defamer

The Duggars Introduce Their 17 Children to a Dangerously Underpopulated Times Square

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 07:30PM

Where some see New York City's Times Square as a monument to overpopulation, the Duggar family of TLC sees only parents who aren't trying hard enough. On last night's premiere of 17 and Counting, the Duggar parents and their brood of 17 children (not counting number 18, currently nestled in the ransacked waiting room of his mother's belly) visited Manhattan, and like the Muppets before them, they caused a sensation! As the Duggars shielded their children's eyes from the more lascivious images flitting across Times Square's plasma screens, the NYC residents around them felt their freakshow radar go off and swarmed the family for pictures. For the Duggars, it was a staggering display of their newfound celebrity — so who could blame them for accidentally losing two children to the crowds, replacing them with a midget manning the falafel stand and a friendly cabbie named "Mohammed"? [TLC]

Owen Wilson Texts His Way to Recovery

STV · 09/30/08 07:00PM

This edition of Hollywood PrivacyWatch brings a very special Stallion sighting, an especially social Office star, a veritable galaxy of airport celebrity and other high-wattage fruits of your spying labors. Remember, each and every PrivacyWatch relies on your restless, roving eyes, so keep those tips coming with either "Sightings" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line. We appreciate all of your surveillance and couldn't contemplate leaving any of it behind. Among those observed in this installment: Owen Wilson, John Krasinski, Amy Adams, Ryan Phillippe, Neil Patrick Harris, Jared Leto, John Legend, Jonah Hill, Martin Landau, Chloe Sevigny, William Fichtner, Ron Livingston, Mekhi Phifer and more.SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 Went to see The Women (the play, not the movie) in a theater near downtown, when I saw MARTIN LANDAU (looking dapper for 77) talking with JACK STEHLIN from Weeds. I was going to list some Martin Landau credits but imdb has 155 of them and I didn't know what to pick. Loved him in Ed Wood, though. THURSDAY, SEPT. 25 Sept. 25 [At the] Aloud event at the LA Central Library, I spotted ERIC IDLE and a companion enjoying the battling accents of ARIANNA HUFFINGTON and BERNARD HENRI-LEVY. Looked like ALAIN GIRAUD may have been there as well, but I can't be sure. Idle and the Giraud lookalike repaired to Cafe Pinot for a post-talk meal, I expect to be joined by BHL and AH, since they were chatting on stage after the event. FRIDAY, SEPT. 26 It was a transatlantic Dundler-Mifflin meetup on Friday (9/26) at the Magic Castle as JOHN KRASINSKI was hanging with STEPHEN MERCHANT (from The Office UK and Extras). The former looked way hotter and less goofy in person and the latter is a good seven feet tall and was chatting up AIMEE MANN. I was dancing up a storm during the MSTRKRFT show at the Henry Fonda Theater when a guy walks right up and blocks my view. He turns around to face me and starts to mess around with his phone. I’m just about to call him out for being in my ‘personal space bubble’ (the dance floor was pretty empty by that time) when I realize that it’s JARED LETO! He looked a little rough: hair slicked back into a pony tail, scruffy facial hair, black army boots and red flannel shirt tight around his waste. '90s style flashback. I felt kind of sorry for him; Jared seemed a kind of bummed about not getting any celeb-like attention. SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 A day earlier on Sept. 27, we saw RON LIVINGSTON and MEKHI PHIFER at the Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga fight in Carson. They weren't together, dammit; Ron had his usual stubble and a third-row seat, while Mekhi was up on the concourse chatting with former fringe NBA player CHRIS MILLS before the main event. SUNDAY, SEPT. 28 After watching my best friend perform an acoustic set at Level 5, someone commented "Hey, there's Jim from The Office." Sure enough, I turn around and there's JOHN KRASINSKI chatting it up with a very cute redhead and an equally cute blonde. OWEN WILSON at The Other Room during the Abbot Kinney Festival. Fairly inconspicuous. He sat and texted the whole time, probably an hour two. I never saw him look up once. My trashed friend asked him what was going on with all the texting. Owen didn't understand the question. I think he left before the guy was killed outside. I saw that happen, pretty messed up. Saw JONAH HILL at the Abbot Kinney Festival on Sunday the 28th. He was in the line for Sausage Masters but didn't seem to purchase anything. He must be on a diet as he's looking a little more svelte than usual. He was very sweet... Saw BRENDAN SEXTON III at Sabor y Cultura cafe in Hollywood today. It was kind of dorky/endearing, there was a group of middle-aged gamers there and he went right over and was totally into it. He was with a tiny blond who was then forced to observe the gaming as well. I don't think anyone else knew who he was, I was just really into Welcome to the Dollhouse back in the day... It feels like cheating to submit sightings from the A terminal at the Burbank airport, since celebs and plebes alike have to walk down that same narrow hall to exit the sad old barn, but what the hell. On Sunday night around 9 p.m., the following people walked by separately in a 4-minute span, presumably all coming off the late JetBlue flight from JFK: WILLIAM FICHTNER of Prison Break, wearing athletic-type clothes and walking so fast his hairline receded; NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, looking awesome in a black T-shirt and gaily chatting with some dude; CHLOE SEVIGNY, mousy-haired and depressingly dressed like a normal person; and finally AMY ADAMS, toting her own overstuffed Louis Vuitton bag and staring grimly ahead while marching with an entourage of at least two other chicks. No smile, no eye contact, still smoking hot. Just got off AA115 from LHR to JFK. JOHN LEGEND was traveling in first class. A wee bit shorter then I anticipated. Saw everyone’s favorite ex-lazy postman WAYNE KNIGHT at the Vendome Liquors in Toluca Lake on Sunday evening. Would have liked to say hi, but he was busy getting advice on red wine from one of the employees. Oh well. MONDAY, SEPT. 29 RYAN PHILLIPPE with BFF and business partner BRECKIN MEYER at Nate 'n Al's in BH on Saturday morning.

Daniel Craig Will Accept Your Blame for the Title 'Quantum of Solace'

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 06:40PM

After the rapturous reception afforded the Daniel Craig-toplined Casino Royale, it seemed like the James Bond franchise could do no wrong as it headed into its next installment. Then, the problems began to pile up for 007's 22nd adventure: a lopped-off fingertip for Craig, stuntmen badly hurt, and a theme song tangle with Amy Winehouse that forced producers to settle for a middling Alicia Keys/Jack White duet. Through it all, though, one decision stood head and shoulders above the rest for its sheer confoundingness: the decision to title the film Quantum of Solace. Now, in an interview with GQ, Craig reveals that the head-scratching moniker was essentially his idea:

Obama Loves Fey and Armisen on 'SNL,' Biden Totally Jealous

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 06:10PM

Have you heard? Comedienne Tina Fey has played lady candidate Sarah Palin on the tee-vee! Twice! So completely has Fey-as-Palin penetrated the pop culture landscape that Barack Obama found himself on Entertainment Tonight, grilled by Mary Hart not on the economic collapse but on the one issue most important to voters: what does he think of Fey's Palin impression? Obama notes the resemblance is "remarkable" and even heaps praise on Saturday Night Live player Fred Armisen's Obama performance — at which point vice presidential candidate Joe Biden pipes up to remind America that he, too, was impersonated on SNL once!

Would You Punch A Shark In The Face To Save Your Dog?

Mark Graham · 09/30/08 05:40PM

Yeah yeah yeah, we know most people around the country are either talking about the failed bailout plan, Sarah Palin or those Somali pirates holding a ship for a $20 million ransom. However, around Defamer HQ, the only thing we've been talking about is that guy who punched a shark in the face to save his beloved rat terrier. As you might expect, it's a topic that's near and dear to our own Molly McAleer's heart, what with her being the proud guardian of Koreatown's most popular chihuahua, Wagandstuff. Her thoughts on the subject, along with this evening's To Do's, can be found after the jump. Enjoy!· 1000 Cats at UCB. · Rancid at the Fonda. · Chicago 10 at the Egyptian Theater.

I Come In Peace

Douglas Reinhardt · 09/30/08 05:10PM

Click to viewBoomp3.com After living on the planet earth for nearly two years, Suri Cruise finally revealed to a stunned crowd of on lookers that she is in fact, a being from another planet brought here to save the planet. A distressed hedge funder asked Suri if she knew how to solve the current problems with Wall Street, but Suri explained that she first going to focus on solving all of the issues on Main Street. [Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

Economic Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, With a Chance of Alec Baldwin

STV · 09/30/08 04:45PM

For all its success on paper, Saturday Night Live is essentially making its pop-culture bones these days with an ex-cast member imitating a woman who might be completely irrelevant in six weeks. But some phenomena never expire, and when you combine the enduring miracle of Alec Baldwin with the current, overriding stench of economic recession, one SNL highlight alone stands out today for its chemistry and prescience: Reliable Investments, featuring Baldwin as a broker with all the answers for Ana Gasteyer. But really, in a climate like this, how many answers do we really want? Just take Baldwin's word for it after the jump: It's a great day to invest! [NBC via Videogum]Click to view

Can't a Cool Mom Like Sharon Stone Share Some Botox With Her 8-Year-Old Son?

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 04:20PM

When Sharon Stone lost custody of her eight-year-old son Roan last week, we were surprised; yes, the actress has had an erratic year that involved blaming "karma tectonics" for the death of 7,000 Chinese, but sole custody is rarely awarded to the father in these cases. Could it have been Stone's new relationship with a greasy 24-year-old that turned the legal tide against her, or was it something more? According to TMZ, which obtained the court's "Tentative Statement of Decision," it was a whole range of factors, though all may pale in comparison to the smoking gun proffered by ex-husband Phil Bronstein: that Stone wanted to Botox her son.

Eva Mendes Wonders Who That Sexy Girl On The Back Cover Is

Douglas Reinhardt · 09/30/08 04:00PM

Click to viewBoomp3.com Eva Mendes’ weekly trip to her nearby magazine kiosk was quickly halted by the discovery of a familiar face on the back of a glossy fashion magazine. Mendes brought the magazine over to the kiosk employee and asked if the person on the back of the magazine looked familiar. The distracted employee barely looked up from the sports section, but nevertheless managed to say, “That’s a real pretty lady.” Mendes smiled and agreed with the man before snatching up the rest of the fashion magazines with her ad on the back cover. Mendes intends to show all of the magazines to her friends and family. [Photo Credit: Flynet] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

STV · 09/30/08 03:40PM

Maybe It's Time For the Ed McMahon Sex Tape: Really, it seems like the only way out for the 85-year-old legend now that even Merv Griffin's ghost is coming around looking for payback. The late mogul's company filed suit recently to reclaim $100,000 that Griffin supposedly loaned to McMahon in 2005; the Griffin Group Inc. claims he still owes every cent (plus interest and attorney fees). It hardly seems fair under the circumstances, in which McMahon is reduced to rapping for his supper and the Griffin estate earns a few thousand dollars every time the Jeopardy! theme is so much as hummed, but business is business. All options are on the table, and let's face it: If McMahon were a midget, this all all would have been settled a long time ago. [AP]

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 03:10PM

Lost in Time, Like Tears in Rain: Yesterday, we brought you the news that the writing duo behind Eagle Eye had set their sights on Blade Runner 2 — and now, one half of that team is washing his hands of the project. Said screenwriter John Glenn to Slashfilm: "Travis [Wright] and I actually broke off as writing partners years ago - after the first draft of Eagle Eye. Due to previous commitments, I couldn’t make the screening/Q&A last week — so to be honest, I have no idea what Travis was talking about or why he brought up a project we were tooling with years ago, when we still wrote together...It never got too far off the ground because the movie is so perfect, so the more we thought about it, the more uneasy we became with the idea...My apologies to you and your readers for the confusion Travis created." [Slashfilm]

Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler and Others End Surprisingly Bootleg-Free 'Funny People' Rehearsals

STV · 09/30/08 02:45PM

We're more than a little disappointed to find that nobody has yet uploaded any video, audio or any record whatsoever of Adam Sandler, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen or Kevin James's stand-up sessions last Saturday at UCB. The quartet was concluding rehearsals MC Judd Apatow's forthcoming comedian opus Funny People, insights into which we'd gone all the way to Canada to retrieve as recently as July. Then we miss one night in Franklin Village and it's radio silence. Folks, step it up. We're serious. It's not a Beatles reunion or anything, but if we have to read abstractly about Hill biting it or Rogen defaulting to his imaginative zenith of airplane flatus, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to see or hear it in all its stumbling, meandering glory:

Like a Virgin, Madonna Directs For the Very First Time

STV · 09/30/08 01:40PM

With Guy Ritchie's 2008 vintage RocknRolla a relatively encouraging return to form, word on the street is that this year's Madonna Household movie misstep might have fallen to the singer herself. Indeed, while her directorial debut Filth and Wisdom stirred notice and a sort of rubbernecking curiosity last winter among filmgoers at the Berlin Film Festival, the new trailer touches pretty much all the thematic bases we'd come to predict from A Film By Madonna. Striving ballet dancer turned stripper? Check! Pharmacy worker stealing drugs for ill African children? Check! Internationally renowned musician turned self-aware actor? Check! (But let's be fair: Eugene Hutz is constitutionally incapable of anything but scene-stealing on stage and screen.) But hey — a trailer is a trailer is a trailer. We have a standing invitation to see all 84 minutes before it opens Oct. 17, which we think we'll accept; as far as we're concerned, the woman still has Gay Football Olympics goodwill to spare. [Apple]

Vacation, Meant To Be Spent Alone

Douglas Reinhardt · 09/30/08 01:20PM

Boomp3.com Life must be a permanent vacation for Smart Water spokesperson Jennifer Aniston. Aniston felt that another vacation as on the white sand beaches of Mexico was in order to fully get over the recent split from dorm rock crooner John Mayer, but Aniston still hasn't been able to shake his memory. Aniston said, "I walk into the resort and somebody at the bar is doing that karaoke thing and they're doing one of the songs by that joker. Then at dinner, a mariachi band plays another one of his songs. I may have to go to the South Pole if I want to get away from all of my exes." Then Aniston remembered that it's cold down at the South Pole and she's not a fan of snow pants. [Photo Credit: Splash Pics] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Is Latest To Enlist in the McCain / Letterman War of '08

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 01:00PM

David Letterman continued to hammer John McCain last night, taking obvious glee in the fact that he has finally found an adversary worthy of supplanting former bête noires like Les Moonves and the entirety of NBC Broadcasting. If you'll remember, McCain incurred Letterman's wrath by canceling a Late Show appearance under the guise of heading immediately to Washington D.C. — something Letterman debunked by cutting to a live feed of McCain's interview with Katie Couric just down the street. Last night, after taking shots at McCain in his monologue ("He loves bailouts — he bailed out on me"), Letterman welcomed guest Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who promptly swore her allegiance to the Late Show host, then demonstrated it with another live feed cut to a lonely Katie Couric. Clip above. [CBS]

Own 'Iron Man' For the Low, Low Price of $499 (Plus Shipping)

STV · 09/30/08 12:10PM

· In what's being labeled as an effort to snag iTunes marketshare, Dell will give PC buyers the option to preload Iron Man on its new computers. Before you laugh: That incursion is being led by a man with whom Apple settled a wrongful-termination lawsuit in 2005. Never underestimate a software-wonk scorned. [THR] · And if you act now, Paramount and Marvel may throw in five more co-releases — including Thor, Captain America and The Avengers — at no extra charge through 2011! Operators are standing by! [Variety] After the jump: David Gordon Green gets animated, Robert Duvall ponies up and Ellen Burstyn does serious drugs with Tim Robbins.· Finally, at age 77, Robert Duvall is bravely venturing into the uncharted career territory of Westerns, attaching himself to star in an untitled drama about the Pony Express. From AMC, of course, which makes him a likely Emmy front-runner in 2010. [Variety] · Talk about dodging a bullet: By going straight to TV with his animated Fox surfer comedy Good Vibes, a relieved David Gordon Green won't be forced to follow Matthew McConaughey's recent beachgoing high-water mark Surfer, Dude. [Variety] · Jesse Ventura's predictable career arc will continue ever-skyward when he hosts an untitled "conspiracy theory" reality show for truTV, in which the ex-wrestler/actor/politico will "hunt down answers, plunging viewers into a world of secret meetings, midnight surveillance, shifty characters and dark forces." Or, as they call it in Minnesota, running for reelection. [AP] · Ellen Burstyn will join fellow Oscar-winner Tim Robbins for his Showtime pilot Possible Side Effects, a drama set in the pharmaceutical industry — kind of like Mad Men, but with scores of exquisitely photographed pills in the place of cigarettes. [Variety]

Rumer Willis Prepares For The Long Season Of Halloween Parties

Douglas Reinhardt · 09/30/08 11:50AM

Click to viewBoomp3.com Famed offspring Rumer Willis was spotted in ultra luxurious Bev Hills over the weekend sporting new crimson colored locks. When asked why she made the decision to embrace her inner big red, Willis explained it was for a string of upcoming Halloween parties. Wilis said, “This season, I’m going to go as two different people —Joan from Mad Men and Pam from The Office— and I didn’t want to wear a wig. So, I just dyed my hair and now I’ll alternate between the outfits from party to party.” Willis felt that she would go with the Pam costume when attending spooky shindigs associated with her family and the more vivacious Joan Holloway costume at other events. Willis added, “I assume that if I was dressed like Joan at my dad’s party, a lot of his friends would hit on me and I’m not sure if I’m fully comfortable with that just yet.” Also before jetting away, Willis practiced her Facebook & MySpace profile photo in the rearview mirror. [Photo Credit: X17] *A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

Chace Crawford on Overcoming Every Actor's Greatest Fear: 'Gayface'

Kyle Buchanan · 09/30/08 11:20AM

The boys of Gossip Girl grace the cover of November's issue of Details, and inside, they recount the indignities they are forced to endure as professional thespians (such as avoiding paparazzi or shaving their tween-intimidating chest hair). None of the Gossip trio has it harder than pretty pony Chace Crawford, however, whose protestations that he's more than simply an actor/model are ignored by lascivious writer Mark Harris ("Perhaps you've seen [Crawford] shirtless and treasure-trailed for Abercrombie & Fitch" — perhaps we haven't, Mark!). Unfortunately for Crawford, there's one obstacle he may never overcome, and it's an affliction that is common in young men with Diesel jeans and a gym membership to Crunch:

STV · 09/30/08 10:50AM

Sell High, Buy Lowbrow: Media stocks may have crumpled Monday amid the biggest Wall St. bloodbath in 20 years, but World Wrestling Entertainment was determined to accentuate the positive. In a press release targeted at skittish investors, WWE took this opportune moment to point out its 9.4% dividend yield — "300% higher than the S&P average," according to the company. "Given its strong balance sheet and cash generative businesses, WWE feels confident it can fund the dividend for the long term. The WWE considers itself a safe harbor in the current volatile marketplace." But remember: Diversify! Keep a little cash in steroids, Spandex, turnbuckles and self-tanning spray, and America may ride this wave out yet. [The Live Feed]