Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was dead Thursday. Now he’s not. The Mexican drug boss apparently is alive and well, and probably laughing at thousands of Twitter users and even government officials who reported otherwise. He was never really dead , or even in peril, but the rumors of his demise started slowly on Thursday thanks to journalists in Guatemala and Mexico. An email exchange about an incident in the remote jungle region of El Peten that might have involved El Chapo began to permeate diplomatic circles. The Interior Minister of Guatemala told journalists that a firefight between drug dealers and the military had resulted in the death of two suspected criminals. “There was a clash between Guatemalan security forces in (the town of) San Francisco,” Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez said Thursday, adding, erroneously: “Two died. One of the deceased is physically very similar to El Chapo.” Cue the Twitter reports of El Chapo’s death, spreading like wildfire. Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre said at that point of the night, the government was getting ready to conduct forensics tests to identify the two corpses. Yet later on the same night, Guatemalan officials said they weren’t even sure that the supposed gunfight against the drug dealers had even occurred. Officials also said that military units were patrolling the area to see if they could find any signs of a gun battle between the army and drug traffickers. They did not. On Monday morning, after no El Chapo had been found, Lopez apologized for the government’s blunder on local radio station Emisoras Unidas. He said confusion arose because of over-reliance on testimonies of local villagers, who said that they had seen a clash between the army and drug traffickers. He said too many “contradictory” pieces of information came to officials at once, but Ioan Grillo, a journalist and drug war analyst, had another theory: “My reading of Chapo Guzman drama: a snitch called and said Chapo died in firefight,” Grillo tweeted. “Guatemala pleased with news tells before confirming.” Whatever happened, with regards to this most recent case, there is some reason to believe that El Chapo Guzman is in Guatemala at this time. WikiLeaks suggests that El Chapo is hiding in El Peten, where Mexican cartels have managed to gain a stronghold over drug trafficking routes. Previously US DEA officials have suggested that El Chapo hides in a mountain range in western Mexico, that straddles the states of Durango and Sinaloa. Stay tuned … and stay off Twitter for news.
From new characters to new stakes to new alliances and new instances of blood and nudity… HBO has released the very first trailer for Game of Thrones Season 3 . It premiered on last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and it featured favorites such as Tyrion Lannister and vital new players such as Ciarán Hinds’ Mance Rayder. The epic drama returns on March 31 and you can’t waste another solitary second. Watch the first footage from episodes to come now: Game of Thrones Trailer
Kim Kardashian is standing up for her mother… by positively going off on her former stepmother! In its latest issue, In Touch Weekly asserts that Kris Jenner is abusive , using Robert Kardashian’s journal to report Jenner has kicked her daughter and even threatened to kill Kim. Now, in response to Robert’s widow, Ellen, allegedly providing this supposed evidence to the tabloid, Kardashian has taken to Twitter in anger and in defense. First, she addresses Ellen. “So my dad’s ex is selling ridiculous stories again to tabloids!” Kim wrote this morning. “Do not believe it! Sad when people need $ & get desperate… “10 yrs since dad passed &this woman he married 4 2 wks before he died needs 2 get a job instead of trying 2 destroy families w fake stories.” Then, to make sure she officially shot down talk of Jenner as anything but loving and supportive, Kim added: “PS that story that my mom beat me & threatened to kill me hahahhahaha! I’d beat her! JK truly laughable! #NOTTRUE.” Perhaps not the funniest or most appropriate punchline, but point made. UPDATE: Adds Khloe Kardashian , also Tweeting to Ellen: “You have no right to even mention our names especially my mothers! We don’t know you!!! How dare you spread such lies! You are a disgrace.”
Girls star Allison Williams reprised her popular and spot-on Kate Middleton impression on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday night, and it was pretty funny. Before landing her role on the HBO hit, Allison (daughter of NBC News’ Brian Willams) wrote and starred in a Funny Or Die series in which she plays the Duchess. Last night, Jimmy brought up the aforementioned series, stating that he was initially cast to play Prince William before being was replaced during production. Which brings us to Kimmel’s spoof (a spoof of a spoof as it were) and her Kate Middleton impression, which is awesome (it helps that both are gorgeous). Watch: Allison Williams Kate Middleton Impression
The Bachelor is a pretty amazing experience for everyone involved. Discussing his network’s hit reality show this week, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel bragged / lamented that he’s talked to more Bachelor stars than anyone on the planet. He said he knows exactly how his interview with Sean Lowe will go before it happens, and that the word “amazing” will be spoken at least 15 times per episode. Was he right? Watch his “Amazing Counter” in action below: AMAZING Bachelor Recap Will Sean find a truly AMAZING ending to his journey? Read The Bachelor spoilers we’ve compiled so far for hints as to the outcome of this 17th season.
In breaking Game of Thrones nudes, actress Emilia Clarke appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week to discuss such skinworthy topics as getting naked for her first onscreen role, and breaking the news of it to her parents While Mum and Dad were apparently accepting of her decision to bare it all, other relatives were unaware until the series aired. Her Uncle Ken was particularly alarmed to see her with her kit off, but here at Skin Central we’ve never been happier. Better yet, when Emilia was asked if there are any upcoming nude scenes for her in Season 3, and she coquettishly replied: “There may be. There may be.” See the clip after the jump!
‘I don’t like any kind of responsibility,’ the actor quipped during a late night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. By Josh Wigler Robert Pattinson on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Photo: ABC
Is Wreck-It Ralph a video game flick for kids, or the saga of a destructive 30-year-old loner on an existential journey of rediscovery? We put the bigger questions to John C. Reilly , whose smash-happy villain Wreck-It Ralph goes game-jumping through his arcade world in search of his inner hero — crashing a first-person shooter and a candy-colored racing game in the process — in the Disney animated adventure. There’s a lot for children to enjoy in Wreck-It Ralph , but adults may find even more to grasp onto in Ralph’s story – he’s basically just turned 30, is having an existential crisis, unsure of his destiny and his job and what he’s supposed to be doing with his life. It’s no accident that Disney is over the moon with the age range of people that are enjoying the movie already. Yeah – there are some deep things said in the movie, in a very fun, video game world kind of way. The kids watching it may not understand some of these life crises for a few decades. They will one day! Was that something you had in mind as you gave voice to Ralph? Did you see him as a 30-year-old in crisis? I wasn’t so focused on the time span of it, and I wasn’t thinking of it so much as a mid-life crisis or existential crisis kind of thing. It was much more emotional, and it was immediate, too – “Why doesn’t anyone like me?” “Because you smash things!” I know, but that’s just what I do for a living! Give me a break! To me, the thing I was most conscious of was someone in the beginning of the story who doesn’t know himself, and he can’t accept who he is, because he doesn’t really know who he is. That’s one of the things that the journey he goes on gives him when he’s put into these tight spots and is called upon to be something bigger – he rises to the challenge and learns who he is, and accepts who he is. And then everything’s fine! Don’t give away the ending! Well… I was talking about people in general. But everything might be fine in the movie. Who knows? Do you relate to Ralph’s quandary of being defined by the job that he does? Yeah. I think that’s true – I noticed, working in France, that’s just not something people do. “What do you do?” That’s not the first thing they ask you at a party. I can’t remember what is the first thing they ask, but they’re a lot more private and people don’t share personal information quite so readily there, for whatever reason, they’re a little more formal. But here the first thing anyone asks is “What do you do?” So that’s the first bit of information where people start to judge you or size you up. That’s Ralph’s problem, that everyone sees him as what he does. In your own life and career have you felt that similar feeling of being typecast, or thought of in a way that you wanted to break out of? Every time I did, I did something else. It doesn’t happen very often. But I’ve done a lot of different stuff over the years and people are always surprised at what I end up in. I’m sure they’ll be surprised to see me in this. You had an interesting start to your career, with Brian De Palma. Casualties of War ! Do you remember that experience vividly still? Yes, of course! It was a big, life-changing experience. I’d never been on an airplane before, I’d never been out of the Midwest before, I’d never been in a movie before. I met my wife on that movie. There were a lot of big changes. All these characters we meet, the hundreds or thousands who exist in Ralph’s world from his game and the other games connected to his via power lines, are just the characters within this one arcade. Right. So here’s the big question: If there are, say, hundreds or thousands of similar arcades out in world beyond the confines of Litwak’s Family Fun Center, does that mean there are potentially many more Ralphs out there? And are they all going through the same existential journey at the same time, in their respective arcades? Duplicate Ralphs?! Multiple souls, maybe? What’s going on here? Wow . I never even thought about that. That’s surprising, after three days of a press junket, to think about that for the first time. I don’t know! Are they all experiencing the same thing at the same time, or is it a Matrix -like situation? This is the next creative leap. The next leap of imagination that people can make after they see the movie. The first one is like, what is it like to be inside a video game, to be a video game character – that could be a sequel, or something. And could you go into the surge protector and into the electricity network… That could be the next destination. I think you’re cooking up a sequel here! Meanwhile, there’s a moment in the film when Ralph fantasizes about being the toast of the town, and there’s a shot of him on the disco floor. Was that a nod to Boogie Nights ‘s Reed Rothchild in some way? It wasn’t a nod on my part, because I had nothing to do with that. Unless there was dialogue in the scene, I most likely wasn’t even aware of it. What were you most surprised by when you watched the film, having taken part in just that one aspect of it? The level of detail and how many people are in those scenes. The racing scenes in the candy world, it’s insane the amount of work that went into that. I was also surprised at how funny Jane [Lynch] and Jack McBrayer’s scenes were, because I literally didn’t see any of it, I didn’t even see rough cuts of those. You were paired in the recording booths together with Sarah Silverman, as Jane and Jack were. What’s your fondest memory from recording with her? She’s awfully fun to be around, she’s a real sweetheart and very funny so it was always fun to work with her. The ‘doody’ line gets a big laugh in the film. There were probably six more that she had that were not in the movie! But I like the scene where I have to break her heart, because Sarah was really good in that dramatic scene. That was kind of traumatic actually, that day – for both of us. We’re both right there recording it and she’s screaming, “No, Ralph!” It was a pretty heavy day. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Stephen Colbert is the Lord of the Lord of the Rings . The Colbert Report anchor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live with his friend and Comedy Central colleague, Jon Stewart , to talk about how their cultural interests define them and to further fuel speculation that Colbert will be making a cameo in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Kimmel, who is broadcasting from Brooklyn this week, had both Colbert and Stewart on the show Thursday night, where he asked the former if he is going to be making an appearance in the first Hobbit film , as media reports have suggested. Colbert said he could ‘neither confirm nor deny” such a report — virtually the same thing that Peter Jackson said when EW asked the same question — but he didn’t exactly quell speculation when he recounted his experiences on the New Zealand set of The Hobbit over the summer. There, during “a party with all of the dwarves,” Colbert said he went hairy toe-to-toe with Jackson’s resident Tolkien expert Philippa Boyens in a 50-question quiz. “I smoked her,” said Colbert. “Peter Jackson officially said I’m the biggest Tolkien geek he has ever met.” Jackson also told EW that Colbert won the geek off, noting that “his encyclopedic knowledge of Tolkien is spectacular, and points to a deprived childhood in some respects.” Stewart had an even better line. Referring to Colbert’s knowledge of all things Tolkien, he told Kimmel: “Bilbo Baggins turned to him on the set and said, “Enough already…And he said it in Elvish.” The Daily Show anchor also pointed out that while Colbert is the only person he knows “fluent in the Bible and Lord of the Rings,” he is “more of a pop-culture nerd.” “You’re a Star Wars guy,” Colbert replied. ” Star Wars , The X-Men,” Stewart replied. That explains everything! Watch the boys shtick it up in the clip below. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
