U2 Live: I'm With The Band!
Posted on Oct 26, 2009 @ 03:36PM - Add a comment
On Sunday Bloody Sunday, stars flocked to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, to take in an action packed concert of Bono and the gang!
Before the iconic band got their Rattle and Hum on for the celeb packed crowd, Slash crooned out Sweet Child O' Mine and the Black Eyed Peas did
their best Boom Boom Pow to get the crowd going! Demi Moore showed up to support her pal Bono, stylishly clad in a black blazer and jeans.
PHOTOS: See Bono, Barbara Streisand, Colin Farrell, David Beckham, Demi Moore, Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber,
Paris Hilton, Doug Reinhardt, Angie Harmon And Ian Ziering Join As One To Support U2!
What mega stars hit the show solo, and who coordinated with their plus one? Check out the gallery to find out!
Movie Review: Amelia
Posted on Oct 23, 2009 @ 02:12PM - Add a comment
Among Hollywood actresses of a certain echelon, there’s a lot of unscientifically quantified grumbling about the dearth of quality roles. It’s too bad then, that when one of the biggest recent opportunities for cinematic grrl-power arrives, it’s marred by flat storytelling, stilted writing and an overwrought score that drowns out whatever subtlety was left.
Amelia is the much-anticipated biopic of Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank), who disappeared in 1937 during her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world. For those of us with just a vague notion of who she was and what her life was like, the film fills in some basic details and fleshes out the contours of her experience, both in the air -- where she explored exquisite landscapes from Africa to Ireland -- and on the ground, where she married publishing mogul George Putnam (Richard Gere) and had a romance with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). Amelia is also committed to reinforcing Earhart’s legacy as a true feminist in every facet of her life -- from insisting on removing the word “obey” from her marriage vows, to reminding us that (in case we missed it) she refuses the shackles of convention.
The film lovingly incorporates what are ostensibly Earhart’s actual letters and diary entries, but the effect is distracting. We see Swank’s Amelia looking out of airplane windows over sun-scorched savannas, waxing poetic about savoring her freedom and clouds that look like resting cats. Later, she pontificates to a young Gore Vidal (William Cuddy) about lush jungles and facing your fears, while assuring him that it’s OK that she won’t marry his daddy, because -- obvs! -- you can’t be married to two men at once.
It’s possible that there wasn’t actually any nuance to Earhart’s life: that she was the simple, midwest tomboy she claimed to be, with no emotional stumbles during her swift ascent into public life or residual regrets about her high-speed endorsement train for products she didn’t use. Despite these dubious points, Swank embodies Earhart as a strong-willed, straightforward woman who’s uncomplicated and self-assured, gracefully swapping flight suits for luscious satin gowns and cockpits for cocktail hour. Yet even compelling visuals and competent acting can’t bring Amelia any closer than arm’s length, particularly amid cloying proclamations and heavy-handed exposition.
Unfolding with sumptuous aesthetics and honey-dipped cinematography -- the most awesome of which include outdoor scenes on rugged coastlines and exotic terrain -- Amelia chugs along in fits and starts, accelerating here and stalling there, but never quite taking flight. The film lands in theaters this week with the promising tag-line, “Defying The Impossible. Living The Dream,” but for all its ambition and grandiosity, it could use more emotional substance, and less self-awareness.
Style Radar: Meet Me In Venice
Posted on Sep 08, 2009 @ 01:45PM - Add a comment
The romance of Venice has gotten the best of some of our most stylish stars like Matt Damon and wife Luciana -- the canals, twinkling lights, major film festivals and what not.
Check out a weekend of movie star glamour at this year’s Venice Film Festival in Style Radar.
From the devastating bling of Paris Hilton’s Mouawad jewels to Eva Mendes umpteenth gorgeous gown (this time a stunning Ralph Lauren), ladies command our attention on the red-drenched deus.
Men made a valiant effort, however, with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor in juxtaposed suits. Check them about above!
Angels & Demons is God-Awful
Posted on May 16, 2009 @ 09:28AM - Add a comment
In the first scene that Tom Hanks appears onscreen as Robert Langdon, he’s wearing a Speedo-like bathing suit. It’s not the only inappropriate moment in Angels & Demons, which desecrates the Vatican with murder, mayhem and even a little sexual tension. Even if it’s just a movie and it’s a fake Vatican, it all seems a little disrespectful. [Full disclosure: the person writing this review grew up in a secular household so she’s not like a religious freak or anything. She just thinks that a movie about Popes being murdered in really gruesome ways is kind of icky.]
That’s not the only problem with Angels & Demons — the plot is preposterous. Langdon is called back to the Vatican after an ancient underground brotherhood called the Illuminati, who favor science over religion, steals a bomb made by a hot Italian scientist named Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) from the European Council for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. After the Pope dies under mysterious circumstances, the Illuminati, who hate the Catholic Church for persecuting them hundreds of years ago, kidnap four candidates for Popehood during Conclave, then threaten to kill each one every hour and set off the bomb, which will destroy Vatican City.
