The wedding of Taj Jackson and Tayana Jackson was a major family affair, with one notable exception: Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson. The Sunday nuptials of Taj and Tayana took place at the family’s Hayvenhurst home, and “was like a family reunion,” says a source inside the wedding. Taj Jackson is the oldest son of Michael’s brother Tito, and the older brother of TJ Jackson, who in 2012 was named co-guardian of MJ’s three children. One of whom, Paris Jackson, was conspicuously absent Sunday. “No one said a word about Paris,” an E! source says, adding that the troubled teen “really wanted to come but they wouldn’t let her out of the hospital.” “I think everyone was trying to block it out and just enjoy the wedding. You wouldn’t know anything was going on, except that [Katherine] looked sad.” “She just didn’t look her normal, happy self today.” The reason for that is very much obvious. “She’s optimistic Paris will get the help she needs. She doesn’t think Paris realized at the time how serious the consequences of her actions would be.” “The hospitalization has hit Paris hard that this is serious.” Meanwhile, Paris’ brothers, Prince and Blanket, “are very well adjusted. You wouldn’t know anything was wrong. They were hanging out and laughing.” “Prince’s girlfriend was there. He didn’t leave her hip the entire night. Blanket was really outgoing, but he only talks to the people he’s close with.” Considering recent reports that Paris and Prince do not have the same father , we’re glad to hear that the focus was on having a good time on this day. Besides Prince Michael, Blanket and Katherine, other well-known guests included Jermaine Jacksun, La Toya Jackson, Tito Jackson and Joe Jackson. Also in attendance were Omer Bhatti and Kris Jenner, who was “happy” and “looking fabulous” following news that Kim Kardashian gave birth to a baby girl.
Guess Who Was Spotted With Blonde Hair In This Red Dress Actress KeKe Palmer was spotted out and about leaving the Sirius Radio building in NYC. The former child star known for her roles in Madea’s Family Reunion and Akeelah and the Bee celebrated her 19th birthday earlier this fall. Are you feeling KeKe’s new look? Images via Splashnews
In the cinematic world of Rian Johnson , where friends are collaborators and cast and crew a part of a close-knit filmmaking “family,” actor Noah Segan is a constant. But after appearing in Johnson’s debut film Brick and his follow-up, The Brothers Bloom , Segan received what he calls a “gift” from Johnson — one of the smartest rising writer-directors of his generation — in the form of what’s sure to be his breakout role: The finely-tuned, gun-obsessed futuristic cowboy Kid Blue in Looper , a “gat man” eagerly hunting down rival Joe ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) who’s so fraught with seriocomic human frailty he only grows more sympathetic as he becomes increasingly unhinged. To Segan’s credit, he shines in the role Johnson tailored for him, inspired by Segan’s own offscreen cinephilia and the actor’s favorite movie — the obscure Dennis Hopper-Warren Oates Western Kid Blue , his signature on Twitter , Tumblr and the film community for years. As Gordon-Levitt’s steely Joe attempts to change his fate by confronting his future self (Bruce Willis), Segan’s eager-to-please Kid Blue illustrates a pained parallel course of desperate self-determination gone wrong. For the actor, who considers Brick the start of his bona fide career and also appeared in Deadgirl , What We Do Is Secret , and Cabin Fever 2 , Looper could and should be the catalyst for Hollywood to take note. As he and the Looper crew took Fantastic Fest by storm, Segan spoke with Movieline about his uniquely personal relationship with Looper and director Johnson, the compelling complexities of Kid Blue, that one time he was on Dawson’s Creek , and why no industry honor could match the feeling of being welcomed as family at the best movie theater in Los Angeles. You and Rian Johnson go back all the way to the Brick days. How did he first describe Looper to you? I had read his short story called Looper before we made Brick , and it was two pages long and it was really the hook — like getting the chorus to a song in your head if you were writing a tune. It was the chase between the older version and the younger version of the same guy. He tucked it away into the archives and went about his business, made Brick , and [ Brothers ] Bloom , and then he mentioned he was revisiting it a few years ago. Sent me a draft about three years ago, and that was that. And he wrote Kid Blue specifically with you in mind? He did. Kid Blue is my nickname; it’s been my nickname for about ten years, since I was a teenager. It’s a reference to a pretty obscure 1970s comedic Western starring Dennis Hopper and Warren Oates, and a buddy of mine who’s a screenwriter back in New York turned me onto some great movies, the movies that I now love, counterculture ‘60s, ‘70s American New Wave — the Dennis Hoppers and the Sam Peckinpahs and the Monte Hellmans, the guys who now I consider my favorite filmmakers. One day he said, “There’s this movie, and you’re gonna dig it — it’s going to be your story. It’s called Kid Blue , and good luck trying to find it.” I go down to this place we had in the Village called Kim’s, which is this famous archive of cinema, bootlegs, and at the time, VHS tapes, of stuff you could never find anywhere else, and you didn’t know how it got there, and maybe it’s not supposed to be there, but if it existed it might as well be at Kim’s. I found Kid Blue there, a pan-and-scan VHS of a dub of a dub from Spanish television with subtitles, and I watched it — it’s the story of a Kid, like Billy the Kid, played by Dennis Hopper, trying to go straight. He realizes he’s getting a little long in the tooth for his lifestyle so he tries to go straight in this town at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; hilarity ensues. There was something about it that just clicked with me so I stuck with it, and it became my nickname. It’s a pretty good nickname, I must say — long before I had even heard about Looper it was your Twitter handle, so I knew there must have been a history there. It surprised me as much as anybody, because, listen — you happen to be lucky enough to be friends with one of your favorite filmmakers, that’s kind of enough. You don’t expect anybody to write you a part. And then he writes me a part, and he writes me my part. He wrote a part that I think, not dissimilarly from Brick , has a lot of the sort of vulnerability and pathos and yet diligence that I guess Rian sees in me. It’s a great honor to be saddled with these big emotions and still be able to have fun with it. That must be an interesting experience in itself, to have a friend write a character for you knowing what you’re capable of and shades of what he sees in you — and it turn out to be a character like this. Kid Blue is not the hero but he and Joe come from very similar backgrounds. It’s very Oliver Twist. Yes! Joe is Oliver and I’m the Artful Dodger and Abe [Jeff Daniels] is Fagin, you know? The three of us, Joe [Gordon-Levitt], Rian, and I, are very good friends — we spend a lot of time together along with the other members of the family, whether it’s Ram [Bergman] his producer, Steve [Yedlin] his cameraman, or Nathan [Johnson] his composer. We all live in the same neighborhood, pretty much, and have keys to each others’ houses and BBQ all the time. I think first impressions make a big impact whether we’re aware of them or not, and the first impression of our relationship was obviously Brick . Dode in that movie is a foil for Brendan, for Joe’s character, and I think a lot of the dynamic that the three of us have is that we are foils for one another. So I imagine, whether consciously or not, Rian read into that. He read into the dynamic between me and Joe probably by watching us, just like I watch him and Joe. There are a lot of parallels between the Kid and Dode from Brick as well — the idea that here’s a guy who will stop at nothing to do what he thinks is the right thing, even if it’s absolutely not the right thing. You’ve floated the idea that Kid Blue could be Dode’s grandson if the Brick and Looper universes overlapped… I’m rolling with that so hard! I kind of rolled that one out and now I’m going to kick it into gear. What I would love is somebody to do some fanfic that’s like Dode had an illegitimate son and that’s his great-grandson. I think they start early in that family. [Laughs] They’re very similar guys, guys who have a duty and a purpose. I think that’s where the vulnerability and the pathos comes from — someone trying to do a dignified act in a very undignified way. Therein you get sympathy too, right, because we’ve all tried to do the right thing and realized we have absolutely no idea how to do the right thing. The great thing about Kid Blue is that we can still understand where he’s coming from, even as he’s not the best equipped to handle the situation, and perhaps isn’t completely all there. You still feel for him. I hope so. I think everyone’s in the gray here. No one in this movie is absolutely doing the right thing. So you cut the Kid more slack. It also helps that he’s goofy, he’s funny, and in a movie that doesn’t have a lot of comic relief a little bit goes a long way. Kid Blue is the most colorful character in a movie that’s populated with very straightfaced people. Yes, and I think that’s something that Rian gave to me — this Western character, this cowboy, in this post-manufacturing era dystopian society, here’s a cowboy who’s earned his stripes to be as silly as he wants to be. He is the character who brings that Western element to the film, in many ways — he’s basically a gunslinger, he has his signature gat, and he even rides the futuristic equivalent of a horse in the form of the slat bike. I get to ride that, I get to spin my gun, I get to talk with a drawl… I got to really play the points of a Western, which again is a great gift from Rian because he knows how much I love that stuff. The guns in Looper provide a lot of interesting analytical dissection, but from your perspective how much is Kid Blue’s obsession with his gat perhaps a phallic psychological extension? [Laughs] Not mine, right? The Kid’s… that’s a bigger conversation to have, no pun intended. I do not have the biggest gun in the movie, as you know — I think Emily [Blunt] actually has the biggest gun in the movie, and she’s also kind of the most bad ass, so maybe that explains the answer to your question right there. I hadn’t thought about that but it’s such an obvious question: What do these guns represent? Rian explains it in the movie as the idea behind the gat is it’s this precision instrument, a perfect device that has withstood the test of time. It’s a side-loading revolver, a single action gun — the same thing that cowboys used to use, so it’s proven itself as a worthy tool. The blunderbuss, the thing that the loopers use and that Joe uses, is this modern distillation of a shotgun, this new school version of a very brutal weapon that just needs to be vaguely pointed in a direction and it’ll get rid of everything in front of it. I think that explains where the characters are coming from; the Kid really wants to be viewed as skilled, as worthy, and I think Joe doesn’t care — Joe’s just thinking, “How am I going to get out of here?” Has The Kid watched a few too many Westerns himself? Absolutely. There’s a line that Abe says where he says, “You’re just emulating these movies.” These movie-movies. I almost see that as a response as much to the Kid as it is to Joe, in that poor Abe is saddled with this guy who, unlike Joe who he also raised and reared, the Kid is a company man. He’s hanging around and he’s pretty good at his job even though he’s kind of a goofball and a screw-up, they keep him around. He’s diligent and a good kid, but poor Abe’s thinking, he’s got the skills so I’ll let him wear his blue jeans and his cowboy boots and let him use his special Western revolver, but how annoying is it that he can’t be contemporary here in the future? You mentioned the filmmaking “family” built around Rian’s films, but what was it like to have folks like Jeff Daniels and Bruce Willis come into that from the outside? We thought about that a lot, specifically with Bruce. What was it going to be like, every step of the way, to have this guy who represents the modern movie star hanging around with us? Everyone was really excited when he became part of the family, but you’re in awe of this guy who is an icon coming in saying, “Let me join in on the fun.” My guess is he vibed that, that this was an opportunity to join the family, and as a great actor and collaborator who has done so much I imagine his reaction was the same as ours, which was that this was fantastic, this was a beautiful thing. With Jeff, the best analogy I could use was it was like having a family reunion and meeting an uncle you never knew you had. They were onboard the minute they saw what we were up to. You and Jeff Daniels share some heavy moments; The Kid aims to please Abe, but he never quite seems to get it right. What were your impressions from working together? Jeff’s a very stoic guy and about as pro as you’ll ever find; he runs a theater company and he comes correct. He’d sit back with his guitar between takes and do his regal thing, but when we got into our really emotional stuff and he saw that I was not really holding back, because I had prepared for so long to do it and didn’t know any other way, and frankly I’m not trained like he and a lot of people are — I just figured, be ready to just wallow for a while and have a tough day then have dinner with your friends and take a deep breath. He was very kind to me and saw that on that day and said, “When the camera’s on me you don’t have to go whole hog, you don’t have to drive yourself nuts.” And I said, “I’m ready for this and I’m doing it, and there’s only one way I know how to do it.” We did the scene and stayed with it and that night he was leaving the set with his fedora and scarf on, looking extremely gentlemanly, and he turned back and saw me smoking a cigarette outside my trailer trying to shake off the day, and he said, “You did a good job, Kid — we’re in a good one.” He knows how to deliver that line on set and off, you know what I mean? And it wasn’t dissimilar from Bloom — I had a tiny part in Bloom and flew out to Serbia to visit my buddies making this movie and do one scene of schtick and it was the same thing. There were these great actors, Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody, and it was like my dad had a secret family and they were the half-brothers I never knew about. It’s just something that Rian and his crew really engender, an inexplicable comfort. Looking at your career to date — I have a career? I sort of feel like my career’s about to start, I hope. You’ve been a working actor for so long, and have done a number of indie films but you seem to have done things you really were passionate about. What has your approach been in terms of balancing indie and mainstream and where you’d like to go? My experience working in the movie business — I was a camera assistant before I was an actor — began when I was a little kid, acting in New York. It was something that I did because I was not into doing team sports. I was a little kid who could read and look in the same place for more than two seconds at a time, so I think my folks figured, “He might as well do something with his time, why not have him do commercials?” It was the exact opposite of what you hear when you hear of stage parents, I either did it or I didn’t depending on if I wanted to, and it was an after school hobby sort of thing. But I think it was the seed of loving movies and loving sets. As I came of age I thought I wanted to be a cameraman, a cinematographer — that was sort of the family business, my grandfather was a photographer and my mother is a photographer, among other things, and I have a very close family friend who was a cameraman so I started working for him. I did that for a couple of years very seriously and thought I was going to do that until I met an actor who said, “You should think about acting.” It being show business, you introduce somebody and introduce somebody and introduce somebody and the fifth guy you’re introduced to sends you out on an audition and it’s for Brick . So my first experience working in a movie was working with the people who are now my best friends in the world, who I love dearly, and I think for better or for worse that’s what I want every time now. I got spoiled really, really early. That’s sort of what I’m looking for, people who have that kind of mentality and that collaborative vibe, with an evangelical, pure vision of a script — which is usually people who’ve written their own scripts, so I tend to like to work on stuff that’s being directed by the guy or girl who wrote it. I’ve always thought that it’s such a weird thing to not have to shovel shit in order to pay my rent, which is really the only thing that I’m qualified to do — I have a 9th grade education. I am not capable. I have no skills! What happened in high school? It wasn’t for me. I wasn’t a school guy. I had a big chip on my shoulder, listened to a lot of punk rock music and watched a lot of grownup movies. I remember being in school, right before I left, and they had us read Catcher in the Rye which is basically a guide on how to drop out of school. You’re supposed to read this in high school or junior high and appreciate it as a great work of American 21st century fiction but in reality it’s that, and it’s telling you, fuck ‘em . It’s sort of like, this guy did it — I guess I will too. There are so many would be teenage Holden Caulfields who would love to follow suit, to grasp that sort of freedom for themselves. I grasped it! Much to the chagrin of my folks and all the other adults around me, but at the end of the day I’m now sort of stuck acting in movies as my job. Well, that did lead you to one of your greatest early acting credits, by which I mean that one very special episode of Dawson’s Creek where Joey and Pacey get locked in a store overnight. I was! I think that was the second thing I did after Brick . Why was it very special? Because I’m Team Pacey, of course. [Laughs] I remember I had gotten that job and there was some talk that it would be a recurring character. I actually don’t know much about the show so you can tell me if I’m wrong, but it was late in the show and there was some talk of finding someone to spice it up, like Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch . I showed up and I only knew this one weird way to do my job and I had created this really weird guy who has like five lines, but is super weird and stoned, and I think it really went against what they envisioned for their show. I just re-watched it and I think you were quite striking. Besides, you’re now part of television history. I am? Well, those two were always meant to end up together. I’m glad it worked out for them. Joey is Katie Holmes, right? And Pacey is the tall guy? Are you telling me you’re not up on your Dawson’s Creek lore? That’s fine. So — indie movies, mainstream movies — how do you view the two worlds and your place in them? I’m really excited about potentially working on more mainstream movies. I look at a lot of the movies and big filmmakers we now take for granted; if you went back in time and went to Sundance and saw sex, lies, and videotape and then said, “That guy’s going to make three of the most charming, entertaining popcorn movies with the biggest movie stars in the world in it and they’re going to be good and everyone’s going to see and enjoy them,” nobody would believe you. If you went back in time and went to a four-walled midnight screening of Evil Dead and said, “That guy’s going to make Spider-Man movies and they’re really going to get people interested and excited,” nobody would believe you. Did anybody watch Memento and think, that guy’s going to make Batman movies? That’s a really cool thing to me, the potential to up the game. For me it’s even more luxurious because I can be a good actor in any movie; that’s my challenge. I’d better be whatever I need to be – sad, or funny, or believable, or not believable. I can do that in any kind of movie. I can do that for $5 on an iPhone or for $5 million on a big movie, or $500 million on the biggest movie. So it’s not really an argument for me. The argument is really for the filmmaker, and the producers. It’s nice, I’m a worker bee. I get to follow direction, literally. You seem to just really love being a part of it all. I’m really happy to be a part of something. That’s the thing, you have all these people, all these iconoclast and idiosyncratic people, and when it works all of a sudden these disparate things come together into a team sport. Everyone’s fighting to get on the team and to sort of get called off the bench a little bit here is really nice. I just want to do a good job. Speaking of being a part of something, you refer to the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, my favorite theater, as “church.” When I first came to Los Angeles and wanted to do something in the movie business I started going to the New Beverly, because that’s where you go. Sherman Torgan, who originally ran it before he passed away, and his son Michael who took it over, have always been very kind to me, and within a couple years of being in L.A. I decided that I’m not really interested in how I’m going to feel if I make a bunch of money or win an award — that’s really fun stuff, that’s awesome, but I’m not really looking forward to that stuff as being watershed events. But if they ever know my name at the New Beverly, if they ever open the door and usher me in and say, “Noah, enjoy the show,” I’ll know that I’ve achieved some success. A couple of years ago Michael and Julia [Marchese] started doing that, and now I feel like a successful person. Now I feel like I belong. Looper is in theaters this weekend. What are you waiting for, go see it! While you’re at it, follow Noah Segan on Twitter and Tumblr . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Valentine’s Day is a little less than a month away, and much like you trawling the supermarket for last-minute goodies to romantically rain down on your perennially disappointed significant other, Hollywood has cobbled together not one but two faintly savory last-minute options for the lovers out there. Fox announced late Wednesday that thanks to “outstanding test screenings and strong word of mouth,” it would release the Reese Witherspoon/Tom Hardy/Chris Pine-starring, McG-directed spy-love triangle rom-com This Means War on Feb. 14 proper — a Tuesday, three days ahead of the film’s original Feb. 17 release date. “Starting Valentine’s Day, we’re making WAR, not love,” said distribution boss Bruce Snyder in a statement. “We’re armed and ready with the perfect movie. This is a picture that that has it all – humor, charm, wit and action – and it plays through the roof.” Forsooth! Hath thy loins bestirred? OK, fine. How about this, then: The Catherine Zeta-Jones/Justin Bartha rom-com The Rebound , shot in 2008 at the apex of the whole “cougar” movement. This was the one bankrolled by the defunct studio/distributor The Film Department, on whose shelf it sat domestically for years while doing reasonably well on the international circuit. Now it, too, is under the Fox label, but straight to video, alas. So what could keep a Catherine Zeta-Jones rom-com in limbo all these years? Was No Reservations so bad? What’s it all about? Here’s Fox’s sell (via press release): Upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, Sandy (Zeta-Jones) and her two kids move from the suburbs to pursue a new life in the big city. There she meets Aram (Bartha), a local coffee shop employee whose wife only married him as a means to getting her green card. The two strike up a friendship which eventually evolves into something more. But it isn’t long before they’re faced with the big question – “Is this real or just a rebound?” Arriving just in time for Valentine’s Day and featuring electrifying chemistry between Zeta-Jones and Bartha, The Rebound also features fantastic supporting performances from Lynn Whitfield ( The Women, Madea’s Family Reunion ), John Schneider ( The Dukes of Hazzard, Lake Placid 2 ) and music legend Art Garfunkel. AHEM. John Schneider and Art Garfunkel? Hardy and Pine don’t stand a chance! Neither do you! Just break up already, seriously.
Tracing your family’s roots may seem like a daunting and maybe even impossible task. Many black families have migrated a lot , have ghost family members and have documented histories that may not be easily accessible. But these hurdles have not stopped several African Americans, such as Morgan Freeman, Vanessa Williams, 50 Cent, Maya Angelou, Chris Rock, and Tina Turner from delving into their family histories and discovering more about their heritage. Even if you don’t have huge amounts of money or time to spend on advanced methods for tracing genealogy, there are four steps that can move you closer toward your family’s roots: Meet Alicia Keys & Swizz Beatz Son Egypt Bow Wow Finally Addresses His Daughter Shai! 1. At this summer’s family reunion or cookout, actually take the time to talk to the older members of your family . It would be a good idea to record or write down a list of aunts and uncles, cousins, great aunts and uncles, great grandparents, etc. and to ask questions about your family’s history. For tips, visit: FamilySearch.org 2. Take advantage of online services that help you build your family tree. All you have to do is input information like birth and death dates, residences, spouses, etc. These sites contain census records, directories, documents, and fellow users that can help you connect with potential family members. FamilySearch.org (free service) Ancestry.com (subscription service) HeritageQuestOnline (subscription service) 3. DNA testing is good for more than finding out who the father is. Testing kits can use your DNA to determine maternal and paternal lineages, possibly tracing your roots back to specific African tribes, European countries, and beyond! AfricanAncestry.com DNAAncestryProject.com 4. If you visit Genealogical Societies, State Archives, or their websites to learn more about your family lineage, be prepared to search through tons documents like wills, deeds, slave records, and such that can lead you closer to your roots. List of Genealogical Societies List of State Archives
Boobalicious blonde Barbara Crampton , star of 80’s horror flicks great ( Re-Animator , 1985) and not so great ( Chopping Mall , 1986), is returning to the horror game with You’re Next , which started principal photography in Missouri this week. It’s not yet clear what part she’ll be playing in the film, directed by Adam Wingard , but production company Snoot Entertainment promises “a fresh spin” on the typically brutal and intense home invasion subgenre (think Funny Games or High Tension ): ” In ‘You’re Next’ the Davison family comes under attack from a terrifying group of sadistic murderers during a family reunion getaway. Barricaded in their secluded vacation home, they fight off a barrage of axes, crossbows and machetes from both inside and outside the house. However, the masked killers didn’t count on Erin (Vinson), the young girlfriend of the eldest Davison son whose mysterious past has made her very difficult to kill. ” Barbara has been working mostly in soap operas for the past decade, so fright fans who have been missing her lovely face (and awesome anatomy)- like Mr. Skin- are looking forward to her return to scream queen form. But will she bare those fabulous funbags, now aged to perfection like a fine wine? It would be downright sadistic not to!
Boobalicious blonde Barbara Crampton , star of 80’s horror flicks great ( Re-Animator , 1985) and not so great ( Chopping Mall , 1986), is returning to the horror game with You’re Next , which started principal photography in Missouri this week. It’s not yet clear what part she’ll be playing in the film, directed by Adam Wingard , but production company Snoot Entertainment promises “a fresh spin” on the typically brutal and intense home invasion subgenre (think Funny Games or High Tension ): ” In ‘You’re Next’ the Davison family comes under attack from a terrifying group of sadistic murderers during a family reunion getaway. Barricaded in their secluded vacation home, they fight off a barrage of axes, crossbows and machetes from both inside and outside the house. However, the masked killers didn’t count on Erin (Vinson), the young girlfriend of the eldest Davison son whose mysterious past has made her very difficult to kill. ” Barbara has been working mostly in soap operas for the past decade, so fright fans who have been missing her lovely face (and awesome anatomy)- like Mr. Skin- are looking forward to her return to scream queen form. But will she bare those fabulous funbags, now aged to perfection like a fine wine? It would be downright sadistic not to!
Hope and change, meet business as usual. Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell unveiled this curious possible strategy for Democrats heading into the midterms when she appeared on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show Sept. 8 — MADDOW: One last last question on the specifics here. The president himself is planning to be very visible from all accounts, multiple campaign events, the first planned press conference in a long while. Is he still the Democrats’ best campaign asset or do Democrats need somebody else out there who can throw sharper barbs than a sitting president is really allowed to? Followed by Harris-Lacewell responding, as if hearing the question from Maddow for the first time — HARRIS-LACEWELL: You know, look, I love to see President Obama out there. He loves giving the speeches, he’s a great campaigner, we know that. But I have to say, one of the reasons I was a big supporter of Joe Biden for the vice presidential position is because I always thought that Biden could provide a real asset in a moment like this. Look, don’t get me wrong but Joe Biden has a sort of a reputation for being Crazy Joe and one of the best things about your crazy uncle at a family reunion is that he says the one completely honest thing that everybody’s thinking, that none of the people with an actual filter will in fact say. So, I’m a big fan of kind of deploying the Crazy Uncle Joe strategy. Send Vice President Biden out there, let him kind of get tough, let him say things that are somewhat outrageous and then, you know, let President Obama do his typical strategy of reaching across the aisle and, you know, he’ll look and say oh come on, Joe, that may have gone too far. But I’m a big fan of, let’s get Crazy Joe out there. MADDOW (beaming with approval, as if for the first time she’s heard this): The Crazy Uncle Joe strategy, TM, Melissa Harris-Lacewell. HARRIS-LACEWELL: Why not?! (laughs) MADDOW: Very good. I want the T-shirt franchise on that! What the heck, Harris-Lacewell guffaws, oblivious to the inherent dishonesty of her suggestion. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t this the sort of thing Obama vowed to campaign against , back when a grasping, credulous portion of the electorate considered him an agent of genuine change? In other words, Biden could act as ventriloquist dummy, saying what Obama seemingly can’t but actually is. Why not? (slap knee here) No one will see through that.
Filed under: Michael Jackson , Celebrity Justice Michael Jackson ‘s estate has fired back against the company that sued the singer for $300 million over the derailed Jackson family reunion concert. You’ll recall AllGood Entertainment claimed MJ promised through his rep … the family concert would… Read more
Filmmaker has cited his mom as the inspiration for his Madea character. By Larry Carroll Tyler Perry Willie Maxine Perry, the inspiration behind one of the most iconic film characters of the past decade and the mother of Hollywood heavyweight Tyler Perry, has passed away.
