Saturday, September 13, 2008
Did Sarah Palin Make Her Husband Wear a Wedding Veil?
10:25AM Defamer Hollywood | Being a celebrity is hard work — just ask the Republicans! Though they’ve long claimed to eschew stars, they now have one of their own in Sarah Palin, and the newly minted veep candidate has so much drawing power that she’s even crossed over into the world of celeb-focused tabloid television. That bizarre intersection of politics and Hollywood gossip offers a lot to chew on, and so does today’s Dirt Sandwich, packed full of delicious ingredients by our intrepid videographer Molly McAleer. Move over, Matt Damon — stars like Meg Ryan, Eva Longoria Parker, and Annette Bening all want a piece of the Palin action! As for the indomitable Cloris Leachman, she may say she’s obsessed with John Stamos, but we can tell that what she really wants to know is, “Did Sarah Palin’s husband Todd actually wear a wedding veil?” For the answer, let’s go to the tape! More »
Harsh ‘Variety’ Editors Take Official Stand on Natalie Portman’s Acting Skills
9:45AM STV | All she wanted to do was direct, and now look: The gang at Variety all but scoffed today at Natalie Portman’s forthcoming feature helming debut, scare-quoting an implicit vote of no confidence in the job she has now. But she’ll show the “trade paper” yet, with her short-film bow on the the way in the omnibus New York, I Love You and more outstanding performances to come in 2009. Seriously — this is an Oscar nominee! Have they not seen Closer? Or that film she did years ago with Luc Besson? Oh. Wait. [Variety] More »
9:25AM Defamer Hollywood | Bogus: According to TMZ, shoegazing director Michael Bay was the victim of a home burglary last night in New Mexico, where he’s staying while filming Transformers 2: Rise of the Finger-Splinticons. No criminals have been apprehended (we’re looking at you, Scarlett Johansson clone!), but at least the story provides us with a terrific excuse to run this photo of Bay at a Playboy party two years ago. Check out that rack! [TMZ] More »
One-Two Comedy Punch Of Phelps And Obama To Create Laugh Explosion On ‘SNL’
9:05AM Defamer Hollywood | Saturday Night Live certainly has balls. They already booked an unfunny guest host in Michael Phelps for this weekend’s season premiere, and now they’ve decided to compound the non-laughs by bringing in Barack Obama, an unfunny politician. At least he speaks clearly and doesn’t have an underbite like certain 8-time-gold-medal-winners we know. His sketch is still being worked out, but expect lipstick-on-a-pig jokes-a-plenty. More »
Robert De Niro’s Golf Game a Prime Suspect in Recent Job Loss
8:20AM STV | Robert De Niro has been picking up work where he can — a speaking engagement here, a morning-show gig there — so we were more than little surprised last week when we heard he’d backed out of the thriller Edge of Darkness, currently shooting in Boston. That’s not the De Niro who jumped to ostensibly greener pastures at Endeavor a while back, and it’s definitely not the consummate professional whom producers brought aboard to make alpha-male magic with Mel Gibson and director Martin Campbell. But a report today out of Massachusetts offers no fewer than four scenarios making the rounds — chief among them being a sort of fantastically Kubrickesque golf-course torture:
After Saving Mickey Rourke’s Career, Darren Aronofsky Sets His Sights On That Old Chestnut Known As ‘The Bible’
8:05AM Defamer Hollywood | Even though The Wrestler hasn’t even come out yet, isn’t it about time we started discussing what Darren Aronofsky’s gonna do next? Rumours have circulated that he’ll be helming the Robocop reboot, but according to a recent interview with /Film, the director has set his sights on far nobler pursuits–namely a huge religious epic about the story of Noah. More »
Courtney Love Throws Daughter Frances Bean a Suicide-Themed ‘Sweet 16′
7:20AM Defamer Hollywood | For some parents, raising a child alone after a partner has committed suicide is a sensitive thing. Then, as always, there is Courtney Love. Last seen recommending orgasms to the Jonas Brothers, the singer is once again in the news for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on her daughter’s 16th birthday party, a suicide-themed affair that included games like a “who can look the most dead” contest. No bonus points for dressing like Kurt Cobain, as that was Frances Bean’s costume: More »
Wherein We Attempt to Comprehend Cross-Dressing Media Titan Tyler Perry
6:55AM STV | In keeping with this site’s insatiable need to know, our ongoing questions about Tyler Perry — that Emperor of All Black Media who’s most handsomely paid to wear a dress — got the best of us today as his new film The Family That Preys opens in theatres. Far more than our previous subjects of Defamer Answers, Perry is a man whose mythology is both cultivated and oddly removed from his fame; having earned a combined $250 million in less than four years, his audience does his speaking for him. Is he gay? It doesn’t matter; TBS just bought 100 episodes of House of Payne. Why do critics hate him? It doesn’t matter; Madea’s Family Reunion opened at number one. More »
Gwyneth Paltrow To Release Super-Skinny, Macrobiotic Take On ‘Sweatin’ to the Oldies’
6:30AM Defamer Hollywood | In a world where everything old is new again, the latest cultural relic to get its return to the spotlight is that staple of 80’s cheese: the exercise instructional video. First resurrected by noted Americana anthropologist Heidi Montag, the fitness tape is set to receive its most high-profile update yet, says Marie Claire. Filling Jane Fonda’s leotard this time will be none other than Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, who will share the secrets of how to attain a body worth baring in the pages of GQ and gams that could transfix even the most jaded talk show host:
