airbrushed fitness

lcshape23

usually i try to keep my posting about reality tv stars to a minimum. why draw attention to the fact that they are famous for doing nothing? but i just couldn’t help myself on this one.

ex-’the hills’ star lauren conrad will be featured on the cover of shape magazine’s september issue. well, at least i think that’s lauren conrad. it’s hard to tell with all the photo-shopped goodness!

it just seems a bit unnecessary, yes? her face is noticeably different. we all know what she looks like so why all the re-touching. critiques have already surfaced on the web. lauren is already in such great shape that she didn’t need the computerized help, most commentators believe.

regardless, lc will don her orange swimsuit with pride when the september issue comes out. for now, you can catch a lauren conrad original workout in shape magazine here.

giggity goodness

familyguy

seth macfarlane has done it again! it appears that breaking records with his hit animated series ‘family guy’ is just an everyday occurrence for the talented writer.

back in 2008 macfarlane inked a $100 million deal with fox to keep him doing what he does best – being funny with ’family guy’ - until 2012. no other animator has ever enjoyed such success. let’s face it, ‘family guy’ is a hilarious goldmine.

and apparently it isn’t just the show’s millions of fans that think so! today, emmy nominations were revealed for the september 20th award ceremony. and whaddya know, the show came up big. ‘family guy’ was nominated in a quite prestigious category – outstanding comedy series! in the history of the emmy awards, there has only been one other animated series nominated in this cateogry (hanna-barbera’s ‘the flintstones’ in 1961).

while i have been a loyal fan of the show for quite some time, they are up against some pretty heavy hitters. other nominated comedy series are ‘entourage,’ ‘flight of the conchords,’ ‘how i met your mother,’ ‘the office,’ ’30 rock,’ & ‘weeds.’ i must say i am so over ’30 rock’ taking home all the tv comedy awards. this year, i’m rooting for a griffin family victory! go ‘family guy!’

whip it good

whipitpic

interested in watching girls beat up other girls? sure you are. drew barrymore’s latest film ‘whip it’ is all about the brutal world of women’s roller-derby. barrymore not only stars in the film, but also stretches her directing chops. ’whip it,’ which also features ‘juno’ favorite ellen page and snl cast member kristen wiig, will undoubtedly bring the laughs.

ellen plays a rebellious teenager who can’t pass up an opportunity to take a walk on the wild side. annoyed with her small-town texas life, she signs up for roller-derby to help take the edge off. turns out to be a bit more physical than expected! despite the bumps & bruises, she finds friendship in teammates played by wiig & barrymore. and with names like smashley simpson & malice in wonderland, i’m sure the ladies’ portrayal of their characters is sure to be brilliant.

the ladies of ‘whip it’ clearly had a blast during its production – director barrymore says “everything i’ve learned throughout my whole life has been going into this piggy bank, and i just smashed it all over the floor for this one.” i can’t wait to see the official preview! the flick opens everywhere october 9.

method man

christianbalechristian bale is famous for going above & beyond to become the character he is portraying. the 35-year-old – who famously dropped 63 lbs for his role in “the machinist” – obviously takes his work very seriously.

soon after the 63 lb-plunge, bale bulked up significantly for “batman begins.” critics have sometimes embraced the method actor for his commitment, while others have expressed concern over the trauma he puts his body (and mind) through. but it doesn’t look like he cares about the critiques. bale was spotted in boston on monday, looking unhealthily thin.

for a role? of course. bale is shooting scenes for his role in the upcoming flick ‘the fighter.’ he stars as boxer dicky eklund, a welterweight boxer turned trainer turned drug addict. maybe its the makeup, maybe its the thinning hair, but bale really seems to be pulling out all the stops on this one. let’s just say he achieved the heroin-chic look he was going for. congrats?

taking credit

lacandy

kids, listen up. if you want to be a national best-selling author, all you gotta do is star in a reality tv show! at least that’s what lauren conrad has done. conrad, from ‘the hills’ & ‘laguna beach’ fame, recently ended her time in reality tv. but not in the spotlight! she ain’t done yet.

lauren penned a three-book deal with publisher harpercollins this past year, l.a. candy being the first release. the novel hit book shelves on june 16th and, amazingly, has topped the new york times best seller list two weeks in a row. yes, i was shocked too. and apparently so was the author herself! “if someone said to me five years ago when this all started that I would one day make the new york times best seller list i wouldn’t have believed it.”

the novel is “loosely” based on conrad’s own experiences. “loosely?” the book centers around jane roberts – a 19-year-old who moves to hollywood and ends up starring in a reality tv show. what really bugs me, though, is the fact that lauren probably had close to no hand in actually writing the book. the poor ghostwriter! he/she is getting no credit for what i’m sure is pure literary brilliance.

on the prowl

it’s never-ending with these two! just over a month ago, jon and kate gosselin of ‘jon & kate plus 8′ announced that they would be divorcing. the family’s tumultuous life apparently hit one too many bumps. amidst accusations of cheating and tense video shoots for their hit tlc show, the announcement came as no surprise.

but whoa! life goes on. just today in fact jon gosselin was spotted with a new girlfriend in st. tropez. because that’s EXACTLY what he should be doing with 8 children under the age of 10 at home. perhaps it was jon’s match.com commercial that brought them together?

will ferrell’s brain child ‘funny or die’ featured a mock video of jon, hoping to find love on the popular match.com dating website. drawing attention to his ed hardy t-shirt obsession & ridiculous-looking pierced ears, the actor made a pretty funny jon gosselin. and, low and behold, a few days later his ex-bride came out with her own ad! you gotta check them both out below. interested? log onto to match.com today!  

 

 

graceland of the west?

neverland

since the passing of music legend michael jackson, what to do with his theme park of a home has been up for discussion. although mj had to sell the estate last year due to financial problems, neverland – as he named it – will always belong to him in America’s eyes.

but it isn’t quite the same neverland that mj and his fam populated. the ferris wheel is gone, as are the many zoo animals that jackson featured on the property. despite how weird it is that jackson’s adult home was a big playplace, it is no secret that the estate draws attention from fans & curious folks across the world. the neverland ranch has very obvious similarities to elvis’ home in tennesee, graceland. that begs the question – will the owners revamp the place and hold it open to the public?

a source close to the owners, the holding company colony capital llc, says that absolutely no decision has been made and there is not a reason to rush into anything. they did mention however that making neverland a tourist attraction is certainly not off the table.

while the prospect of visiting neverland may make mj fans giddy with excitement, santa barbara locals and neighbors are less than enthused. the holding company source says execs will heed the community’s concerns, but that they would not pass up the opportunity to make money off of mj’s legacy. my guess is that the company will focus on rehabilitating the property & eventually make it some sort of a museum. let’s face it – it’s a big, weird goldmine!

snl on the big screen

the rise in popularity that ‘saturday night live’ has experienced over the past 2 years is no doubt due to its hilarious new sketches. perhaps, they’re thinking, now would be a good time to pounce - a.ka. make money off their good ratings. snl has long tried its hand at translating skits into movies – with such “classics” as ‘the ladies man,’ & ‘the coneheads.’ none have ever really enjoyed great success, but it’s not surprising that snl execs aren’t ready to give up.  enter, macgruber.

the snl sketch ‘macgruber’ is a parody of tv’s ‘macgyver’ in which will forte repeatedly finds himself in a 15-seconds-’til-the-world-blows-up kind of situation. the usually 3 minute sketch is always funny, but i just don’t see how it’ll make a big screen hit. apparently i’m not the only one who feels that way. nevertheless, ‘macgruber’ is all set to begin shooting next month. the man behind the sketch, jorma taccone, will be directing the snl crew of forte & kristen wiig. here’s where it gets weird – ryan phillippe & val kilmer will be co-starring. yeah, moving on.

in the film, the legendary macgruber is forced to come out of retirement to defend his country against enemies with nuclear warheads. he’ll battle against  his ultimate nemesis – the man responsible for killing his wife. it all sounds well & good, but the funniest part of snl’s macgruber skits (see above) is when time runs out and everything blows up. do i smell anothe flop? probably.

macgruber_movie

the lost tapes

oh james, james franco. after conquering his dreams of acting, he decided to finish up his degree at ucla this past year. you might remember that hysterical picture of the actor completely asleep during one of his classes – it definitely didn’t help the media take his academic endeavors seriously.

however, when it came time to pick the commencement speaker for ucla’s graduation, they overlooked his snoozing and picked mr. franco. he was all ready to go, too, when just two weeks before the big day he had to back out. franco released a statement saying: “i deeply regret not being able to keep my commitment to giving the commencement speech at ucla’s graduation this year. unfortunately the date conflicts with me needing to be on location to begin pre-production on my next film. i wish everyone in the 2009 class the best of luck in all of their future endeavors.”

would he have been any good? now, almost a month later, we know the answer to that question. james partnered up with will ferrell’s genius website ‘funny or die’ to record his would-be commencement speech. so he’s cute AND funny? while he dropped the f* bomb one too many times in my opinion, it still had me laughing. check it out above. ucla seniors of 2009, rest easy knowing you were better off?

biting the hand

megan-fox-michael-bay

didn’t anyone ever tell megan fox ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’? maybe she was too busy being the fantasy girl of every guy in the world.

while on her whirlwind press tour for ‘transformers 2,’ megan was asked how much of her acting skills she employed in the flick. “seven percent. on the new one, i tried. but unless you’re a seasoned veteran, working with michael bay is not about an acting experience.” uhhhh, megan? watch it. you’re not THAT famous.

turns out this isn’t the first time she’s voiced this opinion. when the first ‘transformers’ premiered, she sniped: “people are well aware that this is not a movie about acting.”

well, director michael bay was not going to take this lying down, and replied in true hollywood form. “well, that’s megan fox for you. she says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23-years-old and she still has a lot of growing to do. you roll your eyes when you see statements like that… nobody in the world knew about megan fox until i found her and put her in ‘transformers.’ looks like we got a full-fledged feud on our hands!