Saudi Arabia will send female athletes to the London Olympics this summer, ending the ultra-conservative Muslim country’s record of not doing so. The decision, announced Thursday by the IOC, means every country competing in the London games will include women athletes for the first time in history. The two female Saudi Arabia Olympic competitors are judo athlete Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar. The duo, who were invited by the International Olympic Committee, were entered by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by the July 9 deadline. “This is very positive news and we will all be delighted to welcome these two athletes in London in a few weeks time,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said. “With Saudi Arabian female athletes now joining their fellow female competitors from Qatar and Brunei, it means that by London 2012 every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games,” he added. Saudi Arabia had been under increasing pressure from the IOC and human rights groups to include women athletes. The IOC has been in negotiations with the Saudis for months on securing the participation of women. Qatar and Brunei, two other countries that have never sent any female athletes to the Olympics, are also including women on their teams in 2012. About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in London, representing more than 200 national Olympic committees. It should be great.
Lauren London, Khloe Kardashian And Malika Haqq Have A Girls Night Out BFF bangers Khloe Kardashian, Lauren London and Malika Haqq recently took some time off from their hectic schedules to hit the town for a girl’s night out dinner date. Malika recently expressed to Khloe via their reality show that she’d been missing her bestie-boo and wished they could spend more time together. Looks like things are back on track. Check the gallery below to see more from their girls night out, along with a few throwback pics of the Hollyweird hometown homies hangin’ over the years. Images via Twitter
Michael Winterbottom, one of the most fascinating and idiosyncratic filmmakers of our age, makes so many movies that some of them creep into festivals very quietly and, just as quietly, creep out, never to be seen again. That wasn’t the case with The Trip , for my money one of the most intriguing pictures of 2011, a woolly exploration of middle-aged angst that featured Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon (as themselves) bickering and trading Sean Connery impersonations as they made their way through the English countryside. But two years before that, in 2008, Winterbottom brought a picture called Genova to the Toronto International Film Festival. The picture, a mildly engaging drama in which Colin Firth plays a father who moves his family to Italy after the death of their mother, never got a U.S. release, fading like the worn face of a stone saint on a medieval church. Fortunately, Winterbottom’s latest, Trishna , a retelling of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles set in contemporary India, hasn’t met the same fate. And though it’s a bit of an oddity, it’s an affecting curio suitable for both Hardy enthusiasts and Winterbottom fans alike. Freida Pinto is Trishna, the Tess character, who comes from an impoverished family living in a small village. Jay (Riz Ahmed), is her Angel/Alec (Hardy purists should be warned that the two characters have been condensed into one, perhaps a bit clumsily), a man who sweeps her away from her life of poverty, only to end up resenting and degrading her. Even if Winterbottom has taken what some might consider unforgivable liberties with the story, Trishna works: Winterbottom has a feel for the story’s landscape, including the hardscrabble beauty of the countryside, all yellow dust and scrubby trees. It’s both a place Trishna needs to escape from and it’s home — there’s no safety or freedom there, but it’s the only place she’s truly herself. Pinto gives a lovely performance here. No other role she’s been given — as the hero’s dream woman in Slumdog Millionaire, or as a Palestinian orphan girl in Julian Schnabel’s deeply disappointing Miral — has asked as much of her, and she greets the challenge boldly. In the barest terms of the plot, Trishna is a victim, a tragic heroine, but Pinto always lets you see the character’s immovable self-assurance shimmering beneath the surface — that’s the very thing that threatens her lover and tormentor, and brings about her downfall. In Winterbottom’s scenario, Jay’s sudden turn against Trishna isn’t believable or readable in movie terms — his love for her appears to be operated by a switch that turns off abruptly without cause or reason — but it makes sense in the grander scheme of the impossibility of love. The dialogue here is mostly improvised — this is a casual, hip-pocket approach to a revered classic — but Winterbottom keeps the story moving deftly. We might appreciate Winterbottom more if he worked less, but he’s unlike any other filmmaker on the landscape, trying something new just about every year. Some of it sticks and some of it doesn’t. But almost always, he gives us something worth looking at. Editor’s note: Portions of this review appeared earlier in Stephanie Zacharek’s Toronto International Film Festival coverage.
Trishna star Freida Pinto with IFC Films’ Jonathan Sehring. Photo by Nick Hunt/Patrick McMullan Co. After a long festival run beginning at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall and stops ranging from tests in Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, London, Rome, Hong Kong and Provincetown here in the U.S. Michael Winterbottom’s India-set Trishna will open theatrically beginning this Friday. The Cinema Society hosted an event in New York kicking off its run with a screening and party Tuesday night. So a little bit about the event, which was also co-hosted by Circa and fashion maven Rachel Roy. The IFC Films release is based on the tragic romance novel Tess of the d’Urbevilles . Freida Pinto ( Slumdog Millionaire ) makes a splash in the film, playing eldest daughter, Trishna, in a poor family from Rajasthan, India. She meets Jay (played by Riz Ahmed – Four Lions ), the son of a wealthy property developer who takes up managing the resort at his father’s request. He swoons after meeting Trishna and hires her to work at the resort, slowly winning her affections. Eventually he wins her over, but things go awry and let’s just leave it at that… Pinto introduced the film Tuesday at IFC Center in downtown Manhattan, seemingly embarrassed after IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring told a quick story about his sons who called her ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’ when he told them she’d be at the screening. “I realized how embarrassing it is to listen to someone talk about you,” Pinto said laughing as he came on stage. “Everyone knows how hard it is to get an indie film going. I learned from my first director [Danny Boyle] not to say too much about a film so not to raise expectations…” Following the screening, the party carried on at roof-top nightspot Jimmy at the James Hotel, greeted by D’Usse Cognac. Guests included: Meg Ryan, Dana Delany, Zosia Mamet ( Girls ), Alex Karpovsky ( Girls ), Calvin Klein, Billy Connolly, Russell Simmons, Rachel Roy, Jess Weixler, Tom McCarthy, Carlos Leon, Drena DeNiro, Irina Pantaeva, Sante D’Orazio, Fern Mallis, Daniel Benedict, Genevieve Jones, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Bettina Zilkha, CIRCA co-founder, Chairman & CEO Chris Del Gatto, and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir.
Be safe this week at Comic-Con, folks — according to reports out of San Diego, a 53-year-old woman who had been camping out with fellow Twilight fans ahead of Breaking Dawn ‘s Thursday panel was struck and killed by a car while crossing the street near Hall H. “Police said she was in a crosswalk and tried to run across Harbor about 9:20 a.m. She tried to stop when she saw an oncoming Subaru but ended up tripping into the car,” reports the San Diego Union-Tribune . The Examiner ‘s Amanda Bell has more on the identity of the woman, known as Gisella G., whose death has shaken the Twilight community and those on the ground at Comic-Con. Police closed off portions of Harbor Blvd. this morning following the accident. The death lends a somber mood to the event, which runs Thursday through Sunday, as thousands pour into downtown San Diego. Police and security are typically omnipresent inside and around the convention center directing foot traffic around the busy surrounding street and train crossings; take this as a reminder to be patient and safe around town — and be extra nice to those Twi-hards. [ Examiner , San Diego Union-Tribune ]
New York was central to most of Woody Allen ‘s film career until he headed to Europe in the mid-2000s, with features set in London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona, but if some Allen fans have their way, he’ll be shooting in Israel. Now that he has To Rome With Love making its way to screens in the U.S., the Oscar-winning filmmaker is reportedly headed to San Francisco for his next project, which will star Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, Bobby Cannavale and curiously, Andrew Dice Clay. But if a group of L.A.-based Jewish campaigners have any say, his follow-up will be in Israel and they’re looking to put their crowd-funding wares to the test in order to lure Allen to film in the Jewish state. The Jewish Journal in Los Angeles is spearheading the campaign, according to Vanity Fair . “As far as I know, Allen himself has never been to Israel. For a man who has done much to define the image of ‘Jew’ in our time, this needs repair,” the publication’s editor Rob Eshman told VF. He is hoping to motivate his readers to donate money toward a $9 million would-be production via Jewcer, a Jewish crowd-funding platform. Born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, Woody Allen has solid New York-Jewish pedigree. His grandparents were German immigrants who spoke Yiddish, Hebrew as well as German and his mother worked at her family’s delicatessen. Allen also attended a Hebrew school for a number of years. Despite the heritage, Allen has not headed to Israel. He has noted in interviews that his latest stints in Europe were because those were places he was able to get financing for his films. Despite decades of adulation, Allen still allegedly struggles with raising money, though Midnight in Paris made over $150 million worldwide (his biggest success of his career in terms of box office) and the recently released To Rome with Love has cashed in at just under $16.6 million so far. So, with a little boost from his new-found crowd-funding L.A. friends, Allen will have an Israeli production. All he’d need to do is write it up (perhaps swinging Tel Aviv will provide an inspirational backdrop). Still as of now, only $6,000 has been raised and there is only 45 days to go for the $9 million. The Jewish Journal is offering various incentives including an email subscription to the blog HollywoodJew as well as others including a home-cooked dinner from Rob Eshman personally for a $5,000 donation. [Source: Vanity Fair ]
As BSB begins recording in London, Richardson tells MTV News, ‘We want it to be authentic to us and who we are.’ By Jocelyn Vena Kevin Richardson Photo: Yamila Lomba/ Getty Images
Usher and Tameka Foster have been squaring off in court for weeks now, but a tragedy over the weekend will likely cause a ceasefire between the former couple. Kyle Glover, Foster’s 11-year old son and Usher’s stepson, has been declared brain dead by doctors following a jet skiing accident on Saturday. The tragic incident took place on Lake Lanier in Atlanta, as Kyle was struck by the vehicle while riding in an inner tube. He was immediately taken to the hospital and placed in critical condition. Foster accompanied her child there and has remained by his side, while Usher arrived last night. They received the news today that no brain activity has been detected from Kyle since yesterday. The Department of Natural Resource in Atlanta is investigating the accident. Our thoughts go out to Tameka, Usher and all of Kyle’s loved ones during this horrific time.
Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge are first-time parents. The model gave birth to a baby over the weekend in London, Us Weekly confirms, though details such as gender and size are being kept confidential at the moment. Miller and Sturridge have been dating for over a year and are engaged to be married. Both have remained mostly quiet about impending parenthood, but Sienna did, in an April interview with Vogue UK reveal that the pregnancy was “progressing nicely” and the prospect of becoming a mother was “very exciting.” We wish the brand new family all the very best! [Photo: WENN.com[
If you’re not all that familiar with this Imogen Thomas bird, you’re not the only one, she’s another one of these busty British glamour models who get drunk at parties, flash their junk and date any footballer who’s up for it. I like her already. Here she is showing off two of her big tanned talents on the streets of London last night. Clearly she’s not one of those people who workout everyday, she’s got some meat on her, but she wears it well. I think I’d have to see her oiling herself up in a bikini before I make my final decision.
