Since Amy Poehler#39;s Parks and Recreation character couldn#39;t make a kiss with Vice President Joe Biden happen, she settled for the next best thing: David Letterman? On Tuesday night#39;s Late Show, the program#39;s host moved a bit closer to the Parks and Recreation star just as he was about to roll a clip from Poehler#39;s sitcom. “Oh, I thought you were going to go in for a kiss,” the comic actress remarked. Then, without missing a beat, Letterman proceeded to grab Poehler by the arm
You guys know we love Anderson Cooper over here , so we were thrilled to have our Sr. Editor Janeé Bolden in the “Anderson Live” audience as “Blogger of the Day” for Friday’s show. In case you didn’t see the episode yourselves, here’s what Janeé had to say about it: It was a real joy taking a little break from the gossip blogging to live tweet for Anderson Live today — but it turns out I still got my celebrity fix. I have to give Anderson and guest host Nancy Grace credit for calling my attention to talk of Jay-Z and Beyoncé and other stars partying it up this week in NYC while many other residents were still without heat and power. We don’t miss much when it comes to that couple so it was a great talking point to kick off the show. Of course Hurricane Sandy dominated much of the discussion, with Anderson and Nancy weighing in that perhaps now might not be the best time for NYC to go forward with the NY marathon. I threw the question out to our Twitter followers and many suggested that we have the runners volunteer toward recovery efforts rather than race, while the majority of responses agreed that the marathon should be rescheduled. I had the honor of having a dressing room next to Glitzy the Pig’s, so like Anderson I also had a chance to meet Honey Boo Boo’s former pet. Anderson showed a lot more bravery than I did though, because he actually held that thing! And long enough for it to stop squealing… I also enjoyed seeing Real Housewives of Atlanta cast members Phaedra Parks and Porsha Stewart . Phaedra managed to get a little shameless self promotion in for her side hustles doing a fitness video and running a mortuary business. When I tweeted the name of the workout DVD (Donkey Booty) some of the responses were pure comedy. I’m not sure Phaedra will live up to her goal of becoming the Vera Wang of funerals but she’s definitely proven she has some entertainment value. The main segment on Chris and Brittni Colleps was pretty difficult to stomach. We’ve featured Brittni on Bossip.com before so I was familiar with her case. She’s the former Texas high school teacher who was video taped having sex with five of her students — despite being married with three kids! The audience was definitely shocked with the details of the case, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad for Brittni. Not only was she apologetic, her hubby Chris has also forgiven her and credits their faith in God with helping their marriage survive. Chris even blames himself because he committed adultery first! Still, if the five years she was sentenced to in jail weren’t bad enough, Nancy dished out a pretty tough tongue lashing that was only slightly outdone by an audience member! I wouldn’t be able to do justice to what the man (who was also a teacher) had to say, so you guys will definitely have to check out the episode and see for yourselves. Thanks again to Anderson Live for having me! I hope to be back soon. You can watch the episode HERE if you missed it! Enjoy Janeé’s photos below:
This one is a doozie… According to NYPost: A young woman waiting to watch the sun rise in a TriBeCa park was yanked off a bench, beaten and raped yesterday during a prolonged attack by a “savage” sex fiend, police sources said. Jonathan Stewart, 25, allegedly dragged the 21-year-old woman 10 feet into the bushes in Hudson River Park near Harrison Street at about 5:15 a.m., punching and attempting to strangle her before the vile assault. After the woman bravely fought off her attacker, she ran completely naked toward two Parks Department cops and screamed, “I’ve just been raped! I’ve just been raped!” sources said. The victim, who lives in the area, had been at a local bar the night before and often goes to that spot around sunrise, a law-enforcement source said. She told cops she was having personal problems and went to the park to clear her head. Stewart, a registered sex offender who is homeless, sidled up to her, trying to strike up a conversation, cops said. But the woman spurned him, so he allegedly pounced on her and “brutally raped her for some time,” a law-enforcement source said. Stewart lashed out at police and flailed like a maniac in his jail cell at the First Precinct station house. “He’s a savage. He looks like an animal,” a law-enforcement source said. “He was going nuts in his cell. He was smashing his head against the wall and screaming and yelling at police officers.” Stewart has a record of vicious crimes. He was paroled in July after serving seven years in state prison on a robbery and sex-abuse conviction from 2004. A police source said he raped a young female relative. Damn, sounds like this guy needs to stay behind bars for good.
This doesn’t look like the Rashida Jones I am used to. You know the Harvard graduate, daughter of Peggy Lipton and Quincy Jones, Star of I Love you Man….Our Idiot Brother and all movies with that Segal motherfucker….she’s also on Parks and Recreation, something I’ve never seen but know that people like…..because Americans are retards and embrace, worship, trust and get controlled by all things that are on the TV because that is what is there for…. Either way, I’ve never found her hot, but for some reason this photoshoot, puts her 40 year old black/jewish rich kid face into a whole new light…one I can masturbate to…
Frank Ocean ’s coming out of the closet continues to be one of the most talked about subjects in music. And although many in the African American community are happy that Frank has decided to be honest about his sexual preference, many are outraged about the comments of one writer who has labeled Frank as the gay Rosa Parks and leader of music artists coming out of the closet. The writer claims: …Rosa Parks, who was down with the NAACP, was heralded as a heroine of the Civil Rights Movement for her unwillingness to give up her bus seat to a White man as she rested on her weary feet on that fate-filled day in a 1955 Alabama. But her move was a well-timed act as well, as it was a supremely strategic move. Enter Claudette Colvin. Before Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin. Colvin was a 15-year-old G from what I’ve gathered. She was a young, scrappy, and militant kid when she refused to give up her seat to a White person, a full nine months before her elder counterpart, Parks. Colvin was studying the injustices that were going on in 1955, analyzing the life of Black leaders and was ready for whatever was to come. In her 2009 book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, she explained why Parks was selected. To NPR, she said, “Her skin texture was the kind that people associate with the middle class. She fit that profile.” Parks was also the secretary for the NAACP and had the backing of the local chapter to start the boycott that would cripple the racist busing system. So, Frank Ocean is the Gay Hip-Hop Movement’s Rosa Parks, whether dissonant voices admit it or not. Rosa Parks wasn’t the first to get arrested for not giving up her seat. But, she was the first, some say, to fit an ideal that matched the delicate needs of the Dr. Martin Luther King-led push for equal rights. And, like Parks, Ocean is relatively safe, whereas Colvin was a militant that eventually relocated to Harlem in the midst of a cultural revolution living among the likes of Malcolm X We’re not too sure about this comparison. Why does Frank even have to be the “gay Rosa Parks?” Can’t he just be black man, who’s gay who just got tired of lying about who he was to other people? Do you think Frank’s decision to come out the closet lends itself to the Civil Rights Movement? Source
Phaedra Parks’ mother, Regina Bell (not to be confused with the singer Regina Belle) has filed her own lawsuit against Vibe Holdings (Vibe Magazine) for…
What’s the Film : Citizen Ruth (1996), available on DVD and Hulu Why it’s an Inessential Essential : The premise — one woman’s attempt to have an abortion turns into a national debate and bidding war — was a bold choice out of the gate for writer-director Alexander Payne. Citizen Ruth is his first feature film, and like his subsequent work, it has a biting wit, absurdities from every corner, and deeply flawed characters. Ruth (Laura Dern) is a dim-witted screw-up who is pregnant for the fifth time; her four offspring have been placed elsewhere because of her addiction to inhalants. When she is charged with a felony for huffing “patio sealant,” the judge coerces her to terminate the pregnancy. In jail, she meets anti-abortion crusaders who start a tug-of-war with pro-choice rivals over the unborn child, who becomes widely known as Baby Tanya after a clinic doctor manipulates Ruth into imagining keeping it. Tackling this tricky subject matter, Payne found an unreal story to tell, except that part of it was real. In the DVD commentary, he and co-writer Jim Taylor reveal that the plot was inspired by the true story of a woman who was offered money by anti-abortion and pro-choice camps to honor their respective wishes for her fetus. The parallels to reality don’t stop there. In one of Dern’s best unhinged moments, Ruth screams at two overzealous medical staffers at a clinic, who then pull out all the stops and force her to watch a video of abortion footage. That seems far-fetched, though maybe not in places like Arizona, where a lawmaker recently proposed a bill that would require women to watch an abortion before having one. The state representative, Terri Proud, calls her idea “(The) Reproductive Games.” Truth is catchier than fiction. Why We Recommend It Now : Released in 1996, Citizen Ruth resonates today, of course, because the issue of affordable health care has evolved into a fight over reproductive rights. Although Baby Tanya, were she real/alive, would be old enough to have a Sweet 16 party this year, not much has changed in the public discourse. Payne skewers the radicals on both sides, who are largely motivated by impressing their leaders — Tippi Hedren, for example, as a mother/god figure to the lunatic pro-choice activists. Their behavior is over the top, but their ideologies still echo. Among the points the movie makes so nicely is that extremists tend to lose sight of the real people and issues involved. When Sandra Fluke testified about hormonal birth control, the point she made — that the drug treats medical conditions — was lost once Rush Limbaugh piped in and turned Fluke into an abstraction and a “prostitute.” Ruth is unfit to be a mother, yet a contingent of crazies think she should take a stab at parenthood, aided by 15 grand, because somehow it’ll just all work out. There’s something to be said for laughing so we don’t cry, and Citizen Ruth allows us to do that. The DVD has few extras, but it does feature a revealing commentary track from Payne, Taylor, Dern and production designer Jane Ann Stewart. Explaining that the film doesn’t take sides, Stewart says her team strived to make both camps look a little foolish. Payne gets to the heart of the matter, saying, “Jane, you asked me, ‘Is nothing sacred?’ And it’s true. Everything is sacred, and nothing is sacred. Everyone is open for being examined as a human being.” Other Interesting Trivia : Payne says the film’s limited release was probably the reason he didn’t receive one threatening letter over it, though he was concerned about potential violence at the time from groups like the Army of God. Dern recalls a conversation with the women who ran Planned Parenthood in Texas, who called her to say how much they loved being mocked in the film. Also, let the end credits roll a couple minutes for a hint at Ruth’s fate. PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter
It has come to this for “unaccompanied” teenagers desperate to see the unrated Bully : “An AMC spokesman said it will indeed allow that, but only if the child presents a signed permission slip from a parent, either via a form letter made available by the theater or an improvised note on a standard piece of paper. The move is an apparent attempt to support the film — AMC executive Gerry Lopez has two teenagers and has been vocal about its importance — while still paying deference to the Motion Picture Assn. of America and its ratings system.” Related: Is Harvey Weinstein just recycling tricks from his Kids playbook ? [ LAT ]
This just in at ML HQ: Esteemed Mad Men creator and occasional director Matthew Weiner will make his feature filmmaking debut with You Are Here , to co-star Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis in a “funny, charming, and deeply honest film about who we were, who we are, and discovering the power to embrace life, no matter how much you screw it up.” There is also a road trip! And possibly Amy Poehler! Read on for full details from producer Gilbert Films. ========= LOS ANGELES, March 28 — Gilbert Films announced today that their next theatrical film project, YOU ARE HERE, will start production in May 2012 in North Carolina. The film, written and to be directed by Matthew Weiner (creator of Emmy and Golden Globe winning series MAD MEN, writer/executive producer of THE SOPRANOS) will star Owen Wilson (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, WEDDING CRASHERS) and Zach Galifianakis (THE HANGOVER, DUE DATE). Discussions are underway for Amy Poehler (PARKS & RECREATION) to co-star. Weiner will be making his big screen debut after having directed numerous episodes of the award-winning MAD MEN through its five years of production. Gary Gilbert, Scott Hornbacher, and Jordan Horowitz will produce. Lionsgate is handling international sales. Local weatherman and freewheeling bachelor Steve Dallas (Wilson) and bi-polar man-child Ben (Galafinakis) are childhood best friends who embark on a road trip home after Ben discovers that his estranged father has passed away. Once there, Ben is shocked to learn that his eccentric father had big plans for him and he’s inherited a whole lot more than his father’s money. As Ben struggles with his new responsibilities, his friendship with Steve is tested by the complications of his inheritance, his sister Terry’s (Poehler) ambition, and Steve’s desire to be with his father’s beautiful young widow Angela. YOU ARE HERE is a funny, charming, and deeply honest film about who we were, who we are, and discovering the power to embrace life, no matter how much you screw it up. “This movie has been my passion for eight years and to see it come together with Owen and Zach and Amy is a dream come true,” said Weiner. “I can’t wait to get started because the movie is about everything I care about and I’m tired of reading it out loud to my friends.” Noted Gilbert: “We are thrilled to finally bring this project to the screen. Matt is one of the brightest creative minds in television, and we are confident that this project will solidify the same reputation for him in the world of narrative film.” ###
Oh, God, here we go again : “‘Katniss’s act of self-sacrifice [volunteering to take her sister’s place in the games] is a trigger for an entire revolution. She draws an ethical line that she won’t cross over and it serves as such a beautiful example for people,’ [director Gary] Ross said. ‘That assertion of her own individual ethics ultimately triggers a revolution just as it was one Tunisian flower vendor that led to the revolt that rifled through the Middle East last year. Or Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus. It usually comes down to an act of individual ethics that can trigger something like that.'” [ LAT ]
