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MARIAH CAREY REASSIGNS BENNY MEDINA: Rumors confirmed; longtime manager will no longer represent entertainer.
*E! News is confirming that Mariah Carey will no longer be represented by Benny Medina, who's been her manager for the past five years. However, the two parties will continue to collaborate on various projects.
Medina's Handprint Entertainment will continue to develop content for, and with, the singer, but Carey's own Maroon Entertainment will be managing her career, reports the Web site.
Both the New York Daily News and New York Post had items Tuesday suggesting that Carey had fired Medina because he was reportedly "courting" former client (and apparent Carey rival) Jennifer Lopez. Not true, says Mimi.
"Press reports have not been accurate," Carey clarified in a statement. "Benny Medina and I will continue to work together on projects both present and in the future. I'm looking forward to working with Benny on what we have been developing, and to his continued involvement in my creative life."
Medina, who recently parted ways with Usher, issued the following statement: "Being as involved as I have been over the last five years, I am reminded how great teamwork leads to great success. This affords me the opportunity to work on some great projects with Mariah, including the upcoming tour, an HBO Christmas movie and a variety music show for CBS, as well as to pursue some of my other [productional] interests."
'VIEW'S' GOP HOST DISSES MICHELLE OBAMA: Elisabeth suggested First Lady hopeful had something to hide during June visit.
*While hosting a GOP Convention event for Republican First Lady hopeful Cindy McCain last week, "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck took a swipe at Michelle Obama that has caused controversy.
During her address, which was captured on C-Span and is now on YouTube, the conservative TV host compared the visits of the two wives to her show, suggesting that Mrs. Obama had something to hide because she came in "with a list of topics that we weren't allowed to touch."
Mrs. McCain, Hasselbeck said, didn't make such demands because "she has nothing to hide." [View clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diksCLJAaKI]
During Michelle Obama's June 18th visit to "The View," Hasselbeck was very friendly with the wife of Sen. Barack Obama. According to ABCNews.com, Mrs. Obama even "appeared to briefly console" Elisabeth after she broke into tears during a commercial break explaining how she hated to leave her baby boy, Taylor, for the first time to tape the show in Las Vegas.
ABCNews.com reported: "Obama looked over at a teary Hasselbeck and appeared to whisper to her and fellow co-host Sherri Shepherd, 'Everything okay?'"
Three months later, Hasselbeck's Obama comment has caused outrage on both African American and left-leaning blogs.
STAR & AL REACH DIVORCE SETTLEMENT: Agreement comes moments before their start of their court case.
*Star Jones and her former husband of four years, Al Reynolds, reached a divorce settlement on Wednesday just moments before they were due to appear in a Manhattan court room.
Jones' rep released a statement saying the former couple "reached an amicable settlement in their divorce proceeding... Both parties are moving on with their private lives."
The New York Post is reporting that Reynolds was allegedly upset with the prenuptial agreement he signed, leaving him "basically nothing," though he gave up the fight in order to avoid higher court costs.
Jones, 46, filed for divorce on March 26 at Manhattan's Supreme Court in New York, and it was subsequently labeled an "uncontested matrimonial" case by officials.
As previously reported, she has recently been linked romantically to chef Herb Wilson.
NEW KANYE WEST ALBUM IN PRESALE MODE: Amazon.com and Target.com list CD's name, release date and title.
*A date and price for a new Kanye West album entitled "808's & Heartbreak" surfaced yesterday on Amazon.com and Target.com, all but confirming earlier reports that his new album is definitely due by year's end.
According to presale information on the two retails sites, the album has a price of $13.98 and a release date of Dec. 16. Def Jam, meanwhile, has neither confirmed nor denied the information.
Kanye's album will reportedly include his new song "Love Lockdown," which he performed at MTV's Video Music Awards on Sunday, and again Tuesday night at New York's Knitting Factory.
Besides working on his next LP, West has been producing Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3" — which the pair premiered a track from at Kanye's Madison Square Garden show last month — and he appears on upcoming LPs by T-Pain ("Thr33 Ringz"), DJ Khaled ("We Global") and T.I. ("Paper Trail").
BILLBOARD FALLS INTO JEEZY'S 'RECESSION': Def Jam set beats New Kids reunion album.
*Young Jeezy just scored his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with "The Recession," which moved 260,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan."
The Def Jam project beat the newly reunited New Kids On The Block, who enter the chart for the first time in 14 years at No. 2 with "The Block" – moving 95,000 units.
Last week's runner-up, the Game's "LAX" (Geffen), slips to No. 3 with 89,000, a 63% sales loss. Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Top Dog/Atlantic) ranks No. 4 and Slipknot's Roadrunner album "All Hope Is Gone," which barely managed to edge out "LAX" last week, falls to No. 5.
Lil Wayne's Cash Money release "Tha Carter III" rounds out the top tier with 47,000, falling 6-10 on a 14% sales decline.
NAOMI CAMPBELL BEGINS COMMUNITY SERVICE: Supermodel works desk job at soup kitchen to satisfy air rage case.
*Naomi Campbell spent all day Tuesday at a desk job as part of the community service stemming from her air rage plea deal earlier this year.
The supermodel was assigned to handle paperwork at London's Whitechapel Mission soup kitchen to help fulfill her sentence of 200 hours of helping the homeless.
"Naomi is really eager to do the work that is required of her and give something back to the community," a friend told People.com.
However, some workers on her punishment detail complained that Campbell was tasked with easy paperwork instead of more challenging labor, such as washing dishes or handling in janitorial duties.
"It's usually pretty grueling work, but not for her," one source told the U.K.'s Daily Mirror, adding that Campbell was treated "like a princess."
Campbell, 38, said she's just happy to being putting the April airport incident behind her. "I just want to keep my head down and get on with it," she told the Mirror.
In June, Campbell pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers in London's Heathrow airport. In addition to her community service, she was also fined $4500.
IVERSON, WALLACE HAVE TROUBLE SELLING HOMES: Both NBA stars have had to lower asking prices dramatically.
*The dismal housing market has apparently bounced into the lives of at least two NBA players who have had to slash the listing prices on homes they are currently trying to unload.
Denver Nuggets star Allen Iverson now joins Portland's Rasheed Wallace in dropping the asking price on homes listed for sale last year. Iverson lowered his price by 37 percent in the Philadelphia area, while Wallace's price went down 6 percent in Portland, Ore, reports the Denver Post.
Iverson and his wife, Tawanna, put their house on the market after the Philadelphia 76ers traded him in 2006 to the Denver Nuggets. Built in 1991, the six-bedroom, 14,000-square-foot house is in Villanova, about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The four-floor French-style house has arched Palladian windows, a movie theater and a guest suite, according to the listing. The four-acre property includes a poolhouse and a stream.
The 33-year-old guard paid $5 million for the house in 2003, records show, and listed it for $6.3 million; he's now asking $4 million.
As for Wallace, the Detroit Pistons forward has lowered the price of his Portland home to $4.9 million from $5.2 million. He played for eight years with the Portland Trail Blazers before taking a six-year deal with the Pistons worth roughly $60 million.
Wallace, 33, bought the 1924 brick house, which sits on more than two acres, for about $3 million in 2000. The Tudor-style home has five bedrooms, five baths and a built-in saltwater fish tank.
FORMER N.O.I. LEADER W.D. MOHAMMED DIES: Imam credited with moving group from black supremacy teachings to traditional Islam.
*Imam W.D. Mohammed, who succeeded his father Elijah Muhammad as leader of the Nation of Islam, died Tuesday at the age of 74. No further details were given, as of press time, reports the Associated Press.
"Obviously, it's a great loss for the entire Muslim community," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Michigan, where Mohammed led a convention last month. "He was encouraging his followers to accept the best of their humanity and to extend the moral and ethical values of Islam to the general American public."
When Mohammed's father, Elijah Muhammad, died in 1975, his son was named leader of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam, which promoted self-reliance and black supremacy, a belief that mainstream Muslims consider heretical. Mohammed quickly abandoned that teaching and led the Nation toward orthodox Islam, emphasizing the faith's message of racial tolerance.
He had been a friend of Malcolm X, who abandoned the Nation to embrace mainstream Islam before he was assassinated in 1965.
Mohammed changed his name several times from his birth name, Wallace Muhammad, to Warith Deen Muhammad and W.D. Mohammed. Jones said the renaming partly reflected the imam's struggle to maintain a triple identity: Muslim, African-American and American.
His businesses included importing clothing, developing skin care products and real estate development. Among the social service work he championed was promoting education, improving access to health care and supporting convicts after they were released from prison.
WYCLEF HELPS HURRICANE VICTIMS IN HAITI: Artist starts relief fund to provide food, water and other essentials following storms.
*Wyclef Jean has launched the "Haiti Storm Relief Fund" to provide food, water, purification tablets, tents, blankets, medical supplies, hygiene kits as well as funds to a number of non-profit organizations working on the ground to respond to the emergency.
"My country is facing a serious catastrophe at the moment," said Wyclef in a statement, "and we urgently require assistance. But the long-term catastrophe is that we have less than two percent tree cover, and without restoring our forests we will always be susceptible to mudslides and flash floods from storms and hurricanes."
Yele's Storm Relief Fund has already sponsored food, supplies and water to assist victims in the South-East, including Jakmel, Cayes-Jakmel, Marigot and La Vallee. A second wave of support is currently underway in and around Jakmel in cooperation with the Mayor of the resort community.
Containers with emergency supplies are being shipped into the country over the next few weeks as individuals and corporations begin responding to Wyclef Jean's call for donations. Within days Yele Haiti's teams will begin an intensive operation of emergency food distributions with food staples supplied by the World Food Programme. Donations can be made online at www.yele.org.
The storms that have battered Haiti in the past few weeks have left more than 500 dead and wreaked havoc in the lives of more than 600,000 people who have been displaced by flooding or cut off from food supplies. Haitian President Rene Preval has appealed for help from the international community, saying the country faces a "catastrophe."
DAMON DASH'S EX DEFIES COURT ORDER: Baby mama refuses to hand son back to mogul, who has sole custody.
*The mother of Damon Dash's son has reportedly ignored a court order to appear in Manhattan Family Court Tuesday with their 16-year-old, which will result in a bench warrant for her arrest today if she fails to show up again.
According to the New York Post, Damon Dash Jr. went to visit his mother Linda Williams last week at her Long Island home and has yet to return. Dash, who has sole legal custody of the teen, has been locked in a bitter custody battle with Williams for the past five years.
Dash Jr.'s court-appointed lawyer, Glenn Mitch-Ampel, told Judge Susan Knipp that Williams said the boy wants to stay with her.
Knipp, however, said if Dash Jr. and his mother aren't in the courtroom during today's scheduled hearing, she'll issue a warrant for her arrest.
ESTELLE SCORES FIVE MOBO NOMINATIONS: British R&B star collects more nods than fellow Brit Leona Lewis.
*British soul singer Estelle received five nominations for UK's annual MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards, leading a pack that includes Leona Lewis, the first British woman in more than 20 years to score a No. 1 single in the U.S.
Estelle, 28, is up for Best UK Female, Album, Song, R&B/Soul and Video at the ceremony, which will take place Oct. 15 at London's Wembley Arena with co-hosts Mel B and Rev. Run.
Kanye West teamed up with Estelle for her current single "American Boy," which was a smash hit in the U.K. and helped to fuel sales of her album "Shine."
Lewis, the 23-year-old singer of "Bleeding Love," is up for Best Female, Album and Video. In the Best Female category, Estelle and former X Factor winner Lewis will be competing with Adele, Duffy, and MIA.
International MOBO nominees include West, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, Ne-Yo, Usher, Akon and Alicia Keys.
GOP WOMEN BOYCOTT OPRAH WINFREY: Palen followers upset over Winfrey's ban on candidates until after election.
*The Florida Federation of Republican Women has launched a boycott against Oprah Winfrey’s TV show and magazine because of her refusal to book Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin until after the election.
Winfrey announced that no candidate running for president or vice president on either ticket would be invited to her program until after Nov. 4. Yet the 58-year-old federation, which has 4,500 members, says Winfrey should have Palin on her show now, given how important the Alaska governor’s run is for women.
“She is an icon, and set her herself up to be such a women’s rights and women’s issues person. To have the first vice president of our lifetime on the Republican ticket being a woman and to sit it out regardless of what her personal political beliefs were was disingenuous, we felt,” the group’s First Vice President Cindy Graves told “FOX & Friends” on Wednesday morning.
Graves, 50, says she used to watch “Oprah” and occasionally bought her magazine. She told FOXNews.com that the group has been joined by women all over the country since launching the boycott last Saturday.
“People from Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Rhode Island, just about every state in the union. We’ve also had a tremendous response from Democrats and Independents who are supporting McCain, and Hillary supporters,” she said.
Before Obama became a candidate, Winfrey had the Illinois senator on the show. She has endorsed the Democratic nominee's candidacy and has appeared with him on the campaign trail. She also was very visible at Obama’s nomination acceptance speech in Denver last month.
SPIKE SAYS CLINT COMMENTS MAY KILL OSCAR HOPES': Plus, director continues Babelgum gig for second year.
*Spike Lee tells King magazine that his chances of ever receiving an Oscar nomination may have been ruined by his public feud with Clint Eastwood earlier this year.
At the Cannes Film Festival in May, Lee called Eastwood on the carpet for the lack of African-American soldiers depicted in his World War II films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." In the war of words that ensued, Eastwood said Lee should "shut his face" – to which Lee responded "we're not on a plantation."
Lee thinks the controversy will taint some members of the Academy when it's time to cast ballots for his new WW II movie "Miracle at St. Anna."
He tells King magazine: "My wife Tonya told me I may have hurt my chances with the Clint Eastwood stuff... They (Oscar voters and Academy bosses) take everything into account with me. They take into account that I like the Knicks or that I'm in New York."
"If you did a survey, the bulk of the people who vote in the Academy are in Los Angeles," he continued. "There's definite bias, considering that my films are typically New York-based."
The director says he still doesn't understand how 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy" could win an Oscar for Best Film over his movie "Do the Right Thing," which was released the same year, but not nominated.
"Nobody is watching motherf**king 'Driving Miss Daisy' today. 'Do The Right Thing' is being taught in classes at major universities and high schools all over the world. That's how you're supposed to test art. Does the work stand up?"
Meanwhile, Lee begins his second year heading the jury of the Babelgum Online Film Festival, which calls for independent filmmakers who upload their entries onto Babelgum's platform for a nationwide vote among Web users.
Last year's inaugural festival included 1,000 entries from 86 countries, according to Babelgum, an Internet company that streams videos online for free. More than 1.5 million viewers voted to select the final cut for the jury.
Babelgum is accepting uploads of independent short- and medium-length films through the end of the year. Viewers will select the top 10 films in each of the four categories: including short films up to 20 minutes, documentary and animation. From those, Lee will then choose a winner in each category for the Spike Lee Award, worth $28,400.
A four-member jury also will choose a winner in each category, with prizes still to be determined. Another prize of $28,400 will be given to an emerging talent from any of the four categories.
The winners will be announced early next year at a time and place still to be determined.
MORGAN FREEMAN A KENNEDY CENTER HONOREE: Actor part of 2008 class to receive tribute in December.
*Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman, 71, has been named among the 2008 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, organizers announced on Tuesday.
Fellow recipients include singer-actress Barbra Streisand, dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp, country music singer George Jones and British rockers Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the Who.
"With their extraordinary genius and tenacity, the 2008 honorees have redefined the way we see, hear and feel the performing arts," Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement.
The 31st annual awards will take place on Dec. 7 during a gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, attended by President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. The president will receive the honorees earlier that evening at the White House. The event will be broadcast on CBS.
Freeman, currently co-starring in the Batman movie sequel "The Dark Knight," continues to recover from injuries he suffered last month in a car crash near his home in Mississippi.
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH VINCE YOUNG?: Titans call police when QB went missing for four hours; mental state was questioned.
*Vince Young went off the grid for four hours Monday, sending the front office of his Tennessee Titans organization into a panic.
He eventually turned up at a friend's house, but questions reportedly lingered about the quarterback's mental state following a poor performance in Sunday's season opener, reports the Associated Press.
The boo birds were out in force from the hometown crowd after Young threw two interceptions in a 17-10 loss to Jacksonville. It appeared as though he didn't want to continue playing, then sprained his left knee four plays later.
Young was supposed to have an MRI exam on Monday, but it was postponed to the following day. On Monday, Young instead sped off from his home at around 7 p.m. without his cell phone. People close to the quarterback grew worried and called coach Jeff Fisher for help. Fisher, in turn, called the Nashville police and requested that they check on Young's "emotional well-being."
"I was given some information from people that were close to him late afternoon, early evening that was quite honestly very concerning to me," Fisher explained Tuesday on his radio show. "I'm not going to go into specifics, but it was concerning to me."
Four hours later, Young was located at a friend's house watching "Monday Night Football" and eating chicken wings.
"When people were worried about him, I was on the phone talking to him," his agent Major Adams said. "I didn't know there was any confusion about where he was as if he was missing or whatever. He just said, 'Hey, I'm over here watching the game.' ... Then I start getting all these frantic calls."
There was also some concern that Young had an unloaded handgun in the glovebox of his car. Tennessee law permits unloaded firearms in vehicles as long as no ammunition is present.
Young met with Fisher and police at team headquarters Monday at around 11:30 p.m. He talked to officers and a psychologist, according to a statement released Tuesday night by Nashville police. He left about 30 minutes later and drove himself home. After talking to Young, Fisher called the entire night a "complete misunderstanding."
The Titans followed up with a statement: "He was located at a friend's house, where we made contact with him. He then came to the practice facility where it was determined that those initial concerns by his friends and family were unfounded, and he returned home without incident."
"Ultimately, it appears the initial concerns about his emotional state were unfounded," Titans spokesman Don Aaron said Tuesday. "But no one actually knew that until he was spoken to face to face."
Fisher was asked if he was concerned by Young's sideline demeanor. Fans have been upset thinking Young didn't want to go back onto the field following his second interception, and the Titans have defended him as an intense competitor.
"It is an issue, and it is something we're working with him to kind of correct," Fisher said of Young's emotional reactions. "Our game is a very, very emotional game. There's going to be ebbs and flows at times, good plays and poor plays and negative things that happen. Different players deal with it differently."
Meanwhile, Young suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the game, and Fisher said that the quarterback will not play Sunday at Cincinnati. The coach would not give a timetable past that, calling the test results good news and that Young needs to heal up his leg.
VH1 TO COUNT DOWN 'GREATEST RAP SONGS': Plus, new NWA documentary part of programming leading up to 'Hip Hop Honors.'
*The "H" in VH1 stands for hip hop this month as the network rolls out a pair of original rap-themed programming in advance of its fifth annual "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" telecast.
According to Billboard, VH1 will premiere "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs" on Sept. 29, and "VH1 Rock Doc: NWA: The World's Most Dangerous Group" on Oct. 3.
"100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs" is a five-part series that will count down the best hip-hop songs of all time, revealing the story behind each hit and updating viewers on what the respective artists are doing today. It will also feature original interviews and archival performances by Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Outkast, Eminem and Grandmaster Flash, to list a few.
"VH1 Rock Doc: NWA: The World's Most Dangerous Group" takes a look back at the history of the famed L.A. rap crew. The documentary will be narrated by comedian Chris Rock and will feature interviews with Ice Cube, MC Ren, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Eazy-E's widow Tomica Woods-Wright, Ice T and director John Singleton, among others.
The shows lead up to the "VH1 Hip-Hop Honors," which airs Oct. 6. As previuously reported, this year's honorees include Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Naughty By Nature and Too Short. Big Boi, Biz Markie, Bun B, DJ Kaos, Ghostface Killah, Kid Rock, MC Lyte, Lil' Jon, Lil' Wayne, Q-Tip, Scarface, Wyclef Jean, Cheech and Chong and Sanaa Lathan will make guest appearances.
ITTY BITTY BITS: Rangel drama; Kobe's pinky; Haskins dies; 'Moist' Timberlake; Daddy Yankee vs. Fat Joe; MiJac dating Pam Anderson?
*House Republican leaders are demanding that embattled Rep. Charles Rangel D-N.Y be removed from his post as chairman of a tax-writing committee while an ethics panel reviews his personal finances, reports AP. Tuesday's GOP thrust came as Rangel's advisers acknowledged he will pay back federal, state, and city taxes for unreported rent collected on a vacation home. Rangel, ironically, has oversight of the nation's tax code, and has been in Congress for nearly four decades. The congressman will soon file amended tax returns paying "modest" back taxes owed for the last several years.
*Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has decided not to have surgery on his pinky finger so that he's free to participate in pre-season training. The injury occurred in February, but Bryant opted to avoid surgery in order to finish the NBA season and to go to the Olympics with the U.S. team. After winning a gold medal in Beijing it was expected that the NBA's Most Valuable Player would deal with the injury before the start of the new season. "I have always felt that I can still focus and play at a high level even through various injuries," Bryant told his own Web site (http://wwww.kb24.com) on Tuesday. "That's really just part of the game. When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery.
*College basketball pioneer Don Haskins, the coach whose story was depicted in the film "Glory Road," died Sunday at the age of 78, according to the Associated Press. The Hall of Fame coach is credited with helping break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western. Disney's "Glory Road" starred Josh Lucas as Haskins and Derek Luke as one of his players on the 1966 squad. Dr. Dwayne Aboud, Haskins' physician, told reporters Sunday that Haskins had been suffering from congestive heart failure and died at home about 4:30 p.m. He was surrounded by friends and relatives, Aboud said.
*Director Barry Sonnenfeld is once again looking at singer Justin Timberlake as the possible lead star of his upcoming dark comedy "Moist" reports MTV News. Based on the novel by Mark Haskell Smith, the story follows a morgue attendant named Bob who comes across a severed arm with an erotic tattoo of a woman he falls for. In the course of trying to find out who she is, Bob ends up becoming Roberto, a kingpin of the Los Angeles Mexican mafia -- ultimately replacing the man who the severed arm belonged to in the first place. Timberlake agreed to do the film four years ago, but the project fell through due to financing issues. The director is actively talking to studios once again about the project and JT may still be involved, reports Dark Horizons.
*Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee, a supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, has fired back at Barack Obama backer Fat Joe for calling him a sellout. "McCain is the kind of man whose promises you can actually believe in. I'll support him till the end," Daddy told The Post's Sandra Guzman from his home in Puerto Rico. "I don't care who I piss off. This is about my ideals, not about making friends." As previously reported, fellow Fat Joe called Daddy Yankee "disgusting," "a sellout" and "ignorant on the issues." Joe added: "If he debates me about politics, he will never talk another word about a politician for the rest of his life."
*Pamela Anderson says she is not currently dating Michael Jackson as the rumor mill is suggesting. "He just wants me to be in a video," she said on Wednesday's "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" when asked about their recent meeting. "My life is so interesting. My life is a blur." Ellen responded: "So seriously, have you been hanging out with him?" Anderson replied cryptically: "It happens ... skin cancer and Vicodin. I don’t know ... I have a lot of interesting friends."
EUR DVD REVIEW: Water Lilies (Naissance des Pieuvres)
DVD Features French Teens Exploring Sexuality in Coming-of-Age Drama
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Marie (Pauline Acquart) is passing the lazy, hazy days of summer at the local pool where she goes to watch her best friend, Anne (Louise Blachere), practice synchronized swimming.
The sexually-awakening 15 year-olds, are social zeros who can barely contain the simmering passion they feel for the oblivious objects of their affection.
Anne has her eyes set on Francois (Warren Jacquin), a handsome lad on the boy’s squad.
However, because she’s overweight, he barely seems to notice her. Instead, he spends his time chasing flirtatious Floriane (Adele Haenel), the gorgeous captain who’s very popular with all the guys.
Meanwhile, the skinny and barely pubescent Marie has lust in her budding loins for the fetching Floriane, but the latent lesbian is yet to reveal her suppressed leanings to anyone, let alone the female whose body she craves.
Initially, she is simply satisfied with striking up a platonic relationship with Flo, but that liaison soon proves frustrating.
Thus, raging hormones is the prevailing theme of Water Lilies, a tale of the loss-of-innocence set in an otherwise unremarkable suburb of Paris. With virtually no adult supervision in sight, this novel adventure explores teen libido and angst from a variety of adolescent angles.
The plot thickens when Floriane informs Marie that even though Francois has been pressuring her to have sex, she’s saved herself and remained a virgin. Since Flo hasn’t gone gaga over any boy, does that mean she might be gay or bisexual and that Marie therefore still stands a chance afterall? And does this also mean that Anne has a shot at stealing away her dreamboat, provided she’s willing to let him have his way with her?
Jailbait gone wild, Parisian-style.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In French with subtitles.
Running time: 86 minutes
Studi Koch Lorber Films
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, casting session and theatrical trailer.
To see a trailer of Water Lilies, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OakOgtZphN4
EUR DVD REVIEW: Outsourced
Downsizing Leads to Love and Laughter in Cross-Cultural Comedy Out on DVD
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*After learning that his job is being outsourced, Todd (Josh Hamilton) is faced with the choice of either resigning or relocating to India to train his replacement.
Conceding that he’s standing in the way of globalization, Todd moves to Mumbai, where he soon comes to regret that fateful decision.
For not only does he see himself as sewing the seeds for the speedy demise of the U.S. infrastructure, but he finds himself missing familiar food like McDonald’s hamburgers.
So, when he starts familiarizing his new recruits with American idioms, he deliberately misinforms them about the fundamental meaning of certain terms. For instance, he teaches them that ‘schmuck’ means nice guy and that a ‘redneck’ is a farmer, hoping to hurt the business by aggravating callers from the States. Meanwhile, he’s gradually being driven crazy by beggars and pickpockets and local customs calling for eating meals without utensils and treating cows as sacred.
Consequently, he is eager to return home, at least until the day he locks eyes with the alluring Asha (Ayesha Dharker), a raven-haired intern with good looks and spunk to spare. Mutually-curious despite their considerable social differences, the two embark on a flirtatious kabuki dance daily till they can contain themselves no longer and share a stolen kiss.
They proceed to fall head-over-heels in love and to date secretly, although Asha fails to reveal that she’s already engaged to an Indian guy picked out by her parents. Will she follow through with the arranged marriage or abandon her fiancé for the foreigner for whom she feels so much passion?
That is the pivotal question to be answered in Outsourced. Engaging, unpredictable, hilarious and entertaining at every turn, this charming romantic romp offers all you could ever ask of a modern cross-cultural comedy, plus it paints a plausible picture of the logical consequences of
sending so many jobs overseas.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexual content.
Running time: 103 minutes
Studi ShadowCatcher Entertainment
DVD Extras: Storyboard feature with commentary by director John Jeffcoat and cinematographer Teodoro Maniaci, an interview with the director, a music video, translation of the Hindi themes, and an audio commentary by the director, two producer and lead actress Ayesha Dharker.
To see a trailer for Outsourced, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImhTTFu4b8
JOSPEPH C. PHILLIPS: Follow Your Heart
*I received a rather rude email from a local minister who took umbrage with my failure to support Barack Obama for president. I was disappointed that rather than do what Jesus would have done and offer a reasoned and well-thought out rebuttal to my column, this man of the cloth simply called me a bunch of ugly names. I am certain this was just one of those moments a good man failed to put his best foot forward. Although something tells me he is even now wishing he had talked about my mamma. There is, I am sure, a great sermon somewhere in this episode just waiting to bust out one Sunday morning to thunderous applause. Maybe I’ll get an invitation.
The note did, however, bring to my mind a few questions I would like to ask my Christian readers. If you are not a Christian, please feel free to continue reading and if you are so moved to share your thoughts as well.
Note to all: If you wish to call me names afterwards, please limit your notes to 25 words or less and please use spell check.Americans are blessed to live in a society where we have the freedom to choose our political leaders. We have the freedom to debate, to question and to disagree, even to change our government because ultimately our leaders are beholden to “we the people.” This incredible blessing is more than America’s experiment with democracy; it is God’s gift to the world. As such we have a responsibility to be both politically involved as well as religiously faithful.
Politics, of course, demands compromise. However, as Christians, we are taught to be uncompromising. In all things we have, as a friend of mine put it, “an obligation to surrender our will to the will of Christ in our lives. One's spiritual/religious beliefs should direct every decision that is made. There is no decision too small to surrender to God.” To help discern God’s will, we have help in the spirit that speaks to us through prayer, and scriptural study.
How then do we as Christians reconcile our religious beliefs with our support of political candidates that engage in immoral behavior? What of candidates that endorse policy that is in direct contradiction with our Christian teachings?
The Bible, of course, is full of great leaders that were guilty of huge moral failings. In many ways, the Bible is a commentary on man’s transgressive nature and the willingness of God to forgive us in spite of our failings. Christians learn early on that none of us is without blemish, that we are redeemed by faith and the grace of God. Judging a candidate based on his or her falling short seems, well, unchristian. The sins of a man’s past ought not disqualify him from leadership or public service.
More problematic is when a candidate continues a pattern of immoral behavior. Such a leader has betrayed both the public and our Christian trust and should be voted out of office.
Of more concern are candidates that express political beliefs and propose policy that is counter to tenets of Christian faith.
The political world calls them wedge issues, the most obvious examples being abortion and homosexual marriage. But for Christians, aren’t these more than distractions? Are not the sanctity of life, the origin, purpose and nature of marriage and the requirement for believers to defend our families from those who would destroy them the essential fruits which our saving faith produces?
All of us – regardless of our political affiliation -- attend Bible study during the week and sit in church on Sunday praising God and his word. We then go to the voting booth to pull the lever for candidates that promise to work against those things we claim to believe. We feel a responsibility to vote and writing in a candidate with no chance of winning seems a waste of that responsibility. We shrug our shoulders and say it was the lesser of two evils, but it was evil nonetheless. We console ourselves that we simply followed our hearts knowing the heart is a notorious liar, which is why we are instructed in all things to follow Christ.
Will we look back and wonder that perhaps it was our Christian voices that did the devil’s own work?
No doubt my inbox will be full of responses. Maybe my minister friend will be one of them.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like A White Boy” available wherever books are sold.
ASK ADVICE CHICK: Answers to YOUR Dating, Sex, Life, & Love Questions!
By AdviceChick at ameritech.net? ?
Chicago Ladies! ULTIMATE Ladies NITE Out part 2, CAUTION! Men At Work is coming Saturday November 8, 2008! Visit http://www.ultimateladiesniteout.com NOW for details!
Dear Advice Chick,
*I have been told over and over again by people that you find love when your not looking for it. How do you not look for it when you want it so badly? Does this mean I have to stay at home all the time in order to be found? ?
Advice Chick replies,
When you are single and lonely you are always looking for love. Perhaps not love, as in 'love at first sight', but as in a romantic partner. When we want anything desperately we hardly ever get it. That's why they say stop looking for love and it will find you.
You can get involved in activities that attract men and women or try some male dominated activities. The goal is to meet people and have fun. Sure, your little heart will still long for a relationship, but they do not usually happen overnight. I suggest you try one, or some of the following:
Volunteer at a Political Office
Volunteer at a Hospital
Join a Bowling League
Enroll in a Salsa Dance Class
Join, or start a MeetUp Group?
The list goes on and on. In closing, get out of the house. There?s an entire world out there, and your man is out there. Hell, he's probably looking for you as hard as you are looking for him. Relax.
Send YOUR questions and comments to Advice Chick right NOW! Please put ?Dear Advice Chick? in the subject line so your email isn?t deleted as spam. Thanks! Send your emails t advicechick at ameritech.net
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Ask Advice Chick about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING related to dating, sex, love, and life! She is THE resident dating expert at EURweb.com, and calls on over 11 years of dating and relationship industry experience.
AUDREY'S SOCIETY WHIRL: OLYMPIC MEDALISTS
AUDREY'S SOCIETY WHIRL: Olympic Gold Medalists Angelo Taylor, La Shawn Merritt, Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix feted at New York's private The Friars Club where they continue to do their victory dance
By Audrey J. Bernard, Lifestyles/Society Editor?
*Olympic medalists Angelo Taylor, LaShawn Merritt, Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix were recently made honorary Friar Club members at a gold-studded celebration party for the fine young men on Thursday, September 4 at The Friars Club on East 55th Street where they shared a private dinner before joining guests at an invitational only victory celebration for these four remarkable men for embodying the very essence of the American dream.
Michael Gyure, general manager, The Friars Club, presented the superior Olympic medalists with special certificates. "Our members are proud in having you join our star-studded roster." The Friars Club is a private club in New York City, famous for its risque celebrity roasts.
The victory party was sponsored by Icon Management and Launchpad Worldwide and organized by Marvet Britto of the Britto Agency who, along with Britto ace publicists Rachel Golden and Megan O'Brien, made everyone feel golden.
Since winning the gold track medal in Beijing, the famous quartet have been focusing on lending their wining faces and names to charity. To that end, Taylor, Merritt, Crawford (who was unable to attend the fete but will sign the cleat before it's auctioned off) and Dix signed a limited edition Nike cleat that will be auctioned off to benefit HealthCorps, a 501C3 non-profit organization that provides America's youth and families with knowledge, tools and support to make healthy choices. HealthCorps was founded by Oprah Winfrey's favorite medical confidant, Dr. Mehmet C. Oz.
Audrey J. Bernard is an established chronicler of Black society and Urban happenings based in the New York City area.
BETWEEN THE LINES: The Republicans Change Campaign Pal[in]es In Comparison To Reasons Some White Women Need Not To Vote For Obama
Anthony Asadullah Samad
The Republican National Convention picked up steam and ratings with the pick of Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin.
*If you had told me that more people would watch John McCain's acceptance speech than watched Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech, I would have told you "crack is whack" and stay off the drugs.
Most people would have bet the house on that one. The Republican "change" platform pales in comparison to what the Democrats are proposing. Remember, the Republicans are the "status quo" party.
They don't change anything, including their capitalist incentives to raid government, go to war, give tax incentives to the rich and big business, and push the middle class below the poverty line. When the Republicans shouted that "change is here" last week, what they meant in codified terms is "we picked a woman before the Democrats, so now what reason to have to stay?"
The play was to divide the woman's vote, pure and simple. With everything coming out on Sarah Palin that would be any candidate's nightmare, it is obvious that the Republicans didn't vet her. They didn't have too. They don't care about her pregnant daughter, or affair allegations, or abuse of power investigations or her extreme censorship views.
They just needed to do something drastic, and they pulled a rabbit out of their hat. A pro-life, pro-gun, creationist party extremist that appeals to the right wing, appeals to religious fundamentalists, appeals to the disgruntled Hillary segment and appeals to that segment of independents/undecideds that just needed a reason, any reason, not to vote for Barack.
The media and pundits will never mention race. Just that now all of a sudden, an inexperienced, unimaginative ideologue has invigorated the Republican Party and McCain is now ahead in the national polls. It has become known, not as the McCain factor but, as the Palin effect.
Palin's choice is solely responsible for the bump McCain has received in the polls. It's no reason to panic, because it was present in the polling against Clinton in the primaries and Obama rose above it. They even gave it a name, calling it the "Bradley effect" after this infamous 1986 Gubernatorial campaign in which Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley lead in the polls all the way up until election night, yet he went to bed with his victory speech in his pocket after California voters pulled the curtains and voted their racial biases. It was the highest voter turnout in the history of Orange County, and the lowest turnout in South Los Angeles as Tom Bradley lost the election by the number of registered voters that stayed home (in his old councilmatic district) because Bradley took the black vote for granted. Barack is not doing that, but he has a "credibility" problem with many white voters. Being a breath of fresh air is not enough. Having integrity in his politics is not enough. Having new ideas is not enough. Being a great communicator, now his biggest criticism, is not good enough. Being popular beyond reason (and the borders of the United States) is not enough.
But it's good enough for Sarah Palin (all but the new ideas stuff-because she doesn't have any new ideas). The same inexperienced bat that they're beating Obama across the head with, doesn't apply to Palin because she's a governor of a state with 700,000 for two years and a part-time Mayor of a city of 7,000 that she took from surplus to a $22 million deficit. There are 16 American cities with populations larger than the state of Alaska, which only has four months of daylight a year. If a big city Mayor had been picked Vice President, the cry would have been fever pitch. Sarah Palin was picked for one reason, and one reason only, to exploit the fact the Democrats passed over Hillary, twice. Call it what it really is, "rubbing it" in the Democrats face. But the residual benefit was much more the residual cost. Unlike Barack, there was no fallout over who McCain didn't pick. It really wouldn't have made a difference to women. It would have just been another (probably) white male and women voters would have been faced with solely ideological choices that would have made their racial bias very transparent. Now they don't need to justify their racial biases, as evident as they are. They can hide behind the fact that they too, are making history. And the nation is on the verge of making another inferior ticket President and Vice President of the United States.
Barack Obama has the same scenario that George W. Bush had in 2000, in facing a more experienced candidate. George W. wasn't as bright, and he had no new vision for the country. They put him with experience, and an administration of experienced braintrusts, and they ran the gamut in terms of winning the election and running the country. Barack is put with someone with experience and there's still something missing. There will always be something, as far as some are concerned with Barack. They know what it is, and we know what it is. And it has nothing to do with experience, or being a good speaker. They will never say it. There's just a whole "winking" going on around the country right now. The euphoria is for a different reason.
The Republicans will be more of the same. They just made the race exciting by bringing in a twist, a female ideologue. It may be a trick that works, but it still pales to what the Democrats are offering. McCain's own party doesn't like him, but they'll elect him because he gave them a reason to forestall the Democrats. And for some people, Palin is enough of a reason to stay this course of destruction and national collapse.
Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com
JASMYNE CANNICK: Straight Talk About Truthiness and Country First
*Maybe if I didn’t know the history of how this country came to be. Maybe if I wasn’t keenly aware of how we came to be here in this country to begin with.
Maybe if the first ship arriving with its precious human cargo to this country hadn’t been forced to adopt the same ‘values and beliefs’ of its captors.
Maybe if the man sleeping on the ground in front of the church across the street from my house wasn’t a constant reminder of what this country has done and continues to do to a race of people through its ‘pride and principles.’
Perhaps if this country’s wealth hadn’t come on the backs, labor and lives of people who look like me. Maybe if I hadn’t taken that course on the history of Blacks in the United States or read Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth.
And maybe, just maybe, if from the beginning all men and women in this country had been treated equal and given the ‘same opportunities to contribute and to reach their God-given potential’ ... I’d share Sen. John McCain’s patriotism and the idea of ‘country first.’
As the descendant of African slaves who arrived to the eastern shores of this country against their will and were forced to labor for men and women who looked a lot like Cindy and John McCain, I will never claim America as my country—let alone the idea of ‘country first.’
It was the notion of ‘country first’ that enabled and empowered colonists from this country to travel across the Atlantic only to return with human cargo that would be used to build the wealth that America so often boasts about—wealth that was cultivated in tobacco and cotton fields by the hands of African slaves and their descendants.
‘Country first’ paved the way for white men with penchants for dark skin to have their way with those same female African slaves. It justified the mistreatment, including torture and death, of countless Blacks.
‘Country first’ forced African slaves and their descendants to adopt a language and a religion that to this day has us praying to a white man with blue eyes for our liberation while at times cosigning our own continued destruction.
McCain likes to tout his experience as a Prisoner of War and I say whoopdeedoo. Blacks have been prisoners of a war on their lives since the first shipped arrived in this country—at least at some point McCain was freed. My people are still waiting.
In front of an almost entirely white audience Thursday night McCain said, “I've never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn't thank God for the privilege.”
I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, where I didn’t witness the same privilege that McCain so freely boasts about. It’s that same privilege that can allow presidential candidates to focus on how to save the middle class and say nothing about the men, women, and children who don’t have a mortgage to save from foreclosure because they don’t even have a home let alone money to pay for gas because they don’t own a car.
And just to be clear—I’m not head over heels in love with Republicans or Democrats. In my opinion, neither Party has my best interest at heart.
As a Democrat with one foot out the door, I am not so quick to forget the statements from angry fellow Democrats about the “inadequate Black man” who went on to clinch the nomination or the anti-Black attitudes still prevalent among its rank and file members--including some who are Black!
At least with Republicans, I know exactly where I stand at all times—and that was reiterated in McCain’s acceptance speech.
And I quote:
“We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again to the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.”
Had I been born white, perhaps I could get with ‘country first.’ But I wasn’t. I was a born a Black girl, a descendant of West African slaves brought here to toil in the fields and homes of white men and women like the McCain’s. And even though much has happened in the years since, all I ever have to do is look out of my window to be reminded of what ‘country first’
really means and it has nothing to do with securing America’s borders, stabilizing the economy, providing healthcare for all, and an equal education to all children.
Adopting the belief ‘country first’ for me as a Black women is to cosign the very policies that have oppressed Black people for years.
A country is only as good as the people who inhabit it. This country can’t even agree to provide the same basic human rights to everyone who lives here. We’re still too caught up in who was born here and who just arrived here.
I will never know the feeling of patriotism that McCain and others like him boast about. You will never catch me waving this country’s flag. And while I am fully aware that there are Blacks, like my grandfather who is WWII Veteran, who have bought into this idea of country first, I’m not one of them.
I am not one of those Blacks who share’s Pat Buchanan’s opinion that America has been the best country on earth for Black folks and that I should be on my knees thanking his God for slavery and the Christian religion.
Not even with Obama’s nomination have I been convinced that this country is on the road to changing its oppressive policies. Check back with me when both Parties agree that healthcare for all, regardless of employment or citizenship status is a top priority, and that reparations are in order for African-Americans.
Listening to McCain’s speech just reminded me of the differences between those with privilege and those without. It’s the difference between those who choose to conveniently forget or fabricate the history of this country and those who see it for what it really is.
So come November 4, my vote has less to do with which candidate I favor most, and for the record that would be Obama, but more to do with voting for the lesser of two evils. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t get it twisted.
At 30, Jasmyne Cannick is a critic and commentator based in Los Angeles who writes about the worlds of pop culture, race, class, sexuality, and politics as it relates to the African-American community. A regular contributor to NPR’s ‘News and Notes,’ she was chosen as one Essence Magazine’s 25 Women Shaping the World. She can be reached at www.jasmynecannick.com or
www.myspace.com/jasmynecannick.
THE PULSE OF ENTERTAINMENT: Janet presents her borthers The Jacksons with the BMI Icon Award
By Eunice Moseley
The Jackson's are honored at the 8th Annual BMI Urban Awards
*“BMI is the first to recognize us…we really appreciate the honor,” Marlon Jackson said while peeping over the shoulders of his older brothers Jackie, Randy and Tito.
CEO/President of BMI, Del R. Bryant and Vice President Catherine Brewton were on hand to hos
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