Howard Stern Insults ‘Girls’ Television Show Babbling big-haired radio host Howard Stern is known for his outlandish radio ettiquette, and now he’s lashing out at ‘Girls’ writer and director Lena Dunham in the worst way. via US Weekly On Monday, 59-year-old shock jock [Howard Stern] blasted Dunham and the ‘Girls’ show, about 20-somethings living in Brooklyn, on his radio show, calling her a “little fat chick” and likening the show’s racy sex scenes to “r8pe.” “It’s a little fat girl who kinda looks like Jonah Hill and she keeps taking her clothes off and it kind of feels like r8pe. She seems — it’s like — I don’t want to see that,” Stern chuckled on-air, explaining how he’d recently been clued into the show by wife Beth Ostronsky. “I learned that this little fat chick writes the show and directs the show and that makes sense to me because she’s such a camera hog that the other characters barely are on.” This dude and his radio rants need to have several seats. Luckily though, Lena had the last laugh as she apparently didn’t let Howard Stern and his hatin azz antics get to her : “I did find out that Howard Stern really hates [Girls], which I’m a Howard Stern fan, and I believe he’s earned the right to free speech and he should go for it,” she told David Letterman diplomatically on the Tonight Show Thursday. Laughing alllllll the way to the bank. Good for her.
Steven Soderbergh has pushed against the limits of Hollywood’s sexual mores his entire career. His debut, sex, lies, and videotape , was a study in voyeurism and sexual dysfunction. He blurred the line dividing the feature film and porn video worlds with The Girlfriend Experience , which starred adult actress Sasha Grey. His last film, Magic Mike , subverted the male gaze by turning all eyes, male and female, on the rock-hard and very hairless abs of dude-strippers. Yet even Soderbergh has had trouble financing his next and rumored-to-be-last project, Behind the Candelabra , a biopic of Liberace starring Michael Douglas as the flamboyant pianist and Matt Damon as his significantly younger live-in lover. The veteran director only wanted $5 million to make his long-delayed film, but, as he told The Wrap , “They said it was too gay. Everybody. This was after Brokeback Mountain , by the way. Which is not as funny as this movie. I was stunned. It made no sense to any of us.” Luckily for Soderbergh, HBO believed enough in the project to greenlight it. But that still leaves the question: What does “too gay” mean in the Hollywood of 2013? Sadly, it doesn’t seem too different from what it meant fifty years ago in the Hollywood of 1963: Few gay protagonists can be normal, relatable people living in a world we recognize. In the real world, gay men and women are our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. But in the movies, that might be “too gay.” So screenwriters have come up with a multitude of ways to make homosexuality less immediate and less “threatening.” When they are the protagonists, gay characters vanish from everyday life: by dying, by disappearing into history, by rarely having sex, by committing evil, by being more flamboyant than pink rhinestones on a drag queen’s tiara. They may be admirable, certainly sympathizable, but they still too frequently lack ordinary humanity. The supposed breakthrough film Brokeback Mountain , for instance, marginalized homosexuality by situating its characters in a faraway setting and in a culture that was on the cusp of disappearance. And it fatally asserted its heterosexuality by having straight actors play gay, so that audiences never forget that a man kissing another man is all just play-acting. Little seems to have changed since Brokeback . The majority of studio movies with a gay male protagonist since has either taken place in Mad Men days ( Milk , Howl , A Single Man ) or featured same-sex sociopaths ( I Love You Philip Morris , Bruno ). It’s no better for lesbians, who watched one of their filmic counterparts in The Kids Are All Right have sex with a man, because of course that’s exactly what the female gay experience is all about. Equally alien to the lives of average gay women is the romance Jack and Diane , which finds one of its two budding lovers turning into a werewolf. And, it bears repeating, all of the main characters in these movies are played by straight actors. Luckily for gay viewers, the indie world is brimming with movies that are “too gay” and proud of it. The last two years alone have seen critical darlings like the sweet romance Weekend , the addiction drama Keep the Lights On , and the gay adoption saga Any Day Now . Also welcome and necessary are the coming-of-age tale Pariah and the Sex and the City -style Noah’s Arc , which feature all-too-rare gay characters of color. It’s almost surprising that Soderbergh’s biopic got the “too gay” chuck, since the subject matter – a mincing narcissist with a love of glittered capes and a barely legal pool-boy dying tragically from AIDS – is brimming with the usual defenses Hollywood is always eager to employ against normal gay existence. So one has to wonder if it isn’t the flamboyance that studios found “too gay,” but Soderbergh’s refusal to turn Liberace and his partner Scott Thorson into caricatures, to “take the relationship seriously.” After all, that might be too revolutionary for Hollywood. Maybe in 2063? Inkoo Kang is a film critic and investigative journalist in Boston. She has been published in Indiewire, Boxoffice Magazine, Yahoo! Movies, Pop Matters, Screen Junkies, and MuckRock. Her great dream in life is to direct a remake of All About Eve with an all-dog cast. Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Introducing a sneak peek at the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness in a special IMAX 3-D presentation for press Sunday night, director J.J. Abrams warned of the “doom and gloom” throughout his May 2013 sequel. “There’s a lot of intensity in this, and a little bit of gloom,” he admitted, “but it’s also fun.” In true Abrams fashion, that’s about all he said before he exited the theater, taking the truth about who the heck Benedict Cumberbatch is playing in Star Trek 2 with him. (The first nine minutes will debut in theaters on December 14, attached to select IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey . Read on for details, speculation, guesstimates, and wild theorizing about what’s in store in Star Trek 2 based on the tease.) What’s revealed in the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t so much telling as it is intriguing, moreso for the Trek fans out there who’ll get every little familiar line of dialogue and nod to the O.G. Trek series, of which there are many. But fair warning, Trekkies: Judging from this tease and the footage Paramount has already released, Abrams knows that you’re reading into every little clue — and he’s playing you like a violin. Here’s why: Star Trek Into Darkness opens in a prologue, in a beautifully shot, blue-tinged London, Stardate 2259.55. A couple (Noel Clarke and Nazneen Contractor) wake up and drive their hover car to visit their child in the hospital. We don’t know their names, or hear them speak, but we wonder; could their last name possibly, just possibly, be Singh? Maybe, maybe not. Their sick child is a daughter (strike that, it’s not a young Khan — or is it ??*), bedridden by an unspecified illness. The father is approached by a stranger whose voice we hear first: “I can save her.” It’s Benedict Cumberbatch, and he’s the villain, which we know because the camera closes in until his face fills the IMAX screen as Michael Giacchino’s score swells with tense, ominous notes. Cut to the crew of the Enterprise, who we find in the middle of their latest mission on the Class-M planet Nibiru, where Bones and Kirk are racing through vivid red-tinged forests being chased by members of a chalk-faced, spear-chucking indigenous race. From a cruiser flying in the skies above, Spock drops into an erupting volcano to save the planet as Uhura looks on. Regrouping with the rest of the crew on the Enterprise — which is parked discreetly underwater in the middle of an ocean — Kirk wrestles with a familiar-sounding quandary: Save Spock by taking the Enterprise out of hiding, therefore violating the Prime Directive by exposing the inhabitants of Nibiru to technology they’re not ready for, or sacrifice Spock because, as one character indeed utters, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Kirk asks what Spock would do if their situations were reversed. “He’d let you die,” Bones replies, and the opening sequence closes with a cliffhanger. More previously seen trailer-y shots close out the nine-minute sneak, with Cumberbatch growling lines like “You think you’re safe? You are not ” and “Is there anything you would not do for your family?” Alas, it doesn’t offer any further details of the hands-on-glass shot that had Trek -watchers a’flutter watching the recently-released Japanese trailer. At this point I’ve heard about a thousand differing theories as to whom exactly Cumberbatch’s villain will turn out to be. My first thought during the nine-minute prologue was Khan, because YOU GUYS THEY QUOTE WRATH OF KHAN , but there’s something about that idea that seems just too easy. I’m leaning toward an amalgam of Gary Mitchell and Khan, an idea so crazy it might just work in this new Abrams era of playing in the Trek sandbox without having to stay within previously established canon. Why not make the ‘Batch some sort of Mitchell-Khan hybrid? Try this on for size: Benemitchell Khanderbatch . Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? It’s worth noting that, while Star Trek Into Darkness was post-converted to 3-D, the 3-D footage went over well. There are a good many close-ups and scenes featuring brilliantly vivid, swirling pieces of debris and lava and even, at one point, a barrage of spears raining down around Kirk and McCoy as they run through the jungle in a sequence that so calls to mind Raiders of the Lost Ark that it’s probably safe to call it homage. *This is completely wild, “What if?” speculation, but how cool would it be if Abrams’ Trek films did introduce Khan — only as a woman? Discuss . Star Trek Into Darkness is in theaters May 17, 2013; look for the nine-minute preview attached to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in select IMAX screenings, full list here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Aren’t you just wondering who else ranked in under him… Forbes released their list for the Top 10 Overpaid Actors In Hollywood and, other than Eddie topping the ranks at numero uno, you may actually be surprised who landed up on there: #2–Katherine Heigl #3–Reese Witherspoon #4–Sandra Bullock #5–Jack Black #6–Nicolas Cage #7–Adam Sandler #8–Denzel Washington #9–Ben Stiller #10–Sarah Jessica Parker Denzel!?!? For real tho? Forbes gave their reasons for Eddie landing at number one and they didn’t hesitate to name all of his box office flops: Poor Eddie Murphy desperately needs a comeback. Remember back in the day when he was so funny on Saturday Night Live and in movies like Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop? His voice work has helped make movies like Shrek and Mulan tolerable for adults, and even his family-friendly movies, like Norbit and Dr. Dolittle, were good for some chuckles. But lately, Murphy’s career has just collapsed. Imagine That, A Thousand Words and Meet Dave were colossal flops. Last year’s Tower Heist, which was supposed to be something of a return to form for the comedian, failed to wow at the box office, earning $153 million on an estimated budget of $75 million. (In order to even come close to turning a profit, a movie has to earn twice its production budget in ticket sales, plus the millions spent on marketing.) Murphy then backed out of hosting the Oscars, which didn’t help his reputation.His string of flops lands Murphy at the top of our Most Overpaid Actors list for 2012. We estimate that for every $1 Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of $2.30 at the box office. Ouch! Images via tumblr/WENN
On November 20th, after being a fan of Justin since 2007, I finally got to live my dream. Last year, once I hit 9k followers on my Twitter (@bieberisakeeper) I decided to speak out about bullying awareness and talk about my very own experiences being bullied. I created an anti-bullying campaign which I named the “Kill Them With Kindness” campaign – after one of Justin & Alfredo’s favorite sayings , and so far have raised over $300 for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation. After a year of hard work, and tons of hours spent promoting my wristbands, my good karma finally caught up to me. I sent a few of my anti-bullying wristbands and a letter explaining my campaign/love for Justin to the director of all the radio stations in my small home town : my dream quickly became a reality. I was taking a nap after school on November 15th, and when I woke up, I had a tweet, phone call, and email from the radio director. I called him back, and after thanking me for my wristbands and calling me a hero and dedicated Belieber, he asked me if I’ve ever seen Justin in concert. Once I said I had, he replied with, “Good, because you know the show in Pittsburgh is sold out right? – The only thing I could get you were meet and greets.” As soon as the words “meet and greets” escaped his lips, I started to bawl on the phone. He said he’d sent my letter to someone in Justin’s crew, and they had given him two meet and greets because they believed I deserved to meet Justin . It was absolutely unreal. For the five days to come before the concert, I couldn’t eat, or sleep, or do anything. I couldn’t believe that after four years of being a Belieber, I was finally going to meet Justin. On November 20th, my grandma, mom, best friend and I drove 2 1/2 hours to Pittsburgh. We stood outside in the morning by the tour buses with a bunch of other beliebers, and I got a quick wave from Kenny Hamilton, who may I add, is absolutely adorable . We also talked to the security, and when they said Justin wouldn’t be coming out, we headed inside for the m&g. At about 3:10 we went inside to meet the guy from Justin’s crew who gave us meet and greets. Even after they put the purple m&g wristband on my arm – I couldn’t believe it. It seemed like forever waiting, but eventually, this lady named Lisa from Justin’s crew came and made an announcement that we would be starting soon. Unfortunately, we couldn’t give him anything, or take any of our own pics, or ask him to sign anything, but frankly, I didn’t care. I was meeting Justin freaking Bieber . We had to go in with six people, and I made 4 amazing other Belieber friends who were in the picture with me. We’ll share this moment forever. Soon the line started to move, and before I knew what was happening, I was only a few people away from meeting Justin Bieber. Kenny walked by and said hi, and when I asked him how he was, he replied, tired. He still smiled his perfect Kenny Hamilton smile though, even if he was exhausted. I had written about 7 letters and attached 7 of my anti-bullying wristbands to them, and since I couldn’t give anything personally to Justin, I dropped about five of the wristbands off with the gift guy before the m&g. Finally, it was our turn to meet Justin. I let my friend walk in first, and the security guards were quick to position us for our picture. Unfortunately, I wasn’t directly next to Justin. I’d like to tell you what the other girls looked like or even the security, but truth is, all I saw was Justin. It was like I had tunnel vision on steroids. All I saw was Bieber. My friend asked him if he could smile in our picture, and he replied, “Mmmm maybe,” with a little chuckle. And look at our picture. No smile. Biebs is a prankster and such a diva – I can’t help but love him even more. Once the picture was taken, I quickly stepped in front of Justin. He didn’t even seem real. Honestly, he’s perfect. Everything about him is just amazing. I looked him in the eyes, and I was like, “Justin! Can I have a hug please?” And then the security began like pushing me out. Justin put his arm out and blocked the security and gave me the biggest, warmest, most perfect hug on the entire planet, and then he looked me in the eyes, and was like “Thank you sweetie.” No Justin, thank you. Haha! It was amazing. Everyone I had gone in with was like shaking and crying and I was still in disbelief. It was just an indescribable experience. After that, my friend and I had gotten tickets in section 107, which was all the way in the back of the arena. At about 6 at night, we checked for tickets again, and this time, there were floor seats available! We ended up being 19th row on the floor! During the concert Alfredo came and walked next to me and I gave him a letter and a wristband and he hugged and thanked me . Justin’s concert was absolutely amazing, and remembering that I had met him only a few hours before was just insane. Honestly, I didn’t even realize all that had happened until the next morning when I was looking through my pictures. It was so surreal, and absolutely one of the best, if not the best, night of my life. Read the original here: On November 20th, after being a fan of Justin since 2007, I…
Charlie Sheen may no longer be a member of the Two and a Half Men cast , but controversy continues to trail this sitcom. The latest surrounds star Angus T. Jones, who represents the fraction in the show’s title. In a wide-ranging, religious-based interview that has founds it way online, the actor slams the program’s content and tells fans NOT to tune in for it on Thursday nights. Angus T. Jones: Two and a Half Men Sucks! “If you watch Two and a Half Men , please stop watching Two and a Half Men … I don’t want to be on it. Please stop watching it, and filling your head with filth… “People say it’s just entertainment. Do some research on the effects of television and your brain, and I promise you you’ll have a decision to make when it comes to television, especially with what you watch.” Well, Chuck Lorre, the contentious ball is in your court. We can’t wait to see how you play with it.
Movieline is proud to kick off what we anticipate will be a fruitful relationship with our sister publication Variety : Beginning this week, we’ll be hand-picking film reviews by the show business bible’s respected critics and presenting them for our readers’ enjoyment. And what better way to get this party started than with a movie starring Charlie Sheen : Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III , which debuted at the Rome Film Festival.— Frank DiGiacomo The carefree and glamorous existence of a Los Angeles graphic designer is thrown for more than a loop when the long-legged love of his life leaves him in A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III . This sophomore writing-directing effort from Roman Coppola ( CQ ) shares some of its oddball DNA and a few actors with Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and The Darjeeling Limited , which Coppola co-wrote, though Swan lacks those films’ fastidious design and storytelling, and there’s no emotional undertow to speak of. The cast, headed by an in-form, post-meltdown Charlie Sheen, should help attract at least a few curious ticketbuyers. Swan is more of a doodle than a fully formed idea, though not necessarily less enjoyable for it, since it was clearly intended to be an undisciplined, anything-goes kinda story. It begins with a literal look at the contents of the brain of the titular protagonist (Sheen), shown onscreen in 1970s-style animated collage (he’s a graphic designer with a clear love for advertising and the look of the period). Unsurprisingly, a large part of Charlie’s gray matter is dedicated to women and sex, which is why he’s so troubled by the fact that his true love, blonde bombshell Ivana (Katheryn Winnick), has left him. When the devastated Charlie tries to get rid of a bag of shoes Ivana’s left behind, a chuckle-inducing if hardly uproarious chain of events follows, ending with his vintage car in a record producer’s swimming pool. This sequence is supposedly set in waking reality, but the pic frequently switches to what could be described as dreams (or nightmares) that populate the character’s subconscious, such as when Charlie rises from the grave to do some ballroom dancing with the women in his life, and goes on to win a “best bullshit award” from the Academy of Sexy Women. (Parallels to Sheen’s own life aren’t necessarily intentional, but they’re there for the taking.) Trying to help Charlie get his life in order are his best bud, Kirby (Jason Schwartzman), a comic with a Jewfro; his spare-tire-carrying business manager, Saul (Bill Murray); and his hippie-ish novelist sister, Izzy (Patricia Arquette). They also appear in his subconscious in various roles; Murray is especially strong as a John Wayne-style cowboy daring Charlie to face a horde of bikini-clad Indians headed by Ivana, and in an inspired sequence that describes a secret organization of ball-busting women, with Murray leading the charge against them. Coppola’s screenplay thus jumps from one idea to the other, and while quite a few of them are amusing, what’s missing in most scenes is a sense of purpose beyond potentially scoring a few giggles. The stories in Charlie’s subconscious don’t seem to advance or illuminate the real-life narrative that much, to the detriment of audience investment in the characters or overall story. Whereas Anderson’s best films slowly reveal a touching emotional core beneath their painstakingly constructed exteriors, Coppola fails to include such a heart here, though Sheen is certainly convincing as both the suave dream man and the clueless real Charlie. Supporting thesps are all solid but likewise boxed in by the screenplay’s limitations. Liam Hayes’ atmospheric songs and score further consolidate the ’70s/early ’80s vibe already suggested by the work of production designer Elliot Hostetter and costume designer April Napier, whose mixed-material approach clearly conveys Coppola’s ideas about the dual nature of Los Angeles and its inhabitants. Nick Beal’s lensing on the Arri Alexa, the lenses used by Francis Ford Coppola on Rumble Fish, adds another period touch. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Is Amber Rose what all men really want? We’ve got to ask, because clearly Kanye loved the isht out of her. And now that Wiz has wifed her all the way up, fools are taking to the internet to proclaim the glories of her as a girlfriend. We happened to stumble upon an essay on Single Black Male dedicated to all the reasons why one particular fanboy has become an Amber Rose devotee and we thought we’d share some excerpts: Amber Rose however was unique because she possesses a very particular set of skills; skills she has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make her a nightmare for mediocre people. That skill is elevating her man to new heights. I mean think about it, Kanye West went from 808s and Heartbreak to Dark Fantasy. He went from Top 10 to a discussion of ‘Could Kanye actually be the best in the game right now?’ Eventually, they broke up and Amber went on to date Wiz Khalifa. I’m not sure if you know this but Wiz Khalifa didn’t really have all the cards working in his favor from jump. But with the power of Amber Rose, you can’t tell him isht. And that’s what every man needs in his life. A woman who makes him feel like on any given day, you can’t tell him isht. It’s not about Amber Rose and her pretty pregnant ass, it’s about what she represents. Now let’s break this down into five very key points about Amber Rose and why I think she is super awesome. 1. She’s cool with her man’s friends. 2. She supports! 3. She’s beautiful, knows it, but doesn’t let it define her. 4. She doesn’t really care what other people say about her. 5. The people closest to her all say great things about her. Not all of us will be able to meet a model chick, who looks awesome in low top Chucks, who doesn’t have a problem sending sexts (with attachments), who digs strip clubs, will roll up even though she doesn’t partake, and who can transform a career from Dark Horse to Seabiscuit, but we can dream. Some of us are living that dream, by the way. A lot of times men look for all the wrong things in a woman. They will stay in a bad situation just because of cute face and slim waist, but it’s the intangibles that make it work. It’s those intangibles that some women think are optional or “nice to have” that really get the job done. For that reason, and that reason only, that is the inspiration and mantra behind, In Search of Amber Rose. While we’d beg to differ with some of these points, clearly this guy is serious, so we had to ask — guys, how many of you feel this way? Do all men agree that Amber Rose has some ideal traits? And while you’re here ladies, do you think this guy is off his rocker or do you think that women can all learn something from Amber as well? Please Discuss!
Yvonne Strahovski is some 30 year old Polish / Australian actress who has been in Chuck and Dexter and I guess that’s about it…..I mean that was until today…because today…she’s also been featured as the cover girl for our favorite magazine – Complex…and we aren’t just saying that because they are the only magazine who believed in us before we let them down miserably….back in 2007…we are saying that cuz they are up to speed on what’s good…and based on her pics…I see a lovely…bright…semi-erotic…definite nude scene in her future….and that makes me happy…an emotion that is new to me…but surprisingly quite pleasurable….but maybe that’s cuz she’s a babe…or maybe it’s cuz she’s Australian and I love Australians…Doesn’t matter here are the pics… TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICS FOLLOW THIS LINK
SNL alum and Tea Party member Victoria Jackson will see Donald Trump’s rant and raise you an extra dose of post-President Obama reelection bitterness. “America died,” she tweeted last night. “I can’t stop crying. America died.” Apparently displeased with the 2012 election results , she went on: “The Democrat party who voted God out of their platform and adopted Romans 1 as their platform won. In the Good vs. Evil Battle, today… evil won.” Jackson, a devout Christian, then did the Christian thing and ripped Christians. “Thanks a lot Christians, for not showing up. You disgust me,” she wrote. Amen?
