We know he can place his hands on his cheeks and scream. But can Macaulay Culkin sing? We sort of have the answer to that question after an unexpected duet this week, as the actor joined friend Adam Green on stage during a concert in Great Britain. Watch them team up for a cover of The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” now: Macaulay Culkin – “Kokomo” Culkin should probably stick to the big screen. But this is a guy who kinda recently broke up with Mila Kunis , so don’t be too harsh on him, people. He needs all the positive reinforcement he can get.
For weeks, Kobe Bryant has been carrying the Los Angeles Laker and their playoff chances on his back. But it was a different body party that felled the superstar last night, as Bryant likely tore his Achilles Tendon and is out for the rest of this season and at least half of next season. Even the biggest Laker hater has to be shaking his or her head at the news. Who wants to see a legend go out in such a way? Kobe Bryant Injury But is Kobe done for good? The injury – and perhaps some pain medication – prompted Bryant to go on an EPIC Facebook rant this morning at 3:30. It includes words of doubt, inspiration… and a warning to any bear looking for a fight. And it’s worth just reading in its entirety below: This is such BS! All the training and sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I’ve done millions of times! The frustration is unbearable. The anger is rage. Why the hell did this happen ?!? Makes no damn sense. Now I’m supposed to come back from this and be the same player Or better at 35?!? How in the world am I supposed to do that?? I have NO CLUE. Do I have the consistent will to overcome this thing? Maybe I should break out the rocking chair and reminisce on the career that was. Maybe this is how my book ends. Maybe Father Time has defeated me…Then again maybe not! It’s 3:30am, my foot feels like dead weight, my head is spinning from the pain meds and I’m wide awake. Forgive my Venting but what’s the purpose of social media if I won’t bring it to you Real No Image?? Feels good to vent, let it out. To feel as if THIS is the WORST thing EVER! Because After ALL the venting, a real perspective sets in. There are far greater issues/challenges in the world then a torn achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever. One day, the beginning of a new career journey will commence. Today is NOT that day. “If you see me in a fight with a bear, prey for the bear”. Ive always loved that quote. Thats “mamba mentality” we don’t quit, we don’t cower, we don’t run. We endure and conquer. I know it’s a long post but I’m Facebook Venting LOL. Maybe now I can actually get some sleep and be excited for surgery tomorrow. First step of a new challenge. Guess I will be Coach Vino the rest of this season. I have faith in my teammates. They will come thru. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Much Love Always. Mamba Out
We’re big fans of Playboy Playmates here at Mr. Skin, but we’re even bigger fans of seeing them SKIN motion on the silver screen. So of course we were thrilled to hear that Britany Nola , AKA Miss November 2012, is bringing her compelling Canadian charms to the graphic, erotic flick American Ecstasy . The upcoming feature-length chiller from photographer and filmmaker Jonathan Leder , stars the knockerific Ms. Nola along with fellow model, Amy Hood . More after the jump!
To quote Patton Oswalt from his great KFC Famous Bowls routine, “America has spoken,” and for Oscar pundits bemoaning Lincoln ’s loss to Argo , this Oscars truly was a “failure pile in a sadness bowl”: A reported 40.3 million people tuned in to the Oscars telecast, making it the most-watched entertainment show in three years, Entertainment Weekly reports. (Suck it, Golden Globes .) Host Seth McFarlane achieved what Anne Hathaway and James Franco could not: He helped put young adult asses in the seats. Ratings for the key 18-49 demographic were up a reported 11 percent. It does help that most of the movies nominated for Best Picture were those that the general public went to see, but McFarlane was undoubtedly a draw. So, kudos. But more tradition-bound Oscar aficionados may wonder if we perhaps lost something along the way: Bob Hope: “Welcome to the Oscars, or as we call it at my house, Passover” Johnny Carson: “I see a lot of new faces here, especially on the old faces.” Seth McFarlane: “We saw your boobs” (which, by the way, could be the new official theme song for the website, Mr. Skin). Monday morning quarterbacking the Oscar telecast is a tradition in itself. If the producers couldn’t wrangle all the men who would be Bond onstage, why not gather the Bond women? A 17-minute opening? That’s like 119 in TV minutes, especially when you’re making jokes about The Flying Nun . At the Oscars. But this is not about Seth McFarlane (try telling him that). This is about the Oscar pundits who have been on this long strange trip since the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. It has been their job to track the ebb and flow of the races (and ours to chart their ever-fluid forecasts). They’ve walked a fine line between journalistic objectivity to impassioned advocacy. We reached out to Entertainment Weekly ’s Anthony Breznican before the Oscar nominations were announced to ask about what he conceived to be the role of the Oscar pundit: “It would be arrogant to think that one reporter could dramatically change what the Academy thinks or to make a recommendation that everyone follows. I think the job really is in two parts: You have to reflect the mindset of the people who are casting the ballots because readers want to know what’s likely to get an Oscar nomination. You have to do your diligence and try to talk to as many voters as possible. How much of this is the job is the question. You can spend too much time in that echo chamber. There were a lot of worthy performances and so while you’re out there trying to reflect the feelings of the Hollywood voters, I think it’s important to occasionally [put out there], ‘Everyone’s talking about these films, but here’s one they’re not talking about that I feel is worthwhile.’ If all you do is reflect, you’re not really performing your duty, which is to highlight good work.” Oscar-race forecasting, impacted by forces objective (precursor awards) and subjective ( Emmanuelle Riva is 85 years-old!) can be a mercurial process, stymieing even Nate Silver , the graph-happy breakout prognosticator from the last presidential election, who got Best Director and Best Supporting Actor wrong (he went with Steven Spielberg and Tommy Lee Jones). The pundits’ respective acumens were put to the supreme test in a year.in which Academy members marked their ballots before the PGA, DGA and WGA nominations were announced. So how did they do? Slate.com has compiled an extensive (but not exhaustive) “Oscar Predictions Dartboard” that ranks the pundits, according to the accuracy of their picks. According to that site, the king of the prognosticators is Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil with a 91 percent success rate. His pick of Wreck-It Ralph for Best Animated Feature was the only choice that tripped him up in the categories that were analyzed. On the other hand, he correctly called the evening’s biggest surprise, Christoph Waltz’s Best Supporting Actor win over Tommy Lee Jones and Robert De Niro . His fellow Derby pundit Paul Sheehan also picked Waltz, which helped him rack up an 82 percent success rate and finish second, in a seven-way tie with EW ‘s Breznican, Huffington Post’s Michael Hogan and Indiewire’s Anne Thompson, all of whom did not pick the Django Unchained star. The pundits at In Contention, Gurus o’ Gold and Gold Derby, near unanimously charted Lincoln’s , slow, inexorable fade from frontrunner to also-ran behind Argo . Some, most notably Awards Daily’s Sasha Stone, were not happy about that, but they duly noted the sea change. Some races were fait acompli . “Anne Hathaway: Start writing your acceptance speech,” Yahoo!’s Thelma Adams wrote in November following the film’s world premiere in November. Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director presented more of a challenge, as the pundits tried to make sense and sensibility of the zero-hour groundswells for Riva, De Niro and eventual Oscar-winner Ang Lee . And now, it’s over. Ten more months until next year’s Oscar race begins in earnest. December 20. Mark your calendars. That’s the release date for Anchorman 2 . [ Slate ] Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Director Bryan Singer told Deadline yesterday that Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage will play a “key role” in X-Men: Second Class Days Of Future Past . This is, of course, great news for the spiffily dressed but not terribly interesting Mad Men mutants. Fans of Game of Thrones , Elf , 30 Rock , and The Station Agent have long known that Dinklage brings intelligence, gravity, and a scary-sharp wit to every production. In fact, I’d go so far as to declare that Dinklage is such a valuable asset every tentpole this year should add him to its cast. The Words of Peter need to spread far and wide. Here are four roles in 2013’s biggest sequels that Dinklage would tyrannize, or is that Tyrionize? : The Mandarin in Iron Man 3 : It’s time for a real challenge to Tony Stark. The first two installments had the billionaire superhero playing rock’em, sock’em robots, and The Avengers portrayed Stark as the coolest guy in the room. The trilogy-closer should give Robert Downey Jr. a truly worthy foe – one who’s smart enough to launch both a physical attack and a charm offensive. Because as awesome as his high-tech salute to the San Francisco 49ers is, Iron Man’s real weapon is his crinkly-eyed charisma and all the things it can get him, like Gwyneth Paltrow’s attention. Dinklage’s past performances suggest he’s Downey’s equal in the smart-ass and getting-ass departments, so the perfect showdown for Iron Man 3 would pit Iron Man’s quips against The Mandarin’s drollness in a game of pwns so amazing it’ll create a whole new level of snark. (Yes, Dinklage isn’t Chinese, but neither is Ben Kingsley or that indeterminate accent he’s working in the trailers.) Beetee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire : Strength, speed, and cunning won Katniss her first Hunger Games, but that won’t be enough to clinch a second victory in Catching Fire . With the Capitol out for blood — sigh , aren’t they every year? — our ponytailed heroine needs alliances, even with total dorks like Peeta, to win the 75 th Games, an all-star challenge that pits previous winners against each other. Dinklage’s lack of physical threat makes him perfect for the role of Beetee, a middle-aged electrician who’s formidable precisely because he doesn’t seem like it (and because he didn’t go to school in pouty archery). The Hunger Games trilogy is, among other things, great strategy porn, and the sight of Dinklage using what his mama gave him – those full, luscious brains – would make compulsive voyeurs of us all. Tad Fawn, sensitive ladies’ man, in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues : After Veronica Corningstone brought women’s lib to San Diego, the tides have turned on Ron Burgundy and his pelted goons. Southern California’s most-laid local celebrity is now Tad Fawn, the fuzzy sweater-loving, Stevie Nicks-adoring host of a popular PBS show about pet care. It’s frustrating enough to Ron that Cuddle Buddies is beating Channel 4 Evening News in the ratings, but now Tad is threatening to steal Ron’s greatest career achievement: the 1979 Playgirl ’s Burt of the Year title and centerfold. Dinklage’s best roles have allowed the actor to play the wounded bad boy, plus his real name is dirty enough to be his porn name . Dinklage is long overdue for a showcase for his sexy beast, and what better a forum could there be than a man-off with a soft, confused Will Ferrell ? Guy who slaps around Adam Sandler and his friends in Grown Ups 2 : That’s it. That’s the whole movie. I would, in fact, jump at the chance to get on a bus for half an hour, fork over $12 to the hungover teenager behind the counter, and suffer through a bunch of trailers I’ve already seen online but LOUDER just for the privilege of watching Dinklage slap the smirks off Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Kevin James for whining about how being a straight white guy in an America where women they don’t find attractive have the gall to exist is just so hard, man . ( Chris Rock gets a pass because it’s his first Happy Madison flick. He won’t be in the sequel.) When Dinklage gets tired, he can put on a snazzy suit and start throwing them around the room. He’s kind of the king of that . Inkoo Kang is a film critic and investigative journalist in Boston. She has been published in Indiewire, Boxoffice Magazine, Yahoo! Movies, Pop Matters, Screen Junkies, and MuckRock. Her great dream in life is to direct a remake of All About Eve with an all-dog cast. Follow Inkoo Kang on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The quest to predict this year’s Oscar winners with the same mathematical precision that fivethirtyeight blogger Nate Silver called the 2012 presidential election has got a new contestant. The filmmaking website The Credits has teamed up with the social analytics and monitoring company Brandwatch, to create a predictive data visualization that it has dubbed ” Social Oscars .” East Coast Editor Bryan Abrams says the algorithm, which was created by British quant Edward Crook, predicts the Oscar front-runners by focusing on the positive mentions that nominated films, directors and actors generate via critics and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Abrams explains that the algorithm is created to filter out mentions that are negative or that don’t specifically pertain to a nominated film or an actor’s performance in it. “If there’s a positive story about Best Supporting Actress nominee Anne Hathaway having lunch at The Ivy, that’s not going to be counted,” he says. The editor also estimates that, by the time the Academy Awards are handed out on Feb. 24, the algorithm will have evaluated more than a million mentions that it has evaluated on the Internet. The Social Oscars works differently than, for instance, The Huffington Post’s Oscar Predictions Dashboard , which incorporates box-office results and Rotten Tomatoes critics and audience scores. For one thing, it predicts frontrunners via two categories: Public Choice and Critics Choice. So, for instance, as of Feb. 15, Robert De Niro is the Critics Choice favorite for Best Supporting Actor, while Christoph Waltz is leading in the Public Choice category. In the Best Actress category, Jennifer Lawrence is far and away the public’s choice, but she’s virtually tied with Jessica Chastain with critics. And though some pundits are pushing a scenario in which Amour actress Emmanuelle Riva walks away with the prize, the French actress is a distant third in the Social Oscars race (but a rising number two on HuffPo’s dashboard). And for those rooting for Argo to upset Lincoln as Best Picture, there’s good news. The Ben Affleck-directed picture is the clear frontrunner, according to the Social Oscars algorithm. (See the graphic above.) Stay tuned. [ The Credits , Huffington Post ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
It was the private plane loan heard ’round the world. After Lindsey Vonn suffered major injuries and was airlifted to a hospital at the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a lift from Tiger Woods. Walking on crutches after tearing two ligaments in her right knee and fracturing her shin, the skier hopped aboard the golf legend’s private jet. Is was a clear sign that the rumors of Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn dating are true, and now sources close to the pair are confirming it as well. Says one close source: “Tiger and Lindsey have been friends for a while, and nothing started out romantically at all. But they really have a lot in common and got closer and closer.” “He still refers to her as ‘my very good friend,’ but he’s been spending more and more time thinking about her, and talking to her, and talking about her.” Last month, Vonn’s reps tried to deflect the rumors , saying her “focus is solely on competing and on defending her titles” but offering no denials. But another source says Tiger Woods, 37, and Lindsey Vonn, 28, talk and text frequently and while they’re taking it slow, it’s definitely romantic: “Tiger really does want a woman who he can have good conversations with. He wants shared interests and outlooks. He is finding that with [Lindsey].” Woods, of course, made international headlines in 2009 when he was linked to dozens of women while still married to his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren. Since then, he has dated sporadically, and struggled to find his golf game as well as someone who wanted a relationship for the right reasons. “She’s not freaked out by his past,” says the source. “That really appeals to him. He really does deserve to be happy. He has been flogging himself for three years, and it’s good to see him moving forward.” Presumably the source means metaphorically. In any case, Woods has been feeling it on the golf course lately, so 2013 could mark quite the personal and professional turnaround for Tiger. Especially with Lindsey on the shelf and recovering from her crash for the better part of the year. More quality time with her man … just saying. Silver linings.
SMH. Our youth really needs to get it together. Via NBC News: A 17-year-old boy has been arrested after police say he admitted to throwing a 9-year-old boy off the roof of a Bronx apartment building Friday night, critically injuring him. The 9-year-old boy was found on the pavement unconscious with severe body trauma in front of the five-story building on Nelson Avenue in Morris Heights at around 8:30 p.m., authorities said. He was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where he is listed in critical condition. On Saturday, police charged 17-year-old Casmine Aska with attempted murder. According to a police source, Aska told investigators that he threw the 9-year-old boy off the roof after they got into a fight. The boys are not related, but live in same the building. It was unclear what started the fight or how the two ended up on the roof. Aska’s family did not respond when a reporter knocked on the door to their apartment. We hope he recovers from the trauma….our thoughts are with that boy’s family.
Live and die by the gun… Chris Kyle Shot And Killed At Texas Gun Range Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, was shot and killed at a Texas gun range Saturday. Via RadarOnline reports: The retired Navy Seal had 150 kills certified during four tours of duty in Iraq between 1999 and 2009. Many reports numbered his kills at up to 225. His longest certified lethal hit was from a distance of 1.2 miles. Kyle, 38, and a neighbor Chad Littlefield, 35, were both shot and killed Saturday afternoon on the gun range at the posh Rough Creek Lodge, not far from Glen Rose, Texas. The two men had taken another veteran, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, there for the day in an effort to help him deal with his post traumatic stress syndrome, reports WFAA-TV. Multiple local news agencies are reporting that investigators have told them Routh turned his weapon on Kyle and Littlefield, killing them at point blank range. Routh then fled in Kyle’s car. He was pursued to a house in Lancaster, Texas by officers, including a local SWAT team. Routh tried to flee in a vehicle but was stopped about 9 pm after spikes were laid across a road, Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant told the Forth Worth Star Telegram. “The suspect has been caught and is in custody in Lancaster,” he said, adding that Erath County sheriff’s investigators and Texas Rangers were securing a capital murder warrant. Kyle was married and the father of two. He was wounded twice while in service and was awarded two Silver Stars. five Bronze Stars with Valor and numerous other commendations. Prayers sent up to the entire family. Terrible tragedy for all 3 families. RIP Chis Kyle an American hero and real American bad azz.
This week’s High and Low celebrates the sublime and the obscene. But though the two movies I’ve spotlighted couldn’t be more different, they’re both a lot of fun. Perhaps the case could be made that both movies celebrate female artists and their unique voices, but that might be stretching things a tad. Still, you might find yourself surprised by these titles — one’s less stodgy, and the other less stupid, than the casual observer might at first realize. HIGH: Pina (The Criterion Collection; DVD $29.95, Blu-Ray/3D Blu-Ray Combo Pack, $49.95) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Directed by Wim Wenders ; featuring dancers from the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: A celebration of the work of revolutionary dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch , whose visionary ideas about dance ranged from the kinds of movement that could be incorporated into performance pieces to the use of water, dirt and rocks onstage. (If you’ve seen Pedro Almodóvar’s Talk to Her , the dance pieces that bookend that film are Bausch works.) The interviews aren’t particularly illuminating, but the dance comes alive for Wenders’ camera, particularly since he shot in 3-D, which in this case helps make the cinematic experience more like being there live. WHY IT’S SCHMANCY: Even if the words “modern dance” send chills down your spine, Wenders makes this work very approachable, mixing performance with occasional narration from the late Bausch’s collaborators and acolytes in a way that brings us in and lets even dance newbies understand why this work is so groundbreaking and extraordinary. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT: Criterion goes 3-D for the first time with this release, and they couldn’t have picked a better movie to show off the process. There’s not a lot leaping out at you. Wenders instead goes for depth, and the effect both highlights the movement of the dancers and creates a physical context for their movement. There’s also the usual truckload of Criterion extras, including an interview with and commentary by Wenders, deleted scenes and a booklet that makes up for one of the movie’s minor shortcomings by identifying the dancers. LOW: For a Good Time, Call… (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; DVD $29.89, Blu-Ray $34.98) WHO’S RESPONSIBLE: Directed by Jamie Travis ; written by Lauren Miller and Katie Anne Naylon; starring Miller, Ari Graynor , Justin Long , Seth Rogen, Kevin Smith. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Recently dumped and between gigs, Lauren (Miller) is forced to share digs with her old college nemesis Katie (Graynor). The two become best pals after Lauren discovers that Katie is working as a phone-sex operator — and that the strait-laced Lauren, much to the surprise of both, is a natural at talking dirty for 99 cents a minute. WHY IT’S FUN: I know, the idea of a phone sex comedy feels at least a decade and a half out of date, but For a Good Time, Call… does a convincing job of making the idea of hot telephone chat seem contemporary, even in the Internet age. What’s such a treat about the movie is the way that it explores the intimacy of female friendships, while also allowing its leading ladies to be bawdy and outrageous in a way that never feels like a man’s idea of what a potty-mouth woman would sound like. WHY YOU SHOULD BUY IT: Given the film’s racy premise, it’s not surprising that they’ve got a longer, “unrated” cut that features even more smutty humor than the theatrical version. If you’ve got the time, they’ve got the funny. 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 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men (Advocate Books). Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
