Evan Rachel Wood Only Likes Pretty Boys

The girl really picks the hotties doesn’t she?

After breaking up with ladies man, 40 years old, Marilyn Manson, last November, 21 year old Evan Rachel Wood decided she needed someone with a really pretty face and even more maturity, enter 56 year old Mickey Rourke, her co-star from movie “The Wrestler” in which Evan plays Rourke’s daughter.

Rourke, who possesses a face that only his mother, and nobody else’s, could love, has been primed since his movie comeback for some serious lovin and was hoping like crazy that sexy time could be had with Ms Wood.

The pair have been romantically linked since their movie wrapped and they started the promotional tour. Looking rather cosy during the award season has caused obvious speculation as to the nature of their relationship, with Woods having to continually deny the rumours.

The latest, however, is that the pair were seen snogging at the Screen Actors Guild After Party at the Shrine on January 25th and were later seen leaving together for the ritzy Four Seasons Hotel, favoured spot of many a celebrity fling, where they were spotted kissing again.

Naturally the story has spread like wildfire, causing some distress to Ms Wood (understandably so). She was quick to quell the rumours, telling Rolling Stone magazine,

"I’m upset because I feel disrespected by the press and by Mr. Rourke," she said. "Just because I’m single doesn’t mean that you can take advantage of me. It’s unfair that the performances might suffer because of all of these distractions."

And regarding her alleged affair with Mr. Rourke, Wood says, "I'm not attracted to him, he's too old for me. Nothing ever happened and nothing ever will."

Ouch...

Her words must have been like a punch in Rourke’s stomach. Not attractive? Too old? Come on what’s not to love?

We look forward to seeing which stunning man or possibly grandpa, Evan picks next to be her boyfriend.

The Jolie-Pitt Posse on Display In Japan

The Jolie-Pitts arrived en masse in Japan early Tuesday morning and struggled to get their brood of six through Narita airport.

Naturally they caused a spectacle, not because of the size and beauty of their rainbow family though that alone was enough to cause traffic in the airport but because they were trailed by a massive pack of paparazzi all vying for that money shot.

Flash bulbs went off in every direction and the gathering crowd was temporarily blinded, or was it just due to the Jolie-Pitt’s gorgeousness.

This was the first time we were able to view the whole clan in one place and their beauty was too much for mere mortals.

The twins, Vivienne and Knox were so delightful and pleasing to the eye, but then again what could we expect from this family of exquisite saints. Knox wore an adorable matching beret just like his dad and was almost as good looking. Both twins had the same dear in the headlights expression on their faces because they were scared shitless by all the press around them.

The family arrived in Japan for the premiere of Brad's latest film “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Pitt has been promoting this movie since like eternity, so he will be glad when the Oscars are finished so he can put Mr Button to bed.

They are due to return to the US in time for the Academy Awards, where both have been nominated for Best Acting Oscars and no doubt will steal the show even if they don't go home with an award.

Is Joaquin Phoenix A Bona Fide Gangsta?

As much as there has been recent speculation that Joaquin Phoenix is faking his own career change as a newly minted rap star, the latest is he is the real deal.

Ok you have to admit you can’t blame anyone for thinking the whole transition thing into wanting to be a rap star was a sham, come on, the dude is a joke. Check out his embarrassing performance in Las Vegas.

But according to his rep, Susan Patricola, he is deadly serious about it. She says the actor’s move into hip hop is not a well crafted hoax but very real.

Patricola fired off an email to MTV stating “The transition from one career to another is never seamless. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Joaquin came from a musical family, in addition to winning a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Johnny Cash,” “He intends on exploring his musical interests despite speculative, negative or positive reactions.”

However, is she in on the joke too?

EW.com’s Hollywood Insider says Phoenix along with his brother in law, Casey Affleck, is not only playing an elaborate prank on the media, but his publicists are in on the scam too.

EW.com quotes sources close to the star as saying, "He said, 'It's a put-on. I'm going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it.'"

"It's an art project for him. He's going full out. He probably has told his reps that he's quit acting. "Joaquin is very smart. This is very conscious. He has a huge degree of control."

Hmm, interesting, if it’s a hoax, it’s a damn fine one. Maybe there’s more to Joaquin than we thought?

One thing’s for sure, either Phoenix is going to have the shortest career as a rap star or we are going to get our dumbasses punked for believing this shit.

Let’s Throw A Pity Party for Brad Pitt

Poor old Brad Pitt.

It must be terribly hard ambling down all those countless red carpets with the most beautiful woman in the world i.e. Angelina Jolie, dangling from his arm, being paid twenty million per blockbuster movie, having six gorgeously stunning children, a string of multi-million dollar homes around the world, a jet setting lifestyle and then, god forbid, having to actually answer idiotic questions by irritatingly stupid entertainment reporters on the red carpet such as “what colour underpants are you wearing today?”

Yeah life’s a bitch.

And it’s even more of a bitch when you are one half of the most famous couples on earth, Brangelina, and possess higher powers than mere mortals, so dumb questions really insult your intelligence.

In an interview with Newsweek recently, Pitt complained of the perils he faced with being an A list celebrity at the top of his game, namely, how answering a few questions on the red carpet was excruciating and wasn’t “what he signed up for."

He told Newsweek, "This publicity machine is out of control. It's everything we didn't sign up for." "There's this whole other entity that you get sucked into. You have to go and sell your wares.” "It's something I never made my peace with." "Somehow you're not supporting your film if you don't get on a show and talk about your personal life.” "It has nothing to do with why I do this," he whinged.

Is it really that hard for Brad to do a bit of promotion for a movie that he believes in and that he is getting paid so much money for? Surely, it’s the least he could do without grumbling.

Could it be so stressful to answer a minute’s worth of questions, even if slightly personal, on the red carpet, before attending an award show and a number of sumptuous after parties where he and other Hollywood A listers are fawned over with champagne and caviar?

It does sound awfully exhausting.

Yes the general public are fascinated in Pitt’s relationship with Angelina Jolie, but can you blame them?

The couple’s faces are plastered in magazines constantly. If Pitt didn’t sign up for it, why did he personally choose to photograph a very private yet revealing number of shots of Angelina and his children for a massive spread in W magazine that was sold in large quantities all over the world last year? Why did Pitt continually discuss his love triangle with Jolie and ex wife, Jennifer Aniston, in numerous interviews during the year? Why are Pitt & Jolie so high profile wherever they go in the world and appear in the media on a near daily basis, even when they aren’t promoting a movie?

If Pitt really wanted to be less exposed, it’s totally possible, it’s totally his choice. Just say no.

Perhaps stop whining Brad, because if you don’t want to do it, I am sure there are countless people who would be more than willing to swap places with you and “sell their wares."

Baz Still Loves Nicole Kidman After All

Oh it’s an absolute relief to know that Nicole Kidman can still count on Baz Luhrmann as a friend, even though it was reported that she allegedly helped to sabotage the success of her movie “Australia” by saying she didn’t like her work in the film whilst the movie was still doing the PR rounds.

Mind you around the same time, Baz had also declared to the world that he couldn’t work with Nicole again as she was totally highly strung or something to that effect. So guess it was a case of tit for tat for both parties.

But all seemed to be forgiven last Friday night, when they both appeared together, hugging and smiling, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York for a dinner, where Nicole paid tribute to Baz, presenting him with the Excellence in the Arts Award.

Baz was being honoured for his contributions to the Australian Film Industry at the dinner which was part of the G’Day USA Australia Week celebrating everything Australian.

Nicole chose the event to come out of hiding since an overwhelming amount of negative reviews of “Australia” mainly directed at her performance, had forced her to go undercover at her Nashville home where she could cry into her pillow undisturbed.

Showing off long strawberry blonde hair extensions and wearing a black satin dress with thigh high split, Nicole looked nervous and pensive, although that could just be due to her botox.

Her speech for Baz had to ofcourse feature herself because let’s face it, she’s not really eager to promote or speak highly of anyone else and Nicole really wanted to reignite the fires of interest in her personal life to the gathered crowd.

She said “Four years ago I was honoured at a similar event in Los Angeles and a young musician, very talented musician was being honoured that night too, and I had never heard of him,” Kidman said. “Now I have heard of him and I have to say I owe a lot to this event.”

Yeah whatever, I thought we were honouring Baz?

Nicole may be taking baby steps into the big bad world to test the press and public reaction as no doubt she will have to come out of hiding at some stage soon once her next movie “Nine” is ready for promotion.

Let’s hope for Nicole’s sake she likes her performance in her next movie, or more to the point, let’s hope we do.

Let’s Give It Up for Heath Ledger

It’s been a year to the day that Heath Ledger passed away and though perhaps he might easily have disappeared from our thoughts, he refused to, thanks to his brilliant performance in The Dark Knight and his remarkable and unique portrayal as the Joker being embedded in our minds forever.

And now as a fitting tribute, the Academy Award committee has given Heath a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in The Dark Knight and most deservedly so.

If Heath Ledger does win the Best Supporting Actor award, it will be only the second time in history that an Oscar has been won posthumously for acting and the victory will be a bittersweet moment for his family, his fans and for all watching.

It’s heartbreaking, not just because Ledger was one of Australia’s finest actors as well as a grounded, gorgeous person but because he was so very young at twenty eight years old with so much promise ahead of him. He leaves an outstanding film legacy of performances that are raw, honest and show someone who was remarkably brave with their film choices.

His fearlessness will stand the test of time.

At the Oscars on Feb 22nd, if they do announce Heath Ledger as the winner of the Best Supporting Actor, let’s raise our glasses to the man and his work.

Here’s to you Heath!

Check out some of Heath's great work, below.

Oscar Nominations Revealed At Last

The Oscar nominations were unveiled early this morning in Beverly Hills by Forest Whitaker and Academy Awards President, Sid Ganis.

The announcement was delayed two days due to the Inauguration and the hold up had Hollywood on its toes with anticipation.

The stars were up early, eagerly waiting to find out just who had made the cut. Because everyone in Hollywood knows, that list is more important than life itself.

The results of the nominations were mostly predictable with a few controversial moves and snubs.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button scooped the nominations pool with a total of 13 all up, followed closely by Slumdog Millionaire with 10 nominations and Milk with eight.

The top five films nominated for Best Picture are Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader.

The Dark Knight was sadly overlooked for Best Picture as was Revolutionary Road for both Best Picture and in the acting stakes for Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio, even though the film made a showing at the precursor awards leading up to the Oscar nominations.

Both Brad Pitt and sweetheart, Angelina Jolie made it into their respective Best Acting categories which is totally adorable and will no doubt please many photographers on the red carpet looking for the money shot, not to mention ensuring the Oscars is a high ratings TV show by plastering Brangelina’s expensive mugs on screen at any given moment. They are both up against stiff competition in their categories though and it will be an unpredicted win if either manages to grab an Oscar.

Heath Ledger received a Best Supporting Actor nod posthumously for The Dark Knight and goes up against heavyweights, Josh Brolin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert Downing Jnr and a surprising fifth spot going to Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road pushing out Dev Patel for Slumdog.

Penelope Cruz heads up the Best Supporting Actress nomination list alongside Amy Adams, Viola Davis, Taraji P Henson and Marisa Tomei with Penelope being the odds on favourite and overdue for an Oscar win.

Circle February 22nd in your diary for the big day. Oscar list of main category nominations are:

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

Joaquin Phoenix Is A Total Phat Rap Meister

Joaquin Phoenix is rediscovering his musical form now that he has given up all that stupid futile shit like acting and being an Oscar nominee and is able to focus entirely on his true love – hip hop.

Phoenix is determined to make it big as a funky rapper even bumping up the PR spin to promote his ass. He told People magazine recently just how serious he was:-

"This is me saying this is who I am. This is my story. After all the years of reading scripts and reading lines, this is my chance to do something straight from the heart and put it out there. When I was young I liked punk rock music but then I discovered rap. I love the storytelling aspect of hip-hop. Are there people out there who think I'm a joke? I'm sure there will be." Are there people who think it's going to suck? Probably, but I can’t worry about that."

Joaquin is so motivated about his new badass form that he is getting brother in law, good friend and fellow Oscar nominee, Casey Affleck to film and document the rise of the Phoenix’s rap career because you know it’s going to be awesome. These two have got to be joking, right?

Joaquin headed down to Vegas club LAVO with Casey in tow on the weekend to perform some fine rhymes and show the world his moves. When he arrived on stage, the audience gasped in awe because the man was ahead of his time, singlehandedly redefining the classic MC attire.

Gone were the chunky gold chains, the jeans hanging down around the knees and the backward cap. Oh no, that’s way too ole skool for Joaquin. He chose his clothes carefully, one woolly hat with holes in it that he found in the gutter - check, one saggy, smelly pair of grey pants - check, a comfy, cosy cable knit jumper - check and an unruly Grizzly Adams beard completed the look.

Yeah he’s looked damn fly for a white guy but then again it could have been a homeless man on stage. And just how was the man’s form on the mic? C’mon – it was lame, but to be fair he threw in a few moves, waved his hands around listlessly and at one stage fell off the stage – too cool.

Ok that may sound harsh, but take a look at the dude on stage. If he wasn’t an actor who once had some chops, would anyone be even listening? You decide.

Watch the man do his poetry, this is the essence of the Phoenix. The true Rap Aficionado coming at ya live and direct.

The Phoenix Raps Part 1

The Phoenix Raps Part 2

Jeremy Piven’s Fishy Illness – Aint Nobody Buying It

Amazingly, the producers of “Speed The Plow,” the Broadway show that Jeremy Piven was starring in last year, don’t seem to believe the mercury poisoning story as the reason that he had to bow out of the production less than two months after it opened.

In fact they have gone so far as to file an official grievance with Actors’ Equity, against Piven to show just how much they don’t believe him.

In a statement, one of the show's producers, Jeffrey Richards, announced, "The producers of Speed The Plow have officially filed a grievance with Actors' Equity re: Jeremy Piven's departure. A date for these proceedings is to be determined."

Piven left the show just before Christmas, claiming he was suffering from mercury poisoning due to the large amounts of sushi he had apparently been stuffing down his throat continually at all hours of the day for many years.

He allegedly had six times the levels of mercury found in a normal person and as the illness left him with acute exhaustion, he wasn’t able to lift a finger let alone carry on with his role for the run of the production. However, he was able to continue partying till the break of dawn which brought on no acute exhaustion.

The story has now got so out of hand that Piven has been forced to defend his fishy claims by appearing on Good Morning America for a grilling by Diane Sawyer. (see footage below)

His rep also issued a statement about the Speed The Plow producers grievances saying "The claims made by the producers of Speed-the-Plow are absurd and outrageous. Mr. Piven's serious medical condition has been well documented by multiple physicians. He withdrew from the play due to medical necessity on the advice of his doctors, after he was hospitalized and warned by his physicians that enforced rest was necessary in order to avoid serious medical problems, including a heart attack.”

Since the theatre debacle, Piven has been diligent in undergoing treatment by following the doctor’s orders closely and taking his “enforced rest” at various parties after his abandonment of Broadway.

To read full story, click TMZ.

Is Jennifer Aniston Playing John Mayer Out?

If the answer's yes, then it would serve the douchebag right for his previous misdemeanours to womanhood.

It seems that Jennifer Aniston was spotted sneakily creeping out the back door of Chateau Marmont last week, (hangout of more obvious bad girl types; Lyndsay Lohan, Sienna Miller and Paris Hilton), with a gorgeous man in tow, who was holding Ms Aniston tightly as if his life depended on it and helping her to navigate through the horde of spying nosey bodies who were openly gawking at the pair.

By all accounts her hot companion was way better looking and better behaved than Mayer. Witnesses described him as “taller, darker and handsomer,” and he appeared a lot more protective, shielding Aniston from the pushy peeps as they made their way to the safety of their awaiting limo.

For Aniston’s part, the same witnesses said she was looking "absolutely radiant and ravishing”.

Is Jen playing John Mayer out or is she just ensuring that he proposes to her on her upcoming 40th birthday?

Let's see how this saga pans out as 2009 progresses.