Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/02/28/liam-hemsworth-miley-cyrus-together-january-jones/
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Happy Birthday, Linda
We love February 28 here at RPL. It's a very important day...
It's Linda's birthday!
Happy Birthday Linda! We ♥ you!
It's Linda's birthday!
Happy Birthday Linda! We ♥ you!
Source: http://robpattinson.blogspot.com/2013/02/happy-birthday-linda.html
The Muppets Get AWKWARD With Ricky Gervais In New The Muppets… Again! Teaser! Watch HERE!
Oh man we feel like we're watching an episode of Extras! Supremely awkward with a delicious dollop of sarcasm.
We are SO incredibly souped for the inevitably heart-warming and funny follow up film to Jason Segel's The Muppets, and in the flick's FIRST teaser, Pepe the King Prawn tries to acquaint himself with the sequel's [...]
We are SO incredibly souped for the inevitably heart-warming and funny follow up film to Jason Segel's The Muppets, and in the flick's FIRST teaser, Pepe the King Prawn tries to acquaint himself with the sequel's [...]
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Borrows Elephant Family For Their Wedding!
Hollywood stars are pretty much always trying to break each other when it comes to having the biggest and most wonderful weddings. Now Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have come up with an idea to make their wedding even more memorable - by buying an elephant family! The couple are working on making the two-mile long drive to their house amazing, and their wedding florist has revealed one and two things on what the guests will see.
"Guests will travel past water fountains and Shetland ponies leaoping as they go up the two-mile long drive to the house.", she said. "When the guests park, they'll see a family of elephants. Brad hopes it will make them smile", she continued. Err? Isn't that just strange?! (contactmusic)
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Celebrity Couples Showing Their True Feelings In Public!
"Guests will travel past water fountains and Shetland ponies leaoping as they go up the two-mile long drive to the house.", she said. "When the guests park, they'll see a family of elephants. Brad hopes it will make them smile", she continued. Err? Isn't that just strange?! (contactmusic)
Related articles
Top 10: Fun Foxy Facts About Megan Fox!Angelina Jolie And Bad Pitt Will Release Own Wine This Year!Oh My! Worst Dressed Celebrities Of Grammy Awards 2013!Celebrity Couples Showing Their True Feelings In Public!Source: http://www.posh24.com/hot_news/brad_pitt_angelina_jolie_borrows_elephant_family_for_their_wedding
Arbitrage – review
A touch of Richard Gere razzle-dazzle lifts this old-fashioned tale of stockmarket hubris
A swaggering master of the universe has been cooking the books at his hedge fund, while playing away from home with a dangerous dame. A fatal car crash looks set to lay him low, but he'll stop at nothing to dodge his comeuppance. You've seen it all before, but lead Richard Gere drenches the proceedings in the old razzle-dazzle. At 64, he's as charismatic as ever, willing the audience into hoping he'll get away with his misdeeds. Indeed, he uses his age (he's playing 60) to up the stakes: if this glittering but grizzled titan goes under, there'll be no time left for a comeback. Susan Sarandon provides nuanced support as his wronged but morally conflicted wife. Meanwhile, Tim Roth contributes a cheeringly hammy turn as a grungy New York detective prepared, wouldn't you know it, to break the rules to bring down an untouchable fat cat. An old-fashioned treat.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/28/arbitrage-review
Robert Pattinson Arrives @ 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards Hi Res Photos – January 13th
I’ve added new high quality event photos of Robert Pattinson arrives to the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 13, 2013.
Thursday Fashion Inspiration: Victoria Beckham!
I guess you all can agree with us on the fact that Victoria Beckham is a true fashionista. Her Spice Girls days wearing mini skirts and terrible flatform shoes are long gone, and we must say, we prefer the new Victoria. Yesterday we spotted her at Kings Cross Station in London looking smoking hot! Click on the pics and get the best fashion inspiration!
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Hollywood Celebrity Fashion Trend: The Heel-Less Shoe! This Week's Celeb Twitter & Instagram Pictures!Top 10: Celebs Spotted Hugging For National Hug Day!Top 6 Best Dressed Celebrities Of Last Week!Source: http://www.posh24.com/victoria_beckham/thursday_fashion_inspiration_victoria_beckham
Scott Weiland Responds To Stone Temple Pilots Firing
'Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded,' Weiland says in a statement.
By James Montgomery
Scott Weiland
Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/ Getty Images
On Wednesday (February 27) morning, Stone Temple Pilots announced they had "terminated" frontman Scott Weiland, ending a relationship that spawned dozens of hits and spanned more than two decades.
The band's statement was as shocking as it was brief — just 11 words in total — and though a rep for STP told MTV News that more information on the split would be forthcoming, so far, there's been no updates from the band.
But, hours after news of his firing first hit, Weiland himself has weighed in ... and, from the sound of things, his firing came as surprise.
"I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press," Weiland said in a statement. "Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that's something for the lawyers to figure out. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday."
Ah yes, that solo tour. Like Weiland said, it starts Friday in Flint, Michigan, and, as he recently told SPIN, he intends on performing songs from Stone Temple Pilots' first two albums, Core and Purple at all dates (he's even dubbed the jaunt "Purple at the Core").
In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, Weiland downplayed former Velvet Revolver bandmate Slash's claims that he'd been "fired" from Stone Temple Pilots, telling the mag "Slash doesn't know anything about STP. We're talking right now about when we want to tour next."
He also downplayed rumors of any friction in the band, saying "STP has not broken up. I haven't quit. I haven't been fired."
Emails to Stone Temple Pilots' rep seeking comment on the matter were not responded to by press time.
Erin Brockovich: jury out on the details
Steven Soderbergh's enjoyable drama never quite makes it to the courtroom – and with certain facts and outcomes still in doubt, you can see why
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: B
Erin Brockovich became famous in 1993 when she helped residents of Hinkley, California, to claim a record-breaking $333m settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric after groundwater was contaminated. She had no legal training.
People
Single mother of three Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) is already struggling to make ends meet when she is involved in a car accident. She sues to cover the medical expenses, but loses. Furious with her lawyer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), she demands that he give her a job. He caves in. Amazingly, this is true. Soon, she's strutting around the law firm of Masry and Vititoe, refusing to be shamed out of wearing skintight and occasionally transparent clothing with big heels and bigger hair. "As long as I have one ass instead of two, I'll wear what I like," she snaps at the hapless Masry when he suggests rethinking her wardrobe, adding: "You might wanna rethink those ties."
Casting
The real Brockovich initially hoped Goldie Hawn might play her, though Masry suggested Roseanne Barr. "All kidding aside kid," she remembered him saying, "I don't care who it is as long as it's not Julia Roberts. She has no tits and no foul mouth, so it wouldn't work." In the event, Roberts skimped on neither. Brockovich was apparently thrilled with her performance – as were the Academy, who gave her an Oscar for it. (The real Brockovich also appears fleetingly in the film, playing a waitress called – of course – Julia.)
Science
Doing some administrative work on a pro bono property case, Brockovich begins to notice some strange factors around Pacific Gas and Electric's offers to homeowners in Hinkley. She investigates, and finds that the groundwater in the area may have been contaminated with hexavalent chromium. This, she thinks, must be connected to the various and horrible diseases suffered by Hinkley residents. Some scientists have taken issue with the movie for making this seem like an open and shut case, though there does appear to be room for questions.
Romance
Brockovich hooks up with her next-door neighbour, an adorable biker called George (Aaron Eckhart). George is big and tough and manly, and loves nothing more than to spend all day caring for Brockovich's children. Even so, she's been through so much by this point that she resists getting involved. "Are you going to be something else I have to survive?" she asks him in a rare moment of vulnerability. "Because I'll tell you the truth: I'm not up to it." In real life, George was called Jorge Halaby. When the film came out, Brockovich and Masry were threatened with a smear. Unless they paid $310,000, the media would be told – falsely – that they had had an affair and she was a bad mother. Halaby was arrested, along with Brockovich's ex-husband Shawn Brown. The charges against them were dropped, though attorney John Jeffrey Reiner was convicted of extortion, suspended and later disbarred. In real life, as in the movie, Brockovich survived her biker and is still going strong.
Truth
According to Brockovich herself, "the movie was true and probably 98% accurate". She has not been specific about what constitutes the 2% inaccuracy, though elsewhere she has said that she was not, as the film claims, Miss Wichita. She was Miss Pacific Coast. Because she was originally from Kansas, director Steven Soderbergh apparently thought that it would be "cute" if she had won her beauty contest in her home state. Most historians would be more concerned about the film's depiction of the Hinkley case having a completely rosy outcome. The only plaintiffs shown are relieved and delighted to receive their settlements. In real life, a few of them appear to have taken different views.
Verdict
Excellent performances, especially from Roberts and Finney, make Erin Brockovich an enjoyable never-quite-makes-it-to-the-courtroom drama – but the facts and outcomes of this case remain controversial.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/feb/28/erin-brokovich-jury-out-details
New/Old Picture of Rob and Kristen
Rob, Kristen and Taylor went bowling in Berlin during the 'Breaking Dawn - Part 2' Promo Tour. You can see more pictures from that night here.
Bowling with #kristenstewart & #robertpattinson my team won !!!"
The winning team (bowling again) #taylorlautner and #emmakotch
Source Via
Bowling with #kristenstewart & #robertpattinson my team won !!!"
The winning team (bowling again) #taylorlautner and #emmakotch
Source Via
Source: http://robpattinson.blogspot.com/2013/02/newold-picture-of-rob-and-kristen_17.html
L.A. Film Festival: 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' screens tonight
After wowing audiences at the Sundance Film Festival in January and Cannes in May, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" will have its first Southern California screening tonight at the L.A. Film Festival. "Beasts," as much a love letter to a dying part of Louisiana culture — the typically impoverished families living in quickly disappearing land near the state's southern tip — as a magically realistic look at a young daughter's fierce love for her dying father,will be released in theaters by Fox Searchlight on June 27. So if you don't have a ticket to tonight's gala, there's not long to...
Nicki Minaj 'Hoping' A Woman Can Win 'American Idol' This year
Keith Urban also confident that the ladies have an edge this year.
By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by Sierra Lindsey
Nicki Minaj
Photo: MTV News
It's a refrain that's become all too familiar over the past six years: this is the year that a woman will break the spell of those earnest boys and their guitars and win "American Idol."
For real.
Yes, perpetually pumped judge Randy Jackson says it just about every season, and well, we all know what his clairvoyant abilities amount to. But over the past week, two of his new cohorts have thrown their hats into the ring and predicted that Kelly, Fantasia, Carrie and Jordin might finally have some sisterly company in the "Idol" hall of fame.
"The stars have aligned and the girls that have come to audition for us have had just had strong voices like I don't know what," Minaj told MTV News. "We narrowed it down to some great girls. I think we did a great job picking amazing voices, so I am actually hoping a girl wins this year."
And while we're not sure about "Queen of the Jungle" Zoanette Johnson, there's good reason to have that kind of confidence, as such promising contenders as Kree Harrison, Tenna Torres, Angela Miller and Amber Holcomb made it to the round of 20 last week. Wednesday night's show also found Breanna Steer, Aubrey Cleland, Candice Glover and Janelle Arthur advancing for one of the strongest groups of female contenders in years.
In a conference call with reporters last week MTV News asked Urban if he agreed that the women seem to be fielding a much stronger team this year than the men. "I think you're right. All I can say is at least from what we just saw [last Wednesday] it's absolutely a girl's year to win, in my opinion," he said. "That's not to say the guys aren't strong because they really are. It's really more a testament to how strong the girls are this year."
All Urban said he really cares about is the emergence of great artistry, whether male or female. "But definitely the girls are stronger," he noted. "I don't know why that is. It's just one of those things. We saw probably over 270 people all up to get it down to where we are today and the girls were just incredibly strong this year."
Asked if perhaps having Minaj and Mariah Carey (and their bold, strong opinions) on the panel may have played a factor in the way things have played out, Urban gave unrequited props to his fellow newbie.
"I certainly think having somebody like particularly Mariah ... inarguably one of the world's great vocalists, period," he said. "This is a global vocal powerhouse and any girl, I think, would love the opportunity to sing for Mariah and get feedback from her and get direction from her. I think that's been a real plus for the show to have somebody like her on the panel."
Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page where you'll find all the latest "Idol" news, interviews and opinions.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~3/znu6YIctaeM/nicki-minaj-american-idol-woman.jhtml
american airlines american express american idol American Samoa
'Madgascar 3' box office: Are we living in the era of the 1%?
"Madagascar 3," starring Chris Rock, defeated Rock of Ages and That's My Boy at the box office this weekend; aloing with Avengers and Hunger Games, it is one of a handful of ilms to dominated the box office this weekend.
Nicole Scherzinger's Stunning Feature in Notion Magazine's Hurts Issue
Her new single "Boomerang" hits the airwaves on March 10th and in anticipation for the release Nicole Scherzinger scored a feature in the Hurts issue of Notion magazine.
Embracing her dark side, the "X Factor" judge posed for the Mark Cant shot spread while opening up about everything from her audition for "Popstars" to turning down a chance to work with Calvin Harris.
During the interview, the Pussycat Doll dame recalls her thoughts about auditioning for the hit singing competition and said, "I was so theatre at the time. I was like 'I am not going to be a Spice Girl.' That wasn't me"
"I mean I'm a Spice Girls fan now, but at the time I only wore black and I was Goth. I would have been Goth Spice. Ethnic Chanting Spice, that's who I thought I was," she added.
When making the final decision, Nicole's mother finally talked her into it. "I brought my little package that I'd put together with my pictures and I'd made my own home music video. I was on it. I gave them my pack and I sang [Whitney's 'I Will Always Love You'} for them and the rest is history. That brought me to Los Angeles."
In regards to rejecting the offer to sing Calvin Harris' "We Found Love," the Miss Scherzinger admits her busy schedule wouldn't allow it. "I passed on 'We Found Love'. I got the demo of that song and I was busy at the time."
For more on Miss Scherzinger, be sure to visit Notion and check out a sneak peak of "Boomerang" below!
David Beckham Leads PSG to 2-0 Win Over Marseille
He has a lot to prove as a new member of the Paris Saint-Germain squad, and David Beckham came to play during his team’s match against Marseille last night (February 27).
The English soccer star made his full debut in the French Cup after playing the final 15 minutes of the previous game, helping PSG trounce Marseille 2-0.
And of course there was plenty of tension between Golden Balls and his rival Joey Barton, who hasn’t been shy about bashing him in the press as of late.
Paris Saint-Germain honcho Carlo Ancelotti praised Becks’ contribution to the win, noting,
"He made a very good performance. He made good passes as usual, he was well positioned on the pitch alongside Blaise Matuidi. He was very solid."
Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/david-beckham/david-beckham-leads-psg-2-0-win-over-marseille-814767
Selena Gomez Forcing Her Friends To Cut Ties With Justin Bieber?
Selena Gomez is forcing the friends she shares with ex Justin Bieber to cut him out of their lives, claims the National Enquirer.
According to the tabloid's source, "Selena proved true to her word when The Bieb gave one of their female pals tickets and backstage passes to his concert. The girl decided to attend with some mutual buds, but when Selena heard about it, she ordered the 'traitor' to trash the tix or they'd ALL be permanently de-friended."
The Enquirer says the girl "obeyed -- and that's got Justin hotter than a tamale at his ex-senorita!"
Source: http://www.gossipcop.com/selena-gomez-friends-justin-bieber-fight-choice-cut-ties/
Comment on ‘Breaking Dawn Part 2′ Midnight Release Party Information & Cast Member Appearances! by ★FreezeBurn♥RobMyHeart★BTB®
DANG! I guess it would also be nice if you burped EL after eating and wipe their a$$ after going to the bathroom. Never enough for some biatches.
You do an INCREDIBLE JOB!
xoxo
You do an INCREDIBLE JOB!
xoxo
Zoanette Johnson Gets Standing Ovation on Idol For Lion King’s “Circle of Life” (VIDEO)
Zoanette Johnson blew away the "American Idol" judges on Wednesday with a spirited performance of "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King.
The unusual song choice was met with much enthusiasm from the panel, with Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson giving a standing ovation.
Agnès Varda Agnieszka Holland agriculture and forestry Ai Iijima
Harry Styles: The Truth About His Injury After Fan Attack Revealed
During a concert in Glasgow, Scotland on Feb.
Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/02/27/harry-styles-shoe-crotch-fan-throws-stage/
Angelina Jolie signs up Coen brothers for historical drama Unbroken
Oscar-winning film-makers will rewrite initial draft of Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand's tale of US war hero Lou Zamperini
The Coen brothers are to work on the screenplay for Unbroken, a historical drama about American second world war hero Lou Zamperini that will be Angelina Jolie's next film as director, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The Oscar-winning film-makers will rewrite an initial draft of the story, based on Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand's 2010 novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.
Zamperini, a one-time Olympic track star, made headlines after surviving for 47 days without food or water when his US airforce plane crash-landed in the Pacific in 1943. Having endured shark attacks, aerial attacks and extreme hunger, he was eventually picked up by the Japanese after getting washed ashore on an island behind enemy lines. Zamperini's captors imprisoned him for two years, during which time he was tortured. He survived the ordeal and is now 96.
Universal has been working on bringing Zamperini's story to the big screen for a number of years. The studio picked up the rights to Hillenbrand's book in 2011, with the aim of hiring Water for Elephants director Francis Lawrence. Jolie came on board in December and reportedly conducted a meticulous search for screenwriters to rework an existing draft by William Nicholson and Richard LaGravenese.
She could have not have scored a more impressive coup than hiring the Coens, who have two Oscar screenwriting wins for No Country For Old Men and Fargo, and have been nominated five times. Unbroken follows Jolie's directing debut, the controversial, harrowing 2011 Balkan conflict drama In the Land of Blood and Honey.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/26/angelina-jolie-coen-brothers-unbroken
No Doubt Head Back To The Studio For Push And Shove Follow-Up
Band have postponed any 2013 tour plans to begin work on a new album.
By James Montgomery
Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani, Adrian Young and Tom Dumont of No Doubt
Photo: FilmMagic
No Doubt learned plenty during the making of Push and Shove ... namely, don't take a decade off between albums.
The band have just announced that they're already back in the studio, writing on Facebook that, during the promotional run for their last record, they started to get inspired to write songs for the follow-up. So, last month, they did just that.
"We discussed the idea of starting 2013 by getting back into the studio together. We did so in January and the new music started flowing with unexpected ease. After spending three years recording the last album, this new pace feels incredibly exciting," the band said in a letter to fans. "We have decided to follow our muse for the time being and focus on this new music that we don't want to stop. So, we will be postponing our tour plans briefly while we endeavor to create something special and inspired. Our goal as a band is to share this new music with you as quickly as possible ... both recorded and live on tour."
Of course, it bears mention that, as far as we could tell, No Doubt didn't have any 2013 tour dates lined up (a rep for their label, Interscope, did not respond to MTV News' request for comment on the matter). In addition to several TV performances, they played just a handful of shows in support of Push and Shove — which has sold just over 240,000 copies in the U.S. to date — including a seven-night stand at the Gibson Amphitheatre in California.
No Doubt didn't mention just when fans would be able to hear any of the new music — either on the road or on an album — but the pledged to keep everyone in the loop as the process continues.
"As always, thank you all for your kind words, incredible support and patience," they wrote. We promise to keep you updated with photos and videos from the studio, so be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram to get the latest updates. We will see you soon!"
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~3/EDX3lWNikQQ/no-doubt-push-and-shove-follow-up.jhtml
Denzel and the very confusing clarification
A Guardian interview in which we quoted Washington as saying he never befriended any white actors has assumed a curious afterlife amid accusations that we tried to make him 'seem racist'
My thanks to Randall Flagg for alerting me to the curious afterlife of a Denzel Washington interview that we published last month. Please note that I have no wish to thank Randall Flagg in person – partly because he has the same name as the grinning villain in The Stand, and partly because he quite clearly hates my guts. Even so, I'm obliged.
"You are the poster-boy for yellow journalism," he tweeted. "Next time don't edit someone's words to make them seem racist." Flagg added that if the Guardian was worth its salt, it would fire me instantly and then issue a public apology to Denzel Washington.
My initial thought was that the tweeter's annoyance was somehow related to a portion of the interview in which Washington mentioned that he had never befriended any white actors. But it still didn't make much sense. Why was Flagg so certain I had deliberately edited Washington to "make him seem racist"?
It transpires, though, that Flagg's annoyance was entirely understandable. Because last week one of Washington's public relations representatives stepped forward to offer their version of what Washington had said. "I sat in on this interview," Yahoo quotes the rep as saying. "The part they fail to mention was that after [Washington] said 'never befriended any white actors' he mentioned 'except' and then listed Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts etc. They cut the rest of the thought out."
So fair enough, and small wonder the tweeter wants my head on a stick. But there is just one problem: the rep's version is basically a fiction. This clarification requires a clarification of its own.
Yes, OK, full disclosure – I did edit what Washington said. I do this a lot, in pretty much every interview, for the simple reason that real people do not converse in newspaper copy. Real people repeat themselves and circle back in search of clarity. We choose the wrong words and then fumble for the right ones. We say "Errr" and we say "Arrrr" incessantly, and we talk over each other too. I sometimes worry that a truly accurate transcript of my interviews (perhaps of any interview) would read like the ramblings of two drunken lunatics on a bench in the park.
Here, for instance, is the Washington quote as it appeared in the article:
"Being African-American, there were no big movie stars to hang out with anyway, not when I was starting out, they were just the third guy from the back! For whatever reason, I never befriended any white actors."
And here, embarrassingly, is the actual exchange as it took place. At this point Washington had been talking about his early years in Hollywood ("when I was starting out"):
Washington: And being African-American, we weren't … [pause]
Me: You're in a minority anyway.
Washington: Yeah. There were no big movie stars to hang out with anyway.
Me: They were just the guys holding open the doors.
Washington: Yeah, right. Exactly. Third guy from the back! And, and, for whatever reason, I never befriended any white actors. I mean, I worked with them. But I didn't, I didn't, I just didn't … You know what? I didn't need to do that."
Now here's the thing. While I have no reason to doubt Washington's friendship with Tom Hanks and the like, that is not what he said to me. Nor, for that matter, was there a public relations representative sitting in on our interview – although they may conceivably have been hiding silently in the armoire, where I couldn't see them.
So why all the fuss? Reports claim that the actor's remark has already "ruffled feathers" in the US. If so, that's one alarmingly delicate bird we're dealing with – a jumpy, neurotic creature that is probably better off being ignored altogether. To do otherwise, I think, runs the risk of crisis-managing a problem that wasn't there to begin with.
Is there room for one last clarification before we put this behind us? This one goes out to Randall Flagg specifically. I very much enjoyed speaking to Denzel Washington. And while I never felt I found out a whole lot about him (my fault, not his), he struck me as warm and smart and often candid – a talented actor who values his privacy and has a genuine distaste for the celebrity circuit. At no point, not ever, did I think he was being racist. At no point did I edit him to give that impression. And, finally, had Denzel Washington deigned to tell me he was friends with Mel Gibson, you can bet I would have printed it. Revelations like that have a price above rubies.
• Update: the day after this piece was published, the Guardian received a response from Denzel Washington's personal publicist. He explained that his office had nothing to do with the statement which has been credited to "one of Washington's public relations representatives" across a number of news and gossip sites.
We are now following the matter up with the site that appears to have originally published the story.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/26/denzel-washington-strange-case-confusing-clarification
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Why The Sexiest Woman Alive Is Ready To Settle Down
In the April 2013 issue of Marie Claire, Mila Kunis says she’s ready to give up the globetrotting actor lifestyle for awhile. “I want to explore other parts of this industry to see what aspects of it I can get myself into, so that I can… work out of home maybe?” the “Sexiest Woman Alive” tells...Read more»
Source: http://www.celebuzz.com/2013-02-27/why-the-sexiest-woman-alive-is-ready-to-settle-down/
After Leveson: the struggle to preserve cherished press freedoms won 300 years ago
Today's extract from the book After Leveson* is by the former national newspaper editor, Guardian deputy editor and academic, Peter Cole. He is firmly anti-statutory and pro-independent.
To that end, Cole considers what has happened in the aftermath of the publication of Lord Justice Leveson's report. After 86 days of public hearings and 474 witnesses, at a probable cost of £6m, what now for Leveson's recommendations?
It is not over yet. There is acceptance that there has to be a change in the regulation of the press.
There is division among politicians, editors, victims of shameful treatment by sections of the press, campaigners for reform, journalists and media academics about the precise nature of any reforms to be introduced, crucially whether or not they require legislation and whether that is acceptable in terms of cherished press freedoms that have existed for more than 300 years.
After the publication of the Leveson report David Cameron came out strongly against its call for statutory underpinning and verification of a new regulatory body. He told the Commons he had "serious concerns and misgivings" in principle to any statutory interference:
"It would mean for the first time we have crossed the Rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land. We should think very, very carefully before crossing this line. We should be wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech and the free press."
This was more of a surprise than anything in the report. Cameron's coalition deputy. Nick Clegg, and Labour leader Ed Miliband had both supported the statutory elements of Leveson, citing their duty to the victims of reprehensible press behaviour.
Nobody, however, assumed this would be Cameron's last word on the subject. He summoned the editors to Downing Street five days after the report was published and told them they had two days to agree a reformed regulatory structure that had to follow Leveson line by line, apart from the statute insistence.
Statute or no statute, however independent of government the press is, prime ministers show no reticence in sending for editors, expecting them to turn up and telling them what to do.
Although some of the editors were not entirely opposed to statutory insistence on regulation and verification of its form, by the time they were together in Downing Street they seemed of one mind now they appeared to have the prime minister's too.
'Independent regulation' versus self-regulation
Leveson described "independent regulation" as that "organised by the press itself, with a statutory underpinning and verification." Self-regulation implies the press regulating itself, whereas independence suggests that cannot be so.
The Press Complaints Commission, responsible for press regulation since 1991, is funded by the newspaper industry, through the Press Standards Board of Finance (PressBof). Its board is entirely made up of senior executives from the newspaper and magazine industries.
It appoints the chair of the PCC, which has 17 members, 10 of them (including the chairman) lay or public members with no connection to the newspaper and magazine industry, the other seven serving editors.
The editors' code of practice committee, responsible for developing and amending the code regulating journalists' standards, comprises 13 editors plus the PCC chairman and director.
So how "independent" does that leave the PCC? Throughout the Leveson hearings one common (and, as it turned out, complacent) presumption was that Leveson's report would recommend "PCC-2", a strengthened version of the original model, with investigatory powers and the right to impose large fines.
When Lord Hunt took over as the PCC's chair he acknowledged that it must be replaced and began work with Lord Black, chair of PressBof and executive director of the Telegraph Media Group, to design a revised PCC.
The plans included contracts between publishers and the new regulator, which would have the increased powers mentioned above. He must have been disappointed when the Leveson report said that the Hunt-Black proposals did not "come close" to true independent regulation.
However, Hunt-Black is a tenacious partnership with strong experience of regulation and will be expected to make any changes to their model short of statute to hold on to the regulatory role.
It would seem likely that the present PCC infrastructure – its able staff dealing with the arbitration of complaints – would be kept on. That side of the PCC's activities is widely held to have been effective.
The question is whether you can bolt on the investigative components that would make it an effective regulator, and convince the public and the verifying body that it is independent as well. All this without statute, the antithesis of independence.
Understanding the popular press agenda
The inquiry became about a series of stories where press behaviour had been questionable or much worse. Some of these involved celebrities like Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan who as a result became not only witnesses but campaigners.
Others involved those who had suffered heart-rending tragedies like a murdered child (the Dowlers) or a missing child (the McCanns). By front-loading the inquiry so that stark and dramatic victim stories came first Sir Brian Leveson set the tone.
It was almost as though he was using tabloid techniques to shock the public at the outset of the inquiry. The choreography did not always work.
Max Mosley is not a victim of the same order as Bob and Sally Dowler; Hugh Grant has not suffered like Gerry and Kate McCann. There seemed little understanding in the court of the difference between popular and serious newspapers.
Sitting there you had the strong feeling that nobody in court 73 had ever read The Sun or the Mirror, few the Daily Mail. It was clear from the expressions on the faces of the lawyers and assistants that they knew little about the content of the mass-selling tabloids (The Sun six times the sale of The Times; the Mail 10 times The Guardian) and the techniques used to get their stories.
Leveson seemed quite incredulous about some of the answers he heard from tabloid witnesses, not those about criminal activities like hacking but the legal investigative techniques employed to reveal corruption.
It is no disrespect to those who suffered grievously at the hands of the press to suggest that while evidence of their experiences was vital their views on regulation and reform should have carried no greater weight than others.
It was a point made by Tom Mockridge, then chief executive of News International on the BBC Today programme and quoted in a Times article by Matthew Syed.
'A tidal wave of revulsion at press intrusion'
Mockridge was asked whether the Dowler family should have the power of veto over proposals on press regulation. He replied: "[Their status] doesn't mean they get to determine the legislation of the state that governs the principle of free speech."
Syed suggests that "the crimes of the press (serious though they are) have been conflated with the death of an innocent schoolgirl. Sympathy at the Dowlers' loss alchemised into a tidal wave of revulsion at press intrusion.
"And from there we have seamlessly moved to the prospect of statutory underpinning which will affect all newspapers. Freedom of the press is simply too important to be hijacked like this."
From the moment it was set up there emerged a small industry of journalist navel-gazers, media pundits, columnists, broadcasters and reporters, editors with a reputation for playing a part in wider media debates, media lawyers and the journalism lecturers and researchers, with and without a professional journalism past (known as the hackademics). 'Whither journalism' debates were held up and down the land.
Too often the emphasis at these meetings was doing something about the popular press rather than preserving the freedoms of all the press. After all, if the police investigations had uncovered the extent of illegal phone hacking when it was first brought to their attention there would have been no need for Leveson.
As it is, those areas of the press that have behaved disreputably and despicably have been so shamed by the evidence given to the inquiry that such behaviour should not recur.
After Leveson? The future for British journalism, edited by John Mair, is published by Abramis. Available at a special Media Guardian price of £15 from richard@arimapublishing.co.uk
Tomorrow: Media commentator Ray Snoddy on where the Leveson report was right and where it was wrong
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/feb/26/leveson-report-davidcameron
Rob and Guy Pearce greeting for Tropfest 2013 from set of 'The Rover'
Moving the post to the top because added HD Video
Source: http://robpattinson.blogspot.com/2013/02/rob-and-guy-pearce-greeting-for.html
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