He hasn’t made any excuses, why should you?? Oscar Pistorius Will Become The First Double-Amputee To Run In Olympics Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee known as the Blade Runner, will get to compete in the London Olympic Games in not only the 1,600-meter relay but also his favorite event, the 400 meters. South Africa named Pistorius, 25, to the team as a competitor in the 400, making him the first amputee track athlete to compete in the Olympics. Pistorius was born without a fibula in both legs, leading to the amputation of each leg halfway between the knee and ankle. He now has artificial limbs that are made of carbon fiber. The spring-like step in his stride was considered an unfair advantage of able-bodied athletes and in 2007 the governing body of track and field, the International Association of Athletics Federations, amended its rules to ban the use of “any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device.” But the Court of Arbitration, an international group that settles disputes, ruled in 2008 that Pistorius did not have an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes. Pistorius, though, did not qualify for the Beijing Games. Pistorius ran a personal-best 45.07 seconds last year and opened this year with a 45.20, both Olympic-qualifying times. But South Africa’s Olympic-qualifying guidelines demanded he run 45.30 or better at one more international meet before last Saturday to seal a spot in the 400. He missed that time by less than a quarter of a second in his final qualifying race at the African Championships. “Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life,” Pistorius said after South African sports officials placed him on the nation’s Olympic team despite falling short of their stringent qualifying standards Helluva testament to not giving up and following your dreams, way to go Oscar. Image via AP Source
Michael Johnson Says Black People Who Are Descendants Of Slaves Make Better Athletes Do you agree?? Olympic legend Michael Johnson says a ‘superior athletic gene’ in the descendants of West African slaves means black American and Caribbean sprinters will command the sport at the London Games. The Olympic gold medallist and BBC commentator said: ‘Over the last few years, athletes of Afro- Caribbean and Afro-American descent have dominated athletics finals. ‘It’s a fact that hasn’t been discussed openly before. It’s a taboo subject in the States but it is what it is. Why shouldn’t we discuss it?’ Reigning Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt was born in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, where British Olympic boss Lord Coe’s plantation-owning ancestor George Hyde Park had 297 slaves. Of the eight 100m finalists four years ago, three were Jamaicans, two came from Trinidad and Tobago, two were Afro-American and one, representing the Netherlands, was born on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. All eight are believed to be descended from slaves. Johnson says: ‘It is currently being researched to see how much of a factor being descended from slaves contributes to athletic ability.’ Some scientists believe a combination of selective breeding by slave owners and appalling conditions meant that only the strongest slaves endured, creating a group predisposed to record-breaking athletic performance. African slaves underwent a rigorous selection process and only the fittest were transported on ships. Interestingly, the toughest journey was to Jamaica, the last stop on the slave trail. During one voyage in 1732, a staggering 96 per cent of slaves lost their lives – 170 boarded the ship and only six got off. Jamaican geneticist Dr Rachael Irving said: ‘There was not much oxygen on slave ships so they had to use whatever they had to survive.’ Dr Herb Elliott, doctor to the Jamaican Olympic team, added: ‘Only the most aggressive and fiercest slaves ended up in Jamaica.’ Johnson, 44, had a DNA test for a Channel 4 documentary, Michael Johnson: Survival Of The Fastest, to be screened on Thursday night, which confirmed he is of West African descent. He said: ‘All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations. ‘Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me – I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.’ Discuss… Via DailyMail
Alexa Chung is one smoking hot British celebrity babe. You don’t want to miss these super hot topless and upskirt shots of this devastatingly beautiful British celeb Alexa Chung. Continue reading →
In Tuesday morning’s round up of news briefs, Paramount offered kind words for Tom Cruise. Warner Bros is readying an outdoor free Comic-Con experience coinciding with the event; The Amazing Spider-Man is poised to do record box office domestically with its Tuesday release; The Butler adds an additional cast member and Fandango eyes a record quarter. Warner Bros Entertainment to Present Free Extra at Comic-Con All six Batmobiles will be on hand for a free outdoor entertainment festival noted by Warner Bros. Entertainment, dubbed Extra at Comic-Con . The venue will take place in San Diego’s Bayfront Park July 12 – 14 coinciding with Comic-Con International: San Diego. The centerpiece will be The Extra Stage featuring Q&As, live performances, screenings and talent interviews hosted by entertainment magazine Extra . The event will also feature a Lord of the Rings video game showcase. For more information, visit their site . Around the ‘net… Amazing Spider-Man Box Office Preview: $120M-plus Possible Indications put Spider-Man at $120M over the six day debut beginning Tuesday when it opens in the U.S. The 3-D movie has already made over $50M in 13 overseas markets over the weekend, THR reports . Paramount Offers Support to Tom Cruise Following Divorce Announcement The studio spoke up for the star of its upcoming movie Jack Reacher saying in a statement: “His ability to make a great movie… is the thing moviegoers remember above all else…Tom is a huge movie star for the right reason. He’s a very talented actor whose movies have entertained millions of fans,” BBC reports . The Butler Adds Colman Domingo to Cast Domingo will play a White House butler in the film directed by Lee Daniels and starts shooting later this month in New Orleans. The film is based on the life of Eugene Allen, a White House servant who worked over the period of eight administrations, played by Forest Whitaker. Also in the film are Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda who will play Nancy Reagan, Deadline reports . Fandango Foresees Best Quarter Ever The online ticketer will likely announce Tuesday that its second quarter will be the best in its 12 year history with ticket sales up 28% from the same period last year, while traffic increased 26%, Deadline reports .
The film: Insomnia (2002) Why It’s an Inessential Essential: Last week, Warner Brothers released a Blu Ray box set of British director Christopher Nolan ‘s films. Looking at the box set (other titles include: Memento , Batman Begins , The Dark Knight and Inception ), one is reminded of Nolan’s celebrity status as one of the most instantly recognizable filmmakers working today. Which makes it difficult to imagine a film that might be considered obscure or in need of reconsideration. But the clear outlier in the Christopher Nolan Director’s Collection is Insomnia , Nolan’s remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. As a remake and an adaptation, Nolan’s film isn’t as strong as it should be. But as a self-sufficient work, Nolan’s version is a modest success. The film’s chase and actions scenes alone are some of the best in his filmography, filmed with a confidence and an eerie atmosphere that stand out in his impressive, if inconsistent, body of work. It’s worth owning this box set, in other words, because it gives you a good picture of how the filmmaker takes his technical skill and polish and applied it to a number of disparate subjects and settings. The narrative and psychological underpinnings of Insomnia are, typical of Nolan, basic to the point of being crude. His characters are not psychologically complex but they are all to some extent thoughtful and sophisticated, and Insomnia protagonist Will Dormer is no exception to that rule. Al Pacino plays Dormer, a burnt-out L.A. police investigator that used to be a big hot-shot but is now just a has-been. Dormer’s the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation, so he heads to Alaska to help look for a killer – and winds up accidentally fatally shooting his partner. Most of Insomnia ‘s surprisingly brisk two-hour runtime is spent watching Will fall apart and forming a precarious bond with Walter Finch (Robin Williams), the murderer Dormer originally set out to catch. How the Blu Ray Makes the Case for the Film: In the director’s commentary track and an interview he recorded with Pacino, Nolan talks a bit about his creative process and inadvertently reveals why Insomnia is as good as it is. Being a left-brain thinker, Nolan deconstructs the way he shot the film in his audio commentary by addressing scenes within the order they were shot. This is pretty striking since this does not gives you an idea of the importance Nolan placed on certain scenes (two days to shoot the high school interrogation scene!) but how filmmakers work out of continuity and have to quickly form a rapport with actors. Insomnia is after all as successful as it is because of the atmosphere Nolan creates, and that’s not just a matter of slick mechanical direction of scenes but also of his actors. Some of what Nolan says is a bit hard to swallow, like when idly ponders, “I think Al was appreciative of getting to start with some physical action.” And while one should not be surprised to hear him talk passionately about “cross-cutting action,” it is interesting to hear him talk about the way that he establishes his relatively advanced technical skills as a filmmaker to accentuate the film’s human element. The weaker, more over-reaching psychological talking points in Hillary Seitz’s screenplay are made stronger by Nolan’s eye for detail, and you can tell why in the way that he talks about Pacino’s body language in close-up and his use of “small camera moves” to capture Dormer’s “virtuosity.” The human element at the heart of Insomnia may not be as strong as it should be, but by the standards established by Nolan’s films, it’s pretty strong. It should be noted however that while none of the special features in the Christopher Nolan Director’s Collection are exclusive to the set, save for a booklet and some glossy photo stills, there are a number of interesting and enlightening features on the other film’s Blu Rays, too. The “Batman: Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight” featurette on The Dark Knight is especially worthwhile, as is the inclusion of Jonathan Nolan’s script for Memento Mori , the short film that preceded Memento . Other Trivia: Speaking of continuity editing, it’s kind of neat to hear Pacino name-drop and talk about collaborating with everyone including, “Francis [Ford Coppola],” “[Sidney] Lumet,” and “Bobby De Niro.” These experiences really color his working with Nolan, especially when Pacino talks about how heart-broken Coppola was when working on some unnamed picture because the film’s shooting day was over (it was past 6pm, according to Pacino). Pacino found the Godfather director in tears in a cemetery, lamenting, “They won’t give me another set-up!” This is especially funny in light of how Nolan just finished talking a little about how much of a director’s job is a matter of “covering” his actors, thereby ensuring that he gets everything he needs so that he can later assemble it all in the editing room. Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice , Time Out New York , Vulture and Esquire . Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
Every time I post pictures of this busty British chick Nicola McLean on the site, she seems to get bustier and bustier. Here she is just hanging out at the tennis courts in some yoga pants and a tank top looking absolutely perfect. I think my face would fit pretty nicely in between those things. She kind of looks like a younger, more amply chested Geri Halliwell , I want to see her jumping around to a Spice Girls song. In slow motion of course.
The silver fox is here and queer ladies and gentlemen Anderson Cooper has some news to share. “The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud,” the CNN anchor wrote Monday in an open letter to his longtime friend Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast. The host of Anderson Cooper: 360, 45, also says that he has waited until now to announce the fact because, “As long as a journalist shows fairness and honesty in his or her work, their private life shouldn’t matter.” Cooper, who also hosts his own syndicated talk daytime show Anderson, addressed the subject after Sullivan – a British writer who is openly gay and Catholic – put the question to him after a cover story in the current Entertainment Weekly focused on how gay people in the public life are currently coming out in understated and matter-of-fact manners. “Andrew, as you know, the issue you raise is one that I’ve thought about for years. Even though my job puts me in the public eye, I have tried to maintain some level of privacy in my life. Part of that has been for purely personal reasons. I think most people want some privacy for themselves and the people they are close to,” Cooper began. “It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long,” he continued. “I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something – something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid. This is distressing because it is simply not true.” Anderson Cooper has finally publicly acknowledged the long-standing speculation about his sexuality by coming out of the closet as a gay man. How do you feel about Anderson Cooper deciding to live open and honestly now? Source
Brad Pitt is keeping himself busy – and embracing the English culture – while his better half Angelina Jolie is off filming Sleeping Beauty flick Maleficent . If he’s not browsing in motorbike shops, the Hollywood star is visiting old pals in Birmingham and buying art from the UK’s hippest graffiti artist Bambi. After seeing examples of her work in Time , he snapped up canvases of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Queen Elizabeth II and Amy Winehouse. Other celebrities, such as Adele, are said to own Bambi works as well. We always felt Kate Middleton pics were priceless. Apparently others agree! A source told The Sun (UK) of Brad’s pricey purchases: “There is a lot of buzz about Bambi. As Brad’s here with the family for up to two years, it makes sense to fill the house with art by British artists.” “He already has a Banksy,” whose work is similar to Bambi’s, “which he bought for
I’m going to have to look this Lucy Mecklenburgh chick up because I haven’t got a clue who she is. Please hold…. Alright, I took thirty seconds to punch her name into the google and all I came up with is that she’s on that British soap opera/reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex . I don’t really know what that is either, but a whole bunch of busty British chicks seem to be on it so I’m going with it. Anyhow, whoever she is, she’s in a bikini and high heels and that’s all this douchebag needs to know. Enjoy.
