Satyana's not playing along.....

I feel totally skeevy posting candid shots of celebrities and their kids while they are trying to live their lives. I know that photogs and paparazzi come with the territory, but when there are kids involved it is different. The complete and total adorableness of these shots overruled my sense of decency. That and the fact that I am pretty sure these were taken from a long lens as opposed to the pap frenzy that surrounds some celebrities.

These shots of the Denisof family were taken on 2 separate days, but on both occasions the adorable munchkin that is Satyana Denisof seems to love popping her head up to see what is going on. I am sure that the reason Aly and Alexis have her in a stroller like this is to avoid too many photos of her being taken. But Satyana doesn't seem to be on board with the whole protecting her adorable mug from the masses.

This is one family that seems genuinely happy and not yet completely screwed up by Hollyweird living. I really really hope it stays that way.

XO

2010 Scandal #1?

For me, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games coming to my city is not so much about the sports. I have no tickets to any actual events - so if you have any Gold Medal Hockey tickets you would like to donate to me... that would be awesome. Ha! That is not quite true. I am going to the Dress Rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday. Which is pretty cool. And no, I will not be sneaking in a camera or spilling any secrets, so don't ask :)

I know it sounds trite and cliched and tacky, but this is honestly a once in a life time opportunity. In spite of all the other crap going on in my life.... this is it. In just over 2 weeks, this will be over. And how much would it suck to let it pass me by? I live so close to all the action, I would be a fool to sit at home and bitch and moan about a few disruptions to my life.

And my fellow Australians are definitely embracing the mantra of once in a lifetime opportunity. I am sure you have all seen this big ass boxing kangaroo flag that they hung in the Aussie quarters at the Athletes Village. It has made headlines around the world as one of the first bona fide scandals of these Games. They are not the only country to have flags hanging. They are not the only country to have massive flags hanging. The IOC (not Canada, Vancouver or VANOC) kinda sorta wanted it taken down. Something to do with it being a trademarked product and not an actual country flag. The whole thing was blown totally way out of proportion but praise Jeebus the IOC "backed down" and the Aussies can keep their Boxing Kangaroo flying high. Hello Mountain....meet the Molehill. People were freaking over nothing.

To that I say.... Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy!!!

XO

Confessions of a Music Lovers Ipod

Lazy post to start the day (although if I am being honest, it is more like late afternoon here in Vancity).....

Easy game for everyone!! Shuffle all your I-Pod or MP3. No cheating. Only skip if there is a duplicate artist. The goal is to have 15 different artists in the list below. This is a safe place. There is no judgement of the unmitigated cr*p that is hiding on you I-Pod.

1. Blindness - Metric
2. Cold Shoulder - Adele
3. Can't Take that Away - Paddy Casey
4. Breathe - Alexi Murdoch
5. Say it Ain't So - MoZella
6. Apparitions - Matthew Good Band
7. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson
8. Like A Prayer - Madonna (Hope for Haiti version)
9. Souled Out - Conor Oberst
10. Lump Sum - Bon Iver
11. Loving You - Paolo Nutini
12. Fans - Kings of Leon
13. Cold Hands Warm Heart - Brendan Benson
14. The Professor - Damien Rice
15. Secret - Missy Higgins

Nothing I am ashamed of. I love Kelly Clarkson. She is awesome.

Settle the f*ck down Twihards

I find this story equal parts annoying and amusing. Normally I would call bullsh*t on a story like this, but it comes from Deadline Hollywood - a source that is generally pretty spot on. Nikki Finke - love her or hate her - normally gets her stuff right.

According to a report on her site, fans of Kristen Stewart have been bombarding potential buyers of Welcome To The Rileys, pleading with them to purchase the rights to release the film. In an effort to ensure that they are able to see Kristen on screen as a teenage stripper, apparently these fans have gotten a hold of said executives emails and are using twitter, text and email to beg for a distribution deal for this movie. No word yet on whether their efforts have been successful.

Holy mother of crazy. Assuming this is true, and I am going with it being true simply because it is hysterical and disturbing, What the f*ck?? Badgering movie executives to buy a movie because you are a fan of one of the actors in it is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. But I am not surprised. These are the same fans that have been known to write petitions because they don't like the proposed director of Eclipse. The same fans that wrote and delivered a letter to Summit when the very small role of Victoria was recast. Fans that will inundate message boards to defend Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and the Twilight series if someone deigns to say something even remotely disparaging. Some of them are just a little crazy.

Now, don't mistake me. I am a fan of Kristen Stewart. Look back through previous posts. I think she is a little bit of awesome and have even been known to write a few comments on message boards in defensive of the Stew. I really want to see Welcome to the Rileys. I read the script and think it has potential. What I take issue with is the fact that although the intentions are from a good place, treating the makers, cast and crew of this movie with such disrespect irritates me. WTF were they thinking? That this would make the buyers want to purchase the film? They are turning what is a complicated high level decision into the equivalent of a high school petition to get a new brand of pop in the cafeteria.

XO

First Song from Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland.

One of my dirty little secrets is a fondness for the music of Avril Lavigne. I know. I am deeply ashamed of this. But musically, she is a'right with me. As a person, I find her pretty much irritating as hell. She is in her mid 20's and still dresses like the punk poser she was as a teenager. And acts like she is five. But whatever, she is not the first singer I have listened too that I wouldn't want to associate with in real life. She is just the one I am probably most ashamed to admit to liking....

Avril Lavigne is contributing to the soundtrack for Tim Burton's ridiculously anticipated Alice in Wonderland. In fact, she is not only contributing to the soundtrack, she has the lead track on said soundtrack. The song "Alice" will be released along with the Soundtrack on March 4th. Other contributors include Franz Ferdinand and All American Rejects.

Thoughts? Obviously this is not the video for the song. It is not bad. It is not great - Avril often yells a little when singing. I am pretty sure it will grow on me....

What do you think? Did Tim Burton completely miss the mark having Avril Lavigne contribute the lead single off this soundtrack? Is he hurting the film? Or to answer a bigger question.... do Soundtrack's even matter anymore? I can't recall the last time a song from a movie has been so huge that everytime you hear it your mind automatically goes to the film??

For me, I gotta say the Aerosmith song from Armaggedon. That was huge. Oh, and I am also sorry for admitting that I liked that song and that movie :( Sh*t, I am totally blowing any musical credibility I ever had with you aren't I? Heh!

XO

Sundance Portraits Make Me Smile and/or Quiver

At the start of this years Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford pronounced that this year would see a return to it's roots and that it would again enable unknown filmmakers to find an audience. That declaration remains to be seen and will be debated by much cleverer people than me in the weeks and months to come. I am pretty much here to post pictures of people I like and ridicule posted images of those I don't like. This specific post is more on the love side....

Let's begin with 2 of my absolute fave indie queens. On the left we have the amazing Catherine Keener - a staple at film festivals. One of the most respected working actors around, she never seems allows herself to be sucked in by the Hollyweird bullsh*t. She is with Oliver Platt - her costar in the upcoming film Cyrus. On the right is one hi-larious lady - Parker Posey. She has been in a ton of films, I especially loved her the Christopher Guest movies - Best In Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind. She was also too funny in Scream 3....do not judge my love of the Scream Trilogy. I will fight you on this. Parker was not promoting anything at Sundance this year - she was one of the judges.

Next up is my girl crush Kristen Stewart who is the indisputable Princess of the festival with 2 films showing. The top right picture is with her director Jake Scott and co-star Melissa Leo from Welcome to the Riley's. The other pictures, of course, are with her costar Dakota Fanning as well the totally bad ass Joan Jet and Cherie Currie who Kristen and Dakota are playing in The Runaways. I have already written a ton of stuff about both these films, so won't say anthing further.

I have already posted candid pictures of my new favourite imaginary couple Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. I love these pictures, although they do make me rather distracted. And I have already had to wipe the drool off of my keyboard once this week... I don;t want to do it again. Their film Blue Valentine is getting good reviews and looks like it will get picked up. Yay!

Cute boys in flannel, dirty jeans and boots are always a good thing in my mind..... Oh James Franco, another many who makes me quiver in my nether regions. Howl was one of the first films screened at the Festival this year and seems to have gotten decent (but not fantastic) reviews. It has a great cast (including the dreamy Jon Hamm, Bob Balaban, Mary Louise Parker & David Strathairn) and a very interesting premise. On the right is the Orlando Bloom - who still makes me quiver - and Juliette Lewis who are costarring in Mark Rufallo's film Sympathy for Delicious about a newly paralysed DJ who seeks out a world of faith healing. Hmmm. Interesting!!

Sarah Polley is the Queen of Canada's indy film scene and an Oscar nominee. She is pictures here with her director for the thriller Splice. No specific reason why she is included in this set of pics. I just admire her a lot. Such a young and talented young lady! I adore Naomi Watts. Ever since Brides of Christ and Hey Dad! - which unless you are an Aussie you will have no idea what I am talking about. She is very very very talented. Her movie Mother and Child looks very interesting. Watts plays the daughter of Anette Benning who was given up for adoption by Benning when she was born. It also costars Kerry Washington, Samuel L Jackson, David Morse and Jimmy Smitts. The few reviews I have read are all positive, which is a good! I also just saw on IMDb that Watts is signed on for a remake of The Birds - inspired casting if you ask me!

Last up is a group of Aussie actors who were in town for their crime drama film Animal Kingdom. Guy Pearce is probably the best known of the cast, but was not in Sundance sadly. But Ben Mendelsohn was. I heart him. Very well known and respected in my home and native Australia. Not so much elsewhere. He has had a number of smallish roles in some films, but nothing substantial. He did costar in one of my favourite movies from Australia - The Year My Voice Broke - such a good movie!!! The chick - Jackie Weaver - at the front is best known to me for being married to a very well known personality in Australia (Bert Newton). But she has also done a ton of TV and Film work in Oz. She was actually the one I initially recognised in this picture for some bizarre reason!

All of these shots are from the EW Photo Studio - an annual tradition at Sundance. I am such a fan of these shots and the photographer - Ture Lillegraven. Sundance wraps up over the weekend and then the focus will be on Tuesday's Oscar nominations. I am finally going to see Crazy Heart over the weekend. I may actually write a quick review - it has been a while!

XO

Denise Richards hit the Mother Load

Remember when Charlie Sheen was arrested on Christmas Day for allegedly threatening his wife of 20 months? Yea that was pretty bad. And remember at the tail end of that post I mused to the interwebs how long it would take for Denise Richards to run to the tabloids and spill her guts to the world about her relationship with Charlie? I am honestly surprised it took her this long. I know that within days of the arrest she was conveniently spot ed out and about at the park with her daughters. I won't go so far as to accuse her of calling the pap's to come and take some candid shots of her and her girls. I will just say again that it was very convenient.

Now, Denise could have called Star Magazine or In Touch or even the more reputable People. But no, Denise Richards went straight to the top and parked her smug ass on the hallowed couch of the mighty mighty Oprah. Ugh. Am I the only one who finds this woman completely unsympathetic? It can't just be me. I also find myself feeling guilty about how much I truly dislike her. I know she was married to an asshole, I suspect that their relationship was even more abusive than she said on Oprah today. But in spite of it all - she drives me up the wall. In spite of the fact that as a woman I should be on "Team Denise", I can't bring myself to like her even the tiniest bit.

I have given this a bit of thought. I feel like I should be completely supportive of Denise and marvel at her ability to rise above her abusive marriage and even praise her strength at coming forward and sharing her story for other women out there. I should, right? As a woman, f*ck - as a human being. And please, do not mistake me. I in no way shape or form condone Charlie Sheen's behaviour. He is seriously f*cked up. He has issues far beyond this insignificant blog. What I am taking issue with is Denise Richards capitalising on this situation. It is the timing that makes me nauseous. The father of her children, who she claims to be in a "great" place with is arrested for domestic violence. And in one measly month she is talking about it with Oprah? How is that being a good mother? How is rehashing the most damaging parts of your life benefiting anyone? It doesn't. The only person gaining anything from this whole depressing situation is Denise Richards.

Yo Denise: those same kids at your daughter's school that you talked about with the mighty mighty Oprah? The ones that spilled the beans to your eldest about Charlie being in jail over Christmas? Do you think they or someone else is not gonna hear about this and feel the need to tell your young daughters about what an abusive sh*t their father is? So Denise. Talk all you want. Say what you gotta say. Get it all off your (fake) chest. But perhaps it would be prudent to wait until your girls are old enough to understand the details of your relationship with their father.

XO