George Clooney has a piece at HuffPo entitled, “I Am a Liberal. There, I Said It!” As if anyone doubted that he was a liberal. Or as if it take some great act of courage for a Hollywood actor to come out as one. Please.
Clooney is a likable fellow and a decent actor. I liked him on E.R. and have liked him in the movies of his that I’ve seen, especially the “Ocean’s 11″ movies and “Three Kings.” Indeed, I even liked his “Batman,” a group that numbers in the dozens. Frankly, I don’t care about his politics.
Unfortunately, he continues his proclamation by implying those who are not “liberals” are racist misogynists.
Too many people run away from the label. They whisper it like you’d whisper “I’m a Nazi.” Like it’s dirty word. But turn away from saying “I’m a liberal” and it’s like you’re turning away from saying that blacks should be allowed to sit in the front of the bus, that women should be able to vote and get paid the same as a man, that McCarthy was wrong, that Vietnam was a mistake.
So, who is it in American politics who believes blacks should sit in the back of the bus? Or that women sholdn’t be allowed to vote? Or get paid the same as a man if they’re actually doing the same job? No one that I know of. Indeed, these issues were resolved well before Clooney was of voting age.
There is still some debate as to whether McCarthy was “wrong,” I suppose, although not much. There are those who believe that there were indeed Communists in high places in the federal bureaucracy but virtually none who think McCarthy’s tactics were honorable. Almost everyone now agrees that Vietnam (a war that liberal presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson got us into and nominal conservative Richard Nixon got us out of, by the way) was a mistake, although some still believe the cause itself was just.
And, for me, one of the things we absolutely need to agree on is the idea that we’re all allowed to question authority. We have to agree that it’s not unpatriotic to hold our leaders accountable and to speak out.
This, too, is something that almost all agree on. There is debate on how one goes about it, especially when we have troops in harm’s way. But there were liberals who used that argument when conservatives were challenging the wisdom of various military adventures undertaken by the Clinton administration. Let’s not confuse overheated rhetoric for ideology.
Osama Bin Laden’s niece is getting her own reality show, according to Reuters:
Osama bin Laden’s niece, an aspiring singer who posed for a sexy photo shoot in a men’s magazine last year, has signed up for a reality television show about her life and her as yet unfulfilled “quest for stardom.”
Wafah Dufour Bin Ladin, whose mother was married to the al Qaeda leader’s half brother, was born in California but lived in Saudi Arabia from the age of three to 10. “I understand that when people hear my last name, they have preconceived notions, but I was born an American and I love my country,” Dufour said in a statement from ReganMedia announcing the deal to develop a reality TV series.
Dufour has dropped the “Bin Ladin” — a different spelling of the Arabic name from that used by Osama bin Laden — and now goes by the name Wafah Dufour.
Based in New York, Dufour has been promoting herself as a musician and last December appeared in a sultry GQ photo spread, reclining on satin sheets wrapped in feathers and posing in a bubble bath wearing nothing but a necklace. “Her story will bridge the gap that people feel exists between the cultures she has lived in,” ReganMedia President Judith Regan said. “She is also a young woman who falls in love, has her heart broken, worries about her looks, doesn’t always listen to her mother, and hasn’t spoken to her father in years,” Regan said.
***
The statement did not say when the show would be aired or on what channel.
It is remarkable that Dufour has simultaneously pretended to distance herself from her uncle’s name and yet cashed in on it at every opportunity. She’s a reasonably attractive woman, to be sure, but one suspects that her status as a “hottie” has been elevated by the Osama connection.
It may not be what Sharon Stone wants to discuss, but the actress is happy to confirm that, yes, she does indeed get naked in her next movie, the sequel to the 1992 hit “Basic Instinct.”
In Israel to promote International Women’s Day, Stone was badgered not about the fairer sex, but instead about her role as a sexed-up serial killer in “Basic Instinct 2″ Wednesday. “People are just sitting there going, like, ‘I don’t care what she’s saying. I don’t care what she’s saying. I just want to know is she getting naked? Is she getting naked in that movie? Is she naked? Nude? Nude? Naked? Do I see her boobies?’” the actress, now 48, told reporters, laughingly.
“So let’s just get through to that. Yes! And now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s just go to the next question, because nobody cares about anything else, really,” she said.
“Basic Instinct 2″ opens March 31 in the United States.
My basic instinct was that it would have been decidedly more interesting had she been naked in the original. Not that she doesn’t look fantastic for a 48-year-old, but she was substantially hotter 14 years ago. It turns out that I was a bit hasty. Here are some promo shots from Esquire:
I stand corrected.
More photos of Stone from both Basic Instinct movies as well as video clips from “Basic Instinct 2″ here.
Update: The Feeding Tube has some decidedly not-safe-for-work screen caps.
Update 2: Female First brings word that, “Sharon Stone wanted the sex scenes in ‘Basic Instinct 2′ to be ‘disturbing’.”
The sexy star was determined the erotic thriller should shock its audience and told the director not to waste her full-frontal nude shots. She revealed: “I felt we should hold off on the full nudity for a while in the movie and then I thought that when I ultimately did do the nude scene it should be done in a startling way that would be disturbing and threatening.”
The stunning mum recently admitted she wanted to make the most of the sex scenes in the movie because it could be the last time she strips off in front of the camera. Sharon is quoted by Britain’s Evening Standard newspaper: “I wanted to do the nudity in a way that’s quite brazen. I wanted her to be very masculine, like a man in a steam room. “I wanted the audience to have a moment where they realize she’s naked and then realize she’s a forty-something woman and naked.”
The screen shots look more “hot” than “disturbing.” Perhaps we need some moving video.
Eva Longoria reveals her fondness for hot celebrity women in the latest GQ, reports FemaleFirst:
Eva Longoria has lesbian crushes on Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson and Eva Mendes.
The ‘Desperate Wives’ star says the stunning threesome, who are all neighbours, have a very “special” relationship.
She revealed: “They’ve come over to my place loads of times. That’s our crew. That’s our gang.
“They’re my crushes. I have intense love for these women.”
Eva has also revealed she finds out about her love life by surfing the internet.
Quite interesting: All of the women involved in this foursome are named either “Eva” or “Jessica.” That has to mean something, although I’m not sure what.
My copy of GQ has not arrived but Egotastic has page scans of the cover and two internal full page spreads of Longoria, including a surprisingly unflattering shot of her in lingerie with the legend, “I think I can stay sexy and still do really challenging film roles.”
Meanwhile, Hollywood Rag notes that while Longoria “loves the ladies” she still “pimps her man,” San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker. Now that’s versatility. Needless to say, HR has some Longoria pics, too.
The “Women in Prison” film has been a reliable subgenre of exploitation films since their beginnings in the teen “reform school” movies. Known as WIP films to cineastes, to less formal fans they are affectionately called the Chicks in Chains flicks. Most of these stick pretty close to formula: some third world hellhole of a hoosegow is filled with gorgeous babes who get to take a lot of showers; after 80 minutes of being mistreated, some flimsy pretense gives them the upper hand and they stage a bloody breakout in which all but two or three of the cast gets killed.
That’s a fair description. From early classics like “Women in Cages” to modern fare such as “Reform School Girls,” “Caged Fury ,” and the “Chained Heat” series, women’s prison looked like a relatively enjoyable place to be, especially if you were a lesbian with a Wendy Williams jones.
Alas, a recent academic study finds that this depiction is not entirely accurate.
But if you watch these films, you won’t know anything about the inside. From depictions of the inmates and their behavior, to the lack of security and impossible happenings of the celluloid facilities, the content of the four films viewed for this project can at best be described as misleading, and at worst, as damaging.
Truly a shame. Of course, four is a rather small sample size, so the results might be somewhat skewed.
“Desperate Housewives” star Teri Hatcher has told Vanity Fair about her history of childhood sexual abuse.
Teri Hatcher has revealed that she was a victim of child abuse. The brave Desperate Housewives star spoke of her ordeal in an emotional interview with Vanity Fair.
She told of abuse she suffered from the age of five at the hands of her uncle, Richard Hayes Stone, who she helped to convict in 2002. She said: “I remember him making me touch him and feeling like I don’t want to do this at all. I was completely horrified. “I haven’t tried to kill myself, but I’ve certainly thought about it.”
Aged eight, Teri went “ballistic” on finding out her abuser was coming to dinner and her mother kept him away from her from then on.She said: “My parents are really well intended and I think their way of dealing with things is denial and guilt. Nobody wanted to talk about it. But all I did was blame myself.”
Stone was charged with sexual molestation when a neighbour, Sarah Van Cleemput, committed suicide in January 2002, leaving a note saying: “Ask Dick”. Teri stepped forward when it seemed the case might easily be thrown out. He received 12 years in jail. The deputy district attorney said: “Without Teri, this case would have been dismissed – heroic is a word that doesn’t do what she did justice.”
Despite confronting her pain, Teri stressed the long-lasting effects of her abuse. She said: “I am a woman who carries around all these layers of fear and vulnerability. “The biggest effect to me is this area of love and men, which hasn’t been so great.”
This may explain some of her recent glib and odd statements about her love life. Quite sad.
Pamela Anderson showed up at the Elton John Foundation event wearing a dress that showed off her most precious asset: her gigantic, surgically enhanced boobs. Considering how often said mammaries have been exposed to the light of day, including several hundred Playboy covers, what’s a few more Pam Anderson boob pictures?
Still, the nature of this enterprise calls for a certain work ethic. One must approach the journalistic endeavor as if the reader had never seen Anderson’s tits. Who knows, perhaps they just got a computer. Or eye surgery.
So, without further ado, here they are:
If you require more photos of Pamela Anderson’s boobs, there’s always Google.
Dana Reeve, who fought for better treatments and possible cures for paralysis through the Christopher Reeve Foundation, named for her late actor-husband, has died. She was 44.
Reeve died Monday of lung cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medical Center, said Sean Dougherty, a spokesman for the foundation. “We are extremely saddened by the death of Dana Reeve, whose grace and courage under the most difficult of circumstances was a source of comfort and inspiration to all of us,” Kathy Lewis, president and CEO of the foundation, said in a statement.
Reeve won worldwide admiration for her support of her husband, the one-time Hollywood “Superman” turned activist for spinal cord research after a horse-riding accident in 1996. She served as chairwoman of the Christopher Reeve Foundation and founded the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.
Christopher Reeve died in 2004. In August, Dana Reeve announced she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. She said she had never smoked.
Natalie Portman hosted “Saturday Night Live” and was featured in an allegedly* humorous rap video. YouTube had it, as demonstrated by the video link below [via Miu von Furstenberg]:
Over the weekend numerous people uploaded video of a Saturday Night Live skit involving Natalie Portman rapping. At least 100,000 people have watched the video on YouTube. This time it looks like YouTube (and, in all likelihood, NBC) was quick on the draw: By 1:15, YouTube had taken the video off its site. In its stead disappointed searchers found a message reading “This video has been removed due to copyright infringement.”
For now, then, NBC has been satisfied. But one has to wonder how long this kind of thing can go on. Will networks like CBS and NBC continue to be willing to keep the status quo, in which their content is available for free until the lawyers demand it be removed? Or will they try to force companies to vet videos before they are posted, essentially crippling sites like YouTube that give users control of what goes up – and host plenty of unobjectionable, homemade content?
One understands SNL’s desire to keep control of its copyrighted material. The problem, though, is that they themselves are providing it at a suboptimal level. Most of us don’t watch SNL anymore because it really sucks. The few decent skits a year are just not worth it anymore. So, when they actually do something funny on the show, approximately twelve people not related to a member of the cast know about it. Because SNL embargoes its content until the show re-runs at a later date, that means people who would like to see those rare gems miss out.
YouTube and similar services help get the word out. If there are enough funny videos coming out of a given show, people will soon come to the conclusion that SNL has stopped sucking and actually start to watch again. Blocking people from the ability to enjoy their programming is, therefore, quite shortsighted.
TVSquad posts a quick summary of the rap, however, which makes me append the “allegedly” above:
Chris Parnell is interviewing Natalie Portman and her response is an extremely vulgar rap video. But it was hilarious. She was so angry: “I’ll kill your dog.” “I’ll sh*t on your face.”
This is truly the Golden Age of Comedy.
Update: Mac Stansbury comes to the rescue with a video you can download and keep safe from NBC’s evil clutches.
Update 2: Actually, via Kevin Aylward, I see that NBC has obviated my original rant:
Now, instead of searching the web for “borrowed” NBC highlights, you can go to the source! We’ve taken your viral favorites and gathered them into one convenient location. Watch. React. Tell a friend.
As one of the original SNL characters used to say, “Never mind.”
Even though I run at Hollywood-dedicated blog, I didn’t watch the Oscars. Frankly, I don’t care what movies insiders think are good. I seldom agree.
Now, if you want to talk about how the hotties looked on the red carpet, that’s a whole ‘nother matter. AP Fashion Writer Samantha Critchell has a great roundup of who wore what and who shoulda worn something different. She thiinks Keira Knightley stole the show:
Keira Knightley proved to be fashion royalty at the Academy Awards. She wore a wine-colored, one-shoulder gown by Vera Wang that hit the right balance between youthful funkiness and movie-star glamour. The 20-year-old wore her strawberry blond hair in a loose ponytail, and she had on a one-of-a-kind necklace with emeralds, rubies and diamonds from the 1960s she chose from the Bulgari archives.
Knightley looks good, to be sure:
So do Charlize Theron and Salma Hayek. But then, what else is new?
One suspects Helena Bonham Carter was trying to distract attention from her escort:
Michelle Williams modeled herself after classic screen sirens, wearing a yellow chiffon gown with tulle pleats surrounding the V neck. On her arm was Heath Ledger in a classic bow-tie tuxedo, down to the white pocketsquare.
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe looked like a superstar couple — she wore a gown with rows of silver beads and he was dressed in a three-piece suit with a black tie.
Felicity Huffman wore a supersexy black gown by Zac Posen with a plunging V neck, keyhole back, sheer panels on the side and pleated bodice and hem.
For Rachel Weisz, who is 7 months pregnant, comfort was important in picking her long, slinky black gown with cap sleeves — which also showed off significant cleavage. “My friend Narciso Rodriguez made me three dresses and I chose one this morning,” she said. Her Chopard emerald-cut diamond demi-drop earrings had round white diamond studs.
Jessica Alba, who was caught by the cameras touching up her Dior lipgloss, chose a tight gold Versace halter gown with floral beading that she said “fit like a glove,” and Jane Seymour was in a champagne satin halter gown with jeweled accents on the bodice by Pamella Roland.
Sandra Bullock and Amy Adams both picked gowns with pockets. Bullock’s navy gown was by Angel Sanchez and Adams’ chocolate brown gown with ribbon applique was by Carolina Herrera. Adams even borrowed Herrera’s own aquamarine dangling earrings.
Charlize Theron’s forest-green, handpainted gown with a bow on one shoulder was designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior. She said the leather silk satin fabric was “insane” — but some might have said that about the too-big bow.
Jennifer Lopez was in a lighter green gown with a fitted bodice that laced up in the back like a corset.
Ziyi Zhang picked a Giorgio Armani gown fresh off the runway: a black scalloped seashell-shaped lace bustier with jet beading worn with a gray Swarovski crystal encrusted full crinoline skirt. Hilary Swank was in a sweetheart-style black strapless gown by Versace.
Jennifer Aniston was in a black tank gown by Rochas with a long train and a vintage platinum-and-diamond Bulgari necklace from the 1930s. Makeup artist Angela Levin, calling Aniston “a sun-kissed angel,” emphasized her eyelashes with a not-yet-available Chanel mascara.
Nicole Kidman was in a cream-colored strapless gown with beautiful delicate embroidery, and Naomi Watts wore a nude-colored, one-shoulder gown with frayed fabric on the top by Givenchy. As the model in jeweler David Yurman’s new ads, Watts’ rose quartz-and-diamond earrings and a rose quartz ring were made especially for her.
Jennifer Garner wore a halter-style, hand-embroidered Michael Kors gown in nude-colored tulle featuring Swarovski crystals and sterling silver flowers.
Jada Pinkett Smith was in a bright blue strapless column gown by Roberto Cavalli. “I just wanted to be a little vibrant and a little sexy on the carpet,” she said. Husband Will Smith chimed in, “That’s my wife in the dress. It becomes difficult to notice the dress itself.”
Salma Hayek had on a slate blue gown, and her hair was long and loose.
One of the biggest misses of the night was Helena Bonham Carter. Her off-the-shoulder, tea-length blue satin gown was fine but her bed-head hair and clunky white shoes were not.
Oscar.com fashion analyst Tom Julian was a fan of Meryl Streep’s plum V-neck gown with long sleeves that she wore with dangling earrings. Julian also noted that the shape of the Oscar gowns shifted to full skirts from the more formfitting styles at the award shows earlier in the season.
As for the men, George Clooney was trying to be sarcastic when he told E!’s Isaac Mizrahi “I’m very stylish,” but he indeed was in his Armani two-button peak lapel tuxedo.
Sky Showbiz is among others linking “Walk the Line” star Joaquin Phoenix to hottie Eva Mendes.
Walk The Line star Joaquin Phoenix is rumoured to be more than just friends with his latest co-star. He is currently filming movie We Own The Night with hottie Eva Mendes in New York and the pair have been spotted out on the town. Eva, who starred in Hitch and has dated Matt Damon, is currently said to be in a relationship with filmmaker George Gargurevich.
According to the New York Daily News, Joaquin and screen beauty Eva were spied having an “intimate dinner” this week. The New York Post reported onlookers saying: “They were absolutely adorable together.”
Mendes’ spokesperson Nicole Caruso maintains it was just a case of a work night out: “They are just friends. They are in town doing a movie together called We Own The Night with Mark Wahlberg. Eva is still with her [long term] boyfriend.”
Frankly, I don’t much care. The proprietor of WWTDD, however, makes an excellent point when he observes,
There’s not a thing about this that makes a lick of sense. You know Hollywood is a mans world when someone as visually disturning as Joaquin Phoenix can get his hands on Eva Mendes. In the real world, the closest guys like Phoenix get to a girl like Mendes is when they cut the eyes out of her pictures.
Jessica Alba, known primarily for showing her nubile body in nude and semi-nude photos, is suing Playboy for putting her on the cover of the March 2006 issue and implying that she is inside in a nude or semi-nude pictorial, when she is not. Smoking Gun reports:
Actress Jessica Alba, who appears in a bikini on the cover of Playboy’s March issue, is threatening to sue the magazine, claiming that Hugh Hefner & Co. are trying to make it seem that she appears in a “nude or semi-nude pictorial.” In a February 23 legal threat letter, a copy of which you’ll find below, Alba’s lawyer demands that Playboy cease distributing the magazine and provide the 25-year-old actress with a “monetary settlement” for its unauthorized use of her image for commercial purposes. According to Brian Wolf, Alba’s counsel, the venerable men’s magazine has caused the young star “immeasurable harm” by placing her on its cover (Alba appears next to a cover line billboarding a story on the 25 sexiest celebrities).
Frankly, this is very confusing to Alba fans, who might be diverted from her appearance in Cinemania (sadly, just a reprint of her appearance in the September 2005 Esquire.
A suspected gang member was charged Wednesday with fatally shooting teen actress Tara Correa-McMullen, who portrayed a former gang member on the TV show “Judging Amy.”
Damien Watts, 20, who already was in custody on a separate shooting case, was charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors said Watts fired at a group of people outside an Inglewood apartment complex Oct. 21, killing the 16-year-old actress and injuring two men who were with her. Authorities say a second, yet-to-be identified suspect also opened fire. They believe the shooting was gang-related.
Correa-McMullen, whose real name was Shalvah McMullen, appeared in the movie “Rebound” and had a recurring role on “Judging Amy” as a former gang member named Graciela.
Osama bin Laden’s niece, an aspiring singer who posed for a sexy photo shoot in a men’s magazine last year, has signed up for a reality television show about her life and her as yet unfulfilled “quest for stardom.” 
It may not be what Sharon Stone wants to discuss, but the actress is happy to confirm that, yes, she does indeed get naked in her next movie, the sequel to the 1992 hit “Basic Instinct.” 
Teri Hatcher has revealed that she was a victim of child abuse. The brave Desperate Housewives star spoke of her ordeal in an emotional interview with Vanity Fair.
Walk The Line star Joaquin Phoenix is rumoured to be more than just friends with his latest co-star. He is currently filming movie We Own The Night with hottie Eva Mendes in New York and the pair have been spotted out on the town. Eva, who starred in Hitch and has dated Matt Damon, is currently said to be in a relationship with filmmaker George Gargurevich. 
Actress Jessica Alba, who appears in a bikini on the cover of Playboy’s March issue, is threatening to sue the magazine, claiming that Hugh Hefner & Co. are trying to make it seem that she appears in a “nude or semi-nude pictorial.” In a February 23 legal threat letter, a copy of which you’ll find below, Alba’s lawyer demands that Playboy cease distributing the magazine and provide the 25-year-old actress with a “monetary settlement” for its unauthorized use of her image for commercial purposes. According to Brian Wolf, Alba’s counsel, the venerable men’s magazine has caused the young star “immeasurable harm” by placing her on its cover (Alba appears next to a cover line billboarding a story on the 25 sexiest celebrities).
