I’m in France, where the bars are playing Donna Summer (good) and the Cannes Film Festival has opened with Wes Anderson‘s “Moonrise Kingdom” (less good). The movie is suffused with Anderson’s trademark whimsy, which oozed charm a decade ago with “The Royal Tenenbaums” but has worn out its welcome since. Except, of course, in France, where Wes lives part of the time and where his new picture is being exalted as an exemplar of anti-Hollywood filmmaking. Le Monde, the leading French newspaper, calls Anderson “un talent fou.” The only thing that’s crazy is that assessment.
There have been bits and pieces released from the set of “Les Misérables,” the movie, and Perez Hilton seems to have gotten his hands on some video here which appears to be an early trailer with Anne Hathaway singing “I Dreamed a Dream.” And, umm, to put it gently, her singing doesn’t sound that great. Yes, it’s hard to tell exactly how bad it is from this admittedly low-quality footage, and this could just be a rough placeholder recording. Annie sang darn well at the Kennedy Center Honors, at the Oscars, and on “The Simpsons.”
Look at the photo: didn’t you think it was Whitney talking to Mario Lopez? I did, but it turns out to be Halle Berry rocking something berry curly. Well, she has spoken to Mario Lopez at the Revlon Run/Walk for Cancer about a recent incident where she flipped out on some paparazzi. Berry told Mario, “I hate that I lost my cool, but you know, I’m human. That happens and when it comes to my daughter, I’m ferocious!” The Oscar-winning actress lamented there isn’t much that Read more »
I must have gotten up on the gay side of the bed today. Why else would I be posting a clip from “Les Mis” AND a Broadway-diva impersonator? The impersonator is named Carly Sakalove. My favorites are LuPone and Stritch. I hope Tom Steele is watching closely.
MTV is known for debuting racy music videos and controversial reality TV shows, but their safe-sex announcements are equally titillating. Their latest campaign features a series of cartoon drawings of a flaccid penis equipped with tiny wings—sometimes wearing a hat or round spectacles. Even more edgy, the member is personified doing mundane things like watching TV or playing chess. The slogan for the campaign reads, “There’s no sex in heaven. Stay alive. Use a condom.” [How do they know there's no sex in heaven?] While we appreciate the message, the mixture of all these elements seems a bit bizarre. What other advertisements have controversial or confusing messages? Take a look at the strangest ads promoting safe sex.
So says Michael Fassbender in this GQ profile. (He’s talking about a scene in the movie “Shame.”) The article explains: “At the beginning people [say], ‘You’re going to be going to the Oscars,’ and you’re like, ‘Whatever, doesn’t matter, don’t think so.’ But after a while it does penetrate. After a while you’re like, ‘Anyway, so I’m going to the Oscars…’ ” He laughs. “And you start to believe it. And I did. I thought I was going. And then I found out I wasn’t and I was upset. I was very upset by it. The first reaction was ‘What the fuck…?’ ” He sounds frustrated that he had let himself get sucked in. “It’s a vanity thing. It does become important to you. And it shouldn’t.” On reflection, he decided that he had learned something about misplaced priorities. “A good little lesson.”
