![]() Sat, Jul 4, 2009
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
01-05-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE(January 5, 2009)
ANN COULTER GOES AFTER MICHELLE OBAMA: Right winger labels her a Jackie O imitator in new book. *Conservative political commentator Ann Coulter has turned her right wing hot air toward the incoming First Lady, calling Michelle Obama a Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wannabe in a book to be published next week. In "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and their Assault on America," from Crown Forum, Coulter accuses the liberal left of playing the victim when in fact, she argues, they are the victimizers, according to excerpts carried by the New York Daily News. KATT WILLIAMS RIPS HARVEY ON NEW YEAR'S EVE: As promised, comedian calls out veteran on stage during joint show. Footage hits YouTube. *Comedian Katt Williams took his animosity toward Steve Harvey to the stage on New Year's Eve and, as promised, spent part of his act ridiculing the veteran comedian who had performed just before him. In other Katt news, the comic purchased a six-bedroom, seven-bath home at 20515 Abercrombie Lane in Malibu over the summer from for $3.33 million. The 8,259-square-foot home was built in 2005. JANET UPSET WITH BEYONCE?: Ms. Jackson apparently took offense to Bey's comments about Jackson family in Elle magazine. *The New York Daily News claims Janet Jackson is "infuriated" by Beyonce's comments about her famous family in the latest issue of Elle magazine.
*Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday is reporting that Queen Latifah was the victim of theft last Monday after someone stole more than $10,000 in jewelry from her villa in Tobago. The actress/singer, born Dana Owens, was vacationing with a female friend at the $1,000-per-night Stone Haven Villas in Black Rock, Tobago, when burglars struck on Monday, the paper reported. OBAMA PUSHES FOR NATIONAL SERVICE: Inaugural committee to launch Web site linking volunteers with service projects beyond MLK day. *President-elect Barack Obama is looking to expand Martin Luther King Day from its current national day of community service into an ongoing commitment to help the needy. In the coming days, Obama's inaugural committee will launch a Web site to link volunteers with service projects in their neighborhoods. The new Web site will incorporate similar work already begun by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency overseeing 7,000 service programs - including AmeriCorps, given the directive by Congress in 1994 to turn Martin Luther King Day into a national day of service. "President-elect Obama hopes to summon a new spirit of service and call on Americans to make a more enduring and active commitment to our communities throughout the year, because it is a critical time for America to come together to tackle the common challenges we face," said inaugural spokeswoman Shannon Gilson. Meanwhile, all four members of the soon-to-be First Family are in Washington D.C., their new permanent home for the next four – possibly eight – years. Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha flew to Washington on Saturday, while President-elect Barack Obama was due to arrive yesterday. They are staying at the Hay-Adams Hotel until the Jan. 20 inauguration. Today, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, are scheduled to begin classes at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School. The Obama girls will have Vice-President-elect Joe Biden's grandchildren as classmates.
*Will Smith has been voted the Top Money-Making Star of 2008 in Quigley Publishing Company's 77th Annual Poll and is the second African American to win since Sidney Poitier was first in 1968. Smith, whose 2008 slate included "Hancock" and "Seven Pounds," placed second to Johnny Depp last year. This is Smith's eighth appearance in the Quigley Poll since 1997, when he placed fourth.
*Despite an online campaign by fans of the ABC drama "Dirty Sexy Money" to keep the show alive, co-star Blair Underwood tells E! Online that the drama has been taken off of life support. "As far as I'm concerned, we're not doing any more shows," says the actor, who played Simon Elder on the series. "ABC officially doesn't want to use the C-word—canceled—but we're not on the schedule. I would pretty much say we're canceled." "My dad told me I should have something prepared just in case," Underwood says. "He would always get ticked off every time he'd watch an awards show and somebody said, 'I didn't expect that.' And he'd say, 'What do you mean? You were nominated! How could you have not expected that? If there's a possibility, be prepared!' "
*Author Kimberla Lawson Roby has sold the rights to her 2008 novella “One in a Million” to Lifetime Television Networks, an accomplishment she has been hoping for since beginning her career 11 novels ago.
*Hip hop fans and media outlets alike are skeptical about reports of Soulja Boy being ambushed by masked gunmen, who later released an Internet video claiming responsibility. But a rep for the artist says it's true. The unconfirmed reports hit the Web on New Year’s Eve. Supposedly, the rapper and several of his friends were attacked in his Georgia home by six gunmen who stormed the house on Dec. 30. The following day, a video surfaced of two masked men claiming responsibility for the crime. In the clip, the men are dressed in all black, with black cloth covering their entire faces. The speaker, whose voice is disguised electronically (chopped & screwed style), boasts of following the rapper home from his album release party to carry out the robbery. The rapper's sophomore album, "iSouljaBoyTellem," was released on Dec. 16. BEYONCE VIDEOS DOMINATE YOUTUBE: Singer's music clips viewed more times than Jonas Bros, Rihanna and Chris Brown. *More people are hitting up YouTube to watch Beyonce videos than any other artist, including MTV staples Soulja Boy, Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers and Chris Brown, according to the Associated Press. Her clip for "If I Were a Boy," where Beyonce imagines life if gender roles were reversed between her and her boyfriend, has been watched by more than 34 million on the video-sharing site. Beyonce has spoken about how bowled over she is by all the imitations and met some of the dancers. She also joined the "Saturday Night Live" parody of the video with Justin Timberlake and cast members Andy Samberg and Bobby Moynihan. (That video has also been watched by millions online.)
*A new survey taken by the Military Times has found that six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or pessimistic about President-elect Obama as their commander in chief. Nearly half of the respondents described their political views as conservative or very conservative, the Army Times reported.
*Chris Rock has been added to the list of presenters at "The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards," to be telecast live on NBC Sunday, January 11 (8 - 11 p.m. EST) at The Beverly Hilton. Cameron Diaz and Jessica Lange were also recently added, joining previously announced presenters Simon Baker, Drew Barrymore, Glenn Close, Sacha Baron Cohen, Aaron Eckhart, Laurence Fishburne, Ricky Gervais, Jake Gyllenhaal, Salma Hayek, Blake Lively, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler and Seth Rogen. *Denzel Washington celebrated his 54th birthday on Dec. 28 in the Turks and Caicos, says the New York Post. "During a boat ride to the island where his party was held he jumped overboard and challenged his son to a swimming race," according to a source. Washington lost the competition, but won over guests like Star Jones and Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick at his 25-person party, where everyone enjoyed Dom Pérignon and platters of lobster. *T.I. fans experienced a seating snafu at a New Year's Eve gig in Miami. According to the New York Post, the jail-bound rapper was supposed to perform poolside at the Gansevoort Hotel, where promoters sold tables for $10,000, but when partiers got there expecting to see the concert, they were told T.I. would be performing inside the hotel's small ballroom instead. "The city wouldn't allow him to perform outside," a Gansevoort rep said. *A mixed-race couple in the UK has had another set of black and white twins, reports The Sun. [View photos here: *Diddy's camp is clearing up rumors that he has been begging for four inauguration tickets for the past several weeks. "The story is ridiculous and untrue," his rep tells TMZ.com. "Diddy was offered tickets by the Obama inaugural committee because of his work on the campaign trail with Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Kevin Liles. He never asked for tickets and he was never asked to pay for them." Diddy added: "I am very grateful to be a part of this moment in history. I'll see ya'll at the inauguration." *It's over for Travis McCoy and Katy Perry. McCoy, the 27-year-old frontman for Gym Class Heroes, had vacationed with the 24-year-old "I Kissed a Girl" singer in Mexico over the holidays, and McCoy had even bought her a "promise ring" in June. *Lamman Rucker will star in the TV version of Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" series, premiering Wednesday (Jan 5) on TBS. Rucker plays Leroy Brown’s nephew Will Brown, a gynecologist in his early 30s who is married with two kids. He provides free medical services to the residents of Mr.
*A newly-launched free Internet database gives African-Americans the opportunity for the first time to explore their African heritage the way whites have long been able to chart their migration from Europe. Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces) is the result of 40 years of research by hundreds of scholars. It allows African-Americans to trace the routes of slave ships that transported 12.5 million of their ancestors from Africa as early as the 16th Century.
*This shameful spoof takes cheap potshots at Michael Moore ostensibly for the amusement of right-wing zealots. The film features Kevin Farley as Hollywood moviemaker Michael Malone, a thinly-veiled caricature of Mr. Moore. The plot is very loosely based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, except that this Scrooge (aka Michael) hates the Fourth of July holiday instead of Christmas. The simplistic premise has him not merely being un-American but the unwitting dupe of a cell of radical Islamists planning to blow up Madison Square Garden. Narrated by Leslie Nielsen, the story unfolds in post 9/11 Afghanistan where we find Michael naively accepting $10 million in financing for his next project, "Fascist America," from a trio of Taliban terrorists. Fortunately, he is visited by three ghosts, that of General George Patton (Kelsey Grammer), President John F. Kennedy (Chriss Anglin) and country singer Trace Adkins (himself), who take turns trying to show the Prodigal citizen the light in time to avert the impending disaster. While the film's first few might be deceptively palatable, it doesn't take long for the humor to be subsumed by a heavy-handed political message. Director David Zucker resorts to his trademark slapstick, silly skits and sight gags to poke fun unfairly at not merely Moore but a host of liberal causes, including global warming, nationalized healthcare and gay rights. Along the way, ACLU attorneys are depicted as zombies who deserve to be shot on sight, student demonstrators are demonized for exercising their First Amendment rights, and Moore is repeatedly portrayed as a traitor. Less a legit satire than a scary soap box in service of a mean-spirited agenda. A dead giveaway is the cast which boasts a bevy of arch conservatives including Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. Challenging authority as unpatriotic? Bah, humbug! Poor (0 stars) To see a trailer for An American Carol, visit:
After all, no one ever lasted this long on the television game show before, and the producers doubted that this dirt-poor, uneducated orphan from the teeming slums of Mumbai could have achieved his unlikely feat without cheating. Therefore, the night before his return for his final appearance on the program, they arrange for the authorities to drag the innocent 18 year-old down to the station for a little Abu Ghraib-level interrogation away from the public eye. But despite being tortured by a couple of sadistic cops (Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla), Jamal matter-of-factly explains exactly how he came to acquire the answers to such seemingly obscure trivia questions. And soon, what gradually becomes apparent is that everything is on the up-and-up. For all the unfortunate lad has to share is his sorrowful autobiography, an endless tale of woe which he reveals via a kaleidoscope of colorful flashbacks. Surprisingly, it turns out that he's actually been less concerned with taking home the 20 million rupees than with using his TV publicity as a means of finding his long-lost love, Latika (Freida Pinto), a fellow street urchin and fan of the popular quiz show. This is the engaging premise of Slumdog Millionaire, a genre-defying romantic thriller from Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan. The clever co-directors deftly interweave three non-simultaneous strands of Jamal's life story into an absorbing triskelion that definitely deserves to be recognized come Oscar time. One aspect revolves around his climb to the top on Millionaire as he engages in both superficial banter and psychological warfare with the show's slimy, if unctuous, emcee (Anil Kapoor). That relatively-light badinage stands in sharp contrast with his being mercilessly roughed up by the police who resort to water boarding and electric shocks in quest of a confession. The third part of the picture is devoted to Jamal's surviving by his wits during his challenging childhood with the help of Latika and his ne'er-do-well older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal). Will Jamal die behind bars while being interrogated or will he be allowed his honestly-earned shot at that final question? If back on the air, will he give the right answer and win the loot, will he reunite with his sweetheart, or achieve both goals? A dizzying, delightful spectacle situated on the Subcontinent well worth the investment for the kaleidoscope of colors splashed across the screen alone. Plus there's a spellbinding performance on the part of the protagonist Patel, and enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat from the beginning to the end of this explosive adventure. Excellent (4 stars) To see a trailer of Slumdog Millionaire, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q
"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus." — Alexander Graham Bell
Jan. 5: Drummer George "Funky" Brown of Kool and the Gang is 60.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
Click for the latest entertainment headlines Click for the latest Obama - Political headlines
Speak Out
Currently, 0 comments have been made on this story.
|
... |
||||||||||
| Back to Top | |||||||||||