There was a time this Melanie Iglesias was just some Youtube Glamour model…star. You know the kind of girl who was babe enough to be in Maxim during their dark years of using low level models… In her spare time she would do videos like this: You know, viral attempts where she would challenge Kate Upton and actual models at the time to dance offs, and millions of people would watch…along with other bullshit… She would grind out with these “Flip Book” videos that would get millions of views also… I forgot she existed, but I guess she’s turned things around for herself and is booking actual media – like the New York Post… Unless the New York Post isn’t actual media, but still bigger than working as an escort…. Oh…I just googled her and she’s on some MTV show, so she’s a presenter now, I guess being a trick on social media pays off…
If there’s one thing better than a hot nobody, it’s a hot nobody with an equally hot friend, so here’s former Maxim Hometown Hottie winner and Tuna favorite Melanie Iglesias with Lisa Ramos at the premiere of some movie called A Long Way Down in New York. So you guys enjoy these while I go take a nap and hopefully dream about getting to be the Tuna in the middle of this hottie sandwich. Photos: WENN.com
Three teen moms struggled to cope with their mothers’ addictions on this season’s “16 and Pregnant.” Summer‘s mother Katrina abused painkillers and was facing the possibility of a two-year prison sentence for writing bad checks. Savannah’s alcoholic mother Melanie continued to drink even after the arrival of her grandson Rowan. And Millina‘s mother Raychelle was… Read more »
The German fairytale Snow White gets a retro reinterpretation in Pablo Berge r’s enchanting Blancanieves . Set in 1920s Spain and shot as a black-and-white silent film, the ivory-skinned beauty in this update (lush-lipped Macarena García ) doesn’t just do housework for a pack of idiosyncratic little dudes. She follows her beloved father’s footsteps into the corrida to become a revered matador. There are dwarves, however, a wicked stepmother ( Maribel Verdú , from Pan’s Labyrinth ) and a poison apple, although, as you can see from the clip, Blancanieves doesn’t fall for the evil trick right off the bat. Snow White, The Matador Click here to view the embedded video. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The teenage years can, don’t we all know, be an alienating experience, even when you don’t have an actual alien trapped inside your body. But such is the fate of the spirited young heroine of The Host , who finds that talking to boys and stuff is a whole lot harder when your soul is being sucked by one of the space invaders slowly wiping humankind from the face of the planet. This extravagantly silly but undeniably entertaining sci-fi soap opera — the latest adapted from the work of Mormon YA-lit phenom Stephenie Meyer — should prove shrewd distaff counterprogramming to G.I. Joe: Retaliation , posting solid (if less-than- Twilight -sized) numbers at home and other points throughout the galaxy. With The Walking Dead slaying ’em on the smallscreen, Warm Bodie s still haunting a few multiplexes and Oblivion just around the bend, there seem to be few surer bets in Hollywood these days than tales of an Earth imperiled by some alien/zombie/enviro apocalypse and the hardy band of survivors trying to preserve their humanity. In this latest variation, ETs that look like fuzzy, phosphorescent amoebas enter their human “hosts” through slits in the back of the neck, bonding with them like the similar-minded occupiers from Invasion of the Body Snatchers , a submissive demeanor and a telltale ring of bright blue light in the eyes signaling that the transformation is complete. By the time we pick up the story, most of the damage has been done, but the news isn’t all bad: These unfailingly well-mannered aliens have, an opening narration informs us, brought “honesty, courtesy and kindness” to our often cruel society. For unexplained reasons, they also seem to have leeched all the color from the world, dressing from head to toe in lab-tech couture and driving about in a fleet of reflective silver Lotus Elises. But humans, it turns out, aren’t so keen on this whole soul-sharing idea. So some of them have gone on the run, like Melanie ( Saoirse Ronan ), a bayou girl from the great, tax-incentive state of Louisiana, with a heart-tugging kid brother (Chandler Canterbury) and hunky rebel boyfriend ( Max Irons) in tow. In the film’s early moments, Melanie is captured by a team of “Seekers,” who implant her with one of their own kind, a millennia-old shapeshifter called Wanderer, whose job is to search Melanie’s memories for evidence of other human dissidents. Only, as Wanderer soon discovers, Melanie is still very much alive in there, too, struggling for control over her mind and body. Director Andrew Niccol (who also adapted Meyer’s novel) dramatizes this by having Melanie speak telepathically to Wanderer, who in turn responds with spoken dialogue — which, for a while, gives The Host the strange tenor of a 1950s women’s psychodrama crossed with a 1980s body-switching comedy: The Snake Pit meets All of Me . It all might have seemed even more ridiculous than it sounds were it not for the deeply resourceful Ronan, who has, ever since Atonement , has projected that slightly alien quality of children with a poise and wisdom well beyond their years. Here, trapped in what seems like an unplayable role, she not only creates two separate and distinct personalities for Melanie and Wanderer, but injects the entire film with a much-needed level of plausible reality. When Melanie proves too resistant, the Seekers’ queen bee (Diane Kruger) proposes ejecting Wanderer and taking over the job herself. At which point both alien and host — who have started to become rather fond of one another — make a break for it, heading west in search of the human underground. Figuratively speaking, this is a road Niccol has traveled many times. Dystopian neo-futures, plasticine pseudo-realities and class-war allegories are his stock-in-trade, from 1997’s Gattaca to 2011’s In Time to his original script for The Truman Show . It has been a career of generally diminishing returns, though Niccol remains a proficient technician, and The Host is never less than a muscular exercise in style, immeasurably enhanced by Roberto Schaefer’s widescreen lensing of the New Mexico desert, where Melanie/Wanderer finally finds brother, boyfriend, uncle (William Hurt, looking like a dour Pa Kettle) and the rest of the human resistance living in a series of interconnected caves. Here, The Host morphs into yet another genre hybrid, suggesting one of those old frontier Westerns in which some group of noble homesteaders steeled themselves against imminent attack from Indians or greedy cattle barons; surely this is among the least likely movies ever to include an extended crop-harvesting scene. But it’s clear that, as in the Twiligh t series, the real crisis here is a young woman’s sexual awakening — make that a young woman and a very old alien’s respective sexual awakenings. “You can touch me. I don’t want you to stop,” Melanie instructs Irons’ Jared in one heavy-petting flashback, but all subsequent efforts to make it past first base are curtailed by Melanie’s fury at seeing Wanderer (now known simply as “Wanda”) making out with her boyfriend, to say nothing of Wanda’s own blossoming affection for the equally strapping Ian (Jake Abel). Meyer is undeniably canny at using genre to address the age-old struggles of adolescence, but at just over two hours, even The Host ’s air of guilty pleasure eventually subsides. In the final stretch, the movie devolves into a protracted series of mini-climaxes before finally creaking across the finish line. All of which will mean little to the core audience of Twihards jonesing for a Meyer fix, now that Edward and Bella have ridden off into the celluloid sunset. Can there be room in this crazy, mixed-up world for man, woman and alien? The Host might have been more effective if we had to tune in next week to find out. Follow Movieline on Twitter . More on The Host : ”The Host’ Premiere In NYC: VIPs Reveal Their Favorite Celeb Parasites (Brad! Angelina! Tony Danza?) ‘The Host’ Contest: Channel Your Inner Parasite & Win A Nifty Prize Pack
Ne-Yo and Matchbox Twenty also serve up some entertainment as Team Adam’s Melanie Martinez and Amanda Brown are sent packing. By James Dinh Melanie Martinez on “The Voice” Photo: NBC
Long hair don’t care… But how bad is it that many folks assume that being mixed is a recipe for “good hair” ? The reason we ask is that we read a lengthy interview with our boo thang Elle Varner from the November issue of Sister2Sister magazine where publisher Jamie Foster Brown grills Elle about where she got her thick natural hair and starts quizzing her about her gene pool. Via the print edition of S2S : Jamie: Okay, what about that hair? Where did you get that hair from? Elle: My hair is my hair, you know? I’m Cape Verdean and Black. Jamie: But who in the family has hair like that? Does your mom have a lot of hair? Elle: My dad’s hair is thick and long, and, like, longer than mine. It’s crazy. My dad has so much hair. Jamie: He’s got long hair too? Is he mixed or anything? Elle: Yeah, he’s half Black, half Swedish. Did that offend you at all? Or did it sound like perfectly normal questions? The reason we ask is that Melanie Fiona was reamed this summer for remarks she made in an interview she did this June/July with a “black hair” magazine. Here’s the troublesome quote from the Sophisticate’s Black Hair Styles and Care Guide interview via Longing4Length.com : SBH:What’s the secret to your gorgeous long hair? Melanie Fiona: I was born with a full head of hair, and my mom wouldn’t let me cut it until I was 12! I’m mixed – my mom is Black and Portuguese and my dad is Indian so I have a good mix for growth . Elle’s answer isn’t much different from Melanie’s — the response is that their hair texture is a gene pool thing. But many folks took offense to what Melanie had to say because she chose the words “good mix for growth” but Elle’s answer implies almost the same thing. So what’s really the difference? And does it even matter? Let’s be honest, you don’t have to be “mixed” to have good hair. There are plenty of full black women with healthy heads of thick, long, natural hair. So do we all need to be re-educated about this topic? Regardless, the “exotic” girls seem to always have the most success in the entertainment business, so is this just a touchy topic for black women? Please discuss! WENN
The story I’m about to tell you has to be one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Let me start at around two, maybe three weeks before I met Justin. I found out on Twitter that Justin was going to be coming to the UK to do a signing for Just Getting Started. At first nothing was confirmed, it was just rumors and people saying different things. I decided I’d keep it in mind though because knowing my luck, I’d be one of the last to find out if it was actually true! A couple of weeks after that the signing started being talked about again, and I found out WHSmith were selling wristbands to the FIRST 100 PEOPLE to buy Just Getting Started by 10am the following morning ! When I got onto the website, I was clicking ‘add to basket’ so frequently that I added like 50 books to my basket! I managed to get to the checkout and then it froze. I rang the number on the website telling them I was concerned and if my order had gone through. The lady on the other end said “If you haven’t got past the checkout, I’m sorry but you have probably been unsuccessful.” I was SO upset and almost gave up, but then saw it had finally gone through! I was ecstatic! I got the confirmation email to say that the purchase was received. So weeks went by and then it finally came to the day of the signing. I WAS GOING TO MEET JUSTIN DREW BIEBER . I had never met him before and was so excited that after 4 years (almost) I was meeting my idol. We took the car and everything was going fine until the car BROKE DOWN. It was at this point 2.30 and I had to travel for 2.5 hours to get to London. I didn’t think we’d make it. In the end we had to get the car towed back home and hire a car! Long story short, we made it to London on TIME! I was so relieved, because at one point I actually just thought to myself that I should give up. I met some lovely girls in the queue and it was actually an amazing experience talking to so many Beliebers! I chased Justin’s car (my mom was with me so I made her stay in the queue so I could run and see if I could catch Justin) but by the time I got down there he had gone. I saw the back of his car and I could have sworn I saw Kenny too. Anyway, after the queue went down the nerves really started to kick in. It only just sunk in that I was actually meeting Justin. When I got back, the queue had gone down and before I knew it I was inside the building, having my book handed to me and my wristband checked! The atmosphere was amazing, Believe was playing and it was so great seeing so many Beliebers so happy in one place ! Everyone was dancing, singing and laughing. It was the best feeling ever! When I eventually got to the steps to go onto the stage Justin would be signing on, one of the security (not a part of the crew) lady’s said, “No cameras, no videos. Put the phones away!” We had to do that. It broke my heart that we weren’t allowed but I was thankful to even be here right now. The girls in front of me went in and then when I saw them come out from behind the curtain at the other end of the stage, I knew it was my turn to go in. This was it. I was meeting my LIFE. I got in and saw Kenny and I was freaking out. Kenny hugged me and said, “Ima need you to breathe!” I was with my mom and she spoke to Kenny and said that it was a shame we weren’t allowed pictures. Kenny understood, and then said he wasn’t really allowed but I could take one with him! I was so grateful. After that, I walked over to the table, I saw Fredo at first but couldn’t say anything at all to him because I was being blocked by security, then I saw JUSTIN . I couldn’t breathe, I just wanted to burst into tears there and then and my heart was beating out of my chest. The lady literally grabbed my book from me, put it on the table, he signed it and then they pushed it away and he looked the other way for the next book. I went up to him because I don’t think he saw me through the rush, then he looked up and smiled this huge smile. It was so genuine and warm! ‘Hey, how are you?’ he said. I couldn’t even talk, I just stood there in absolute amazement and awe. It felt surreal. He was so beautiful and amazing! He actually was flawless! Then he put his hand out and held mine! I couldn’t believe it, I just wanted to cry. Then I was forced out by another guard and had to go. Leaving was the worst feeling ever. To know it was all over was terrible but I can’t begin to explain how amazing the feeling was. Wednesday 12th September was the best day of my life. Never Say Never and Believe, you one day could meet Justin too! -Autumn @RauhlThisWay Read more: The story I’m about to tell you has to be one of the best…