Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Gangster Glam
It would seem that Britney Spears hasn't entirely given up on doing any promo work for her latest album, Blackout, which was only released last month and seems to have already fallen off the face of the Earth (even tho it's sittin' in the #23 position on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart) ... as she actually showed up to the set of her second music video from the album for the single Piece of Me. Here are pics of a pajama-clad Brit Brit as she made her way to Social Hollywood club to shoot scenes for her Wayne Isham-directed music video:
Photo credit: Splash News and Mr. Paparazzi
Balancing mommy duty and her music career – it's all in day's work for Britney Spears.
After spending Tuesday with her two sons Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, Spears switched into pop-star mode, arriving at L.A. restaurant and nightclub Social Hollywood to shoot the video for her tabloid-bashing single "Piece of Me" – the second single off her album Blackout. (It's being directed by Wayne Isham, who helmed Spears's "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" video.) Spears and her backup dancers donned identical blonde bob wigs and black trench coats. The premise? "The paparazzi are following [Britney], so they're dressed alike to trick them," a source close to Spears tells PEOPLE. "They all go into a club to get away. One [photographer] sneaks in, but Britney, in the end, discovers him." The stakes are high for Spears, whose video for "Gimme More" was poorly received when it was released in October. (The song itself, however, was a hit.) "[Spears] is really freaked out about everything," said the source. "She's just really nervous and feels like everyone might make fun of her again." Hmmm ... I kinda doubt that Britney is at all "nervous" that people might make fun of her ... cuz if she really cared, she'd take her work more seriously and she'd make sure that she couldn't be made fun of. I'm hopeful that this video will turn out a'ight cuz the album could use a new jolt of publicity to help move more copies. You just never really know what you're gonna get outta Britney Spears. The video could be really hot, Wayne Isham is a great director ... or it could be a steaming pile, ready to be cleaned up off the floor with a $5,000 designer dress. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. [Source]
In other Brit news, it looks like she's gonna need to hire a new driver before she gets to spend time with her kids again ... cuz the driver she had hired has already decided that it is time to cut and run:
Photo credit: Splash News
Britney Spears finally wised up and hired a driver to help, er, curb some of her recent mishaps behind the wheel. Good move! Except that just days later, he is already "on his way out." TMZ has learned that the chauffeur/driver Spears hired to drive her, the kids and a court-ordered monitor around town is quitting -- because driving for Brit Brit is a "liability." Obviously! A source close to Spears tells TMZ, that the driver and a monitor both had very close calls with paparazzi and other vehicles while driving Miss Britney. I would imagine that it would take a driver with a very strong sense of fortitude to brave the open roadways carting around Britney Spears and her spawn as cargo. It doesn't really sound like a job for the faint of heart. Perhaps she should find someone who has prior stunt driving experience? [Source]
Last bit of Britness ... In Touch Weekly is reporting in this week's cover story that Britters has confided to some friends, via email, that she's pregs with JR Rotem's baby:
On November 14, Britney Spears confided to her friends in e-mails that she was four weeks pregnant - and that she was sure the father was J.R. Rotem, a music producer she's been seeing on and off since she separated from ex-husband Kevin Federline in 2006. When asked about the pregnancy, J.R. confirmed exclusively to In Touch that Britney is carrying his child. "It's true," he says. On November 16, she proudly e-mailed a copy of the ultrasound to her inner circle.
But Us Weekly is now reporting that this pregnancy report is "completely fake":
Britney Spears has not done it again. In a text message to Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show in L.A. Wednesday, her pal Sam Lutfi debunked In Touch's new cover story that declares Spears, 25, is expecting a baby with her ex J.R. Rotem. "It's BS," he said. "Don't know who made it up. J.R. doesn't even know what's up. It's fake. Completely fake."
And the world heaves a collective sigh of relief.
ATTENTION: DANCING WITH THE STARS SPOILER ALERT WARNING
Those of you who watch Dancing with the Stars and have yet to learn who won this season's competition and you wish to remain unspoiled until you learn for yourself might want to skip over the next part of the blog. Now, I'm not a big DWTS fan at all ... in fact, I think I've only seen maybe 3 eps this season (all while hanging out with my BFF Sarah who is a big fan of the show) ... but it's a pretty big pop culture story so here goes ... the winner of this season of Dancing with the Stars is:
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves won top hoofer honors Tuesday on the ABC hit show Dancing With the Stars. "It feels totally different from winning a race," Castroneves said after the show. "I wasn't kidding. This goes right between my two Indy trophies. Otherwise, it would have been a big blank space." Castroneves, nicknamed Spider-Man by racing fans, proved nimble enough to best entertainer Marie Osmond and Spice Girl Melanie Brown. Monday's cartwheel-infused freestyle dance with professional dance partner Julianne Hough drew a bit less approval and points from the show's three-judge panel. But the judges account for 50% of the overall score, and fan votes supply the remaining half. Brown's final dance tied Castroneves' perfect score, and her overall numbers were good enough to beat Osmond. Castroneves, 32, is the fourth consecutive male to win the ballroom dance competition. The Brazilian's goals were modest before the competition began. "I just didn't want to be the first voted out," he said. Sarah was really pulling for Jennie Garth to win it all and was LIVID when she was ousted and Marie Osmond was kept in the competition. The common belief is that Marie was the beneficiary of lots of sympathetic votes since her father passed away recently and her son was sent to rehab. Mel B's dancing partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy was no fan of Marie Osmond staying in the competition either ... he was quoted with saying: "Frankly, I think there were a lot of other people better than Marie ... I know firsthand there are a lot of celebrities on the show that went through similar situations [family issues] this season and decided not to make it public." From what I saw, I think I would've liked to have seen Mel and Maksim win it all but the public voted and Helio (don't call him a phone) won. Congrats!! [Source, Source]
Nicole Kidman, her hubby Keith Urban, Daniel Craig, Eva Green and others were all on hand for the UK premiere of the new movie The Golden Compass. Here are a few pics from the red carpet event that was held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, England last night:
Photo credit: Wireimage
I am so excited for this movie ... I can hardly stand it. I had only just heard about the His Dark Materials trilogy of books by Philip Pullman (Book I is The Golden Compass) a few weeks ago. I was reading an article in Entertainment Weekly about how these stories are written from an atheist point of view (and there was studio fear that Christians will boycott the film, etc.) and I became immediately intrigued. I'd never heard of books aimed at children that were written from an atheist perspective ... so I read The Golden Compass as quickly as I could and I loved it! I'm more than halfway thru Book II: The Subtle Knife and I really can't get enough. Honestly, I don't find the books overtly atheist at all ... had I not read that article, I don't know that I would've even noticed. In any regard, I'm really anxious to see how the movie version shapes up to the book version ... I found the book's ending troubling ... it left off with a huge cliffhanger ... I wonder if movie audiences will feel frustrated if the same ending is used in the movie. [Source]
David Beckham is making the most of his Aussie trip down under as he has been appearing at as many events as possible ... and still finding the time to update his blog. Here are pics of Becks at a Motorola launch event to promote the RAZR 2 in OZ:
Photo credit: Wireimage
With no time to change, Becks then made his way to a Myers store in Sydney to do a personal appearance to promote his fragrance Intimately Night ... unfortch for the usually fashionably faboo Becks, he apparently forgot to either pack or put on his dress socks in all the hectic PR melee:
Photo credit: Splash News
The suit was neatly tailored, his crisp white shirt pressed to perfection and shoes buffed to a shine, but David Beckham still managed to commit a major fashion faux pas during a promotional appearance in Sydney. The football ace surprised onlookers when he sat down for an interview at a press conference and revealed that despite his carefully preened outfit, he was in fact wearing no socks - a look not popular since Don Johnson hit screens on Miami Vice in 1984. It's not clear if the decision to roam around with bare ankles was intentional, or merely a hasty oversight. You know ... something tells me that David Beckham is just too bizzy to take care and dress himself properly and he might be in need of a personal valet to help him get dressed on a daily basis. I would personally like to volunteer for this position as it would thrill me to no end to be the person to help Becks go from completely nekkid to completely dressed and back again on a daily basis. It sounds like tough work but I think I'm up for the challenge. [Source]
To round out the day, Becks took part in the Hyundai Club Challenge on Tuesday night, which is all well and good, but it's the new pics of half-nekkid Becks walking around on the field afterwards that really grabbed my attention:
See ... that's all he really has to do to make people happy. All that running around on the soccer field for 90 mins is just the foreplay ... it's the sweaty, nekkid afterwards that people really pay their money out for in the end. That's why I purchased season tickets for the LA Galaxy last season :) [Source]
Milo Ventimiglia was among the guests at the one year anniversary event for Live Sets on Yahoo! Music at the Fox Studios lot in Los Angeles last night ... here are a few pics of Milo on the red carpet:
It's always nice when Milo goes out for an event on any given night because we get to enjoy pics of him out and about the next day. Wee!! [Source]
Patrick Dempsey seems to be enjoying the time off that he's been afforded by the Writer's Strike since he now has more time to go out for leisurely bike rides around the greater Los Angeles area:
Photo credit: INFdaily
And more bike rides means more spandex, which always seems to hug those snug bulges in all the right places. Yeah, I knew there was a silver lining to this Writer's Strike thing. [Source]
Here are a couple of really great pics of Blake Lively and Penn Badgley lockin' lips, swappin' spit and makin' some XOXO on the NYC street set of the hit CW show Gossip Girl:
Photo credit: Wireimage
As much as Gossip Girl is pretty much an NYC-version of The OC (which I was never really a fan of) I must admit that I kinda like the show. David and Monique pretty much live for GG but I, too, find the show marginally entertaining. The plotlines aren't all that difficult to follow and I really respond to Kristen Bell's voiceover narration of the drama as the clandestine blogger Gossip Girl. I understand that the books from which the TV show has been adapted have much more homosexual content than the show has shown thus far (in fact, I believe Penn Badgley's character gets his gay on in the books) and I just hope, for purity's sake, that the spirit of the books will make it's way to the small screen. I wouldn't mind a few scenes where Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford are the one's making the XOXO. [Source]
After completing 0.1% of her concert tour, Amy Winehouse has decided that she simply cannot continue to sing on stage while her poor hubby is locked away behind bars on the charge that he and his cronies attempted to pervert justice by tampering with witnesses (or whatever the hell his dumb ass is in jail for) ... so while her concert promoters tried to get Amy to carry on with her Back to Basics tour she, quite appropriately said, No No No:
Amy Winehouse's career was in freefall last night after she cancelled the rest of her tour and returned to rehab. The crisis-stricken singer blamed her inability to continue on her enforced separation from her husband Blake Fielder-Civil. But privately friends said she was beginning to realise she had lost control of her life and had finally decided to seek help. She was driven to drastic action after a series of disturbing pictures emerged last week showing her with a suspicious white substance lodged in her nostrils after several gigs in which she slurred incoherently and stumbled onstage. Yesterday she was seen by doctors at the London Clinic in Harley Street, who ordered her to seek help for her drug addiction. Last night she was thought to have returned to the Causeway Clinic in Essex, where she has already undergone two unsuccessful attempts to wean herself off drugs. A spokesman said: "Amy has cancelled all remaining live and promotional appearances for the remainder of the year on the instruction of her doctor. "The rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain Amy has been under in recent weeks have taken their toll. In the interests of her health and wellbeing Amy has been ordered to take complete rest and deal with her health issues." Winehouse, 24, told fans in a statement: "I cannot give it my all onstage without my Blake. I am so sorry but I do not want to do the shows half-heartedly. "I love singing. My husband is everything to me and without him it is just not the same." Um, pardon my cynicism but I have a hard time believing that Amy Winehouse really put herself in rehab. My guess is that this is just a sham so that she could cancel her tour dates and blame it on her doctors. I really wish the troubled chanteuse would get help but I doubt that she's there yet ... I just hope she gets the help she desperately needs very soon. [Source]
Here is a new movie still from the 4th installment of the Indiana Jones Franchise, titled The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, featuring both Harrison Ford as Indy and Shia LeBeouf as his son:
I'm intrigued by this new chapter of the Indiana Jones franchise ... I just hope that Harrison Ford can keep up in fine Indiana Jones style. I suspect there will be a few old timer jokes thrown in the mix but I'm a Shia fan so I think it'll work. Indiana Jones and The Kingdome of the Crystal Skull is due to hit theaters next year. [Source]
Xtina Aguilera bares her soul and her bare pregs belly on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Marie Claire magazine ... take a look:
Pop megastar Christina Aguilera is downright giggly as she opens up for the first time about her baby boy, her marriage, and her future in the "Sexy Mama" cover article featured in the January 2008 issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands nationally Dec. 11. It turns out the pregnancy was a bit of a surprise for her and husband Jordan Bratman: "We were planning on starting to try after the tour. And so, I had gone off the Pill to prepare my body, because I didn't know how much time it would take. You’ve heard it takes some time—except with Power Egg and Super Sperm here ... I'm like, Oh, my God, can you believe it just happened?" [said Aguilera.] Aguilera figures she got pregnant when Bratman was visiting her in Georgetown, during the U.S. leg of her 'Back to Basics' tour ... Only problem was she still had a month left on an eight-month world tour where she changes costumes at least 10 times during the show, hangs from a circus pinwheel, rides a carousel horse, plays a dominatrix, and wears major heels throughout: "I was paranoid. There are so many things that could go wrong—somebody could slip, somebody could fall, I could fall. There was no way in hell I was going to jeopardize my baby for my show." So she wore a well-concealed heart monitor. She didn't want to broadcast the news. "I didn't want to make the audience uncomfortable, like, 'Pregnant lady onstage! Is she going to be OK?' But I had to announce it to my band and my dancers, because I wanted to make sure they had my back." [In the interview] Aguilera talks about her simple decision not to announce her pregnancy. Somehow it figures that the criminally uncircumspect Paris Hilton would be the one to spill the beans, at an MTV Video Music Awards party. [When asked] if Hilton's faux pas angered her, she shrugs it off. "Because I hadn't said anything, people thought I was trying to keep it this big, bad secret, and that's not the case at all. I just wasn't commenting. I'm not being like, 'Hey, everybody, I'm pregnant!' I'm not that girl." Aguilera says she likes the idea of a big family, although she doesn’t have a set number of kids in mind… But the domestication of Christina Aguilera is likely to be complicated. What will it mean for someone who has treated her confrontational sexuality as both a rallying cry and a right? "We're so labeled. If you're too sexual, you're slutty. If you're not sexual enough, you're a prude. I like to put it out there as a topic of conversation. Why does it bother you? What's your problem with it? Am I really hurting you? Let's get to the root of it. I have more than one side of me that likes to get out on a stage and sing. Sometimes I want to be aggressive, sometimes I want to feel empowered in my sexuality and my vulnerability. I want to put all that out there." And clearly, by posing nekkid on the cover and in the pages of Marie Claire magazine, she is really putting it all out there. I had a feeling that Xtina would pose for this type of magazine cover (after all, Britney Spears did it during her last pregnancy on the cover of Allure magazine) but I thought it'd be something like Vanity Fair (a la Demi Moore). Kudos to Marie Claire for scoring such a coup! Xtina looks great ... if a bit too orange on this magazine cover. [Source]
Kristen Bell has been dubbed The Girl of Next Year by Complex magazine and she graces the duo of covers that the magazine publishes for it's newest issue:
She looks great in both pics but I prefer the smoochy lips one over the other. I don't think that even Hayden Panettiere has appeared on both Complex covers in the same month before. Score for Kristen!! [Source]
And finally, Star magazine has sniffed out the shady, criminal past of the She-Spencer who tried to whip up drama on this week's ep of The Hills. It turns out that homegirl likes to cause trouble off camera as well ... trouble of the shoplifting variety. Here is her mug shot from her arrest last year:
Fans of The Hills got a double dose of drama on Monday when Spencer Pratt's younger sister Stephanie Pratt came to visit. Until now Stephanie has stayed out of the public eye — and Star knows why! Early in the evening of May 8, 2006, in Honolulu, Stephanie, then 20, and a 20-year-old friend — the daughter of a production executive on the locally filmed ABC series Lost — were arrested by the police after security guards at ritzy Neiman Marcus department store caught the duo attempting to shoplift a number of clothing items. According to police records, Stephanie and her friend had tried on more than 50 pieces of clothing in a dressing room, then left the store after the friend paid for five items. When apprehended outside by store security, Stephanie was wearing two stolen items of clothing and carrying five more in her shoulder bag, while her friend was wearing one stolen item and carrying five more in her bag. Together, the value of the stolen merchandise totaled $1,300! Stephanie and her friend found themselves in even more hot water after they were arrested on charges of second-degree theft and transported to police headquarters. After they both claimed they took prescription medicine and gave permission to have their bags searched, Stephanie was then arrested on further charges of "promoting a dangerous drug" in the third degree, and "promoting a harmful drug" in the third and fourth degree (her friend was also arrested on a single drug charge). The friend didn't help matters when, according to the police report, she told an officer that she'd call her lawyer and "be out of this mess and then fly to Paris." She then added: "If I leave the state, then f--k you guys and your charges! You can't do anything to me once I'm not here!" The two young women were each released on $15,000 bond. News of her arrest hit Stephanie's family hard — especially her 24-year-old brother! "Spencer was so upset that, for a time, he refused to even speak to his sister," says a family insider. "Their dad's a respected dentist, and they had a privileged upbringing in Southern California's Pacific Palisades. Stephanie's arrest was like a black mark on their perfect family." This report doesn't mention the name of She-Spencer’s criminal accomplice but it sounds like the work of her minion Roxy. LOL! How is it that the Pratts are such a wealthy family and yet one of their children has to resort to shoplifting to get her rocks off? Could she get any lamer? I guess we'll have to wait until the next ep of The Hills to find out. [Source]
Les News:
I have only heard good things about this movie so I was deffo interested in seeing it but I'm not too big on crime movies so I wasn't sure I was gonna love it or not. I am happy to report that the movie rules. The acting is superb and the writing is excellent ... it's a very engrossing film. Stark, dark and sometimes violent ... it really sucks you in and takes hold. I won't be surprised if Denzel Washington or Russell Crowe each receive Oscar nominations. I'm not the biggest Russell Crowe fan but he oftentimes surprises me ... he was a revelation in this film. I liked his flawed character very much. I really hated the ending tho ... the part where Denzel and Russell were collaborating on busting the crooked cops was just dumb. That may have been the way things really went down but it was a lame way to end this great movie.
So ... I'm basically on my way out the door as I head home to LA tonight. I am catching a Virgin America flight back to LA which is to be transformed into a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show/PJ Party ... seriously. I'll be winging my way back home with a bevy of VS Angels so I'm sure I'll have some fun deets to share tomorrow.
I'll be comin' atcha from the West Side tomorrow ... I'm out.
[Permalink]
Photo credit: Splash News and Mr. Paparazzi
Balancing mommy duty and her music career – it's all in day's work for Britney Spears.
After spending Tuesday with her two sons Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, Spears switched into pop-star mode, arriving at L.A. restaurant and nightclub Social Hollywood to shoot the video for her tabloid-bashing single "Piece of Me" – the second single off her album Blackout. (It's being directed by Wayne Isham, who helmed Spears's "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" video.) Spears and her backup dancers donned identical blonde bob wigs and black trench coats. The premise? "The paparazzi are following [Britney], so they're dressed alike to trick them," a source close to Spears tells PEOPLE. "They all go into a club to get away. One [photographer] sneaks in, but Britney, in the end, discovers him." The stakes are high for Spears, whose video for "Gimme More" was poorly received when it was released in October. (The song itself, however, was a hit.) "[Spears] is really freaked out about everything," said the source. "She's just really nervous and feels like everyone might make fun of her again." Hmmm ... I kinda doubt that Britney is at all "nervous" that people might make fun of her ... cuz if she really cared, she'd take her work more seriously and she'd make sure that she couldn't be made fun of. I'm hopeful that this video will turn out a'ight cuz the album could use a new jolt of publicity to help move more copies. You just never really know what you're gonna get outta Britney Spears. The video could be really hot, Wayne Isham is a great director ... or it could be a steaming pile, ready to be cleaned up off the floor with a $5,000 designer dress. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. [Source]
In other Brit news, it looks like she's gonna need to hire a new driver before she gets to spend time with her kids again ... cuz the driver she had hired has already decided that it is time to cut and run:
Photo credit: Splash News
Britney Spears finally wised up and hired a driver to help, er, curb some of her recent mishaps behind the wheel. Good move! Except that just days later, he is already "on his way out." TMZ has learned that the chauffeur/driver Spears hired to drive her, the kids and a court-ordered monitor around town is quitting -- because driving for Brit Brit is a "liability." Obviously! A source close to Spears tells TMZ, that the driver and a monitor both had very close calls with paparazzi and other vehicles while driving Miss Britney. I would imagine that it would take a driver with a very strong sense of fortitude to brave the open roadways carting around Britney Spears and her spawn as cargo. It doesn't really sound like a job for the faint of heart. Perhaps she should find someone who has prior stunt driving experience? [Source]
Last bit of Britness ... In Touch Weekly is reporting in this week's cover story that Britters has confided to some friends, via email, that she's pregs with JR Rotem's baby:
On November 14, Britney Spears confided to her friends in e-mails that she was four weeks pregnant - and that she was sure the father was J.R. Rotem, a music producer she's been seeing on and off since she separated from ex-husband Kevin Federline in 2006. When asked about the pregnancy, J.R. confirmed exclusively to In Touch that Britney is carrying his child. "It's true," he says. On November 16, she proudly e-mailed a copy of the ultrasound to her inner circle.
But Us Weekly is now reporting that this pregnancy report is "completely fake":
Britney Spears has not done it again. In a text message to Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show in L.A. Wednesday, her pal Sam Lutfi debunked In Touch's new cover story that declares Spears, 25, is expecting a baby with her ex J.R. Rotem. "It's BS," he said. "Don't know who made it up. J.R. doesn't even know what's up. It's fake. Completely fake."
And the world heaves a collective sigh of relief.
ATTENTION: DANCING WITH THE STARS SPOILER ALERT WARNING
Those of you who watch Dancing with the Stars and have yet to learn who won this season's competition and you wish to remain unspoiled until you learn for yourself might want to skip over the next part of the blog. Now, I'm not a big DWTS fan at all ... in fact, I think I've only seen maybe 3 eps this season (all while hanging out with my BFF Sarah who is a big fan of the show) ... but it's a pretty big pop culture story so here goes ... the winner of this season of Dancing with the Stars is:
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves won top hoofer honors Tuesday on the ABC hit show Dancing With the Stars. "It feels totally different from winning a race," Castroneves said after the show. "I wasn't kidding. This goes right between my two Indy trophies. Otherwise, it would have been a big blank space." Castroneves, nicknamed Spider-Man by racing fans, proved nimble enough to best entertainer Marie Osmond and Spice Girl Melanie Brown. Monday's cartwheel-infused freestyle dance with professional dance partner Julianne Hough drew a bit less approval and points from the show's three-judge panel. But the judges account for 50% of the overall score, and fan votes supply the remaining half. Brown's final dance tied Castroneves' perfect score, and her overall numbers were good enough to beat Osmond. Castroneves, 32, is the fourth consecutive male to win the ballroom dance competition. The Brazilian's goals were modest before the competition began. "I just didn't want to be the first voted out," he said. Sarah was really pulling for Jennie Garth to win it all and was LIVID when she was ousted and Marie Osmond was kept in the competition. The common belief is that Marie was the beneficiary of lots of sympathetic votes since her father passed away recently and her son was sent to rehab. Mel B's dancing partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy was no fan of Marie Osmond staying in the competition either ... he was quoted with saying: "Frankly, I think there were a lot of other people better than Marie ... I know firsthand there are a lot of celebrities on the show that went through similar situations [family issues] this season and decided not to make it public." From what I saw, I think I would've liked to have seen Mel and Maksim win it all but the public voted and Helio (don't call him a phone) won. Congrats!! [Source, Source]
Nicole Kidman, her hubby Keith Urban, Daniel Craig, Eva Green and others were all on hand for the UK premiere of the new movie The Golden Compass. Here are a few pics from the red carpet event that was held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, England last night:
Photo credit: Wireimage
I am so excited for this movie ... I can hardly stand it. I had only just heard about the His Dark Materials trilogy of books by Philip Pullman (Book I is The Golden Compass) a few weeks ago. I was reading an article in Entertainment Weekly about how these stories are written from an atheist point of view (and there was studio fear that Christians will boycott the film, etc.) and I became immediately intrigued. I'd never heard of books aimed at children that were written from an atheist perspective ... so I read The Golden Compass as quickly as I could and I loved it! I'm more than halfway thru Book II: The Subtle Knife and I really can't get enough. Honestly, I don't find the books overtly atheist at all ... had I not read that article, I don't know that I would've even noticed. In any regard, I'm really anxious to see how the movie version shapes up to the book version ... I found the book's ending troubling ... it left off with a huge cliffhanger ... I wonder if movie audiences will feel frustrated if the same ending is used in the movie. [Source]
David Beckham is making the most of his Aussie trip down under as he has been appearing at as many events as possible ... and still finding the time to update his blog. Here are pics of Becks at a Motorola launch event to promote the RAZR 2 in OZ:
Photo credit: Wireimage
With no time to change, Becks then made his way to a Myers store in Sydney to do a personal appearance to promote his fragrance Intimately Night ... unfortch for the usually fashionably faboo Becks, he apparently forgot to either pack or put on his dress socks in all the hectic PR melee:
Photo credit: Splash News
The suit was neatly tailored, his crisp white shirt pressed to perfection and shoes buffed to a shine, but David Beckham still managed to commit a major fashion faux pas during a promotional appearance in Sydney. The football ace surprised onlookers when he sat down for an interview at a press conference and revealed that despite his carefully preened outfit, he was in fact wearing no socks - a look not popular since Don Johnson hit screens on Miami Vice in 1984. It's not clear if the decision to roam around with bare ankles was intentional, or merely a hasty oversight. You know ... something tells me that David Beckham is just too bizzy to take care and dress himself properly and he might be in need of a personal valet to help him get dressed on a daily basis. I would personally like to volunteer for this position as it would thrill me to no end to be the person to help Becks go from completely nekkid to completely dressed and back again on a daily basis. It sounds like tough work but I think I'm up for the challenge. [Source]
To round out the day, Becks took part in the Hyundai Club Challenge on Tuesday night, which is all well and good, but it's the new pics of half-nekkid Becks walking around on the field afterwards that really grabbed my attention:
See ... that's all he really has to do to make people happy. All that running around on the soccer field for 90 mins is just the foreplay ... it's the sweaty, nekkid afterwards that people really pay their money out for in the end. That's why I purchased season tickets for the LA Galaxy last season :) [Source]
Milo Ventimiglia was among the guests at the one year anniversary event for Live Sets on Yahoo! Music at the Fox Studios lot in Los Angeles last night ... here are a few pics of Milo on the red carpet:
It's always nice when Milo goes out for an event on any given night because we get to enjoy pics of him out and about the next day. Wee!! [Source]
Patrick Dempsey seems to be enjoying the time off that he's been afforded by the Writer's Strike since he now has more time to go out for leisurely bike rides around the greater Los Angeles area:
Photo credit: INFdaily
And more bike rides means more spandex, which always seems to hug those snug bulges in all the right places. Yeah, I knew there was a silver lining to this Writer's Strike thing. [Source]
Here are a couple of really great pics of Blake Lively and Penn Badgley lockin' lips, swappin' spit and makin' some XOXO on the NYC street set of the hit CW show Gossip Girl:
Photo credit: Wireimage
As much as Gossip Girl is pretty much an NYC-version of The OC (which I was never really a fan of) I must admit that I kinda like the show. David and Monique pretty much live for GG but I, too, find the show marginally entertaining. The plotlines aren't all that difficult to follow and I really respond to Kristen Bell's voiceover narration of the drama as the clandestine blogger Gossip Girl. I understand that the books from which the TV show has been adapted have much more homosexual content than the show has shown thus far (in fact, I believe Penn Badgley's character gets his gay on in the books) and I just hope, for purity's sake, that the spirit of the books will make it's way to the small screen. I wouldn't mind a few scenes where Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford are the one's making the XOXO. [Source]
After completing 0.1% of her concert tour, Amy Winehouse has decided that she simply cannot continue to sing on stage while her poor hubby is locked away behind bars on the charge that he and his cronies attempted to pervert justice by tampering with witnesses (or whatever the hell his dumb ass is in jail for) ... so while her concert promoters tried to get Amy to carry on with her Back to Basics tour she, quite appropriately said, No No No:
Amy Winehouse's career was in freefall last night after she cancelled the rest of her tour and returned to rehab. The crisis-stricken singer blamed her inability to continue on her enforced separation from her husband Blake Fielder-Civil. But privately friends said she was beginning to realise she had lost control of her life and had finally decided to seek help. She was driven to drastic action after a series of disturbing pictures emerged last week showing her with a suspicious white substance lodged in her nostrils after several gigs in which she slurred incoherently and stumbled onstage. Yesterday she was seen by doctors at the London Clinic in Harley Street, who ordered her to seek help for her drug addiction. Last night she was thought to have returned to the Causeway Clinic in Essex, where she has already undergone two unsuccessful attempts to wean herself off drugs. A spokesman said: "Amy has cancelled all remaining live and promotional appearances for the remainder of the year on the instruction of her doctor. "The rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain Amy has been under in recent weeks have taken their toll. In the interests of her health and wellbeing Amy has been ordered to take complete rest and deal with her health issues." Winehouse, 24, told fans in a statement: "I cannot give it my all onstage without my Blake. I am so sorry but I do not want to do the shows half-heartedly. "I love singing. My husband is everything to me and without him it is just not the same." Um, pardon my cynicism but I have a hard time believing that Amy Winehouse really put herself in rehab. My guess is that this is just a sham so that she could cancel her tour dates and blame it on her doctors. I really wish the troubled chanteuse would get help but I doubt that she's there yet ... I just hope she gets the help she desperately needs very soon. [Source]
Here is a new movie still from the 4th installment of the Indiana Jones Franchise, titled The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, featuring both Harrison Ford as Indy and Shia LeBeouf as his son:
I'm intrigued by this new chapter of the Indiana Jones franchise ... I just hope that Harrison Ford can keep up in fine Indiana Jones style. I suspect there will be a few old timer jokes thrown in the mix but I'm a Shia fan so I think it'll work. Indiana Jones and The Kingdome of the Crystal Skull is due to hit theaters next year. [Source]
Xtina Aguilera bares her soul and her bare pregs belly on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Marie Claire magazine ... take a look:
Pop megastar Christina Aguilera is downright giggly as she opens up for the first time about her baby boy, her marriage, and her future in the "Sexy Mama" cover article featured in the January 2008 issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands nationally Dec. 11. It turns out the pregnancy was a bit of a surprise for her and husband Jordan Bratman: "We were planning on starting to try after the tour. And so, I had gone off the Pill to prepare my body, because I didn't know how much time it would take. You’ve heard it takes some time—except with Power Egg and Super Sperm here ... I'm like, Oh, my God, can you believe it just happened?" [said Aguilera.] Aguilera figures she got pregnant when Bratman was visiting her in Georgetown, during the U.S. leg of her 'Back to Basics' tour ... Only problem was she still had a month left on an eight-month world tour where she changes costumes at least 10 times during the show, hangs from a circus pinwheel, rides a carousel horse, plays a dominatrix, and wears major heels throughout: "I was paranoid. There are so many things that could go wrong—somebody could slip, somebody could fall, I could fall. There was no way in hell I was going to jeopardize my baby for my show." So she wore a well-concealed heart monitor. She didn't want to broadcast the news. "I didn't want to make the audience uncomfortable, like, 'Pregnant lady onstage! Is she going to be OK?' But I had to announce it to my band and my dancers, because I wanted to make sure they had my back." [In the interview] Aguilera talks about her simple decision not to announce her pregnancy. Somehow it figures that the criminally uncircumspect Paris Hilton would be the one to spill the beans, at an MTV Video Music Awards party. [When asked] if Hilton's faux pas angered her, she shrugs it off. "Because I hadn't said anything, people thought I was trying to keep it this big, bad secret, and that's not the case at all. I just wasn't commenting. I'm not being like, 'Hey, everybody, I'm pregnant!' I'm not that girl." Aguilera says she likes the idea of a big family, although she doesn’t have a set number of kids in mind… But the domestication of Christina Aguilera is likely to be complicated. What will it mean for someone who has treated her confrontational sexuality as both a rallying cry and a right? "We're so labeled. If you're too sexual, you're slutty. If you're not sexual enough, you're a prude. I like to put it out there as a topic of conversation. Why does it bother you? What's your problem with it? Am I really hurting you? Let's get to the root of it. I have more than one side of me that likes to get out on a stage and sing. Sometimes I want to be aggressive, sometimes I want to feel empowered in my sexuality and my vulnerability. I want to put all that out there." And clearly, by posing nekkid on the cover and in the pages of Marie Claire magazine, she is really putting it all out there. I had a feeling that Xtina would pose for this type of magazine cover (after all, Britney Spears did it during her last pregnancy on the cover of Allure magazine) but I thought it'd be something like Vanity Fair (a la Demi Moore). Kudos to Marie Claire for scoring such a coup! Xtina looks great ... if a bit too orange on this magazine cover. [Source]
Kristen Bell has been dubbed The Girl of Next Year by Complex magazine and she graces the duo of covers that the magazine publishes for it's newest issue:
She looks great in both pics but I prefer the smoochy lips one over the other. I don't think that even Hayden Panettiere has appeared on both Complex covers in the same month before. Score for Kristen!! [Source]
And finally, Star magazine has sniffed out the shady, criminal past of the She-Spencer who tried to whip up drama on this week's ep of The Hills. It turns out that homegirl likes to cause trouble off camera as well ... trouble of the shoplifting variety. Here is her mug shot from her arrest last year:
Fans of The Hills got a double dose of drama on Monday when Spencer Pratt's younger sister Stephanie Pratt came to visit. Until now Stephanie has stayed out of the public eye — and Star knows why! Early in the evening of May 8, 2006, in Honolulu, Stephanie, then 20, and a 20-year-old friend — the daughter of a production executive on the locally filmed ABC series Lost — were arrested by the police after security guards at ritzy Neiman Marcus department store caught the duo attempting to shoplift a number of clothing items. According to police records, Stephanie and her friend had tried on more than 50 pieces of clothing in a dressing room, then left the store after the friend paid for five items. When apprehended outside by store security, Stephanie was wearing two stolen items of clothing and carrying five more in her shoulder bag, while her friend was wearing one stolen item and carrying five more in her bag. Together, the value of the stolen merchandise totaled $1,300! Stephanie and her friend found themselves in even more hot water after they were arrested on charges of second-degree theft and transported to police headquarters. After they both claimed they took prescription medicine and gave permission to have their bags searched, Stephanie was then arrested on further charges of "promoting a dangerous drug" in the third degree, and "promoting a harmful drug" in the third and fourth degree (her friend was also arrested on a single drug charge). The friend didn't help matters when, according to the police report, she told an officer that she'd call her lawyer and "be out of this mess and then fly to Paris." She then added: "If I leave the state, then f--k you guys and your charges! You can't do anything to me once I'm not here!" The two young women were each released on $15,000 bond. News of her arrest hit Stephanie's family hard — especially her 24-year-old brother! "Spencer was so upset that, for a time, he refused to even speak to his sister," says a family insider. "Their dad's a respected dentist, and they had a privileged upbringing in Southern California's Pacific Palisades. Stephanie's arrest was like a black mark on their perfect family." This report doesn't mention the name of She-Spencer’s criminal accomplice but it sounds like the work of her minion Roxy. LOL! How is it that the Pratts are such a wealthy family and yet one of their children has to resort to shoplifting to get her rocks off? Could she get any lamer? I guess we'll have to wait until the next ep of The Hills to find out. [Source]
Les News:
- Helio Castroneves wins some, loses some.
- Usher is a new dad.
- Will you help my homeboy Tanner and his friend Zach find the Perfect Wives?
- Carson Daly crosses the Writer's Strike picket line to resume his late night talk show.
- Alex Vaggo is back on the scene; back in Paris Hilton's good graces (and other things).
- Whoa! Action figures gone wild.
- The cast of Ugly Betty is speechless.
- Brooke Burke does Ralph.
- Whoa! Jennifer Love Hewitt got back!
- Nicole Richie talks to Access Hollywood.
- Jake Gyllenhaal to play Joe Namath.
- Jon Stewart is 44, Ed Harris is 56 and Berry Gordy Jr. is 77 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
- Happy Hannukah from Louis Vuitton! [thanks Mindy]
- Canucks are finally getting TiVo.
I have only heard good things about this movie so I was deffo interested in seeing it but I'm not too big on crime movies so I wasn't sure I was gonna love it or not. I am happy to report that the movie rules. The acting is superb and the writing is excellent ... it's a very engrossing film. Stark, dark and sometimes violent ... it really sucks you in and takes hold. I won't be surprised if Denzel Washington or Russell Crowe each receive Oscar nominations. I'm not the biggest Russell Crowe fan but he oftentimes surprises me ... he was a revelation in this film. I liked his flawed character very much. I really hated the ending tho ... the part where Denzel and Russell were collaborating on busting the crooked cops was just dumb. That may have been the way things really went down but it was a lame way to end this great movie.
So ... I'm basically on my way out the door as I head home to LA tonight. I am catching a Virgin America flight back to LA which is to be transformed into a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show/PJ Party ... seriously. I'll be winging my way back home with a bevy of VS Angels so I'm sure I'll have some fun deets to share tomorrow.
I'll be comin' atcha from the West Side tomorrow ... I'm out.
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