The Hollywood 5 & 1 08.16.08
Posted by Steve Gustafson on 08.16.2008
Hmm...what to lead with? The Hills coming to D.C.? Tera Patrick and Angelina Jolie team-up? Julia Child...Spy? Take your pick.
Hmm...what to lead with? The Hills coming to D.C.? Tera Patrick and Angelina Jolie team-up? Julia Child...Spy? Take your pick.
Hey! Welcome back to the Hollywood 5 & 1! I'm your host, Steve Gustafson, and I scan through every gossip tabloid, scroll every celebrity related web site, and call my vast network in Hollywood to find the slightly offbeat news you might have missed during the week. Or just ignored. Do you have something to contribute? A celebrity sighting? A funny story? Shoot me an email at stevethegoose@gmail.com. Do it. Oh yeah! I'm moving so I'm getting rid of stuff. Tune in next week for another contest. Unwanted stuff from me! What could be better?
Do Me a Favor
If you happen to see Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee Gifford...wait, really? They share a birthday? Wow. Anyways, if you see them or Julie Newmar, James Cameron, Angela Bassett, Madonna, Steve Carell, or Rumer Willis, wish them all a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Steve.
Quote of the Week
"I've heard this rumor. A couple of days ago somebody asked me that, and that was the first I'd heard about it. It's incredibly flattering to be in a rumor. I would do it in a second with those guys. But do you think it's a good idea to redo Ghostbusters? It's a classic." Actor Paul Rudd dismissing speculation he is to star in a remake of movie classic Ghostbusters along with Seth Rogen and Steve Carell.
THE STUFF THAT JUST MISSED THE LIST STARTS...NOW...
This is funny coming from someone who just gave an interview about how she is contemplating drug use in the near future. Actress Selma Blair has hit out at her fellow Americans, insisting U.S. citizens are too obsessed with celebrity lifestyle. Guilty! Blair says, "You don't think there are some deluded Americans? Hey, how about all of us! Everyone here is obsessed with tabloid celebrities and their lives and wanting to be like that...In America you have the people who watch the Lohans' reality show and want to be like Dina and Ali Lohan and live in a house with a throne in it. Everywhere! They're just everywhere!" I shudder at the thought of people wanting to be like Dina and Ali..........This could have been a quote of the week. Adam Sandler has blamed the media for influencing his box office ratings, because they never write good things about him. He says, "You know what, I don't even believe half the things they say anymore, they've been writing bad stuff about me for a long time. I remember one time this lady came up to me and said 'I'm not gonna see your movie but my friend said it was good'. And I was like 'Ok why can't you see it again?' and she said, 'Oh I read that it wasn't very good' and I said, 'What about your friend' and she was like, 'Yeah she's not that smart'." Zing!..........This pair will attract attention. You pervs. Angelina Jolie has been asking for advice on taking the role of Catwoman from an unlikely source, porn star Tera Patrick. The star is said to be keen to sign up for the part if the Catwoman character is resurrected in a future Batman sequel. A source tells PageSix, "They are friends and keep in touch via e-mail. She and Angie have a girl-talk thing going. After seeing reports that she'll land the lead role, Jolie asked Patrick what she thought. Tera had such insights into the role that Jolie cracked, 'You should do it!'" I'm curious what insights Tera has for the role. But I guess that goes without saying...........File this under: Another Bad Idea. Criminal Minds producer Ed Bernero is set to revive cult 1970s show Hawaii Five-O. I'm starting to see the bottom of the barrel here. The original show went off the air in 1980 after a 12-year run and starred Jack Lord as Detective Steve McGarrett. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new show will revolve around McGarrett's son,Chris. The new version, dubbed Hawaii Five-O 2.0, (C'mon!) will be shot on location in Hawaii. Bernero says, "We will try to keep as much of the original as possible. I'm not trying to reinvent it." With all the creative brain power in Hollywood, Hawaii Five-2.0 is the best they came up with?..........Thanks mom!" Rumer Willis was taunted by high-school bullies because of her bizarre name. Really? The actress confesses she was envious of her younger sisters, Scout and Talullah. She tells New York gossip column Page Six, "My sisters, Scout and Talullah, had cute nicknames. When I was 12 and had crushes on guys, I'd put my first name with their last name, but it never sounded right. Rumer Depp? Nope. In school, kids would sing, 'Rumer, Rumer with a big hairy tumor'." Yeah but I bet all that money makes it easier. And don't you think she would catch more flak for having Ashton Kutcher as her new step-dad?
RANDOM LIST OF THE WEEK
I found this all over BUT didn't find out what magazine it came from or even the full list! So I'll throw in 2 lists this week for your debating pleasure.
First , Evil Dead 2 has topped a new U.S. magazine poll to find the Greatest B-Movie of All Time. The cult zombie film claimed 31 per cent of the Paste reader vote to beat Plan 9 From Outer Space and Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Other classics in the top 10 included Troll 2, Leprechaun, Zardoz and Witchboard. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians better be on there! That's on heavy rotation at my place.
For list numero two..Just what we needed! Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards have topped a new magazine poll listing Hollywood's Nastiest Splits. The bitter exes, who have been battling over custody of their two daughters and embarked on a vicious war of words since splitting in 2005, beat out Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills in the In Touch countdown. They join Anne Heche and Coley Laffoon, Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin and Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook among the divorced couples on the new nasty list. No word if any of my ex's and I made the list.
STEVE SALUTE!
To Steve Wynn. I'm there for you man. Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis has become the target of a lawsuit after allegedly making defamatory statements against the Las Vegas real estate developer. Francis hit out at casino magnate Wynn last week, alleging he used "alcohol, prostitutes and illegal drugs" to lure big spenders to his gambling meccas. Like that's a shocker. But Wynn has refuted the claims by taking legal action in a $10 million lawsuit against the mogul. Court documents filed by Wynn's legal team on Monday claims: "Francis stated that he planned on 'exposing how exactly Mr. Wynn deceives his high end customers...' with reckless disregard for the truth." This follows a string of legal troubles for Francis, who was sued by Wynn just last month for an additional $2 million in unpaid gambling debts. Go Wynn Go!
Oh C'mon!
Since I'm right down the street, this is going to effect me. Sorry D.C. Lauren Conrad's reality TV show The Hills is to be given a politically-themed spin-off, set in Washington, D.C. The new show is about another group of privileged girls who live in the nation's capital. According to the New York Post, the show is set to star city socialites Krista Johnson, Katherine Kennedy, and Sophie Pyle. Who? Johnson tells the newspaper, "It's going to be about our real lives. It's going to be in the same vein as MTV's The Hills, but ours is going to be more realistic." **GROAN** To put a silver lining on this, Conrad's fashion line has been dropped from celebrity favorite store Kitson in Hollywood, after the collection failed to prove a hit with shoppers. Now THAT'S realistic!
Alright, let's get down to business. What's the Hollywood 5 & 1? It's real simple; I go through 5 things out of Hollywood this past week that made me scratch my head and 1 item that's not so bad. Got it? Good. Let's go!
The 5
Number Two Wanted the Number One Spot
We've got some odd ones today folks. Actor Robert Wagner considered killing love rival Warren Beatty after losing girlfriend Natalie Wood to the legendary lova lova, he reportedly reveals in a new autobiography. I might have to pick this one up. Seems Wood and Beatty began a romance while shooting 1961 movie Splendor in the Grass together, leaving Wagner heartbroken and distraught. We've all been there, brother. According to reports, the actor confesses hatching a plan to murder Beatty in his new book Pieces of My Heart. A publishing source tells the National Enquirer, "Wagner was ready to kill Beatty. He describes hanging around his house with a gun, hoping he would walk out so he could take a shot. Wracked with despair, Wagner started drinking heavily and considered suicide. He wondered if he couldn't kill Beatty, maybe he should kill himself. But an old friend pulled him out of his desolation and got him into analysis." That's pretty hardcore. Wagner won Wood back, but she died in 1981 after disappearing from the actor's yacht off the California coast. I wonder if he goes into details about that? The book, due to go on sale next month, also shines a light on Wagner's many love affairs, including romances with Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck and Yvonne De Carlo. See, US Weekly is right. Stars ARE just like us.
Julia Child...Secret Agent?!?!
So...very...strange. It would be like finding out Carrot Top was a sniper for the C.I.A. Famed TV chef Julia Child worked as an international spy for the U.S. government during World War II, according to new reports. Child reportedly served as a member of an international spy ring managed by an early version of the C.I.A. Government reports will list names and offer details from previously classified files identifying 24,000 military and civilian operative spies who formed the first CIA effort, the Office of Strategic Services, according to CNN.com. Reports say Child's name will be listed alongside The Godfather actor Sterling Hayden, author Ernest Hemingway's son, John, and Miles Copeland, the father of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland. That list is bonkers! I wonder if any current star is lined if with the CIA? It would explain how Colin Farrell still has a career. The group studied military plans, created propaganda, infiltrated enemy ranks and stirred resistance among foreign troops under the leadership of President Franklin Roosevelt. Information about Oss involvement was reportedly so guarded that relatives often couldn't confirm a family member's work with the group, forcing former agents to keep quiet until now. Child reportedly shared the secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg during her service with the agency. So much weird imagery...weird. But kinda cool at the same time.
Too Far?
If Arsenio was still rocking out with his show this would make him go Hmmm...Where is the line folks? Read and discuss these two reports. U.S. disability advocates kept their promise and staged a protest at the premiere of Ben Stiller's latest movie Tropic Thunder. The film, which also stars Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., has been slammed by 22 disability groups in the U.S. for its repeated use of the word "retard" in association with one of its main characters Simple Jack. And demonstrators showed their distaste for the movie by picketing the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles on Monday night insisting the film "humiliates people with intellectual disabilities". Stiller, Black and Downey Jr. walked the red carpet amid shouts from angry protesters who were waving placards urging cinema goers to boycott the movie. Despite the negative reactions to the picture, studio bosses have denied it is offensive towards people who suffer from mental disabilities. A protester at the event tells the BBC, "We feel that the use of the word 'retard' throughout the film 15 or more times is done without any regard for the dignity of people with intellectual disabilities." But Downey Jr. took time out on the red carpet to defend the film, telling reporters he was glad people had decided to picket the premiere as it was their right as free citizens. He says "That's the great thing, you know, if I want to protest something because it offends me that's my right as an American and it's also any artist's right to say and do whatever they want to do." Good point. Ben Stiller defended his movie telling MTV News website, "It's sort of edgy territory, but we felt that as long as the focus was on the actors who were trying to do something to be taken seriously that's going too far or wrong, that was where the humor would come from. (The joke is on) actors reaching for roles in terms of hopefully winning awards."
Are the groups being a little touchy? Do they have grounds to stand on? Should they lighten up? Contrast it with this. Actress Brooke Shields was mortified when comics at a recent event made jokes at the expense of late celebrities Heath Ledger, Bernie Mac and Estelle Getty The star was acting as a panelist at a 72-hour comedy sketch event in New York and became "freaked out" when the stand-ups began mocking the tragic deaths of the actors to get a laugh from the crowd. A source reports, "Everything was going great until three comics came out each playing a dead star. One was playing Heath Ledger as The Joker and he just kept listing prescription pills he had in his pocket. Another was playing Estelle Getty and the third was Bernie Mac's ghost. She (Shields) was so freaked out her eyes welled up and she actually bit her nails at one point. When someone pretended to dump Estelle Getty's ashes on (30 Rock actor) Jack McBrayer's head, Brooke got up and walked offstage. She watched the rest of the show from behind a curtain backstage with a grimace." A spokesman for Shields says the actress left to talk to the writers. Not making any judgments. Just something to think about. Some steak for the sizzle here at the 5 & 1!
Dads Gone Wild
Where was Lindsay's dad? On vacation? He needs to be up in this! Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky's father has returned to New York from a Caribbean island jail after he was arrested on charges of grievous bodily harm stemming from an altercation at an airport last month. Carl Blonsky was detained along with his daughter following a fight with U.S. reality TV star Bianca Golden on July 29th, all three were taken into custody by Turks and Caicos Islands police. The teenage actress was charged with actual bodily harm and subsequently released on bail along with Golden, while Blonsky was charged with a felony and jailed. He has now been released after posting $3,000 bail following more than a week in an island prison. The news comes just days after he was initially denied bail ahead of a hearing scheduled later this month. According to the New York Post, Blonsky's family lawyer Michael Griffith is adamant that Golden created the incident as a publicity stunt after losing out as a contestant on Tyra Banks' TV show America's Next Top Model. That's some publicity stunt. To each their own. He tells the newspaper, "I want to clear Nikki's name. All her father did was step into the fight to try and break it up." The altercation between Blonsky and Golden is alleged to have started in the departure lounge at the Providenciales International Airport after the actress attempted to save seats for her family, and Golden had nowhere to sit. Nikki faces a two-year prison spell if she is found guilty of a charge of actual bodily harm, when her case goes to court in December. Blonsky Sr. could be sentenced to up to five years behind bars if convicted.
Not to be outdone, Heroes star Hayden Panettiere's father Alan has been released on $50,000 bail after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife. Alan Panettiere was arrested after the alleged incident in West Hollywood, California on Monday morning and was released from custody the same afternoon. He was held for 10 hours in Los Angeles County sheriff's custody and was charged with felony domestic violence following the fight with wife Lesley. A witness tells People.com, "When they were both about to leave, they had a heated argument outside the restaurant. They were doing a good amount of yelling." But Panettiere has played down the incident, telling website TMZ.com that it "was blown out of proportion." Let's hope so. Panettiere seems to have her stuff straight.
Scarlett Watch
Can someone get me the sales on her last album? Anyone? Actress Scarlett Johansson is planning a follow-up to her first music record, just months after its release. She released her debut album Anywhere I Lay My Head last in May, a collection of Tom Waits covers. And she admits she's keen to try her hand at music again, despite receiving disappointing reviews from critics. She says, "It was fantastic to do that album. Not only live with that music that I love everyday, but I just worked with such wonderful musicians who are so talented." But Johansson admits she's not in a rush, because she has yet another career path in mind. She adds, "I would love to do another album. Right now, though, I'd like to focus on developing something to direct." Let's hope she focuses on that for a long, long, long time. Trust me, I did hear a sample of her album. Trust me. In even more Johansson "news", she was left red-faced last week when Jay Leno grilled her on her sexual fantasies. I saw it. It was awkward. Johansson appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday, and the comic inquired about her recent appearance on the cover of sexually-charged women's magazine Cosmopolitan. Prompted by Leno, Johansson recounted a tale from her interview with the magazine: "Somebody asked me one time what my sexual fantasy would be and under the guise of sounding crazy I said it would be having sex in a car. But that seemed kind of conservative to me afterwards." And Leno, who boasts a massive collection of antique cars, took to the admission by offering one of his vehicles for Johansson's sexual escapades. But the stunned actress was quick to reject the offer, shouting back at the host: "Jesus Christ... what is going on?"
& 1
The Olympics
Let's keep it simple this week. Let me come out and say I have enjoyed every minute of the Olympics so far. I've been able to catch a large portion of it it's kept my interest. Hopefully it's not just me. This year we've had a little bit of everything. From the inspirational athletes to the drama between countries, the Olympics has delivered on all fronts. Props to everyone involved. How nuts was it to see the wrestler take his bronze and drop it as he walked off stage. His next call must have been to the WWE! Regardless, good stuff all around.
