President Obama’s inaugural address took place just hours ago, but V.P. Joe Biden is already hinting that he wants to replace his boss. In 2016, that is. At a gathering of influential Iowans Saturday, the gaffe-prone Veep said, “I’m proud to be the president of the United States.” Joe Biden: Proud to Be President! Biden, who unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 1988 and 2008, will be 73 in 2016, making him the oldest person ever elected president. There’s also the matter of Hillary Clinton, Obama’s outgoing Secretary of State and the odds-on favorite for the Democratic nomination … if she runs. Clinton would be 69 and the second-oldest president elected (after Ronald Reagan), incidentally. Whether either actually runs is anyone’s guess. Still, here are other recent hints that Biden is thinking about it: 1. New Hampshire is influential. Among the 120 guests Biden invited to his swearing-in for a second term? New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan. 2. So is Iowa. It was at the Iowa State Society inauguration ball where he mistakenly said, “I’m proud to be president of the United States.” 3. On Election Day in November, Biden dismissed the notion that would be the last time he’d vote for himself. “No, I don’t think so,” he said. 4. Campaigning in October, Biden joked to a voter that, “after its all over, when your insurance rates go down, then you’ll vote for me in 2016.” 5. “There’s plenty of time to think about 2016,” he said last summer. “If three years from now the economy is not working, it’s not going to be worth doing much.” Or if could’ve just been a mistake when he made the above quote. When introducing V.P. candidate Paul Ryan last summer, Mitt Romney referred to him as “the next President of the United States” … which he still could be. What do you think? Would/should Joe Biden run in 2016?
On January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama (pictured) officially took office as the nation’s first African-American president, sharing his inaugural address with the millions who’d…
“Welcome to Sommerton!” growls Arnold Schwarzenegger in his comeback flick, the ultra-bloody shoot-em-up The Last Stand . As Arnie catchphrases go, it’s no “Hasta la vista, baby” — hell, it’s not even a “Consider this a divorce” — but it’s been 10 years since the Terminator starred in a movie and we’ll take what we can get. In this violent modern Western, Arnold plays Sheriff Ray Owens, guardian of Sommerton Junction, a hamlet on the Arizona border that’s just a corn field away from Mexico. (Casting a bodybuilder with an impenetrable Austrian accent as a small-town American sheriff seems like a stretch until you remember that in real life, Californian voters cast one as their governor.) As in every Schwarzenegger flick, the residents of Sommerton never quite seem to notice that Sheriff Ray is big, strong and scary. The mayor treats him like he’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop and the waitress at the diner on Main Street pesters him at 4 am to ask why the milk man is late. But Ray takes these insults in stride: he’s old, and he doesn’t care who knows it. As did Sylvester Stallone ‘s Barney Ross in the first Expendables , he tempers expectations by being the first to declare — repeatedly — that his deltoids have seen better days, like he’s a King Lear who’s forced to kill. The world weariness plays better here, as unlike Stallone’s paid mercenary, Sheriff Ray, an ex-LAPD narcotics officer, just wants to keep the peace. When he sighs, “I’ve seen enough blood and death,” you believe him. The set-up of Andrew Knauer’s screenplay is classically simple: Three hundred and fifty miles away in Las Vegas, evil drug baron Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega of the Spanish twister Abre los Ojos ) has escaped FBI custody with the help of a giant magnet (seriously) and is zooming toward the Mexican border. Cortez has lined the freeways with hired goons who’ve out-thought the Feds’ panicked responses — the way he bursts through a police blockade in a speeding car is worth the price of admission — and now the only thing standing between North America’s most dangerous cartel boss and his freedom is 250 lbs of Austrian, er Arizonan , muscle who has just hours to prepare for a bloody showdown on his town’s literal Main Street. South Korean director Kim Jee-woon has toyed with wild west conventions before. His slapstick 2008 film The Good, The Bad and the Weird was like a Clint Eastwood movie with a pounding soju hangover. The first third of The Last Stand is a bit of a slog — Arnold still can’t act, but who cares? — and Kim doesn’t spring to life until people start dying. His favorite kill? The headshot. For a film that doesn’t star Tobin Bell, the screen is drenched in brain goo (too bad Stallone already squatted on the title Bullet to the Head ) and when the plot starts running out of craniums Kim summons a pick-up truck full of watermelons and takes aim. The Last Stand is an ill-timed love letter to weaponry. It’s so trigger-happy that a man gets shot in mid-air when he’s already falling to his death. There’s a gun so big that it’s simply referred to as “The Gun,” another that’s affectionately called a “little bitch,” and when a gun’s not in reach, there’s a flare gun handy. It makes sense that Kim might be pro-militia; unlike the current members of the NRA, Kim’s actually lived through a coup d’etat in his home country. Still, there’s something queasy about a film that celebrates local nut Johnny Knoxville’s illegal gun stash — and as someone who hopes Barack Obama ‘s gun control bill gets passed, I felt guilty cheering when a bonnet-wearing granny whips out her personal shotgun and gets in on the action. Besides Knoxville, who doesn’t get enough screen time to be annoying, Schwarzenegger teams up with fellow cops Luis Guzman and Jaimie Alexander (Lady Sif of Thor ), while Cortez’s crew is headed by a hilariously accented Peter Stormare, who sounds as convincing as a Southern trucker as Guzman would mimicking Queen Elizabeth. But Arnold’s real co-star in The Last Stand isn’t one of the humans hanging around in the margins. It’s Cortez’s escape car: a $120K Corvette with a fictionalized horsepower of 1000, 30 percent mightier than the fastest Lamborghini on the market. The Corvette’s curves are so seductive that you’d rather gawk at the dashboard than sexy hostage Genesis Rodriguez, who’s strapped into the passenger seat, and when it blitzes by a donut-eating cop (the flick traffics cheerfully in cliches), he mistakes it for a plane. Kim doesn’t just sit back and watch it roar — he gives the Corvette a true star moment with an inventive car chase set in a disorienting corn field. Fast and the Furious 6 (or as I prefer, Fa6t 6ix ): your move. A machine himself, Schwarzenegger is using The Last Stand to scrape the rust off his reputation. It’s a smart choice: it’s just bold enough, brutal enough, and dumb enough to feel like a return to form. In 2002, the year before Arnold took office, Jason Bourne kick-started ten years of soul-searching, shaky cam hijinks that annoyed action fans who like to appreciate blood squibs and stunts. But in The Expendables 2 , Jack Reacher , and now this, we’re seeing a cinematic return to men who crack quips, fight with their fists, and swagger around without having to carry the weight on the world on their over-developed shoulders. Is it a coincidence that classic action is making its comeback at the same time Schwarzenegger is making his own? Hey, he warned us he’d be back. Amy Nicholson is a critic, playwright and editor. Her interests include hot dogs, standard poodles, Bruce Willis, and comedies about the utter futility of existence. Follow her on Twitter . Follow Amy Nicholson on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
In the latest issue of People , Jennifer Lopez opens up about Casper Smart and her love life, saying she has no regrets. But sources now claim the star’s team does have regrets… about letting the magazine run such an unattractive photo! “Her camp feels she looks old and haggard,” a source tells Page Six of the following J. Lo cover . However, Lopez’s manager, Benny Medina, denied this claim; he says everyone associated with the celebrity is happy with the final result: “Look at the pictures and read the story! We worked closely with the editors of People and we are very pleased with cover photo and the results all around.” What do you think of the cover, THGers? So hot! So not! View Poll »
Thursday was a big day for Michelle Obama. The First Lady of the United States celebrated her 49th birthday , debuted a brand-new Twitter account (@FLOTUS) and is now sporting bangs! OMG! A photo of Michelle Obama meeting with Inaugural citizen co-chair David Hall yesterday showcased the hairstyle for the first time. Check it out: New term, new bangs? We’ll find out if this is more than a one- or two-day thing Monday, when President Barack Obama marks his second Inauguration Day. What do you think of Michelle Obama’s bangs? Love the new look! Not a big fan actually! View Poll »
It’s sad but true: the Khloe Kardashian pregnant rumors have been replaced by Lamar Odom infidelity chatter. With tabloids recently screaming that Odom betrayed Khloe and that she’s hoping to save her marriage via a baby , Life & Style now reports the relationship has hit a breaking point: Odom has been kicked out of the couple’s $4 million mansion. “He’s been withdrawn and staying out with his friends even more than usual lately, and she confronted him about cheating,” a friend tells the tabloid. “He denied it – but she’s not sure he’s being honest.” The magazine says Odom was forced to reside at the Luxe hotel in Los Angeles for a few days earlier this month, and that Kardashian has ordered him to remain away until he can act like a “proper husband.” Witnesses at the Luxe say Odom looked “down and tired” during his stay there – but others say he was partying left and right, doing shots in Santa Monica on the morning of January 10 and ordering bottles of champagne for a teammate’s birthday later that night. It’s unclear what the future holds for Khloe and Lamar at this point, but one thing remains certain: Tabloids will be there every step of the way to make up stories about it.
In advance of President Obama’s gun control plan , The National Rifle Association preemptively released a new video labeling him an “elitist hypocrite.” Obama, the ad says, enjoys Secret Service protection of his two daughters at school, yet is “skeptical” about installing armed guards in all schools. NRA Ad: Obama a Hypocrite The 35-second video is as harsh as any political campaign ad and illustrates how emotionally charged and personal the debate over gun control is. The White House quickly blasted the NRA ad using Obama’s daughters to criticize the president on gun control as both “repugnant and cowardly.” As the president’s children, Malia and Sasha Obama are entitled to Secret Service protection, and they receive it. But should every child in the U.S. then? Obama never officially said he opposes more armed security guards at school, which the NRA recommended in the wake of the Newtown massacre. But the President, who outlined significant reforms today, did say he’s skeptical of the idea and added that such a step is not sufficient in curbing danger. White House spokesman Jay Carney released a statement responding to the ad shortly before Obama outlined his new gun proposals this morning. “Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight,” Carney said in a statement emailed to reporters. He added that the group stooped too low, and “to go so far as to make the safety of the president’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.” Gun control: Time for additional, stronger laws? YES. Fewer guns, fewer tragedies! NO. It’s unconstitutional and won’t stop anything! View Poll »
On Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden says he will give President Barack Obama a list of recommendations to begin reducing the outrageous epidemic of gun…
Despite more than 100,000 virtual signatures demanding it, the U.S. government has denied a petition from gun advocates to deport CNN host Piers Morgan. The petition started in response to British-born Piers Morgan’s gun control rant was posted to the White House’s We the People forum last month. Morgan has been even more outspoken than usual in the aftermath of the massacre that killed 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Earlier this week, he clashed it Alex Jones in an epic interview … or whatever that was. Bottom line, people petitioned to throw him out of the U.S. The Obama administration responds to any petition with 25,000 signatures, and therefore, issued a statement on Morgan and his 1st Amendment rights. “Let’s not let arguments over the Constitution’s Second Amendment violate the spirit of its First,” stated White House press secretary Jay Carney. “President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. However, the Constitution not only guarantees an individual right to bear arms, but also enshrines the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press – fundamental principles that are essential to our democracy.” “Americans may disagree on matters of public policy and express those disagreements vigorously, but no one should be punished by the government simply because he or she expressed a view on the Second Amendment – or any other matter of public concern.” As of this post, the petition to oust Piers has 109,334 virtual signatures – however he offered to self-deport , Romney-style, if U.S. gun laws don’t change. What do you think? Is it time for stricter/more gun control? YES. Fewer guns, fewer tragedies! NO. It’s unconstitutional and won’t stop anything! View Poll »
