Is Paul Newman battling cancer?

There have been rumors swirling around awhile now that Paul Newman, beloved actor and philanthropist, is battling the incredibly tough disease lung cancer. The National Ennquirer ran with the very "classy" cover story, predicting the actor's death within the next six weeks and most entertainment and pop culture blogs have run with the story. According to The Dish Rag at LA Times, both Newman's agent and spokesperson that the actor is not "dying", nor is he currently battling lung cancer.

And while it seems strange that the people surrounding Newman are extremely quick to discount any reports, if it happens to be true, many friends of the actor are are confirming the story to various news outlets, including the Associated Press. Newman has battled prostate cancer in the past and it is common with people in his age bracket, who have suffered from cacner before to find it rearing its ugly head once again in another area of the body. With the internet and rumors swirling, its very hard to hide anything about famous movie stars nowadays and this report shows the thirst from the media to be the first to report the story and the nervousness of the fans in losing a legend and icon like Paul Newman. The 83 year old actor was not only a beyond capable actor, but he became synonomous with megawatt movie star with acting chops. He fell into roles incredibly well and did not allow his matinee idol good looks take away from difficult parts. His marriage to fellow successful actress Joanne Woodward also has become a winning example of how too movie leads can share a life together. Newman, when not winning awards for breakthrough performances, was creating Newman's Own an all natural food with foundation ties that provided qulaity and organic treats with all proceeds going to the foundation. Newman led the pack of actors putting together and supporting philanthropic organizations which set him apart from the other narcissists he sometimes shared the screen with. Newman and Woodward have set themselves apart from others in their industry with making it a point to give back to the community, fully support liberal ideals and continually provide beautiful art on the big screen. While at this time we can not be 100% sure of the health issues affecting the 83 year old actor and activist, but I do know that his stamp and effect on Hollywood will last the test of time. Without him, who knows who would have led the charges for actors, the privilaged, to lend their names, support and publicity to deserving organizations everywhere. It is obvious that Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, George Cloooney and others did not have to look too far from Newman to find acting icon they could fully want to emmulate. If Paul Newman is sick, we wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. If he is not, we we wish him all the best and look forward to what else is on the path for one of Hollywood's greatest specimen of what a movie star should be!

Another one bites the dust - G-List Actor on the record about Scientology

Utto Tommy Boy, here is another detractor. Jason Beghe, an actor best known for an arc on Melrose Place, is coming out publicly against the Church of Scientology and all the money he spent on “getting clear”. In the teaser video below, Beghe goes into detail about what a crock of crapola CSI is and goes into length about the the role of Tom Cruise and John Travolta in the church. But of course, if you are loyal readers of this fine blog, you would have already known this stuff.
Here is Beghe discussing Cruise, Will Smith and other mishaps propagated by CSI.

Heckerling swings and misses with "I Could Never Be Your Woman"

So last night I made a mistake. I have actually been making these kinds of mistakes a lot recently. I decided to forgo watching TV so I could check out a new film that I rented at the local video store (which by the way has NO videos on site). Anyways, I ended up renting ”I Could Never Be Your Woman”, written and directed by
Amy Heckerling. The movie was originally slated for a 2006 box office release, but after complication after complication, it was shelved and went straight to DVD. Now one would think a romantic comedy by Heckerling and starring Michelle Pfeifferand Paul Rudd, would be golden, but you are mistaken about this. While both actors usually play this genre to perfection, Pfeiffer has always been believable as that beautiful, yet affable woman who somehow can’t believe she is lusted after and Rudd will make any woman swoon with his across the room loving looks. Entertainment Weekly discussed the doomed pic in an issue last month and it piqued my interest. Unfortunately, this movie falls short on so many levels. First, there is narration and mediation by “Mother Nature”, played by Tracey Ullman, which should have been a clue to me in the first 3 minutes this movie will blow. But that isn’t even the worst part, since it’s actually a throwaway character. Pfeiffer, divorcee and single mother, who is a producer on a teen sitcom, is combating the old rule in Hollywood that woman are not allowed to age. Unfortunately, it’s an odd character assessment for Pfeiffer since she looks like she hasn’t. She is the mother of a pre-teen, played by Saoirse Ronan who is slowly growing out Barbies into boys. Pfeiffer is also battling it out at her TV studio with her passive aggressive assistant and out of touch President, who all seem to be against this “poor” woman. Along the way, she finds Rudd at a casting for a nerdy teenager for the teen show, starring Stacey Dash and falls in love, or at least we think so.

Let’s just say, I really truly wanted to like this movie. I think Heckerling has a gift when writing heartfelt comedies and is very able to produce quality dialogue for women. The premise was evident – women battling the “age debate” in Hollywood, strength of character being taught to young girls and the ridiculousness of people in their 20s and 30s playing teenagers. – but it was all too much. The romantic comedy was about way too much and didn’t hit one single message home. The love between Pfeiffer and Rudd made virtually no sense, since it seemed all they did was fight and make out with teenagers, Dash playing a teenager is so far beyond my comprehension I don’t even know where to begin with that and Pfeiffer seemed way too nice and uninterested in her part in Hollywood, I wasn’t sure why she was even fighting for it. I now understand why this movie never made it to the big screen. The only part about this movie which felt real and genuine was the relationship between Pfeiffer and Ronan. It was interesting at age 27 to be able to identify with both mother and daughter in that relationship. But what really hit home was the development of the young girl and her becoming the mirror image of her middle school crush. A scene where Ronan and a friend are playing witches, “mini skirt witches like ”The Craft”finally explained to me why people are so excited about Diablo Cody. It reiterated that what really is lacking in Hollywood is not older woman, but quality characters for ALL women. While I hope that Heckerling is able to come back with another golden like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, if she can’t, will another woman step up to the plate?

Here is the trailer for the film:


Thanks Partricia ;)

Lohan "does" Monroe in New York Magazine

Odds are by now that you have seen photos from the spread Lindsay Lohan did for this week's issue of New York Magazine. The starlet was given the opportunity to shoot with Bert Stern, whom took the original shoot with Marilyn Monroe, which turned out to be her last before her untimely death. Lohan was also interviewed for the shoot and discussed everything from her own struggle with drugs and alcohol, and the recent untimely death of actor Heath Ledger. while Lindsay remained certain that she would be come out victorious in the battle of her addictions, she was cautious not to sound to certain in the article.

While Lindsay has nothing in the near future to promote with the shoot, she did say that being asked to recreate these pictures was a once in a lifetime opportunity too good to pass up. Obviously, from the picture, Ms. Lohan is attempting to remove herself from anything Disney or cookie cutter, as well as remain intriguing gossip fodder. And since the photo shoot was basically a nude Lindsay and some sheer fabric, it was an interesting choice to bring along her fourteen year old sister, Alli as her companion. I do hope that Lohan begins to move in the direction she needs to to have a successful career within Hollywood, but it does seem that her main objective right now is to stay in the public eye, as opposed to picking good projects. And for a girl who has battled addiction so obviously this year, it is an interesting turn of events to "embody" the original gossip star, whose long battle with sadness, unfulfilled love and addictions led to her ultimate demise. Whatever comes her way, these pictures are beautiful and I hope that her "love" for Marilyn remains just an aesthetic.

Official: The Writer's Strike is Over!!!!!!

Yesterday, the The Writers Guild voted to end the strike and a whopping 92.5% agreed to an end. The 100 day strike has come to and end and it left some damage in its wake. The Hollywood & Los Angeles communities were reported to have lost 2 Billion dollars in revenue over the course of the strike and this includes all of those who would work on the production of TV or Movies.

AMPTP released a statement thanking the WGA for coming back to work and stated that the last rounds of negotiations is what pushed the WGA to end the strike. CBS' Leslie Moonves and News Corp.'s Peter Chernin are being credited with the initiation of the informal negotiations that began the conversation again between the WGA and AMPTP in January.

All I can say is THANK THE LORD!!! Now get back in your writers' rooms and turn this shit out. While many shows are still figuring out the next step, Saturday Night Live has confirmed their first new show will be broadcast on February 23rd. No guest has been named. I for one hope it will be Micheal Cera, since he missed out on his chance last November when the strike began. UPDATE: Tina Fey is confirmed to be the host on the Februaty 23rd SNL show, the first new one since November.

THANKS WGA FOR COMING BACK TO WORK AND BRINGING US SOME SANITY AGAIN!

Vanity Fair takes on Hitchcock

Earlier this week, The Spielster showed you Vanity Fair's cover for their annual Hollywood issue.














Today, Mollygood presented us with the Hitchcock tribute VF shot with various actors and actresses. Most of it annoyed the shit out of me, like Seth Rogen as Cary Grant or the actual presence of Kiera Knightley. VF managed to hit the nail on the head a few times with Naomi Watts, Javier Bardem and Charlize Theron.

CSI and the Wrath of Cruise, part 3

Let’s jump back to John Travolta just a bit. John went through various stages in his full beliefs in Scientology. Before marrying Kelly Preston, he was interested in admitting his homosexuality to the public and moving in with his long term boyfriend. When Scientology discovered this, they sent him to various rehabilitation camps (yes I said camps) to remove his “tendencies” and negative influences. When this did not fully work, the church pushed him into marrying Preston, yet allowing his “indiscretions” to continue, as long as CSI spies were present during the “trips”. This could also be the factor behind Travolta’s constant “night owl” description of himself. CSI is still aware of Travolta’s tendencies today and fully cooperates with his trips. They have also helped John in keeping under wraps the disability of his son, since CSI does not believe in psychiatry of any kind and believes that disabilities can be removed, just like homosexuality from your “thetan”. When CSI realized that they would never be able to fully utilize Travolta as their spokesperson because of his sexual indiscretions and the media’s realization of the matters, they began searching for another golden boy within the Hollywood community.

Tom Cruise in 1982 was not the star that we know now, nor was Hollywood completely convinced he was on that superstar track, with his average looks. The former wannabe priest moved to LA at age 18 to pursue his acting career and in the beginning, it might have been easy to get parts, but not the kind that make you infamous. After a few small parts in movies, Cruise landed the lead role in the risqué teen flick "Risky Business" in 1983, which put him on that ladder to stardom with his lip-syncing dance in his tightie whities. Cruise followed up the movie with a few other hits, but in 1986, he hit the jackpot with his role, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, in "Top Gun"It’s been reported that Cruise originally passed up the film because his dyslexia as so bad at the time he could not follow the script. This is where Mimi Rogers, his girlfriend at the time. Now it is not completely evident if Rogers intent on her relationship with Cruise was to create the megastar for the church, but since she was a longtime member and well known “recruiter” in the industry, its not completely crazy to think there was an ulterior motive here. Rogers began teaching Tom the tenants of CSI, which he credits to “ridding” him of his dyslexia and allowing him to proceed with making “Top Gun”, which was the star maker of his career. Cruise also explains that the tenants of CSI were important to remove the damage done to his as young boy from his abusive father.


What’s interesting is that Cruise has never gone into detail about the abuse, but does acknowledge it was damaging enough for his mother to remove herself and the children from his life. Rogers and Cruise’s relationship grew in that year and the couple was married in 1987. While the majority of information leading up to the marriage is not as easily accessed as his current relationship, we do know that CSI was incredibly enthusiastic to obtain the rising star as a member. Within the three years of their marriage, their “attempts” to have children were unsuccessful, which Cruise blamed the demise of their relationship. Rogers on the other hand said she became disillusioned with CSI, their pampering of stars and their tactics to increase membership. Rogers also knew that Cruise was not able to “perform” in the creation of a baby because he was not “very interested” in sex. Rogers decided to leave the church and asked Cruise to do the same. Tom was torn, since he had gained so much from CSI, in regards to his career, and his close relationship with CSI head, David Miscavige. Tom informed David about the situation and was urged to divorce Rogers immediately to save face and keep CSI out of the equation. Rogers at this point had left the church and became angry at the swill CSI was sending the press, such as Rogers “was too old to have children” and that she wasn’t a “true believer” of CSI ideals. CSI wanted the relationship to end so badly they paid for the entire divorce and forced Rogers to a measly settlement with Cruise, who while being married to her, began to command quite a paycheck.


CSI, even though they had requested Rogers to scale back on her career in order to support Cruise during their marriage, was being blackmailed with her audit tapes to keep quiet about the real reasons the relationship ended and to stick with the settlement. While the demise of their relationship was occurring, Cruise was busy working on "Days of Thunder"where he met a young, up and coming actress Nicole Kidman.
Miscavige knew though that the rumors of Cruise’s sexuality were flying through Hollywood’s inner circle and that gossip like that does not remain inside for very long, especially when its about a superstar like Cruise. CSI also realized that their soon to be poster boy would lose credibility if the rumors were not squashed. They began to research the young Hollywood actresses that could possibly work for Cruise to continue his “charade” when Kidman came to mind. Kidman was using “Days of Thunder” as her first big hurrah into the American movie industry and the audience, as well as Hollywood insiders, began to fall in love.

And so “did” Cruise. While in my humble opinion, I believe Cruise did have some sort of feelings for Kidman, I do not believe they are of the true love kind. The couple began dating almost immediately after his divorce from Rogers and were married in Telluride, CO in the winter of 1990. While “insiders” were still able to keep Cruise’s real life under wraps, there were allegations that the marriage was part of a cover up, created by CSI, to hide Cruise’s homosexuality. It is believed that Kidman was approached during the beginning of their courtship, which was quite similar to the train wreck that was TomKat, by CSI and Cruise to discuss her options of marriage. Cruise immediately had Nicole getting involved in the CSI processes such as auditing, personality tests, beginner’s classes and other meetings. Kidman was cautious in the beginning but thought it could have a positive effect on her career, analytically. As a devout Catholic, Kidman was continuously promised that her religious beliefs would not conflict with that of the teachings of CSI and she could practice both simultaneously. Kidman signed a contract with CSI and Cruise upon their marriage stating that she would keep certain things about Cruise secret, as well as CSI secrets, and in return Cruise would help in propelling her career in Hollywood. Kidman quickly signed, but at the same time found herself truly falling in love with the charismatic actor. I am not sure if Kidman was in love with the real Cruise or the idea that he created for himself. Who knows, but within a few years of their relationship, CSI began getting antsy to have the couple “create” a family. While Cruise was again unable to deliver a child to Kidman, the couple adopted Isabella and Connor. Both children are believed to be kids born to Scientologists who were unable to care for them in the way this couple could. The lack of their “own” children was constantly blamed on Kidman’s “vanity” and quest to stay thin. While the relationship evolved, Kidman’s career blossomed. Her turn in Gus Van Sant’s "To Die For"let everyone know she was a great actress who would not have to ride the coat tails of her famous husband anymore. She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for that part and it became the catapult to her successful career. Since both of their careers were on the fast track to bigger and better things, the press was becoming hungrier for gossip bits about the “perfect couple”.





As time wore on and Kidman grew into her own, a distance began to show between the two of them, specifically in public. The couple had just wrapped a very grueling shooting schedule together on "Eyes Wide Shut", Stanley Kubrick’s last film before his death. "Eyes” forced the couple to play through an intense relationship, filled with lies and betrayal onscreen. Many insiders blamed the toll of filming on the change in the usually “lovey dovey” couple.


At the same time, Cruise was filming the insanely wonderful (and one of my personal favorite films of all time) "Magnolia"Cruise was playing the part of Frank T.J. Mackey, a woman hating misogynist who created a brand on the “Respect the Cock!philosophy. The Paul Thomas Anderson movie, which focused on dysfunctional families in Los Angeles and their common bonds, infused with a little Bible rhetoric, forced Cruise to dig deeper into a role then ever before and it is still his finest performance to date. Combined with the fallout of "Eyes" and the effect of this role, Cruise began soul searching and decided it was time to be more honest with himself and wife. It was at this time that Tom found out Kidman was pregnant and was hurt since the child was presumably not his. Cruise informed his best friend Miscavige, who had begun to take a larger role in his everyday life, and David insisted on getting out the relationship immediately. Cruise filed for divorce from Kidman just shy of the ten year mark, which in California forces a couple to break up the ownership of all things, money and property 50/50. Kidman was stunned by this revelation and torn apart. She had just been nominated for an Academy Awardand should have been riding the high. Instead, she was dumped publicly and callously. Cruise found himself depressed and angered at the church and became disillusioned once again on his purpose in CSI. He just lost “the love of his life” and could face a real backlash from the public for his behavior.

Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue

The cover for the Annual Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue, which is published every March and focuses on the new and established faces within Hollywood, is having its sneak peek online before it hits newsstands. This year's cover girls are Anne Hathaway, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Banks (a favorite of mine) and Emily Blunt, to name a few. You can view the previous covers of VF's Hollywood issues here at Vanity Fair Online. The covers are usually a good indicator on who will be breakouts in the next few years, but most of this girls' stars have already started to rise.

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.