Tom Cruise’s $50 million lawsuit against a tabloid is getting uglier by the day, as the media group who owns Life & Style is fighting back hard against him. Cruise sued Bauer Media Group in October after L&S ran a story suggesting he “abandoned” daughter Suri Cruise after his split from Katie Holmes. Now, both sides are gearing up for a court battle, and the celebrity gossip publisher is demanding a LONG list of information from the movie star. Specifically, Bauer Media wants to legally establish “the extent to which Tom Cruise was in contact with Suri following his separation and divorce.” Moreover, it wants to know what role Tom’s membership in the Church of Scientology played in decisions re: communicating and visiting with Suri. Bauer’s attorney Alonzo Wickers also demands to know what Suri’s mental and emotional state was after her parents’ separation and divorce. He also wants to examine the actor’s history of filing lawsuits. Cruise’s lawyer insists that “Tom doesn’t go around suing people. He’s not a litigious guy,” but in this case, the L&S claim was libelous and damaging. He wants Life & Style to reveal its “anonymous” sources. Cruise’s camp also wants to know Bauer’s policies regarding obtaining information from sources, paying those contacts and verifying their credibility. The actor’s attorney also vowed to explore the publisher’s alleged history of “bigotry and hatred toward minority religious groups and their members.” The increasingly complex case could actually go to trial if motions to dismiss are denied and settlement isn’t reached before that. Stay tuned.
Lindsay Lohan’s maligned new film The Canyons finally has a distributor. The self-proclaimed “neo-noir thriller” starring LiLo and porn star James Deen has been acquired by IFC Films, which is planning a “multi-platform.” It will soon be available via theatrical, digital and on demand options. The Canyons Clip IFC releases indie films in theaters and on demand simultaneously, so it’s a logical fit for the controversial project written by Bret Easton Ellis. The low budget film has received major publicity … not all of it good. The New York Times magazine ran an expose on it, straightforwardly entitled “Here’s What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan In Your Movie.” Among the details revealed in the article: A Lindsay Lohan nude scene she was reluctant to film with Deen Director Paul Schrader’s mounting frustration with his actress The film’s rejection by Sundance Film Festival organizers Basically it’s been a disaster from the start, but despite the setbacks, IFC president Jonathan Sehring says people will love the underrated movie. According to Sehring, New York Film Festival director Kent Jones screened it and called Lohan’s Canyons performance “fearless” and “stunning.” Sehring adds: “This film is a wild ride through the psyche of Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Schrader. Lindsay Lohan is terrific as Tara and James Deen will be a big surprise for people.” Check out a couple of trailers (plus an audio clip of Lohan losing it on set) below and tell us: Will you check out The Canyons? Maybe? Someday? Lindsay Lohan Canyons Outburst The Canyons Teaser Trailer (’50s) The Canyons Teaser Trailer
What begins as a barbed satire of our pill-popping, self-medicating society morphs into something intriguingly different in Side Effects . Steven Soderbergh’s elegantly coiled puzzler spins a tale of clinical depression and psychiatric malpractice into an absorbing, cunningly unpredictable entertainment that, like much of his recent work, closely observes how a particular subset of American society operates in a needy, greedy, paranoid and duplicitous age. Discriminating arthouse audiences not turned off by the antidepressant-heavy subject matter should be held shrink-rapt by what Soderbergh, after years of flirting with retirement, has said will be his last picture “for a long time.” Establishing a mood of grim foreboding with a brief glimpse of a blood-spattered domestic scene, the film rewinds three months to the incident that sets things in motion. Emily Taylor ( Rooney Mara ), a New Yorker in her mid-20s, awaits the prison release of her husband, Martin ( Channing Tatum ), a former business exec who has just finished serving four years for his involvement in an insider-trading scheme. But the couple’s happy reunion is complicated not only by Martin’s period of readjustment and unemployment, but also by Emily’s ongoing struggles with anxiety and depression. The story is thus immediately rooted in an easily recognizable and, for some, relatable world of financial difficulty and pharmaceutical overreliance. After Emily’s condition declines to the point of attempting self-harm, she sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Jonathan Banks ( Jude Law) , who puts her on a try-this-try-that regimen of drugs that include Prozac, Zoloft and Ablixa. The names of these antidepressants and their assorted side effects are rattled off with cheeky proficiency in the well-researched script by Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion,” “The Informant!”), and soon Emily starts to manifest the byproducts of so much medication, including nausea, a heightened libido and a disturbing habit of sleepwalking. Soderbergh’s sinuous HD camerawork (done under his usual pseudonym, Peter Andrews) maintains an unnervingly intimate focus on Emily in these early passages, dominated by breakdowns and consulting sessions. Yet even in intense closeups that enable Mara to vividly register Emily’s panic, fear and vaguely suicidal impulses, the direction has a certain cool-toned detachment that keeps the film from becoming a wholly subjective portrait of mental instability. That distanced quality persists even when Emily’s behavior, under the influence of Ablixa, takes a shocking turn for the worst. At this point, the dramatic perspective shifts to Banks, who suddenly finds himself professionally compromised as a provocative question comes to the fore: If a patient is not responsible for actions taken under the influence of a powerful drug, does the liability shift to the doctor who prescribed it? But as Banks launches himself into an increasingly obsessive quest to clear his name, leading him into private conversations with Emily’s former therapist, Dr. Victoria Siebel ( Catherine Zeta-Jones ), the peculiar feeling persists that not everything about the case may be what it seems. The very title of Side Effects — a suggestion of unintended, undesired consequences that distract from the matter at hand — provides a clue as to the level of narrative misdirection Soderbergh and Burns are up to. Suffice to say that what the film is actually about, and the specific social malaise being diagnosed, suddenly seem to shift beneath the characters’ feet, as the story turns its attention from chemical dependencies and shaky medical ethics to the dark recesses of the human mind. The rapid-fire twists, reversals and flashbacks that crowd the third act may strain plausibility to the breaking point, but by the end, viewers are likely to feel as though they’ve been craftily but not unfairly manipulated. The casting of Soderbergh alums Law, Zeta-Jones and Tatum lends the picture a somewhat valedictory feel, and if Side Effects is indeed the final chapter of at least one phase of the director’s career, it gets the job done in modest but assured fashion. Thematically, this efficient genre piece feels entirely of a piece with Soderbergh’s prior work; no less than Magic Mike and The Girlfriend Experience , it’s keenly invested in the material question of how individuals operate in an economy that leaves them with fewer and fewer honest options. The film’s careful attention to the details of its psychiatric milieu compels fascination above and beyond the characters, and indeed, Soderbergh’s typical disinterest in conventional audience identification has rarely been more pronounced. Mara’s chilly yet vulnerable quality, exploited so effectively in her films with David Fincher, keeps the viewer at a sympathetic distance; Law makes Banks seem weaselly and pompous even when he assumes the role of protagonist; and Zeta-Jones, as usual, plays her part with a slyly seductive allure. Of all the actors, Ann Dowd ( Compliance ) rings the sole notes of earnest emotion in a small role as Emily’s mother-in-law. Editing is sharp and precise, and Thomas Newman’s churning score amps up the story’s intensity. Expertly chosen locations and Howard Cummings’ production design create an offhandedly diverse snapshot of New York, ranging from a high-security mental institution to a table at Le Cirque where Dr. Banks and his colleagues talk shop. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Kristen Stewart has signed on for her next movie role. According to Deadline, the actress will come on board The Big Shoe , costarring with such big names as Elizabeth Banks and Jim Sturgess in a film about a shoe designer (Sturgess) whose family wants to turn his designs into mass-produced knock-offs. The family will hire a psychotherapist named Mary Kay (Banks), while Stewart portrays the woman/muse who lures the main character back to work. No production date or release date has been announced yet. Elsewhere, have you voted for Kristen and Robert Pattinson in the Tournament of THG Finals yet?!?
Is he right?? White Businessman Demands End Of Black History Month Georgia Businessman Jim Thompson claims America has already done enough for Black people and those who historically have been downtrodden. Including Black History Month … Via Chillico The Gazette reports: Black History Month is observed in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. When it comes to Black History Month, I look forward to the day that we don’t have or need a Black History Month — not for a lack of respect for African-Americans, but because, as a whole, we have decided equality has been achieved. However, at the same time that I look forward to this, I also am pessimistic this will happen, at least in my lifetime. Read on. I was born out-of-wedlock to two deeply religious people, one of which was married and had four children. My father divorced and married my mother. Yet, for decades to come, they beared the guilt and shame of their actions (would that people did just a little of this today in similar circumstances). Their way of dealing with this was to spoil me. As many of us know, we who have been spoiled often do not realize it. It took me decades to understand how destructive this was to me. Likewise, as a country as a whole, a country founded on equal opportunity for all, slavery was a contradiction and a stain on our national psyche. The Civil War merely, barely started to solve the problem. The next 100 years were more a hindrance to equality than a step forward. Only in the lifetime of the living today have we made near final steps in solving these problems. However, as a country, we still have the shame and guilt of our forbearers’ actions. We have overcompensated. We have spoiled those for whom we feel guilty for having wronged. Like me at one time, they don’t realize they are spoiled and how limiting that is to their self-worth and potential. And when an old white guy like me points this out, I am called a racist (note: Bill Cosby preaches almost the same message). So, welcome to Black History Month. I challenge you to find the equivalent to our Black History Month anywhere other than the countries I previously named; indeed I challenge you to find any country that has done as much for past downtrodden minorities as we have in the United States. We, the U.S., have nothing to be ashamed of in the current world. It is time we quit trying to assuage our own national guilt by spoiling others, an action that is selfishly serving only the spoilers and is a disservice to the spoiled. Further, when I place Black History Month in the context of my own experience of being spoiled as shared above, I would suggest it has become a bit of a sly white racist joke. Yes, if you search its history, it was started in the 1920s as Black History Week to instill a sense of pride in African-Americans. Those days are long past — African-American examples of great achievement are all around us today. Now it is like other things here in the South that sound caring but are not. The greatest example of this is, “Bless his heart …” It is used like this, “Bless his heart, he had a car wreck.” The correct interpretation of this is, “He is such an idiot, he probably had trouble riding a tricycle.” Likewise, if you are forced to receive special attention, there is an implication of weakness, a weakness I have not found to be true with African-Americans. When the day comes that African-Americans demands the elimination of Black History Month because they recognize it is not done for them but for the spoilers, we will know true equality has been achieved. Colorblindness is true racial equality. Discuss….
This is some bull dog isht! Woman Saves “Gay” Dog’s Life By Adopting Him Via NYDailyNews The “gay” pitbull has been spared — and renamed Elton. A poor pooch whose ignorant owner sent him to a Tennessee pound after catching him mounting another male dog was saved from being euthanized Thursday. Dog-lover Stephanie Fryns, moved by the plight of the pitbull, adopted him with just hours to spare and named him after gay rocker Elton John. “He’s pretty scared of everything, which is understandable,” Fryns, of Jackson, Tenn., told ABC News. “But he loved the car ride.” Fryns’ friend, Susan Bell, said she helped put the dog in the car. “He was just fine,” Bell told the Daily News. “I’m really happy he’s got a good home.” According to an animal doctor… “A male mounting another male is thus not displaying homosexual tendencies, but is simply saying, ‘I’m boss around here,’” animal expert Stanley Coren said in Psychology Today. Coren, a psychologist and the author of books like The Intelligence of Dogs” and “How to Speak Dog,” said female dogs — and even neutered dogs — sometimes mount other dogs to make their point. “This is not an issue of sexual confusion,” he said. The doggy drama began on Tuesday when the pitbull’s owner, who lives near rural Jackson, Tenn., caught his dog in the act. When word got out that the dog was about to die for doing what they do on the Discovery Channel, animal rescuers posted Elton’s story on Facebook and it went viral. It’s never a good thing when a person sends a perfectly healthy animal to die, but to kill him because he is “gay”?!?! SMFH Image via flickr
According to Manti Te’o , he is not gay. In fact, he is far, far, far from gay . But Ronaiah Tuiasosopo? The man who has admitted to being behind the Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax that rocked a school and a country? Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview Tease In a preview of the interview that will run later this week, Dr. Phil appeared this morning on The Today Show and said of Ronaiah: “Here we have a young man that fell deeply, romantically in love,” he says, adding of the taped Q&A: “I ask him straight up… was this a romantic relationship with you? And he says, ‘Yes.'” So Phil followed up: “I said, are you then, therefore, gay? And he says, ‘Well, when you put it that way, yes.'” But the psychologist said Tuiasosopo then “caught himself” and clarified: “I am confused.” That much is certain. Phil says the 22-year old admitted to running the scheme, accepting responsibility but also saying a handful of life experiences have “damaged” him across the board. That much, sadly, is also certain.
More B’s than thought remotely possible on the tube this week with Maggie Grace ’s great glutes on Californication , an orgy on both Spartacus and House of Lies , a twofer of topless scenes of Shameless , nightclub knockers from Lena Dunham on Girls, and a duo of nude blondes on Banshee .
Mr. Skin favorites Olga Kurylenko and Abbie Cornish both have sexy scenes as two of the titular Seven Psychopaths (2012), but it’s only blonde babe Christine Marzano who shows up topless 22-minutes in. Crazy like a fox! Also on DVD, Two and a Half Men star Melanie Lynskey bares buns and just a hint of bush while stripping for a skinny dip in Hello I Must Be Going (2012). The second season of the UK TV series Misfits has Amy Beth Hayes ’ hoots in bed, and Cinemax’s Femme Fatales has funbags from a whole slew of foxy ladies. Finally, the Midnight Movies 9: Zombie – Double Feature has full frontal from Margrit Evelyn Newton in Hell of the Living Dead (1980), and mams from Maria Rosaria Omaggio in Nightmare City (1980). Nightmare? Seems more like a wet dream!
The Sundance Film Festival closed out 2013 awarding Fruitvale and Blood Brother its top Dramatic and Documentary award winners respectively. Fruitvale had been the favored winner among insiders neck-n-neck with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints which captured a lot of attention at the fest. In a festival rarity, both Fruitvale and Blood Brother also took the prizes in the Audience categories as well. In other top winners, A River Changes Course took Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary prize, while South Korea’s Jisuel won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. Jill Soloway won the Director’s nod in the U.S. Dramatic category. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards: The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray. The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul SUNG, Jung-won YANG, Young-soon OH, Soon-dong PARK, Suk-bum MOON, Kyung-sub JANG. The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own. The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear / Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani ) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic: Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray. The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Square (Al Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. The Audience Award: Best of NEXT : This is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: In a World… / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed. The Screenwriting Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) / Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Habibi, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. The Editing Award: U.S. Documentary: Gideon’s Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up. The Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. The Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary: Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars. The Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic: Bradford Young for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Mother of George: Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi. The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary: Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement: Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy. A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking to: American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons. A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design: Shane Carruth and Johnny Marshall for Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Circles / Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for “Punk Spirit”: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? The Short Film Audience Award: Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? / U.S.A.(Director: Jason Willis) — Catnip is all the rage with today’s modern feline, but do we really understand it? This film frankly discusses the facts about this controversial substance.
