After bringing 12 minutes of The Hobbit to Comic-Con — where Peter Jackson purposefully did not present footage in the 48 frames per second/3-D presentation that perplexed audiences at CinemaCon — the Lord of the Rings filmmaker spoke further about his desire to explore even more ground in the fantasy universe created by J.R.R. Tolkien. One possibility may be a third Hobbit film culled from Tolkien’s expansive LOTR notes and appendices, though Jackson admitted that the author’s posthumously published Silmarillion might present more of a challenge. Familiar faces filled the screen in the Hobbit preview, which gave Comic-Con fans glimpses of Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel, Ian McKellan’s Gandalf, Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, and new cast member Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in the two-parter, which will hit screens in December 2012 and 2013. Speaking with press, Jackson acknowledged his choice to present the footage in 2-D rather than the 48 fps that earned mixed-to-negative buzz at CinemaCon. “We have to try to figure out ways to make this cinematic experience much more spectacular, more immersive,” he said. “But you know, Hall H isn’t the place to do it.” Neither is showing just ten minutes of footage in 48 fps an adequate way to introduce the format to thousands of uninitiated fans who may not even be used to big screen 3-D, he insisted. CinemaCon seems to have also taught Jackson not to let 48 fps overshadow the actual film at hand. “I didn’t want to repeat the CinemaCon experience where literally people see this reel and all they write about is 48 frames a second. That doesn’t do us any good. It doesn’t do 48 fps any good. To accurately judge that, you really need to sit down and watch the entire film.” Meanwhile, Jackson and collaborators Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh are in the early stages of looking at a potential third Hobbit film based on the vast 125-page appendices in Tolkien’s Return of the King , some of which was used to flesh out The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again . “Philippa and Fran and I have been talking to the studio about the other things we haven’t been able to shoot and seeing if we can possibly persuade them to do a few more weeks of shooting — possibly more than a few weeks, actually — a bit of additional shooting next year,” Jackson said. “There are other parts of the story that we’d like to tell that we haven’t had the chance to tell yet.” Jackson looked to the additional Tolkien notes to fill in certain character backstories and events missing from the primary texts. “For instance, in The Hobbit where Gandalf mysteriously disappears for chapters on end and it’s not really explained in any detail where he’s gone, much later Tolkien fleshed those out in these appendices,” he explained. “It was altogether a lot more dark and more serious than what was written in The Hobbit . And I do want to make a series of movies that run together so if any crazy lunatic wants to watch them all together in a row, there will be a consistency of tone.” A completist’s cinematic tour of the LOTR world might include Tolkien’s Silmarillion , a collection of universe-building mythology edited and posthumously published by Tolkien’s son Christopher in 1977. The problem, Jackson says, is in who controls the rights to the work. “ The Silmarillion is the big volume, but that’s owned by the Tolkien estate,” he said. “It’s not owned by Warner Bros. or MGM — and I don’t think the Tolkien estate are very fond of these movies, so I wouldn’t expect to see The Silmarillion any time soon.” Read more from Comic-Con 2012 here. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
A REVIEW OF JB’S NEW ALBUM! twitter: @IsraelFlores instagram: IsraelFlores skype: ihavethelisp YES I WORK AT CARLO’S BAKERY! http://www.youtube.com/v/ukgsMzstZYM?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata View original post here: JUSTIN BIEBER “BELIEVE” ALBUM REVIEW
Why do we believe, or need to believe, in the possibilities that lie beyond the laws of physics and known science — the unlikely, irrational hope that suggest something more exists in the universe, be it spiritual or simply supernatural? Actor Cillian Murphy explores these Big Questions in Rodrigo Cortes’ Red Lights as Tom Buckley, a paranormal debunker who goes head-to-head with a powerful pop psychic (Robert De Niro) whose self-proclaimed powers to bend spoons and read minds may be mere parlour tricks compared to what he’s really capable of. In researching the role of a paranormal investigator for the twisty thriller (Cortes’ follow up to Buried ), Murphy found himself studying real-life mentalists, magicians, and self-proclaimed seers. But while the self-described “boringly rational” skeptic may not believe in the existence of the supernatural, one encounter gave him an understanding of how these magnetic personalities inspire whole-hearted devotion in legions of hope-seekers. Murphy only met the magician David Copperfield for a few brief moments backstage in Vegas, but their exchange made an impact. “The man’s got an aura for sure,” he marveled, though De Niro’s Simon Silver combines the charisma of Copperfield with the mysticism of Uri Geller to create a much more intimidating onscreen adversary. Movieline spoke further with Murphy about what drew him to the storytelling and themes of Red Lights , acting opposite film legends Weaver and De Niro, and rumors that he’ll pop up in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises . What was your initial reaction to the concept of Red Lights ? Part of what’s intriguing about the script is how it plays with viewer expectation — what hooked you? Every script that you get, you always have to judge it on the word on the page and that’s always been my sort of mantra. A lot of the time when you read scripts you can kind of predict where they’re going to go pretty quickly, and with this one I couldn’t. And that’s no fun, when you can guess at a story’s secrets. No! But that tends to be the majority of scripts. You kind of know what’s going to happen and what the character is like. This one took turns that I was pleasantly surprised by. And I’d also seen Rodrigo’s two other films, and you could see he was the real deal — he was a real director. And obviously you throw in a couple of legends, and the whole package was very, very appealing to me. By legends, you mean Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro. Of course, but unless the part and the director and the script is any use, that’s immaterial. But the fact that they were already signed on to do those parts … that was definitely appealing. Rodrigo has said that he wrote Sigourney’s character with her in mind, which is great — those interesting kinds of female characters don’t come along that frequently. Did her character and De Niro’s character leap off the page as much for you early on? It was really well written, and it was very smart; it didn’t pander to an audience. And the twists and turns were surprising to me, and as you say that’s a great strong female part — where her character goes, you don’t expect. I enjoy the way in the TV debate equal credence is given to both camps, and it wasn’t about ridiculing or pointing fingers — it was about rigorously looking for the truth. I like scripts that presuppose a level of intelligence in the audience, and again they’re sort of rare. When it comes to the themes in the film — faith, skepticism, these huge ideas — how much did the chance to play with those ideas factor in for you? I think they’re obviously big questions in the film, but for me I focused on the character, and for me the character the two driving forces are obsession and self-acceptance, or the lack of self-acceptance. Those were the two things for me that drove Tom Buckley’s character and I focused in on those, because those are quite universal. The broader picture about skepticism and belief and blind faith and science and all those things, I would personally be very much in the skeptic camp. I’d be very much about proof and logic and reason, that’s always been my boringly rational approach to life, but I’m fascinated by why people needed to believe in these things. The need to believe was the thing that really struck me — the need to believe, rather than to understand. To many people that’s a need to have something to believe in, in order to get through. To get through — and that’s absolutely fine and valid, but where it becomes darker is where that is preyed upon. If people are ill, or people have lost loved ones, and then people are willing to set aside logic and reason and rational thought and bankrupt themselves because some charlatan is promising them relief. Rodrigo did a fair amount of research into real world healers and the like; did you do much of the same, and how did what you learned affect your perspective? I did a lot of reading about it, a great deal in fact. I also went to Vegas to see the more showbizzy aspect of it. Like a Criss Angel show? Criss Angel, David Copperfield — that stuff is good, harmless fun. It’s like showbiz. But De Niro’s character is more an amalgam of the televangelists, the psychics, Uri Geller and all these sorts of guys who claim something beyond what the Copperfield and Criss Angel do, which is pure entertainment and great fun. But you can see there how they use their aura, or their personality — which is large anyway — and then magnify that on stage. I do think there’s a power of personality that’s important in this, that we haven’t talked about that much. I met David Copperfield afterwards very briefly backstage in Vegas, and the man’s got an aura for sure. You put that up on stage and magnify it and that’s what De Niro’s character Simon Silver plays on. That’s why it’s great casting to put someone like De Niro in there because the man’s presence is immense, it’s just massive — so you put a camera on that and it’s magnified tenfold. Certain people do have that sort of charisma that’s palpable in the air, in a room, on a screen — but it’s interesting to hear this from you, being an actor. Some might say the same about you, given the nature of your work. Well, I don’t know if they would or not! Obviously when you’re playing a part, there’s a part of your personality in it, but you try and sort of project different sides of it. You use whatever aspects of the personality that work. I don’t have a clue — its’ very hard for me to talk about acting, or the process of acting. What was David Copperfield like? Well, that was a really brief thing, and for whatever reason we were backstage and it was really dark. It was like in a little corridor and he came out, and — yeah, he definitely had an effect. You felt it. Yeah. And I’ve seen that, people walk into a room and they change the energy. And it’s not anything paranormal or extra-sensory, it’s just that they have, like you say, this charisma. Red Lights is interesting in that it’s a genre movie that doesn’t act like a genre movie. No, it doesn’t — and I’ve been in plenty of so-called genre movies and never for a moment thought they were science fiction or a zombie movie or whatever, I just thought they were about character and story. It’s easier for people to slot them into genres because they can sell them easier that way. What was your impression of Rodrigo as a director? Rodrigo is ferociously intelligent, very clear in his vision, very clear in his aesthetic, and luckily, our sensibilities were kind of the same. I think that when someone has that clear a vision, you feel safe, then — safe to experiment, to sort of improvise because you know that within that structure he knows what every frame of that film is going to be like. And I like working with writer-directors because they’ve lived with the character, they’ve lived with the story, so they have a deeper sense of it. They might not have all the answers, but you can really knock it around with them and you can ask them, “Why?” or “What does this mean?” We really got on; he’s got a great sense of humor, too, and shooting in Spain we shot very, very fast. It was very intense. It was something like ten weeks… Yes — it was eight in Spain and then some in Toronto. I like the immersive experience of acting, I like just completely disappearing into a character, into an environment, into a role — that’s always appealed to me, and this was very much like that. Are you an actor who takes this disappearing into character off-set as well? I don’t know. I’m not sure. I’m probably not that easy to live with when I’m working on something very intensely, but you know, you’re working 16-17 hours a day, so you just come home and go to bed. And then you get up and go to set. I love that. It’s pure concentration, and they say happiness is concentration. I love that. Seems like it might be something like an extended adrenaline rush. It kind of is! And we were working, we did a crazy amount of set-ups a day, it was very fast. It’s exciting. You said part of what drew you in was the opportunity to work with Sigourney and Robert — what was that like for you when you finally got to shoot with them? Amazing. You’ve got to just observe and learn, don’t you? And they were beautiful and warm and generous, and ultimately you really have to put aside the legend thing as best you can when the camera turns over and it’s “Action!” you’ve got to serve the scene and the character, but they were all about that. I think they must be aware of the effect of their legacy on an actor of my generation, but they were never anything other than people there to do the work. But it was fascinating getting to watch actors that good. You’ve got to learn from that. Was it fun shouting at De Niro? Hey, he shouts at me, too! [Laughs] Lastly, folks have been wondering if you’ve been working with Chris Nolan again on The Dark Knight Rises . I love working with Chris. I’ve been lucky to work with him a few times, and any time, I’ll be there. But listen, it comes out [soon]. So let’s try and be patient! People are so impatient these days! Let’s wait and see. I do believe there were reports of you being spotted on the set… [Smiling] Look, I’m not going to add to any speculation. I just think that it’s going to be a phenomenal film, and the best way to watch a film — surely — is by going in there hugely excited and not knowing anything about it. I suppose in a way that brings us full circle with Red Lights and the idea of the filmmaker as a sort of magician, keeping tricks up their sleeve. Yeah, I do think this is a film sort of about filmmaking. Rodrigo talks about distracting here, and showing something there, and it is all smoke and mirrors. But I wouldn’t get too into that metaphor, because I didn’t make the movie. Red Lights is in limited release this week. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
It seems like only yesterday comic book fans were all excited about the very first Spider-Man movie — Sam Raimi’s 2002 take on the webslinging superhero, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. With Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone stepping in to lead Marc Webb’s high school-set The Amazing Spider-Man , a lot of people are wondering if the reboot is any different at all. Time will tell if fans decide Amazing is better or worse, or maybe just the same as Raimi’s Spider-Man — but looking back on interviews from 2002’s Spider-Man junket, it turned out some of the exact same questions were asked of both sets of directors and stars. If you’re not sure whether The Amazing Spider-Man is a fresh take on the Marvel superhero tale you’ve seen before, see if the filmmakers’ answers to the same questions convince you. (Boy, Kirsten Dunst sounded so young back then!) Directors Sam Raimi and Marc Webb were both asked: How did you approach the humorous/wisecracking side of Spider-Man ? Sam Raimi: It’s just like if you go to tell a joke that you heard or if you read 40 years of Spider-Man comic books and now it’s your turn to tell the Spider-Man origin story, if you said, “Well, there was this radioactive spider that bit this kid,” if that’s how you chose to tell it, you’d be telling it a very different way than I would tell it. I would have to start with who the kid was, what his problems are and what things meant to him. So, I understood what the transformation meant to him. I think everybody just tells it differently and I didn’t have a good plan for how I was going to tell it. I just told it the way I saw it. Marc Webb: That’s something from the comics that I’ve always been really a fan of. Humor is a tricky thing because it’s very subjective. The first domino is Peter Parker getting left behind by his parents. I thought to myself, “What does that do to someone? How does that change your view of the world?” To me, it creates a little bit of a level of distrust. There is a sarcasm that comes from that and the quipiness, like in the car thief scene where that attitude comes out. That generates from this chip on his shoulder. It’s a little bit mean and he’s a little bit snarky, but that’s an attitude that we can all understand and relate to. Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were asked: What was your physical training to bulk up? Tobey Maguire: I worked very hard. I trained for a little while before I even screen tested, or before I got the role because I knew the screen test was coming up, so I just went on a little bit of a training routine and a diet myself. Then I was cast and worked out for five months, six days a week, anywhere from an hour and a half to four hours a day, a combination of gymnastics, martial arts, yoga, weight lifting, high end cardio like cycling and running, and I had a very specific diet, worked with a nutritionist. I did do some protein shakes, but no weight gain power. I had to eat a lot of food. I’m a vegetarian so I did have to concentrate on eating enough protein and I would get that through soy and nuts and beans and shakes. A lot of the protein powders are made from animal products, so that was kind of tricky for me too. Andrew Garfield: The training is horrible, like the physical training changed my body because I’m a lazy guy. I’m vain, but I’m not vain enough to care about the gym. And Armando Alarcon was my trainer and he’s a fantastic trainer and a terrible person. [Laughs] I have very confused feelings about Armando. Wherever he is, he knows that. He’s hiding from me because he will be murdered one day. No, but we had a great time. I was thankful for him. He kept me on an even keel all the way through, and that combined with the whole stunt team was a pretty awesome experience. Both Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone were asked: How did it feel to change your hair color? Kristen Dunst: You know, my hair wasn’t completely red. It was only red in the front. So it kinda just looked like punk rockish or something. It was cool, I liked it. It’s just like the red streak. People were like, ‘Why do you have a red streak in your hair?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m doing the movie Spider-Man and my hair is too short to dye all my hair so I have wear a wig.’ Nothing major. Emma Stone: I’ll tell you. I dyed my hair brown when I was 15 and I was first auditioning in LA. I sounded pretty much like I do now and my personality was pretty much the same, which was a little bit weird for parts for 15-year-olds. So a lot of the time it was during pilot season and I was going out for a lot of Disney Channel and stuff, and I don’t know if I exactly fit into the mold. So I dyed my hair brown and a week later I got my first role, which actually worked out so it was kind of cool. And then a couple of years went by and I was cast in Superbad. I was at the camera test for that movie and Martha MacIsaac, who played Becca in the movie, had brown hair. Judd Apatow I just remember walked in and said, “Make it red” to the hair person. So they took me to the hair salon the next day and they dyed my hair red. My mom is a redhead naturally, so I guess I have the skin tone for a redhead. So they made my hair red and I’m telling you, for five years I tried to get it back to blonde but for every role people would be like, “Oh, we want it red. We want it strawberry blonde. We need a shade of red, just something red.” So I stayed red. I love having red hair so I’m sure it’ll happen again someday. Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were asked: Did you have any difficulties with the costume? Tobey Maguire: In the beginning I did a cast of my entire body, which was not fun because I had to stand there for a couple hours and then the stuff stuck to the hair on my body and they ripped it off. It was extremely painful. The suit was fine and by the time I got to wearing it on the set, I was fine, especially if you’re moving around and doing the action. You don’t even think about it and it would give me a freedom that I didn’t otherwise feel. I mean, if I was moving around the way Spider-Man moves without that suit on, I think I’d probably feel a little silly. If I started crawling across this table with my clothes on, I’d probably be a little embarrassed about it. Andrew Garfield: You know, I had many issues with that costume. But every actor who plays a superhero is like, ‘The costume sucked.” Like, we should just get together to talk about it because it’s so inappropriate to talk about in public. It’s like, how dare we complain? We’re the ones that get to wear it! It’s the dream. But, it was so terrible. Let me just put it this way: the fantasy of wearing those costumes is really awesome. Just enjoy that. Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were asked: How did you identify with Peter Parker? Tobey Maguire: Quite a bit seeing as though I was playing him. I identified with the character very strongly in some ways reflecting back in my life and in some ways things that are currently going on for me. I think that he basically is dealing with becoming an adult with extreme circumstances that he has superhuman powers and that complicates things or makes him come to decisions quicker. I think he’s very relatable to everybody in that way, that it’s just like becoming an adult basically. With great power comes great responsibility and I think it’s a great power when you realize at some point that you have free will and you’ve got to make choices in how to live your life and what existence is to you and what kind of purpose do you have to your life and I think those are the things that Peter Parker struggles with, so I relate to that. Andrew Garfield: I think it’s important to me that he started with a heroic impulse, without the physical power to do anything with it. That was always how I felt growing up. You know, I felt like an underdog, and I was a skinny kid. Now, I’m not. Obviously, I’m a huge bruiser. [Joking] I got over that problem. Now I just realize that being skinny is okay. I always thought I should have been bigger for some reason because society tells you that. Everyone played rugby and I played rugby and I was good at it, but I got concussed all the time because I was a weakling. So that was something I always identified with for Peter. He always felt stronger on the inside than he did on the outside. And there’s nothing better than seeing a skinny guy beat the crap out of big guys. That was important for me. Both Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone were asked: What attracted you to the role of Mary Jane/Gwen Stacy? Kirsten Dunst: I think it was that I could make a superhero for the girls to look up to and she had a good journey of her own. I felt the romance is one of the core emotional drives of Spider-Man during the film. I really felt it was an important part and not just the girlie-girl flying around. Emma Stone: At first I had met [Producer] Laura Ziskin really earn on, maybe two weeks after it was announced for Mary Jane. I’d always wanted to play Mary Jane. I thought Mary Jane was so great. And then a couple of months went by and they called me again and said, “We’d like you to audition, but the part’s Gwen Stacy.” So I looked into the story of Gwen and I just feel in love with Gwen’s story because it is so incredibly epic and tragic and incredible in the way that it affect Peter going forward with Mary Jane, who is another character that I love. Both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb were asked why they cast Tobey Maguire/Andrew Garfield. Sam Raimi: I was very luck to work with Tobey Maguire. I really think he’s a great Peter Parker because the strength of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s creation has always been that Spider-Man is one of us. I needed somebody that was identifiable to the audience, somebody whose ability to act was invisible, no artifice. Tobey’s smart. He has a high regard for the audience and the camera, and a great respect for the camera. I think he believes, without him saying so, that if he simply believes a thought or is in the moment, that the camera records it and the audience receives it. Marc Webb: I had known his work from Boy A and Red Riding . If you look at Boy A , yes, there’s a childlike quality in the way he moves and behaves in that film is pretty extraordinary versus in Red Riding , he had this incredible intensity and focus. Very different kind of character. And then when he was auditioning and we were watching him, he had a rare combination. He can do the emotional gravitas that’s required. Peter Parker has a lot of tragedy in his life but he’s also got whimsy. He’s also funny and alive and light and sarcastic. Those are the kind of attributes that I really wanted to explore in the film. So you have that and then he has an incredible physical stamina. When you’re doing a movie that requires this level of physical intensity, we tried to especially at the beginning part of the movie, do a lot of the stunts a more practical way. That requires a very, very significant amount of effort on the part of the actor and for someone to have that kind of maturity and focus is really, really tricky. All abiding in somebody who can convincingly behave like a teenager. Both Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone were asked: Do you see yourself as a role model? Kirsten Dunst: I do in a way. I see how much movies affect people or this or that. I do feel like I have some responsibility. Yeah, I do. I’m going to be myself and I’m not going to change for anybody. It’s worked so far and luckily I’m okay. I haven’t gone off track. Emma Stone: I will say – and I’ve thought about this for a long time – I don’t in any way, shape or form think that I am any type of a role model or anything like that. But for whatever reason when you’re put in a public place, you have to figure out what that purpose is in your life, why that may have happened or what you can possibly do with something like that. There’s something that came with getting a Revlon contract, actually. They approached me for the Revlon contract and I thought, “Why in the world would I be approached for a beauty campaign?” because I’d always been the funny girl. And that’s not to put myself down, that was always the way that my brain worked. And then I thought about Diane Keaton for L’Oreal and Ellen Degeneres for Cover Girl and how sometimes real beauty gets to be celebrated, like what’s inside is what counts. You can still feel beautiful or put makeup on because it makes you feel good and not for anybody else. And that was something that I was like, “Well, if I have an opportunity to possibly reach people or reach young girls in a way that makes them feel like what they are is enough and what the balance of their personality that set them apart and that made them original, if they feel good about that in any way, if that affects one person, then that’s a game-changer.” That’s something that I’m proud to be helpful in any way of looking real or being a real person. Yeah, I do feel a slight not responsibility but privilege to be able to speak to younger girls and hopefully make them feel like it’s okay to be themselves. Are the two Spideys so different? Did each set of filmmakers and stars come from similar places with their versions of the mythology? Which did you like better? Follow Fred Topel on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
If Blake Lively was your aunt, wouldn’t you try to pull some La Luna (1979) shenanigans with her? We would. Blake tells Starpluse about an unusual encounter with her 4-year-old nephew that happened before her recent appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman : ” He was tattling on his older brother and he comes running in and I said, ‘No, no, no, don’t come in, I’m naked…’ It was from behind and I was covering myself from the front and he walks in and it was a little too late. He just sees me and turns beet red and then, like, folds over laughing .” “And then later he came back again and he wanted me to throw him on the bed… and he’s pulling open the door and I said, ‘I can’t, I’m naked again,’ and he goes, ‘Can I see, can I see?’ He’s four. That’s not OK.” Good luck, kid, because you just got the peeper’s equivalent of crystal meth- one hit, and you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to re-create that first high. See more hot content from Savages (2012) and Gossip Girl star Blake Lively , including the nude cell phone pics that leaked earlier this year, right here at MrSkin.com
There’s no getting around it- Dreama Walker is adorable. It’s the big blue doe eyes. And you probably know her from her work on sitcoms like Don’t Trust the B—- In Apartment 23 . But like all actresses (except for maybe Pamela Anderson ), Dreama wants to be taken seriously . To this end, she starts in the controversial Sundance film Compliance (2012), where she plays a fast-food cashier who’s humiliated and strip searched by her boss after an anonymous caller accuses her of stealing. Pretty heavy stuff, but at least she makes our Dreama-s come true by going topless at the 28-minute mark as she takes off her uniform and again 55 minutes in when she does nude jumping jacks. Compliance hits theaters next month, and the first trailer confirms that it will indeed be some pretty intense sh*t. Do you like these sorts of heady indie flicks, or will you be waiting for the screen caps on Mr. Skin?
There’s a potential custody fight over Suri Cruise on the horizon, but when it comes to Tom Cruise’s older kids, the ties that bind seem to be tight ones. Isabella and Connor Cruise, his two adopted children with ex Nicole Kidman, have so far remained mum on the impending Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce . But Connor seems to be weighing in, subtly, taking to Twitter to allude to the news: “#LaFamilia Always. Friends Come And Go, But Family Is Forever.” Connor Cruise , 17, is especially tight with his dad. These last few weeks, he was on hand as Tom received the Friar’s Club’s Entertainment Icon Award. The 33-year-old Holmes, who is reportedly seeking sole custody of Suri, 6, has been close to her stepson and stepdaughter since marrying Tom. Holmes has hunkered down in NYC following the split, amid speculation that his commitment to Scientology played a role in the relationship’s demise. Cruise, who’s been on location in Iceland filming the sci-fi flick Oblivion , has just hired Dennis Wasser to represent him in the divorce battle ahead. That’s the same attorney who handled his divorce from Kidman in 2001; He and Nicole, who is re-married to Keith Urban, remain on good terms. [Photo: WENN.com]
Kate Upton who?!? In a clear challenge to that swimsuit model for the title of Sexiest Summer Starlet, Ashley Greene has posed for the August issue of Esquire and, by doing so, has issued a warning to men around the world: Forget Breaking Dawn . You’ll soon be breaking a sweat all over your keyboard… In an interview with the magazine, Greene talks about landing the role of Alice Cullen in The Twilight Saga and how she wasn’t prepared for it when she first started her acting career. “In my second year in Los Angeles, when I was eighteen, I wasn’t getting any bookings so I stopped going out, stopped partying,” she says. “It was a matter of getting to the work. I had to focus.” We understand. If you’ll now excuse us, we need to focus intently on this spread of Ashley Greene photos .
Kate Middleton, the People’s Princess, is a down-to-earth girl by all accounts … except in this taxi commercial from China that parodies her as the opposite. In the clip, a Kate lookalike stands outside with a fax Prince William and Queen Elizabeth II, complaining, “I didn’t marry royalty to schlep around in a taxi.” They do look a bit like Will and Kate, too. The Queen impostor? Not so much. Panda Cabs Commercial Spoofs Kate Middleton William attempts to reason with his beautiful wife, “But darling, Granny is right. The commoners want to see us tightening our belts and all that.” “Rubbish, people want to see that they can be like us if they just work hard,” Kate responds. The Queen then mockingly asks, “Like you did?” Ohhh! “Now, now, Granny,” William says. “We all know that it’s I who fell for Kate.” “That’s right, I didn’t even fancy him at first,” the faux Kate Middleton says. “Don’t you remember? You had to practically beg me for my phone number.” Fortunately, of course, Wills had Panda Cab on speed-dial. Within seconds, a car appears, whisking the trio away to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Pregnant Snooki is preparing hardcore for her impending arrival. She’s quit drinking, she’s cut back on partying and she’s no longer tanning. She’s even getting practice with a stroller … transporting a 30-pack of Coors Light. If there were ever a picture worth 1,000 words … Sporting hot pink shades, a big brown shirt reading BOSS and her growing baby bump, Snooki looked more or less like her usual strollin’ in Seaside Heights, N.J. The beer was (hopefully) just a joke, or for one of her Jersey Shore cohorts. “It’s different because now I’m not drinking,” said the star recently. “Pregnancy made me grow up a lot.” Just wait until that little horny baby is born … Got a great caption for this amazing Snooki pic? Leave it as a comment below! We’ll post our favorite one with the photo tomorrow!
