Celebrity Movie Archive, Streaming Movies

Review: Philip Kennicott on ” at National Gallery of Art

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:08:00 +0000

In 1928, the Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer released The Passion of Joan of Arc, which has remained a hardy perennial on almost every critic’s top 10 list of all-time greatest films. His career after that — the subject of a National Gallery of Art retrospective that begins Sunday — was minimal, at least in terms of Hardcore Free Sex Movies the quantity of film he produced. Between 1928 and his death in 1968, Dreyer directed only five feature-length films, one of which he disowned.

Film “The Cove” seeks to expose dolphin killings

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:08:20 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tense new film shows Japanese fishermen luring thousands of wild dolphins into a hidden secret cove in Japan where activists say they are captured for marine amusement parks or slaughtered for food.

US model is mother of Law’s child

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:08:20 +0000

American model Samantha Burke is the woman carrying Jude Law’s fourth child, the actor’s spokeswoman has confirmed.

Jackson’s personal doctor was in financial trouble (AP)

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:08:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES – Dr. Conrad Murray was in dire financial shape when he signed on as Michael Jackson’s personal physician earlier this year at $150,000 a month.

The Las Vegas cardiologist owed a total of at least $780,000 in judgments against him and his medical practice, outstanding mortgage payments on his house, delinquent student loans, child support and credit cards.

Court records chronicling Murray’s woes in Las Vegas, where authorities searched his home this week as part of a manslaughter investigation into Jackson’s death, might help explain why beyond the chance to get close to a celebrity Murray seized the chance to keep the pop star healthy through a series of concerts in London.

But more than that, the financial pressures on Murray could help prosecutors establish a motive if he ends up facing charges.

“Here he is, dealing with one of the most famous people in the world. There may have been a great deal of pressure to do what Michael Jackson wanted, give him the drugs he wanted, treat him the way Michael Jackson wanted to be treated, even if it wasn’t in keeping with medical protocol,” said Steve Cron, a criminal defense attorney and adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s law school.

Authorities investigating Jackson’s death at his rented Los Angeles mansion believe Murray gave the star a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

Propofol is commonly used for surgery and is not meant as a sleep agent or to be given in private homes. Because of its potency, only trained anesthesia professionals are supposed to administer it, and patients are supposed to be constantly monitored.

If prosecutors bring charges, Murray’s financial trouble “does potentially provide evidence of good motive for financial-based crimes, including prescribing when there is not a medical necessity,” said Rebecca Lonergan, a University of Southern California law professor and former federal prosecutor of health care fraud cases.

Murray, 56, has not spoken publicly since Jackson’s June 25 death. His lawyer, Edward Chernoff, has said the doctor did not prescribe anything that “should have” killed Jackson.

Murray was hired through Jackson’s promoter in May, as his bleak financial picture threatened to worsen. He was under court orders to pay more than $363,000 for equipment for his heart clinic, and was ordered in April to repay $71,000 in student loans dating to the 1980s. Two lawsuits claiming he owes $240,000 more for unpaid equipment are pending in Nevada courts.

Also, Murray’s 5,268-square-foot home near the 18th hole of a golf course is in “pre-foreclosure” after he failed to make payments on his $1.66 million loan, records show. He stopped paying the $15,000-per-month mortgage in December and could lose the home by November, said Mary Hunt, the foreclosure officer handling the case.

Neither Jackson nor AEG Live, the promoter for the London concerts that was prepared to pay him $150,000 a month, paid Murray for the two months the doctor worked for the pop star, according to Chernoff.

“Dr. Murray has lost the ability to make a living as a result of this investigation,” Chernoff said. “His hope is he can forestall foreclosure until he can once again begin working as a doctor.”

Murray’s cresting financial woes fit into a history of money problems. He filed for bankruptcy in California in 1992 and had a string of tax liens in California and Arizona between 1993 and 2003. Also, a former business partner in an energy-drink distribution venture claimed Murray owed him $68,000.

John Thomas, distributor of a drink called Pit Bull, said that in 2005 and 2006 Murray had the rights to distribute the product in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean island nation where Murray lived and worked before coming to the United States in the 1980s to study medicine.

The drink never gained popularity there. Murray paid his bill for a first shipment, then didn’t pay for three subsequent shipments, Thomas said.

___

Ritter reported from Las Vegas. Contributing to this report were Associated Press reporters Juan Lozano in Houston, Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles and Tony Fraser in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and AP Researchers Judith Ausuebel and Barbara Sambriski in New York.

Stinkiness is next to Bounciness. (Cool Things I Never Learned In School 4)

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:08:00 +0000

When we were kids, we played “Superball Baseball” against the garage door. The rules were simple: Bounce the Superball off the driveway into the door, and the other guy had to catch it. If he caught it in the air, you were out. If he caught it after one bounce, it was a single, and so on.

We used superballs for a couple of reasons — first, because the tiny little black dot they left on the garage door was smaller, which meant that it would take longer for my dad to realize we were doing that again and get mad at us for wrecking the paint job on the garage door, and second because superballs, as everyone knows, bounce higher and farther than any other ball.

I knew that superballs were better at bouncing than other balls, but I didn’t know why until the other day. Despite 16 years of schooling that had science classes of one sort or another (law school doesn’t count for this one: no science) I never learned why it was that superballs bounce so much higher than other balls.

Now I know: It’s because Superballs are made with “sulfur bridges.” They have extra amounts of sulfur mixed in with the rubber, which is all then superheated and formed into the ball. Rubber, when it bounces, stretches and bends and distorts — but putting sulfur in helps restrain all that rubber movement. So putting more sulfur in presents more movement, which means that the rubber in a superball barely distorts.

That, in turn, means that the energy in a superball — energy imparted by throwing or dropping it — isn’t used up by all the motion in the rubber and is free to be used up by bouncing the superball higher and higher. Superballs direct 92% of their energy to the bounce — way higher than other balls, and all because of that extra sulfur.

I learned this watching a “Technology of the 60s” show on the History channel while I was jogging the other night. So:

School: 0. TV: 1.

Added Information: The original name applied to the rubber used in the Superball? “Zectron!” Science should use names like that more often.

A Saved By the Bell Reunion!

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:08:20 +0000

-Photo Courtesy of People-
Are you kidding me?

My Bayside buddies haven’t aged a bit!!

The Saved By the Bell cast reunited to pose for the cover of People mag, as it’s been two decades since the show premiered.

Everybody knew the 20-year anniversary was coming up,” A.C. Slater, I mean Mario Lopez, told the mag. “This People story has been in the works for over a year, long before [late night host] Jimmy Fallon started talking about it. We were all excited about it.”

So, we got a cover — but what about a reunion show?

“Everybody is fired up,” Mario said. “People keep coming up to me saying ‘When are you guys going to do a show?’”

But it doesn’t like that’s in the cards right now.

Mario’s got lots going on including hosting the new season of America’s Best Dance Crew; Tiffani Thiessen is busy working on a new grade of pot; Mark-Paul Gosselaar is acting on Raising the Bar; and Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies are, well, not doing anything worth mentioning, but would it really be a reunion without Screech and Mr. Belding anyway?

Are you dying for a SBTB reunion show?

Debating a Makeover for Fashion Week?

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:07:20 +0000

Early Tuesday morning, the Council of Fashion Designers of America gathered to debate the state of the fashion system, essentially questioning whether or not the fashion industry’s cycle makes sense anymore. CFDA president, Diane Von Furstenburg, basically said that the issue to be discussed was the modern relevance of Fashion Week. Has Fashion Week, in the age of the Internet, essentially become irrelevant, because showing clothes at least 6 months in advance of the season does nothing but confuse consumers, cause early markdowns, and create endless opportunities for knockoffs?

Because slideshows of runway shows are made available immediately after they take place, consumers know what looks to anticipate and want, while designers dress celebrities in clothes not yet available to the public. Then, clothes arrive in stores before the season begins, only to be discounted by the time they are actually in season! As a result, the industry is losing money because there is too much supply and not enough demand.

I mean, should we be buying coats in August? Because by the time fall rolls around and we go to buy a coat (if we haven’t already), we’re looking for ones on sale, and the designers who spent all their money on runway shows aren’t making profit.

Donna Karan suggested that maybe runway shows, instead of being as much as 10 months in advance, should correspond to the season, and Anna Wintour asked if they could make a rule that would restrict when retailers can go on sale (which is illegal, but Wintour protested, “We have friends in the White House now!”)

Although no conclusion was reached, DVF reached out for help in making the right move.

What do you have to say, ladies? Should fashion cater to the industry, as it is now, or to us, the consumers?

–Venus

Maggie & Kathy Griffin: The Best Mom-Daughter Team on TV

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:07:40 +0000

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Why We Love Maggie

Viewers first met Maggie Griffin, comedienne Kathy Griffin’s mom, on the Bravo show, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. Though Kathy’s the star, fans have also fallen in love with mom Maggie and her antics—whether she’s drinking her boxed wine, worrying about Kathy or riding around on her scooter, her cameos always make us laugh.

—Jacki Garfinkel

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List airs Mondays at 10pm on Bravo.

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Lollapalooza promoters still searching for Chicago identity

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:07:20 +0000

Lollapalooza is riding high. On top of last year’s sell-out of Grant Park for the three-day festival, Texas-based promoters C3 Presents signed a 10-year deal with the city that will keep the festival on the lakefront through 2018 and guarantee the city at least $13 million in revenue.

In Focus: New Neighbor Tested With Beer

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:07:20 +0000

PESHTIGO, WI–Seeking to gauge the personality and character of new next-door neighbor Roger Lundback, Bob Iwanski surreptitiously subjected him to a beer test Monday.