Posts Tagged ‘celebs’

Soon after Christina Ricci appeared on the cover of W wrapped in reindeer fur (just in time to squeak onto PETA's Worst Dressed List for 2006), the webmaster of her most popular fan site www.christinaricci.info took the whole thing offline to protest her animal-stomping ways.

"Well, that's it," he posted where previously there had been over 900 Ricci photos. "I've had this Christina Ricci fan page for almost 8 years (since januari 1999), but I recently found out Christina doesn't appear to have a problem wearing fur. Well, I do. I also have a problem with people who wear fur. Conclusion: I have a problem with Christina. And now that problem is solved, because I don't have a website about her anymore, so I no longer have anything to do with her."

Initially her rep dismissed this — those whacky fans! — but the popularity of that page (second in most searches for "Christina Ricci") made have had something to do with Ricci's subsequent reversal. Ricci e-mailed PETA with an apology and a promise to do better, and they took her off the list.

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Peter Boyle, star of stage, screen, TV, and Transylvanian castle, died last night.

Generally when his name come up he gets remembered (and rightfully so) as the tap-dancing Monster from "Young Frankenstein" and Frank Barone from "Everybody Loves Raymond." But everyone knows the first one and I never watched Raymond (thereby disproving the title), so tonight I'll be honoring his brilliant, off-center memory by rewatching his honorable gangster in "Johnny Dangerously," his messianic nutball in "The Dream Team," and his hilarious prophetic insurance salesman in the best episodes of "The X-Files" ever.

He was a driving force for peace and all that is Good. He was magical, angelic, demonic, a conscience in the wilderness, a tireless utopianist, and, to listen to some of his more enthusiastic fans, a young god among men.

Actually he was a good guitar player, a decent pianist, a wizard songwriter, a committed family man (eventually), an insightful philosopher, and that rarist of things, a social activist with a sense of humor. I think he'd have been shocked to learn how many people still consider him a role model, but the world become a bit less fun when John Lennon was shot to death 26 years ago today.

His widow, Yoko Ono, has asked that fans commemorate the anniversary of his death this year with a Day of Forgiveness, but I'll spend it as I always have: with hours and hours of music. Are you doing anything to honor Lennon today?

Armed C-list celebrities on a reality show.

OK, here we're talking celebrities being sworn in as deputy police officers and going on rounds to thwart crime. I can even accept Erik Estrada, although the others listed (LaToya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, the little skateboarder from the Jackass movies) look to be more accustomed to hearing the Miranda then giving it. But frankly, why should we care? They'll bicker and screw up and blame each other and bore me to tears.

You want to make this interesting to viewers — as well as offering a valuable public service –you need to run with this concept. Forget the cutesy setups and forced interpersonal revelations, just stick a bunch of desperate people on an island with a week's worth of food, give them all guns, and start filming. Now we're talking "Survivor"! Wouldn't you love to see Nick Lachey crawling through the underbrush with a knife in his teeth, stalking Anna Nicole Smith?

C'mon, FOX, this is right up your alley…

Last night, while watching John Laroquette delightedly rip into House, I got up during the break to restock my goodies and so I didn't quite catch the actual commercial, which sounded like a Family Guy clip making fun of O.J. Simpson. That Seth, what won't he make fun of? Ha ha!

Imagine my surprise when I found out the person making fun of the horrific events in O.J.'s life was, in fact, O.J.. I'm guessing country club memberships aren't cheap because he's come out with a new book and two-part TV interview called, and this is the actual title, "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." Please note that this is not Tim Meadows doing his O.J. impersonation. It's not a tasteless fan parody from YouTube. It's a real, tasteless exhibition by a man declared not guilty of a crime who is now going to explain… what? How he didn't do it, but here's exactly how he didn't do it? Is this the confession we only get after he can't be punished? Was he overcome with the need to brag? Did he lose a bar bet?

The interview, you'll be shocked, shocked to hear, will be on FOX.

I'm sure the families of the deceased and all those people who stood by him during the long trial will appreciate his new and profitable candor. But if he needed money, couldn't he have done something less tacky, like release a Nicole Simpson sex tape? Something with some dignity?

There's a certain shameful pleasure in watching a celebrity publicly debasing him- or herself, and Kevin Federline is currently making many people very happy indeed. I won't go into explanations here — if you don't know who K-Fed is or what's going on with him and his soon-to-be-exwife Britney, count yourself fortunate and head back into your cave, quick.

But last night, as some friends and family gathered around to watch "Entourage" DVDs and talk about celebrity hangers-on, it was wondered aloud how K-Fed would continue to thrive after being dumped by his meal ticket. I said, only half-joking, that the sex tape sales alone would keep him going. We laughed, and I came into work this morning to see the news.

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Britney is divorcing K-Fed. I'm embarassed to even admit I understand that sentence.

She filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court citing "irreconcible differences" which, coindentally enough, is the reason I myself give for why I have don't follow her personal or professional life.

The man can talk.

I mean, he writes and directs great, quirky, vulgar movies ("Clerks," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma") and he writes comics and isn't a half-bad actor, but mostly what Kevin Smith does best is talk about himself, his work, his friends, his experiences, pop culture, and everyone and everything around him. I've seen him talk before, so I thought I was prepared when I went to "An Afternoon with Kevin Smith" at the Orange County Convention Center Saturday in Orlando. "Ha!" I thought to myself. "I can go and take notes and then blog about it in an amusing fashion! '2:30: Smith walks out. 2:31: First genitalia reference. Drink! Drink! 2:34: abuses questioner to the delight of all, etc.'"

The event, hosted by Florida Future Filmmakers, featured a screening of "Clerks 10th Anniversary," some interview clips, and promised he would do a Q&A from 2 till 4, with the warning that he usually went long.

He talked for over 6 hours.

Aside from one 15 minute break so the sponsors could do a raffle he went nonstop, taking questions and telling tales until nearly 9 pm, after a third of the 4,000 people attending had been forced to leave, presumably for pressing engagements or bloodflow issues.

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With the click of a PayPal button, I have added a new and major title to my resume: Big Time Movie Producer. Well, small time movie producer, but it still counts.

For most moviegoers the position of producer is a fuzzy one. What does a producer produce, anyway? How many does it take to build an executive producer? What about the co-producer? Is that the littlest producer, or the one that always rides shotgun?

The quick answer used to be that a director makes a movie happen, but a producer makes a movie possible. The producer initiates the project, hires and coordinates the key staff, raises the cash, arranges for distributors, sucks up to studios, bails the more interesting stars out of jail, that sort of thing.

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Richard Pryor, one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, died today of a heart attack. I do not believe anyone will ever match his groundbreaking, freaking hilarious career.

But my very first thought was that someone will need to change his website, which as of this writing still presents the header graphic it's had for some time now, "I Ain't Dead Yet, Motherf#cker!" I'm kinda hoping they don't.