the scenes, busy putting finishing touches on the clothes they designed and the show they themselves conceived, they will need someone to work the front of house. And frankly, it's hard to think of anyone more famous than Snooki who'd be willing and able to plug such a spectacle while wearing their clothes.
Front Page: Studio takes 'Superman' as festival begins -- There was no time for Hollywood to get acclimated to the snow and altitude before the first major deal of the Sundance Film Festival was announced.
It’s an eco-friendly combination of sink, mirror, teeny tiny mug, and crapbox, which actually does make sense, but I’m not sure humanity is currently prepared to handle a potty of this extraordinary technical magnitude.
My first reaction upon seeing this was to make a three seashells Demolition Man, but Gizmodo already beat me to that.
Instead, I’ll go to the second thing I thought of, which was the SNL “Love Toilet” commercial:
Donald Trump and Barbara Walters are Lady Gaga fans? If they were, they may not be after attending last night's concert at Radio City: "When Gaga told the crowd that she wouldn't "go all the way" but would "suck [dick]," Donald and Melania Trump's weirdly smooth faces flashed on the huge screens looking shocked, strained and horrified. Equally not into Gaga's frequent X-rated banter? Barbara Walters who got up and split mid-show, right before Gaga sang her ballad 'Speechless.' Wawa no likey Gaga." [Paper]
AP - "The Unnamed" (Reagan Arthur Books/Little Brown, 320 Pages, $24.99), by Joshua Ferris: In his acclaimed debut novel, Joshua Ferris managed to tap into the zeitgeist, recounting the story of a Chicago ad agency that downsizes itself out of existence. If Ferris proves equally prescient with his second novel, "The Unnamed," the future is truly grim.
Because I’m a savvy pop culture insider with all the inside info on the insides of inside, I can predict, with incredible, unique insight, that people are going to be talking about Lost on the internet in the next couple weeks. Boom! Free insider information. And you didn’t even have to subscribe to BWE.tv Insider to read it (just $99.50 / month).
Not sure why the milk is Dharma brand, but who cares it’s Lost things!!! Remember Lost? It’s coming back soon! More like, Found, by our eyes and ears, it will be!
Front Page: Duo in talks to star with Witherspoon -- Sean Penn and Robert Pattinson are circling Fox 2000's "Water for Elephants," with Reese Witherspoon already attached to star and Francis Lawrence attached to direct.
Customers use their iPhones to capture songs at a Starbucks in 2007. Worldwide music sales have fallen around 30 percent since 2004 as piracy has risen, according to figures released Thursday by a London-based... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 10:23 am
TV personality Simon Cowell arrives at the 17th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation's Academy Award Viewing Party in Hollywood, California in 2009. Cowell has announced plans to organise a charity single... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 10:23 am
There’s just something about the above headline, “How not to feel humiliated when dining alone,”, that had us wondering: Are people actually socially and mentally rere? Judging from the photo above… yes, very much so. Really, it’s like that woman took “Loneliness and Despair at Mealtime” at Julliard and slept her way to an A.
And the article is no better. Do people really need to be told to bring a book to read when they eat alone? How on Earth have people been eating along for all these years? Staring at the other restaurant patrons while slowly shaking their head, we hope. Step #2, “Exude Confidence,” will be that much more difficult as the person tries to reach for a roll while hiding under the tablecloth.
But perhaps no Dining Alone tip chagrined us more that this:
6. Go, Team! Even if you’re not terribly into sports, if there’s a game playing, become a fan for the evening. You’ll be surprised how an entranced gaze up at the screen now and then will give you a sense of purpose, as will a well-timed groan of defeat or hearty fist-pumping “Yes!”
They’ve basically just described the scene where Akeem shoots out of his seat at halftime during Coming to America, i.e. if you don’t know anything about sports, try not to shout “Yes!” out whenever you think something good just happened. Because if you want to talk awkward, let’s talk about getting severely beaten while you root for Boston in a Yankee bar, et al.
In other words, if you have to dine alone, here are two simple steps for doing so:
The husband of Brittany Murphy said the late actress had "laryngitis and flu-like symptoms" at the time of her sudden death on December 20 -- but was not suffering from seizures, as has been reported.
From the “I’m not the least bit surprised someone took the time to do this” category of internet things, here’s two guys doing a shot-for-shot remake of the Perfect Strangers intro in Seattle instead of Chicago. When it comes to shot-for-shot remakes, Gus Van Sant can now officially suck it.
(Also, I know it’s Pointless Nostalgia 101 to talk about how great a theme song to a dumb old show was, but man, this song really is catchy as hell…)
The Conan exit deal is official: $32 million for Consie, $12 million in severance for his staff. Not that he didn’t still get a raw deal from NBC, but I’m also not quiiiiite sure the Facebook photos are still necessary. (P.S. – No one with internet isn’t on Team Coco).
Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are planning a sequel to “We Are The World” to benefit Haiti. That’s all well and good, but I’m still waiting for my damn sequel to “All Night Long”.
Tara Reid is now engaged. Sorry, guys who’ve been frozen in an ice cave since 2002.
Indie rockers Vampire Weekend are currently #1 on the Billboard charts, which is a huge deal because…it means they’re more successful than Susan Boyle in her eighth week of release.
John Malkovich is used to people circling him. Whether it's fans asking for an autograph or reporters pressing for a quote, the actor's public appearances rarely pass unnoticed.
AP - The French capital's menswear displays started with a caffeine rush on Thursday, as Japanese label Issey Miyake sent out a coffee-soaked fall-winter 2010-2011 collection.
A boy looks at a poster for the movie "Avatar" at a cinema in Beijing on January 21. James Cameron's sci-fi epic "Avatar" received eight nominations including best film as the contenders for this year's... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am
A record and other items concerning the long-lost 16mm film of the German silent classic "Metropolis" are displayed in the exhibition "The Complete Metropolis" at the Film Museum in Berlin. A full version... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 21 Jan 2010 | 1:58 am
Conan O'Brien is wishing he had been nicer to Ryan Seacrest.
"I thought about something today," he said Thursday during his penultimate monologue as host of The Tonight...
Tiger Woods wasn't just whistling "Dixie" in Mississippi.
A source confirms to E! News that the beleaguered golfer did indeed check into Pine Grove Behavioral Health and...
A date with Rihanna apparently comes with a background check.
Domestic violence was not a factor in a restraining order filed against L.A. Dodgers star Matt Kemp by a former girlfriend...
So Jay Leno is aware of what's been going on at NBC.
The former Tonight Show host has finally, officially acknowledged that he's returning to the job he held for 17 years before...
The end of summer means more than just mad drama, hot tub hook-ups and a grill full of shriveled wieners.
So even as Snooki disparaged the season's last withered hot dogs, The...
James Franco thinks Spider-Man can go on without director Sam Raimi helming and star Tobey Maguire leading the web-slinging.
Columbia Pictures and Marvel Comics announced on Tuesday...
In a statement to 
Here's hoping this money helps the Grazianos put their lives back together.
Linda Hogan, Hulk's ex-wife, has settled the negligence lawsuit brought against her by the family of...
Add Leonardo DiCaprio to the list of stars whose hearts are even bigger than their bank accounts.
In advance of Friday's all-star telethon, the Shutter Island thesp has donated $1...
Long before it was all about the beard, it was all about the music.
More than a year before Joaquin Phoenix set a new standard for lethargy on Letterman and said he was abandoning the...
And the article is no better. Do people really need to be told to bring a book to read when they eat alone? How on Earth have people been eating along for all these years? Staring at the other restaurant patrons while slowly shaking their head, we hope. Step #2, “Exude Confidence,” will be that much more difficult as the person tries to reach for a roll while hiding under the tablecloth.
