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The Lesser-Known Conquests of Warren Beatty
1 hour ago
“Most tourists leave a $5 a day tip. Warren left me with something more personal.”Vanity Fair contributor Peter Biskind’s new biography, Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, points out that Beatty and Orson Welles are the only two filmmakers to ever be nominated in four Oscar categories, a feat that Beatty pulled off twice, But nobody cares about that because Biskind also points out that Beatty bedded nearly 12,775 women. His sexual partners included Diane Keaton, Joan Collins, Julie Christie, Natalie Wood, and Madonna. That brings us down to 12,770. So here are some of Beatty’s less famous lovers. Maria P., In–N-Out Burger employee, Westwood, CA “One night, Warren drove by for a 2 by 2. As I handed his order to him, his arm brushed against mine. That was all it took. I was his—animal style.” Gladys H. Nurse, Beverly Hills, CA "Warren came in for a flu shot. »
How Toasted Is Rahm?
2 hours ago
A few months ago I started to hear that Nancy Pelosi was dining out on her enmity toward Rahm Emanuel, saying her goals for the year included, together with the health-care bill, his head. That’s significant rancor—even for Washington (theirs goes back a long time). And even greater ambitiousness—on a level quite impressive even for Washington—to want to take down the guy second only to the president himself. It’s a putsch that now seems in obvious progress. One indication is that there is suddenly a dignified, if implausible, rationale for why Rahm might want to leave: Because he’s frustrated, because he’s temperamentally unsuited to the job (he’s a screamer), or because he’s decided to run for mayor of Chicago. The White House, of course, if it has to sacrifice Rahm, will try to make it a particular circumstance, a personality issue »
Bill Paxton Can Defend Polygamy, But He Can't Defend Sarah Palin
3 hours ago
Photograph by Lacey Terrell/HBO.Bill Henrickson, the serial polygamist played by Bill Paxton on HBO's critically-lauded series Big Love—season three was just released on DVD—may seem like a flawed and unsympathetic character. But despite his unorthodox lifestyle, he perfectly embodies everything that Sarah Palin once praised as "the real America": he lives in a small town, he believes in the value of a hard day's work, and with seven children and three wives, he's certainly an enthusiastic husband and father. He has deep religious convictions that he doesn't think should be regulated by Washington, and he sure as hell doesn't like big government, who he's convinced (rightly, it turns out) is trying to oppress him. He believes in god and family, and given his curious decision last season to start his own religion, with himself as spiritual leader and prophet, he may actually think he is a god. »
The Real Jilly...sus?
4 hours ago
Writing from her tiny Boston apartment, Jilly Gagnon is a 25-year-old struggling novelist who's starving more than she's selling. But this month, she's decided to "Goop" her way to the good life by following the advice outlined in Gwyneth Paltrow's weekly Internet newsletter. Track her progress with these daily status reports. Day Five Let me just start by making one thing clear: I'm not claiming I'm somehow on a par with Jesus. Really, I don't think there's even much of a comparison. I mean, the guy has how many followers worldwide? I can't even break 100 on Twitter. But as I Goop my way toward deeper spiritual and emotional understanding, he seems like a reasonable model upon which to base my self-exploration. This Christmas, Gwyneth asked her experts to tell us about "the real, walking, talking, preaching Jesus and what lessons can we take from him today?" I'll enlist my »
The Best Elvis Book to Get On Elvis's Birthday Is a Kids' Book
5 hours ago
Today, on what would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday, is a good day to order one of the best new children’s books I have seen in a long time: Shake, Rattle & Turn That Noise Down! (Knopf), by the cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty. It’s the true story of how the nine-year-old Stamaty’s mind was utterly blown by hearing Elvis’s “Hound Dog” on the radio for the first time in 1956, forever transforming his life. I’m a longtime Stamaty fan. In the late 1970s, my own young mind was utterly blown by his work—specifically, his groundbreaking Village Voice comic strip MacDoodle St.. Dense with words, narratives, gags, crowded cityscapes (like Where’s Waldo? but funkier), and all-around loopiness, the strip proved endlessly re-readable while also capturing the anarchic-but-joyous scuzziness of New York City in that period. Later on in life, as a writer and magazine editor, »
Conan O'Brien, Captain Midnight
5 hours ago
A show business moment from a September 2009 episode of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien. Maybe Conan O’Brien was too odd to hold on to the viewers who made Jay Leno the No. 1 choice at 11:30 p.m. from 1995 through 2009. Maybe there was nothing he could do. But the sad thing, to me, is that Conan is apparently getting demoted to midnight without having put his best stuff on the air. The NBC plan, it seems, is meant to have a little something in it for both hosts, meaning it has a good chance of pleasing neither of them. As TMZ first reported yesterday in a quick few lines, followed by meatier confirmations from The Live Feed and The New York Times, Leno will return to his homey 11:35 p.m. slot, but he’ll be on the air for only a half hour a night; Conan O »
With Avatar in All-Time Second Place, James Cameron Has Only James Cameron to Beat
5 hours ago
• President Obama called on intelligence services to streamline their response to terrorism threats, and urged the Department of Homeland Security to complete a $1 billion overhaul of airport security technology. [NY Times] • America’s already enormous, bunkerized embassy in Baghdad, which William Langewiesche wrote about in November 2007, is set to double in size. [Foreign Policy] • Could the mysterious force behind the Leno/Conan shakeup be none other than Dr. Evil himself, Lorne Michaels? [Showbiz 411] • Alabama’s Crimson Tide washed over Texas 37-21 after the Longhorns’ too-perfectly named quarterback, Colt McCoy, injured his shoulder in the fifth play of last night’s B.C.S. championship. [Espn] • James Cameron officially straddles the top two positions on the all-time box-office podium, as Avatar’s $1.14 billion take leaves Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in its scintillating blue wake. He now has only himself to beat, but Titanic’s $1.8 billion are still far on the horizon. »
Which Prince Had to Choose Between Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton?
20 hours ago
Spain's Letizia, Princess of Asturias, looked regal in a red bead-embellished skirt suit at the Military Pasques annual parade and reception at the Spanish Royal Palace yesterday. In Canada, an unlikely interview will take place tomorrow when country-ish singer Shania Twain goes on Canadian public radio to ask Queen Rania of Jordan about her 1Goal charity, which promotes "education for all." Jordan's quiet support of the C.I.A. was thrust into the spotlight last week when a Jordanian double agent turned suicide bomber killed seven C.I.A. operatives and one Jordanian intelligence official in Afghanistan. This increased exposure is no doubt a source of discomfort for King Abdullah II, who occupies a precariously progressive position in the Arab world. »
What I Want in 2010
20 hours ago
Before it’s too late, and we are into the second week of January, I might as well declare now what I want to occur, and what I would prefer not to occur, in 2010. You will note that I have not asked for material wealth or for world peace. I have not asked to be introduced to Elin Woods once the divorce is final. I have not even asked for a blanket on an airplane. Never mind, I’ll sit in the cold. Instead, I have limited my hopes and dreams in 2010 to the practical. I want my Diet Pepsi bottles to return to the way they were a few years ago. I want Larry David’s show to just go away. I want to know what the differences are between Mel Gibson’s new movie, Edge of Darkness, and Sean Penn’s brilliant Mystic River. Oh, and I would »
Blackwater Still Making Ripples
21 hours ago
Blackwater C.E.O. Erik Prince in the tactical-operations center at a company base in Kabul. Photograph by Adam Ferguson. As Adam Ciralsky observed in the January 2010 issue of Vanity Fair, Blackwater may have changed its name in an attempt at a P.R. makeover—the company is now cryptically called Xe—but that has not quite helped it stay under the radar, as founder Erik Prince surely hoped it would. Quite the contrary: Blackwater has been all over the headlines last week and this week for a number of developments. Two of these should come as relief to the company, however. First of all, Blackwater dodged a bullet last week when charges accusing it of wrongdoing in the 2007 Nisour Square shooting in Baghdad were dismisse by a judge. And this week, it was reported that Blackwater has settled a series of federal lawsuits, brought by Iraqis, accusing of it using excessive force in Iraq, »
George W. Bush Gives Back to Andover
21 hours ago
The cold winters and elite intellectual atmosphere of Phillips Academy Andover were a jarring change for George W. Bush when, as a 15-year-old, he was sent off to the prestigious Massachusetts boarding school, where his father had gone twenty years earlier. He flunked his first English paper and adopted an outsider attitude initially, banding together with fellow southerners and Texan classmates. But Bush eventually came into his own and grew to appreciate Andover, becoming Head Cheerleader, earning the nickname “the Lip” for his sharp tongue, and coming in second for the title of "Big Man on Campus.” Andover served as a stepping stone for Bush on the way to Yale and Harvard Business School, where he made life-long contacts that served him in crucial ways later on in business and politics. Now Bush is giving back to Andover. The school's latest fundraising magazine shows that Bush gave somewhere in the »
Is It Illegal to Use the Obamas' Pictures in Advertisements?
22 hours ago
Left, the controversial Weatherproof billboard; right, a PETA image that shows Michele Obama. A new billboard in New York City's Times Square featuring Barack Obama wearing a Weatherproof jacket has recently become a source of debate. The outerwear company purchased the photograph from the Associated Press and apparently used the image without clearance from the White House, claiming that it doesn't need approval. The White House, which opposes the use of Obama's name and likeness for commercial endeavors, is asking the company to remove the ad. But just because the White House disapproves of the president's visage being used without permission doesn't mean that the practice is against the law. Or does it? We posed that question to Miami University law professor John Forren. It's a complicated issue, he says, that relates to how New York courts have interpreted the state's privacy-in-images laws in the past. Here's his "quick answer. »
Five Team U.S.A. Hockey Players to Watch
23 hours ago
When the 2010 U.S. Olympic hockey team was announced this past weekend at the N.H.L. Winter Classic, the theme was crystal clear: youth! Not that Team U.S.A. isn’t a serious medal contender, but it seems to be prepping a generation of leaders for 2014 and beyond. Here’s a look at the freshest of the fresh faces. Patrick Kane Age: 21. Hometown: Buffalo, New York. Team America’s youngest player is also one of its most dangerous. Kane leads the Chicago Blackhawks with 18 goals and 31 assists and is sixth in the N.H.L. in scoring. He’s presumably matured a little since last summer, when he and his cousin were arrested for beating up a 62-year-old cab driver over 20 cents. »
Directors Guild of America: Captains of the Obvious
7 January 2010 10:46 AM, PST
The Director’s Guild of America has announced its nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film. The most surprising part of the list is the fact that there is nothing surprising about the list. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter predicted it as early as the beginning of December when they got these five—plus Peter Jackson—together for their annual directors roundtable. The video is above, and it’s well worth watching, if only to see the spark that still evidently exists between power-exes James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow. The DGA nominees happen to have directed the five frontrunners—I would even venture to say the five only sure things—in the best-picture race, and you can count on the same five being nominated for best-director Oscars. Of all the awards tossed out willy-nilly on the road to the Oscars, the DGA is statistically the most accurate forecast of the Academy awards, »
Unauthorized Obama Ads: The Outtakes
7 January 2010 10:45 AM, PST
President Barack Obama’s approval ratings may be persistently middling, but that sure isn’t stopping companies and non-profits from appropriating his image (and that of his megapopular First Lady, Michelle) for use in unauthorized ads. But why should Weatherproof and PETA reap all the free-publicity rewards that come from ripping off the president’s image? Vf.com wondered what it would look like if other iconic brands decided to ride the First Couple’s coattails. Click through to the jump to see what we came up with. »
Five Minutes to Fab
7 January 2010 8:41 AM, PST
Writing from her tiny Boston apartment, Jilly Gagnon is a 25-year-old struggling novelist who's starving more than she's selling. But this month, she's decided to "Goop" her way to the good life by following the advice outlined in Gwyneth Paltrow's weekly Internet newsletter. Track her progress with these daily status reports. Day Four I'd heard about the "five-minute makeover" before Gwyneth enlisted her celebrity hair- and makeup-artist friends to tell me all about it, and, I have to say, I don't buy it. Less than five minutes and I'm out the door? Significant changes in my appearance in that kind of time? Using real, grown-up-people makeup? Pshaw, Hollywood, get off your ivory-skinned, poreless tower and tell us something we can really use. But skepticism is not a luxury of the Goopy, so I must forge ahead. Having glanced over the rules, I set out various near approximations of the »
Nexus Shmexus: The Google Phone May Not Suck, but It Doesn't Sing
7 January 2010 8:33 AM, PST
I don’t get Nexus One, the Google phone. It seems like an expression of terrible ambivalence. All these expectations, all these competitive impulses, so they had to do something. But then, what? The word that developed—the word Google let develop—was that the company had something in the works that would, in a stroke, challenge the proprietary philosophy of Apple’s iPhone, and enable a constant, ubiquitous, ever-deepening connection to the information stream. The phone would be the next elemental link in the development of real-time media, the revolution of our time (or, anyway, of the moment). But instead it’s a what.? Just an iPhonish phone. A bit less, or a bit more, depending on your level of Google love and awe. It doesn’t seem to be bad. Apple certainly needs the competition—the world benefits. The minor choice among carriers that it offers is better »
Vampire Weekend Plays Its "Autotune" Song ... Live!
7 January 2010 8:33 AM, PST
Hey, whaddya know? Vampire Weekend’s “autotune” song, “California English,” sounds good live. I witnessed the mixing session for this track—off of the upcoming album Contra, out January 12—when I interviewed the band for this Spotlight and was still struggling to wrap my head around the thing. Is this great or horrible? I asked myself. I now feel confident in saying, “Pretty damn good.” Related: “Vampire Prep” (December 2009) [Via The Awl and Pitchfork] »
Welcome Back, Koppel?
7 January 2010 5:46 AM, PST
• Americans are becoming more ideological, and conservatives have the lead. Forty percent identify themselves as conservative, beating out moderates (36 percent) and liberals (21 percent). [Gallup] • Under-bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was indicted yesterday in Detroit, reportedly met with radical U.S. cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. Al-Awlaki is the same guy who has been linked to Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. No wonder the U.S. is trying to kill him. [Khaleej Times] • Also, a new report indicates that counterterrorism officials identified Adbulmutallab as a risk after he was already airborne and were waiting in Detroit to interview him. Talk about “too little, too late.” [Chicago Tribune] • Ted Koppel could earn a million bucks a year from ABC News to work three days a month. Sign us up for that deal! [Politico] • Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is said to be eyeing the exits. Somehow, Valerie Jarrett doesn’t seem nearly psychotic enough to replace him. »
Excerpt of Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America
6 January 2010 9:00 PM, PST
It was a high-stakes gamble, sending three of Hollywood’s biggest, most uncompromising talents—Warren Beatty, Elaine May, and Dustin Hoffman—to make a movie in the middle of the Sahara. As $51 million evaporated and relationships crumbled, a legendary disaster was born: the 1987 comedy Ishtar. In an excerpt from his new biography of Beatty, the author chronicles a cascade of dysfunction, from the triangle of May, Beatty, and leading lady Isabelle Adjani to the studio politics that sealed Ishtar’s doom. »
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