MOORE TAKES REVOLUTIONARY STEP IN FILM DISTRIBUTION "Michael Moore is bringing his latest film, 'Slacker Uprising,' to the masses via free online distribution. The film, which played last year’s Toronto Film Festival under the title 'Captain Mike Across America,' follows Moore’s 62-city tour during the 2004 election to rally young voters. … 'This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans,' Moore said. 'The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November. I think 'Slacker Uprising' will inspire million to get off the couch and give voting a chance.' The $2 million doc will be promoted at the website slackeruprising.com but Moore said neither he nor [his production company] will profit from the release. … The 97-minute long 'Slacker Uprising' will be the first major film to be released in such a way."
It was only an amount of time until America's obsession with B-list celebs reduced the country to watching 'Til Death star Brad Garrett receive a prostate exam on national television.
LAW CALLS FOR 'DAY OF PEACE' IN AFGHANISTAN "Actor Jude Law has visited Afghanistan and called on all sides in the war-torn country to observe a day of peace. The Oscar nominee, who is an ambassador for the Peace One Day project, said his visit to Kabul was 'to remind all parties that it is happening'. Law said a pause in hostilities on 21 September would allow food deliveries and vaccinations to take place. Last year the film star visited eastern Afghanistan to appear in a documentary filmed on peace day. … Cold Mountain star Law told reporters in Kabul that it was "the most important film I have been part of."
Colin Farrell's bad boy shtick gets old very quickly these days – we get it, bud: you LOVE boozin' – but this story gets him some leeway with us from now on:
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BENEVOLENT PHILANDERING "Something good may come out of Madonna's liaison with Alex Rodriguez. The Yankee slugger is making a big donation to the icon's charity, Raising Malawi, a source tells us. 'They've asked him for a million dollars, and I hear he's agreed to give at least $500,000,' the source confided."
Why do people insist on dressing animals in these godawful outfits and forcing them to walk down a runway — all in the name of charity? Surely there's a better way of going about raising money for homeless pets.
• Liz Taylor is have health troubles. But can she still howl? [DListed]
• Britney Spears has a new man. [Yeeeah]
• Miley Cyrus wants her brother to stay out of Hollywood, presumably so he doesn't steal her spotlight. [ICYDK]
• Kendra Wilkinson wears a short skirt for charity. [HT]
• Casting rumors for the next Batman movie: Who's going to play The Riddler? [INO]
• Mary-Kate Olsen's bringing the 90s — and our desire to vomit — back. [PS]
The Matt Grant edition of The Bachelor wasn't any more entertaining than every other season, but the breakup is proving otherwise. Former fiance (and constant famewhore) Shayne Lamas told People magazine about her plans for the engagement ring, purchased by ABC: She's keeping it "safe and clean and in a glass box — like a glass slipper." Also? Matt is totally on board with the idea and even "wants to come over and look at it."
Naturally, the magazine then got a response from Matt, because this is middle school and two adults can't just decide what to do with a piece of jewelry without using the media as a go-between. And, of course, Matt says he never spoke with Shayne about the subject.
We never discussed this. I never said it was cool to just keep it. If she said we spoke about it, she just made it up. Sometimes she thinks she can say anything and I’ll go along with it.
It wasn’t a ‘gift’ so much. It’s not a television or a handbag. It’s a symbol of marriage that didn’t happen. … Let’s have something good come out of this. Why hold onto it? What’s the point?
Matt wants to auction off the ring, valued at $65,000, and give the proceeds to charity. This, of course, will never happen, because then the spotlight would no longer be on Shayne, and we can't have that, can we?
Britney Spears showed up to the Generation Rescue event hosted by Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy to make her first red carpet appearance since having her meltdown back in January. We have to hand it to her — she looks semi-decent and appears to have bathed and put a little thought into her outfit. The hair still needs some help, but Ken Paves will work his magic in due time. He is only one man, after all.
The always PR-savvy Lauren Conrad offered a swift rebuttal after yesterday's attacks from organizers of a Humane Society fashion show who claimed LC threw a hissy fit and bailed before fulfilling all of her obligations. We would have refused to walk the stupid runway with those poor dogs dressed in human clothes as well, so we really can't judge. Lauren, however, says otherwise — and went to MySpace to give her side of the story. She threw in a few grammatical errors for good measure, just in case anyone thought the blog was written by her publicist (we're still not convinced).
Click through for her statement. Spoiler alert: We're guessing she's no longer going to be happy posing for pictures with Wendy Diamond (at left).
The Humane Society and Animal Fair magazine hosted a "Paws for Style" dog-fashion show last night in NYC, which sounded harmless enough until gossip started to spread about the backstage drama involving — who else? — The Hills' Lauren Conrad. Evidently Lauren, who was flown to NYC first-class by the Humane Society, was scheduled to close the fashion show featuring celebrities and socialites who coordinated matching outfits with either their own dog or a rescue. (The outfits will be sold on eBay for charity.)
Lauren, however, had other plans, which included buckling under pressure on the red carpet with hard-hitting questions such as, "What kind of dog is it?" She later announced that she wasn't aware she was supposed to walk the runway and bailed without fully honoring her commitment. One unhappy organizer said it best: "There's no cats here, so we didn't need any catfights." That's deep.
But let's get down to the real matter at hand, shall we? What did these poor dogs ever do to deserve these stupid outfits and trips down the runway? None of them look amused — in fact, one seems to be saying, "Can I go back to the shelter now?"
Ryan Gosling showed the rest of Hollywood how to be a decent human being last night during the Campus Progress National Conference, which hosted about 300 college activists who witnessed a four-person panel discussion on Darfur. Ryan was humble the entire time, expressing gratitude for his ability to participate:
'For some reason, there's an interest in what people who do what I do have to say,' the actor murmured. 'I don't particularly have that much to say … but I do have these experiences that I can relay. I'm honored to have these experiences.'
Gosling sounded sheepish … describing the way the children he met on a visit to refugee camps stared at him: 'Not like I was just some actor from Hollywood who was there to have an experience. They looked at me like I was somebody who could really do something. And I didn't consider myself in that way.'
It's nice to see a celebrity who actually does good deeds without advertising them on every talk show or tabloid across America. Call me, Ryan.
Like any do-gooding multi-hundred-millionaire movie star, Hancock's Will Smith is involved in the philanthropy scene. He's also, as prying eyes have woefully pointed out, been involving himself with the Tom Cruise scene, which means of course that he's basically a raving Scientologist trying to hold in his inner homo, because that's what the cult is about, right? Back in 2004, Smith donated $20k to something called "HOPE: The Hollywood Education and Literacy Program," which is the church's "literary program," where children get homeschooled and, we're guessing, brainwashed in their formative years. Now, he and Jada have been plugging a way at their New Village Academy, a private school they're funding that will open in December, which got the LAT treatment over the weekend. Naturally, the first word out of the school's mouth is that it is not a Scientology facility. (Even Will and Jada still insist they aren't of the church.) But a certain anti-Scientology crusader is casting his eye of suspicion on this educational institution, mostly because of a … goat.
HOLY SHIT!!!!! "Paris Hilton is making good on her promise to become a better person. The 27-year-old socialite made an 'extremely generous' donation toward the construction of a medical building at Childrens [sic] Hospital Los Angeles, hospital officials said Thursday, although they did not specify the amount. 'The children I have met through my involvement with Childrens [sic] Hospital have truly touched my heart,' Hilton said in a statement. 'I am proud to make a donation and lend my name to the fundraising effort to help children who are facing terribly serious illnesses.'"
Despite their newly-acquired negative public image, the Hogans have consistently insisted that they are genuinely concerned about John Graziano, the victim in Nick's car crash nearly a year ago. To prove their point, Hulk fronted a charity — which collected $60,000 last year — to raise cash for John's medical care. The only problem: The Grazianos say they haven't received a penny.
Graziano's attorney tells us that they haven't seen one red cent from "The Freedom Group," a charity that Hulk just happened to become the towel-waving spokesbeast for … a week after the crash.
To make matters worse, the Freedom Group recently canceled its biggest fund-raising event of the year because nobody wants to be associated with the Hogan family drama.
It was a nice thought.
[Source]
Pamela Anderson was in Vegas this weekend to auction off her 2000 Dodge Viper, the proceeds of which she intends to donate to the well-intentioned doofs at PETA.
Apparently, the irony of selling a car that gets 11 miles to the gallon to help protect the animals was lost on everyone there, including an incredibly pink man.
[Source]
$62.50 PER WORD "A short Harry Potter prequel written by JK Rowling has been sold at auction for £25,000 following a bidding frenzy. The 800-word story was sold at a charity auction in central London. The prequel comes almost a year after the last book in the boy wizard series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, hit shelves. The author said: 'I had great fun writing the card and I'm absolutely delighted that it has raised £25,000 for two such worthy causes.'"
Paul Newman, who the National Enquirer says has six months left to live after battling lung cancer, might be the last decent guy in Tinseltown. Perhaps understanding that he's on his way out, he's taken his entire stake in salad dressing and cookie company Newman’s Own … and given it to charity. All $120 million worth.
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