Saturday, November 9, 2013

Evan Rachel Wood is tough Romanian in 'Charlie Countryman'

Evan Rachel Wood may have spent her career looking for films that push the envelope, but the 26-year-old actress found the toughest role of her life when she had her first child via natural home birth this past summer.


Wood plays a tough-talking Romanian cellist and strip-club denizen who entices an American (Shia LaBeouf) in “Charlie Countryman,” opening Friday. But her birthing choice, she says, “was the hardest thing I’ve ever done — and also was the most rewarding experience of my life, ever.


“I just had no idea that birth could be like this,” she adds of delivering her son with actor-husband Jamie Bell. “[Women are told] ‘you’re not going to be able to do it, it’s too hard, too painful.’ I don’t know when something being hard and painful became something we never experience, just because it’s hard.”


You certainly can’t say that about Wood. The Raleigh, N.C., native took to performing early. At 5, she tried out for the role of the young undead girl in 1994’s “Interview With the Vampire” that ultimately went to Kirsten Dunst. But Wood went to steady TV series work (“Once and Again”) until 2003’s big-screen drama “Thirteen” got her a lot of attention at 16 for playing a middle-schooler whose very adult life worries her mom (Holly Hunter).


“It’s odd starting so young, because I think you don’t really know what you’re getting into,” Wood says. “I wasn’t prepared for what it was going to be like, and how people would treat you or look at you.


“I’ve lived many lifetimes already. Definitely being a teenager and having ‘Thirteen’ come out, having my whole life change overnight, was jarring.”


Rather than going the “Twilight” route, Wood did a Western (“The Missing”), edgy indies (“Down in the Valley”), one genuinely tough-to-sell project (Julie Taymor’s Beatles-themed musical “Across the Universe”), Darren Aronofsky’s gritty “The Wrestler” and a two-season stint on HBO’s “True Blood.”


“The reason I go for those roles is because, you’re a twentysomething girl in Hollywood, you mainly get sent movies [where] you’re just the girlfriend, you’re just having sex with someone and then leaving. It’s hard to find roles for women that are, well, like Gabi in ‘Charlie Countryman.’ ”


Wood’s role in the gritty fairy tale is the kind she likes, an independent woman who “doesn’t need to be rescued” by the men in her life.


“I really love doing movies that push me as an actor,” she says. “If something is too easy, I get bored pretty easily.”


Working with LaBeouf, she says, was never boring. “There’s all kinds of things floating around about Shia, but I personally had a great experience working with him,” she says. “He’s insanely dedicated to what he does.”


As for her own dedication, motherhood hasn’t slowed Wood down in the slightest.


“I’m working harder than ever because now I have a whole new reason to, and a reason why, and an inspiration,” she says. “There’s no time to be lazy. I was ready for that in my life.”


She says she and Bell (“Billy Elliot,” “King Kong,” the upcoming “Nymphomaniac,” co-starring LaBeouf) don’t let work overtake their life.


“I’m more the person who is like, ‘OK, [the day’s filming] is over, I don’t want to talk about it,’ ” Wood explains. “But it’s nice when you share the same passions because you can keep turning each other on to different things. But I’m more like, ‘Let’s watch cartoons and videogames, I don’t want to think about movies!’ ”


Though Wood, who used to date goth rocker Marilyn Manson, says dealing with “fame and paparazzi is the worst part” of acting, she nonetheless took to her Twitter account in August 2012 to share that she’s bisexual, an announcement that thrust her into the public eye in a different way.


She characteristically handled it with toughness.


“I’m very happy I did it,” Wood says. “There’s always going to be people that don’t understand and are going to say hateful things. I feel bad for those people, and don’t pay attention to that. I do pay attention to the people that say to me, ‘Thank you, you’ve made me feel so much better about myself.’ That’s the reason I did it.


“If more people came out about it, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. It’s something I’m very proud of — I don’t let the hate into my life. I don’t regret it at all.”


'The Best Man Holiday' reunites characters from 'The Best Man'

   Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs as Robin and Harper in “The Best Man Holiday”



Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs as Robyn and Harper in “The Best Man Holiday”




It’s tricky to make a dramedy that also mixes in sex and rude humor. But instead of slapstick gags and tasteless jokes, “The Best Man Holiday,” opening Friday, takes a surprisingly ­poignant look at a group of friends reunited for the first time since we met them in 1999’s “The Best Man.”


Over the years, fortunes have been made and lost, children have been born, and embarrassing clips have surfaced online.


“This is the reality of life after the fairy tale ends,” says Regina Hall, who plays Candy, a former stripper whose past comes back to haunt her. She and her husband Julian (Harold Perrineau) struggle to deal with parts of her youth that neither wants to remember, as other characters from the first movie deal with new dramas.


Malcolm D. Lee is back as both writer and director.


“Such a big ensemble cast is hard for a filmmaker,” adds Hall. “It’s like baby-sitting a group of kindergartners. But for us actors, it’s like sleepaway camp.”


“The Best Man Holiday” takes place during a Christmas reunion at the New Jersey mansion of Lance (Morris Chestnut), now a top football player with the Giants. His former best friend Harper (Taye Diggs) may or may not be trying to write an unauthorized biography of the star athlete. Harper was in big trouble in the first film for writing a “novel” that was a little too close to home for his friends.


Meanwhile Harper’s wife Robyn (Sanaa Lathan) is very pregnant with their first child, yet can’t help but be jealous of her husband’s friendship with Jordan (Nia Long), a high-powered, high-heeled TV producer who’s still single and unwilling to sacrifice her work for love.“Definitely, all these kinds of characters exist in real life,” says Lathan. “One of the things I love about Malcolm’s writing is that it’s universal. Everyone knows someone who is like one of these characters. Whether you’re black or white, young or old, people can identify with what these characters are dealing with.”


That said, Lathan believes the film will hold special resonance for African-American audiences since it stars not one or two black actors, but eight.

“Black people are hungry for this kind of movie,” she says. “Simply because it’s nice to be able to see yourself [reflected] on the screen. It’s getting better, but in the majority of movies we don’t see ourselves.”


Lathan says it’s hard for white audiences to understand what it’s like for black kids growing up and going to movies that usually feature mostly white casts.

“Imagine what that does to your subconscious,” she says. “It works on your self-esteem in a very subtle but very powerful way that is real − and can be damaging.”


Very little of the humor in “The Best Man Holiday” has anything to do with race, though the friends can’t help but take a few jabs when ­Jordan brings home her new white boyfriend. Robyn calls him a “tall vanilla latte.” ­Harper jokes that the new ­boyfriend must like “dating chocolate girls.”


Then there’s Harper’s literary agent, who tells Harper what he wants to see in his new book, and at the same time may be writer-director Lee’s wink at the audience about his own goals for the movie. The agent says he wants the new book to be smart, “and not just ‘black people smart.’”


Long says that line from the book agent “definitely personifies the film,” and that this is a movie about struggles that anyone in love can relate to, regardless of race.

Of her independent character, Jordan, Long says, “To love deeply and reap the benefits of love, you have to be vulnerable. I truly believe the professional contemporary woman is doing it all.


“I think you should have your children when it works for you, as long as your biological clock allows that. There is so much pressure from society to have your kids early. But I had my first child at 30 and second at 40. I would encourage all women who are on the fence about whether they want to have children, there is never a perfect time, do it if you can, you will never regret it.”


There’s at least one person though, who may not be able to relate to “The Best Man Holiday” — Long’s older son, who’s 12.

“My son has no desire to see any of my movies,” the actress jokes. “So I’m hoping if I do a big fancy sci-fi movie, he’ll see it and say, ‘Oh mom, I love what you do.’ ”


jsilverman@nydailynews.com



50 years on, the Beatles and Stones face off again

The Beatles


“On Air — Live at the BBC Volume 2”


(EMI/Universal Music)


4 stars


...


The Rolling Stones


“Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live”


(Eagle Vision)


3 Stars


Rivalries don’t get more relentless — or more mutually beneficial — than the Beatles vs. the Stones.


The game of compare and contrast between the bands began a half century ago, greatly aided by the groups themselves, who often positioned their releases as call-and-response reactions, to the delight of millions.


That long-running dynamic continues this week when the Good and Bad Boys of rock ’n’ roll each put out “new” music. On Monday, the Fab Four will issue the second volume of their “Live at the BBC” sessions, whose first version was a No. 1 smash when it arrived 19 years ago. Both of the collections disinter troves of previously unreleased recordings made by the Beatles for the BBC between March 1962 and July 1965.


Also Monday, the Rolling Stones will put out the DVD “Sweet Summer Sun,” capturing their concert from London’s Hyde Park this past July. It’s an echo of a storied show held in that same leafy preserve 44 years earlier. That free event served to memorialize guitarist Brian Jones, who had died just two days before.


The 1969 Stones park show featured the debut of 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor, the most fluid and expansive ax-man the band has ever employed. The big draw for this year’s show was the return of Taylor — if, sadly, for just one number, “Midnight Rambler.”


The good news: On that song, Taylor’s fingers still give the Stones greater fire and elaboration than they would otherwise have. His leads inspire Keith Richards and Ron Wood to push and pull each other into tighter riffs in the rhythm. The show also features the Stones’ regular backup singer Lisa Fischer taking the panicked Merry Clayton part in “Gimme Shelter.” Not only does she bring to it her own blood-curdling yells, she sports a vintage hippie-era fringe chemise.


Other than Taylor’s cameo, none of these performances rate as crucial to the Stones’ canon. Too many charging, live versions already exist of the same songs to manage that. But the performances do show a band of musical ancients still in tune with each other’s rhythm — deeply enough, in fact, to give their legacy a present-tense charge.


The Beatles’ two-disc set has the great advantage of dating from the pink of their youth. The CDs feature 37 previously unreleased performances, goosed by 23 snips of the boys’ ironic quips and banter, which they traded with buttoned-down radio hosts. Two of the songs were never cut for a Beatles album: a cover of Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You” and the Stephen Foster classic “Beautiful Dreamer.”


Famous Beatles songs, like “Do You Want to Know a Secret” and “Please Please Me,” mix it up with rockabilly touchstones like “Lucille” and Chuck Berry’s “Memphis, Tennessee.” The latter, in a stripped and clean take, has a John Lennon vocal that’s gorgeously casual.


Even toss-offs, like a dash through “Happy Birthday,” have a madcap wit.


Recorded in glorious mono, the performances shake with a rickety brilliance. Cut live, they counter the prevailing image we have of the Beatles as self-conscious studio rats. (They stopped touring in 1966.) Here, we can enjoy them as the down-’n’-dirty performing unit they once were. The songs arrive in frisky bursts, compact in form, crisp in delivery.


Listening feels like falling into a time tunnel or overhearing a secret. It brings us sounds from the past that couldn’t be more of-their-moment. Unlike the Stones release, this isn’t an album about endurance but about the thrill of the new -- providing yet another contrast worth savoring.


jfarber@nydailynews.com


Amy Tan's 'The Valley of Amazement': book review

Amy Tan, author of “The Valley of Amazement”



Amy Tan sets ner novel in the world of courtesans and concubines, and focuses on the 7-year-old daughter of a brothel proprietor.




Amy Tan’s new novel, “The Valley of Amazement,” is rather odd.


It’s no surprise that the “Joy Luck Club” author again offers a literary exploration of complex mother-daughter relationships, but her tale of a Shanghai courtesan is overwrought with dramatic developments worthy of a telenovela. Really, how much can happen to one woman in a lifetime?


Tan’s novel of course brings to mind Arthur Golden’s “Memoirs of a Geisha,” as we once again delve into the intimate world of courtesans and concubines. Taking us there is 7-year-old Violet Minturn, the daughter of the proprietor of what is, in 1905, the classiest courtesan house in Shanghai. It’s also the only one run by a white woman, Lulu Minturn.


The Hidden Jade Path, as it is known to Westerners, is Violet’s erotically infused playground as a child. Given to peeking into the courtesans’ private chambers, her sex ed comes early and is explicit. What remains a mystery is her mother’s past growing up in San Francisco. Who her father is and what happened to him is another provocative, unanswered question.


Through a wicked turn of events, Violet is sold to another high-class brothel as a 15-year-old virgin courtesan to be deflowered by the highest bidder. Tan delivers a delicately phrased but quite thorough exposition on the sexual skills a courtesan must cultivate. She also immerses a reader in the exotic world they occupied as the celebrities of the time, gossiped about incessantly in the “mosquito press,” but doomed to short-lived careers and brutal penury afterward.


My, how Violet’s fortunes change over the course of a lifetime. At one turn she’s a celebrated beauty, the next a concubine sexual slave in the provinces. A brief interlude of happiness in between ends when her Western lover dies and their daughter is forcibly taken from her to be raised in Croton-on-Hudson by his widow. And, there’s even more ...


The plot does verge on the silly at times, but Tan is such an accomplished storyteller that she almost pulls it off. And the underlying appeal of this book is the weave she makes of the three generations of Minturn women — Violet’s daughter returns to take her place in the story — struggling to accept their fate and each other.


No matter how unmanageable “The Valley of Amazement” threatens to become at any point, it remains interesting. And yes, not without its titillations, too.


FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION


“The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The popular historian, and author of “Team of Rivals,” tells the tale of the muckraking press amid the larger story of the tumultuous first decade of the Progressive era when some feared the center could not hold.


“Both Members of the Club” by Adam Berlin. The author of “The Number of Missing” now tells another Manhattan-based story about a trio of friends that includes a professional fighter, an aspiring actor and an artist. The last is about to stage her first gallery show just as the fighter’s world is coming unseamed. He can’t take the punches anymore. Tough stuff.


“Tatiana: An Arkady Renko Novel” by Martin Cruz Smith. Renko, an investigator first introduced in the old-school best seller “Gorky Park,” has made the transition to New Russia, where the crimes are as dirty and nasty as ever. A reporter is murdered, and following the trail, Renko is led to Kaliningrad, a Cold War “secret” city where only bad things happen.


sherrylnews@gmail.com



Stasi: Get over it Fox, de Blasio’s the winner

Get over it, Fox News. Get past it, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh — and all the rest of you who are devastated by the Bill de Blasio landslide.


I am crazy for you Bill O’R, but Bill de B is de mayor now, so you gotta get past it.


And I truly appreciate that you, Glenn Beck, apparently received a personal vision from God last week showing that New York City under B de B will be a crime-riddled living hell. But Beck? You live in Texas, which not only produced George W. Bush, the most disastrous President in modern history, but hosts, yes, a museum in the house where W misspent his youth.


What do they have on display? Old liquor bottles? We have the Met and the Modern and you have the Bush and the Wooden Nickel Museum. So seriously, Beck. Just live with it.


B de B won by the biggest landslide by a nonincumbent mayoral candidate in our city’s history, and was voted in by the same regular Joes that all of you guys are always touting as the backbone of this nation. The Joes have spoken. So let it go, or the Joes will let you go.


Will B de B be a great mayor? I have no idea, since God hasn’t visited me with a vision lately. But I do know that no matter what you guys think/say/believe, B de B is not going to kill off all the rich people and bring back track. Black will not be the new white, and no, the de Blasios aren’t making a political statement by not straightening their hair. They like it that way — and apparently so does the rest of the city who aren’t you.


B de B isn’t a pro-crime commie. He really doesn’t want you to be mugged because he is against the practice of stopping and frisking kids who happen to look like his kids — even if they don’t look like your kids.


He doesn’t hate rich people, (well, it’s hard for anyone to actually like Bloomberg, but that’s another story). B de B just believes that people who make piles of dough should help pay for pre-K for kids who desperately need a better start in life. Pre-K comes with breakfast — you know the meal that your staff prepares for your children — a meal which the 474,000 kids who go hungry each day in New York City need desperately.


So for all of you who threatened to move out of the city if he won, get over it. You know you really don’t want to move to Florida even if Rush lives there. That would mean you won’t be a big shark in a small river anymore, but just another manatee in the Gulf.


Please, get over it, so we can all get on with it.


PIRATES OF THE SILK ROAD


Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Ross Ulbricht, who is accused of owning and operating The Silk Road website — a $1.2 billion online marketplace for hit men, hackers, gun runners and drug dealers — showed up in Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday.


In court, however, Pirate, who is also accused of hiring hit men (in undercover sting operations), looked less like Black Beard the pirate than Five O’Clock Shadow the loser.


Ulbricht came to court with a new lawyer, Joshua Dratel, who claims the feds got the wrong guy. What a relief to know the Pirate is innocent, even though he shares the same lawyer as one-eyed, hook-handed non-pirate terror suspect Abu Hamza al-Masri. It must be the Captain Hook thing.


Question of the day: How is it possible that pirates who did — and still do — rape, rob, rampage, pillage, plunder, torture and murder, inspire a ride at Disney World? What next? The Bin Laden log flume?


DOES GOLD TARNISH?


Senator, doctor and golden boy Rand Paul of Kentucky was quick to not take blame for the recent accusations of plagiarism in a speech, a book and his now killed-off column in The Washington Times.


Paul, who don’t take no crap from nobody, claimed the cribbed writing was just the result of being overwhelmed and overworked, and/or the fault of his staff, who didn’t footnote properly. In his defense, Paul’s senior adviser Doug Stafford issued a statement: “Sen. Paul ... has always presented his own ideas, opinions and conclusions.”


Thing is? Doug Stafford is the not-very-visible co-writer on Paul’s book with the plagiarized passages. Mike Huckabee also came to Paul’s defense, calling the plagiarism accusations “nuttiness.”


He said this knowing the nutty fact that one of Paul’s cribs was from a Wikipedia description of “Gattaca,” about a man who assumes another guy’s identity so he can blast off into outer space. Maybe Rand Paul should consider giving up politics and join Lady Gaga on that rocket to outer space.


SICKENING OMISSION


In an interview with NBC, President Obama said not a good enough job was done in crafting the Obamacare law. You think? The law is — depending on which figures you trust — anywhere from 234,812 to over 400,000 words long. With all those words, how did they forget to include these eight words: “This may cause you to lose your coverage?”


WILL, CHEATING? NYAH


Just because Will Smith (right) and his co-star Margot Robbie (left) got half undressed in a photo booth — before supposedly disappearing into a trailer — does not mean he’s cheating. On his income taxes.


EXPRESS LINES


It’s not shocking that Justin Bieber was busted by the paparazzi coming out of a Brazilian brothel. What’s shocking is that Bieber has to pay for it.


Police Commish Ray Kelly may join JPMorgan Chase as head of security. His first duty will be to arrest everyone there.


Tom Cruise said shooting a movie and being away from his daughter Suri was as tough as serving a tour in Afghanistan. But is it as tough as sitting through “Cocktail”? Doubtful.


CLOSED, NO OPEN, WELL, MAYBE


Long Island College Hospital stopped admitting patients on Wednesday, but then opened on Friday — sort of — by accepting noncritical patients. SUNY says the hospital loses millions, but protesters contend SUNY really wants to close it so it can sell it for hundreds of millions to developers of luxury housing.


Who’s doing the math here? The average cost per patient per day for a hospital room stay in NYC is nearly $2,000 — over $700,000 a year per room, not counting shared rooms. That’s even beyond Russian oligarch Len Blavatnik’s budget. Sort of.


Gore Vidal Underage Sex Hinted At In NYT Profile

Gore Vidal sex






A New York Times profile of Gore Vidal,, who died last year, suggests that the often controversial author may have had sex with underage men.


The article, which focuses on the tension around Vidal’s estate, features eyebrow-raising remarks from the writer’s half sister, Nina Straight, and Vidal’s nephew, Burr Steers. Recalling the contentious relationship between Vidal and conservative icon William Buckley, Steers claims that Vidal feared information of his sexual activities with underage men might have been revealed as part of the feud.


Mr. Steers said Mr. Vidal was terrified that Mr. Buckley had evidence that Mr. Vidal had sex with underage men. “Jerry Sandusky acts,” Ms. Straight said, referring to the former Penn State assistant football coach convicted of child molestation.

Steers continued, “I know Buckley had a file on him that Gore feared. It would make sense if that material was about him having underage sex.”


Gawker’s report on the Times article notes that in a 2012 interview with The New Republic, Vidal’s son states that Buckley did indeed keep a file on Vidal.


The Times reports that other friends of Vidal doubt the allegations about underage sex, and there is no direct evidence to support the claim.


During his life, Vidal refused to put a label on his sexuality, but was said to have had relations with both men and women according to the New York Times' obituary from 2012.









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Miss Universe 2013 is Venezuelan Gabriela Isler



Photo credit: AP | Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler, from Venezuela, center, waves after winning the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Russia. (Nov. 9, 2013)


MOSCOW - A 25-year-old Venezuelan who appears on TV in her country and is an accomplished flamenco dancer is the new Miss Universe.


Gabriela Isler was crowned Saturday night in the pageant at a sprawling exhibition hall on Moscow's outskirts.


In the excitement just after the announcement, the tiara fell off Isler's head as she was being crowned by Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo of the United States. Isler caught the crown laughing.


Patricia Rodrigues of Spain was the runner-up.


The panel of judges was led by American rock musician Steven Tyler.


Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro congratulated Isler on Twitter, calling her title a "triumph" for Venezuela, a country that has now won three of the last six Miss Universe pageants.


In fact, Venezuela has won more major international beauty competitions than any other nation, and beauty pageants rank alongside baseball as the country's most-followed diversion, one that transcends social class and normally insurmountable political divisions.


A whole industry of grooming schools, plastic surgeons and beauty salons has emerged to prepare young women for the thousands of pageants that take place each year around the country in schools, army barracks and even prisons.


Venezuela has managed to keep its beauty queen industry flourishing, despite economic problems have worsened in recent weeks as inflation touched a two-decade high of 54 percent and shortages of basic goods like toiled paper and milk have worsened.


Driving the crisis has been a collapse in the currency, which has plunged to a tenth of its official value in illegal black market trading.


To arrest the fall, Maduro last week ordered the military to inspect prices and shut down businesses found to be charging abusive prices. A day after the government seized control of a nationwide chain of appliance stores, doors reopened Saturday to throngs of shoppers seeking to buy TVs, washing machines and refrigerators at a fraction of their listed price.


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Lady Gaga Talks About Her Weed Habit: 'I Was Smoking 15 Joints A Day'

lady gaga weed






It's no secret Lady Gaga is a fan of weed, but the singer recently admitted there was a point when she smoking as many as 15 joints a day when healing from surgery earlier this year.


In July, the 27-year-old told Women's Wear Daily doctors found "giant craters, a hole in my hip the size of a quarter, and the cartilage was just hanging out the other side of my hip" before she underwent hip surgery in February.


Apparently, the pain of the recovery was too much.


"I was smoking 15 joints a day. No tobacco. A day," she told the U.K.'s Attitude magazine, per Reuters. "It was a habit that eventually occurred when the pain got so bad with the hip. I was just numbing, numbing, numbing myself and then sleeping it off and then getting on stage, killing it in pain, then getting off and smoking, smoking, smoking, not knowing what the pain was."


Artist Marina Abramovic eventually got Gaga to cut back when she stayed at her house.


"I cold-turkeyed," she said. "For weeks and weeks I didn't smoke at all. And now I smoke a little bit at night, just you know, for fun -- but not to cope. That's the difference. Marina was the only person who could get me to do that and it was not intended to be rehab."


In January, the "Do What U Want" star said she also didn't smoke weed while working on her upcoming album, "ARTPOP," due out next week. But she did enjoy some tokes outside of the studio.


While Gaga's 15 joints a day might seem like a lot to some, it doesn't compare to the 81 blunts Snoop Lion said he smokes daily.





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  • Miley Cyrus


    Miley Cyrus has <a href="https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus/status/369189167952973824" target="_blank">captured a few photos of herself sporting the leaf</a>, and she's clearly <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/miley-cyrus-weed_n_3672121.html" target="_blank">unashamed of her smoking habits</a>.




  • Rihanna


    Rihanna also displays pot on her clothes, accessories and even in a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/23/rihanna-smoking-weed-photos_n_3484629.html" target="_blank">surprising amount of photos she posts of herself</a>.




  • Lady Gaga


    Last Halloween, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/lady-gaga-weed-costume-singer-dresses-up-princess-high-cannabis-queen-halloween_n_2059506.html" target="_blank">Gaga dressed up as "Princess High The Cannabis Queen"</a> and even<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/lady-gaga-weed-singer-wondrous-marijuana_n_1897486.html" target="_blank"> lit up onstage in Holland</a>.




  • Emily Blunt


    Emily Blunt attended the premiere for "The Five Year Engagement" in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/emily-blunt-pot-dress_n_1436852.html" target="_blank">an outfit that took many by surprise</a>.




  • Kristen Stewart


    Kristen Stewart <a href="http://imgur.com/xaivm?tags" target="_blank">rocked a bikini that displayed two pot leaves</a> for all to see.




  • Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose


    Wiz Khalifa leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to pot <a href="http://instagram.com/mistercap" target="_blank">on his Instagram account</a>. He and wife Amber Rose <a href="http://madamenoire.com/271850/about-amber-roses-son-and-those-weed-socks-she-tells-critics-like-wendy-williams-to-shut-it-up/" target="_blank">frequently enjoy smoking and love to show their fans</a>.




  • Snoop Lion


    Snoop is another public fan of smoking weed, and has even used a microphone embellished with a pot leaf while rapping.




  • Vanessa Hudgens


    Hudgens <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/us-gossip/vanessa-hudgens-wears-marijuana-t-shirt-756104" target="_blank">wore a shirt with two marijuana leaves on set of "Spring Breakers."</a>




  • Wilmer Valderrama


    The "That '70s Show" star wore a belt buckle emblazoned with the marijuana leaf.




  • Randy Jackson


    The longest running "American Idol" judge showed this play on the Adidas symbol, replacing it with the cannabis leaf.




  • Lourdes Leon


    Madonna's daughter wore a wristband with the rasta colors and the symbol of the pot plant.




  • Tommy Chong


    Chong has made some crazy claims about weed (like <a href="http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_dyyztvmz/" target="_blank">this</a> and <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2013/05/13/tommy-chong-says-marijuana-helped-him-beat-cancer/" target="_blank">this</a>), but he stands firm behind <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/tommy-chong-marijuana-legalization-end-dea_n_2257882.html" target="_blank">his position on legalizing marijuana.</a>




  • Hilary Rhoda


    The 26-year-old model <a href="http://www.yournextskirt.com/2013/07/hilary-rhoda-clover-canyon/" target="_blank">rocked a skirt with the leaf</a> at an event for Persol.












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Miss Universe 2013 Winner Is Venezuela's Gabriela Isler (PHOTOS) (VIDEO)

Venezuelan TV presenter crowned Miss Universe



Photo credit: AP | Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo, from the United States, right, places the crown on Miss Venezuela Gabriela Isler during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)


A 25-year-old Venezuelan who appears on TV in her country and is an accomplished flamenco dancer is the new Miss Universe.


Gabriela Isler was crowned Saturday night in the pageant at a sprawling exhibition hall on Moscow's outskirts.


In the excitement just after the announcement, the tiara fell off Isler's head as she was being crowned and she caught it laughing.


Patricia Rodrigues of Spain was the runner-up.


The panel of judges was led by American rock musician Steven Tyler.


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Beyonce Fans Petition Against Her Attending Kim Kardashian's Wedding





beyonce petition kim kardashian wedding
AP






Beyonce fans really don't want her going to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's wedding.


A Change.org petition entitled "BEYONCE CANNOT ATTEND KIM KARDASHIAN'S WEDDING" was created earlier this week by a man named John Barry, asking for fans to sign and spread the word against Queen Bey attending the Kimye wedding.


"As you all know by now Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have sadly been in the news for their 'engagement,'" read the petition, per Fuse. "Kim Kardashian and her disgusting family are known for their rise to fame for doing absolutely nothing... Now we must do all in our power to stop Beyonce from attending that god forsaken [sic] wedding, since her husband Jay Z is BFFs with Kanye he problaby [sic] wants both of them to go..."


Barry offered some excuses the superstar singer could give to get out of going to the upcoming nuptials, including extending The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, saying Blue Ivy is sick or by simply having something better to do.


"Your [sic] Beyonce you always have something better to do than to attend a Kim Kardashian wedding," it read.


By Saturday, the petition had received more than 300 signatures in support. However, the creator eventually pulled it saying it was all just a joke.


"IT WAS A JOKE I DONT CARE IF BEYONCE GOES OR NOT SHE'S A GROWN WOMAN!!" read the update.


Even if the petition did sustain, it's unlikely Beyonce would've obliged. Aside from West's close relationship with her husband, Beyonce has been quite nice to Kardashian in the past. In June, after the birth of North, she offered her congratulations to the new mama and her beau in a post on her Tumblr. Reports have even claimed Beyonce and Kardashian "love each other."





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Celebrate Nick Lachey's Birthday With His Most Awkward Moments

Nick Lachey awkward moments






Happy birthday Nick Lachey!


Today, the 98 Degrees lead singer turns the big 4-0. Vanessa Minnillo's beau has much to celebrate: the Package Tour (with his group, Boyz II Men and New Kids On The Block) was a huge summer success, his wife shares the same birthday as him and their son Camden turned one in September!


Lachey has come a long way since his '90s boy band beginnings. Need proof? We dug up some of his most awkward moments in pop history to toast his milestone. Cheers, Nick!


Nick recently became a spokesperson of sorts for the new Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. He even serenaded the sandwich with help from fans' tweets for the #PretzelLoveSongs campaign. Well okay then.

nick lachey


The time he and Snoop Dogg hung out at The Eden Roc Renaissance in Miami, Florida. You can just feel the weirdness, fo shizzle.

nick lachey


Supporting a charity is cool (in this case it was Dance to Erase MS). Wearing silly outfits and making this face with your brother is not.

nick lachey


Remember when ex-wife Jessica Simpson forced Nick to taste test her Dessert Treats lotion line? The fact that the product launch was nontoxic is seriously troubling. Gag.

nl3


Holy moly. The stylist who chose this 2004 magazine cover ensemble needs to be fired.

nl4


Before E! made her a household name, Kim Kardashian briefly dated Nick. He admitted the romance was probably for her fame-climbing benefit.

kim kardashian nick lachey


Lachey experimented with his own album that debuted a decade ago. It was decent and everything, but the title "SoulO" is cringeworthy.

nl


After going solo, Nick confused himself with Justin Timberlake. Yes your dick is in a box but where's the effort? You're not JT's R&B alter ego Raif. Nice try though.

nl2



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  • Damien Fahey, Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Nick Lachey appears on stage with VJ's Vanessa Minnillo and Damien Fahey during 'Spankin' New Music Week' on MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios November 14, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)




  • Damien Fahey, Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    MTV VJ's Damien Fahey (left) and Vanessa Minnillo (right) with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey at the MTV's Total Request Live on Super Bowl Sunday on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Park, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo and singer Nick Lachey make an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios July 26, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Recording artist Nick Lachey and MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo backstage at MTV Goes Gold: New Years Eve 2007 at the MTV Times Square Studios December 31, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Television personality Vanessa Minnillo and singer Nick Lachey arrive at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party held at the Beverly Hilton on February 10, 2007 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Singer Nick Lachey and girlfriend television personality Vanessa Minnillo attend the 4th Annual ''Event To Prevent'' dinner and auction for The Candie's Foundation held at Cipriani's 42nd Street, May10, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Singer Nick Lachey and television personality Vanessa Minnillo attend the grand opening of the new residential building 'The Atelier' July 16, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Singer Nick Lachey (L) and Vanessa Minnillo arrive at the 2008 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on November 23, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for AMA)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Actress Vanessa Minnillo and singer Nick Lachey arrive at Maxim's 10th Annual Hot 100 Celebration Presented by Dr Pepper Cherry, True Religion Brand Jeans, Stolichnaya Vodka and Corona held at Barker Hangar on May 13, 2009 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Actor/singer Nick Lachey (L) and TV personality Vanessa Minnillo attend A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival Sponsored by Disney, benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, held at Wadsworth Theatre on June 7, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for EGPAF)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    TV personalities Nick Lachey (L) and Vanessa Minnillo are seen in Times Square for New Year's Eve on December 31, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    TV personalities Vanessa Minnillo (L) and Nick Lachey arrive at NBC, Universal Pictures And Focus Features Golden Globes After Party held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 17, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Singer/tv personality Nick Lachey and TV personality Vanessa Minnillo attend the Super Skins Kick Off Party at Hotel 944 featuring Snoop Dogg at The Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach on February 4, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    TV personality Vanessa Minnillo and singer/TV personality Nick Lachey attend the Super Skins Kick Off Party at Hotel 944 featuring Snoop Dogg at The Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach on February 4, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Vanessa Minnillo (L) and singer Nick Lachey attend the 2010 Maxim Party at The Raleigh on February 6, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Maxim)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey Share the Love with NIVEA at Central Park on February 9, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Nivea)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo attend the Turf Club Suites at the 136th Kentucky Derby on May 1, 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jeff Gentner/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnilo attend the 9th Annual Butterfly Ball on June 5, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey attend the 2010 Starkey Hearing Foundation 10th Annual 'So the World May Hear' Gala at Saint Paul RiverCentre on July 25, 2010 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Foundation)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Actress Vanessa Minnillo and Singer Nick Lachey arrives at the 2011 Pre-GRAMMY Gala and Salute To Industry Icons Honoring David Geffen at Beverly Hilton on February 12, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images For The Recording Academy)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo attend the Fillies & Stallions Derby 2011 party presented by Maxim at Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center on May 6, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jeff Gentner/Getty Images for Maxim)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minnillo


    Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo attend the 137th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minillo pose backstage during the celebration of the global tour of the Range Rover Evoque at the Winter Garden on May 21, 2011 in New York, United States. (Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images for Range Rover Evoque)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    Dec. 31, 2011: "Happy New Year!!! Wishing you a Healthy, Happy & Blessed New Year! Love, The Lacheys"




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    Nick and Vanessa Lachey pose on the red carpet during the opening of Marquee Nightclub at The Star on March 30, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    July 25, 2012: "My Happiness... My Family! Ahhh, My Boys! (Wookie included) ;-)"




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    Oct. 8, 2012: "Fired up for #DWTS! @thedrewlachey is gonna kill it w/the ChaCha! Don't forget to vote"




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    Nov. 30, 2012: "I "mustache" you a question... Did you take part in #Movember? Send me pics!!!"




  • Nick Lachey & Vanessa Minillo


    Jan. 1, 2013: "Happy New Year!!! From our family to yours! May 2013 bring you ALL your Hopes and Dreams! Love, The Lacheys"












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Review: Nine Inch Nails brings 'Hesitation Marks' to Staples Center

A great rock band requires a source of tension. It can be almost anything: the relationship between melody and noise in Nirvana, for instance, or the competing interests of creative co-captains like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the Rolling Stones.


During its original run, Nine Inch Nails drew on several such sources, including frontman Trent Reznor’s uneasiness about the celebrity he’d attained and the obsession in his lyrics with submission and domination. The group packaged a sense of danger for a mass audience.


Some of those feelings still drive Nine Inch Nails, which after a four-year hiatus began playing concerts again in July, then in September released a new studio album, “Hesitation Marks,” its first since 2008.


PHOTOS: Concerts by The Times


“If I were you, I wouldn’t trust a single word I say,” Reznor sings in “Disappointed,” “Think by now you should know nothing’s gonna change.”


Yet a primary thing had changed (or evolved, anyway) when Nine Inch Nails performed Friday night at Staples Center, the hometown stop on a North American arena tour that stretches to the end of the month. The production is called Tension 2013, but instead of the psychodrama of the old days, the show’s animating conflict is a formal one: How should a rock band do its work in an age of digital overload?


You can tell that Reznor, 48, is pondering the question given the touring band he put together. In addition to veterans such as guitarist Robin Finck and drummer Ilan Rubin, the current eight-piece version of Nine Inch Nails includes three newcomers: Pino Palladino, the Welsh bassist who’s played with D’Angelo and the Who, along with backup singers Lisa Fischer and Sharlotte Gibson, known respectively for their work with the Rolling Stones and Whitney Houston.


At Staples, where the group’s set pulled heavily from “Hesitation Marks,” those players helped emphasize the album’s muscular R&B grooves, as in the scrubbing “Satellite” and “All Time Low,” which echoed the heavy-bottomed swing of “Money” by Pink Floyd. In “Disappointed,” Palladino pushed the music toward Giorgio Moroder’s endless-horizon disco, but for “Various Methods of Escape” he pulled the band behind the beat.


RELATED: The 10 Commandments of smartphone use during concerts


Wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt and what appeared to be a pair of drop-crotch trousers akin to those favored by Justin Bieber, Reznor put as much of his body into the songs as he did his voice; several times his dancing recalled that of Thom Yorke in the Radiohead frontman’s funked-up side project, Atoms for Peace.


And though he growled plenty in combustible older songs like “Wish” and “March of the Pigs,” the singer summoned a convincing sensuality that expanded the music’s emotional range even as he was describing brutal scenes of control and paranoia.


Reznor got more bandwidth still from the kind of fine-grained electro-acoustic textures he perfected while scoring films (including “The Social Network”) during Nine Inch Nails’ break. The new album's “Find My Way” struck a strange balance between soothing and unsettling, as did a mordant rendition of the band's great 1994 ballad "Hurt," which it performed in front of a screen flashing artfully rendered images of death and decay.


The screen was just one of several in Friday's show; at other points in the concert the musicians disappeared into or behind the visuals, some of which flickered on a scrim of LEDs that hung near the front of the stage. It felt like another way to illustrate a rock band's shifting identity, from main attraction to part of the matrix.


Which didn't mean that Reznor and his mates were above taking the room's attention by force. Near the end of the show the band reached back to Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut for a ferocious version of its breakthrough single, "Head Like a Hole," and as Reznor raised his arms to salute a crowd roaring his words, the tension he'd built all night momentarily broke. This was domination without resistance.


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Bruno Mars drafts R. Kelly and Pharrell for bawdy 'Gorilla' remix


Watch Nine Inch Nails make their network TV debut with Jimmy Kimmel


Twitter: @mikaelwood


Jennifer Hudson Looks Fierce At BET Soul Train Awards





Jennifer Lawrence and Jennifer Aniston may have chopped off their locks this week, but Jennifer Hudson was there with a shorter 'do first.


The 32-year-old powerhouse singer continued to stun with her fresh new pixie cut Friday on the red carpet at the BET Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles. Hudson wore a plunging beaded dress with a smokey eyeshadow look that emphasized her edgy hairdo, then switched outfits for her duet with Evelyn "Champagne" King at the awards show ceremony.


On shedding a whopping 80 pounds as a celebrity Weight Watchers spokesperson, Hudson admitted to the Huffington Post that she she never anticipated on becoming a role model. "When people say, 'I want to get my J. Hud on' or they want to go to the gym, and I'm the role model for what they want to look like. It's like, really?"


jennifer



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Seth MacFarlane Gets A New Comedy

new comedy





insidetv.ew.com:



Get ready for more Seth MacFarlane on Fox.


The network, which is already home to MacFarlane's "Family Guy" and "Dads," announced today it has picked up 13 episodes of a new animated comedy called Bordertown, which comes from MacFarlane and Family Guy producer Mark Hentemann. The show will center on two families living in a Southwest desert town on the U.S.-Mexico border.


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