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20 articles
Carrie Prejean Discusses Sex Tape With Sean Hannity: "Worst Mistake Of My Life" (Video)
12 hours ago
Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California USA who became a darling among conservatives when she refused to support same-sex marriage during the Miss USA Pageant, went on Sean Hannity's show tonight to promote her book and confirm TMZ's report that she made some kind of sex tape when she was a teenager. Making the tape was the "worst mistake of my life," Prejean repeatedly said. "I was all by myself. I was sending my boyfriend at the time, who I loved and cared about, you know, video of me. I was a teenager at the time and never did I ever think it would come out." Prejean told Hannity that she is "taking total responsibility for it." Watch: ... »
- Nick Graham
Ellen Degeneres: I'll Be With Portia De Rossi Until The Day I Die (Video)
17 hours ago
Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi visited Oprah Monday for their first interview as a married couple. "This is the smartest, kindest, most wonderful woman that you'll ever, ever know," Ellen gushed as she introduced her wife. Oprah asked Portia when she knew Ellen was the one. "When I first laid eyes on her," Portia said. "But it took me three years to actually tell her how I felt about her, because I was on 'Ally McBeal' at the time and wasn't living as an openly gay person. I was closeted and very very afraid that if I talked about being gay it would be the end of my career. So I wasn't about to date the most famous lesbian in the world." Ellen and Portia first planned to have a commitment ceremony, but gay marriage became legal in California... »
- Katy Hall
Dakota Fanning Talks High School, Boys, 'Twilight' (Photos)
17 hours ago
Dakota Fanning covers the new Teen Vogue and inside poses for a leggy photo shoot. She also talks about high school, cheer leading, boys and playing Jane the Volturi vampire in 'Twilight: New Moon.' Here are some highlights: On going to high school (she's a junior at a private school in La): "I started there in the ninth grade, and they were pretty receptive to me right away. I really wanted a home base, because I feel like no matter how old people are, they remember homecoming. They remember their senior prom. And I really wanted that." On her dating experience: "One boy from my school. I have a small class, so the pool is very limited. Everyone kind of knows everyone." On costar Kristen Stewart: "We became really close, like we'd known each other for our whole lives. We talk all... »
- Katy Hall
The Pride of Precious Jones
17 hours ago
Warning: Spoiler alert!!! Do not read further if you haven't already seen the movie "Precious"! Few have responded to Lee Daniels' newest offering with indifference. In the New York Times A. O. Scott gushed, "Push achieves an eloquence that makes it far more than a fictional diary of extreme dysfunction, so too does "Precious" avoid the traps of well-meaning preachy lower-depths realism. It howls and stammers, but it also sings...Inarticulate and emotionally shut down...Precious is also perceptive and shrewd, possessed of talents visible only to those who bother to look..." In no uncertain terms, writing in the New York Press, outraged critic Armand White counters, "Not since"The Birth of a Nation" has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as "Precious". Full of brazenly racist clichés... it is a sociological horror... »
- Michael Henry Adams
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
18 hours ago
When Sarah and I decided to make a film about our father, we did a Freedom of Information Act request for his FBI file. Six months passed. One morning, without fanfare, a large plain file box arrived filled with thousands of partially blacked-out pages. The first entry was a letter from a concerned citizen in Westchester, New York, written in 1961: "Gentlemen," the letter begins, "I have some information that may be of interest to you ... We have been having some trouble in our town with housing for Negros ... These Negros all have the same lawyer ... It looks like the same old Commie pattern ... The lawyer's name is William Kunstler." The letter led us to Paul and Orial Redd, and a chapter of our dad's story that we knew nothing about. In the 1950s, William Kunstler... »
- Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler
Actor Hilary Swank Becomes a High Flying Aviator in Amelia
18 hours ago
While everyone is marveling at the heroism of the female cop who stopped the Fort Hood gunman during his killing spree, it was not so long ago that women weren't allowed to serve in the military or on the police force. Hell, they're still not allowed to drive in some countries or even go out unaccompanied. With those thoughts in mind, director Mira Nair's telling of Amelia Earhart's relatively short life and long accomplishments resonates even more profoundly. The pioneering aviator became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic; she broke many other records, promoting aviation and air travel and was an early champion of women's rights. She also was an international celebrity, became a hugely successful pitch woman and had a version of an open marriage. And this all happened during the 1930s -- before World... »
- Brad Balfour
Poet Pride: A Charm City Classic on Film
19 hours ago
When you think of cities that have produced some of the greatest basketball players to lace up a pair of sneakers, New York and Chicago seem to be at the forefront of the memory banks. But most overlooked is Baltimore, MD, a metropolis that has been a breeding ground of blue chip talent for nearly 50 years. A new basketball documentary, Poet Pride, looks to change this oversight once and for all by taking a look at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. Located in the heart of East Baltimore, this famed institution has produced some of the greatest basketball players in the country; including local legends Allen "Skip" Wise, Kurk Lee and Donta Bright, and national superstars such as Sam Cassell, Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues and the late Reggie Lewis. Poet Pride, directed and produced by Dunbar graduates David Manigault, Robert... »
- Timothy Cooper
Oh My God?: "God", a Word for Children?
19 hours ago
For the next few weeks, HuffPost will be hosting an array of respondents -- including spiritual leaders, world leaders, personalities and celebrities -- who are asked to fill in the blank to the statement: God is... The series will lead up to and accompany the November 13 opening of the upcoming documentary Oh My God? **** God is a word for children. For the few who grow up, it is deep, private and wordless, and has nothing to do with the schoolyard chatter of conflicting religions. Yet, paradoxically, it is the very young and the very old who know this best. It is quite possible to practice the 'awareness of the presence of God'. Those who do come to realize that religions too belong largely to words and concepts, where God is not to be found. Anyone who tells you they know... »
- Lawrence Blair Ph.D.
The End of Poverty?
19 hours ago
Philippe Diaz didn't set out to direct a Hollywood blockbuster with The End of Poverty? He intended to initiate a sober, serious dialogue and suggest a solution rather than merely present an immediate palliative. The film isn't a visual refrain of "We Are the World," projecting a simple but stirring message that excites audiences' heartstrings with an emotive, escalating chorus and a promise of donated proceeds. The End of Poverty? prompts more disturbing emotions and requests greater sacrifices than purchasing a recording or ticket. The film is a blistering probe into historical and enduring capitalistic manipulation and the type of systemic exploitation and subjugation that most Americans consider ancient past, predating abolition and the Emancipation Proclamation. Central to the film's thesis is an ingrained North/South economic model that Diaz and his experts present as an enduring and odious spillover from... »
- Wayne Trujillo
Israel's Arabs -- A Cinematic Voice in New York
20 hours ago
Few whirls of the Mideast maelstrom are more confusing than Israel's Arab population - those 1.7 million urban and rural Arabs whose forebears wisely chose to remain in the newborn State of Israel rather than flee and become Palestinian refugees. Today, Israeli Arabs (or "Palestinian Israelis" as some now modishly call themselves) comprise more than 20 per cent of the Jewish state's overall population. Muslims, Christians, Druze and Bedouin - they are Israel's largest and fastest growing minority. They are also arguably the luckiest Arabs in the Middle East. Citizens of the region's only functioning democracy, they enjoy the same legal rights as their Jewish compatriots. They vote, have Israeli Arab members of the Israeli parliament, Israeli Arab judges, Israeli Arab diplomats, Israeli Arab writers and entertainers, Israeli Arab lawyers, teachers, scientists, industrialists and doctors - notably women... »
- Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ishtar Lives! Men Who Stare at Goats
21 hours ago
N.B.: Ishtar, starring two of the hottest stars of the seventies: Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, was one of the 'biggest' movies released in 1987. Its can't miss premise involving two American lounge singers wandering in the Moroccan desert was directed by Elaine May of Mike Nichols and Elaine May fame. A 'buddy' movie with a comic/action plot, it has been on most top ten worst films in history lists since its release. Reactions to the movie were so negative that all copies were confiscated by the United Nations and are kept under guard at the Yucca Mountain Repository. Men Who Stare at Goats is so bad that I write in stunned disbelief. I can only compare the experience to, let me think, watching paint dry while undergoing a colonoscopy sans anesthesia while Perez Hilton scratches his long acrylic fingernails slowly... »
- Michael Jones
Music for the Fall of the Berlin Wall
21 hours ago
Kids today! All worked up about terrorism. Ooooh, scary, a gaggle of bearded men in caves are after us. Pfffff. Back before the fall of the Berlin Wall -- 20 years ago on November 9, 1989 -- the world lived in the constant shadow of a genuine existential threat: total nuclear annihilation. The possibility that we could all be vaporized in a matter of minutes occupied a dark but prominent place not only in our individual consciences but in pop culture as well. There were cheeky admonishments like Billy Bragg's "Help Save the Youth of American" or Men At Work's "It's a Mistake." And the bomb loomed large for thrash bands, too. For some it may have been just another means to engage in their lyrical orgies of blood and gore, but for others -- check out Exodus's "Fabulous Disaster"... »
- Tim Mohr
Remembering Tennessee Williams
23 hours ago
Playwright John Patrick Shanley, referring to Tennessee Williams as a "gorgeous unstoppable beast," recounted an incident in a restaurant when he, a budding writer, maybe thirty feet away from the master dramatist, could not bring himself to say hello. Such is the power of "influence" that any person in theater would stand in awe of this writer of poetry, short stories and the extraordinary body of plays for which he is best known. Shanley was among two dozen speakers who paid tribute to Tennessee Williams at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine on Thursday evening, themselves a Who's Who of American theater: Vanessa Redgrave who had originated the role of "Lady" in "Orpheus Descending" read from "Not About Nightingales," Marian Seldes who created the role of Blackie in "Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore," Sylvia Miles performed her role,... »
- Regina Weinreich
Demi Moore: I'd Prefer To Be Called A Puma
23 hours ago
Demi Moore covers the new W magazine in a golden metal dress and inside poses for a sexy shoot. Two days shy of 47, Moore tells the magazine that her age is stifling her career...but don't call her a cougar. Here are some highlights: On aging in Hollywood: "The frustrating part is that the type of roles I'd be interested in are not really coming to me. I hate to say it's a function of my age--but yes, I think in some ways it is. The majority of [female] roles are geared between 25 and 35." On being called a cougar for her marriage to Ashton Kutcher, 31: "I'm certainly not the first person to be in a relationship with a younger man, but somehow I was plucked out as a bit of a poster girl. I don't know why that is.... »
- Katy Hall
HuffPost Review: Uncertainty
23 hours ago
We make millions of decisions everyday, any one of which might prove to be the linchpin of some unexpected outcome that changes everything forever. Life is full of those moments which, upon reflection, make you think: what if...? Or: if only...? David Siegel and Scott McGehee's Uncertainty, (opening in limited release and via VOD Friday, 11.13.09) comes at the idea in an ingenious and engaging way. A partially improvised film, this intriguing drama follows a young couple on a day when they might have chosen one of two courses of action -- and takes them through the twists and turns of each decision. Kate (Lynn Collins) and Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are a couple undecided on what to do on one particular day in New York. So they stand in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge and flip a coin. When it lands,... »
- Marshall Fine
Parsis in Paris: Little Zizou in the Land of Zidane
9 November 2009 8:01 AM, PST
It's not often one finds photographs of Parsis on display in the heart of Paris. But that is just what strollers along the Seine can find this fall. The photographs, by Sooni Taraporevala, are part of the Quai Branly museum's biannual exhibition Photoquai. It is free and open to the public 24/7 through November 22. Best known as a talented screen writer who has worked closely with film maker Mira Nair on such movies as Salaam Bombay! and The Namesake, Taraporevala was in Paris last week for the exhibition and for a double screening of her newly released feature film Little Zizou. Like her photographs, Little Zizou is a loving portrait of the Parsi community to which Ms. Taraporevala belongs. But whereas the photographs are elegant, faintly nostalgic black-and-white compositions that speak as much about what... »
- Mira Kamdar
Fantasy Football Surpasses All Previous Cringe Thresholds
9 November 2009 7:49 AM, PST
It's gone too far. Maybe it's not gone as far to say it's a sign of the apocalypse for organized sports but the existence of a new fantasy football situation comedy on FX -- The League -- tells us just how far off the beam the collective sports consciousness has fallen. I don't get it. I never have. Lord knows I love my sports but I'm not among the several millions of so-called "sports fans" who invest months of their lives and sink hundreds of their dollars into fantasy sports. Call me crazy it's just that I still "fantasize" about being the quarterback, not the General Manager. According to one half of the husband-wife team who created The League, I'm missing the major social advances this recreational adjunct to real sports provides: "For women it's a great way to learn football,"... »
- Dave Hollander
HuffPost Reviews: Bon Jovi, The Killers, AC/DC, Sting, Tori Amos, and More, Plus This Week's New Albums
9 November 2009 7:39 AM, PST
Bon Jovi - The Circle From its single "We Weren't Born To Follow" through its closer "Learn To Love," The Circle doesn't overextend or pretend to be anything more than a good Bon Jovi record. Presented here are twelve non-stop anthems whose only mission is to make you feel good or at least make you feel something. Jon has stated, "I try to do this to a fault: I won't write a downer song because I want to use that moment for the people that are listening to find something to lift them up," and album highlights like "...Follow," "Superman Tonight," and "Work For The Working Man" pound that point home. Even the album's ballads such as "Live Before You Die" supply as much positivity and fist-pounding confidence building as their uptempo cousins, all songs achieving this without sounding preachy. The eternally... »
- Mike Ragogna
Does the Symphonic Orchestra Model Work?
9 November 2009 5:20 AM, PST
One of the Fellows participating in the Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute raised a serious question with me: can the traditional model of a symphony orchestra work in the United States? He observed that salaries are very high for musicians, conductors and guest artists, and ticket demand is not strong enough to cover most of these costs. High ticket prices are stifling that demand and contributions will continue to have to grow very rapidly to cover inflation. I cannot argue with this analysis. Somehow the cost structure for American orchestras has risen to the point that every orchestra is likely to struggle to make ends meet. I do believe that a group of elite orchestras will survive, and even thrive. These orchestras will have the support of their communities, a large thriving fund-raising program and,... »
- Michael Kaiser
Crowdsourced band release "I've got nothing" single
8 November 2009 4:28 PM, PST
A band composed of four teenage YouTubers has released an entirely-crowdsourced single. 19-year-old Charlie McDonnell joined forces with three other teenage YouTube users to take part in a BBC Switch project named 'ChartJackers', in which they are attempting to break in to the UK chart in an unorthodox style; they have no budget, no experience and have to crowdsource everything - musicians, producers and promotion. The song, I've got nothing, was a combined effort, with a number of users coming up with the lyrics. The group even managed to get help and advice from Fame Academy vocal coaches Carrie and David Grant. Last week, the Chartjackers launched a two-pronged social media attack on UK Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills. They encouraged Twitter users to send him Tweets and emails about their song in a bid to have it played on air. You can... »
- Scott Campbell
20 articles
