Lock his azz up and throw away the key. NFL Star Leaves Child In Car To Go To Strip Club According to Mail Online A former NFL linebacker has been arrested in Florida after he left a toddler in a car while he visited a strip club. Monty Ray Grow, who has played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars, left the three-year-old girl locked in the parking lot of a car dealership in Tampa Bay and popped into the Diamond Dolls erotic nightclub on Sunday night. Police said she was found by her mother and grandparents more than 40 minutes later after they used GPS to track her down. By the time Grow returned from the club they had taken the girl away, replaced by waiting officers. It is unclear exactly how long the toddler was in the car but police said her mother tracked her down at 9.09pm, arrived to pick her up six minutes later before Grow emerged from the club at 9.48pm. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said Grow, of Redington Beach, was charged with child abuse Sunday night and was later released on $5,000 bail. It would not reveal his relationship to the little girl, saying only that he was supposed to be caring for her. When Grow returned to the car, he reportedly acknowledged leaving the uninjured child unattended. Grow played linebacker for the Gators from 1989 to 1993. He went on to play a season each for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Seeing over-the-hill strippers bust it open for a dollar bill is so not worth locking your child in a car. Continue reading →
I post of lot of no-name models on this site, but every once in a while, I’ll run across one that looks so good in lingerie it should be a crime for her to wear anything else. So enjoy this ridiculous amount of lingerie hotness from Kansas model Maggi Caruthers , and hopefully she’ll deliver even more where this came from next time we see her. I’d really hate to have to run her in for decent exposure. » view all 94 photos
I post of lot of no-name models on this site, but every once in a while, I’ll run across one that looks so good in lingerie it should be a crime for her to wear anything else. So enjoy this ridiculous amount of lingerie hotness from Kansas model Maggi Caruthers , and hopefully she’ll deliver even more where this came from next time we see her. I’d really hate to have to run her in for decent exposure. » view all 94 photos
We’re glad this little girl will have someone to look after her. Judge Decides Custody Of Jovan Belcher’s Daughter Why did he not think about his daughter before doing something so horrible? According to TMZ It’s been 7 months since Kansas City Chiefs player Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend and then shot himself … but now a judge has finally decided who will get custody of the NFL player’s 9-month-old daughter. A probate judge in Missouri has appointed Sophie D. Perkins as the legal guardian of Zoey Michelle Belcher. Perkins is Zoey’s first cousin (once removed) on her mother’s side. Zoey’s mother — Kasandra Perkins– was shot to death by Belcher on December 1st, 2012. Belcher then drove to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City … where he killed himself. Jovan’s mother had tried to obtain custody of the child — but the judge clearly felt Perkins was the better choice. According to court docs, Zoey will inherit Jovan’s estate — which has been valued at $799,119.85. She’s also reportedly set to receive at least $1,000,000 from the NFL … plus $1.2 million from a life insurance policy. The main cause of this tragedy was that Jovan was a little boy in a man’s body. Therefore, he didn’t know how to handle a disagreement with his girlfriend and killed her. This type of beyotchazzness is common in about 80 percent of black males. Sad. Continue reading →
Last night was the penultimate (look it up) episode of Love & Hip Hop New York and though it had plenty of f-ckery, it also featured some genuinely tear jerking moments. Okay, just one… Continue
All our Bossip baseball fans, you have an opportunity to win a trip for two to Kansas City for 2 nights to attend the red carpet screening of “42″, the film about Jackie Robinson. Check out the trailer: Hero is a word we hear often in sports, but heroism is not always about achievements on the field of play. “42” tells the story of two men—the great Jackie Robinson and legendary Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey—whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball. In 1946, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) put himself at the forefront of history when he signed Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) to the team, breaking Major League Baseball’s infamous color line. But the deal also put both Robinson and Rickey in the firing line of the public, the press and even other players. Facing unabashed racism from every side, Robinson was forced to demonstrate tremendous courage and restraint by not reacting in kind, knowing that any incident could destroy his and Rickey’s hopes. Instead, Number 42 let his talent on the field do the talking—ultimately winning over fans and his teammates, silencing his critics, and paving the way for others to follow. We have the ultimate flyaway! In addition to the trip for two to Kansas City for the Red Carpet Screening, the grand prize winner will also receive 2 passes to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, two tickets to a Kansas City Royals baseball game, 2 t-shirts, baseball caps, seat cushions, lapel pins, bags, and 1 poster! Even if you don’t win the grand prize, you have 9 other opportunities to win. Each 1st place winner will receive one 42 film t-shirt, baseball cap, seat cushion, lapel pin, movie poster, and 2 Hollywood Movie Money certificates to see 42. Now, it’s time for the contest. All you have to do is answer the question in the box below and you are entered to win. Answer the question: Jackie Robinson began his professional baseball career as a member of what Negro Leagues team? Contest ends April 2nd at noon. Winner will be contacted that day and we have to hear back within 24 hours so all arrangements can be made.
If James Franco reads his reviews, he should avoid David Edelstein ‘s critique of Oz The Great and Powerful at Vulture.com . “Franco is unconvincing generally, tamping down the passion, ironicizing everything out,” wrote Edelstein. “It’s possible Franco’s modern-sounding stammers and shrugs opposite actors playing it straight are meant in the spirit of Bob Hope’s hipster cowards — or those of Woody Allen , who cited Hope among his inspirations for Sleeper and Love and Death . But Franco doesn’t have the comebacks. He’s playing a noncommittal character in a noncommittal way, so that you want to scream, “This isn’t a performance-art project! You’re carrying a movie!” Ouch, though I’m with Edelstein on this one. It’s weird to see Franco giving such a modern performance in a movie that functions as a prequel to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz , and is supposed to be taking place in the early 1900s. I guess that tornado didn’t just transport Franco from Kansas to Oz, it messed with the time-space continuum, too. Well, while we wait to see if the weekend box-office results will vindicate Franco’s performance, I’ve noticed something about Franco that is fully committed: his smile. Watching him promoting Oz over the last few weeks and the films he brought to Sundance in January, Kink , which he produced, and Interior. Leather Bar , which he co-directed, I’ve discovered that Franco does for beaming what Futurama’ s Hypnotoad does for staring. He’s all in — teeth, gums and crinkled eyes — and the effect kind of mesmerizing in a man-he’s-really-going-for-it way. Check out these photos: So, bad reviews be damned. Keep smiling James….I…await…your final…orders. [ Vulture ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
This latest and last trailer for Iron Man 3 before the Marvel movie’s May 3 release takes a while to work up a head of steam, but stick with it. Do your best to ignore the cringe-inducing dialect that Ben Kingsley has adopted to play the Mandarin — “you’lllll neverrrr see me coming” — try not to be distracted by Gwyneth Paltrow in a black bra and wait for the final shots of this Yahoo! exclusive. The rumors were true: Tony Stark’s alloyed forces do appear at the very end of the trailer, and they look like a lot of fun. [ Yahoo! ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
When The Onion ‘s CEO Steve Hannah publicly apologized last week for the satirical newspaper’s controversial Oscar-night tweet about Quvenzhané Wallis , two thoughts crossed my mind: 1) It’s not a good day for comedy when a satirical publication says it’s sorry for a joke that was not actually about the Beasts of the Southern Wild actress. And 2) what would Paul Provenza make of this? In addition to being a veteran stand-up comic and actor, Provenza directed The Aristocrats , one of the finest dissections of comedy in any media (and not because I’m in it). The 2005 documentary deconstructs one of the oldest and dirtiest jokes in stand-up — the film’s title is its punchline — and when I shot my segment with Provenza, I quickly learned that, in addition to being a very funny guy, he’s a scholar of humor, who’s really good at explaining why something is funny — or not. ‘The Onion’: The Quvenzhané Wallis Controversy So, in the aftermath of the Wallis controversy, I emailed Provenza to get his analysis of the situation. Excerpts of his assessment appear below, but, first, an unexpurgated recap of what happened last week for anyone who was focusing on the sequestration crisis instead. If you’re offended by the word “cunt,” then stop reading now, because the term appears quite a bit in the following passages, and, in the context of this discussion, I think it’s justified. Also, as Provenza noted, censoring the word, “just adds to the irony” of the controversy. Here’s what The Onion initially tweeted during the Academy Awards on Feb. 24. After initially obscuring the offending word, the tweet was eventually disappeared as the backlash grew: “Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right?” The Onion’s Apology Here is the apology that Hannah posted on The Onion ‘s Facebook page on Monday, Feb. 25: Dear Readers, On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhané Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the tweet that was circulated last night during the Oscars. It was crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting. No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire. The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again. In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible. Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry. Sincerely, Steve Hannah CEO The Onion Why The Onion’s Apology Is Problematic Take it away, Professor Provenza: I think the crux of it is that the whole issue has more to do with Twitter than it has to do with comedy. Not completely, but largely. Twitter is a big, broad audience, and it’s a tough room to ‘read’, particularly with a joke this harsh. But the joke is absolutely misunderstood in most of the chatter. It is NOT a joke calling that sweet little girl a cunt. It’s not maligning her in any way whatsoever — it is saying exactly the opposite. The joke rests squarely on the fact that Quvenzhané Wallis is the very last person you’d ever want to call a cunt. Not even the most steadfast cynic can find her anything but innocent, beautiful and adorable, and that’s the whole point of the joke: The Hollywood schadenfreude and the palpable desperation that runs through much of the movie biz inspires the idea that someone, somewhere in Oscartown is already spreading vicious rumors about her. The fact that it is so inappropriate to say anything like that about her is precisely the basis — and I believe the point — of the Tweet. It was meant as a satirical comment about Hollywood and the pretense that everybody at the Oscars loves each other so much. It’s all golden statues and lavish praise — and is, The Onion suggests, about as phony as it gets. SO The Onion ‘s apology is problematic. It suggests they did insult her, and they’re sorry about it. Which is not the case. They offended, yes — not by insulting Quvenzhané Wallis, but by using the word “cunt” in the first place. And what could they expect, putting a most innocent, beloved 9 year old in the same sentence with perhaps the second most reviled word in the English language? That’s not the norm for The Onion , which usually does a much more deft job of communicating harsh comic ideas, but, comedically speaking, the joke is meant to be a bludgeon. So, I really can’t fault it on that score. It’s not meant to be a cleverly disguised notion. It’s meant to be as harsh as the ugly truth of envy, back-biting and negativity that Hollywood embodies. No one is spared, no matter how sweet and pure and innocent. Provenza goes on to point out that launching the Wallis joke into the Twitterverse put The Onion in “a difficult place.” Their work rarely has reached the audience this has reached — it has gone beyond their normal audience of comedy fans, fans of biting satire, whatever — to the broadest based audience imaginable: Oscar viewers, news & opinion blog/TV watchers. That audience includes far more people who would be offended in great numbers. And that’s where it becomes about Twitter. It’s now a story debated by people who have never had, nor do they now have, any interest in The Onion or what they’re all about. And now we’re into the business of damage control. But man, it feels wrong to apologize for a joke you didn’t even make. When I asked Provenza if The Onion should have apologized at all, he replied: Not this apology. They could have apologized for upsetting people in their audience. That would have been honest — they didn’t want to offend anyone. But this apology is dishonest: They apologize for offending the little girl and saying she deserves better when they did NOT say anything offensive about her. Thus, the apology is obsequious, reeks of insincerity and is compromising of The Onion’s integrity and its actual point of view in the first place. The Onion’s Tweet & Seth MacFarlane’s Jokes Stir The Pretentious Pot Provenza also drew a provocative connection between The Onion ‘s tweet and Seth MacFarlane’s much-maligned emceeing of the Academy Awards that night: If you look at The Onion thing (the actual substance of the joke, not the misinterpretation of it) and Seth’s entire night of hosting, some very loud voices were digging into the whole pretension of the Oscars. And what’s really interesting to me is that Seth was essentially a fox in the Academy Awards henhouse. The producers of the telecast knew what he was going to do: Nothing was off the cuff, songs were rehearsed for weeks, scripts were signed off on by legal departments and Standards & Practices. In other words, the producers of the Oscars themselves chose to let Seth call bullshit on false propriety, to dredge up unsavory things about the celebs in attendance and onstage, to take very little of it as seriously as the Oscars seem to want to be taken. They essentially allowed him to repeatedly remind the audience what a load of crap it all is. We all know that Oscar itself is a massive industry. The politics behind the nominees and winners is predominated by studios/distributors’ financial interests and all kinds of deal-making and horse trading. The fact that awards shows and celebrities are being called out ever more loudly, even from within, seems to suggest something. It’s almost as if even the people involved in the enterprise can’t ignore how pretentious it all is and are really tired of the machine. I can’t wait to read the comments on this. Leave them below. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Consciously evoking the structure and iconography of MGM’s classic The Wizard of Oz without attempting to rival its impact, Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful can be enjoyed, up to a point, on its own colorful, diverting but finally rather futile terms. Offering an eye-tickling but gaudily depersonalized Land of Oz populated by younger, sexier versions of well-known characters (most incongruously the Wicked Witch of the West), this elaborate exercise in visual Baum-bast nonetheless gets some mileage out of its game performances, luscious production design and the unfettered enthusiasm director Sam Raimi brings to a thin, simplistic origin story. The smash success of Wicked , the stage tuner adapted from Gregory Maguire’s much more intricate and morally complicated Oz prequel, showed that L. Frank Baum’s richly imagined universe still holds significant interest for audiences worldwide. With its culturally resonant imagery, state-of-the-art technology and strong family appeal, Disney’s first excursion into this realm since Walter Murch’s Return to Oz nearly 30 years ago should enjoy a hefty yellow-brick load in theatrical release that will only be amplified by 3D ticket premiums and bountiful ancillary opportunities. Abundant indicators of commercial success and faultless production values aside, there’s a persistent sense of artifice here, something admittedly not lost on a story that’s very much about the power of technology and the magic inherent in a skillfully executed illusion. Yet it still rings hollow in a way that prevents full surrender, leaving the viewer with an immediate desire to revisit the still-wondrous 1939 film and, to a lesser extent, the original Baum novels credited as the inspiration for Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay. (The filmmakers had to navigate a veritable poppy field of legal issues to steer clear of copyrighted and trademarked elements from the MGM film, now owned by Warner Bros.) Although Dorothy is nowhere in sight, attentive listeners will catch a fleeting reference to her origins in the film’s exquisite prologue, which, a la The Wizard of Oz , unfolds on a windy strip of Kansas prairie. Rendered in black-and-white and framed in Academy ratio, the sequence works as a luminous standalone tribute to the wonders of old-fashioned trickery and showmanship as practiced by traveling circus magician Oscar Diggs ( James Franco ), whose vaudeville-style act is a marvel of wires, trapdoors, faux hypnosis and do-it-yourself sound effects. Oscar is a handsome rogue, a sly con artist, and an expert levitator and seducer of women, qualities that will prove at once crucial and dangerous when a twister blows his hot-air balloon off course and deposits him in the vibrant-colored Land of Oz, where no fewer than three beautiful and powerful witches wind up vying for his attention. These include the naive, emotionally susceptible Theodora (Mila Kunis); her older, colder sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz); and their sworn nemesis, Glinda (Michelle Williams), a beauteous blonde whose motives are initially shrouded in secrecy. Crucial to these women’s competing agendas is the question of whether Oscar is the all-powerful wizard who, as prophesied, will ascend to the throne of the Emerald City and deliver Oz from evil. Disney’s marketing campaign has worked to generate some suspense over the question of who will eventually become the Wicked Witch of the West, although even modestly Oz-savvy viewers will have no trouble guessing which witch is which before the truth is revealed halfway through. Suffice it to say that the transformation is poorly motivated at best, and the unlucky girl in question, sporting not only the requisite green skin but also an eyeful of cleavage, seems a better candidate for top honors at a West Hollywood Halloween bash than for the mantle of Margaret Hamilton. Such comparisons to The Wizard of Oz are not only unavoidable but actively invited by Raimi’s film, which, within its legal restrictions, carefully mimics its 1939 forebear — from the early monochrome-to-color shift signaling that we’re not in Kansas anymore to the device of having key supporting characters pop up on both sides of the proverbial rainbow. To their credit, scribes Kapner and Lindsay-Abaire have taken pains to incorporate previously unfilmed elements from Baum’s original work. Pointedly in this version, Glinda hails from the South, not the North; the (racially diversified) Munchkins are joined by the similarly friendly but lesser-known Quadlings; and a key role is played by the fragile, all-porcelain China Girl (Joey King), who joins Oscar and his benign winged-monkey companion, Finley (voiced by Zach Braff), on their journey. Quite apart from the question of whether the picture lives up to its various inspirations, however, Oz the Great and Powerful finally falls short by dint of a too-timid imagination. In straining for an all-ages simplicity, the script comes off as merely banal, full of flat, repetitive dialogue about who’s good, who’s wicked and, most incessantly, whether Oscar is a real wizard, an opportunistic scoundrel or perhaps both. Not until the third act does the film start to jell, with a couple of arresting setpieces that neatly demonstrate how pluck, resourcefulness and an endless supply of tricks can equal, and even overcome, real magic. Raimi’s genre credentials made him as ideal a match for this production as any, and he attacks the material with palpable vigor, countering the thinness of the story with visuals that can feel by turns excessive and transporting. Gary Jones and Michael Kutsche’s lovingly detailed costumes and Robert Stromberg’s multihued sets take on an almost radioactive glow in Peter Deming’s widescreen cinematography, and the use of tracking and crane shots is inspired, the camera pulling back on occasion to observe the action at a painterly remove. This marks the first time Raimi has worked with the stereoscopic format, and he’s applied it with abundant care and precision. Bob Murawski’s editing meshes seamlessly with the 3D-lensed imagery to produce a fluid, genuinely multidimensional experience whose eye-popping effects — a swirl of fog rolling out of the frame; blossoms that turn out to be butterflies — are executed with an enchanting dexterity and playfulness. In a real sense, Oz the Great and Powerful has a certain kinship with George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels, in the way it presents a beautiful but borderline-sterile digital update of a world that was richer, purer and a lot more fun in lower-tech form. Here, too, the actors often look artificially superimposed against their CG backdrops, though the intensity of the fakery generates its own visual fascination. The indie experiments with which Franco has been recently preoccupied lend an interesting subtext to his casting as a genial humbug, and the actor fills the Wizard’s shoes, vest and top hat with slippery, ingratiating charm. Among the three witches, Kunis’ Theodora is a bit lacking in dramatic stature; Weisz’s Evanora strikes the right notes of icy ambition; and Williams, who has rarely looked more radiant onscreen, is a bewitching presence indeed, making Glinda more than just another bubblehead.
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