Pope Benedict XVI can expect some pissed off Tweets this week. The head of the Roman Catholic Church said this week that gay marriage poses a threat to “justice and peace.” He also called same-sex marriage “unnatural.” The 85-year-old Pontiff kicked off the Christmas season on Friday afternoon with the traditional lighting of the tree in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square. There, he released the Pope’s message for World Day of Peace 2013. In his annual address, he that same-sex marriage is “against human nature.” According to reports, he said the following: “There is… a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union.” “Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.” “These principles are not truths of faith, nor are they simply a corollary of the right to religious freedom. They are inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason and thus common to all humanity.” The Pope went on to suggest that support of gay marriage “constitutes an offense against the truth of the human person, with serious harm to justice and peace.” Pope Benedict XVI said abortion is also a threat to peace. This is not the first time that Pope Benedict has vocally opposed same-sex marriage, having derided the idea as “insidious and dangerous” earlier this year. Previously, he had called same-sex unions “a threat to humanity.” Do you support the right of gay couples to marry? Support Oppose View Poll »
The Oscar Index’s head is spinning. What critics organization didn’t announce their nominees or award-winners this week? On Thursday it was the Golden Globes , on Wednesday the SAGs , and Monday the AFI and BFCA. The Boston, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles , Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis and Washington critics associations also weighed in with their picks. But critics don’t vote for the Academy Awards, so much of this will have little bearing on who will be nominated for an Academy Award; not Lincoln ’s seven Golden Globe nominations, not Dwight Henry’s Best Supporting Actor win from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Beasts of the Southern Wild , and not the Washington D.C. Film Critics Association’s pick of Zero Dark Thirty as the year’s best film. By splitting its acting categories into drama and musical-comedy, the Golden Globes muddle the view of the fields , but they do afford some Oscar dark-horses like Richard Gere some necessary exposure to keep their chances alive. Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild Awards do matter as an Oscar precursor, as do perhaps some preemptive strikes at a probable Oscar frontrunner. But how big a target is Zero Dark Thirty ? We got a pretty good idea this week. Let’s go to the Gold Lining Playbook. Best Picture Zero Dark Thirty might have sustained some damage this week in the wake of several newspaper pieces that charge the film with being pro-torture and questioning the character of the real-life inspiration for the CIA analyst portrayed in the film by Jessica Chastain . A New York Times Op-Ed piece provocatively opened, “I’m betting that Dick Cheney will love the new movie Zero Dark Thirty ,” Greg Miller in the Washington Post wrote that the real-life operative, who remains undercover, “was passed over for a promotion that many in the CIA thought would be impossible to withhold from some who played such a key role in one of the most successful operations in agency history.” A New Yorker profile of director Kathryn Bigelow questions whether the film’s waterboarding scene takes dramatic liberties with the true story. The timing of these stories is suspect. If past Oscar campaigning has taught us anything, one has to ask at this early stage: Just how far will Harvey Weinstein go to win Oscars for Silver Linings Playbook ? which did receive a Screen Actor’s Guild’s ensemble nomination, a Best Picture equivalent. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ’s SAG ensemble nomination could boost the film’s chances for a Best Picture nomination. Its distinguished British cast (classy) and pure escapism would seem irresistible to the typical Oscar voter, which the Los Angeles Times last year found was 94 percent Caucasian and a median age of 62. The Dark Knight Rises and so perhaps its Best Picture hopes after being named among the year’s 10 best films by the American Film Institute. Amends for The Dark Knight ? That The Master was not noticed by the SAG for its powerhouse ensemble is testament to the once presumed frontrunner’s fading buzz, while the omission of the critically praised Beasts of the Southern Wild was due to its SAG ineligibility. Likewise, the shutout of Quentin Tarantino ’s wildly anticipated Django Unchained might be a simple matter of screeners not being available in time for voters, theorizes Awards Daily ’s Sasha Stone. And with its five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture, Django could join the Oscar Best Picture race. 1. Lincoln 2. Zero Dark Thirty 3. Silver Linings Playbook 4. Les Miserables 5. Argo 6. Beasts of the Southern Wild 7. Life of Pi 8. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 9. The Sessions 10. Django Unchained Ones to watch: The Dark Knight Rises, The Impossible, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Skyfall Best Director It’s doubtful that the potshots at Zero Dark Thirty will be enough to keep Bigelow out of the running. The director and screenwriter Mark Boal returned fire against agenda-driven critics. “This movie has been and will continue to be put in political boxes,” Boal told The Wrap this week. “Before we even wrote it, some people said it was an Obama campaign commercial, which was preposterous. And now it’s pro-torture, which is preposterous.” That leaves a slot for David O’Russell , Ang Lee , or late entrant Quentin Tarantino, who received his inevitable Golden Globe nomination Thursday. Pundits still give Lee an edge. The Golden Globes’ surprise snub of Tom Hooper is another indication that this field is anything but set. The Director’s Guild nominations, a reliable Oscar precursor, will be announced on Jan. 8, two days prior to the Academy. 1. Steven Spielberg ( Lincoln ) 2. Kathryn Bigelow ( Zero Dark Thirty ) 3. Ben Affleck ( Argo ) 4. Ang Lee ( Life of Pi ) 5. Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) Ones to watch: Paul Thomas Anderson ( The Master ), Michael Haneke ( Amour ), David O. Russell ( Silver Linings Playbook ), Quentin Tarantino ( Django Unchained ) Next: Best Actor & Actress
From Ms. Connelly’s casaba-baring turn in The Hot Spot to her last sandbag flash in The House of Sand and Fog , it’s impossible to discuss Jennifer without bringing up her mighty jugs.
Welcome to this week in SKINstant gratification, where we rub down all the newest Netflix nudes worth streaming to! First up, get your head spinning thanks to all the Czech cans in 360 (2012), then get goofball antics and more gazongas in FDR: American Badass! (2012). Then, head on back to the 1980’s for timeless tatas from Teri Garr in One from the Heart (1982), Sean Young in No Way Out (1987), and the dancing dumplings of Flashdance (1983). See pics after the jump!
The Oscar-winning producer of this year’s anti-Obama doc 2016 Obama’s America is calling foul after the Academy released its Documentary Shortlist for Oscar consideration earlier this week. [ Related: Academy Names 15 As Best Documentary Oscar Contenders; ‘Central Park Five’ Snubbed ] Gerald Molen, who produced 1994’s Schindler’s List (with Steven Spielberg and Branko Lustig) won the Academy Award for Best Picture said political bias is to blame for 2016 not making the cut of 15 titles to advance to the next round. Directed by Dinesh D’Souza, the pic took in a cool $33.44 million domestically, earning more at the box office than the 15 who did advance to Oscar-nomination eligibility combined. Molen, however, said D’Souza believed the Academy – which is criticized by conservatives of being largely liberally biased – might snub the doc. “Dinesh warned me this might happen,” Molen said with a laugh, according to THR . “The action confirms my opinion that the bias against anything from a conservative point of view is dead on arrival in Hollywood circles. The film’s outstanding success means that America went to see the documentary in spite of how Hollywood feels about it.” 2016 Obama’s America is not the only box office cash-cow that didn’t make the short list for 2012. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz’s Katy Perry: Part of Me did not join the fifteen. Though not quite as successful as 2016 , the Katy Perry movie did gross over $25.3 million domestically (and over $32 million worldwide). Both D’Souza’s 2016 and Michael Moore’s 2004 not-so-subtle anti-Bush smash Fahrenheit 9/11 may indicate an emerging cinematic convention: Anti-presidential incumbent non-fictions turn out the crowds, but not the Oscar nominations. Fahrenheit outstripped 2016 at the box office, taking in over $119 million in 2004 dollars and it even scored the Cannes Palme d’Or that year. But it did not receive an Oscar nomination. Still, the Oscar snub has caught the eire of its filmmakers and they’re not above throwing a bit of light-hearted shade to some of those films that did make the list this week. “I want to thank the Academy for not nominating our film,” D’Souza said. “By ignoring 2016, the top-performing box-office hit of 2012, and pretending that films like Searching for Sugar Man and This Is Not a Film are more deserving of an Oscar, our friends in Hollywood have removed any doubt average Americans may have had that liberal political ideology, not excellence, is the true standard of what receives awards.” [ Source: THR ]
It’s a sad day when we have to report minimal nudity in theaters, but this week is shaping up to be practically skin-free in the cinema. The wide releases include the Brad Pitt action extravaganza Killing Them Softly (2012), which is a total sausage fest, with only Linara Washington appearing in her panties 54-minutes in. Also opening is the fright flick The Collection (2012) which spectacularly fails to reveal any stereotypical horror hoots. Your only hope for a stocking stuffer is the limited release Silent Night (2012), which features a topless Cortney Palm running from a murderous Santa. At least there is a killer line-up of Netflix and Blu-ray nudes this week! More after the jump!
It’s been known for days, but now it’s official: Hector “Macho” Camacho was taken off life support this morning and passed away from injuries he suffered in a shooting earlier this week. He was 50 years old. The multiple-time world champion had not fought since 2010 and had also been involved in a number of run-ins with the law over recent years, from burglary charges to domestic abuse allegations. On Tuesday morning, he and a long-time friend were driving along a road in Bayoman, Puerto Rico when another vehicle pulled up alongside them. Those in the other car fired shots at Camacho and the driver, instantly killing the latter and striking the former in the head and neck. He was rushed to the hospital, where Camacho suffered a heart attack and doctors soon determined he was brain dead. Family members have been by his side the rest of the week and finally decided this morning to take him off life support. The police are looking into the incident, which may have been drug-related, but thus far have no suspects.
Robin Roberts has once again updated fans on her physical condition. The Good Morning America anchor – who has taken a leave of absence from that program following a bone marrow transplant on September 20 – just returned home against after a week in the hospital. She was treated there for a virus that failed to respond to medication. “Our immune systems usually take care of a virus like this … but mine is only 59 days old,” Roberts wrote in a post called “Home Sweet Home: Part II.” Added Roberts of the latest visit: “Physically I felt fine but being back in the hospital took an emotional toll on me. The wonderful doctors, nurses and support staff lifted my spirits..it was comforting seeing them again. Robin’s sister, Sally-Ann – who donated the blood marrow and helped saved her sibling’s life – flew in to The Big Apple over the weekend to assist with the discharge. These two will be featured tomorrow morning on a special GMA segment. We recommend tuning in. With a box off tissues at the ready.
