Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand, Images

She's done the DUI thing. She's done the rehab thing. Now, Lindsay Lohan is mounting her comeback by posing completely nude -- as Marilyn Monroe -- in New York Magazine. The photos are meant to re-create Monroe's famous 1962 shoot, shot by Bert Stern, called The Last Sitting. Says NY Mag: "But the pictures are also remarkable for the raw truths they seem to reveal. In them, we see an actress whose comedic talents were overshadowed by her sex appeal, a woman who is cannily aware of her pinup status, yet is also beginning to show her 36 years. In many shots, she is obviously drunk. This was an unhappy time for Monroe."

On why she wanted to pose for the fairly scandalous (and provocative) photos, Lohan said, "I didn't have to put much thought into it. I mean, Bert Stern? Doing a Marilyn Monroe shoot? When is that ever going to come up." There are 10 photos in the batch -- most of which feature Lohan semi-nude, or nude from the waist up, draping herself in some sort of fabric. You can check out the entire gallery over here -- though keep in mind (for those at work or in front of kids), she is definitely nekked in a few of the photos. What do you think about this one? Do you see Monroe in Lohan?

To see images from Stern's original 1962 photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe, head over here.

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Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fan Rant

They're a menace to the roads, and I figure they must love getting DUIs since there is a continuing stream of celebrity/actor arrests. (Do they frame their arrest photos and place them next to their awards?) It's gotten so bad that I'm sort of glad that when I visited LA, my friend and I didn't drive around a lot. Playing bumper cars with drunk celebs while riding in a small, pink Mini Cooper might be stylish, but I doubt it would be fun.

The thing is -- young and old, men and women, filthy rich or just well-off, they're all doing it. There's the sickening number of younger stars who are already racking up multiple offenses -- Michelle Rodriguez (and how many others from Lost), Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan all have 2 DUIs and are all in their 20s. The double-doers also come in the older male variety -- there's Mel Gibson with his 2 offenses and slurring rant, or Kiefer's 2 -- the second of which came less than 5 years after the first. Not to mention -- Vivica A. Fox, Lane Garrison, Rip Torn, Shemar Moore, Gary Collins, Chris Klein, Yancy Butler, Ray Liotta, Nick Nolte, Mischa Barton, Edward Furlong, Ty Pennington, Rebecca De Mornay... And this is just in the last handful of years -- and the ones who were caught. If you think about how many times you speed, and how many times you get speeding tickets...

Continue reading Fan Rant: Actors and Their Love of DUIs

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Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Exhibition, Images

This fascinating piece in the Guardian details British filmmaker Peter Greenaway's (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) plans to bring to life Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper. The effort will be part of a series of projects the director and painter plans to animate classic works of art. Greenaway, according to the article, will use "dramatic lighting, projections, and recordings of actors' voices" to transform The Last Supper into "something close to a film." He plans to expand the moment DaVinci captured into his painting into a larger story stretching from Christ's birth through his crucifixion, and will include "raw and heavy images of Christ's genitalia and naked crucifixion" from other DaVinci works.

Greenaway doesn't plan to stop with The Last Supper -- future plans for bringing works of art to life include works by Veronese, Velázquez, Picasso, Monet and Jackson Pollack; he's even asked the Vatican for permission to project onto Michelangelos' Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. He's already done one project, animating Rembrandt's The Nightwatch in 2006.

The project is not without its critics -- some feel DaVinci's work stands on its own and doesn't need improving. Personally, I think this could be really cool. It's not like Greenaway proposes to deface or destroy classic works of art, he's basically just looking to reinterpret them with the help of media that wasn't available when they were painted. What do you think? Should great works of art be left alone, or could a project like this actually help the art world by exposing people to works of art from a perspective they might otherwise not have considered?

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Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Paramount, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Politics, Remakes and Sequels

There's been a lot of talk about Ray Winstone's magical pants since the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull first appeared on February 14. At around the one minute mark, we see Winstone and Indy surrounded by Russian soldiers and Indy utters his line "Not as easy as it used to be," and if you look closely you can see some CGI weirdness going on there, as if something has been cut out of the scene. Well, turns out it was -- in the international trailer for the film, now available online, the Russian heavies are pointing some giant machine guns at our heroes, not just standing there giving them dirty looks. Also, when the trailer transitions from the (too long) memory lane montage to the original footage, the American trailer shows an American flag fluttering in the breeze, with May 22 overlapped. The international trailer still has the May date titled on there, but there is no flag to be found. I find this offensive not for any patriotic reason, but only as someone who doesn't appreciate such crass, Spielbergian manipulation.

In other news, Winstone is out doing some talking about the film -- according to Showbiz Spy, he recently praised Cate Blanchett's performance in the film, saying "To me she's the greatest actor in the world. She really pushes the boat out in this one. She looks great." He also complains about pulling a hamstring during the making of the film when he had to run up and down the stairs of that giant temple, and he says that he's tiring of the action parts he's receiving as he gets older, and he'd rather take on more romantic parts. When other, more substantial news on the film comes along, you'll know where to find it.

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After her husband dies of cancer, Holly is inconsolable and finds it impossible to pick up her life again. Then she starts receiving letters he wrote to her before he passed away. Will these messages help her get back on her feet? Or are Holly’s friends right, and should she stop obsessing over them? (more…)

Technorati tags: chokingonpopcorn movie Reviews P.S. I Love You

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 15, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Retro Television Network (RTN), which is owned and distributed by Equity Media Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq:EMDA), and Petry International, a division of Petry Media Corporation, today announced that the companies have entered into an agreement whereby Petry International will be the exclusive national representation firm for the network.

**NOTE** My online chat advertised in today's paper won't be happening, as a last-minute noontime screening has arisen. ("Vantage Point," if you're curious.) Sorry; see you in a few Fridays.

Reviewer Ethan Gilsdorf had problems figuring out "Khadak" (photo above), the Mongolian film unspooling at the MFA tonight. I still say you should check it out; I would have if I hadn't been so busy this week dealing with George Romero zombies and Ryan Reynolds romantic comedies, both of which are much better movies than they have any right to be. In the case of the latter, I say thank God for Isla Fisher, who makes "Definitely Maybe" a date movie you actually wouldn't be ashamed to take a date to.

Bugs Bunny all weekend long at the Brattle. Experimental filmmaker Ernie Gehr in person and in film at the Harvard Film Archive. A still from his film "Side/Walk/Shuttle" is below; click on it to get a sense of how Gehr playfully turns San Francisco upside down and inside-out.

Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Johnny Depp

When it's all said and done, this whole Parnassus mess would probably fit nicely into a biopic on the life and times of director Terry Gilliam. When Heath Ledger passed away during production on the latest Gilliam flick, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, we all wondered what would happen to the film. Would Gilliam be forced to dump another project (a la Don Quixote), or would someone step in to save the day. Early rumors suggested (and here's where life always comes full circle) that Johnny Depp (Gilliam's Quixote star) would fill in for Ledger and shoot his remaining scenes. Then there was word Gilliam may create a CGI Ledger to tape up the missing pieces.

Now, however, AICN claims they know exactly how it will go down, and that Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell will all fill in for Ledger in a weird sort of I'm Not There-esque tribute to the actor. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see what this looks like -- imagine watching half a film with Ledger, only to see it switch and be Depp, then Law and then Farrell (or some variation)? What will that look like? Either way, I'm sure Gilliam will probably open to his biggest box office take in years (fingers crossed), and the film could go down as something very very special. No official word on this one yet, but AICN seems to feel this one is locked and ready to roll. What do you think?

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ST. LOUIS, Feb. 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Commodity Classic has announced Shannon Brown, John Conlee, Joe Diffie, Carolina Rain and The Steeldrivers will perform an exclusive show at the Grand Ole Opry during the Evening of Entertainment at the 2008 Commodity Classic convention and trade show, Feb. 28-March 1 in Nashville, Tenn.

ADVISORY, Feb. 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) --