He’s saved the world from mutants and from many an attempted war in outer space. But Patrick Stewart had never once eaten a slice of pizza… until today! Yes, it took over 72 years for the man behind Professor Charles Xavier and Captain Jean-Luc Picard to give this Italian delicacy a try, but once he did so, he did so properly! “My first ever pizza ‘slice’. Please note: the authentic NY fold,” Stewart Tweeted this afternoon along with the following photo: Well done, good Sir! Now that you’re hooked, allow us to shameless shill for Food Fanatic and this caprese pizza recipe . You’ll thank us later.
The world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in New Zealand last week may have caught the attention of an entire nation and a good chunk of the world’s press, but the 166 minute feature’s New York premiere nevertheless turned into a lively event Friday night at the Ziegfeld Theater in Midtown. Peter Jackson , fittingly, kicked off the festivities introducing much of the cast, including Sir Ian McKellen (in fact there were a lot of “Sirs” Thursday night including Jackson himself), Martin Freeman , Elijah Wood , Andy Serkis and many of the dwarfs. [ Related: ‘Hobbit’ Fans Complain Of Dizziness & Nausea ] “It’s so exciting. Tonight was great because the Ziegfeld Theatre is where The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers opened,” Serkis told ML at the after-party at Guastavino’s, a venue beneath the Queensboro Bridge Thursday night. “It was the first time I realized that Gollum had worked as a concept and a characterization. I literally felt the audience sat forward in their seats. And I loved watching it tonight because I’m relaxed enough to watch it since I’ve seen it two times.” Not surprisingly, the movie is packed full of action, wizardry, surrealism, battles and amazing imagery. Serkis said that one time may not be enough for many fans since there “is too much to take in,” but Lord of the Rings adherents should be pleased. [ Related: ‘The Hobbit’ 3-D Early Review: Back Again, But Not Quite There ] The Hobbit also gave Serkis an opportunity to look at his character Gollum anew since the latest trio of films, set before The Lord of the Rings , gave Serkis the chance to re-introduce the Hobbit. “I have to really forget a lot of The Lord of the Rings because during that time, Gollum is driven by revenge because he’s crazed and depleted with the ring being away from him so physically he’s more wrecked,” said Serkis. “This is 60 years before and of course he doesn’t know he’s lost the ring…I’ve seen so many impersonations of Gollum that I’ve had to grab hold of him and make him mine again.” [ Related: ‘The Hobbit’ At 48 FPS: A High Frame Rate Fiasco? ] Serkis chatted with party-goers in the cavernous venue. Non- Hobbit invitees included Ben Affleck, Patrick Stewart and Terry O’Quinn, and Hobbit -inspired imagery was kept to a minimum save for the feast of food and drink that would satisfy many a dwarf. Given the recent media attention, it’s not surprising the 48 frames per second issue arose during casual chatter at the post-screening event, though an unscientific poll by people ML ran into gave the experience a thumbs up. Serkis spoke well of the visuals saying the effects combined with 3-D brought on an “immersive experience” that combined live action footage with the film’s expansive tech-generated material. “The trolls, the goblin king, Gollum, they all feel like they’re living in the same time frame and space as the live-action characters and you can’t deny that those two beings are in the same space and there’s something about 24 frames that draws a veil between the two worlds.” Watch the 13-minute The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey featurette below: Watch the video on YouTube. [ Top Image: Hobbit filmmakers and cast at the Ziegfeld in New York, credit: Getty Images ]
Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil , is on life support and in a coma after suffering an alleged overdose on Friday, according to UK news reports. Blake, whose history of substance abuse is well documented, was found by his girlfriend, Sarah Aspin, choking in bed Friday and was rushed to a local hospital. He reportedly suffered multiple organ failure and has been placed on life support in a medically-induced coma in the West Yorkshire, England medical facility. Sarah Aspin claims Blake Fielder-Civil arrived home late on Thursday “slurring words and staggering,” and she feared that “he was on something.” Aspin and Blake have one 15-month-old son together. Fielder-Civil and Amy Winehouse, who were married for two years until 2009, had an turbulent and tabloid-dominated relationship, to put it mildly. In an out of jail for assault, burglary and firearm possession in recent years, Blake was widely considered to be the chanteuse’s chief enabler. Amy died in July 2011, a tragedy many believe could have been prevented had it not been for years of addiction aided and abetted by Blake. That’s nowhere on the mind of her family today, however. Amy’s father, Mitch, took to Twitter Thursday to express his concern over Fielder-Civil’s health, writing, “Terrible news about Blake this morning.” “Remember Amy loved him. Let’s pray for his recovery.”
Olympic swimming champ Ryan Lochte clears up any confusion regarding peeing in pools – which he openly admits doing – in a new video for Funny or Die. Lochte has talked about going Dancing With the Stars , but another show might be more appropriate. If this is an audition for hosting SNL, it isn’t half bad. Check out Ryan’s special statement about Peeing in Pools below: Ryan Lochte Funny or Die: Peeing in Pools The five-time London Olympics medalist also appears in “The Olympic Ticket Scalper with Patrick Stewart, Ryan Locthe , Simon Pegg & Maisie Williams.” Watch him in that Funny or Die original after the jump … Ryan Lochte Funny or Die: Olympic Ticket Scalper With Patrick Stewart
Former Enterprise Captain Patrick Stewart boldly goes down a street in Beverly Hills, seemingly unaware that the Golden Globes are on this weekend. Engage!
(Video Link) Brent Spiner, the actor who played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, does a really good impersonation of Patrick Stewart, the actor who played Jean-Luc Picard. In fact, it was good enough to fool Stewart’s wife on the phone — at least for a while. Here’s a video of Spiner demonstrating this talent Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Neatorama Discovery Date : 20/08/2011 21:15 Number of articles : 2
There are few actors who have earned as much geek cred and devoted followings as Sir Patrick Stewart , and certainly none others who were also performing Shakespeare on stage in the U.K. the night before flying across the world to greet fans at Comic-Con . (If only one could achieve warp speed on commercial airlines these days, international travel would be much easier.) So, of course, Movieline jumped at the chance for a few minutes in heaven with the erstwhile Captain Picard; what more perfect a Comic-Con experience could there be?
Camille Grammer is officially divorced from Kelsey Grammer, and trying her hardest to come across as okay with that. Just hours after a judge make her split from the actor legal, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star released the following statement: “I have a great many mixed feelings about today. I’m sad for what was, yet excited about the road ahead. I’m grateful to my family and friends who have stood by me through this time. I will never forget their love and support. What I most hope is that Kelsey and I can improve our communications and truly co-parent our two wonderful children. And I wish Kelsey and Kayte love and happiness in their new marriage.” Interesting note: If you look closely enough at these words, you can actually see the steam coming out of Camille’s ears when she wrote them.
Ashlee Simpson filed divorce papers to end her marriage to Pete Wentz this week in a move that caught even cynical gossip readers by surprise. The split is being called amicable, but it was her call , sources say, and due in large part to a series of arguments over Pete Wentz’s music career. His commitment to touring with his band had been a sticking point between the two for some time now and finally led to Ashley filing for divorce . It was good while it lasted. [Photo: Pacific Coast News] The 26-year-old former singer was “fed up” with her husband being away from home for extended periods of time and wanted him to focus on being a dad. “Ashlee and Pete would argue constantly about him touring,” a source told Radar . “Since she gave birth to Bronx she hated him being away from home.” “She wanted him to stop the band life and work more on producing music, so he could be around to concentrate more on being a husband and father.” “She hated him being away and said she felt like a single mother.” “When Fall Out Boy went on hiatus things were great and it was just like old times, but Pete formed his new band and then he was off touring again.” “I think that Ash just finally had enough. She put all her musical aspirations to the side to concentrate on being a mom and it is a big bone of contention with her that Pete just swans off around the world with his buddies like he’s a single guy.” “They had a major fight in October before he headed off to Europe, but then tried to make a go of things over the holidays for the sake of Bronx.” “They decided to take a break to both cool off and reassess, and both realized it was bad for Bronx to be around parents fighting all the time.” “Pete is due to head off again on tour in a couple of months and I honestly think Ashlee filed for divorce as a way to shock him into canceling his plans, or at least modifying them and giving in to her demands to be with her and Bronx.” “It’s not going to work though, Pete’s not going to play that game.” “It’s a really sad situation because they do genuinely love each other, and I would pretty much swear that neither of them is seeing someone else – but they just want totally different things in life and neither one is willing to compromise.” Well, there’s your unsourced, anonymous but realistic-sounding update.
Gone are Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry and others. But one of the world’s most popular movie franchises lives on, as X-Men: First Class will hit theaters on June 3. A look at a young Mageto, Xavier and more, the prequel stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Zoe Kravitz Jennifer Lawrence and Jason Flemyng. Get your first look at the blockbuster in this trailer and decide: Will you go see it? X-Men: First Class Trailer
