EMMYS: Hammond On The Renaissance Of Made-For-TV-Movies

The Television Academy, by splitting miniseries and movies for the 2014 contest, has made it easier this year for the made-for-TV movie to compete. Outside of the occasional HBO film, the genre is usually at a disadvantage at the Emmys. Forced to face off directly with the more lavish miniseries form, these two-hour one-offs have had a difficult time holding their own. (Acting, directing and writing categories are still combined for minis/movies).  Occasionally a movie comes along that is so irresistible to TV Academy voters that it can’t be ignored. That was the case last year with HBO’s Behind the Candelabra, which swept both Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies. In 2011, another HBO telefilm, Game Change, had similar success against the longform monsters, but it has not always been easy to beat the odds.
Frontrunner Status
With those two wins, TV movies are enjoying a bit of a renaissance—at least at HBO, which once again has the 800-pound gorilla in the race with Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of Larry Kramer’s play, The Normal Heart. The time finally seems right for this drama set in the early days of the AIDS crisis. Written 30 years ago and long in development as a feature film and then TV movie, this provocative ... Read More »

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R.I.P. Oscar-Nominated Actress Joan Lorring

Joan Lorring, who was Oscar nominated for best supporting actress in the 1945 film The Corn Is Green, died Friday in the New York City suburb of Sleepy Hollow.  She was 88.  Born Mary Magdalene Ellis in Hong Kong on April 17, 1926, Lorring fled with her mother from the Japanese invasion in 1939 to San Francisco.  Her showbiz career began in radio, and her first American film at 18 was the 1944 MGM romantic war drama Song of Russia. She signed with Warner Bros. for the role of the scheming, trampish Bessie Watty, playing opposite Bette Davis, in The Corn Is Green.  Though she lost the Oscar to Anne Revere’s turn as Mrs. Brown in National Velvet, a budding film career followed for Lorring in such features as Three Strangers, The Verdict, and two Joseph Losey films, The Big Night and Stranger on the Prowl. She co-starred in the Burt Lancaster co-directed feature The Midnight Man in 1974. Following movies, Lorring had a vibrant career on TV including a role as Emma, the sister to ax murderess Lizze Borden on a 1956 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, as well as such made-for-TV features  as 1966′s The Star Wagon opposite Dustin Hoffman and Eileen Brennan.  For a season, she portrayed the part of Anna Pavel on the soap opera Ryan’s Hope and even appeared as a guest on The Love Boat. 

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EMMYS: As Television Landscape Shifts, Categories Split

One of the bigger challenges facing the Television Academy’s Emmy Awards the past few years is keeping up with the constantly shifting TV landscape. In fact, in March the organization announced it was dropping the formal name by which it always has been known, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The powers that be chose to unload all that “arts and sciences” stuff and even considered dropping “television” altogether until it was decided the word can be used as a brand name to encompass all the delivery systems that are part of modern entertainment. Change is good and the TV Academy has a primetime awards committee working year round to address the latest needs and trends of the medium it represents.
One of the biggest changes this year is that the miniseries/movie category has been split in two, though the mini/movie acting, writing and directing contests will remain combined. It recognizes the renewed interest in the miniseries format thanks to such hits as History’s juggernauts Hatfields & McCoys and The Bible, among many others. “We had a situation where there was a lack of minis and so we had a consolidation. But then the Board (of Governors) decided there would be a split in 2014 since it looks right ... Read More »

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Peralta Picks Up Controversial Decision Over Jason

Rony Jason and Robbie Peralta kicked off the main card portion of ‘UFC: TUF Brazil...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Maia Smothers Yakovlev For Three Rounds, Gets Decision Win

Demian Maia was the aggressor in the first round as he controlled the center of...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Alves Wins Middleweight Contract, Submits Alexandre in 3rd Round

Most fighters in the finals of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ tournament fight safe and hope they...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Junior Dominates Miranda, Earns UFC Contract with Decision Win

Antonio Carlos Junior is your ‘Ultimate Fighter Brazil Season 3′ Heavyweight Tournament winner! Antonio Carlos...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Miocic Drops and Finishes Maldonado in 35 Seconds

Stipe Miocic needed only 35 seconds to end Fabio Maldonado’s night. Any bettors who placed...

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Andrew Cuomo Wins Spot On Progressive New York Party Line

A contentious vote.
















Hans Pennink / Reuters / Reuters











ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won the Working Families ballot line Saturday night, but he didn't win the crowd.

After a late frenzy of back room dealing, Cuomo ultimately secured a spot on the ballot line for the state's leading progressive party with 59% of the vote.

Cuomo's nomination wasn't challenged until the Thursday before Saturday's convention, when Zephyr Teachout, a former aide to Howard Dean and Fordham University professor, announced she would also seek a spot on the ballot.

His unexpectedly tough fight was supported by key Democratic and Working Families allies — including New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and several top unions, like 1199 SEIU — who negotiated votes behind the scenes on behalf of the governor.

Though Teachout ultimately couldn't out-maneuver Cuomo for votes, she did bring an enthusiastic following at the convention. Cuomo, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, was raucously booed multiple times at the convention, which he did not attend because of "other engagements." Some stood with their backs to Cuomo in silent protest as his video message was played to the crowd.

Teachout and her supporters were, in contrast, met with cheers, chants and at one point a group of people marching between aisles with signs.

The party is divided on Cuomo because he governs on the right of its economic ideologies like taxes on the rich, though he has supported liberal cultural issues like marriage equality.

Having Cuomo on the ballot is also helpful to the party. If it can garner 50,000 votes for governor in November it will have a permanent slot on the statewide ballot.

Cuomo's nomination came on the heels of a deal brokered between Working Families leaders that included a promise to push for a Democratic state Senate, including a $10 million fund to help make it happen.

New York's senate is currently controlled by Republicans as a part of a power sharing deal with five breakaway Democratic senators who caucus with the GOP.

Cuomo pledged to primary the members of the breakaway caucus if they don't come back to the Democrats.

"There is nothing moderate about these Republicans," he said in a video message.

"I believe [Cuomo's] assurance that he supports this progressive vision, and we'll move forward with it," said de Blasio, who made a last minute trip to Albany to speak on Cuomo's behalf.

Several labor leaders, including 1199 SEIU's George Gresham and CWA's Bob Master, also spoke in support of Cuomo.

"We believe that we can unite with Governor Cuomo around a platform of progressive change, come a Democratic senate," Master said.

Bertha Lewis of the Black Institute nominated Teachout.

"We gave [Cuomo] four years and we said then, 'never again.' What are we doing here now?" she said.














LINK: Cuomo Looks To Damage Progressive New York Party







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Is Some Tech Too Addictive?

 Addiction can be a difficult thing to see. From outward appearances, Dr. Zoe Chance looked fine. A professor at the Yale School of Management with a doctorate from Harvard, Chance’s pedigree made what she revealed in front of a crowded TEDx audience all the more shocking. “I’m coming clean today telling this story for the very first time in its raw ugly detail,” she said. Read More

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(Motivational Video) Have You Really Truly Lived?

This video is an eye opener, it challenges you to think about the impact that you have had in this world and it provokes you to find a way to expect more from your self so that you can live a life of great achievements and fulfilment. How many of you know, that if you […]

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(Video) This Guy Has Lived An Epic Life

What a great example Alex Chacon is, of someone who has experienced a world full of adventure. Check out his “Around the World in 360° Degrees” Youtube video that Alex him 600 days of recording and travelling to create. The thing I love about this video is that it shows how amazing the world really is and that […]

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Mayor Yeezus: There’s A Campaign To Make Kanye West Mayor Of Chicago In 2015

With Rahm Emanuel currently sporting a 29 percent approval rate less than a year before Chicago’s next mayoral election, it’s likely that there is going to be a new heir to the midwestern metropolis’ political throne. While there are undoubtedly a number of politicians who will vie for the coveted seat, one man is throwing […]
Mayor Yeezus: There’s A Campaign To Make Kanye West Mayor Of Chicago In 2015

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Beyoncé Is The Real Monster In This Amazing Godzilla Spoof

It’s Bey’s world, and we’re just living in it.































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No one is safe from Beyzilla.






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Woman Ties Up And Canes Man Who Allegedly Raped Her Teen Daughter

The woman may now face charges for the whipping, which sent the suspect to the hospital.






The woman's daughter was allegedly raped several times in a house in Kampung Budi, Tawang, by the man and another suspect.




































The 28-year-old man was later arrested with the other suspect, a 22-year-old, for the alleged rape in Tawang, Bachok on May 22.

The other suspect was also assaulted by a group before being handed over to police.

The men may be caned again by Malaysian authorities and given prison time if they are convicted for the crime.





























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Violence Erupts In Turkey On The Anniversary Of Deadly Protests

Police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters Saturday in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. The protesters had gathered for the one year anniversary of anti-government demonstrations that left eight people dead.


























...

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Nailed It! Guy In Upper Deck At Soccer Game Hits Player With Paper Plane

Most Americans cite a lack of excitement as their primary reason for not watching soccer, but I’m willing to bet they’d tune in regularly if they knew they’d be treated to events like one that transpired in England this week. A presumably bored fan devoted his attention to constructing a paper airplane out of a […]
Nailed It! Guy In Upper Deck At Soccer Game Hits Player With Paper Plane

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‘UFC Berlin’ Results: Backstrom Forces Niinimaki to Tap in Round 1

Tom Niinimaki and Niklas Backstrom kicked off the main card portion of ‘UFC Berlin’ today...

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‘UFC Berlin’ Results: Strickland Wins Controversial Decision over Barnatt

A slow-paced technical fight is a tough one to watch after seeing such an exciting...

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‘UFC Berlin’ Results: Dollaway Wrestles His Way to Victory against Carmont

C.B. Dollaway and Francis Carmont were featured in the co main-event where the pace of...

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‘UFC Berlin’ Results: Mousasi Submits Munoz in Round 1 with a Rear Naked Choke

Mark Munoz tried his hardest to take this fight to the ground and when he...

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‘UFC: Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale’ Live Results Thread

It is time for today’s second UFC event to start! The UFC is LIVE in...

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‘UFC TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Munhoz Dominates Hobar, Picks up 1st Round TKO Win

Pedro Munhoz started tonight’s event off with an exciting TKO victory! Munhoz cracked Hobar in...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Rogerio de Lima KOs Moreira 20 Seconds into Round 1

Marcos Rogerio de Lima made a HUGE impact during his UFC debut tonight. He only...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Abreu Makes Silva Tap Out in Round 2

Ricardo Abreu capped off the UFC Fight Pass Preliminary portion of tonight’s card with a...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Souza Overwhelms Eddiva, Wins by way of TKO in Round 2

Kevin Souza and Mark Eddiva kicked off the Fox Sports 1 Preliminary portion of tonight’s...

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‘UFC: TUF Brazil 3 Finale’ Results: Umalatov Handily Defeats Thiago

Gasan Umalatov walked into the octagon this weekend as a +175 underdog and walked out...

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Leaked Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5 looks like every other Samsung Galaxy Tab

Samsung's latest tablet sizing experiment, the Galaxy Tab 10.5 (or Galaxy Tab S) is all set to land on June 12, but you don't have to wait until then to get a glimpse of the slate in all of its official-looking glory.The world's leakiest leaker @evleak...

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Prime time? Maybe not as HTC One M8 Prime 'suspended indefinitely'

When whispers of a super-premium HTC One M8 known as the 'Prime' began doing the rounds, some of those who'd just snapped up the company's flagship handset weren't best pleased.After all, the argument went, would they have bought an M8 if they knew an improved version with superior innards and a better screen?Well that angst may be over following word the Taiwanese smartphone firm may have curtailed their interest in launching the HTC One M8 Prime.According to evleaks "development on Prime has been indefinitely suspended."Prime powerPrevious rumours had suggested the HTC One M8 Prime would have a 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 (QHD) display, which would be up in both size and resolution from the 5-inch 1080p HTC One M8 display.It was also claimed the HTC One M8 Prime would be powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM and a 3000mAh battery back.Has HTC ditched the phone completely, or might we see Prime's time come later than originally thought?If we hear anymore about the HTC One M8 Prime we'll keep you informed here

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Lupita Nyong'o Took A Selfie With Aaron Paul At A Polo Match This Weekend

Looking flawless as usual!









This weekend Lupita and her brother went to the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic.






















Where she stomped divots...




Makin' Julia Roberts proud!

















And looked flawless.






















Oh right and hung out with Aaron Paul.












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This Apple iWatch Parody Perfectly Describes How Ridiculous Smartwatches Are (Video)

If the current trends are any indication, tech companies have never heard the phrase “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” This video parody of Apple’s iWatch proves just exactly how ridiculous things have gotten in the past few years. Apple iWatch is rumored to hit shelves as early as this summer, and this […]
This Apple iWatch Parody Perfectly Describes How Ridiculous Smartwatches Are (Video)

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Amazon Is Selling Prescription Drugs, But You Don’t Need A Prescription

It seems like nowadays you can buy almost whatever you want on Amazon — even prescription drugs. According to The Daily Dot, a physician named Ford Vox started looking into Amazon’s vast inventory after his wife ordered acne medication online and received a remedy from Thailand that contained the prescription drug clindamycin. This is both […]
Amazon Is Selling Prescription Drugs, But You Don’t Need A Prescription

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High School Graduation Ruined By Giant Penis Drawing On Football Field The Week Before (Photos)

Officials at a Florida high school were forced to come up with a hasty solution after a giant penis appeared in the middle of the football field the day before their planned graduation ceremony. According to the Tampa Bay Times, a student at Nature Coast Technical High School sprayed weed killer on the field a […]
High School Graduation Ruined By Giant Penis Drawing On Football Field The Week Before (Photos)

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You Have The Right To Manage Your Own Online Persona

 Kids today have pretty much had their entire lives on public display from the time their mother posted their first embryo shot on Facebook. And currently there’s no way in the US to erase yourself, embarrassments and all, online. But with the rise of anonymous apps, there is a way to separate who you want to be publicly from who you are and what you think about privately. This concept… Read More

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After Expanding To Android, Addappt’s CEO Breaks Down Its Growth Plans

Mrinal Desai, founder and CEO of Addappt, is betting that people need a better way to keep their cell phone contact information up to date. Addappt, a smartphone app — iOS and Android — syncs contact information between users, allowing for individuals to remotely update their data on the phones of their friends. (For a more detailed dive into how Addappt works, TechCrunch has… Read More

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This Algae Battery Could Power A Tesla With 200X The Charge

 In a small lab, near a lake at the edge of West Berkeley, sits the prototype of what could revolutionize battery power as we know it. The secret to this power? Algae.
OK, just hang with me here. Lots of research has already been done on algae’s possible power capabilities. Prototype creator Adam Freeman says this new kind of battery, the one he’s working on, could power even a Tesla. Read More

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Premiere: Zebra Katz's New Video Is The McDonald's-Hued, Handgun-Toting Look Book You Didn't Know You Wanted

The dance-friendly rapper has a new house jam appropriately called “Tear The House Up.”









Zebra Katz, the progressive New York rapper behind the sensational "Ima Read," is back with "Tear The House Up" ft. Hervé, a buoyant banger that will bounce you out of your seat.









































Zebra Katz.





















Zebra Katz.




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22 Reasons Why You Should Be Listening To Alex Winston

Quite possibly your new favorite artist.






Background: Alex Winston is a 26-year-old from Detroit (but now lives in Brooklyn) who is a truly awesome singer/songwriter/everything. She's probably one of the most underrated pop artists out there right now.
























Via en.wikipedia.org











1. The first song you should listen to by Alex Winston is "Velvet Elvis." It's what I like to call "a bop."
























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Samsung's virtual reality headset might be a Galaxy Oculus Rift

It's been just over a week since the initial rumor that Samsung is working on a virtual reality headset appeared on May 22, and now a new report says at least one of our assumptions was wrong.That is, Samsung is not looking to compete with Oculus VR an...

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Updated: iOS 8 banners deck the halls of WWDC 2014

"Houston, iOS 8 has (almost) landed."With WWDC kicking off Monday, the signs - literally - are there that we're in for the new version of iOS' reveal. Peer into San Francisco's Moscone West today and a banner emblazoned with "8" will wink back at you. Just as "7" graced the Center's halls before WWDC 2013's iOS 7 reveal, Apple seems to be not so subtly hinting at what we're in for come next week.The wave background is also reminiscent of banners that teased iOS 6 and OS X 10.9 in years past.Update: Oh, don't mind the above. It's just a photo of what appears to the El Capitan rock face in Yosemite National Park with a "X" gashed against it going up at Moscone. Both proper nouns are rumored names for the next version of the Mac OS X, OS X 10.10.Join us Monday at 10 a.m. PT/6 p.m. GMT/1 a.m. Tuesday AEST for WWDC 2014's opening keynote where we expect a formal introduction to iOS 8 and a number of other announcements. Your move, Google IO

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The white iPhone 6 appears and another look at the back panel

Apple might be throwing yet another wrench into the iPhone 6's final design.New images of a stark white iPhone 6 have popped up on Korean news site named Joseilbo. Not only do the images show us the next iteration of the iPhone 6 in white for the first...

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Acer just debuted five new phones, one tablet and a wearable

Acer had a lot to get off its chest before the weekend, announcing five new smartphones, a new tablet and a wearable smartband to go with one of those phones, for a total of seven new devices launching in 2014.Most interesting are the Liquid Leap smartband and its paired smartphone, the curved Liquid Jade. The two will be bundled together "in selected markets," Acer said in a press release.The Liquid Leap is a 1-inch touch screen housed in a rubber wristband with fitness and sleep tracking, phone notifications, music controls, and seven days of battery. It comes in white, black, blue, pink and orange.The Liquid Jade, meanwhile, is a curved 5-inch HD smartphone with Android 4.4: KitKat and a 13MP camera. Both smartphone and wearable launch in the third quarter of 2014, Acer said.That's not allBut the Leap-Jade combo is only a small part of Acer's announcements. The Taiwanese company has also debuted four other smartphones.The impressive Liquid X1 sports a 1.7 GHz octa-core processor, a 13MP camera, a 5.7-inch display, 2GB of memory and microSD expansion.Where the X1 is professional- and business-focused, the budget-priced Acer Liquid Z200 smartphone is focused on "color" and "fun." It comes in five colors and has a 4-inch display and Android KitKat.Next up are the Liquid E700 and Liquid E600, two similar devices with varying specs. The travel-ready E700 has an impressive 3500mAh battery, triple SIM capability, a 5-inch screen, 4GB of storage with microSD room, Android KitKat and a quad-core processor.The E600 has similar specs, including a 5-inch display and quad-core processor, but lacks the triple SIM capability of the E700.Don't forget the tabletFinally Acer also announced the Iconia Tab 8, a Wi-Fi-only tablet with an 8-inch 1920x1200 anti-fingerprint display, Intel Atom quad-core chip, Android KitKat and microSD expansion.All of these devices have various "intuitive and convenient" control and interface features, like the X1's AcerRAPID rear button, as well as its Acer Zoom Fit and AcerFLOAT UI tweaks. The former limits the display's active area when you're using it with one hand, while the latter is a multi-tasking tool.In addition they'll all launch in Q3 this year, so watch out for more info as summer gets on.The Samsung Galaxy S5 is still going strong

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17 Percent Of British Men Say They Would Miss The Birth Of Their Child To Watch The World Cup

The World Cup is right around the corner, and as we all know, fans are more excited than players. But just how far will devoted countrymen go to supporting their home team? Apparently pretty far. According to Mail Online, about 17 percent of British men would miss the birth of their own child to watch […]
17 Percent Of British Men Say They Would Miss The Birth Of Their Child To Watch The World Cup

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Let’s Hear It For The New York Rangers, The Most Resilient Team In America

In trying to capture just how unlikely the New York Rangers’ Eastern Conference championship win was, after they sealed a 1-0 Game 6 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, ESPN Radio broadcaster Don LeGreca highlighted the point at which all hope had seemed lost for the Blue Shirts. When they were down to […]
Let’s Hear It For The New York Rangers, The Most Resilient Team In America

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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who’s The Richest Disney Princess Of Them All? (Photos)

Virgin Money has put together a list ranking Disney princesses by their net worth. Now, I’m not completely sure where some of these figures come from, but it’s a fun little exercise to try to place fantastical characters in a real world context. According to them, Pocahontas is the poorest with a whopping worth of zero […]
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who’s The Richest Disney Princess Of Them All? (Photos)

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The Sad Truth Is, Andy’s Dad From ‘Toy Story’ Was Most Likely A Deadbeat

Everyone loves a good Pixar movie. They’re fun, have excellent characters and look great. But we often forget, upon further inspection, that they can be incredibly dark and depressing. For instance, “Finding Nemo” is really about an incompetent father whose wife is brutally murdered in a home invasion and whose deformed son is a constant […]
The Sad Truth Is, Andy’s Dad From ‘Toy Story’ Was Most Likely A Deadbeat

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The Script For The ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Sequel Took Over 4 Years To Complete

If you’re wondering why the “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” franchise has taken so long for a follow-up, it’s not because of any pesky contract disagreements, or the fact that John Corbett has not aged well and they’re searching for his better-looking, younger doppelganger. Instead, actress Nia Vardalos revealed that’s she’s been the one writing […]
The Script For The ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Sequel Took Over 4 Years To Complete

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Steve Ballmer Just Might Be The Right Type Of Crazy To Lead The Clippers To A Championship

With a bid that makes the Los Angeles Clippers the second most valuable team to be sold in American sports, Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion offer to Shelley Sterling has thrust him into the NBA spotlight as a relative unknown. Those who follow all things tech will recognize Ballmer as the eccentric, 58-year-old former Microsoft CEO. […]
Steve Ballmer Just Might Be The Right Type Of Crazy To Lead The Clippers To A Championship

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Reading Rainbow's Massive Kickstarter Campaign Doesn't Mention That Most Schools Will Have To Pay For Access

The campaign, which is on track to raise well over $3 million, also doesn’t make it clear that the money will go to Burton’s for-profit company, RRKidz.
















Reading Rainbow











In a matter of days, LeVar Burton raised more than $2.8 million from more than 64,000 people to bring back his hit television series, Reading Rainbow. The campaign promises to develop a web version of Burton's already-existing Reading Rainbow app, and a classroom version that, accompanied by teacher development materials, will be given away to "disadvantaged classrooms" as part of a solution to America's illiteracy crisis.

Reading Rainbow was originally broadcast for free on PBS, a nonprofit. But the Kickstarter doesn't mention that the money raised will go to Burton's for-profit company, RRKidz, which is backed in part by private investment firm Raymond Capital. It also doesn't explicitly mention that, while some 1,500 classrooms in poor areas will receive the classroom version for free, the rest will have to pay a monthly subscription fee, the Washington Post reported.

This is the language used by the Kickstarter:



















































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Sonic, Chili's Ask Customers Not To Bring Guns To Their Restaurants

The restaurant chains were pressured to change their policies on allowing customers to carry firearms after gun enthusiasts showed up with semiautomatic weapons.
















Facebook / Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America











Following a incidents in which activists brought assault weapons to Sonic and Chili's restaurants and posted videos on YouTube, the corporate owners of those chains released statements Friday asking customers to keep their guns out of their businesses.

The restaurants' statements follow outrage over videos posted earlier this month by Open Carry Texas, and one week after 22-year-old Elliot Rodger stabbed three men, then went on a shooting rampage that killed three more near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Three days after the shootings, Sonic and Brinker International, the owners of Chili's, told Mother Jones that they were considering firearm policy changes given the recent events at their Texas store locations.

Patrick Lenow, Sonic Vice President, Public Relations, sent the following statement:

Sonic and our franchise owners work hard to provide an inviting environment for customers and employees alike. While we historically have relied upon local laws to guide how we address the display of guns at drive-ins, recent actions required we carefully reconsider this approach. We've considered the views and desires of our customers and employees that staff the drive-ins across the country. Accordingly, we're asking that customers refrain from bringing guns onto our patios or into our indoor dining areas. With respect to the storage of guns in vehicles, we ask that our customers continue to honor local laws.


Shortly after, Chili's parent company Brinker International followed suit, telling :

At Chili's Grill & Bar, our passion is making our guests feel special in an environment where they can focus on family and friends over a great meal. Recent open carry events at our restaurants and others have prompted passionate and diverse feedback. We recognize that the open carry of firearms in restaurants creates an uncomfortable atmosphere and is not permitted under many local liquor laws. So, we kindly ask that guests refrain from openly carrying firearms into our restaurants and we will continue to follow state and local laws on this issue.


Chili's and Sonic join other national food chains Starbucks, Wendy's, Jack in the Box, Applebees, and Chipotle who have all publicly told patrons not to bring guns into their stores, regardless of what local open carry laws may dictate.

















Watch pro-gun activists visit a Texas Sonic and Chili's restaurant earlier this month prompting the corporations to respond.






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‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ Cancelled After One Season

Jay Leno’s touch couldn’t help pal Arsenio Hall make it beyond one season in his return to late-night. After weeks of speculation, CBS Television Distribution has made a decision not to proceed with a second season of the syndicated Arsenio Hall Show, despite renewing the show for Season 2 in February after securing a two-year deal with the Tribune stations pre-launch. Leno surprised Hall in February when he made his first TV appearance after departing The Tonight Show to give him the news of the show’s renewal.
But, after a stellar launch (1.9 in households, 1.0 in adults 18-49), The Arsenio Hall Show quickly faded in the ratings and never bounced back, despite a boost from a highly-rated Price episode in March and appearances by Leno and Eddie Murphy. CBSTD tried righting the ship with an executive producer change in October when Eric Pankowski replaced Neal Kendall at the helm. In the end, nothing helped. The Arsenio Hall Show, which has wrapped production, has recently averaged a paltry 0.7 rating in households and a 0.3 in 18-49 and has been plagued by a slew of station downgrades. “While there are many loyal fans of the show, the series did not grow its audience enough to continue,” a CBSTD spokesperson said. “Arsenio is a tremendous talent and we’d like to thank ... Read More »

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WGA West’s One-Year Collections Haul: $30M In Unpaid Residuals, Owed Payments

The WGA West’s legal and claims department during the past year has collected more than $30 million in unpaid residuals and other payments owed to film and TV writers – more than all the dues paid by the guild’s members last year. The department is the guild’s chief mechanism for enforcing the WGA’s contract, and it pursues violators relentlessly through grievances and arbitrations. The largest single legal settlement came from Lionsgate, which paid the guild $388,378 in May 2013 to resolve contract disputes, according the guild’s 2013 fiscal report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. 20th Century Fox Film Corp paid more than $300,000 in legal settlements, followed by Walt Disney Pictures & Television ($170,000-plus), NBC Studios ($130,000), ABC Television ($116,000), MGM/UA ($69,000), Paramount ($58,000), Warner Bros ($48,000) and Universal City Studios ($19,000). But only about a third of the arbitrations and grievances the guild filed during the past year were against major or mini-major companies.
The WGA’s filings with the DOL list page after page of legal settlements it’s reached with more than 100 smaller production companies. Collecting unpaid residuals for writers produced the biggest legal settlements. The WGA legal department during the past year collected more than $20 million in unpaid residuals, plus another $2.7 million interest for late payment of those residuals, which combined is far more than the guild’s 21,195 members paid in dues last year. The legal department collected another $5 ... Read More »

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History Sets Knights Templar Miniseries From Craig Zadan & Neil Meron

EXCLUSIVE: History is teaming with Bonnie & Clyde executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron on a new four-hour miniseries. The network has bought a script for the project, from Sony TV and Zadan and Meron’s Storyline Entertainment, which tracks the origins of the mystic medieval Christian order known as Knights Templar. Written by Keir Pearson, an Oscar nominee with Terry George for Hotel Rwanda, the mini tells the true story of three brothers, all knights, during the first Crusade, as they make the long journey through the Holy Lands to recapture Jerusalem, ultimately bringing rise to the Knights Templar. Zadan and Meron executive produce, with Pearson co-executive producing and Storyline VP Development Mark Nicholson, who brought in the project, serving as a producer. Like the Knights Templar mini, Zadan and Meron’s Bonnie & Clyde, also from Sony TV where Storyline has a longform deal, was originally set up at History before becoming a three-network event, airing simultaneously on History and A+E siblings Lifetime and A&E. Zadan and Meron recently signed on to return as Oscar producers for a third straight year. They also are working on NBC’s Peter Pan, the follow-up to the their hugely successful live staging of ... Read More »

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Forward Progress: 14 Most Improved Cars of 2014

To us, “Most Improved” brings to mind the awards given out to mediocre students, the ones who managed to claw their way from near-failure to, well, just slightly above near-failure. Sure, the kid with straight A’s was given an Outstanding Achievement award, but everyone has to win something these days, right? In the car world, […]

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The Koopa Troopa Lights Are Gonna Find Me: Mercedes-Benz GLA to Be Drivable in Mario Kart 8 [w/ Video]

So here’s a bit of product placement you didn’t see coming. Mercedes-Benz has inked a deal with Nintendo to place its new GLA-class crossover in the latest iteration of Mario Kart. Intersections between real life and Mario Kart are nothing new, of course. A couple of years back, West Coast Customs built life-size versions of […]

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Ford Recalls More than 1.3 Million Cars for Power Steering, Fires, and Floor Mats

With General Motors resting up for its (inevitable) next recall, Ford picked up the slack in recall-related news this week by flagging down more than 1.3 million sedans and SUVs for power steering failures, electrical fires and trapped accelerators.According to Ford, power steering can cut out on the 2011-2013 Ford Explorer and 2008-2011 Escape and […]

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Scout Willis Is Topless In NYC To Fight Instagram Censorship Of The Female Body (NSFW Photos)

Scout Willis, the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, recently walked down a New York City street topless in an effort to protest Instagram’s biased censorship rules. Instagram deactivated her account after she posted what they deemed to be inappropriate photos. In truth, the final photo that got her booted from the gram was […]
Scout Willis Is Topless In NYC To Fight Instagram Censorship Of The Female Body (NSFW Photos)

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The Kimye Wedding Photo Is The Most-Liked In The History Of Instagram

Well, this certainly isn’t going to help reduce Kim or Kanye’s ego. Kimye’s wedding photo just became the most-liked picture ever on Instagram. The photo, which was snapped at their lavish wedding in Florence this past weekend, has already garnered 1.98 million likes on Kim’s account and 66,000 likes on Kanye’s. Kim’s doing all the […]
The Kimye Wedding Photo Is The Most-Liked In The History Of Instagram

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The Chaos In East Ukraine Is Hitting LGBT People Particularly Hard

“When local law enforcement bodies have stopped their work or gone over to the side of the separatists, local homophobes have worked their way in.”













A figure hangs at a pro-Russia checkpoint near the town of Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine.


Baz Ratner / Reuters











When pro-Russian separatists stopped Oksana, a lawyer who identifies as a lesbian transsexual woman, at a checkpoint in eastern Ukraine earlier this month, they pressed a gun to her head and called her "pedik," a Russian word for "fag." The next day, two people tried to attack her on the street.

Oksana, who is transitioning and taking hormones, is used to getting negative attention for her looks. But with armed, masked men patrolling the streets in her home region of Donetsk, she says being different now feels more dangerous than ever before. "In the last month I have heard more insults and threats about my appearance than in my entire previous life," she told by e-mail.

Ukraine's conservative, industrial east has never been an easy place to be LGBT. In Soviet times, it was a crime. Today many there follow the resurgent Russian Orthodox Church, which condemns homosexuality. In the coal mines that drive the region's failing economy, the worst insults are crude anti-gay slurs. And as eastern cities have slipped out of Kiev's control and casualties mount, many LGBT people feel increasingly under threat.

"When local law enforcement bodies have stopped their work or gone over to the side of the separatists, local homophobes have worked their way in," Oksana said. "We are afraid to speak to the police and we are afraid to leave the house, insofar as we may not return alive."

Like many pro-Russian groups, Donetsk's separatists see LGBT rights as fundamentally incompatible with a Slavic, Russian Orthodox worldview. At an April press conference, Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told reporters, "I don't have gay friends and I hope that I wouldn't have."

On May 11, the Donetsk and Lugansk regions voted for autonomy in flawed referenda denounced by Ukraine and Western governments. Pushilin's self-styled republic has since appointed a cabinet, naming Russian political strategist Alexander Borodai its "prime minister." Borodai has been linked to Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian businessman who funds anti-LGBT campaigns, and Borodai's influence within the separatist movement appears to be growing.

The Donetsk People's Republic has also adopted a "constitution" that criminalizes same-sex relationships. But Pushilin, Borodai and their men appear to have more pressing problems on the ground — deadly clashes with Ukrainian security forces, schisms between separatist groups and a shadow war against pro-Kiev activists — that would trump active enforcement of the provision.

Early concerns that the region could adopt Russia's "gay propaganda" law have faded as Russian President Vladimir Putin has cooled to the separatist movement. Ukraine's parliament withdrew its own "propaganda" bill in April, though a similar measure remains under consideration.

Whichever government controls Donetsk, Oksana and her partner Angelia, who also identifies as lesbian and transsexual, want to leave. They've remained because they don't know where they would go or how they would make ends meet. Oksana asked to withhold her last name for fear of losing her job, where she still wears men's clothing to adhere to the corporate dress code. Angelia, who says she cannot find work due to her appearance, stays at home with a gun for protection.

Maksym Kasianczuk, a sociologist with Donbass-SocProject, an LGBT research center in Mariupol, is also thinking about packing his bags. Despite the difficult climate for LGBT people in the east, until recently Kasianczuk saw some signs of hope — a number of local LGBT organizations, productive relationships with government agencies and a regular "LGBT Voices" section in the local Donbass News. Since the region spun into crisis, his work has ground to a halt. If Donetsk region separates from Ukraine, Kasianczuk believes the local LGBT community will go underground. "Only activists will be viewed as a threat — just like in Russia," he wrote in an e-mail.

While eastern Ukraine remains in flux, the security situation in Crimea is stable — and the threats to LGBT people follow a predictable pattern.

When the peninsula began falling to Russian forces in February, a small wave of LGBT activists fled for mainland Ukraine, fearing that Russia's "propaganda" law would soon come into force. It did, when Russia formally absorbed Crimea in a largely unrecognized March referendum. And yet many activists there support the annexation, to the consternation of others.

"It's a strange situation to me," said Dmitry Pichakhchi, a project manager with Fulcrum, a Kiev-based LGBT organization. "On the one hand, they have stopped their activities, because everyone is afraid that according to the Russian laws it's not allowed. But in Crimea, these same activists are really happy that Russia came."

Kiev-based LGBT organizers cite internalized homophobia, a desire to fly under the radar and the belief that Crimea is better off economically as part of Russia as possible reasons why. Some Crimean activists may not want to speak out against Russia for fear their communications are being monitored. Others, like many on the peninsula, identify as Russian and have strong historical and family ties to Russia.

"What do you want?" one Crimean LGBT activist wrote in response to an email requesting comment. "We're doing great!!!"
Russia has waged an aggressive propaganda war in Crimea, which some activists fear will stir up anti-LGBT sentiment. Ukrainian television channels were blocked on the peninsula in March. But for many residents, the most pressing concern is the labyrinth of bureaucracy resulting from the changeover. After Russia annexed Crimea, Ukraine shut the water off.

"There are so many problems, there's simply no time to worry about LGBT people," Alexander, a 26-year-old gay man from Crimea, wrote in an e-mail. (He asked to withhold his last name because he is not out.)

"The Russian media is busy brainwashing Crimeans with lies and slander of the Kiev government and the rest of Ukraine," he continued. "But nevertheless it's a complicated situation and it's not going to get easier."

Whether they favor closer ties with Russia or with Europe, activists say LGBT people in eastern Ukraine and Crimea likely share a common fate — their personal lives will remain mostly underground.

"Given the current state of affairs in Crimea, it's not likely that we will achieve some kind of tolerance for LGBT people from the occupying authorities," Oleg, a pro-Ukraine LGBT activist there, told via e-mail. "Nobody entertains any kind of illusions about that."




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Tiësto To Take Over New York City’s Terminal Five For Album Release Party

Tiësto will be taking over New York Citys hotspot Terminal 5 to celebrate his album release party for A Town Called Paradise.  A Town Called Paradise will mark Tiësto’s latest album release in five years, the first since his Kaleidoscope album now half a decade prior. On June 17, you can party with Tiësto at Terminal 5 to […]
Tiësto To Take Over New York City’s Terminal Five For Album Release Party

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Julian Edelman Isn’t Just Tom Brady’s No. 1 Receiver, He Has His Own Hilarious Talk Show (Video)

Julian Edelman has the best nickname in football: Minitron. He also happens to have the best first name ever. Period. Finishing last season with 105 catches, 1,056 receiving yards and six touchdowns, he became Tom Brady’s favorite target down the stretch. He also earned a nice four-year, $17 million contract as a result of that. […]
Julian Edelman Isn’t Just Tom Brady’s No. 1 Receiver, He Has His Own Hilarious Talk Show (Video)

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This Woman Wrote A Surprisingly Pleasant Song To Explain Why She Isn’t Into Anal (Video)

Anal sex is a lot like normal sex, except for one notable factor that can turn it into a bit of a divisive issue. While some people enjoy the occasional change of venue, others are coital purists who skate to one song and one song only. Comedian, musician and anti-anal advocate Nikki Muller falls into […]
This Woman Wrote A Surprisingly Pleasant Song To Explain Why She Isn’t Into Anal (Video)

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15 Beer Pong Arrangements To Switch Things Up This Weekend (Photos)

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered a slightly disturbing trend called “Nazis vs. Jews,” in which beer pong players arrange their respective sides in the shape of a Star of David and a swastika and then get drunk. There are a number of adjectives you could use to describe this new phenomenon, but I […]
15 Beer Pong Arrangements To Switch Things Up This Weekend (Photos)

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The Week Republicans Stopped Fighting Marriage Equality

The GOP starts the move to “living in the real world.”













Governor Tom Corbett salutes as a Boy Scout raises the American flag while the National Anthem is played on Monday, May 26, 2014.


Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times / MCT











NEW YORK CITY — While Republicans aren't likely to join the fight for marriage equality en masse, the past week has shown that a growing core of the party is done fighting.

Since Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced last Thursday that he would not be appealing a ruling striking down his state's ban on same-sex couples' marriages, two key Republican voices have signaled that Corbett is right and the fight is over.

The next day, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — one of the Republicans often discussed as a potential 2016 presidential nominee — essentially ceded the issue to federal judges.

"Any federal judge has got to look at that law not only with respect to the state's constitution but what it means in terms of the U.S. Constitution, as well. Again, I'm not going to pretend to tell a federal judge in that regard what he or she should do about it," Walker said, adding that "[v]oters don't talk to [him] about that."

Then, on Wednesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch — a key voice for Republicans on judicial issues since the 1990s — went even further than Walker in an interview with KSL radio.

"Anybody that does not believe that gay marriage is going to be the law of the land just hasn't been observing what's going on," he said. "The trend right now in the courts is to permit gay marriage, and anybody who doesn't admit that just isn't living in the real world."

Following state and federal court rulings in Arkansas, Idaho, Oregon, and Pennsylvania striking down state bans on same-sex couples' marriage — and decisions by Oregon officials and Corbett in Pennsylvania not to appeal those decisions — Corbett, Walker, and Hatch are staking out the new Republican normal on LGBT rights.


































Sen. Orrin Hatch


Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images




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Dick Van Dyke Dancing On Vine: The Collection

Warning: these may be the happiest six-second videos you’ll ever see.









In a clothing store:







vine.co














In a suit:







vine.co














Backstage at an awards show:







vine.co














Backstage at an outdoor concert:







vine.co




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Proof That Miley Cyrus’ Instagram Perfectly Illustrates Lena Dunham’s Tweets

They are visual poetry.
















Twitter: @lenadunham / Via instagram.com





















Twitter: @lenadunham / Via instagram.com





















Twitter: @lenadunham / Via instagram.com













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Rejoice! Tyra Banks Is Coming Back To Daytime Television

THANK YOU, DAYTIME TV GODS!!!! The queen is back.





























giphy.com





















giphy.com

















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Phil Collins Makes Triumphant Return To Perform With A Middle School Band (Video)

Oh man, I wish this happened to me when I was in middle school. I sure would’ve been a lot cooler if it had. Phil Collins recently sang lead for a band of middle schoolers in Miami at a concert hosted by their school. Collins hasn’t played a public show since 2010, which makes this […]
Phil Collins Makes Triumphant Return To Perform With A Middle School Band (Video)

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Bus Driver Becomes Hero By Saving Lost Toddler From Wandering Into Oncoming Traffic (Video)

This everyday bus driver became a hero when he stopped his daily route to save a lost and confused toddler from wandering out into heavy traffic. Portland, Oregon, bus driver Bill Clark was completing his regular route throughout the city when he noticed a young boy almost walk into the road all alone. Clark acted […]
Bus Driver Becomes Hero By Saving Lost Toddler From Wandering Into Oncoming Traffic (Video)

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Watching Too Much Porn Makes Men Stupid And Their Brains Shrink

A study conducted on excessive porn watching has suggested what many of us have long assumed about porn: If you watch an amount that could be considered too much, you’re probably not too bright. Simone Kühn of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and Jurgen Gallinat of Charite University enlisted 64 men […]
Watching Too Much Porn Makes Men Stupid And Their Brains Shrink

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Manu Bennett Signs With APA; ICM Partners Inks Madeline Brewer

Manu Bennett has signed with APA.  The New Zealander plays Orc chieftain Azog in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy and Slade Wilson/Death Stroke on The CW’s Arrow. He also starred as Crixus on Starz’s Spartacus and appeared in features including 30 Days Of Night, The Condemned and The Marine. Bennett also is repped by Sanders/Armstrong/Caserta and attorneys Jeff Frankel and Rob Goldman.
Madeline Brewer has inked with ICM Partners. She made her debut as Tricia Miller on Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black and next appears in Season 2 of the streaming service’s original drama Hemlock Grove, playing a mysterious graphic novelist entering the town. She continues to be managed by Inphenate and lawyered by Schreck, Rose.

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DeadlineNow: Lionsgate Upbeat On Profits, But Stock Still Slides (Video)

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Paramount Pushes ‘Friday The 13th’ Back 8 Months, Gives Slot To ‘Scouts Vs. Zombies’

Back in November, the studio said its latest take on the Friday The 13th franchise would be unsheathed on March 13, 2015. Check that. Paramount announced today that it has pushed the horror pic back to November 13 — the next Friday the 13th on the 2015 calendar — and instead will begin its Scouts Vs. Zombies jamboree on March 13. Director Christopher Landon’s horror mashup will face off against Disney’s live-action Cinderella and Warner Bros high-seas drama Heart Of The Sea. The date change leaves Friday the 13th‘s Jason to battle the Untitled New Line Comedy, the only other pic currently slated for that weekend. Apologies to any triskaidekaphobics who were disturbed by the repeated use of the number 13 in this post. Send your complaints to Paramount.
Related: Chip Off The Austrian Oak? Patrick Schwarzenegger Joins ‘Scouts Vs. Zombies’

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Josh Brolin Voicing Marvel’s ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ & ‘Avengers 2′ Villian

He’s played his fair share of good guys, bad and even a sitting President of the United States, but Josh Brolin is really going to be playing full-on evil in Disney and Marvel’s upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy and The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Marvel as usual will say nothing but sources confirm the actor will voice the character of villain Thanos in the blockbuster superhero pics. Latino Review first broke the news of Brolin’s involvement in Guardians.  Sources tell me that the actor actually was cast months ago as Thanos for the James Gunn-directed pic and has completed all the VO work. Good thing too, because Guardians  is out on August 1. Glimpsed briefly at the end of 2012’s The Avengers, Thanos is a long-standing character in the Marvel Comics universe who has brought a tone of chaos and has a complicated romantic life to say the least. Damon Poitier played the purple skinned villain in the Joss Whedon-directed pic. Indications are Thanos will be back in a much bigger way in the sequel due out next May 1 with Brolin providing the vocals so to speak. He certainly isn’t the only thespian of note doing voice work for the Marvel megamovies. Read More »

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Cuba Gooding Jr Boards MLK Pic ‘Selma’

Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. is set to play famed civil rights attorney and activist Fred Gray in Paramount Pictures’ Selma, a feature drama about Martin Luther King’s 1965 landmark voting rights campaign, regarded as the peak of the civil rights movement. Gray came to prominence while working alongside King during that period. Gooding joins previously cast David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Oprah Winfrey and Martin Sheen in the pic produced by Plan B and Winfrey. Ava DuVernay is directing from a script she rewrote from Paul Webb’s original version. Gooding won a best supporting actor Oscar for 1996′s Jerry Maguire. His other film credits include Machete Kills, Don Jon, and Lee Daniels’ The Butler, and As Good As It Gets. Gooding is repped by ICM partners and Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal Laviolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman.

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Hot Trailer: Jeremy Renner In ‘Kill The Messenger’

Here’s our first look at Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb, the real-life journalist who wound up on the business end of an ugly CIA smear campaign. The Pulitzer winner reported on the agency’s alleged involvement in launching America’s crack epidemic, reporting that it was aware of major dealers who were smuggling cocaine into the U.S., and using the profits to arm Nicaraguan rebels. Director Michael Cuesta’s Kill The Messenger also stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta, Tim Blake Nelson, Barry Pepper, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Paz Vega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Andy Garcia. Peter Landesman wrote the script for the thriller, which Focus Features will release October 10. Check it out:


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Jonathan Keltz Upped To Regular On CW’s ‘Reign’; Kris Kristofferson In ‘Texas Rising’

Jonathan Keltz has been promoted to regular for Season 2 of the CW period drama Reign. Keltz recurred throughout the first season as Leith, the kitchen love interest to lady-in-waiting Greer. Keltz, repped by Stone Manners Salners, Wright Entertainment, and Characters Talent Agency, most recently appeared on Necessary Roughness and had a series of arcs as Ari Gold’s whipping-boy assistant on Entourage. His film credits include Prom and 21 & Over.

Actor, singer and songwriter Kris Kristofferson has joined the cast of History’s miniseries Texas Rising (working title) from A+E Studios and ThinkFactory Media. Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys) is exec producing the project, which will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers. Kristofferson will play President Andrew Jackson, who avoided direct U.S. involvement during the Texas Revolution, but he was a mentor to and admirer of General Sam Houston and realized the fate of Texas would profoundly influence the future of the United States.

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DeadlineNow: Don’t Blame Canada, Fix California’s Film & TV Tax Credit (Video)

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Related:
Sony Imageworks’ Flight To Vancouver Latest Blow In VFX Subsidies Battle
HBO, City Of LA, & Unions Praise Passage Of New Film & TV Tax Credit Bill

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NAB Will Ask Court To Block FCC Decision To Bar TV Station Joint Sales Agreements

The broadcast industry lobby group says it plans to tell the U.S. Court of Appeals in DC that the FCC had no basis for deciding in March to block a station from selling ads for others in the same market. The 3-2 party line vote on Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal was predicated on a view that these deals violate the public interest. Joint Sales Agreements “have been used to skirt existing rules to create market power that stacks the deck against small companies seeking to enter the broadcast business,” Wheeler said. The Justice Department also said that its investigations “have revealed that these ‘sidecars’ often exercise little or no competitive independence from the other station.”
The problem, according to the National Association of Broadcasters, is that regulators never defined the public interest. The FCC should have done that in a congressionally mandated quadrennial review of ownership rules that was supposed to have taken place in 2010, but didn’t. A ”fact-based examination of today’s marketplace would show that FCC ownership restrictions against free and local broadcasters are outdated in a world of national pay TV giants,” EVP Dennis Wharton says. “These rules – some of which have not been altered since 1975 – place broadcasters at a competitive disadvantage as we strive to continue delivering news, entertainment and lifeline programming to local communities across America.” The group says that the joint sales agreements enable many weak stations in ... Read More »

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These Kids Are Using Twitter To Get Out Of Finals

If these teachers are dumb enough to agree to it, let’s help make it happen.



















































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Facebook Messenger Gets LGBT-Themed Sticker Set For Pride Month

“We see this as one more way we can make Facebook a place where people can express their authentic identity,” a Facebook spokesperson told .
































































Facebook




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This Is What "Grand Theft Auto V" Would Look Like If It Came Out In 1990

YouTube user Majami Hiroz imagines GTA V on the Commodore 64.




























LINK: Majami Hiroz: Welcome to the '80s







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Hot Seats: 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible vs. Jaguar F-type V-8 S

The Chevrolet Corvette convertible and the Jaguar F-type V-8 S we’ve gathered here fulfill the basic tenets of the hot-rod faith. Window-shattering V-8? Check. Two seats tucked into a body that will draw longing stares and disapproving looks? Check. Guy behind the wheel wearing a Hawaiian shirt? Check. READ MORE ››

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Europe Digs the 2015 Ford Mustang: First 500 Reserved in 30 Seconds

If there’s one thing Europeans like, it’s soccer. Or ‘football,’ if you want to be particular about it. If there are two things Europeans like, they’re soccerball and Ford Mustangs, baby. Ford leveraged its “official vehicle supplier” position with the UEFA Champions League to promote the 2015 Mustang, including letting 500 fans preorder a car […]

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It’s Never Too Early for C8 Corvette Speculation: Work Has Begun, Electric or Hybrid Not Ruled Out

Time to fire up the eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette speculation machine, folks. Just one year after the C7 Corvette Stingray came kicking and screaming into the world, it’s been confirmed that work on the C8 is already underway. The tidbit comes from the Detroit Free Press, which buried the news in a story about employee morale […]

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23 Celebrities Whose Names You Can't Spell Without Googling Them

I just googled so hard for this post.









Scarlett Johansson



Ah, the double S, it makes you question so many things.


Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images














Shia LaBeouf



When your last name is every vowel just thrown together between some other letters one must ask Jeeves.


Andreas Rentz / Getty Images














Jake Gyllenhaal



G–Y–DOUBLE L–I— WAIT, WHAT.


Jason Kempin / Getty Images














Maggie Gyllenhaal



Oddly enough, it's also difficult to spell Maggie's last name.


Jason Kempin / Getty Images




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One Direction Four Years Ago Vs. One Direction Now

What a difference a couple of years can make.





























Ian Gavan / Getty Images





















Anthony Harvey / Getty Images

















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DISH Network Becomes Largest Company In The World To Accept Bitcoin

If you’re still unsure what exactly Bitcoin is, you can brush up on your knowledge here. All set? Basically, it’s a global currency that lives and breathes in the confines of the Internet, which naturally stirs up a lot of controversy. Companies like Overstock.com, WordPress and 50,000 others already accept Bitcoin as a form of […]
DISH Network Becomes Largest Company In The World To Accept Bitcoin

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Simon Sinek’s Advice On Achieving The Ultimate Success

Last night I was fortunate enough to have a half an hour discussion with one of my favourite leadership coaches Simon Sinek on what it means to be a truly successful leader. Simon is a “one of a kind” leader that oozes awesome and very insightful advice on what it takes to be a successful individual in […]

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Watch The Finale Of HBO’s Silicon Valley With TechCrunch

 That HBO show about Silicon Valley is actually good, so good I binge-watched all 7 episodes last Friday. The last two episodes take place at TechCrunch Disrupt, replete with my former colleague Jason Kincaid as a host and a guest appearance by our founder Michael Arrington. Because there’s so much TechCrunch in the show, we thought it might be cool to host a viewing of the finale… Read More

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The Best News-Reading App, Reeder 2, Returns To Mac

 For all five of us who still prefer managing our own news-reading experience through a dedicated RSS reader application, there’s good news out today: One of the best news readers on the market, Reeder 2, has finally returned to the Mac. The Mac application had been unavailable for nearly a year, following the shutdown of Google Reader, because it was built on top of the search… Read More

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A 3D Printed Cast That Can Heal Your Bones 40-80% Faster

 It looks like something from the Borg (read, cool), but it’s actually a cast for healing bones. The Osteoid, created by Turkish student Deniz Karasahin, incorporates 3D printing and ultrasonic tech to make healing a broken bone more bearable. The idea of ultrasonic healing vibrations to heal bones (and other wounds) has been around for a while. But the problem was doctors couldn’t… Read More

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Twitter’s Senior Vice President Of Engineering, Chris Fry, Has Stepped Down

 Christopher Fry, Twitter’s Senior Vice President of Engineering (read: the man responsible for fighting off the fail whale), has stepped down from his position. The news comes by way of documents filed with the SEC.
Alex Roetter — a founding member of Google’s adsense team and Twitter’s current VP of Engineering — will be stepping up to Fry’s role. (If… Read More

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Microsoft And Salesforce Announce Broad Product-Integration Partnership

 This afternoon, Microsoft and Salesforce announced a broad partnership that will bring their respective software and service products closer together. Salesforce will support Windows, Windows 8.1, build “interoperability Salesforce and Office 365,” Microsoft’s subscription-based productivity suite, and integrate OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online, And Outlook in… Read More

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Philz Coffee Drops Euclid Analytics Over Privacy Concerns

 In the conflict between advocates of consumer privacy and those promoting the benefits of wide-reaching data collection, it’s not often we hear about the former getting a win. Yet it appears that’s exactly what happened in San Francisco last night. Philz Coffee, the Bay Area coffee shop mainstay, announced that it would no longer collect the information of customers and passersby… Read More

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The NewViewWear Wearable Camera Hides In Your Shirt

 Elvis Costello once sang of watching detectives, an act that, to most of us, has been difficult. Now with the always-on, always-recording wearable NewViewWear camera, however, you can see them “shoot, shoot, shoot” and them “red dogs under illegal legs” no matter how they try to hide. Read More

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Amazon Prime Music Streaming Service Pegged For Summer Launch

 Amazon is about to round out its Prime subscription service with a music streaming service, reports. The service will stream old and new-ish music to Prime subs and will launch in June or July. Read More

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Here’s The First Hands-On Video Of Android Wear In Action (Spoiler: Lower Your Expectations)

 The video above is a hands-on report with a beta unit of LG’s upcoming Android Wear smartwatch. Not a lot is shown. Hopefully that’s because it’s in beta and not the true depth of Android Wear. Google Now’s card-based UI is prominently featured. Apparently, like earlier shots also show, users scroll through a list of cards. However, even if this is just a beta unit,… Read More

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Foursquare Loses Biz Dev Head To Postmates, COO Also Departing

 Foursquare’s COO Evan Cohen and VP of Biz Dev Holger Luedorf are leaving the company, reports Re/Code’s Mike Isaac. The departures come amidst major changes for the company. The Foursquare app split in two and spun out with new app Swarm earlier this month. Foursquare’s CEO Dennis Crowley told Isaac the two departures were merely coincidental. He maintained that… Read More

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Ousted RadiumOne CEO Gurbaksh Chahal Promises To Sue His Board

 In a publicly released letter, former RadiumOne CEO Gurbaksh Chahal promised legal action against his former board of directors today. He also announced his resignation from that board and provided context, from his perspective, into how legal choices were made to protect the company’s potential IPO. Read More

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Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Said To Buy LA Clippers For $2B

 Steve Ballmer, best known for his long tenure as the CEO of Microsoft, is reportedly set to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team for $2 billion, according to the LA Times. Previously, he had been tipped to bid $1.8 billion for the team.
The Clippers are in flux at the moment after their owner, Donald Sterling, was recorded saying a number of racist comments. The NBA fined him. Read More

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Movies Got Back: A Storied History Of Butts In Film (Video)

As we all know, every female-lusting person belongs in one of two camps. You’re either into asses or you’re into breasts. Of course, you can appreciate both, but ultimately, you must pick a side. I am proud to say that I’m an ass-man, so I got pretty excited when I saw this new HuffPo movie […]
Movies Got Back: A Storied History Of Butts In Film (Video)

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Laverne Cox Is On The Cover Of Time Magazine

The Orange Is The New Black actress was interviewed for a piece called “The Transgender Tipping Point.”



















Laverne Cox is on the cover of this week's Time magazine, only a month after fans responded to Cox not being included in the magazine's annual list of the year's most influential people.

Cox is featured as the face of the magazine's cover story "The Transgender Tipping Point" which was written by Katy Steinmetz (currently only available to Time subscribers).

A spokesperson for Time told that the story had been in the works for "months" before the controversy over the annual list.

Time's website also posted an interview with Cox in which she describes her 2013 interview with Katie Couric as "a moment when things really shifted."


















Here's Time's behind the scenes video of the cover shoot:

















LINK: Laverne Cox Is The Woman We’ve Been Waiting For










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Jay Pharoah's Got "Problems"

The follow-up to last Summer’s Kanye West parody, ” I Am A Dog .”
















youtube.com











You can download the song at Above Average's website.




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Brad Pitt Was Hit In The Face By A Ukrainian Prankster At The Premiere Of "Maleficent"

Vitalii Sediuk is the same guy who crawled under America Ferrera’s dress at Cannes earlier this month.









At the Hollywood premiere of Maleficent Wednesday night, Brad Pitt was rushed by Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediuk outside the El Capitan Theatre.






VLUV / NUKIDB / Splash News














Sediuk lept over the security barrier and tried to put his hands on Pitt. Sediuk was then tackled by Los Angeles police and detained.






VLUV / NUKIDB / Splash News














He is facing a misdemeanor battery charge and is currently being held on a $20,000 bail.






Frazer Harrison














According to TMZ, Pitt has filed a temporary restraining order against Sediuk, who must stay 500 feet away from Pitt for the next 5 days.






J. Sharma / Bruja,PacificCoastNews




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Mindy Kaling Gives Harvard Law School Class Day Speech

First Charlie Day gives a great speech, and now Mindy Kaling does it. Graduations are so trendy these days.






This isn't technically a commencement speech, since this isn't the ceremony, but it is the end of the year and a whole class is gathered together, so let's just call it a graduation-esque speech.
























youtube.com / Via vulture.com
















































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These Are The Best Local News Bloopers Of May

Uh huh, yeah Jeff, Jeff is stuck.













As always, from NewsBeFunny.


youtube.com / Via uproxx.com














Hero:





















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Tell Us About Yourself(ie): Jonathan Bennett

Michael Buckner / Getty Images


























What's your wallpaper on your phone and/or computer?A quote from Will Smith, "Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions." It's good to see everyday in this crazy world we live in.When you walk into a bar, what do you typically order?I love Johnny Walker Blue Label, but that's only if it's been a good year. Mostly Johnny Walker Black.What's the one word you are guilty of using too often?"Fuck". I say it way too much. I think it comes from watching too much George Carlin as a child.What is the last thing you searched for on Google?"words people use too much"Who is the last person that called or texted you?My buddy Robbie Amell just called and I didn't pick up because I was answering these questions.





















What was the last awkward situation you were in and how did you handle it?I have been acting in Los Angeles for 13-years now, and every day I have to scrape what dignity I have left from the bottom of my shoe and go into rooms where people judge you from the moment you enter until you leave. There's no longer such a thing as an "awkward moment." Don't get me wrong, I love this crazy business and wouldn't change it for anything, but nothing phases me anymore.When is the last time you went to a theater?The Book of Mormon at the Pantages. Hasa Diga Eebowai.What TV show should everyone should be watching?MTV's Copycat starting June 2nd at 3:00 and 3:30pm! (Shameless plug!) Yes I did people, yes I did. Can you blame me?And what is your TV guilty pleasure?National Geographic Specials on the White House, I have a bizarre obsession with the White House and the PEOC elevator. Don't know what the PEOC elevator is? Google it.What's the first CD you bought?Amy Grant. Wow, that's embarrassing. Ya know what, that might be my first awkward moment in 13-years. Good job .What is the one food you cannot resist?HOT WINGS, especially from Hot Wing Cafe on Melrose Ave, in Los Angeles.





















What music are you currently listening to?Zac Brown Band and Frozen.What movie makes you laugh the most?Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Christmas Vacation, that's a toss up.What drives you absolutely crazy?80's-themed costume parties. I really, really hate them.Pick one: Kittens or puppies?Puppies, always puppies.





















New York or Los Angeles?New York.Comedy or drama?Comedy.Bacon or Nutella?Both at the same time with HONEY.'80s or '90s?90's because I wasn't in full control of my bowels for most of the 80's so I don't really remember them.Hannah Montana or Lizzie McGuire?Which was the one fucked that foam finger?





















And finally: tell us a secret.I don't have any. All of mine are in Gretchen Weiner's hair.





















Make sure to check out MTV's new karaoke competition show Copycat, premiering June 2nd.




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The 21 Most Important Celebrity Bulges Of All Time

The celebulge, if you will.






DISCLAIMER: Jon Hamm is not ranked on the list, as it would be completely unfair to everyone else to be ranked against the Rosetta Bulge.





































Fame Pictures












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Angelina Jolie's Perfect Game

Via Hellomagazine.com




What was Angelina Jolie best known for in 2004?a.) Wearing a vial of Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck.b.) Making out with her brother on the red carpet.c.) Being the offspring of ‘70s star Jon Voight.d.) All of the above.The answer, of course, is d. There was talent there — in 1999, she’d won an Oscar for her depiction of a sociopathic mental patient in Girl, Interrupted — but that performance had also effectively set her image at the intersection of beautiful and menacing. The marriage to Thornton, who was 20 years her senior, and their frankness about their sex life (knife play, bondage) only amplified the message: This girl was gorgeous, but wow was she weird.But it gets even weirder — just not in the way you’d expect. While filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia, Jolie became invested in the plight of refugees, leading to her high-profile appointment as a United Nations ambassador. Then, in 2002, Jolie finalized the adoption of a 1-year-old boy, Maddox, from an orphanage in Cambodia.
















Carmen Valdes / Via WireImages




How could those two very different understandings of Jolie make sense together? Most Hollywood stars, with the help of their publicists and agents, work very, very hard to have a coherent image — to “mean” something clearly and simply: the Nice Guy, the Pinup, the Tough Dude. Ryan Reynolds, Megan Fox, Vin Diesel.But the biggest Hollywood star images are complicated, and even contradictory: Marilyn Monroe was pure sex, but she radiated innocence; Marlon Brando was overpoweringly masculine yet incredibly sensitive.So Jolie’s image mixed dangerous sexuality...and benevolent humanitarianism? It sounds ridiculous. But it was precisely that combination, and the flexibility it permitted, that allowed Jolie to not only weather one of the biggest potential scandals of the decade, but facilitated her rise to superstardom.It's because Angelina Jolie plays the celebrity game better than anyone else in the business. Her game is subtle, often invisible, incredibly precise, and always, always effective. And by all accounts, she does it without the help of a publicist. To best explain how she masters it today, though, we have to return to 2004 — but this time, to Brad Pitt.
















George Pimentel / Via Getty




In fall 2004, Brad Pitt was one of the top leading men in Hollywood. Two-time “Sexiest Man Alive,” he was coming off of the massive success of both Ocean’s 12 and Troy, in which he appeared mostly nude at the age of 40. He was also in the fourth year of marriage to Jennifer Aniston; together, they formed Hollywood’s most golden — and, arguably, beloved — couple.Pitt and Jolie had both signed on to make Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a double-crossing spy thriller intended to exploit Jolie’s skill at what can only be called sexy fighting. When filming began in fall 2004, Jolie was single, but Pitt was married — still, it was no surprise that the narrative of the film, which required them to play rival assassins who just happened to be married, sparked immediate rumors of romance. It was all routine gossip, status quo for two stars in any movie — at least until January 2005, when Pitt announced that he and Aniston would divorce.Both Pitt and Jolie denied that anything had happened, but Jolie’s image, coupled with suggestive stills from the film, kept the story in circulation. Then, in late April, a revelation: pictures of Pitt and Jolie playing on a Kenyan beach, published on the cover of Us Weekly with the subtitle "12 PAGES OF NEW PICS THAT PROVE THE ROMANCE WAS REAL."
















Via Usweekly.com




While none of the images show Pitt and Jolie in a romantic configuration, let alone touching, Pitt’s familiarity with Maddox seemed to tell a different story. Quickly dubbed “Brangelina,” the pair dominated the summer news cycle, first promoting Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which defied expectations by opening with a $50 million weekend — a personal best for both stars — and went on to gross over $150 million worldwide. Then, in July, with Mr. and Mrs. Smith still in theaters, the pair traveled to adopt a 6-month-old AIDS orphan, named Zahara, from Ethiopia.There was no confirmation of a relationship, no public displays of affection. At press junkets, interviewers signed agreements that they wouldn’t ask questions about their personal lives. Indeed, it wasn’t until Jolie revealed that she was pregnant in January 2006 that the pair publicly acknowledged their relationship status.Usually, a refusal to publicly comment or otherwise shape the response to scandal results in backlash. In 1950, it was revealed that Ingrid Bergman was pregnant with the child of Italian neorealist director Roberto Rossellini, whom she had met while filming Stromboli. When Bergman became pregnant, she was still married to her Swedish husband, thereby making the pregnancy even more illicit. As a result, Bergman became embroiled in the biggest Hollywood scandal since the Fatty Arbuckle trial. So scandalous, in fact, that she was publicly denounced on the floor of the United States Senate as an “instrument of evil,” the subject of dozens of condemnatory editorials and a generalized object of scorn.
















Pascal Le Segretain / Via Getty Images for Cinema for Peace




Many female stars from the period had endured similar ordeals — they’d just covered them up. With the help of studio “fixers,” dozens of starlets had abortions; when Loretta Young found herself pregnant with the very married Clark Gable's baby, she traveled to Europe, went into hiding, gave the baby up for adoption… and then adopted her.Bergman, in other words, had options. But from the start, she had resisted the normal strategies for Hollywood stardom. When famed producer David O. Selznick “discovered” her in Sweden and brought her stateside, she resisted all attempts to shape her into a Hollywood starlet: Bergman refused to pluck her eyebrows, or wear heavy makeup, or mold her image in any manner.Instead of battling her, Selznick decided to exploit her stubbornness, framing her as the “Nordic Natural” who didn’t even need the normal sculpting and shaping. Lack of image, in other words, as image: What you saw was what you got.
















Popperfoto / Via Getty Images




This lack of mediation — and resistance to publicity maneuvering — is precisely what made it so difficult for Bergman to negotiate her scandal. Two years earlier, Robert Mitchum had been arrested for possession of marijuana while hanging out with a woman who was decidedly not his wife. Well aware of the public perception of illegal drug use, Mitchum declared his career over. But 43 days as a model prisoner, along with some savvy publicity manipulation and a very remorseful, very sappy apology in the leading fan magazine, salvaged his career.
















Archive Photos / Via Getty Images




But Mitchum gave himself fully over to the recuperation of his image — a campaign that included a full-page spread of him playing with his sons and this piece of magnificent copy:"Wild animals at a birthday party! A fishing trip on a desert sea! But then, as Josh and Chris Mitchum can tell you, wonderful things have been happening since Dad came home ... Bob always had a great fondness for his sons. But in the past, his attitude with them was pretty casual. Now he gives them most of his leisure time."It sounds sappy, but it worked; if anything, Mitchum became more successful. Bergman, however, treated the entire affair as a private matter, refusing to do any press or otherwise attempt to exculpate herself. It was all very European.And so Bergman retreated to Italy, gave birth to a daughter, gave birth to a set of twins, made movies with Rossellini. Bergman’s offense was far more grave than Mitchum’s — in part because she was a woman, and her “sin” was sexual — but her unwillingness to speak or otherwise mitigate the fallout from her actions, and thereby control the trajectory of the narrative, effectively blacklisted her in Hollywood and ended her American career.Which returns us to Brangelina: The lack of public comment could have mired both Jolie and Pitt in the quagmire of bad press and bombing movies. But Pitt and Jolie were speaking constantly. They were just doing so semiotically.In April, for example, immediately following the release of the photos of him and Jolie on the beach, Pitt flew to Ethiopia, where he spent three days touring AIDS orphanages.
















J. Tayloe Emery / Via ONE.ORG via Getty Images




In May, Jolie participated in a humanitarian mission in Sierra Leone, meeting with the president and speaking privately with victims of the 2002 civil war.
















Business Wire / Via Getty Images




In October, Jolie visited Darfur to bring attention to the plight of Sudanese refugees; later that month, she returned to New York to receive the U.N.’s Global Humanitarian Action Award.
















Richard Corkery / Via NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images




In November, she appeared at a Washington press conference celebrating the signing of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act, while Pitt spent two days meeting with various politicians to lobby on behalf of the ONE Foundation’s work in Africa.
















Win McNamee / Via Getty Images




They then flew to Geneva to hear debriefings on the aftermath of the Pakistani earthquake; for Thanksgiving, they flew to Pakistan, where they participated in relief efforts.
















Pakistan Ministry of Information / Via Getty Images




When Jolie reached her eighth month of pregnancy, she and Pitt made the decision to move, temporarily, to Namibia, in hopes of avoiding paparazzi yet drawing attention to the impoverished country; when they sold the rights to the first photos of their daughter, Shiloh, for over $7 million, they donated the money to charities fighting AIDS in Africa.And the list goes on and on, from Pitt’s high-profile work with the Make It Right Foundation in New Orleans to the adoption, six months after the birth of Shiloh, of a 3-year-old Vietnamese orphan, Pax — all of which were regularly punctuated with images of Jolie, Pitt, and their ever-growing family looking like, well, a family, albeit an untraditional one.
















S. Granitz / Via WireImage




This photo, for example, is a semiotic gold mine: Shiloh, often nicknamed “The Chosen One,” a glimmering beacon of whiteness, flanked by her racially marked siblings, one of whom seems to be protecting her from possible harm. All three are framed by their doting parents, tied to their children via skin color, head/neck scarf, hair highlighting, and physical touch. They’re a “Party of Five,” as the title of the accompanying article puts it, but they’re a distinctly global one: The photos were all shot in Cambodia, and when asked how her children manage all the traveling, Jolie says, “We’ve tried to make them very adaptable, so when we go to a country like India or certain parts of Namibia, they’re happy to play with sticks and rocks outside — they’re happy to blend.”Taken together, these images, and the stories that accompanied them, were speaking about their relationship, even if the pair themselves weren’t offering comment. And what they were saying was that this wasn’t a story about sex or scandal; rather, it was one of family, humanitarianism, and global citizenship. Within this framework, any publication that chose to focus on sexual intrigue was effectively neglecting the most in need.Take the dozens of letters to the editor that People received and printed in response to its months of Brangelina coverage. While there were always letters like this...

I'm sickened by Angelina and Brad. They should be hiding their romance out of embarrassment and shame.



Great! Yet another baby born out of wedlock. These people read lines for a living; you'd think they'd be able to read the directions on a contraceptive package.

...they were always surrounded by ones like this:

I had a hard time getting past the whole Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston breakup. However, after reading your story and seeing the photos, it is obvious how in love he and Angelina Jolie are. I applaud them for putting so much heart and soul not only into raising their children in a loving environment but also for raising them to be proud, aware and kind.



If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the picture of Brad, Angelina and their children is priceless: three alert children with their parents as bookends. Look how Brad's and Angelina's arms surround them, with Maddox protectively holding his baby sister. I am not a big celebrity watcher, but I know a loving family when I see one.

These are real letters, but People’s choice to run these particular ones — always in a way that outshines the single dissenting voice — implicitly encouraged other readers to take up the same attitudes.There’s an old PR maxim that goes, “If you don’t like what people are saying about you, then change the conversation.” That’s what Bergman failed to do, but what Angelina Jolie did with aplomb. It was more than just the beautiful images, though: It was what they represented.More specifically, Jolie’s image management played on anxieties and ideals specific to the mid-2000s: If Aniston was America’s sweetheart — the girl next door par excellence — then Jolie was the cosmopolitan, global citizen. If Aniston was cute and victimized, then Jolie was sexy, in control of her sexuality and the men around her — a vivid manifestation of postfeminism that projects both the success of feminism and its current irrelevance. If Aniston was reticent to juggle family and career, then Jolie wanted a sprawling international family, the marks of her globalism literally tattooed on her body in the form of the longitude and latitude of her children’s birthplaces.Jolie’s image thus combines a successful career, motherhood, engaged philanthropy, and active sex appeal: the very height of having it all, but in a way that reflects a distinctly transnational, non-U.S.-centric identity that might not appeal to a certain swath of conservative American moviegoers, but made her — and, by extension, Pitt, whose image has been folded into her own — immensely appealing to progressive Americans and the global market at large.That’s how Jolie functioned ideologically. But it’s not the entire story.


















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19 Celebrities You Never Knew Rocked The Cover Of "Cigar Aficionado" Magazine

I had NO IDEA cigars could be so glam. Covers ranked in order of raditude.









August 1998: Chuck Norris



Notable cover story excerpt: At 58, Norris is comfortable with the idea of growing older. "Sometimes I can see myself as an 85-year-old man with a walker, yelling 'Halt!'"

Grade: C. It's like, I know I should care? But I can't care anymore.


Cigar Aficionado / backissues.com














Summer 1996: Arnold Schwarzenegger



Notable cover story excerpt: He grins impishly. "To me, it tastes great. I know your magazine is called Cigar Aficionado, but...." He shrugs, as if to say, he's no expert; he just likes cigars.

Grade: C. More like SNOOZinator.


Cigar Aficionado / backissues.com














June 2004: Alec Baldwin



Notable cover story excerpt: "I look at Tom Cruise, and he is a fucking genius. He's like Tiger Woods for me."Grade: C. [Sigh].


Cigar Aficionado / backissues.com














February 1999: John Travolta



Notable cover story excerpt: "Have a lobster," Travolta says, holding out the platter. "They're very fresh. And Peter steams them just the way they do in Maine. Very simple."

Grade: C+. No complaints, but...meh?


Cigar Aficionado / backissues.com




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