The Biggest Loser host Jillian Michaels is doling out unconditional, rather than tough love to a two-year-old daughter, Lukensia – whom she recently brought home from Haiti after a long and arduous adoption process. She also welcomed a son , Phoenix, that partner Heidi Rhoades gave birth to May 3! “We’re swimming in babies over here,” Michaels, 38, told People of her new life. The two-year journey that led her to her daughter ended with an incredible twist of fate as Rhoades, 31, delivered their son the same week Lukensia arrived. The instant family makes for long days and nights for Michaels. But the fitness fanatic insists that despite the hardship, she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I don’t even answer email anymore. I don’t have time to care about anything else,” she notes. “I want to be really present and enjoy all the nuances of their growth and development. I don’t want to rush any of it.” Congratulations to the whole, growing family! [Photo: WENN.com]
Justin Bieber is a perfect boyfriend (obviously), Rihanna and Chris Brown could share a stage, Jared Leto's book for Haiti, No Doubt turns 25 and more! Read more: 10 Things To Know: Justin Bieber's A Perfect Boyfriend (Duh) + …
According to a new report, Tim Tebow recently used his stiff arm for something other than a quarterback keeper. The latest issue of The National Enquirer quotes an insider who claims Kim Kardashian has a “big crush on Tim,” finding him both “handsome” and to be someone that possesses “really strong values.” Moreover, the reality star’s PR team is aware “Kim needs to rehab her image” and “dating someone like Tim Tebow would certainly do the trick.” So, when will see these two out on the town? When should we start considering a nickname of Tardashian or Kebow for the couple? A quarter to never, according to another source. “Although flattered, he’s not interested,” this mole says, citing the fact that Kim has had sex on camera more often than Tim has sex in his life as an example of the twosome’s contrasting values. Tebow, whose Broncos were eliminated by the Patriots in the second round of the NFL playoffs, has also been linked with Lindsey Vonn .
Friends…how many of us have them? Pras says there’s no bad blood between him and Wyclef Jean after Pras didn’t back his bandmate and childhood friend in Haiti’s election, The Post’s Darryl Harrison reports. “It’s part of his theatrics, part of his politics. It’s all good,” Pras said of a song Wyclef performed that dissed him and activist Sean Penn last September. He even left the door open for a Fugees reunion — “If Fleetwood Mac can do it, if the Rolling Stones can do it,” he mused. Glad these two could squash the beef. At one point we would have loved to see a Fugees reunion, but if Lauryn can’t keep her isht together then we’d rather not ruin the memory that we have. Source More On Bossip! Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner: Here Are Some Current And Future Celebrity Stepdads Handling Their Biz With The Kids Out Of Pocket Old Heads: Mama Jones Starts Twitter War With Olivia???? Canada Dry: Tattoo Artist Claims That Drake Waited In His Car And Sent His Bodyguards To Confront Him Elsewhere In The World: J.R. Smith’s Sister Goes H.A.M. In The Stands At Chinese Game, Choking Out Broads And Catching Fade With An Old Head!
It takes at least two things to make a terrific documentary: A great subject and a light but deft touch. Susanne Rostock’s Sing Your Song , which traces the career of Harry Belafonte with a specific focus on the singer and actor’s social activism, certainly has the former — it’s the latter that’s lacking. But if nothing else, Sing Your Song works as a testament to Belafonte’s drive and dedication to causes well outside the usual goals of simply making money. If you don’t know much about Belafonte beyond the fact that he was that great-looking guy who had a hit in the ’50s with “The Banana Boat Song,” Rostock’s documentary is as good a place as any to start. Sing Your Song is simply conceived and constructed: Rostock (making her directing debut, though she’s been editing documentaries for years) uses on-camera interviews with Belafonte, as well as voice-over narration, to frame a selection of television and news clips and still photographs. The story doesn’t need much embellishment: Belafonte was born in Harlem in 1927, though he spent a portion of his childhood with his grandmother, in Jamaica. He served in the Navy during World War II, and afterward became involved, along with his friend Sidney Poitier, with the American Negro Theater. Belafonte also studied acting at the New School, along with Poitier, Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau and Bernie Schwartz (the last better known as Tony Curtis). He began singing in clubs in New York in the early 1950s. And when he saw Huddie Ledbetter on stage one evening, he was inspired to start researching folk music himself, not just purely American folk music, but that of other countries as well — his 1956 album Calypso was the first LP to sell more than 1 million copies. ( Sing Your Song includes a TV clip of ’50s talk-show host Steve Allen passing one framed gold record after another into Belafonte’s arms.) Belafonte appears to have become a social activist without even knowing it, inspiring outrage in an extremely segregated America without even trying. In Robert Rossen’s 1957 Island in the Sun, his character’s romance with a white woman (played by Joan Fontaine) spurred controversy, though it also boosted ticket sales. Racism was still a huge problem — perhaps even a bigger problem — in 1968, when Petula Clark, performing on television with Belafonte, dared to take his arm. The outcry from advertisers and the public was deafening. Sing Your Song suggests that all of these experiences helped shape Belafonte’s political sensibility, goading him into action instead of just accepting injustice. Rostock includes interviews with significant figures of the civil rights movement, among them Julian Bond, who explains how much it meant to see Belafonte on television in the 1950s: “You’d call your neighbor – ‘Colored on TV!’ It was so rare.” And Belafonte himself explains how he became drawn to the civil rights cause: Martin Luther King Jr. set up a meeting with him, assuring him it wouldn’t take long. Four hours later, Belafonte emerged, ready to do anything necessary to get the point across to the rest of the nation. Sing Your Song is most potent in dealing with Belafonte’s activism during the ’50s and ’60s, becoming murkier and more disorganized when Rostock heads into the Watergate era. It’s not that Belafonte’s work became less visible or less significant at that point, but Rostock presents those years as a blurry laundry list, whirring from Belafonte’s efforts to end hunger in Ethiopia to his anti-Apartheid activities to his involvement in the turmoil in Haiti in the mid-1990s. By the last third, Sing Your Song begins to feel more like a promotional film — promoting activism, if nothing else — than a well-rounded portrait. Still, it’s valuable for both the vintage footage Rostock has collected and for the observations provided by Belafonte, who is as charming, handsome and persuasive in his mid-80s as he ever was. When he speaks about his recent efforts to end gang violence in Los Angeles, he says, “I’m still looking to fix these things I thought we fixed 50 years ago.” Retirement, apparently, isn’t an option. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘The Artist,’ George Clooney and Martin Scorsese among the other big winners at the show. By Ryan J. Downey Octavia Spencer and the cast of ‘The Help’ at the 2012 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images Donald Glover wagged his tongue at Charlize Theron , George Clooney talked Naugahyde leisure suits, Patton Oswalt drank scotch, and a pair of Muppets chimed in via satellite as “The Help” and “The Artist” cleaned up at the 2012 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards . Funnymen hosts Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer jokingly called it “the ninth most exciting night in Hollywood,” but while it may not be as prestigious as the Academy Awards, the Critics’ Choice Awards are traditionally the strongest indicator of who will get Oscars. All four winners from the major acting categories last year — Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo — later won Oscars. “The Artist” won Best Picture and earned Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius, who noted, “There are so many beautiful people here, I have to force myself not to ask [for] autographs.” And he wasn’t kidding. The beautiful people on-hand included Clooney, Theron, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams and countless more stars from the screen and behind-the-scenes. Broadcast live on VH1 from the Hollywood Palladium, the Critics’ Choice Awards included three wins for “The Help”: Best Actress (Viola Davis), Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer) and Best Acting Ensemble. Clooney won Best Actor for his role in “The Descendants.” The awards are voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, made up of more than 250 television, radio and Web critics. Leonardo DiCaprio and Olivia Harrison, widow of late Beatles guitarist George Harrison, presented the Music + Film Award to DiCaprio’s longtime collaborator, filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Bob Dylan, whom Scorsese called “the great one,” performed. Fitz and the Tantrums were present throughout the night, playing as the house band in and out of commercial breaks. Sean Penn accepted the Joel Siegel Award live via satellite from Haiti, where he’s been continuously busy with the type of humanitarian work for which he was being honored. The show kicked off with a sketch featuring Huebel and Scheer as “inanimate object actors,” as folks like Jon Favreau, Michael Bay and Ray Liotta satirically praised their green-screen work as lamps, guns and spare tires in movies like “Transformers” and “Horrible Bosses.” The bit included a cameo from Martin Starr, who astute observers/ comedy fans love from “Party Down” and “Freaks and Geeks.” The hosting pair emerged onstage looking like the “Men in Black” with matching suits and launched into a monologue and faux Q&A that took lighthearted shots at the show itself (“there are no technical awards, because they are boring”), Vin Diesel and Adam Sandler. “Since this show started,” Scheer said, “seven more movies with Ryan Gosling have been released.” Dunst and Owen Wilson offered a toast to film critics (“Your words influence millions of movie lovers everywhere,” Dunst said) before presenting the first televised award of the night. Octavia Spencer was visibly moved as she accepted Best Supporting Actress. “Well, I’m not prepared. I wasn’t a Girl Scout,” she said. “Oh my God, this is kind of crazy. Whoo!” Wilson and Dunst returned (“Do you think the critics bought our toast a minute ago?” Wilson said dryly) to hand Best Supporting Actor to Christopher Plummer for his role as a gay man who comes out late in life in “Beginners.” “I’m completely turned on,” the 82-year-old screen legend said. “I feel terribly young tonight suddenly, and at my age, I need all the help I can get in that department. Thank you!” Next came a word from the “BFCA presidents” — Statler and Waldorf from “The Muppets”! The curmudgeonly duo from the Muppet Theater balcony said the show thus far “has more of a plot than ‘Tree of Life’ ” and “three times the laughs of ‘Contagion’ and ‘The Descendants’ put together!” During her first acceptance speech, Spencer had said, “I guess the operative word here is ‘Best Supporting,’ because I was truly supported by the most amazing cast and crew.” And not long after, she was elected by her castmates to speak as they accepted the Best Acting Ensemble Award together, which was presented by “Bridesmaids” costar Maya Rudolph and newcomer Elizabeth Olsen. Director Gore Verbsinski accepted the Best Animated Feature award for “Rango.” “Having never made an animated movie before — it is so incredibly difficult,” he acknowledged. “My respect and admiration for my fellow nominees this evening is tremendous.” Patton Oswalt, whose role in “Young Adult” had put him up against Plummer in the Best Supporting Actor category, swigged from a small bottle of scotch when he took the stage to introduce Best Comedy. He implored the audience not to feel sorry for him, however. “There are plenty of nuanced roles for schlubby actors out there. And the ones that [Paul] Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman don’t take are all mine!” Producer Judd Apatow dropped two F-bombs as he spoke on behalf of the team behind Best Comedy “Bridesmaids.” “Jerry Lewis once said that he didn’t think women were funny,” he pointed out. “So I would just like to say, with all respect: F— him!” The next section of the show saw Best Foreign Film awarded to the Iranian movie “A Separation” and a sketch parodying Stephen Spielberg’s “War Horse,” complete with an “interview” with the horse from the movie and a scene featuring Michael Cera. Later in the night, the hosts saluted “fictional characters we lost in movies,” including (spoiler alert!) “this girl” and “some ninjas” in movies like “13 Assassins,” “Shark Night,” “Fast Five” and “Scream 4” as a montage that played to the sounds of Boyz II Men’s “Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” Paul Rudd presented the award for Best Young Actor/Actress to Thomas Horn from “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” “Thank you film critics,” the former “Jeopardy Kids” champion gushed, “This is amazing!” Former child actor DiCaprio gave a long introduction to his friend and collaborator Scorsese before a series of clips from the filmmaker’s classic movies played. DiCaprio was joined by Harrison, and then Marty took the stage himself, shouting out the Hot Club of France, whom he listened to growing up in New York City in the ’40s. NBC sitcom stars Donald Glover (“Community”) and Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) gave out both of the screenplay awards. Kaling professed her adoration of versatile actor Michael Fassbender (“This is why I came here tonight, to meet him”) and Glover acted out what making out with Charlize Theron might look like. Best Adapted Screenplay went to “Moneyball.” Best Original Screenplay went to Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.” “We accept this award on his behalf,” Kaling said of the absent Allen. “That’s awesome!” Muppet revivalist Jason Segel called all the guys in the Best Director category “my future directors” and told all of them, “I was really honored to learn that I’ll be making films with all of you this year” before he handed out the award to Hazanavicius for “The Artist.” “It feels like ‘The Help’ table is having more fun than us. Here’s a fun transition,” began Clooney, as he began to talk about continuing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. “Very few have committed themselves as completely to the people of Haiti as Sean Penn. And he didn’t just dip his toe into the humanitarian pool, he dove in. … Sean isn’t here tonight because he’s in Haiti, but we have him live by satellite.” Penn thanked “the example” of Joel Siegel and of Clooney. “I was reminded that great filmmaking is truly a humanitarian act,” said Penn, referencing the earlier Scorsese montage. “The people of Haiti embrace the work that the committed among you do.” Penn’s ex-wife Robin Wright called 2011 “definitely the year of the woman” as she introduced the Best Actress category. “Everything beautiful and complicated about us was onscreen this year,” she said. Davis said she was “absolutely so humbled” by her win. Clooney hugged one of his competitors, buddy Brad Pitt, on the way up to accept his award from Dustin Hoffman, before sharing a story with the crowd about the time his father reminded him of his grandfather’s work as a sharecropper, which included a mention of the Naugahyde leisure suit his mother made for him in the sixth grade. “If you’re not proud of what you’re doing, then do it better,” Clooney said his father told him. “I have to say that I am very proud to be in this film.” After “The Artist” won best picture, Heubel and Scheer said their goodbyes. With a wide grin, Scheer advised: “Now let’s all get on Twitter and see who’s ripping us apart!” Stick with MTV News all night for the 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards winners , and don’t miss all the fashion from the red carpet ! Related Videos 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards Rep Carpet Highlights Related Photos Backstage At The 2012 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
Lil Wayne’s stint on Rikers Island continues to be proven productive. The YMCMB rapper is publishing a memoir, Gone Till November, that will be in bookstores on November 28. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Grand Central Publishers, a division of the Hachette Book Group, will publish the book, which consists of Weezy’s diary entries from his eight month bid in 2010… Continue
It doesn’t even seem like it’s been that long , does it? Sadly, Haitians have grown used to seeing earthquake rubble and the makeshift camps that sprang up after that fateful day in January 2010. The United Nations, Haitian officials and private aid agencies have said that Haiti has made strides in the two years since the quake. But few deny that recovery has been painfully slow. All you have to do is look at Leocal. And she might be considered one of the lucky ones. She has a “home,” however modest. The United Nations estimated the 7.0-magnitude earthquake affected nearly 3 million people and killed about 220,000. More than 1.5 million people were left homeless in a country that was already the poorest in the Western hemisphere and wracked by crisis. Consider that 70% of Haitians did not have stable jobs before the quake and there were only 5.9 doctors per 10,000 residents. Two years later, almost as many Haitians are still unemployed. Debris still clutters the capital and other places. About half the rubble, the equivalent of five football stadiums full, has been removed, according to the United Nations. About half a million people are still homeless. Many still live in tents in the shadows of the collapsed presidential palace, perhaps the most visible symbol of Haiti’s misery. “You can’t stay on the streets,” Leocal said. “If that’s what you have, you have to rebuild.” She is not alone in her frustration. Thousands of Haitians marched Wednesday through Port-au-Prince to the Parliament building to demand a reform of land laws so they can be freed to build homes, said Marjorie Bertrand Dumornay, coordinator of the grass-roots campaign funded by ActionAid Haiti. “The rebuilding process is mostly led by the foreigners,” she said. “There is no national plan. The Haitian state does not have the will.” Michel Martelly, the former pop star who was elected president last year partly because he presented a fresh face in Haitian politics, campaigned on a pledge to fix Haiti. But it took him months to even form a government and he recently said that motivating people to move in the nation’s “culture of immobilism” has been a challenge. Standing recently on a site where he said more than 600 families had been living in tents until just days ago, Martelly said the government was able to relocate them in housing. The project, he said, cost $9 million because damaged homes had to be either repaired or reconstructed. He acknowledged that many thousands are still waiting. “But it’s about sending the signal,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “It’s not about having the magic stick and making the problem disappear in one day. If you plant a tree today, in order to enjoy the shadow, you have to wait five years. So changing Haiti is going to take time and healing the wounds is going to take time.” Here’s wising the Haitian people continued progress in their healing and rebuilding. Take a look at pictures taken in Haiti over the past on the flip.
TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport VIA SMART PHONE: Stitcher Radio! IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: GOP planning end-run around Obama on Keystone XL pipeline?; 2 years after massive earthquake, Haiti still devastated; Big polluters in your neighborhood? There’s a map for that; PLUS: While Obama talks clean energy, Germany actually does it … All that and more in today’s Green News Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Brad Blog Discovery Date : 12/01/2012 16:08 Number of articles : 2
