We have a secret and we simply cannot keep it: Lucy Hale is now 24 years old! The actress, of course, is best known for her role as Aria Montgomery on Pretty Little Liars , the ABC Family smash that seems to set new social media records with each episodes. But Hale is also an impressive singer. She signed a recording contract a year ago after appearing many years ago on American Juniors and showing off her pipes. The Memphis native may also soon see her career sky-rocket. She’s one of several actresses under consideration for the part of Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie . So send in your best birthday wishes to Hale now and sound off: Should she star as Steele? Yes, she’d be perfect! No, go with someone else! View Poll »
It’s Donald Trump’s birthday today. The man is 67. A real estate mogul by trade, Trump has become a household name with a series of other features such as Celebrity Apprentice, which is still on somehow. The billionaire king of PR stunts and his physics-defying hair have been wildly successful, yet he becomes more of a caricature of himself with each passing year. When he’s not filing frivolous lawsuits, lambasting President or Obama or flirting with a 2016 presidential bid , he … okay, that’s pretty much all he does lately. Love him or hate him, he is what he is at this point, and it’s ridiculous. See above photo of Donald Trump and Lil Jon. That about sums it up right there. So enjoy your Friday, big fella. You earned it. In related, but prettier and less egomaniacal news, it’s also Lucy Hale’s birthday on this 14th day of June!
The recipe for a great superhero movie is quite elusive. How much of it should be canon? How much should be fresh? Is it personal or universal? Gritty or fantastical? For kids or adults? For fans or newcomers? A superhero movie is typically lauded or panned on these points, sometimes with the same decision paying off in one film while failing in another. Zack Snyder decided to do all of it. He did canon. He did fresh. He did personal and universal, gritty and fantastical, all of it. Man of Steel is essentially three entirely separate films, none of which feel fully realized. They can be described by the three identities of our main character: There’s the Kal-El film, the Clark Kent film, and the Superman film. The movie opens on Krypton; the Kal-El film. It’s a well developed Krypton—we get to see the world, the society, the people, the culture—but it feels remarkably goofy. By entering Krypton amidst a panic—their world is about to end, after all—we have no time to suspend our disbelief, or get acquainted with anything, or even feel like we’re watching a Superman movie. Instead, it feel like an 80s sci-fi B-movie. It’s set on another planet but it’s humans speaking English. It’s exactly like Earth except they wear silly costumes and their technology is a bit more advanced (and in that superfluous B-movie way, too). It’s here that we establish Michael Shannon as General Zod , who was engineered to ensure the survival of the species, no matter the cost. With the world ending, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van defy the law and have the first natural-born Kryptonian baby in ages. A big fight ensues, as little Kal-El is loaded into a space pod and shot towards Earth. Here’s where we start Movie #2, the Clark Kent film. The gritty, intimate exploration of a young boy’s alienation from society because he’s different. This is a compelling angle to take on Superman, and from the trailers, it seemed like Snyder’s entire film would maintain this tone, but it doesn’t. Admittedly, Snyder isn’t the best at pulling small-scale personal drama performances from his actors, but these sections looked absolutely beautiful. With a dull, grayed color palette and high contrast, Snyder connects us with Clark Kent’s existential ennui (who’da thunk I’d get to use that phrase in a Superhero Movie review?). The Clark Kent film cuts between Kent as a young man, wandering the Earth looking for purpose and identity while staying out of the limelight, and Kent as a child, learning about his powers and getting valuable life lessons from his father Jonathan, played by an on-point Kevin Costner. This is the section where we meet Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams. She’s a reporter for the Daily Planet on assignment in the arctic, where she crosses paths with the quiet Kent, whose working another in a series of manual labor jobs. When Lois accidentally sees something she shouldn’t, regarding Kent’s identity, she tries to spread the word of Kent’s existence, though she is met with skepticism and hostility from her boss and the public. But then, General Zod shows up again. Begin Movie #3, the Superman film. Zod and his army were frozen and shot into space, in a plot point that seems to lack much time or logic, and he has returned to snag Kal-El (or the Earth gets it!). This is the moment Kent has been waiting for! The moment he can define his identity! The creation of Superman is actually carried out convincingly, as each different “film” has its part to play in the identity of the main character, which is—in theory, at least—the main struggle of the film. And while the Superman movie is equally as beautiful as the Clark Kent movie—the action sequences are honestly stunning—the blockbuster action flick just doesn’t fit with the tone that we’d been dealing with for the past 45 minutes. All three worlds coalesce in the final act of the film, causing a jumble of beautifully frenetic fight scenes, totally silly Kryptonian mythology, and a “realistic earth” that is unnaturally unburdened by the craziness that has beset them. What it amounts to is an unfocused jumble that fails to capture the audience at any turn. There are surely compelling bits in Man of Steel (none of them are in the “Kal-El movie” though), but as a unified piece of filmmaking, it doesn’t work. One thing is for sure, though: Zack Snyder has a real sense of visual style, and it actually serves the story in a welcome way. To cap it off, Snyder introduces a fourth element, the childish comic-book influence, in a bit that feels epically out of place. Man of Steel does not feel like stereotypical Superman, which is not necessarily a problem. The problem is, it doesn’t have any clear idea what it’s trying to be. RATING: 2.5/5
I like Amber Heard and not just because she did some home wrecking better than Angelina Jolie, The Montreal Chick Who claims to have fucked Kanye, The Hookers of the Tiger Woods Scandal, because she broke up Johnny Depp and his baby momma with her amazing thin, hot, tight, half lesbian body on the set of The Rum Diaries, where she was in a bikini at least once, and that I’ve watched at least once, because I think she’s great to look at despite how low level and uneventful her fame is…I’d expect more from her!! I like her cuz she is hot. Here she is in some magazine that doesn’t matter….
Critics call the film ‘stupidly hysterical’ and fall tired of the actors’ immaturity. By Todd Gilchrist The cast of “This is the End” Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Seems like every time we look up there is another negative story about a deadbeat black daddy , finally here’s a positive one instead! Ebony.com is showcasing an incredible documentary by music exec Kobie Brown that helps to reinforce some great examples of Fatherhood in our community. Check out the first part below, which features the entrepreneurs behind Miss Jessie’s. Here’s what producer Kobie Brown had to say about the project: “More often than not examples of high quality manhood, fatherhood and loving relationships are not illustrated, talked about or shown such that we can recognize them when we see them. I’ve created this project in an attempt to provide those examples and deliver a different kind of reality; one that has the ability to transform us all.” – Kobie Brown Major props to Kobie for putting this important project together — it will also be airing in it’s entirety on ASPIRE later this month. Check out the trailer and more info below: Kobie Brown (@kobiechronicles) is a music executive and filmmaker. His documentary, From Fatherless to Fatherhood, premieres Sunday, June 16th at 8p ET on ASPIRE TV. Please visit http://www.aspire.tv for additional broadcast dates and times.
911 is definitely a joke now. Checks have just stopped coming in for a Dallas 911 operator who decided to air her racist views on black folks on her Facebook page. Via MailOnline reports : A 911 operator has been fired for allegedly posting numerous racist remarks on her Facebook page. April Sims, from Dallas, Texas, compares black people to ‘animals’, says they have ‘sh** for brains’ and blames them for wasting time calling 911. The posts on her page were not available but one of her Facebook friends sent them to a local news station. One read: ‘Black people are outrageous! They are more like animals, they never know how to act, just loud [expletive] Always causing problems.’ ‘I can count on one hand the black people I know who don’t have [expletive] for brains. I can count on one hand the black people I know who aren’t selfish.’ Another said: ‘You want to call 911 cause your boyfriend put his hands on you and you want to press charges when you don’t even know his real name?! ‘Sure let’s make a police report for Dino, that is his street name.’ The Dallas Police Department announced last night that Sims had been terminated for violating the department’s social media policy. The policy prohibits employees from posting items or information that may adversely affect the morale, confidence, and public respect of the department. She was hired by the department in December. Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway told WFAA that the incident ‘embarrasses not just the department, it embarrasses the city. ‘Number one, I am shocked and it saddens me to know that this is going on and still taking place in today’s time, especially here in 911.’ Sims is said to have contacted a News8 reporter last night to say that nothing on her page has been deleted. On her Facebook postings, someone asks her if her page was hacked. She responds by saying she stands by every word. Also on her page, in response to someone who challenged the remarks, she hinted at some of the difficulties facing 911 operators and callers. ‘You should be more worried about the fact that there is often no Spanish speaker on duty. We have to call a 3rd party language line therefore causing those citizens to wait over a minute for emergency assistance. ‘All because the city doesn’t want to pay employees more speak Spanish. That’s what you should be worried about.’ Her page still states that she works as a ’911 CALLTAKER at Dallas Police Department’. SMH @ this bi*** right here…
You know the obvious deal breakers: too clingy, unfaithful, immature, princess mentality, etc. But believe it or not, men are sensitive to a few behaviors you wouldn’t think they notice.
You know the obvious deal breakers: too clingy, unfaithful, immature, princess mentality, etc. But believe it or not, men are sensitive to a few behaviors you wouldn’t think they notice.
