Entries Tagged 'Gossip' ↓

No more watching Gwen Stefani’s FIERCE maternity fashions. Baby #3 has arrived! Gavin Rossdale tweeted the big news.

@gwenstefani welcome APOLLO BOWIE FLYNN ROSSDALE ❤️❤️❤️ 2/28/14 ❤️❤️❤️
(bowie and Flynn =mothers’ maiden names )

Apollo joins big brothers Kingston, who’s 7, and Zuma, who’s 5. Gwen has her hands full now- LOL. I’m so happy for them. Congratulations to Gwen, Gavin, Kingston, and Zuma! February went out with a bang in the Stefani-Rossdale household.

Photos by FAMEFLYNET

HOW real is Barbie? Do you know a grown, adult woman with a 36-18-33 figure? That question to you, people who don’t live in Florida or TV’s version of Essex? Pennsylvania’s Nickolay Lamm has created Barbie doll who looks more like a ‘Real Barbie’, or Barbara.

Says Lamm:

 ”Some people say that we shouldn’t pay attention to the body proportions of Barbie because she is just a toy. On the surface, that sounds like a valid argument. But a closer look, through research, suggests that Barbie may lead to the following: Heightened body dissatisfaction among young girls, unhealthy eating behaviors [and] a desire to achieve a slim body and therefore eat less.”

And get a load of what Barbie does to men.

 

Spotter: LostInEMinor

The Oscars are this weekend and it seems like everyone’s excited. While the celebs are hitting up the pre-Oscars parties, and the normal folk (that’s us) are making out predictions, the members of The Academy are actually determining who will be taking home the most coveted award in film making.

The Hollywood Reporter sat down with an anonymous sound effects professional – who is also a voting member of The Academy – and got the scoop as he filled out his official Oscars ballot.

Check out how the cast his ballot, and use it as a sneak peek into who may actually be taking home awards this weekend!

➻ BEST PICTURE

12 Years a Slave impacted me the most as a moviegoer and as a father, so it was my number one.Dallas Buyers Club also really moved me — just watching him change his heart. I thought Gravity was really phenomenal. I love Captain Phillips, just like I love all Tom Hanks movies; it was a travesty that its director wasn’t nominated. American Hustle I liked because everyone in its ensemble did a great job. Herwas interesting, but it was a little too weird for me.Nebraska was like watching paint dry — it just bored me to death. Wolf of Wall Street was just so gratuitous and offensive — it’s supposed to be funny to watch people get screwed over by this schmuck? I had a friend who was wiped out by Bernie Madoff. And, finally, Willamena [Editor’s note: Philomena], which was not my cup of tea.

MY PICK: (1) 12 Years a Slave; (2) Dallas Buyers Club; (3) Gravity; (4) Captain Phillips; (5) American Hustle; (6) Her; (7) Nebraska; (8) The Wolf of Wall Street; (9) Philomena

EARLIER: Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 1

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

[Alexander] Payne and [Martin] Scorsese were immediately out for me. [Steve]McQueen or [David O’] Russell would deserve to win if we were just talking about directing actors. But [Alfonso] Cuaron got my vote because the fact that his movie got made at all is amazing and groundbreaking. I know people who worked on it who said he is a control freak and was all over every aspect of it.

MY PICK: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

➻ BEST ACTOR

[Christian] Bale did a great job, but the ensemble resonated for me more than any one person. I just need more going on than [Bruce] Dern gave me. [Leonardo] DiCapriowas great but I got tired of the movie — it was just way too long and repetitive. The guy in 12 Years a Slave – I can never pronounce his name — was just phenomenal. And yet I was really taken with [Matthew] McConaughey, even though I have not really been a fan in the past. He was just ridiculously good — plus the weight loss and what he had to do was just unbelievable. This was the hardest choice for me.

MY PICK: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

My wife loved Willamina, but I didn’t care for it. [Sandra] Bullock was good, but it was hard for me to not see Sandra Bullock—or George Clooney. Meryl Streep is just always fantastic; I never feel that she’s just doing the same shit. Amy Adams did a phenomenal job, but I didn’t love the movie. [Cate] Blanchett was bold; I don’t think you could have found any person on the planet who could have played that role better.

MY PICK: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

PHOTOS: Beginner’s Luck? Actors Who Scored Oscar Nominations With Film Debuts

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jonah Hill was out from the gate for me — I just can’t. Bradley Cooper was good. ButJared Leto gave a crazy performance, truly becoming this person. I thought he was flawless.

MY PICK: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I’m not usually a big Julia Roberts fan, but I thought she did a fantastic job — it was really gritty and ballsy and didn’t remind me of everything else she’s already done. Jennifer Lawrence does a great job, but I didn’t feel like she had enough screen time. But the 12 Years a Slave woman I just found to be so compelling; she ripped my heart out. For me, it’s all about the impact a movie or a character has on me.”

MY PICK: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I went with Slave because it resonated so much with me. I was so taken by the story and it had the biggest impact on me.

MY PICK: 12 Years a Slave

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

I liked Hustle, but I voted for the script that I think produced the most beautiful movie, and that’s Dallas Buyers Club.

MY PICK: Dallas Buyers Club

STORY:  Sandra Bullock to Make $ 70 Million (At Least) for ‘Gravity’

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I thought Frozen was amazing, and my personal favorite was Despicable Me 2, but I didn’t see all of the nominees, so I didn’t vote.

MY PICK: I abstained.

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I have only watched 20 Feet from Stardom because so many people were talking about that. I’m a big music fan and I thought it was incredible. But I don’t think I’m gonna vote because I haven’t watched all of the nominees. We only got these movies last weekend, and this week I’ve been slammed trying to finish a movie, so I didn’t have time to see more.

MY PICK: I abstained.

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I haven’t watched them.

MY PICK: I abstained.

FEINBERG FORECAST: Scott’s Final Picks for Who Will Win at Sunday’s Oscars 

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Gravity begs the question: What’s cinematography and what’s visual effects? I talked to some cinematographer friends and they assured me that a lot of what looks great in the film is owed to its camera work.

MY PICK: Gravity

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

I don’t think it’s fair to those nominees to have someone voting who has no idea what they did and what their challenges were.

MY PICK: I abstained. 

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

One of my dear friends is the editor of Captain Phillips, so how do you think I voted? I also happen to think he did a phenomenal job.

MY PICK: Captain Phillips

âž» BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I voted for my favorite movie in the category: Dallas Buyers Club.

MY PICK: Dallas Buyers Club

âž» BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I voted for Thomas Newman, who is a dear friend and has been nominated an ungodly amount of times but has never won. His score is the standout thing of that movie.

MY PICK: Saving Mr. Banks

âž» BEST ORIGINAL SONG

U2’s was a decent song and they’ve had a lot of publicity. But, for me, it’s about how a song serves a movie, so I went with the Frozen song. It’s a beautiful song and it’s the heart of that film. I thought it was a home run.

MY PICK: “Let It Go” (Frozen)

âž» BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I know that I don’t know enough to vote for this category.

MY PICK: I abstained.

âž» BEST SOUND EDITING

They were all really nicely done. Some are more distinct than the others. Gravity is a very cool mix because of the way they muted sounds to create the sense of being in space — and it has the best campaign. Captain Phillips is not something we’ve never heard before — boats, guns, underwater activity — but it was really well done. But, in my opinion, Lone Survivorwas just better. It takes a lot of work to bring a war movie to life.

MY PICK: Lone Survivor

âž» BEST SOUND MIXING

Lone Survivor was done incredibly well. It was really nicely balanced, with a lot of movement and a lot of directional perspective, which really gives you a sense of space and makes you feel as if you were that soldier, right in the middle of it.

MY PICK: Lone Survivor

âž» BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity was a cinematic spectacle unlike anything that’s ever been done before. The Hobbit? Been there, done that.

MY PICK: Gravity

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT
➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
➻ BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

MY PICK: I abstained.

ANORAK’s history of controversial children’s books: sex, drugs, sambo’s gay lover and anti-authoritarianism in the classroom.

The Little Red Schoolbook

In 1971 the proprietor of Stage 1 publishers was found guilty of having in his possession obscene books for publication for gain. Richard Handyside was fined £25 on each summons and ordered to pay £110 costs.

The obscene publications were copies of The Little Red Schoolbook written by two Danish schoolteachers, Søren Hansen and Jesper Jensen – and then rewritten by a group of British adults and schoolchildren, including a young Hilary Benn. It urged young readers to question authority and challenge social conventions, and described adults as ‘paper tigers’. Pupils were encouraged to disrupt lessons that they found boring.

The book was widely regarded as an invitation to anarchy, and it was banned in Italy and France. An abridged version was eventually passed for publication in the UK, but it had by this time achieved considerable notoriety. Ironically, the main area of contention was not the political message, but the section giving basic sex education and advice – particularly concerning masturbation – most of which would be on the school curriculum these days. This was of course the convenient pretext chosen the DPP in order to suppress a book that they regarded as socially subversive.

An extraordinary documentary can be heard here.

Noddy

Enid Blyton is by no means the only venerable authoress to find her books falling out of favour as popular opinion changes over the decades, as Richmal Crompton will have known only too well.

She remains the most high-profile example, however, thanks to her ‘Gollywog’ series, which related the adventures of Golly, Woggy and Nigger, who liked nothing better than to stride along, in Blyton’s own words, ‘arm-in-arm, singing merrily their favourite song – which, as you may guess, was “Ten Little Nigger Boys”.’ These books are not currently available in most children’s libraries

More famous are her Noddy books, in which they feature once again. In one particularly pointed incident, Noddy is attacked by golliwogs, who steal his car and leave him stranded.

Luckily the Toyland police were very efficient, and always at hand.

Not all gollies are bad, though. In Golly Town we find a Mr Golly, who is one of Noddy’s best friends. He owns Toyland’s garage, looks after Noddy’s car, and is an all-round bloody good bloke, as this picture proves…

The Tale of Little Black Sambo

Another former staple of junior school libraries that fell out of favour (though it remains popular in Japan). In 1996, Fred Marcellino produced a set of new pictures, renamed the characters, and republished it under the title The Story of Little Babaji.

Tintin

One could be charitable and say that Hergé’s most controversial Tintin adventure merely represented the condescending views of Belgian (and British) society at the time.

Post-war, they seemed anachronistic and offensive, portraying as they did a nation of stupid, lazy, infantile savages in need of a clever white master. The book quickly fell out of favour (and out of print).

The Brave Cowboy

A similar trick was pulled with Joan Walsh Anglund’s charming best-seller, in which scary ‘Indians’ were removed and replaced by white bankrobbers and other ne’er-do-wells.

Jenny Lives With Eric and Martin

This otherwise unremarkable tale relates the everyday life of five-year-old Jenn, who lives with her dad and his boyfriend.

In 1986 it was reported that the book was in the library of a school run by the Labour-controlled Inner London Education Authority, and this was a major factor in the Tory government passing Section 28 of the Local Government Act, which prohibited the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality. The full, bizarre story can be found here…

And Tango Makes Three

This modern-day ‘Jenny’, based on a true story about two ‘gay’ penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo has the distinction of having had the most had the most ban requests in the USA in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. In 2009 it came second.

‘It’s regrettable that some parents believe reading a true story about two male penguins hatching an egg will damage their children’s moral development,’ said co-author Justin Richardson. ‘They are entitled to express their beliefs, but not to inflict them on others.’

MICHAEL Adebolajo (left) and Michael Adebowale (right) are behind bars for a long time. Adebolajo was given a whole-life term and Michael Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years for the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich.

Having committed their heinous crime, both men were shot by police.

Adebolajo charged at officers. He was armed with a large blade. He gets close – just two feet away – from a female armed response police officer who was driving a BMW X5. A male colleague in the rear seats fired his machine-gun through the car window at the murderer, hitting him twice.

He was not killed.

Adebowale aimed a handgun at police. A third SO19 marksman from the specialist Trojan unit shot him. A further six shots rang out.

He was not killed.

There were many witnesses.

Mark Duggan was shot dead by police.

Jurors concluded Mr Duggan did not have a gun when he was shot by officers who surrounded a minicab he was travelling in.

But the jury said it was more likely than not that he had thrown a gun on to some nearby grass just before he was killed. The weapon was found about 20ft (6m) away from the scene.

There was one independent witness. They called it an “execution“.

The law and police guidelines say that an officer can only shoot someone if absolutely necessary, and they honestly believe that person was an imminent threat.

Police witnesses say Mr Duggan was such a threat when they killed him.

Such are the facts…