Jimmy Fallon popped by Late Night to address yesterday's news that he would be taking over for host Conan O'Brien in 2009, an announcement greeted with wide-eyed, Christmas Eve wonder by the three TV executives who hired him, and, "Wait—that annoying dude from those DJ sketches on Saturday Night Live?" from everyone else.
In a loooooong video interview with David Poland over at Movie City News, producer Joel Silver chats about the prismatic, pyrotechnic up and downs of his career — the latter of which the bomb Speed Racer likely entered in the time since the modulated mogul sat for this conversation. And while he eventually acknowledges still dreading opening weekends and the Saturday morning silence that follows his weaker openings, he wastes little time defending the Wachowskis' career-suffocating reclusion and his role as de facto mouthpiece: "It ends up being harder for me because I end up being the voice for them. I wish sometimes they'd speak for themselves because they're much smarter than I am, and they're much more articulate than I am. ... I just listen to them relate to everybody and I say, 'Here's what they think.' That's how it happens." No, Joel — we think you mean that's how it happened. Time for a change, big guy. [The Hot Blog]
As we've been noting throughout Gwyneth Paltrow's incredibly successful campaign to rack up attention during her Iron Man press tour, her wardrobe has been just this side of trampy. In the last few weeks, transparent dresses (but they're designer!), S&M shoes (eccentric!), and clavicle accented jumpsuits have all been pulled out of the twice-retired actress' bag of tricks. But now that we've seen just what lies inside the June issue of British GQ, we think this sexy train has reached its final destination. Yes, Gwyneth has dropped trou, but listening to her tell it, it's just not that big of a deal, okay?
Sure, we all endured the Rose Ceremony hoops, but was there really any doubt in our minds who Matt Grant—the most British Bachelor ever!—would choose at the end of his lady-shopping journey? The second he laid eyes on Lamas Family acting dynasty heiress Shayne Lamas, our funny-sounding Casanova was a goner. Sad as that was for first runner-up Chelsea, who was commended for her loveliness and offered her choice of Whirlpool appliances in exchange for her time, it resulted in a jackpot romantic payday for Shayne.
In her latest gesture of a humane tradition that includes everything from A-list fetus guarding to Yorkie rescue/fetishization, Cindy Adams today saves readers the $11 they would have shelled out to see Oliver Stone's W when it opens this October. While we'd obviously read a few mildly tantalizing reviews in the last month (which is evidently news to Adams, who appears to think she's the only one who's nabbed a copy of the script) it takes a certain rare, Cindyesque fortitude and genius to condense the entirety of Stanley Weiser's 125-page screenplay to a single gossip column in the New York Post:
From the network that brought you such essential Hollywood lifestyle viewing as Hangin' With the Kardashians As They Talk About Makeup in Their Money-Laundering-Front Dress Shop comes a new reality series that should prove to be no less compelling. In this preview for E!'s Denise Richards: It's Complicated (original title: A Shot at Love with Denise Richards and Her Two Demi-Orphans As a Result of their Sex-Addict Father Running Off to Follow His Cheerleader Orgy Dreams and Falling For the Trampy Love of His Life in the Process), Richards discovers her page on celebrity STD-transmission tracker whosdatedwho.com, and is forced to address some of the questionable life choices she's made.
WHEREAS, The Weinstein Company is a theatrical releasing venture co-owned by the brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and
All the drama affecting David O. Russell's new film Nailed settled down a bit Monday when production resumed on the South Carolina set. But while the producers squared away their money issues with SAG, which shut shooting down last Friday, our own suspicions about precariously-budgeted distributor ThinkFilm got another look from Variety yesterday afternoon:
· There are 27 different movies in this Indy-themed swingstravaganza. (And at least one classic Activision Atari 2600 title.) How many can you name? [Black20]
· Dennis Farina was so preoccupied worrying about gels and liquids, he had a total brainfart about the .22 he was carrying through LAX security. [LAT]
· It seems a certain Chace Crawford is getting invited to George Clooney after-parties and mobbed by the Cruises, and Penn Badgley isn't. XOXO, Defamer Girl [NY Daily News]
· Isaiah Washington filed a complaint with SAG over Grey's Anatomy's use of his photo in a newspaper article about his character on last week's episode. [Reuters]
· Hey—unicorns!
It's difficult to properly convey to you the excitement level that hits you the second you walk through the revolving doors at 30 Rockefeller Center before a live taping of Saturday Night Live. After all, it's one of the hardest tickets to get in show business. So, unlike a concert or athletic event where you can see the eyes of some attendees glazing over from boredom, everyone who is in attendance is someone who desperately wants to be there. As anyone who is in the building will attest, the energy in these moments is both palpable and kinetic. And that's just in the lobby of the ground floor of the building!
As we noted last week, the highly anticipated Twilight franchise appears to be far steamier and sexier than the books’ tween fans may have expected. And a profile on the film in yesterday’s LAT suggests the series’ author Stephenie Meyer may be just as surprised. Described by the article's author as "chaste," the Mormon mother of three sounds like the near opposite of director and "troubled-teen expert" Catherine Hardwicke. But as the article reveals, no matter how hot and bothered we felt after watching the teaser trailer, the actual action on set wasn't putting any of its gorgeous cast members in the mood:
If you're feeling a little cheated by the fact that Sex and the Movie (try it! It's catching on!) had its world premiere today in a town better known for Black and Tans and battered cod than Cosmos and Sushi Samba, there is some comfort to be taken from the fact that London's splashy red carpet get was completely overshadowed by That Thing On Sarah Jessica Parker's head.
Little known fact about our fearless Defamer Videographer Molly McAleer. When she isn't cutting the high-larious videos you see here on the site each and every day, she works as a part of a top secret thinktank that's dedicated to bringing every citizen of Planet Earth (yes, including the ones with strabismus) a better 3-D viewing experience. And guess what? Over the weekend, there was a breakthrough. Details on the breakthrough, along with this evening's event listings, are available after the jump.
It seems as if our reconnaissance on Speed Racer—quickly shaping up to be one of the biggest turkeys in recent Hollywood history—proved correct: The film was indeed third at the box office this weekend, taking in $18.6 million, $1.6 million short of the bloated studio estimates released yesterday. (What Happens in Vegas actually $200k more than its $2 million estimate.) And there's more Racer roadkill:
Sex And The City mania is beginning to crest this week, as plot spoilers, leaked footage and Sarah Jessica Parker magazine profiles assault us at every turn. But one sign that all this hype just may have jumped the shark comes in the form of “a happily orgasmic ever-after:” the official Mr. Big vibrator. Fans of the show fondly, er, may vaguely remember the episode in which prim Charlotte discovers the Rabbit, or the time when Samantha uses her vibrator to soothe a screaming baby, and we could go on but we’re far too embarrassed for remembering even that much. In any case, the folks at LoveHoney have jumped on the SATC bandwagon and introduced the frightening gray contraption which looks a bit too much like our dad’s neck massager. But among the many problems those clever UK ad wizards have on their hands is the abundance of "Mr. Big" vibrators already on the market, most of which may not be, well, bigger, but look far better. Take a closer look after the jump:
Photos of Brad Pitt boarding a helicopter in Monaco with sons Maddox and Pax yesterday instantly set the intertubes abuzz, as the aircraft's rotors blew up the actor's shirt, revealing a mysterious new tattoo covering his lower back. The seemingly random series of horizontal dashes and shapes were initially thought to be a highly encoded abstract design, each line representing one member of the ever-growing Pitt-Jolie clan. But now, Defamer can exclusively report (Must! Credit! Defamer! Pitt! Tattoo! Exclusive!) that the tattoo is not yet finished, with the final result paying homage to one of the great design triumphs of the 20th Century. An artist's rendering of what it will look like is after the jump:
Apart from the bold statements by movie-titling consultants about the high importance of... movie-titling consultants ("When movie titles don't work, studios are leaving potential earnings on the table," says one), Josh Friedman's LA Times survey of movie titles lost, found, revised and re-revised yields a handful of worthwhile historical nuggets we'd never surmised. Like Annie Hall was originally named Anhedonia — "a term for the inability to experience pleasure" — and our beloved Beverly Hills Chihuahua was conceived with the weak-ass working title South of the Border. After the jump, the experts show off with the good and the bad, and we leave the ugly up to your fertile imaginations.
