DAILY ROUNDS.....

Let’s get to the news….

+ First, hope is near.Word is the WGA strike could be over as early as Friday. This would mean people can get back to work and I will be able to mock poorly dressed celebs on the red carpet once again!

+ Is the news covering the death of talented actors and crazy Scientologists to the point where you are getting only 6 pics in the tabs this week Britney? Well I know the cure, let’s watch another meltdown! Spears’ family has arrived in Los Angeles to allegedly get the pop flop some serious medical help. Her new boyfriend, Adnan, is shockingly turning out to be just one more of the many thousands of triggers she has which continually lead to madness. On a side note, people apparently have adverse reactions to being used, abused and defiled by loved ones. Seriously, get this chick some help already.

+ Apparently one of the many reality tv programming outlets have just come under major backlash due to “not too black” memo that was fueling the casting directors decisions on some shows. You pick which cable channel did it, since it’s a blind item. I am thinking no to look towards MTV and Vh1, since seem to have no problem with that. Possibly Bravo?

+ This chick knows how to work publicity. After the DGA fiasco, Sean Young has entered rehab. according to The Insider. I swear, the reality TV is almost one hundred percent confirmed at this point.

+Gwen Stefani is pregnant with her second child, reports People.com.

+ Good news to all you thrifty ladies out there, Cynthia Rowley is coming to Target after the departure of Isaac Mizrahi.

+ STARZ has confirmed it will be producing a TV drama of the Oscar winning and hate inducing “Crash”. If this was an announcement from Cinemax, my guess it would have been an adaptation of this is coming to a TV set near you. Interestingly enough it isn’t this one, "Crash".

+ Imposter uses Ledger's dad's name to dupe Tom Cruise and John Travolta. The scammer, who is obviously missing his soul, was able to talk to Cruise on the phone and attempted to have Travolta purchase him a plane ticket. Unfortunately, he also scammed the funeral home, where Heath had his private memorial and viewing last week to put him up in in a swanky 4 star NYC hotel, under the guise of being Ledger’s mourning father. While I can’t understand how someone can be so foul to do such a thing, I am wondering why the leaders of celeb Scientology keep finding their names entangled in this story.

+ In touring news, REM announced Spring/Summer 2008 tour. Their opening acts will be Modest Mouse and The National. They will be playing on Long Island and I will be going! Also, BAM is presenting a big to do about Paul Simon. Grizzyly Bear, David Byrne and Simon himself, along with many others, will be performing and celebrating Simon’s tenure in the music industry.

+ Michael Showalter talks to AV Club about “The State” DVDs, Stella, stand up comedy and Obama. Seriously if someone doesn’t release this shit soon, I'm gonna explode.

+ And finally, here is a sneak peek at the new Will Farrell and John C. Reilly movie, ”In Step Brothers”. Obviously, this shit will be funny and it’s coming to theaters this summer.

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow, we will be bringing you the third installment in “CSI and the Wrath of Cruise”. ENJOY!

Thank you.....

Here at The Spielster, I am seriously excited!!! Last week was our best week ever!!! Our daily hits multiplied by 11 times and our page views by 15. We saw a major influx of new and unique visitors and I am one hundred percent sure it is partly due to our coverage of the Cruise and CSI debacle and the untimely death of Heath Ledger. Another huge help has been the addition the flow of traffic and many new readers from Gawker & Jezebel.

I just wanted to take a minute out to thank all my new readers and those loyal ones who have been here from the beginning. I am looking forward to 2008 being a big year for me and The Spielster. I will also be working on another NYC centric site with a very talented friend, so good things are coming. As promised, the continuation of CSI and the Wrath of Cruise will wrap up this week and we will begin another feature story next week.

Again, thanks for stopping by, all of the comments and for those who are spreading the word. I would be doing this if I had only one person stopping by, but its great to see people are reacting to what you are doing. Also, if you have anything you want The Spielster to cover or link, please email tips or stuff to spielarama@gmail.com.

THANKS AND ENJOY!!!!

DAILY ROUNDS - UPDATED

This weekend was nice and relaxing here in New York. I also had “sort of” a run in with the Lohan at Da Salvino on Saturday evening. My friends and I were walking around the neighborhood and turned the corner to see a good amount of paps waiting outside Da Salvino. Every time my ass encounters paps on the street waiting for someone, its always Lohan. My friends and I asked, since it was like 5PM, not usual dining time for celebs, and one rudely says “I don’t give that information”. Who cares, Lohan came out like 5 minutes later, covered in fur.















Anyways, let’s get to what’s been happening while you were watching Rock of Love 2.....

+ Not sure if this is good news or bad news for America, but ”Meet the Spartans” beat “Rambo” at the box office this weekend. It was only by half a million bucks, but sadly the two flicks topped the charts at the first and second places, pulling in all together about $37 million. And we let these people decide who will run the country later this year??

+ Speaking of politics, Obama won the South Carlolina primary, now leading with the most delegates. He also picked up endorsements from the Kennedy clan this weekend. The two generations of Kennedys, Ted and Patrick, along with Caroline Kennedy, have announced they will campaign for the Illinois Senator. Toni Morrison, famous author who called Bill Clinton “America’s First Black President”, will also be backing Obama for this election.

+ In other political news, Giuliani needs a win in Florida, which is incredibly unlikely and McCain and Romney continue to pander to the base and call each other “liberals”. Actual liberals shudder at the mere thought.

+ And in dumb and irrelevant political news, Scarlett Johansson is a moron. While being asked if she was engaged to her boyfriend, actor Ryan Reynolds, she said she only had room in her life for one man now and it was Obama. She continued to say that she was engaged to the Presidential candidate and was in love with him. This is a perfect reason why sometimes have celebrities campaign for you is NOT the best idea. Can this girl be any dumber? Well she does get to sleep with Reynolds, so she isn’t the dimmest bulb in town.

+ Sadly, not all boy bands get the memo that you can’t be in a boy band if you are almost 40. New Kids on the Block are planning to make a comeback, reports People.com. They brought back their website and are expected to make an official announcement with their recording and touring plans in the next few weeks. To be honest, I might have to go and check it out, considering there was a time in my life I would have died for Joey McIntyre. And I am just assuming, cause why wouldn’t they, that there is also a reality show in the works that will showcase this disaster comeback. Can’t wait to see Johnny. UPDATED!!!!! Sadly, Danny Wood says no to the REUNION RUMORS!!! The one time boy bander wanted to squash the rumors so he hit up MYSPACE. I am a little bummed now!

+ And finally, in crazy news Sean Young was kicked out of the DGA Awards this weekend. The nutbag actress was apparently so drunk she was shouting at recipients of awards all night, until security asked her to leave and when she did not comply, physical removed her. When Julian Schnabel received his award, she began screaming “Get over with it already!”, to which he responded “When was the last time you mattered?”…no no no Pajama bottoms told her to have another drink. I personally wish someone had slugged her that night, but no such luck. Who wants to bet either Bravo or Vh1 were developing a reality program for this lovely D-lister this morning?

SAG AWARDS

Well last night Hollywood decided it was finally time to get gussied up and give out some awards when everyone and their mom attended the Screen Actors Guild Awards.



Everyone looked wonderful and happy, even Angelina Jolie, who was doing nothing to squashthe pregnancy rumors with the brown tarp she came to the awards in. The winners were as expected with Daniel Day-Lewis and “No Country for Old Men” coming out on top. It was also the last time “The Sopranos” cast will be winning for their performances in the HBO show. The WGA did not picket or prohibit actors to attend the show, since the two unions are backing each other. But the WGA did make sure to announce that they have not yet agreed to allow the Oscars to go on without a hitch this year. Uggh, can’t we all just get along? Josh Brolin hogged the spotlight accepting the award for best Cast Performance in a Motion Picture and referred to his directors, the Coen brothers, as “little freaks”. Someone is still bitter there was no nomination for him, I guess. The one touching part of the night was when Day-Lewis was accepted his award, his made a beautiful speech and dedicated the award to actor Heath Ledger, who passed away last week. It was quite a touching send off, considering the two men were not close.

Let’s check out the full list of winners, which includes the TV and Film categories:


Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: No Country for Old Men
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Julie Christie, “Away From Her”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Ruby Dee, “American Gangster
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: James Gandolfini, “The Sopranos”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: , “The Sopranos”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: “The Sopranos”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: “The Office”
Lifetime Achievement Award:Charles Durning

John "can't quit Ledger"......

Ok John, turn down the flame. Lordy, I think Travolta is just playing with us at this point, you know like “ Let’s see how gay I can sounds about things!” Someone decided to interview him about Ledger’s death, presumably because he was celebrating Australia Week in the USA at the time of his passing. Here is a little bit of the gems Travolta said about Heath and his effect on Hollywood.

"I would give back all of my awards and my nominations just to have him back again… We love you Heath, wherever you are. He was my favorite actor and my favorite talent. It’s like losing James Dean. I wanted to meet him because I was very impressed with him from the very beginning. His agent introduced me to him at a party, and I just fell (in love). Actors need other actors to be inspired by, and he was my actor. He was beautiful in his reaction; I was an idol of his - my reacting that way to his work really blew him away, but he was very modest and almost bashful about the compliment."

Ugghh, come on! Bashful? He was probably scared shitless of you weirdo. I swear CSI is behind this death. John wanted Ledger for some “behind the scenes” work and he didn’t want to play. Travolta probably saw Brokeback Mountain and got all confused thinking it was real life. John wanted his own cowboy. Ecck! My favorite part of the commentary is “I would give back all my awards”. What awards? People’s Choice? CSI Medals of Honor? I am pretty sure those are not the best bargaining tools. I think these two dudes met like once or twice and it was probably Travolta fawning all over Heath like a 12 year old school girl. And anyways, I thought Scientologists could control time, matter and space. So John, get in a space ship, go back in time and revive him.

And here’s another bonehead comment from a Fox New anchor on Heath’s death(You will need to click on this to hear it – I will not put it on my site!). I don’t think its any secret that this network 1) Sucks, 2) Does not actually provide news other then missing white girls exposes, and 3) They have the morality of lifetime criminals. I do have to say that these quotes go way over the line and would like to point out that Fox LOVES receiving emails in regards to their programming, so take a cue from Perez and email YOU R THOUGHTS on Gibson’s tactless comments to john.gibson@foxnews.com. Again, I detest the humans behind FakeFoxNews.

Heath Ledger RIP, UPDATED....

With most of the events and information surrounding the unexpected death of Heath Ledger coming out, I will be providing a daily update for you readers. As you read here yesterday, I do not want to hound the issue, but I would love to make sure my readers are getting a full and truthful story on his untimely death.

Investigators have confirmed that the drugs found in the apartment were contained in their prescription bottles and that there was no drug residue found on a $20 bill near Ledger’s body. It has been reported the home was in order and nothing was strewn about, as previously stated by multiple news sources. It also seems that masseuse who found Ledger unconscious body used his cell phone to contact Mary-Kate Olsen, , which could explain original reports of Ledger’s passing in Olsens’ apartment, which we now know to be false. What the investigators can’t tell us is why the masseuse and housekeeper on the scene continued to contact Ms. Olsen, as opposed to going directly to 911, since they found the actor unconscious. Olsen apparently had her security guards, who were located within her home close to Ledger’s, to come over and assess the situation. They arrived at the same time as 911 dispatched EMTs did, around 3:30 PM. There is an autopsy underway and the results should be available within the next two weeks. Discussions by various doctors have said that combining sleep aids with a too powerful antihistamine could have possibly led to the actor’s accidental death.

It is also reported that a private viewing and memorial service will be conducted in NYC later today. Michelle Williams returned to the Brooklyn home she once shared with Ledger yesterday, with the one time couple’s daughter, Matilda. She is reported to have her mother and Matilda’s godmother, Busy Phillipsat her side during this insanely devastating time. Makeshift memorials have been put together by the public outside Ledger’s Soho and Boerum Hill home. Again, our hearts go out to those closest to Ledger and wish them some solace during their time of grief. And as promised, updated information will be provided to you throughout the day.

DAILY ROUNDS.

Short and sweet today my friends, short and sweet...

+ First, John Edwards is charming and has great ideas, unfortunately no seems to hear him. Check him out here on the David Letterman show.

+ No Rest for the Wicked....perfect heading at best. Phelps is at it again.

+ Kathleen Turner is coming out with her bio... and apaprently she isn't very nice in discussing some of her previous costars. I can't wait to read this rag!!!! She hates on Nic Cage and Burt Reynolds and dishes on some of her leading men's drug habits. I love this hot bitch!

+ Jenna Fischer is not with David Spade. The comedienne let's the world know she is a bit smarter then the average sitcom leading lady.

+ Swooon!!!! I want to have dinner with Alan Rickman and then desert and then coffee and then, well that stuff is private. Rickman has been a heart throb to me since I saw him "Robin Hood". I know he is weird, British and a bit long in the tooth for me will not stop the obsession. Here is a cute pic of him at Sundance.

+ Amy Winehouse is in more trouble. Authorities are going to be looking into that crack smoking video everyone and their mom forwarded to me earlier in the week. Not sure what you can do to a person when they no longer have possession of the illegal substance, but who knows. Apparently, she is NOT in rehab, but has visited a "private facility" to take care of her issues. Damn, if I was close friends with Mark Ronson, I would find another way to take care of my problems.

+ And finally, I now know my ass doesn't have to fly out to California in April since the headliners of Coachella, other then Portishead, might sound more interesting if I was a freshman and just joined fraternity. I have to say that the smaller bands of the show make up a really good line up, but I don't think that is enough to make me fly out to the desert and chill for three days. With all the rumored headliners, how did they end up with Jack Johnson and Roger Waters? Is this becoming Surf Aid or something?
--

RIP Heath Ledger

I wanted to start this morning off with a bit more information on the death of Heath Ledger and also some personal thoughts. I know that since he was a public figure, we all feel like we know him and can’t understand how something like this could happen to someone with such a promising life. Yesterday, I can definitely say that shock went through us all when we got the news in the later afternoon here. Even though I was not a friend to Ledger, this news hit me harder then most celebrity deaths. Obviously, he was a talent, an actor who had a gift and would have had a successful career. He was also a man with a young and bright child, whom he adored and many friends, none who saw anything like this headed his way. The sudden death of a person who has everything going for them makes you rethink what goes on in your own life and helps you revaluate things. It was also sad to hear the innuendos and rumors come out right away about such a gentle soul. The man was still working on an upcoming Terry Gilliam projectand had The Dark Knightpress tour around the corner and all things said an even promising next few years after the critical success of Brokeback Mountainand I'm Not There.

The passing of Heath is a bit different for me then the passing of other celebrities because I know personal friends of his and, without going into detail, yesterday was not a great day. I can’t imagine finding out about the death of a loved one via TMZ or a phone call from an acquaintance because they heard about it on CNN. I can’t imagine being contacted by press to discuss your friend’ habits and “if I saw it coming” and I can’t imagine having to grieve in public like his friends and family have to do. With that being said, there will be no rumor reports here, which other sites cashed in on yesterday. As of now, his death is being looked at as an overdose, if it was accidental or intentional has yet to be confirmed. We do know that no foul play occurred and he was in an apartment close to that of the Olsen twins, which is why both Mary-Kate and Ashley’s name came up yesterday in various reports. And the only thing we know for sure is that a bright light in cinema and doting father was put to rest way too early in his lifetime.

I can go for the easy jab here and say how sad this world is when someone like Britney Spears will fake suicide attempts and mental illness to garner more press and more attention, while people dealing with actual problems don’t get the help they receive because they bury it down inside them. Again, my condolences go out to family and friends and I do hope that this death is not taken lightly by others in the limelight that have no problem playing with their own lives. And our dearest sympathy goes out to a very young girl out there who unfortunately will never really get to know her father.

In the wake of this, my mind and thoughts are not interested in discussing the CSI and Wraith of Tom Cruise today. There will only be happy go lucky Daily Rounds here my friends. Check back on Friday for the third installment of CSI and WoTC.

Heath Ledger, Dead at Age 28

This is ridiculously sad news. Page Six reported about 20 minutes ago that Heath Ledger was found dead in a Soho apartment earlier this afternoon.



Authorities have ruled out foul play for now. The cause of death is presumed to be an accidental overdose of prescription pills. The actor is survived by his two year old daughter, Matilda.

Sources: NY Times/Page Six/Gawker

Correction: Heath was not found in Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment, but a neighboring one to her.
THIS STORY IS BREAKING NEWS AND WILL BE UPDATED WHEN MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

And the Oscar goes to......

This morning we found who the nominees are for the 80th Annual Academy Awards, when they were announced around 8:30 AM EST. There were some small surprises, but the biggest surprise of them all is that the show might not happen this February. As of yet, there is no deal between the WGA and AMPTP, and conversations between the two groups ceased a month ago. Right now, no one is even sure exactly how the Oscar awards will be presented, but Jon Stewart is still confirmed as host and Motion Picture & Television Fund's annual Night Before fund-raiser the night before the Oscars, since funds raised aid the entertainment community.

This year the race to Oscar was definitely predictable in certain categories, but in others the little guys seemed to prevail. I think one of the biggest shocks to me was the presence of Juno’s Jason Reitman in the Best Director category, as opposed to Sean Penn for Into the Wild. The Best Performance for a Female in a Lead Role was also an interesting one, as expected shoe ins Keira Knightleyand Angelina Jolie were left out in the cold, while newbie Ellen Page and Laura Linney landed spots in the coveted category. While Juno is an adorable film, I am not sure how Oscar worthy it is, especially this year when the Best Picture category is chock full of quality. My bets are on No Country For Old Men to sweep picture and director category and as predicted by pretty much everyone, Daniel Day-Lewis will step away with the Best Actor award. In the supporting categories, Blanchett is almost a given and it’s the supporting actor category that has people guessing between Hal Holbrook, who has yet to win an on Oscar and Casey Affleck. Enough with the predictions, lets get to the nominees…….


For Best Picture:

"Atonement" (Focus Features)

"Juno" (Fox Searchlight)

"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

For Actor in Leading Role:

George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"

Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"

Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"

Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises”

For Actress in Leading Role:

Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)

Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)

Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)

Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)

Ellen Page in "Juno" (Fox Searchlight)

For Supporting Actor:

Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"

Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild"

Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson’s War"

Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton"

For Supporting Actress:

Cate Blanchett in "I’m Not There"

Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"

Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement")

Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"

Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"

For Best Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson - "There Will Be Blood"

Ethan Coen & Joel Coen - "No Country For Old Men"

Tony Gilroy - "Michael Clayton"

Jason Reitman - "Juno"

Julian Schnabel - "The Diving Bell And The Butterfly"

You can check out the rest, here Hopefully, we will learn of the fate of the Oscars cause I can’t take a NY winter without some red carpet shenanigans. Later today, you’ll get some Daily Rounds and the third installment of the CSI and the Wrath of Cruise.

ENJOY!!!

RIP Suzanne Pleshette

The actress Suzanne Pleshette passed away yesterday from complications with Lung Cancer, at age 70. Pleshette was most famous for her role as Emily Hartley, the snarky wife of Bob Newhart on the sitcom The Bob Newhart Show. She was also in one of my favorite movies of all times, The Birds as Annie Hayward. I believe that her role in "The Birds" was the predecessor to Donna Hayworth from David Lynch's Twin Peaks

Pleshette was once married to the actor Troy Donahue and in 2001 she married her on time costar on Newhart, Tom Poston. The couple dealt with cancer and other illnesses, which took Poston's life last April.
Our deepest condolences go out to Pleshette's family and friends. This world will miss this classy lady!

South Park, CSI and Tom Cruise

Check in tomorrow for the third part of CSI and the Wrath of Cruise. In the meantime, check out this mash up of the best episode of "South Park" ever - Trapped in the Closet and the now infamous Tom Cruise nutso video. It also points out what I have been thinking for years and discusses how Cruise was not acting in "Magnolia".

Far be it from me...

The quality is crap, but the NBC Kids/Andy Williams special is one of my favorite things from childhood. This is why I love Youtube. The beginning showcases stars from Punky Brewster, The Cosby Show and Give me a Break. ENJOY!!!!

Daily Rounds

I enjoyed discussing the Daily Rounds so much yesterday, I figured I would do it again today. Here we go...

+Hope is here. The Directors Guild of America have come to terms and made a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The two groups agreed on a three year contract that negotiated the rights and payment of online content. Word on the street is that this deal will be used to move the AMPTP and the WGA closer to a deal and an end to their strike. Hopefully this all happens before the Oscars!

+Speaking of writers, directors and actors – Oh MY!The Sundance Film Festival began in Park City last night. The most buzzed about movies this year for the festival are Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, directed by Michel Gondry, & Choke, the adaptation of my favorite book by Chuck Palniuk, starring Sam Rockwell & Mysteries of Pittsburgh, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Sienna Miller. I have been so excited for Choke ever since I found out Rockwell was cast in the lead role. This could be (crossing my fingers) one of the best adaptations ever!

+EW interviews the latest Auf'd designer Kit from Project Runway. I have to say that I am super glad that “Team Fierce” won this week’s challenge since they seriously knocked it out of the park. I lover when the group gets smaller on the show because the competition really turns up. As long as Ricky is gone next week, we are going to have a real interesting race to Fashion Week.

+Lily Allen suffered a miscarriage. The singer and her partner, Ed Simons, of the Chemical Brothers, announced today through a spokesperson that the couple suffered a miscarriage. Our condolences go out both of them! These things are just so sad, especially when there really isn’t anything to do about it.

+The Smithsonian in DC is opening an exhibition celebrating hip hop and its culture with Recognize! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture. The show opens in early February.

+Rosie O'Donnell is getting her own Broadway show. Apparently the dudes behind Spring Awakening felt the public needed to see Rosie’s life come to “life” on the stage. Uggh!

JJJJJFF JJJJJJFFFFKKKKKK......

In this political season, let's celebrate a real Democrat and President.

Ohh Lohan....

Most of you know that I have a very important place in my heart for my hometown girl Lindsay Lohan. I think this picture can pretty much sum up why the girl went crazy last year.

Source

CSI and the Wrath of Cruise, part 2

Scientology began their efforts on recruiting young celebrities in the 1960’s. The idea came from the top that if they had famous people as members, they would draw in interest from everyday people. Specifically in the 60’s, most well known celebrities “tried out” various religions, i.e. Transcendental Meditation for the Beatles, Magik for Led Zeppelin.

While they might not have stayed as long as the religious leaders would have like them to, they did bring a cache to various movements. L. Ron Hubbard believed that their religion would draw in the rich and the famous because of its tenets and practices. Hubbard and the executive members of the church became obsessed with obtaining celebrity members. Down to the nitty gritty of CSI, the core “belief” is to improve your status on this earth, you need to improve yourself. After spending about $867,045 on your various classes and audits to get yourself to the point of “clear”, Scientologists believe that once they achieve that level they will be able to control time, matter and space. So basically, this would make the highest ranking members, those who have obtained the highest OT Levels, as present day gods. Now they believe if you are able to rid yourself of your body thetans, or the aliens who came back to the earth to inhabit humans and lower their success rates for a positive life, you have obtained the highest levels and therefore can control the things around you. Anything that I have not covered in this introduction to the Wrath of Cruise about Scientology can be easily found here and here and here.One could easily see why this religion would be quite attractive to a narcissistic character, which most famous celebs and actors are. (Forgive the generalization!)

While the religious “fad” began to all but stop in Hollywood in the 1970’s, Scientology still knew they needed famous followers to promote “their brand”. I am not one hundred percent sure of the reason they first targeted John Travolta for a coveted space in the church, but after receiving audits on a movie set, he was hooked. Insiders say that he turned to the religion to “clean himself” of his homosexuality and increase his presence in Hollywood. He became a poster boy for religion in the early 80’s, at the peak of his career. While many other celebs are members, Travolta was a golden child who cited Scientology has the helping force which led to his success and stardom. But differently then Cruise's relationship with the church and before Micavige's revamping the "branding", most members were quiet about their involvement, only citing the books and techniques as tools as to remove stress and negative effects on their daily lives.

After his marriage to Kelly Preston, who is also a member of the church, and his obtaining the highest level within CSI, Travolta’s career began to fail. His movie roles were weak and the public’s interest in him continued to diminish. His private life was also an issue for him, with the various inside talk about his secret affairs and “boy toys”. Some have said that since the church was not able to fully “cure” him of his homosexuality, they merely helped him keep it under wraps to prevent scandal for both him and CSI. The only problem with this is that while you are getting audited, which is the removal of negative aliens and previous experiences who diminish your capacity to succeed, you end up coping to a lot of shit you might not say otherwise, quite similar to a visit to the psychiatrist, except these recordings are taped and cataloged. Travolta knew that there is no way to leave the church, since the damning evidence they have on him is so strong, so he maintained his position and continued with his practices. While this was occurring, David Miscavige was using his new position as Chairman or leader of the Church of Scientology, to promote it in a different way.
Miscavige, who was once an aid to Hubbard as a teenager, wanted to present the religion with a new focus to the masses. The church would go through various issues in the mid 1980's, including the purchasing of the majority of the downtown area of Clearwater, FL and vast exeposure they were actually seeking now to increase membership. In order to do this, there would have to be a new poster boy and a different image. What is awfully ironic is that when they decided upon Cruise, no one was aware of how much notoriety would be brought to the religion with his association, nor the effect he himself would have on the church.

TO BE CONTINUED
Part 1 of CSI and the Wrath of Cruise

In the meantime, read Radar's coverage with CSI expert Rick Ross.
Check out videos of Cruise and his Scientology rants! courtesy of Oh No They Didn't
Ian Halperin's Cruise/Scientology story courtesy of
Jossip
& Gawker's endless coverage

Daily Rounds

While the Scientology/Cruise debacle continues to take over my mind, let’s get to some fun little gossip tidbits, you might have missed….

+Chloe Sevigny doesn't want to show her private parts anymore. Apparently, blowing your boyfriend on the big screen was just enough exhibitionist behavior for the actress.

+TMZ.com is reporting that four paparazzi were arrested last night after recklessly driving and chasing Britney Spears throughout Mission Hills. Do you really need to chase her at this point? Won’t she be stopping at a gas station for dinner soon?

+Tracey Ullman is coming back to TV. The comedian is set to bring another sketch comedy show to Showtime. This network is killing it the past two years!!!

+Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds announce have split up after their "marriage ceremony" two weeks ago in Bora Bora. Murphy maintains that the “ceremony” was just an expression of their “friendship”. In other words, Edmonds didn’t want to get involved with a tranny chaser.

+Coachella 2008 line up is announced....well sort of. While the majority of the bands that are heading out to California this April have been announced, the festival is still holding out on us who the MAIN headliner is. Various rumors have been swirling, but we do know that it will NOT be David Bowie or My Bloody Valentine. I am praying it’s Blur, since the festival and its rumors seem quite British-centric this year, but who knows.

CSI and the Wrath of Cruise, the beginning

First, let's say that the my fascination with the Church of Scientology and its famous members began almost ten years ago. After a family vacation to Clearwater, FL in 2001 (which was as exciting as it sounds), I had my first real life encounter with the organization. I will limit the details at this point to 1) avoid being sued, 2) avoid being kidnapped and 3) to move the story forward, but basically I watched while multiple white vans pulled up to a insanely beautiful glass building pouring out people and picking them up and dropping them off all over town. Why these people could afford thousand dollar classes on removing aliens from their bodies, but not car payments, I'll never know, but it was one of those very memorable sights in your life that your brain will never squeeze out. I walked into the building all these people ran in to to ask about what was going on there, since I was on vacation and perfected the "duh, what's deal?" look that most visitors have when visiting my fair city of New York. While I was there, I was given a "ticket" to view the Scientology special and got the scary feeling I did not belong. After leaving the building with my mother and grandma, still confused about what goes on there since I saw about 65 people filter in, but not one person roaming the halls, we walked around the Main Street area of Clearwater. If you have ever watched a Twilight Zone episode, you might be familiar with the feeling of being followed for no reason. While there, I have never felt more uncomfortable or on the spot on my life. Later on I would find out why you have the overwhelming feeling that you were being watched from every angle. It was almost like being in "The Truman Show", without the voice over stylings of Ed Harris.


This encounter and the rest of my visit there lead me to devote my senior thesis in college to Scientology and its effect on the Movie Industry (catchy title, I know!). I was a pop culture junkie all the back then and decided that my sociology degree would be put to better usage if I wrote about media and religion. I spent two semesters researching the story and truth behind the religion of Scientology, its very famous and controversial leader L. Ron Hubbard and the many celebrities who could be found on the membership roster of CSI. Tom Cruise stuck out to me back then because of his larger than life personality, which I found interesting that it would be so easily led by a religion, and the many many rumors of his "real" private life. While doing research, which was incredibly hands on, I met with various members of the church, as well as figures within the entertainment industry and it became more obvious to me that Mr. Cruise had a much larger role within the hierarchy of the religion than we were being led to believe. I also found out that John Travolta, Jenna Elfman, Kirstie Alley and Beck were incredibly high up within the inner sanctum of the organization, but I will get to that later. Cruise is the main guy for them and in the next few days, we will get to see why, how and the effect Cruise has had on CSI and vice versa. In the next few days, The Spielster will be on a quest to find out how an up and coming star like Cruise got mixed up in this religion, his various times of questioning his place and the lengths the organization will go to keep him and his family in line. How does the cute star of Risky Business end up jumping up and down on Oprah's couch? You will soon find out.

R.I.P. Brad Renfro

Brad Renfro was found dead yesterday morning at his home in Los Angeles, reports TMZ.com. The 25-year-old actor has had an issue with drug use in the past and has been arrested repeatedly for drug possession. While the cause of death has yet to be confirmed, drugs are suspected to play a part.

I fell in love with this dude when I saw him in the ”The Client” and had his pictures from Teen Beat and such all over my room. The past few years have not been kind to this dude, with the drug abuse and shrinking career. Renfro also had family issues plaguing him since he made the big move to Hollywood back in the early 90’s. The actor just wrapped up filming “The Informers”, which co starred Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton.

My sympathy goes out to his friends and family.

This story will be updated when more information becomes available.

Nothing is painin' on her today....

Oprah Winfrey’s power over the media will increase with the addition of her OWN channel in 2009.

It was announced today that the talk show host will be taking over Discover Network’s fledgling Health Channel. The deal between Discovery Networks and Harpo Productions, Winfrey’s company, was announced today. They will each share the network, as well as the ownership of Oprah.com, the current website for all that is Oprah. Winfrey and Discovery are anticipating the OWN network to be geared towards similar themes that are covered on her daily talk show and her magazine, O Magazine. The deal was made after the President and CEO David Zaslav of Discover approached Winfrey to produce her own network, after reading through O Magazine and seeing the future of what the Health Network should be. For the past few years, Oprah has been showcasing health issues, money/debt assistance and wellness programs on her show and has created an army of consultants and experts to help her along the way. The consultants, like Dr. Oz, Rachel Ray, Nate Berkus and Suzie Orman, may follow her to the network, as well as her contributors to her XM Radio station.

Winfrey is positive that this channel will not be a similar situation to the Oxygen Network, which she assisted on the creation and launch of the women’s programming channel. Winfrey removed herself from the board after a few months when the network “did not reflect my voice". Oprah is excited to maintain “editorial control’ of OWN and proceed with “vision” she has for the network. Oprah’s contract for her daily talk show is up in 2011 and she will be announcing this year if she has plans to extend it. If not, she might become more of a “presence” on the OWN network. No word yet on exact programming details or branding opportunity, but this is a huge cache for Discovery Networks, who already have 13 cable channels. This is also interesting timing to announce the partnership since it was just released that Ellen topped Oprah on the most liked television personality list. Oprah has been number one for the past five years, until Ellen took over the spot, bringing her to number two.

(Source)

Today's look into the Demise of Tom Cruise's Mind..

While many mainstream publications are too busy discussing the obvious and over publicized fall from grace of Ms. Britney Spears, I have been way too preoccupied with the charade that is Tom Cruise’s life.

With the recent announcement of Andrew Morton’s tell all biography of Mr. Cruise, pregnancy of ex-wife Nicole Kidman and the leaking of secret Scientology videos on the internet, let’s just say 2008 has not been a good one for Tom Cruise. Don’t worry Tom…its still early. And it won't help anything either when I begin reporting on the Tom Cruise myth and the pact with Scientology that allows him to hide his true life and continuously marry young starlets. I have been talking about this for years and before the “I love Katie Holmes-Jump on Oprah’s couch-You’re glib Matt” version of Tom Cruise came onto the scene, no one ever thought that this young, charming actor could be hiding anything. I was always greeted with opposition whenever I spoke ill of the man. To be honest, I think at this point, he is so stuck in the muck there really is no way out of it for him, especially when it comes to Scientology. So get ready for a little behind the scenes info on the religion, more background on the guiding force for Mr. Cruise and others in his situation and what the organization does for its big name members. And of course you will also learn about the "marriage" of Cruise and Katie Holmes, where that baby most likely came from and why the mainstream media seems to fixed on pretending this sham is the real deal.

While I am doing that I invite you to check out the clips below, which I think can easily frame a story about Scientology and its effect on its poster boy. First, thank you to Gawker for posting this video first and keeping it up after numerous versions have been removed. This can showcase very well that Tom Cruise is a bit crazy, fully believes in the principals of Scientology, can talk in circles and was not acting in Magnolia.


After the Scientology explosion, check out this clip from Magnolia…..I always knew that performance was too good to be true.

MERV GRIFFIN = COOLEST DUDE EVER!

'nuff said!!!

Can it get any better then this? Damn, I always liked Merv when he was alive, mainly because of his spirit and love for entertaining. But who know he was this rad?

Nice going!

NBC scales back Golden Globes

Ugghhh... I am going on record and saying I am becoming depressed because of these god damn WGA strike. I seriously can't take this shit anymore. Whoever needs to give/get more money, agree upon an amount and get it done!!!!! I am an addict people!!!!!!

Anyways, NBC has decided to air what is considered a "scaled down" presentation of the awards. I love this show because it is a lot less formal then the Oscars and seems more of a party atmosphere. Also, it embraces musicals and comedies, as opposed to the drama filled Oscar party. Up until this weekend, NBC, Jeff Zucker, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Dick Clark Productions and the rest of Hollywood's elite have been bickering about what to do this Sunday about the very important award show. The talent are afraid to cross picket lines to gain access to an award show and NBC/Zucker are pissed that everyone is trying to weasel out of contract to "perform" that night. NBC announced today that the show will still go on, well sort of. The winners will still be announced, but with a press conference feel which is similar to how they announce the nominees. Apparently, they are also in talks to produce a retrospective of the show for that night and an Access Hollywood program which would cover the parties. See now that shit pisses me off.....If Hollywood was smart, they would dress up, come to the show and then try to tell the public what the fuck the writers are trying to prove with the strike. Instead, they are all being pussies, until its party time and then those assholes can get dressed and go out. Well I guess it will be left up to Sunday to see what sort of calamity this will be. And if you have since forgotten who is actually even nominated, here there are again.

And really the biggest let down is not that the stars don't get a big part and an award show or that writers are still on strike, but that Rumer Willis will no longer be Miss Golden Globe. This mess better be cleaned up soon cause I am actually excited about the Oscars this year and if I have another month without new "30 Rock", I might go on a killing spree. You hear me Hollywood!!!!

David Lynch no likey Iphones

Most of you out there know my love for David Lynch is immense and this little gem is nothing short of great. Lynch can definitely go off the handle sometimes and while he can direct perfume ads, he complains about most ads at the same time. Apparently, Mr. Lynch is no fan of fools who think they can watch a movie on their iPhones. I think he needs to chill a bit and understand most film buffs are not thinking they will experience film when its 2 inches by 2 inches and they are killing time while the 7 train remains in between stations. But I have no problem watching him flip his wig over Jobs' latest take over of technology.

I thought indie rock was for sincere dudes?

Apparently not, The Shins' Marty Crandall was arrested for domestic assault on his girlfriend Elyse Sewell, of America Next Top Model fame this past Friday. Sewell wrote about the incident on her blog on live journal, which is why it hit the media so quickly.

The two apparently got into a fight on the way home to Portland, OR and it became physical at a Sacramento hotel. Security in the hotel contacted the police and the couple was both arrested that night on January 4th. Crandall was charged with domestic assault, a felony, due to Sewell's bruises. Crandall had a bite mark, which he apparently received as a self-defense wound, and asked that Sewell be arrested as well. She was, but was released later Saturday night. Crandall still remains in jail and needs a $25,000 bail to get out.

While the news is all from Sewell's side, with all the bruises and the charges from the cops, I think that Crandall is a real assface and I hope these two do not get back together. If someone can hit you that much, they obviously have issues and can not give real love.

Source