Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Even tho the hair on Jude's head seems to be packin' up and movin' out more and more each day, he still retains a bit of his sexiness, I think. If Patrick Stewart can make the chrome dome look good, then so can Jude. [Source]
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There And Back Again
I'm sure it wasn't easy for Joel to spend so much time away from his lady and his baby so soon after her birth so it makes sense that Joel would want to fly home to meet up with them before flying off again. I tells ya, all that traveling would drive me insane but he seems to be handling it like a champ. This might be little Harlow's first plane ride which I'm sure will be infinitely more fun after she gets unwrapped from that blanket. At any rate, I'm sure she's very glad that her daddy is back with her again. [Source]
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The TV Guide: Kingdom Come
I'm generally not a fan of martial arts movies but I dig the new era of martial arts films that were make popular again by the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Forbidden Kingdom is a great blend of the contemporary and the ancient which felt true to the martial arts movie genre without getting too much into the Karate Kid trap (altho, there is a training montage in the film which kinda reminded me a wee bit of KK). The fight scenes were really spectacular ... these sorts of movies always make martial arts look so easy, so seamless. The story was very entertaining and didn't involve that much suspended belief to get into it. Michael Angarano (Eliot from Will and Grace) was perfectly cast as the kid from Boston who gets sucked into this fairytale-like journey. He's a great actor ... I've loved him in everything I've seen him do. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are remarkable, as usual but the real star of the film for me is the setting and the landscape. The movie is just so beautifully shot ... all the credit goes to director Rob Minkoff (who also directed Disney's The Lion King). You want a movie that will wow you into forgetting your trubs, this is the movie for you. Depending on how big a martial arts movie fan you are, this movie may not require multiple watches but I really think that seeing it at least once is deffo worth the time.
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Les News: The Title Is Out There, JK To Settle? Leona Hits #1
- I Want to Believe that they could've come up with a better title for the X-Files movie.
- Is Jenny Garth moving back to Beverly Hills, 90210?
- "If I wanna f*ck a girl, a boy, a dog — that's my business. That's why there's bathroom doors." -- Michelle Rodriguez
- Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon reveals her battle with breast cancer; vows to work towards breast cancer awareness.
- A NY judge urges JK Rowling to settle her Harry Potter copyright suit.
- Alicia Keys clarifies that she is neither a racist nor a conspiracy theorist.
- I guess it doesn't pay to be the pet of a daytime talk show host.
- "I met Lindsay last summer and she talked about herself a lot. She said she was going to win an Oscar before she turns 25. I just kept thinking, 'But you can't act' ... I haven't met Paris and don’t want to either. She and Lindsay are the type of girls you need to stay away from." -- Rupert Grint, on making new friends
- Tom Ford does Prestige Hong Kong magazine.
- Just Cavalli employs semi-nekkid hot rugby players to sell underwear, natch.
- Elisha Cuthbert does Maxim magazine.
- Aubrey O'Day of Danity Kane has a see-thru moment.
- Kirsten Dunst does some post-rehab shopping.
- Katherine Heigl gets caught with her pants down.
- Jon Cryer is 43, Martin Lawrence is 43 and Ellen Barkin is 54 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
- Leona Lewis becomes the first British woman to have the #1 album on the Billboard chart.
- Bruce Springsteen is on Team Barack.
- Click HERE to find out who is the latest Biggest Loser.
- Grunge music turns 20 years old, Sub Pop Records plans to celebrate.
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Missionary Position
Photo credit: Splash News
Lindsay Lohan may soon be volunteering her time -- and it's not part of her parole. According to Lindsay's dad, the recovering party girl has signed up to do missionary work with Times Square Church Missions. "She has made it clear she definitely wants to come along," Michael Lohan tells In Touch of their plans. "Our trip next February encompasses the issue of child sexual slavery in India. We also deal with helping AIDS victims." Michael, an ex-con-turned-youth minister, says that Lindsay, 21, is also considering other international missions. "Lindsay's very spiritual. She has a wonderful heart, loves people and is very charitable," Michael tells In Touch.
Well, Linds has got a long way to go if she really wants to become the next Angelina Jolie (she'll have to get on that adopting children from around the world thing very soon in order to catch up) but winging her way to places around the world in need of help is a great place to start. Of course, one must take everything that Michael Lohan says about his daughter with a huge grain of salt (he tends to use his famous daughter's name in order to win attention from media outlets) but, if true, I think it's awesome of Lindsay to give of her time and energy like this. Like Britney, Lindsay has made huge strides in turning her life around and staying out of trouble. It's been so long since the last Lindsay Lohan scandal that I can hardly remember what her underwearless crotch looks like anymore :) [Source]
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Milo Ventimiglia Does TRL
Photo credit: Splash News
I'm assuming that Milo was on the show to promote his new movie Pathology (his ep airs tomorrow) but I have no idea where the lunchbox came from. Surely he didn't pack his own lunch and wouldn't have the gall to carry said lunch in a lunchbox with his face on it ... would he? Nah, he strikes me as more the type of guy who'd carry a Lost lunchbox instead. At any rate, Milo is lookin' F-I-N-E in that snazzy suit ... I just wish he would've matched his box better with his shoes. [Source]
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Nina & Christian Get Ugly
Need a fierce fix? Project Runway winner Christian Siriano, who was famously spoofed on Saturday Night Live, is back on TV, playing himself in on ABC's Ugly Betty in an episode airing May 1. The plot: Mode magazine is trying to convince Christian to work with them for a fashion spread instead of their competitors. So the designer shows up for a meeting with an entourage of models wearing his designs and Runway judge Nina Garcia, who also plays herself on the episode. "Filming Ugly Betty was amazing," Siriano, 22, tells PEOPLE. "The cast was the most fun, lively and supportive ever." In addition to the outfits he designed for his model pals, the Runway winner also whipped up a look for Becki Newton (Amanda) — who happens to be a huge Christian fan. So, who was the fiercest cast member of them all? "Ooooh, they're as fierce and ferocious as they can be," raves Siriano. "Vanessa Williams is the queen of fierceness and Becki Newton is the princess ... I'm inviting them all to my Spring 2008-09 collection -- it'll be a great front row!"
You know, for a designer who claims to be an innovator and who railed against the design skillz of The Hills ladies, I feel I must take issue wih Christian's choice of outfit. People who live in Michael Jackson's hand-me-downs shouldn't throw stones. But I digress ... I am very excited that new eps of Ugly Betty are on the way ... I can't wait to see both Nina and Christian on the show. I think maybe I'll play a little drinking game while watching the show ... something along the lines of one shot of booze every time Christian says "fierce" and one shot every time Nina scowls at someone/thing. That way I'll be nice and drunk by the first commercial break. [Source]
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You Can Look But You Can't Touch
LOLOLOLOLOL! You can't really blame the guy for gawkin' at hot chicks every chance he gets ... after all, it's been ages since he's been able to see a real woman ... with curves and, you know, a heartbeat. [Source]
In other Beckham news, there is a new report that the littlest Beckham has been enrolled in a posh private nursery at an exclusive Jewish temple here in SoCal ... which is just the sort of news that I love to hear in the week leading up to Passover:
DAVID and Victoria Beckham are sending son to an exclusive JEWISH school in the US, The Sun can reveal. Becks, 32, and Posh Spice, 33, met staff at a top private nursery attached to a Jewish temple in Los Angeles last week. The couple think it is the perfect place for their three-year-old youngest son to start school. Posh spent 3½ hours there, while Becks stayed the whole day. A source said: "There's no plan for Cruz to be educated in the Jewish faith. It's just one of the best schools for young children in LA." The school is one of the largest Jewish day schools in the USA. It has exacting academic standards and has twice as many applicants as places. Becks' mum Sandra's family is Jewish but she doesn't practice and he has no other association with the religion apart from his famous Hebrew tattoo. But David referred to himself recently as "half Jewish".
Clearly the Beckhams want the best for their children so they are going to get the absolute best of everything. It makes sense that they'd want their baby to be educated by the Chosen People. It still pains me that I'm going to miss out on enjoying Passover with David's family this weekend (since I'll be going to Detroit instead) ... not that I consider myself "half Jewish" by any means but being so happily accepted by his family feels pretty close :) Yay for Judaism! [Source]
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The Biggest Comeback In History?
Photo credit: X17
UBER manager Larry Rudolph and Britney Spears have reunited once again, and he has put his most famous meal ticket back on track. Rudolph told MySpace Celebrity, "Britney's doing great." He has met up with the pop tart four times over the past few weeks and says he's seen "huge improvements in her ... she's still got a comeback in her. She's in great shape, I mean really great shape. She's in an amazing position for a comeback right now. She could end up being the biggest comeback in history. The public for a while was throwing darts at her ... was just getting hit. I think the tide turned and people started to understand what was going on with her." Rudolph said that people are on her side now and that "Everyone is rooting for her. Everybody wants to see her get through it ... to see Britney back on stage. She is the world's greatest entertainer." As for her baby steps to returning to the spotlight, Rudolph says that Spears loved her spot on "How I Met Your Mother." "It was a really positive experience for her. She talked about it quite a bit the last time I saw her ... she wants to do it again." He finished up by talking about Spears' health, saying, "She's exercising, eating great, she's doing great things."
I have no doubt that Larry has a plan in place ... mentioning her guest spot on How I Met Your Mother might signal to other TV sitcoms that she's taking meetings for possible guest stint on their shows. Getting her back on a workout regiment might be hinting at the possibility of a tour or at the very least the start of stage performances again (this rumor has been going around for a while now). New visits to the recording studio seem to imply that she's already working the follow-up to her last album Blackout ... back when Larry was managing Britney the first time around, she put out a new album of material every year -- could her next album be ready for release by the Fall ... to coincide with a tour and possibly a few TV guest spots? Sounds like the makings of a pretty significant comeback to me. Rudolph is right that folks are cheering for Britney ... even in her darkest days, when it was de rigueur to lambast the girl as a trainwreck there was a significant core of folks who were rooting for her to get out of the mess she got herself into. I've contended all along that she was capable of making a comeback ... the fact that there has been nothing but positive news to report for MONTHS now is proof that she's got it in her. I think we'll be seeing Britney Spears back on top again sooner than most people think, especially if music svengali Larry Rudolph has anything to say about it. [Source, Source]
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Just A Taste
Hard Candy is still about 2 weeks away from release but at least we can enjoy a small taste of the the album in the meantime. I'm reserving judgement on the album until I get to hear the songs in their entirety ... it's hard to form a valid opinion on an album just by hearing 30 second clips. Rolling Stone magazine seems to like the album tho, they've reviewed and rated the album 4 out of 5 stars:
Like Confessions, Hard Candy celebrates dance as salvation, but even the euphorically groovy "Heartbeat" and "Dance 2night" strike wistful notes. Although the uptempo set features no ballads, the dominant lyrical themes — regret, yearning, distrust — are far from upbeat. Morphing from a syncopated shuffle into a lathery, orgasmic hysteria, Pharrell's "Incredible" is a challenging song about longing for a relationship's idyllic beginning. There's a melancholy pining in Timbaland-Timberlake's lush "Miles Away," which implies that all is not peachy in the house of Richie. "You always have the biggest heart when we're 6,000 miles apart," Madonna sings. International pop megastars — they're just like us! ... Madonna can still scoff at wanna-be's half her age because she's stayed so flexible with her sound. (She's performed a similar feat with her body, devoting herself to a yoga regimen that's made her impossibly elastic — name another near-fifty-year-old who can still rock a hot crotch shot on her album cover.) Even when she wrestles with Pharrell's abrupt stylistic changes or lets herself get absorbed in a Timberlake melody, Madonna still finds her way back on top. The atmospheric closing track, "Voices," poses the question "Who is the master, who is the slave?" before its operatic wind-down ends in a dramatic bell toll. The answer to both questions is still Madonna.
The song clips are deffo worth checking out if you simply can't wait for the album's release but there is something to be said for holding off until each song can be heard in its entirety. I caved and previewed the clips ... but I really can't wait to hear the album in full. [Source]
UPDATE: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Pink reader Ryan gave me the head's up that all the preview clips of Hard Candy have been removed from the site. I guess the clips weren't authorized for preview just yet. Rats.
UPDATE 2: Pink reader Ashraf says we should click HERE instead.
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The Drunk Tank
JAILED rocker PETE DOHERTY stares vacantly in his cell — amid revelations he is shooting up heroin in the prison's DETOX unit. The junkie singer, 29, has been injecting smack smuggled into London’s tough Wormwood Scrubs slammer. Doherty, jailed for snubbing rehab orders, is paying for the drugs by begging credit from fellow lags and writing IOUs. A fellow inmate said: "We can't believe how much he's still clucking for it. They put him inside to force him to give up but Pete always has a need to feed his habit." The heroin revelations came as The Sun obtained photos of Doherty behind bars, wearing prison-issue blue T-shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms. The pictures, taken with a phone camera, show him gawping listlessly in his cell, brushing his teeth and talking to other lags on a landing. Doherty was banged up for 3½ months last week for failing to take drug tests ordered by a court after he admitted possessing heroin, crack, cannabis and the horse tranquilizer ketamine. He is sharing a cell in the Scrubs' Connibere detox wing with a 28-year-old drug dealer. Doctors are giving him heroin substitute methadone in a bid to wean him off. But the rocker is topping up with the real thing. The fellow inmate said: "He hasn't received his prison wage yet so he's getting the drugs on credit and writing IOUs" ... He added that Doherty sleeps on a urine-stained mattress and has been told he will be transferred to an open prison when a place is available. A Prison Service spokesman said last night: "We will act on any intelligence which indicates drugs are being smuggled or abused."
It's a shame that we cannot be reasonably sure that Pete is staying off the junk now that he's in police custody ... I'm not wholly sure I believe that it's this easy to shoot heroin inside prison walls but I guess I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be true. I've contended for months that the man might meet an early end if he continued to be left to his own devices. I really believe that incarceration is the only way to ensure the man stays clean ... and may possibly save his life. There are only so many times a person can be arrested for drug offenses before they're found the fatal victim of their vices. Despite this troubling report (which, again, I don't entirely believe), I still think that jail is the best place for Pete Doherty ... for a long while. I just hope at some point it turns out to be a fruitful experience for the man's health. [Source]
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Damage Control
Photo credti: Splash News
C'mon ... it seems pretty obvs that this whole thing was a power play to see who would come out on top. It really feels like Vicki B. was forced to make nice with the store in order to keep her line of jeans on their shelves ... which works out for both parties cuz Kitson got its in-store appearance and VB avoided getting dumped by the retailer. I really feel like this whole thing would've been a lot more interesting if it weren't so transparent. I guess in the end, all's well that ends well. Who knows if any of this well sell more jeans but the public power play is marginally fun to watch. [Source, Source]
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In Denial ... One Day You're In And The Next Day You're Out
Photo credit: Splash News
Ashlee Simpson is pregnant and plans to get married next month at a private residence in Southern California, a source close to her family tells PEOPLE. Simpson, 23, is engaged to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, 28, who initially blasted pregnancy rumors as a "witch hunt" ... And now the source tells PEOPLE that not only is Simpson pregnant, but that she's planning to have her wedding in May at a friend's house in La Jolla, Calif., north of San Diego.
This is interesting ... People isn't usually the kind of mag that reports something like this unless they are absolutely sure it's true ... tho they do tend to wait until they get official confirmation before going to press. It's rare that the mag would cite a source without revealing who the source is. Meanwhile, even tho Pete has flat-out denied that Ashlee is pregs, she added fire to speculation by not offering the same definite denial:
Ashlee Simpson sidestepped any pregnancy rumors Tuesday during an interview with MTV after taping TRL in New York, saying simply, "Some things you want to keep personal." A source at the taping says Simpson dodged the pregnancy question on the show as well, saying that if all the rumors about her were true, she "would have had a baby by now." The newly-engaged singer also told MTV News, " I just think it's an inappropriate question to ask any woman. For me, that's something that I didn't ever want to respond to, because I think it's an inappropriate question." Simpson, however, did not put the rumors to rest. "Some things, you want to keep personal, and I think that when people deny [pregnancy reports], it's probably because it's something they want to keep personal."
Ashlee's TRL appearance will air on MTV on Thursday and will feature a performance of her new single Little Miss Obsessive. She also obliges an audience request to show of her engagement ring. HMMM ... but I'm more interested that all these intimate family sources seem to be to blame for the speculation. Could it be that Jessica Simpson is the one blabbing to the mags in order to gain favor with the various publications? To be honest, I think that all the back and forth about "is she or isn't she" is a bit intentional ... what better way to keep media hype going as we get nearer and nearer to the release of Ashlee's new album Bittersweet World? If Ashl33n really did want to set the record straight they'd either totes confirm or totes deny the rumor. Period. I can't say I blame them for milking the attention tho, it's the sort of publicity you can't really buy ... but it is the kind you can sell. Again, I have to wonder ... is big sis Jessica benefiting from any of this on the sly? We'll know sooner or later what the real deal is ... I suspect right around April 22, in time for an album release party. [Source, Source]
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