David Petraeus has surprisingly and abruptly resigned as director of the CIA. The decorated former chief of U.S. Central Command cited an extramarital affair. “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” Petraeus’ resignation letter said. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.” “Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing.” “I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.” The retired four-star general had a distinguished 37-year career in the military before joining the CIA, commanding forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Petraeus, 60, has been widely praised by both sides of the political aisle. He took the helm of the CIA in September 2011; his sudden resignation came as a surprise, just days after President Barack Obama won reelection . President Obama said in a statement: “By any measure, he was one of the outstanding general officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end.” “As director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication and patriotism.” Obama accepted Petraeus’ resignation Friday.
Responding to the wave of euphoria surrounding President Barack Obama’s victory after a tough election campaign, House Republican leaders launched a rapid offensive in using…
According to Esquire UK , Miranda Kerr is The Sexiest Woman Alive. But she’s gonna have to earn that title in our eyes. The super model is currently losing to Mila Kunis is a battle of incredibly lovely ladies, and now we’ve matched her up against Alessandra Ambrosio. Both women walked the runway last night of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in NYC (to be broadcast on December 4) and now we’re asking readers the all-important question: WHO LOOKED BETTER? Fashion Face-Off! Miranda Kerr Click Here To Vote for Miranda Alessandra Ambrosio Click Here To Vote for Alessandra Miranda Kerr or Alessandra Ambrosio? Sorry, fellas, you must choose between the super models. View Poll »
Lost in the commotion over President Obama’s reelection : Colorado Amendment 64 legalized marijuana in the Rocky Mountain State on Election Day. Yes … the term “Rocky Mountain High” just took on a new meaning. Amendment 64, a measure seeking the legalization of marijuana for recreational use by adults, was passed by Colorado voters in a statewide reefer-endum (sorry). This makes Colorado the first U.S. state to end marijuana prohibition. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, a vocal opponent to the bill to legalize pot , reacted to the passage of A64 in a statement late Tuesday night: “The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will.” “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through. That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly.” Awesome quote. Indeed, the passage of the state measure is without historical precedent and the consequences and implementation will likely be closely-watched around the world. Although Colorado “legalized it,” it will be several months, perhaps as long as a year, before Colorado adults over the age of 21 can enjoy the legal sale of marijuana. It is unclear how the amendment’s passage will be reconciled with existing federal law, or how the drug will be legally sold and regulated in the state. What do you think? Is legalization of marijuana a good idea? Yes No Maybe View Poll »
Beyonce Shows Of Her Gold Mouthpiece And Has Final Words For Mitt Romney Something tells us we’ll be seeing a whole lot of bougie-ratchetness from Mrs. Carter around these internets in the future. After revealing that she finally took the plunge and joined Instagram yesterday , showing off a ‘Texans for Obama’ t-shirt and a non-convincing mean mug, Bey Bey jumped on the President Obama victory train last night rocking her ‘Obama’ earrings and matching gold grill: Hit the flip to see what Hov’s lil Houston hoodrat honeybun had to say to Mittens and his supporters following the election results ….
On Wednesday, embattled conservative Rush Limbaugh (pictured) got on his radio show to complain with the touched Donald Trump about President Barack Obama‘s presidential re-election…
This week’s new DVD releases make it easy to put a little Highbrow dark chocolate in your Lowbrow crunchy peanut butter and enjoy a satisfying double feature . Whether you’re in the mood for serious German cinema (that mixes in some genre tropes) or ass-kicking science fiction (flavored with pungent political satire), there’s plenty for all tastes this week. HIGH: Fritz Lang: The Early Works (Kino Classics; $39.95 DVD) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: This trio of early works by legendary German director Fritz Lang includes an adaptation of the classic opera Madame Butterfly and two films Lang co-wrote with his then-wife Thea von Harbou that feature actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge — two key collaborators on Lang’s masterpiece, Metropolis . WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: 1919’s Harakiri , the Madame Butterfly adaptation, tells the story of a Japanese girl and her doomed romance with a European officer who abandons her. The Wandering Shadow (1920), Lang and von Harbou’s first collaboration, follows a woman fleeing from a sex scandal and her eventual shot at redemption. Four Around the Woman , from 1921, sees a socialite falling victim to a crime…or is she involved in a blackmail plot? WHY IT’S SCHMANCY: Before he fled Nazi Germany, before M and Metropolis , even before Spies and the Dr. Mabuse movies, Fritz Lang was a successful filmmaker in Weimar-era Germany, when Expressionism was the happening thing. For scholars who wanted to explore the master’s entire oeuvre, however, many of Lang’s earliest films were difficult to access. Harakiri was one of four films Lang made in 1919, his first year as a director. And yes, the film has German actors performing in yellowface, but at least the filmmakers bothered to get genuine Japanese costumes and artifacts from the Hamburg Anthropological Museum. This DVD features restorations mastered from 35mm elements. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT: Fritz Lang: The Early Works should appeal to more than just Lang completists. Anyone who cares about the roots of movies or just wants to check out silent cinema at its most vibrant should pick up this collection. LOW: They Live (Collector’s Edition) (Scream Factory; $19.93 DVD, $29.93 Blu-Ray) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Written (under the pseudonym “Frank Armitage”) and directed by John Carpenter; starring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A homeless drifter (Piper) finds a stash of special sunglasses that allow him to see the truth about the world around him: the rich and powerful are actually aliens who are destroying the planet and manipulating humans with subliminal messages in the media that induce people to consume mindlessly and to conform. WHY IT’S FUN: Released in 1988, Ronald Reagan’s last year in office, They Live is one of the most stinging satires of the Gipper’s era. Carpenter basically implied that yuppie-ism and the rest of the decade’s excesses were the product of cultural manipulation. (Okay, so extraterrestrials were behind the whole thing, but it’s an intriguing idea.) And if you’re not in the mood to look for political perspective, there are gross aliens and crazy shoot-outs and a fight scene between Piper and David that goes on…and on…and on…into cinema legend. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT (AGAIN): This new Collector’s Edition features great new goodies, including interviews with Foster (who’s still got Those Eyes), David and Carpenter, plus previously unseen footage from the original TV spots for the movie and a featurette on the visual style, scoring and stunts. (There’s also a Carpenter-Piper commentary track that’s been previously available.) Alonso Duralde has written about film for The Wrap, Salon and MSNBC.com. He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network) . He is a senior programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival. He also the author of two books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (Limelight Editions) and 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
This week’s new DVD releases make it easy to put a little Highbrow dark chocolate in your Lowbrow crunchy peanut butter and enjoy a satisfying double feature . Whether you’re in the mood for serious German cinema (that mixes in some genre tropes) or ass-kicking science fiction (flavored with pungent political satire), there’s plenty for all tastes this week. HIGH: Fritz Lang: The Early Works (Kino Classics; $39.95 DVD) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: This trio of early works by legendary German director Fritz Lang includes an adaptation of the classic opera Madame Butterfly and two films Lang co-wrote with his then-wife Thea von Harbou that feature actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge — two key collaborators on Lang’s masterpiece, Metropolis . WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: 1919’s Harakiri , the Madame Butterfly adaptation, tells the story of a Japanese girl and her doomed romance with a European officer who abandons her. The Wandering Shadow (1920), Lang and von Harbou’s first collaboration, follows a woman fleeing from a sex scandal and her eventual shot at redemption. Four Around the Woman , from 1921, sees a socialite falling victim to a crime…or is she involved in a blackmail plot? WHY IT’S SCHMANCY: Before he fled Nazi Germany, before M and Metropolis , even before Spies and the Dr. Mabuse movies, Fritz Lang was a successful filmmaker in Weimar-era Germany, when Expressionism was the happening thing. For scholars who wanted to explore the master’s entire oeuvre, however, many of Lang’s earliest films were difficult to access. Harakiri was one of four films Lang made in 1919, his first year as a director. And yes, the film has German actors performing in yellowface, but at least the filmmakers bothered to get genuine Japanese costumes and artifacts from the Hamburg Anthropological Museum. This DVD features restorations mastered from 35mm elements. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT: Fritz Lang: The Early Works should appeal to more than just Lang completists. Anyone who cares about the roots of movies or just wants to check out silent cinema at its most vibrant should pick up this collection. LOW: They Live (Collector’s Edition) (Scream Factory; $19.93 DVD, $29.93 Blu-Ray) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Written (under the pseudonym “Frank Armitage”) and directed by John Carpenter; starring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A homeless drifter (Piper) finds a stash of special sunglasses that allow him to see the truth about the world around him: the rich and powerful are actually aliens who are destroying the planet and manipulating humans with subliminal messages in the media that induce people to consume mindlessly and to conform. WHY IT’S FUN: Released in 1988, Ronald Reagan’s last year in office, They Live is one of the most stinging satires of the Gipper’s era. Carpenter basically implied that yuppie-ism and the rest of the decade’s excesses were the product of cultural manipulation. (Okay, so extraterrestrials were behind the whole thing, but it’s an intriguing idea.) And if you’re not in the mood to look for political perspective, there are gross aliens and crazy shoot-outs and a fight scene between Piper and David that goes on…and on…and on…into cinema legend. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT (AGAIN): This new Collector’s Edition features great new goodies, including interviews with Foster (who’s still got Those Eyes), David and Carpenter, plus previously unseen footage from the original TV spots for the movie and a featurette on the visual style, scoring and stunts. (There’s also a Carpenter-Piper commentary track that’s been previously available.) Alonso Duralde has written about film for The Wrap, Salon and MSNBC.com. He also co-hosts the Linoleum Knife podcast and regularly appears on What the Flick?! (The Young Turks Network) . He is a senior programmer for the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and a pre-screener for the Sundance Film Festival. He also the author of two books: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (Limelight Editions) and 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Also in Wednesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, theater chains are OKing Peter Jackson ‘s Hobbit technology; Sundance Channel is developing programs by Robert Redford and Michael Fuchs; And the MPAA gives Obama a congratulations. MPAA Chief Chris Dodd Congratulates Barack Obama “I congratulate Barack Obama on his victory tonight. President Obama has demonstrated a great understanding of the importance of intellectual property to the fundamental strength of the American economy. In an era of partisan discord, there is bipartisan agreement that protecting American creativity and innovation is critical to our competitive edge in the global marketplace. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Obama Administration to ensure the creative industries have every opportunity to thrive.” Around the ‘net… Theater Chains OK High Frame-Rate Hobbit Despite Format Challenges “Major exhibitors Regal and AMC lined up Tuesday to support Warner Bros. as it readies for the Dec. 14 U.S. release of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the high frame rate of 48 frames per second. Meanwhile, the studio moves cautiously with its plans to introduce the theater technology, which has encountered a number of problems as it goes through a testing phase,” THR reports . Skyfall Results ‘Beyond Studio’s Wildest Dreams’ So far, Skyfall has exceeded the wildest dreams of even Eon, MGM and Sony, with a stunning £53.44m ($85.36 million) in just 10 days. Previously, no film had grossed £50m in 10 days in the UK. The final Harry Potter film managed an impressive £44.3m at that stage of its run, while Toy Story 3 stood at £39.8m after two weekends, The Guardian reports . Sundance Developing Dramas from Robert Redford, Michael Fuchs, More The AMC-owned network is developing five scripted dramas to join its legal entry from Oscar winner Ray McKinnon ( The Accountant ) hailing from producers including Sundance co-founder Robert Redford, THR reports . Donald Trump Has Twitter Meltdown After Election The Apprentice host said, “We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!” he wrote. “Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us. We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!” Other celebs reacted via Twitter, including Alec Baldwin who wrote: “You trust the voters when they choose The Apprentice . But not now?” Yahoo reports .
