Jennifer Hudson's Mother And Brother Murdered

Now is not a time for snark. Just want to pass along my best wishes and thoughts to Jennifer Hudson and her family at this difficult time. Here are the details as of Friday night.

Four For Friday - Jackass & Kindness

#1 - Jackass - This foreign born B list film star who was shooting for A list before he started losing his hair and his box office mojo is apparently extremely sensitive about his hair. How much? Well, he was buying a suit a few weeks ago and the salesperson suggested a hat because he thought it would go well the suit. Our actor took it the wrong way though and took a good five minutes to yell at the offending salesperson before throwing the suit on the floor and kicking it around a little and then walking out the door.

#2 - Kindness - I guess she is a C list television actress, but until a few years ago would have been considered B list when she was on a long running hit comedy. Well, despite the fact she is married with child/ren, she finds the time each week to spend about 15 hours weekly serving food to homeless people. She does this in the mornings before then coming home and seeing her kids off to school. Often she will go again in the evenings and take her kids to help.

#3 - Jackass - B list television actress who used to be on a hit and is now on a new show. Not the most fun person to work with according to the crew. For someone who is lucky enough to have a career she sure loves to play the game of don't talk to me. Apparently unless you are a producer or director on the show, you are not allowed to speak directly to her. Well, the crew loves nothing more to talk to her anyway. They love doing this when they need a break because they know she will throw a tantrum and retreat to her dressing room for at least an hour.

#4 - Kindness - Former B list television actress. Now, she is still a B, but is not really doing anything. A list name recognition though. Oh, and she's married. Last year she gave away every penny she earned for a show she was working on. Every penny and it was a substantial sum. It is not like she is hurting for money, but she gave away well over $3M to charity.

Random Photos Part One

A lot of internal discussion about who should get the top spot today because there were lots of interesting combinations. But, in the end I went with someone who I really admire and who has been around seemingly forever, and still looks great and does a great job. Annie Leibovitz gets the top spot today.

This photo had a strong chance. I know they are filming a movie together, but it still a very interesting group of guys headed for a night out. Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie.

I've decided that Ashley Olsen is normal. It was a long time coming, but I think she has kind of shown that at least compared to Mary Kate, she is the normal one.


A very odd combination. Allegra Versace and Balthazar Getty.

Candace Bushnell signing her new book.

Carlos Santana - San Francisco

I get depressed just looking at this photo of Debra Messing. Not that I ever really get excited looking at her.

This almost made the top spot, but just can't handle Jennifer Lopez being on top. Just never expected to see this combination in a photo.

Guillaume Canet on the set of his new film.

After this they went to dinner and forgot to pay the bill.

When Hilary takes a bad photo she kind of looks like Haylie.

NBC is making some knockoff of Fashion Runway while they hold up production of the real thing.

Josh Groban - San Francisco

Jerry Lee Lewis. What might have been if not for the whole 13 year old cousin thing.

Just because I like to see Joe Pesci and wonder what Angie Everhart sees in him.

One of my favorites. John Varvatos.

Kate Miller-Heidke - Sydney

Lindsay Price looks really good here.

I like how Mariah is pretending to move Nick closer so that people think they hug a lot or something.

Another odd pairing. Matt Damon and Wycleaf Jean.

I do love Marcia Gay Harden.

Is that an Ascot? What would you call that around Matthew's neck? I like it. I'm just wondering.

A blast from the past. Neve Campbell.

Not Nicole Richie's best day ever.

I think this is the first time ever for Penn Badgely.

This is the best Parker Posey has looked in awhile. She looks amazing.

Again with the flowers. She takes them everywhere.

Wow. RuPaul what happened to you?

Salma Hayek looking incredible as always.

Santino!

Stephanie Seymour. Have not seen her in forever.

The Top Chef tour is not as glamorous as the AI or DWTS tour.

They have to cook out of a truck.

Your Turn

When I asked for suggestions a few weeks ago, one of the most popular was the 3 people inviting to dinner question. This is a gossip site though so we have to do things a little differently.

3 people to dinner. 2 of the people must be an actor/actress/musician
Your third person needs to be a person who is a historical figure. Alive or dead. It does not have to be some high and mighty thing. I myself would get a kick out of seeing

Paris Hilton
Lindsay Lohan
Abraham Lincoln

That would be funny.

Glib Putz?

With the entire world of Scientology behind him, the best Tom Cruise could come up with during a Friar's Club roast of Matt Lauer was "Lose my number, you glib putz." The remark was a reference to his Today Show appearance. I credit that with the downward spiral of Tom Cruise. That along with Sumner Redstone giving him the boot.

I just find it hard to believe that is the best he could come up with. I mean doesn't Scientology have a bunch of wannabe Hollywood writers sitting around with nothing to do all day except talk to their auditors. I mean Matt Lauer got off a way better line than anything Tom mentioned. "Why don't you sit down?" Lauer shot back. "We'll get you a booster seat!"

See? Now that is a line from a roast. I mean that probably got one of the best reactions of anything said. I would have liked to have known what Tom Cruise was thinking right that second. Probably wishing he could call down Xenu onto Matt Lauer.

Geri Halliwell Blind Item - From The Daily Mirror

Which famous celeb tried to pull me by leaving his room key backstage at Top Of The Pops?

I turned him down, urgh, it was so tacky!

Hello Playboy

This is one of those exclusive things that people are always yelling about. I'm not a yeller, so you get the quiet little mention just within the post. Two weeks ago, Miss Teen Louisiana Lindsey Evans had nothing to look forward to except a free trip to New Orleans to hand off the crown to her successor. Oh, and of course hanging out with her like minded drug friends. Do you know that of the four women arrested that night, three were charged with drug possession and of those three, two were also charged with drug paraphernalia possession. Wrapping papers or a crack pipe? You take your pick. Anyway, the drug using of Louisiana teenagers isn't why I posted.

So, anyway, as you can tell by her mugshot, our beauty queen didn't seem to care she got busted and who cares that she lost her title a month early. She was going to be a former Miss Teen Louisiana in a month, so big deal. But, what the 18 year old did get is 15 minutes of fame that extends beyond the Bossier City suburbs. Playboy called this week, and now all of a sudden someone who was going to try and have to find something to do and move on with her life has the opportunity to get naked for $175,000-$250,000 and extend that career out a little bit and have a place to stay whenever she is in LA. So, never say that crime doesn't pay. If she had chipped in her $12 and had a brain that was big enough to not remember to leave her purse at the scene of the crime she would never have had the chance to earn almost a quarter million bucks.

They Always Say That

Whenever some actress decides to make a record or goes into a studio somewhere and records some songs, you never hear anyone say the actress sucked. No one ever says, "I can't believe she wasted her time and money doing that because she just sucked." Never happens. I don't know if they want to look stupid in case it takes off later or they just want actors and actresses to keep that dream alive so they come in and drop a few thousand dollars cutting some records or what.

The latest actress to get so lauded is Jessica Biel. Apparently she was singing some songs for the film Easy Virtue. Yeah, yeah. No one is going to see it, so let her sing some songs on the soundtrack. "She can hold her own as far as singing goes. She absolutely killed it. Some girls have everything. She’s a successful actress, dating Justin Timberlake, and she can sing!"

Yeah, well if she is so effing great at singing, then why hasn't her, ahem, boyfriend taken her into the studio? Why hasn't he produced anything for her? Why haven't the two made some money together based on her fantastic voice? I'll tell you why. Because she is good, but not great and Justin doesn't want to look stupid by producing songs for her that sound like crap. If she was that great, she would take advantage of it. It isn't like she is exactly at the top of the list when it comes to successful film stars. How long do you think it is going to be before she needs to find another source of income other than Justin.

What Is Up With Gina Gershon?

Over the past few months or so there has been a great deal of speculation about just exactly what is going on between Ron Perelman (26th richest person in the US) and Gina Gershon. I mean throughout the summer it certainly looked like the two were a couple. There were some who speculated that maybe Gina was with Ron for the money or that Ron bought himself a Hollywood actress. While he certainly has the cash to do that, it also seems to me that he probably wouldn't be spending it on Gina Gershon. Sure, she is great, but if you are the 87th richest guy in the world and you are buying someone, are you going to buy Gina Gershon? Have you seen how she looks the past few months? What I would like to see Ron do if he were going to buy someone is to see how much money it would take to convince Tom Cruise to break it off with Katie Holmes. Wouldn't it be hilarious one day to see Ron and Katie together all of a sudden and Tom buying a new jet and finding a new wife.

Anyway, I was one of the people who thought Gina and Ron were more than friends, and they may very well be. Last night at the Waverly Inn though Ron and Gina were sitting at a table, but with Anna Chapman who was introduced to everyone as Ron's girlfriend. So, basically you have Ron and Gina who ran around all over Europe together on his yacht or doing something tropical somewhere. I remember bikinis and sun. Could have been a dream, but I think not. The couple are always seen together, but this Anna Chapman who is a psychiatrist is considered the girlfriend. Maybe they have an open relationship? I'm sure that Ron and Gina would say they are just friends. OK, lets say they are just friends, how come Gina hasn't dated anyone since she has been hanging out with Ron? No one, nada. All she does is go to events with Ron or on her own looking like a big mess. I know people thought that Gina and Bill Clinton were having a thing, but I think they have only met each other like twice. Not that you couldn't have a thing meeting twice, but, don't think so.

I just think it is a very interesting dynamic and it is something to talk about on a Friday.

Mena Suvari To Get Married In Italy

When you see a headline like the one above, you start thinking to yourself that Mena Suvari is off to Italy and is going to marry her Italian boyfriend in the next week or two. But, the headline would be misleading. I hate headlines that trick you. Oh, Mena wants to get married in Italy and is planning on getting married in Italy, but just not until at least the summer of 2010. Yeah. So, almost two years.

In two years she will probably have shaved her head at least twice more, got six more tattoos, done maybe ten lines in a film and be on boyfriend number four. But, boyfriend #4 and her just might end up being married in Italy so it is good she is scouting things with her current boyfriend, who is Italian.

"We want to marry in Italy. We were there in August, and everything was closed in August, so we want to look at a lot of cathedrals and find a place."

Well, they do book up early I'm sure, so two years in advance is probably a good thing. Mena wants a traditional Italian wedding. Of course Mena was divorced in 2006 so the traditional Italian wedding may not in fact be possible. No one talks about that though in the story because the interview was with Kneepads and they only like focusing on the positives. Mena should have taken advantage of the situation and sold the rights to her wedding photos. By 2010 it is possible no one will remember her at all. Hell, if it was enough money they were offering she could just go there now, get married and paid and then get divorced and do it all over again with someone else.

Mooshki - Movie Review - Zach And Miri Make A Porno

This isn’t really going to be a review - I think you either like Kevin Smith’s movies or you don’t. This is a VERY Kevin Smith movie. Not my favorite (how can you compete with Dogma?) but definitely one of his better ones. I have to see it again; I missed a good chunk of the dialogue because I was laughing so loud (along with the rest of the audience). One of my favorite parts was when they were trying to come up with a title for their porno. I love porn titles that are take-offs of other movies (Forrest Hump, Edward Penishands) so I was dying at some of their ideas. Some things that stood out for me: Justin Long was surprisingly good at a role that’s quite different from the ones he usually plays (I can’t say anything about it without giving good stuff away). I think Traci Lords has been away from porn for too long - she seemed to be doing more “acting,” while Katie Morgan was a brilliant, naturally at ease, happy porn girl. Kevin’s wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, was gorgeous in her bit. In Clerks 2 she was way too thin and looked scary, but she’s gained a couple of pounds and it looks great on her. Saving the best for last: Yes, Mewes does full frontal (woo hoo!). He’s certainly not in Snoop’s league, but he was nicely groomed, and I think Pink would find it pretty. I can’t wait for the screen captures for FFF!

Warning: I can see why Kevin had to fight so hard with the MPAA - this is definitely a hard R for sexuality. (Although, imo, infinitely less offensive than the violence in a typical R action movie.) There actually isn’t a whole lot of full nudity, and of course there’s no penetration, but there’s a lot of implied kinky sex, including one particular scene that made me think Kevin thought to himself “what’s the most disgusting thing I can do to Jeff Anderson in this film?”

Another warning: You will NEVER be able to look at a Star Wars movie the same way again.

If you’re a Kevin Smith fan, this is a definite must-see!

Ted C Blind Item

Chalk another one up for the hets! When Stud-Bucket LeBeouf (no relation to the errant driving one) gets a woody for somebody other than his wife, he gets it in writing—always. But let's back up; wouldn't want to shoot our Blind Vice wad too soon, ya know!

Oh, and also: Look, for those of you out there who so (naively) think these jokers in H'town don't hook up with their attorneys looking over their erections at the same time, hey, you got another think comin', babes.

So, back to Stud:

Guess not everyone in H'wood is gay, but many in this town are pretty damn slimy. Mr. LeBeouf, for example. He's a megastar, by all standards, no doubt about that. S-B is mediocre-talented at his nonthespian career, but there's nothing mediocre about his looks—I mean, if I weren't married, I'd drool over him with the rest of the starry-eyed lot, fer sure; the dude's totally doable. He's got the bod, the hair, the style and the equipment down below, to boot (something I swear every one of my chick friends tells me they care more about than do gay men, and sisters, that is so saying a lot).

S-B.L.'s equally famous wife is just the topping to his sweet-ass life. He's pretty much the dude every guy wants to be and every gal wants to nail. Howev, lucky enough for the femmes, this is damn feasible. S2 has no problem stepping out on his honey and fam. He's just careful as hell when he does it: "He makes you sign one gnarly confidentiality contract beforehand," dished a recent and fresh Stud screw. "He uses them as customary procedure whenever he cheats," oozed the female, and this is quite often, trust.

Want details? Which kind? The inky ones first: Yes, we're literally talking a typed-up and ready-to-go piece of paper Stud-Bucket carries around with him, ya know, just in case. Like a condom! What, is this the newer safer sex? And there are no exceptions. Ever. Every lady Mr. L. has is required to sign on the dotted line before she's allowed between the sheets, which brings us directly to the second set of details. "Nothing kinky," blabbed our first-genital source, "but very nice ride"; most excellent tools, she added. Jeez, we're pretty surprised S-B.L. hasn't gotten caught by his wife-unit more often; we hear she's dumb in more ways than one.

Today's Blind Items - Kindness

Something a little different today. Always willing to change things up. This one is actually about the wife of a B list television star on one of the biggest comedies on television. It is not that hard, but when someone e-mailed me the story I just had to post it. It also takes place in Iowa which is odd because this is the second or third one we have had from the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Before our subject got married she was a writer in the workshop. While there she met a male writer. This male writer did really well in the program. He graduated with tons of prospects--got himself a big agent, some money to support himself while he wrote post MFA, etc. While at Iowa, he became close friends with our subject. After a year of writing, he was ready to go--had his short story collection done, was going to hit the road to become the next Big Writing Star.

Except that he came home one night and everything--computer, disc drives, backups, paper copies, etc--of his work had been stolen in a burglary. A year's worth of work---out the door with a crackhead looking for some quick cash. Our male writer went into a tailspin--his life's ambitions were stolen from him in one night.

His support during this time came from our actor's wife, who continued to
encourage him to write, and who just helped him through that dark period, which lasted well over two years.

This feel-good story has a sweet ending, too---ten years later, our male writer
is back with a short story collection, and continues to write. Friends have helped him to set up a mini-midwest book tour, from connections he made while at Iowa, and a reading at the Knitting Factory in LA for him later this month, set up by his friend, our actor's wife.

Random Photos Part One

When your best friend says, "hey, you need to start putting up more Colin Firth" then of course I oblige. Top spot good enough? He does look good here.

Just because it is Alan Cumming and he has not been in the photos for awhile. Not for a lack of trying on his part. I don't think Alan misses too many red carpets.

I don't know if it is a dance or what that Al Pacino is doing. He was honored with some award in Rome and as you can see he dressed up. Kind of. Well, not really. I think this is the same outfit he wears everyday. The one where he is wearing it on the beach with his kids kills me.
Wow. Alicia Silverstone looks better than I have seen her look in a long time.
Some odd pairings now. Jimmy Fallon and Jill Hennessy.
David Spade and Nicolette Sheridan. Wow. She does not look that great. When Spade looks better than you in a photo, it's time to make a call.
Just don't call Cher's doctor. Virginia Madsen on the other hand looks great.
First time for Christopher Mintz-Plasse? I think it is.
Daniel Craig at that press conference I wrote about earlier this week.
"Hi, I'm David. Nice to meet you Demi. By this time next week people will be thinking we are sleeping together here on the set."
Gael Garcia. Don't really have anything to say, just thought I would put him in here.
One of my favorites ever. Jane Campion.
Yeah, but what you didn't see is that Kirsten Dunst and Justin Long were hanging out together again. And by hanging out I mean groping each other.
Hey, every once in awhile I think it is ok to show Katherine Heigl. Just can't be a habit.
Hey. Who had the bright idea to invite Lily Allen to a party sponsored by a vodka company?
Your favorite, Monica Belluci.
I'm a fan of Mario even if he does like Gwyneth.
Always a fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal.
My favorite photo of the day. Mandy Moore and Peter Alexander.
I just post the photos. I will leave the comments up to you on this one.
Our monthly check in with Mickey Rourke. And he had a date, so that is good news.
I'm guessing booze is behind the back.
I had to do a double take to make sure it was in fact Paul Bettany.
Two Paul's in a row. Fells like I'm reading the Bible. This time Paul Rudd.
Uh oh. It's a quandary. One bouquet of flowers and two women. Eeeny Meeny, Miny Mo.
4 1/2 years in prison. It is just his bad luck that he wasn't sentenced in California or he would have already been released.
So, even though she isn't a Duchess anymore it really doesn't matter because they always say the former Duchess so it is kind of like you get to have the title without doing anything for it.
See the candy by Selena Gomez' elbow. I could eat that whole box.
Can you see what the bag says? Well I bet Al used to say it. Bad? Well, I will say that Star looks good here.
The tattoos just don't really go with Seann William Scott.
When you haven't had a hit record in a few years, then John Taylor is forced to pal around with Tom Arnold.
So, I can't figure out why Cassie even bothers to go to any event with Diddy. She always ends up sitting in a corner alone waiting to go home.
While Sean hangs around with the likes of Tracy Morgan.
One of my favorite groups. The Rasmus.
The Submarines - Manchester