Welcome to THG’s Week in Review! Below, our staff looks back at the stories, stars and scandals that made these past seven days the craziest ALL YEAR. If you don’t already, you can FOLLOW THG on Twitter and Facebook for 24/7/365 news. Every day, week and year, let us be your celebrity gossip source! Now, a rundown of the week that was at The Hollywood Gossip :
Demi Lovato has had a difficult year, and in the latest issue of Seventeen she opens up about all the people who have been there for her : Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus. Notice one name missing from that list? God. Indeed, the singer sort of went off on The Big Guy Upstairs yesterday, Tweeting: “Sometimes it seems like God just keeps throwing crap my way and I get SO angry with him… But there’s never a doubt in my mind He’s gonna pull me through it all. I know you’re there God. But umm… Really dude? He never fails to show me He’s by my side though. Even in the tough times. #Godstuff” Demi isn’t the first young star to openly bring up her faith, as Justin Bieber got a new tattoo this week of Jesus Christ . Lovato later added, though, that she is not religious, but “VERY spiritual and I DO believe in God. I’m not perfect or preaching! Just tweeting…” and finally concluded the mini-rant on a positive, Nemo-related note: Just keep swimming.
Hollywood has a long history of sending white dudes to Japan to A) fall in love with a local hottie and B) somehow save Japan itself, and that irksome trend shows no sign of ending, to my dismay. The latest Caucasian hero set to do so is LOST ’s Matthew Fox , who’s signed on to play real-life figure General Bonner Fellers in Peter Webber’s Emperor , a “nail-biting political thriller” about post-World War II diplomacy…and Fellers’ love affair with a Japanese woman. Sigh. Of course. I’ve got no problem with stories about Americans in Japan, or interesting cinematic studies about cultural exchange or ninjas or whatever. But why, when Hollywood looks to Japan, must it so often come down to a white man immersing himself in Japanese culture, always through the love of an exotic Japanese flower, then becoming the one person upon whom the fate of the Japanese people, their code of honor, etc. rests? In 1958 said hero was John Wayne – the quintessential icon of American masculinity – playing real life diplomat Townsend Harris in John Huston’s The Barbarian and the Geisha . Harris, appointed Consul-General to Japan in the late 1800s, is known for opening the isolated nation to trade with the U.S., indelibly heralding the onset of modern Japan. Legend has it Harris’s treaty negotiations were greased by the assignment of a teenage geisha to his bed, a rumor dismissed as fabrication that nevertheless figures heavily into the film, because how could it not? A decade later, even super spy James Bond went native, so to speak, donning “ethnic” make-up to blend in with the Japanese in 1967’s You Only Live Twice . He plays house with Kissy Suzuki, then saves Japan (and, okay, the entire world) from evil Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Fast forward to 1992 for another memorable instance of the Western fish out of water becoming the salvation of the Japanese, albeit in a decidedly different scenario: Mr. Baseball . Tapping into the popularity of America’s pastime in the land of the rising sun, the sports comedy nevertheless reverted to the old formula, with baseball pro Tom Selleck grudgingly learning the ways of life in Japan through the love of his Japanese manager’s daughter, then leading the floundering Chunichi Dragons to the championships. Which brings us to the best-known instance of a white hero saving the very essence of Japanese historical culture: Tom Cruise and The Last Samurai . As disillusioned Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren, Cruise flits to Japan to train the Imperial Army in using newfangled firearms, where he’s captured by samurai and falls for the winsome widow whose husband he killed in battle. Assimilating with his captors, Algren joins their modest ranks and, when the samurai class is eradicated by a modernizing Japan, he is the one to remind the Emperor never to forget the legacy of bushido. Who’s the last samurai, then? Tom freaking Cruise. Wrong, wrong, wrong. (Also see: Steven Seagal’s Into the Sun , the 2005 Yakuza actioner about an American hero who cleans up Tokyo because the locals can’t handle it.) So here comes Matthew Fox with the next in this tiresome subgenre. Described as “an epic story of love and understanding set amidst the tensions and uncertainties of the days immediately following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II,” Emperor promises more of the same: “Fox will play the title role of General Bonner Fellers, one of MacArthur’s leading Japanese experts, who is charged with reaching a decision of historical importance: should Emperor Hirohito be tried and hanged as a war criminal? Interwoven with this nail-biting political thriller is the story of Fellers’ love affair with Aya, a Japanese exchange student he had met years previously in the U.S. Memories of Aya and his quest to find her in the ravaged post-war landscape help Fellers to discover both his wisdom and his humanity and enable him to come to the momentous decision that changed the course of history and the future of two nations.” A white Western observer/hero in Japan? Check. Tasked with the “salvation” of Japan (by exonerating the Emperor in order to use his influence to control the Japanese people post-war)? Check. Romantically involved with a Japanese woman, just because? Ugh. Check. Female characters are written all the time just to serve the purpose of prompting a hero’s emotional arc, so this is nothing new, if still worrisome. (See: Poor Scarlett Johansson and Elle Fanning in We Bought a Zoo , there just to make the male protagonists feel and give them someone to talk to.) But Fellers’s true story is interesting on its own without leaning on some exotic Japanese love interest as a crutch; the tale of an American propaganda genius who figured out first how to demoralize Japanese troops to win the war, then how to humanize their leader in order to manipulate national sentiment immediately thereafter, should be enough. And yet it’s not, because Hollywood loves this kind of hero’s tale. We’ll see it again soon even before Emperor hits screens, in Universal’s twist on the Japanese folktale 47 Ronin , a fantasy epic version of the popular myth about a gang of vengeful ex-samurai on a mission… led by Keanu Reeves . Maybe it’ll be great. Heck, it’s possible Emperor will be the this generation’s Shogun . And I’d love to see more Japan-set films featuring Asian actors we rarely see in mainstream Hollywood. (Don’t even mention that abysmal 2005 Rob Marshall abomination. “Memoirs” and “geisha” are my killing words.) Let’s just ditch the oriental fetishism and cinematic imperialism, shall we? [ Variety ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
“‘Can you wrap your mind around someone throwing you into the ring with Meryl Streep?’ [Viola Davis] marvels.’I just don’t understand the competition thing. How can you compare two actors’ performances? How do you say one is better than the other?”I know how you do it,’ Clooney says to Davis. ‘ You have to play Margaret Thatcher and she has to play the maid.'” Your move, Harvey ! [ EW ]
Its about that time of year where in wintry climates ice fishermen begin drilling holes in ice and setting up their huts above frozen lakes. The opposite is true for these underwater ice fishermen donning scuba gear in this mind-bloggling video where they appear to be walking on ice underwater and attempting to fish from below. Watch the film by Juuso Mettälä at lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, Finland:… Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : The Blaze Discovery Date : 03/01/2012 15:25 Number of articles : 4
Victoria’s Secret are great marketers and now that January 1st has hit us, you know their Christmas rush where they make 80 percent of their revenue is behind them and the January lull that hits everyone before Valentines Day comes around making up 18 percent of the remaining 20….so why waste time, push some of the Valentines Day content out now, so people get it in their mind while brainwashing us to look using a hot bitch from South Africa….with a body our wives will probably never have because they are suburban, obese and fucking annoying… Here are the pics of Candice Swanepoel.
Another year, another couple hundred entries in the ever-deepening conversational archive known as The Movieline Interview . They’re the collective backbone of our site, and in 2011, it was at its strongest. Look back with us now at the highlights, including the luminary likes of Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Segel, Jodie Foster, Paul Giamatti, and a certain honey badger of a director. Kristen Wiig (March 11) Do you feel that [Wiig’s infamous SNL character] Gilly is polarizing? I feel it’s a character that people either love or they don’t particularly like. Uh… yeah, probably. I mean, the first time that I did it, my mom, the next day was like, “Oh, I did not like that. That new character you did, I did not like her!” [Laughs] When you thought of that character, did you figure some people wouldn’t embrace her? No. I mean, I think that before I do anything. But someone who doesn’t like Gilly can love Penelope. It’s not you — it’s just your recurring characters are different. I don’t think about it at all. If you’re creating anything at all, it’s really dangerous to care about what people think. Paul Giamatti and Alex Shaffer (March 15) So we are tossing around the idea of doing a “Movies You Had No Idea Paul Giamatti Is In” post. Giamatti : Oh? Big Momma’s House was surprising to me. Giamatti : Not to me! I remember being in that! I guess so. I mean, there are a lot of people out there in the world who know I was in that movie. A lot of people recognize me for that. Shaffer : I remember your story from when you were in Ohio and you were in a bad neighborhood and they told you that you couldn’t walk around… Giamatti : It was in Cleveland, they said, “Don’t leave the set, don’t walk around this neighborhood.” I was like, “Enh.” So I walked around. You know, it was a predominantly black neighborhood, and everybody had seen Big Momma’s House. So I was fine. Everybody was like, “Oh my God, don’t…” And [in the neighborhood] it was just like “[you’re the guy from] Big Momma’s House!” Amy Ryan (March 18) [On the previous season of The Office ] Are you prepared for America’s scorn? What’s that? Taking away Michael Scott… Ohhh! [Laughs] I thought that was the name of a new show! I thought it was a new reality show! I was going to ask what you had coming up… other than America’s Scorn . America’s Scorn actually comes out at Christmas. It’s a Christmas release, yes. It’s me and Vin Diesel. If you starred in a movie with Vin Diesel called America’s Scorn , I would see this movie. I trained for three years for my action sequences. And your character’s name is Melanie Scorn. Melanie Scorn, right! And she just got out of prison, and she and Vin Diesel are on the run. Exactly! Right, they were married and they went their separate ways. But! They still work together. OK, seriously, what do you have coming up? [Laughing] I think America’s Scorn might be my best bet, I don’t have anything coming up, sorry. So… I think I’m actually going to have to look into America’s Scorn . OK, we’re going with that for reporting on your next project. America’s Scorn it is… [Still laughing] It’s the end of the day, we’re both losing our minds. Michelle Williams (March 30) [On getting used to the locations in Meek’s Cutoff ] When I first got there, I thought, ‘I… I… I can’t stay here. I have to turn around and go home. I can’t live here.’ But I’ve come to love it. If you look hard enough, you can see variation in the landscape where you think it’s actually completely barren and nothing lives out there. You spend a little time, you look a little closer, and you see what’s actually inherent to the land. But at first it felt like we’d been sent to Mars. You know! The desert does crazy things to people’s minds! Mirages! Carlos Castañeda! Peyote! It’s the desert! Wes Bentley (May 3) Are there big films or opportunities that you feel your addiction led you to miss out on? Oh, yeah. Definitely. I definitely did. I had a lot of opportunities. When you’re in that state you miss meetings, you don’t pay attention to what people are asking you to do, which could be great things. I also feared it; I think I feared my success and what I thought were the expectations of me — which was actually just people believing in you, you know? So your addiction can make you believe certain things are happening that aren’t. It also can make you miss things that actually are happening. Your mind is all twisted. I missed a lot of opportunities. I regret how I acted and behaved in those choices, or if I hurt people especially, but I don’t regret where I’m at now. I’ve never been happier, and I could only be here by having made some terrible choices, unfortunately. Jodie Foster (May 4) Knowing him as well as you do, do you think that Mel Gibson really would be OK with never acting again, as he recently said? I think it probably sounded more glib than it was; it’s a conversation he and I have had many times, and I say it all the time. You know, I’ve worked for 45 years as an actor and it’s a long time to do one job and there are a lot of other ways to tell stories.Would I be OK if I never acted again? Who would I be? Would I be somebody new? We ask ourselves these questions all the time. He was a kid, too, when he started. There are times when I really put it aside, and as I say to him, ‘Look, there’s only one reason for you to act, there’s only one motivation, and that’s because it moves you.’ And honestly, you shouldn’t do it for any other reason. Because you don’t need to — he doesn’t need to, he doesn’t need that identity. And he doesn’t need the extra inhuman stress of being a celebrity. Paul Feig (July 5) [On Bridesmaids ‘ success] It got me out of movie jail, which I at least had one foot in. You’re proud of all your babies that you make, but I’m a realist and I know the business. If you make babies and they don’t make money, people don’t want to make more babies with you. So, at least I get a few more shots. J.K. Simmons (Aug. 3) It seems like you’re in a pretty sweet spot in your career right now with four movies in various stages of production, your work on The Closer , a steady stream of voice roles. Do you remember the moment when you felt like you had really established yourself as an actor ? I’m still not sure that I have. [Laughs] Unless your name is Clooney or Pitt or Hanks, I think it’s hard to feel completely like you’re established or where you want to be. This script, which I am eternally grateful for, came to me but only after it bounced off a couple other guys first who didn’t want to do it or couldn’t schedule it. I’d love to be more established. I’d love to never have to audition for the rest of my life and have every good script in Hollywood come my way. At the same time, when I look back twenty years and remember that I was struggling to pay my rent for a crappy apartment in Hell’s Kitchen and doing regional theater for a subsistence wage, and now I’m able to live in a big, fancy house and send my kids to private school — there’s always somebody who is better off and worse off than you are. That’s an important perspective to keep in mind I guess. Jessica Chastain (Aug. 29) [On the fine line of awards campaigning] “I’m never going to take out an ad. I know, famous last words — never say never — but I really can’t imagine ever in my life doing something like that. To me, it’s not a short sprint. I want to be a career actor. The most important thing to me is that people like the films. If they like the films and they like the performances, it means that I get work with other great actors and make other great films. So it’s not about an award. Of course it’s nice that there’s awards buzz around the films because it means they get more attention. But I’m not the person who’s going to… I mean, I’m not outgoing. I’m very shy. I was never the girl in high school who was wanting to be in office or something — who would campaign for myself to become student-body president. [Laughs] I’m just not that person.”
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum surged into third place in a new Iowa, and the Republican Presidential hopeful took this piece news as an opportunity to slam one of the two people ahead of him: Ron Paul. A CNN survey showed Santorum with 16 percent support in Iowa, in advance of the January 3 caucuses. Mitt Romney has 25 percent and Paul 22. Santorum, who struggled to gain traction for an entire year, finally has in part due to Newt Gingrich’s collapse. Asked about Paul’s support, he said : “Ron Paul says he’s going to eliminate five departments. Ron Paul passed one bill in 20 years. What give you the idea that he can eliminate anything?” “I mean, he has absolutely no track record of building any kind of coalition to get anything done anywhere,” Santorum said. “I understand the appeal that Ron Paul has: it’s simple, it’s short – but there’s no track record there.” “What people in Iowa like about Ron Paul is all of his economic talk which requires Congress to act of which he has showed no ability to get them to do.” “What they don’t like about Ron Paul is this craziness about cutting the military in half and getting our troops out of everywhere. He can do that. He can actually order that on day one – all our troops around the world to come home.” Santorum called Paul’s foreign policy “far to the left of President Obama.” “I mean he’s out in the Dennis Kucinich wing of the Democratic Party. Don’t laugh! That’s where he is. This country is not going to elect Dennis Kucinich President. I don’t care how much government he wants to cut.” He said the “danger” of Paul’s policies “should just chill every Iowan.” “People say, ‘Well he won’t really do that.’ Well he’ll be 78 years old. How many 78-years-olds say – after saying this for 30 years – change their mind?” “Let’s just be honest. By then you are sort of set in your ways. It’s not like this is new, so let’s get serious about what message Iowa is going to send to the country, and the message has to be that we want a responsible conservative.” Just a few observations here: Paul is actually 76, FYI. Paul’s supporters will likely be more energized the more people go after him. Santorum lost his Senate seat by 17 points in 2006. When you Google Ron Paul, this doesn’t happen .
Follow me on twiiter twitter.com (Note; This song was from 2009 I changed the pitch due to copyright, I own NOTHING!) Lyrics I think i found my girl, if it’s you then holla! Think i found my girl, if it’s you then holla! Think i found my girl, if it’s you then speak to me Girl it’s getting late, the sun’s going down, and its about the time to shake my cross the town. But before i go, i just wanna say, that you stay on my mind each and everyday I think i’m starting to like The time that we spend and its building inside then i can’t pretend No i don’t wanna fight it, i don’t wanna hide the way i feel So i guess it’s time for me to say That i got eyes for you baby, i want us to be together And if you feel it too, tell me, no one will treat you better Cause on nights like this, its good to know that you got someone by your side like this The more and more you feel like you can live your life like this And then you say, ‘Hope this will last forever’ Don’t know if is love, it’s too early to say But if it’s something like it I just want it to remain Don’t know if you’re the one, that takes a little time But in the mean time, girl you’re feeling just fine Cause the way you look at me, never seen that look before And if it’s a hint of what’s to come then maybe can i get some more? Not trying to be too forward, but i think its best for you to know I got eyes for you baby, i want us to be together And if you feel it too, tell me, no one will treat you better Cause on nights … http://www.youtube.com/v/qJQZMXbj6es?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Original post: Justin Bieber – Forever (New 2011 Song) Lyrics (Download)
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