R.I.P. Tony Curtis

The star of the funniest movie ever made has died. Entertainment Weekly has this:

"The rare Hollywood star whose off-screen character was often more colorful than his on-screen ones, Tony Curtis has died at the age of 85. He passed away at midnight Wednesday night at his home in Nevada. The actor suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and was hospitalized in mid-July after he had trouble breathing.
Curtis lived a life that could easily have been made into a movie. Born Bernard Schwartz and raised in the Bronx, N.Y., to Hungarian immigrants, Curtis completed only one year of high school, spent two years in the U.S. Navy, and learned to act on the GI Bill, which led to a contract gig with Universal Studios. Graduating to bigger parts in films like 1952′s Son of Ali Baba and 1953′s Houdini, Curtis made a point of working in several genres.
As a result, his best-known films ranged from historical epics (1960′s Spartacus) to edgy noir dramas (1957′s Sweet Smell of Success) to farces (1959′s Some Like It Hot). But for every classic on his resume, he also appeared in more than his share of flops. He only earned one Oscar nomination in his seven-decade career, for the 1958 crime drama The Defiant Ones.
Curtis’ personal life was filled with great turmoil: He married five times; his first, and most famous, marriage was to actress Janet Leigh, with whom he appeared in Houdini after they had wed. The union lasted 11 years (the two divorced in 1962) and produced two daughters, the actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis (Trading Places). Tony Curtis had a rocky relationship with all of his children, including his eldest son, Nicholas, who died at age 23 of a heroin overdose in 1994. Curtis himself was arrested for marijuana possession in London in 1970, and spent a month at the Betty Ford Clinic in 1984. Even into old age, he never lived quietly. “Eighty f—ing years old. I don’t feel any different now than I did when I was 30,” he told Esquire in 2006. “Dying, I just don’t feel like it.”

 

So, this looks pretty awful

It's like the rapture. Except for everyone. And with aliens. And weird rashes. And that guy from Haven.

 

While you were sleeping

... brought to you by my excitement over being able to use this photo two days in a row.

No apology for Michael Bolton "TMZ has learned ... "Dancing with the Stars" judge Bruno Tonioli won't be forced to issue an apology to Michael Bolton for bashing his jive ... because producers don't think Bruno did anything wrong. "DWTS" producers tell us, "While we respect the feelings of our celebrities and dancers, we don’t feel Bruno should be expected to apologize for doing his job.” As you probably heard, Bruno told Bolton that his jive was the worst jive he's ever seen -- and Bolton responded by calling the judge "inappropriate and disrespectful." But show producers note, "Bruno’s role as a judge is to give his honest opinions on the quality of the dances he’s judging, which is what he did in this case." At least Bruno didn't call him a no-talent ass clown."

Franco buys Adderall Diaries From Deadline: "127 Hours star James Franco has acquired Stephen Elliott's The Adderall Diaries, which he intends to adapt, direct and star in. The memoir starts off a bit like In Cold Blood, in that a blocked writer turns to a murder trial to get himself going. Elliott, blocked for two years, reports on the trial of Hans Reiser, a computer programmer charged with killing the wife he met through a Russian dating service. Fueled by Adderall, a methamphetamine prescribed to help ADHD sufferers, Elliott's stream of consciousness prose veers into subjects that include his cruel father, Paris Hilton, and S&M."

Warning: Nausea ahead "Renée Zellweger and Bradley Cooper have remained mum about their romance – but they can't hold back their mutual feelings of adoration. "I can't say enough about her," Cooper, 35, gushed to Entertainment Tonight about his Case 39 costar, whom he first met while filming the supernatural thriller. "I just love her. I [loved] coming to work. I love acting with her. I can learn so much from her." Echoing Cooper's sentiments, Zellweger, 41, who recently moved into a newly renovated $4.7 million home with her beau, told ET, "[Bradley]'s a great, great actor. I just got so excited, not believing that I was going to go to work with him." People.

Warning: More nausea ahead "Snooki: The Next Great American Novelist? The Jersey Shore star (real name: Nicole Polizzi) will publish her very first novel early next year, publisher Simon and Schuster announced Wednesday. With the tentative title of A Shore Thing, the tome will "revolve around a girl looking for love on the boardwalk (one full of big hair, dark tans, and fights galore)," according to a statement. Snooki, 22, gushed about the book: "I'm pumped to announce to my fans a project that I've been working on for some time. This book will have you falling in love at the shore. It's 'A Shore Thing!'" Adds Jennifer Bergstrom of Simon and Schuster's Gallery Books: "Who better than Snooki to write a fun, sexy novel about a single girl looking for love on the Jersey Shore?" Us.

Daytime show for Anderson Cooper?  "CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is close to a deal for a syndicated daytime talk show. The "Anderson Cooper 360" host is deep in talks with Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for a program that would be pitched to stations in the next couple of weeks targeted to launch in fall 2011. The as-yet-untitled project will not have a hard-news focus, though given Cooper's background, he'll likely bring a more journalistic approach to handling popular topics compared to most daytime fare. The show is billed as a topical format that will cover everything from celebrities and pop culture to social issues and wide-interest news stories. Using his well-established interview skills, Cooper's show is expected to welcome a broad range of guests and tackle debate-provoking subjects. Cooper would also serve as an executive producer. The talk show deal is complex because its being coordinated between Warner Bros., Cooper and Cooper's employers at CNN -- who have an exclusive contract with the newsman. The deal, which has been in talks for more than a month and may close by the end of the week, calls for Cooper to continue hosting "360." With a lot of moving parts at play, however, sources caution the deal is not yet a sure thing." THR.

This is funny

I have no excuse for not having seen this before and I've assigned myself two hours of suitable punishment for my sin of omission. I have failed you. But thank you, Murray, for bringing it to my attention. WARNING: There is profanity in this. Quite a lot. Do not watch it if you're offended by profanity. I mean it.

 

R.I.P. Arthur Penn

This from AP:

"Director Arthur Penn, a myth-maker and myth-breaker who in such classics as "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Little Big Man" refashioned movie and American history and sealed a generation's affinity for outsiders, died Tuesday night, a day after his 88th birthday.
Daughter Molly Penn said her father died at his home, in Manhattan, of congestive heart failure. Longtime friend and business manager Evan Bell said Wednesday that Penn had been ill for about a year and that a memorial service will be held before the end of the year. Penn's older brother was photographer Irving Penn, who died in October 2009.
After first making his name on Broadway as director of the Tony Award-winning plays "The Miracle Worker" and "All the Way Home," Penn rose as a film director in the 1960s, his work inspired by the decade's political and social upheaval, and Americans' interest in their past and present.
"Bonnie and Clyde," with its mix of humor and mayhem, encouraged moviegoers to sympathize with the lawbreaking couple from the 1930s, while "Little Big Man" told the tale of the conquest of the West with the Indians as the good guys.
"A society would be wise to pay attention to the people who do not belong if it wants to find out ... where it's failing," Penn once said.
Penn's other films included his adaptation of "The Miracle Worker," featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Anne Bancroft; "The Missouri Breaks," an outlaw tale starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson; "Night Moves," a Los Angeles thriller featuring Gene Hackman; and "Alice's Restaurant," based on the wry Arlo Guthrie song about being turned down for the draft because he had once been fined for littering."

 

Does Dim Sum confuse you?

If so, here's a helpful chart to get you started. Via Neatorama.

 

 

Remake of the day

Every Little Step with Mike Tyson & Wayne Brady from Mike Tyson

Chad Kroeger's worst nightmare

Via Buzzfeed.

Nickelcat from Jack Shepherd on Vimeo.

Tip of the day: If you're an incoherent idiot, don't agree to get interviewed by Anderson Cooper

Another tragic episode for poor, sad Jennifer

Will she ever find happiness? Or will she spend her remaining years doing cat yoga and kissing her Brad pillow? It's not looking good.

"Jennifer Aniston wanted to take it to the next level -- but actor Josh Hopkins didn't! A source tells the new Us Weekly that Aniston, 41, and the Cougar Town star, 40, began casually dating in May after meeting through Courteney Cox, her BFF and his costar on the ABC comedy. Before long, Aniston "wanted a relationship. And he was like, 'No, thank you,'" the source says. Hopkins is "a player and is into meeting younger girls," the insider adds. "He definitely lies to girls." The actor (who romances Cox on the series) even has a raunchy nickname for Aniston, with whom he was spotted sharing a flirty meal at West Hollywood's Madeo Sept. 2. "Josh calls Jennifer his 'sport bleep,'" a Hopkins pal tells Us, adding that the duo were simply "friends with benefits." Hopkins has been careful to publicly deny a romance with Brad Pitt's ex-wife. Asked about his dinner at Madeo with Aniston, he told Us, "We were just friends having dinner." (That talked-about meal turned out to be their "final date," the source adds.) Aniston, who famously dated John Mayer, isn't crying. She "likes her life the way it is," a source tells Us. Her type? "Really good-looking a--holes."