chris rock

Paul Giamatti’s Soul, Chris Rock’s Barber Among Subjects in Sundance ‘09 Spotlight

7:46AM STV | The Sundance Film Festival this morning unveiled the competition lineup for its 2009 incarnation (a/k/a the One You’re Boycotting), and it’s a sharp crop of international cinema that will no doubt be met with accolades and not just a few bounced checks from cash-strapped indie distributors. Follow the jump for our quick, dirty, reductive and completely arbitrary survey of the fest’s hottest titles and trends. More »

Chris Rock on McCain: ‘We Can’t All Dump Our First Wife And Marry a Rich One’

2:27AM Kyle Buchanan | This election year has proved a boon for the chattering class of political pundits, but there are few on cable news who can break things down as well (or as loudly) as comedian Chris Rock. After making a memorable appearance on Letterman in September to rebut Bill Clinton (“Hillary lost!”), Rock showed up at a Barack Obama rally in Tampa over the weekend, and it wasn’t to promote Madagascar 2. While joking that he took his children trick-or-treating Friday at John McCain’s many houses, Rock critiqued the Republican candidate’s own wife-swapping, $US100 million bailout of yore. “You want somebody who can relate to what you have to say,” Rock continued. “Like if I have problems getting laid, I wouldn’t call Brad Pitt ’cause he wouldn’t know what I was talking about!” Clip above. Listen to Chris Rock at Tampa Obama rally [TampaBay.com] More »

Chris Rock on Bill Clinton Playing the Race Card: ‘Sorry, Blackies!’

5:00AM Kyle Buchanan | Chris Rock famously tore into Bill Clinton last week, and judging from his appearance last night on Larry King Live, he’s not quite done yet. If you’ll recall, the two first tangled on The Late Show with David Letterman, when Clinton’s less-than-enthused support for Barack Obama was attacked by Rock, who memorably shrieked, “Hillary lost!” On Larry King last night, Rock reiterated that he likes Bill Clinton and has met him several times, but when asked whether the former president can ever be absolved for “playing the race card” during the South Carolina primary, Rock offers a defence that’s unconventional to say the least. Though, perhaps not as unlikely as his comparison of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to vanquished Dancing with the Stars contestant Kim Kardashian. Clip above. [Larry King Live] More »

Chris Rock’s F*&%ing Night At The Roxbury

11:52AM Clem Bastow | Good to see Australian audiences keeping up our rep as comedy fans on the edge of the edgy: Chris Rock has caused an outbreak of the sooky la las after getting blue at a surprise gig in Sydney. What were they expecting, Adam Hills & The Cuddly Fun Nanna Hour (with Rove on warm-up duties)? According to Confidential spies, the 25-minute routine featured the “f” word more times than a Ramsay cooking episode – playing fun with everything from Barack Obama to Australia’s origins as a convict country. Ahead of his first tour of Australia, Rock, known for his no-limits, confrontational style, was accompanied by an entourage of seven and the star was dressed smartly in a black trench coat. Roxbury Hotel staffer Chris Strickland said he thought the venue was being “punked” when Aussie promoter Artie Lang called on the night to arrange the secret slot. The Saturday Night Live star did not explain his motives for the impromptu, preview gig, but it proved a cheap thrill for the lucky 100 in the pub on the night. Ha ha, that use of “punked” in inverted commas says it all, really. Top work, Chris Strickland – to the top of the Jazz Randyboy class go you! In any case, now seems as good a time as ever to share one of my favourite Chris Rock Show highlights with you all, How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked By The Police – over the jump. More »

Chris Rock Explains How ‘Chippendales’ Killed Chris Farley

7:30AM Molly Friedman | As we learned recently, SNL’s Chris Farley was far from coddled or loved during his final years by fellow cast members. And now, a new biography on Chris Farley titled The Chris Farley Show will divulge more depressing tales from friends of Farley and how exactly they went about attempting to help the struggling addict get better (hint: they didn’t). From former co-stars dishing on his desperate attempts to be loved using prostitutes to anecdotes involving his habit of licking everything from his shoelaces to his wallet, one revelation made by Chris Rock stands out: “‘Chippendales’ was a weird sketch. I always hated it…The joke of it is, basically, ‘We can’t hire you because you’re fat.’ There’s no comic twist to it. It’s just [bleep]ing mean. Chris wanted so much to be liked. As funny as that sketch was…it’s one of the things that killed him.” More dismal details regarding Farley’s last days after the jump. More »

Now This Is More Like It: The Anthony Pellicano-Chris Rock Rape-Claim Tapes

2:34AM Seth | Maybe this Anthony Pellicano trial isn’t as hopelessly bereft of A-list manure-flinging as we had initially thought. Just a day after Garry Shandling’s bitterly frank testimony about former manager Brad Grey–which so riled the Paramount Emperor that the planned The Love Guru ice cream social was cancelled with a company-wide e-mail instructing staffers to, “Go enjoy a cup of Garry Shandling’s steaming, fudge-covered horseshit instead”–comes something even better: A tape, which prosecutors say was made by Pellicano and obtained by The Huffington Post, containing a 31-minute conversation between Chris Rock and the private investigator. Rock secured Pellicano’s services after the then-separated comedian engaged in a brief fling with what he describes as “a girl with big tits and white pants” back in 1998, who then turned around and accused him of rape. (Interesting side note: He took her to a dinner party at Guy Oseary’s house attended by Madonna and Elisabeth Shue!) The charges were ultimately found to be bogus, and were never officially filed. More »